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***DUKE VS LOUISVILLE OFFICIAL GAMEDAY THREAD***

K

krzyzewskiville

Senior
Oct 7, 2004
11,113
724
0
I think it's pretty easy to claim this is the biggest game of the season for Duke up to this point considering everything that has happened. We already have some quality wins over Indiana, Georgetown and VCU but we haven't beaten a ranked opponent yet.

Today definitely concerns me - mostly on the defensive end of the floor. When we go man, we can't keep anybody in front of us and it allows teams to penetrate and have their way in the paint. When we go zone, containment is better but we really start to struggle on the boards and giving up week-side offensive boards. I'm sure you'll see a mix of both again tonight but it needs to be better than it has been or Louisville will kill us on the boards.

Game is slated for a 7pm est tip and will air on ESPN HD.

I've never picked against Duke and I won't start now but it's going to be tough!!!

Duke 69

Louisville 66

GO DUKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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H

HeLooks2MuchLikeDave

All-Conference
Dec 1, 2010
2,458
2,151
0
7pm EST. You made me nervous there.

Just hoping we can split this week. But i'll take a win tonight. I think we have a chance.
 
D

dukiejay

Heisman
Mar 2, 2005
11,293
16,311
0
The next four games are the very definition of what we'd call a meat-grinder. On top of that, on paper, this might be the easiest one of the bunch. IMO, this is a must-win tonight.

Duke 73
Louisville 68
 
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L

Laettner15

All-Conference
Jan 25, 2016
1,948
2,113
0
Contain Lee and Lewis, help Marshall on the boards, be extremely efficient on the offensive end and we will come out with a W. This is where we need the vintage Cameron Crazies to come alive. Also, a certain injured player coming back would help A Lot but I have no clue if he plays.

We hit our FTs in the end.

Duke - 70
UL - 65
 
T

Tlass

Junior
Sep 26, 2011
399
325
0
Got a bad feeling about this one.

US-71
Them- 77

I sure hope the boys make me eat crow. GO DUKE!!
 
A

aah555

Junior
Apr 13, 2010
3,064
242
0
The next two games will play a gigantic rule in determining our postseason future. If we win both, we should be in decent shape heading down the stretch. If we lose both, though, you'd really have to wonder whether we can even make the NCAAs -- even with Amile coming back -- in view of the limited opportunities for high-quality wins in games we can reasonably expect to win (i.e., @louisville, @UNC, UNC).

I'm going to predict a Duke 80-77 win b/c we absolutely have to have this game. But, frankly, I'm not confident at all. If you look at our 6 ACC wins to date, they are against the five worst teams in the league who have won a combined 10 ACC games between the 5 of them. Louisville has 8 wins on their own. IMO, we're going to have to play our best game since Amile was injured to win this game -- and definitely need Ingram, Allen, and Kennard to be making shots.
 
S

skysdad

Heisman
Mar 3, 2006
42,753
22,653
0
Seems like every game is our biggest game and I guess it is because we really need every win. I've seen a lot of improvement the last couple of games and it's nice to see Chase productive. Hope he gets a little more pt tonight and has a good game.

Duke 77
Louisville 70

OFC
 
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A

aah555

Junior
Apr 13, 2010
3,064
242
0
skysdad said:
Seems like every game is our biggest game and I guess it is because we really need every win.
OFC
Click to expand...

Yup, the losses to ND and Syracuse at home are real killers b/c they've really put us behind the 8 ball as we head into this gauntlet + it seems as if we may not be getting Amile back until we're out of opportunities to win a lot of resume wins at home. Obviously, securing a UNC home win would cure a lot of ills -- but that's hardly a game that Duke should be counting on. We've had a decent trackrecord of late against UNC at home -- but I think that's mostly b/c we've had the better team. I don't know when Duke last pulled a home upset against a markedly stronger UNC squad. Maybe you could say 2005, but I think you probably have to go way back to the late 1990s to find a true upset. Favored UNC teams under Roy have done pretty well in Cameron.
 
J

JCColsCane

Senior
Dec 1, 2014
1,267
433
0
Well, here we go! Try to find a tougher stretch for anyone in the country. These kids have battled every game this year, win or lose, and they deserve a win tonight to be rewarded for the heart they have shown all year. If it were in my power, I would make sure they get it, but it's not, so I think the Basketball Gods will be good to them tonight, and Duke wins a "white knuckler".
Go Duke!!


JC-OFC
 
A

aah555

Junior
Apr 13, 2010
3,064
242
0
pisgah101 said:
We're 17-6 that's not exactly "bubble" yet.
Click to expand...

Not when you've got the schedule we have remaining + a general dearth of high quality wins. Duke's currently 6-0 against teams that are below .500 in the ACC, and 0-4 against teams above .500 in the ACC. 7 of our final 8 are against teams that are above .500; with 5 of the 8 against the 3 top teams in the league. Duke really has not played a ton of high-end teams to date; and has thus far not done particularly well in those games. In fact, we're currently only 1-5 against the RPI top 50. I really can't ever remember a season where we had so few top 50 wins at this stage of the season. Even in 06-07, that team has a few high-end non-conference wins that helped to offset our 8-8 finish in the ACCs (top 50 wins against Gonzaga, G-Town, IU, Air Force).

I think we have enough to win a few games and get in. But, IMO, if you look at the remaining schedule, these next two are the games we absolutely have to have to avoid stumbling to a 9-9 type finish where our best ACC win could be a road game against Pitt. If we lose the next 2 before Amile gets back, could easily find ourselves with a tourney resume that has an unsightly 2-10 or 3-9 finish against top 50 teams; and 0 wins against the RPI top 25.
 
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V

VaBlueDevil33

All-Conference
Feb 12, 2009
3,549
1,308
0
I just want a win, don't care by how many points....Thornton need to continue to build on last couple games and we need Luke to come up big again.

Wouldn't hurt if Marshall scored some too
 
H

HuffyJB

All-Conference
Jan 13, 2005
5,931
3,890
0
pisgah101 said:
We're 17-6 that's not exactly "bubble" yet.
Click to expand...

Definitely not yet, but Duke is about to go through a gauntlet. And then even beyond the bubble talk, quality wins would help Duke get out of a 7/10 or 8/9 game, which are essentially coin flips. But that is all getting ahead of ourselves.

This will be tough. Louisville is looking at these last 8 games as their de facto "tournament." A win at Cameron would be a great moment for a team that has no post season memories to be made. You better believe U of L knows that. This will take Duke's absolute best game. I'm not super-confident, but I'm going to bet on them (the fan in me).

Duke - 80
Louisville - 77
 
pisgah101

pisgah101

Heisman
Dec 26, 2005
15,262
12,805
113
aah555 said:
Not when you've got the schedule we have remaining + a general dearth of high quality wins. Duke's currently 6-0 against teams that are below .500 in the ACC, and 0-4 against teams above .500 in the ACC. 7 of our final 8 are against teams that are above .500; with 5 of the 8 against the 3 top teams in the league. Duke really has not played a ton of high-end teams to date; and has thus far not done particularly well in those games. In fact, we're currently only 1-5 against the RPI top 50. I really can't ever remember a season where we had so few top 50 wins at this stage of the season. Even in 06-07, that team has a few high-end non-conference wins that helped to offset our 8-8 finish in the ACCs (top 50 wins against Gonzaga, G-Town, IU, Air Force).

I think we have enough to win a few games and get in. But, IMO, if you look at the remaining schedule, these next two are the games we absolutely have to have to avoid stumbling to a 9-9 type finish where our best ACC win could be a road game against Pitt. If we lose the next 2 before Amile gets back, could easily find ourselves with a tourney resume that has an unsightly 2-10 or 3-9 finish against top 50 teams; and 0 wins against the RPI top 25.
Click to expand...

We're still top 30 in RPI and SOS.. We get to 20 wins it doesn't matter who we've beat we will get in that's only 3 games.. We get Amile back IMO Saturday against UVA which will give us a shot of adrenaline that'll get us that W and I think we get it tonight, right there's two huge wins. We're in a good position right now
 
K

K-oach Q

All-Conference
Nov 18, 2009
5,517
1,831
0
I think with UNC loss and the post season ban Louisville will be on a mission to win the regular season title. I believe we will play them tight for the first half and they will pull away late..we run out of gas mostly from playing Saturday.

Louisville 83
Duke 72
 
A

aah555

Junior
Apr 13, 2010
3,064
242
0
pisgah101 said:
We're still top 30 in RPI and SOS.. We get to 20 wins it doesn't matter who we've beat we will get in that's only 3 games.. We get Amile back IMO Saturday against UVA which will give us a shot of adrenaline that'll get us that W and I think we get it tonight, right there's two huge wins. We're in a good position right now
Click to expand...

I disagree about the 20 win marker, but I do obviously agree that we'll be fine if we can pull off the next two. My posts were really just underscoring the urgency of tonight and Saturday -- as it may be pretty tough to build a good resume if we don't get these next two.
 
D

DukeDenver

All-American
Nov 21, 2010
8,249
8,451
0
We can outclass them if we show up. Tough battle. 69-66 Lville. Then we win the next 3.
 
C

chov1125

All-Conference
Oct 15, 2008
3,046
1,826
73
We need to start taking care of business on our home court.....If and when we do, we will have no issues getting in
 
H

HeLooks2MuchLikeDave

All-Conference
Dec 1, 2010
2,458
2,151
0
I think Louisville took out their frustrations against BC. I think now that reality has set in for them, they are going to have a little less fight since these games don't really count for anything.
 
W

Wojoman

Junior
Jan 18, 2010
24,794
224
0
I really don't have a good feeling about this one. I feel like we lose a close one. But I actually do have a pretty good feeling about the Virginia game for some reason. I would feel good if we can split those two and then get lucky and take one again UNC. This is going to be a tough game. I feel like Lee is going to really hurt us tonight
 
D

DukeDyNasty22

Redshirt
Jan 21, 2011
45
3
0
Duke shows zone and man to slow down dribble drive and protect early foul trouble. Our big match up good with there's and expect a close game. Lee vs Grayson match up will be fun to watch.
Duke 72
L'Ville 65

Comes down to free throws and turnovers. Overall I think Duke has more scoring options down the stretch.
 
O

OldasdirtDevil

Heisman
Nov 16, 2009
19,469
15,753
0
Going to have to hit a good percentage of the 3 ball, and as always have to avoid serious foul trouble.

Duke 75
Louisville 72

OFC
 
J

JohnstonCDevil

All-Conference
Nov 10, 2012
3,037
2,270
0
This one is coming to be tough! If our three point game is on, we could win a tight one! GO DUKE!!!

OFC
 
D

dukehokie

All-American
Jun 27, 2005
19,624
6,220
0
Louisville can play a slow down game, or play fast and loose. The key honestly is to attack their zone with drives. VT did it and had great success, but they couldn't guard Lee and he torched them which lead to a close L'Ville victory. Their D is stout but can be broken. You just can't sit back and shoot all day long.

This is as much must win for Duke as it is for Louisville. Eat glass, take care of the ball, and force contested jumpers. Do that and Duke wins.

I'll err on the side of Duke doing that.

Duke - 82
L'Ville - 76
 
J

JCColsCane

Senior
Dec 1, 2014
1,267
433
0
Win or lose tonight, let's pray that we come out of this injury free. We have the horses, it's just going to take all of them to be on the same page. Play loose, let it all hang out, and listen to "K".
Go Duke!!


JC-OFC
 
D

Dad2ze

All-Conference
Feb 8, 2012
3,497
3,713
0
We are finding ways to score but are going back to the 3 ball. Drive to the rack and get the foul. Get them in foul trouble and try the 3 then. Taking 20+ 3s a game when you aren't hitting is absurd and even more insane when you don't have guys under the hoop. When we are on its great but if you struggle with the rock outside the arc, drive all day.

Duke - 69
UL - 63

Go Duke!!!
 
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