MBB Duke 76, Purdue 60 Post-Game

[slower]

As much as I can't stand the Travelling Hansman, I suspect the primary difference in their respective energies/intensities is the color of their shirts (although I assume by your tongue-in-cheek response that deep down you suspect the same thing).

Davekay1971 has it right - Hans looks like a spaz, but Kyle is smoooooth.

Or for you old-timers who are Jerry Lewis fans, Hans is the nutty professor and Kyle is Buddy Love.

[whereinthehellami]

Great game for DUKE!
I will give you credit...thats as bad as PURDUE has played in a year. Its easy to blame the moment....biggest game of their careers....but thats crap.

Hopefully its a learning experience for a young squad.

PURDUE7, thanks for visting this site. Good luck the rest of the year. I'd like to see more fire out of Hummel but that can be said about alot of players. He's got good skills though.

K was holding his head, I suppose partly in worry that Kyle would be put down, and the other part because he didn't want to give up the ball so early in the clock. Not to worry about the second issue--Jon stole it at 3/4 court, and slowed it down. This was a nice game and Kyle is one very special basketball player. So is Jon.

I also noticed that last night and it made me think of Laettner and how he kind of did his own thing within Coach K's system. That kind of freedom in the system is earned, which says alot about Kyle. Kyle just seems to understand momentum and the nuances of the game.

Kyle is an amazing player. If I could create the ideal basketball player Kyle would be pretty much be it. I like everything about him. Skills, size, IQ, fire, attitude (see smile), and love for the game (see smile).

[bird]

This is starting to feel like an ol' timey Duke team.

[diesel]

It was around 30 most of the time they were camping out. Big freaking deal. That's not particularly cold.

You may be right. Although the shots of preparations for tenting out at Boilermakerville (or whatever the wannabe Krzyzewskiville is called) made it look as though the tenters were preparing for a night at the Pole!

But then, this Canadian is used to Southerners (in particular) acting as though the world is coming to an end when the temperature drops. A few flakes of snow and Washington traffic comes to a virtual standstill, for instance, and the kids get a day off (I’m just jealous of what I was deprived of 60 years ago).

Still it was great for this Canadian to be able to park alone in some of the best parking spaces at Duke (i.e., near the President’s spot) when the usual seasonal flakes came down

[diesel]

Well he [Vitale]flat out said exactly that (RMK would no longer be his competition.)

Sorry: I don't listen to Vitale for long (see below). Could it be that he was actually put in touch with the almost totally unfavorable comparisons on DBR of his performance as compared to Knight's as color commentators?

If so, there is real point in these boards other than that of amusing each other.

Incidentally, my wife gets up and leaves if Vitale is the commentator and I keep the sound on. There must be a better way of dealing with this if one is out of range of Duke radio.

[dukestheheat]

Throw out all the basketball stuff going down on the court just for a moment, because we all know these guys can play!

What I saw in Duke last night was a team with swagger, emotion, pride, hustle, total confidence, resiliency and maturity.

It came down to 'attitude' for Duke last night. Duke obviously came in and had that game played out, mentally, from start to finish. The team chose to look like a machine out on the court. This was all mental for Duke!

They decided to do what they are capable of doing, finally! This team, playing with that same verve as they had last night, is headed to the Final Few this year; without the verve, we're above average in the ACC but certainly not first or second, in my opinion.

I am sure K will use many snippets from this game with individual players this year in terms of motivation!

GO DUKE!

dukestheheat

[wilson]

Perhaps this one's already been thrown out there, but this is my favorite snippet from the ESPN.com game story:

"E'Twaun Moore, Purdue's leading scorer, went scoreless in the first half and finished with 10 points.

'It was a lot tougher than we thought it was going to be,' Moore said."

You just gotta love that.

[JDev]

It is a very good sign that Duke can combat foul trouble by two starters and still beat a good team on the road. It is quite a luxury to have the first two guys off the bench be guys who were starters last year. Has there ever been another Duke team that could say that?

[Lulu]

Sorry: I don't listen to Vitale for long (see below). Could it be that he was actually put in touch with the almost totally unfavorable comparisons on DBR of his performance as compared to Knight's as color commentators?

If so, there is real point in these boards other than that of amusing each other.

Well if that's true, now I actually feel bad. Vitale is a super nice guy, always great with the students. I was actually able to speak to him more than once, and in particular one time after a group of us hoisted him up for one of those crowd surfing shots. Can't say that about any other commentator.

[devildeac]

Do they still play basketball in Kentucky?

Yes. At WESTERN Kentucky.

[Charles Wicker]

last night. Those guys played strong, and with purpose. They looked like they were trying to prove a point. And point was well taken. Solid game all around; and yep, Jon looked good. His basketball IQ, his understanding of the game, court awareness and his offensive abilities are immeasurable. Great game buddy, keep it up. Sing looked good as well; stronger, more assertive offensively, and he seems like he "wants," to be that go to guy. Overall, I liked most of what I saw. But Purdue wasn't that great of a team offensively.

When we play teams who can match our intensity and score; and beat them, that will be a more accurate perspective as to how good we are. (Or are we Final Four material) But so far, they are playing well together, and yes you have to acknowledge the solid play of Scheyer and Sing. What I would like to see; which I'm realizing is a pipe dream is; more play from Chyz, and a little more willingness from K, in terms of developing the bench more.

We have a solid 8 guys, who are great all around players. But can we win a National Championship, or reach a Final Four, or win a conference title, or ACC Tourney, with: Sing, Nolan, Scheyer, G, Zoubs, Lance, Paulus and E-Will: Oh, and Plumlee? I don't know?

[Bob Green]

We have a solid 8 guys...with: Sing, Nolan, Scheyer, G, Zoubs, Lance, Paulus and E-Will: Oh, and Plumlee? I don't know?

You forgot to include Dave McClure in your list of the eight core players. Now that he is healthy again, McClure is proving himself to be an invaluable member of the team. Defense, rebounding, nose for the ball, basketball IQ, and, as of the Purdue game, a nice stroke from behind the 3-point arc.

[DukieBoy]

This might have been written in here somewhere else, but it's late and I don't feeling like reading a lot, so if it was just ignore this. But did anyone else notice in the first half when the announcers commented that Scheyer was not a particularly good shooter, but a playmakers. This kind of baffled me because, last thing I checked, he average double digits his first two years and is second leading scorer this year.

[CDu]

This might have been written in here somewhere else, but it's late and I don't feeling like reading a lot, so if it was just ignore this. But did anyone else notice in the first half when the announcers commented that Scheyer was not a particularly good shooter, but a playmakers. This kind of baffled me because, last thing I checked, he average double digits his first two years and is second leading scorer this year.

Don't be fooled by shooter/scorer. The two aren't interchangeable terms. Shooter does not necessarily mean scorer, and vice versa. For example, Henderson was a good scorer last year, but you wouldn't necessarily say he was a great shooter. He was a good scorer because he could use his athleticism to create scoring chances at the rim.

The point the announcer was making is that Scheyer is not a spot-up shooter. He is more of a creater, able to create scoring opportunities for himself or others. I think that's a very accurate portrayal of what he is. Scheyer isn't an explosive leaper like Henderson, but he's creative and crafty and quick enough to create his scoring opportunities off the dribble and draw fouls. Contrast that with Redick in his early years, when he was pretty much a shooting specialist.

Redick is a good example of the point, actually. In his first two years, he was pretty much just a shooter. However, in his junior and senior years, Redick became more of a playmaker, able to score off the dribble. The difference is that he was ALSO a great shooter still. Scheyer is not the dead-eye shooter that Redick was, but he's more proficient as a creater/playmaker early in his career than Redick was.

At the risk of being politically incorrect, I think the point was to dispel the myth that Scheyer is the typical white shooting specialist. He's a solid, not great, shooter who can score in a variety of ways.

[jv001]

You forgot to include Dave McClure in your list of the eight core players. Now that he is healthy again, McClure is proving himself to be an invaluable member of the team. Defense, rebounding, nose for the ball, basketball IQ, and, as of the Purdue game, a nice stroke from behind the 3-point arc.

Good point Bob, McClure is playing very well and seems to have confidence in his shot once again. The last time he was injured and tried to come back it seemed he had completly lost confidence in his outside shot. Seems to have returned and we can use that. When healthy Dave is a fine player. He brings maturity to our young squad. Let's hope this team remains healthy all season. Go Duke!

[mgtr]

You forgot to include Dave McClure in your list of the eight core players. Now that he is healthy again, McClure is proving himself to be an invaluable member of the team. Defense, rebounding, nose for the ball, basketball IQ, and, as of the Purdue game, a nice stroke from behind the 3-point arc.

I have been a fan of McClure for several years. It was great to see him hit a three, but I would be happy to have in out there just for defense and rebounding. But, with the way K runs his offense, it is better if everybody is a potential threat from outside. Now Dave is.