From the Duke Fan Forum...

[Lucid]

A selection of quotes from their Duke vs. Syracuse pre-game thread...

This is the first game of the tourney that worries me...I hate playing conference foes in the tourney! Let's see what players show up and who out coaches who...

After this past weekend I'm almost afraid to be convinced of anything. I feel confident in saying not one person that posts or reads these boards ever contemplated or considered that we'd be playing Syracuse in the Sweet 16 game this weekend.

I just don't see them scoring more than us. Let's say both of our defenses are even. We have a huge edge on offense

It's our game to lose, really.

Syracuse is an adopted child from the Big East. So to me they are especially dangerous.

Is this Boeheim's swan song victory? I think no, that was last week over Izzo.

Blue Devils fight our way into the Elite 8

Put me down as one who is worried about playing Cuse. They won 3 in a row and have nothing to lose.

I think you have to be worried about anyone at this point as they are here for a reason. Our best is better than Syracuse's best, though.

Syracuse has struggled offensively and our defense has improved throughout the season. If they find a scoring option or two outside of Battle, then it can be worrisome. If not, then I think we are in pretty good shape.

THE good news is we know zone well. The bad news is they know zone well. But we have more talent so that “ should” tip the scales in our favor. But in the NCAAT who can ever truly know what will happen. I see a lot of people in here saying us by 10-15 no problem... I wonder how the same ppl did picking all the upsets we’ve seen.

Michigan State should have kicked their butts, but that didn't happen. Duke should kick their butts. That better happen. Syracuse's bigs are all so skinny and like to foul. It's hard to imagine us not scoring 40 in the paint. All we need is some threes to fall and we should win by 10.

Man Syracuse has no chance. They won't be able to score more than us. They take bad shots and can't rebound. They are among the worst shooting teams in the nation. For the season they shot 41%. In the tournament it's down to 38%. Michigan State is just dumb and doesn't have the shooting to beat Syracuse. All Izzo had to do was play Ward and Jackson. He chokes against hall of fame coaches though. Carter and Bagley can eat that zone alive. Plus we will convert on our offensive rebounds.

If our game against them last month, or their game against MSU tells us anything, it's that we should win this going away.

Obviously it's madness and a lot of crazy stuff happened in the opening weekend, but we aren't like any of those other teams. All we ever needed was 40 minutes of focus and we accomplished that in both games. I think the guys have bought in, and give Coach K a week to prepare for a team much less talented in March?... We win, and probably going away.

We can put Bagley or Carter in the high post of that zone and they will eat it up. If our guys play solid defensively and turn it over less than 15 times, there is no way we lose this. You can see the confidence and togetherness growing with every game from this team. The only team that seems to be on par with us right now is Nova, so that would be a helluva match up in Texas. SI6HTS!!!

 

[cto]

There are some pretty thoughtful quotes there. Very different from what other opponent boards would look like before this game.

 

[PauliePeppas]

Very fair and reasonable tbh

 

[LarryC44]

These guys seem like much more reasonable posters than the MSU crowd

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I don’t think there is any denying they have more talent overall.. however , we just need 1 of 4 guys to get hot and we are in it to the end .

 

[HtownOrange]

Kudos to those that know Syracuse won low scoring games. Our offense is not a major threat, the defense is. As one guy noted both schools know zone defense.

Both defenses will make opposing offenses look bad. Both teams have steadily improved. This will be fought hard on the court. While I think Duke has the advantage in shooters, Syracuse has the advantage in Scrappy play.

 

[jdubs30]

The thing is - we've been good vs. Duke (except this year) since we've been in the ACC. The talent gap is probably greater this year than in the past, but our D is probably the best it's been since we've been in the ACC.

Duke really only has 2 shooters (3 if you count O'Connell) - we gave Duval a lot of open 3's in Cameron and he missed all of them. MSU was bigger overall and had more 3pt threats. However, it's pretty obvious K is a better coach than Izzo.

Duke's zone to me doesn't look great, I know they've been holding opponents down using it, but Iona played great for 30 minutes offensively. We WILL eventually have a good offensive game. Hoping that having 4 days off will give our guys their legs back. Marek's confidence will be huge.

 

[Bayside44]

An internet fan base that knows their stuff. Go figure.

 

[AZOrange]

Ok except the defenses are not “even”.

 

[corpjet]

I hope Otto knocks Grayson Allen out in pre game warm ups...cant stand that kids dirty antics......

 

[Briancuse]

I hope Otto knocks Grayson Allen out in pre game warm ups...cant stand that kids dirty antics...

I hope he tries to trip Oshae that will.not end well for him.

 

[Madbiker]

Well they do have more talent than us. But in any single game anything can happen. We need some guys to step up and shoot the ball well above their norm.

 

[kingtidge]

We've successfully imposed OUR game on al 3 prior teams in the tournament.

Doing that against Duke is a tall order..,

But our defense is an order of magnitude better when they last played us...

 

[Forza Azzurri]

There are some pretty thoughtful quotes there. Very different from what other opponent boards would look like before this game.

I suspect that, if this game had been last Sunday, these comments may have looked a lot more like the MSU board.

And if this were the MSU board after beating Duke, the tone of the comments might be different.

 

[DonLightfoot]

Thanks for posting those quotes. For the most part their comments are sensible. The odd arrogant post just like this forum. Talent level is really not debatable and coaching would probably be on a par. Without question we need to step up our offensive productivity. Can we? We shall see on Friday. I am cautiouly optimistic.

 

[realorange]

Great to see quotes from people who are thoughtful and understand what they are talking about.
Hard to argue with much of anything that was said.
The one quote kind of said it all "I think you have to be worried about anyone at this point as they are here for a reason."

 

[Trueblue25]

Adorable they think our defenses are even.


Cuse by 90

 

[bballbeadle]

There are some pretty thoughtful quotes there. Very different from what other opponent boards would look like before this game.

Yes, I agree. I went on the forum a day or so ago and read the same comments. I said in another thread that they were very respectful for the most part.

 

[jgeorge322]

Dont like this post. Its an anti jinx for duke.

 

[HOFCeluck]

Somewhat reasonable takes. Very disappointing.

 

[jncuse]

I wanted to call their fans a bunch of d-bags. And based on that I can't. Very disappointed.

 

[SoBeCuse]

If we’re stagnant on offense we’re done. Simple as that. I have no idea what will happen. Either they will look clueless against a zone or Marek will will them to a victory with his passing in the high post. I doubt we will get much dribble pentration on our own so will we screen the top of it?

 

[Brooky03]

I can't find much to disagree with. I'd feel pretty confident if I were a Duke fan.

 

[OrangeTarheel]

It has to be an advantage to have teams talking about the effectiveness of JB's zone. They start thinking about it, maybe a little too much. Offense happens in streaks and when a streak runs its course and scoring dries up the zone begins to creep back into the players mindset again. It's magnified by the stage that is the NCAA tournament where any bit of good fortune is received as good coaching or strong players.

 

[NorSyr66]

Folks need to remember the game a month ago was at Cameron. We are on a neutral court this time, our defense seems more focused and Dolezaj has stepped up his game a notch. As said above, we have nothing to lose but it will be interesting to see how the Duke freshman play under pressure of trying not to lose. Finally I am betting this is the game Battle and Howard regain their scoring punch. Lets Go Orange!