Duke

[stmdragons]

http://espn.go.com/blog/CollegeBasketballNation/post/_/id/18690/new-dukies-could-be-another-classic-team

They just beat the hell out of No. 4 K-State. I'm dreading Dec. 11. It will most likely be a bloodbath.

[Pistol]

http://espn.go.com/blog/CollegeBasketballNation/post/_/id/18690/new-dukies-could-be-another-classic-team

They just beat the hell out of No. 4 K-State. I'm dreading Dec. 11. It will most likely be a bloodbath.

And with #2 Michigan State losing last night, they're looking like a distant #1 right now. I'm dreading the beatdowns we're sure to hear based on The Incident and I'm glad Mitchell and Reed won't be there to hear it.

I will, though. Might need to drink a bit before that game.

[moytoy12]

Honestly, it's a no-lose situation. We get to go play the best and everyone expects us to get a gigantic beat down. That is likely to happen, but at the end of the day, that won't hurt us in the eyes of anyone watching. Duke is supposed to kill us. Anything better than getting killed and we're ahead.

Also, I'm sure CBS will often repeat how our 2 best guys are suspended and unavailable.

[HusakAttack]

And with #2 Michigan State losing last night, they're looking like a distant #1 right now. I'm dreading the beatdowns we're sure to hear based on The Incident and I'm glad Mitchell and Reed won't be there to hear it.

I will, though. Might need to drink a bit before that game.

Drink a bit before an 11 AM game? I like your style

[Pistol]

Drink a bit before an 11 AM game? I like your style

It's going to be a fun little trip. Get in about 1 on Friday, bar hop all day and evening around Durham, wake up and hit the hotel breakfast (maybe get a drink or two before the slaughter- I don't know, might not have time), get to Cameron early to gawk, and take in the game before heading back to the airport. I won't know what hit me.

Good point, Moy. No one expects us to even make this a game, so I hope we at least make it interesting and get 99% of the people watching CBS that morning to be Billikens for a day.

[The Wiz]

Honestly, it's a no-lose situation. We get to go play the best and everyone expects us to get a gigantic beat down. That is likely to happen, but at the end of the day, that won't hurt us in the eyes of anyone watching. Duke is supposed to kill us. Anything better than getting killed and we're ahead.

Also, I'm sure CBS will often repeat how our 2 best guys are suspended and unavailable.

+1

This will be a good experience for us. We will be playing the best which will ramp our game up. That will help us in future games. Once you have played the best the Xaviers and Temples will seem less daunting. Duke is not use to seeing defense and we will try to throw a shell on them. This may throw them off a bit and I think we keep the game close for awhile. They have so much depth though, they will eventually wear us down. However if they take us a little to lightly and we can stay close into the 2nd half....there is always an outside chance...

[Billikan]

Honestly, it's a no-lose situation. We get to go play the best and everyone expects us to get a gigantic beat down. That is likely to happen, but at the end of the day, that won't hurt us in the eyes of anyone watching. Duke is supposed to kill us. Anything better than getting killed and we're ahead.

Also, I'm sure CBS will often repeat how our 2 best guys are suspended and unavailable.

What is amazing to me is how uninformed some folks are about our situation. Dicky V and his partner were doing the Duke-Marquette game on ESPN and they were talking about Duke's schedule. Dicky V commented that they had to play Rick Majerus's St. Louis team and they always play tough, etc. The lead announcer said yes, that will be a tough opponent because they were good last year and have all five starters back. Incredible that they did not know anything about our situation!

[ACE]

What is amazing to me is how uninformed some folks are about our situation. Dicky V and his partner were doing the Duke-Marquette game on ESPN and they were talking about Duke's schedule. Dicky V commented that they had to play Rick Majerus's St. Louis team and they always play tough, etc. The lead announcer said yes, that will be a tough opponent because they were good last year and have all five starters back. Incredible that they did not know anything about our situation!

It is not really that incredible they didn't know about our situation. We are unranked team that very rarely plays on national tv.

[MKE_Billiken]

It is not really that incredible they didn't know about our situation. We are unranked team that very rarely plays on national tv.

I grew up in STL and had season tickets to the Billikens. I came up to Milwaukee for school and now live up here. I am a season ticket holder to Marquette basketball games. We just played Duke and one of our message boards (muscoop.com) has a thread going on about Dike "Dookie" V and his 'preparation' for games. Here is what some have said:

- I remember a conversation with someone who used to work for ESPN. Vitale showed up on the set of SportsCenter and knew nothing about the team he was supposed to discuss. Not sure which team it was, but he asked the guy "what can you tell me about X?" The guy did some quick research, got their leading scorer, and fed some info to Vitale. Moments later, Vitale goes on air screaming "Oh baby, look out for the X's, and this kid (blank), leading them in scoring, is phenomenal, I love him, baby!"

As Benny said, Dickie V has a talent for turning a minute amount of information into the appearance of expertise. But he's only as encyclopedic as the producers that are feeding him the fuel for his schtick.

- Saw Dickie V 3 or 4 times at our hotel--breakfast and in lobby. The guy with him all the time was Schwab (Sp?). I am told he is ESPN's stat guru. Guess Dickie goes nowhere without him.

From what some have said, Dick Vitale doesnt know half as much about things as he portrays. If the SLU/Duke game is announced by Dickie V... mute it. Watching the Marquette/Duke game Monday was brutal. Dickie V has no shame in his love for all things Duke or Coach K... and it will likely be worse now since K got his 800th.

[slubilliken09]

It's going to be a fun little trip. Get in about 1 on Friday, bar hop all day and evening around Durham, wake up and hit the hotel breakfast (maybe get a drink or two before the slaughter- I don't know, might not have time), get to Cameron early to gawk, and take in the game before heading back to the airport. I won't know what hit me.

Good point, Moy. No one expects us to even make this a game, so I hope we at least make it interesting and get 99% of the people watching CBS that morning to be Billikens for a day.

You're going to the game?

Jealous. Should be a blast. If/when we win, make sure you storm the court.

[Scoop]

I grew up in STL and had season tickets to the Billikens. I came up to Milwaukee for school and now live up here. I am a season ticket holder to Marquette basketball games. We just played Duke and one of our message boards (muscoop.com) has a thread going on about Dike "Dookie" V and his 'preparation' for games. Here is what some have said:

- I remember a conversation with someone who used to work for ESPN. Vitale showed up on the set of SportsCenter and knew nothing about the team he was supposed to discuss. Not sure which team it was, but he asked the guy "what can you tell me about X?" The guy did some quick research, got their leading scorer, and fed some info to Vitale. Moments later, Vitale goes on air screaming "Oh baby, look out for the X's, and this kid (blank), leading them in scoring, is phenomenal, I love him, baby!"

As Benny said, Dickie V has a talent for turning a minute amount of information into the appearance of expertise. But he's only as encyclopedic as the producers that are feeding him the fuel for his schtick.

- Saw Dickie V 3 or 4 times at our hotel--breakfast and in lobby. The guy with him all the time was Schwab (Sp?). I am told he is ESPN's stat guru. Guess Dickie goes nowhere without him.

From what some have said, Dick Vitale doesnt know half as much about things as he portrays. If the SLU/Duke game is announced by Dickie V... mute it. Watching the Marquette/Duke game Monday was brutal. Dickie V has no shame in his love for all things Duke or Coach K... and it will likely be worse now since K got his 800th.

[Scoop]

Dickie V doesn't announce for CBS. Hopefully it will be Bill Rafferty...and the Billikens go, man to man!

[MKE_Billiken]

Dickie V doesn't announce for CBS. Hopefully it will be Bill Rafferty...and the Billikens go, man to man!

didn't realize that it was going to be on CBS. Hopefully it will be Gus Johnson. Gus Johnson Soundboard

[Bizziken]

It's going to be a fun little trip. Get in about 1 on Friday, bar hop all day and evening around Durham, wake up and hit the hotel breakfast (maybe get a drink or two before the slaughter- I don't know, might not have time), get to Cameron early to gawk, and take in the game before heading back to the airport. I won't know what hit me.

Sounds like a pretty nice little Saturday...

[dlarry]

Im just wondering who the hell is going to guard Singler?

And how the hell do they plan on getting any rebounds against the Plumlees.

Usually I dont worry about the Bills getting blown out because I think Majerus is so good he can usually keep it close with game planning. The problem with playing Duke is that you lose that coaching advantage and it almost becomes a coaching disadvatage.

One thing that will come out of this is that it will be a good measuring stick for our young guards. THey will get to see how they stack up against, possibly, the best freshman guard in America.

[Bizziken]

1. I'm so glad Duke already won Coach Krdjfkdjgsfjasdkjdski's 800th...

2. We have no one to guard Singler (maybe Evans)[EDIT: Sorry dlarry, great minds think alike, I guess]

3. I'm interested to see how JJ and MM guard Irving (Duke's top 10 recruit) and Curry...

4. I HATE the Plumlee brothers...I hope Conklin breaks their kneecaps...

5. Before us, their previous games include: Marquette, Kansas State, Oregon, Michigan State, and Butler...Ouch!

[slubilliken09]

1. I'm so glad Duke already won Coach Krdjfkdjgsfjasdkjdski's 800th...

2. We have no one to guard Singler (maybe Evans)[EDIT: Sorry dlarry, great minds think alike, I guess]

3. I'm interested to see how JJ and MM guard Irving (Duke's top 10 recruit) and Curry...

4. I HATE the Plumlee brothers...I hope Conklin breaks their kneecaps...

5. Before us, their previous games include: Marquette, Kansas State, Oregon, Michigan State, and Butler...Ouch!

5. Are those teams good or something?

[Bizziken]

5. Are those teams good or something?

Terrible...worthless even...Hopefully they go undefeated and then have a Billiken hangover....unlikely for a Coach K team though...

[slubilliken09]

Terrible...worthless even...Hopefully they go undefeated and then have a Billiken hangover....unlikely for a Coach K team though...

exactly. Do they have cool mascots?

a) no. Billiken owns everyone. <kanye shrug>

[Pistol]

Still have to get my game tickets, but the plane ticket, hotel, and car are all booked, with some beer destinations already decided upon. The tickets are on a lot of ticketing sites, and prices have been coming down for the past months, so we'll come up with something.

Glad Dickie V can't do the CBS game. MKE, nice contribution- I've always suspected that about Vitale. He's a hype man with minimal knowledge at this point, just a personality to uphold. He's insufferable and the reason I watch so few ACC games.

Looking through the potential matchups is just depressing. I'm just hoping for a Villanova-Georgetown or Chaminade-Virginia type game where we just play out of our damn minds. There is no margin of error whatsoever, and playing like we did in any games so far (yes, even last night's, which featured a slow start and lots of bad turnovers) will get us absolutely crushed. It isn't impossible, and Duke has such a nice big target on their backs.

Plus, they stole their mascot from Maplewood-Richmond Heights High School. So much for a school having any integrity.

[SLUisville]

Dickie V doesn't announce for CBS. Hopefully it will be Bill Rafferty...and the Billikens go, man to man!

If we get Raftery, I'll poop my pants

"TOTHEBIGFELLA!!!!!!"

[Cowboy]

-gus johnson may have nfl duties that weekend, not sure who will do pxp, could be gus if cbs has a less than normal nfl card

[Billikan]

Still have to get my game tickets, but the plane ticket, hotel, and car are all booked, with some beer destinations already decided upon. The tickets are on a lot of ticketing sites, and prices have been coming down for the past months, so we'll come up with something.

Glad Dickie V can't do the CBS game. MKE, nice contribution- I've always suspected that about Vitale. He's a hype man with minimal knowledge at this point, just a personality to uphold. He's insufferable and the reason I watch so few ACC games.

Looking through the potential matchups is just depressing. I'm just hoping for a Villanova-Georgetown or Chaminade-Virginia type game where we just play out of our damn minds. There is no margin of error whatsoever, and playing like we did in any games so far (yes, even last night's, which featured a slow start and lots of bad turnovers) will get us absolutely crushed. It isn't impossible, and Duke has such a nice big target on their backs.

Plus, they stole their mascot from Maplewood-Richmond Heights High School. So much for a school having any integrity.

I am also going to the game and I have watched Duke a couple of times early in the season and they have more talent at guard than maybe any college team I have ever seen. Smith and Irving have all American potential and both could be NBA lottery picks. Then coming off the bench you have two guards who would start and be stars for 95 percent of the teams in the country in Curry and Dawkins. They are incredible 3 point shooters from deep range and are quick defenders. The Plumlee brothers are like the second coming of Bill Lambier from the Pistons. They are clever, dirty and arrogant but they get the job done. Mason, in particular is a great athlete for his size at 6'10" and then you have the returning player of the year in Singler with Kelly, a 6'11" McDonalds all american who can shoot lights out from the 3. And they play ferocious defense which is even better when they play at home. The crowd will be out for blood. If you see some guy in blue who is pummeled and thrown out on the court like a rag doll by the crazies then you will know that Billikan got too loud in cheering our Bills!

[MB73]

I canceled my trip to Durham when SLU broke its own regulations and allowed a highly paid ambulance-chasing-shyster into student court to take down our two best players. It would have been a great trip, fun to see how we matched up with Duke. We would have held our own.

Now, it will be ugly. Duke might have it on auto-cruise and take it easy on us if they are still undefeated. Coach K has class and might let Majerus off the hook. But if they are coming off a loss, they might drive us out of the building by 30+. I don't want to see that.

[JohnnyJumpUp]

-gus johnson may have nfl duties that weekend, not sure who will do pxp, could be gus if cbs has a less than normal nfl card

I hope he's doing nfl, so I don't have to listen to that piece of sh!t, he's a joke.