Virginia Tech did not win, Duke lost. We blew this game the last four minutes with poor shot selection.
Virginia Tech did not win, Duke lost. We blew this game the last four minutes with poor shot selection.
Bob Green
I am disappointed with the loss. We had multiple chances to win it and let it slip away. Va Tech had much more riding on this game than we did and it showed. The home team got a boost from the crowd and that was enough to be the difference tonight.
Now we need to beat Clemson and UNC and do well in the ACC tourney. Tough, but doable.
One other thing - I wish Miles Plumlee would stop trying to be cute with the lobs and putbacks. Missing two "gimmies" turned out to be the difference in the game tonight.
"There can BE only one."
Biggest play I think was a weak Def Rebound by Kelly when we were up 5 (I think) with about 5-6 minutes left...
We gave up three offesnsive rebounds in 4 possession from when we were up 53-47...one led to a Jeff Allen 3 (unreal he hit two tonight) and one other was a put back dunk by Davila.
Kelly + Curry + Dawkins + Tyler + Miles = three points in second half (if my memory is correct).
We really need someone to step up on a CONSISTENT basis.
Andre had a couple of good games and we got all excited - then Kelly - then Seth - Tyler has had some good moments as has Miles. But so far, other than Mason, no one has stepped up consistently to help Kyle and Nolan. No one else has had anything close to a season where you feel confident in their game.
Tyler Thornton should shoot more. I am not kidding either! He has a good shot.
Bad shot selection, Terrible rebounding, Kyle forcing shots when he had open guys on the wing, missed freethrows in clutch situations. A game that we surely should have won when VT shoots fts like they did. And the end of game play could not have been as Coach K drew it up. Nolan really stepped up in the first half, but he needed some help. It sure looked like Kyle was gassed at the end of the game. Go Duke!
VT's zone in the second half was really effective against us. We just didn't know how to attack it. Typically we'll use Kelly to knock down shots around the free throw line, but he had already missed so many threes that I think he was reluctant to shoot any more. Teams are going to continue to double off of him and leave him open until he proves he can hit some shots.
As a positive, we totally shut down Delaney, at least until his big three at the end.
I didn't see it this way. I thought we played the first 33 minutes like maestros. They were playing great, but could not shake us. We eventually got the lead, had a few chances to shake them, and then Kyle hit the big 3 to put us up 6 with ~6:45 left. That's when we fell apart. Had we kept that lead at 6 for another minute, we hand the ball to Nolan and go 1-4 and put that game on ice. Instead, Kyle kept thinking he was going to hit that next 3, we start commiting turnovers, and things changed quickly.
This one hurts, but I am happy for V Tech. Despite their typical thuggery (not tonight) they have been a tortured NCAA deprived team and this should put them in. Seeing Greenberg and his daughters should show everyone how much this game meant to them...good for him.
duke looked out of sync...almost like....they were waiting on something....
"One POSSIBLE future. From your point of view... I don't know tech stuff.".... Kyle Reese
In general this was not one of our best games. We got outrebounded, we had low assists, etc. There were a fair number of open looks given up. Offensively, we fell in love with the 3, with such players as Kelly and Singler taking a bunch and only hitting one between them. Seth had a poor game on both sides of the ball, and Miles couldn't make close in shots at all, which is his typical problem.
What really stood out is that we had the advantage and let it slip away with very poor end of game management. Singler traveled, Smith charged, three point shots, we seemed rattled. It appeared that Singler and Smith wanted to take every shot, even if they had to force them.
Only in the last desperate minute did we go inside. We had Mason and Ryan inside plus Singler and we didn't really try to take advantage of those size mismatches. Tyler and Andre looked to be possible slashers and shooters, but there was only one shot between them in the second half.
We didn't look like a #1 team or even a top team the way we gave this game away.
Our normal path to success is to have Nolan and Kyle provide 40+ points, while our bigs provide 15+ and our other guards contribute 15+. Tonight Nolan and Kyle had 40, Mason had 9 but Kelly only 2 and Miles 0, while Andre had 6, Tyler 3 and Seth 0.
Not good at all.
After Allen hit his second three, I knew it was their night and it just wasn't happening.
I honestly don't mind losing this game, but I do mind the fact that when they ratcheted up their defense,(their defense was amazing) we (mostly Kyle) folded and just resorted to threes. We can't just keep banging our heads against the wall when they're not falling. Mason was playing well in the post, so why not get him the ball? I just don't get it.
The game is tied if Miles just lays in those failed dunks.
Nightmare game for Seth... Literally nothing was going his way tonight.
If this game was at a neutral site, I'm fairly confident we win it. I'm still not sure how we lost this. If you told me before the game that Delaney would only have 11pts, they would shoot 39%, and shoot 42% free throws, I would have thought we would have won by 20+. Luckily Texas lost too, so our #1 seed hopes weren't hurt too badly. Next Game
I think we should have gotten Andre some more shots from 3 especially when they were in the zone. I thought he looked really confident with his stroke tonight.
I disagree with the notion we were not ready to play. We were, it was a huge game and we knew that, we just blew it
Mason Plumlee, kudos to you my friend. You wanted this bad and played like it for the full 40 minutes. For a guy who doesn't get many offensive touches, I thought his tenacity and will were terrific tonight. If Mason keeps it up and our all americans play like all americans, we will very very good in the tourney
It's more than bad shot selection. We aren't moving well on offense to create the open looks. It's been going on all year off and on, this bit where we throw it around a few times on the outside and jack it up. We need more of an inside out game, and we need to move better without the ball. That's where the open looks we aren't getting come from. Then again, tonight we missed a good number of open shots too.
Interesting K move to go with Seth in the last 2 minutes. I get it, he's a better shooter and defender than (insert whomever lost the minutes...Tyler or Andre...I am not sure), but it wasn't his night. I guess if he'd made some plays, K succeeds in boosting his low morale and getting him past his nightmare outing. As it is, he turns it over on our final chance to tie the game. Shake it off, Seth.
Unless Kyle get's his perimeter shot back we are going to struggle. We had the big two, but now we have the big 1. I never say anything about tired legs or too many mins, but something is wrong with Kyle. I know he had 28 pts against Temple but most of those were inside. The opposition is going to give him the open 3 until he shows them he can hit it. Let's hope he get's it back in the next two games. Go Duke!