Another solid win by the good guys.
Discuss the game here.
Another solid win by the good guys.
Discuss the game here.
I think the guys are improving... learning how to win. Michigan was on fire in the second half. The Devils have to keep the defensinve intensity up for 40 minutes. Not 33, 36, or 38, but 40. I'm confident it'll come.
Let's win a championship!
I actually think watching us in a tight game throughout may be less stressful than watching us cling to a dwindling lead. Once again we play stellar basketball for a stretch early in the 2nd half to create separation and once again we struggle towards the end. Their extended zone gave us a lot of problems late. Our defense was non-existent at the end, though I understand we didn't want to foul and most of the focus was on clock management. I would have liked to have seen Mason get the ball deeper in the post and not so far away from the box but that can be part of facing the zone.
Our guard play was very good tonight, especially Seth.
"Just be you. You is Enough."
YUp.
Great first half....second half...ehhhhhhh
-credit to UM for hitting some tough shots, but we can't be giving up 53 points in 20 minutes...
-austin and dre had very good games, but still took a some bad shots...dre i remember taking a running three near the duke bench which got blocked, and austin took a few from ~25' range...not good shot selection, regardless of how hot you are
-mason FOULS wow....miles did a pretty good job stepping up in his place with 4 points and 5 boards
-overall horrible job on the boards, though....we got out rebounded 29-25 (11-6 offensive), they're not small, but we're still bigger...
-we hit 7-10 3pt, then 4 of our last 11...gotta not just settle for them when they're falling...always work on offense to get the open shot, whether its a 3 or a drive...
really happy with our performance overall....certainly progress.
April 1
Very solid win. I thought the guards played well and Kelly had a solid game. Michigan is a pretty good team and they really shot the ball well in the second half.
The Plumlee's inability to score in the low post against a good team is troubling. Mason's inability to hit a free throw does not bode well. Miles again showed terrible hands. I don't understand why the Plumlee's can't score against that 1-3-1.
But, I'm dwelling on the negative when there was some very good play from the rest of the team.
Tyler Thornton does more to impact the game with less impact on the scoresheet than any player I can recall. As Auerbach said about KC Jones -- he doesn't shoot that well, he isn't that fast, but when he plays, we win. Color me impressed!
Ryan had a very good game. Very solid throughout. Seth had another of his very quiet, high-scoring games.
It appeared that the "assist" switch was turned on for Austin Rivers at halftime. He made some very nice passes to open teammates in the second half. It goes without saying that he also made some beautiful shots, but I was as happy, if not more happy, with the assists. His overall game is even more solid when he gets his teammates involved in the action IMHO.
Kelly got my vote for MOTM, but one could just as easily make an argument for giving Austin Rivers the nod. I thought Kelly was consistently good throughout the entire game, and Rivers had a strong 2nd half.
<devildeac> anyone playing drinking games by now?
7:49:36<Wander> drink every qb run?
7:49:38<loran16> umm, drink every time asack rushes?
7:49:38<wolfybeard> @devildeac: drink when Asack runs a keeper
7:49:39 PM<CB&B> any time zack runs, drink
Carolina Delenda Est
I don't think t&b55 was considering who they guard, only that, as mgtr noted, they both impact the game in ways that don't show in the boxscore. Sean did as well. Lance would be another. Every team needs players like that. Unheralded and invaluable at the same time.
-Son of Jarhead
The Duke fan formerly known as BuschDevil
I really like how the team is developing and Andre is earning his minutes. Curry is running the team great and Austin really knows how to get to the lane. Once he figures out how to get even better shots, he will only become more dangerous. Kelly was absolutely solid on the boards and on the offensive side of the floor.
Plumlees got worse tonight. Too many fouls, too much dribbling and not enough boards. Defensively they looked sloppy tonight.
Overall very happy with the effort of our young team. Still looking for a leader to emerge. Need more energy.
Also need Austin to focus his energy on his next play and not running his mouth with the opposing team.
The Terrapin Assassin
The Plumlees seem to struggle when they play against smart opponents (players and/or coaches). Ryan doesn't have that problem.
I thought that it was a weak perimeter defensive effort from Michigan and another example of a good outside shooting from Duke covering for a poor post offense.
To date, the post offense consists of offensive rebounds from 3's. This is a good Duke team, but there is no way they win a title without better effort and results getting easy baskets inside with the bigs and keeping teams honest. Teams are going to stay on the shooters sooner or later and these high %'s are coming down.
Duke will have to improve post play as the season goes along.
Not a lot of separation by player or combination. The starters played a lot together again, half the game with Ryan and another 6 minutes with Miles:
Occurs Duke Michigan +/- Time Line-Up
5 40 36 +4 19.9 Seth-Austin-Dre-Mason-Ryan
4 09 05 +4 05.8 Seth-Austin-Dre-Ryan-Miles
2 07 05 +2 03.5 Seth-Austin-Ryan-Miles-Tyler
1 07 04 +3 03.3 Dre-Mason-Ryan-Tyler-Quinn
1 06 03 +3 02.5 Seth-Austin-Dre-Mason-Miles
1 02 05 -3 01.9 Austin-Dre-Mason-Ryan-Tyler
1 11 12 -1 01.6 Seth-Austin-Dre-Ryan-Tyler
1 00 00 00 00.8 Dre-Mason-Tyler-Quinn-Josh
2 00 03 -3 00.5 Austin-Dre-Ryan-Miles-Tyler
1 00 02 -2 00.2 Seth-Austin-Dre-Mason-Tyler
19 82 75 +7 40.0 Total
On individual +/-:
Duke Mich +/- +/min -/min +/-/min
73 65 +8 2.1 1.9 +0.2 Dre
53 45 +8 2.0 1.7 +0.3 Mason
75 68 +7 2.1 1.9 +0.2 Seth
76 70 +6 2.1 1.9 +0.2 Ryan
75 71 +4 2.1 2.0 +0.1 Austin
24 21 +3 1.7 1.5 +0.2 Miles
07 04 +3 1.7 1.0 +0.7 Quiinn
00 00 00 0.0 0.0 00.0 Josh
27 31 (4) 2.3 2.6 (0.3) Tyler
Well, Wheat's obviously impressed.
I thought they played a nice game against a good team. You'd think if the Plumlees have a game like this that Duke wouldn't stand a chance, but Kelly's really balling right now, and the guard play has been fantastic. I still think Thornton is a physical liability defensively -- sorry, but I do -- but he definitely busts his tail and everyone picks up on it. And Rivers... what can I say? I think the early-season scrutiny of him has been absurd. Throw out a shaky game against Michigan State and he's scored over 15 in the other four games. He's already showing more of an inclination to draw the defense and kick it out. But this is our Twitter society -- we make a great deal over small sample sizes. Rivers played a certain way in one game, so he must be that kind of player, right?
Anyway, this season has been a joy to watch so far. I love seeing young players come into their own. My only criticism is that I think both Cook and Hairston should be seeing more court time, especially Cook, but it's hard to complain about anything else. They'll take their lumps at some point, but it's a fun team to watch develop.
But at least from the boxscore, he's right. Our effective shooting percentage before this game was already one of the best in the country per Pomeroy, and then we shot 10% better than our season average, and almost all of that came because of the three (for most of the game our unadjusted shooting percentage from three was better than from two or from the FT line!) We will face teams that keep up with us on the perimeter, and I don't see much evidence that our bigs will keep them honest in the post...