Article on ACC and a bunch of historical facts. Duke 99 was maybe best ever.

[mcs333]

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/syracuse-streak-prompts-a-look-at-acc-history-books/13393847/

Duke 99 which UCONN beat in the NC game was the last team to go undefeated in ACC play. They average 92 points a game that season and won by an average of 25 PPG. We forget how dominate Duke was that season before we burst their bubble. Interesting read, second half of the article.

 

[tykurez]

Duke was the 9.5 point favorite. That's a #1 seed against a #1 seed. Shows you dominant that Duke team was and what an incredible win that was.

 

[SubbaBub]

I'm so sick of this. UCONN and Duke each spent about half the '99 season at #1.

Last I checked, great teams usually win championships. If the ACC wants to get all misty about a runner-up, that's their business.

 

[alexd]

The immediate double teams as soon as Brand touched the ball & Moore's first half offensive explosion were huge.

 

[metsfan2323]

The media was in fact ready to name that Duke team and their fancy nutritional supplements the "Best Ever", instead they got hugs.

 

[Inyatkin]

I'm so sick of this. UCONN and Duke each spent about half the '99 season at #1.

Last I checked, great teams usually win championships. If the ACC wants to get all misty about a runner-up, that's their business.

It doesn't take anything away from UConn 99 to talk about how good that Duke team was. Only adds to how great it was for us.

 

[ctchamps]

And Aaron Craft is the best pg in college basketball.

There is often a bias with our perspectives. It's our nature to insist something is true if we say it's true. It's very difficult to admit we could be wrong with our assumptions. Maybe Duke was far superior to UConn and the only reason UConn won was because JC is a superior coach to coach K. Or maybe the teams were pretty equal in regards to strengths.

The opinions we have about those teams are subjective and hard to prove. The win is irrefutable.

 

[Husky25]

That Duke team was incredibly young and the ACC was weak that year. Only 3 teams made the field of 64 out of the ACC. Duke got pretty much the easiest draw, which only got easier because the other top 3 seeds in their region didn't see the second Thursday.

UConn and MSU had the toughest draws and the other region was the most balanced of the 4. The other 3 top seeds besides UConn were Stanford UNC and Arkansas. Luckily they also did not see the second week. UConn was incredibly balanced and experienced, especially given the Elite8 game vs. UNC in Greensboro the year before. Remember UConn did not lose a game outside the state limits of Connecticut ('Cuse at the Civic Center without Voskuhl and Hamilton, and Miami at Gampel). They had no problem going into a hostile environment and taking care of business. My second favorite team to watch after '95-96 (Freshman year).

 

[Peacefrog]

It's a little ironic that the author seems to be whining a bit about a lack of respect for the ACC and I think we feel the they are routinely over-hyped.

 

[Palatine]

I agree that Duke '99 team was the best the ACC ever produced.

 

[mauconnfan]

I think Dean Smith had arguably better teams a few times but was not as good a coach as Coach K……...

 

[AZHuskiePop]

It doesn't take anything away from UConn 99 to talk about how good that Duke team was. Only adds to how great it was for us.

We though UConn would be Number 1 in the East
We bought tickets to the a First round in Boston
And second round at the meadowlands.
Unfortunaly Duke got the one and we went west.
We saw Purdue, Cinn, Temple , Miami , Temple and Purdue came out of Boston.
Huggy ,Chaney , and Keady were all there . Purdue's Brian Cardinal became a favorite . He didn't care if he was bloody after a game.
I was wearing a Ct shirt so the Miami Cheerleaders wanted me to support a fellow Big East school.They had zero fans. Temple and Purdue had the most. That's pretty funny in retrospect.
We saw Duke and SE Missouri in the Sweet 16
Temple gave them a pretty good game but I always thought we could and would beat them. Temple had that point guard from Argentina.

 

[nomar]

And Aaron Craft is the best pg in college basketball.

There is often a bias with our perspectives. It's our nature to insist something is true if we say it's true. It's very difficult to admit we could be wrong with our assumptions. Maybe Duke was far superior to UConn and the only reason UConn won was because JC is a superior coach to coach K. Or maybe the teams were pretty equal in regards to strengths.

The opinions we have about those teams are subjective and hard to prove. The win is irrefutable.

I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but JC definitely outcoached K in their two Final 4 matchups.

In 1999, JC's gameplan was great, particularly with respect to Brand. Also, K's refusal to call a timeout or go to his bench as his starters wore down really cost Duke.

2004 validated JC's "two fouls and you sit the rest of the half" strategy. Hindsight is 20/20, but K foolishly put Shelden Williams back in with 2 fouls and he picked up his 3rd. We were able to rally from that late 8-point deficit only because Duke had to rely on Randolph and then, pathetically, Horvath to deal with Okafor.

Of course, many things happen during the course of a basketball game, and a coach can't shoot, defend or rebound, but he can influence a game, particularly a close one. I think it's fair to say JC outcoached K in those games and JC's superior strategies were responsible for those wins.

That was a really good Duke team. I don't think the Huskies were "better." But they were better that day, and that's all that counts.

 

[Husky25]

I agree that Duke '99 team was the best the ACC ever produced.

2008-09 Tar Heels are in that conversation. I remember thinking that they were the best team in the country and the ranking after them should start at #6. 7 ACC teams made the Tourney that year.

 

[alexd]

That Duke team was incredibly young and the ACC was weak that year. Only 3 teams made the field of 64 out of the ACC. Duke got pretty much the easiest draw, which only got easier because the other top 3 seeds in their region didn't see the second Thursday.

UConn and MSU had the toughest draws and the other region was the most balanced of the 4. The other 3 top seeds besides UConn were Stanford UNC and Arkansas. Luckily they also did not see the second week. UConn was incredibly balanced and experienced, especially given the Elite8 game vs. UNC in Greensboro the year before. Remember UConn did not lose a game outside the state limits of Connecticut ('Cuse at the Civic Center without Voskuhl and Hamilton, and Miami at Gampel). They had no problem going into a hostile environment and taking care of business. My second favorite team to watch after '95-96 (Freshman year).

Good stuff Husky25.
But we all know UCONN lost only 1 game, to Miami, during hat 1998/99 season.

 

[CL82]

We though UConn would be Number 1 in the East
We bought tickets to the a First round in Boston
And second round at the meadowlands.
Unfortunaly Duke got the one and we went west.
We saw Purdue, Cinn, Temple , Miami , Temple and Purdue came out of Boston.
Huggy ,Chaney , and Keady were all there . Purdue's Brian Cardinal became a favorite . He didn't care if he was bloody after a game.
I was wearing a Ct shirt so the Miami Cheerleaders wanted me to support a fellow Big East school.They had zero fans. Temple and Purdue had the most. That's pretty funny in retrospect.
We saw Duke and SE Missouri in the Sweet 16
Temple gave them a pretty good game but I always thought we could and would beat them. Temple had that point guard from Argentina.

I was there as well. Same reasoning.

Best quote from the article:

Syracuse is riding high now. But will it last through the regular season? Will it last through the ACC Tournament? History says probably not.

 

[60'sfan]

That Duke team probably was the best Duke team ever. If they had beat Uconn, few would even argue the point. But IMHO that Uconn team was the best ever too. They were not the most talented team but no Uconn team has ever played better together. Everyone knew their roles and played them to perfection. Jim Calhoun did a masterful job recruiting them and coaching them.

 

[uconndogs]

JC was masterful for that game. Did exactly what was necessary to neutralize their big guy (forget the name) and Ricky Moore owned Langdon on both ends of the floor. Kevin Freeman is one of my all-time favorites - just an unbelievable heart.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

That Duke team was good but I don't believe that they were close to as big of a deal as the media made them out to be back then. I felt going into that game and still believe today that if we faced them ten times we would win seven. I also believe that if the title game as played at a faster pace than it was we would have beaten them by more. We had the ability to outrun them (something they never would have believed going into that game) and we had more than enough depth to hang with them. More importantly, we matched up far better in starting talent than anyone who fell for the hype (including the Dukies) ever would have believed prior to that game. Few teams that year stood a chance trying to stop both Brand and Langdon. Somehow a strong inside presence and a good three point shooter (at elast in they eyes of the media) became impossible to deal with. We dealt with it and said "is that all you've got?'.

 

[Huskybass]

I love the makeup of the 99 team. Rip was the scorer, Khalid provided swagger, Jake rebounded and set great screens, Freeman was the warrior and Moore was the defensive stopper. Plus guys like Rash and Souly and Edmund played their roles off the bench really well.

 

[Inyatkin]

This is going to sound like I'm knocking our 99 team, and I'm not. That was and will always be the best sports moment of my life.
But we shot 53 percent that day, Duke 41 percent, and we won by one possession. Of course our defense played a huge role, and Hamilton had the best game of his life on the biggest stage. Not taking anything away from our win.
But if we played each other 10 times those numbers would shift, and not in our favor.
Obviously we didn't have to play 10 times, we played once and we won and it was great. But that Duke team was thought of as great for a simple reason -- it was great. We were better that day, and that's all we needed to be.

 

[Husky25]

That Duke team was good but I don't believe that they were close to as big of a deal as the media made them out to be back then. I felt going into that game and still believe today that if we faced them ten times we would win seven. I also believe that if the title game as played at a faster pace than it was we would have beaten them by more. We had the ability to outrun them (something they never would have believed going into that game) and we had more than enough depth to hang with them. More importantly, we matched up far better in starting talent than anyone who fell for the hype (including the Dukies) ever would have believed prior to that game. Few teams that year stood a chance trying to stop both Brand and Langdon. Somehow a strong inside presence and a good three point shooter (at elast in they eyes of the media) became impossible to deal with. We dealt with it and said "is that all you've got?'.

Somehow Maggette, their best all around player down the stretch, didn't see much time in the second half. From the moment Calhoun called time out at 9-2 and for the rest of the game, Coach K was outcoached. You are absolutely right about depth as well, although I still remember my reaction as Wane fired that shot from the right elbow (No, no, no. YES!!!!).

 

[Husky25]

I love the makeup of the 99 team. Rip was the scorer, Khalid provided swagger, Jake rebounded and set great screens, Freeman was the warrior and Moore was the defensive stopper. Plus guys like Rash and Souly and Edmund played their roles off the bench really well.

Voskuhl was the goalie as well. He didn't have the volumes of blocked shots to which UConn fans became accustomed, but his straight up and down defensive posture still affected a lot of shots.

 

[Excalibur]

This is going to sound like I'm knocking our 99 team, and I'm not. That was and will always be the best sports moment of my life.
But we shot 53 percent that day, Duke 41 percent, and we won by one possession. Of course our defense played a huge role, and Hamilton had the best game of his life on the biggest stage. Not taking anything away from our win.
But if we played each other 10 times those numbers would shift, and not in our favor.
Obviously we didn't have to play 10 times, we played once and we won and it was great. But that Duke team was thought of as great for a simple reason -- it was great. We were better that day, and that's all we needed to be.

I disagree. I think we were a nightmare matchup for them. We were able to utilize superior quickness in the backcourt to kill them with dribble penetration, and we had enough size inside to make life difficult for Brand. We shot 51% because we kept attacking the basket and they couldn't stay in front of us. We beat all of our common opponents by more than Duke did. It was a huge upset based on the perception of the teams at that time, but what wasn't clear until the tournament was just how bad the ACC was that year.

 

[J-dog]

I will say while watching that game I kept thinking if UCONN could just hang around & make a game of it, the pressure would mount for Duke & UCONN could make plays late & win…

While I thought Duke was a great team, they really had no bench… I think K totally screwed the pooch by not giving Cory Maggette additional minutes… It almost seemed like K was holding him out to ensure he would stay around the program longer. Of course, Maggette ended up declaring for the draft & it was later found out that he took money while in college, but that's a whole different story...