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2010-2011 what could have been.....

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SwlaDukie

Freshman
Mar 28, 2014
129
70
0
I was just looking at the Cavs and how great Kyrie is at the NBA level. How good that team would have been with Kyrie at the point. Duke had at least 5 to 6 players averaging in double figures before Irving got hurt, but finished the season with 2 averaging double figures outside of Irving. They ended finishing 32-5 with only losses to Vt, SJU, FSU, UNC, and Arizona. I doubt they would have had any losses with a healthy Kyrie. I know this has been discussed a million times, but they had a legit chance of being undefeated that year and back to back champs. I still feel that was the 2nd time UConn stole a title that should have been Duke's.
Kyrie Irving pg
Nolan Smith 2g
Kyle Singlar Sf
Ryan Kelly Pf
Mason Plumlee Pf
Seth Curry
Andre Dawkins
Miles Plumlee C
 
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MyDudeG_rivals

Senior
Mar 10, 2016
872
708
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They looked like a completely different level than most other teams before Kyrie got hurt. You never know what would happen in the tournament but it's safe to say they would have been the heavy, HEAVY favorite to win it all that year. Hate thinking about that season because of the bad luck we experienced with that injury.
 
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Laettshow

Junior
Mar 26, 2017
259
274
0
You got to also wonder how far we would have went if Kyrie doesn't come back? Nolan played out of his mind after Kyrie went down. Seemed like when Kyrie came back the chemistry was off.
 
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RanDEVILman

Senior
Jan 13, 2014
628
470
0
Yeah Kyrie returning was a weird situation...I remember discussing it on these boards at the time. On the one hand he hit the game winner to beat Michigan and send Duke to the Sweet 16, but that team really clicked down the stretch and may have been better, because he definitely demanded the ball to be his best
 
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Quavarius

Heisman
Aug 12, 2009
175,637
22,032
0
SwlaDukie said:
I was just looking at the Cavs and how great Kyrie is at the NBA level. How good that team would have been with Kyrie at the point. Duke had at least 5 to 6 players averaging in double figures before Irving got hurt, but finished the season with 2 averaging double figures outside of Irving. They ended finishing 32-5 with only losses to Vt, SJU, FSU, UNC, and Arizona. I doubt they would have had any losses with a healthy Kyrie. I know this has been discussed a million times, but they had a legit chance of being undefeated that year and back to back champs. I still feel that was the 2nd time UConn stole a title that should have been Duke's.
Kyrie Irving pg
Nolan Smith 2g
Kyle Singlar Sf
Ryan Kelly Pf
Mason Plumlee Pf
Seth Curry
Andre Dawkins
Miles Plumlee C
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I agree OP. WITH a healthy Irving all season, I think Duke only enters the NCAA with 0-2 losses. I remember when then-sophomore Mason Plumlee had like 25 and 12 against Marquette or Kansas State and was getting lottery consideration before Irving's injury. He never looked the same after Irving's injury.
 
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Quavarius

Heisman
Aug 12, 2009
175,637
22,032
0
pisgah101 said:
We woulda prob been better had he never came back honestly
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That's interesting and in hindsight it's easy to say that but if you have an elite NBA guard on your team and you choose not to play him, everyone will second guess you after a loss. So basically damned if you do; damned if you don't. Maybe he threw off chemistry by coming back, but no one was beating Arizona that night with or without Irving.

If presented with the same situation, I'm playing Irving as well.
 
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topps coach

All-Conference
Feb 6, 2008
20,901
4,122
0
Quavarius said:
That's interesting and in hindsight it's easy to say that but if you have an elite NBA guard on your team and you choose not to play him, everyone will second guess you after a loss. So basically damned if you do; damned if you don't. Maybe he threw off chemistry by coming back, but no one was beating Arizona that night with or without Irving.

If presented with the same situation, I'm playing Irving as well.
Click to expand...
Agree classic damned if you do or damned if you don't situation for K.If he doesn't play him every one in the country would have crucified hom
 
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MyDudeG_rivals

Senior
Mar 10, 2016
872
708
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Yup imagine if we lost in the tournament with knowledge that we could have played Kyrie and decided not to. The backlash against Coach K would have been ridiculous and it would have been coming from fans of the program as well.
 
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pisgah101

pisgah101

Heisman
Dec 26, 2005
15,242
12,783
113
Let me rephrase. We should have used him as a 6 man. Nolan got all out of whack when kyrie came back
 
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topps coach

All-Conference
Feb 6, 2008
20,901
4,122
0
Quavarius said:
THIS

On that day, no one was stopping Williams and Zona
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Still cringe when I think about that crazy three he hit right before half time that completely changed the momentum.Other than the NC game Arizona has been a killer for us
 
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timo0402

Heisman
Feb 24, 2009
13,868
13,709
57
Hindsight is 20/20. Are you really going to not play, arguably the best player in the country and the projected number one pick? And as others have mentioned- zona was absolute lights out. Frustrating.
 
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SwlaDukie

Freshman
Mar 28, 2014
129
70
0
Yeah Duke never does well in the West region. But with a healthy Kyrie, Duke would have more than likely been the overall number 1 seed playing in the East region. It was basically a true road game for Duke in the tournament. The crowd was a huge factor in that game similar to the South Carolina game this year.
 
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Whutadrag2

Junior
Oct 29, 2016
358
265
0
Didn't Kyrie score 30 against zona? How many players with that capability do you leave on the bench? The D on Williams and the inability to adjust beat us.

I really miss slap the floor D.
 
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dukiejay

Heisman
Mar 2, 2005
11,293
16,311
0
We probably don't get out of round two against Michigan were it not for Kyrie....so I can't buy in to the thought of him hurting us.

Nolan was just really bad against Arizona and Derrick Williams was outstanding....not to mention all those other jump shooters for U of A in that game.

I agree with the OP....that was one of the more frustrating Duke seasons. I'd even say more frustrating on the surface than this past season because in 2011 we got glimpses in November and December of how good we could be. This past season it just didn't materialize like that. We had a boatload of potential, but we never got a chance to see it all come together with everything that went down. The difference is that 2011 we saw it, but this season we only saw it in our minds.
 
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crazyduke3

All-Conference
Mar 28, 2010
40,929
2,564
0
Agreed our defense was bad that game. Say what you want about that game but signs of concern for the team should have been real when we played Michigan. They nearly beat us.
 
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BNM79

Junior
Sep 1, 2012
382
361
0
Whutadrag2 said:
Didn't Kyrie score 30 against zona? How many players with that capability do you leave on the bench? The D on Williams and the inability to adjust beat us.

I really miss slap the floor D.
Click to expand...


The d on williams wasn't too bad especially in first half. He made some very difficult shots. The d in the second half was awful but more so on the guards.
 
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timo0402

Heisman
Feb 24, 2009
13,868
13,709
57
BNM79 said:
The d on williams wasn't too bad especially in first half. He made some very difficult shots. The d in the second half was awful but more so on the guards.
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I want to say Williams scored the vast majority of his points in the first half of that game and went nearly the entire half without missing a 3. He might have made 4-5 of them. Without him in the first half it's a 15-20point lead easily. The game pressure got to Duke and the rest of the zona team kept gaining momentum. Very similar to how many of the games this year went for our team.
 
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Duke1783

All-Conference
Mar 23, 2017
3,038
3,117
0
If I'm not mistaken, this team lost 3 of their 4 games by just one possession. The home loss to the Turds being the exception
 
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