***DUKE VS NORTH CAROLINA ACC TOURNEY SEMI-FINAL OFFICIAL GAMEDAY THREAD***

[MikeD2891]

That's basing our success in comparison to our rival. Besides, we're more talented than them.

That was just a quick and easy example and my point still stands. Beating them last night and winning tonight plus winning 6 other games earlier this season is the only way this season could have gone better. There was nothing else we could have done better.

If we had over 10 losses and a lot of bad ones, you'd have a point. There was very little in terms of our record that we could have done better this season. This season will still bring in the big recruits even if we were to have a worse case scenario and go out in the first weekend.

 

[MikeD2891]

Like I said, I'm not giving up on the season, but I couldn't disagree with you more. We were the preseason #1 team, and expected to win the acc after bringing in Bagley to an already stellar class.
As of now, our main rival, who was supposed to "rebuild" this year, beat us 2 out of 3 and are playing for the acc title tonight. Honestly we lost about 3-4 more games than I expected, counting last night.
I didn't hype these 4 future millionaires up, but I bought the hype. Throw in a Hall of Fame coach, I didn't think we would have the same problems in March as December. Those growing pains are still there.
There isn't a team out there we can't beat, but unfortunately there's also more that can beat us than we thought as well.
With our recent NCAA results, most fans will breathe a huge sigh of relief if we get out of the first weekend.
Is that what we thought in October?

And yet how many people out there would have predicted that 11 ACC teams would have 20 or more wins this season? Every team from unranked to the top ranked teams were suffering unexpected losses to their opponents.

That #1 preseason ranking is nothing more than a prediction. Weren't we #1 preseason ranked last season too? Where did that get us?

Besides, let's look at the 2015 team that won the natty last. That team was more stacked across the board in terms of experience and arguably talent too. This team was loaded with freshman, Grayson Allen and then a few great bench guys. Almost night and day. This team's doing great, maybe not the definition of great that you want. I hear non-Duke fans all the time still talking about how great this team is even when they lose.

Finally, it doesn't matter how great we are, in the tournament you're one loss from going out so all the talent in the world doesn't guarantee you'll make it all the way.

 

[Mac9192]

And yet how many people out there would have predicted that 11 ACC teams would have 20 or more wins this season? Every team from unranked to the top ranked teams were suffering unexpected losses to their opponents.

That #1 preseason ranking is nothing more than a prediction. Weren't we #1 preseason ranked last season too? Where did that get us?

Besides, let's look at the 2015 team that won the natty last. That team was more stacked across the board in terms of experience and arguably talent too. This team was loaded with freshman, Grayson Allen and then a few great bench guys. Almost night and day. This team's doing great, maybe not the definition of great that you want. I hear non-Duke fans all the time still talking about how great this team is even when they lose.

Finally, it doesn't matter how great we are, in the tournament you're one loss from going out so all the talent in the world doesn't guarantee you'll make it all the way.

No one is denying it's not hard to win it all. But Duke handpicked who they wanted, and Duke sells. If Michigan loses in the 2nd round, no big deal. But if it's Duke, it's the main headline for days. My point is we are still experiencing the same problems as earlier in the year. That's obvious, and frustrating to any Duke fan. If not, they're not a true fan. Are we peaking? Some stats say yes, but the eye test says maybe not. Last night for 35 minutes was the same as many other games this season. I don't care to hear how close we came to winning, we lost.
We are about to find out if we are the team we have begged and pleaded for.

 

[BlueDevilWildcat]

I really hope the guys that are proud of how this season has turned out to-date aren't serious. I mean, sure, justify after the fact if it makes you feel better. But if you are seriously satisfied with the team you saw last night (and variations of that performance throughout the season), you might want to raise your standards. Or, at least don't expect the rest of us to lower our's.

 

[kingbluedevil]

I really hope the guys that are proud of how this season has turned out to-date aren't serious. I mean, sure, justify after the fact if it makes you feel better. But if you are seriously satisfied with the team you saw last night (and variations of that performance throughout the season), you might want to raise your standards. Or, at least don't expect the rest of us to lower our's.

Second place in the league is OK but losing to Carolina twice with our talent is not good (could have been three if not for the comeback) . With the athletes we have I thought we would dominate on the defensive end but didn't happen.

 

[Alaskan_Assassin_21]

Second place in the league is OK but losing to Carolina twice with our talent is not good (could have been three if not for the comeback) . With the athletes we have I thought we would dominate on the defensive end but didn't happen.

Honestly, I think we are a far superior team in terms of skill. To me there is a reason why an experienced defending Champion lost 7 Conference games in the regular season. So in that regard I am quite disappointed but Roy is very good coach and we have defeated UNC in similiar less talented shoes so many times before - so I am not surprised it played out this way.

 

[MikeD2891]

Duke going out the first weekend would be newsworthy no matter how talented or untalented our team is. It would be magnified no matter what. There's a way to spin anything and everything that happens with our team. Most UNC fans spend more time talking about and thinking about our team than their own.

They may have us beat on most major stats, but the fact that we're nipping at their heels (lol no pun intended) angers them to no end.