Who Thinks We Can Beat Duke In Basketball and Why

[Ron Mehico]

They did bring in few quality transfers though. It’s gonna be a tough game to win for sure. I don’t know what to think about our chances honestly.

I don’t know either. Brand new coach and team against a stacked roster with a little continuity. Will be a tall order to win that game imo

 

[Skyguyb27]

I still think having a bucket guy is important, almost every champion ever had a bucket guy or best player that was one of the best In the sport.

Yeah, I haven’t seen Pope run it at UK so I am only saying what it should be. You may well be very right. Plus it’s always nice to have.

 

[SemperFiCat]

I'm excited. I don't expect us to look as disjointed as Cal's teams did early in the season. We've got veterans and a coach that cares about winning and the program.

That's where I'm at. I'm not expecting a win, but I bet we look more like an organized team. Pope isn't just gonna roll the ball out there. We may take some Ls, but I'll be happy as heck to see good team basketball again.

 

[Smashcat]

Have no idea if we can beat them but expect AT LEAST a competitive loss since they don't have Roach. That's a big loss for them.

 

[ThrowBackCat9]

Cooper Flagg is more Kyle Filipowski level than Zion or even Banchero level.

Cats win by 6-8 points.

 

[WildcatNC]

Cooper Flagg is more Kyle Filipowski level than Zion or even Banchero level.

Cats win by 6-8 points.

You may be right. I'm just not sold on Flagg the way many are. We'll see.

 

[JonathanW]

I do. I might give Duke the slight edge, but honestly if we played them 100 games, I think it would be 55-45 (+/-5) games. So pretty much even.

PG/SG/SF:
Proctor, James, Foster, Gillis, Evans, Knueppel, Harris
vs
Robinson, Oweh, Butler, Brea, Kriisa

PF & C:
Flagg, Brown, Maluach
vs
Carr, Williams, Garrison

Other guys:
Knueppel, Harris, Ngongba
vs
Almonor, Chandler, Perry, Noah

At the PG/SG/SF spots, that looks pretty even. Proctor and Robinson could be all-ACC/SEC 2nd team guys. Duke has height advantage over Butler & Kriisa, UK has better shooting.
At the PF/C spots, I'll give Duke a SLIGHT advantage, mostly due to Flagg being a more athletic Carr. The other 4 are pretty even.
The "Other guys" looks pretty even.

First of all, I do not see Flagg as a generational talent, a Kobe, Garnett, Durrant, James, Edwards. It's way too early to say that about anyone. The only HS player in the past 50 years that probably had that aura about him was James. Flagg could possibly be in that next tier (all-stars), which is great. But is he there now? I really doubt it. He didn't dominate or even separate himself at the McD game/practices, he was "just another guy". That is NOT what a "generational talent" does. Each year the "hype" around whoever the best guy is gets bigger and bigger, and is often an overstatement of their true talents (at that time). I would be surprised a bit, if he is as good next year as Holmgren was at Gonzaga. But yeah, that's still pretty good.

 

[Creed Bratton]

We will win because this is their coach...

 

[Zissou87]

Put one good defender on Flagg, if he gets 30 so be it, keep everyone else sub par and you have a great chance to win…. And we’re Kentucky we can beat anyone, anywhere, anytime!

That's fun to say, but if this team and staff had BYU across their chest would you be as confident about a win against Duke?

 

[cat tat2]

That's fun to say, but if this team and staff had BYU across their chest would you be as confident about a win against Duke?

When it comes to Kentucky basketball, I always believe we have a chance to win. Sometimes it’s a slim chance but a chance nonetheless.