You tell me...

[stroke the post]

...That Amile is out pretty much all year.

...That we essentially play 7 people all year and 2 of them turned 18 DURING the season.

...that we beat carolina in Carolina and that we beat Virginia and Louisville as well.

...that we make the Sweet 16.

I would say "dang good year".

Well done Duke! Already ready for 2017!

 

[TRU CANE]

This was a good year. This was a good team Duke lost to tonight. An expected loss. A #1 seed. Young guys learned a lot. I expect Thornton and Kennard and Jeter to grow exponentially after this experience

 

[Laettner15]

Great post Stroke! You can't win every single year, but this team had some memorable moments! I think after the Syracuse and ND gamess no one thought we would be where we ended up.

 

[germantondevil]

This team has been fun to watch. They had to work there *** off for every win. No gimmes this year and they played well overall

 

[dukiejay]

Fun and frustrating team at the same time. They were limited but you always held out hope they could find that extra gear. I'd say they played about as well as could be expected.

 

[MyDudeG_rivals]

Completely agree. A trip to the Sweet 16 is not something many would have predicted during some of our struggles this season. Amile's injury hurt a lot, but I'm so proud of how our guys fought this season. There was no quit in this team.

 

[krzyzewskiville]

I agree

 

[dadecodevil]

This was a great bridge year. With 3 18 year olds on the squad that learned how to win and the effort that it takes to win, the future is extremely bright. Luke should be a three year guy, Chase and DT 4 year guys, they ended the year in the sweet 16 , not an embarrasing first round flame out. I think that next year is going to be a dominating year for us.

 

[Baller224]

I said I'd be thrilled to make it to the sweet 16 at beginning of tourney. Even though at times I've been frustrated, overall I've really enjoyed watching this team. We'll be back, Duke basketball never stops.

 

[Buzzooka Joe]

It's not quite as dramatic as when we lost Kyrie a couple games into his year at Duke, because that team most likely would have won a National Title had he stayed healthy all season.. But the loss of Amile really hurt this team's momentum and potential.. Amile wasn't going to be an All-American player, but he did the things that the other players didn't do well (defense, rebounding, a couple offensive post moves, & leadership).

It was a good season, we met expectations.. Hopefully we will meet expectations next year - which is a National Title.

 

[Dattier]

Fun and frustrating team at the same time. They were limited but you always held out hope they could find that extra gear. I'd say they played about as well as could be expected.

While there were certainly some growing pains, what categorizes this season very firmly in the "Fun" category is K's Jedi Mind Trick, praising a young, fragile team despite losses, pointing out their effort, heart, and commitment. It helped me enjoy the season with no resentment. There are always regrets -- Amile's injury, out of Plumlees, a basket here, a basket there -- but these are easy to let go of.

 

[HuffyJB]

This was a great bridge year. With 3 18 year olds on the squad that learned how to win and the effort that it takes to win, the future is extremely bright. Luke should be a three year guy, Chase and DT 4 year guys, they ended the year in the sweet 16 , not an embarrasing first round flame out. I think that next year is going to be a dominating year for us.

Absolutely right, great post.

 

[DukeDenver]

Nice sentiments in this thread. It's great to be a Devil.

 

[df64]

Very satisfying year. Period.

 

[dbav]

It was such a rollercoaster and that is why it was such a fun season. The thing I will take away is that these kids were fighters. They never quit and that was incredible. Love this team.