50 best players in CBB according to TBL

[Great Dayne]

First off, they were hyped pre-season before injuries plagued this team. Giles was coming off of three surgeries and not playing a whole season. And freshmen like Bolden, and Tatum were hurt before Christmas and started the season late. Then Allen's soap opera and throw in Jackson getting hurt, along with Jefferson coming back and re-injuring his foot spelled disaster. And after all that, they still won an ACC Championship.

I'm being "level headed" and no they didn't meet expectations. But to say they were an "Epic Fail" is absolutely wrong.

How can a team be an "Epic Fail" and win a Championship? You do know they were ACC Champions and recognized as the only legitimate Champions of the league by the league. I don't give a shit about their regular season records. That's skewed for every team in the ACC without a true round robin so regular season doesn't mean shit except to seed the teams for the observed ACC Championship Tournament. They beat Carolina TWICE out of three meetings. What other team did that? That's right, nobody else. And they lost to a Final Four team in the tournament. Forget the seeding rank. That doesn't even consider injuries. So how many other teams can say that they were a Champion? Who beat the NCAA Champions TWICE? Only Duke.

Again, Duke is held to a higher standard by you because they were predicted overall pre-season #1. Those predictions are predicated on the team staying healthy and having a normal season. Their injuries make last season anything but normal. So when you say "EPIC FAIL" that's just simply ridiculous. Were they supposed to go undefeated despite all the injuries? Were they supposed to win the Title even though they were sidelined with the most injuries of any other team? That's nonsense and you know it. Take six of the best players off any team last season and see what they do and then call me out for not being level headed. That's just simply ridiculous.

They won the ACC tournament not the ACC reg season championship. This was easily an epic fail based on the talent level, expectations and coaching.

Coach K would agree with me here buddy sorry. Don't bring that weak shitake up in here with injury excuses. Everybody and their grandma has injuries and it's a part of the game. It's about overcoming injuries. South Carolina team. That's like the Heat with the Big three 4 years ago losing to a D league team.

Next please

signed Big Baller Brand

 

[douggie]

They won the ACC tournament not the ACC reg season championship. This was easily an epic fail based on the talent level, expectations and coaching.

Coach K would agree with me here buddy sorry. Don't bring that weak shitake up in here with injury excuses. Everybody and their grandma has injuries and it's a part of the game. It's about overcoming injuries. South Carolina team. That's like the Heat with the Big three 4 years ago losing to a D league team.

Next please

signed Big Baller Brand

Injuries are always part of the game. Normally that would be the case. Last season was not normal under any circumstance.

Coach K would say you're full of shit too. Injuries are subjective. But last season there were more than any team has in any normal circumstance.

Injured and/or out multiple games:

Giles
Tatum
Allen
Jefferson
Bolden
Jackson
Jeter
Delaurier
Obi

If that's normal I'm a Luftwaffe pilot. I guess they suffered "Epic Injuries" as a team. Name another team that had that many injuries. I'll wait for you to prove me wrong.

 

[ericd7633]

I'm sort of with @douggie on this one. Sure it was probably disappointing for Duke to lose in the 2nd round, but that doesn't mean the season was an epic failure. Crazy shit happens all the time in the tournament. Like the reigning champs and #1 overall seed losing in the 2nd round. Villanova was a top 3/4 team practically the entire season(and entered the tournament #1), for that to be some sort of failure just because of getting upset at an inopportune time, I think is a bit much. It was pretty obvious early on the Duke team on paper, wasn't going to be the one actually taking the floor. This list is a good synopsis of that with Giles being the #1 player. Everyone thought he was going to have a Chris Webber type of impact, instead injuries robbed him of basically the entire season. It also should be noted Duke beat more top 25 teams and top 50 teams then any other team in the entire country(using RPI). It basically came down to them playing one of their worst halves(or maybe it was their worst) of the season against South Carolina. I don't think that should be indicative of what they were/accomplished during the entirety of the season.

Also, I think the mentality of a championship or bust season is rather dumb in a single elimination tournament to decide said champion. Simply too many fluke things can happen for it to end. Duke put themselves in position to win a title, which is all you can ask.

 

[douggie]

I'm sort of with @douggie on this one. Sure it was probably disappointing for Duke to lose in the 2nd round, but that doesn't mean the season was an epic failure. Crazy shit happens all the time in the tournament. Like the reigning champs and #1 overall seed losing in the 2nd round. Villanova was a top 3/4 team practically the entire season(and entered the tournament #1), for that to be some sort of failure just because of getting upset at an inopportune time, I think is a bit much. It was pretty obvious early on the Duke team on paper, wasn't going to be the one actually taking the floor. This list is a good synopsis of that with Giles being the #1 player. Everyone thought he was going to have a Chris Webber type of impact, instead injuries robbed him of basically the entire season. It also should be noted Duke beat more top 25 teams and top 50 teams then any other team in the entire country(using RPI). It basically came down to them playing one of their worst halves(or maybe it was their worst) of the season against South Carolina. I don't think that should be indicative of what they were/accomplished during the entirety of the season.

Also, I think the mentality of a championship or bust season is rather dumb in a single elimination tournament to decide said champion. Simply too many fluke things can happen for it to end. Duke put themselves in position to win a title, which is all you can ask.

Thanks Eric. Every Duke Basketball fan could say last season was a disappointment. That doesn't make it an "Epic Failure". And, it would be a disservice to all the teams that lost to Duke during the season last year. That would be like the same old cliche statement about the Yankees every year. If they don't win the World Series every single year then they are an "Epic Failure".

 

[Great Dayne]

Injuries are always part of the game. Normally that would be the case. Last season was not normal under any circumstance.

Coach K would say you're full of shit too. Injuries are subjective. But last season there were more than any team has in any normal circumstance.

Injured and/or out multiple games:

Giles
Tatum
Allen
Jefferson
Bolden
Jackson
Jeter
Delaurier
Obi

If that's normal I'm a Luftwaffe pilot. I guess they suffered "Epic Injuries" as a team. Name another team that had that many injuries. I'll wait for you to prove me wrong.

Eve after all the injuries in the season Duke was still the favorites to win the NC game. So this wasn't just preseason expectations before all the injuries.

In the end it's about producing results in the NCAA tournament and Duke lost to a team not even ranked in the top 40 in polls in the second round despite being favorites in the preseason and after the regular season.

Even if this was my team and we would've choked in the second round despite being favorites in the preseason and after the regular season I would say it was an epic failure even with all the injuries. Again, injuries are a part of the game and some of it can't be controlled but you do have some control with good strength and conditioning coaches, learning how to land, isometric exercises to strengthen ligaments and joints, etc.

 

[douggie]

Eve after all the injuries in the season Duke was still the favorites to win the NC game. So this wasn't just preseason expectations before all the injuries.

In the end it's about producing results in the NCAA tournament and Duke lost to a team not even ranked in the top 40 in polls in the second round despite being favorites in the preseason and after the regular season.

Even if this was my team and we would've choked in the second round despite being favorites in the preseason and after the regular season I would say it was an epic failure even with all the injuries. Again, injuries are a part of the game and some of it can't be controlled but you do have some control with good strength and conditioning coaches, learning how to land, isometric exercises to strengthen ligaments and joints, etc.

Favorites and underdogs are for gamblers. Not realists. So what should Duke have done this past season NOT to be an "Epic Failure" in your eyes? Have Coach K be like Jesus and touch each player making them incapable of getting injured?

Only those who weren't paying attention would have considered Duke to be the favorites in a tourney where one loss sends you home. And especially after watching them play all season long hurt and disjointed with no rhythm to playing together. THAT was directly caused by players missing floor time in games and practice because of injuries.

 

[Great Dayne]

Favorites and underdogs are for gamblers. Not realists. So what should Duke have done this past season NOT to be an "Epic Failure" in your eyes? Have Coach K be like Jesus and touch each player making them incapable of getting injured?

Only those who weren't paying attention would have considered Duke to be the favorites in a tourney where one loss sends you home. And especially after watching them play all season long hurt and disjointed with no rhythm to playing together. THAT was directly caused by players missing floor time in games and practice because of injuries.

I thought coach K was Jesus for Duke fans.

All those injuries were not just pure bad luck. I'm assuming they can improve their strength and conditioning program along with nutrition. You can also wear protective braces to prevent reoccurring injuries. Injuries are preventable to an extent and I doubt every single injury that occurred this season for Duke was just some freak accident that couldn't have been prevented.

As I stated before Isometric exercises, proper stretching, learning how to land, nutrition and protective braces can drastically assist a player in preventing injuries.

The house always wins and they're a multi-billion dollar industry for a reason. Again, if my team were the favorites with that much talent and great coaching I would consider it an epic fail for my team. I considered our season this year a fail since we had a senior team and couldn't advance past the sweet 16.

 

[douggie]

I thought coach K was Jesus for Duke fans.

All those injuries were not just pure bad luck. I'm assuming they can improve their strength and conditioning program along with nutrition. You can also wear protective braces to prevent reoccurring injuries. Injuries are preventable to an extent and I doubt every single injury that occurred this season for Duke was just some freak accident that couldn't have been prevented.

As I stated before Isometric exercises, proper stretching, learning how to land, nutrition and protective braces can drastically assist a player in preventing injuries.

The house always wins and they're a multi-billion dollar industry for a reason. Again, if my team were the favorites with that much talent and great coaching I would consider it an epic fail for my team. I considered our season this year a fail since we had a senior team and couldn't advance past the sweet 16.

I never said Coach K was Jesus. I'm as critical as anyone when it comes to his coaching. But injuries cannot be blamed solely on him or staff.

Duke has trainers, state of the art facilities, and a world renowned hospital. I'm sure they can handle it. But sometimes injuries just happen. It's just that this past season was bad and got worse. BTW, I'm still waiting on your list of teams that had NINE players miss multiple games along with Duke this past season.

And I think its absurd to believe all the hype without ever stepping on a court. And Giles had three surgeries and sat out a year before beginning his season New Years Eve. And he was also the #1 POY candidate? Ridiculous. I wish he played baseball as well so Duke got something out of his scholarship.