ChibCU
All American
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- Oct 7, 2012
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Never have a senior this good ever again? If you are counting his sophomore year as his senior year, maybe. Plus with the upcoming NBA eligibility change, we will have senior-laden teams again in the near future.
CMon85
All American
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- Nov 2, 2016
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- 2,622
We were lucky he even stuck around. In today's sports climate I just don't se many potential all Americans hanging around for their senior seasons. We have absolutely zero on the horizon.
dukeboy911
All American
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- Mar 3, 2018
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- 5,590
Didn't realize that. Interesting.
StopThePumpFakesShav
All American
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- Apr 1, 2013
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- 9,190
Yeah. Feels a bit misleading though. Like, early in the season we won games that were toss-ups with anywhere from 1-3 minutes to go, like MSU, Texas (OT), Indiana and Miami, and they all happened to end with scores that looked a little more lopsided than the game was.
Since late Jan though, we have been shit in those kinds of games, so the trend line has been concering.
CK86
All American
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- Oct 9, 2012
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- 8,247
Last night he was vocal when on defense and then on the way to timeouts he would make sure to give everyone a high 5. I would say he was less vocal on the offensive end after he got his ass chewed by K. That was honestly the most upset reaction by K towards his team that I can remember.
CK86
All American
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- Oct 9, 2012
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Kansas game will depend entirely on their big guy Udoka Azubuike (or however you spell his name) being in the game and avoiding foul trouble. He also looked quite winded by the end of the game yesterday and seemed to be a little hobbled.
Graham seemed like a guy who really lets the game to come to him and doesn't force up bad looks. He had like 4 points at halftime but still had a big game.
I will say it wouldn't surprise me if KU got up by 12-14 points only to choke in the end. The KU fans around me kept saying "oh my god we're going to fucking choke this lead". This was when they were still up 14 points. Their fans didn't feel confident until the buzzer ended.
Hopefully KU has a shitty 3 point game and they get the giant out of the game with foul trouble.
StopThePumpFakesShav
All American
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How raucous would you say the crowd was ? Is this like a real Kansas home game or is it much more muted because of the arena size ?
CK86
All American
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- Oct 9, 2012
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I mentioned in chat last night but I would argue that the game yesterday was about as neutral an ncaa tournament game as Duke has ever had. The only real negative crowd noise was the last minute and a half when Syracuse thought they had a chance.
If it is a hostile arena tomorrow, I'd be surprised. There are a lot more Duke fans around here who never get to see them play in person than there are KU. Sure KU will probably have 60% of the arena going for them but if it's as muted as yesterday, I am not concerned. The KU fans from a couple years ago when Omaha hosted were much louder than yesterday and they still lost. Crowd noise should not be a factor.
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2012
- Messages
- 41,154
Here is my eulogy for this unique season of Duke basketball:
When the season ends today, at the hands of a strong 1-seed and superior team overall, it will be remembered for more good than bad. Duke had the most talent in the country, and once Bagley committed, Duke was the preseason favorite to win the national title. Given that, nothing short of winning it all could have erased any doubt that Duke maximized its roster this season. On the other hand, it’s extremely rare for a team to be expected to make the Final Four from a statistical perspective, and Duke 2018 wasn’t an exception. The rational expectation for a top seed is to win 3-4 games, and they reached that expectation.
Duke plays for the NCAA Tournament, so the actual results in the regular season and ACC Tournament aren’t really worth assessing. This was the first season in several years when it seemed clear that the coaches maximized the team’s chances of winning in the NCAA Tournament, and that’s what their evaluation should be based on. The fact that Kansas is the better team on this day does not change the fact that the coaches did all anyone could ask for this season.
It would have been nice for them to experiment more with zone defense years ago, so that they could quickly identify this roster as being particularly well suited for playing zone, but their previous years of failure were a sunk cost. The coaches surprised everyone by finally trying something new on defense rather than accepting the same old man-to-man that would fall apart whenever a screen was set. They did this not only when switching to zone full-time, but also when they tinkered with a more conservative man-to-man first. By developing a defense that wasn’t merely better than their impotent man-to-man, but that evolved into one of the elite defenses in the country, the coaches did all they could on that side of the ball.
In contrast with their history of stubbornness on defense, the coaches have always shown a great deal of flexibility on offense. This season was their greatest test in maintaining an elite offense with unusual parts, and they mostly passed with flying colors. It wasn’t usually pretty, but only four Duke teams in Kenpom history have finished with a higher ranking in adjusted offensive efficiency than where Duke currrently sits (#2 in the country). The coaches made it work with a roster of giants whose strengths and weaknesses were unlike any other in Duke history.
There’s some blame to go around when the point guard selected to lead an offense that’s normally so dependent on spacing and outside shooting is someone who can’t shoot, but every step leading to this sad end had good reasons behind it. After Frank Jackson’s decision to achieve his dream of going in the 2nd round of the NBA draft, Duke was desperate for a point guard, and the coaches chose the highest ranked point guard recruit in the country to fill the void. We can’t totally fault them for thinking Duval might become a respectable shooter over the course of a year. When Duval proved to be a bad shooter and a bad decision-maker, the coaches tried to use Allen more as a point guard. When this was a disaster, the coaches went back to Duval and presumably told him to stop doing the worst things that he does on the court. There have been flashes of brilliance mixed with Derryck Thornton-esque swaths of yikes, but overall, the offense was up to Duke’s lofty standards.
Losing to Kansas will sting for a while, but remember that the results in prior seasons with a dysfunctional man-to-man defense and/or poor point guard play have been significantly worse than this. This was a good job. Good effort. The 2019 team will carry higher expectations, with what appears to be the most talented starting lineup in the one-and-done era and a collection of skills very well suited for the usual Duke offense and the new Duke defense. Due to the nature of the single elimination tournament, roughly one year from now, we will most likely be much more disappointed than we are today.
When the season ends today, at the hands of a strong 1-seed and superior team overall, it will be remembered for more good than bad. Duke had the most talent in the country, and once Bagley committed, Duke was the preseason favorite to win the national title. Given that, nothing short of winning it all could have erased any doubt that Duke maximized its roster this season. On the other hand, it’s extremely rare for a team to be expected to make the Final Four from a statistical perspective, and Duke 2018 wasn’t an exception. The rational expectation for a top seed is to win 3-4 games, and they reached that expectation.
Duke plays for the NCAA Tournament, so the actual results in the regular season and ACC Tournament aren’t really worth assessing. This was the first season in several years when it seemed clear that the coaches maximized the team’s chances of winning in the NCAA Tournament, and that’s what their evaluation should be based on. The fact that Kansas is the better team on this day does not change the fact that the coaches did all anyone could ask for this season.
It would have been nice for them to experiment more with zone defense years ago, so that they could quickly identify this roster as being particularly well suited for playing zone, but their previous years of failure were a sunk cost. The coaches surprised everyone by finally trying something new on defense rather than accepting the same old man-to-man that would fall apart whenever a screen was set. They did this not only when switching to zone full-time, but also when they tinkered with a more conservative man-to-man first. By developing a defense that wasn’t merely better than their impotent man-to-man, but that evolved into one of the elite defenses in the country, the coaches did all they could on that side of the ball.
In contrast with their history of stubbornness on defense, the coaches have always shown a great deal of flexibility on offense. This season was their greatest test in maintaining an elite offense with unusual parts, and they mostly passed with flying colors. It wasn’t usually pretty, but only four Duke teams in Kenpom history have finished with a higher ranking in adjusted offensive efficiency than where Duke currrently sits (#2 in the country). The coaches made it work with a roster of giants whose strengths and weaknesses were unlike any other in Duke history.
There’s some blame to go around when the point guard selected to lead an offense that’s normally so dependent on spacing and outside shooting is someone who can’t shoot, but every step leading to this sad end had good reasons behind it. After Frank Jackson’s decision to achieve his dream of going in the 2nd round of the NBA draft, Duke was desperate for a point guard, and the coaches chose the highest ranked point guard recruit in the country to fill the void. We can’t totally fault them for thinking Duval might become a respectable shooter over the course of a year. When Duval proved to be a bad shooter and a bad decision-maker, the coaches tried to use Allen more as a point guard. When this was a disaster, the coaches went back to Duval and presumably told him to stop doing the worst things that he does on the court. There have been flashes of brilliance mixed with Derryck Thornton-esque swaths of yikes, but overall, the offense was up to Duke’s lofty standards.
Losing to Kansas will sting for a while, but remember that the results in prior seasons with a dysfunctional man-to-man defense and/or poor point guard play have been significantly worse than this. This was a good job. Good effort. The 2019 team will carry higher expectations, with what appears to be the most talented starting lineup in the one-and-done era and a collection of skills very well suited for the usual Duke offense and the new Duke defense. Due to the nature of the single elimination tournament, roughly one year from now, we will most likely be much more disappointed than we are today.
deepdarkblue
Legend
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2012
- Messages
- 16,011
I think I'm emotionally prepared for our season to end today. It's already made it to the point where I feel like they've met or exceeded my real expectations. But I'm still going to be a little sad to see these guys going (well, maybe not Duval)
sjsj2448
All American
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2016
- Messages
- 3,246
I love most of you and you are very smart, but this is no time for pessimism. We are on the precipice of the unimaginable. The heretofore unseen.
How many of you thought we'd get Bagley? How many of you thought he'd average 21 and 11? How many of you thought Coach K would switch to zone full-time? How many of you thought we'd get Zion?
This is the last great stand of Coach K before he marches off into the sunset. This year and next aren't tournaments- they're coronations.
DUKE THE FUCK UP. #SI6GHTSONSE7EN
How many of you thought we'd get Bagley? How many of you thought he'd average 21 and 11? How many of you thought Coach K would switch to zone full-time? How many of you thought we'd get Zion?
This is the last great stand of Coach K before he marches off into the sunset. This year and next aren't tournaments- they're coronations.
DUKE THE FUCK UP. #SI6GHTSONSE7EN
Slap the Floor
Legend
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2014
- Messages
- 10,289
Axe you have risen to a brand of a poster I never thought you could reach.