detlef Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 For the last month, local sports guys have opined on whether or not landing Harrison Barnes would be enough to bring Duke back. Some, of course, rightly pointed out that, unless Singler comes back next year, they'd still lose ground to UNC anyway. Well, turns out that, not only did they lose out on the #1 overall recruit, a guy that everyone agreed they were the prohibitive favorite to land, but he's going to UNC! Who, btw, also signed a PG rated top 5 over all as well. That'll leave a mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Dick Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Watched the kids news conference today. Very sharp individual. And if that kid ends up in the pros, he's got the million dollar smile Madison Avenue LOVES. Indications have been that he was just as interested in the business school as well as the basketball. Not surprised Roy got this one: he has always recruited Iowa well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackshi17 Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 For the last month, local sports guys have opined on whether or not landing Harrison Barnes would be enough to bring Duke back. Some, of course, rightly pointed out that, unless Singler comes back next year, they'd still lose ground to UNC anyway. Well, turns out that, not only did they lose out on the #1 overall recruit, a guy that everyone agreed they were the prohibitive favorite to land, but he's going to UNC! Who, btw, also signed a PG rated top 5 over all as well. That'll leave a mark. They still play with one basketball in the ACC right? I don't care how many #1s the Tarheels get. Dukes future is not determined by the players that UNC buys (err) recruits. I have heard about Dukes demise for the last ten years and it really hasn't happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted November 14, 2009 Author Share Posted November 14, 2009 They still play with one basketball in the ACC right? I don't care how many #1s the Tarheels get. Dukes future is not determined by the players that UNC buys (err) recruits. I have heard about Dukes demise for the last ten years and it really hasn't happened. Hey, if you're satisfied with getting the benefit of the doubt in all the polls and failing to live up to your seed in the tourney, so be it. Because that's what's been happening. And Duke's future is determined by the the players that they're not getting. And they're not getting the players. K is destined to go the way of his mentor Bobby Knight. Both could always get a lot out of their players and, ultimately will be forced to because they start getting less talented ones. That there was a time when K could have whomever he wanted and now, simply can't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billay Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 (edited) Dukes future is not determined by the players that UNC buys (err) recruits. Says the team with the million dollar tuition. Edited November 14, 2009 by billay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildcat2334 Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 I had no idea they had brothas balling in Iowa really looking forward to watching John Wall play this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trots Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 Terps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billay Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 Sounds like it's time to start the annual thread... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billay Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 Go this in an email today. No way of knowing if its true or not, but I got a kick out of it. My wife works at dook and there was a story circulating last eveningabout the Rat losing his mind when Barnes announced for UNC. Barnes contacted the 5 coaches who were recruiting him on Thursday night and thanked them for recruiting him, etc - and told them that he was setting up a skype call to the coach/school he picked. All of the coaches were, of course, near a computer when the presser was going on - waiting to see if Barnes contacted them. The Rat was so convinced that dook had him that he had the entire team in the bball lounge WITH several of the dook cheerleaders to add to the celebration. When Barnes was having technical difficulties, he started yelling at someone in the office to fix the computer, was getting all pissed off. After Barnes said "Hello Coach Roy Williams" he apparently went nuts -- stormed out of the lounge, slammed the door (knocking a picture off the wall) and went in the coaches office and knocked over a table of DVD's and threw a book across the room. She said Chrissy Collins followed him down the hall and was yelling "How could he turn on us like this" with a few other choice words. This was all witnessed (and told) by a Sports Therapist who works part time with the womens bball team and was hanging around like everyone else -- her twin sister works in the department with my wife and she was telling everyone how crazy it was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackshi17 Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 Good game 'cuse! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted November 21, 2009 Author Share Posted November 21, 2009 Good game 'cuse! Tell you what, you guys keep rolling cream puffs (good luck with Radford btw) and we'll battle test our kids vs 5 tourney teams (including 3 in the pre-season top 5) before ACC season starts. We'll see which works out better in March. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackshi17 Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 Tell you what, you guys keep rolling cream puffs (good luck with Radford btw) and we'll battle test our kids vs 5 tourney teams (including 3 in the pre-season top 5) before ACC season starts. We'll see which works out better in March. I looked for it but I couldn't find...the grasping at straws...icon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 Tell you what, you guys keep rolling cream puffs (good luck with Radford btw) and we'll battle test our kids vs 5 tourney teams (including 3 in the pre-season top 5) before ACC season starts. We'll see which works out better in March. At first glance, it appears that UNC has the tougher of the two non-conference schedules... As you mentioned, Texas, Michigan State, and Kentucky are all in the pre-season top five. But, I think their schedules are actually closer than many would think. Looking at true "cream puffs," I would argue that UNC actually has more on their schedule than Duke does, although it's VERY close. The number next to each team represents their end-of-year RPI ranking from last season (I couldn't find anything that ranks all 300+ teams this early in the season for '09-10). Duke - UNC-Greensboro 316 Coastal Caro. 303 Gardner-Webb 218 Penn 259 Charlotte 209 @Iowa St. 167 Long Beach St. 156 UNC - N.C. Central 336 Valparaiso 261 Gardner-Webb 218 FIU 217 Presbyterian 215 Rutgers 196 Albany 178 Marshall 171 Looking at the rest of their respective non-conference games, they're not that far apart, if you take into account where each team finished LAST year. However, as you stated, the biggest difference THIS year is that a couple of UNC's middle-of-the-pack opponents from last year are significantly improved. Texas, a 7-seed in last year's tournament, is ranked in the top five overall (pre-season), as is Kentucky, who missed the NCAA's altogether last year, and was ranked outside of the top 75. So, I guess we will see how those pre-season rankings hold up. Based on those two improved teams, I'd give UNC a definite edge, in terms of overall non-conference schedule. However, even though Duke's schedule may not be as tough on paper, given the pre-season rankings, a lot of that is not within their control. They scheduled just as many "quality" teams as UNC did... Texas, Kentucky, and MSU just happen to be better this year, while Wisconsin and Georgetown are coming off rough years, by their standards. I also think St. John's will be much improved this year... they just happen to play in the deepest conference in the country, and went 0-9 against the top 25 last year (most of those losses were against the likes of Pitt, UConn, Syracuse, Louisville, etc.). The numbers below represent last year's end-of-year RPI ranking, followed by each teams post-season seeding in parentheses: Duke - Gonzaga 26 (NCAA 4-seed) Arizona St. 31 (NCAA 6-seed) @Wisconsin 45 (NCAA 12-seed) Tulsa 56 (NIT 4-seed) @Georgetown 57 (NIT 6-seed) Radford 132 (NCAA 16-seed) St. John´s (N.Y.) 149 UNC - Michigan St. 6 (NCAA 2-seed) @Syracuse 12 (NCAA 3-seed) @Ohio St. 32 (NCAA 8-seed) @Texas 41 (NCAA 7-seed) @Kentucky 79 (NIT 4-seed) Nevada 83 @Col. of Charleston 102 So, that's seven quality opponents a piece... Granted, a couple of those "quality" teams are debatable, but the lists are fairly even, overall. Like I said, I think UNC definitely has the edge on paper... We will see if that makes them more "battle-tested" than Duke or not. Either way, it should be a fun season... I can't wait for some of these cream puffs to be done with, so we can get down to the meat and potatoes of the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted November 21, 2009 Author Share Posted November 21, 2009 I looked for it but I couldn't find...the grasping at straws...icon. Hey, why grasp for straws when you can just point to winning 2 NC titles in the last 5 years and pretty much owning your arch rival the entire time? UNC just won last year and lost 4 starters from that team, so one could argue that expectations shouldn't be all that high. That, like '06, this could be a year when Duke could overtake them. Thing is, that's not the case, because we've got a mountain of freaking talent just brought in and more on the way. However, this is November and you've got two vets who've never had to carry the team and a bunch of guys who've never started. Honestly, I am not in the least worried. And unlike myopic Duke fans who are smugly watching their empire crumble before them and saying it's all going to be OK, UNC fans can truly not worry. Now, if these guys don't learn from their 10 minute brain fart, that's another story. However, recent history has shown that Roy can get to the kids and they'll build off this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billay Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 Personally, I'm glad to go ahead and get that first loss out of the way, because I think it's particularly clear that UNC is not a top 10 team at present. Can they be by the end of the year? Possibily, but they've got a lot to work to do. First and foremost, they've got to find a point guard, and I'm not sure there's one on the roster at present. At best, I think Larry Drew will be serviceable, but Ty Lawson or Ramond Felton he 'aint. Second, we need to find some outside shooters. Graves has some potential. Ginyard has worked on his outside shot, but we really need someone to step up. Lastly, this team is going to need to grow a pair. Ginyard should be tough, but Thompson is going to have to get some thicker skin. I thought is was very telling last night, when it was time to make a comeback, Thompson, Graves and Zeller were all riding the pine. Clearly, Roy was disatisfied with their toughness. 'Cuse came out with intensity in the second half and mentally, the heels just shut down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmypg Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 Nice win on a neutral court for Duke today. Now when UNC loses to an MSU team that just lost will you still be happy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted November 28, 2009 Author Share Posted November 28, 2009 Nice win on a neutral court for Duke today. Now when UNC loses to an MSU team that just lost will you still be happy? Yes it was. Now, first off, let's not confuse not freaking out over watching a very young team pull a 10 minute brain fart against a good team very early in the season with being happy. And while we're at it, maybe we shouldn't assume MSU is gonna beat them on Tuesday (I'm going by the way!). None the less, you'd better hope that K doesn't kill Sheyer and Singler by giving them 40 minutes a night and riding them to a nice regular season record like he seems to do with his horses. Otherwise, you're looking at another short trip in March. And again, this is the year that you should be able to get over on UNC, just like you were supposed to in 2006. If you can't do it now, when? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmypg Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 We still need Marcus Plumlee to come back & be good. Zubek sucks & is a 7'0 waist of space. You could beat MSU & I hope you do as I want the ACC to win the challenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted November 29, 2009 Author Share Posted November 29, 2009 BTW, if UNC gets run on Tuesday, I will officially start to worry big time. So many questions need answered and I'd think that having some time off after getting your ass kicked is a great time to figure these things out. First off, does Marcus G take the next step a la D Green and D Noel did recently. That is, go from utility guy to team leader. Does Thompson grow a sack and become the dominant inside presence that he's always teased us with being but never had to become because of Hansbrough. Does Davis develop an offensive game. Can Drew II actually play point. And of course, who amongst the talented rookies is going to step up and be a player. Henson was supposed to be a one and one guy but he sure doesn't look like it yet. Except, of course, when he's blocking a shot, running it down, and then saving it between his legs to start a fast break. You'd think a guy who could do that could also manage to score better than 4 pts a game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billay Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Even if UNC doesn't beat MSU, I was VERY encouraged by that first half. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmypg Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Nice win by UNC tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 Man, Drew II and Strickland sure looked good tonight. I would have like to see everyone hit the floor for loose balls a bit more but, all in all, a very encouraging game. Still a tough stretch ahead though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 By the way Bill, tonight at the game they were talking about when Dean Smith was hired, that the Chancellor at the time who hired him had a name suspiciously similar to yours. Guessing there's a relation there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billay Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 By the way Bill, tonight at the game they were talking about when Dean Smith was hired, that the Chancellor at the time who hired him had a name suspiciously similar to yours. Guessing there's a relation there? That's my Grandpappy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 That's my Grandpappy! Nice! Does that get you a seat behind the bench? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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