This Week in the ACC: 11/23-11/29

[Troublemaker]

Yep, they are looking good this year. Veterans Gbinije and Cooney, Lydon off the bench, and Coleman with size inside.

Yeah, also promising freshman wing Malachi Richardson and energetic garbageman veteran Tyler Roberson as well.

We just named their entire rotation.

Their talent falls off a cliff after these 6 players, but Boeheim with his zone is probably one of the few coaches that can get away with playing 6. Hopefully they stay healthy.

[flyingdutchdevil]

What does this board think of Miami? Boeheim, in a recent interview, said they are the best ACC team right now. And he may not be wrong. They have experienced and talented guards, which is a very good place to start. And Miami did have that amazing season three years back, so Miami tearing through the ACC isn't anything new.

[CDu]

What does this board think of Miami? Boeheim, in a recent interview, said they are the best ACC team right now. And he may not be wrong. They have experienced and talented guards, which is a very good place to start. And Miami did have that amazing season three years back, so Miami tearing through the ACC isn't anything new.

They certainly have the talent. Consistency was their problem last year. They have looked shaky today, but nobody can deny the impressive wins they have had so far.

[Stray Gator]

And down go the Canes . . . at home, to Northeastern.

[flyingdutchdevil]

They certainly have the talent. Consistency was their problem last year. They have looked shaky today, but nobody can deny the impressive wins they have had so far.

For what it's worth, the top four offensive teams in the country (Kenpom of course) are in the ACC. And 7 of the top 30 teams are ACC (overall). It's gonna be a dog fight. I'm not expecting Duke to win either the reg season or the tourney (our recent track record hasn't been great), but I do expect Duke to threaten every game and peak in March. If that happens, I think we'll go the farthest of any ACC team.

If I'm gonna rank the ACC teams right now (emphasis on right now), I'd go Miami, UVA, Duke, and UNC. UNC is tops, imo, with Paige, and UVA had that ugly loss against GW. And Duke is, well, fairly raw.

[flyingdutchdevil]

And down go the Canes . . . at home, to Northeastern.

Hahahahahahaha. There goes my top 4!!!!!

[devildeac]

And down go the Canes . . . at home, to Northeastern.

Hahahahahahaha. There goes my top 4!!!!!

Wonder if they made a t-shirt to celebrate and/or if any officials get suspended .

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Wonder if they made a t-shirt to celebrate and/or if any officials get suspended .

The U-pset

[devildeac]

The U-pset

Nice. You oughtta send that to their AD/fan base .

[Troublemaker]

I'm not expecting Duke to win either the reg season or the tourney (our recent track record hasn't been great), but I do expect Duke to threaten every game and peak in March. If that happens, I think we'll go the farthest of any ACC team.

That would be unlikely.

Coach K has been to 12 Final Fours. Only 3 times in 12 did Duke not win either the ACC regular season or the ACC tournament beforehand -- 1989, 1990, 2015.

I know 2015 is fresh in our minds, which may partly explain why you're predicting what you're predicting above. But, I would argue that last season shouldn't even count because Duke went 15-3 in the ACC. That's a great record and would win the regular season (or at least a share) the vast majority of times. Alas, it just so happens that UVA pulled off an even greater regular season by going 16-2. But you should not get into the habit of expecting great NCAA tournament runs from Duke if it's not preceded by ACC championships, either regular season or tournament.

We don't typically do Izzo-style tournament runs. We typically show our quality throughout the entire season if we end up being a Final Four team.

[flyingdutchdevil]

That would be unlikely.

Coach K has been to 12 Final Fours. Only 3 times in 12 did Duke not win either the ACC regular season or the ACC tournament beforehand -- 1989, 1990, 2015.

I know 2015 is fresh in our minds, which may partly explain why you're predicting what you're predicting above. But, I would argue that last season shouldn't even count because Duke went 15-3 in the ACC. That's a great record and would win the regular season (or at least a share) the vast majority of times. Alas, it just so happens that UVA pulled off an even greater regular season by going 16-2. But you should not get into the habit of expecting great NCAA tournament runs from Duke if it's not preceded by ACC championships, either regular season or tournament.

We don't typically do Izzo-style tournament runs. We typically show our quality throughout the entire season if we end up being a Final Four team.

I disagree, because this is a new era for Coach K's teams. These aren't teams that are experienced and talented from the get go. They are talented, but not experienced. I fully expect Duke to go through ups and downs this season, especially deep into February. In this era, you can easily have a good - but not great - record and make it far into the tournament. 2014 Kentcuky comes to mind, as do the last two UCONN Natties. Duke has the tools - insane talent (and we are the most talented team on paper in the ACC), great coaching, and, fortunately, plenty of time to make that March run without dominating the regular season.

[Troublemaker]

I disagree, because this is a new era for Coach K's teams. These aren't teams that are experienced and talented from the get go. They are talented, but not experienced. I fully expect Duke to go through ups and downs this season, especially deep into February. In this era, you can easily have a good - but not great - record and make it far into the tournament. 2014 Kentcuky comes to mind, as do the last two UCONN Natties. Duke has the tools - insane talent (and we are the most talented team on paper in the ACC), great coaching, and, fortunately, plenty of time to make that March run without dominating the regular season.

I'll have to see it to believe it. Coach K has never made that type of tournament run before.

Of Coach K's 12 Final Fours, 11 were accomplished as either a 1 or 2 seed. (And Duke was a 3 seed the one other time.)

So if you're thinking that Duke can, like Kentucky 2014, make the Final Four as an 8 seed... I'll just repeat that I'll have to see it to believe it. Because Coach K has never done that before.

Now, I DO think this Duke team can make the Final Four. Where you and I disagree is probably about Duke's chances to win an ACC championship this season, regular season or tournament. I think Duke can win both, and I think Duke is > 50/50 to win at least one.

With the implementation of the 1-3-1 zone, and with Brandon and Luke starting to pitch in, Duke's about to click as a team. We should be able to match UVA and UNC in consistency once ACC games begin. IMO.

[sagegrouse]

I'll have to see it to believe it. Coach K has never made that type of tournament run before.

Of Coach K's 12 Final Fours, 11 were accomplished as either a 1 or 2 seed. (And Duke was a 3 seed the one other time.)

So if you're thinking that Duke can, like Kentucky 2014, make the Final Four as an 8 seed... I'll just repeat that I'll have to see it to believe it. Because Coach K has never done that before.

Now, I DO think this Duke team can make the Final Four. Where you and I disagree is probably about Duke's chances to win an ACC championship this season, regular season or tournament. I think Duke can win both, and I think Duke is > 50/50 to win at least one.

With the implementation of the 1-3-1 zone, and with Brandon and Luke starting to pitch in, Duke's about to click as a team. We should be able to match UVA and UNC in consistency once ACC games begin. IMO.

Troublemaker, we don't have a really good idea how a Duke team would fare seeded lower than #1-3. Of K's 31 tournaments, Duke was a #1 seed 13 times; a #2, nine times; and a #3 six times. Only three times was Duke seeded lower than #3: #8 in 1996; #6 in 2007 and #5 in 1987. True, only once did we make the Sweet 16 as a lower seed, but we only have three data points. It is not as if we have a lot of experience as a #8 seed, which is good.

[Olympic Fan]

Not a great day for the ACC, but we did pick up a couple of nice wins -- Notre Dame bouncing back from its first loss to beat Iowa and Syracuse beating a second straight ranked opponent to win the Battle 4 Atlantis -- the fifth preseason tournament title for an ACC team.

Three very predictable losses -- VPI is in no position to beat a top 10 Iowa State and Georgia Tech was expected to lose to No. 11 Villanova. BC has been playing better than expected, but they are still not very good -- their loss to UC Irvine was hardly a shot.

The one bad loss was Miami losing to Northeastern ... which coincidentally was coming off a loss to Miami (Miami of Ohio). Tough loss on a last second shot (and watching the replay, it looked very much like the NE player used his body to push back the defender and create space for the shot). Still, no excuse for Miami to be in that position, especially at home.

Just three games Saturday ... two are kind of blah -- Kent State at Pitt and VPI-UAB in the third place game of the tourney in Florida. One good matchup -- 4-0 St. Louis is at 4-0 Louisville.

The ACC is now 63-17 overall ... 6-5 against ranked opponents ... and 15-6 against other major conferences.

PS I watched most of Arizona's overtime victory over Santa Clara last night and I've been watching them battle Providence tonight (pretty good game at the half -- Arizona up one). The thing, in the game and a half I've watched, Arizona's best player -- by far -- is Boston College transfer Ryan Anderson. Interesting ...

[Olympic Fan]

The ACC goes 3-0 Saturday ... none of the wins have much significance. I guess the most interesting one was VPI's overtime victory over UAB. The Hokies haven't been terrible since their opening night defeat. I also notice that Seth Allen has not been playing (he was terrible in their opener). Is he hurt ... or just relegated to the end of the bench?

[pfrduke]

The ACC goes 3-0 Saturday ... none of the wins have much significance. I guess the most interesting one was VPI's overtime victory over UAB. The Hokies haven't been terrible since their opening night defeat. I also notice that Seth Allen has not been playing (he was terrible in their opener). Is he hurt ... or just relegated to the end of the bench?

Not sure what you're talking about re Allen - he's played in each of Virginia Tech's 6 games and more than 20 minutes in 5 of the 6. In the UAB game, he led the Hokies with 23 points.

[ChillinDuke]

All in all, I'd say the ACC as a conference has exceeded my expectations for where we'd be at this point in the season. This year continues to look wide open. Given the national setting and my expectation that the ACC was looking at a "down" year, the current conference record is a pleasant surprise.

The ACC/B1G Challenge will really help to cap off the early phase of the season. If the ACC can tread water and split (or even win) the Challenge, I'd feel safe in saying the conference looks much better than I expected. And good, period. If the ACC loses the Challenge by a game, I'd say mehh decent showing to date. If we get blown out, I'd say the goodwill we've built up as a conference thus far is largely back to flat.

- Chillin

[Troublemaker]

Grrr, Notre Dame just lost to a middling SEC team in Alabama. In typical ND fashion, they couldn't guard a pretty bad offense, which led to the loss.