Duke vs UNC this Coming Season

[What Would Jesus Do?]

How do you see the matchup, now that UNC has added Garcia?

I had Duke with the edge before this. Not a big edge, but an edge. This acquisition probably gives UNC an edge.

Both teams have a bunch of players who need to learn to play together. Both will be very good if that happens. Most years K is very good at making that happen. Davis is unknown at doing that.

 

[johnl1219_]

How do you see the matchup, now that UNC has added Garcia?

I had Duke with the edge before this. Not a big edge, but an edge. This acquisition probably gives UNC an edge.

Both teams have a bunch of players who need to learn to play together. Both will be very good if that happens. Most years K is very good at making that happen. Davis is unknown at doing that.

I would always give K the edge in coaching versus Roy and would do so against Davis. However, Duke will need a jump in production from Roach, Moore and Baker to be a top 10 team with a title chance. If those guys are average, Duke takes it's lumps.

 

[christophero]

Slight edge to them. But it's close. Depends on Roach, Keels, Moore and Griffen and how good they are.

 

[sheyduke]

Duke and I’m not worried about UNC. Love won’t have Roach and Steward guarding him. There’s Keels and Moore and Griffin. Paolo and Williams against Bacot and the Marquette transfer will be nice but I’m not worried about it. Both teams will probably see loses before their first game on February.

 

[geddoughton23]

It's the deepest UNC team in a long time. Not the most talented at the top, but all twelve scholarship players can contribute. No Plateks. The UNC team will play with much more enthusiasm and be more dangerous because the coach believes that the shots are going in the basket. Both teams possess top 12 talent. The final game at Cameron will be wild.

 

[christophero]

Garcia averaged 14 as a freshman. He is probably an upgrade from the big who transferred.

 

[geddoughton23]

I'll have to watch a few Marquette games from last year. I watched Marquette at UNC six times, but that's the only Marquette game I watched. Garcia torched Brooks and Sharpe. Roy coached an awful game. The Marquette guards could hardly dribble, but he would not press. Garcia shot 9 of 13 against UNC, but his greatest skill was coming to the ball and making the easy pass.

 

[christophero]

How did Theo John look against them?

 

[geddoughton23]

John looked perfect for a role player on a good team. You could see that he has bad knees. He boxed out Bacot effectively, but he couldn't handle Sharpe. He's big, but very little lift. He is a smart player, and he displayed poise when UNC made a late run. He played 29 minutes against UNC. He will be much more effective playing an intense 14 minutes. He was almost too unselfish against UNC. 5 for 7 from the field. Passed the ball out when he should have crashed to the basket. He has pretty good hands. He played good defense at the start of halves, but committed awful fouls when tired. UNC could have fouled him out early if they had any sense. He had 4 fouls. 3 were from fatigue or bad knees. Most importantly, it looked like Garcia and John were having fun. Roy scheduled Marquette for an easy win. My Tar Heels panicked early, and John relished a fun win on the road

 

[geddoughton23]

I think John is in the Danny Meagher, Brian Zoubek mold. Bad stats, happy to contribute without being noticed. Lots of picks, lots of fouls , lots of opportunities created for Williams and Banchero

 

[Liftee]

I think you guys are downplaying our guards. I think Roach will make a jump, both from being stronger but also healthier being fully healed from his knee injury (remember Quinn Cook?), and having a year and proper preseason under his belt. Moore will be solid as he was at the end of last season and Keels may surprise people on his offensive skills.

I think our front court is much stronger than UNC. If our back court holds its own we're 10 points better.

 

[christophero]

That may be true, but as of now the backcourt is unproven. There are lots of unknowns. That does not mean they cannot be good.

 

[timo0402]

I think we matchup well with anyone but our depth is our Achilles heel. We can’t afford to have any of our top guys go down for long periods of time. Unc will be good. That game at the end Of the year will be arguably the biggest game in Cameron history. Let’s go. Don’t get scared now- Kevin McCallister.

 

[christophero]

Keep the change you filthy animal lol. (That's from Home Alone) Yeah the depth thing is an issue. Seeing as we lost Coleman and missed on Baldwin. I really like Baker and think he can really help us. He's a senior, a shooter, former 5 star. If that guy has a Justin Robinson like emergence that would be huge.

 

[sheyduke]

Keep the change you filthy animal lol. (That's from Home Alone) Yeah the depth thing is an issue. Seeing as we lost Coleman and missed on Baldwin. I really like Baker and think he can really help us. He's a senior, a shooter, former 5 star. If that guy has a Justin Robinson like emergence that would be huge.

John is ideal and played one would think against Garcia in practice. Not worried about this game . More worried about playing as a team and cutting back on turnovers and easy paths to the lane. As starters go. Bacot and Williams will be a nice battle and I’ll give Paolo the edge over Garcia.

 

[skysdad]

I guess it's just me and not aware of other programs in the country but to be frank I never heard of garcia until cheateru got him. I guess the next thing is he will be pre season ACCPOY, concensus 1st team all-american, contender for NCAAPOY, #1 overall NBA draft pick and a future top 50 NBA player of all time. OFC

 

[christophero]

No but he's very good, and has already proven himself in his freshman year. 13ppg. He's bigger than Baldwin but reminds me of him. Will probably only be there one year.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Garcia averaged 14 as a freshman. He is probably an upgrade from the big who transferred.

I don't know about upgrade, but certainly a solid replacement.

Garcia played triple the minutes per game as Kessler. If you look at the per 40 numbers, they are close on points, but Kessler is way ahead on rebounds. And he wasn't usually in against the scrubs, so those should be "real" numbers.

 

[christophero]

I think Garcia and Bascot fit better together, as one is a 5 and Garcia is a 4. Will be fun to see their frontcourt against ours. We will need a healthy Theo John, as they are deep up front and we lost Coleman. I'm still bummed about losing Coleman.

 

[LouisiAaron]

I think we will be fine. We will have the two better big men on the floor so we win that matchup. Shooting will most likely be even. If we put AJ on Love then I think we lock them down defensively

 

[df64]

Coleman bumms me out too. He seemed like such a great fit and the exact kind of guy we didn't have to worry about losing. He is irrelevant this year IF our bigs stay healthy. Even so, he would have been huge for 22 and 23, providing character, leadership, and most likely being able to be a solid contributor in years 3 and 4.

 

[christophero]

Brakefield I saw coming. Coleman I did not.

 

[geddoughton23]

Garcia didn't show much on defense last year. His lateral quickness isn't particularly good. Kessler would have been a defensive beast this year. Garcia is more polished offensively than Kessler

 

[Mrs.Jeans15]

Its Duke vs UNC

The passion wins the games in the end.

No matter how good either team's players are.

Its played out that way year after year.

 

[christophero]

Guess we didn't have much passion last year.

 

[LouisiAaron]

Guess we didn't have much passion last year.

We sucked last year. It was the first time in about 20 years that I can’t say I watched a single dribble of either game

 

[Mrs.Jeans15]

Guess we didn't have much passion last year.

You had a player quit in the middle of the season. There is a new breed of player out there.

 

[sheyduke]

Brakefield I saw coming. Coleman I did not.

I saw both leaving. Brakefield after Johnson left and he continued coming off the bench and starting and Coleman’s lack of playing time.

 

[Blueheart32]

I believe Banchero will be the best player on the floor

As for matchups, it's almost impossible to predict what the primary matchups will be, but taking a stab at that, I believe it's advantage Duke. Shocked huh?

Roach / Love - Advantage UNC
Keels / Walton - Advantage Duke
Griffin / Black - Advantage Duke
Banchero / Mannek-Garcia - Advantage Duke
Williams / Bacot - Advantage Duke

 

[johnl1219_]

I believe Banchero will be the best player on the floor

As for matchups, it's almost impossible to predict what the primary matchups will be, but taking a stab at that, I believe it's advantage Duke. Shocked huh?

Roach / Love - Advantage UNC
Keels / Walton - Advantage Duke
Griffin / Black - Advantage Duke
Banchero / Mannek-Garcia - Advantage Duke
Williams / Bacot - Advantage Duke

While I think this is a good prediction, I would think for UNC, Mannek would be at the SF position instead of Black. I'm not sure if that changes the matchup between Griffin and Mannek, but I can see that happening more than Black.

 

[GAAP_rivals]

While I think this is a good prediction, I would think for UNC, Mannek would be at the SF position instead of Black. I'm not sure if that changes the matchup between Griffin and Mannek, but I can see that happening more than Black.

Manek (at 6'9" 230) might have trouble guarding other SFs.

 

[johnl1219_]

Manek (at 6'9" 230) might have trouble guarding other SFs.

Good point, I thought he was a little smaller, like in the 6'6" range. Agreed, being that big, he might be a step slow at SF.

 

[christophero]

I think Moore starts at the 2.

 

[Blueheart32]

I think Moore starts at the 2.

In all likelyhood, I agree, unless Keels just proves to be a much better offense weapon.

 

[geddoughton23]

I don't know who will start at small forward for UNC, but I doubt that it's Leaky Black. Coach Davis won't put up with a player who refuses to attack. I agree that Duke has the better starting five. UNC has better reserves

 

[christophero]

I think it's fair to point out that 3 of our guys listed are freshman, and a bit unknown. Although Banchero seems like a sure thing.

 

[Blueheart32]

I don't know who will start at small forward for UNC, but I doubt that it's Leaky Black. Coach Davis won't put up with a player who refuses to attack. I agree that Duke has the better starting five. UNC has better reserves

It's Duke - unc, nothing will be easy

 

[sheyduke]

I think Moore starts at the 2.

Moore will start at point this game unless Roach improves on just about everything.

 

[BlueDevilStop]

Think Duke is the better team this year, but wouldn't be surprised if the regular season series is split 1-1.