MBB: Duke 66, Boston College 65 (ACC Tournament) Post-Game Thread

[BlueintheFace]

When was the last time I didn't say "gutsy win"?? I guess it is better than gutsy loss. Can we just blow out Md for my nerves... please.

Singler had a great game.

Once we opened up the baseline for G instead of sending a man to that corner, he got going.

E-Will played great D on Rice all game long, and the D on the inbounds play was awesome. I saw G in the huddle before that play and knew we would get the stop.

Two thoughts:

1) Jon has really struggled of late with his ft. G had a tough time too. Nothing that can't be fixed... I hope.

2) I wish we posted G more like the game winning shot.

[karmacoma]

A couple weeks back, I commented that the Maryland win on the road was the most satisfying W of the season. This has to be the least satisfying. 40 minutes from Singler and 39 from Scheyer in a three-day tournament? Very few contributions from anyone other than the big 3? Barely a seven-man rotation? Terrible free-throw shooting down the stretch? Giving up umpteen second-chance points? These are not harbingers of a deep March run.

On the plus side, the defense was stout all game long. Still, all that work only pays off if the defensive rebounding comes up big, and it didn't tonight.

Let's go Devils, let's POUND the Terps tomorrow!

[Jumbo]

The people who were saying that the team "didn't show up" and such were foolish. The team showed up. The first half wasn't about effort (after all, we played terrific D). It was about execution, maybe a bit of rust and a dose of shooting in a dome.

In the second half, we executed much better. The effort was still strong. The defense, unfortunately, was not as good. Granted, BC hit a couple of ridiculous shots, got a couple of ridiculous bounces on loose balls, and got a couple of gifts on the offensive boards. But we didn't defend with the same ability. None of that has to do with "not showing up." I can't believe Scheyer missed that FT, but in the end, it gave us another chance to hold strong on defense, and those last stops are confidence-builders.

I wonder if K was limiting Nolan's minutes, because I thought he played quite well (except for the missed layup) and could have played more in the second half. And to the poster who wondered why Paulus didn't play more than a minute, that's why. Nolan was back. Paulus had his chance, and the team didn't play well when he started. At this point, we have a solid eight-man rotation without him. The other guards are just superior players. It's sad for him, but true.

[loran16]

Of Note, Smith looked a lot better than he had in the few games pre-concussion, but seemed slightly overeager.

His miss on the easy breakaway lay-in led to BC's huge run at the end of the first half.

Ah well, good to see him seem all right.

[miramar]

I don't understand Kyle Singler at all. I also put on 20 pounds, but I didn't get better at anything.

So of course at that point I decided to double down and put on 40, but I still haven't improved. I guess I'll have to keep at it...

[MulletMan]

Ill be honest. we got lucky to win this game...I dont know what hell is going on with us! there was a time when i didnt sweat first rounds of the acc and the ncaa!! we have to play better

Yeah... that was back when there was much less parity in the ACC and college basketball in general. It was also when people didn't develop thier 3 point shot as mich so it wasn't as easy to get back into games when you were down 8 or 9 points.

[roywhite]

After BC scored on several possessions to get back into it, Duke played very good defense on the last two possessions in the last minute. Got the steal off the inbounds pass on a great play by Kyle, and then didn't give BC much of a look at the end.

[DevilYouthCoach]

I think Coach K made a calculated gamble bringing the team late to Atlanta, which gave them rest but not much shooting practice, and it paid off! Like it usually does with Coach K. I am, therefore, expecting them to shoot really well tomorrow and bury the Terps.

[mgtr]

What a great win! Happy to see Smith back, but have to love Williams and his defense. Singler, according to one poster, is iron. I think more like titanium, or carbon fiber. What a guy. Williams needs to shoot a little more, then we could have four cylinder engine!

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

This is March basketball folks. Just doesn't seem to matter who plays- the games all come down to the last minute or last possession. I thought Duke was going to open up a big lead when up by 8 and Henderson was at the line. BC looked very tired and had several to's in a row- but Duke did not take advantage But give BC credit - they hit some very tough shots and got it close again. The free throw shooting needs to be better in March- because every possession matters. But you had to love Henderson's last shot to give Duke the lead. Duke handled the end of the game well and showed the maturity of this team. I expect Duke will play better tomorrow. Sometimes you need a close one to wake you up. Duke could have lost- but they didn't- and they move on. Singler did everything tonight- and many of his best plays were on the defensive end. The guy has a great mind for basketball. You have to wonder if Smith's concussion affected his eyesight. He moved well but he missed some easy shots. But still- Duke needed him when G was in foul trouble. Hopefully he gets some more time against MD.

Duke matches up well against Maryland- but its is not easy to beat a team three times. Should be interesting.

Maryland will be playing game number three in three days tomorrow. Fatigue may begin to be a factor them. They'll need lots of energy to play at the pace needed to beat Duke.

[Highlander]

Defense looked a lot better on the whole, as we held BC under 70 points. Offense in the first half was not great, and G getting 2 fouls less than a minute in really knocked us off our stride. Our turnovers in the first half (I think we had 8) resulted in 12 or 14 BC points, and we were down at the half. Kyle Singler was the only part of our offense clicking in the first half.

Second half G and Jon got going as well. Singler tied his career high in points and had a career high in blocks (6) as well. McClure's block was my favorite play of the game, just b/c it came out of nowhere. Biggest stat was we were 6-7 from 3pt land in the second half after going 2-11 in the first.

My biggest worry is our Free Throw shooting. Missing clutch free throws isn't a new thing for this team, and so far it hasn't bitten us. Tonight was the closest we've come, however. We shot 59% from the line for the game, and that's not going to get it done. Gerald had a particularly bad night as he missed 5, and both Kyle and Jon missed key ones down the stretch.

Time to move on though. Next game vs. Maryland. I doubt General Grevious fouls out of this one, and we'll need to continue to play tough defense in order to win. It's always tough to beat somebody 3 times in a season, especially a rival.

[mgtr]

I don't understand Kyle Singler at all. I also put on 20 pounds, but I didn't get better at anything.

I will second that -- all I got was a lot of criticism from my wife!

[karmacoma]

I don't understand Kyle Singler at all. I also put on 20 pounds, but I didn't get better at anything.

So of course at that point I decided to double down and put on 40, but I still haven't improved. I guess I'll have to keep at it...

Outstanding, thanks for the late-night chuckle. I resemble that statement.

[devildownunder]

This was my first chance to sit and watch all (or almost all anyway) of a game from start to finish in a while. It's tough following college bball from Oz, let me tell ya. Anyway, love Ewill brings to the lineup. Love Singler's energy holding up. Scheyer is great at the point in terms of not committing turnovers. He could use some polish with decision-making on the break, however. G is the man. Loved this win. Looking forward to battling the Terps tomorrow.

And last, here's to the team of the decade! Tonight's win gives the Blue Devils more victories than any other team in division one for the first decade of the 21st century!

[roywhite]

A couple weeks back, I commented that the Maryland win on the road was the most satisfying W of the season. This has to be the least satisfying. 40 minutes from Singler and 39 from Scheyer in a three-day tournament? Very few contributions from anyone other than the big 3? Barely a seven-man rotation? Terrible free-throw shooting down the stretch? Giving up umpteen second-chance points? These are not harbingers of a deep March run.

"Harbingers"? Like UCon had, or Pitt had, or what almost happened to UNC?

Even the top teams are playing very, very capable teams in their conference quarter-finals!

This was a clutch win!

[_Gary]

The first half pretty much was what it was - a disaster. Big shift in momentum after the Nolan miss on the breakaway. We go from being up by 10 to seeing them go on a huge run.

Second half offense was so much better, and a lot of that obviously had to do with shooting the 3 so well.

Second half defense was the key. We did pretty good up through the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half. Then it seemed like we really ratcheted up the D over the next 5 or 6 minutes (from about the 10 minute point to the 4 minute point). We had several spectacular blocks from Dave and Kyle and some solid rebounding. Then, all of a sudden, we couldn't get a stop until the very end of the game. I kept track, and in that last 4 minutes BC went on a run where they scored on 7 straight possessions and 8 out of 9. That's scary! But we got the final 2 stops of the game and we were able to squeak by.

Obviously free throws were really bad. Missed several front ends in both halves that could have increased the lead at different points. Almost cost us. Let's hope that aspect of our game gets much better as we move forward.

[InSpades]

And to the poster who wondered why Paulus didn't play more than a minute, that's why. Nolan was back. Paulus had his chance, and the team didn't play well when he started. At this point, we have a solid eight-man rotation without him. The other guards are just superior players. It's sad for him, but true.

I wasn't really wondering, I said the very same thing. Paulus barely played against UNC when Nolan was hurt. He's just not as effective as the other guards.

I'm still mad at K for sitting Gerald for 15 minutes in the 1st half. I think it was a big part of our 1st half problems. Gerald ended the game with 3 fouls. Why did he have to sit for 15 minutes? He averages less than 2 fouls per game (and I'd bet half of them are offensive). If G plays more in the 1st half I think it's a very different game. He did a great job in the 2nd half of forcing BC to foul him. We also could have used him rebounding as we often found our guards trying to box out their big men (which is a lot easier when you can jump out of the building).

[BlueintheFace]

I wasn't really wondering, I said the very same thing. Paulus barely played against UNC when Nolan was hurt. He's just not as effective as the other guards.

I'm still mad at K for sitting Gerald for 15 minutes in the 1st half. I think it was a big part of our 1st half problems. Gerald ended the game with 3 fouls. Why did he have to sit for 15 minutes? He averages less than 2 fouls per game (and I'd bet half of them are offensive). If G plays more in the 1st half I think it's a very different game. He did a great job in the 2nd half of forcing BC to foul him. We also could have used him rebounding as we often found our guards trying to box out their big men (which is a lot easier when you can jump out of the building).

cause if he had gotten a third, he would be on the bench or ineffective until about the 10 minute mark of the 2nd half or later. It was the right decision.

[jv001]

I look for a little more from our bench tomorrow. Zoubs has played pretty well against the twerps and I wouldn't be surprised to see him get more mins. Nolan played well today. He just looked like he does not have game speed back yet which is understandable. Dave played a good game as well. I look for the team to play very well tomorrow. Go Duke!

[karmacoma]

"Harbingers"? Like UCon had, or Pitt had, or what almost happened to UNC?

Even the top teams are playing very, very capable teams in their conference quarter-finals!

This was a clutch win!

The tourney will be wide open, I'll give you that. I can't imagine all four #1 seeds will meet in the Final Four again this year. Anyone can beat anyone.

But I'm not talking about single games, I'm talking about the ability of this team to win 4 or more consecutive games relying too heavily on too few. For my money, those missed free-throws at the end of the game were all about fatigue, and I don't see that getting any better.

Look, I'm going to pull like crazy for our guys. Like the other 64 teams, they'll have, in theory, as good a chance as any. I just think a deep run will require more from the supporting players than we saw tonight.