MBB: UNC 79, Duke 71 Post-Game Thread

[The1Bluedevil]

ZONE! i have been saying this for years now! why not play a little zone!!! this would help us so much! it would make average players like Z and lance more effect in rebounding for sure! K just cant help himself i guess.. its live and die with the man2man.. im ok with man2man. but you have to coach with the talent you have, and the sitution of the game!

It is more difficult to rebound out of a zone. Zone would work against possibly cutting down the opportunities of Lawson getting into the lane, but Carolina would still have destroyed Duke on the glass either way. In a zone you find yourself boxing out air more often then not and more long rebounds occur. Which happened tonight anyways.

[Indoor66]

Outside of Duke, I am cheering for Pitt to win the whole thing.....no Uconn, no UNC....maybe a final four of Pitt, Duke, Memphis, and....and...and Wake...yes, Wake would be good to see....

I agree with you. After Duke, I become a HUGE Pitt fan.

[JDev]

Outside of Duke, I am cheering for Pitt to win the whole thing.....no Uconn, no UNC....maybe a final four of Pitt, Duke, Memphis, and....and...and Wake...yes, Wake would be good to see....

I think Pitt is the team to beat. Though if they are #1, UNC is 1A. If they had the mental toughness and defensive desire Pitt did, they would be unreal. But, alas, they do not. I think Fields probably matches up as well as anyone with Lawson, and I think Blair/Young are better than Hansbrough/insert any other Heel.

[BlueintheFace]

Destructively negative comments about Singler

uhhhhh, what? Pitt last year. The last two games before Carolina of THIS SEASON! I'm afraid that you have (a) not watched all of the games or (b) not understood them.

I am actually VERY ENCOURAGED by this game.

- We controlled tempo REALLY WELL
- We played solid defense down low and made them earn the buckets on the post
- We ran the offense very well for most of the game and shot the ball pretty well as a result
- We were aggressive
- We fouled Hansbrough out (the only time in his career I think)
- All of this was done with a shortened bench (No Nolan) and with Singler in foul trouble down the stretch (which was crap)

We had some tough calls go against us and missed a few opportunities, but honestly we played like a top tier team. We just ran into THE BEST team in the country. They are so incredibly offensively gifted (some of those shots were crazy) and actually dug in on defense today. We barely ever turned the ball over and they still beat us in the halfcourt game.

I can't quite explain it, but I am very optimistic moving in to the ACC tournament. If we could have rebounded a bit better, we could have beaten the best team in the country on the road on their senior night. That's pretty good. I know one thing though, I don't want to play them again.

Good game boys, let's rest up.

[marinbobbyduhon]

Destructively negative comments about Kyle Singler

On the positive side, great performance from Scheyer, and a pretty good team game on the road against a great team and with the refs against us. In a few days, hopefully the positives will win out. I hope we face UNC again in the ACC title game.

So are you going to say next that G isn't a clutch player, either; since this was a very quiet game for him and he certainly didn't assert himself much in this game.

I thought we were hurt more by the lack of decent bench play (where was Paulus in this game) and the fact that they way out rebounded us. Don't lay this on the zebras.

[77devil]

At least the Duke fans outnumbered the holes at the Palazzio Sports Book in Vegas. Is it my dark blue tinted glasses or did every block/charge call go against us? The one in transition between Singler and Frasior was a big momentum shift and Singler's 4th foul charge call against Hanstravel was questionable.

[Greg_Newton]

It was kind of like watching us play very well against an NBA team. I have a feeling this UNC squad will be one of those you look back on in 5 years and say "Wow, can you believe the NBA talent they had on that roster??" Almost too much talent for one cohesive team. Still, we had them right where we wanted with a 2-point game under 3 minutes to go, they just had too many weapons. A few lucky plays/calls here, a foot on the line there (he wasn't pushed, watch it in slow-mo), and they pulled away in the last minute. Hendo didn't really seem to be feeling it today, which may have had something to do with why no one really stepped up near the end.

I thought the refs were pretty consistent... specifically, they continued to consistently bail out Lawson whenever he drove and did not score and Hansbrough whenever he threw his elbows into a defender and flailed about wildly while shooting a 12 foot double-pump fade-away. But, that was to be expected, I suppose.

I am a little disappointed this wasn't a coming out party of sorts for MP though. That would have been nice going into the tournament. Guess he's on the shelf until next year.

And as for Singler, give him a break. He's made huge plays before on both ends of the floor, and let's not forget (although it's easy sometimes) that he IS only a sophomore. G is our established go to guy in the clutch, and he will come through more often than not.

Overall, no reason at all to jump ship over lack of an inside game/depth/anything else... once Lance gets back to his old self and we get Nolan back, we'll be fine. Not a final four favorite, but a dangerous 2 seed that could sneak up on some people this year.

[riksmits]

It is more difficult to rebound out of a zone. Zone would work against possibly cutting down the opportunities of Lawson getting into the lane, but Carolina would still have destroyed Duke on the glass either way. In a zone you find yourself boxing out air more often then not and more long rebounds occur. Which happened tonight anyways.

More difficult to REBOUND? I didn't realize it could get any more difficult than it already is against a team who just abuses Duke on the boards.

My point in it is that it can't hurt. Unless Duke shoots > 45% from 3 + UNC shoots under 50% from the field, they cannot beat UNC this year. Lawson is too good. And while they've contained Hansbrough, Deon Thompson has been a force.

[zingit]

They shot very well from 3 tonight, 6 of 12. Even Hansbrough hit 2. So I'm not sure a zone would have been the best idea.

I had low expectations for this game, given our injury issues, the fact that it was in the Dean Dome, and of course, Carolina's skill. So I'm trying not to be disappointed. But still, this hurts. We had chances to win this game.

[Wheat/"/"/"]

I don't know if I would agree with that, but you certainly watch them more closely than I, or many Duke fans do. What sorts of things are you referring to?

Fouling a 3 point shooter THREE different times in one game.

Up 7 under 4 to go (I think) DG gets a big block, turns and tries a weak full court bounce pass that my mother could pick off.

DG forced at least three bad outside shots late in the game, but made them.

Once, UNC was up 5 and under 4 to go,(I think) DG forces a three 5 seconds into the shot clock, misses, TL gets the long rebound, and immediately fires up another one that bricked.

Just a few I can think of off hand...

[BlueintheFace]

ZONE! i have been saying this for years now! why not play a little zone!!! this would help us so much! it would make average players like Z and lance more effect in rebounding for sure! K just cant help himself i guess.. its live and die with the man2man.. im ok with man2man. but you have to coach with the talent you have, and the sitution of the game!

Zones hurt rebounding. We needed to be BETTER at rebounding.

[Saratoga2]

I think we all should be proud of the way the team has developed over the past 6 games. Clearly moving Scheyer to point and Williams into the lineup have been the critical changes.

I don't have the stats yet, but clearly Jon was money offensively and I wished he would have taken mored shots down the stretch. I don't believe he turned the ball over once and he also had at least two steals and several rebounds. He has matured into a wonderful player.

Henderson has been magnificent over the last 6 games and played well today. In some cases he was guarding Hansbrough on a switch. His weakness in my view, is that his ball handling is a little insecure and when he tries to force it inside, he can turn the ball over. I think he was also gassed at the end.

Singler too has been playing well and went off early. He probably was our high scorer, but his shot was off and he started to force the ball more than he should have. I think another year, when he has a little more maturity, he will not force the ball quite as much.

Elliot gave us all we could expect, with defense, rebounding and he iis an offensive threat, something none of our other subs pose.

Paulus was in and out quickly when he couldn't hit his shots and was ineffective guarding, except he did have one stea;

Of our bigs, I thought Zoubek was the better when compared to Thomas. In a game like that, he is foul prone, and coach K has him guarding well away from the basket, where he tends to pick up fouls. No doubt Thomas was hurting today, but he seldom seems to be in the right spot to rebound and he gives up reach in fouls.

All-in-all, it was a very good effort, and with Nolan returning, we will have another quick, long guard who can provide some offense when in. Our chief weakness now is with the Center position. Some of us were hoping Plumley would show something, since neither Thomas or Zoubek have been more than journeymen. Alas, to date, Plumley hasn't shown enough to warrant replacing our others.

We can go into the tournament and know that we can beat any team some days and most teams any day.

[eddiehaskell]

It seems like Hansbrough picks up a lot of calls by jumping into the defensive player. Just because there is contact doesn't mean the defensive player committed a foul. Like others have said, I don't think he'll get these calls at the next level.

[JDev]

Another factor to keep in mind that a few have mentioned is the injury situation. I think Thomas's lower leg injury is as severe or more so than Lawson (though Lawson is more important overall to his team). Nolan out is the biggest. Not having a former starter who spent the first half of the year as a double figure scorer doesn't make things easier, despite any line-up changes. It will be great to get these guys back to around 100%, and hopefully they will be by Friday.

[Jumbo]

Also, I listened to the entire game...and I am not sure I heard Clark Kellogg say ONE positive thing about Duke. Can we just get one announcer who is not pre-disposed to not liking us? The likes of Elmore, Dykes, et al is bordering on ridiculous (the G Man is the only professional announcer around).

Kellogg was constantly praising Singler versatility and Scheyer's overall performance. He spent a good amount of time in the first half talking about Duke's offensive execution, how well they spread the floor, etc. And he repeatedly talked about how high-level a game it was. Are you sure you didn't have the game on mute?

[BlueintheFace]

Stop complaining about the refs!!!!!

Let me get this straight...when opposing teams say the refs stole the game, we think it's ridiculous...but when the calls don't go our way, it was the refs fault?!?!?! Or home cooking?!?!?! C'mon!!!! Have a little more insight than blaming the loss on the refs, please!!!!!!!!!

I don't see a lot of people blaming the loss on the refs. Everyone seems to feel that a few close calls went Carolina's way and that is probably true. It was frustrating, yes, but most people here are not blaming the loss on the refs at all.

Settle Down. (insert optional line of exclamation points here )

[RepoMan]

We hung tough through some brutal calls (Singler's "charge" against Frasor on the break, Singler's "fourth foul" when Hansbrough flopped).

Living in Carolina and working with beaucoup Heel fans, I have had to hear about Duke "flopping" for eons. Well, I don't want to hear it anymore because H is an epic flopper. For a dude over 250 pounds, it takes nothing to knock him over. (Sadly, his flopping resulted in me having to explain "Wussy" to a 5 year old.)

With regard to the game, we played really good. We controlled the tempo. Few turnovers. (Scheyer running the O has been a revelation.) A few bad breaks against a real good team playing at home. It happens.

One thing I'd like to see is one more solid contributer off the bench. Fortunately, we have exactly what we need in Nolan Smith. When he comes back, he just needs to put the "point guard" concept out of his mind and play ball. With that extra help from the bench, we'll be solid.

[BlueintheFace]

It seems like Hansbrough picks up a lot of calls by jumping into the defensive player. Just because there is contact doesn't mean the defensive player committed a foul. Like others have said, I don't think he'll get these calls at the next level.

Welcome to the last 4 years of carolina basketball... haha

[TNDukeFan]

I agree with Jumbo about Clark Kellogg.
And sign me up with those who don't think Duke lost because of the refs, but are sick of Tyler getting all the calls anyway.

[Jumbo]

ZONE! i have been saying this for years now! why not play a little zone!!! this would help us so much! it would make average players like Z and lance more effect in rebounding for sure! K just cant help himself i guess.. its live and die with the man2man.. im ok with man2man. but you have to coach with the talent you have, and the sitution of the game!

Apparently you haven't been watching a lot of Duke basketball this season, because we've played a lot of 1-3-1, including basically the entire second half/OT against Miami. Problem is, we just don't play it that well. And our defensive rebounding issues are only compounded by playing zone.