2017 Final Four in Phoenix

[The Derski]

Arizona is 5-4 all time vs. Duke. So head to head its pretty even. I'd like a home and home sometime.

 

[douggie]

He's 22 years younger than Coach K.

Coach K was 43 when he won his second national championship. How old is Miller? 47?

 

[The Derski]

Coach K was 43 when he won his second national championship. How old is Miller? 47?

It took Coach K 16 years to get his first title, 11 years after he started coaching Duke. Give Miller some time.

 

[douggie]

It took Coach K 16 years to get his first title, 11 years after he started coaching Duke. Give Miller some time.

I like Miller. He's doing pretty good. He just has to make it out of the first round so he doesn't look like Coach K with all his early exits.

 

[gordontrue]

I like Miller. He's doing pretty good. He just has to make it out of the first round so he doesn't look like Coach K with all his early exits.

This was Miller's second time losing in the 1st round.

The other time was in his 2nd year as HC with #14 seeded Xavier.

 

[gpm1976]

I hate Duke, but it's going to be them and everybody else next year. Simply loaded.

I'd rather it be duke than unc.

 

[The Q]

I'd rather it be duke than unc.

I'd root for Isis over either.

 

[douggie]

This was Miller's second time losing in the 1st round.

The other time was in his 2nd year as HC with #14 seeded Xavier.

That was tongue in cheek sarcasm GT. Sorry I didn't use the sarcasm font.

 

[johnson]

You sure don't know NCAA Tournament history. Yep, ANOMALY.

Since taking over the Duke coaching position in 1981 Coach K has received 31 NCAA Tournament bids. Of those, let's look at the early exits:

1984 Lost 2nd Round to Washington
1985 Lost 2nd Round to Boston College
1993 Lost 2nd Round to Cal
1996 Lost 1st Round Eastern Michigan
1997 Lost 2nd Round Providence
2007 Lost 1st Round VCU
2008 Lost 2nd Round West Virginia
2012 Lost 1st Round Lehigh
2014 Lost 1st Round Mercer

That's NINE early exits out of 31 seasons. What's the percentage of making sweet sixteens in the rest of those seasons genius? As I pointed out earlier to the trolls, Duke makes a sweet sixteen and whether they win or lose only 8 teams in the nation can ever be better by going deeper in the tournament.

And, that was 12 FF's and 5 National Titles.

So where does Arizona fit in this discussion?

Duke typically has the most highly-rated recruiting class, or close to it, every year. So they should, by that standard, win the championship or come close (Final Four) every year. But this is a bit unrealisitc...so we can give them some leeway and lower expectations a bit, but surely you'd agree each year the best team in the Nation (or close to it) should be expected to at a minimum make the Elite 8...many would still say win it all.

You act like 9 early exits in 31 seasons is not relevant. It's kind of my point. Just about every third year they do things like lose to Mercer in the first round.

 

[douggie]

Duke typically has the most highly-rated recruiting class, or close to it, every year. So they should, by that standard, win the championship or come close (Final Four) every year. But this is a bit unrealisitc...so we can give them some leeway and lower expectations a bit, but surely you'd agree each year the best team in the Nation (or close to it) should be expected to at a minimum make the Elite 8...many would still say win it all.

You act like 9 early exits in 31 seasons is not relevant. It's kind of my point. Just about every third year they do things like lose to Mercer in the first round.

Damn, I'd think 2 National Titles in six years would be where the rubber meets the road. Do you hold Arizona to that standard?

Arizona and Duke Class Ranks in Recruiting last five years:

AZ 2011- #4 Duke-#2
AZ 2012- #3 Duke- #11
AZ 2013- #4 Duke- #3
AZ 2014- #5 Duke- #1
AZ 2015- #4 Duke- #2

Why isn't Sean Miller getting Arizona to the Final Four or at least the Elite Eight every year if that's the case? Are they choking like you suggest Duke does every year? Duke has TWO TITLES in SIX years. How many does Arizona have with all those highly regarded classes? In the last six years while Duke was winning two titles Arizona was exiting the tournament in the first round twice. So does that standard only apply to Duke because of your bias against their success or are you just a hypocrite?

 

[ericd7633]

Duke typically has the most highly-rated recruiting class, or close to it, every year. So they should, by that standard, win the championship or come close (Final Four) every year. But this is a bit unrealisitc...so we can give them some leeway and lower expectations a bit, but surely you'd agree each year the best team in the Nation (or close to it) should be expected to at a minimum make the Elite 8...many would still say win it all.

You act like 9 early exits in 31 seasons is not relevant. It's kind of my point. Just about every third year they do things like lose to Mercer in the first round.

Christ man, you're like the only person I've come across where I have to actually defend Duke, b/c it's something I certainly don't want to do. Every program is prone to getting upset in the tournament, it happens, NO team is immune to it. There's only been ONE year this century where K hasn't had them in a good position to succeed in the tournament and that was in 2007 when they were a 6 seed and lost in the first round. Every other year he has, including this year. In a one and done format that's all you can ask for. Crazy shit happens in the tournament, it is what it is. Expecting a team to just roll to the Elite 8 every year is totally unrealistic, even though Duke get's there just about every other year under Coach K.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Johnson is doing his best to make Zona a team to root against just to spite his goddamn stupidity.

 

[The Q]

Damn, I'd think 2 National Titles in six years would be where the rubber meets the road. Do you hold Arizona to that standard?

Arizona and Duke Class Ranks in Recruiting last five years:

AZ 2011- #4 Duke-#2
AZ 2012- #3 Duke- #11
AZ 2013- #4 Duke- #3
AZ 2014- #5 Duke- #1
AZ 2015- #4 Duke- #2

Why isn't Sean Miller getting Arizona to the Final Four or at least the Elite Eight every year if that's the case? Are they choking like you suggest Duke does every year? Duke has TWO TITLES in SIX years. How many does Arizona have with all those highly regarded classes? In the last six years while Duke was winning two titles Arizona was exiting the tournament in the first round twice. So does that standard only apply to Duke because of your bias against their success or are you just a hypocrite?

Not to knock coach K. But geno recruits like that and everyone says its easy to win every year when you pull in glasses like that.

 

[douggie]

Not to knock coach K. But geno recruits like that and everyone says its easy to win every year when you pull in glasses like that.

Are you a woman?