Bad game for the Dukies. They looked listless today. Hope Coach G didn't have a chance to watch this.
I think that Gail would not have let that happened if she were there. But I also think that McCallie is a very good coach. She took Mich. State to the championship one year and has not done a bad job this year- especially with Duke losing Harding.
Well, Duke fans are NOT happy with McCallie. This embarrassing loss will certainly make the natives even more restless. I feel sorry for the Duke players, I know if I were a player, I'd be very upset to lose a coach like Gail.
I don't think McCallie knows how to direct a team with Duke's personnel. Her teams have been built to get offensive boards and almost exclusively play zone to prevent getting beat on defense. This Duke team is a portrait of Gail's preferred style- guards who can press and push, and post players who run the floor well. When I watch Abby Waner, I can only think that must be exactly what Gail was like as a player. It seems a little bit like the Duke players don't completely trust McCallie. They all came there TO PLAY FOR GAIL. It's not like Texas, where a lot of players grow up in Texas, feeling allegiance to Texas, and want to play for the premier university in their home state. Gail recruited these girls nationally to come to Duke to play for her. It has to be very hard for them to lose the coach they love; any replacement was going to be chopped liver in comparison. I know this was a hard decision for GG and I am thrilled that she chose to grace the Erwin Center with her presence. Edit: Wow, I've been reading the Duke WBB Board on Scout, and they HATE coach P. I actually would have been half-way satisfied if she had been hired as Jody's replacement. I guess Gail is just a damn hard act to follow.
I would agree. Waner looks like a shell of the player she has been in the past. It almost looks like the confidence has been beaten out of her.
BELIEVE ME, you NOT be happy if Joanne P. Mc were here.... TRUST ME on this one..... I thank the Fates every day we got Coach G. EVERY DAY.... Long Live the (new) Queen..
Losing Harding has nothing to do with this. Duke lost Beard, Tillis, Krapohl, Brit Hunter (to transfer), and Harding (to suspension), and still went 31-5 and made the Elite Eight. Last year, Duke lost Monique Currie, Mistie Williams, and Jessica Foley, plus Chante Black for the season with an injury, and still went undefeated in the regular season. Duke lost big players to graduation and still managed to win 30 or more games for the last seven years. Duke is now 21-8. The eight losses are the most since 1997-1998 and most regular season losses since 1996-1997. The team has defeated one top ten opponent all year (Rutgers). Texas has defeated more top ten opponents this year (Baylor and OU...and would have been more had the team won in Waco). How bad has it been? This is the worst shooting Duke team since the introduction of the three point shot 20 years ago. The last time Duke went without a Kodak All-American was 1998, but that will happen this year. The team has 8 McDonald's All-Americans on its roster. So what happened today? Some Duke notes from the game: - Broke a streak of 109 straight games with at least one three-pointer as the Blue Devils went 0-of-12. - The Blue Devils went 0-for-7 from three-point land in the first half marking the eighth time this season Duke has not hit a three-pointer in the first half. - Had a season-high 18 turnovers in the first half and went on to have a season-high 27 for the game. - Had its worst regular season ACC loss, 82-51, since a 97-61 loss to Virginia on Feb.13, 1993. - Suffered its worst loss since Feb. 13, 1993 to Virginia, 97-61. - The 31-point loss to UNC was the fourth-worst in series history (34 in 1982, 33 in 1979 and 32 in 1976).
Cam, I am really sorry. Watching Duke the past couple of years, I always wanted us to be able to find the "next" GG. Never did I think we would get the real thing. I have really been pulling for Duke this year, mainly because I don't want the sting of losing Gail to be that bad for the players. After reading some of the things that McCallie has supposedly said to/about the Duke players, I do not think this will end well. Then again, Alleva really might not care, so it might not end at all. Duke, obviously, would have been well-served to hire Joanne Boyle, but I vaguely remember her wanting to stay in Berkeley. I think it's very classy of you to be a positive poster over here, and you don't seem like you're bitter towards Texas for taking Gail. Best of luck to Duke the rest of the season. I still think this team is Sweet 16 material.
My respect and admiration for Coach G doesn't end just because she isn't at Duke. If you look at her record and her achievements, she has been the 3rd best coach in women's basketball over the last 10 years (behind only Auriemma and Summitt). She literally built a program from the ground up. When she got to Duke, the team had made one NCAA tournament in school history and averaged less then 500 fans per game. 400 wins later, 4 Final Fours, 7 straight 30 win seasons, etc...well, that goes a long way to earning my respect. And she has it, no matter where she is.
