Hold basketball to higher standard

The Chronicle’s opinion pieces on the men’s basketball team consistently over-praise the team and do not hold it up to a high enough standard.

I, too, am very excited about this year’s team and the performances it has given so far. However, claims like we have a threesome as good as any in the nation are overreaching (better three-player tandems on Kansas and Kentucky immediately come to mind) and demonstrate an extremely biased analysis.

About a month ago a Chronicle article asserted that the reason Duke hasn’t been to a Final Four (or even Elite Eight for that matter) for the past five season was simply some bad luck. The team and students deserve a more measured, and sometimes critical, analysis of the team. The sports pages should express disappointment when the team does not play up to the Duke standard and give reasons why the team was lacking.

Additionally, it is too early to crown this year’s team, there is a lot of basketball left to be played. I think this Duke team and the teams for the next couple of seasons can be great, but the basketball players and Coach K are not flawless, and they should not be treated as such.

Mark Strom

Pratt ’11

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