Louisville basketball edged out Duke, dropping the Blue Devils to 5-5 on the season.
1) Duke Basketball is not the same as it used to be
Duke Basketball used to be about stepping on the floor and playing with passion. If it were not for Matthew Hurt, Duke Basketball would be in a whole world of hurt. Duke Basketball lost to Louisville Basketball by five points 70-65. You never heard of a Duke Basketball team being unranked and playing the way this team is playing.
The Duke Basketball teams of 1991, 1992, and 2001 would absolutely roll this Duke Basketball team. What you swatched today is a Duke Basketball team that played as if Coach K wasn’t even there. And if Coach K has to leave because of his elderly age or whatever in the future, Duke Basketball will find it hard to recover. Louisville Basketball is way more complete than Duke Basketball ever thought of being…. placing four guys in double figures.
2) Carlik Jones of Louisville Basketball scored 19 of his 24 points in the second half and Duke Basketball had no answer
Chris Mack found his Louisville Basketball team unranked this week. With the win they had over Duke Basketball, Louisville Basketball should find itself back in the Top 25 rankings this week. The ACC finds itself behind the Big 12 and Big Ten in terms of overall strength. Louisville Basketball may be one of the sleepers if it finds itself in the NCAA Tournament and Carlik Jones may find himself in the tournament spotlight.
3) Duke Basketball will struggle to find itself being back in the realm of the elite teams for a while
The era of the one and done is taking its toll and the usual powers that you usually see climbing the polls or at least in the Top 5 of the nation are no longer ranked. Duke Basketball and Coach K were once the destinations of elite players looking to play hard in your face defense and play a level of basketball not seen consistently for many years in college basketball.
This is the first year I have seen Duke Basketball end the first half in a zone and start the second half in a zone. Say what you will but the era of Duke Basketball as we have known it in the past is gone. Unless a great transformation takes place, don’t expect Duke Basketball to be in the tournament.