Is something wrong with Miles??? NO!!

[CDu]

Well the other part of it is that Z knew he wasn't going to be shooting the ball, so he could keep himself in rebounding position all the time. When you don't have to worry about establishing position to receive a pass, you can stay between your defender and the basket and then already be in position when a shot goes up.

The Plumlees, by contrast, are expected to be more involved in the offense. Even though their scoring has not taken off, they do work to have the ball move through them on offense. Also, our shooting percentage was pretty low last year, which meant more offensive boards were available.

I don't think I agree with this. I don't think Zoubek was any less involved in the offense than the Plumlees are this year. While Zoubek wasn't looking to shoot, he was doing a LOT of screening at the top of the key for our shooters. So it's not like he was just camping out under the basket hunting for rebounds. He did a heck of a lot of work to get those boards.

Also, shooting percentage differences do not account for Zoub's advantage on the boards. While there may or may not be more opportunities (remember - we also played at a slower pace last year which would offset a lower percentage, if such a percentage difference was actually the case), his offensive rebound percentage last year was about double the percentage for either Plumlee this year. So in terms of probability of rebounding an available offensive rebound, Zoubek was much better, even after controlling for any differences in opportunities.

That's not to badmouth the Plumlees. They aren't terrible offensive rebounders. They just aren't as good at it as Zoubek. But Zoubek was a phenomenal offensive rebounder. He was literally the best in the country at it last year. That's a testament to his size, his hustle, his timing, and his court awareness.

[mgtr]

Seems like tonight Miles answered the question. No, nothing wrong, and Coach K loves me.

[NSDukeFan]

Seems like tonight Miles answered the question. No, nothing wrong, and Coach K loves me.

Lock this thread, Miles is back. Great to see.

[BleedsP287]

Awesome to see Miles have a good game tonight. I hope he can build on it, sure would love to see all of our bigs play the rest of the year the way they played tonight.

[OZ]

All Miles needed was a little "pine tonic" and a little loving - plus a big hug.

What we had here was a classic example of "getting your mind right."

Miles is going to be fine.

[1991 duke law]

Miles played beautifully tonight. It was a pleasure to see. Between the Plumlees and Ryan the Duke bigs looked great tonight. If they could only bring this every night, the balance would be a wonderful thing.

[miramar]

Miles earned that hug from Coach K. Miles's smile said it all.

[JasonEvans]

Lock this thread, Miles is back. Great to see.

Naah, not gonna lock it if only so all the folks who said unflattering things can come back and make amends...

But I am gonna change the thread title

-Jason "title change was as simple as adding one key word " Evans

[Starter]

Not to be a killjoy, but Miles had scored 14 points combined in the past five games before scoring 11 tonight against a decidedly mediocre State team. The good part is that the schedule stays pretty much easy until Feb. 2, so hopefully he can build on this performance against teams he should have a physical advantage against.

[jammsb]

I think this MC State team is anything but mediocre. They are young and inexperienced and still have a lot to learn, but they are far from mediocre.

[oldnavy]

I think this MC State team is anything but mediocre. They are young and inexperienced and still have a lot to learn, but they are far from mediocre.

State is anything but mediocre. They are a very talented bunch that are very young and are having to learn as they go. I would not want to face them in March. Having said that, I am not sure that anything was ever really wrong with Miles. He probably was suffering from a little lack confidence which lead to some passive play.

The way coach K hugged him tonight makes me think that he was saying "see, I told you that you could do this"... Plus, K needed Miles tonight to offset some of NCSU size, which really was not as big an issue in the previous couple of games.

The most impressive play of the night to me or at least the play that made me yell the loudest was when Miles got a put back and one. He got an O rebound and DID NOT HESITATE to go straight back up strong and put the ball in. This is something that has been missing, hopefully he learned and gained some confidence moving forward that he can do this.

What is up with Mason blocking all those shots!! Wow that was a very pleasent surprise and talk about a real game changer. A lot of those chippies that NCSCU missed in the game were a direct result of altered shots or the fear of an altered shot...

Great game by the brothers Plumlee!!!

And a shout out to Ryan, his shot looked so much smoother tonight... he actually looked like he was shooting the balll rather that pushing it towards the basket as he has a little lately...

[dukeimac]

I said it before, Miles is / was working through some self-confidence issues.

With the hug from Coach K, I'm hoping he is over it BUT, and that is a big BUT, he might not be over it, it was just one game.

It really helps that their next game is against Wake. Everyone should continue to roll in that game and the self-confidence should grow even more. The key is to continue growing that self-condifence.

[jv001]

I said it before, Miles is / was working through some self-confidence issues.

With the hug from Coach K, I'm hoping he is over it BUT, and that is a big BUT, he might not be over it, it was just one game.

It really helps that their next game is against Wake. Everyone should continue to roll in that game and the self-confidence should grow even more. The key is to continue growing that self-condifence.

but it was against a team that has given us fits in Raleigh. If some posters can get upset and bash some players over one or two bad games, then it's ok to get excited to see these same players get some praise in a game like this one. I know it's a big "if" but I don't think Miles' play has been that bad. He just seemed to lose some confidence and get down on himself. This was a team win as everyone contributed. Now let's bury Wake and get another conference road win. Go Duke!

[GODUKEGO]

Title this under "TOUGH LOVE"

[CharlestonDevil]

Title this under "TOUGH LOVE"

I think the person who sums it up best is Miles:

"He just makes you want to run through a wall for him."
-MP1 on Coach K from Duke Basketball All Access

[wilko]

For the record, I dont think I ever Bagged on Miles in this thread..
But I would have to say this is a definate sign of progress for him personally; and in the right direction for the team overall.

Nice to see alot of guys make substantial contributions.

JH and TT getting some work.
RK and AD playing solid and being verry efficient in their roles

I just wish SC could pull out o his mini funk...

Overall VERY Encoraged if we can replicate that performance with some consistency then we'll be in fine shape for the rest of the season. Set for a Tourney run.. (NOTE: run not title)

IF KI comes back... adding him back to the mix could set us over the top.. even if his game has some expected rust.

But if we keep this up, then Im liking our chances w/o him better.

Early on it seemed like the team was kinda watching KI do his thing. This is forcing other guys to grow and contribute and not depend on someone else. And Today... I like what I see. Next game may be a different story... but overall Progress in the right direction.

[Starter]

Via Pomeray ratings, NC State is 11-6, 1-5 against teams in the top 100, 113th in defensive efficiency and near the bottom of the entire country in turnover and free throw percentages. State is not exactly John Wooden-era UCLA.

I do agree with several posters that Duke doesn't always play well in Raleigh, going back quite a while. I remember going to two games there in 2000 and '01, when Duke had two absolutely loaded teams, and they won nail-biters by a combined 11. And of course, there's last year's game, before Zoubek's transformation, in which Miles started and played a scoreless 10 minutes. He was very good last night, particularly in comparison.

Note that I haven't once killed Miles on this site. (Seriously, go back and look.) I just like keeping things in perspective, and keeping my expectations in check. Miles had 19 and 14 in a win over Wake Forest last year. He then scored a combined 19 in his next 10 games. Hopefully last night built some confidence for him that he can get rolling a bit, but I'd like to see a few more games with positive contributions before saying he's figured it out. Of course, if this is the Miles we get consistently, that's a very good thing.

[Devilsfan]

Maybe Miles has a new girlfriend or maybe his diet changed but he was focussed last night and boy what a difference. Too bad they're playing the team? from Winston Salem next because I would love to see them against a really good team and see if they can duplicate their most recent performance. I wish we were playing tOSU team Saturday instead of the lowly Deacs.

[Scorp4me]

As I mentioned earlier, last year both Plumlee's had monster games against Wake Forest and I was excited. Duke finally had an inside game and I thought state had no chance. Of course we followed it up with a loss. This year both Plumlee's had monster games against State and we're following it up against Wake. Now if we lose this one we're in trouble, but I do hope they follow it up with another consistently positive game. A huge step forward if we get good play for our interior guys.

And State's record may not show it, the stats may not show it, but they definitely have some talent. Reminded me of a younger brother that just wouldn't go away no matter how much you pressed them. Felt like if the game had lasted another 40 minutes they still would have kept cutting in to the lead and falling back, cutting into the lead and falling back.

[mkirsh]

I think the person who sums it up best is Miles:

"He just makes you want to run through a wall for him."
-MP1 on Coach K from Duke Basketball All Access

I couldn't read Coach K's lips last night, but I'm pretty sure he called Miles an "effing selfish MFer" when we came off the court.