Duke
Lea: No easy layups for Duke in East region of NCAA Tournament
Chris Lea looks at Duke's road to the 2023 Final Four as the NCAA Tournament bracket is announced. WRAL Sports+ had instant analysis of the teams and seeds.
Yeah, I'm looking now, sorry, I, I I'm just, my audio settings are completely off. I guess these things aren't actually connected to my arm. That's ok. I have to have all the time. Um And sorry that my eyes look crazy. Um Allergies have been kicking my butt now, I've been looking at the bracket right now. Yes. So Chris, we've seen Duke as the five seed in the East region and N C state as the 11 seed, I believe in the south region. What are your thoughts overall on the local teams and how they've matched up, Um, yeah, I really, as far as for N C State, we'll start there first. Um I think they're right now in a very winnable game against Creighton. Uh, you know, Creighton usually is a pretty good shooting team. I haven't really watched him a lot this season. Uh We've seen N C State get hot from uh the field before, uh especially with Jarque Joyner and Taian Smith, Casey Marcel can also add to that. So it's definitely a wonderful game for N C state, their position to potentially make, you know, a little bit of a run that maybe some people may not expect for Duke. They have a lot tougher of a draw, I think a lot of people expected. after, uh you know, winning the AC C tournament that they'd be able to one get a higher seed in Virginia, which they didn't and two land in Greensboro and they didn't do that. So now they're in Orlando, which isn't too bad of a, of a trip for, for Duke, but then also they're going against an oral Roberts team, uh, in the first round who, um, you know, I, I haven't watched them but just from everything I've read about them so far, undefeated in the Summit League. Of course, they, they won their, their tournament and they're just a hard out but against, uh, tougher teams like Houston, um, bigger teams like that. Earl Roberts hasn't done so well, but we'll see what they end up doing against Duke. That was also earlier in the season. Uh, and, and I'm sure that team has grown so much, uh, since then and then it doesn't stop from there for Duke if they win that and Tennessee wins their game and then they're going against Tennessee in the next round and also, uh, in the same bracket. They have Kentucky Michigan State. uh Marquette and also uh Perdue all in, in Memphis, all in the same uh bracket for uh for Duke. So, you know, Duke is probably gonna have uh probably the toughest out. yeah, that, that was kind of my thought looking at what they had going on there, uh, with, with that matchup, that 5 12 matchup is always, is always tough, Chris, especially for, you know, that, that five seed. So it'll be interesting to see how that kind of comes down. Now, let's talk about big picture for these two teams. I think you kind of hinted at it there a little bit with state. Uh What do you think is the glass half full way of looking at this, this state situation? Do you think the wolfpack could make a run in the tournament here? yeah. So like if we just go look at their bracket right here, there's a chance they beat, uh Creighton and then, uh their next team would be Baylor. Now, if Baylor uh beats uh U CS B, now, Baylor is always known for their stifling defense. And if N C State can't shoot. Uh, and we saw that in the AC C tournament, uh, when they went against Clemson, they can't shoot, sometimes they can kind of fall their way out of the game. But if they can, um, hit and, and show their athleticism and get those quick shots off and make those, uh, then they can make that run. So let's say if they were to move on to the sweet 16, then you're possibly going against an Arizona team, uh, possibly going against a Missouri. Um And, you know, and that'll be kind of a tough game uh for them. So it's possible that N C state gets to the sweet 16. Uh I think, uh getting past that is a little bit of a stretch, I think. Uh, second round for sure, uh is something that is very much so possible, but that is uh I would say sweet, sweet 16 is probably uh the, the most I would see out of this uh N C state team, So, I, I think that's, I, I, it's interesting there because they looking at their bracket, I haven't had a chance to really break down each part yet, but that, that south region is definitely difficult. Now, Duke, we look at how they've played over the last month or so and they've been on fire, uh, for, for the most part, they've had a few games here. where they've shot incredibly well from outside. You're really seeing their young players stepping up and growing, not just as a player, but growing into the role that John Shire has for this team. So, let's be honest here, let's be real. Do you think Duke could make a deep run in this NCAA tournament? You know, it's, it's tough, right? Because uh there's a lot of tough teams that they possibly have to go through uh in, in starting with oral Roberts, right? And, and we know that you know, 12 seeds love to upset five seeds. So, you know, we can't really look too far ahead for Duke and, and, you know, you can't look over that first round. So if they can handle or Roberts, the next is, is Tennessee haven't watched a lot of Tennessee. But, um, you know, that seems like maybe something that Duke could possibly win. But here's the interesting thing if Duke makes it to the sweet 16 and we're going to assume that the number one seed makes it all the way through, which is Perdue This is a rematch from a game earlier in the season for Duke where they lost, uh, by almost 20 points. I had it pulled up right here. They lost actually by 19 points in that game and that was their second loss of the season. And up until that point, Duke lost to number six, Kansas. They lost to number 24 Perdue since then. Perdue. Absolutely jumped their way up and one of the top teams in the country, which is why they had that number one seed. Um, and so it'll be interesting to see how Kyle Filipowski. and uh and um also Derek Lively have grown since that time, uh to go up against Zach Ey because he's gonna be a load down there in the paint But here's also another thing, Duke was unhealthy uh at the beginning, beginning of the season and also during that game and since Duke has been healthy, they have been 18 and one. So now Duke is healthy. We haven't heard of any injuries. I think Greek whitehead, uh was feeling a little bit on his leg in the AC C tournament, but he looked like he finished that Virginia game. pretty well, uh with no issues. And so we'll see if Duke can kind of continue that run. And, uh, they, they have the setup to potentially do that, but they're gonna have to really go through some tough teams like they just did in the AC C tournament. Let's think about it. Pitt was very close to winning the AC C outright and, uh, that was one of the toughest teams in the AC C. They, through them. They beat the number one seed in the AC C tournament, Miami who also beat them by double digits earlier in the season. So we've already seen that this Duke team, Duke team can come back and beat the team that beat them by double digits uh afterwards and then, uh the Virginia game, uh they absolutely, you know, kept Virginia at bay and Virginia can never really get as close, uh closer than maybe two or three points in that uh championship game. So they've already went against some top teams in the nation uh through the AC C tournament. So it's possible that Duke can make a similar run in the NCAA tournament. Uh, they'll just have to go through a lot of tough teams. There's not gonna be a lot of lay ups in, in that east region