Am I the only one that thinks Duke
- Thread starter Treez Nuts
- Start date
Seems like bait to me.
I have no idea why someone would start a thread like this.
They very well may not win the ACC, but that's because it's the toughest league in the country and they play an unbalanced schedule.
The NCAAT is a crapshoot, you can be the best team going in and lose one of your first two games
Cough cough virginia cough cough.
Duke has more weapons than most and will be one of a handful of teams that will be favorites to win it all.
I have no idea why someone would start a thread like this.
They very well may not win the ACC, but that's because it's the toughest league in the country and they play an unbalanced schedule.
The NCAAT is a crapshoot, you can be the best team going in and lose one of your first two games
Cough cough virginia cough cough.
Duke has more weapons than most and will be one of a handful of teams that will be favorites to win it all.
Until one happens, I will remain on the skeptic side. Nothing wrong with having doubts about a team starting 4 freshmen.
Not sure about those reasons, but they definitely don't have anything in the bag. I'd be kind of surprised if they don't reach the final four though.
Let's not forget that they're only going to get better between now and March.
I was in the building and saw proof that they can indeed shoot
Never? Duke won a title in 2015 on the backs of four freshman. Kentucky is 2012 had a couple quality freshman as well. No?
Spacing is only an issue when you are packing the paint. At what point does Duke pack the paint? They have been running a spread type offense for many years now. Including last year when they had 2 lottery big men in their front court. Duke has enough shooters to go deep. Cam Reddish is already breaking records for a Duke freshman shooting from behind the arc. McConnell and White can shoot it well off the bench and Barrett is developing more and more from three point land. Does this mean they will either of the two titles you mentioned? No but I will take my chances with Duke and their ability to get t the paint and also with the ability to knock down enough shots to keep defenses honest.
No bait. Duke will be one of the most exciting teams to watch in recent memory. I've just been inundated with Duke champion talk, and I'm not seeing it.....at all
Most teams have only played 2 games. Not a whole lot to go by. Add the fact that there are so many elements that go into winning a title and it's easy to not see it. With such a small sample of Duke and other potential contenders, what have you seen that disqualifies them from your sights?
Duke can't shoot, 43.5% from 3 in 2 games is awful. This thread looks like some others that were started around June.
Also Zion is fat and they don't have any depth.
That's pretty much what I have seen.
I think @Matt Laurer is recruiting some main board regulars to bait/troll Duke fans here. Every one of tMB regulars I have seen here are Duke haters.
You're probably right. I don't mind good trolling but people that contribute nothing but troll threads are annoying.
I don't think that was Treez objective here. He brought up a point about shooting that has been associated with this Duke roster since the roster was completed with Zions' commitment. Only two games in and Duke is shooting just fine from the perimeter but it is only two games, so it remains to be seen what they will do the rest of the year. I like Duke's chances of being able to shoot well enough to do big things this year.
Maybe not. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. I just don't see how anyone can say they do or don't see the talk right now.
Personally, I don't like all of the hype being centered around Duke. To the OP's question, I actually like Duke's chances in the tournament better than I do their chances of winning the conference. Virginia plays a style that produces results and they rarely get upset. (In befor UMBC) that is why they they are there every year. Roy also has a lot of success in the regular season in the ACC. It has been a decade since Duke has a regular season title, so would not surprise me to see them fall short again this year.
But to say you do or don't see Duke winning a championship is hugely premature.
Yeah the hype has been stupid-- even as a fan, I wish media would be a little more subdued, but that's wishing for something that won't happen. I don't expect us to even go undefeated in the ACC, let alone for the whole season. Honestly, I wouldn't even want to enter the NCAA undefeated. I never do. 2 losses would be wish, but I'd expect a couple more than that.
As for shooting, as someone mentioned above, we are over 43% from 3. Granted, that's only 2 games against early season cupcakes, but it's not a bad starting point.
Duke has question marks just like every other team. Clearly, they're one of the favorites; but every year only one of those favorites on the list can win it all.
Them beating up another overrated UK team has only inflated Duke fans egos. Those are the facts gif.
Duke has the GOAT coach and the best talent in the country. If you can't see them as a favorite to cut down the nets, you're absolutely potato. Sure, Duke has flaws but so does every other team. You can't just look at Duke's flaws in isolation. Do I think Duke will go undefeated? Definitely not. The ACC is too good and I doubt Duke will maintain the same level of intensity and motivation throughout the entire season. I doubt Duke will even be favored in every game this season. Plus, anything can happen in a single game elimination format. If the NCAA tourney was a best of 7 format, I'd put my entire Jew savings on Duke and laugh all the way to the bank.
That's a natural feeling when you don't like a particular program. You look for things to support your "they're not good enough" claim. But they have more talent than anyone and if they stay healthy, they're one of maybe 10 teams that can win it all and who cares if they don't win the ACC regular season championship? It's a tough league with an unbalanced schedule.
Yeah, tournaments don't have unbalanced schedules at all. I agree that teams like Duke have their sights set higher than ACC regular season championships but let's not pretend like they don't matter at all or are any more unbalanced than how we determine champions.
I think Duke’s shooting woes were exaggerated, but I can see the freshman getting too three happy being an issue. With that said, excited to see how they attack the Eastern Michigan zone tonight.
I've been pleasantly surprised w/ our shooting so far. It was an area of concern for me coming into the season. We'll have some off games and we need to be sure not to fall in love w/ 3s, but I feel pretty good about it now.
Winning the NCAAT all comes down to matchups. I think Duke will be the best team in college basketball this season. Whether or not they will win the Title is a different conversation.
If they run into a well coached team with depth, size, and experience, they could lose. I don't see them losing to a hot shooting midmajor or anything like that, though. A team could drop 20 threes on 70% shooting and lose by double digits to this Duke team if they can't protect the rim and the ball.
I'm very interested to see how their games against UVA and SU go. Both teams run defenses designed, on paper, to stop the type of team Duke has. If Duke runs through UVA and Syracuse, goodnight, everybody.
If they run into a well coached team with depth, size, and experience, they could lose. I don't see them losing to a hot shooting midmajor or anything like that, though. A team could drop 20 threes on 70% shooting and lose by double digits to this Duke team if they can't protect the rim and the ball.
I'm very interested to see how their games against UVA and SU go. Both teams run defenses designed, on paper, to stop the type of team Duke has. If Duke runs through UVA and Syracuse, goodnight, everybody.
If duke isn’t a contender than wtf does that make the rest of the ncaa
I wasn't referring to the ACC tournament (or any tournament) being unbalanced, but correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the ACC have an unbalanced regular season schedule? It's not a round robin correct?
That's correct. We currently play 18 regular season conference games. Each team has 2 permanent rivals that they play home and away each year. Then they play 2 other teams home and away on a rotating schedule. Then they play every other team once (either home or away). This will change next year when we go to 20 conference games. There's no question that the schedules are unbalanced. That's just how it goes when you have 15 teams in your league. You just can't feasibly play 28 conference games each year.
My point is that a regular season of 30 games offers more insight into the quality of a team than any single-elimination tournament does. This sport just chooses to determine a champion using a single elimination format. That's what makes it so exciting but also why the "best" team doesn't always or even usually win.
Agreed.
But I still think a tournament is the best way to determine a champion. No home court advantages, just neutral court games.
Agreed- take Uconn in 14- lost by 30 to Ville in their conference tourney. However, they did beat the number 1 overall team in the final four that year, so there's that...
Not a Duke hater nor a fan. Did pick them to beat UK and gave reasons why and posted it on the MB. Those same reasons are why I think AU will beat them saying they play this weekend.To be fair, if you aren't a Duke fan, you probably are a Duke hater
The NCAAT is uniquely awesome and I don't want it to change. That said, if the NCAA cared about crowning the best team of the season, it would implement NBA style playoffs with series' deciding rounds rather than single games.
Some years it gets it right. Some years it does not. 2015 was one of the most loaded years I can remember. That UVA team was so good but, after the injury to Justin Anderson, we couldn't compete with Duke, Wisky, and Kentucky (and of course Michigan State FML).
