The Duke question

[Jaydumo20]

The only team I'm truly scared of in this tourney. I know there are other teams that can pose problems for us and everybody else but I think when the brackets come out my eyes will instinctively go looking for that 4 letter word.

Question:
Do we want them in our bracket?

The surface answer is probably not, but...I see a lot of comments in the chats and in the yard where some want us to be tested.

Where would we be if we faced Duke second round....and won?

This is an open question about how you feel about us and them this particular year. I know we have to deal with the BET first, but I keep seeing 8 seed with little wiggle room. So let's look ahead for one day.

 

[6in25]

I hope we get a 16 seed so we can knock them out in the first round. Maybe Dan can request if from the committee.

 

[80shusky]

Most of us dislike Duke so we want to play them, get their knickers in a bunch, and win when everything says that is very unlikely. All the 1 seeds are good so ultimately it really doesn't matter. UConn will have to play out of their minds to win either way barring some epic collapse that we can't count on. Auburn is a little banged up and I'm not sure what to think about Florida. I think if I could choose, with the idea being who I think we would have the best shot at beating, I would take Florida or Houston.

 

[7774]

Duke is really good, and I don't want to play anyone really good, but a really good team that is very reliant on youth and hasn't had any real competition in months isn't the worst option.

 

[Dooch]

Duke is really good, and I don't want to play anyone really good, but a really good team that is very reliant on youth and hasn't had any real competition in months isn't the worst option.

The only issue is it would basically be a home game for Duke

 

[giddyup]

Play through Duke and you know we have a shot to go all the way. Can’t be afraid to take on the best if you want to be the best. Plus I hate them and there would be nothing better than to ruin their coronation.

 

[7774]

The only issue is it would basically be a home game for Duke

True

 

[nelsonmuntz]

UConn lost to Seton Hall and Colorado. We should be afraid of every team.

 

[6in25]

The only issue is it would basically be a home game for Duke

Even better.

 

[Inyatkin]

If you judge the season by whether or not you win the title, you need to beat good teams at some point, whether it's the second round or Final Four. Might as well do it early.
If you judge the season by how far you go in the tournament, no, you don't want to play them early.

 

[jibsey]

Play through Duke and you know we have a shot to go all the way. Can’t be afraid to take on the best if you want to be the best. Plus I hate them and there would be nothing better than to ruin their coronation.

Based on our record this year it’s very unlikely we could beat Duke but the first coronation I’d like to ruin is St. John’s.

 

[Travelman6]

We have no control over it in the end so if they face Duke, bring em on. I'd like to think UConn would have a similar performance as UCF did a few years ago vs Duke and not the egg GW laid vs Duke. If it's close in the closing minutes like UCF maybe UConn will even repeat what WVirginia and SC did and grab the win.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

I wouldn’t mind seeing Liam go off and reminding everyone that Flagg wasn’t the only good player from Montverde.

But ahead of that, I’d like to send some Big 10/Big 12 teams home…

 

[RuffRuff]

No, we don't want them. They are easily the most talented team in the country, have a slew of versatile pieces and the one thing they aren't strong in we don't have the advantage on (ball handling pressure defense). How would we guard Flagg? Karaban on him has disaster written all over it. Wonder if there is a scenario where we play AK on Maluach & Samson on Flagg could work, as Samson does have the athletecism/height to disrupt and Karaban does pretty well anchoring defensively on a big, especially one that isn't offensively inclined like Maluach.

 

[FlexOnEm]

The 5 teams in the hunt for a 1 seed are Auburn, Houston, Florida, Duke, and Tennessee. I think Tennessee is by far our best matchup. After that it’s either Duke or Florida. I want no piece of Auburn or Houston. Duke/Florida have more talent than Houston, but Houston’s style of play would be a major challenge for us.

Duke would probably be favored by 8-10 against us, but it’s definitely not an unwinnable game. Their guard play is decent at best. Flagg is obviously a beast and so is Knueppel. Their center is okay on both ends of the floor, but nothing Johnson/Reed can’t match on an average day. Easier said than done, but the key is containing Flagg and not allowing Proctor/Evans to go off from 3.

 

[FlexOnEm]

No, we don't want them. They are easily the most talented team in the country, have a slew of versatile pieces and the one thing they aren't strong in we don't have the advantage on (ball handling pressure defense). How would we guard Flagg? Karaban on him has disaster written all over it. Wonder if there is a scenario where we play AK on Maluach & Samson on Flagg could work, as Samson does have the athletecism/height to disrupt and Karaban does pretty well anchoring defensively on a big, especially one that isn't offensively inclined like Maluach.

Honestly I think it would be a combo of McNeeley and Stewart on Flagg. That might leave Karaban on Knueppel but we’d have to pick our battles.

 

[jibsey]

No, we don't want them. They are easily the most talented team in the country, have a slew of versatile pieces and the one thing they aren't strong in we don't have the advantage on (ball handling pressure defense). How would we guard Flagg? Karaban on him has disaster written all over it. Wonder if there is a scenario where we play AK on Maluach & Samson on Flagg could work, as Samson does have the athletecism/height to disrupt and Karaban does pretty well anchoring defensively on a big, especially one that isn't offensively inclined like Maluach.

Samson is athletic and enough to guard Flagg but fouling him is an issue.

 

[NJHusky]

Samson is athletic and enough to guard Flagg but fouling him is an issue.

It’s not an issue. I’m confident Sam could foul him.

 

[01Neaggrad02]

When I saw the label, the Duke Question.... I was hoping it was something like where would they be if we had Cooper Flagg and they didn't... and to be honest... if we had Cooper Flagg we probably would not have lost but maybe a game or two this season... and would be the favorite for the title again.... So sad Cooper made a bad decision...

 

[boog204]

Samson is athletic and enough to guard Flagg but fouling him is an issue.

He'd have two fouls in two minutes.

 

[RuffRuff]

When I saw the label, the Duke Question.... I was hoping it was something like where would they be if we had Cooper Flagg and they didn't... and to be honest... if we had Cooper Flagg we probably would not have lost but maybe a game or two this season... and would be the favorite for the title again.... So sad Cooper made a bad decision...

In retro the kid (and parents) feels like he was made for Duke and I don't get the sense we had more than a 1% chance of landing him. But yeah, getting the best player in the country would have given us a really good chance to run back another one .

Will be interesting to see what Scheyer does next year as he's pretty much going to lose his entire roster core. They'll bring back Ngongba, Proctor may stay, and maybe Harris returns, but their freshman class although very good, has no Flagg.

 

[TheShot1990]

The only thing to fear is Flagg himself.
We get better as the season goes on. We don't want to face Duke until the final 4. Then we want to send them home in tears again.

 

[gtcam]

If Duke is truly the best team out there. college basketball is suffering a down year. I still don't see them beating a team with moxie like Houston (I know RuffRuff - they are not a big team) or a team with seasoned players who have played together for more than the current season. Plus, they have a mental midget at the helm.
If they played in the SEC or another power conference, they would not have that gaudy record. The ACC is not even a top 6 conference this season and I don't see it improving without new programs.
I do agree Flagg is a problem but let him get his 30 pts and try shutting everyone else down- Sampson would foul out in less than 10 minutes - I would stick Liam on him due to familiarity and trash talk him all game.
You take it one game at a time - regardless of who you face

 

[shizzle787]

Duke is extremely overrated. The ACC is literally a mid major league this year. They will likely only get 3 teams in out of…..18! They’ve played 7 real opponents this year and are 4-3 in those games. We are a real opponent.

Based on our record this year it’s very unlikely we could beat Duke but the first coronation I’d like to ruin is St. John’s.

 

[RuffRuff]

The 5 teams in the hunt for a 1 seed are Auburn, Houston, Florida, Duke, and Tennessee. I think Tennessee is by far our best matchup. After that it’s either Duke or Florida. I want no piece of Auburn or Houston. Duke/Florida have more talent than Houston, but Houston’s style of play would be a major challenge for us.

Duke would probably be favored by 8-10 against us, but it’s definitely not an unwinnable game. Their guard play is decent at best. Flagg is obviously a beast and so is Knueppel. Their center is okay on both ends of the floor, but nothing Johnson/Reed can’t match on an average day. Easier said than done, but the key is containing Flagg and not allowing Proctor/Evans to go off from 3.

Funny with Houston, because if you look at them man for man, I think we matchup just fine. This would be a Tarris game.

Tarris - Roberts - Roberts is a dog, but he's a 6'8" 235 to Tarris at 6'10" 260-265.
AK - Tuggler - Tuggler same size as Roberts so has some length and girth on AK, but he is no offensive threat and AK can space him.
Hassan - LJ Cryer - Cryer is a small guard but shoots the 3 ball lights out across a series of ways, step backs, etc. Hassan being healthy and in his shirt would be huge if we wanted a chance as he makes them go offensively.
Liam - Sharp - Sharp is another 3 point specialist but only 6'3", kind of guy you play at the line and Liam would have a massive height advantage
Solo - Uzhan - Uzhan is a nice player, 6"4" transfer out of OU, but not nearly as physical as the other guards, I could see Solo being just fine on him.

They're not particularly deep either. I'd argue we are the more talented team.

I know they out-tough everyone and pressure the ball, but this is not a StJ that has a matchup nightmares in Kadari and crazy athletes like D Smith & Luis. Offensively they generally live by the 3pt shot. They lost ALL of their major OOC matchups, Auburn, Bama, SDSU and beat up on what I saw as a really weak and overrated Big12.

If we do end up on an 8, are lined up with them, might be good to see StJ in the final as a warm up. They are the 1 seed I'd prefer as I find them to be the weakest talent wise and most one dimensional. Punch them back on their pressure early and you can hang pretty easily with this team. Florida, Duke & Auburn are all much more talented, Houston is just gritty.