Let's make cassoulet out of them!
You people in the eastern time zone are suckers.
Let's make cassoulet out of them!
Anyone else notice someone behind the Oregon bench throwing confetti in the air after they won?
For Oregon, the Sweet 16 is a milestone.
For Duke, the Sweet 16 is a stepping stone.
I like our chances as the underdog.
I think Plumlee can get in some good 9-to-5 work in the paint in this matchup.
We've played UNC and Virginia, both better teams than the Oregon squad I watched tonight.
Looks like Friday may be a "sick" day.
I didn't see anything that made me feel like Duke can't beat that team. Play solid D, execute and make some shots, and I think Duke has a really good chance to advance.
What wine pairs well with foie gras?
Duke will be going for its ninth straight NCAA Tournament win.
The school record is 13 straight (1991-93). Duke also got to eight straight NCAA wins in 2001-02 and 2010-11.
Both of those teams stumbled on win number nine.
It's doable but Brooks and the freshman guard (name?) are tough matches. At least they are 6'5" guys and not 6'1 absolute speedsters like Cat Barber that we can't stay in front of. They remind me of Grayson Allen some. Tough and athletic and can shoot the three but not true PG quick. Those two will be a handful
Have to look more later. I wonder how well they rebound? What is their best strength? What is their big weakness?
Not a bad matchup but I was pulling fir St Joes
FWIW, this evening Kenny Smith picked us to beat Oregon. Says we are the enemy, but he knows what we are capable of.
Johnny and Stanford beat them ... JD's free to come help with the scouting report all week.
They struck me as plenty quick and bouncy. Maybe not Cat-quick, but quicker than the top ACC teams and quick enough to torch our defense. Dorsey, Cook, and Brooks at the 2-3-4 in particular are very athletic and can really get to the bucket. I think we might have to zone them. Brooks is going to get Brandon in foul trouble.
Almost as concerning is how all that quickness and bounciness combine to make a very effective defense. They are really good at helping and recovering; often, I thought a St. Joe's pass would lead to an open shot, but Oregon closed out so well and forced another pass. They have great shotblockers inside. We'll also have to be sharp against their zone press.
They deserve to be favorites and we'll have to play great to win.
As a superstitious Duke fan, I'm not a fan of playing the late game on a Thursday night in Anaheim. I still smart over Derrick Williams having the game of his life against us in 2011.
Other than that, it feels like we're playing with house money at this point, and I'm going to enjoy the ride. Oregon's slightly more athletic, but we are more skilled.
Looking forward to watching our guys let it fly on Thursday.
Yeah, I was kind of pulling for St. Joe's because they felt like a more manageable opponent. Oregon is certainly beatable, but they're a tougher matchup *and* it will effectively be a road game for us in Anaheim.
I don't know how much Oregon presses but I would be surprised if they didn't pressure us for significant portions of Thursday's game given how vulnerable we've looked against pressure in our worst moments at Louisville and versus Yale the other day. We did handle pressure well in our opening game of the tournament, but UNC-Wilmington didn't have the athletes that Oregon has.
Should be a good game, hope health and foul trouble aren't issues and that everything's decided with the best players on the court.
"Historical Tournament Stats" OR "Stuff that has nothing to do with Thursday's outcome":
Duke is...
107-34 All-Time in NCAA Tournament (5-Time National Champions: 91, 92, 01, 10, 15) in 40 appearances (31 since 1985 / 21st consecutive appearance)
20-8 All-Time in Round of 16 (W-60, W-63, W-64, W-66, W-78, W-80, W-86, L-87, W-88, W-89, W-90, W-91, W-92, W-94, W-98, W-99, L-00, W-01, L-02, L-03, W-04, L-05, L-06, L-09, W-10, L-11, W-13, W-15)
9-5 All-Time against #1 Seeds (W-80, W-86, L-87, W-88, W-89, W-90, L-90, W-91, W-94, L-94, W-99, L-99, L-13, W-15)
4-1 All-Time as a #4 Seed (W-80, W-80, L-80, W-16, W-16)
3-1 All-Time against AP #5 (W-66, W-92, L-98, W-01)
2-0 All-Time as AP #19 (W-16, W-16)
7-5 All-Time in West Region
6-4 All-Time against PAC-12 (L-64, L-84, W-90, L-93, W-01, W-01, W-01, W-10, L-11, W-15)
0-2 All-Time in Anaheim, CA (L-03, L-11)
Oregon is...
18-12 All-Time in NCAA Tournament (1939 National Champions) in 14 appearances (10 since 1985 / 4th consecutive appearance)
3-1 All-Time in Round of 16 (W-60, W-02, W-07, L-13)
1-0 All-Time against #4 Seeds (W-13)
2-0 All-Time as a #1 Seed (W-16, W-16)
1-0 All-Time against AP #19 (W-07)
2-0 All-Time as AP #5 (W-16, W-16)
10-6 All-Time in West Region
1-0 All-Time against ACC (W-02)
0-0 All-Time in Anaheim, CA
Duke leads All-Time Series 1-0.
Only previous game between Duke & Oregon was NOV-27, 2010 at the Rose Garden in Portland, OR.
This was Kyle Singler's "homecoming" game. #1 Duke won 98-71.
Singler had 30 points, Nolan Smith had 18 points, Kyrie Irving had 16 points and Andre Dawkins had 14 points.
Mason Plumlee had 12 rebounds and Miles Plumlee had 10 rebounds.
You know what.i have no idea how we will respond playing in california.which may be a home game for oregon.no matter what happens.
I absolutely love the fight this team has.they are a resilient group. I wasnt sure we would be playing after this weekend.
I know they will be giving thier all.win or lose.you have to love this bunch.my hat is off to them.
Can they win of course they can.
I cant state enough the appreciation i have for this team.
An aspect to this game that I find interesting: who will guard Plum and who will Plum guard? Duke may need to play zone to maximize the use of our best line-up. St. Joe's limited Oregon's second chance points, and I expect Plum will need to be a big part of that for us to do the same.
Hopefully, we will attack their pressure to score, and when there are not layups or good open looks early we are patient and make an effort to get the ball inside. The Ducks are small but athletic inside and will collapse on big guys inside. We ought to be able to hurt them throwing the ball from the inside back out to spot up shooters. It seemed that St. Joe's had good looks from 3 when they were patient, and we have better outside shooters.
My gut tells me that Duke will get out to a double digit lead, and Oregon is going to try to make a furious comeback ala Louisville, Notre Dame, and Yale. Hope we have learned and the outcome is more Yale than Louisville or ND. Better yet, let's just extend the lead so we don't need to sweat it out. Somehow Coach K and Duke will prevail but it will not be easy on our hearts down the stretch.