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Duke #1 in Way Too Early Rankings

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df64

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Hopefully Eamon wasn't just speculating and that is the vibe/expectation.
 
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dukiejay

Heisman
Mar 2, 2005
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I think right now a lot of people are assuming he will be back. And the more I see articles assuming that the better, I think. Even without Grayson we're probably top two or three.

There's been a lot of people --- especially here --- saying that UNC is going to suck next year and for the foreseeable future....but I'd be careful. Maybe I'm missing something, but if all of the guys who can return do, then I think a core of Berry, Jackson, Hicks, Pinson, Meeks and Britt is a solid starting point. Add to that mix Bradley, Robinson and Woods and....well, I see a top 10-15 team at worst. Their big man situation is better than ours was this past season, but do they have the dynamic scorer(s)? That will be the question. Berry impressed me this season....I think he's going to be a pain in the *** next year. He's good and will only get better.
 
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df64

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I think UNCC could go either way. If all improve, especially Jackson and Pinson, they are good. If nobody significantly steps up, then losing Johnson and Paige are too much. Paige was a really underappreciated defender. Johnson was such a great offensive rebounder that he covered for some really bad shooting/offense. How much of Berry's season was the other team focusing on Paige in spite of his early shooting woes. Not to mention, Paige just made winning plays.

Another thing to consider is that Roy gets by with superior depth, especially in the post. Next year, that will not be the case. They have much less room for error-foul trouble/injury, etc. If anyone else leaves, they are dangerously thin for a Roy team. If they get sanctions, can their recruits split?
 
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duhondukie

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I have been reading on Twitter that there is still a lot up in the air as far as scholarships go. If Bolden commits we r going to be over the limit of Grayson sticks around.
 
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HuffyJB

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dukiejay said:
I think right now a lot of people are assuming he will be back. And the more I see articles assuming that the better, I think. Even without Grayson we're probably top two or three.

There's been a lot of people --- especially here --- saying that UNC is going to suck next year and for the foreseeable future....but I'd be careful. Maybe I'm missing something, but if all of the guys who can return do, then I think a core of Berry, Jackson, Hicks, Pinson, Meeks and Britt is a solid starting point. Add to that mix Bradley, Robinson and Woods and....well, I see a top 10-15 team at worst. Their big man situation is better than ours was this past season, but do they have the dynamic scorer(s)? That will be the question. Berry impressed me this season....I think he's going to be a pain in the *** next year. He's good and will only get better.
Click to expand...

Yeah, UNC will be top 15. Their early entry candidates (Meeks, Jackson) aren't dynamic or athletic enough to go in the first round. Their starting point will be Berry, Pinson, Jackson, and Meeks, which is pretty good, though definitely not "great."

They'll be good, but Duke will be way better. Even without Allen and Bolden, I think Duke is better. With one, or heaven help us, both of those guys, then there isn't even a reasonable conversation about who the #1 team in the country will be.
 
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nets on nets on nets

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duhondukie said:
I have been reading on Twitter that there is still a lot up in the air as far as scholarships go. If Bolden commits we r going to be over the limit of Grayson sticks around.
Click to expand...
The numbers say this is true. However, there have been rumblings of an Obi retirement?? DT transfer??
Landing Bolden and having Grayson return, could be one our best team's ever. Any chance of a Vrank redshirt, or a Delaurier redshirt?? Giles, Amile, Chase, and Bolden would eat up all the PT, I believe.
 
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nets on nets on nets

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I too think UNC will be solid, in the 10-15 range of teams. Provided Jackson, Pinson, Meeks, Berry all return.
This is just a guess, but any chance UNC looks at bringing in a grad transfer guy?? I guess the possible sanctions would determine if a grad transfer would even want to attend UNC. However,what Louisville did this past season with Lee and (forget his name) seemed to work out well for them, all jokes and sanctions aside.
 
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HuffyJB

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Evidently, Louisville has another grad transfer coming in this year.
 
pisgah101

pisgah101

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Dec 26, 2005
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"get ready winter is coming"
Best line I've read.. I read another article had us #1 and it said that we retro a group that by itself could make it to the sweet 16/elite 8 but on top of it we add the best class... It's gunna be a fun offseason and season:) good times Devils!!
 
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dbav

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I honestly believe that UNCheat at 6 is very high.

I posted this in another threat, but the problem with that team will be that they are relying on Berry and Jackson for at least 60% of the scoring in my opinion. Those other guys can certainly step up, but who on that team besides Berry and Jackson have proven they can score consistently? Especially in the post.

I do not think they would be a top 10 team next year. That could get worse if Jackson decides to leave. I would think he has to seriously consider it. This will be a "weak" draft, he just went to the NC game, coming back next year could hurt his stock unless he scores 20 a game.
 
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nets on nets on nets

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dbav said:
I honestly believe that UNCheat at 6 is very high.

I posted this in another threat, but the problem with that team will be that they are relying on Berry and Jackson for at least 60% of the scoring in my opinion. Those other guys can certainly step up, but who on that team besides Berry and Jackson have proven they can score consistently? Especially in the post.

I do not think they would be a top 10 team next year. That could get worse if Jackson decides to leave. I would think he has to seriously consider it. This will be a "weak" draft, he just went to the NC game, coming back next year could hurt his stock unless he scores 20 a game.
Click to expand...
With Brogdon & Gill leaving UVA, I believe UNC "should" be the 2nd best team in the ACC. I know UVA has the big-time transfer Nichols coming in, and Kyle Guy, when was the last UVA McDonalds All American before him??????? But still, Brogdon & Gill were studs, I think they were better than Paige/Johnson.
I'm not buying Louisville either, they got lucky with some grad transfers this year, doubt they have the same luck 2 years in a row.
Should the 2nd best team in the ACC be a top 10 team?? Most certainly, however, UNC should'nt be very dangerous in March.

How about Duke gets back to the good days of winning the ACC regular Season and Tournament?? Next year they are clearly the heavy favorites to do so!
 
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dukiejay

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dbav said:
I honestly believe that UNCheat at 6 is very high.

I posted this in another threat, but the problem with that team will be that they are relying on Berry and Jackson for at least 60% of the scoring in my opinion. Those other guys can certainly step up, but who on that team besides Berry and Jackson have proven they can score consistently? Especially in the post.

I do not think they would be a top 10 team next year. That could get worse if Jackson decides to leave. I would think he has to seriously consider it. This will be a "weak" draft, he just went to the NC game, coming back next year could hurt his stock unless he scores 20 a game.
Click to expand...

Meeks and Hicks can both score. In fact, I bet both average at least 11-12, and wouldn't be surprised to see Hicks in the 14-15 range.
 
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DukeDenver

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LetsGoDukies said:
If we fail at any of these below I will probably be extremely disappointed.
- sweep the Cheaters
- beat Notre Dame every time we play them
- win the ACC regular season
- win the ACC tournament
Click to expand...
I'll add one more:
-beat the living crap out of Clemson, they have it coming
 
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duke0527

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I got to think some of these guys try to turn pro. Jackson specifically in this weak draft.
 
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HeLooks2MuchLikeDave

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UNC will be good. With Berry, Jackson, and Hicks, they have one of everything. A great point guard, a 2 way wing, and a solid rebounder. If Berry becomes a team leader, they could make another run in March. I think the assumption before the season was that Meeks and Jackson would turn in better seasons and bolt (and they still may leave to avoid potential punishment). Berry and Hicks played better than most expected (except the UNC fans that were touting him as a Top 20 pick LOL). But they just haven't had a decent pro prospect since the Falcon so their teams are older and overall less talented.

We should own them next year. They won't have a mismatch in any position and we should have several in our favor. Nate Britt is awful and I don't see how he and Berry can play at the same time and try to defend our backcourt. Or how Pinson/Jackson can stay in front of our wings. They don't have a lot of high IQ players either.
I think our floor is higher and our ceiling is wayyy higher. It's going to be MISERABLE for them to watch K get his 2nd thumb ring
 
A

aah555

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Hard to say with UNC. While I'm not sure #6 is realistic, I don't think it's completely unrealistic. They do return much of last year's team, including Berry, Jackson, Meeks, Heeks, and Pinson. Not overwhelming, but certainly a lot of experienced talent that has played a lot of basketball together. The real interesting question for UNC will be can any of the aforementioned players replace the individual playmaking of Paige and Johnson -- the two guys who tended to carry them this year when things got bogged down. Not sure they really have anyone who can go out and consistently make a play in tough moments. With that said, I don't think they're about to fall of the map either. They should be pretty good.

As for the ACC at large, I think Louisville, UVA, and Syracuse should all be in a 2nd tier with UNC.

As long as we avoid a totally disastrous offseason (e.g., a combination of Grayson declaring, Giles not healing well, Bolden signing with UK), I think we should be heads and shoulders above everyone in the league and hopefully well-positioned to secure our first regular season title in a surprisingly long time.
 
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nets on nets on nets

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There appears to be a trend where the dominant team one year gets overrated the next year. Especially since we are in a day and age where some teams go through complete overhauls annually.
Examples:
2016 Duke and UK...neither team played up to their preseason ranking.
2015 UConn...weren't they ranked in the top 20, and failed to make the tournament?????Florida fell off the map too after being the most dominant 2014 team.
2013 UK...ranked top 5, failed to make the tournament.
2010 UNC...HAHA
 
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gottagonow

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If you take a look at their probable starters of Meeks, Hicks, Berry, Pinson and Jackson I see maybe 50 points a game. Will the bench score 25 a game like they'll need? I can't see it. It may be a weaker conference next season but how can they win 20 games?
 
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dukiejay

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Berry, Jackson and Hicks will score almost 45 per game themselves and maybe more. Guessing I'd say Berry 18, Jackson and Hicks about 13-14 per for each. Meeks around 10 and you're already at 55 without taking into account newcomers and player improvements. UNC will have a good team next season. I don't want them to, but they will.
 
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ZeroZeroSeven

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dukiejay said:
Berry, Jackson and Hicks will score almost 45 per game themselves and maybe more. Guessing I'd say Berry 18, Jackson and Hicks about 13-14 per for each. Meeks around 10 and you're already at 55 without taking into account newcomers and player improvements. UNC will have a good team next season. I don't want them to, but they will.
Click to expand...

If I had to, I would peg UNC as an elite 8 team right now. They'll be top 4 in the ACC.
 
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RC26

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Nova has a very interesting roster next year as well. They lose Arch and Ochefu but are getting the A10 freshman of the year via transfer (Eric Paschall) and Omari Spellman PF/C (5 star) recruit to help ease the loss of Ochefu. That's two potential NBA type talent additions as well as a four star redshirt PG/SG (DiVincenzo). Could be another special year for the Cats.
 
R

RC26

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1a Nova (defending champs get their due)
1b Duke

Rest of the league is playing catch up next year imo
 
D

dukiejay

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I think with Grayson now officially returning the preseason top spot will be Duke. And it probably should be. But being preseason #1 doesn't mean a whole lot.
 
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LetsGoDukies

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I'm ecstatic as well! We all have extremely high expectations for this group but please lets refrain from the 40-0 talks and nobody get any tattoos haha! It's going to be a fun ride guys and I can't wait to enjoy it with all my DI pals!
 
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dukedevilz

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Villanova has a legitimate shot at repeating next year. Eric Paschall, A-10 Freshman of the Year from Fordham, will be eligible next season in addition to 5-star recruit Omari Spellman. Lose Arch and Ochefu, but everyone else it back. On paper, we definitely have more talent. But Villanova will be a very, very tough out. With potentially 5 first-round picks next year, I do like our chances though :)
 
T

The Partisan

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dukedevilz said:
Villanova has a legitimate shot at repeating next year. Eric Paschall, A-10 Freshman of the Year from Fordham, will be eligible next season in addition to 5-star recruit Omari Spellman. Lose Arch and Ochefu, but everyone else it back. On paper, we definitely have more talent. But Villanova will be a very, very tough out. With potentially 5 first-round picks next year, I do like our chances though :)
Click to expand...

Trolling your board today...Villanova should be very good. However, this year's team had amazing team chemistry. It is always hard to replicate that.
 
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nets on nets on nets

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I think the overall talent level next season will be much greater than this season. Hence why every expert says next year's NBA draft will be loaded.
Much like 2015, I think there will be 3 or 4 teams next season who are better than UNC or Villanova was this season, not to take anything anyway from Nova, but overall talent was down this season.

So..not sure I would pencil Nova in as one of our biggest threats. However, I do expect them to win the Big East and be a 1 or 2 seed, like they do every year lately.
 
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QC Dukie

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LetsGoDukies said:
I'm ecstatic as well! We all have extremely high expectations for this group but please lets refrain from the 40-0 talks and nobody get any tattoos haha! It's going to be a fun ride guys and I can't wait to enjoy it with all my DI pals!
Click to expand...
Oh crap....too late on the tat. Just kidding. We are going to be very scary good next season. Is it here yet?

OFC
 
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