Whew. Gutted that one out.
Our defense was better than our offense today.
Discuss the game here.
Bob Green
Whew. Gutted that one out.
Our defense was better than our offense today.
Had the pleasure/privilege of attending in person.
Whew!
Fighting through adversity. Learning from losses. Overtime. Buzzer beaters. Foul trouble. Rough play. This team will be a tough out come tourney time.
Phew. I've already exceeded the maximum allowable Tums for the next 48 hours.
1) We won. Don't care how.
2) No one got seriously injured (I think Josh got stitches.)
3) GTHC!
I was very proud how the team toughed out the win today. I think either physically or emotionally we didn't quite have our edge today after the quick turnaround from Thursday night's game. But the guys fought hard anyway and played good D and got the W. I especially thought Tyler had a great defensive game and knocked down a few open jumpers too. Not sure if the Mason benching was for motivation or to reward the other guys or what, but he seemed to take forever to get into the game emotionally. But the last bit of the second half and overtime he started playing like a man and pulling in some big rebounds. Hopefully he can channel that aggressiveness for the rest of the season.
Gutted it out for the win but the guys have got to improve their FT shooting and focus on both ends. Not trying to be too critical of the crowd, but the GTHC chant when THIS game is still in doubt is totally unnecessary. The "you let the whole team down" is funny situationally but is getting overused, too.
11 boards for AR, Seth and TT. Huge.
15 for Miles. Even huge-r.
[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
Duke is going to win its 5th national championship if we manage to survive our double overtime time against the 16 seed in the first round.
When can VT move to the Big Ten?
Good win, but we should have finished at the FT line better, even Mason. Mason's been better at the line later in the year than earlier, but his 2nd FT at the end was really flat. And I think Austin just needs to pretend it's a difficult shot. ;-)
Wouldn't hurt him to use some glass more too ... he left a couple wide open fingertip lay-ins short as he halted his momentum too much before ball release (or released too late given his halt).
We're getting good at not choking away close games ... that's good ... but a) should it have been close? b) VT's gotta feel that they blew a great chance to steal one at Cameron.
Hope Tyler and Josh are OK. Next play!
Casual 15 boards for Miles. MJ must have beaten the Monstars because Mason could hold on to the ball in overtime.
Sorry for the continuation on the Space Jam joke, I just found it to be really clever and my mom laughed out loud when I said it, and she rarely emits noises during Duke games, especially close ones.
Finally coming around on Thornton. I think he's shooting a little too much late in games (I'm good with him taking early J's if they're open, please don't get on me about Kansas, I'm as happy he made that last one as the next Dukie but it was lucky) but his defense today I found to be phenomenal, even if he didn't keep green in front of him the whole time, he was certainly in his rear end for 37 minutes today. Good for you young buck.
Listening to K now:
Gritted it out. TT good d as green took 19 shots to get 16 points.
Happy with W with 39 hour turn-around.
Miles was great with clutch boards.
Proud of team.
(typing too much to hear/remember much more)
[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
Free throws nearly came back and got us ala Miami game. Miles came up big on the boards and nailed the two free throws and Thornton really brought the energy on the defensive end.
Gutsy win that was up in the air from tip off to the final buzzer. We had the opportunity to extend the lead a few times in the second half and Virginia Tech fought back. Our free throw shooting as a team needs to improve, one that comes to mind is Austin missing a free throw near the end which would have won the game.
This team is battle tested no matter what is said about us. They have played in several nail biters and won most, except the Miami game and FSU game. The experience we gained today, at UNC, and vs. NCSU will only help is in the NCAA Tournament and down the road.
I think the Wake Forest game next week is a trap game. We need to bring a high level of focus and intensity and try not to look forward to the UNC game next Saturday.
I hope UVA can knock off the Heels today in Charlottesville!
Let's Go Duke!
I didn't see this coming at all, but Miles is definitely outplaying his brother. Thought the key to our year would have to be Mason (still think it will be), but we're winning with poor/ineffective play by MP2. I just don't understand how he is regressed, particularly against teams with out great big men (BC and VPI). Anyway, good for Miles - he should continue to get more minutes.
Defense was really good in overtime, and our early lead forced them to jack up some shots (unfortunately they hit a couple of them). A letdown was expected, not only from a psychological standpoint but because of physical fatigue. Glad we were able to gut this one out.
Excellent win. A lot of things went wrong but somehow our guys gutted this one out. One crucial point in particular - Thornton is clothes-lined out of bound but refs call it a turnover - vpi comes down and hits a bank 3. Most teams would have folded after that so fans could whine about officiating later. This team somehow managed to keep themselves in it and put themselves in a position to win. That is a real tribute to this team.
Mason had a pretty poor game in the first 39 minutes, but his offensive board at the end of regulation and his domination of the boards in overtime were huge - Miles too.
Again, excellent win.
"Just be you. You is Enough."