Duke Basketball season over due to positive Covid test of one player

[USAFRetired_Liberal]

If any of you follow college basketball then you know that Duke is 1 of the top programs in the nation. This year is a down year for them and they probably wouldn’t have made the tournament anyway and if they did then it would have been an early exit...but I wonder if they were having one of their typical years then would they have canceled the remainder of the season or would they have just sat the one player and continued on with the season

Link to tweet

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[redstatebluegirl]

1. I think Coach K and the Alums are embarrassed by this horrible season.

Covid gives them an out without getting beat in the tournament by an also ran who should not even be in the same gym with Duke. Duke has been going downhill for the past few years, I think it is time for Coach K to retire and let someone else take over this storied program. I am a Purdue fan, big time, but I want the best of the best in the tournament. It means nothing if Duke and North Carolina and other great basketball programs are all having a down year, heck even Kansas is suffering.

[Stallion]

3. I Think a Lot of Us are Fine with Duke, North Carolina and Kansas...suffering

I also enjoyed Notre Dame getting drilled by 50+ the other night. I enjoy the NCAA Tournament because everybody has at least got a shot--unlike College Football which is a monopolized by the upper half of about 4 conferences.

[HUAJIAO]

4. But if Duke and NC and Kansas are having down years, then they are not

the best of the best this year, and those teams that ARE doing the best are... the best.

[redstatebluegirl]

8. Of course, but those teams have such a history in the sport, they are the "names" everyone wants to

beat in the tournament. You want to say you beat Duke in the final four or elite 8. Of course they are not the best of the best this year, but some of the teams that will make the tournament aren't either. It was probably the wrong term to use, perhaps I should have said "the historically great programs".

[HUAJIAO]

11. Gotcha..

I always liked seeing the underdogs do well....

[redstatebluegirl]

14. Me too, unless they are beating up on Purdue :-).

[dsc]

2. they pulled off an upset last night in the ACC

not sure if they had a choice in regards to COVID

[USAFRetired_Liberal]

6. Yeah

But this season would still be a crappy season even if they pulled off another few wins and made the tournament. My OP question was more related to if the were in the top 4 and had a great record and a chance to win the championship, then would things have went different with this positive test

[SallyHemmings]

5. A tough end to a tough season

[MoonlitKnight]

7. They have been winning lately

And were set to face a good Florida State team and could make the NCAA with a win. So I doubt it was their choice. FSU now advances to next round. This is the second time this season a FSU vs Duke game has been canceled due to COVID.

[USAFRetired_Liberal]

12. I doubt they had a choice also

I am not questioning that. I am just wondering if they were their traditional Dukie self’s if the powers making that choice would have looked at it differently

[JT45242]

9. Depends on the numbers of players eligible with protocols more than the results of the season

They have already had some opt outs so they had fewer players left.

They may not have had enough players who would have been available to keep playing the ACC tourney and the potential play in game that they would have had early next week.

If you don't have enough bodies to play, you have to shut down.


The whole season has had teams have wonky seasons with stops and starts for covid that usually last ten days which would preclude Duke from being available for the first weekend of the tournament.
Xavier (not the blue blood that is Duke, Kansas, etc) but a solid midmajor that has made the tournament in 15 of the last 17 years has had 3 shutdowns that wrecked a great start to a season that will see them likely miss the tourney.

the 2020-21 covid wonky season is what it is. A lot of teams had seasons totally screwed up by covid -- they could not prepare properly before the season started, they had interruptions in their seasons, they had players get sick, opt out, or lose conditioning while shut down.

I honestly think this was because they would have had too many close contacts to be avilable a week from now when the tournament started.

[BComplex]

10. Major Duke Fan here!!! Coach K is awesome. Duke players are

generally great athletes and Coach K has always made sure of that.

Their win last night was Duke as they usually play. It's been a tough season for a lot of teams, and if coach K and the sports organization at Duke thinks they need to pull out, then I support that.

[USAFRetired_Liberal]

13. Can I ask you a question as a duke fan

If they were having a typical Duke top 5 year and this happened, would you want the rest of the team to play (the fact that you are on DU I think I already know your answer, so what about other Duke fans?)