[2017-18] Elon / Utah Valley / Michigan St. (Chicago) / Southern

[Devilsforlife]

Wasn't he sick and unavailable at the end of last season too? I've tried to erase that time from my memory.

Bolden just seems to have a weak constitution all around. Need The Master to get through to him using his West Point toughness.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

Sagarin would have this line at 21 and has Duke as the #1 team, so the actual line is basically following Sagarin.

 

[rome8180]

I heard Bolden was diagnosed with a severe allergic reaction to rebounds.

 

[sjsj2448]

Seems high. Last year's team beat them by 11 and they return their top 5 players. Vegas must think we are significantly better than last season.

Bagley and Carter are monster mismatches and nightmares for everyone this year.

I think we are much better. We have a PG, we have the two best bigs in the country, and Grayson is back to form. Trent is better than advertised, and Javin will be good off the bench.

Starting 4 5 stars and a previous conference POY. 5 1st rounders in the next draft. Last year we started 2 and one of them was injured almost half the year.

 

[burksballer20]

Is it possible this is just one of those teams where we have such an insane rebounding/size advantage that it doesn't matter how we shoot?

I think so. we definitely won't be outrebounded by 5 like last year

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

The rationale in this thread for why Vegas might believe Duke is much better than last season is all wrong, since Vegas actually believes Duke is much worse (and/or Elon is much better) than last season.

The spread Vegas and the neutral betting public set last season is a much better benchmark for how smart people are assessing Duke and Elon than the final result of the game last season.

Duke was a 26-point favorite in a semi-road game in Greensboro last season (with +2 points for Elon in that arena). Duke is currently a 19.5-point favorite at home (with +3.5 points for Duke at home). This means Duke is believed to be about 12 points worse than last season relative to Elon. Much of this is due to Elon returning nearly their entire rotation and being better than last season, but not all 12 points can be attributed to that.

Another more concrete indication that Duke is believed to be worse than last season are the national title odds. Duke was 3-1 to 4-1 (20-25%) to win the title at this time last season. Duke is now 6-1 to 7-1 (12-14%) to win the title this season.

The expectations for Duke 2018 are much lower than for Duke 2017 at the same point in the season, against Elon or against anyone else. This season's team is highly suspect despite its raw talent advantage relative to the field, and this is all indeed priced into the line. Vegas will be 9 points off one way or the other, on average, but they're not stupid.

 

[sjsj2448]

I wonder how much those odds were affected by everyone thinking Harry would come back and be good.

I also wonder what our odds would be if we had landed Knox instead of Tucker.

 

[rhfarmer]

Our odds were better last year because we had experienced returning starters, period. Giles hadn't played basketball since he was 16 when he enrolled at Duke. We had a consensus NPOY candidate in Grayson Allen, 5th year Senior and All ACC caliber player Amile Jefferson, plus solid senior role player Matt Jones.

 

[bdotling]

DUKE THE FUCK UP

 

[burksballer20]

DUKE DUKE MF

 

[torontoduke]

Nice start to the season, Devils.

 

[ZackM]

DUKE DUKE MF

Is this a TDD thing?

'round these parts we prefer #DukeTheFuckUp

 

[Devilsforlife]

Had a highly enjoyable time at my first game ever in Cameron. Don't want to draw too many conclusions after only one game, but this team looks much more athletic and cohesive than last year's outfit.

Bagley and Allen were monsters. Duval took care of the ball, passed well, and didn't take any dumb shots. Trent appears to be a good three point threat. Carter was solid but hindered by foul trouble. DeLaurier was everywhere on both sides of the floor. Even Goldwire and O'Connell looked servicable.

Only negative was FT shooting. 2/10 is gross.

 

[DukeNukem05]

DUKE DUKE MF

Is this a TDD thing?

'round these parts we prefer #DukeTheFuckUp

DDMF was a chant for quite some time. Haven’t heard it in a while though.

 

[ZackM]

DUKE DUKE MF

Is this a TDD thing?

'round these parts we prefer #DukeTheFuckUp

DDMF was a chant for quite some time. Haven’t heard it in a while though.

Weird. I'd never seen/heard it before seeing it on TDD earlier today.

 

[DukeNukem05]

DUKE DUKE MF

Is this a TDD thing?

'round these parts we prefer #DukeTheFuckUp

DDMF was a chant for quite some time. Haven’t heard it in a while though.

Weird. I'd never seen/heard it before seeing it on TDD earlier today.

“D-U-K-E! Who the fuck you come to see?! Duke Duke motherfucker!”

 

[bdotling]

Ah the good ol bonfire chant

 

[DurhamSon]

Was Jordan Tucker really a top 60 recruit? Jesus christ, he's behind Robinson in the rotation, and rightfully so.

 

[torontoduke]

Was Jordan Tucker really a top 60 recruit? Jesus christ, he's behind Robinson in the rotation.

Yes. I thought he'd be a solid designated shooter

 

[StopThePumpFakesShav]

Henderson/Spatola used the words "motor" and "athletic" about a million times. But felt spot on- for all of this team's likely flaws, this is actually the most athletic high-motor group in 20 plus years. The '99 comparisons are moronic from a team quality perspective but perhaps apt stylistically.

Elon was one of the most 3pt dependent teams in the country last year, and they went 14-33 (42%) tonight. But worth noting they only had 11 2 point baskets all game. They shot 11-30 from 2.