There is only one reason why Duke lost:

HuffyJB

All-Conference
Jan 13, 2005
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I've seen the fact that Duke sometimes gets to play tournament games in North Carolina brought up multiple times, but it seems like such a simple concept that even the thickest should be able to wrap their minds around it: Duke has never played an opening weekend game in North Carolina when they weren't a top 3 seed. Ever. Just last year they were a 4, so they went to Rhode Island, despite Raleigh being an opening site.

Duke did not play well enough to win, and SC was on Mars in the second half, but the reality remains that no 7 seed should have such a locational advantage over a 2 seed. Particularly when it is such an easy thing to rectify: there are four 7 seeds; if a pod is in the home state of one of those seeds, then they should not be in that pod. And I know the "scrubbing process" and pseudo-snake seeding work they do, but it never, ever works out that way for a number of factors (i.e., the overall #1 never has the worst 2, the best 3, the worst 4, etc.). Due to conference rematches, location, etc., it never shakes out like that. People, Duke fans included, can say that is sour grapes or an excuse, and that's fine. But that doesn't change the obvious logic.
 
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LetsGoDukies

Senior
Jul 10, 2013
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I had a hard time wrapping my head around what exactly went wrong in the 2nd half that led to SC shooting over 70%. This video helps. It shows every shot SC made in the 2nd half. What stands out to me the most is 3 turnovers that turned into easy buckets and also the atrocious D by Kennard. The turnovers accounted for 6 points and in my opinion, Kennard's D gave them 10 points. You all can judge for yourself.

 

dukephysics

All-Conference
Jul 27, 2016
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I had a hard time wrapping my head around what exactly went wrong in the 2nd half that led to SC shooting over 70%. This video helps. It shows every shot SC made in the 2nd half. What stands out to me the most is 3 turnovers that turned into easy buckets and also the atrocious D by Kennard. The turnovers accounted for 6 points and in my opinion, Kennard's D gave them 10 points. You all can judge for yourself.


I watched and counted thinking you had to be exaggerating. Nope, I got the same count you did.
 

HuffyJB

All-Conference
Jan 13, 2005
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I had a hard time wrapping my head around what exactly went wrong in the 2nd half that led to SC shooting over 70%. This video helps. It shows every shot SC made in the 2nd half. What stands out to me the most is 3 turnovers that turned into easy buckets and also the atrocious D by Kennard. The turnovers accounted for 6 points and in my opinion, Kennard's D gave them 10 points. You all can judge for yourself.



I haven't watched yet, but how the hell did they fit in all those baskets in under 5 minutes?
 

timo0402

Heisman
Feb 24, 2009
13,868
13,709
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I've seen the fact that Duke sometimes gets to play tournament games in North Carolina brought up multiple times, but it seems like such a simple concept that even the thickest should be able to wrap their minds around it: Duke has never played an opening weekend game in North Carolina when they weren't a top 3 seed. Ever. Just last year they were a 4, so they went to Rhode Island, despite Raleigh being an opening site.

Duke did not play well enough to win, and SC was on Mars in the second half, but the reality remains that no 7 seed should have such a locational advantage over a 2 seed. Particularly when it is such an easy thing to rectify: there are four 7 seeds; if a pod is in the home state of one of those seeds, then they should not be in that pod. And I know the "scrubbing process" and pseudo-snake seeding work they do, but it never, ever works out that way for a number of factors (i.e., the overall #1 never has the worst 2, the best 3, the worst 4, etc.). Due to conference rematches, location, etc., it never shakes out like that. People, Duke fans included, can say that is sour grapes or an excuse, and that's fine. But that doesn't change the obvious logic.
It's certainly sour grapes but it doesn't mean you're wrong either. Duke didn't do enough to win, but the combo of SC playing in SC and with UNC fans coming off a win in the previous game was the reason why when the brackets came out I said this was the most concerning portion of our draw in the tournament.

We had a chance to put them away and we let them hang around, gain confidence and keep the crowd energy high/against us.
 

Dattier

All-American
Sep 1, 2003
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But that's exactly it: S. Car should have been able to play at it's real home arena, but a 2-seed should still be able to defeat a 7 seed. If you look at the numbers, that's like saying a top 10 team (a 2-seed) with decades of tourney experience should be able to beat an uranked team (7-seed) that hasn't won a tourney game since the 70s. I'm in no way trolling; I'm just saying.
No player on the court even saw the 1980s, let alone the '70s. This was Amile Jefferson's 13th NCAA Tournament game, Matt Jones' 12th, and Grayson Allen's 11th. No one else on the team has more than 5.

If the game was played 10 times, we'd have won blah, blah, blah. That's not how it works.
 

Laettner

All-Conference
Mar 11, 2002
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It's certainly sour grapes but it doesn't mean you're wrong either. Duke didn't do enough to win, but the combo of SC playing in SC and with UNC fans coming off a win in the previous game was the reason why when the brackets came out I said this was the most concerning portion of our draw in the tournament.

We had a chance to put them away and we let them hang around, gain confidence and keep the crowd energy high/against us.

If Duke were a #7 seed and placed in Gboro/Raleigh/Charlotte/NY/NJ there would be a federal investigation. The internet would shutdown from online protesting. That's a fact.
 

DFerryFan

Junior
Mar 8, 2011
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Well when a team with a terrible offense decides to shoot 70% in the 2nd half and score 65 points in the 2nd half, I guess that's one big reason why we lost. Glad we can bring out the best competition in people.
 
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LongTimeDukeFan

All-Conference
Nov 20, 2009
4,424
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OK guys -- here are the only, real two reasons why we lost:
1. South Carolina scored more points then we did; and
2. South Carolina did not let us score as many points as they did.

It's pretty simple. You want to argue about how one of those two reasons occurred, fine. But it starts to sound like a dentist drill really fast.
 
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DevilDJ

All-Conference
Sep 11, 2001
9,580
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If Duke were a #7 seed and placed in Gboro/Raleigh/Charlotte/NY/NJ there would be a federal investigation. The internet would shutdown from online protesting. That's a fact.

Never looked at it that way but you're right. We'd be hearin' more about it than a Grayson incident.
 

jnastasi

Senior
Mar 28, 2012
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There are a few reasons we lost...1. No point guard. K's teams don't do well without great point guard play. 2. This team never meshed. 3. Too many injuries and distractions.

Has to be the most disappointing/underachieving Duke team I've ever seen from beginning to end. It's great they won the acc tourney but Duke plays for final fours and national championships.