MBB: Duke vs BC pre-game and in-game thread

[devildeac]

I swear I looked and didn't see one of these yet () outside of the TV discussion thread. Discuss.

[gam7]

About 26 hours until game time and I didn't see a BC thread.

BC has been one of the ACC's few positive surprises, although the Eagles have lost to both Yale and Harvard at home this year (when was the last time that happened to an ACC school in a season).

After starting out the season 10-2, the Eagles have gone 4-4 over their last eight games, and currently sit at 4-2 in the conference. BC likes to play slowly: their tempo ranked 292 in Division I. But, they are extremely efficient. In fact, Pomeroy ranks their offense 5th in the country, even head of Duke's. is rankedhas been more efficient this year than Duke's. Fortunately their defense is terribly inefficient, ranked 233.

The offense is led by familiar names: Reggie "Mr. October" Jackson (19.1 ppg), Joe Trapani (14.2), and Corey Raji (12.2), who is coming off of the bench in most games.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

[loran16]

I swear I looked and didn't see one of these yet () outside of the TV discussion thread. Discuss.

This game can in fact turn into a mirror of the FSU game if we're not careful (except it's at Cameron). Like FSU, BC exceeds at one aspect of the game, though it's offense not defense. Against FSU, Duke didn't take advantage of their edge against FSU's O, allowing FSU to score too many points.

Against BC, similarly, Duke can't fail to take advantage of BC's horrid D...there should be a lot of points scored here, but this should be one in which Duke should be able to win, due to facing a horrid defense. But well, Duke's other game against a team with a pretty good O and bad D was against Miami, and we had some issues there. BC is more extreme than Miami (and doesn't rely on O-boarding)...but Duke needs to show dominance on the offensive end.

[watzone]

Here are five questions for Nolan Smith which he answered about an hour ago where he calls the BC game a must win - http://bluedevilnation.net/2011/01/f...r-nolan-smith/

[wilson]

I just hope the game is over in time for me to watch the new episode of Jersey Shore.
Just kidding.
Mostly.

[OldPhiKap]

Here are five questions for Nolan Smith which he answered about an hour ago where he calls the BC game a must win - http://bluedevilnation.net/2011/01/f...r-nolan-smith/

Thanks, watzone. Good stuff, as always.

We're going as far as Nolan and Kyle can will us this year. And I am comfortable with that. Two great warriors and leaders.

[airowe]

A BC perspective: http://www.dukehoopblog.com/2011/01/...-interruption/

A Duke perspective: http://www.bcinterruption.com/2011/1...duke-hoop-blog

All the viewing info you could need to know: http://www.raycomsports.com/index.ph...e-at-duke.html

[watzone]

Thanks, watzone. Good stuff, as always.

We're going as far as Nolan and Kyle can will us this year. And I am comfortable with that. Two great warriors and leaders.

Thanks. Here is an article somewhat realted about the stretch run. http://bluedevilnation.net/2011/01/t...e-blue-devils/

[DukieInBrasil]

Corey Raji's brother, BJ is gonna be playing in the Super Bowl with the Packers. That's pretty cool.

[Duvall]

Corey Raji's brother, BJ is gonna be playing in the Super Bowl with the Packers. That's pretty cool.

Be pretty funny if the Crazies performed BJ's, ah, interesting touchdown celebration if Corey gets to the line tomorrow night.

[DukieInBrasil]

We know that Nolan's dad was a pro athlete, Kyle's brother is a scholarship athlete at Oregon, Kyrie's dad was a scholarship athlete in the NCAA (did he play pro too?) and that the Plumlees come from an uber-athletic family (none of them were pros though?). A couple of years ago G's dad was also a former NBA athlete and even a few years before that Grant Hill's dad was a pro wide receiver for the Cowboys. Shelden's dad was an NCAA scholarship athlete and SW is now married to a pro WNBA star.
How many other inter-family athletic connections on the Duke team can we come up with?
How many other family athletic connections can we come up with for players on Duke's opponents' teams?

[Zeb]

Any tips for non-North Carolina based fans who want to see the game on TV? I don't get Raycom.

[kmspeaks]

Any tips for non-North Carolina based fans who want to see the game on TV? I don't get Raycom.

Here are a few. http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/...ght=game+ESPN3

[Dukefan03]

From DBR preview: "Unlike Skinner’s flex offense, which featured some amazing interior passing but which was slow and not particularly entertaining, Donahue has installed a fast-paced offense featuring a lot of three-point shots."

Not actually true. BC is 291st in Adjusted Tempo this year out of 345 D-1 teams. Donahue may aspire to a faster pace, but right now his team plays more like Wisconsin than UNC or Missouri.

[MulletMan]

I'm actually relieved that Skinner is gone and that BC is now looking to play faster. We seemed to continually have difficulty defending the flex offense (and still do... see Maryland game), and for some reason, though we knew what Skinner was going to run, it always gave our defenders fits. This is probably based on the difficulty of switching on the two high post screens that were often set in such a tight area, but I always became frustrated as we failed to defend what we knew was coming.

In any case, we should win this game in a walk IF we don't fall in love with the three early. We put up 92 points at State while only making 7 3s. Hopefully that will make the team realize that they don't need to bomb all night to score. As several posters have pointed out above, BC's defense is pretty horrid. Drive, drive, drive. Once they start preventing easy access to the rim, start looking to kick. Inside out against this team.

And let's see if Dre's attitude improves from the State game and his minutes come back up.

[davekay1971]

Hopefully we'll do just what Mulletman suggested and try to get into the lane and get the Plumbros going...they should have an advantage against BC. I'm also excited to see if RK can keep up the high level of play (thought I think another perfect shooting game might be asking a bit much).

From Watzone's article: I hate thinking of Nolan and Kyle being almost done at Cameron. I get that feeling every year when great seniors are getting close to the end of their Duke careers, but it's particularly strong with those two. I hope Nolan and Kyle have the pleasure of going undefeated at Carmeron for their senior year. We'll certainly enjoy watching them try.

[JMarley50]

Hopefully we'll do just what Mulletman suggested and try to get into the lane and get the Plumbros going...they should have an advantage against BC. I'm also excited to see if RK can keep up the high level of play (thought I think another perfect shooting game might be asking a bit much).

From Watzone's article: I hate thinking of Nolan and Kyle being almost done at Cameron. I get that feeling every year when great seniors are getting close to the end of their Duke careers, but it's particularly strong with those two. I hope Nolan and Kyle have the pleasure of going undefeated at Carmeron for their senior year. We'll certainly enjoy watching them try.

This is going to be a huge game for our post guys. I feel like if they are able to add one more game to the string of good games they've started, it will take their confidence to the level it needs to be. I think Coach K may have touched on this in an interview, but another good game would prove to them that they can be successful and play at a very high level, versus them believing they just had one or two good games.

As Mulletman also mentioned, I am very curious to see how Dre' responds (if he's not still being punished). I imagine he hasn't had the easiest week in practice after his negative reaction on the bench last game. Hopefully we'll see him play with some fire, and not with the pouty attitude we've seen before.

[dukelifer]

We know that Nolan's dad was a pro athlete, Kyle's brother is a scholarship athlete at Oregon, Kyrie's dad was a scholarship athlete in the NCAA (did he play pro too?) and that the Plumlees come from an uber-athletic family (none of them were pros though?). A couple of years ago G's dad was also a former NBA athlete and even a few years before that Grant Hill's dad was a pro wide receiver for the Cowboys. Shelden's dad was an NCAA scholarship athlete and SW is now married to a pro WNBA star.
How many other inter-family athletic connections on the Duke team can we come up with?
How many other family athletic connections can we come up with for players on Duke's opponents' teams?

I am sure Carolina has had a bunch- Larry Drew's dad in NBA, Ed Davis's dad in NBA, Rick Fox's mom an Olympic high jumper, JR Reid's dad played in NFL all come to mind.

[CBDUKE]

We know that Nolan's dad was a pro athlete, Kyle's brother is a scholarship athlete at Oregon, Kyrie's dad was a scholarship athlete in the NCAA (did he play pro too?) and that the Plumlees come from an uber-athletic family (none of them were pros though?). A couple of years ago G's dad was also a former NBA athlete and even a few years before that Grant Hill's dad was a pro wide receiver for the Cowboys. Shelden's dad was an NCAA scholarship athlete and SW is now married to a pro WNBA star.
How many other inter-family athletic connections on the Duke team can we come up with?
How many other family athletic connections can we come up with for players on Duke's opponents' teams?

Seth Curry! Dad was a star at Va. Tech and a long time NBA player.

[wilson]

Seth Curry! Dad was a star at Va. Tech and a long time NBA player.

Didn't Gary Melchionni play in the NBA for a minute too?