OT-Derrick Thornton to Duke

[CardiacAndre7]

As the title says, Thornton has committed to Duke as well as reclassified to the '15 class. Huge get for them.

 

[RipCity]

I hope his team issued pants are too long and the bottoms get all frayed.

 

[caw]

Coach K has really flipped on One and Dones.

 

[Jaker]

K is back to selling his soul

 

[sammydabiz]

Boy, a national championship can really help with recruiting

 

[BUConn10]

God d*** this is exactly what I was afraid of. Now Duke and Coach K are full on in the one-and-done race, expect them to get Ingram this week when he announces. Before when it was just Kentucky, and to a degree Kansas, they were easy to hate and simultaneously block out because their respective coaches always seem to find a way to choke or get out coached. Now with Duke basically reloading with NBA talent every year, and arguably the greatest X and O's coach ever building them up, they will be an even stronger force.

I know a lot of people hate one and dones and seeing players leave early, but my idea for the most elite version of our program is one in which we blend our current under heralded, and tenacious 3-4 year guys, with a couple OADs per year to fill out the roster, maintain an NBA presence, and help keep us competitive in the regular season every year, to avoid these 2 year rebuilding periods where the added uncertainty of the AAC makes me want to tear my eyes out.

 

[RipCity]

God d*** this is exactly what I was afraid of.

- Jeter is soft as hell. He's overrated and Okafor will be sorely missed.
- A reclassified Thornton won't be as good as Tyus Jones was this past year
- I like Ingram and Kennard, but I don't think they can make up for the production lost, even with Allen improving and Obi eligible.

Duke will be good, but I don't think they'll be a NC threat.

 

[Kitaman]

K is back to selling his soul

At his age and this stage of his career, I believe he doesn't give a . History will be kind to him and he knows that.

It will take much more (e.g. Paterno, Boehim stuff) to adversely affect that.

 

[BUConn10]

- Jeter is soft as hell. He's overrated and Okafor will be sorely missed.
- A reclassified Thornton won't be as good as Tyus Jones was this past year
- I like Ingram and Kennard, but I don't think they can make up for the production lost, even with Allen improving and Obi eligible.

Duke will be good, but I don't think they'll be a NC threat.

It doesnt even matter though, they get a boost just for being Duke. Just look at the tournament seeding this year, it was laughable. Duke finished SECOND in their own conference behind Virginia, yet was ranked ahead of them all regular season and got the #1 seed in the tournament over UVa without winning either the regular season or their tournament. I know they had a great strength of schedule but come on, Duke gets points just for being Duke.

 

[pnow15]

There will be more going to Duke. But wait, won't all those academic purist at Duke speak up about a system that is making a mockery of the concept of student/athlete. Nah.

 

[BUConn10]

There will be more going to Duke. But wait, won't all those academic purist at Duke speak up about a system that is making a mockery of the concept of student/athlete. Nah.

I actually read an article somewhere that an anonymous employee in the Duke athletic apartment let slip to someone that every athletic team at Duke is given 1 "no questions asked, look the other way" scholarship in which academic requirements are completely disregarded. Its really no mystery, everyone and their mother knows 95% of ALL athletes at Duke could never sniff an acceptance letter their if they werent good with a ball.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

It doesnt even matter though, they get a boost just for being Duke. Just look at the tournament seeding this year, it was laughable. Duke finished SECOND in their own conference behind Virginia, yet was ranked ahead of them all regular season and got the #1 seed in the tournament over UVa without winning either the regular season or their tournament. I know they had a great strength of schedule but come on, Duke gets points just for being Duke.

This argument would be more compelling were it not for the fact that Duke won the national championship and Virginia didn't make the Sweet Sixteen.

 

[B1GEast]

coach K is starting to look a lot like coach cal with his rent a players

 

[Matrim55]

Now with Duke basically reloading with NBA talent every year, and arguably the greatest X and O's coach ever building them up, they will be an even stronger force.

K is a legendary program-builder and recruiter who couldn't solve a big-to-big double with a title on the line, and has lost a ton of first-weekend games over the last decade. He's a very good Xs & Os guy (and proved it once and for all with this year's team), but he's not Rick Pitino, Bob Knight or Jim Calhoun.

 

[BUConn10]

K is a legendary program-builder and recruiter who couldn't solve a big-to-big double with a title on the line, and has lost a ton of first-weekend games over the last decade. He's a very good Xs & Os guy (and proved it once and for all with this year's team), but he's not Rick Pitino, Bob Knight or Jim Calhoun.

So your saying hes Top 5, or in other words, "arguably" the best, as in he has a case if there were to be a debate.

 

[Matrim55]

So your saying hes Top 5, or in other words, "arguably" the best, as in he has a case if there were to be a debate.

No. I'm saying he's not close to the best Xs and Os guys - not close to the top 5. I'd love to see what a guy like Phil Martelli or Gregg Marshall could do with the talent K gets, for example.

K is clearly a top 3 (probably a top 2) coach overall. But nobody's lost more big games with superior talent, and the common denominator for all of them is that he got out-coached.

 

[superjohn]

This argument would be more compelling were it not for the fact that Duke won the national championship and Virginia didn't make the Sweet Sixteen.

They won it all but just like every other year they got an incredibly favorable draw, they have played 40 tournament games in North Carolina. It set up really nicely for UConn last year getting to play at MSG, it's set up nicely for Duke every year.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I'm shocked that you take issue with my post, but they drubbed a 2 seed to make the final four. Once they got there, I'm not sure the committee had much to do with them playing MSU (who, incidentally, they demolished).

Getting back to the point, making the argument that the committee overseeded Duke at 1 and underseeded Virginia at 2 becomes a lot less persuasive given the way things shook out.

 

[tzznandrew]

I'm shocked that you take issue with my post, but they drubbed a 2 seed to make the final four. Once they got there, I'm not sure the committee had much to do with them playing MSU (who, incidentally, they demolished).

Getting back to the point, making the argument that the committee overseeded Duke at 1 and underseeded Virginia at 2 becomes a lot less persuasive given the way things shook out.

The narrative that they got an easy draw is crazy.

Utah was their 5 seed. How? Utah was a Top 10-12 team.

San Diego State was their 8-seed. How? They were on par with teams like West Virginia (5 seed) by all metrics.

Gonzaga was legit. If you were ranking the teams most thought were the best, UK/Duke/Wisconsin/Zona were the top 4...Gonzaga was arguably the next best (healthy Virginia was probably better, but...).

I'd say Duke got a really tough draw, and beat really good teams to win the whole thing.

 

[superjohn]

I'm shocked that you take issue with my post, but they drubbed a 2 seed to make the final four. Once they got there, I'm not sure the committee had much to do with them playing MSU (who, incidentally, they demolished).

Getting back to the point, making the argument that the committee overseeded Duke at 1 and underseeded Virginia at 2 becomes a lot less persuasive given the way things shook out.

Wasn't exactly taking issue with your post was just saying Duke got a favorable draw and shouldn't get home games in the tournament every year. They were clearly one of the best teams I just think often times the committee sets up a very favorable path for them to make a run. They did what they had to but it wasn't exactly a gauntlet.

 

[superjohn]

The narrative that they got an easy draw is crazy.

Utah was their 5 seed. How? Utah was a Top 10-12 team.

San Diego State was their 8-seed. How? They were on par with teams like West Virginia (5 seed) by all metrics.

Gonzaga was legit. If you were ranking the teams most thought were the best, UK/Duke/Wisconsin/Zona were the top 4...Gonzaga was arguably the next best (healthy Virginia was probably better, but...).

I'd say Duke got a really tough draw, and beat really good teams to win the whole thing.

I don't consider a home game against San Diego State remotely tough, You're right about Utah being underseeded at 5 but Georgetown was way over seeded at 4. I think Utah would have been their toughest matchup until the title game but refs took Delon Wright out of the game right away.

 

[champs99and04]

The narrative that they got an easy draw is crazy.

Utah was their 5 seed. How? Utah was a Top 10-12 team.

San Diego State was their 8-seed. How? They were on par with teams like West Virginia (5 seed) by all metrics.

Gonzaga was legit. If you were ranking the teams most thought were the best, UK/Duke/Wisconsin/Zona were the top 4...Gonzaga was arguably the next best (healthy Virginia was probably better, but...).

I'd say Duke got a really tough draw, and beat really good teams to win the whole thing.

I think the argument that Duke got a favorable draw is built upon the premise that Wisconsin, Arizona, and Kentucky were three of the best four teams in the country and they were all on one side.

I can sort of see that, but it's only clear in hindsight. Unfortunately, I think the team that would have caused the most problems for Duke - Villanova - flamed out. That's the tournament, though, and we've certainly benefited from our share of upsets.

 

[mauconnfan]

Coach K has really flipped on One and Dones.

Is this the same guy with issues on post grad players? LOL