It has to be said. It has already been seen. It is going to happen all year. We are better than predicted, albeit not unfimilar to some of us fans that have said this many times.... Inside presence, check. Good inside presence, check. Gaurd play, seasoned veterans... the kind that win March games, undoubtedly underrated by most people. Wing? GTFOutta here. Singler is hands down the best wing in the country. Inside/Outside, he can do it all. Ungaurdable almost. We look extremely poised and under control, unlike many times in the few previousl seasons. It is all coming round full circle from losing out on Livingston coming to town (he would have been on that FInal 4 team that lost the lead to UConn is the last 2 minutes), Paulus not panning out and Luol leaving before most everyone thought he would. Miles is starting to get comfortable, is physical AND athletic and is playing with authority. Very promising 4 year big. Kelly is going to contribute this year, no doubt. He is a deft passer from the high post, although his shot hasn't impressed me from the first 3 games like I saw in the McD's 3 comp and from what I have heard. But he is long, fairly athletic and rebounds well from the 3/4. Olek has surprised me, anything he adds is just icing for us. And it looks as if he will. Jon is a baller, period. Not great at anything but really good at everything. The kind of glue guy that all great teams have, the calm leader. Dawkins is going to be great. He is unafraid to shoot, ina good way. His stroke is excellent fundamentally, he gets great lift and is farther along than any 2 man we have had as a frosh since JJ. Once he gets comfortable and just learns to play, all opposition is in trouble. He will more than make up for losing G and Ell. Addition by subtraction. And Nolan... wow. He is so much more fearless this year, which is how I had hoped he would be. He was regarded his senior year as the 2nd best 2-man in his class, top 10 overall. Now everyone is going to find out why. Kid can play. And now this is no doubt Singler's team. Yes Jon and Nolan are the guys that will have the ball leading the offense. But we run through Singler, wether it is through his passing, his ability to create mismatches, his ability to keep the attention of the oppposition, it doesn't matter. Before it was G and Singler. But Singler is a better front man. More ability to impact the game in numerous ways. It wasn't hard to gameplan for G, but it is now for Singler that he is playing his natural posiiton. We win a tough ACC reg season, ACC tourney and IMO march toward K's 11 F4. I respect all knowledgable fans (even UNC fans, yes Grograns is knowledgable.. although sometimes over the top), but anyone who knows basketball can see this team is not the same team from recent years, let's say the last 3/4. They are different, more reminiscent of Hill on the wing, Lang at the 4 and Parks/Meeks in the middle, but with better gaurds (obviously post Hurley/T. Hill). They don't run, but they don't exactly play slow either. They play intelligently, to their strengths... like their leader. Yes, UNC is going to be good, they will ALWAYS be good with Roy running things. But this is our year, and momentum has swung. If Singler stays for his senior campaign, which is likely without landing Barnes.... make it 2 years worth of sweeps. And by that time, Kyrie, Dawkins and the rest will be veterans.
P.S. And this doesn't include me even mentioning Mason Plumlee who Singler is quoted as saying is the most gifted player on the team!
I agree with everything you said. We have great veterans to lead the team in Scheyera and Singler, we have young, athletic players (dawkins, mason pliumlee when he comes back). We have a fairly good bench, good on the oustide and inside. This is one of the most complete Duke teams there has been in years.
I agree with you. Everyone says that Duke is overrated and UNC is still the best team in the ACC. That doesn't make any sense. Duke is more experienced than UNC and they have blown out every team they have played so far. UNC beat FIU by 16 points and Valparaiso by 11 points. Duke beat UNC Greensboro by 34, Coastal Carolina by 25, and Charlotte by 42.
Whooooa!!!! Tyson, pump your brakes, Duke does look very much improved but "two years worth of sweeps" might be asking a little to much. Even with Duke's impressive play thus far i don't think UNC has conceded anything to Duke, Kansas, MSU or anybody else.
Duke is more experienced than UNC and they have blown out every team they have played so far. UNC beat FIU by 16 points and Valparaiso by 11 points. Duke beat UNC Greensboro by 34, Coastal Carolina by 25, and Charlotte by 42. UNC blew out North Carolina Central by 47. I think FIU and Valpo are a little tougher then Coastal Carolina and UNCG. Not saying that Duke isn't going to challenge UNC for the ACC regular season title, but both teams haven't faced a worthy opponent yet. If you want, check out my ACC Top 5 in my blog.
1. Kansas - Beat Unranked Memphis 57-55. 2. Michigan State - Beat Unranked Gonzaga 75-71. 3. Texas 4. North Carolina - Beat Unranked Valpo by 88-77. Beat 15th ranked tOSU 77-73. 5. Kentucky - Beat Unranked Miami Ohio 72-70. Beat Unranked Sam Houston State 102-92. 6. Villanova - Beat Unranked George Mason 69-68. 7. Purdue 8. Duke
So far the only teams that have looked like they belong ranked this highly are Texas, Purdue and Duke. The others have proven very vulnerable already. Carolina would have lost to Ohio State had OSU not had the worst shooting night they'll probably have all year, and had their top 3 players in foul trouble. UNC continues to rack up turnovers, and fail to put teams away. They could get blown out by Syracuse tomorrow. Kentucky was down by 18 to Miami-Ohio, and can't make Free-Throws at all. It took a buzzer beater by John Wall to get them the win. They played no defense against Sam Houston State today and won by only 10. Kansas played a very sloppy game against Memphis with 21 Turnovers, and were outscored in the second half, but dominated the paint to squeak out the win. It could have been a product of a scrappy and quick Memphis team that deserves to be in the top 25. Michigan State was at home and was down 13 at one point to Gonzaga. The Zags looked underrated and forced Sparty into 20 turnovers. MSU trailed the entire game until the 3:00 mark. Villanova eeked out a victory against unranked George Mason on two late clutch 3 pointers. They were down as much as 13 in the game.
So far, the youth of several of these teams are showing. It's been a rough start for most of them. So far it looks like this season is anybody's to take. Inexperience does usually show itself at the beginning of the year...it also usually shows itself at the end of the year. Some of these teams need to get a lot better fast or are going to have disappointing results this year.
As a Duke fan, none of them scare me so far. I like the way things look so far and I've watched each of these teams but Purdue. I think we'll move up from our 8 spot quite a bit as the season unfolds.
"So far the only teams that have looked like they belong ranked this highly are Texas, Purdue and Duke. The others have proven very vulnerable already." These 3 teams haven't played anyone worth a damn yet!!! UNC had an average margin of 24 pts. over the last 3 opponents. True, UNC should have put OSU away, but this was not a game until the last couple of minutes... Play someone & then we'll talk where Duke belongs in the rankings...
im with ya towards everything you said. you're like me, ima huge fan of duke but im not the type to talk crap about other ACC teams or any at that rate. to me, that's a true fan. anyway, i like how nolan smith has came out so far seeing it is his last year and took control. paulus took his place for 2 years, i liked paulus's hustle and steady defense...but he was never really "clutch." in any big situation, you never knew if he would get too caught up in the momment and turn the ball over or if he was going to get a fast break and push it up the court for an easy lay up. he tended to sway back and forth. i can see after 6-10 games nolan smith will play identical to henderson's season last year. singler is the leader, but right behind him is smith and schyer. plumlee is a great aspect, tall and ripped. that's what we always needed-a big man in the paint. sure zoubeck is 7ft tall, but he is out muscled and too uncordinated to get rebounds. he is not a "duke" player. hes always in foul trouble and never reliable. if your that tall, you should average 16pts a game atleast...instead we're lucky to see if he gets 4pts a game. singler seems to always make up for his mistakes...for example when they played charlotte. zoubeck failed to get the offensive rebound which leaded to them pushing the ball up court...it was 2 on 1 and singler's great defense and hustle got the block. next possesion he came down and knocked down a 15 footer. only thing is-HE NEEDS A HAIRCUT
im with ya towards everything you said. you're like me, ima huge fan of duke but im not the type to talk crap about other ACC teams or any at that rate. to me, that's a true fan. anyway, i like how nolan smith has came out so far seeing it is his last year and took control. paulus took his place for 2 years, i liked paulus's hustle and steady defense...but he was never really "clutch." in any big situation, you never knew if he would get too caught up in the momment and turn the ball over or if he was going to get a fast break and push it up the court for an easy lay up. he tended to sway back and forth. i can see after 6-10 games nolan smith will play identical to henderson's season last year. singler is the leader, but right behind him is smith and schyer. plumlee is a great aspect, tall and ripped. that's what we always needed-a big man in the paint. sure zoubeck is 7ft tall, but he is out muscled and too uncordinated to get rebounds. he is not a "duke" player. hes always in foul trouble and never reliable. if your that tall, you should average 16pts a game atleast...instead we're lucky to see if he gets 4pts a game. singler seems to always make up for his mistakes...for example when they played charlotte. zoubeck failed to get the offensive rebound which leaded to them pushing the ball up court...it was 2 on 1 and singler's great defense and hustle got the block. next possesion he came down and knocked down a 15 footer. only thing is-HE NEEDS A HAIRCUT huh?
