Quote Originally Posted by loldevilz View Post
1. I just don't think this is a good excuse. Kentucky for the last few years has had top 5 defense and everyone gets up to play them. Plus if you compare this Duke defense to others it is by far the worst.

2. I think this is the best reason. We aren't physical intimidating. That's why I think Gbinije should play a lot more or even start. He brings that big athletic frame that makes us a lot more physically intimidating. Dawkins and Kelly in particular don't have the physical gifts to play lock down defense.

3. I think Austin absolutely has that "killer instinct". That's almost always been his calling card.

4. I think that may be the case, but Mason I think is definitely starting to look like the leader of this team as each week passes. The only problem is that he doesn't seem to have the ball in his hands enough.
I've watched every game this year and in most games, I've said to myself or my wife; we need 3 or 4 good stops and we can put this team away. Instead of getting those stops we give up an easy basket, or hold them to a miss shot and they get an offensive rebound and put back. Or we hold them and go down and turn the ball over or take a quick 3 and the opponent gets a fast break layup. I don't think it's a lack of physical ability but something is missing. I believe that was what Coach K was talking about after the game. Do our guys not work on defense like they do offense? As for Michael Gbinije, the defensive stats that tommy has been gracious enough to provide show that he is not as good a defender as we thought he would be. As for Dawkins, he has the physical tools to play defense. It's just up to Andre to use them. I hope we see the defense pick it up and I hope we see someone step up on offense in those situations where we can put em away. I would love to see Austin do it because he has the natural ability to do just that. But he is a freshman and until this year he never had the pressure of big time college basketball. He's up against very good college players game after game. He's going to be a very very good player, but will that be this year? I hope so because we need him to be the guy. GoDuke!