Duke Basketball 2020-2021

[TS9]

Added bonus: Won't have to deal with a day or two of folks roasting Duke for declining an NIT invite.

 

[physicsfactor]

I think Duke can reasonably spin that the NCAA tournament streak is alive but with an asterisk

 

[Devilsforlife]

Ended two straight seasons with Ws. First time since 1991 and 1992. The Master is having a second peak.

 

[Pantone287]

I'm okay with this purely for Mark Williams reasons. I was maybe not even going to watch tonight because I didn't want to have to actively root against him.

Really, this is about as merciful of an outcome as we could have asked for. Get to end the season on a feel-good note with players feeling shortchanged, and the MW narrative will probs be that he had one breakout game but should return, instead of being the emerging centerpiece of Duke's late surge. There's even a little "what if" asterisk for missing the tournament now, at least with the hot take media angle.

I think I hated this team less than y'all once MW started starting and Moore stopped being awful, though. They weren't that good, but all of the players I actually enjoyed watching were guys we expected to stay in the program for another year-plus, which is rare. MW, Moore, Brakefield, and Coleman were all pretty enjoyable young players for me to watch.

 

[torontoduke]

I dig that.

 

[rome8180]

I didn't hate the team. But that's mostly because I watched very few games live. So they won like 90% of the games I did watch. They were amazing.

 

[DukeCrow]

Only possible way to end the season and make everyone feel bad for us…

The Master

 

[DukeCrow]

I didn't hate the team. But that's mostly because I watched very few games live. So they won like 90% of the games I did watch. They were amazing.

Exactly. Early on in the season I decided to only watch games after I knew we won. Made the season much more palatable.

 

[rhfarmer]

I stated early on that I enjoyed this team. The things that I hate about Duke basketball are mostly reserved for the ass hat head coach.

 

[best4heisman]

Definitely didn't hate this team. It's hard to be angry at a mediocre team for being mediocre. It's too bad they proved to a be a horrible matchup against UNC and ended our stretch of avoiding sweeps, but otherwise I think this team will be remembered largely for what comes next year. We'll all be able to look back at this team's growing pains fondly if Steward, Roach, Williams et al. are able to help us get to a Final Four in 2022.

 

[StopThePumpFakesShav]

They are 34th in Kenpom with an Eff rating of 19.02. Our 2012 team, which earned a 2 seed and lost to Lehigh, finished 19th but with an Eff rating of 19.70.

The next year we brought in one impactful recruit (Sulaimon) and were a top 5 team (w/ a healthy Kelly).

I more feel bad for this group rather than are annoyed with them the way I was annoyed with the 2014 and 2017 teams, for example.

 

[TS9]

Didn’t realize the Eff ratings were so similar. Interesting. 2012 and 2021 were both in a ton of fairly close games - 2012 won more of those than it probably should have, and 2021 lost more of them than it should have. Such a fine line sometimes.

 

[Devilsforlife]

Jalen Johnson being our worst OAD yet as a top 10 recruit and subpar PG play, coupled with K's coaching issues and some really bad luck in close games torpedoed this season. The ACC was the weakest I've ever seen it. The 2020 team probably goes 15-3/16-2 in it, and Zion's team could've easily run the table.

 

[deepdarkblue]

Definitely didn't hate this team. It's hard to be angry at a mediocre team for being mediocre. It's too bad they proved to a be a horrible matchup against UNC and ended our stretch of avoiding sweeps, but otherwise I think this team will be remembered largely for what comes next year. We'll all be able to look back at this team's growing pains fondly if Steward, Roach, Williams et al. are able to help us get to a Final Four in 2022.

Is "et al" Moore?

I don't hate the players, I hate the game.

 

[bdotling]

K was terrible this year. He was slow to make the adjustments needed though he eventually did. This year could have been so much better than it was in so many ways. Saving a packed defense for the last game of the year is just hilarious to me.

But at least it sets the stage for next year if players outside of Hurt and Goldwire stick around so from that lens, it was a success

 

[Devilsforlife]

I think K entered this year with the mindset that we shouldn't be playing at all, based on both his comments and his actions (canceling the noncon), which definitely did not help at all. Looked completely lifeless on the bench so much of the time too. Hopefully he can hunker down next year and turn in a better performance. He has to know it's his final shot at adding another RS title/FF/natty to the rafters.

 

[DrKlahn]

But where’s the lie? We probably shouldn’t have played. Or at least not pretended it was a normal season with a normal schedule.

 

[best4heisman]

Definitely didn't hate this team. It's hard to be angry at a mediocre team for being mediocre. It's too bad they proved to a be a horrible matchup against UNC and ended our stretch of avoiding sweeps, but otherwise I think this team will be remembered largely for what comes next year. We'll all be able to look back at this team's growing pains fondly if Steward, Roach, Williams et al. are able to help us get to a Final Four in 2022.

Is "et al" Moore?

I don't hate the players, I hate the game.

I completely forgot about Moore, was thinking more of Coleman and Brakefield who may or may not see any playing time next year. We're in a weird spot with Moore where he made some nice improvements this year and generally played well outside of his dreadful start, but he still doesn't project as a positive player due to his offensive limitations. Still, he will play a ton next year whether or not he deserves the minutes. Unless his three-point shooting catches up with his free throw shooting (I'm no longer holding my breath on that one), he'll lower our ceiling offensively.

 

[rome8180]

FWIW, Moore shot 39% from three in March. Unfortunately, that was only four games.

His February stats are also interesting in a different way. In eight games, he had 33 assists to only 14 turnovers. He shot 63% on twos but only 29% from three. In March he suddenly learned how to shoot but went right back to making dumb decisions (with 13 assists to 13 turnovers). He did have 12 steals in only four games, however.

It's tough to say which version of Moore I would want more -- the elite finisher and passer who can't shoot, or the elite defender who can shoot but can't finish or make good decisions.

 

[rome8180]

In either scenario, the easiest thing I see to improve in his game is the tendency to take and miss 2pt jumpers. They made up 27% of his shots and he shot 27% on them.

I think he was at worst our 3rd best defender this year, probably the 2nd best when you look at the overall body of work.