This will be tough, since we've been a 1 or 2 seed 15 of the last 17 years.
When was the last time we beat a higher seed?
My list of our greatest upsets in NCAAT
UNLV 1991
Purdue 1994
Temple 1988
others?
This will be tough, since we've been a 1 or 2 seed 15 of the last 17 years.
Not the latest one, but beating Kentucky on their home floor in 1980 in the regional semifinal was the top one I attended. They were the #1 seed and we were #4.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_NC...all_Tournament
1994 against Purdue was the last time we beat a higher seed. I think 1999 against Mich St was the last time we beat an equal seed.
Last edited by BigWayne; 03-20-2013 at 03:23 PM.
They haven't had many opportunities to play a higher seed. This is the full list of games vs higher seeds in the NCAA tournament under Coach K. Incredibly, there's only been one game against a higher seed in the last 18 years. The overall record is 5-2 vs higher seeds.
2003: #3 Duke loses to #2 Kansas
1994: #2 Duke beats #1 Purdue
1991: #2 Duke beats #1 UNLV
1990: #3 Duke loses to #1 UNLV
1990: #3 Duke beats #1 Connecticut
1989: #2 Duke beats #1 Georgetown
1988: #2 Duke beats #1 Temple
2013- Duke defeats #1 Louisville, #1 Gonzaga, and #1 Indiana to pull the hat trick, and become the first team since 1997 Arizona to knock off three #1 seeds.
You heard it here first
I hope you're right turnandburn
Your optimism is not quite compelling. We played our best defense the first 6 weeks of this season. We have played average defense, by Duke standards, since. I know we have the talent and balance, but I'm not sure we can lock in and play excellent D it takes to win 6 in a row.
Please convince me! I am all ears.
We were the consensus title favorite something like 14 days ago. It's not irrational to think we remain title contenders. Sure, Duke is unlikely to win the title, but it's unlikely anyone wins the title. Are there five teams with a better shot? I'd say no. Why not be happy with that?
I think if we can play defense the way we did earl in the season, we'll beat anyone. I worry that we did cannot, because we did not get the stops we needed against Maryland. Perhaps this week of practice will help, and playing Albany will give us some game time to implement those principles.
This year is wide open, and the Kelly injury stinks for that reason. If he had been healthy all year, I feel like we'd be the favorite. His injuy seems to have cost us our defensive chemistry. We're not bad, just not elite at D. And I think you need to be to knock off the 1, 2 and 3 seeds.
I agree that Duke may not be able to lock in and play the excellent D required to win 6 in a row. I do believe that Duke can lock in and play good enough D to win 2 games this weekend. I then think that Duke will have regained some confidence and realize what it takes to win and then may be able to win 2 games the next weekend (1 challenging game at a time.) Then, if they make the Final Four, they will be playing as well as any team and will have as good a chance as any to win one more four team tournament and get #5.
This a good argument. Beat Albany then see what's next. One step at a time. I cannot imagine these guys feel good about making Dez Wells the next Bootsy Thornton, nor do they feel confident after beating Miami and Unc only to get down 12-2 in Greensboro and not be able to stop an NIT team.
They may not be able to get their defensive chemistry back to a top 10 status, but they may be able to jump on each opponent early and never get stuck in a position where they need 3-4 difficult stops in a row. If the offense is efficient enough, it will help the defense out. Many of these "favorites" will also take care of themselves and get upset. The Duke guys need to focus narrowly, on starting well vs. Albany, then on finishing Albany off. Confidence can build back with each win.
If there is anything that will focus a squad, it would be losing to an NIT team twice in one year. I think we will come out focused based on this and K's talk of this being one and done. We are a Senior led team this year. The workload goes on 3 guys who have been around or on a championship team, not a freshman. They know their back is against the wall. I expect to see passion out there.