Will Duke hang on to the One Seed?
- Thread starter Sevro
- Start date
No doubt, injuries sucks asshole buttermilk. I'm a uge (silent H)fan of college basketball and want everyone at full strength so it leaves no doubts.
And remember Strickland was already out but that UK team in 2012 was loaded. They were definitely the best team.
If unc sweeps Duke and doesn't lose in the first round of the ACCT, no way Tennessee gets a one ahead of them.
I don’t see UNC making the sweep this year. It’s so rare in this series and Zion should be back.
I don’t think Gonzaga should get a one given their schedule, but they will because they are good. Just not sure how good. They haven’t had to battle like some of the other big boys.
I’m just going by where you said if UNC beats them again it’ll be their 3rd loss in conference.
I'm just glad 38-2 National Champs can't be improved on this year.
Houston could still go 39-1. Okay, I know most don't see them as a threat. But they're actually pretty solid, and I would only be mildly surprised if they made the Final Four.
Yeah, it's kind of annoying that the ACC has all of these potential #1 seeds knocking each other out. Duke and UNC can play what, three times? UNC has played UVa once, might have to play them twice. Duke has played UVa twice, might have to play them three times. And with the tournament coming at the end of the season, a loss by one of these teams vs another one might be a little more damaging to chances to a 1 seed than a game much earlier in the year.
We're 3-3 when one of our freshmen is missing. We need all four of our freshmen. There's a big gap between them and the bench players. I don't care if we're a 16 seed, just give me a healthy team in March.
I don't mean this as a flame or slight, more just an oddity. It's crazy to me how Duke's bench is full of top 50 recruits, yet seems utterly useless. While the bench of teams like FSU, VT, and Texas Tech are full of 3 stars, yet those guys come in and make fantastic contributions.
How does that happen?
You're right. Wasn't even thinking of them. Duke was living rent free.
To hear some people talk, even without one of the Freshmen, Duke still has three first round picks. And if Krzyzewski doesn't win with three first round picks, it would be the biggest choke job of his career.
I mean, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish are definitely first rounders and Jones likely is too.
I meant 3rd in the conference
It’s pretty simple. First, K has always used a short bench. To compound it, he’s bringing in 4 elite freshman every year who need a lot of minutes to get up to speed. If you aren’t ready to play right away, you’re not gonna. It’s an ‘all-in’ mentality.
K likes to play his top players 35-40 minutes as the year goes on. Most years he narrows his rotation to 7-8 players. It is a coaching strategy that is not favorable for developing bench players. They get shots early in the year, but not so much later on.
Roy, for instance plays deep into his bench to the dismay of some of his fans at times. But that is why his teams are better in March than they were in November just about every year.
Also, being a top 50 recruit doesn't always mean you will be a great contributor to the team as being a 3 star doesn't mean that you won't be a great contributor to your team. Some players just adapt to a system better than others.
I don't know. It's odd. Javin shot 43% from 3 as a HS Senior; but he has absolutely no confidence in his outside shot. Still a solid defender/rebounder. Bolden has improved, but certainly doesn't fill-up the boxscore like a typical 5-star recruit. White and Goldwire are 3-star recruits. O'Connell, a 4-star recruit, can shoot and score, but his defense is very uninspiring. Not sure what to think of Baker at this point. Normally, I like to see K go to his bench and give his starters a rest. But this year, I'm always thinking, "put him back in!" Barrett was only out of the game for 4 minutes yesterday, but it seemed much more like 12 minutes to me.
We've had plenty of solid 4-star recruits over the years, though. But for whatever reason there appears to be a sizable gap between the freshmen and the rest of the players.
I doubt Duke loses a 1-seed but I’ll be interested to see what happens to the East region. Duke has two wins over UVA so that’s a big plus over their biggest competition for DC. But if Duke keeps losing without Zion and UVA keeps winning, does the committee drop them below UVA? I would much prefer the East than the South but it’s hard to argue that Duke at full strength doesn’t deserve it over UVA.
Yeah, but that doesn't mean that they are going to be favored to win every game they play. It would be different if a first rounder got hurt and was replaced by a second rounder. But we have to replace our first round injuries with G leaguers. You need more than a great scorer, a great defender and a streaky shooter to win in March.
But K recruited all the guys on the bench. It's not like someone else put them there. He obviously has belief that they can contribute.
Imagine having 5 first rounders.
Scary looking GIF. Dude has more hair above his eyes than I do on my head.
Again, not every recruit is going to produce to one's desire. And I am not removing all blame from Krzyzewski on their development. But just because they were recruited to contribute, doesn't mean that they automatically will.
If UK beats UT on Saturday and goes deep in the SEC tournament they’re a # 1 seed. A lot of things have to happen for UNC to get there.
I think the hypothesis is surrounding unc replacing Duke as a one. I think that is unc's path to a one. Unless the committee values their body of work over Gonzaga. Which, IMO, they should. But won't.
I get the all-in mentality, but these guys look like walkons out there. Just totally out of their element. And I guess what I’m saying is, 3 star freshmen are making impacts elsewhere right away.
Excuses? No, those are the facts. We have a great resume. All of our losses have been to teams currently projected to be in the NCAA Tournament and 3 of the 4 was to ranked teams. 3 of the 4 losses were also when we weren’t at full strength. I don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for Duke because I don’t when other teams lose their best players either. Just saying, Duke’s resume is still strong enough to warrent a one seed despite this little recent slide.
UNC replacing Duke on the top line isn’t happening. If Gonzaga loses I say 2 more games and UNC takes care of business I see them taking their spot.
I'm just glad 38-2 National Champs can't be improved on this year.
Congrats
This feature has never been more necessary.
To the topic at hand, Carolina beats Duke with Zion, how could Duke conceivably be ahead of Carolina? No way. And even with Zion, that game isn't much more than a one possession game. Looking like a 1-seed is a real possibility.
Oh man the horror. We end up replacing our injured G leaguers with going pro in something other than basketball guys.
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