Duke v. Michigan Post Game Thread

[JDev]

Some positives Duke will take away from NYC (besides a nice trophy!) are G playing like everyone hoped/thought he would, quality minutes from Zoubek, reasonable post production as a unit, and Williams played the best he has thus far. Very promising. Would definately like to see them shoot the three better, but its good that they can win fairly handily withouth knocking them down. Imagine when they are shooting well!

[Bob Green]

I saw the team for the first time after listening to the first four games on the radio. I was impressed with our ball movement and rebounding. Very consistent play by Henderson, Singler, and Smith. Scheyer was off a little offensively but he was good on defense. Zoubek was solid in the first half. The starting line-up is looking good.

[jpfrizzle]

I've always zoned Dickie V out when he's rambling on about god knows what.

I am thrilled Zoubek is producing numbers and healthy for sure, the team will most def need his presence later in the conference games. If Zoubek would gain more weight and muscle, he'd be a powerful force in the paint! As for Thomas, I gotta say "impressive playing", this guy is having a great starting season.. The way Duke played tonight, this season is going to be a very memorable season with alot of weapons on and off the bench.


GO DUKE ! ! ! ! !

[miramar]

Duke was only 4/20 from 3-point range (20%), but 20-30 from 2-point (67%). Free throws were good (76%), and the defense excellent (36% field goals for Michigan). Rebounding was also good (34 vs. 25 for Michigan, with 9 rebounds for Singler).

Scheyer hit an early three but missed his next 6 shots, but he still contributed with 6 rebounds and 5-5 from the free throw line.

[dukegirlinsc]

I didn't want to start a new thread about it, it wasn't THAT important...

But Jay williams is doing commentary for the UCSB/UNC game on ESPNU.

[elvis14]

I really liked how we showed patience on offense and essentially picked that 1-3-1 part. If we have a better shooting night, we could had a second straight blow out. Really like the way the team is starting to click. What a fun 2 nights of watching basketball.

[Newton_14]

Solid overall game.

They are still very much finding their way on offense but it is getting a little better game by game. Can't wait to see them put a complete game together on offense and defense...

The big man by committee is really looking well. Did not expect to see a lot of Miles tonight for 2 reasons. 1. Michigan's style is very difficult to defend for post players and 2. It was the 2nd game in as many nights. K held all 3 of the freshman out of the 1st half of game 2 last week, so it seems he wants to not ask too much of them too early.

I think it is now safe to say we have depth... for real... and K intends to use it. For several years now our teams have been labeled as "deep" early in the year and it ends up being fools gold. Have not checked the numbers yet, but last night 10 guys got at least 10 minutes or more... very good sign

And all 10 made good contributions.. Defensively there is no drop off at all when the bench players come in, or at the least very little drop off..

Very unique team with a lot of weapons both inside and out... this team will not depend on the 3 ball to win games..

My only complaint thus far is why they do not look to run more.. I expected to see them really push the ball always looking for break opportunities and keep constant pressure on the opponents defense but not so much yet...

And just to have a little fun, looks like the Saluki's were the ones that ended up with the "Saluki Hangover"... they played UCLA tight until about the 10 minute mark of the 2nd half and the hangover kicked in... I seem to recall ChicagoSaluki saying no way Duke would win the Friday game no matter which team they played... I would say our guys seemed to have plenty of energy available to handle Michigan...

[wisteria]

I seem to recall ChicagoSaluki saying no way Duke would win the Friday game no matter which team they played... I would say our guys seemed to have plenty of energy available to handle Michigan...

Heh... He said he would come back no matter which team won. I'm still waiting for him to show up...

[ForeverBlowingBubbles]

liked what i saw from the guards and singler again...

but still think we are absolutly 100% no doubt dead in the end if LT and Zoubek don't learn how to rebound at atleast the shooting guard level

[ACCBBallFan]

Playing 9 guys 12 minutes or more was good, but better if Kyle did not have to play 36. Next highest was G with 30 which is okay. Needed Singler since Duke has no other PF who can shoot well enough to beat the 1-3-1.

Maybe he can play less vs. Montana and Duquesne and be rested for his battle with Purude and Hummel, and rematch with Michigan and Sims.

[wisteria]

3 games in 4 days...I am hoping the game on Sunday won't turn out to be too close. Guys need some rest.

[Edouble]

I seem to recall ChicagoSaluki saying no way Duke would win the Friday game no matter which team they played... I would say our guys seemed to have plenty of energy available to handle Michigan...

I'm glad you brought this up. That was certainly the most ridiculous thing said in that awfully long SIU pre-game thread. I know ChicagoSaluki said he'd be back, but I'm not sure that he'd have much to say at this point. Maybe we'll see the Salukis as a #9 seed in a second round game in March, and our friend will come back for another guarantee.

A great game tonight for our team. I was spoiled last night by Coach Knight and I actually muted the game tonight for an extended period. It helps me to concentrate on the on-court action when I silence the clown.

[heyman25]

Glad to see Gerald Henderson is involved. I guess it took some games in Madison Square garden to wake him up.Scheyer needs to work on his shot. He was off today and his fg % is not too good in the 1st 5 games. Nolan had his best game yet. I don't think our half court offense is as efficient as it should be. Paulus is hurt,but I remember Bobby knight's comment that the only thing comparable to a turnover is dribbling too much. Paulus dribbles too much on many possessions. Scheyer was guilty of penetrating so deep he coughed up the ball because he had nowhere to go.Zoubek had a great weekend,but he was only able to get 1 rebound. Lance making his free throws gives us another weapon for scoring. Kyle is our best all around player. A couple of times I felt he shot too quickly.He was great at getting putbacks.McClure was solid and I am glad that he is not passing on shots like he did last year. He needs a lot of work on O. Elliot is getting better, but makes some bonehead turnovers. Miles needs more PT. Marty has been solid every game he has played in. There should be no reason that anyone gets fatigued this season. Coach K seems to play 10 and will probably go to 9 just knowing his past substitution patterns. We won the 2K classic. Good team effort.

[davekay1971]

Fun game to watch. I thought our guys did a great job in dealing with the 1-3-1 on offense, and were very disciplined on defense.

Favorite play of the game (part 1): Henderson's block where he went up a little to prevent one guy's shot, then turned, jumped for real, and cleanly blocked the other guy's shot.

Favorite play of the game (part 2): The alley oop.

Other thoughts:
1) Zoubek is looking very, very good. I agree with the earlier poster who noted that it would be nice for Plumlee to get more PT at this point of the season. He's got to earn it, of course. Zoubek looks like he will be a capable contributor at the 5. Would love to see Miles developing into a second option at this point.

2) Our role players (Thomas, McClure, Pocius, Williams) are doing an absolutely great job so far.

3) First game I can remember where Scheyer really looked off. I hope I never see another one.

4) Singler is a beast. If, somehow, he stays 4 years, he will be up there with Dawkins, Ferry, Grant, Laettner, J-Will, Battier among the absolute elite players of the Coach K era at Duke.

5) We're good at the 1, I don't care who's in.

6) Mr Henderson, I am so glad you made the trip to New York. Please do not forget to return to Durham with the rest of the team.

7) My wife has a crush on both Scheyer and Singler. And she's a State fan. This is a problem.

[devildeac]

Heh... He said he would come back no matter which team won. I'm still waiting for him to show up...

Send him a PM with a couple of Tylenol and invite him back after he recovers from his "Saluki hangover." Shoot, I had a hangover, too, the next day. Mostly from the sound of 2 teams shooting a combined 14-49 for the 1st half of that game. Add to that almost a case of turnovers and the noise of rims clanging repeatedly and the pounding of the shots off the backboard really gave me a throbbing headache. I'm much better today after the Michigan game.

[Saratoga2]

Williams is showing himself to be a very capable sub for either Henderson or Scheyer. He is quick, long, has a good handle and is a good defender. He will be getting more PT as the season moves on. Like Scheyer, he has enough handle to even sub in at the point in an emergency. Like most freshman, he can be expected to make some boneheaded moves, but I see him as the best new addition to the team.

Plumlee has the right ingredients to be a superior inside player. He is big, agile, passes well and plays hard. The coaches must see that he needs more development so perhaps some of the games coming up, such as Montana and Duquesne, will offer opportunities for our newcomers to get some much needed in game experience.

We are a deep team this year. We should know a lot more about our team after games with Purdue, Michigan away and Xavier.

[Constantstrain 81]

I love when we work the ball around, inside-out, for a 3 pointer. I don't even mind if we miss. I hate the "hey, I'm open so I'll shoot the 3" 3 pointer. There are far too many of those and we are not hitting them. We haven't been hitting them all year. We didn't hit them at the end of last year. We haven't been hitting them since the big win at UNC last year. That's 10 months of evidence - we are not a big 3 point shooting team. Yet ... we let fly.

Again, don't mind anyone on the team taking a three off of a kick-out, reversal, etc. something that comes as part of an offense. But this toss it up and hope it goes and I wonder if anyone is in rebounding position, etc. - it is driving me crazy. What were we - 4-19?

[SMO]

My Theory on Zoubek is this: I think coach K may incorporate a scheme in which he plays Z a lot in the first half, relieving Singler from having to play down low. Then in the second half will put Kyle back down low a lot, because lets face it, Singler is quite skilled down low. Thus Singler will play half as much down low this year, hopefully saving his body from shutting down in March. This will also force teams to have to switch their defense at halftime in every game. Of course I could be totally wrong and he is just wanting to build Z's confidence, and gradually give him more time as the season goes.

Also want to say how happy I am to see Thomas and Williams developing so well.

I think it's more that Z doesn't have his full stamina back yet as opposed to a confidence issue. He started to look winded after running the floor a few times in the first half. My guess is that if his play continues as it has this week, he'll get a little more PT but still split time with Thomas, McClure, and possibly Plumlee. Also, as another poster mentioned K seemed to favor a smaller, quicker lineup against the 1-3-1.

[jv001]

I was really impressed with the entire team's effort. From the coaches to all that played. Singler is just awesome. Has all the tools. Gerald and Jon contribute greatly to the team even when their shot is off. Zoubs is really coming along. Just hope the injury bug stays away. Lance is very much improved and is playing well. Nolan had another fine game & is improving game by game. The guys off the bench are all contributing. Let's hope that the team continues to grow and by Feb-March we will be at our peak. Go Duke!

[DukieInBrasil]

I´m excited about our post play so far this year. Both Z and LT making solid contribuions every night. McClure and/or Plumlee are also contributing every game.
After a seriously off game, Nolan came back to lead us in scoring and co-lead us in assists. THAT is what we need from our PG. His 3pt shot is off, 0-8 in the last 3 games.
Singler had a monster game while both Henderson and Scheyer had less stellar but thoroughly productive games. This was the 1st game in which none of the "big 3" led in scoring.
Good to see them able to stick it to the other team defensively on consecutive nights. I really liked looking at the comparative FG shooting of the final 4 teams in the tourney. Duke made both SIU and Michigan shoot ~35% while both shot over 42% against UCLA´s vaunted defense.