Discuss, if you will.
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Discuss, if you will.
Well, a disappointing second half...but let's give some credit to UNC. The way they played in the second half...they don't lose to anyone.
We didn't shoot well in the second half, which we needed to do for the full game, but this is a game that UNC won, not that Duke lost.
Duke, tell us what happened?
More talent for the baby blues pure and simple as much as it pains me to write it. No player who can handle Lawson. Let's not over analyze this one.
I'm not saying Coach K has done a bad job. He's done a very good job, but he has not done a championship caliber job with the program the last few years. Our personnel just isn't there. UNC out talented us in the 2nd half.
Emotional turning point of the game IMO was the technical on Kyle for the elbow to Hansbrough.
The call, the delay, the confusion, just seemed to knock the team down a level in terms of energy. Prior to that they were maintaining such a sharp edge of proficiency.
First off, a congratulations is in order for Bilas...
(I was admittedly one who used to wholly defend Bilas, because I really enjoyed his analyses, but he finally crossed a line with me earlier this year.)
I hate to seem negative, but I think tonight we just saw the limitations of our team compared to a team with significant talent. Yes, we have talent, too, but no one can play Lawson, that's all there is to it. As I posted in another thread, I just really want to know how much of our offensive explosion in the first half might have been Duke actually being in sync, versus how much of it was just due to Carolina playing pathetic defense.
Carolina would be such a different team without Lawson. Damn, I wish he'd gone pro.
At the beginning of the season, I thought Duke was an Elite Eight team. As we piled up wins in dominating fashion -- with incredibly efficient offense and defense -- I thought we were a Final Four team. Now, I can see how we could lose a Sweet Sixteen match-up. It's not just because we lost to UNC or Clemson...but it's the realization that we rely so much on the jumpshot
Relative to other top teams, we do not have a consistent, high percentage way of generating offense. Some ways of getting a consistent offense: fast breaks, forcing turnovers (e.g. via press), dominant post player, or a player who can penetrate at will. We don't really have any of those. Our pressure D is great against teams with poor guards, but in the NCAA tournament we'll see teams with good guards. We don't have a dominant post player. Henderson and Smith have the ability to penetrate, but they hardly do. Bottom line, when our jumpshot is not falling, we struggle. I understand that if you can maintain a top tier defense, you can minimize the ups and downs of the jumpshot; but in the lose-and-you're-done nature of the NCAA tournament, where we will be playing against other good teams, our defense may not carry us far enough when we shoot horribly.
If you think about why UNC is a consensus preseason #1 and still considered by most with the best chance to win the whole thing, they have a lot of those factors: they use the fast break often; they have a dominant post player in Hansbrough (Thompson and Davis are also quite good); and they have a guard that can penetrate at will in Lawson. On top of those things they have several capable shooters. It's no wonder their offense is one of the best in the nation...their defense just has to be adequate for them to win games, and it's not hard to make that extra effort to step up your defense in big games.
If our jumpshots are falling, we can beat any team in the nation. And while I expect us to get at least to the Sweet Sixteen, every game after is going to be a jumpshot coin toss.
Lawson was a difference maker for the heels, and missing open 3s was a difference maker for us. We killed them in the first half with little curls into the lane and hitting 8-10 ft runners, especially after Hansbrough's 2nd foul. They adjusted in the 2nd half and were sagging more in the lane, leaving us open for 3s that we didn't hit.
Overall I don't think we played badly, but Lawson is quite a force when he doesn't press, which he tends to do when his opposite number is lighting up the joint. We simply didn't have a solution for him.
Hansbrough wasn't quite the difference he's been in past meetings, but that ridiculous 3 when the shot clock was nearly up effectively ended our chance to come back At that point 12 was a hole we couldn't dig out of.
I didn't think we played badly, Carolina just played better tonight. They don't necessarily have better talent (with the possible, ok likely, exception of Lawson), they just have deeper talent. When Deon Thompson is killing you, you know you're in trouble.
-c
Just ONE guy, please, give us an "inside presence".
We gave it a run but just didn't have enough in the end. Carolina is clearly a National Title contender and while it sucks to lose to them, I don't think anyone can argue that they aren't a better team than Duke. Lawson is unstoppable, there is no one in the country who can guard him one v one.
The difference between this years loss and last years win at the Dean Dump is simple. We made our threes the whole game and Lawson didn't play.
Great game UNC, but ruining Tyler's senior night just like he did to JJ would be some pretty sweet revenge.
More troubling to me than this loss (and, boy, do I hate all things UNC), is the fact that Duke has lost 4 of the last 6 Halves (vs. Clemson, Miami & UNC) by double digits. Maybe, as John Feinstein wrote... Duke just isn't all that good. Certainly tonight, UNC's relentlessly efficient offense trumped Duke's vaunted defense... and the Devils are so streaky on offense... hot & cold... *** sigh ***
Yeah, does anyone here actually think that wasn't intentional? I found it completely unforgivable, even at the time. Unless Tyler was giving him a hidden purple nurple under there or something that was just uncalled for. Looked nothing like a "slip" of the hand to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by OldSchool
p.s. I still consider Henderson's elbow an accident, albeit perhaps a little reckless.
I still love Duke. Goodnight. :rolleyes::)
Agreed. Everything that Jay Bilas (and Hubert Davis, who is an excellent studio guy, too) said in the SportsCenter analysis was spot on. We are an excellent team....a Top 10 team...but not an elite Top 3 or 4 team...and not a top favorite for the Final Four.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lulu
So what? We can still play at a high enough level to make a deep run in the tournament. This game was one which we all knew would be a tough one to win.
Jay and Hubert were very good (also very good at halftime). No Jay bashing for what he said today (or, really, for whatever he says).
I for one would like to not hear the usual "we lost because we rely on jump shots" thing for this one. North Carolina scored over 100 points. We missed some jumpers at bad times, but that's part of basketball. We still got 87. Ty Lawson is really good, Carolina is really good, but we can do better against them than giving up 57 points in the second half. That is not a goal that is too high for our talent or the expectations that this team has on defense. For whatever reason, the team did not bring it at a necessary level on the defensive end in the second half. We had a bad scoring drought, yes, but good defense weathers those. It hurts to lose to UNC but I think that the team is capable of more. Hopefully there will be highs to help forget these lows.
Looking at it from the Duke end (which is how I normally view things), Duke shot poorly in the second half, and gave up a ridiculous amount of lay-ups. That is all very clear. Tough to win with that going on. Duke definitely played hard. They just needed to shoot a lot better if they were going to give up so many lay-ups. Duke's biggest problem today was defense. 101 points is too many (said Captain Obvious).
Yes, if our jumpshots are falling, we can keep pace with anyone. But our percentage on jumpshots for the year isn't that good. So that doesn't mean that much that often against elite teams.
I totally agree that the turning point emotionally was the Singler elbow. Stupid move on his part. It wasn't all *that* flagrant, but the call was correct.
Lots of unforced turnovers as we tried to play on the edge to keep up. And Lawson was phenomenal, JWill-esque out there. UNC deserved it, no question.
The elbow was clearly UNINTENTIONAL. Anyone who suggest it wasn't is either blind or something worse.