Duke men picked first in ACC

[jimsumner]

https://goduke.com/news/2021/10/19/m...s-honored.aspx

[The Gordog]

https://goduke.com/news/2021/10/19/m...s-honored.aspx

Great news but not surprising. Let's hope that's more accurate than last year's #2 prediction.

[CameronDuke]

They usually overachieve their preseason prognosis …

Me thinks they will again this season …

[CameronDuke]

Out of 15 …

This is Capel’s 4th year there.

If Pitt does finish 14th, is Capel’s seat getting warm?

[flyingdutchdevil]

They usually overachieve their preseason prognosis …

Me thinks they will again this season …

Yup.

Question is will Duke win it's first ACC reg season outright in, what, 13+ seasons? Yes, yes. ACC reg season means nothing...but it really does.

[CameronBornAndBred]

https://goduke.com/news/2021/10/19/m...s-honored.aspx

Pretty much what is reflected in the national preseason rankings.

[CameronDuke]

Yup.

Question is will Duke win it's first ACC reg season outright in, what, 13+ seasons? Yes, yes. ACC reg season means nothing...but it really does.

Yes I believe Duke last won the ACC regular season outright in Sean Dockery, Shelden Williams, JJ Redick, and Lee Melchionni’s senior year in 05-06.

The 09-10 ACC regular season championship was shared in a tie by Duke and Maryland.

[uh_no]

Yes I believe Duke last won the ACC regular season outright in Sean Dockery, Shelden Williams, JJ Redick, and Lee Melchionni’s senior year in 05-06.

The 09-10 ACC regular season championship was shared in a tie by Duke and Maryland.

I think you lose claim when you remove yourself from the conference or at least that's what I tell myself.

In either case, I am not all that concerned for the distinction between shared and outright regular season titles.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Out of 15 …

This is Capel’s 4th year there.

If Pitt does finish 14th, is Capel’s seat getting warm?

Gotta be Capel's last shot. Here's to hoping he only loses four games this season.

[Rich]

Gotta be Capel's last shot. Here's to hoping he only loses four games this season.

I see what you did there

[CDu]

They usually overachieve their preseason prognosis …

Me thinks they will again this season …

Eh, maybe. They lost a LOT from last year, and they weren't all that great last year. And they didn't really replace what they lost. I'm not expecting great things from them this year.

KenPom has them at #45 to start the year, which feels about right. It feels like a bit of a rebuilding year for them.

[weezie]

Eh, maybe. They lost a LOT from last year, and they weren't all that great last year. And they didn't really replace what they lost. I'm not expecting great things from them this year.

KenPom has them at #45 to start the year, which feels about right. It feels like a bit of a rebuilding year for them.

Seconded with enthusiasm.

[CameronDuke]

Eh, maybe. They lost a LOT from last year, and they weren't all that great last year. And they didn't really replace what they lost. I'm not expecting great things from them this year.

KenPom has them at #45 to start the year, which feels about right. It feels like a bit of a rebuilding year for them.

I have learned to not underestimate them. They’re a machine in the ACC in regular season contests. Tony Bennett can have lesser talented squads and have rebuilding year type teams and still when you look up at the end of the season they’ve won 15-17 ACC games. It’s insane how much of a lock he has on ACC regular season games. Of course, his record against Coach K is bad. But against the rest of the ACC it’s awesome.

Interesting to note - Virginia does not return a double figure scorer and was ranked 25th in the AP Preseason Poll. Virginia Tech returns two double figure scorers and was not ranked. Hokies won the only meeting last season by 14.

[JasonEvans]

Interesting to note - Virginia does not return a double figure scorer and was ranked 25th in the AP Preseason Poll. Virginia Tech returns two double figure scorers and was not ranked. Hokies won the only meeting last season by 14.

I feel like the voters got these two teams confused

Va Tech strikes me as a team likely to be very much in the mix for the top of the ACC. They have the best returning player in the conference, plenty of experienced seniors, a lot of good shooters, and bring in a transfer PG who knows their system and was arguably the best player in the Southern Confernece last year. They lost Tyreese Radford (good riddance, he destroyed Duke last year) but bring a ton back from a team that was in the tourney last year. Va Tech would be in my top 25.

Virginia lost their three best players from last year’s team and though they brought in a couple good transfers, it takes time to learn Bennett’s defense so newcomers don’t tend to do as well as quickly. I would probably put the Cavs about 6th in the conference right now. I really doubt they will play the kind of great D that has made Virginia a staple of the top tier of the conference lately.

[uh_no]

I have learned to not underestimate them. They’re a machine in the ACC in regular season contests. Tony Bennett can have lesser talented squads and have rebuilding year type teams and still when you look up at the end of the season they’ve won 15-17 ACC games. It’s insane how much of a lock he has on ACC regular season games. Of course, his record against Coach K is bad. But against the rest of the ACC it’s awesome.

Interesting to note - Virginia does not return a double figure scorer and was ranked 25th in the AP Preseason Poll. Virginia Tech returns two double figure scorers and was not ranked. Hokies won the only meeting last season by 14.

I think you've probably thought more about the poll in this post than many of the voters do

[ElliottHoo]

I feel like the voters got these two teams confused

Va Tech strikes me as a team likely to be very much in the mix for the top of the ACC. They have the best returning player in the conference, plenty of experienced seniors, a lot of good shooters, and bring in a transfer PG who knows their system and was arguably the best player in the Southern Confernece last year. They lost Tyreese Radford (good riddance, he destroyed Duke last year) but bring a ton back from a team that was in the tourney last year. Va Tech would be in my top 25.

Virginia lost their three best players from last year’s team and though they brought in a couple good transfers, it takes time to learn Bennett’s defense so newcomers don’t tend to do as well as quickly. I would probably put the Cavs about 6th in the conference right now. I really doubt they will play the kind of great D that has made Virginia a staple of the top tier of the conference lately.

KenPom had VT as the 8th best team in the ACC last year and only placed as well as they did because they managed to miss most of their toughest games due to Covid. But they do return a lot of players, and Aluma is a beast. VT should probably have been right around 25th.

[arnie]

I rarely watch Mark Packer on the ACC network, but caught a few minutes last night. With glee, he ran down Duke’s failures to finish 1st in regular season since 2010. Of course, he never mentioned ACC championships, Elite 8s or National Championships since that time. Said Duke gets selected 1st based on brand, Florida State now gets picked high based on program quality (or something like that).

Although I think he was factually correct in listing every preseason ranking and “failure”, this represents typical reporting these days; tell only part of the story. Think his goal was to minimize K’s success.

[CDu]

I have learned to not underestimate them. They’re a machine in the ACC in regular season contests. Tony Bennett can have lesser talented squads and have rebuilding year type teams and still when you look up at the end of the season they’ve won 15-17 ACC games. It’s insane how much of a lock he has on ACC regular season games. Of course, his record against Coach K is bad. But against the rest of the ACC it’s awesome.

Interesting to note - Virginia does not return a double figure scorer and was ranked 25th in the AP Preseason Poll. Virginia Tech returns two double figure scorers and was not ranked. Hokies won the only meeting last season by 14.

The thing is, his teams have rarely lacked talent. They usually are light on the recruiting rankings, but the actual talent turns out to be pretty good. Guys like Brogdon and Diakite for example. And they usually have a TON of experience in their system. As in, loaded with 4th and 5th year guys in the rotation.

This year’s team lost their top-4 (and only) 3pt shooters, their top-3 scorers, their entire frontcourt including a promising backup forward, and two highly-rated wings. They replaced them with one good PF and one good SG. And those guys will be new to Bennett’s system, meaning the defense will likely suffer. They have just one shooter (and 3pt shooting has been a big part of their offensive efficiency). And they don’t even make up for it with tons of experience, as they have just one guy with 2+ years of playing experience in their system.

And just to be clear, I don't think they'll be bad. But I think somewhere in the #40 range sounds more reasonable. Which is, interestingly, about where I think Va Tech should be too.

[CameronDuke]

I rarely watch Mark Packer on the ACC network, but caught a few minutes last night. With glee, he ran down Duke’s failures to finish 1st in regular season since 2010. Of course, he never mentioned ACC championships, Elite 8s or National Championships since that time. Said Duke gets selected 1st based on brand, Florida State now gets picked high based on program quality (or something like that).

Although I think he was factually correct in listing every preseason ranking and “failure”, this represents typical reporting these days; tell only part of the story. Think his goal was to minimize K’s success.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Next, he can talk about his Daddy’s beloved Wake Forest basketball program. Where would he even start in analyzing and addressing that debacle?

[CameronDuke]

The thing is, his teams have rarely lacked talent. They usually are light on the recruiting rankings, but the actual talent turns out to be pretty good. Guys like Brogdon and Diakite for example. And they usually have a TON of experience in their system. As in, loaded with 4th and 5th year guys in the rotation.

This year’s team lost their top-4 (and only) 3pt shooters, their top-3 scorers, their entire frontcourt including a promising backup forward, and two highly-rated wings. They replaced them with one good PF and one good SG. And those guys will be new to Bennett’s system, meaning the defense will likely suffer. They have just one shooter (and 3pt shooting has been a big part of their offensive efficiency). And they don’t even make up for it with tons of experience, as they have just one guy with 2+ years of playing experience in their system.

And just to be clear, I don't think they'll be bad. But I think somewhere in the #40 range sounds more reasonable. Which is, interestingly, about where I think Va Tech should be too.

I am not disagreeing they lost a lot, aren’t as experienced, and didn’t exactly replace everyone the lost. But if there’s anyone that can get a team to defend and be on the same page and up to speed quickly, it’s Tony Bennett. Probably the best coach in the ACC in regular season games since 2014ish.