likely our next two games. I’m confident vs Kansas. I think we’re going to win that game. Nova worries me. Big time. They drive strong, right at the rim, an area we are horrible at defending. They crash the boards, very physical and shoot the 3 ball great. Personally, I feel like that’s our championship game, kinda like when we beat UNLV. Gonna be our toughest matchup of the season, hands down.
Kansas/ Villanova
- Thread starter Showenuff
- Start date
I'm not even thinking about Villanova right now. No guarantee they beat TTU and definitely no guarantee we just blow past a number 1 seed Blue Blood who has a home crowd advantage.
Kansas makes their free throws when the game is on the line, so we need to get out to a lead and hold on to it.
Kansas makes their free throws when the game is on the line, so we need to get out to a lead and hold on to it.
The East/Midwest FF is essentially the national championship game IMO.
As far as Kansas I think it’s a toss up. Right now Newman is playing well. They have 4 guards. Guard quickness and the ability of multiple guys to knock down outside shots is worrisome. Add home court advantage and Azubuike (albeit banged up) who has been playing well and it’s not an easy task. If we can get Azubuike in foul trouble early with our advantage inside and if GA and Trent shoot it well (how can they shoot it worse than last game) we have a good shot. We will see.
Don’t want to think about Nova. We may be more talented overall but they are the best team in the country. Their guards are superb. Brunson can control the game. If we play a great great game we can win. To be honest I don’t think we win that game however. I hope I’m wrong. Let’s beat Kansas first.
As far as Kansas I think it’s a toss up. Right now Newman is playing well. They have 4 guards. Guard quickness and the ability of multiple guys to knock down outside shots is worrisome. Add home court advantage and Azubuike (albeit banged up) who has been playing well and it’s not an easy task. If we can get Azubuike in foul trouble early with our advantage inside and if GA and Trent shoot it well (how can they shoot it worse than last game) we have a good shot. We will see.
Don’t want to think about Nova. We may be more talented overall but they are the best team in the country. Their guards are superb. Brunson can control the game. If we play a great great game we can win. To be honest I don’t think we win that game however. I hope I’m wrong. Let’s beat Kansas first.
and i think we will be their toughest matchup of the season because they have no one that could guard on bigs. I think that will be the game where bagley needs one of those 25 or 30 and 10 type of games. it will be a great game. i think Duval will be key with his defense especially against brunson. i would like for K to throw in a defensive wrinkle for that game. also he would have a week to prepare which is good as well
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Yeah I agree we need to worry about Kansas and getting by them which won't be easy. Nova may not even make it to the Final Four.
We have to shoot better for sure… They definitely have the skill players to get into the middle of our zone and create havoc. We did not play especially well versus Syracuse so I suspect we will bounce back and I was very pleased to see that we were 3.5 favorite over Kansas - a really good indication for basically an away game for us.
I am also not looking ahead to Villanova although I will admit they are super scary. Not unbeatable by any stretch of the imagination… They also lost some pretty mediocre teams in Butler, St. John’s, Providence and Creighton.
I would like to see AOC get a little more run… I loved his energy last night.
I am also not looking ahead to Villanova although I will admit they are super scary. Not unbeatable by any stretch of the imagination… They also lost some pretty mediocre teams in Butler, St. John’s, Providence and Creighton.
I would like to see AOC get a little more run… I loved his energy last night.
I worry about all our games, haha, but I actually like a matchup with Nova. Our zone has been solid so they wouldn't be driving against man-to-man and our interior could dominate.
But first, let's get after Kansas with all we've got.
But first, let's get after Kansas with all we've got.
I actually think both games would be similar. Kansas is a little better inside but Nova’s guards are better. I think both games would come down to 3 point shooting. Both teams are good enough to beat us if either they shoot really well or we pull another 20% game off. We would have a major front court advantage in both games though.
Man did you guys see that picture of Wendell to the right? His head is up near the rim. I guess his foot is doing okay.
This reminds me of the UCONN final 4 matchup where the winner got an inferior GaTech team in the finals. You know, the one where we had 3 centers foul out and somehow Okafor only had 2-3 fouls the entire game. Still pisses me off. Espec when JJ drove to the basket and got murdered with no call.
I think we match up pretty well against KS. They are prone to TO's and dont have a ton of depth and size. They do have a great point guard though and shutting him down is the key for me. It will be a more open game so that may suit our young players. Either way, you have to play whoever is ahead of you. We can worry about Nova if it happens!
Villanova is good 3 point shooting team, it will be harder to hit those 3 point shots in a dome..plus duke will dominate them in the low post.
Now Blu you know only Ky and Unc earn their titles after all the NCAA and refs conspire to give us ours
I’ve always felt get K to the final four and sit back and enjoy, certainly no different this year. Kansas is the big hurdle this tourney. All games will tough of course, but beating KU and self in Omaha is an extremely tall task.
We have to win the natty the same way unc did last year. We have to own and the paint and the glass. I know nova and Kansas will make threes but we can’t allow then to go crazy
If KU hits 10+ 3s at 40% or better then they’ll probably win. Defense will win the next game. Simple as that. Need to get Azabuike in foul trouble early. Lightfoot and De Souza can’t handle Bagley and Carter Jr.
One thing also is KU and Nova if Nova wins know how tough it's going to beat Duke also. It's not like we are under dogs. OFC
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yeah, that game still sticks in my craw as well. I think Okafor only had one for the whole second half. And, he assaulted players at times. Do I sound like a Tarhole fan. OK, so be it.
Kansas has to hit a lot of threes to even compete in this game. If Udoka gets in foul trouble they are done. We win regardless might be a blow out.
I wish I had your confidence.....I do think we win, but I'm expecting more around a 5-8 point game
Okafor had 4 fouls in the second half and the refs refused to call the 5th. He committed his 5th, multiple times, including one play where he slammed Shav Randolpph out of the way with no call and when Shav bumped him back to reestablish position, the ref called it On Shav, fouling him out. Duke wound up finishing the game with all 3 bigs fouled out. On their go ahead play, he fouled Deng on a offensive rebound off a missed free throw and was then given an and one on the follow. Instead of Deng heading down to the other end for 1 and 1 with a 1 point lead, UConn was given the lead. Yeah, some **** just sticks with you.
I remember K saying to the ref that didn’t call the foul when JJ drove to the basket, “You just killed us”. Everybody knew the winner of that game was likely the champ. GaTech and Luke Schincher (sp?) certainly wasn’t going to compete with whomever won our game.
Back to the point. I think this year is similar in that the champ will likely come out of this side of the bracket. Not taking anything away from the other teams, just don’t see any of them overcoming the talent on our side of the bracket.
Back to the point. I think this year is similar in that the champ will likely come out of this side of the bracket. Not taking anything away from the other teams, just don’t see any of them overcoming the talent on our side of the bracket.
my mistake, just seemed like he had only one in the second. Just know that Duke got screwed. I do remember him mugging Duke players with no fouls called. I think old coach on the sideline might have intimidated the refs. Oh well , that was a while ago.
Villinova is basically who we use to be. The issue with us back then was when we played the type of roster that we have today, It was trouble. Kansas and Villinova are more concerned about us than we are about them.
As Quinn Cook said in 2015, “Duke is never the underdog.”