An Appreciation of This Year's Team

[rocketeli]

I noticed there were about 13 posts total about the Wake Forest game, and about 13 pages now in the post game thread, which I'm not going to read for fear that there will be too many posts from those whose memories only stretch back one game, and now are convinced the team sucks, Coach K is past it, etc. etc.
So I think now is a good time to express my own appreciation of this year's team, which regardless of what happens in the rest of the games has been one of my favorite Duke teams ever, since I've been following Duke basketball (c 1970).
RJ Barrett coming to play, every minute of every game. Tre Jones, playing defense. The team playing good defense. The player's enthusiasm and love for one another. Zion Williamson. Zion Williamson. Zion Williamson. So much heart from everyone. I'm going to savor every moment of it.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

I’ll consider this the optimist thread and posit that this season ain’t close to over. Plenty to appreciate about this team so far and I feel much more to come.

[moonpie23]

i wear my duke gear win or lose. I take off the blue glasses once in a while, but, they're always my team...

GO DUKE!!

[Native]

I’ll consider this the optimist thread and posit that this season ain’t close to over. Plenty to appreciate about this team so far and I feel much more to come.

Did someone say optimist thread?! :D

Keep the faith, folks.

[jv001]

I'm on board with the Optimist Thread and I certainly appreciate this team. They've been a joy to watch. Get back to 100% Zion and let's beat the heck out of the cheats.

GoDuke!

[rtnorthrup]

Since I enrolled as a Freshman in August 1990, I simply cannot remember a season that comes anywhere near this year. Of course Duke will always be the biggest draw in NCAA Mens basketball, and when you bring in 3 of the top 5 recruits in the country you can expect high pre-season expectations. Interestingly, we didn't start the season as the presumptive National Champs, in fact Kentucky started the season ranked above us in the polls. But one day, in Canada, a video hit social media of Zion dunking from the free throw line in practice, and well . . . the hype train conductor got up, put on his hat, and clocked in to work. RJ Barrett was the early draw, but Zion mania was starting to pick up steam. Fast forward to Bankers Life Fieldhouse on November 6th and a thorough dismantling of a (at the time overrated) KY team and the Duke hype went into the stratosphere. Network talking heads asking if Duke could beat NBA teams. Draft experts predicting that Duke could have the top 3 picks in the NBA draft, etc. Throw in a fairly dull NBA season and Duke has been the central focus of the basketball world for 5 months, in a way that I have never seen before. Zion became the most important basketball player on the planet, over-shadowing Lebron this season. Let that sink in, an 18 yr old college freshman is at the center of the basketball world. Even the Anthony Davis trade demand had to fight for media attention.

Why do I bring up the obvious? I think it has taken a toll on the Duke fanbase. Every step this team takes is micro-analysed in ways never seen before. Professional athletes and media talking heads telling our players to sit out the rest of the season. People trying to sow dissension in the team. Remember when RJ was accused of playing "hero ball", about 5 games into his Freshman season in college (still SMH over that?. Did anybody have issues last night with putting the ball in RJ's hands and letting him get his own shot? I don't think so.

I think we as Duke fans have become weary. It hit me after the VaTech game. What was a great ACC game, and an incredibly useful learning tool for our team without Zion, suddenly felt like an epic failure, because we have been told all season that anything less than complete Thanos level obliteration of all other teams is unacceptable. This is one of the best NCAA seasons in the last 10-15 years. There are probably 6-7 teams with rightful odds of winning the national championship. There are a lot of Cinderella candidates that will get attention over the next 2 weeks as finally, Bubble talk will catch up to the Duke hype train. This is going to be a fantastic ACC tournament and a fantastic NCAA tournament, and Duke will be right in the middle of both.

Don't lose sight of it all.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I'm on board with the Optimist Thread and I certainly appreciate this team. They've been a joy to watch. Get back to 100% Zion and let's beat the heck out of the cheats.

GoDuke!

I started a different optimist threads that resulted in cutting down nets (you're welcome). I suppose I might have started one this year, but I didn’t sense the gloom and doom that usually inspires it. Usually it's a losing streak that sparks the need.

In other words, I'm too optimistic to start an optimist thread.

[weezie]

Put me in coach! I'm ready to play.

[MarkD83]

Duke always seems to have one late horrible game. This year it was a win. Now it’s time for a 12 game win streak to end the year

[BLPOG]

I was looking up the origin of the phrases "Debbie Downer," "Negative Nancy," etc. this morning in order to make a somewhat snide, Off-Topic post indirectly criticizing the deluge of pessimism in the Wake thread.

I think an appreciation/optimism thread is the better way.

Props to the Crazies as well. Anybody at the game/listen to the radio broadcast last night? Immediately after the game, but before the players came out to talk to the crowd for senior night, Coach K complimented the Crazies and said he thought it was their noise reverberating off the wall that knocked the last Wake shot out of the cylinder.

Go Duke! GTHC!

[bigperm13]

Game threads with few posts during it means the live chat during the game was bananas. This thread is not bananas, however. This team would have been a dream in the pre-social media days.

[scottdude8]

I wanted to dust this thread off and get it back on the front page following the disappointment that was last night. I wanted to add my own personal two cents.

I graduated Duke in 2012. That means the last team containing any player I went to school with was 2016, when Marshall Plumlee graduated (yes, he didn’t play in 2011-12, but I interviewed him multiple times for The Chronicle so I always had a soft spot for him). By far, I’ve had more personal connection and investment with/in this team than any since Plumlee graduated, and probably since I graduated. Why? Seeing this team play twice in a Canada helped a ton. Watching Zion play in person is an experience I’ll never forget. But this team has a personality to it too, one that hasn’t quite been matched by a team without a true senior leader in the one-and-done era.

Watching Jack grow into a rotation player and a leader has been joyous. Watching Goldwire have some shining moments after people wrote him off as an afterthought has been special. Watching how the freshman four truly are friends and support each other is something that can’t be taken for granted.

Not to mention, this team has had some SPECIAL moments we’re forgetting about in our post UNC doldrums. We’ll be talking about the Louisville comeback for decades. The FSU buzzer beater will be on highlight reels that long as well. We can hold the UK win over Wildcat fans for years to come. And the sweep of Virginia is quite the accomplishment when you consider we are the ONLT TEAM to beat the Wahoos this year.

The past few weeks have been a downer with Zion’s injury. But let’s not forget about the forest because of the most recent trees we’ve seen. And there’s still more than enough time for things to turn around. Let’s do what we need to do get the mood turned around here!

[duketaylor]

I find some fascinating comments in this thread, and thanks for bringing it back to the top. With the return of Zion, we return to, what I consider, one of the more dominant college teams in memory. What other team has beaten the pre-season #1 team in the first game of the year by 34 points? We have several days before the ACC Tourney and then the NCAA. I cannot remember a more enjoyable year to watch Duke hoops except, perhaps, the run in '86 with some of my classmates and then back-to-back in the early 90's. The others were fun, but this year, watching SuperZion with RJ and Cam and all the rest has been awesome. Bolden and White with incredible inside D and occasional strong O, Tre's great D and some strong O, at times (he made some beautiful drives and shots Saturday night).

Friend told me earlier today we miss Zion's rim protection, totally agree, but we miss Marques' as well, and Jack's. This team's D is SO, SO much better than our D the last few years. With Zion back, the drive is defended much better. Wish Bolden was there as well. AOC has helped and I'm hoping Joey Baker has a Grayson-like finish to his freshman year.

Looking forward to the next several weeks!!

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I see no reason to think this team isn't capable of nine more wins.

[indy1duke]

We have been truly blessed with great basketball since K arrived. Lots of the young posters missed Duke’s dominance 1986 tthrough 1994, 7 Final Fours in 9 years, prompting one of my favorite Duke tee shirts calling the Final Four the Duke Invitational, followed by the dominant Elton Brand through Jason Williams teams. There may have been better teams than this year’s team, but nothing as entertaining and if they run the table I would argue the best, even with their five losses. Whether on offense or defense we wait for and expect the unexpected — a steal followed by a spectacular jam at the other end, a spectacular block, a between the legs pass for a long range three. How many “how did he do that moments” have we witnessed? How many more are to come? Yes, much of the excitement is generated by Zion, but there is a camaraderie among the team that is infectious. I for one cannot wait to see it unveiled again this week in Charlotte. It is all fine to critique our team on this forum but at the end of the day we are all damn lucky to be Duke fans privileged to root for this extraordinary team.

[MCFinARL]

I find some fascinating comments in this thread, and thanks for bringing it back to the top. With the return of Zion, we return to, what I consider, one of the more dominant college teams in memory. What other team has beaten the pre-season #1 team in the first game of the year by 34 points? We have several days before the ACC Tourney and then the NCAA. I cannot remember a more enjoyable year to watch Duke hoops except, perhaps, the run in '86 with some of my classmates and then back-to-back in the early 90's. The others were fun, but this year, watching SuperZion with RJ and Cam and all the rest has been awesome. Bolden and White with incredible inside D and occasional strong O, Tre's great D and some strong O, at times (he made some beautiful drives and shots Saturday night).

Friend told me earlier today we miss Zion's rim protection, totally agree, but we miss Marques' as well, and Jack's. This team's D is SO, SO much better than our D the last few years. With Zion back, the drive is defended much better. Wish Bolden was there as well. AOC has helped and I'm hoping Joey Baker has a Grayson-like finish to his freshman year.

Looking forward to the next several weeks!!

Can't help but notice the missing man in this otherwise comprehensive post. Javin DeLaurier has made major contributions to Duke's much improved defense this year, despite his occasional fouling issues. I sometimes think we at DBR have a tendency to emphasize what Javin can't do well while overlooking some of the things he does very well.

[Indoor66]

Can't help but notice the missing man in this otherwise comprehensive post. Javin DeLaurier has made major contributions to Duke's much improved defense this year, despite his occasional fouling issues. I sometimes think we at DBR have a tendency to emphasize what DUKE PLAYERS <Javin> can't do well while overlooking some of the things THEY <he> DO <es> very well.

FIFY

[MCFinARL]

FIFY

Excellent fix, thanks.

[CDu]

The team has just one loss with the four freshmen available. And that loss was on the third day of a three-day tourney in November against another 1 seed with way more experience. They have (to this point) swept another #1 seed, even with Jones out. It's a great team.

Let's just hope that team is healthy the rest of the way so they can have a chance to achieve great things.