Conference thread

[JustAfanatic]

Conference gets cranked up this week.

I’m thinking top 4 in no particular order are Duke, UNC, UVA, and Louisville.

Dark horses that are capable of defeating any of those are NCSU, Miami, and Clemson.

Of course they’ll be a few unpredictable losses along the way as well.

I’ll say our Blue Devils go 14-4….. and hope I’m wrong but we won’t sweep the team down the road.

Thoughts?

 

[Mac9192]

Conference gets cranked up this week.

I’m thinking top 4 in no particular order are Duke, UNC, UVA, and Louisville.

Dark horses that are capable of defeating any of those are NCSU, Miami, and Clemson.

Of course they’ll be a few unpredictable losses along the way as well.

I’ll say our Blue Devils go 14-4….. and hope I’m wrong but we won’t sweep the team down the road.

Thoughts?

Hard to argue with this. Need Cam to keep doing what he's doing. Evans HAS to be better. If not, 30 plus minutes a game is too many. Foster hasn't been bad, but we need more.

Long story short, I think at least 3 guys must get to double digit scoring every game, especially when we are playing solid teams.

 

[pisgah101]

Completely agree

 

[DukeFromNYC33]

15-3 in ACC play but we lose to Michigan. Gives us 5 total losses and we’re in contention for a 1 seed when it’s all set.

 

[dukesince91]

15-3 in ACC play but we lose to Michigan. Gives us 5 total losses and we’re in contention for a 1 seed when it’s all set.

This is what I expect as well. I think we might also see more of Cayden and Caleb on the court together. I hope I’m wrong and Sarr comes on strong after the holiday break.

 

[sheyduke]

I agree with everything said . We do need one of Khamenia and Sarr to continue to improve on both ends to keep size and length on the court .

 

[AlanInNJ1]

I also agree with comments above. I expect 3 losses including one to UNC and either a regular season win of the ACC or a share.

I am not worried about our front court. Guard play is my biggest concern followed by the fact that I really feel like we need someone to step up who can show he can get to the rim when needed. We are going to have some cold nights from 3, and let's face it, we haven't exactly been lighting it up so far. Putting up 35 3's on a cold shooting night is a recipe for a loss almost every time.

 

[JustAfanatic]

No upsets on opening night.

UNC, UL, Miami, and ND win. Well I guess Cal losing was an upset according to records…..

This might ruffle some feathers but Caleb Wilson I predict for ACC POY. Unless UNC isn’t top 3 ACC.

He will also be drafted higher than CBooze.

Not a dig at Boozer at all, he is everything we thought and more.

 

[christophero]

Boozer will likely be ACC POY but Wilson may be a better pro. He has the best college hops since Zion. Surprised Wilson is not getting more hype. 22 and 16 last night.

 

[dukesince91]

I have to see how the season plays out. A lot of things can happen in the next 3 months. Coaches make adjustments and the players do too. Wilson’s athletic ability makes him look better, but Cam seems to have an overall better game. The stats won’t lie at the end of the season.

 

[christophero]

We win by 6. Is there no game thread? Looks like both Boozers and Evans played well and the game was close.

 

[JustAfanatic]

A long way to go and we are 12-1, 1-0 but we imo are no where near a FF team, atm.

We are a good team but honestly only six players who will carry us.

I’m absolutely fine starting Cayden but the flip side is we will get less than 10 bench points almost every game.

We win tiday because we out rebounded Tech soundly in the second half by about 15.

 

[sheyduke]

Boozer will likely be ACC POY but Wilson may be a better pro. He has the best college hops since Zion. Surprised Wilson is not getting more hype. 22 and 16 last night.

Wilson benefits from having an experienced scoring center who can stretch the floor. Teams have to account for him and Vessar . Who do teams account for against Duke besides Boozer in the paint or on the wing at this point . I could actually see Duke being swept by the Herks this season should guard play not pick up

 

[JustAfanatic]

Me too……

 

[christophero]

We aren't playing as well as we were a few weeks ago. We are 12 and 1 so everything is relative but agree guard play needs to improve for us to make a deep run. Sarr had zero points today.

 

[Mac9192]

I could actually see Duke being swept by the Herks this season should guard play not pick up

Pains me to admit it, but the Holes could beat us. They aren’t bad at all. I agree that we need good guard play. Today though it was our first half defense, and our two freshmen wings combining for 2 points.

You’re also going to have a tough time beating any solid team when you only make 9 of 32 three’s.

 

[christophero]

We really need to stop jacking up so many 3s. That's just lazy offense. Our guys are not the shooters they think they are. Happy new year everyone. 12 and 1 ain't too shabby.

 

[dukesince91]

Pains me to admit it, but the Holes could beat us. They aren’t bad at all. I agree that we need good guard play. Today though it was our first half defense, and our two freshmen wings combining for 2 points.

You’re also going to have a tough time beating any solid team when you only make 9 of 32 three’s.

Our lack of making 3’s is very concerning. When Cam, Pat, and Maliq shoot 4 for 8 and everyone else is 5 for 24 that’s a losing recipe. Some people have been faulting Pat on other boards, he ain’t the problem. Sarr and Nick are killing us. Give Harris some burn Jon. If Harris got Sarr’s open 3’s, I guarantee he makes at least 2 or 3 of them. Sarr was 0-5.

 

[JustAfanatic]

I don’t understand the Pat criticism either.

 

[JimboSlice00]

Our lack of making 3’s is very concerning. When Cam, Pat, and Maliq shoot 4 for 8 and everyone else is 5 for 24 that’s a losing recipe. Some people have been faulting Pat on other boards, he ain’t the problem. Sarr and Nick are killing us. Give Harris some burn Jon. If Harris got Sarr’s open 3’s, I guarantee he makes at least 2 or 3 of them. Sarr was 0-5.

Sarr has averaged 3.8 PPG and 2.4 RPG in his last 5. I don’t care if Harris isn’t the best defender on the team, he can at least hit open shots and his defense doesn’t look awful whenever he’s on the floor. With Cayden now starting, where does the scoring off the bench come from? That in itself should be reason enough for him to get 12-15 mpg, for Harris that is.

Jon knows better than any of us on this board, but I haven’t ran into a Duke fan that doesn’t want him to have most of Sarrs minutes.

 

[Mac9192]

Pat may not be one of our main problems, but I don’t think his production matches his talent. I don’t think we use his size and versatility enough from the low block.

The main thing that I keep asking myself is, are we as hungry as we should be? Duke is always hunted. It’s like a street fight where we are the fighter reacting instead of attacking.

 

[JustAfanatic]

Oh we don’t use Pat enough offensively…

No question about that, he’s got offensive skills.

 

[The Only Blue]

Pat needs to learn and shoot some mid range shots. Teams aren't guarding him at all since we're putting him at the top of the key to pass. A 10-15' consistent shot would do wonders. Is it me or is he always smiling out there? I wanted a angry/mean look out there lol

 

[Devilinside_]

I think Duke has a long way to go before it is ready to compete with the better teams. Very poor foul shooting, if it continues, will be a real problem in close games. Ditto poor outside shooting. No real leader at PG. All in all, not a recipe for success. OFC

 

[christophero]

Hopefully not one of those peak in December squads.

 

[Mac9192]

Duke is shoved down everyone’s throat. We become bulletin board material for every other team. Goes back to 99. UConn didn’t get near the pub Duke did, and played with a chip on their shoulder against us. They weren’t more talented.

Every team wants to beat us. Jon has to sell that to his team.

 

[christophero]

Ohio State football found that out last night.

 

[DukeFromNYC33]

We have been scouted. Teams aren’t guarding Pat outside, same with Sarr, Khamenia, and Cayden Boozer.
Pat is fixable as he can move down low, but the other 3 need to at least be a threat.

Honestly our #1 flaw over the past 3 games: Cam Boozer’s defense. He is switching out on guards and getting shredded, it started with Lipscomb, it lost us the TT game. Saw that Cam Boozer is giving up 1.6 points per possession when he’s the primary defender the past 3 games, that’s horrendous. Hes playing not to foul but still needs to be better.

 

[sheyduke]

We have been scouted. Teams aren’t guarding Pat outside, same with Sarr, Khamenia, and Cayden Boozer.
Pat is fixable as he can move down low, but the other 3 need to at least be a threat.

Honestly our #1 flaw over the past 3 games: Cam Boozer’s defense. He is switching out on guards and getting shredded, it started with Lipscomb, it lost us the TT game. Saw that Cam Boozer is giving up 1.6 points per possession when he’s the primary defender the past 3 games, that’s horrendous. Hes playing not to foul but still needs to be better.

The Texas tech game was loss due to Sarr’s length not being on Anderson in the second half . Boozer can’t get into foul trouble, if he does who does Duke rely on to score or rebound ?
big Pat has got to do more of both and Duke needs way more production from its SF position. I was telling another friend that I believe the lipscomb game gave every team the recipe to beat Duke . It showed are lack of transition defense and our in ability to stop the dribble drive in waves .
I’m sure Scheyer is mad right now and the defense can be fixed but its the offense that I’m questioning at this point

 

[DukeFromNYC33]

The Texas tech game was loss due to Sarr’s length not being on Anderson in the second half . Boozer can’t get into foul trouble, if he does who does Duke rely on to score or rebound ?
big Pat has got to do more of both and Duke needs way more production from its SF position. I was telling another friend that I believe the lipscomb game gave every team the recipe to beat Duke . It showed are lack of transition defense and our in ability to stop the dribble drive in waves .
I’m sure Scheyer is mad right now and the defense can be fixed but its the offense that I’m questioning at this point

The TT loss was for multiple reasons, but I agree Sarr needed to be on Amderson, Caleb is a great defender too he needs to quit putting his hands on guys though, that gave up the FT’s which lost the game.

I agree Cam can’t be in foul trouble, but he also can’t give up 1.6 PPP when he switches out on a guard.

I don’t think this Duke team has the horses to be a dominant offensive club, but I do think it can be a dominant tough defensive club that uses its defense to generate easier offense. But what we have seen these past 3 games is far from good defense. With Pat and Cam being slow footed, I think Jon should get us playing the pack-line defense. We also gamble way too much for steals.

 

[Mac9192]

We lost the Texas Tech game because their coach willed them to not lay down, and his team listened. Hate to say it but the hungrier team won.

We just aren’t tough enough right now.

 

[sheyduke]

We lost the Texas Tech game because their coach willed them to not lay down, and his team listened. Hate to say it but the hungrier team won.

We just aren’t tough enough right now.

I can agree with this to a point but alot of it has to do with Anderson only having four points in the first half and going off for 22 in the second half. This also happened with Sarr only having the bench . His length was giving Anderson fits .

 

[The Only Blue]

Currently watching USC/Mich now and man does Mich have some dudes out there. Seems almost all their players have grown men body. We're in for a rude awakening if we don't improve by the time we play them.

 

[sheyduke]

Currently watching USC/Mich now and man does Mich have some dudes out there. Seems almost all their players have grown men body. We're in for a rude awakening if we don't improve by the time we play them.

They are beating ranked teams by 20 plus. Even with an ex heel on their roster

 

[The Only Blue]

They are beating ranked teams by 20 plus. Even with an ex heel on their roster

You already know they're going to be put in the same bracket come March lol

 

[christophero]

Currently watching USC/Mich now and man does Mich have some dudes out there. Seems almost all their players have grown men body. We're in for a rude awakening if we don't improve by the time we play them.

I was about to say this. Wow Michigan looks good. They are boatracing teams. The best team by a mile right now.

 

[Mac9192]

Other than being the best teams in the country, Michigan, Arizona, and UConn all have one thing in common. None of them rely too much on one guy.

That pretty much describes all the past National Champs too.

 

[christophero]

People were comparing Nik to Kon, which isn't really fair. Kon and Cooper were insanely good. So is Boozer, but he needs help. Wish we had another year of Sion.

 

[JustAfanatic]

Stanford gets the first surprising conference win of the year over Louisville.

 

[The Only Blue]

UVA putting belt to A$$ to NC state... Up 40-20 at the half