A good cougar always relieves a Duke of their riches.
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Questions about toughness and physicality have dogged Duke since its second-round loss to Tennessee last year. And now comes a program that might as well have the word âtoughnessâ written on the front of its jerseys in Kelvin Sampsonâs Cougars. The Blue Devils looked terrific against Vermont and James Madison, but those werenât exactly physically imposing teams. What happens when Houston punches them in the mouth â perhaps literally, given Kyle Filipowskiâs history of collisions? Sampsonâs team should enjoy a geographical edge in Dallas, and there wonât be any question which team NC State fans in American Airlines Center will be backing. But will Houston have enough offense if Jared McCain and Tyrese Proctor remain red hot from 3, or enough bodies on its banged-up roster? If there were ever a time youâd want to play these Cougars (and to be clear, there isnât), it might be now as Sampson is sewing together lineups like Dr. Godwin Baxter in âPoor Things.â
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Duke has played cupcakes in the two first games.
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My buddies and I used to sit at Astros games while at UH and think up promotions the team could have.
Our favorite idea was, â7-11 Ski Mask Night.â
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âand you call yourself a true coog?
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Seen quite a few videos of mini previews of the game. A lot of people like Duke because
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of how well they have been shooting the last couple of games
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they think something is wrong with our defense because of the âbadâ games against Iowa state and A&M
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we foul too much
A. True
B. False
C. Maybe, weâll see
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Iowa St is the best team we have played all year.
KenPom ranks Duke slightly better than Iowa St.
They do it differently. Iowa St is much better than Duke defensively. Duke is much more efficient than Iowa St on offense.
My take is that we are probably not going to hold Duke under 60. We are going to have to score to win. Like we did against Aggie last night. Like we did on the road against BYU, Baylor and Oklahoma earlier in the year.
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This from AGDUKESKI, a âHouston Alumniâ / Duke fan ;-( from a BlueDevil BB forumâŠ
â⊠As someone who attended Houston and grew-up in Dallas, I do not think the Cougars have that much of a home court advantage - A&M would have been much worse. Houston is a commuter school with a fairly limited alumni base in Dallas. Sure the travel distance is much shorter (4 hours drive) but Houston does not travel particularly well. It is more likely people might be cheering against Duke but not because they are particularly Houston fans. I donât expect it to feel like a home game or anything for Duke but I doubt it feels like, say, the crowd Houston faced in its conference championship against Iowa State.
As for the game, this is a pretty favorable matchup for Duke as far as being the lower seed. Houston does not have a dominant big man and can struggle on offense. The key is to remain poised and not commit live ball turnovers. UH does pound the offensive boards but also gives up a ton there too. Duke cannot get sped up and play loose. The biggest concern is if the game is close down the stretch. Houston is mature and has faced some pretty daunting situations including the last game. Houston will not quit. If Duke can score at a reasonable pace, then it should be able to defend enough to get a working margin. Playing from behind is not desirable but Houston goes into enough funks on offense and fouls enough to let teams comeback. It wonât be easy but Duke is definitely equipped to win this game.
I will be hoping for a good game and that the winner goes all the way. It will be interesting to see where my allegiance falls since I have never had to watch both of my schools play beforeâŠâ
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If Flopowski trips anyone Friday heâll spend the night in a body cast. Houston doesnât play ACC pâ- ball.
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As someone who drove through the carolinaâs once and ate a fried pb&j there, this guy sounds like heâs dines with T-sips.
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Heâs definitely a wanna be. He probably has a handle on the uconn board, too.
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I really hope our fans show up and show out in Dallas like we did in San Antonio a few years back.
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That sounds a lot like the arguments behind picking A&M to win. A&M was âhotâ offensively coming into the game, and they shot under 39%, even with our starters hindered by foul trouble. They were able to hang around because of officiating, our foul trouble, and A&Mâs offensive rebounding effort.
If people are counting on Dukeâs âhot shootingâ or a subpar defensive effort from the Coogs, wellâŠFAFO.
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Weâre the best team in the country at making teams go to option #2
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Our crowd look great on Sunday behind the team bench. Does anyone know the section for Friday night?
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So far every take Iâve seen on this game from the duke perspective makes me think theyâve never watched us play.
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Duke is going to be a completely different team than Aggie. They donât have the guards that can break down our guards off the dribble and get to the rim. They will play thru Filipowski and McCain. Lots of screens/movement. Spread the floor.
We have the advantage physically. Hopefully the refs donât blow their whistles every 5 seconds and I think we have the edge.
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