Three reasons I believe Duke can win the 2021 National Championship next season. What gives you confidence in Duke's ability to hang another banner next season?
Three Reasons Duke can Win the 2021 National Championship
- Thread starter BlueDevilStop
- Start date
I think the last several years have served to reiterate the point that there really isn't a "formula" for building a national championship team. There are some things that can be argued make the road easier - shooting, experience, etc. But there really is only one thing that is a must, and that is the prerequisite talent. You have to have pros. A lot of different types of teams have won championships in the last decade. Look no further than how different the two Duke teams that won a championship in that time span were. The only true common denominator among the various champions is that they had multiple guys who would go on to play in the NBA. Those guys can have no NCAA experience or be grisled seniors, but you gotta have dudes. This Duke team has that, including three potential first round picks in Johnson, Hurt, and Moore, all of whom will be in the league a year from now. Duke has question marks, as virtually everyone does - how will Roach handle the point, what they will get from the bigs - but the one box you absolutely have to have checked as a starting point is checked.
It takes a team playing together to win a championship and players that can handle pressure. Virginia proved that
UVA also proved you need a ton of breaks to win.
The biggest things Duke has going this year are...
-It's gonna be another down year for the NCAA overall. Guys leaving early to go pro are destroying rosters, nobody has any depth. Plus the incoming freshman class isn't a superstar type class.
-Lack of fans/crowds. I truly believe this is gonna help Duke out a ton, our road environments are insane. Even when it comes tournament time, I think a quiet gym is our advantage. Talent is even more important when fans aren't in the stands.
-2 of our 3 best players are sophomores. Call me crazy....but in 2020 that is an experienced team. We also got shooting and depth, K has a lot of options at his disposal.
-It's gonna be another down year for the NCAA overall. Guys leaving early to go pro are destroying rosters, nobody has any depth. Plus the incoming freshman class isn't a superstar type class.
-Lack of fans/crowds. I truly believe this is gonna help Duke out a ton, our road environments are insane. Even when it comes tournament time, I think a quiet gym is our advantage. Talent is even more important when fans aren't in the stands.
-2 of our 3 best players are sophomores. Call me crazy....but in 2020 that is an experienced team. We also got shooting and depth, K has a lot of options at his disposal.
I find it funny all the people who want the OAD rule to go away thinking that is going to help. There will still be players leaving after one year, it just means there will be fewer elite level talents in college basketball which won't be a good thing.
Anyways, on the topic of the thread, we will have good size, depth, and talent. I think Moore and Hurt are both going to make big improvements in their consistency and thus in their on-court production. I also think the backcourt rotation of Roach, Steward, and Goldwire will be very solid on both ends of the court.
Assuming Hurt and Moore make the expected jumps we will have 3 upperclassmen in vital roles. If Baker makes a jump that will be 4, although Baker plays a crowded position. But it will be very hard to keep Baker off the floor if he is hitting 3's.
You’ve also got Connecticut and Louisville’s most recent championships within 5 years and neither team was loaded with NBA talent. UCONN had Shabbaz Napier and Louisville had Montez Harrell. The only teams loaded with NBA players to win it in the last 5-6 years have been Duke, UNC, & Nova.
UVA had 3 NBA players on their roster. Hunter (3rd pick), Jerome (1st rounder), Guy (2nd rounder).
and we played two experienced teams in Kansas and MSU....uggghhh, we had those games too
Any great teams must have at least 2 guys you feel comfortable with at the FT Line late....hope we can find those guys!!
Would be GREAT to have a nice FT shooting team as well.
Would be GREAT to have a nice FT shooting team as well.