College Basketball 2008-09

[TommyboyUNM]

TAR!!!!!!!



HEELS!!!!!!!!

[sydaud]

No matter what Michigan does this season, they'll hold a special place with me for beating Dook.

Yeah, we'll have that memory as we go to our 4th NIT of the decade.

[BlueDevil50]

jeez...i didn't even know who you were talking about in that 7pm game lol. i don't like either team but i guess i hate the orangemen less so, go them.

DUKE '09 CHAMPS!

[TommyboyUNM]

DUKE '09 CHAMPS!

Maybe in LaCrosse or some type of math event.

[BlueDevil50]

haha they're sweeping EVERYTHING! did you get down on rocke's bracket challenge last year?

[TommyboyUNM]

haha they're sweeping EVERYTHING! did you get down on rocke's bracket challenge last year?

I didn't even join the board until April of last year, but in my other brackets I correctly picked Dook to lose to West Virginia in the 2nd round. I'm really good at picking Dook to lose in the NCAA Tournament. I picked the VCU game correctly. I picked the LSU game correctly. And the Indiana game from 2002.

[BlueDevil50]

ewwww you son of a bitch. lol the jason williams choke at the line game against indiana was a killer. for some reason it seems like you've been here for longer than that. well rocke does a huge bracket thing for $25 buckets and a few people on here sign up for it. better sign up for it son!

[luckyface]

haha they're sweeping EVERYTHING! did you get down on rocke's bracket challenge last year?

well rocke does a huge bracket thing for $25 buckets and a few people on here sign up for it. better sign up for it son!

Thanks for the plug. One month, people! The NCAA pool will be back!

[BlueDevil50]

you know what would make my year...duke runs through new mexico, arizona, north carolina, and uconn to win the title!

[BlueDevil50]

Thanks for the plug. One month, people! The NCAA pool will be back!

you did a great job on it man. good money in a legit pool is always a good time.

[luckyface]

I didn't even join the board until April of last year, but in my other brackets I correctly picked Dook to lose to West Virginia in the 2nd round. I'm really good at picking Dook to lose in the NCAA Tournament. I picked the VCU game correctly. I picked the LSU game correctly. And the Indiana game from 2002.

Seriously, I picked those, too! Lately, I have had Duke losing early and they never disappoint!

[luckyface]

you did a great job on it man. good money in a legit pool is always a good time.

Thanks! I am hoping for many more people this year. Lots of new faces have expressed interest. I am hoping for 75 or so entries this time around.

[TommyboyUNM]

Seriously, I picked those, too! Lately, I have had Duke losing early and they never disappoint!

They certainly don't disappoint. I'm feeling a GREAT year for Dook and have them losing in the Sweet 16. They'll lose to a 3-seed, so........maybe Pittsburgh or Villanova. Or maybe a 2nd-round loss to Utah State is in the cards. The possibilities for choking are endless for those Dookies.

[BlueDevil50]

hey hey now...i wouldn't call it choking. the last few years, duke always went into the tourney overachieving. they haven't been preseason favs for awhile. unlike your boys, who somehow, manage to lose in the big games. i'm not jinxing it yet, but until i see the brackets, duke has the squad for a potential run.

[BlueDevil50]

rocke, will it be first, second, and third place this year? and same entry price?

[Aurgasm]

Blue...you gonna hang around during the game so we can do live banter?

[TommyboyUNM]

hey hey now...i wouldn't call it choking. the last few years, duke always went into the tourney overachieving. they haven't been preseason favs for awhile. unlike your boys, who somehow, manage to lose in the big games. i'm not jinxing it yet, but until i see the brackets, duke has the squad for a potential run.

You have to BE in big game in order to lose them. Unfortunately, we haven't seen how well Dook would do in big game for quite some time now.

I'm gonna throw some numbers at you and you tell me if Dook overachieved the past few years. Ready?

2005-2006: Dook has 7 McDonald's All-Americans, including the nation's 2nd-leading scorer, and loses in the Sweet 16 to LSU. (Carolina had 3 McDonald's All-Americans and lost in the 2nd round to George Mason. A rebuilding year).

2006-2007: Dook has 6 McDonald's All-Americans and loses to VCU in the 2nd round. (Carolina advanced to the Elite 8 with the same number of McDonald's All-Amerians as Dook).

2007-2008: Dook has 7 McDonald's All-Americans and loses to West Virginia in the 2nd round. (Carolina advanced to the Final Four with 2 less McDonald's All-Americans than Dook).

2008-2009: Carolina has 6 McDonald's All-Americans that are healthy (Tyler Zeller is injured). Dook has 6 McDonald's All-Americans, as well. Let's see what happens....

[luckyface]

rocke, will it be first, second, and third place this year? and same entry price?

Yep, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and last. Maybe a 4th place if we can get to 70 entries or so. And it will still be $25/entry.

[BlueDevil50]

awesome rocke...

and tommy, duke's been young all those years with only one or two upperclassmen. i can make excuses up to wazoo but i'm just saying...nobody picked duke to win a title any of those years. i believe more than a few "experts" picked nc. this year, all bets are off.

[BlueDevil50]

Blue...you gonna hang around during the game so we can do live banter?

not too sure...might pop in here or there, but i might not watch the game in my room if a couple friends come over.

[TommyboyUNM]

and tommy, duke's been young all those years with only one or two upperclassmen. i can make excuses up to wazoo but i'm just saying...nobody picked duke to win a title any of those years. i believe more than a few "experts" picked nc. this year, all bets are off.

In 05-06, their two best players were seniors (Redick and Shelden Williams). That gave guys like McRoberts, Nelson and Paulus time to get experience without having to be the main players on that team. They also had a senior guard in Sean Dockery, so Paulus didn't have to be the top point guard on the team. Not like they were thrown into the fire. That same season, Hansbrough had to be the leader on a young Carolina team and he led them to a win in Cameron and a top 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

In 06-07, Dook was young but talented. One of the main problems with that team was Josh McRoberts was a complete underachiever. Way to go Coach Splinter for evaluating great talent yet again. They relied on the 3, but only had one significant player shoot over 40% (Greg Paulus). Nice strategy their coach. Carolina's best players that same season were Tyler Hansbrough, Brandan Wright, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson. 3 sophomores and 1 freshman. That inexperienced team finished losing in the Elite 8

Last season, Dook had a nice mix of underclassmen and upperclassmen. Paulus had experience as the primary point guard, Nelson was supposed to be the senior leader. Henderson was one of the top recruits in 06 out of high school and was supposed to blossom as a sophomore. Again, their talent underachieved and got ousted early in the tourney, while Carolina improved from the previous year and made the Final Four. And that was with one senior (Quentin Thomas) playing decent minutes.

Bottom line: Carolina has improved each year since Hansbrough and Co. got there, while Dook has gone from making the Sweet 16 to losing twice in the 2nd round.

[TommyboyUNM]

And nobody picked Dook to win the title any of those years because they have been huge underachievers that it wouldn't make sense to pick a team that constantly blows it in the tournament. That's how far Dook basketball has fallen. It's not good sense to even pick them to go to the Final Four, much less win the national title.

[BlueDevil50]

well see this year tommyboy! i'll take a coach k team over a roy williams squad anyday.

and jj just ran himself into the ground....he tore apart every record known to man then just ran outta gas in february. had to watch that shit in japan...at like 3-4am. thanks for the dagger thomas.

[bug on your lip]

UConn should be an instant Final Four entry on everyone's bracket...

that team is loaded in size... no easy baskets against them..

and they play a nice inside-outside offense.
pretty much flawless

[TommyboyUNM]

UConn should be an instant Final Four entry on everyone's bracket...

that team is loaded in size... no easy baskets against them..

and they play a nice inside-outside offense.
pretty much flawless

UConn definitely has a tough squad. Thabeet seriously changes the game. Here is my early Final Four: North Carolina, UConn, Louisville, North Dakota State.

[TommyboyUNM]

well see this year tommyboy! i'll take a coach k team over a roy williams squad anyday.

and jj just ran himself into the ground....he tore apart every record known to man then just ran outta gas in february. had to watch that shit in japan...at like 3-4am. thanks for the dagger thomas.

Coach K's style isn't suited to win a national title anymore. Dook is gonna shoot themselves right out of the tournament every single year. And his recruiting has been seriously lacking lately. Carolina is recruiting better, more cold-blooded athletes than Dook. You're gonna point to Gerald Henderson, but he's the exception. And it's showing on the court. You'll see it continue as long as Roy Williams is at UNC. John Henson, Dexter Strickland and Kendall Marshall will run circles around Ryan Kelly, Mason Plumlee and whoever else Dook is bringing in.

[TommyboyUNM]

BlueDevil, just to show you I'm not a complete dick, here's a list of former Dook players who I actually like:

Bill McCaffery
Chris Burgess
Andre Sweet
Michael Thompson
Eric Boateng
Jamal Boykin
Taylor King

Is it obvious to you what they all have in common?

[BlueDevil50]

lol you bastard! all transfers.

i gotta respect you for being so well knowledged atleast. you're not THAT bad for being the enemy.

[BlueDevil50]

UConn definitely has a tough squad. Thabeet seriously changes the game. Here is my early Final Four: North Carolina, UConn, Louisville, North Dakota State.

i hate uconn almost as much as nc....well not almost but they're up there.

final four.

duke
louisville
oklahoma
ucla


*subject to change

[TommyboyUNM]

lol you bastard! all transfers.

i gotta respect you for being so well knowledged atleast. you're not THAT bad for being the enemy.

One of my favorite Rage songs is "Know Your Enemy." Just sayin.


All of those guys had the good sense to leave Coach Splinter's cult. BlueDevil I wanna see more hate out of you. Which Carolina players throughout history do you just HATE. Give me a top 10. Here are my top 10 most hated Dookies.

Dahntay Jones
Christian Laettner
Lee Melchionni
Chris Collins
J.J. Redick
Greg Paulus
Matt Christensen
Shane Battier
Gerald Henderson
Steve Wojo (too lazy to look up spelling)

Top 5 Dookies I can sort of tolerate:

Grant Hill
Elton Brand
Jay Williams
Reggie Love
Shit, I guess that's only 4.