UNC vs Duke game tonight!

[Brad]

Maybe it's my Big East bias, but from a basketball standpoint, this game sucked. I wish ESPN would take it easy with their absurd love for Duke, UNC and the ACC as a whole. If you listened to Patrick announce this game you would have thought it was the greatest game in basketball history. Not to mention they spent all day hyping it up too. UNC is an excellent team and I sure as hell don't want to be in their region in the tournament, but Duke lacks the athleticism to go far. UNC, Wake Forest, Pitt, Louisville, Uconn, Marquette, Villanova, Michigan state, Oklahoma, UCLA and Memphis should all be ranked above them, IMO.

Feel free to add Clemson to that list.

 

[KandKCards]

Maybe it's my Big East bias, but from a basketball standpoint, this game sucked. I wish ESPN would take it easy with their absurd love for Duke, UNC and the ACC as a whole. If you listened to Patrick announce this game you would have thought it was the greatest game in basketball history. Not to mention they spent all day hyping it up too. UNC is an excellent team and I sure as hell don't want to be in their region in the tournament, but Duke lacks the athleticism to go far. UNC, Wake Forest, Pitt, Louisville, Uconn, Marquette, Villanova, Michigan state, Oklahoma, UCLA and Memphis should all be ranked above them, IMO.

Feel free to add Clemson to that list.

After a loss to Virginia? Doubtful...

 

[Brad]

Maybe it's my Big East bias, but from a basketball standpoint, this game sucked. I wish ESPN would take it easy with their absurd love for Duke, UNC and the ACC as a whole. If you listened to Patrick announce this game you would have thought it was the greatest game in basketball history. Not to mention they spent all day hyping it up too. UNC is an excellent team and I sure as hell don't want to be in their region in the tournament, but Duke lacks the athleticism to go far. UNC, Wake Forest, Pitt, Louisville, Uconn, Marquette, Villanova, Michigan state, Oklahoma, UCLA and Memphis should all be ranked above them, IMO.

Feel free to add Clemson to that list.

After a loss to Virginia? Doubtful...

That was posted before that. Duke is 7-4 in ACC and Clemson is 6-4. I just don't get how we go so cold like against Virginia, FSU or the first 8 minutes of the second half vs. UNC. We should not have lost, but we are still in contention for seeds 2-4 in the ACC tourny whch is the goal since it means a first day bye. Seeds 2 and 3 would be better so we don't play UNC unless it is the title game.

EDIT: And maybe we should still be ahead of them. We have won 2 in a row including a 27 point beatdown

 

[KandKCards]

Maybe it's my Big East bias, but from a basketball standpoint, this game sucked. I wish ESPN would take it easy with their absurd love for Duke, UNC and the ACC as a whole. If you listened to Patrick announce this game you would have thought it was the greatest game in basketball history. Not to mention they spent all day hyping it up too. UNC is an excellent team and I sure as hell don't want to be in their region in the tournament, but Duke lacks the athleticism to go far. UNC, Wake Forest, Pitt, Louisville, Uconn, Marquette, Villanova, Michigan state, Oklahoma, UCLA and Memphis should all be ranked above them, IMO.

Feel free to add Clemson to that list.

After a loss to Virginia? Doubtful...

That was posted before that. Duke is 7-4 in ACC and Clemson is 6-4. I just don't get how we go so cold like against Virginia, FSU or the first 8 minutes of the second half vs. UNC. We should not have lost, but we are still in contention for seeds 2-4 in the ACC tourny whch is the goal since it means a first day bye. Seeds 2 and 3 would be better so we don't play UNC unless it is the title game.

EDIT: And maybe we should still be ahead of them. We have won 2 in a row including a 27 point beatdown

Yeah I knew you posted it prior to the game, just busting.
Clemson just isn't a well-put together team. Oglesby could be a great off-guard to come off screens for open 3s, but when Rivers starts with the ball in his hands, his goal is to score. Booker is an athletic freak, but their front line is way too soft...exhibit A of that is that final drive by the guy on UVA in the closing seconds to tie it up. They have a great press, but aren't nearly as good in the half court. I feel like as an offense, they should run more. If you watch a team like Marquette, even after a made basket, they get the ball across half court in less than 2 seconds. Clemson has the athleticism to do this, but I don't see it much.
Doesn't help that they continue to throw close games away at the FT line. Our (Nova) 18 point comeback in last years NCAAs never would have happened had Clemson just executed at the line.
But on the topic of rankings, today's are even more of a joke than usual. Duke loses twice (one to a team they should beat, BC) and is still top 10, despite the fact that they haven't beaten anyone. Memphis is somehow a top 5 team, despite the fact that they aren't any good, and Marquette remains ahead of Villanova, despite the whooping Nova laid down on them head to head last Tuesday.

 

[Brad]

Our free throw percentage is better than last year and it helps since James Mays, Sam Perry, and Cliff Hammonds were not exceptional FT shooters. Cliff's 3 pt percentage was better than his FT for a long time during the year (figure that one out). I wish that we would use Demontz more on the drive, but our biggest weakness is Sykes. Teams have started to not guard him until he has the ball and he frankly is not that good if he is not dunking. Booker is a beast, but his height at 6'7" hinders him some and it shows against taller guys like 7' Chas McFarland from wake. There are some parts were we do not really try to establish Booker and we work best going inside out from Booker to Rivers or TO. And Oglesby has improved driving and setting up Booker for a slam. I think if we can learn something from it, than it is a positive and we can improve. If we take care of business, we can be in the top 4 in the ACC which is the goal.