Make the Duke love make sense

[bigblueinsanity]

All the pundits I have seen act like Duke is one of, if not, the favorites to win it all. Why? Seriously. They are not that impressive offensively, and their defensive rating is so high because they are destroying their cupcakes. Their first 2 games, they averaged 98, and in the 9 games since they are averaging 74. Against their currently ranked opponents, they have given up 78, 77 and 75.

It must be the Flagg factor, because I am not seeing an overly impressive team.

Must be new to cbb. Its been this way for at least 15 years, maybe more.

It started when acc was ESPN's main or only contract. When ESPN blew up, they kept hyping games to get ratings. ACC benefited greatly. Thats why they had a long run as top basketball dog. Notice when secn and others fell in line under espn, all that advantage lessened.

In the midst of that run, usa basketball (run and funded by nike) started a love fest with k. That kept duke on the media's top shelf all this time and resulted in them getting top recruits well before nil was allowed (see bagley, etc etc).

Until the duke/usa basketball love fest gets broken up, this is how it will be. Plus they will keep getting top guys they want especially if they were on a nike aau team.

 

[JonathanW]

YES! But it's December. And he will improve as the season progresses.

But let's agree to disagree if you think Flagg is NOT (at least) on the short list.

Mock Drafts 100% agree Cooper has "IT":
Bleacher Report...NBA Draft...CBS Sports...etc.

Yes Flagg is good, very good. And he is on the short list, looks like unanimously top 3 draft pick next June, and likely (#1).

But 6 weeks ago when many on here were saying we had no chance to beat Duke, because Flagg was a once a decade generational talent (e.g. James, AD), and I disagreed. I pointed to his at best mediocre shooting in exhibition games & vs first Opp or 2. That he was looking right now more like a volume scorer than an efficient scorer. But his perceived defense should keep him in the discussion as one of the best players until his shooting improves. BUT...that he was NOT a decade generational talent, that there is a guy like him EVERY YEAR. Smith and Miller from Auburn and Bama, and others.

Let's not forget this time last year many of these "experts" still had Edwards going #1 last June (they were not saying he was like Flagg is now, but they did think a lot of him). LOL!!!!!
I'm NOT saying Flagg is anywhere close to Edwards, but I am saying if they could MISS so badly on Edwards, then couldn't they be just a little bit overly optimistic on Flagg too.

 

[Kennedy_UK]

All the pundits I have seen act like Duke is one of, if not, the favorites to win it all. Why? Seriously. They are not that impressive offensively, and their defensive rating is so high because they are destroying their cupcakes. Their first 2 games, they averaged 98, and in the 9 games since they are averaging 74. Against their currently ranked opponents, they have given up 78, 77 and 75.

It must be the Flagg factor, because I am not seeing an overly impressive team.

No. It's pretty simple. They're very good. And our win against them is very impressive.

 

[WeWant9]

I think duke is a talented team, but they remind me of some of the past UK teams where you hope that talent all comes together by March (hopefully not). They’re 1-2 in their big ooc games. Lost both of their neutral court games and won at home. They did go to Zona and win, but Zona is currently sitting at 5-5.

ACC is not great, so they should run through it with their talent. They seem like a S16 type of team who will lose to a more veteran style team in the tournament. But they’ll probably win the regular season and ACCT and eveyone will hype the hell out of them for the NCAAT. Then Scheyer will do his thing.

 

[yabbadabbadoo]

Any alchemists out there?
Lead into gold?
Ain’t gonna happen.
They’re a good team, but overrated imo.
More like silver into gold.
They lack a PG that can make them a championship tier type team.
Flagg plays too many minutes and he’ll get uptempoed to his final college demise somewhere around the sweet 16 or elite 8.

 

[silentsaregolden2.0]

Duke is definitely overrated. A commentator had the nerve to compare them to our 2012 National Title team. I don't get it.

That was my point. Of course they are good, and one of the better teams. They have a solid 7. That doesn't make you a great team. You have to show it on the court, and so far I don't think they are.

 

[silentsaregolden2.0]

Don't we want Duke to be highly thought of and highly rated so that our win over them looks even better???

The committee doesn't go off of comments from pundits.

 

[ukcatz12]

Great? That’s one of the more overly-generous uses of that word I’ve seen.

No, we absolutely do not have to “admit” that yet. They are good, a ton of talent, easily capable of winning it all. But nobody should be calling them great before they’ve actually done anything great.

What's your definition of great? Because Duke is for sure a top 15 team and that would meet my definition of what a great team is in any given year. I'm not saying they're some all time great team. But in any given year there's probably a few elite teams, a handful of great teams, and the rest of the top 25 is rounded out by very good teams.

Great seems fair for Duke seeing as they already beat Auburn and lost two very close games to two top 10 teams.

 

[ukcatz12]

That was my point. Of course they are good, and one of the better teams. They have a solid 7. That doesn't make you a great team. You have to show it on the court, and so far I don't think they are.

How many teams do you legitimately think are better than Duke this year? I think they're a top 15 team at worst and saying top 10 is probably more accurate. To me, anyone in the top 10 is a great team. Duke beat Auburn, that's showing it on the court to me.

 

[Pmalone6719]

How many teams do you legitimately think are better than Duke this year? I think they're a top 15 team at worst and saying top 10 is probably more accurate. To me, anyone in the top 10 is a great team. Duke beat Auburn, that's showing it on the court to me.

Agreed!

 

[Montana81]

Duke is good and can be a dangerous out. But they have something against them I'm not sure anyone has mentioned and that is Scheyer. I think he is a mid in game coach, like quite mid.

I’ve been higher on Scheyer than a lot of people but when he ran the exact same thing at the end of the Kansas game that got him beat against us I began second guessing myself.

 

[JonathanW]

How many teams do you legitimately think are better than Duke this year? I think they're a top 15 team at worst and saying top 10 is probably more accurate. To me, anyone in the top 10 is a great team. Duke beat Auburn, that's showing it on the court to me.

You are correct. But they are close enough to us that we don’t want the combination of them playing in a much weaker league and even a slight over-rating to result in them getting the nod over us in a seed line.

 

[Blueisbest]

Duke has a good team and will have a great record because the ACC is terrible. But, compared to several Duke teams of the past, they are sorely lacking.

 

[CastleRubric]

I smell a second round exit for them come tournament time

 

[UKWildcats1987]

Vegas is always going to have the talented teams as favorites, and Duke is talented. The odds of them winning it all are small, but same for all other teams.

I agree with others that their inexperience will doom them n March as one bad stretch of one game can do.