March General CBB Discussion Thread | Page 16 | The Boneyard

March General CBB Discussion Thread

RuffRuff said:
These threads are fairly boring otherwise. I saw 10 pages about the meaninglessness of Miami (OH) deserving an at large.

Nothing boring seeing how teams of different eras would match up. Many like to crown it as anti-Uconn, yet I'm the first to adorn 2024 UConn as the most perfectly built roster in the modern era.

What about 1999 Duke was special? A 6'8" low post guy that was basically shut down by a very average Jake Voskuhl? There are a 100 Trajan Langdon's across the US these days. That team was vastly overrated, especially when you compare them against the current athlete/game.
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We rather famously ran big-to-big doubles at Brand (with Freeman) as our core strategy - Voskuhl didn't shut him down alone. Brand averaged 25 and 10 in the NBA at his peak and regularly was over 20 ppg before injuries slowed him down after eight years. I think he'd be ok going up against Ngongba.

Maggette was around 20 ppg regularly in the NBA as well. Battier had a long successful NBA career in his 3-and-D role, and Langdon was a great college player who's athleticism hurt his professional ceiling. Avery underachieved, but was still a lotto pick.

Duke was bigger last year with Maluach, Flagg, Kon and Proctor - yet lost to a small Houston team that had no significant NBA prospects on it. Last year's Duke team was more talented than their 1999 counterparts - but their go-to guys were younger, and the veteran presence they brought in (James, Gillis) didn't provide the stability when the pressure came.
 
navery12 said:
Well for one thing the KenPom ratings are not the intended to be compared across seasons
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Three major things have impacted the ratings this year:
1) The major major concentration of talent at the top due to NIL
2) The death of the high-mid OOC games vs min-maxing by either playing top-10 or garbage opponents, removing chances for top teams to lose credit due to mediocre performances against good, but not great, teams
3) continuation increasing average scoring output not due to quality of players, but just change in rules.

I'm sure these teams are really good, but it's statistically unlikely that we have THAT much of a natural abberation.
 
RuffRuff said:
I don't demand fact, I like to see some constructive thought behind a remark or view, not just - you're crazy.
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On top of posting ridiculously bad hot takes daily, you're completely full of it. This is the complete opposite of what you do here, constructive thought is not a part of your posting style.

You said this Duke team isn't as good as last year's Duke team while also saying this year's Duke team is better than last year's Duke team and better than '99 Duke. It's one of hundreds of hot takes and your hot takes always seem to contradict your other hot takes.
 
Gurleyman said:
We rather famously ran big-to-big doubles at Brand (with Freeman) as our core strategy - Voskuhl didn't shut him down alone. Brand averaged 25 and 10 in the NBA at his peak and regularly was over 20 ppg before injuries slowed him down after eight years. I think he'd be ok going up against Ngongba.

Maggette was around 20 ppg regularly in the NBA as well. Battier had a long successful NBA career in his 3-and-D role, and Langdon was a great college player who's athleticism hurt his professional ceiling. Avery underachieved, but was still a lotto pick.

Duke was bigger last year with Maluach, Flagg, Kon and Proctor - yet lost to a small Houston team that had no significant NBA prospects on it. Last year's Duke team was more talented than their 1999 counterparts - but their go-to guys were younger, and the veteran presence they brought in (James, Gillis) didn't provide the stability when the pressure came.
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Great take. Here is what Chat says:

Assuming you mean the 2025–26 Duke men’s team vs. the 1998–99 Duke team:


I’d pick the 1999 Duke team, but barely.


The 1998–99 Blue Devils were one of the strongest college teams ever: they went 37–2, finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, averaged 91.8 points per game, and posted the nation’s best SRS and offensive rating with a top-10 defense. Their core included Elton Brand, Shane Battier, Trajan Langdon, William Avery, and Corey Maggette—an unusually talented, deep, and older group.


The 2025–26 Duke team has a strong case too. As of March 2, 2026, Duke was 28–2, No. 1, first in the ACC, with the country’s No. 1 defensive rating and an elite overall profile. Cam Boozer has been the centerpiece, and this team has been more defense-first than the 1999 group.


Why I lean 1999: in a one-game setting, I trust their experience, half-court shot creation, and proven top-end NBA talent a little more. The 2026 team is probably the better defensive unit, but the 1999 team was more explosive offensively and had more veteran answers late in games. The statistical profiles support that contrast: 1999 Duke scored 91.8 ppg with the nation’s best offense, while 2025–26 Duke has been dominant by pairing a great offense with an even better defense, allowing just 62.5 ppg and owning the top defensive efficiency mark.


My verdict: 1999 Duke wins 6 out of 10 times, something like 82–77.
 
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Lafayette said:
Mainly this come down to Silas staying or not.

If he stays, Power Forward and Center are top priorities, backup PG is secondary
If he goes, PG is the top priority, then Power Forward and Center and backup PG secondary.

Furphy will get some run as the "Mullins" role but Jayden will start as he started when Mullins was out and other reasons.

County and Landrew will get some play but we'll know pretty early if either turn in to a starter or turn into Nowell and Abraham. I'm not predicting here - just saying we will know.
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9 man Rotation needs are relatively clear for this point in the year IMO:
Demary / Transfer
Ball
Ross / Landrew (maybe swapped)
Diop / Stew
Reibe / Transfer

Bench: County / Furphy
 
superjohn said:
On top of posting ridiculously bad hot takes daily, you're completely full of it. This is the complete opposite of what you do here, constructive thought is not a part of your posting style.

You said this Duke team isn't as good as last year's Duke team while also saying this year's Duke team is better than last year's Duke team and better than '99 Duke. It's one of hundreds of hot takes and your hot takes always seem to contradict your other hot takes.
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Buddy, you are simply the more course arguers this board has, and a prophetic know it all. I'm sure you know that about yourself though.

I said I think this year's Duke team plays older, and is better designed with Boozer as their GTG, to win it all.
 
gsmooth said:
Whenever I see these highlight videos of a player that could be really useful for UConn and addresses any of their weaknesses this is my reaction:


Buy It GIF by Pudgy Penguins
Add To Cart Black Friday GIF
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I was watching him the other day vs Kansas and thinking the same thing. The only thing is, I would think he'd be looking for starters minutes, and I don't think Eric has a backup role in mind for himself next season.
 
RuffRuff said:
Buddy, you are simply the more course arguers this board has, and a prophetic know it all. I'm sure you know that about yourself though.

I said I think this year's Duke team plays older, and is better designed with Boozer as their GTG, to win it all.
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I'm one of the people who calls out your incessant bulls^^^.

Screenshot_20260306_121156_Chrome.jpg
 
aceboon said:
that's the end of UNC's season

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Yeah it is. They might play some good teams tough for 20-30 minutes of the game, but any chance of a Final Four just went out the window with Caleb's season ending injury. Dare I say, I don't think there is much of a chance for them to reach the Sweet 16 and that they will be hard pressed to win the 1st round game of the NCAAT.
 
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Mr. French said:
The passion and NEED to have a smoking hot take about every thread topic is fascinating to me
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The interesting part about all this is he joined the Boneyard in September 2011. He had only 600 posts between when he joined in 2011 and October 2023. Since he started posting prolifically in October 2023 he’s made over 8,000 posts. So did he just begin being so opinionated in 2023? What flipped that switch? @RuffRuff, I’m curious. I asked you back in early 2024 if you being recently retired was the reason but you said that wasn't it.
 
HooperScooper said:
The interesting part about all this is he joined the Boneyard in September 2011. He had only 600 posts between when he joined in 2011 and October 2023. Since he started posting prolifically in October 2023 he’s made over 8,000 posts. So did he just begin being so opinionated in 2023? What flipped that switch? @RuffRuff, I’m curious. I asked you back in early 2024 if you being recently retired was the reason but you said that wasn't it.
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An illness, if you really to know. No need for sorry's.
 
RuffRuff said:
I tend to find that Duke team to be vastly overrated. Of their top 5 scorers, the only one that went on to have a decent NBA career was Brand.
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What?!!?! Both Battier and Maggette had solid 13 year NBA careers. Were they all stars ? No, but they started, and contributed significantly
 
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DRBackup said:
More revisionist history. They shut down Brand with the big to big double team. It was not Voskuhl on his own. Good lord
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He also made sure to take a shot at Jake Voskuhl as a player.
 
Why does anybody care which Duke team is better lmao? Not like this one gonna win it either
 
Well, one thing you can say about the MAC - they don't appear to play any defense to speak of.
 
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With 4.7 seconds, surely there was a better play than that one.
 
Miami remains undefeated in a close one. Their players we're waiving and taunting the Ohio fans and the fans reacted by throwing things at the Miami players.
 
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