Duke @ Wake Forest...good game on TV

AUSTIN_22:22 · Post by **AUSTIN_22:22** » February 19th, 2004, 7:22 pm

u all made some nice pts and now i plan to pick each of them apart as best i can....

1 oneandonly, i have watched enough to know that duke plays some sticky defense. they use their defense to start the fast break just as my team uconn does. dukes' half court is usually to spread the court out from the baseline to the 3/4 half court line. if they dont get ppl open by ball movement, they penetrate w/ usually duhon and try get to the basket or kick it out to reddick, ewing, etc. my point is that i dont think that the big men duke has are go to options whenever reddick cant get open like last nite. luol deng gives them a different kind of scorer and could be the guy if reddick doesnt perform. im thinkin teams are gonna be guarding reddick a lot like wake did last nite b/c it was pretty effective. we will see how coach K combats such a defense.

2 charlie v needs to get stronger physically. also, josh boone has been a nice suprise for the huskies. he had 9 offensive rebounds in the game against pitt which is probabaly y charlie didnt see the court very much along w/ that he was not strong enough to match up w/ pitts big guys. uconn has yet to find their true identity and rhythym but in years past have been able to play their best ball in march. thats y i still think uconn will make a run a the championship.

3 william johnson, shelden williams has been a good contributor for duke. maybe because i am used to watching the best big man in the country, okafor, all the time i dont appreciate the effort williams gives. duke definately needs to rebound a lot better than they did against wake. okafor leads the country in double-doubles and blocks and shoots 60% from the field. u have found his only weakness, ft shooting, but there is a player named duncan in the nba that shoots about the same percentage and he is still a decent player. okafor will need to get better from the line if uconn wants to do as well as expected at the beginning of the year. just a side note here, u say that reddick shoots %50 from three, well espn says 43 %. ben gordon shoots 45%. i know reddick shoots more 3's, i just thought it was interesting to see that.

4 packerfan, i am on pure adrenaline all the time.

5 the big east's strength lies in its depth. the acc has some teams at the top that are very impressive. the big east i feel, 1-10, is just as strong as the acc 1-10. 11 teams in the big east conference have records over .500, meaning they are capable of making the big dance. i dont give any chance/credit to the 11th team, georgetown tho, b/c (a) they play the worst scheduele in the nation and (b) they just lost to st johns' team of walk ons. the ACC may have a slight advantage now that i looked at some things b/c of the top teams of the acc and who they have beaten, but it is not by no means "bar-none" the best. the big east and the acc will have the same number of teams in the big dance, 6. the big east right now has 9 teams in the top 50 rpi.

i look forward to seeing what u guys come up w/ against my stuff so dont be shy

BillyWhiteShoesJohnson · February 19th, 2004, 7:44 pm

well austin all i can say is if gordon and okafor are this much better than redick and williams then y has duke only lost 3 games and uconn 6 or however many. and dont tell me they have played a harder schedule cuz they havent.

AUSTIN_22:22 · Post by **AUSTIN_22:22** » February 19th, 2004, 10:01 pm

uconn has lost 5 games. i cant argue my way outta that. i can make up some excuses but the fact remains they have lost 5 games. the schedules are close to even w/ duke having a slight advantage. uconn hasn't found its niche yet. free throw shooting, inconsistent effort, and not being able to stick with some shooters are the main reasons uconn has lost in most circumstances. they will definitely be focused during the dance. their free throw shooting can only get better. closing out on the shooter is all about jim calhoun showing the guys how its done. call me an optimist or just plain delirious but i think they have a chance....

theoneandonly · Post by **theoneandonly** » February 20th, 2004, 1:35 am

Dukes strength of schedule was slightly better?? UConn played two ranked teams in their pre Big East games... both of the ACC... and lost both. On the other hand Duke beat both UNC and Georgia Tech. I mean look at some of the teams they played... Iona, Sacred Heart, Yale, Lehigh, Army, and Rice... those teams don't exactaly strike fear into the hearts of others. And how can you say "they will definitely be focused during the dance."... you and Calhoun that close huh? I'll agree... 2v2 Gordon and Okafor would beat Redick and Williams 7+ times outta 10. Last time I looked they usually play 5v5...

tubmill · Post by **tubmill** » February 20th, 2004, 1:52 pm

I get sick of hearing about SOS and RPI. You can make those figures look any way you want. Pitt killed Georgia by 20+. Georgia beat Georgia Tech, Florida and beat Kentucky twice. The bulldogs lost to highly regarded Gonzaga in OT. Pitt beat Florida State. FSU beat Maryland, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech. The only opponents people want to talk about are the cupcakes. The bottom line is who is playing well at tournament time will decide the championship,despite their schedule.

AUSTIN_22:22 · Post by **AUSTIN_22:22** » February 20th, 2004, 2:40 pm

according to the rpi rankings that can be found on espn.com, duke's scheduele ranks at 9 while uconn's ranks at 11. this is a slight margin my friend. and this is what i was reffering to a the time. tubmill is correct tho, at tournament time, rankings, rpi's, sos's and all the other bs can be thrown out the window. all that matters is who is gonna show up and play the best game. that is the beauty of it all.

about the 5v5 uconn vs duke, there are a bunch of games yet to be won by each team before this would happen. if uconn gets there, they are gonna have to have their A game. if u think i am delirious that uconn is gonna play better, that is ur opinion. please dont take the conviction i have when i talk about uconn basketball the wrong way.

theoneandonly · Post by **theoneandonly** » February 22nd, 2004, 6:45 pm

Duke rebounded nicely from their two losses and put a beating on Maryland. Maryland was unable to withstand Dukes patented end of the half run. Final score was 86-63.

Austin... I saw today that the ACC ranked first in RPI while the Big East came in third.... since you are so big on the RPI I figured this would interest you.

AUSTIN_22:22 · Post by **AUSTIN_22:22** » February 22nd, 2004, 8:37 pm

beating a maryland team that is down this year at cameron is not a huge statement game for duke. good for them to win a game after two losses i suppose.

i know the big east is third. im not gonna get on here and post something like that tho. i feel i made a pretty good case for the big east against the acc. making a case for the sec against the accc, which is second, would probably be easier then. im not gonna do that now tho cuz i have a test tomorrow.

theoneandonly · Post by **theoneandonly** » February 22nd, 2004, 9:50 pm

I know it's not a huge statement game. Nowehre in my posts did I say that it was. Duke and Maryland have a rivalry so any game between the two of them is going to be a big game.

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Duke @ Wake Forest...good game on TV