Because there is potential to be better and you have aspirations for Championships. Because every good opponent…including TCU…exposed the back line. Because there is enough talent on the team to play more than kick it long and hope the chips fall right. That’s not a winning tactic unless you’re OK with losing against teams of comparable talent.
what do you suggest they change? Duke lost big players in key spots. Impossible to replace that immediately.
I don't pretend to know the game or team's personnel as well as the coaching staff, but it would seem that adjustments could be made. 4 back line instead of 3 backs Get 3 forwards on the field and let 2 wingers provide width instead of trying to get width from the wing backs in the 3 back set. Then let the outside backs overlap when possible instead of them being the only outside option. They need someone at the 10 that can pick out a pass, connect to attack, and combine. I'm sure that's all easier said than done.
Maybe the coaches read this post? Since UNC they’ve been playing a more conventional 4-3-3 and are pushing the ball up field more directly. Way more offense and scoring opportunities. And have 3 clean sheets.
The United Soccer Coaches rankings for Duke this week are bizarre. Duke drops to #12 from #7 after a week in which it had wins against Wake Forest (#33 RPI) and Pitt (#8 RPI). Hate to see what would happen if Duke lost.
The way the coaches poll is structured is a complete joke yet people on here continue to defend it for some reason.
A 5-1 thrashing last night probably won't help their cause to move up in the rankings. However, the 4-0 loss FSU took last weekend didn't seem to move them. It's anyone's guess what way these coaches will vote.
Unfortunately Duke is demonstrating that they just can't beat the the really strong teams they need to beat to win the ACC or have a long run in the tournament. No losses against weaker teams but no signature wins. Notre Dame will be a big test...hopefully they can break the pattern.
The rankings are nothing more than busy coaches quickly voting after the weekend. They don't take the time to scour the results thoroughly. So something that jumps out will catch their attention and move a team up or down. But otherwise it is lazy voting.
Yo…it’s ok if you want to recant and regroup. Come join the fun. Sports are often an emotional roller coaster. That’s why we love it…the highs are great, but the lows can be very tough as well. The Duke season has been a ride. Would be a shame if you tapped out at the first sign of adversity.
I was rooting for Duke as helping hold the banner for the ACC. Disappointed that the lost, but they made it pretty close with a team that was rated as #1 in the country for a few weeks. I don't see a loss after two overtimes as a significant failure .
The hurt of the post-season exit usually wears off with some perspective over time. There are lots and lots of schools, and lots and lots of players, that would love to be in the Quarterfinals every year. Do Duke fans really think they underperformed as a #2 seed losing away in OT to a #1 in the round of 8? With an RPI #7 losing to RPI #2? And I hope the NCAA just starts saying "OT" with the new rules. You can't lose in 1OT or 2OT anymore but I think the scoring software is still set up that way. The OT just has 2 halves that must be played. I guess you could say the Bama goal came in the first OT but the scorebook seems to say the game was decided with "2OT". Not confusing at all....
Underperformance is relative to expectations right? There are not lots and lots of schools who get recruits that are touted as best in class. Im sure some think they should be better than a 2 seed and certainly better than Alabama no matter what seedings say. Miami beat Alabama. Correct?
Not having seen Alabama play this year, I certainly didn't expect them to be as strong as they were. This is a big athletic team with a number of very high quality players. They used lots of high pressure against Duke and dominated the mid-field which gave them much of the possession and a number of good scoring chances. Duke defended well but you knew that eventually Alabama would break through, which they did. With a 2-0 lead Alabama took its foot off the gas a bit and Duke showed how dangerous it is to leave Cooper unmarked in the box. Duke could have easily won the game if Lynch finished her wide-open chance in front of the Alabama goal near the end of regulation. As with many games this season, Duke was very competitive but just couldn't find a way to win against an elite opponent. To say that Duke should certainly be better than Alabama doesn't give much credit to Alabama's team this year. They deserved the win over Duke and deserve to be in the final four. The real test will be to see how they do against the teams that Duke couldn't beat this season.
Maybe you misunderstood me or i was not clear. My point was expectations would be Duke>Alabama. How many highly touted recruits do Alabama have? How many Alabama players are current of recent youth Internationals? Serepca, an Alabama starter, was a UVA reserve. I have not posted much, but been consistent that any of the teams in the last 16 could win any one off game. Expectations would still be Duke are "better" than Alabama. Hope that helps
So you’re saying Duke is recruiting the wrong kids? Just because they had more kids that played for elite clubs you “expect” Rpi #7 to beat #2?? I think the committee got it right.
This is one way to look at teams and it is a valid way to do it. But, it is not the only way: Using end-of-season RPI ratings as adjusted for home field advantage, the rating difference between Alabama and Duke was 0.0338 in favor of Alabama. With that rating difference, the Alabama win-tie-loss likelihoods from an Alabama perspective are 53.9%-26.4%-19.7%. The likelihoods are based on the ratings of teams and the results in all regular season games played since 2007. Whatever we may think of the RPI as a Rating system, the likelihoods are correct. Some experts advocate looking at multiple systems when evaluating teams. I am beginning to appreciate that point of view.
im not criticizing the committee. Im not ranking the teams. Im not saying they recruited the wrong kids. Its a one off game. Duke could easily have won and the committee still got it right. Im addressing fan expectations and some of what its based on. My comment was a response to the OP. My bad.