2019 East Region Thread (Duke #1)

[mk76]

I think our biggest worry is foul trouble with RJ or Zion or both. The emergence of Tre Jones as a reliable (we hope!) 3rd scoring option in the ACC tournament will be a huge plus if he continues to play well on the offensive end. I am praying every night that Cam or AOC or Jack can give us SOMETHING from the outside. Jack seems to have settled on playing defense, rebounding and blocking shots and has been great from that standpoint. Alex is so mercurial and is our most consistent three point shooter but I think his minutes are limited because of defensive lapses. Cam may be better off driving and stopping for mid-range jumpers than hoisting threes or drawing charges.

Then again I don't have five rings so what do I know?

Our strength is defense, points in the paint and points in transition. That's how we will win.

[Wahoo2000]

There area lot of rumors in Blacksburg that Buzz is on his way out to Texas A&M, as he is from Texas. I wonder how much that will factor into their focus/play.

Oh man - I wonder how many credits blackshear has towards graduation. If Buzz leaves, along with Robinson, Hill, and Outlaw graduating, plus Alexander-Walker going into the draft, there's NO reason for Blackshear to want to stay. Gotta be a top 2-3 national grad transfer candidate. I wonder if UNC will strike again a-la-Cam Johnson. Blackshear would be an absolute TERROR in UNC's system, and you've got to think he'd mesh well with Bacot as Blackshear has a strong game away from the basket as well. I'm connecting a lot of stuff that probably won't happen here, but if UNC got blackshear and then signed Cole Anthony as well they won't have the fall-off next season I've been predicting.

[uh_no]

I think our biggest worry is foul trouble with RJ or Zion or both. The emergence of Tre Jones as a reliable (we hope!) 3rd scoring option in the ACC tournament will be a huge plus if he continues to play well on the offensive end. I am praying every night that Cam or AOC or Jack can give us SOMETHING from the outside. Jack seems to have settled on playing defense, rebounding and blocking shots and has been great from that standpoint. Alex is so mercurial and is our most consistent three point shooter but I think his minutes are limited because of defensive lapses. Cam may be better off driving and stopping for mid-range jumpers than hoisting threes or drawing charges.

Then again I don't have five rings so what do I know?

Our strength is defense, points in the paint and points in transition. That's how we will win.

I'd be hesitant to power up the Tre hype train just yet.

He had 15/11/18 in the ACCT
He had 13/11/13 in a 3 game stretch earlier in the year vs SJU, BC, and UVA
He had 14/10/17/15 in a 4 game stretch against SDSU, Auburn, gonzaga, and indiana which certainly rivaled the quality of opponents we saw in the ACCT

I'm glad he's scoring, and I hope it continues...but I'm not sure I'd count it as an emergence as we've already seen it come and go multiple times this year.

[sagegrouse]

There area lot of rumors in Blacksburg that Buzz is on his way out to Texas A&M, as he is from Texas. I wonder how much that will factor into their focus/play.

Well, as a former Texan, coaching at A&M is typically (a) about the money and then (b) liking Texas. I am not sure I'd take the job if I were he, but it may be "life-changing."

[mr. synellinden]

I didn't know where to put this great story from The Ringer on Zion on the precipice of the NCAA tournament. It's worth reading just for the GIFs.

[cato]

I think a rematch with Louisville has the possibility of turning out similarly in the rematch with Maryland in 2001. If you recall, the regular season game (gone in 60 seconds or whatever) pre-dated the huge come back in the national semi's -- Maryland was way up in the first half but by the end of the game, we beat them by double digits

My heart has aged dog years since those two comebacks in 2001. I don’t think it’s up for a repeat.

[English]

Oh man - I wonder how many credits blackshear has towards graduation. If Buzz leaves, along with Robinson, Hill, and Outlaw graduating, plus Alexander-Walker going into the draft, there's NO reason for Blackshear to want to stay. Gotta be a top 2-3 national grad transfer candidate. I wonder if UNC will strike again a-la-Cam Johnson. Blackshear would be an absolute TERROR in UNC's system, and you've got to think he'd mesh well with Bacot as Blackshear has a strong game away from the basket as well. I'm connecting a lot of stuff that probably won't happen here, but if UNC got blackshear and then signed Cole Anthony as well they won't have the fall-off next season I've been predicting.

Unsubscribe immediately. We have enough nonsense posts about the quality of unx’s future team/roster, we don’t need to start pulling them out of thin air.

[subzero02]

I've got Belmont knocking off Maryland in several of my brackets and I wouldn't be surprised at all if they created some bigger waves in the East region before their run comes to an end. Tonight was their first NCAA tournament win and also the 805th win for coach Byrd.

[subzero02]

I think a rematch with Louisville has the possibility of turning out similarly in the rematch with Maryland in 2001. If you recall, the regular season game (gone in 60 seconds or whatever) pre-dated the huge come back in the national semi's -- Maryland was way up in the first half but by the end of the game, we beat them by double digits

We played Maryland 4 times in 2001. The gone in 60 seconds game was just the first meeting that year. I don't think we want a repeat of that first rematch because we lost by double digits 91 to 80 . That game was on senior night in Cameron and to make matters worse, Boozer broke his foot. We barely beat them in the ACC semifinals 84 to 82 and trailed them by 22 points in the NCAA semifinal. Although we went 2 and 1 in the rematches, I want no part of watching a repeat of any of the scenarios I described.

[mk76]

I'd be hesitant to power up the Tre hype train just yet.

He had 15/11/18 in the ACCT
He had 13/11/13 in a 3 game stretch earlier in the year vs SJU, BC, and UVA
He had 14/10/17/15 in a 4 game stretch against SDSU, Auburn, gonzaga, and indiana which certainly rivaled the quality of opponents we saw in the ACCT

I'm glad he's scoring, and I hope it continues...but I'm not sure I'd count it as an emergence as we've already seen it come and go multiple times this year.

No hype train I'm just hoping it continues

[roywhite]

It's only Wednesday? Two+ days till our first game?

[TruBlu]

It's only Wednesday? Two+ days till our first game?

But at least we get to scout our first round opponent tonight.

[Duke79UNLV77]

Oh man - I wonder how many credits blackshear has towards graduation. If Buzz leaves, along with Robinson, Hill, and Outlaw graduating, plus Alexander-Walker going into the draft, there's NO reason for Blackshear to want to stay. Gotta be a top 2-3 national grad transfer candidate. I wonder if UNC will strike again a-la-Cam Johnson. Blackshear would be an absolute TERROR in UNC's system, and you've got to think he'd mesh well with Bacot as Blackshear has a strong game away from the basket as well. I'm connecting a lot of stuff that probably won't happen here, but if UNC got blackshear and then signed Cole Anthony as well they won't have the fall-off next season I've been predicting.

Don't worry. Remember, the ACC has a hard and fast rule against such transfers within the conference. Oh, wait, no rules apply to uncheat.

[Green Wave Dukie]

Daughter Green Wave Dukie is getting a doctorate in Physics at NDSU. So, rooting for the Bison tonight.

However, not looking forward to the slaughter I envision Friday should NDSU beat NCCU this evening. Oh, well. Still want them to win tonight..., I think.

[curtis325]

Daughter Green Wave Dukie is getting a doctorate in Physics at NDSU. So, rooting for the Bison tonight.

However, not looking forward to the slaughter I envision Friday should NDSU beat NCCU this evening. Oh, well. Still want them to win tonight..., I think.

Go Eagles!

Set up a "Championship of Durm" game.

[Acymetric]

A fun piece of trivia I don't think I've seen mentioned anywhere else: with our tournament bid this year K has passed Dean Smith for most consecutive tournament appearances by a coach with 24 (previously they were tied with 23 each). Tom Izzo is third with 22, Roy Williams and Mark Few are tied for third at 20, with Mark Few's streak being active (Roy's spans his time at Kansas and first 6 years at unc).

At the school level, we are third with 24 appearances, behind unc with 27 (1975-2001) and Kansas (active) with 30. Hopefully we pass unc in 4 years, but I suspect the Kansas streak will continue for a while and stand as the record for quite some time when they finally do fail to make the tourney (we would need to extend our streak for six more years after Kansas fails to get a bid to tie, and nobody else is even close).

[Acymetric]

A fun piece of trivia I don't think I've seen mentioned anywhere else: with our tournament bid this year K has passed Dean Smith for most consecutive tournament appearances by a coach with 24 (previously they were tied with 23 each). Tom Izzo is third with 22, Roy Williams and Mark Few are tied for third at 20, with Mark Few's streak being active (Roy's spans his time at Kansas and first 6 years at unc).

At the school level, we are third with 24 appearances, behind unc with 27 (1975-2001) and Kansas (active) with 30. Hopefully we pass unc in 4 years, but I suspect the Kansas streak will continue for a while and stand as the record for quite some time when they finally do fail to make the tourney (we would need to extend our streak for six more years after Kansas fails to get a bid to tie, and nobody else is even close).

Weirdly, 20 minutes after I post this David Glenn starts talking about tournament appearance streaks.

[English]

Weirdly, 20 minutes after I post this David Glenn starts talking about tournament appearance streaks.

Beware...He's watching us.

[BandAlum83]

Daughter Green Wave Dukie is getting a doctorate in Physics at NDSU. So, rooting for the Bison tonight.

However, not looking forward to the slaughter I envision Friday should NDSU beat NCCU this evening. Oh, well. Still want them to win tonight..., I think.

Either team will be excited to play Duke. Having a chance to tell their grand kids in 50 years that they scored a point or made a steal on Zion when they played them will be the stuff of legend!

It's a great opportunity for those kids!

[Lurkingdukedog]

Either team will be excited to play Duke. Having a chance to tell their grand kids in 50 years that they scored a point or made a steal on Zion when they played them will be the stuff of legend!

It's a great opportunity for those kids!

Looks like your daughter will get her wish. . . .