Hahahahahahaha

[cwh20]

I don’t get why people hate Duke so much.

…and scene.

Really? Who are you?

Every NCAA decision, every ESPN show is designed to be advantageous to and/or hype up Duke and their angelic on a pedestal persona. Ex) Sellers suspended the following tourney for one game by the righteous NCAA days before the tourney started. Wait? Why not a regular season game if they were going to do anything? He gets off scot free if they didn’t make the tourney? I don’t think any other player has ever had a suspension in the following year’s tourney happen to them. Crime - the preceding year he dribbled Laettners head on court. That tourney where Sellers had to sit out a game Laettner purposely stomps on the chest of an opponent laying on the floor. Interesting!! Penalty - nothing. How can this be? NCAA committee- uh, well uh, a foul was called on Laettner so it was taken care of during the game. No foul was called on Sellers. What???? The goal is to help Duke (a good team which many would like or dislike anyway for normal basketball reasons) be a ratings bonanza. Let no college fan be neutral about Duke!! Everyone must passionately want them to win or lose. The NCAA and ESPN are on the hope they win (and we’ll do everything to help them win) side if you don’t know.

Their big gun in this campaign is Vitale. He’ll bring up Duke 20 hours a day. from the tip-off to the buzzer beater of a game between Arizona and Memphis for example. He’ll also tell you about the PG’s grandfather who he knows and who had a stellar coaching career at Corn Farms HS in the 70’s but that is just Vitale doing his best to not cover the actual game.

Do you get it now?

 

[borninansonia]

6>5

18>5

 

[jibsey]

Her tears were delicious.

 

[jibsey]

When I saw Coach K watching
Duke this year, I couldn’t help but think that he wasn’t fully rooting for them to run to a championship in a way he wasn’t able to do in his later years. I mean Scheyers been able to recruit at a level beyond K right off the bat, and eclipsed the winning in Ks later years. Can’t imagine an ego like Ks is completely on board with that.

Uh no. K had plenty of McD’s every year. K, Dickie V, and all Duke alums were crying their eyeballs out.

 

[BlueandOG]

The obsession with Cooper Flagg is mind boggling.

He passed on UConn, so I've passed on him. The only way I'll root for Cooper is if he plays for the Celtics.

If Cooper selected UConn, things would be a lot better for him and us. He would have been a key member of a team that won a National Championship and part of a historic 3-peat. He would have won a men's title the same year the women won the title, further cementing Storrs as the Basketball Capital of the World. He would be a New England hero, which matters since he is from Maine.

Instead, he chose Duke. He will be remembered as a great player on a very good team who choked at the moment of truth. To quote Indian Jones and the Last Crusade, "He chose...poorly."

 

[huskyjawz]

When I saw Coach K watching
Duke this year, I couldn’t help but think that he wasn’t fully rooting for them to run to a championship in a way he wasn’t able to do in his later years. I mean Scheyers been able to recruit at a level beyond K right off the bat, and eclipsed the winning in Ks later years. Can’t imagine an ego like Ks is completely on board with that.

Interesting thought. I wonder.

 

[Hunt for 7]

I just saw an article that mentioned CBS decision not to show K during the Dook meltdown.

As I noted in my next morning post I decided to turn off the game before the comeback happened but up until that time they must have showed K 5 or 6 times while Dook was crushing Houston. Then not one time during the choke job.

For the person asking why we hate Dook this is another piece of evidence……maybe it was good taste but I prefer to think of it as more of the Dook favoritism.

 

[jibsey]

I just saw an article that mentioned CBS decision not to show K during the Dook meltdown.

As I noted in my next morning post I decided to turn off the game before the comeback happened but up until that time they must have showed K 5 or 6 times while Dook was crushing Houston. Then not one time during the choke job.

For the person asking why we hate Dook this is another piece of evidence……maybe it was good taste but I prefer to think of it as more of the Dook favoritism.

I started to think that Cooper’s mother and father were getting their own show. BTW they cut away from them a bit at the end.

 

[Tenspro2002]

2) people are so utterly clueless when it comes to analytics it drives me mad… the foul put a 62% FT shooter at the line in a 1 and 1 situation down 1 pt and also likely deprived Houston of the last shot (barring an offensive board on a FT miss)… no one with even a rudimentary understanding of expected points per trip for both Houston and then Duke under these specific circumstances would make this call out to be “the game”… fun fact if I’m not mistaken - Todd Golden intentionally has his guys foul in that exact same situation that Flagg fouled in at the end of first halves if other team in 1 and 1 (and fouling a 62% shooter is a plus) because of analytics around expected points for both teams in that spot… he wants the last shot (and yes I undertstand it’s not the exact same thing for various reasons).

Expected value is my love language. Excellent point here.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I was watching a segment on ESPN earlier today about all the Mainers who suddenly became Duke fans because of Flagg. I hope they don’t twist an ankle hopping off the bandwagon.

I wonder when the AI version of Flagg crying to his mom on the phone saying he should’ve gone to Connecticut, is coming out.

 

[BillRME0920]

I was watching a segment on ESPN earlier today about all the Mainers who suddenly became Duke fans because of Flagg. I hope they don’t twist an ankle hopping off the bandwagon.

Transplanted Connecticut native who has lived in Maine the last 30 years. Diehard Husky fan since I graduated in the early 80’s.

Can honestly say that I was hoping that Cooper would play well (Maine isn’t really a hotbed of basketball talent although there have been a few notable exceptions). At the same time, I couldn’t have scripted a better ending unless Duke got bounced the first weekend.

 

[Scrutineer]

So Duke should lose most of their roster, correct?

Flagg, Maluach and Kneuppel are projected lottery picks, so they’re probably gone.

I’ve seen Evans and Proctor as projected second round picks. So TBD whether those guys go or stay.

Sion James and Mason Gillis are seniors so they’re graduating.

So depending on those draft “tweeners,” Duke could be losing about 90% of their scoring and rebounding, right?

I loved how they blew it but with the way we've handled them in the two big games in which we've played them I'm over the way I used to think about them.

They've got plenty of money and a big reputation among the kids (who don't pay attention to things like Scheyer's in game coaching) so they'll always be there loaded with great players.

They told their whole roster to leave after last season and all but one or two did but they reloaded with five star guys and portal guys so forget them and concentrate on our guys. If we fill a couple more slots and focus on developing the young guys we will have another special season no matter what anyone else has or does!

 

[tzznandrew]

Sampson is in Tier 1 along with Hurley and Pitino. I may be forgetting someone, but those three stand above everyone else IMO. Izzo might be alone in Tier 2, but I can be convinced otherwise (I can be convinced to put him lower, but not along with those 3).

I'm moving Sampson down a Tier. Clearly an exceptional program builder, defensive coach, and overall floor raiser.

But that offense was an absolute affront to basketball—all by Cryer were barely catching rim on shots!—and he seemed to wilt under the pressure. I don't know that he's got the top gear of the other two in that tier.

 

[UConnSwag11]

I'm moving Sampson down a Tier. Clearly an exceptional program builder, defensive coach, and overall floor raiser.

But that offense was an absolute affront to basketball—all by Cryer were barely catching rim on shots!—and he seemed to wilt under the pressure. I don't know that he's got the top gear of the other two in that tier.

He did come into the Big 12 and kick Bill Self’s butt

 

[tzznandrew]

He did come into the Big 12 and kick Bill Self’s butt

I'm on the "Bill Self is a bit overrated" train. He's a very good coach who I think maximizes their regular season results and then has just okay results in the tournament.

Sampson just gets a lot more out of his kids, but after witnessing whatever that offense was last night, I'm not sure he's as well rounded a coach as I thought. It looked like what I think a pre-2023 Danny Hurley team might have looked if he was able to take a team that far. Maximizing effort, exceptional defense, completely clueless on offense with few answers when iso-ball isn't really working. Hurley adjusted. Can Sampson? Will he need to in order to get one title? Who knows.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Instead, he chose Duke. He will be remembered as a great player on a very good team who choked at the moment of truth. To quote Indian Jones and the Last Crusade, "He chose...poorly."

I get that we're all UConn fans but it seems pretty likely that he's going to be remembered as a really famous and successful NBA player. Jayson Tatum is 27. Does anyone associate him with Duke or anything college-related at this point?

 

[BlueandOG]

I get that we're all UConn fans but it seems pretty likely that he's going to be remembered as a really famous and successful NBA player. Jayson Tatum is 27. Does anyone associate him with Duke or anything college-related at this point?

I agree, he'll be a great pro. My point is he would have been remembered as a college superstar had he chosen UConn. BTW, I appreciate your work with Fatherless Families.