MBB: Georgetown 89, Duke 77 Post-Game Thread

[jjasper0729]

If you think a talk is all they need...you're mistaken.

as long as it's a talk like K gave to the 86 team that alarie always talks about.

one of the previous posters is right. we need to feed the post and get them some confidence that the big 3 have confidence in them. they don't get the ball and with the exception of LT lately, aren't confident in what to do with it. it doesn't help that we RARELY get a good post pass in (it would help if they were getting good position more consistently). that should be the focus of an entire practice before GT.. getting in position and feeding the post

[BlueintheFace]

Do you think we matched their intensity from tip to final whistle?

No. I also don't think we "showed no effort" "rolled over" or "gave up."

I think we were careless with the ball early and gave them a lot of easy points. I think that our intensity on defense was limited by frequent whistles and being unprepared for the offense. If you don't fully understand what's coming at you wave after wave, it is hard to show the trademark intensity. I think our boys were lost and didn't get the offensive principles of georgetown as a team defense. I also think Monroe committed 20 offensive fouls on LT.

[ChicagoCrazy84]

If you think a talk is all they need...you're mistaken.

Hey, sometimes that's all it takes. It worked with Scheyer last year.

[MChambers]

i still love this team and i still think obama is a jinx to dark blue in a basketball game somehow..

Has Duke ever won playing with a president in attendance. I remember losing in 1989 in NJ before Nixon, losing in 1994 in Charlotte(?) before Clinton, and now this. Do we have a President jinx?

[CDu]

No. I also don't think we "showed no effort" "rolled over" or "gave up."

I think we were careless with the ball early and gave them a lot of easy points. I think that our intensity on defense was limited by frequent whistles and being unprepared for the offense. If you don't fully understand what's coming at you wave after wave, it is hard to show the trademark intensity. I think our boys were lost and didn't get the offensive principles of georgetown as a team defense. I also think Monroe committed 20 offensive fouls on LT.

I agree with all of this, but will add that Thomas committed about 20 defensive fouls on Monroe as well. The two were banging throughout the entire game.

[KandG]

This thread is going to devolve quickly, so let me say that I support and love the team, no matter who's playing. I haven't been crazy about the college game generally the last few years, but I still like watching our guys. All this despite the entitled narratives of "poor recruiting", "no big man coach", "Duke no longer a priority for Coach K" and the other silly stuff people like to dominate conversations with around here.

With all that said, this was a pretty awful effort all the way around, especially on D -- allowing nearly 90 points and 70 percent shooting to a team that averages just over 70 doesn't cut it. Whether you think this is a Final Four level team or a first round exit, it's reasonable to expect better quality defense than what we saw this afternoon. Seems like once the referees started calling things tighter, we couldn't keep people from going by us. I'm not sure Georgetown could have run their offense any better against the coaching staff in an empty gym.

And on offense, the turnovers and inability to generate anything in the paint was just as bad. Very discouraging.

[SCMatt33]

The most troubling thing for me is that they got so many easy looks on our set defense, not just the TO's.

I think part of the reason that we appear to get worse over the course of time over the last few years is that we tend to be stagnant. Coach K does a wonderful job of having his team ready for the start of the year, and by the time we get 20 games in, everyone knows what Duke can and can't do. Right now, teams that beat us attack us on both ends of the floor. When Duke has the ball, they guard everyone as tightly as possible and force Duke to try and dribble by them, which we can't do for the most part. When Duke is on D, they attack the paint any way possible, either dumping it down low, or driving into the lane.

[kydukie]

Can someone tell me what has changed since the Wake Forest game for the Plumlees? Things seemed to be looking up after that game, but they've gone the other direction instead.

[Saratoga2]

This game was like a reprise of the NC State game. Our defense was non existent over much of the game. They pretty much could do anything they wanted to. They drove in, shot the three and got many points in the paint. They turned us over way too often.

I think they also had the refs on their side as well. Lots of fouls by Georgetown went uncalled and virtually all questionable calls went against Duke. That said, the fouls were not the difference. I don't buy the tired excuse either.

Then the offense. Our shooting was poor from three and we had trouble going inside. We lost the turnover battle as well.

On the good side:
Thomas played well. He isn't a guy who can score a lot against Monroe, but he still played a very solid game.

Scheyer looked fairly well. He did make a couple of mental mistakes out there, but his offense was reasonable. I liked it better when Jon took a little better care of the ball. He has started to make a few careless turnovers.

Dawkins showed he belongs on offense, but his defense is still that of a freshman. I'll take the good offense as a sign he is coming along.

The Plumlees competed. Miles missed a couple of bunnies, but he can defend and rebound. Mason also looked like he belonged. His defense is still that of a freshman as well, but he is out there competing

Smith played a much better second half. He just couldn't get an open look in the first half but scored the majority of his points in the second.

On the bad side:
Zoubek was not able to compete against Monroe and quickly made two fouls which came as the game started to turn in Georgetown's favor.

Singler played hard and scored 19, I think, but it took him a lot of shots to get that number. The head down drive into a crowd and the telegraphed passes plus fouling out were all negatives. He tends to play on the limit most of the time and would be better to take better care of the ball. He still is a very important player and just needs to ask himself how he can avoid the mistakes.

Kelly also didn't look good out there. He had trouble getting back and was no help to the offense. He does look quite a bit stronger out there, so there is hope.

A bad game for our Dukies. Maybe some rest will get them ready for Georgia Tech.

[1Devil]

Can someone tell me what has changed since the Wake Forest game for the Plumlees? Things seemed to be looking up after that game, but they've gone the other direction instead.

Lance is just too good to take out of the lineup.

[devildeac]

You mean like the 1991 Duke championship team that lost to UNC by 22 in the ACC Tourney final?

Except I don't see Hurley or Laettner suiting up for us this year.

Or G. Hill either.

[chrisheery]

If Coach K set forth 3-4 points in a game plan for us to "win," I would guess we achieved zero of those.

Mine would have been:

1. Dominate the paint.

2. Make Monroe shoot from mid range or the perimeter. I mean, why would we pressure a guy 12 feet from the basket who rarely even attempts a shot from there?

3. Go to the hole, a lot. Even if you get fouled and no call is made repeatedly. Keep going until they do make the call. Then, go some more. That doesn't mean one on one moves, which is not our strong suit. Move off the ball, make plays with motion and as a team.

4. Don't turn the ball over (always).

5. Keep them out of the paint, especially on back door cuts.

Which of these did we do? None. The turnovers at half court, I think there were three in short succession, that let them get a 10 point lead, really ended the game, essentially.

[Saratoga2]

Why is it that Duke seems to regress as the season progresses the last 5 years? That's what really bothers me. I can remember when Duke teams used to improve over the course of the year and hit their stride in March. We started the year with 3 good players and it was clear this team needed more than that. Now we sit at the end of January and I have little hope that we're going to get serious contributions from anyone else on the roster the rest of the way. Depressing.

Thomas is also playing very well

[JBDuke]

Except I don't see Hurley or Laettner suiting up for us this year.

Or G. Hill either.

Yeah, but Hill, Hurley, and Laettner were on that team and played that day in March 1991. Even players with retired jerseys can have bad days.

[CDu]

We just couldn't stop them one on one, and they did a great job of identifying cutters when our guys tried to play help defense. And it didn't help that so many of our turnovers went for fast break layups/dunks.

The team that showed up for us today wasn't ready for the team that showed up for Georgetown. Hopefully we'll be better prepared/focused when we face a well-coached team in March.

[loldevilz]

trying to have hope in this duke team is difficult because they simply haven't prooved anything yet...this was their chance and they came up short

[BlueintheFace]

Make Monroe shoot from mid range or the perimeter. I mean, why would we pressure a guy 12 feet from the basket who rarely even attempts a shot from there?

Agreed, too much exterior pressure. I think K deserves some blame here. I don't think our defensive plan was smart at all.

[devildownunder]

Our defense was obviously terrible and offensively we missed some shots we simply had to make to keep it close when we were still down single digits. We couldn't defend without fouling and even when fouling, we didn't foul enough to prevent a shot.

I think Clark called it, Georgetown looked fresher. having a game 2.5 days ago and having to travel obviously took a toll. I wouldn't read too much in how we played since the schedule had to play at least a part. Monroe obviously made up for some past performances against us. Now that we have the bad taste of an "L" in our mouths, here's to our taking it out on Tech, BC, and kerlina!

-c

I am getting very tired of hearing that we were tired every time we lose this year.


I saw only the last 15 minutes or so (tuned in when we were down 54-46). In that time, we had zero balance in our offense and our defense was so poor that we allowed Gtown to score on 13 straight possessions at one point. That is an eye-popping stat to me. I don't know what to say, really. Other than the fact that we have to get consistent, focused effort on defense or we have no chance.

[ice-9]

If Coach K set forth 3-4 points in a game plan for us to "win," I would guess we achieved zero of those.

Mine would have been:

1. Dominate the paint.

2. Make Monroe shoot from mid range or the perimeter. I mean, why would we pressure a guy 12 feet from the basket who rarely even attempts a shot from there?

3. Go to the hole, a lot. Even if you get fouled and no call is made repeatedly. Keep going until they do make the call. Then, go some more. That doesn't mean one on one moves, which is not our strong suit. Move off the ball, make plays with motion and as a team.

4. Don't turn the ball over (always).

5. Keep them out of the paint, especially on back door cuts.

Which of these did we do? None. The turnovers at half court, I think there were three in short succession, that let them get a 10 point lead, really ended the game, essentially.

We did OK with #3, especially in the second half. We shot 26 free throws which is about 20% above our season average.

[arnie]

Thomas is also playing very well

Thomas is playing very well as compared with Thomas in previous years; but he is still light years away from the level of other forwards on top 10 teams. We applaud him when he scores 8 points and only has 4 turnovers. I think that says more about our current and recent capabilities at the 4 and 5 than it does about Thomas.