Can we talk about what a disaster Duke was last year?

[wcc31]

Here we have a team that many sportswriters (further proving they're awful but nonetheless) claimed was going to be as good as the '15 UK squad, a team that had at least 7 NBA players, a team that brought back a ton of talent, and they were a mess all season and got dropped in the 2nd round of the tournament, spoling a very favorable draw (as usual).

I just want to make sure people haven't forgotten about this trainwreck. This wasn't UK '13 who lost their best six players and then had to reload with a weak high school class, then losing their best player. Duke even got a surprising All-American effort from Kennard.

Here's to another season of overhyping, drama, trips, selfish basketball, poor chemistry, K's excuses and that beadyeyed puffy shadester Capel playing a big role.

Duke: Despite ridiculous hype and easy draws, three trips past the S16 since 2005.

 

[Stonewall12]

Yep.


Too bad Goodman did not write his on espn.

 

[BostonCat2001]

just comical how they were compared to the '15 UK team. looking ahead to this year. bolden and allen + duval, trent, and carter. maybe a few side characters to sub in but that is a razor thin team. bolden looked terrible at the u19 tryouts. i dont think trent is good as his ranking. carter could struggle with long, athletic big men as he is a below the rim player.

they lost 9 games last year...i could see them losing 10+ this year.

 

[gracetoyou]

It irritated me all season long that every time Duke won 3 or 4 games in a row we'd start hearing all the national commentators saying the Duke was finally starting to get healthy and now they're turning into the team that everyone expected. This is specially occurred after they won the ACC Championship.

And way to point out that Luke Kennard was an absolute surprise in having the big season he had. No one was saying that before the season. Without he & Tatum this team would've really sucked.

 

[HoptownCat93]

A lot of the hype came because of Harry Giles. Most expected him to be at full strength the entire year. Giles, when healthy, was one of the best prospects I have ever seen.

Now, they did have a lot of injuries and a young roster. K needs some vets to hold the youngins in place...and also fake sick while his assistants get clobbered. It goes to show that Cal can mold a group of young players together rather quickly while legends like K cannot...shows the degree of difficulty of what Cal does year in and year out.

 

[weatherbird]

Here we have a team that many sportswriters (further proving they're awful but nonetheless) claimed was going to be as good as the '15 UK squad, a team that had at least 7 NBA players, a team that brought back a ton of talent, and they were a mess all season and got dropped in the 2nd round of the tournament, spoling a very favorable draw (as usual).

I just want to make sure people haven't forgotten about this trainwreck. This wasn't UK '13 who lost their best six players and then had to reload with a weak high school class, then losing their best player. Duke even got a surprising All-American effort from Kennard.

Here's to another season of overhyping, drama, trips, selfish basketball, poor chemistry, K's excuses and that beadyeyed puffy shadester Capel playing a big role.

Duke: Despite ridiculous hype and easy draws, three trips past the S16 since 2005.

Let's not count our chickens before they hatch. Nothing would please me more than to watch Duke fail this upcoming season, but they have a really good coach and some talent. It could be like last year, or it could be like 2015. Contrary to popular belief, match ups is a big factor in determining how far you can go in the tournament, and as we all know, Duke will get a favorable path.

There is one thing I don't get though. How is it that Coach K is seen as a great bench coach, and Cal is seen as a terrible one, yet Cal has won a lot more close games in march, has never lost to a team seeded further than one seed line away, and has only once since becoming the coach at UK made the tournament and not advanced at least to the Elite Eight? Especially considering the talent level of the 2 teams has been pretty even over the last 6 years or so.

As for Duke next season, depth is overrated when you have players that can play multiple positions. This is where the depth issue for Duke will come into play. They don't have a true SF, nor a guy that can slide into that position. The make-up will be similar to last year's UK team in that they will have to play 3 guards. The other question for them will be chemistry, something Cal doesn't get enough credit for. Maybe they come together, but it is probably more likely they never click in the one season for most of those guys. Duke as it stands will probably struggle a bit. Now if they add Bagley, which I don't expect, they will be better, but I'm not sure they would be the favorite for me. The reason, I'm not sold they will come together like some people believe. In the Coach K One and Done experiement, he has only been able to get these guys to buy in once. It is more likely they don't come together than that they come together based on history.

 

[StubbornPenny]

But wait guys! They won the ACC tournament and that's harder than the NCAAs!!! They should have been a 1 seed!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, all respect for Bilas was lost in that garbage that Duke should be a 1. They shouldn't have been a 2. They were 3/4 at best. Kudos to Cal for going on national TV and calling him out with a gagging sound. I knew that Duke bias existed but WOW, none of that made any sense. It was the Emperor's New Clothes in real life.

Also that team hated each other. Rarely do you see a team with worse chemistry than that. They looked miserable 90% of the time.

 

[gracetoyou]

A lot of the hype came because of Harry Giles. Most expected him to be at full strength the entire year. Giles, when healthy, was one of the best prospects I have ever seen.

Now, they did have a lot of injuries and a young roster. K needs some vets to hold the youngins in place...and also fake sick while his assistants get clobbered. It goes to show that Cal can mold a group of young players together rather quickly while legends like K cannot...shows the degree of difficulty of what Cal does year in and year out.

What injuries did they have? You had Giles knee. You had Bolden with a minor injury from practice right before the season started...which meant nothing. When healthy Bolden is not yet an impact player at all. Most overrated player in the class coming out of high school

Those were the two injuries that everyone kept harping about and of course coach K's back surgery. He had planned to do that after the season but clearly moved it up because he could already smell the season wasn't going as planned. Pretty smart to create your own excuse to save your precious legendary coaching image. Course I could be wrong about Coach K but it sure seemed that way

 

[kyjeff1]

I could understand some of the regular season losses, they had injuries to key players and K had health issues.
But going into the tournament, they were being hyped as the best team and everyone at ESPN had them, at least, in their final four, most had them winning it all.
Then to lose in the 2nd round to a 7th seeded SEC team should be embarrassing for blue devil nation. They were soft and South Carolina proved it.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

just comical how they were compared to the '15 UK team. looking ahead to this year. bolden and allen + duval, trent, and carter. maybe a few side characters to sub in but that is a razor thin team. bolden looked terrible at the u19 tryouts. i dont think trent is good as his ranking. carter could struggle with long, athletic big men as he is a below the rim player.

they lost 9 games last year...i could see them losing 10+ this year.

This. And they have no room for injury or Allen's antics. I still think the ACC is the top conference and those teams are going to punk them all conference long.

 

[wcc31]

A lot of the hype came because of Harry Giles. Most expected him to be at full strength the entire year. Giles, when healthy, was one of the best prospects I have ever seen.

Now, they did have a lot of injuries and a young roster. K needs some vets to hold the youngins in place...and also fake sick while his assistants get clobbered. It goes to show that Cal can mold a group of young players together rather quickly while legends like K cannot...shows the degree of difficulty of what Cal does year in and year out.

How many more vets do you need? Jefferson, Allen, Jones and Kennard weren't enough ?

 

[wcc31]

Let's not count our chickens before they hatch. Nothing would please me more than to watch Duke fail this upcoming season, but they have a really good coach and some talent. It could be like last year, or it could be like 2015. Contrary to popular belief, match ups is a big factor in determining how far you can go in the tournament, and as we all know, Duke will get a favorable path.

There is one thing I don't get though. How is it that Coach K is seen as a great bench coach, and Cal is seen as a terrible one, yet Cal has won a lot more close games in march, has never lost to a team seeded further than one seed line away, and has only once since becoming the coach at UK made the tournament and not advanced at least to the Elite Eight? Especially considering the talent level of the 2 teams has been pretty even over the last 6 years or so.

As for Duke next season, depth is overrated when you have players that can play multiple positions. This is where the depth issue for Duke will come into play. They don't have a true SF, nor a guy that can slide into that position. The make-up will be similar to last year's UK team in that they will have to play 3 guards. The other question for them will be chemistry, something Cal doesn't get enough credit for. Maybe they come together, but it is probably more likely they never click in the one season for most of those guys. Duke as it stands will probably struggle a bit. Now if they add Bagley, which I don't expect, they will be better, but I'm not sure they would be the favorite for me. The reason, I'm not sold they will come together like some people believe. In the Coach K One and Done experiement, he has only been able to get these guys to buy in once. It is more likely they don't come together than that they come together based on history.

Their D was awful. Tell me how that will be different this year?

 

[JStaff2187]

If our 15 team got the road Duke had, I don't see us being challenged at all in the tourney until the title game. Just stinks that Duke has 2 titles, both in years we had the best team in the field.

If not for them winning titles in years they advanced past the sweet sixteen, Kentucky has had more tourney success than anyone, along with maybe UNC.

Hopefully Duke has another roller coaster year resulting in an early exit in March.

 

[gracetoyou]

Let's not count our chickens before they hatch. Nothing would please me more than to watch Duke fail this upcoming season, but they have a really good coach and some talent. It could be like last year, or it could be like 2015. Contrary to popular belief, match ups is a big factor in determining how far you can go in the tournament, and as we all know, Duke will get a favorable path.

There is one thing I don't get though. How is it that Coach K is seen as a great bench coach, and Cal is seen as a terrible one, yet Cal has won a lot more close games in march, has never lost to a team seeded further than one seed line away, and has only once since becoming the coach at UK made the tournament and not advanced at least to the Elite Eight? Especially considering the talent level of the 2 teams has been pretty even over the last 6 years or so.

As for Duke next season, depth is overrated when you have players that can play multiple positions. This is where the depth issue for Duke will come into play. They don't have a true SF, nor a guy that can slide into that position. The make-up will be similar to last year's UK team in that they will have to play 3 guards. The other question for them will be chemistry, something Cal doesn't get enough credit for. Maybe they come together, but it is probably more likely they never click in the one season for most of those guys. Duke as it stands will probably struggle a bit. Now if they add Bagley, which I don't expect, they will be better, but I'm not sure they would be the favorite for me. The reason, I'm not sold they will come together like some people believe. In the Coach K One and Done experiement, he has only been able to get these guys to buy in once. It is more likely they don't come together than that they come together based on history.

You know there have been a lot of seasons that coach k had Talent & did not succeed. Surprising early exits by some very talented teams. Let's not make it sound like that if Coach K Has Talent then you know everyone else is in trouble.

No team or coach has had more McDonald's all Americans then Duke and Coach K.

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=210765711

So if we put everyones standard for Coach Cal on Coach K he should have more then five titles in 40 seasons.

 

[HoptownCat93]

What injuries did they have? You had Giles knee. You had Bolden with a minor injury from practice right before the season started...which meant nothing. When healthy Bolden is not yet an impact player at all. Most overrated player in the class coming out of high school

Those were the two injuries that everyone kept harping about and of course coach K's back surgery. He had planned to do that after the season but clearly moved it up because he could already smell the season wasn't going as planned. Pretty smart to create your own excuse to save your precious legendary coaching image.

Not being a Duke fanboy and I know any type of defense of a rival program is not allowed here, but on top of Giles, Taytum, and Bolden to start the year; Chase Jeter had a back injury and Amile Jefferson missed some time as well. On top of ole' Trippy Allen's suspensions, that's really hard for a young team to develop any type of rotation or cohesion when you do not know who is going to play game to game.

Injuries can hurt, we saw what happened when Fox was hurt this year...we saw what just missing Alex Poythress did to the most talented team in school history.

 

[Col. Angus]

I don't like Duke, either.

Hope by February their entire recruiting class regrets their decisions.

 

[kyjeff1]

Not being a Duke fanboy and I know any type of defense of a rival program is not allowed here, but on top of Giles, Taytum, and Bolden to start the year; Chase Jeter had a back injury and Amile Jefferson missed some time as well. On top of ole' Trippy Allen's suspensions, that's really hard for a young team to develop any type of rotation or cohesion when you do not know who is going to play game to game.

Injuries can hurt, we saw what happened when Fox was hurt this year...we saw what just missing Alex Poythress did to the most talented team in school history.

You made great points, but, going into the NCAAT they were "THE HOTTEST TEAM" and, with the exception of Giles, were 100% healthy and ready to roll.

 

[wcc31]

You know there have been a lot of seasons that coach k had Talent & did not succeed. Surprising early exits by some very talented teams. Let's not make it sound like that if Coach K Has Talent then you know everyone else is in trouble.

No team or coach has had more McDonald's all Americans then Duke and Coach K.

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=210765711

So if we put everyones standard for Coach Cal on Coach K he should have more then five titles in 40 seasons.

They have made it past the S16 3x in 13 years- their two championship years and that blowout loss to Louisville in '13.

 

[HoptownCat93]

You made great points, but, going into the NCAAT they were "THE HOTTEST TEAM" and, with the exception of Giles, were 100% healthy and ready to roll.

I get it, ESPN loves Duke and its annoying I know. But that does not mean I can escape logic and facts. Duke had a top notch class last year along with some great players returning. They had some injuries and some other issues...along with a recruit or two being overrated. They did play good basketball at the end of the year, but ran into a SC team that was playing even better than them...it happens they lost. They were over hyped, but not an awful team at that either.

 

[weatherbird]

You know there have been a lot of seasons that coach k had Talent & did not succeed. Surprising early exits by some very talented teams. Let's not make it sound like that if Coach K Has Talent then you know everyone else is in trouble.

No team or coach has had more McDonald's all Americans then Duke and Coach K.

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=210765711

So if we put everyones standard for Coach Cal on Coach K he should have more then five titles in 40 seasons.

And I said as much in the last paragraph. But at the end of the day, they may come together and they may not, but more often than not, they haven't.

 

[weatherbird]

Their D was awful. Tell me how that will be different this year?

I didn't mention their D at all. But I will say this, their D was awful in 2015 as well, up until about 2 weeks before the tournament. And above all else, they will have at least 3 new guys in the rotation, and one that didn't play a lot last year, so I am not sure how you could compare the 2.

Coach K generally doesn't put an emphasis on D, so it is logical that they won't be much better, but not a given. Most of their problems on D last year was in the fact that none of the perimeter players could keep anyone in front of them. That is likely to get better, but the back line D won't be as good. Without Bagley, they will likely lose 10 games or so, but will get the benefit of the doubt from the media because they play in the ACC. Meanwhile, UK will lose 4 games or so and receive a lower seed, and yet still advance further in the tournament.

 

[uk78]

How did Bolden differ than SKJ? Actually Bolden got more minutes. So, to conclude he won't be any better this season is to conclude that SKJ will be no better either. Sometimes we do have to take off our Blue glasses.

Duke had a good team but they were not a physical team and when faced with the power players of South Carolina and they didn't have a home court advantage like they normally get, adios. We complain about the refs especially on the road in the SEC but our league is a way more physical one than the ACC.

K is a great coach, how can anyone say otherwise? But, I lost respect for him when he didn't suspend Allen for more than 1 game. Allen is an excellent player but exactly what type of nobility was K revealing by doing practically nothing with the most embarrassing player on any team last season? K was full of sh.. and revealed his win at all costs mentality and his alter of worship by ESPN should have been challenged a lot more. What example of proper behavior did he set?

Duke again will have a great team this season. They could win it all just like Kentucky. A lot depends upon new players but actually less so than for Kentucky. However, the OP was correct in that pre-season last year, the pundits were saying that the Duke team was head and shoulders above everyone else and one of the best teams assembled.

 

[uky8unc5]

Back to OP's point: last season Dook flopped.
Of course they're specialists at that...

 

[ThroughBlue]

A lot of the hype came because of Harry Giles. Most expected him to be at full strength the entire year. Giles, when healthy, was one of the best prospects I have ever seen.

Now, they did have a lot of injuries and a young roster. K needs some vets to hold the youngins in place...and also fake sick while his assistants get clobbered. It goes to show that Cal can mold a group of young players together rather quickly while legends like K cannot...shows the degree of difficulty of what Cal does year in and year out.

If I had a dollar for every time I heard "best prospect I have ever seen"

 

[Blueblood22]

They overcame many deliberating injuries to overachieve in reaching the second round against a heavy favorite USC team!

What are you talking about?!

 

[ThroughBlue]

I would take three trips to the sweet 16 if two of them resulted in titles. Duke won our title in 2010 and 2015

 

[Mike-D]

http://www.espn.com/blog/collegebas...e-krzyzewski-does-the-best-work-of-his-career

Don't forget it was the best work of Ghey's career. 2nd round exit, and nobody says shit. Cal would have been crucified.

 

[BostonCat2001]

This. And they have no room for injury or Allen's antics. I still think the ACC is the top conference and those teams are going to punk them all conference long.

the scary thing for duke fans have got to be that its "allen's team" now. he is going to jack up 20 shots a game. hard to imagine there will not be a few allen flare ups along the way when the team struggles.

 

[Col. Angus]

I would take three trips to the sweet 16 if two of them resulted in titles. Duke won our title in 2010 and 2015

UK had the best team both years and Duke stole the title both years. If West Virginia or Wisconsin had won those titles, it wouldn't hurt so much.

 

[gracetoyou]

They overcame many deliberating injuries to overachieve in reaching the second round against a heavy favorite USC team!

What are you talking about?!

Lol

 

[gracetoyou]

I would take three trips to the sweet 16 if two of them resulted in titles. Duke won our title in 2010 and 2015

Bull on you & the Colonel that liked it. You would absolutely seek to hang Cal for all the years his teams flopped & exited early.

 

[gracetoyou]

How did Bolden differ than SKJ? Actually Bolden got more minutes. So, to conclude he won't be any better this season is to conclude that SKJ will be no better either. Sometimes we do have to take off our Blue glasses.

Duke had a good team but they were not a physical team and when faced with the power players of South Carolina and they didn't have a home court advantage like they normally get, adios. We complain about the refs especially on the road in the SEC but our league is a way more physical one than the ACC.

K is a great coach, how can anyone say otherwise? But, I lost respect for him when he didn't suspend Allen for more than 1 game. Allen is an excellent player but exactly what type of nobility was K revealing by doing practically nothing with the most embarrassing player on any team last season? K was full of sh.. and revealed his win at all costs mentality and his alter of worship by ESPN should have been challenged a lot more. What example of proper behavior did he set?

Duke again will have a great team this season. They could win it all just like Kentucky. A lot depends upon new players but actually less so than for Kentucky. However, the OP was correct in that pre-season last year, the pundits were saying that the Duke team was head and shoulders above everyone else and one of the best teams assembled.

Last time I checked SKJ was not a projected lottery pick before last season. Besides, the word is Bolden was awful in USA tryouts. His issue is not ability it is he has ZERO drive. Privileged & lazy per Kennard

 

[ThroughBlue]

Bull on you & the Colonel that liked it. You would absolutely seek to hang Cal for all the years his teams flopped & exited early.

Don't tell me what I would do. I am happy with Cal and I also realize the best team doesn't always win the last game but winning two titles since 2010 instead of only one would be completely alright with me

 

[weatherbird]

Don't tell me what I would do. I am happy with Cal and I also realize the best team doesn't always win the last game but winning two titles since 2010 instead of only one would be completely alright with me

.

The one thing that gets overlooked a bit in the generalization of 2 titles since 2010 is that the first title came in 2010, Cal's first year at UK. Since then, they have 1 each, with Cal being much closer on several occasions than K. What does the 2010 ending look like if it had been Cal's 3rd or 4th year at UK instead of his 1st?

 

[~Keyser Soze~]

A lot of the hype came because of Harry Giles. Most expected him to be at full strength the entire year. Giles, when healthy, was one of the best prospects I have ever seen.

Now, they did have a lot of injuries and a young roster. K needs some vets to hold the youngins in place...and also fake sick while his assistants get clobbered. It goes to show that Cal can mold a group of young players together rather quickly while legends like K cannot...shows the degree of difficulty of what Cal does year in and year out.

Giles averaged 23 and 13 as junior and didn't win the state title, he was very good in the U19 games but showed nothing to get the label of one of the best prospects ever. This dude must have been the greatest AAU player that ever lived to get all this hype. Me personally, I just don't get it, seems like dude was overhyped his whole prep career.

 

[Hoopcatjc]

Duke has done less with more than any team in the NCAAs. I will never understand why that is not talked about more.

 

[FrankUnderwood]

I never count Duke out bc as long as they don't have a total season collapse (which they prolly won't - Rat face IS a great coach after all - ugh) the committee will 100% make sure Dukies get a VERY favorable draw in the tourney.

Basically pave the way for them to the FF #screwduke (@screwduke1 ) lol

 

[uky8unc5]

I would take three trips to the sweet 16 if two of them resulted in titles. Duke won our title in 2010 and 2015

No way that would fly at UK over 10 years. Tubby won his first year and the rabble were hounding him the very next season.

 

[Mime-Is-Money]

Here we have a team that many sportswriters (further proving they're awful but nonetheless) claimed was going to be as good as the '15 UK squad, a team that had at least 7 NBA players, a team that brought back a ton of talent, and they were a mess all season and got dropped in the 2nd round of the tournament, spoling a very favorable draw (as usual).

I just want to make sure people haven't forgotten about this trainwreck. This wasn't UK '13 who lost their best six players and then had to reload with a weak high school class, then losing their best player. Duke even got a surprising All-American effort from Kennard.

Here's to another season of overhyping, drama, trips, selfish basketball, poor chemistry, K's excuses and that beadyeyed puffy shadester Capel playing a big role.

Quoted for truth. They were stacked at nearly every position save PG with a ton of experience even for a squad taking one and dones. They will ultimately have 7 guys off that squad playing in the pros. One of the most underachieving teams in the last 15 years.

Obviously the slow recovery of Giles played a part, and they had a few injuries to work through, but they stank given the talent on that squad.

Has to sting a bit too that, in they year they were crowned champs before the season started, their bitter in-state rivals embroiled in a scandal spanning decades cut down the nets.

Duke: Despite ridiculous hype and easy draws, three trips past the S16 since 2005.

This is quoted for misrepresentation. They also have two titles in that span, with a truck load of regular season success. I'd trade our final four collapses for one more title and fun seasons in this same 12 year stretch.

 

[wcc31]

Quoted for truth. They were stacked at nearly every position save PG with a ton of experience even for a squad taking one and dones. They will ultimately have 7 guys off that squad playing in the pros. One of the most underachieving teams in the last 15 years.

Obviously the slow recovery of Giles played a part, and they had a few injuries to work through, but they stank given the talent on that squad.

Has to sting a bit too that, in they year they were crowned champs before the season started, their bitter in-state rivals embroiled in a scandal spanning decades cut down the nets.



This is quoted for misrepresentation. They also have two titles in that span, with a truck load of regular season success. I'd trade our final four collapses for one more title and fun seasons in this same 12 year stretch.

How is it a misrepresentation? It is a fact- one that many would be surprised to hear.

People act like its automatic that Duke's a contender every year. Umm, nope.