Duke v Michigan State Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

[jipops]

I want us to get the win badly, but of even more importance is to get through this game healthy. It's going to be a battle and a physical one. Win or lose, it will still be early December. Just stay healthy guys. Honestly, if we end up losing without any major bumps or bruises I'll still sleep very soundly.

Aside from that, Mich St's recent turnover issues keep coming up but we've had a number of them as well lately. Nolan specifically seems to have struggled with his floor game a bit so far. I would like to see us take care of the ball a little bit better. The more shots we can get, the better.

[uh_no]

Watch yourselves tonight when the thunderstorms come through after midnight. I'm sure the line monitors (or University officials) will move you indoors for a while.

Grace is rarely given for the walkup line, there is no policy in place for grace (so far as I know). We'll just say in my 3 years of waiting in line, we never had grace. That said, I'm sure the line monitors will take the safety of the crazies first and foremost and if an electrical storm were to come through, either grace would be given, or the line would be moved into cameron.

[dukeENG2003]

Unless its an official campout game (which I don't believe this one is) there will be no official grace unless its something they all just as a group decide to arrange.

For example, in Indy, we agreed as a group in line to number ourselves and scatter around the stadium (to be called if anyone wanted to) to allow people to camp out under the will call shelters in the storm (it was a severe thunderstorm warning if not a tornado warning, it was a HUGE storm).

[Duke of Nashville]

Gottlieb actually mocked himself somewhat in one of the broadcasts, saying "Duke is alarmingly athletic" (and then smiling), obviously alluding to his comment from last year. I used to dislike Gottlieb intensely - strangely enough, he's actually grown on me and is one of my favorite commentators. He tells it like he sees it and doesn't sugarcoat things. And he can admit when he's wrong. Also, when he calls games (usually for some mid-major school), you can tell he really researches the players (that nobody else would know) and has a firm understanding of the game. He actually has some keen insight into the game. I greatly prefer Gottlieb to Hubert or Digger...

Good stuff. I agree with Gottlieb telling it like he sees it--although I can differ in his opinions at times-- and he does appear to do his research. But when you compare him to Hubert or Digger he is godsend, even with the occasional low blow.

Who are the commentators for tomorrow night's game?

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Unless its an official campout game (which I don't believe this one is) there will be no official grace unless its something they all just as a group decide to arrange.

For example, in Indy, we agreed as a group in line to number ourselves and scatter around the stadium (to be called if anyone wanted to) to allow people to camp out under the will call shelters in the storm (it was a severe thunderstorm warning if not a tornado warning, it was a HUGE storm).

Y'all are smart kids. When they issue the thunderstorm and/or tornado warnings tonight, number yourselves and get indoors, OK? Nuff said.

[-bdbd]

I found it interesting when looking at MSU's results that Draymond Green (6'6 their 3rd leading scorer and leader in both assists and rebounds) comes off the bench for them as does Korie Lucious (4th in scoring, second in assists.) They start a smaller line-up than Duke, where I would imagine Kyle will be guarding Durrell Summers (6'4 2nd leading scorer) to start with Kyrie and Nolan guarding Lucas and Austin Thornton (6'4) and Mason and Ryan guarding Garrick Sherman (6'10 C) and Delvon Roe (6'8). Green and Luscious play more minutes than Sherman and Thornton, much like Dawkins, Curry and Miles are playing more than Kelly on Duke's team.

This could be an interesting game match-up wise as both teams have some depth (MSU with 9 players averaging 10mpg or more + Nix at 8mpg) and both teams have so far used smaller line-ups more often. MSU's top 5 players in mpg are: Summers 29.2, Lucas 29.0, Green 27.8, Lucious 24.6 and Roe 23.5. Their center (Sherman) is next at 19.5 mpg. This would appear to be a good line-up for Dawkins to see quite a bit of time at the 3, but Green may be a tough matchup. I would expect Kyle to guard Green most of the time he is in and Summers may be a tough, good match-up for Andre.

I am also interested to see how Lucas does against our back court, who did a great job vs. Pullen. They will then have played against arguably the top 2 guards in the country outside of Durham.

Should be an exciting game.

This is the very definition of an early-season marquee game. It would surprise nobody to see these two squads matched up again in Houston the first weekend of April... My suspicion is that MSU will be more ready at that point than they appear to be this early in the season. You have to respect Izzo's ability to have his teams ready come March. All that said, the network has to just love this match-up as the headliner for the ACC---Big-10/11/12 Challenge!

When MSU knocked us out of the NCAA's just a few years ago, as I recall they made it a very physical game and essentially beat us up and wore us down. That is a fairly consistent formula for Izzo. So expect a tough interior game. Since we entered the season expecting the front line/interior (and the depth there) to be our least-strong aspect - I'm leary of using the term "weakness" since we're still pretty solid, if maybe somewhat thin - this should be a great test for MP2, MP1 and Kelly. Let's avoid early fouls guys and keep the rebounding numbers close.

But I do expect our guards to have a decent advantage over MSU's guards, and look for lots of MSU turnovers. Is it just me, or does MSU seem to have a poor match-up for guarding Singler? This should be a terrific game.

Go Devils!!

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[loran16]

Y'all are smart kids. When they issue the thunderstorm and/or tornado warnings tonight, number yourselves and get indoors, OK? Nuff said.

It'll take actual tornado warnings for them to move indoors Ozzie. That's the way it is.

Oh and I have word that the line has already reached the IM Building and thus will soon, if not already, start to snake around to reach the tennis courts.

[Channing]

I haven't had a chance to watch MSU this year - how does Lucas look? Coming back from an achiles injury is no small task.

Also, watching the last few games, it seems like Nolan has become a bit of a ballhog. There were several plays where he forced an ill advised shot rather than kicking to a wide open man. I know K stresses assertiveness with Nolan, but I would like to see him be assertive within the game's flow rather than wasting posessions with ill advised shots and turnovers.

[CameronConvert]

It'll take actual tornado warnings for them to move indoors Ozzie. That's the way it is.

Oh and I have word that the line has already reached the IM Building and thus will soon, if not already, start to snake around to reach the tennis courts.

Over 100 students were in line...Sunday night. Probably closer to 300 right now. It's gonna be rocking in Cameron tomorrow.

[Saratoga2]

My feeling is that I would hope that Duke would win most games when they are shooting 42 percent from the floor. I would hope the team would lock down defensively and create enough turnovers to win a game like that, even against a top tier team. I would worry more about a team that outrebounds Duke by quite a bit getting a big advantage that way. Fortunately, MSU does not seem to have hit their stride in the rebounding department yet this year, but their center Nix is now back. They were in the top 10 in the NCAA in offensive rebounding percentage the last 4 years, but currently rank 109th at 35.2% http://kenpom.com/team.php?team=Michigan%20St.
I expect that is something MSU will improve on as the year progresses, hopefully it won't start against Duke.

We did a poor job of guarding the three against Oregon. There were a lot of wide open shots that Oregon missed. Clearly Duke needs to get back quickly and know who they are guarding. Perhaps the constant lineup changes by Duke had something to do with the confusion on defense, but there will be less margin for error with MSU. Expect them to run and to play hard for 40 minutes. Its my opinion that Duke has more potent guards and wing and the bigs inside are a wash. This will be a good early season test and we will be favored.

[theAlaskanBear]

Gottlieb actually mocked himself somewhat in one of the broadcasts, saying "Duke is alarmingly athletic" (and then smiling), obviously alluding to his comment from last year. I used to dislike Gottlieb intensely - strangely enough, he's actually grown on me and is one of my favorite commentators. He tells it like he sees it and doesn't sugarcoat things. And he can admit when he's wrong. Also, when he calls games (usually for some mid-major school), you can tell he really researches the players (that nobody else would know) and has a firm understanding of the game. He actually has some keen insight into the game. I greatly prefer Gottlieb to Hubert or Digger...

Sometimes Gottlieb shows half a brain, and other times he attacks the NCAA ruling and argues that Kanter should be ruled eligible despite taking money simply because it will increase exposure and marketing in Turkey. At least we know where his morals are.

[diveonthefloor]

At least we know where his morals are.

Yeah, we also got a good whiff of his morals when he stole the credit cards and got kicked out of Notre Dame.

[watzone]

Hot off the press - Kyle Singler addressed the media just minutes ago - http://bluedevilnation.net/2010/11/k...an-state-game/

[watzone]

And here is the exchange with Andre Dawkins for those interested - http://bluedevilnation.net/2010/11/d...ichigan-state/

[dukemsu]

As the board's resident Spartan, figured I'd contribute a scouting report.

First, the pick-Duke gets out early with the initial blitz, State finds their legs and counterpunches, but Duke pulls away late and wins by 10-12. The Spartans turnover issues and their lack of cohesion (due to a ridiculously injury-ridden offseason and early season) will haunt them in this one.

Lucas looks like a different player from before the injury. He has lost some of his quickness and has gained a lot of strength. His shot is also more accurate from 3 point range. He will not spend much time guarding Irving-Korie Lucious, a quicker defensive player, has drawn that assignment. Durrell Summers, the shooting guard, remains State's wildcard-when he's on, the Spartans are lethal. He reminds me a bit of Ben Gordon-a massive talent who has a tendency to float. He does tend to show up when the lights are bright.

The matchup Duke should be concerned with is Draymond Green. Green has been coming off the bench, largely to save him from foul trouble, but he may start tomorrow. Green reminds me much of Carrawell in that he fills multiple roles and is the toughest guy in most any room he walks into (Kyle will give him competition tomorrow). Green has added the 17-20 foot J to his game, and remains the team's best rebounder. If Green stays out of trouble, Duke does not have a player to match his strength and quickness combination.

Delvon Roe has drawn the Singler assignment and will have plenty of help. Adreian Payne may also chase Kyle some, based solely on his speed and length. You may also see Austin Thornton and Mike Kebler as defensive specialists. Thornton is a good 3 point shooter, but Kebler will probably have his arm broken by a teammate if he takes a jump shot.

The Spartans have not hit their stride on the glass as of yet, thought they did start to right the ship against Washington. And although Cameron is not a forgiving place for a freshman, Keith Appling may use tomorrow as his bow on the national stage. Appling is a very talented offensive player and has been cited by Izzo as the most impressive defensive freshman guard he's coached, including Cleaves.

State has no one to stay in front of Irving, and Izzo will not zone Duke at all. Irving should be able to get by his man, draw help, and find players on the perimeter for wide-open looks. I doubt the bigs will shade off of Mason much.

Should be a fun game for sure. Wish I could be there.

dukemsu

[Waynne]

I know K's strategy is to force MSU to match-up w/ us, but the flip side of the coin is that Summers (6-4), Green (6-6), and Roe (6-8) present tough match-ups for us. Kyle can guard any one of the three, but Nolan will have his hands full with Summers and the Plumlees and Ryan will have a tough time chasing Roe. If Andre is playing well we could see a lot of him because he can probably stay with either Summers or Green, leaving Kyle to guard Roe.

Overall we have played somewhat better than Michigan State so far this year so we should win, especially because we are playing in Cameron. Should be a tough, bruising game, and if MSU plays well it could be close.

[uh_no]

It'll take actual tornado warnings for them to move indoors Ozzie. That's the way it is.

Oh and I have word that the line has already reached the IM Building and thus will soon, if not already, start to snake around to reach the tennis courts.

the line doesn't go near the IM building, it goes straight until it hits the tennis center and then turns to surround Kville

Corroborating your claims: at 2:30 this afternoon it was at the far corner

given: it is VERY spread out because of the tarps/mattresses/chairs, but my guess is somewhere between 2-400 students in line

[J4Kop99]

I just hope Kyrie doesn't get ahead of himself tomorrow night. So far this season he has gone through a few stages where he plays WAY too fast. He can't get into early foul trouble. I understand what he has shown thus far, especially in the showdown with K-State but a game like tomorrow night (in cameron) is going to be the most pressure-filled situation of his young career. I have confidence that he will play very well but there's still a part of me that thinks he can't be this good, this quick. Maybe I'm being too pessimistic?


Izzo will have his guys ready to play, that's for sure. Whenever I think of big games like this though, my mind immediatly goes back to senior night in 2006. Our guys came out with too much intensity and couldn't sustain their play for the entire game. Redick was lights out at the beginning and it went all downhill from there.

But I digress... I think Duke has more talent, the better coach(and that's certainly saying something), the home crowd, and most importantly, the health. Duke wins a tough one.

[Cell-R]

Check out the attached picture! Wooh! Can't wait for the game tomorrow!

[uh_no]

Check out the attached picture! Wooh! Can't wait for the game tomorrow!

that's new

i've never seen someone decorate a tarp like that...obviously tents cling to the players numbers, but this is the first i've seen of it happening in the walk up line too

cool