This team looking like a classic

[CameronBornAndBred]

Here is a nice article looking a little bit at the MSU game but more at where this Duke team is right now, which boils down to the best in the country, by a long shot. I love this quote...

OK, so maybe Kansas State wouldn't win, but how could this be anything but a great game? Forty minutes and a 14-point margin of victory later, here's how: Duke is the best team in the country.
Actually, let's be more specific: Duke is the best team in the country by a lot.
Asked if he agreed, Kansas State coach Frank Martin didn't hesitate.
"They knocked the living piss out of us," Martin said. "If there's a team better than they are, I don't want to play them."

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebaske...r-classic-team
He isn't brave enough to say we'll go undefeated (I'm not either, we'll lose to someone this year) but Brennan does agree that we are the ones to beat in April. Between the players we have, and the coaching that we have, the recipe is there for this group to be a team we will remember for a very long time.

[weezie]

"They knocked the living piss out of us," Martin said. "If there's a team better than they are, I don't want to play them."

I think we have another front page revolving quote for DBR. That's a keeper!

[Lord Ash]

I am very impressed by three things;

First, the body language. Now, it is easier to stay happy in wins, but the body language of this team from 1-13 and including the coaching staff is really excellent. They really seem to celebrate each other and enjoy each other.

Second, I like that so far this team has only had one game that I can recall where there was any time in which it did not score. Over the years we have all seen teams where they will go four or five minutes without hitting a basket, and that can make close games very tough. This team simply does not seem to be hitting that wall; we seem to consistently score throughout the game, which makes it so very tough for anyone to get a scoring spurt on us. This consistency is wonderful to see, and will remain very important.

Three... stall ball. Yep, I said it Marquette game notwithstanding, this team seems like it really will be able to take the air out of the ball with 4 minutes to go and keep the relative score the same. I am not sure I've felt this comfortable with a team doing this in the recent past.

Great start to the season!

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Second, I like that so far this team has only had one game that I can recall where there was any time in which it did not score. Over the years we have all seen teams where they will go four or five minutes without hitting a basket, and that can make close games very tough. This team simply does not seem to be hitting that wall; we seem to consistently score throughout the game, which makes it so very tough for anyone to get a scoring spurt on us. This consistency is wonderful to see, and will remain very important.

When you've got two players as quick as Kyrie and Nolan who can finish at the basket as well as they can, it's tough to go too long without scoring. Plus, we've got Kyle. And Dre'. And Seth. And the Plumlees.

Three... stall ball.

I went ballistic when we went to it so early (was it 11 minutes left, or 8 left on the clock? I forget) and promptly lost momentum and got sloppy and lost the ball on consecutive possessions and the lead dropped from 17 to 11. Got a 17 point lead? Build it to 27! Then take the air out of the ball with 4 minutes left. Fortunately Dre' made a quick 3 to make it 14 and we righted the ship quickly. Grrr.

My opinion of the prevent offense and prevent defense is well known, both in basketball and football. All it does is prevent victory for the team that uses it.

[DoubleDuke Dad]

"They knocked the living piss out of us," Martin said. "If there's a team better than they are, I don't want to play them."

Now I know why the players were slipping on the floor.

[Duke76]

From the same article another classic line,


"Coach K has this down to a science, people," Pullen said. "And it's a great science, man."

[MCFinARL]

My opinion of the prevent offense and prevent defense is well known, both in basketball and football. All it does is prevent victory for the team that uses it.

This. Prevent defense in football is some sort of mass delusion. As for stall ball, I'm still recovering from the many games in the JJ era when we let comfortable leads disintegrate this way. The last four minutes, okay--but when you start stalling too early, you risk taking your own offense out of the game. They can get cold and miss the shots when the shot clock winds down.

[COYS]

Three... stall ball. Yep, I said it Marquette game notwithstanding, this team seems like it really will be able to take the air out of the ball with 4 minutes to go and keep the relative score the same. I am not sure I've felt this comfortable with a team doing this in the recent past.

Great start to the season!

Ash, I generally agree with you on everything. But last year's team was THE BEST half court team we've had at Duke over the past 10 years. Nolan, Jon, and Kyle ran stall ball expertly, in large part because it wasn't really all that different from our usual, patient half court offense that was the hallmark of last year's squad. Zoubs, Lance, and Miles (who saw the majority of court time when we ran the spread) are, collectively, a better group of screeners than Mason, Ryan, and Miles currently are, which helped our guards time their drives into the defense a little better than we have this season. Combine that with our hard nosed rebounding and we had many times last year where one possession took 1:30 off the clock and ended with a bucket after we collected two offensive boards.

I think this team will be able to run the stall effectively, possibly more effectively than last year, as the season wears on. We've got tons of options whether it's Kyrie breaking ankles, Nolan attacking the hoop, Kyle working off a screen, or a drive and kick to one of our many shooters. As Kyrie improves his decision making, he'll start to see which one of these options is the best at any given moment. As that happens, I think the spread will become even more efficient.

[Indoor66]

Ash, I generally agree with you on everything. But last year's team was THE BEST half court team we've had at Duke over the past 10 years. Nolan, Jon, and Kyle ran stall ball expertly, in large part because it wasn't really all that different from our usual, patient half court offense that was the hallmark of last year's squad. Zoubs, Lance, and Miles (who saw the majority of court time when we ran the spread) are, collectively, a better group of screeners than Mason, Ryan, and Miles currently are, which helped our guards time their drives into the defense a little better than we have this season. Combine that with our hard nosed rebounding and we had many times last year where one possession took 1:30 off the clock and ended with a bucket after we collected two offensive boards.

I think this team will be able to run the stall effectively, possibly more effectively than last year, as the season wears on. We've got tons of options whether it's Kyrie breaking ankles, Nolan attacking the hoop, Kyle working off a screen, or a drive and kick to one of our many shooters. As Kyrie improves his decision making, he'll start to see which one of these options is the best at any given moment. As that happens, I think the spread will become even more efficient.

I agree with you. I can understand using the tactic in these games for two reasons: practice in game situations and, why risk injury on the court when players are slipping when making sharp cuts. When the game is in hand, practice and prevent injury.

[Lord Ash]

Ash, I generally agree with you on everything. But last year's team was THE BEST half court team we've had at Duke over the past 10 years. Nolan, Jon, and Kyle ran stall ball expertly, in large part because it wasn't really all that different from our usual, patient half court offense that was the hallmark of last year's squad.

Excellent point about stall ball last not being THAT different than our usual methodical offense last year; I would have given you a positive comment but I gave you one recently

[oldnavy]

When you've got two players as quick as Kyrie and Nolan who can finish at the basket as well as they can, it's tough to go too long without scoring. Plus, we've got Kyle. And Dre'. And Seth. And the Plumlees.


I went ballistic when we went to it so early (was it 11 minutes left, or 8 left on the clock? I forget) and promptly lost momentum and got sloppy and lost the ball on consecutive possessions and the lead dropped from 17 to 11. Got a 17 point lead? Build it to 27! Then take the air out of the ball with 4 minutes left. Fortunately Dre' made a quick 3 to make it 14 and we righted the ship quickly. Grrr.

My opinion of the prevent offense and prevent defense is well known, both in basketball and football. All it does is prevent victory for the team that uses it.

I would like to see KI finish a little more consistantly, but I cannot and will not complain about what the kid is doing... he is fabulous!

[-jk]

I'll toss a splash of cold water: We're an amazingly talented team, but we're a remarkably young team. Three recruited upperclassmen - albeit two that most coaches would kill for. A far cry from last season, starting 3 seniors and 2 juniors down the stretch.

We'll make mistakes, and we'll lose a few games because of them. We won't rebound anything like last season (and folks will whine). We'll have lots of turnovers (and folks will whine). But we'll force many more turnovers and we'll wear teams out.

We're off to a wonderful start and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the ride!

-jk

[Zeb]

While the merits of stall ball may feel like a dead horse to many, it is an interesting topic with this team. Heading into the season, K talked about increasing tempo and the number of possessions. I assume the thinking on that is that we have depth so with a fast pace and pressure defense we can tire teams out; the higher number of possessions makes it more likely that our superior offensive (and defensive) efficiency will yield a positive point differential. But stall ball goes against that. It decreases possessions and allows the other team that may not be as deep as us to take a breather. On the other hand, it obviously takes time off the clock, and when you have a lead you want to give the other team as few chances as possible to score.

I think the ultimate question on stall ball this season is how efficient we are when we run it. It seems obvious to me that giving yourself only 10 seconds to score makes it harder to have the same success as when you have 35 seconds to work with, so the question is how big a hit we take on our points per stall possession compared to the advatage gained by taking time off the clock. I don't have the patience to do it, but I would love to see someone chart our stall ball possessions.

[hq2]

We'll make mistakes, and we'll lose a few games because of them. We won't rebound anything like last season (and folks will whine). We'll have lots of turnovers (and folks will whine). But we'll force many more turnovers and we'll wear teams out.

I'm not sure of that. Looking at this team and the schedule, I'd say if they get by Michigan State they have a good chance to run the table. Now that Mason has shown up, this is clearly looking to be one of the two or three best teams in Duke history. They have no obvious weaknesses, except possibly defense at the 3 position, and even that isn't bad. It's going to be very hard for anyone to beat them anywhere.

[gus]

"Marquette game notwithstanding"

I thought Duke won that game.

The Marquette is a perfect example of why "stall ball" is such an effective strategy. Despite the fact that Duke went cold, and was clanging free throws... Duke was able to win. Decreasing the number of possessions dramatically decreased Marquette's odds of coming back. Had the team not limited Marquette's possessions, there is a ver real chance the game could be lost (though, unlikely, to be honest. This was more of a practice opportunity). A properly timed and executed stall makes it very difficult for an opponent to win, even if you don't score, and impossible to win if you do score.

[sagegrouse]

Overkill... in basketball, it's when your All-American has trouble getting shots because #1 and #2 are slicing and dicing the opponents into turkey hash and #30 and #20 are raining threes from everywhere.

Classic is a good term, but -- please -- one game at a time.

sagegrouse

[uh_no]

Three... stall ball. Yep, I said it Marquette game notwithstanding, this team seems like it really will be able to take the air out of the ball with 4 minutes to go and keep the relative score the same. I am not sure I've felt this comfortable with a team doing this in the recent past.

I would argue that last year our stall ball was perhaps one of the best I've ever seen...from 7-10 minutes out it started...it was just so similar to our regular offense and jon was such a brilliant point that we could most assuredly run the clock for 30 seconds and still be almost guaranteed to score points on the possesion...the with the offensive boards and the phenomenal FT shooting...i can't picture how this year's team could possibly be better at stall ball than last year

[gus]

While the merits of stall ball may feel like a dead horse to many, it is an interesting topic with this team. Heading into the season, K talked about increasing tempo and the number of possessions. I assume the thinking on that is that we have depth so with a fast pace and pressure defense we can tire teams out; the higher number of possessions makes it more likely that our superior offensive (and defensive) efficiency will yield a positive point differential. But stall ball goes against that. It decreases possessions and allows the other team that may not be as deep as us to take a breather. On the other hand, it obviously takes time off the clock, and when you have a lead you want to give the other team as few chances as possible to score.

When the score is tied, close, or duke is behind- more possessions are better. When duke is ahead... then math comes into play. If a team needs 5 possessions, and you can limit them to 4... they cannot win.

You're correct that the stall tactic will have a negative impact on the point differential, but a single digit win counts the same as a double digit win. The strategy is about risk management. We're trading a lower return for less volatility. It makes winning a lower point differential more likely, but also makes winning more likely. And that's really what matters, not the score.

[Lord Ash]

"Marquette game notwithstanding"

I thought Duke won that game.

The only reason I said that was because we missed a HOST of front ends in that game, so we did not salt them away as efficiently we would have liked. I expect our stall-ball to be more effective later on.

Also -jk, in reference to what you said... I thought it was amusing that after the game Pullen actually had a comment about Duke having so many upper classmen. Am I correct in saying we have only 3?

[COYS]

The only reason I said that was because we missed a HOST of front ends in that game, so we did not salt them away as efficiently we would have liked. I expect our stall-ball to be more effective later on.

Also -jk, in reference to what you said... I thought it was amusing that after the game Pullen actually had a comment about Duke having so many upper classmen. Am I correct in saying we have only 3?

To be fair to Pullen, it certainly LOOKED like there were two of Kyle, Nolan, and Miles on the court on the defensive end . . . and probably three of Kyrie. He felt like he was playing against 15 guys.