More negatives than positives in Duke basketball loss to North Carolina

There were more negatives than positives for the Duke basketball team in its most recent loss. 

The hopes and dreams of the Duke basketball team might have been thrown out the window in its loss to North Carolina on Saturday night.

Duke, who already had very little room for error, could not afford to drop a home game to a fellow struggling team in the Tar Heels and still hope to get an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament, but alas.

However, there were more negatives than positives for the Blue Devils in the most recent loss, aside from their offensive burst against Roy Williams’ squad.

Coming off a terrible loss against Miami (FL), Duke needed to show energy and passion for a full 40 minutes, and that only showed through the television in spurts during its rivalry matchup.

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Maybe it was because there were no fans, but Duke-Carolina never felt like true Duke-Carolina.

Yes, social media was still buzzing with chatter and trash talk from the fanbases of both teams, but the atmosphere in the arena just wasn’t the same. And perhaps that’s why it didn’t feel like the rivalry everyone grew accustomed to.

However, the action on the court was certainly tremendous, if you didn’t have true care as to who emerged as victorious.

Duke basketball still with a lot of work to do

After victories over Georgia Tech and Clemson, it looked like the Blue Devils were turning a corner.

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That all changed with the loss to Miami, and while the Hurricanes getting the home victory might have been a result of Duke not being mentally locked in, the loss to North Carolina proved that there is still a lot of work to be done for this squad.

So with all that being said, let’s start with some positives in this edition of ‘Stock Up’.