MBB: Duke 74, Miami 63 Post-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Put your post-game thoughts here.

[Duke76]

played pretty well. Smith was great, Dawkins was clutch in the 2nd half, love his attitude and Singler played his butt off without his shot going down and Kelly played as did Miles with a lot of energy

also, Kyrie was seen wriggling his toe by me and a couple of other posters...not sure of the significance...but good to see

[JMarley50]

This was an eye opener. Definitely exposed our weaknesses. I'm just glad that a few of the guys showed up ready to play. They must learn from this one...

[superdave]

I thought our big guys played excellent help-side D tonight. They cut off a lot of interior passes, blocked 8 shots and were a solid line the whole game. I know there's a tendency to want the alley oops, dunks and drop steps, but we need D out of the bigs the most and they brought it tonight.

One cause for concern with the help-side is that it often forces a big to leave their man unattended in order to help. Reggie Johnson was the beneficiary of that tonight, but it was not enough to close the gap between the teams.

Solid game to start the conference after a month of lesser competition.

[delfrio]

Have to say, although most things didn't go his way, I love Miles' intensity these days. Things will start coming together offensively for him, but we really needed someone to get going in the middle (Kelly's doing a bit of that too).

[superdave]

This was an eye opener. Definitely exposed our weaknesses. I'm just glad that a few of the guys showed up ready to play. They must learn from this one...

Got any specifics?

I thought our D was really good tonight, and the stats should back that up. Also, we made enough offensive adjustments to counter their zone which could have really bogged us down. I really dont have any huge complaints about what I saw tonight.

[arnie]

played pretty well. Smith was great, Dawkins was clutch in the 2nd half, love his attitude and Singler played his butt off without his shot going down and Kelly played as did Miles with a lot of energy

also, Kyrie was seen wriggling his toe by me and a couple of other posters...not sure of the significance...but good to see

Beginning to understand why Kelly will play more - isn't as athletic as the Plumlees, but at least understands the offense and how to move the ball. Don't understand the lack of offensive development from either Plumlee; but somehow K can won an NC without offense inside. Maybe he can pull it off again.

[Bluedevil114]

Nolan was incredible, Dre was steady and Kyle was consistent. Kelly brought energy and Curry was off tonight.

Mason needs to wake up quickly or I would give some of his minutes to Hairston.

[jipops]

Not wanting to forget this was an ACC win which is always big, there were a number of not-like-so-much pieces in this game.

The defense was great with major exception of Reggie Johnson going 9-10 and averaging almost a point per minute. Yuck.

The offense has a few problems, especially against a zone which probably surprises a lot of people with our shooters. Thing is though, Miami can play an effective zone with their quickness but without a true pg we don't have a guy that can get inside of it. I think we're going to see this type of ugly offense from here on out. As long as we can get wins I guess it ultimately doesn't matter, but it ain't going to be pretty.

I was pleasantly surprised by the defense overall though. We hawked the ball and made everything difficult for them on the perimeter. Too bad we weren't able reward it as often as we would probably like to see.

Free throws were great too! 93%!

[loran16]

Not to be a negative Nancy here, but this was quite a bit of a poor game. The team was outscored in the 2nd half, AT HOME, while trying its hardest against a much weaker Miami team.

The game had 68 Possessions. Duke scored 1.088 points per possession, Miami scored .926 PPP.

The D was mostly acceptable, though it let way too many rebounds slip form hands, and Miami had a few open 3s that it couldn't knock down. Still, against a really good Miami O, .926 PPP is quite good.

The O...not so much. The team's 1.088 PPP is way down from its season average and is UNACCEPTABLE against a Maimi team ranked #98 in team Defense. Some of this was a bunch of open shots being missed, but the team was also very very sloppy.

Outside of Nolan's own 11-0 Run, the team never put Miami away. And that was with Reggie Johnson out of the game. With Johnson, Duke may have been outscored. And that was all on the offensive end.

If we're the #1 team in the country, that can't happen.

We're a better team by a lot than Miami. Or we should be. Which means at home, we should put them away. We didn't do that tonight.

[Saratoga2]

Nolan came up so big in this game. He handled the ball well, defended well and was the main force on offense. The guy had a terrific game. I also thought Dawkins has come a long way. He may be the most efficient scorer on the team now and he has diversified his game. There were several times when he was open that the team has to get him the ball. I think coach K pointed that out dduring a time out in the second half and Andre thedn hit a couple of key baskets.

Singler played well but it wasn't his best game, either shooting or on defense. He still is a key player on the floor and there will be many other games when he will bring his A game.

Kelly has also shown a great deal of development. He was active on defense, rebounding and shows that he has more touch inside than the Plumlees. It is nice to have three big men to clog up the middle. Unfortunately, neither of the Plumlees is showing much on offense inside. Miles is still having issues catching the ball under pressure as well. It would be great if both Mason and Miles develop their games as the season progresses.

Curry played solid defense but got into foul trouble and took a goose egg on the scoring end. I haven't looked at the stats yet, but I do think Seth took a number of shots and just didn't connect.

This game was a good test against a decent ACC team. The guys should feel great about the positive outcome.

[Bob Green]

Andre Dawkins played a great game. He scored 16 points on nine shots. Add on four steals and two rebounds and that is a solid stat line.

[JMarley50]

Got any specifics?

I thought our D was really good tonight, and the stats should back that up. Also, we made enough offensive adjustments to counter their zone which could have really bogged us down. I really dont have any huge complaints about what I saw tonight.

Our perimeter D was fairly good, but I don't really agree with you on the bigs playing good D. Ryan did ok I'll give him that. But I personally don't constitute blocking shots as sole definition of good post D. Their communication on ball screens was horrible. I don't know how many times Mason jumped out to hedge a ball screen and switched when our guard had gotten through. Then struggled relocating his man after he realized he wasn't supposed to switch. Miles did that a few times as well. I honestly feel like we got away with A LOT of fouls that were called blocks. The dunk that Miles blocked was an obvious foul, and he stands up pounding his chest...

Earlier in the game our guards struggled getting the ball into the post. They would have a good passing lane and then dribble themselves into poor position and try to pass it in, which resulted in several turnovers.

Our rebounding was not good at all in the first half, it got a little better in the second half.

Mason was on another planet all together.

[SMO]

Not to be a negative Nancy here, but this was quite a bit of a poor game. The team was outscored in the 2nd half, AT HOME, while trying its hardest against a much weaker Miami team.

The game had 68 Possessions. Duke scored 1.088 points per possession, Miami scored .926 PPP.

The D was mostly acceptable, though it let way too many rebounds slip form hands, and Miami had a few open 3s that it couldn't knock down. Still, against a really good Miami O, .926 PPP is quite good.

The O...not so much. The team's 1.088 PPP is way down from its season average and is UNACCEPTABLE against a Maimi team ranked #98 in team Defense. Some of this was a bunch of open shots being missed, but the team was also very very sloppy.

Outside of Nolan's own 11-0 Run, the team never put Miami away. And that was with Reggie Johnson out of the game. With Johnson, Duke may have been outscored. And that was all on the offensive end.

If we're the #1 team in the country, that can't happen.

We're a better team by a lot than Miami. Or we should be. Which means at home, we should put them away. We didn't do that tonight.

I'm curious to see if Coach K agrees with your assessment that the O was unacceptable in his post game comments.

[4decadedukie]

This close-to-embarrassing almost-home-loss to a lower-half ACC team should at least silence all the ridiculousness re Duke going undefeated, Duke being the presumptive National Champion, and so forth. We have weaknesses, some significant, the critical second-third of the season is underway, and we better blow Maryland out this week to ensure legitimate ACC contenders do not develop a "they are overrated, we can defeat them" attitude. Turnovers, rebounding, defensively created offense, transition defense, missed easy buckets, and the like MUST be immediately resolved, or this is season will evolve into one of disappointments, humiliating losses and unfulfilled potential. I anticipate Coach K will be quite clear regarding such deficiencies, the vital need for their prompt correction, and the requirement for court/locker-room leadership. My concern is that it is VERY late in the season for such substantial, team-wide assessment and resurrection. Nolan and Andre played well, Ryan's aggregate improvement is noticeable, but several key players under-achieved this evening; I truly hate to make this appraisal, but the time has come for determined, tenacious leadership and performance (especially unremitting defense, in every phase of every game).

[SMO]

This close-to-embarrassing almost-home-loss to a lower-half ACC team should at least silence all the ridiculousness re Duke going undefeated, Duke being the presumptive National Champion, and so forth. We have weaknesses, some significant, the critical second-third of the season is underway, and we better blow Maryland out this week to ensure legitimate ACC contenders do not develop a "they are overrated, we can defeat them" attitude. Turnovers, rebounding, defensively created offense, transition defense, missed easy buckets, and the like MUST be immediately resolved, or this is season will evolve into one of disappointments, humiliating losses and unfulfilled potential. I anticipate Coach K will be quite clear regarding such deficiencies, the vital need for their prompt correction, and the requirement for court/locker-room leadership. My concern is that it is VERY late in the season for such substantial, team-wide assessment and resurrection.

My sarcasm meter must be adjusting to the 2011 transition...are you serious or kidding?

[jv001]

My sarcasm meter must be adjusting to the 2011 transition...are you serious or kidding?

I'm wondering the same thing? And it's VERY late in the season. Huh? Go Duke!

[Duke76]

This close-to-embarrassing almost-home-loss to a lower-half ACC team should at least silence all the ridiculousness re Duke going undefeated, Duke being the presumptive National Champion, and so forth. We have weaknesses, some significant, the critical second-third of the season is underway, and we better blow Maryland out this week to ensure legitimate ACC contenders do not develop a "they are overrated, we can defeat them" attitude. Turnovers, rebounding, defensively created offense, transition defense, missed easy buckets, and the like MUST be immediately resolved, or this is season will evolve into one of disappointments, humiliating losses and unfulfilled potential. I anticipate Coach K will be quite clear regarding such deficiencies, the vital need for their prompt correction, and the requirement for court/locker-room leadership. My concern is that it is VERY late in the season for such substantial, team-wide assessment and resurrection.

Funny, how we can have such different opinions of the same game...this opponent was a lot better than Elon and UNC G. Did you think we looked better then than now. Not me, I think we played better tonight than against those two teams...

[superdave]

This close-to-embarrassing almost-home-loss to a lower-half ACC team should at least silence all the ridiculousness re Duke going undefeated, Duke being the presumptive National Champion, and so forth. We have weaknesses, some significant, the critical second-third of the season is underway, and we better blow Maryland out this week to ensure legitimate ACC contenders do not develop a "they are overrated, we can defeat them" attitude. Turnovers, rebounding, defensively created offense, transition defense, missed easy buckets, and the like MUST be immediately resolved, or this is season will evolve into one of disappointments, humiliating losses and unfulfilled potential. I anticipate Coach K will be quite clear regarding such deficiencies, the vital need for their prompt correction, and the requirement for court/locker-room leadership. My concern is that it is VERY late in the season for such substantial, team-wide assessment and resurrection.

I'm sorry but at what point were we close-to-embarrassed? I dont think the outcome was in doubt. Did they cut it to less than 9 in the 2nd half? We were two steps ahead of them the whole game and guys gave a really good effort even though it was not perfect. We had a major change at pg a month ago and this is the best team we've played since then. Our D was really good at pushing them out of their offense and if a couple more open looks fell, this would have been a yawner.

[JMarley50]

This close-to-embarrassing almost-home-loss to a lower-half ACC team should at least silence all the ridiculousness re Duke going undefeated, Duke being the presumptive National Champion, and so forth. We have weaknesses, some significant, the critical second-third of the season is underway, and we better blow Maryland out this week to ensure legitimate ACC contenders do not develop a "they are overrated, we can defeat them" attitude. Turnovers, rebounding, defensively created offense, transition defense, missed easy buckets, and the like MUST be immediately resolved, or this is season will evolve into one of disappointments, humiliating losses and unfulfilled potential. I anticipate Coach K will be quite clear regarding such deficiencies, the vital need for their prompt correction, and the requirement for court/locker-room leadership. My concern is that it is VERY late in the season for such substantial, team-wide assessment and resurrection. Nolan and Andre played well, Ryan's aggregate improvement is noticeable, but several key players under-achieved this evening; I truly hate to make this appraisal, but the time has come for determined, tenacious leadership and performance (especially unremitting defense, in every phase of every game).

It appears that you watched the same ball game I did. I agree 100%.