I said afew years back when the Plumlees committed that whenthe time came they would be the downfall. They dont respect the game. never have never will and it will make them pay. I have loved Singler since the first time I saw him play against us inthe final four at 8th grade nationals on a team with Kevin Love, Brandon jennings and Taylor King. Love was an obvious NBA draft choice but Singler played the game with passion and excellence even at that level.

The P{lumlees wanted to be point guards since they were in 6thgrade Pops  thinking they would be the second comings of Magic Johnson a deux. When their HS coach would not play them in the guarde spot  they tgried to get him fired. When that did not happen (he has since had Warsaw back in State Finals without them or their littel brother) they reclassified back a year (or two in the older one's case) and Pops moved them to a private prep school in NC. Muncie Central beat them soundly after the Plums had got off their bus with a video camera and walked down the line of Bearcat  fans "taking pictures of the losers before the game". Sorry..when Zoubeck left the middle in thewir hands and I saw Miles earlier this year dunk on a 5 '10 kid from a small school they played in Cameron OOC and then perform a howling wqalk over while the kid was stillonthe ground I knew their fate was sealed. The game makes you pay.

Sounds like they were bred to be Dukies.

No, it has to do with Duke struggling against athletic teams.

I don't know the specifics, but Duke boosters tell me the Plumlees have more than worn out their welcome.  And yes, Duke always acts like they have slain a dragon when they defeat an East Carolina.

I have to question your assertion here, cc.  Duke has beaten quite a few "athletic" teams this year and in previous years. 

I agree that the system is not fair and the deck is stacked against the mid and smaller schools. Scheduling is the biggest factor after budget size. You must win on the road against a higher team, if you can schedule at all. An earlier post pointed out that even the big boys don't win those games on the road. I'm for another expansion and I like that conf champs at least go to the NIT. And I really don't think that only conf champs should get bids. But in the end, isn't it about having the best teams competing for a championship? We have that now. So then what is the point of the tournament? Having 150 teams in the tourney doesn't change the dynamic of the money disparity. If you expanded the field you would play at campus sites for two rounds. Have you been seeing all the empty seats in some sites right now. My humble opinion is that it would water down the event and it wouldn't be as special. You can make the argument that the bottom 50-100 teams that call themselves D-1 shouldn't really be there. They want to get in on the glory once in a blue moon, but really can't compete, both financially and on the court.

Tell that to Marquette, Kansas State, Maryland (twice), UNC (twice), and Clemson


In the 5 games Duke lost this year, their opponents shot nearly 50% from the field and 48.5% from 3, while Duke shot just 39% from the field and 25.7% from 3 in those same games.  Now, can part of that be attributed to the other side being athletic and playing better defense?  Perhaps.  But it I think it shows more that Duke was cold from the field in those games.  Duke's defense, like most teams, feeds off of its offense.  When they are not hitting shots, they don't press as much on defense.

While I think it is safe to say that Duke has a higher chance of losing to a more athletic team than a less athletic team, that does not mean that simply because a team is athletic Duke will struggle against them.  In each of the games Duke lost, they the opponent shot much better from the field and from 3.  In fact, in only 1 of the games (VT) did an opponent shoot under 40% 

I guess the difference of opinion is that I attribute more of their poor shooting to the athleticism of the other team - both in trying to get their shots off and in Duke expending energy playing defense (shooting the legs).  Agree that playing an athletic team does not mean a certain loss, but (just my take) they need to be on their shot to win as they were in the first half the other night.  The dialogue here in the Carolinas is they are consistently losing in the sweet 16 as a #1 seed, and the reason is they are hit with so many more athletic teams that they can not keep up (especially this year at the forward position) – NC games withstanding, but they are so emotionally charged anything can happen.  Anyway, just my take.  Lot of Duke fans disagree, but it is the Duke fans here that are now starting to have concern about the athleticism (Plumlee's especially at this point).

I'll stay on topic from here out.  The Kyryl situation reminds me of Martin Nestle in 1983.  Chose Duke over Ohio,  Barely played at Duke, but play some overseas.  Chose opportunity at Duke over more sure playing time at Ohio.  But then, at 18 they all think they are the next coming of...

They talked about this on PTI the other day.   The youtube video of Tellitubies doing the Bernie on Halloween in Athens beats Kyryl, IMO.  

Arizona ran Duke off the floor in the second half.  Fast break, fast break, fast break.  Combine that with Derrick Wms and you get a pretty good team.  Until you meet UConn.

Except for the very top players, I think playing at a mid is intriguing.  You can be a star from the git go.  And by your jr or sr year your school can schedule up to get you experience and showcase against top talent.

Smart STATEMENT and a most valid point .

Benson at Oakland had the opportunity to do just that this year. He was a pretty sure lottery pick going into the season. Will be interesting to see how he is looked at vs Gary McGhee at Pitt who are very similar players when looking at them froman NBA viewpoint.

Very true....just think how different this team would have looked this year had Kyryl and Will Thomas decided to go the route of playing immediately at a Mid Major rather than sitting in the Big East and Pac 10.  That being said, it is also quite possible that DJ wouldn't be here had Thomas decided to come. 

My bet is DJ would have been here and Will would have split PG SG duties and we may have missed on the next 3 pt record setter. But really I hat e to indulge in that what if stuff.....hurts my brain to look backward and conjecture. Alwayslooking forward keeps me fresh.......steviefresh. AAAHhhhhhhh.....