WBB: Duke-Maryland

[wandalee]

Duke women travel to Maryland for an 8 pm game, broadcast nationally on Fox Sports. Maryland is down this year, so hopefully we can get a victory at the Comcast Center.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Even though they are down, I expect a tough game that Duke will have to fight for if they want to win. Spear the turtle!

[miramar]

It's always satisfying to beat Maryland, but Duke was pretty fortunate to come away with a one-point win thanks to a big second half by Jasmine and some strong rebounding and free throw shooting in the final minute.

But that 32.8% shooting percentage...

[chrishoke]

Great win! I hate the terps and their ... coach.

[Jim3k]

Best give Bridgette Mitchell some credit for hitting the go-ahead/get back ahead shot with the shot clock expiring at the 2 minute (or so) mark. Without that, we lose, cuz the momentum was going Mary's way.

When is McCallie going to figure out that without some sort of offensive scheme(s) -- and regular stuff like give and go, screening for shots -- her players are going to continue to make bad shot selections? And if Scheer is to be a designated 3-pt shooter, she can't take her out if she misses her first shot.

BTW, how do you blow an 11-pt lead with 5 minutes left?

[fadero]

Preaching to the choir

[Jim3k]

Preaching to the choir

Is that supposed to be some kind of criticism of the observation? That I'm late to the party?

I live on the west coast and the games aren't usually televised here. So today's Maryland game was my first in a while. I did see the Stanford game in person, and made a similar observation on the Board then. Not one screen to protect the shooter the entire game. Same thing today.

So I'm not sure what your point is.

[DukeBlueNikeShox]

Best give Bridgette Mitchell some credit for hitting the go-ahead/get back ahead shot with the shot clock expiring at the 2 minute (or so) mark. Without that, we lose, cuz the momentum was going Mary's way.

When is McCallie going to figure out that without some sort of offensive scheme(s) -- and regular stuff like give and go, screening for shots -- her players are going to continue to make bad shot selections? And if Scheer is to be a designated 3-pt shooter, she can't take her out if she misses her first shot.

BTW, how do you blow an 11-pt lead with 5 minutes left?

Duke was able to build the lead when P moved Jasmine to the 2. Jasmine completely broke down the Terps and got on a hot shooting streak. After Duke built the lead, she moved Jasmine back to the point. And then Duke couldn't buy a basket b/c nobody else could hit a shot, and Jasmine was too focused on running the offense and setting up others. Bonehead move by P.

On D, Lori Bjork, who's a spot up three point shooter, got hot and Duke couldn't find her on D.

[CameronBornAndBred]

BTW, how do you blow an 11-pt lead with 5 minutes left?

K has done that plenty.

[miramar]

Is that supposed to be some kind of criticism of the observation? That I'm late to the party?

I live on the west coast and the games aren't usually televised here. So today's Maryland game was my first in a while. I did see the Stanford game in person, and made a similar observation on the Board then. Not one screen to protect the shooter the entire game. Same thing today.

So I'm not sure what your point is.

quite the antithesis. I think he's trying to say that you are not alone in wondering about Duke's offensive scheme, or lack thereof. Things seemed to be getting better earlier this season, such as in the victory over Ohio State where Duke shot 50%. But now we seem to be getting back to a take a shot, any shot approach.

[jv001]

Sometimes watching grass grow is more exciting. But Go Duke!

[-bdbd]

Best give Bridgette Mitchell some credit for hitting the go-ahead/get back ahead shot with the shot clock expiring at the 2 minute (or so) mark. Without that, we lose, cuz the momentum was going Mary's way.

When is McCallie going to figure out that without some sort of offensive scheme(s) -- and regular stuff like give and go, screening for shots -- her players are going to continue to make bad shot selections? And if Scheer is to be a designated 3-pt shooter, she can't take her out if she misses her first shot.

BTW, how do you blow an 11-pt lead with 5 minutes left?

How to lose an 11-point lead? Well, the opponent hitting two quick back-to-back threes right after the 5-min-mark timeout will certainly help get you there... I'm with the other posters (Chrischoke, et al) re. my dislike of Brenda Freeze. She does seem a bit punkish to me... No matter, their recruiting hasn't been great in a few years, and so the obvious drop-off in College Park.

Kudos to the Duke women for going into a very hostile environment and coming away with a W. Though I agree that it didn't need to be that close. The offensive "scheme" sure seems puzzling -- would really love to see a few more set plays and offensive cohesion/plan. They seem kinda lost many times. 'can't wait for that tremendous recruiting class to come in next year!

[JG Nothing]

http://www.dwhoops.com/0910/1001243-...aryland-57.php
From DW Hoops' recap of the game:

The good news for Duke is that this edition of the team is clearly the toughest and most physical I've ever seen. Defensively, they can go toe-to-toe against nearly anyone and cause teams to miss easy or open shots simply because they turn every game into such a black-and-blue affair. Maryland is a tremendously potent offensive team, even with the disorganization this year's team has faced, and the Devils made them look inept for long stretches of the game. Every Duke player brought toughness and grit on the defensive end, and while there were some lapses, Duke got it together down the stretch to get some big-time stops.

The bad news for Duke is that the offense is so dependent on physically overpowering the opposition and generating turnovers that it's become totally stagnant in the halfcourt. The best way to describe it is five out-of-sync individuals each trying to beat a defense one-on=one. There was little flow, movement or creativity on the offensive end: just a group of very basic sets that tried to take advantage of quickness instead of passing. Duke has some players who are decent shooters, but they're not so deadly that they can simply pull up and take shots and expect them to fall. There's what I call a brick-wall mentality about this team that's both a positive and a negative. When presented with a brick wall standing in the way of their objective, the team will metaphorically bash their heads into that wall until such time the wall is knocked over. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but it can often be a painful experience. That same mentality is a huge asset on defense, but the bullheadness of the players and the game plan given to them on offense has really been exposed in this past week.