Unfortunately… Duke is going to win it all

[TM2013]

I slightly agree. We got UF and Duke early. I'm not sure we could've beat them in February, even if fully healthy. They both are that good.

Maybe but Jaxson, Carr and Lamont were all healthy back then and we went toe to toe with everyone. Both Duke and Florida have had losses/close calls the last few weeks. The Jaxson injury will always be a big what-if.....he was absolutely on fire the last few games before he got hurt. He was a big piece to the puzzle.

 

[carbonlib23]

duke lost to y'all and kansas when a 17 yr old cooper flagg thought he had to be the hero and committed critical errors in the final minute of each game....they lost to clemson AT clemson because clemson was really good that night, home crowd and even then, had a chance to tie when flagg slipped on an un-dried floor going for the basket....they haven't lost a game since then and have tightened up their defense...

 

[Mash 2.4]

duke lost to y'all and kansas when a 17 yr old cooper flagg thought he had to be the hero and committed critical errors in the final minute of each game....they lost to clemson AT clemson because clemson was really good that night, home crowd and even then, had a chance to tie when flagg slipped on an un-dried floor going for the basket....they haven't lost a game since then and have tightened up their defense...

Slipped on an undried floor. That’s precious. Did Flagg also push off with his off arm every single time he drove the ball in those games? Yes. Yes he did.

 

[AshWilliams]

You seem angry

It doesn't take a long memory to recall all your Cal-ass-kissing posts.

 

[Worf88]

Those assholes are going to catch and pass us in titles if we don’t get shit moving again, quickly.

 

[gojvc]

You are absolutely correct, this is 2015 UK but with a good coach.

Forget 2015 UK. This team lost to 2025 UK.

 

[Tf2217]

The key to beating Duke is stopping Malucah. He’s in double figures tonight off lobs from the pick and roll. Force Flagg into shooting tougher shots around the rim and guard the middle pick and roll and you can beat them. I just don’t know if there’s a team in college that has that ability. Coming into the tournament, I thought their inconsistency from three and strength of schedule would be their downfall. I was wrong. I believe they will win it all (I just threw up in my mouth saying that).

I'm not sure we beat Duke in our game if Malucah doesn't go out cramping or dealing with the injury in 2nd half. Dude is a man child.

 

[michaeluk26]

Slipped on an undried floor. That’s precious. Did Flagg also push off with his off arm every single time he drove the ball in those games? Yes. Yes he did.

Absolutely and it drives me crazy.

 

[michaeluk26]

duke lost to y'all and kansas when a 17 yr old cooper flagg thought he had to be the hero and committed critical errors in the final minute of each game....they lost to clemson AT clemson because clemson was really good that night, home crowd and even then, had a chance to tie when flagg slipped on an un-dried floor going for the basket....they haven't lost a game since then and have tightened up their defense...

All I hear are excuses.

 

[michaeluk26]

Unfortunately, Duke matches up well with everyone who's left in the field. Sion James is basically their Alex Poythress. He can guard the opponent's best player. He was a huge pickup for them last spring. If you took him away from Duke, it would have a similar effect to losing Poythress for that 2015 team.

Also, Wisconsin was just a horrific matchup for Kentucky that year. Five players who could space UK and draw WCS/Towns away from the rim. A true mismatch with Dekker at the 3.

Duke has favorable positional matchups with everyone who's left.

They've probably got this one locked up unless they have a historically bad shooting performance.

Absolutely a bad matchup and I distinctly remember both you and I pointing that out when they won their elite 8 game right up to the game while others were talking about how we'd beaten them the year before with a worse team. They seemed to forget Randle, Young and Poythress were the major factors of winning that game and they were gone. The revenge factor was very present. All the Wisconsin players came back to beat us. They head pictures of them dejected while our whole team was celebrating behind them as their social media avatars from the summer till we played.

 

[carbonlib23]

All I hear are excuses.

no. just facts.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

All those years KY was great but the conference wasn't we got to hear about how we would have fared in the ACC. Maybe the Duke fans understand now. Conference means nothing to team greatness.

 

[Haggin_Hall_1983]

The key to beating Duke is stopping Malucah. He’s in double figures tonight off lobs from the pick and roll. Force Flagg into shooting tougher shots around the rim and guard the middle pick and roll and you can beat them. I just don’t know if there’s a team in college that has that ability. Coming into the tournament, I thought their inconsistency from three and strength of schedule would be their downfall. I was wrong. I believe they will win it all (I just threw up in my mouth saying that).

This is absolutely correct! Malucah has developed into a very effective player as the season progressed. Combined with Flagg, Duke has a 2 headed 7' team that Florida alone can match up against.

 

[BBNinSC]

I’m convinced that this is Auburn’s year. They have looked like the champion most of the season. I’ll be a bit surprised if Duke gets by Houston.

 

[Haggin_Hall_1983]

I’m convinced that this is Auburn’s year. They have looked like the champion most of the season. I’ll be a bit surprised if Duke gets by Houston.

I think that Florida and Duke are a bad inside matchup for Auburn- and both teams are equally good at shooting threes and dribble penetration.

 

[Creed Bratton]

I think a close game under 2 minutes will be their undoing. Even in the Bama game Flagg and K's Nipple took bad shots and turned the ball over down the stretch and it wasn't even a close game.

 

[DukeDallas9192011015]

I'm not sure we beat Duke in our game if Malucah doesn't go out cramping or dealing with the injury in 2nd half. Dude is a man child.

In addition to that, Sion James (another manchild) hurt his shoulder and didn't play the final 12 minutes of the game. Sion is a dog on defense and doesn't make mistakes on offense.

 

[BBNinSC]

In addition to that, Sion James (another manchild) hurt his shoulder and didn't play the final 12 minutes of the game. Sion is a dog on defense and doesn't make mistakes on offense.

Duke fans are the biggest sissies in the NCAA.

 

[BlueWorldOrder74]

What do you think now?

Seems I was wrong. Duke smothering Bama with length and D. Dudes can’t even get a descent shot off. I hate Duke.

Already answered to that.

 

[CalipariCapo]

I'm not sure we beat Duke in our game if Malucah doesn't go out cramping or dealing with the injury in 2nd half. Dude is a man child.

You’re right. I don’t believe we would have either. I think we were down 12 or 13 before he went out if my memory serves.

 

[Creed Bratton]

@DukeDallas9192011015 I'm not sure why you laughed at my comment about Flagg and K's Nipple and their turnovers. The 3 freshmen had a combined 10 turnovers against Bama with 5 of them in the last 10 minutes of a 15-20 point game. Let the nerves of a close game kick in and nothing they have done to this point indicates they won't do it again. Then throw in that for some reason Scheyer thinks having a turnover prone Flagg running point in late game situations is a good idea and it's a recipe for a loss.

 

[DukeDallas9192011015]

@DukeDallas9192011015 I'm not sure why you laughed at my comment about Flagg and K's Nipple and their turnovers. The 3 freshmen had a combined 10 turnovers against Bama with 5 of them in the last 10 minutes of a 15-20 point game. Let the nerves of a close game kick in and nothing they have done to this point indicates they won't do it again. Then throw in that for some reason Scheyer thinks having a turnover prone Flagg running point in late game situations is a good idea and it's a recipe for a loss.

We will see. Flagg was bad against Alabama (for his standards) and Duke still won by 20. I wouldn't put much stock into Duke's turnovers near the end of the Bama game, that game was over, Duke's defense shut the water off, and Duke went into stall ball instead of attacking which made them a bit too careless.
Having the ball in Flagg's hands is the right decision in a close game. Arizona tried to press Duke in the 2nd half, and all Duke did was let Cooper beat the pressure which led to alley-oop after alley-oop.
I keep hearing about "wait until Duke is in a close game" or "wait until they see an athletic SEC team." Well, there are 2 games left to maybe see that. I do think Houston will be a battle.

 

[Creed Bratton]

We will see. Flagg was bad against Alabama (for his standards) and Duke still won by 20. I wouldn't put much stock into Duke's turnovers near the end of the Bama game, that game was over, Duke's defense shut the water off, and Duke went into stall ball instead of attacking which made them a bit too careless.
Having the ball in Flagg's hands is the right decision in a close game. Arizona tried to press Duke in the 2nd half, and all Duke did was let Cooper beat the pressure which led to alley-oop after alley-oop.
I keep hearing about "wait until Duke is in a close game" or "wait until they see an athletic SEC team." Well, there are 2 games left to maybe see that. I do think Houston will be a battle.

Would you put much stock into the 4 turnovers in the final 3 minutes in the UK loss or the 2 turnovers in the final 45 seconds of the Kansas loss by the freshmen? Trust me UK fan's know all to well how the pressure of the survive and advance format of the NCAA tournament can get to freshmen and the Duke freshmen aren't immune no matter how good you think they are.

 

[DukeDallas9192011015]

Would you put much stock into the 4 turnovers in the final 3 minutes in the UK loss or the 2 turnovers in the final 45 seconds of the Kansas loss by the freshmen? Trust me UK fan's know all to well how the pressure of the survive and advance format of the NCAA tournament can get to freshmen and the Duke freshmen aren't immune no matter how good you think they are.

No. I wouldn't put much stock into November games when we start 3 freshman and play 5 freshman overall. None actually. This is a completely different team than November or even December when they only scored 68 points against George Mason.

 

[Creed Bratton]

No. I wouldn't put much stock into November games when we start 3 freshman and play 5 freshman overall. None actually. This is a completely different team than November or even December when they only scored 68 points against George Mason.

So you had an excuse for those games because they were so long ago and you had an excuse for a game that just happened over the weekend. Sounds like you have excuses for everything. 🤣🤣

 

[HeismaNole]

If you're 40-50, you've watched Duke and UConn come from nothing to 10 titles. UConn has so many dryspells that can't go ignored but Duke has been consistently successful for 40 years.

In the last 40 years, Duke only has one stretch of four seasons where they didn't at least make an Elite 8 (06-09). From 86 to 94, they had seven Final Fours, two championships, and three runner up finishes. Then from 1998- 2001, it was three Elite 8s, two Final Fours, a national championship and runner-up.

Final Fours in 86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 94, 99, 01, 04, 10, 15, 22, 25

That's very consistent. Meanwhile, we have watched gaps of 1999-2010 and 2016-current with no Final Fours. These are the two biggest gaps in our program's history. Before these two, the most we had ever had in between Final Fours was nine years.