MBB: Duke vs. Florida State Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

[left_hook_lacey]

Virginia Tech shut the Seminoles down with an aggressive 2-3 zone. FSU couldn't buy a basket and VT finished the 1st half on a 10-0 or 12-0 run after switching from M2M to the 2-3 zone. Prior to the switch, FSU was scoring off offensive rebounds. While it is a given Duke plays M2M defense almost exclusively, this is a game where Coach Krzyzewski might consider employing his good friend Jim Boeheim's favorite defense.

This is a great question and one I have been pondering myself ever since the end of our last game. If we come out vs. FSU in a zone and sprinkle in a press or two here and there this one could be over early. IMO, you make FSU prove it can shoot the ball before you even think about coming out of the zone. The pressure D after a made basket makes its guards even more uncomfortable and wastes precious seconds on the shot clock to start its offense.

I however am a mere mortal. I trust in K and whatever defense he employs.

[tele]

It will be interesting to see if Coach K continues to play Singler and Smith for 40 minutes and to use a short bench, 7 players. With the number of players that FSU will run at you, might be a good game to get Josh and Tyler some minutes. Or maybe play some zone so Kyle and Nolan can rest on defense...

This would be a good game for Mason to get it going again on offense, be nice if he used the glass on his shots once in awhile too. Was it kelly or Miles that had that nice little put back bank shot in the Md game? It looked like Kelly but then I think the announcer said Miles so wasn't sure who it was. The Plumlees don't seem to use the back board much. I think Wooden called the backboard the big man's best friend, helps when you're pivoting around or even falling away across the lane to just bank it in.

[moonpie23]

i expect a very ugly game....

[4decadedukie]

This game substantially concerns me; of course, we can -- and we should -- win, however:
a) FSU is a solid team, well coached, with good results thus far during the season
b) We're on the road, it’s the heart of the season, it’s also the ACC, and we have a LARGE target on our back as Duke, as #1, and as the reigning National Champion
c) Our Miami and Maryland victories -- in my opinion, and not to reignite controversy -- have been fairly unimpressive and have revealed weakness that do not appear to have been corrected (rebounding, terminal defense against "big" opponents in the near-paint, turnovers)

I have a root canal scheduled this afternoon (no fooling), and I am just about as apprehensive regarding tonight's game.

[Bob Green]

It will be interesting to see if Coach K continues to play Singler and Smith for 40 minutes and to use a short bench, 7 players.

Coach Krzyzewski played eight players against Maryland. I expect Smith and Singler to play 40 or right at 40 minutes if it is a tight game.

a) FSU is a solid team, well coached, with good results thus far during the season

I have a root canal scheduled this afternoon

I have to disagree that FSU is well coached. Coaching is possible FSU's biggest weakness.

Good luck with the root canal.

[mikegismynewhero]

in my mind this is one of the 5 games left in the season that i can see us losing..along with the St. John's game, maryland in maryland and both unc games

[BASKETCASE]

how about Temple?

[mikegismynewhero]

possibly but i dont view them as too much of a threat

[devildeac]

i expect a very ugly game....

I expect something more on the order of a rugby match.

[-bdbd]

in my mind this is one of the 5 games left in the season that i can see us losing..along with the St. John's game, maryland in maryland and both unc games

Law of averages would say that it is likely that we will lose something outside of those 5 games that you mentioned. Kind of like in the NCAAT, does one bet on the favorite team over "the field" (i.e. everyone else)? Always take 'the field.' Too many things can go wrong -- injuries, foul troube to a key player, bad shooting night, etc. -- even in a game against a "lesser" opponent.

VPI (there), NCSU (there/here), BC, Temple, Mia (there) -- these are all games we could lose. To say nothing of the ACCT and NCAAT. There's a reason why nobody has gone undefeated in all of these years (including many teams better than this one) -- stuff happens. To suggest that those 5 are the only ones where there's a threat of losing is, well, dangerous in my mind (and tempting fate!).

I just hope that the team stays focused on one-game-at-a-time.

[moonpie23]

I expect something more on the order of a rugby match.

explain the difference....

[-jk]

FSU is one of the places I worry less about getting the win and more about avoiding an injury. VPI is another. They both seem to embrace the "if we can't beat you, we'll beat you up".

-jk

[mikegismynewhero]

i'm not saying those are the only games we have a chance to lose, im pointing out, imo, the times we are most likely to lose

[mkirsh]

Virginia Tech shut the Seminoles down with an aggressive 2-3 zone. FSU couldn't buy a basket and VT finished the 1st half on a 10-0 or 12-0 run after switching from M2M to the 2-3 zone. Prior to the switch, FSU was scoring off offensive rebounds. While it is a given Duke plays M2M defense almost exclusively, this is a game where Coach Krzyzewski might consider employing his good friend Jim Boeheim's favorite defense.

I would expect to see more "Red" than "Orange", with Red being Duke's terminology for half court man-to-man trap. We used this on a few possessions in the second half against Maryland to disrupt their offense, and might do it again tonight to try to generate steals and transition buckets to avoid going against their formidable half court D.

[devildeac]

explain the difference....

To me, an ugly game means lots of turnovers and poor shooting, forced or unforced. A "rugby match" includes those two components and lots of rough play, called or uncalled. But, we may just be talking about the same thing(s)...

[RonFar]

Got this link from Scout today. The first part of the post is a pretty hysterical flow chart about which team to choose, but the second part has some good stuff about the game tonight. FSU's size may be an issue if our threes aren't falling.

http://sethcurrysavesduke.blogspot.c...ball-team.html

[cptnflash]

This game substantially concerns me; of course, we can -- and we should -- win, however:
a) FSU is a solid team, well coached, with good results thus far during the season
b) We're on the road, it’s the heart of the season, it’s also the ACC, and we have a LARGE target on our back as Duke, as #1, and as the reigning National Champion
c) Our Miami and Maryland victories -- in my opinion, and not to reignite controversy -- have been fairly unimpressive and have revealed weakness that do not appear to have been corrected (rebounding, terminal defense against "big" opponents in the near-paint, turnovers)

I have a root canal scheduled this afternoon (no fooling), and I am just about as apprehensive regarding tonight's game.

Agree 100%. This should be our toughest test of the season. For the first time all year, I would be totally satisfied with a 1-point win on a halfcourt desperation heave at the buzzer.

The good news is FSU can't score. Singleton would be a nightmare matchup for any of our guys individually, but given FSU's lack of offensive weapons I'm sure the game plan will involve copious amounts of help whenever Singleton has the ball. Also, we need to guard Dulkys well on the perimeter. He has shot poorly so far this year, but that's probably a sample size issue as he hit nearly 40% of his 3's last year and it's unusual for a player to permanently regress half way through their college career. We need to treat him as a legit outside scoring threat and defend accordingly.

[diveonthefloor]

Anyone know who the broadcast team will be for the game?

[Daniel tosh]

I'm pretty sure its Shulman and Vitale.

[DukeHoopsGuru]

Anyone have a chat link for the game? And is it always the same link? I clicked on the link in the sticky, but that doesn't appear to be it. Thank you.