From a (relatively) impartial fan, as I have Embiid on my fantasy team, I honestly don't know how anyone doesn't think he is the best freshman prospect. I guess it also depends on what we are looking at? Cause as an nba prospect, for me, Embiid is far and away #1

Amazing second half from Carolina, outscoring Duke 44-29 to get the win. Marcus Paige was clutch and made some huge plays when his team needed him most. Eight wins in a row now for the Heels as they move to 19-7, 9-4 ACC. They have now defeated each of the Pre-Season top four teams (MSU, Louisville, UK, and Duke).

Not exactly a fan of rushing the floor, but definitely a big win. Nice to see an underdog Carolina team win this game for a change.

Just students having fun. Nice win for UNC

Duke led for about the first 36 minutes of the game, despite 22% 3-point shooting (5-of-22), almost nine minutes in the second half without scoring a single point, and significant foul trouble beginning with 15 minutes to play, all on the road in the building of its biggest rival. I'm disgusted by the outcome, but Duke beat itself and simply did not deserve to win.

As for the dance party that erupted on the court afterward, it's really nothing new. It happens after pretty much every Duke loss. I look forward to the rematch in Cameron.

ironman02;1583004 wrote:Amazing second half from Carolina, outscoring Duke 44-29 to get the win. Marcus Paige was clutch and made some huge plays when his team needed him most. Eight wins in a row now for the Heels as they move to 19-7, 9-4 ACC. They have now defeated each of the Pre-Season top four teams (MSU, Louisville, UK, and Duke).

Not exactly a fan of rushing the floor, but definitely a big win. Nice to see an underdog Carolina team win this game for a change.

First time an unranked North Carolina has defeated a top 5 Duke team in 24 years. I have no problem with it.

That said, Roy Williams deserves credit for the package of zone defenses he threw at an already-struggling Duke team that couldn't hit the backboard most of the second half. He coached a better game than K down the stretch.

Dakich and Katz (and Greenberg before) are just ripping Jabari Parker and his "defense".

Another reason I take Embiid and Wiggins over him.

As I've said before, I love that Seth Greenberg, one of the most undecorated coaches in ACC history, is now able to analyze anything. Brings me great amusement.

Parker's defense -- and all-around game, for that matter -- is just fine. He's one of the best rebounders at his position in the country and is an excellent shot blocker for his size. He actually played poorly tonight on that end of the floor, but still came up with 11 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 steal (and 17 points, for good measure).

He's easily the most polished freshman today. Emiid is probably the better prospect.

Roy going to the 1-2-2 and the 1-3-1 absolutely destroyed the Dookies. I despise zone, but throwing it in there like that was so key. Roy made the necessary in game adjustments and K didn't. Honestly, that is a shock to me. That was one of the most satisfying wins, as a fan, I've had.

I still feel Dook can cut the nets down, but a loss to Cuse tomorrow could really do damage to their psyche.

Carolina MUST not get cocky. If they do, Wake will beat them tomorrow. They have to stay humble and in the moment. Not looking forward to what could be a great run to end the season. The ACC schedule is fairly easy for them the rest of the way, if memory serves me right. They have to play with a chip on their shoulder and do what they do best. Rebound and get out and run.

duke missed some shots they normally make and Carolina made some free throws they normally miss.

The zone worked this time, but it might not work the next time. duke got decent looks, they just didn't knock them down.
The 3-ball comes and goes.Michigan State was 5/24 in a loss at home to Nebraska, but 17/32 in a win at Purdue.

Both of these teams are capable of a Final Four run.

Laley23;1583018 wrote:Dakich and Katz (and Greenberg before) are just ripping Jabari Parker and his "defense".

Another reason I take Embiid and Wiggins over him.

In NBA? LIke they give a shit about defense? That can be taught. You cant' teach what Parker has overall. Watching all frosh, I think he is best of all in terms of inside/outside ability as well as NBA physicality he already has.

One area where K really underperformed last night with regard to in-game adjustments was leaving Tyler Thornton and Rasheed Sulaimon on the floor for a combined 45 minutes while Andre Dawkins got just 10. Thornton and Sulaimon were a total of 3-of-11 from the field. Yet, on a night when Duke couldn't buy a bucket, Dawkins, who leads the ACC in 3-point shooting, sat the entire second half. Inexcusable. Duke needed an offensive spark, and Dawkins could have provided that. Instead, they had Sulaimon out there freestyling like he was in an And1 Mixtape. But that's another thing entirely.

The ACC Tournament is going to be a lot of fun this year with Duke, Syracuse and North Carolina all playing Final Four-caliber basketball this season (I don't actually think the Orange are a Final Four team, but 25-1 is 25-1).

centralbucksfan;1583131 wrote:In NBA? LIke they give a shit about defense? That can be taught. You cant' teach what Parker has overall. Watching all frosh, I think he is best of all in terms of inside/outside ability as well as NBA physicality he already has.

As far as the basketball "analysts" ripping on Parker's game mentioned above, none of them particularly like Duke, especially Greenberg. Dude hates K and Duke dating back to his days coaching in the conference. He's a bitter jerk. And Katz has resisted giving Parker the credit he deserves since day one.

Anyway, I take what guys like that say with absolutely no relevance. If Parker were at any other school, the perception of him would be much different. But he went to Duke.

I dont know man. They showed like 11 clips last night and Parker was horrible. He gave up more than the 17 points he scored. Like, lay-ups when he just was out there running around and his guy got a lay-up and he trailed him by 3 feet.

The difference to me last night was stamina. Duke hit the wall at the 11 minute mark in the second half. Carolina got the help of the home crowd and really dug deep to pull out the victory. Front ending shots, missing jump shots so horrifically. Rodney Hood is quite efficient from the left wing and in the zone he was set up several times for a clean look and wasn't close.

Duke should have done the 5 in 5 out in the first half and saved the legs for the second half. Got a feeling Duke will really struggle with Syracuse tomorrow. Good god, tomorrow. This is going to be bad.

reclegend22;1583135 wrote:
Anyway, I take what guys like that say with absolutely no relevance. If Parker were at any other school, the perception of him would be much different. But he went to Duke.

Really??? I don't think so.Those guys are paid to create controversy.Wiggins is ripped constantly.

I do agree with your earlier post about Sulimon.I don't remember a duke player going one-on-one as much as did last night. It was like he a had something personal going on.

Come on rec. Has nothing to do with him playing for duke. The guy doesn't play very good defense. It's obvious to see. He's not horrible on D, but it's definitely not a strong suit of his. I mean the tapes don't lie.

Parker right now on ESPN is leading the field for FOY so it's not like there's this bias against him. If anything, there's a bias for him.

Guys going to duke means espn is going to blow them. Duke games vs the school of the blind are on espn. They show way way way too many shitty Duke games. That's hilarious that Rec said that. Only UK probably gets blown harder by espn. Or equally.

Carolina just dominates Wake. 6 Heels I'm double figures. And it's safe to say they are playing their very best basketball of the season. Leslie is out of his funk, shooting the ball extremely well.

Laley23;1583150 wrote:I dont know man. They showed like 11 clips last night and Parker was horrible. He gave up more than the 17 points he scored. Like, lay-ups when he just was out there running around and his guy got a lay-up and he trailed him by 3 feet.

I didn't see the particular clips you are referencing, but I would guess that most of that stuff occurred in the second half, when Parker was playing in major foul trouble (most of those fouls of which were not the result of bad positioning defensively). As a result, he was forced to play tentatively down the stretch. After what happened at Syracuse, Duke couldn't afford to play the final 15 minutes with Parker, Amile Jefferson and Marshall Plumlee, all three of which had 3 or 4 fouls by the 10-minute mark of the second half, on the bench.

If you went back and watched other Duke games this season, such as UCLA, you'd see that Parker has great defensive ability. He's not Rick Mahorn, but he has tremendous skill in that area and will only improve as he becomes more consistent over time. In terms of just pure numbers, he's out-rebounding, out-shot blocking and out-stealing Andrew Wiggins, despite being asked to guard multiple positions most games.

Come one. K even took him out in games earlier this year cause of his defense.

And Wiggins is a 2/3 on the perimeter for Kansas. Of course Parker will have more rebounds and blocks lol. That is one of the odder statement youve made. You expect Wiggins to get 10 rebounds a night with Embiid, Black and Perry down on the blocks all game?

Im just saying what Ive noticed in the 5-6 Duke games I have watched closely. Parker finds himself out of position a lot. He over commits on hedges and gets burned. He has pretty poor footwork, especially on the perimeter. Stands too upright. Wiggins is 3x the defender that Parker is. Doesnt always translate to steals (which, honestly comes more from bad defense when you gamble), blocks or def. rebounds...

Laley23;1583385 wrote:Come one. K even took him out in games earlier this year cause of his defense.

And Wiggins is a 2/3 on the perimeter for Kansas. Of course Parker will have more rebounds and blocks lol. That is one of the odder statement youve made. You expect Wiggins to get 10 rebounds a night with Embiid, Black and Perry down on the blocks all game?

Im just saying what Ive noticed in the 5-6 Duke games I have watched closely. Parker finds himself out of position a lot. He over commits on hedges and gets burned. He has pretty poor footwork, especially on the perimeter. Stands too upright. Wiggins is 3x the defender that Parker is. Doesnt always translate to steals (which, honestly comes more from bad defense when you gamble), blocks or def. rebounds...

I'm just saying that I don't think you're giving him nearly enough credit. Sure, he's struggled defensively certain points this year, but he's also had some really great games in that area as well. As a help defender, he's quite good. His performance cannot be judged based on a small sample of games, which I'm betting that most non-Duke fans here are doing.

We will have to agree to disagree.

reclegend22;1583387 wrote:I'm just saying that I don't think you're giving him nearly enough credit. Sure, he's struggled defensively certain points this year, but he's also had some really great games in that area as well. As a help defender, he's quite good. His performance cannot be judged based on a small sample of games, which I'm betting that most non-Duke fans here are doing.

We will have to agree to disagree.

Im sure he can be a good defender at times. Defense is almost always about effort. If he got in a defensive stance more often, it would eliminate a ton of easy baskets that Duke gives up. Thats all I am saying. Teams get way to many lay-ups from simple drives, picks, cross screens etc on Duke.

Laley23;1583388 wrote:Im sure he can be a good defender at times. Defense is almost always about effort. If he got in a defensive stance more often, it would eliminate a ton of easy baskets that Duke gives up. Thats all I am saying. Teams get way to many lay-ups from simple drives, picks, cross screens etc on Duke.

Agreed about defense and effort. Earlier in the year, it was evident that Parker was not always giving maximum effort defensively. Since Duke was playing seven guys (and, much to my dismay, not playing Marshall Plumlee at all), Parker was playing out of position at center a lot of the time and doing almost everything in the front-court by himself (as Amile Jefferson had yet to really come on). I think he knew how important he was offensively and was trying to not overexert himself.

Parker still is prone on occasion to coast defensively, though. I do admit that. When he does play to his abilities, Parker is an effective defender who, with his skill and intelligence as a basketball player, makes great plays. Off the ball, he's generally demonstrated to be outstanding playing the passing lanes and as a help-side shot blocker/rebounder.

That was a GOD AWFUL charge call. GOD AWFUL.