Duke Triumphs

[psconn]

over a very tough Winthrop squad, 101-30. Really coming together down on Tobacco Road.

 

[wes33]

Enjoy your days in the sun, taking shots at those still in dawns light is beneath
a champions make up.

 

[noirwestern]

It's not really a, "shot" if it's true.

 

[HuskyNan]

The players have said nothing about Duke. Fans are fans everywhere.

 

[wes33]

It's not really a, "shot" if it's true.

over a very tough Winthrop squad

 

[HuskyNan]

over a very tough Winthrop squad

Honest question - why would a ranked team have this schedule? There are three teams in this stretch that would make the Duke players break a sweat. Is there a reason for this scheduling?

Sun,
Nov 12
Grand Canyon at Phoenix, Ariz. W, 74-61 ESPN3 ▪ Live Stats ▪ Twitter
Thu,
Nov 16
High Point Durham, N.C. W, 77-50 ACC Network Extra ▪ Live Stats ▪ Twitter
Sun,
Nov 19
Villanova at Villanova, Pa. L, 64-55 Nova Nation ▪ Live Stats ▪ Twitter
Wed,
Nov 22
Old Dominion at Norfolk, Va. W, 84-51 ESPN3 ▪ Live Stats ▪ Twitter
Sat,
Nov 25
Oregon State Durham, N.C. W, 72-65 ACC Network Extra ▪ Live Stats ▪ Twitter
Sun,
Nov 26
Presbyterian Durham, N.C. W, 79-45 ACC Network Extra ▪ Live Stats ▪ Twitter
Thu,
Nov 30
Ohio State Durham, N.C. W, 69-60 ESPN2 ▪ Live Stats ▪ Twitter
Sun,
Dec 03
South Carolina at Columbia, S.C. L, 72-52 SEC Network ▪ Live Stats ▪ Twitter
Thu,
Dec 07
UNC Greensboro Durham, N.C. W, 85-54 ACC Network Extra ▪ Live Stats ▪ Twitter
Sun,
Dec 10
Winthrop Durham, N.C. W, 101-30 ACC Network Extra ▪ Live Audio ▪ Live Stats ▪ Twitter
Tue,
Dec 19
Maine Durham, N.C. 7:00 p.m. ACC Network Extra ▪ Live Audio ▪ Live Stats ▪ Twitter
Thu,
Dec 21
Wyoming Durham, N.C. 7:00 p.m. ACC Network Extra ▪ Live Audio ▪ Live Stats ▪ Twitter
Fri,
Dec 29
Liberty Durham, N.C.

 

[triaddukefan]

Honest question - why would a ranked team have this schedule? There are three teams in this stretch that would make the Duke players break a sweat. Is there a reason for this scheduling?
.

Looking at the roster.... Brown and Greenwell are Grad Students, Mathias is a senior.... but played little in her first two seasons.... averaged about 16 minutes a game last year.... 3pts and 3 rbs approximately. Faz Davolos is another Grad Student, but in her first year at Duke. Other than that..... Odom is a sophomore.... Gorecki is a red-shirt sophomore.... who hadnt played in a game since December of 2015...... Suggs is a Junior who has barely played her first two seasons...... then there are 5 freshman. Personally I dont have a gripe with the soft schedule...... it has allowed and will allow all our youngsters to gain game experience before the conference schedule starts.

There are other ranked teams that have poor schedules as well...... WVU comes to mind.... but anyway..... conference schedules start in a few weeks.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

Rebecca Greenwell did not play in this game due to "knee pain". Hope she is ok and was just resting.

 

[triaddukefan]

over a very tough Winthrop squad, 101-30. Really coming together down on Tobacco Road.

As a reward for the victory.... they should go attend a Hartford Whaler oops Carolina Hurricane home game

 

[triaddukefan]

Rebecca Greenwell did not play in this game due to "knee pain". Hope she is ok and was just resting.

Listed as day to day...... Next games are the 19th and 21st.... then another weekend long break. .... hopefully its just precautionary.

 

[HuskyNan]

Looking at the roster.... Brown and Greenwell are Grad Students, Mathias is a senior.... but played little in her first two seasons.... averaged about 16 minutes a game last year.... 3pts and 3 rbs approximately. Faz Davolos is another Grad Student, but in her first year at Duke. Other than that..... Odom is a sophomore.... Gorecki is a red-shirt sophomore.... who hadnt played in a game since December of 2015. Suggs is a Junior who has barely played her first two seasons. then there are 5 freshman. Personally I dont have a gripe with the soft schedule. it has allowed and will allow all our youngsters to gain game experience before the conference schedule starts.

There are other ranked teams that have poor schedules as well. WVU comes to mind.... but anyway..... conference schedules start in a few weeks.

If I understand you correctly, you have a lot of players that haven't played together much so the schedule was geared towards getting them some playing time together before conference play?

Honestly, I have no hidden agenda here. I was just wondering what the deal was with the schedule.

 

[triaddukefan]

If I understand you correctly, you have a lot of players that haven't played together much so the schedule was geared towards getting them some playing time together before conference play?

Honestly, I have no hidden agenda here. I was just wondering what the deal was with the schedule.

Thats my guess.... although McCallie has definitely tried to softened up the non-conference schedule since 2014-15. I joked in the off-season that Duke would have the Big South title wrapped up by New Year's Eve 4 Big South teams is a bit much for one year. As for some of the others... Grand Canyon was the second year of a home and home. Former Player Krystal Thomas (2011) was an assistant coach for them the past few years.... before being let go along with the entire staff after last season. Former player Ka'lia Johnson (2015) is an assistant for UNC-Greensboro. Old Dominion was the second year of a home and home... along with Liberty. I have no idea how Wyoming ended up on the schedule..... but they were a 22 win WNIT squad last year.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

As a reward for the victory.... they should go attend a Hartford Whaler oops Carolina Hurricane home game

Ooh, that was a low blow.

 

[CTyankee]

As a reward for the victory.... they should go attend a Hartford Whaler oops Carolina Hurricane home game

Plenty of seats available for any of their games.

 

[Carnac]

This is just 1 man's opinion but - I use to be very critical of TOP 15 teams for filling their non-conference schedules with an assortment of "BAKERY GOODS". I thought that if UConn could play a demanding preseason schedule, so should they. I was so caught up in (as a fan) what UConn was doing, and the ridiculously strong preseason schedule Geno puts together every year, that I lost sight of the the real reason he has to do it. At the end of the year, when the NCAA Tournament selection committee looks at the 64 (plus the play-ins) teams they are going to invite (minus the automatic bids) to participate in the tournament, strength of schedule plays a very important part in their decisions. Some of you will argue that SOS is not a factor with UConn. Their conference so so weak, they are all but guaranteed to getting an automatic bid every year., so they need not be concerned about SOS.

UConn has had to play a ridiculous out of conference (OOC) schedule since leaving the BIG East for several reasons.
Note - Nothing in this post is a revelation, we all know why Geno does what he does. Just sharing an observation here.

1. To evaluate his team, and to measure where they are, so that the staff knows exactly where the team is collectively and individually. To evaluate who can do what, and the weaknesses they need to work on to get where Geno wants them to be. Geno indicated early in a presser this season that every player starts out at even at the beginning. No one begins practice on their laurels from last year. Seeing his team in practice everyday is one thing, seeing then perform in a game against other top 10 comparable teams is something else. Look at the game between Texas and Tennessee yesterday. That game revealed some warts that had previously remained hidden. Mid-majors and cupcakes (i.e, Winthrop/Middle Tennessee State) do not normally expose a team's warts.

2. To expose the team to other elite teams in Division 1. Teams (and the level of play) that they will have to face and defeat if they are to win the championship this year. Texas, Notre Dame, Maryland, Louisville, Tennessee, Mississippi State, South Carolina and maybe Oregon and UCLA etc. All of these teams should make the sweet 16. After that, it's survival of the fittest (survive and advance). The last two years, several #1 seeds have been defeated during the second weekend of the tournament. However nothing is guaranteed beyond that point. Geno wants his team to play the teams (and the type of play) he knows they'll see during the last two weeks of the tournament. Teams UConn will not see after the Christmas break. The AAC is comprised of Mid-Major level teams. It is genius for him to schedule 3 of his alloted 13 OOC games in January and February, not only as a break from the monotonous AAC conference schedule, but to serve as a way to measure their growth and development at that point in the season against other top 5 teams.

I'm not attempting to throw shade on any of these teams. It is what it is. UConn and USF are the only AAC teams that are ranked in the top 25 consistently.
Iron sharpens iron. That will never change!! Playing the schools in the AAC CAN NOT & WILL NOT get UConn ready to play the level of competition they are going to see in the tournament. Conference teams such as Memphis, Wichita State and Tulsa (all of whom are currently at the bottom of the conference standings for OOC games played so far this season) are simply not at that level yet, and can't do anything for UConn except get out of their way.

Top 10 teams in other conferences have several teams that are formidable (some ranked), that have a top 100 ranking that not only will enhance their over all SOS number, but will help them to improve and get ready for post-season play. We can easily criticize other top ranked programs and the teams they choose to schedule in the preseason. Because of the strength of their respective conferences, they can do that. Kim Mulkey (Baylor) has scheduled some embarrassingly easy OOC games recently to begin the season. She does so not to impress other coaches or pundits, but to prepare her team for the second half of the season, and to enter league play with an impressive W-L record. In spite of those soft OOC schedules, she has managed to secure a # 1 tournament seed the last 3-4 years. That's the bottom line. She's getting away with it, so no doubt she'll continue to do it.

UConn has been the elephant in the room the past few years. THEY have been the team to beat, and will be again this year. The goal is always to win the NC, but it's understood by other teams that have those aspirations that at some point, you're going to have to go through UConn to do it. UConn can't play itself, all it can do is prepare to play those in March that are assigned to their bracket, and go from there. Other teams (that will be in other brackets) are preparing to (hopefully) play UConn, but they have to play the teams between UConn them first.

Playing a weak OOC schedule allows teams to build momentum and confidence going into conference play. Start out with the softer teams, and work your way up from there. Getting blown out twice to begin the season like Stanford did 3 weeks ago, IS NOT the way any coach wants to push away from the dock, because you start out in a deep hole you have to climb out of. Once you get out, you reach back down a try to pull your confidence out. For many top 25 teams, 1 or 2 ranked teams in their OOC is deemed enough.

Realistically, there are only 6-7 programs that have a real chance of winning the national championship. Look at the current top 8 teams. Do you think any team ranked #9 or below has any kind of a "legitimate" chance to win the NC? If #11 wants to win it all, they'll have to beat at least 3 teams ranked above them to do so. That's a one heck of a gauntlet. Sure, every once in a while, a "dark horse" (Texas A&M in 2011) will come out of nowhere to win it, but not often. You can lay odds that the winner of this year's NC is somewhere in the current top 8. The top 4-5 teams at the beginning of conference play will probably remain there the rest of the season. The cream always rises to the top. It will by Jan 1. Every coach has to do what they feel is best for their program, and will put their team in the best position to win an automatic bid, or be invited to the tournament. There are different paths that lead to the final four. They're just trying to get into the tournament, then survive and advance to that final weekend in April to compete for the championship.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

If I understand you correctly, you have a lot of players that haven't played together much so the schedule was geared towards getting them some playing time together before conference play?

Honestly, I have no hidden agenda here. I was just wondering what the deal was with the schedule.

While he would know, I'll add a couple of other factors that any coach can always fall back on:
- Almost no one plays more than 4 - and plenty of teams only 2 - P5 teams in their OOC. And I'll argue that any P5 team should be able to beat any non P5 team except UConn and a very select other few teams - basically, like USF, Green Bay, etc. So you don't stand out as scheduling an especially weak schedule by that standard.
- Winning has all kind of benefits, including the whole psychological side that scoop notes in his post, but also is most helpful for RPI - of course there is a fine line, as you don't want the NCAA committee to laugh at your schedule, and that has happened, but . . .
- As Triad notes, there are always some special cases on the schedule.

Arizona's schedule is awful this year, but I get it. Rutger's schedule wasn't great the last few years but was upgraded this season as the team was expected to be better.