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****OFFICIAL DUKE VS. ELON OPENING NIGHT THREAD****

K

krzyzewskiville

Senior
Oct 7, 2004
11,113
724
0
Ya'll thought I wasn't coming back, didn't you haha? As I begin my 14th year (and two time national champ I might add :) as "official gameday thread starter" :cool::) lol.

Ok, enough of my hyperbole. I truly am sorry I don't post as much as I used to. I'm going to try to get more involved again during the season - I love the camaraderie, the great friends I've met because of it and most of all, I get to talk about, learn about and get rowdy about our favorite team and coach!

On to the game. WOW - every year I can't believe how quickly the last one passed and the new one is upon us. This is such an awesome time of the year. The holidays are approaching, football is still going strong and college hoops kicks off! Awesome - and this year, we have a WHOLE LOT to look forward to. The talent Coach K and his staff brought in this season almost doesn't seem fair. We are dominating recruiting and have two nationals championships in the last eight years to boot.

Watching freshman Marvin Bagley III, Wendell Carter, Gary Trent Jr. and Travon Duval and then seeing what Grayson's leadership and Marquise's improvement from freshman to sophomore season - almost always the off season where you see the best improvement from a player.

About Elon - we don't know much so how about the Burlington, North Carolina and closet Elon fan, @skysdad share a little Phoenix knowledge. I see the spread has remained around 20 which really surprises me. What I know, is they're comeing in wanting nothing more than to knock out preseason #1. We need to battle from the opening tip and play Duke basketball.

Tonight's game is slated for a 7pm est. and will air only on local sports networks. It's also streamed on ESPN3. If I was a betting man :) it would be on Duke to cover. That seems like a really low spread for a team that is playing at home, and is loaded with talent. Which is why I like Duke to cover.

Duke 94

Elon 61

GO DUKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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S

SwatX1

Heisman
Jan 4, 2011
8,339
10,583
68
I am expecting us to come out with the hammer down and never let up...

Duke - 103
Elon - 65

Allen, Bagley, Carter, Trent, Duvall, and Bolden all score double figures.

Jav runs by the camera and yell's "Welcome aboard RJ...see ya next year buddy!!"
 
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W

Whutadrag2

Junior
Oct 29, 2016
358
265
0
Elon returning 4 sr and 3 jr is why I believe the spread stayed so low. Santa Ana has been there for 30 yrs it seems. I love Elon, my grandfather is in their BBall HoF, but that same man is the reason I love the Blue Devils more(took me to lots of Duke games).

Talent will get the better of experience tonight.
 
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B

BuckinElkin!!

Junior
Oct 19, 2004
38,911
332
0
I think Elon's experience and style of play will keep the game at least fairly competitive.

Duke 81-65
 
D

dukesince91

All-American
Mar 16, 2012
3,599
6,605
98
Duke 96
Elon 66

Way too much talent for Elon to cover the 20 pt spread.
I was at the game last year and had to witness live Grayson's meltdown.
This is his redemption year, Grayson will score 24 tonight.
 
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N

nets on nets on nets

All-American
Jun 4, 2015
4,162
5,515
0
Bolden “probably” not playing tonight due to being sick. Per Adam Rowe. This sucks.
Get better by Tuesday big fella!

Duke 96
Elon 54
 
Q

QC Dukie

All-American
Apr 16, 2014
6,598
9,060
0
DukeDenver said:
Just realized this will be the rematch of Santa Ana vs. Grayson. I'd love to see Grayson dunk all over that little arm grabber.
Click to expand...
Yea he played high school ball in Charlotte. I saw him play a few times. Cocky little dude.
 
D

dukehokie

All-American
Jun 27, 2005
19,624
6,220
113
As @Whutadrag2 said, this is an experienced team that has some pieces.

They have a few bigs that will at the very least provide some resistance against our big guys. Brian Dawkins had a great game against Duke last season. They also have a couple of Lithuanian bigs, one being Dino Radja’s kid (for you NBA buffs).

Their guards are their weak point, so it will be important to see Duke’s back court play strong.

We only beat them 72-61 last season, granted we were going through our issues with injuries and turnover. They’ll get after it on D, but they can’t score so I’d like to see Duke work them on offense.

The main thing, let’s just get out of these back to backs without injury.
 
D

DukeRulesBasketball

All-American
Aug 20, 2015
7,258
5,182
0
Finally!! I have been anticipating the first game day thread! The quest for six starts today. Duke has no problems with this matchup.

Duke: 93
Elon: 67

Let’s go Duke!!
 
D

dukedevilz

Heisman
Apr 3, 2002
15,637
19,600
0
So excited for this season! It has felt like the longest off-season ever (never helps win Cheaters win). As far as the upcoming game, Elon actually returns a lot of talent... 106 in the KenPom Rankings (Illinois is 104 and NC State is 109 for perspective). I don't expect the game to be over by halftime. I think our freshmen guards like AOC, JG, JT will play - but I think it will be close enough where they might only get around 10 minutes.

Duke 87
Elon 68

It will be interesting to see how Grayson Allen and Steven Santa Ana greet each other... Also, tomorrow we play Utah Valley; Chris Burgess is one of Mark Pope's assistants. I wonder if K and Burgess have interacted since 99?
 
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H

HonkeyT

All-Conference
Apr 27, 2006
4,761
1,577
0
CRAZIE4LIFE said:
Man I'm excited. I put the Duke flag out this morning before I left for work.
Click to expand...

When I bought my house 12 years ago I couldn't wait for basketball season to start so I could put out my Duke flag and my Duke mailbox cover. It was the 2005 season and that morning before I left work I put out the aforementioned items. When I came home that day the mailbox cover was torn off my mailbox and ripped to shreds and the flag was laying in the front yard all tattered and torn with the post broken in half.

It was shocking considering I live in "good" neighborhood but as time passed I realized three of the houses below me where UNC fans and they all live/lived right beside each other in my subdivision. After that fact came to light I wasn't surprised at all. The funny thing is they had the balls to do it in broad daylight and "no one saw a thing".

Needless to say if I had caught them I would have stomped a mudhole in their asses and walked it dry.

Anyway...better luck with your Duke flag than I had.....
 
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L

Liftee

All-American
Mar 6, 2011
3,199
5,513
0
I hope Duke comes out very business like and sets the tone for the year. Lots of pressure D by Duval and no quarter given under the boards. This should be the toughest group we've had since 2010 w/Singler/Scheyer/Zoubek/Thomas/Smitty etc.
 
S

Skeelow22

Senior
Sep 16, 2005
5,143
483
0
I agree with Kville.. if I was a betting man :) I would throw some $ for Duke to cover that spread.

With the way this team has played with Duval and the game without Duval... they have racked up the assists. yes it's been low level competition but still that is a key point I like. I expect more of the same tonight. The ball will be spread to all the weapons on the floor and Duke will come out pumped for the 1st game of the season.

Duke 94
Elon 68
 
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A

AlanInNJ

All-Conference
Feb 25, 2014
1,665
2,462
0
I agree, no way we are under 100 tonight. I think we roll in this one. 104 - 73.

I am interested to see lots of things, but mostly I would love to see some good team D!

Go Duke!

Alan
 
V

Voldukie

Junior
Mar 14, 2002
694
397
0
Who has TV coverage? I am not finding it anywhere and ACCNetwork says Radio Coverage available...
 
D

duhondukie

All-Conference
Jan 12, 2010
1,901
1,038
0
This game will be tougher than the 19 to 20 point vegas spread. I think we win but will be a good test for us early. Duke 85 Elon 73
 
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dukiejay

Heisman
Mar 2, 2005
11,293
16,311
0
Welcome back, KVille....hopefully we see a bit more of you this season.

Duke 88
Elon 71
 
D

df64

All-Conference
Feb 2, 2006
2,702
1,934
0
For me, one of the best moments of last year was when Harry G-forget the game-jumped in and had Grayson's back when it looked like things could get "interesting." I want to see that attitude tonight. I want to see Trent Jr. and Duval dog Elon's guards, especially Santa Ana. I want Bagley and Carter to play mean. I want them to send a message.: Grayson is our man, he is our leader and nobody F's with our Captain! Statement night in Cameron!! Run them out of the gym like UNLV (91/92) used to do to athletically inferior opponents.
 
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OldasdirtDevil

Heisman
Nov 16, 2009
19,469
15,753
0
This Elon club is pretty good, and with a ton of experience which makes me think it should be relatively close. But I don't think that's going to make that much of a difference tonight. There is just something about our guys that make me think they're going to be special. It starts tonight! Go Duke!

Duke 95
Elon 70

OFC
 
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C

christophero

Heisman
May 2, 2017
17,371
21,082
113
Elon 93, Duke 73. Wait reverse that. Need to make coffee. I'm hoping Duval really has his coming out party today. I've heard Bolden is sick so I'm predicting 10 points from Vrank. :)
 
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