Devilsforlife
Legend
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2017
- Messages
- 11,289
It's the entire context that makes that title special:The 2010 run was just the best. I think it’ll always be my favorite.
1) Beloved upperclassmen
2) Long title drought by Duke's standards
3) Only one Final Four in that drought with none of the other teams even making an Elite Eight
4) Multiple high profile recruiting whiffs, including losing Harrison Barnes to UNC right after they'd won their second title in four years
5) Losing the most talented players from the previous year's team to the NBA (Gerald) or transfer (E Will)
6) The previous tournament struggles of the group that stayed at Duke
7) The feeling among the fanbase that our talent was good enough to win 25-30 games but was a long way from being able to compete with the best teams athletically
8) Being able to win just a year after UNC did, and doing it in the same year they had one of their most disappointing seasons ever
It did so much to establish Duke as still being the elite of the elite. It restored some competitive balance with a UNC program that had dominated us between 2007 and 2009. The 2015 title was also cool and unexpected. And it had its own narratives, but nothing quite as compelling as the combination of factors in 2010. It would have been on par with Scheyer winning it this year or something.
Duke led UConn by 8 with ~3 minutes left in the 2004 Final Four with a sacrificial lamb waiting in the title game. We watched #4 slip through our fingers, and then had to deal with UNC winning two titles in five years and completely owning us from JJ’s senior night on.
As disappointing as losing 3/4 in the Elite 8 and going down to UNC in the FF in 2022 was, it doesn’t come close to that era, even though our title drought will stretch to a decade minimum.