- Don't talk shit about a COLLEGE TEAM and assume they can't win just because the last few teams haven't. How many of these players were around when VCU beat Duke exact;y?
- Don't make me defend Duke and then find out I'm right all along. That makes me so mad. Why couldn't Butler have won. Dammit.
KySportsRadio (Twitter Feed) UK fans get double whammy...Duke wins and had that shot gone in, Laettner erased from all future NCAA montages. Life is cruel
I. HATE. DUKE.
"You are going to get a certain amount of snarkiness on the Internet no matter what, and my rule is that you don't post anything that you wouldn't say to someone's face." Marc Andreyko (Writer of DC Comic's "Manhunter")
I was thinking, where does this Duke team rank in worst champions of all time discussion? They have to be the worst in a long time in college basketball, don't they? The best team they beat all tournament was probably WVU or Butler. Their first 4 rounds were Arkansas-Pine Bluff, California, Purdue w/o Hummel, and Baylor. Come on now.
EDIT - Not necessarily least talented (that' s a whole other issue and it's hard to say in this landscape), but champion that proved the least to win the thing. This would be like the Patriots beating the Jets, Ravens, Broncos, and Saints to win the Super Bowl.
Well, looks like the tournament committee got what they wanted with that cupcake path they set up for the Boo Devils. I cannot grumble long and loud enough to voice my displeasure.
And thus ends the worst sports year in (my personal) history. Tiger, I'm looking at you to turn things around ASAP.
As a Duke fan, this is great. All the people cheering for Butler then to have them miss it by inches has to kill them. I figured it would be a closer game then the so-called experts thought it would be. I don't understand where this easy road came in since Baylor was a good team most of the year and WVU beat Kentucky. They faced a number 2,3, and 4 seed getting here, its not Duke's problem Villanova shit the bed in the second round. Its another example of people bashing Duke, because its Duke and they are the smart kids who can actually play. Its a Goddamn lovefest with North Carolina wins and they have more titles recently then Duke.
Originally posted by lotjxAs a Duke fan, this is great. All the people cheering for Butler then to have them miss it by inches has to kill them. I figured it would be a closer game then the so-called experts thought it would be. I don't understand where this easy road came in since Baylor was a good team most of the year and WVU beat Kentucky. They faced a number 2,3, and 4 seed getting here, its not Duke's problem Villanova shit the bed in the second round. Its another example of people bashing Duke, because its Duke and they are the smart kids who can actually play. Its a Goddamn lovefest with North Carolina wins and they have more titles recently then Duke.
Louisville could have beaten Duke maybe, but California had no chance in hell. Worst 9-seed in the entire tournament, and by a mile. Should have been an 11 at best.
Purdue was not quite nothing without Hummel, but they were awful close to nothing. So that's not much of a 4-seed.
You can dismiss Villanova's crappy-ness if you want, but that's awful convenient for your argument. The fact of the matter is, by most accounts Villanova shouldn't have even been a 2-seed with the way they were playing at the end of the season. They were more like a 3- or a 4-seed, which means Duke got the easiest 2-seed in their region. And of course, Villanova proved the experts right by nearly losing in the first round and then going ahead and tanking it in the second. That's one less quality opponent Duke would have to worry about. Think about if they had to face Kansas State or Ohio State instead.
Baylor was a decent team, I'll give you that. But #1, if there was a legit 2-seed in that region Baylor may not even have made it to Duke, and #2, beating ONE SINGLE good opponent to make it out of your region isn't exactly a tough road.
Also... smart kids? Prove it. They may or may not be intelligent, but this team wouldn't be the first bunch of Duke basketball players to be dumber than a sack of rocks. I've met quite a few former players and know even more people that had classes with former players and-- well, they're not too dissimilar from the stereotype of the college football or basketball player. See, e.g., DeMarcus Nelson, Shane Battier, Jay Williams, JJ Redick.
As for any supposed UNC lovefests, I'm pretty sure most people in the country were tired of hearing Tyler Hansbrough's name by the time they finished their season, and I can't believe you missed how many people were dancing on UNC's figurative graves this season. People REALLY hate Duke, but they don't exactly love Carolina either.
Originally posted by StingArmyLouisville could have beaten Duke maybe, but California had no chance in hell. Worst 9-seed in the entire tournament, and by a mile. Should have been an 11 at best.
Of course, Cal was actually an 8-seed. And they blasted Louisville to get to the second round. They were probably under-seeded, if anything (with Washington's trip to the Sweet Sixteen sort of validating what most Pac-10 fans have been saying since January - that Cal and UW were better than they were getting credit for), but Duke was a horrible match-up for the Bears.
Holy fuck shit motherfucker shit. Read comics. Fuck shit shit fuck shit I sold out when I did my job. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck. Sorry had to do it....
*snip*
Revenge of the Sith = one thumb up from me. Fuck shit. I want to tittie fuck your ass. -- The Guinness. to Cerebus
Look, I am no Duke fan, definitely not. I was pulling for Butler last night all the way.
However, any perception that this Duke team wasn't deserving of this title is way off base. They were a good team all year long and beat everyone put in front of them in the tourney. You can only do what you can do, the teams you play are not within your control. Thats what makes this tourney so great...
Kansas was supposedly this great team, but they couldn't beat Northern Iowa. Is Northern Iowa really that much better than Cal?? Obviously Louisville isn't, they couldn't beat them, and probably wouldn't have beat Duke either.
I also notice that you didn't mention WVU in your anti-Duke rant. They were one of the hottest teams down the stretch and played fantastic in the tourney, until they got beat-down by Duke.
Congrats Coach K and the Dukies, as painful as that is for me to say. You deserve the title as you beat all comers and played the best for the last 3 weeks.
Originally posted by hazHowever, any perception that this Duke team wasn't deserving of this title is way off base. They were a good team all year long
Really? Did you watch ANY of their games during the regular season? Did you see them get absolutely MURDERED by a Georgetown team that couldn't even make it out of the first round? Did you see them split games with a Georgia Tech team that manufactures turnovers like no other team I've ever seen (and almost lose to them again in the conference finals)? This was one of the most overrated Duke teams I've seen in quite some time. I don't know a single Duke fan who thought they were great this season (and I know hundreds of Duke fans, sadly). Not by "Duke standards." Not by elite team standards. They were an above average team, but they were not that good. Why do you think every single sportscaster on CBS and ESPN was shouting from the mountains that Duke didn't deserve a 1-seed?
Kansas was supposedly this great team, but they couldn't beat Northern Iowa. Is Northern Iowa really that much better than Cal??
Actually, yes. Mike Wilbon (amongst other people, but I mention Wilbon because I think everyone here knows who he is) said BEFORE the Kansas game that he would pick Northern Iowa to beat every other 1-seed in the tournament, but not Kansas. Little did Mr. Wilbon know that they could beat Kansas too. UNI had two legit NBA players on its roster and another cold-blooded, dead-eye shooter in Farohkmanesh. Much better than Cal.
I also notice that you didn't mention WVU in your anti-Duke rant.
I was only talking about the teams in Duke's region. You must have missed that part.
Duke did have by far the easiest region, everyone agreed with that before the tournament started (The best teams besides them are Baylor and Purdue? Wowwww). Not bad for the supposed worst of the 4 number 1 seeds. Everyone who defends that Duke had a legit tough path to the finals needs to re-examine the facts. They deserved to win, that's not the issue. They can't help this was the worst field ever, and everyone knew it going in. It's 'did they really have a tough time in doing so?'
Oh, and West Virginia beat Kentucky yes, but beating a team that beat a team is not the same as beating that team. Do you think this Duke team could beat two top teams back to back? They didn't do it all year, and it's a shame we'll never find out because Kansas and Kentucky decided to lose to underrated opponents. I was so glad when they lost because we'd have new blood at top.. only it's fucking Duke all along. What a joke.
This was the most random tournament in ages and the WWE would be mocked if they had someone win the WWE title by going over Santino, Carlito, one legged HHH, Swagger, Punk (who gets injured 2/3 of the way into the match), and feisty old Kane who finally gets his shit together.
Oh, and Maryland beat Duke. and Georgetown beat Duke and Butler. The two best teams in basketball this year were beaten by Georgetown, who couldn't even get out of the first round? I'd highly think twice before calling Duke an absolutely 100 percent deserving and respectable winner. They got an easy path to the finals and barely won in the end.
EDIT - Oh, and yes, I think anyone with half a brain would say 'Northern Iowa is really that much better than Cal.' And Baylor was NOT one of the hottest teams in the country coming into the tournament, and Duke still didn't really impressively blow them out either. Go look at Baylor's three wins, you'd probably find a lot of teams that could do that.
Originally posted by lotjxIts a Goddamn lovefest with North Carolina wins and they have more titles recently then Duke.
As a Kentucky fan, this is pretty much a nightmare of back to back teams I loathe winning the championship. The only thing that could be worse is to see Louisville be at the beginning or end of that train (which means Ricky P will be cutting down the nets next year before heading to Porcini's for a post-celebration quickie) ugh.
"You are going to get a certain amount of snarkiness on the Internet no matter what, and my rule is that you don't post anything that you wouldn't say to someone's face." Marc Andreyko (Writer of DC Comic's "Manhunter")
Originally posted by DrewDewceKySportsRadio (Twitter Feed) UK fans get double whammy...Duke wins and had that shot gone in, Laettner erased from all future NCAA montages. Life is cruel
I. HATE. DUKE.
Rack that post and your other post (I don't know how to quote multiples in one post).
There is no way there was a 'love fest' when UNC won last year. UNC is one of the most hated teams in college basketball too. It's just Duke is THE most hated.
Rack that post and your other post (I don't know how to quote multiples in one post).
Just use cut and paste techniques, that's what I do since I don't see any other way.
Godspeed, men of the 2nd Bn, 127th Infantry, 32d "Red Arrow" Brigade, Wisconsin Army National Guard! Victory in Iraq!
Butler = Yankees of the Horizon League. Normally, I can't stand 'em (usually because UWGB can't beat 'em.)
But for history's sake, I was pulling for 'em to beat Duke...even though my busted-@ss brackets had Duke over Kansas in the title game.
Helluva effort, Bulldogs. Nice work.
Congrats, Duke, I suppose. (Can't hate on 'em too much, since Coach K presided over USA Basketball pulling its head out of its hindquarters and taking care of biz in Beijing back in 2008.)
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