UNC and Duke Basketball, 2015-16

#526
#526
GoDucks349 said:
No doubt the ACC is looking very very good. And my PAC 12 has looked horrible. I honestly thought AZ and Utah would win first round and possibly Colorado as well. OSU and Cal I figured for early trips home.

It'll be interesting to see how my Ducks do with St Joe. They've got a couple really really good players.
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You made it to the Sweet Sixteen, although it wasn't easy. How do you feel about your chances from here on?
 
#527
#527
People think Duke is way better than they are. I've seen a lot of people, both friends and national media types, say Duke is the best team in the West and it makes me wonder if people have actually watched them this year. They're probably the worst of the four, to be honest.
 
#528
#528
volprof said:
Duke should end up in the Final Four. No team out of that bracket particularly impresses me. I think you're nearly dead even with Oregon and Oklahoma, at worst.
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I wish I could say Duke impressed me, but they have one good win outside of Cameron and one reliable big man on the entire roster. Worst defense of the four, worst point guard of the four...I don't see it. But I hope you're right.
 
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#529
#529
VKAman said:
I wish I could say Duke impressed me, but they have one good win outside of Cameron and one reliable big man on the entire roster. Worst defense of the four, worst point guard of the four...I don't see it. But I hope you're right.
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For me, it has nothing to do with Duke's merits; it's more that I don't think any of the other teams are that good. I think Oklahoma may have been at one time but not anymore. They don't seem to be the team they were a month or two ago.

Clearly, however, any of them can beat the other in a one game scenario. That's what makes the NCAA tournament both the most exciting sporting event and the most frustrating, the ultimate award to excellence as well as the ultimate gift to sheer mediocrity.
 
#530
#530
volprof said:
For me, it has nothing to do with Duke's merits; it's more that I don't think any of the other teams are that good. I think Oklahoma may have been at one time but not anymore. They don't seem to be the team they were a month or two ago.

Clearly, however, any of them can beat the other in a one game scenario. That's what makes the NCAA tournament both the most exciting sporting event and the most frustrating, the ultimate award to excellence as well as the ultimate gift to sheer mediocrity.
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I agree with that. Duke got about as good a draw as it could have. Kansas wasn't so lucky.
 
#531
#531
I'm not a Jim Boeheim fan, but I loved his comment to a reporter after the MTSU game, when asked what had changed with his team now that they had two double-digit wins in the tournament. His response: "We're not playing at UNC, and then after that at Louisville, and then after that at FSU. That makes it easier."
 
#532
#532
volprof said:
You made it to the Sweet Sixteen, although it wasn't easy. How do you feel about your chances from here on?
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We didn't play all that well against St Joe. I don't think there is a team in the tourney we can't beat. Perhaps the team that looks the toughest is Kansas. What a bunch of studs and they play basketball together. AND that's coming from a guy who doesn't like Kansas. Kansas was a former client of mine and I loved the people there that I worked with, I just didn't like what I saw around the athletic department.

We've got Duke next, a team that doesn't turn the ball over and plays tough. If we get our feet under us and start hitting 3s again we'll take them down. If we play like we did against St Joe, we'll be in for a winnable close game.

Like I said in an earlier post, this is the first year I've ever picked the Ducks to win it all.
 
#533
#533
Kansas is good, but a product of an overrated conference (every year) that really can't challenge them. Oklahoma seems like a better coached version of Providence to me...It wouldn't surprise me to see Duke beat them if they win the first one.
 
#534
#534
So, y'all think Meeks still has some lingering injury issues? Man he has looked SOOOO soft the last few games. If he gets any resistance, he crumbles and throws up a prayer-of-a-shot (if he even gets a shot up). Seems like Hicks/James would be the better options right now.
 
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#536
#536
This Duke team is so weird to me. I can easily see Duke beating Oregon and either TAM/OK, but then again I can also see Duke getting beat by Oregon by 20. You just never know what you're gonna get with this team. If they play two halves like they played the first at Yale they can't lose, if they play like in the second half against Yale they'll get run out of the gym. Out of those three teams I don't like the matchup with TAM the most, I think Duke matches up well with Oregon and OK. I honestly Duke and Oregon are very similar in most aspects - can score, don't necessarily rebound well, defense can be really good or nonexistent at times. Whichever team is on that night will win.
 
#537
#537
Here's an interesting stat: only 1 PAC12 program has made the final four since 2001. UCLA did 2006-08, but to have only one program make it to that level is crazy. Hopefully that run continues Thursday.
 
#538
#538
Regulator said:
Well, let's see. Born and raised in Western NC and been here for 38 years next week. Grew up with no cable and only one TV channel. My earliest Carolina basketball memories revolve around Jeff Lebo, J.R. Reid, and Scott Williams so mid-80's. Never saw much about Carolina football growing up, but I started following UT football once we had cable and ESPN in the days of Andy Kelly and Carl Pickens. There's a big UT football following in Western NC as most any of the high school talent from this area that played Division I/FBS football, played it at UT. Carl Pickens, Shawn Bryson, Heath Shuler, Josh Tucker, Brent Gibson, Jimmy Streater, Benjie Shuler (I know why he got a scholly to UT, just throwing him in), Leonard Little, Craig King.....that covers about eveyone I can think of. I guess I should have just stuck to following Western Carolina.
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We have very similar situations. And I am also 38. Been in Charlotte for 30 years, entire extended family is in knoxville. I am always a Tennessee tarheel... pull for Carolina in any sport they play as long as they aren't playing my Vols. The heels are a distant second for me though, I must say.
 
#539
#539
I hated father/son coaching combos as a little kid, so I hated the Houston debacle. Was a small white point guard so I fell for Bobby Hurley as my favorite player. My dad has family sprinkled all over NC, so it fit. 8-9 year old me had no idea Duke would become what they did.
 
#545
#545
RDU VOL#14 said:
No kidding. Although I'm lucky my company recognizes Good Friday. I'm rocking my Duke Blue tie today at work as well.
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I have no idea how your game tonight will turn out. I don't have a lot of faith in Oregon to eek out a close win or get a couple of crucial stops on defense, when needed. I do expect a high scoring affair though.
 
#546
#546
Regulator said:
I have no idea how your game tonight will turn out. I don't have a lot of faith in Oregon to eek out a close win or get a couple of crucial stops on defense, when needed. I do expect a high scoring affair though.
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You and me both Reg. I have no idea what to expect. There are so many different factors to play. Psychologically both can play the chip on the shoulder card, Oregon can make a case for a program defining win tonight, beating Duke, who just happens to be the reigning national champion, seeds be damned. Duke has the rare role of the underdog and IMO playing with house money at this point. I think this game is going to be played very, very hard and whoever survives the foul situation wins.

Key player for Duke tonight: Matt Jones. He has to play better. period. Fun fact, Matt Jones and I scored the same amount of points last game.
 
#549
#549
RDU VOL#14 said:
No kidding. Although I'm lucky my company recognizes Good Friday. I'm rocking my Duke Blue tie today at work as well.
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Mine doesn't :cray:

Regulator said:
I have no idea how your game tonight will turn out. I don't have a lot of faith in Oregon to eek out a close win or get a couple of crucial stops on defense, when needed. I do expect a high scoring affair though.
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I don't expect a win.

Sin City Vol said:
Why are you a Duke fan? Did you go to school there?
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I did not. I went to Winthrop because I was mad at my parents for not helping me go to UT and raising me as a UT fan! They would only help me for an instate school since I had a scholarship to any instate school. Of course, smart decision on their part, but I did not see it at the time. I wanted to get as close to the border I could get and Winthrop ended up being my choice. SEC network was not around when I was in school, and you were lucky to get an SEC game on tv, unless it was a big matchup, usually someone with Kentucky. Everything else was NC, Duke, or NCST. I had some family in the area at the time who were Duke fans who took me to some tournament games, and that's when it all started to fall for me. Just fell in love with the game and I aligned with Duke.

I'm like some of these other posters, UT first if they were ever to match up, but I still have a place in my heart for Duke.
 
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