UConn vs Duke (Elite 8) | Page 4 | The Boneyard

UConn vs Duke (Elite 8)

JakeTheDog said:
Another team’s season was on the line and that team was pretty good. I swear some people think we play in a vacuum.
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As Woody Hayes famously said “the other guys are on scholarship too”. No way we were gonna keep making 3s at that rate and no way they were gonna lay down, Izzo’sz teams are way too tough for that.

That said, way too close for comfort!
 
Chonky said:
I simply think they are just tired of UConn coming in and winning so much the last few years. They’re butt hurt.

And i love it.
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It must be tough for those folks since UConn is all over the national media with the Men’s team, Women’s team and Luke’s move to BC. We are fortunate and spoiled and I love it as well.
 
The dream matchup is set with a trip to the final four on the line. Is Duke going to finally be able to beat us or are we gonna slap them up like we did in 2004 and 99 on our way to the natty? can’t wait!
 
In 1999, I collected a bunch of online articles and kept them in one document. Since March 29, 2026 is the same day as March 29, 1999, I thought I'd put everyone's prediction from the St Pete Times that day:

Pre-Final Predictions


Taken from the St. Petersburg Times

​

Legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach: Duke's got to win it. I've never seen a Final Four that had such a prohibitive favorite. We all know that anything can happen in one ballgame -- but Duke's the 1-7 favorite to win the whole thing. That's unbelievable.

* * *

Storrs, Conn., town manager Martin Berliner: Oh, God, do I have to tell you the truth? Go, Huskies.

* * *

David Duke: Duke, of course.

* * *

Orlando Magic guard Darrell Armstrong: I knew Duke and Connecticut were the two strongest teams. I look for Duke to take it. I don't see anybody stopping that Mack truck.

* * *

Nancy Lieberman Cline, 1996 Hall of Fame Inductee, GM and coach of the WNBA Detroit Shock: I think Duke will win it. Anything can happen, but they (Duke) are very talent-deep and Coach K is one of the all-time great coaches. I'd be very surprised if they lost.

* * *

CBS NFL analyst Randy Cross: I'm a go-to-form guy. I love Duke. They're the Denver Broncos, the Green Bay Packers. There is not even a close No. 2.

* * *

CBS college football analyst Craig James: Duke's second team would win the tournament, so why wouldn't their first?



* * *

Sports artist LeRoy Neiman: Duke, because Duke is Duke. That's the only way I can put it. Is there a better explanation?

* * *

Wagner coach Dereck Whittenberg, whose shot Lorenzo Charles grabbed and put in at the buzzer in N.C. State's upset of Houston in 1983: Duke. What's their weakness? They can play half court. They can play up-tempo. They can defend you. They can play zone. You can play zone against them and they can shoot over you, they can go inside. They have no weakness. The times they haven't played well, they still managed to score 80 or so points. If you don't play that well and don't shoot that well and still score 80, it's hard to lose in college basketball.​
 
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Deepster said:
In 1999, I collected a bunch of online articles and kept them in one document. Since March 29, 2026 is the same day as March 29, 1999, I thought I'd put everyone's prediction from the St Pete Times that day:

Pre-Final Predictions


Taken from the St. Petersburg Times

​

Legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach: Duke's got to win it. I've never seen a Final Four that had such a prohibitive favorite. We all know that anything can happen in one ballgame -- but Duke's the 1-7 favorite to win the whole thing. That's unbelievable.

* * *

Storrs, Conn., town manager Martin Berliner: Oh, God, do I have to tell you the truth? Go, Huskies.

* * *

David Duke: Duke, of course.

* * *

Orlando Magic guard Darrell Armstrong: I knew Duke and Connecticut were the two strongest teams. I look for Duke to take it. I don't see anybody stopping that Mack truck.

* * *

Nancy Lieberman Cline, 1996 Hall of Fame Inductee, GM and coach of the WNBA Detroit Shock: I think Duke will win it. Anything can happen, but they (Duke) are very talent-deep and Coach K is one of the all-time great coaches. I'd be very surprised if they lost.

* * *

CBS NFL analyst Randy Cross: I'm a go-to-form guy. I love Duke. They're the Denver Broncos, the Green Bay Packers. There is not even a close No. 2.

* * *

CBS college football analyst Craig James: Duke's second team would win the tournament, so why wouldn't their first?



* * *

Sports artist LeRoy Neiman: Duke, because Duke is Duke. That's the only way I can put it. Is there a better explanation?

* * *

Wagner coach Dereck Whittenberg, whose shot Lorenzo Charles grabbed and put in at the buzzer in N.C. State's upset of Houston in 1983: Duke. What's their weakness? They can play half court. They can play up-tempo. They can defend you. They can play zone. You can play zone against them and they can shoot over you, they can go inside. They have no weakness. The times they haven't played well, they still managed to score 80 or so points. If you don't play that well and don't shoot that well and still score 80, it's hard to lose in college basketball.​
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Wilbon had one of the best articles.

This wasn’t trickery or gimmicks. This wasn’t a fluke. This was a basketball game. UConn went right after Duke and the better team won this game. (My paraphrasing)
 
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Horatio said:
Diabolical and Sinister
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We'll see what happens. Hurley hasn't played them, so maybe it will be different, but in the two NCAA games I remember UConn playing against Duke, I don't remember the refs feeling biased. They might have sucked (2004) but they sucked both ways.
 
After the 1999 national title game, Coach K talked about how our toughness, poise and experience, and our guard play were the reasons we outlasted Duke. I think the same holds true for Sunday but it will obviously be a hard fought game.
 
Think Duke could go to zone for a bunch of possessions. As they might get tired of chasing us around. My biggest concern is Duke getting our bigs into foul trouble. Especially when Boozer crashes down the lane. Do we let boozer take jump shots and back off him and wall up? Do we play two bigs? Reibe barely played last night. I feel like we're less likely to get into foul trouble if we have two bigs in there at the same time. The problem is, I don't know what our offense would be with two bigs.
 
This is the comfort zone. Everybody is talking about how good Duke, Michigan and Arizona are. Rightly so, they have great teams! UConn has a top 10 team and is in the Elite 8 with a game against Duke to go to a Final Four while folks are talking about everybody else. It's perfect. The script writes itself.
 
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BFieldHusky said:
If Duke starts Brown and Boozer, will be interesting on how Duke defends Karaban and Reed. Reed seems too big for Brown. If they put Boozer on Reed, we need to attack him.
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I hope they do. Brown can’t chase Karaban around on defense and isn’t a scoring thereat so he shouldn’t get Karaban into foul trouble either.
 
UCTitleTown said:
The Jim Calhoun strategy against LSU and Shaq.
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The strategy was to deny him the ball by fronting him and smothering the guards. If he caught one, he scored. Doesn’t work with Boozer because he’s not a center. He can attack off the dribble. Tough matchup for Alex but on the other hand, Alex will make Boozer work for it and has more experience than anyone Boozer will have faced.

I worry about Evans but the combo of Mullins and Ross is athletic enough to stay with him. This isn’t a terrible matchup for UConn and Reed is a real advantage.
 
tzznandrew said:
We'll see what happens. Hurley hasn't played them, so maybe it will be different, but in the two NCAA games I remember UConn playing against Duke, I don't remember the refs feeling biased. They might have sucked (2004) but they sucked both ways.
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bendm said:
I hope they do. Brown can’t chase Karaban around on defense and isn’t a scoring thereat so he shouldn’t get Karaban into foul trouble either.
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Why can't Brown chase Karaban around? He's an athletic player.

It really is going to have to be perfect execution & a game where we hit shots.
HuskyHawk said:
The strategy was to deny him the ball by fronting him and smothering the guards. If he caught one, he scored. Doesn’t work with Boozer because he’s not a center. He can attack off the dribble. Tough matchup for Alex but on the other hand, Alex will make Boozer work for it and has more experience than anyone Boozer will have faced.

I worry about Evans but the combo of Mullins and Ross is athletic enough to stay with him. This isn’t a terrible matchup for UConn and Reed is a real advantage.
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I think this is as tough a matchup for Uconn as it gets. I could honestly see us with a better chance against AZ & UM. One thing about Duke is they are very smart, starting with Boozer. If they do have Boozer defend Reed when PN is on the bench, will really have to maximize that. I'd have to think this is a game where PN gets more minutes, if he can do it.

Really fascinating matchup, and will be curious to watch the coaching strategies in this one. How TT beat this Duke team - maybe something to learn from.
 
jibsey said:
You can’t make every shot but we can’t miss as many point blank 2 footers against Duke. Someone pointed out the Boozer is going to go to the rim and pump fake 6 times and get foul calls. How to defend that? In their last 3 tourney games Sienna, TCU and St. John’s they made 5,7 and 5 threes or 17 for 61 equaling 27%. So they are scoring their points inside and at the line. They had 65 to 24 advantage in FTs? Game plan?
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Don't bite on it. Let him score the 2 at a 50% clip. Set your feet, arms straight up and get ready to block out and rebound.
 
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