wilkes

mmmm....yep

looks like yank and grr are one and the same

Sorry UNC fans, but I am sick of ESPN and announers talking about TH's will and determination...and what not.

"Did you know that Tyler came back another year to win a title?"
No shizz we didn't know that.

"He just wills his way to the basket, nobody was stopping hin on that play"
Well, he throws more elbows that Karl Malone, and somehow Hansbrough comes out the victim, and goes to the line...?

I believe we all know Hansbrough's tears cure cancer, and even Chuck Norris shudders in fear whenever the name Tyler Hansbrough is said...I mean I respect him and all, but I'm tired of hearing about him on every game I watch, I agree...I have never seen another player give as much effort as he does, but he is not the best player in the country, he just knows how to get to the line and get his 15 points a game for free..

Ridiculous!

dook was lucky to get by Rhode Island.

Don't worry, bud, Carolina will get around to dispensing with dook soon enough.

Tar holes, eh? Well, that's how we take a dookie! Nuff said!

Nope tapestry..we leave that one up to you and bud!

bud hes just pissed because he can't hang out ay ewms looking for little boys

Another copy and paste, eh Bud?

Of those games Duke has against "top 25 teams" how many (the Big 10 challenge game against Purdue notwithstanding) are actual ROAD games? The UCLA game was going to be in MSG, a noted Duke stronghold of alumni (why do you think they keep the SJU series going?) Mike may claim "we play a tough schedule" but, in reality? They play a semi-decent schedule that features only that ONE road game that they are made to play by the conference, and the rest? In MSG or, at worst, the Meadowlands, which....is the same danged place.

When Duke starts scheduling out of conference road games, please, come back and talk. Until then, enjoy home games that aren't sold out. Because that's what Cameron is for many games each season.

Duke currently has 4 out of conference opponents in the top 25, with St John's at 4-1 with a solid start and potentially a sleeper team.

Carolina, on the other hand, has 1 team scheduled that is in the top 25, and only another one possible due to early season tournies (Duke had a potential one as well in UCLA before they lost to Michigan).

What I want to know is, why does the media fall in love with teams that have tons of talent, but refuse to schedule any tough non-conference games? This is not anything new for UNC, as they regularly schedule pushovers out of conference, teams just good enough to boost the Tarholes RPI due to their otherwise dominance in their small conferences (see: UNCA, Evansville, Charleston), but teams that are normally very little match for the perennial "pre-season National Champs."

Duke used to be guilty of the same years ago if I remember correctly, but Coach K decided that his teams needed to be battle tested and started getting mid-season meat in his scheduling.

I guess this is more of a rhetorical vent than anything, but just wanted to see if anyone else was on this mind train.

Really, Bud is an important member of the GoWilkes community that would only make this site less enjoyable, if he was not in life here.

Nevermind.

I think we'd all be a goodly 3 IQ points higher up on the food chain. His "Duke but State unless it is Duke, but, sometimes State" schtick depletes not only brain cells, but also the ozone layer.

Where would we be withou his presence though?

Nah, Tap can't copy OR paste. She can just guzzle....stuff.

Bud's just an idiot.

They are one in the same.

Bud's almost as stupid as Tapestry.

Yet another copy and paste by our friend Bud lol.

BTW that little rhyme was written by a twelve year old

Might want to check out the recruiting haul that UNC has coming in next year.

Now at #13, and despite State's "superbowl", they lost out on Terry Finkle, a cornerback recruit both Saban and Myers wanted. He was down to UNC and NC State, and announced this AM for Carolina.

Good luck to State in obtaining bowl eligibility in their game against Miami.

Thanks Grr.

I'm happy with the State Championship! After 70 games missed by Starters this year. I'm pleased with the effort from the team.

BJ: Congrats on the State win. Carolina was beaten like a red headed step mule. Butch won't be going to UT anytime soon.

Wolfpack and Bud: Go Hokies.

Bud: Why are any of those reasons "not to hate Duke"? They still have the lead singer of a German disco band (SIngler), a flopping/fainting goat (Scheyer), a back up point guard who couldn't guard lettuce at fat camp (Paulus), and Henderthug. That doesn't even mention the suck up twins, Woodjublowme and Chrissy Collins, or Mr. American Express himself, K-Rat.
Sorry, but the 97.4% of Americans who hate Duke (that would be every non Duke fan, minus you two numb nuts who like State sometimes when it pleases you) will continue to do so, no matter who is the point guard, or what waste of space in the middle who will be riding the pine come conference because Mike doesn't understand the concept of "center" happens to be playing center.

Three reasons not to hate Duke. 1. In sophomore Nolan Smith, they now have a speedy starting point guard who can ball-pressure on D and get into the lane on offense. Smith is no virtuoso at the position yet -- the guy he supplanted in the first unit, Greg Paulus, still has better court vision -- but choosing speed and athleticism over experience is already starting to pay off. Duke was plus-18 when Smith was on the floor against Michigan, compared to just plus-four with Paulus (who, it should be noted, is nursing a hand injury). But Smith made enough smart decisions with the ball on Friday to lead the Blue Devils in scoring (with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting) and dish out four assists against two turnovers.

Smith actually considered leaving Duke this offseason. His best friend and former AAU teammate, Michael Beasley, hinted during an appearance at the Final Four that there was a possibility Smith, who was frustrated after his freshman season, might transfer -- not necessarily to Kansas State, since Beasley was soon turning pro, but to somewhere. Then on April 26, Smith's father figure at Duke, assistant Johnny Dawkins, left to take the head coaching job at Stanford. Dawkins was a former teammate of Smith's late father, Derek, on the Philadelphia 76ers. "He was the coach who brought me to Duke," Smith said, "and once he was gone, the question was, 'What do I do?'"

Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski had been occupied with Team USA duties while the situation festered, and another freshman, Taylor King, had already left for Villanova. It took a meeting with Krzyzewski later in the spring, in which Smith remembers his coach saying, "He had all the confidence in the world about me coming back, and he said he was behind me and he supported me. I really needed to hear that."

Smith then headed off to Philadelphia, where he honed his point-guard skills in workouts with Beasley and former Texas A&M center DeAndre Jordan, who were both preparing for the NBA Draft. "I was a shooting guard when I came to college," Smith said, "and you can't really change that in one year. I needed the summer to make it work."

Now he has the reins of the team -- "and I feel like they trust me as a leader," he says -- and has already made an impact by applying more defensive heat at the top of their man-to-man defense than Paulus could provide. Says junior Gerald Henderson of Smith, "No one else on the team can be a pest on the ball like he can."

2. They have some legitimate size in the post -- even if it's just for 20 minutes a game. Brian Zoubek once looked as if his career was on a tragic path, as a 7-foot bench-dweller whose time at Duke would be marred by injuries. But he said on Friday -- after shooting 5-of-6 from the field for 16 points over two 2K Sports Classic games -- that his foot was now at "100 percent" and his stamina was steadily improving. Even in his current role, giving the Blue Devils two good spurts of post play at the beginning of each half, before being spelled by 6-8 Lance Thomas, Zoubek has had a tangible impact. If 6-10 freshman Miles Plumlee isn't going to be a major part of the rotation -- and it seems that way after the past two games -- then Zoubek is their only low-post regular taller than 6-8. If he stays healthy and limits the pounding 6-8 sophomore Kyle Singler -- their unquestioned offensive star -- has to take by guarding most teams' biggest post bodies, then Zoubek will be a valuable asset. Singler took on the look of a battered hockey defenseman last season, when they had no other defensive options down low.

3. They have the depth to play a nine-man rotation, which could help ward off another late-season collapse. Krzyzewski has been stuck with short benches in years past -- the '05-06 team, with J.J. Red*** and Shelden Williams, only had two regular reserves -- but could now make a reasonable squad out of his backups. A team with Paulus at the point, freshman Elliot Williams at the two, senior David McClure at the three, Thomas at the four and Plumlee at the five could probably finish above .500 in the Big Ten. "It's good that those guys have their ego where they should be, so that they have confidence like starters," Krzyzewski said.

Most teams become less court-savvy when they sub, but in seniors Paulus and McClure, Duke has the rare luxury of adding experience when it needs to give Smith, Singler and Henderson a breather.