Category Archives: Duke

The Walk-Ons: Duke-FSU preview, UNC-State recap

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Shane

Ladies and gents, thanks for checking in to our newly named Podcast:

The Walk-Ons.

As of RIGHT NOW, you can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. Just click “view in iTunes” once you reach that link, and then ‘subscribe for free.’ Voila. If you’re feeling really generous and benevolent, you could also rate the podcast and write a positive review. That kind of thing warms our hearts.

You can also access our podcast RSS feed. I’m not sure exactly what an RSS feed does, but some people seem to use it. So there you go.

In today’s episode. Ben and I discuss Duke’s upcoming game against Florida State, revisit Carolina’s win at N.C. State, reflect on which American states have betrayed us by not listening to previous episodes, turn to Bleacher Report for wisdom and solace, and challenge Debbie Yow to a debate.

Thanks very much for listening, and enjoy.

Posted in Duke, UNC | Tagged Florida State, Men's Basketball, NC State, Podcast, The Walk-Ons | 2 Comments

Duke-State Podcast

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Shane

2 Comments

In this installment, recorded on Valentine’s Day, we discuss Duke-State, the weekend win over Maryland, Miles Plumlee’s possible transformation into Brian Zoubek II, and the diverging paths of Seth Curry and Andre Dawkins. We also analyze the UNC-Miami game, even though this was recorded on Tuesday.

Posted in Duke | Tagged Men's Basketball, NC State, Podcast | 2 Comments

Being wrong…

Posted on February 13, 2012 by KevinM

1 Comment

At no point before or during last night’s game did I think Duke was going to beat UNC. It was a combination of the previous game against Miami and the fact that Duke matched up terribly with UNC. I didn’t know who would guard Barnes, how they would stop Marshall from getting in the lane or how they could prevent UNC from dominating the offensive rebounds. During the game it looked like UNC took Duke’s best shot in the first half and was still up three going into halftime. It didn’t really surprise me that the lead fluctuated between 8 and 12 points for most of the 2nd half. Normally, I don’t text my brother-in-law (the enemy) during the game, but didn’t seem to be that big of a deal because it more closely resembled the Paulus/McRoberts Duke-UNC games. I was content with how Duke played and was actually somewhat ok with them losing to UNC. I was wrong. I was wrong about so many things, but most importantly I was wrong in thinking that Duke couldn’t beat UNC.

Also, I was wrong about questioning any of Coach K lineup decisions. I thought Quinn Cook should play more, and that playing Tyler Thornton wasn’t the best idea. Thornton didn’t have the best game, but this three to start the comeback was an intelligent, critical play. Coach K has been searching for what works with the team, and give him credit for taking a team that lost Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler and Kyrie Iring and leading it to impressive wins against Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State and UNC. I might complain about the team, but they have five wins against top 25 (RPI ranking), which just so happens to be four more wins than UNC has against top 25 teams.

I was wrong for comparing Mason Plumlee to Josh McRoberts. The middle Plumlee didn’t have the best game, but his steal before Curry’s three was something that at least got him of the McRoberts line. There will be time to analyze his game, but after last night I would like to stay positive.

I was wrong about Austin Rivers. I never really liked watching him play. His outside shot seemed to be at best described as streaky, and I wondered if he was ever going to be a decent three point shooter. Ask Tyler Zeller how his three point shot looks? Anyway, his passion, heart and production last night made me a believer. No matter how the rest of his career goes, Rivers has given me a game and a moment that cements part of his legacy. Just like last year when Nolan Smith and Seth Curry led the comeback against UNC, Rivers never has to pay for another drink around me.

Last night was one of those sports miracles that makes following sports worth it. I had low expectations of the game, and just like a lot of things I was wrong. This was a classic UNC-Duke game and 30 years from now I will still smile whenever I see a replay of Rivers shot to complete the comeback.

Posted in Duke, UNC | Tagged Austin Rivers, Josh McRoberts, Mason Plumlee, Men's Basketball, Nolan Smith, Quinn Cook, Seth Curry, Tyler Thornton, Tyler Zeller | 1 Comment

Duke-UNC Recap Podcast, Part 2!

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Shane

Duke – UNC Recap Podcast!

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Shane

1 Comment

In Part 1 of our recap of Duke-Carolina, Ben and I obsessively pick over the minute details of game’s last two and a half minutes. Our wide-ranging theories are the capstone on the greatest Duke victory of the year.

My written takes on the game can be found at Grantland here (serious, stayed up til 5am writing it) and here (a lot of jokes, took me about 10 minutes).

Ben’s take can be found here, at the Oxford Public Ledger.

Enjoy the pod! Part 2 up later tonight or tomorrow morn.

Posted in Duke, UNC | Tagged Men's Basketball, Podcast | 1 Comment

My Best Friend is a Duke Fan

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Nate

3 Comments

(Ed’s Note: Don’t miss the first Tobacco Road Blues podcast, previewing tonight’s game.)

“My best friend is a Duke fan.”

Shudder.

About twice a year (sometimes three), I think these words to myself and physically recoil. How could I be associated with such a being? How could I justify my fandom as a Tar Heel when treason runs so close to home?

In short? I rationalize. Sam and I were friends before I went off to UNC and he went off to Duke. We shared social circles, experiences, friends. We’ve traveled abroad together. Once, we almost got murdered in a Greek soccer riot (true story). We are both hyper-competitive people: Sam crushed his ex in mini-golf on their first date. I once forced my dad to drink a “Cup of Shame” of milk and lemon juice from a sippy cup because I had just defeated him in a game of chess. We are very similar.

Yet twice a year, I mentally lump Sam in with the rest of… those dark blue people. Sam becomes an dookie. I dredge up my anemic highlight reel of dookies fulfilling their stereotype:

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Posted in Duke, UNC | Tagged basketball, duke, friends, UNC | 3 Comments

Temple of Doom?: What Wednesday’s Loss Tells us About Duke

Posted on January 5, 2012 by MattW

3 Comments

I was stunned after the Ohio State loss. The Duke players were tired, having come off of a dramatic victory in Maui and lots of travel. Then they ran into a buzz saw at Value City Arena in Columbus. That home crowd was fired up and all of the OSU players were playing as well as they possibly could. The way that Krzyzewski coached, and the way that the players watched with bewilderment as Ohio State played the perfect game, led me to believe that it was an anomaly. Was Duke exposed? Not really. They were exposed to the fact that a talented team who plays a perfect game is going to beat anyone. I was sure that this would be a teaching moment that would humble this team and cause them to focus on defensive tenacity and offensive chemistry. Instead Duke came back from the break and limped into the Temple game, clearly viewing it as a final tune-up before they went into conference play.

How, you may ask, can I suggest that Duke “limped” when they won games by an average score of 95-63? Turnovers. Duke turned the ball over 18 times against a UNC Greensboro team that has only won 2 games. Then they turned it over 15 times against WMU and 12 against Penn. Maybe those are good defenses, you say? According to Ken Pomeroy’s rankings, UNCG is 295^th, WMU is 161^st and Penn is 178^th. The 295^th (out of 345) best defense in the country managed to turn Duke over 18 times. The Penn game looks the best with “only” 12, but they still gave the ball over to the 178^th ranked defense in Division-I 12 times. In case you were wondering, Duke turned Penn over 13 times, so they squeaked out a victory in that turnover battle by a margin of one.

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Posted in Duke | 3 Comments

WTF is a Hoosier?!?: Growing up as a Duke Fan in Basketball-Crazy Indiana

Posted on January 3, 2012 by MattW

4 Comments

Growing up as a basketball fan in Indiana, it was all about the Hoosiers in the ’90s. Purdue had some strong teams, particularly with Glenn Robinson, but seeing as their only “championship” was awarded retroactively to John Wooden’s team in 1932 when the leather belt was still a standard part of the uniform, no one took them very seriously. There was a well-known joke among Indiana fans that went: “Why does Gene Keady only play 14 holes of golf?.. Because he can’t find the Final Four!” (Rimshot!) IU was the team who could claim the last undefeated season with Kent Benson, Quinn Buckner and Scott May. IU was the team who rode Isiah Thomas to victory over Dean Smith’s Tar Heels in 1981. IU had Steve Alford and “The Shot” by Keith Smart in 1987 to beat Syracuse. Bobby Knight could do no wrong. (I guess you could say that he is still given impunity. In fact, people here still resent Neil Reed for having the audacity to report that the man choked him.)This was everyone’s team.

After some fielding excellent squads in the early 1990’s led by Calbert Cheaney, Damon Bailey, Alan Henderson and Brian Evans, the relative failures of the teams that followed seemed to suggest that IU basketball was on the decline. Year after year they were losing to higher seeds in the NCAA tournament; and year after year Indiana’s best high school players were leaving the state so that they wouldn’t have to play for the demanding Knight. I always liked IU. I watched the games with my dad and wanted them to succeed, but I never fully connected with the team. I was gravitating towards the exciting group in blue and white that was always playing on ESPN.

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Posted in Duke, Miscellaneous | 4 Comments

Carolina Loss Aversion

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Bob Seawright

2 Comments

As a fan, I readily admit to unreasonable expectations. I’m not remotely objective. I create wildly optimistic scenarios and pretend they are objective and realistic. It’s what fans do and it’s entirely human, if not quite “normal.”

We all live in an overconfident, Lake Wobegon world (“where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average”). We are only correct about 80% of the time when we are “99% sure.” Despite the experiences of anyone who has gone to college (even at Duke), fully 94% of college professors believe they have above-average teaching skills. Since 80% of drivers say that their driving skills are above average, I guess none of them are on the freeway when I am. While 70% of high school students claim to have above-average leadership skills, only 2% say they are below average, no doubt taught by above average math teachers. In a finding that pretty well sums things up, 85-90% of people think that the future will be more pleasant and less painful for them than for the average person.

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Posted in Duke, UNC | Tagged Bia Blind Spot, Cognitive Biases, Loss Aversion, Overconfidence | 2 Comments

Last Week

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Marc

1 Comment

If you were able to watch the marquee games in college basketball last week then you found yourself treated to a variety of fantastic performances. We saw the Blue Devils take the Maui Invitational with gritty wins against Tennessee, Michigan, and Kansas. The Kansas game resembled an NCAA tournament game as both teams displayed toughness and heart in a nail biter. Duke found an unlikely hero in Tyler Thornton as he drained two three pointers to stick a dagger in Kansas. Here are a few points I observed throughout the tournament for Duke:

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Posted in Duke, UNC | Tagged barnes, bullock, duke, hairston, maui, plumlee, rivers, UNC, UNLV | 1 Comment