The zags play in a weak conference. No one knows how good they truly are. They beat AZ early in the year but that was a long time ago.
***DUKE VS WAKE FOREST OFFICIAL GAMEDAY THREAD***
- Thread starter krzyzewskiville
- Start date
They are hyped because they are balanced and well coached. No, they would not be undefeated in the ACC, but they would be in the top 4, IMO. They are a very good team.
So they are a one seed who belongs somewhere between 1 & 16 in the country? I'd take them in my bracket anyday over the other 1 seeds except Baylor if they stick (they won't).
I hope if we are a two seed and gonzaga is a one, they put us in that bracket.
Gonzaga has the #2 adjusted defense in the country. They are 7-0 against top 50 teams, and 11-0 verse top 100 teams. They have an All-American point guard in Nigel Williams-Goss. They have three bigs averaging double figures AND shooting above 60% from the floor. They have three other guards that are shooting above 40% from three. And as good as Karnowski is, Zach Collins might actually be a better player. Kid is stud - he has one of the best player efficiency ratings in the country at 32.5. For reference, Kennard leads Duke in player efficiency at 25.8. Gonzaga is really, really good. They may not win the whole thing, but they will not be an easy out. Typically I look forward to seeing Gonzaga in our bracket, but not this year. The are big, they are deep, they are talented.
On a side note, John Collins is the MOST efficient player in the country (36.0 PER). He is an absolute monster. I would vote him on my first-team ballot without any hesitation. I think you can even argue that he is an ACC POY candidate, but not being on a top-tier team obviously won't help his chances... Erick Green did win POY a couple years ago on a very pedestrian Va.Tech team, so you never know.
I think we have a decent chance, but there's still 4-6 teams playing better than us, in my opinion. Why Villanova isn't given more credit is beyond me.
They must like how Duke is trending, but I am with you, I don't see them as the odds-on favorites at all.
Duke and UNC both have a very challenging two weeks of basketball coming up. We've got 3 road games and a home game against FSU - none of those four games will be easy. UNC has two road games against Pitt and UVA (surely the Cavs will play better at home) and then home games against the two teams tied for second in the league, Louisville and Duke. I don't think it would be terribly surprising if Duke and UNC both lost two games to close out the season. We shall see... I'm hoping we can at least go 3-1, and maybe have a shot at the ACC Regular Season Title.
Duke has to stay focused and take it 1 game at a time. The biggest game now is Wednesday night on road versus Syracuse. Duke is auditioning every game, and it's because they were so dysfunctional not too long ago. Also believe lack of good production from bench is hurting Duke according to bracket nerds. Duke has to work extra hard to get out of the hole that they were in, and their margin for error because of that is slim
Solid posts Dukedevilz. Some will ignore the current stats simply based off of past history (as that apparently is always a sure-fire guarantee of the future). IIRC, Duke had a fit with Gonzaga in 2015 in the E8, and Duke had a better team than they have today, and Gonzaga's team today is better than the 2015 team.
As for Duke being one of the top teams picked to win it all; sure the talent is there, but I think we need to see a bit more before claiming them to be the pick to win it all. Narrowly escaping WF and Clemson at home scares me a bit, and I don't feel comfortable using 'the ACC is a gauntlet' as the reasoning behind it. I think it is the combination of nagging injuries and 6-man rotation come crunch time. Fix those two things and I believe Duke is a FF team.
As for Duke being one of the top teams picked to win it all; sure the talent is there, but I think we need to see a bit more before claiming them to be the pick to win it all. Narrowly escaping WF and Clemson at home scares me a bit, and I don't feel comfortable using 'the ACC is a gauntlet' as the reasoning behind it. I think it is the combination of nagging injuries and 6-man rotation come crunch time. Fix those two things and I believe Duke is a FF team.
Agree w/ SoCal Dukie. Duke hasn't looked like a world beater in many games. Duke has had exactly one 15+ point win since mid-December.
Duke has played down to competition over and over.
Since mid-December:
> 15 point victories
GaTech
<15 point victories that reasonably should have been > 15 point victories
Elon
Tennessee State
BC
Pitt
Clemson (arguably)
Wake at home (arguably - Duke was a 12 point fav)
Losses that reasonably should have been >15 point victories
NCSt
The recent wins against ND, UNC, and UVa are HUGE and shouldn't be discounted at all. But apart from those three wins and the blowout against GaTech, when has Duke looked like a top five team since mid December?
They've played 16 games since Dec 19. In that time, to me, they've looked like a top five team exactly four times.
That's worrisome. Not in a "write them off" kind of way. They're winning, and that's what counts. But still worrisome.
Duke has played down to competition over and over.
Since mid-December:
> 15 point victories
GaTech
<15 point victories that reasonably should have been > 15 point victories
Elon
Tennessee State
BC
Pitt
Clemson (arguably)
Wake at home (arguably - Duke was a 12 point fav)
Losses that reasonably should have been >15 point victories
NCSt
The recent wins against ND, UNC, and UVa are HUGE and shouldn't be discounted at all. But apart from those three wins and the blowout against GaTech, when has Duke looked like a top five team since mid December?
They've played 16 games since Dec 19. In that time, to me, they've looked like a top five team exactly four times.
That's worrisome. Not in a "write them off" kind of way. They're winning, and that's what counts. But still worrisome.
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I agree whole heartedly. While it is great that we are winning games while learning, this team simply doesn't put people away. I think a lot of it does have to do with your youth and fact that we really aren't utilizing our depth, which was supposed to be a strength. I hope at some point here in the next two weeks it clicks and we figure out how to put teams away when we have the chance.