MBB: Duke 84, Gonzaga 81 Post-Game Thread

[Tooold]

Uhh, that doesn't seem to stop duke players of late...

Exactly.

[DukieInBrasil]

Exactly.

yeah, Trevon Duval, DJ Steward, Matt Hurt come to mind in the undrafted group. Also with a new wave of guys leaving to get drafted in the 2nd round. Now, some of those guys ended up having great careers, starting with Boozer and now GT2, but also including Cassius Stanley and Tre Jones who either haven't made much impact or are still working on developing a career in the NBA.
I'm sure my list is incomplete for both categories...

[camion]

What? He won the MOTM voting last I checked. He has received a TON of love on this board.

Edit: just checked and he is in a very close 2nd place. Behind Williams by 3 votes.

I voted for Williams this game, primarily because I've voted for Moore in 6 or 7 other games and wanted to spread the wealth.

Both had monster games.

[84Duke]

I think you're both right to a degree. Certainly, being #1 does put a bigger target on your back, and I think we all tire of being everybody's biggest home game ever, almost every week. There is a cumulative effect of that target IMO. And certainly being somewhere 2 thru 5 consistently is still consistent excellence and keeps a team in line for a top line seeing.

On the other hand, all the weeks as Numero Uno is part of what makes Duke Duke...it is definitely part of the lore of the program...and I would hate to lose that.

Rankings don’t matter yet. What matters is this team is good, cohesive, and plays the kind of D K loves.

And the best series finale was Six Feet Under.

[4Gen]

http://https://twitter.com/BKoepka/s...549879298?s=20

As has been noted several times on this board, Brooks Koepka's great uncle is Dick Groat.

Edited to admit I can't link.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Rankings don’t matter yet. What matters is this team is good, cohesive, and plays the kind of D K loves.

.

Ratings do matter...for a lot of reasons. They are not all that matter, and their importance can be trumped of course by results that counter those ratings. But ratings matter a lot regarding a program's reputation, so to say that ratings don't matter is in a way saying that a program's reputation doesn't matter. Obviously being good, being cohesive, and playing good D matters too. Those are not mutually exclusive concepts.

[Steven43]

I wouldn't want to play alongside someone who didn't want to be ranked number one and I wouldn't want to play for a coach who did't want his team to be ranked number one. These kids deserve the top slot because they are the best the team in the country and they have put in a tremendous amount of work to accomplish what they have thus far this season. The challenges our squad will face during the regular season as a top ranked team, will only improve our chances to have a memorable post season run.

The “best team” label is mythical during the regular season. The only way to even begin to determine “best” is who wins the thing in the end. Everything else is just talk and speculation.

Don’t get me wrong, talk and speculation is perfectly fine, but it will not help Duke win the national championship. And I’m not trying to say that the only thing that matters is winning the Natty — far from it. I value beating UNC just as much as anything else, for example. But that’s just me.

Beating Gonzaga was a very good win, but now it’s on to Ohio State. The Gonzaga game is in the rear view mirror. I would much rather our players and coaches focus 100% on OSU than 98% on OSU and 2% on where the team is ranked according to sportswriters.

[Steven43]

It starts and ends with the coaches. There was a former PGA player who started college at the University of Houston. In his first match, he congratulated an opponent for a good shot, and was later told by the coach not to ever do that. He said, "That's not me," and dropped out of college.

I’m not sure what the lesson to be learned from that example is.

I played college tennis, and when an opponent would tell me “great shot” it would boost my confidence a little bit and I would often play even better afterwards — at least that’s how it seemed to me. I don’t know if this would apply to other sports since tennis is a one-on-one sport and not a team sport like basketball.

[sagegrouse]

I’m not sure what the lesson to be learned from that example is.

I played college tennis, and when an opponent would tell me “great shot” it would boost my confidence a little bit and I would often play even better afterwards — at least that’s how it seemed to me. I don’t know if this would apply to other sports since tennis is a one-on-one sport and not a team sport like basketball.

In golf, players are competing but all are playing against the course. It is standard to say, "Nice shot," if your opponent does something amazing. IMHO, where the H got lost on the 19th hole, taking the camaraderie and sportsmanship out of golf is a wrong move by a coach, but perhaps others have a different opinion.

[dukelifer]

I’m not sure what the lesson to be learned from that example is.

I played college tennis, and when an opponent would tell me “great shot” it would boost my confidence a little bit and I would often play even better afterwards — at least that’s how it seemed to me. I don’t know if this would apply to other sports since tennis is a one-on-one sport and not a team sport like basketball.

I have played with folks and saw a degradation in performance after giving them a complement in the moment. A lot depends on the personality of the opponent.

[OldPhiKap]

And the best series finale was Six Feet Under.

It was very clever and well-done.

My best ending vote goes to Breaking Bad.

[Steven43]

In golf, players are competing but all are playing against the course. It is standard to say, "Nice shot," if your opponent does something amazing. IMHO, where the H got lost on the 19th hole, taking the camaraderie and sportsmanship out of golf is a wrong move by a coach, but perhaps others have a different opinion.

Thanks, sagegrouse. I understand where you’re coming from now.

[aav2aav2]

Duke was 8.5 point underdogs and won. Where does this rank in terms of biggest wins by Duke when it was this size-able of an underdog? (Coach K era)

[CDu]

Duke was 8.5 point underdogs and won. Where does this rank in terms of biggest wins by Duke when it was this size-able of an underdog? (Coach K era)

Probably behind UNLV in 1991. Possibly (but probably not) behind UNC in Cameron in 1998. Maybe some early 80s ones. Maybe Georgetown in the tourney in the late 80s.

[jimsumner]

Probably behind UNLV in 1991. Possibly (but probably not) behind UNC in Cameron in 1998. Maybe some early 80s ones. Maybe Georgetown in the tourney in the late 80s.

I suspect 1984 ACC Tournament against Jordan, Perkins et. al. would qualify.

But Duke was certainly not an underdog in Cameron in 1998 against Carolina or anyone else. That team finished 15-1 in the ACC.