MBB: Duke 91, UNC-A 55 - Post-Game thread

[kAzE]

Just watched the game again, and I came away convinced that Ojeleye needs to be part of the rotation. 3 plays in specific, all in the 2nd half:

Semi receives the ball in post from Cook, goes hard at the rim, takes a huge body hit from a 6'11 guy who weighs 240, is barely fazed, and converts the and-1. The center just bounced off him like a flea, that's what it looks like when Lebron goes in the paint.

Semi grabs a contested rebound when he's behind Jabari Parker, Parker had the position, but he jumps OVER him from behind and grabs the ball at the height of his jump. That's impressive.

Then, a few possessions later, he dives on the floor to poke the ball out of the opposing point guard's hands to ignite the fast break that results in Parker's reverse alley-oop dunk.

Ojeleye proved me to he's worth another long look in a meaningful game. He diving all over the place, ended up on the floor several times, got some nice rebounds, and played some really great defense. Not to mention, he's 67% from 3 on the season. Not bad. I feel like I'm on an island here, is anybody gonna back me up?

[OldPhiKap]

Just watched the game again, and I came away convinced that Ojeleye needs to be part of the rotation. 3 plays in specific, all in the 2nd half:

Semi receives the ball in post from Cook, goes hard at the rim, takes a huge body hit from a 6'11 guy who weighs 240, is barely fazed, and converts the and-1. The center just bounced off him like a flea.

Semi grabs a contested rebound when he's behind Jabari Parker, Parker had the position, but he jumps OVER him from behind and grabs the ball at the height of his jump. That's impressive.

Then, a few possessions later, he dives on the floor to poke the ball out of the opposing point guard's hands to ignite the fast break that results in Parker's reverse alley-oop dunk.

Ojeleye proved me to he's worth another long look in a meaningful game. I feel like I'm on an island here, is anybody gonna back me up?

Semi definitely has game, and I agree he may get some time against bigger teams. I did not realize that he had a good outside shot, but he looked like money last night.

There is a lot of versatility on the team this year. K will have the box of 64 crayons to use this year, not just the basic dozen.

[MChambers]

Just watched the game again, and I came away convinced that Ojeleye needs to be part of the rotation. 3 plays in specific, all in the 2nd half:

Semi receives the ball in post from Cook, goes hard at the rim, takes a huge body hit from a 6'11 guy who weighs 240, is barely fazed, and converts the and-1. The center just bounced off him like a flea, that's what it looks like when Lebron goes in the paint.

Semi grabs a contested rebound when he's behind Jabari Parker, Parker had the position, but he jumps OVER him from behind and grabs the ball at the height of his jump. That's impressive.

Then, a few possessions later, he dives on the floor to poke the ball out of the opposing point guard's hands to ignite the fast break that results in Parker's reverse alley-oop dunk.

Ojeleye proved me to he's worth another long look in a meaningful game. He diving all over the place, ended up on the floor several times, got some nice rebounds, and played some really great defense. Not to mention, he's 67% from 3 on the season. Not bad. I feel like I'm on an island here, is anybody gonna back me up?

It appears that perhaps Coach K agrees with you. (I do too, but that's far less important.)

“All the guys these last few games have had good minutes. Semi [Ojeleye] is going to be a very good player. He played very well tonight. He had a couple of very nice two-handed rebounds.”

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.db...CLID=209315479

[aimo]

Going to be even sparser tonight, I'm betting, b/c it starts at 6pm and those of us with regular hour jobs have a hard enough time getting to the 7pm games. Coach K seems to always be clueless about that. I figured exams were playing a part in the low student turnout. They were there in full force on Friday, but the ticketholding crowd was smaller. Probably due to back-to-back Friday night games. And regarding the ticket prices, our EXHIBITION tickets were over $40 each. Seriously?

[aimo]

Oh, and will someone explain to me the technical against Jabari? Was there even a foul initially called? Or did they just review and say oh, that was a flagrant foul?

[Ggallagher]

Just watched the game again, and I came away convinced that Ojeleye needs to be part of the rotation. 3 plays in specific, all in the 2nd half:

Semi receives the ball in post from Cook, goes hard at the rim, takes a huge body hit from a 6'11 guy who weighs 240, is barely fazed, and converts the and-1. The center just bounced off him like a flea, that's what it looks like when Lebron goes in the paint.

I noticed that same play when it happened, and it was really startling. I saw the reaction of the player that ran into Semi, but I'd be hard pressed to say that Semi was even "barely fazed". It looked like the UNCA player ran into a brick wall and bounced off - and if Semi reacted to do anything more than watch the guy bounce backwards, I missed it.

Anyone that watches a replay of the game should pay close attention to that play. It said a lot about Semi's strength.

[Ggallagher]

Oh, and will someone explain to me the technical against Jabari? Was there even a foul initially called? Or did they just review and say oh, that was a flagrant foul?

The play was reviewed at GREAT length and replayed quite a few times as the refs watched the video. After several minutes, they assessed a flagrant one foul.

I thought the call was questionable and during the time the play was being reviewed, the announcers mentioned several times that they felt the UNCA player's motion was in "anticipation" of Jabari's move and NOT a reaction to contact. They thought he flopped.
The motion of Jabari's elbow potentially could have injured the defender, but it was clearly a natural motion as he turned to shoot - and the defender just flopped back as he saw Jabari's play developing.
Or that's the way I saw it.

[OldPhiKap]

Oh, and will someone explain to me the technical against Jabari? Was there even a foul initially called? Or did they just review and say oh, that was a flagrant foul?

The play was reviewed at GREAT length and replayed quite a few times as the refs watched the video. After several minutes, they assessed a flagrant one foul.

I thought the call was questionable and during the time the play was being reviewed, the announcers mentioned several times that they felt the UNCA player's motion was in "anticipation" of Jabari's move and NOT a reaction to contact. They thought he flopped.
The motion of Jabari's elbow potentially could have injured the defender, but it was clearly a natural motion as he turned to shoot - and the defender just flopped back as he saw Jabari's play developing.
Or that's the way I saw it.

Exactly. The new(ish) rule is that you cannot swing with your elbows. It did not look like Jabari did that, but the refs called it tight. The game was pretty chippy at times, and perhaps they just felt that it was better to tighten up than let the game get more physical.

I did not see any contact, and certainly nothing Jabari did that was intended to harm.

I am not sure what the rebounder there is supposed to do -- if you bring the ball down, it gets stripped. If you keep your elbows and arms up, you run the risk of a call like this.

[ChillinDuke]

Can we talk about Hood's dunk?

That was disgusting. A wreckless attempt at the destruction of our equipment. And perhaps humanity as a whole.

That has to be one of my favorite dunks of the year when all is said and done. Especially with how fired up he was after.

- Chillin

[BD80]

Oh, and will someone explain to me the technical against Jabari? Was there even a foul initially called? Or did they just review and say oh, that was a flagrant foul?

The play was reviewed at GREAT length and replayed quite a few times as the refs watched the video. After several minutes, they assessed a flagrant one foul.

I thought the call was questionable and during the time the play was being reviewed, the announcers mentioned several times that they felt the UNCA player's motion was in "anticipation" of Jabari's move and NOT a reaction to contact. They thought he flopped.
The motion of Jabari's elbow potentially could have injured the defender, but it was clearly a natural motion as he turned to shoot - and the defender just flopped back as he saw Jabari's play developing.
Or that's the way I saw it.

They allowed the bucket - via Marshall's dunk - that resulted from Jabari's pass after he pivoted toward the basket with the ball up and elbows out. He was also rising from a bent over position, protecting the ball he had just secured via offensive rebound.

The issue was whether he contacted the opposing player with his elbow, drawing an automatic flagrant one. The announcers weren't saying the opponent flopped, but that he was understandably reflexively avoiding Jabari's elbow.

[Troublemaker]

Marshall was also good in his stints. Want to throw him some love, too, as we go gaga over Semi. MP3 offered the rim protection we might've expected from him. The 1 shotblock in the box score probably doesn't do it justice. He had another one taken away after an iffy blocking call against Rodney and he altered a couple other shots.

This is random, but I liked the play-by-play guy from last night. The morning after, I can't remember any specific comments he made, but I recall my impression throughout the game was that he was smart and well-prepared.

[OldPhiKap]

Can we talk about Hood's dunk?

Not around children or polite company. Nasty.

[flyingdutchdevil]

...he's missing 30% of hit shots, including 33% of his shots from downtown. That is a lot of points left on the table! Sheesh...

Our other players aren't much better:

Jabari is missing 40%
Andre is missing 37%
Tyler is missing 37%
Jefferson is missing 25%
Semi is missing 20%

Get it together, team!

---------------

On a similar side note, when is the last time that a Duke team has shot anywhere near this good? I know it's virtually impossible to sustain over a season, but how about a 3-4 game snapshot?

Every time Jabari, Hood, or Andre shoots the ball, I have no doubt it will go in. Our offense is ridiculous. And the O from our team is freshman, sophomores, a junior, and a senior (no offense to Thornton or Hairston, but their value to the team isn't point production). I am baffled.

[BD80]

...he's missing 30% of hit shots, including 33% of his shots from downtown. That is a lot of points left on the table! Sheesh...

Our other players aren't much better:

Jabari is missing 40%
Andre is missing 37%
Tyler is missing 37%
Jefferson is missing 25%
Semi is missing 20%

Get it together, team!

...

And we're not getting very many offensive rebounds either!

[Ggallagher]

They allowed the bucket - via Marshall's dunk - that resulted from Jabari's pass after he pivoted toward the basket with the ball up and elbows out. He was also rising from a bent over position, protecting the ball he had just secured via offensive rebound.

The issue was whether he contacted the opposing player with his elbow, drawing an automatic flagrant one. The announcers weren't saying the opponent flopped, but that he was understandably reflexively avoiding Jabari's elbow.

Thanks - your explanation is more accurate than mine. The announcers did not use the word "flop". They did say they believed there was no contact. I think Jabari's move was a natural action at that time, and the defender likely knew exactly where Jabari was going - and got out of the way just in time.

[devildeac]

Exactly. Besides, there's even yet another game tomorrow night. Students have to set priorities. The folks that were there were just great. I was disappointed in K's reaction. Maybe HE's the one who's a little spoiled this time. Shaming people who typically come but couldn't this weeknight isn't appropriate or effective.
Love, Ima

Two words: football school.

[alteran]

spot on....

there is often a ton of class work due just before thanksgiving
it was a monday night game against a cupcake


the people on here calling out the students need to get off the high horse...especially after the students packed the student section in WW the past two weeks...

take your pick...would you rather an empty WW and packed for UNCA in cameron, or the other way around?

students don't have infinite time to give.

The post is so right in almost every particular.

Let me say first off, I really dislike the negativity-- frequently directed at students-- for low attendance. Particularly posts that start with "I live in a yurt on the Mongolian steppes, but if I were in Durham I'd slither in a Duke blue speedo over broken glass covered in salt and pay $350 dollars for an obstructed-view seat to watch Duke play against some random dudes from the Y."

Look, I know you mean it, but for those of us that are actually here, saying you-would-if-you-could-but-you-can't-so-you-don't doesn't mix with "x stinks because they don't go enough."

The last couple weeks, the students have been there for the football team. Big time. We've been complaining about the student football attendance all season, [notsarcasm]maybe I missed it when we gave them as much kudos for being there as we did negativity when they weren't there earlier[/notsarcasm], but shifting immediately into criticism for Cameron last night just seems overly negative. Does anyone think students respond to that kind of negativity? Would YOU respond to that kind of negativity? I know I don't.

Students really do have things to do other than pack seats for Duke, now more than ever.

That being said, empty seats are disappointing. I'd love it if we'd actually talk about solutions to the problem rather than point fingers,.

1) Tackle the "problem" with student attendance at gimmee games with better publicity. Look, I'm not disputing that more could have been there, maybe some publicity could help.

2) Make the games more convenient for students. Look, it's not the 1990s anymore. ALL THE GAMES ARE ON CABLE/ONLINE. We've got to make it easier for the games that don't, well, pack themselves. Maybe there could be shuttles from the apartment housing to Cameron-- maybe even some of the non-Duke-owned apartment housing.

3) Student government based incentives. Maybe students who attend lower-interest games could be given some modest preference for more important games. I know this may run afoul of tenting culture, but maybe there's some other way to make this work.

4) Should that not be sufficient and we end up selling seats to the general public, does $70 for standby, possibly obstructed, STANDING seats at Cameron for a sacrificial lamb make sense? Sorry, that's too much. I didn't go to Fuqua, but when I hear that, and see all those empty seats, I wonder if the market is over-charging.

5) Other ideas

Sorry for the rant. And, as always, GET OFF OF MY LAWN!

[oldnavy]

That's the other part of the problem. Ticket prices have reached the extreme. I went Friday night and going again tomorrow night but shelling out that kind of cash 3 times in 5 days is not easy or reasonable...

Dude, I heard you were the King of Creedmoor, that should just be pocket change for you!

Just kidding, tell all the folks at church including the Reverend I said Hey, and enjoy the games

[oldnavy]

Exactly. The new(ish) rule is that you cannot swing with your elbows. It did not look like Jabari did that, but the refs called it tight. The game was pretty chippy at times, and perhaps they just felt that it was better to tighten up than let the game get more physical.

I did not see any contact, and certainly nothing Jabari did that was intended to harm.

I am not sure what the rebounder there is supposed to do -- if you bring the ball down, it gets stripped. If you keep your elbows and arms up, you run the risk of a call like this.

Exactly. He made a basketball move and honestly I am not sure anyone can say for certain based on the replays I saw that contact was EVEN MADE. That should have been a play on... IMO.

Also, while discussing this, they actually missed the foul ON Jabari when he first got the ball... and no I do not think a foul was called initially, someone brought it to the officials attention.

[wilko]

Not around children or polite company. Nasty.

Hood is a man among boys out there. Game reminds me 2/3 Deng + 1/3 Dahntay.
Like a good whiskey smooth - with a spark