Why did we win the 2015 title.

[skysdad]

What's the main reason. If my memory is correct this boards post through the season were pretty close to the post this season. Different players, same type of comments about them. So why did we win the title. I feel our freshman finally bought into the system. Every thing just came together in the post season. Grayson came into his own at that time and our experienced leadership began to show. Will that happen to this team. Does anyone know what our record was at this time of season in 2015 and who had we lost to. What do you guys think. We'll know soon enough.OFC

 

[LetsGoDuke301]

Duke lost to Nc State, Miami and Norte Dame at this point. They lost a second time to Norte Dame in the ACCT for their 4th and final loss.

This season's story is still in the makings and there is no telling how it will end. But what we don't have on this team are leaders like Amile and Quinn. We do have the talent. We won the title in 2015 because we had players step up at crucial times in the tournament. If you take any contributor off of that team and they don't win the title. What we are going to need this year is that and then some.

 

[DukefanKY]

We had 3 losses. NC state, Miami, ND

And we had a freshman point guard kicking butt big time!!

 

[dukedevilz]

We got the easy bracket, of course.

 

[dukephysics]

If you take any contributor off of that team and they don't win the title. What we are going to need this year is that and then some.

I think this is understated on this board. Quinn and Amile were awesome. Grayson had the huge game. Even Matt Jones contributed. The 3 OADs played like veterans. Everyone played his role. I think the biggest issues with guys this season have been they haven't settled into a consistent role on this team. Tre, Gary, Grayson, Bolden... all have to realize how they can best contribute (without taking away) from the team. Even Wendell could see his role expanded (in my opinion) and make us even better. It's easy to cherry-pick a game or two here and there and say "this guy has been bad" or "this guy is a stud." We just need guys to be consistent.
(of course, a little help from the selection committee wouldn't hurt either)

 

[timmuh1515]

It’s an interesting question because we were a bad defensive team going into the tournament and were able to take huge strides.

Winslow specifically played as well defensively that entire tourney as anyone I had remembered watching.

As Duke fans from the past remember...too often Duke would be playing their best basketball mid-season and run into a more athletic team who was able to focus for 40 minutes.

Duke could be that team this year...but without good defensive structure...it’s hard to imagine they can win it all

 

[Mac9192]

Something has happened in almost every season that wound up helping Duke become a better team. Bobby Hurley's foot in 92, Boozer going down for a while in 01 with his foot, K slowing the offense down in 10 and Zoubek after the Maryland game saying he wasn't ready for his senior season to end.
Nothing though as close as the turmoil within the program in 15. Sulaimon causing a fight in the locker room after the ND regular season loss. He gets kicked off the team. No one gave Duke a chance, the team just lost a solid player. But they banded together, coming up with "8 is enough."

All of those teams players knew their roles. For this team to accomplish what those 5 teams did, I think they must do the same. I say get a model of the 10 team in terms of offense, and have the big 3 of Allen, Bagley and Carter getting the most shots. Can't have everyone wanting to shine. Bagley, in my opinion, for as good as he is, will help the team more if he looks to pass more than he has. I'm sorry, but up to now the only one I have seen of the starters that is willing to do whatever it takes to win is Allen. Will the other guys still smile if they only took 4-5 shots but we win?

 

[GillJET]

Something has happened in almost every season that wound up helping Duke become a better team. Bobby Hurley's foot in 92, Boozer going down for a while in 01 with his foot, K slowing the offense down in 10 and Zoubek after the Maryland game saying he wasn't ready for his senior season to end.
Nothing though as close as the turmoil within the program in 15. Sulaimon causing a fight in the locker room after the ND regular season loss. He gets kicked off the team. No one gave Duke a chance, the team just lost a solid player. But they banded together, coming up with "8 is enough."

All of those teams players knew their roles. For this team to accomplish what those 5 teams did, I think they must do the same. I say get a model of the 10 team in terms of offense, and have the big 3 of Allen, Bagley and Carter getting the most shots. Can't have everyone wanting to shine. Bagley, in my opinion, for as good as he is, will help the team more if he looks to pass more than he has. I'm sorry, but up to now the only one I have seen of the starters that is willing to do whatever it takes to win is Allen. Will the other guys still smile if they only took 4-5 shots but we win?

What’s this about Sulaimon causing a fight? I hadn’t heard that.

 

[DukeDenver]

The crunch time 5’s collective IQ was off the charts. Tyus, Quinn, Matt Jones, Winslow and Amile was so damn smart as a unit. Sprinkle in some Jah post dominance, steady effort from a Plum and a spark from Grayson the Gladiator, and it was quite a juggernaut. We could D and hit FTs. That team had balance. Our most balanced lineup right now isn’t our most talented 5 guys.

 

[skysdad]

Marshall did contribute a lot to that title. OFC

 

[jwill133]

A big reason we won the title is that team became elite defensively. We won a Sweet16 game scoring 63 points. If you had said weeks prior that we only scored 63 in a tournament game, one would assume we had another Sweet16 meltdown.

 

[Mac9192]

What’s this about Sulaimon causing a fight? I hadn’t heard that.

Yes it was. Don't know specifics, but it wasn't pretty. Matt Jones was involved. May have been a coach also got pushed in the scuffle.

 

[GillJET]

Yes it was. Don't know specifics, but it wasn't pretty. Matt Jones was involved. May have been a coach also got pushed in the scuffle.

Alright, well I’d love to know the full story. The Sulaimon dismissal is still a total mystery to me.

 

[ioliva]

it was cook and Jefferson being leaders to our fab freshman. This team doesn't have that. Cook and jeff would force communication with the squad, would settle them down in tough situations and fire them up. Cook was really good at lighting a fire under that team. We don't have anyone that can do that for this team.

 

[dukephysics]

 

[gottagonow]

Great guard play, senior leadership, great freshmen who usually played really well. Quinns timely shooting and leadership when most needed.

A really huge thing though and surprised no has expressed it is the minor expectation of the 15 team verses the huge expectations of last season and especially this season. Jones and Winslows great play caught everyone by surprise and then there was Grayson. The world has expected this current group to be great.

 

[dachampishere2]

Defense defense defense is the key. Even with both of our guards not playing to their potential and all of the turnovers, we’re still putting up the points to win games. We have to find the right defense. I’m not sure the 2-3 against 3 point shooting teams is very smart. You usually play the 2-3 when someone has a good post presence and you want to make them shoot outside. A 3-2 or matchup zone would be better for us. We don’t just sit back in that zone and let people just pass it around on us. We rarely get steals out of it. I’ve never been a fan on the 2-3. Boheim is the master of the zone and he can’t win a title. It took Melo to get him one. Outside of that, his zone gets ate up every year in the tournament.

 

[DukeDenver]

Bagley and Carter have both started making some great defensive plays off ball. That part is getting better. Trent hardly ever plays alert off ball. Duval gets caught looking. Grayson stands around on D when we have a lead.

These things can get fixed if the players buy in. That News and Observer article on K today mentioned something about Coach K wanting to form a relationship with Trevon so that he can become a complete point guard. I really hope Tre takes that seriously.

 

[Whutadrag2]

Everyone stepped up when we needed it. JW stepped up in Houston and we all remember Stones and Grayson in the ship. BUT - we do not win it without Amiles (and MP3) defense on Frank because Jah couldn’t stay out of foul trouble.

 

[denverexpat]

Amile and Quinn played their role. Dictated by the game - 11 rebounds, 8pts but a ton of leadership and team play. They were the glue not the glitter....that was provided by the other players. Allen was the X-factor...unexpected but aggressive and assertive when called on. Where do those elements come from on this team? We only have one senior, who is expected to score, lead and be the PG at times. Too much on one pair of shoulders. This team does not have the pieces the 2015 had....so expectations, for me, are lower.

 

[dukiejay]

There is no one reason that team won it all. It takes a lot to win a national championship....including a little bit of luck.

When a team, like last season, loses early people make excuses for them. We hear a lot that they didn’t buy in last year....I think that’s BS. That team bought in, they just lost earlier than they should have.

 

[MyDudeG]

Offensively, that 2015 team had it all. An extremely advanced post game with Jah, knockdown shooters surrounding him, a Swiss Army knife in Justise, and a pg with one of the biggest set of stones we’ve seen play at Duke to tie it all together. Our bench complemented the starters greatly as well. Particularly Amile’s defense and intangibles that were ready whenever they were called upon. Combine that with the strides we made defensively as the year progressed and that’s the recipe of a national champion.

Talent wise, I still think the roster we have this season is capable of winning it all. Will it get there? Who knows, but there are a lot of improvements that need to be made to get the consistency of a national champion and not much more time to get there.

 

[denverexpat]

There is no one reason that team won it all. It takes a lot to win a national championship....including a little bit of luck.

When a team, like last season, loses early people make excuses for them. We hear a lot that they didn’t buy in last year....I think that’s BS. That team bought in, they just lost earlier than they should have.

What does buying in mean? Last year was very fractured with injuries to players and the disjointed starting line up etc. It seemed that the team never really clicked together with chemistry and never got close to the sum of the parts we had on the roster. Defensively we were a sieve, offensively we were disjointed...in fact last years team is a close facsimile of this years ( marginal differences). Time is always the healer...or so we hope, unfortunately its a finite resource and the season dictates that cadence. Its coming to the last lap...are we closer to the complete team we had hoped ala 2015? Or are we closer to last years team? IMHO...its the latter.

 

[christophero]

Hmm good question. We had freshman studs at the 3 most important positions and a senior leader. And we had Justise, prob. my favorite player since Battier. The term "glue guy" is thrown around a lot. But he really was whatever we needed. Wow. And Tyus was clutch. And we were healthy. The stars aligned.

 

[Duke Blu]

One of the best backcourts in the country. A great backcourt is usually a recipe for a deep run in the NCAA tournament.

 

[HeLooks2MuchLikeDave]

We won because, and only because, Kentucky let us.

 

[pisgah101]

We won because, and only because, Kentucky let us.

Ahh you beat me by an hour! LOL

 

[JBsmoove2]

Great leadership and play, especially from Quinn Cook. Also, had an elite PG in Tyus, Cook as the perfect running mate, Justise as a do it all 3-4, Jah low post, and Grayson in the championship coming off to give a career night. Also, the defense became great in the NCAA. Also, as much as I'll get killed for saying this, we were fortunate with our draw. UK, Wisconsin, Arizona, and ND were in my opinion the other top 4 teams that year and were on the same side of the bracket which I thought was asinine. ND wins the ACC Championship, blows Duke out doing so, and their reward is a 3 seed in UK's region lol. Gonzaga was a challenge in the elite 8 but other than that only Wiscy in the championship was a game where i thought Duke could lose. It was truly a perfect storm that year.