Absolutely. Credit to them. They beat who they had to beat. You could argue UK stole one in '98 (avoided Arizona and UNC).
Derryck Thornton has committed to Duke for 2015
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Absolutely. Credit to them. They beat who they had to beat. You could argue UK stole one in '98 (avoided Arizona and UNC).
Utah was way overrated. They had 3 wins against the NCAA field, WVU had 7. You twice mentioned beating ND, but failed to mention that they also beat you guys TWICE. And don't get me started on Villanova. They are massively overrated every year. They have been to ONE FF since their huge upset over G-Town in 1985. And everybody that paid any attention to cbb knew Gonzaga was going to be your #2 as soon as they got their 2nd loss. Wasn't even a question about that.
Credit the guard play all you want, but the difference in this year and previous years is the difference in Justise Winslow and Jabari Parker/Rodney Hood.
You'll be supremely capable of scoring from the perimeter, you always are. It's that versatile athlete who can play defense and take his man off the bounce that you'll miss. Coupling that with Okafor and a PG who was clutch won a title. All pieces aren't created equal.
Again, Duke will be good again. In a down year, they'll be a contender. But they're also built in a way that we've seen fail several times before.
And for the record, anyone who didn't think Duke was our primary threat throughout the season was an idiot. No one was saying you guys would flame out early last year. Not anyone with a brain.
You'll be supremely capable of scoring from the perimeter, you always are. It's that versatile athlete who can play defense and take his man off the bounce that you'll miss. Coupling that with Okafor and a PG who was clutch won a title. All pieces aren't created equal.
Again, Duke will be good again. In a down year, they'll be a contender. But they're also built in a way that we've seen fail several times before.
And for the record, anyone who didn't think Duke was our primary threat throughout the season was an idiot. No one was saying you guys would flame out early last year. Not anyone with a brain.
I guess we were pretty lucky we got to destroy a West Virginia squad that showed Kentucky the door a few days earlier?
I didn't know if they had the defense to do it. When they went on that losing streak teams were really punishing them with dribble penetration. They couldn't afford to have Okafor in foul trouble and Tyus Jones could just be muscled by anybody.
Their defense improved pretty dramatically, partly because of K's willingness to go with junk but mostly because of Winslow. I think at one point he actually became MKG.
This! We KILLED the team you lost to.. It's no dukes fault UK didn't hold up there end of the deal twice in the tourney. As for Purdue our 4 that year they were at least a 2 with Hummel so they dropped them to a fair spot. If we woulda played Nova y'all would still be saying they were weak but we played a very good Baylor team.
you can only play the teams that are in front of you......duke took care of business.....if there were other teams more "worthy" of getting the chance to knock off duke, they could have taken care of business as well...
i mean, really.....the most spectacular finals in TV history was set up, ready to go. UK couldn't get past Wisc, duke did...
i mean, really.....the most spectacular finals in TV history was set up, ready to go. UK couldn't get past Wisc, duke did...
I disagree with that. I don't think any of the brackets were set up badly. Duke was just fortunate in that several of the higher seeds on their side lost early.
Yes, you were really lucky. West Virginia was a 31% shooting team from 3 and made 10 against UK. What a fluke.
You would be wrong.
The committee made Villanova the 2-seed overall, meaning that Duke got to avoid the other THREE best teams in the country until the title game.
So, yeah, the brackets were set up badly AND Duke was fortunate that several high seeds lost as well.
Again- where did all these Dookies come from? I don't seem to remember these guys from the last two years?
I guess it's easy to turn your fan switch on and off when you choose your team.
I guess it's easy to turn your fan switch on and off when you choose your team.
Considering your mods preemptively banned a lot of people who simply requested permission to post (something no other free board requires to my knowledge), it's not surprising many are now posting when that draconian policy was lifted.
I love how you're characterizing all Duke fans as bandwagon, even those of us who have been members of Devils Illustrated for nearly 10 years like me. But yeah, a bandwagon fan would pay money for 10 years for premium info about Duke.
College basketball world better get use to it, K is going to make a huge run next few seasons. All the top players in 2016 class ,Giles, Tatum, Smith duke is the big leader, that is one of the best classes ever. The Champs will be a tough out this season.
Whatever helps you believe Kentucky won the national title this season...
Just like with Rivers and Kyrie and Jabari. Again, talent has never been lacking.
One title doesn't suddenly cement you going forward--not in this era. Look at how the last few champions have fared the following season. It's hard to keep that train moving. They do have the best to ever do it on the sidelines though, and the talent will always be there, especially with the Team USA boost, but virtually no one is immune to a down year in the current landscape.
Can't argue with that assessment. I just hope we build the foundation for a run in 2016.
But will they beat Mercer in the first round?
Don't be obtuse or start trolling. You know exactly what I meant by "down year."
You fail the test. You are completely full of crap.
There is no chance in hell that you would honestly rather have played Notre Dame (who had JUST BEATEN YOU) and Wisconsin in the Elite 8/FF than Gonzaga/Michigan State, or Gonzaga/Villanova, had that happened.
You want to know why this ticks off UK fans? Because it NEVER happens for UK. Duke has made it to the Elite 8 or farther 7 times in the last 20 years (with 3 titles to show for it now). In those 7 years, they played a grand total of 11 games against teams seeded 1, 2, or 3, going 7-4.
In the same 20 years, UK has made it to the Elite 8 or farther 11 times, also with 3 titles. In those 11 years, UK has played 20 games against teams seeded 1, 2, or 3, going 15-5.
How does saying NIT mean I'm trolling? In my book, a truly down year means you didn't make the tournament. Losing to a team like Mercer would be shocking and disappointing, no doubt. But teams get upset in March all the time. Missing the tournament altogether would be a down year, not losing in the first round.
Can you guys take your Duke to another board please?
Good work. Also, even in those numbers, it doesn't show that even in those games Duke did play against the top seeds, it includes games against Purdue in 2010, when they were missing Hummel. Purdue has zero chance of winning that game without him. Or Gonzaga as a #2 this year. Let's see Gonzaga or ND, which would I rather play? That's a tough one.
Good work. Also, even in those numbers, it doesn't show that even in those games Duke did play against the top seeds, it includes games against Purdue in 2010, when they were missing Hummel. Purdue has zero chance of winning that game without him. Or Gonzaga as a #2 this year. Let's see Gonzaga or ND, which would I rather play? That's a tough one.
Oh lord.
Yes, we just lost to Notre Dame. Which makes me pretty confident it would NOT happen again. The first game they won through sheer luck. The second game we DESTROYED them. They won the third game. I don't think Notre Dame wins three games against Duke this year. No chance in hell. So yes, I would gladly have played them.
And we PLAYED Wisconsin. We beat them TWICE this year.
And you just keep skipping the fact that you were the only 1 seed in history that had a 2 seed which they had beaten by 40 freaking points that year. That is lunacy. An EIGHT LOSS 2 seed? Come on.
And if you want to really understand why Duke hasn't played against 1 seeds... go check out what seed Duke has been in those games. Hard to play against a 1 seed anywhere but the Final Four when you ARE a 1 seed. UK, on the other hand, has had some down years in the last 20 or so years, and has been seeded in a position where you can play more higher seeds.
As I've said; I was happy with Duke's bracket this year. I didn't think it was particularly hard. I was also glad to see some teams lose in our bracket. I also didn't think it was some fantastic, piece of cake, NCAA-set-up gift that took a title away from some other, more deserving team. I also didn't think 2010 was some fantastic gift that ripped off some other, more deserving team, what with the crazy high RPIs and playing the Final Four in what was effectively an away environment. This feels like bitterness speaking.
Anyway... not much else can be done with this thread, I think.
And I was tent #1 during the Gaudet year. While being a varsity captain. And a triple major. Anything but bandwagon
You trashed UK all year over at DI with crank it loud. your admin dukiejay gets mad at me because we beat ND when he thought we were going to lose and another poster called me out before the game was over and I just replied whats up. Your just trying to troll over here and get reactions. Yes you won the title good job now like they told me go away
I believe in the classes with Rivers, Irving, and Parker they were the only recruits ranked in the top 25 going to duke. That's very different than getting 3-4 recruits in the top 25 every year as it appears duke has a good chance of doing from 2014-2016.
