Gonzaga is AP #1, carolina is not in the AP top 25 for some reason but duke loses to a unranked team and doesn't drop in the rankings.
the point is that kelly is more of a difference-maker than you want to admit yes, a great game from him and he normally does not go off like that, but they are clearly better with him. They're 16-0 with Kelly in the lineup, 9-4 without. That's huge. they were given credit for beating Miami, a top 5 team. A loss to Miami and they could've been out of the top 10.
Not really, he deserves credit for his great game Saturday but he's nothing more than a role player for duke and unless he's scoring 25+ PPG duke is in trouble b/c Plumlee & Curry are wearing down. They haven't played a road game w/o him, if that game is in Miami then the Canes are winning. Everyone wants to bring out that stat but they didn't have a tough non conf sched(they played some nice names but no road games), the best team they played was missing a key guy in the Bahamas(UL), OSU was at home and they have been beat up by ranked teams, UK is not good, Minny has been up and down, VCU is playing well NOW. Credit for beating Miami at HOME by only 3 and not punished for losing to an unranked team. Miami and duke were both 1-1, Miami lost at top 5 duke by 3, duke lost at unranked UVa and dropped. duke should have dropped.
The win/loss records don't lie. He's more important than a typical role player, obviously. He's a starter and they struggle without him. huh? They played a bunch of road games without him. Duke beat a top 5 team. Miami beat Virginia Tech. So there's a big difference between saying they both went 1-1. Beating Miami and beating Virginia Tech are miles apart.
hasn't played a road game yet, is he important? sure, any starting player is but he's nowhere near as important as people think thatnks to the media perception after he got hurt. I meant they haven't played a road game WITH him which is why they haven't lost with him. duke barely won at home in a close game where they got the typical duke calls, duke lost to a much worse team than Miami lost o but duke always gets the benefit of the doubt. it's clear as day Miami is significantly better than duke. Even playing poorly at duke they still nearly beat them.
UK was the #3 team in the country at the time. So you want to say a win over VCU shouldn't count because VCU wasn't that good then, but a win over UK shouldn't count either when UK was ranked 3rd? Louisville was ranked 2nd, Ohio State was ranked 4th. With Kelly, they've beaten four top 5 teams, and not all the games were at home.
Who cares that UK was overrated entering the season? They haven't played at a top 5 level at any point this season and were a buble team at best w/ Noel. None of those teams were humming at the time and UL was a/o a key player. It looks much better on paper than in reality and again not a single one of those games was on the road. I think duke is better than Carolina, I think they will beat the Heels in the ACC Tourney if they meet. I think Carolina is playing better than duke now but duke has a more complete roster as far as inside/out game. of course w/ Plumlee wearing out that could change.
Well, you wanted to talk about current form with VCU and you don't want to count that win, so the wins over Louisville, Kentucky, Miami, and Ohio State should count, as all were in the top 5 at the time. They beat Kentucky and Ohio State on neutral courts (Georgia and Nassau). I don't see why, you were saying Duke is worn down and UNC is playing great so why shouldn't UNC win?
Bubble team at best with Noel? They're a bubble team now WITHOUT Noel. With Noel, they were seen as clearly in. They went on the bubble after he got injured.
Just one bracket-prediction article I found from today: Kentucky was 17-6 and second place in the SEC (8-2 conference record) before Noel got injured. Clearly in. Not a bubble team at worst, let alone at best. UK was actually a ranked team in the last rankings released before the injury.
who cares about at the time? that means nothing, none are top 5 now. They count, this was a quality non conf sched but it looks much more difficult on paper than it was in reality. OSU was at duke, UL was in the Bahamas. They were a bubble team probably in w/ Noel, they are a bubble team that is out as of now. The SEC stinks this year. Uk has an RPI of 51 at the moment, lost to only 3 tourney bound teams they played in non conf(in addition to losing to baylor at home) and have probablly only beaten 1 or 2 tourney bound teams from a weak SEC. UK needs to beat UF to assure themselves of a bid but will have a chance if they beat UGa. If they lose these next 2 they won't make it w/o a run to the finals in the SEC.
Huh? Your own argument with VCU is who cares about now, it only matters at the time of the game. Now with the other teams it's who cares about at the time, it only matters now. Which is it? You can't have it both ways. I meant the UK game, not OSU. The UK game was a neutral court, as was the Louisville game. They beat two top 5 teams on neutral courts. Absolutely false. You said "they were a buble team at best w/ Noel." They were ranked when Noel was injured. They were not a bubble team at all, let alone a bubble team at best. Anyone would have said they were clearly in and not on the bubble. Let's not rewrite history here. They are on the bubble now because of their performance after Noel was injured.
at the time UK wasn't good, their ranking was high b/c of a preseason ranking. If they were playing well I'd acknowledge it or if any of thoe teams were playing well. Louisville is a legit top 5 team if healthy, they weren't healthy. UK isn't even a legit top 25 team- even w/ Noel. UK wasn't going to be ranked come Monday whether Noel got hurt or not b/c they were getting crushed at UF w/ or w/o him. They were a bubble team, many bracket projections had them playin in the first 4 w/ Carolina at that point. Now the Heels are a lock and UK has work to do but that was a "top 5" win. Sometimes we need to use our eyes rather than rankings, wouldn't you agree?
I welcome other opinions on this. To anyone else reading this thread: If a team is 17-6 (8-2 in the SEC) and ranked 25th in the country, are they a bubble team?
The SEC stinks, they were getting throttled in that game he left by the lone good team in the conf(I shouldn't say that now, Arkansas looked damn impressive throttling UK this weekend- unfortunately thry have been too inconsistent) and were about to be unranked again. I was using the bracket projections that list bubble teams. UK was listed as a bubble team at that point, they were in but had work to do. Now they are out and have work to do.
this was from 2/12/13, hours before Noel was lost for the season: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-basketball/news/20130212/bubble-watch/index.html
I don't disagree about our tournament chances, but Providence has an RPI of 77 and BPI of 61 and will probably have 9 BE wins. Those losses don't look as bad as it did at the time they happened.
I see Syracuse didn't fall out of the rankings....or even the top 20. Most teams who lose 3 in a row and 4 out of their last 6 typically fall from the rankings.. who knew?
Stop it... just stop it. La Salle "doesn't look as bad as it did at the time". Providence, Seton Hall, and Columbia fucking suck.
