Sorry if this has been discussed and starting a new thread if this has already been discussed but I think I go with Michigan state, Iowa state, Villnova, ky, and duke. Then North Carolina 6th . Risers I think louisville and Purdue(although have not seen them play, but they have two active 7 footers and swangian). HUGE duke fan that lives in KY and I usually just sit back n read,but i feel the need to comment. No team is dominate n I think anyone can win it this year, bUT defense wins championship's and I think watching that Michigan state versus louisville game those two teams look the best so far as defensively goes, and I think other teams have a lot of catching up to do from that stand point. Offensively Duke is up there, but for us to win like last year (championship) we need our defense to be just as effective as our o. We were not spectacular on do last year but when we needed to get stops we did. Your thoughts?
New polls...Who you got?
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I would go with UNC, Michigan State, and Kansas in the top 3, though I haven't seen a single minute of Villanova basketball yet this year. Then Villanova, Kentucky, and Maryland. Then Duke, Iowa State, Purdue, and maybe even Xavier. I'm sure I'm forgetting several potential top ten teams.
Right now it's as good as you can rank them. I think maybe UNC should be a little higher after what they did to Md.
I still think Maryland was overrated. We'll see soon enough.
Depends on whether you're asking terms of what the polls will actually say or where we each, personally, think each team should be ranked? The latter is a different matter.
UNC's loss does nothing to my view of their ranking b/c Roy regularly has his teams poorly prepared early in the season. But, with Paige returned, and given the UK loss to UCLA - to go along with their youth - I'd put UNC #1.
1. UNC
2. MSU - love this team but they had some weaknesses exposed a bit against L'Ville. And, I am just not sure they have the length or overall team to hang with a UNC. Though I sure hope so.
3. Kansas - esp. with the NCAA finally letting Diallo play.
4. UK - they looked bad against UCLA and I think they will have some other tough losses. But, they are still a very talented team as evidenced by their win against Duke.
From 5-10 it's a bit of a tossup, imo. Duke is going to have to continue to become more physical. And the fact that K is already - even before ACC play - shortening his bench to two players is not a great sign for depth.
UNC's loss does nothing to my view of their ranking b/c Roy regularly has his teams poorly prepared early in the season. But, with Paige returned, and given the UK loss to UCLA - to go along with their youth - I'd put UNC #1.
1. UNC
2. MSU - love this team but they had some weaknesses exposed a bit against L'Ville. And, I am just not sure they have the length or overall team to hang with a UNC. Though I sure hope so.
3. Kansas - esp. with the NCAA finally letting Diallo play.
4. UK - they looked bad against UCLA and I think they will have some other tough losses. But, they are still a very talented team as evidenced by their win against Duke.
From 5-10 it's a bit of a tossup, imo. Duke is going to have to continue to become more physical. And the fact that K is already - even before ACC play - shortening his bench to two players is not a great sign for depth.
hey , speaking of the bench, what has Jeter done to get in the dog house? He is getting very little playing time even in blowouts.
I'm not sure I think Duke is a top five team right now, but based on how the rankings traditionally work we probably will be.
I think Michigan State is probably #1 and I don't have a problem with that. UNC's win over Maryland catapult's into the top three, IMO, as it should.
I think Michigan State is probably #1 and I don't have a problem with that. UNC's win over Maryland catapult's into the top three, IMO, as it should.
Here's my question for the super realists on the board, why is Duke not a top 5? Because of Kentucky? We lost to the probable #1 team, and in my opinion not as badly as some want to believe.
On top of that, we've beaten some top 25 and potentially top 15-20 teams in VCU and Georgetown, teams everybody wanted to stroke praise upon until we beat them, as if this team beating them was some kind of slight.
And I don't want to hear that we still "have problems" because while we have areas of improvement, they aren't as glaring as other problems some teams face and they are certainly repairable. And besides what team doesn't have problems in the NCAA? Of the teams ranked in the top ten Mich St., UNC, UK, and Kansas are obvious choices. That leaves one top 5 spot for Duke, Iowa State, and Nova and I'll objectively take what Duke has over the other two.
Between coach, talent, scheme, and potential, I think Duke is absolutely a top 5 caliber team.
On top of that, we've beaten some top 25 and potentially top 15-20 teams in VCU and Georgetown, teams everybody wanted to stroke praise upon until we beat them, as if this team beating them was some kind of slight.
And I don't want to hear that we still "have problems" because while we have areas of improvement, they aren't as glaring as other problems some teams face and they are certainly repairable. And besides what team doesn't have problems in the NCAA? Of the teams ranked in the top ten Mich St., UNC, UK, and Kansas are obvious choices. That leaves one top 5 spot for Duke, Iowa State, and Nova and I'll objectively take what Duke has over the other two.
Between coach, talent, scheme, and potential, I think Duke is absolutely a top 5 caliber team.
I am right there with you dukehokie. Of course Duke has things to work out but who doesn't? We are talking about a team having 4 freshman out of an 8 man rotation. (yes Jeter will be part of that going forward)
Yeah I don't get how we drop to #8 but UNC move up to #3. I get that they beat #2 Maryland but I don't see how they move up 5 spots and we drop a spot when we haven't lost a game since we lost to Kentucky.
All I care about is that final poll in april
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Well, we're rated #5 in the Coaches basketball poll, and we're #3 in Kenpom's ratings...where we still have the #1 rated offensive efficient offense, and the #33rd rated defensive efficient defense.
I guess it doesn't really matter much between being 5 and 8th (at this point in the season), but I still feel we're worthy of a top 5.
OFC
I guess it doesn't really matter much between being 5 and 8th (at this point in the season), but I still feel we're worthy of a top 5.
OFC
There's no way he would get a lot of PT with the Tar Heel line up. OFC
I agree with you......all the things that caused a loss to UK have been corrected x2.
Allen returns to super status........Ingram living up to hype, & Kennard now contributing.
Only weakness I see is a back-up for MP3.
Jefferson with Ingram + 3 guards ?????????????
Bluedevils725,
From Frankfort, KY but live in Lexington. Have been the past five years, boo them kitty cats. Tired of hearing, we would have beat duke if we were in championship, but they didn't so.....lol but I agree taking Villanova off the list and putting Oklahoma. BUT I think conference time the rankings will sort themselves out, show the men from the boys.
From Frankfort, KY but live in Lexington. Have been the past five years, boo them kitty cats. Tired of hearing, we would have beat duke if we were in championship, but they didn't so.....lol but I agree taking Villanova off the list and putting Oklahoma. BUT I think conference time the rankings will sort themselves out, show the men from the boys.
I'll answer as I feel I'm probably one of the folks you're talking about.
First of all, do I think there's five or six teams better than us? Maybe, maybe not. I was kind of speaking in generalities.
Second, we're a perimeter-dominated team. And while that's hardly a bad thing in college basketball, considering guards tend to dominate a lot of what happens, I still feel it could be a bit of an issue for this team. It's early in the season and there's plenty of time for adjustments, but we do a lot of standing around and dribbling on the perimeter. Against vastly inferior competition we don't notice it as much.
Third, I'm afraid our best lineup at the end of the season is Amile, Brandon, Matt, Grayson and Derryck. Maybe afraid is the wrong word to use but I'm drawing a blank. Anyway, that's a small lineup. I'm concerned about rebounding when we're playing teams with size. And we're going to see size in the ACC.
Lastly, right now we tend to go as Grayson goes. That could be changing as we're seeing signs of emergence from Brandon, which will be huge for this team going forward. Derryck is learning on the fly, Matt isn't known as a creator, and Amile and Marshall aren't go-to scorers. We're going to need another go-to guy in addition to Grayson or we become predictable. I think we all know that if he hadn't exploded against both Georgetown and VCU we're probably talking about a three loss team right now.
And for the record, I completely understand we're not the only team with question marks. Clearly UK has them, KU, Maryland, 'Nova, etc., etc. But I tend not to worry about those teams. This is just my opinion stepping away and trying to be as constructive as I can.
Yeah, at this point in the season, you're really ranking teams based on around 1-4 games. Which isn't much to go by.
I get you dj, but to me, it seems like it's a quibble over anti-homerism.
So we are a perimeter oriented, ok, why does that make this team worse than a perimeter oriented Nova team or Maryland for that matter?
And true we have guys who are learning new positions, roles, etc., but they've shown they are capable and capable enough to win some games and enough to garner top 10 rankings and show high statistical efficiency on O and D.
Then we come to the Grayson point. So this team is Grayson's. We knew that coming in, analysts knew that coming in, the world knew that coming in and we were still a preseason top 5 based on that and Ingram, so why not now. Not to mention, yeah we may have 3 losses without Grayson, but guess what, we have Grayson. No penalty necessary. That's like saying the 92-93 Bulls aren't who they are without Jordan. Guess what, they had Jordan. On top of that, the team has had huge contributions from Matt, Brandon and Amile to go along with Grayson being Grayson. No longer a one trick pony if you ask me.
I just don't feel the need to Bilas this thing. We are a good team with good players and a pretty good coach. That puts us in line with the top teams in college in my opinion.
It would be nice if Duke had a "marquee" win already. They had two by this time last year, over MSU in the Champions, and Wisconsin in the Challenge. This year's schedule only gave one real opportunity for that, the game with UK. The Indiana game was supposed to be one of those, but they are s******* the bed. Maybe they can turn it around and that win will only look better as the season progresses, but it doesn't seem like that's going to happen.
There are probably three to five NCAA Tournament teams that Duke has played so far, with UK being likely the only top 4 seed. Obviously, all that changes when conference play begins. The upcoming Utah game could also change that. That isn't a "marquee" win, but it's a darn good one.
Even with all that, there probably aren't that many teams who have played a better schedule thus far. There are definitely some, but not a lot.
There are probably three to five NCAA Tournament teams that Duke has played so far, with UK being likely the only top 4 seed. Obviously, all that changes when conference play begins. The upcoming Utah game could also change that. That isn't a "marquee" win, but it's a darn good one.
Even with all that, there probably aren't that many teams who have played a better schedule thus far. There are definitely some, but not a lot.
I personally don't care about rankings. Especially this early in the season. I'll start paying attention come February.
There's a lot of good teams this year but no great teams right now. Wait a couple of months and the cream of the crop will surface.
There's a lot of good teams this year but no great teams right now. Wait a couple of months and the cream of the crop will surface.
Well, I never said anything about Villanova or us being worse....but their recent NCAA tournament success, or lack thereof, kind of gets to what I'm talking about. Maryland has Carter and Stone. And while I get they're perimeter-heavy, their ability to score underneath with those two is a luxury. As I pointed out, Amile has been much better....I'm just apprehensive about whether or not it continues as we play better teams who are bigger up front.
And I wasn't knocking Grayson. He's been outstanding. My point, and really my only point, is that in order to be really good (which I think we can do) we must have another player to lean on who can create for himself. That's why I hope BI can continue to evolve into that guy.
I don't feel like I'm being negative or Bilas-ing (whatever that means) this thing. We have a good team that has more potential than the vast majority out there, but we're not there yet, IMO. And frankly, I expect us to be in early December.
Bilas - v. To downplay Duke's success or potential success for the reason of not sounding like a complete homer.
jay, I'm not attacking you or your opinion, it's almost sounding personal now and that is not even close to the case. We've been on this board together for 10 years. And I'm not necessarily just responding to you, but more to anyone who has mentioned we shouldn't be top 5 (the reason for including Nova). And I'm not predicting tournament success here. Just status among the "elite" of college basketball this season. Just wanted to clear the air on that.
I just think that as you said this team has great potential, but has already shown how talented they are, not just how talented they could be, and there's still room to grow.
You mentioned Amile and that you don't know if he can sustain. I'd ask the same question of guys like Carter and Stone. Bigger doesn't mean better and Amile has shown skill which can our balance shear size. Can Carter and Stone last all season, or will they fade due to conditioning or inexperience?
And in terms of Grayson, I know you weren't knocking him, but sometimes a team's greatness is due to one or two players who also have some assistance on the side. I agree we can't sustain on Grayson alone, but he is a part of the reason we are an upper tier team this season.
IMO, Kansas and MSU are the best teams in college this season, but pretty close to them would be UK, UNC, Duke, Maryland and maybe Iowa State, Arizona and Oklahoma. No one else is on that level yet. Again my opinion.
I do agree we have more to improve upon, but what we already have has been very solid and versatile, more versatile IMO than what other teams have shown.
I didn't think you were being personal....and I apologize if it sounded as though that's what I was doing. We just have a different viewpoint in this instance....and that's ok. But again, for the record, I wasn't being confrontational and I didn't think you were either.
***FYI....my final line of my final post was supposed to read...."And frankly, I didn't expect us to be in early December.***
We have the potential to be pretty damn good, but I think there's a ways to go for us to get there. So as I said in my original point....are we a top five team right now? Maybe, maybe not. I'm probably nitpicking some, and while I think we'll continue improving, I also think other teams will too.
***FYI....my final line of my final post was supposed to read...."And frankly, I didn't expect us to be in early December.***
We have the potential to be pretty damn good, but I think there's a ways to go for us to get there. So as I said in my original point....are we a top five team right now? Maybe, maybe not. I'm probably nitpicking some, and while I think we'll continue improving, I also think other teams will too.
Very true. I think our ceiling could be a lot higher than others. Luke Kennard's shooting stroke returning is a big part of that.
funny, we win two games and drop........dont play the the whole week and gain a spot..
Boogie dropping two spots was because we played lousy in wins before last weeks poll came out. Maybe we shouldn't play anymore so we can be number 1 in 7 weeks.
Wow what a drop, I guess it's deserving though, we haven't played the best in terms of duke basketball and without Amile for a while. Maybe it will help motivate the guys.
I think that's close to right. I would consider us a fringe top 20 team at this point. We can certainly improve and how long Amile is out will be key to that.
Unfortunately we haven't gotten help from the teams we have played. Before the season it looked like a really tough schedule but that schedule strength has taken a pretty good hit. It's quite possible if this team experiences two losses early in our ACC play this team will fall out of the top 25. We will have to wait and see how we deal with bigs and if we can survive a short short bench without Amile.
Unfortunately we haven't gotten help from the teams we have played. Before the season it looked like a really tough schedule but that schedule strength has taken a pretty good hit. It's quite possible if this team experiences two losses early in our ACC play this team will fall out of the top 25. We will have to wait and see how we deal with bigs and if we can survive a short short bench without Amile.
