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Official March Madness thread.

Well it's about damn time. Sheesh, my prediction should have come true two games ago.
 
And OF COURSE Duke’s big star gets the no-call on the charge with 15 seconds left AND gets the foul called.

Some things NEVER change.

For you sir from the UNC board:


K is a self serving, egotistical, prick that uses people. And he’s become a pretty ordinary coach over the past 6-8 years of his career. He’s lazy now and relies on bringing in top talent, forsaking the principles he once stood steadfastly for, and berating referees to win games. Screw him. I wish nothing but failure for him.

Sounds like they know him pretty well over there!

:)
 
For you sir from the UNC board:


K is a self serving, egotistical, prick that uses people. And he’s become a pretty ordinary coach over the past 6-8 years of his career. He’s lazy now and relies on bringing in top talent, forsaking the principles he once stood steadfastly for, and berating referees to win games. Screw him. I wish nothing but failure for him.

Sounds like they know him pretty well over there!

:)

Here's Coach K's last 6-8 seasons... ok I included a ninth. Two NCAA championships. Two Elite 8s. Two Sweet 16s. One second round exit and two first round exits. "Ordinary".

2009–10 Mike Krzyzewski 35–5 13–3 T-1st National Champions
2010–11 Mike Krzyzewski 32–5 13–3 2nd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2011–12 Mike Krzyzewski 27–7 13–3 2nd NCAA Round of 64 (Round of 68 bye)
2012–13 Mike Krzyzewski 30–6 14–4 2nd NCAA Elite Eight
2013–14 Mike Krzyzewski 26–9 13–5 3rd NCAA Round of 64 (Round of 68 bye)
2014–15 Mike Krzyzewski 35–4 15–3 2nd National Champions
2015–16 Mike Krzyzewski 25–11 11–7 6th NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2016–17 Mike Krzyzewski 28–9 11–7 5th NCAA Round of 32
2017–18 Mike Krzyzewski 29-8 13–5 2nd NCAA Elite Eight
 
Here's Coach K's last 6-8 seasons... ok I included a ninth. Two NCAA championships. Two Elite 8s. Two Sweet 16s. One second round exit and two first round exits. "Ordinary".

2009–10 Mike Krzyzewski 35–5 13–3 T-1st National Champions
2010–11 Mike Krzyzewski 32–5 13–3 2nd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2011–12 Mike Krzyzewski 27–7 13–3 2nd NCAA Round of 64 (Round of 68 bye)
2012–13 Mike Krzyzewski 30–6 14–4 2nd NCAA Elite Eight
2013–14 Mike Krzyzewski 26–9 13–5 3rd NCAA Round of 64 (Round of 68 bye)
2014–15 Mike Krzyzewski 35–4 15–3 2nd National Champions
2015–16 Mike Krzyzewski 25–11 11–7 6th NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2016–17 Mike Krzyzewski 28–9 11–7 5th NCAA Round of 32
2017–18 Mike Krzyzewski 29-8 13–5 2nd NCAA Elite Eight

Impressive!

;):eek:;)
 
Here's Coach K's last 6-8 seasons... ok I included a ninth. Two NCAA championships. Two Elite 8s. Two Sweet 16s. One second round exit and two first round exits. "Ordinary".

2009–10 Mike Krzyzewski 35–5 13–3 T-1st National Champions
2010–11 Mike Krzyzewski 32–5 13–3 2nd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2011–12 Mike Krzyzewski 27–7 13–3 2nd NCAA Round of 64 (Round of 68 bye)
2012–13 Mike Krzyzewski 30–6 14–4 2nd NCAA Elite Eight
2013–14 Mike Krzyzewski 26–9 13–5 3rd NCAA Round of 64 (Round of 68 bye)
2014–15 Mike Krzyzewski 35–4 15–3 2nd National Champions
2015–16 Mike Krzyzewski 25–11 11–7 6th NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2016–17 Mike Krzyzewski 28–9 11–7 5th NCAA Round of 32
2017–18 Mike Krzyzewski 29-8 13–5 2nd NCAA Elite Eight
56177064_343417162966729_1760822134776528896_n.jpg
 
Those were 4 great elite 8 games. I’m not sure how they rate all time but I don’t remember 4 regional finals that were so competitive and unpredictable. I can’t help but wonder what an elite 8 college football playoff could look like..
 
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Those were 4 great elite 8 games. I’m not sure how they rate all time but I don’t remember 4 regional finals that were so competitive and unpredictable. I can’t help but wonder what an elite 8 college football playoff could look like..
That’s what happens when the better teams win instead of “bracket busters”.
 
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For you sir from the UNC board:


K is a self serving, egotistical, prick that uses people. And he’s become a pretty ordinary coach over the past 6-8 years of his career. He’s lazy now and relies on bringing in top talent, forsaking the principles he once stood steadfastly for, and berating referees to win games. Screw him. I wish nothing but failure for him.

Sounds like they know him pretty well over there!

:)

I’m going to drop the personal attacks because I don’t know the man, but I believe GLOV’s post is spot on in its evaluation. My personal feeling is Coach K sold his soul and joined the one-and-done crowd (i.e. Kentucky) to chase championships. I believe there were probably 60+ head coaches in this tournament who could have taken this Duke team as far or farther than K did. He’s like Saban. The cream of the crop talent comes knocking on his door. He barely has to recruit. The defensive fundamentals of his past several teams suck compared to the old days. It looks at times like he just rolls a ball out and let’s the play. He’s way past his prime and getting by on reputation.
 
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I’m going to drop the personal attacks because I don’t know the man, but I believe GLOV’s post is spot on in its evaluation. My personal feeling is Coach K sold his soul and joined the one-and-done crowd (i.e. Kentucky) to chase championships. I believe there were probably 60+ head coaches in this tournament who could have taken this Duke team as far or farther than K did. He’s like Saban. The cream of the crop talent comes knocking on his door. He barely has to recruit. The defensive fundamentals of his past several teams suck compared to the old days. It looks at times like he just rolls a ball out and let’s the play. He’s way past his prime and getting by on reputation.

And then there is this kind sir:

Rankings for the top 7 Heels and dookies. So, tell me again who underachieved?

Cam - 224
Luke - 132
Kenny - 122
Garrison - 146
Coby - 26
Nas - 3
BRob - 60
--------------------
avg = 102

barrett - 1
reddish - 2
basketball jesus - 5
jones - 15
bolden - 14
delaurier - 39
o'connell - 68
---------------------
avg = 21

Borrowed from another board. -Archer7
 
Duke was an extremely young team that had zero natural shooters (at least at the upper-level). People got really excited about them after they dismantled Kentucky in November to open the season, but I'd say that in the end, they're about what I would have expected. One of the top few teams in the country, but not this completely dominant team that was unbeatable.

In "underachieving", they still went 32-6, lost by one point in the Elite 8, had regular season wins away from home over 3 of the 4 teams in the Final 4, etc.

MSU is a tough match-up for them, as MSU has the size and physicality to take away the inside, and also, probably even more importantly, was able to protect the ball.

I'd say the reports of Coach K's demise are pretty exaggerated.
 
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Duke was an extremely young team that had zero natural shooters (at least at the upper-level). People got really excited about them after they dismantled Kentucky in November to open the season, but I'd say that in the end, they're about what I would have expected. One of the top few teams in the country, but not this completely dominant team that was unbeatable.

In "underachieving", they still went 32-6, lost by one point in the Elite 8, had regular season wins away from home over 3 of the 4 teams in the Final 4, etc.

MSU is a tough match-up for them, as MSU has the size and physicality to take away the inside, and also, probably even more importantly, was able to protect the ball.

I'd say the reports of Coach K's demise are pretty exaggerated.

I didn't see that coming: "Underachieving"??

Whoa Nelly!
 
I’m going to drop the personal attacks because I don’t know the man, but I believe GLOV’s post is spot on in its evaluation. My personal feeling is Coach K sold his soul and joined the one-and-done crowd (i.e. Kentucky) to chase championships. I believe there were probably 60+ head coaches in this tournament who could have taken this Duke team as far or farther than K did. He’s like Saban. The cream of the crop talent comes knocking on his door. He barely has to recruit. The defensive fundamentals of his past several teams suck compared to the old days. It looks at times like he just rolls a ball out and let’s the play. He’s way past his prime and getting by on reputation.






Zion Williamson Era, unfortunately, peaked on first day of season

Rob Dauster
NBC SportsApr 1, 2019 11:01 AM

8b41ea74e3d84f52940186c1844b3940

Duke never got better.

They peaked, quite literally, on the first day of the season, a 118-84 beatdown of then-No. 2 Kentucky that many of us, myself included, just could not get out of our heads.

That team was the best team in the country on that day, and there isn’t a soul on the planet that would argue that fact rationally. But the reason that a roster featuring Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish and Tre Jones got bounced in the Elite Eight — after they should have been bounced in the second round and could have been bounced in the Sweet 16 — is because the team they were that day is the team they were on Sunday, when Michigan State sent them back to Durham, 68-67.

Duke never got better.

College basketball caught up.

It’s not the first time that head coach Mike Krzyzewski has struggled to find a way to make a roster full of uber-talented freshmen work. Early exits from the NCAA tournament have become fairly common for the Blue Devils, but I’ll stop short of criticizing the man for losing by one point to the team that won both the regular season and tournament titles in the toughest conference in the country. It’s the same reason I refused to criticize Duke for failing to get to the Final Four last year, when Grayson Allen’s game-winning jumper pulled an Aubrey Dawkins and rolled off the wrong side of the rim.

In a one-game knockout events, the margins really are that fine.

That said, Coach K is not beyond reproach for the way that he managed this team and this season.

I will go to my grave saying that the best lineup that Duke could have put out on the floor featured Zion Williamson at the five. He can protect the rim. He’s not going to get beaten on the block by many, if any, college bigs. He’s a terrific defensive rebounder that can grab-and-go with the best of them. Would that have put him at risk of getting into foul trouble? Probably. Would he have worn down more quickly playing the five? Maybe. But it is frustrating that we didn’t end up getting more of Williamson at the five.

And, frankly, there is a reason for that.

Duke’s perimeter options never showed up the way Duke needed them to. the 0-for-10 performance that Jack White posted against Syracuse damaged his confidence so badly that he wouldn’t hit another three for nearly seven weeks, and he was the guy that could have made a difference. He was big enough to help shoulder the load in the paint. He could protect the rim. He was a better perimeter defender than some folks realize. And, in theory, he could shoot. His regression was another part of the long-term problem for this group.

And if we’re being honest, “in theory, he could shoot” is more or less a perfect way to sum up everyone on this Duke team.

Because the whole they-can’t-make-threes conundrum never went away. Duke finished the season 327th nationally in three-point percentage. Cam Reddish, who frustrated everyone until the final seconds of the season, ended the year with a lower three-point percentage than Williamson. R.J. Barrett ended the year shooting 30.8 percent, which was significantly higher than either White or Tre Jones shot. Their best shooter, Alex O’Connell, wasn’t strong enough with the ball or good enough defensively to earn consistent minutes. For him to see the court, one of the star freshmen had to sit or Duke
had to roll with a frontline of Williamson, Barrett and Reddish, and Coach K wasn’t having that.

Perhaps the biggest indictment was that Williamson, once again, went the final three possessions without getting a shot off. It’s the same thing that happened in the loss to Gonzaga in the Maui Invitational.

Like I said, Duke never got better.

It wasn’t all bad for Coach K.

For the majority of the year, he actually schemed up some pretty good sets to create just enough space to allow Barrett and Williamson to get downhill going left. He won a couple of games by the timely switching of defenses. He had everyone in the program on the same page, playing together and playing hard and caring about each other. In the one-and-done era, that’s not the easiest thing to do.

But this season will be remembered for the fact that Duke never figured out an answer to their flaws.

And they never changed the things that needed changing.

That, unfortunately, falls on Coach K.
 
Auburn looking good so far but Virginia’s a second half team. I’d love to see new blood with an Auburn vs Texas Tech final but wouldn’t want to see the Auburn coach with a history of cheating win it.
 
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