MBB: Duke 79, Michigan 69 Post-Game Thread

[ncexnyc]

Excellent win for the team, but a bad game for DBR.

If anyone thought the post game thread from Friday's game went out of control wait till you see what happens on here after what we saw last night.

The MP3 chatter will build up to a roar over the next few days. Even though he had only 1 block, he definitely altered several other close in attempts, which resulted in misses.

The offensive outburst from Dre is also going to be a major talking point over the next few days as well as Matt's solid play.

As for Jabari being held under 20 again, well he also didn't have 5 TO's like the other night, which shows he knows now that he doesn't have to force the issue.

Hey, look who had another nice primetime game. Yes, Mr. Hood. Remember how some folks were worried this kid couldn't do it under the bright lights.

Alright, time for bed as it's nearly 3 AM.

[tommy]

Yeah, Michigan is not looking like a top 25 team, but we still played pretty well. Great performance from Cook, we're at our best when he's playing like that. Great D and rebounding in the 1st half, but we gave up basically every offensive rebound in the last 3 minutes. McGary seemed like he had a double double just in the last 5 minutes of the game. Gotta get a body or even two on guys like him.

McGary ended up with 15 points and 14 boards. He had 8 points and 3 boards in the last two minutes of the game, when it was pure garbage time, we were playing not to foul and to just get the game over with, and Michigan made the score more respectable, cutting it down from an 18 point deficit to 10.

Agreed with GGLC. That isn't what happened. McGary was a team effort (unlike Staukis, where Thornton deserves most of the credit), and he had a decent 2nd half.

Matt Jones and Rodney Hood also spent significant time on Stauskas, and contributed in a big way to shutting him down.

Technically true, in that McGary played extremely well during the phase of the second half in which Duke chose not to court the whistles that would have inevitably accompanied any attempt by Duke to block out.

I actually think Duke blocked out quite well in this game (before the last 2 minutes when again, the game was very much over) and we did so without getting called for fouls in doing so.


I noticed a couple of guys posting about the referees and the impact of the rule changes on our defense. To my eye, the referees have backed off on calling the ticky-tack handsy stuff on the perimeter in the last couple of games, starting with Alabama. In fact, in tonight's game there wasn't one instance where Duke got called for a foul and I said to myself, "ugh, those new rules/new emphasis. Too tight. Let em play!" I said that a lot in the first few games of the year, but lately not nearly as much. Which is a good thing for the game as a whole and for Duke being able to play defense the way we need to.

[dcdrumsinc]

Impressive win if you have 1st round aspirations come March. Not impressive if you want to be a National title winner. We are going to be playing teams like Kansas and Arizona when it comes down to the final four, probably not this weak Michigan team. That's how Duke basketball should be judged. And a home game at cameron is different than playing in a dome come March. I still saw too many three point shots with guys standing outside the line (Hood) rather than catch and look to slash as arizona and kansas did to us.

Matt Jones needs to play more

No more Thornton and Hairston please. Amile and plumlee seemed like a good combo at 4 and 5 for bits of the game

[NSDukeFan]

After some poor defensive performances, Duke has had three better defensive performances and probably played their best game of the year last night, winning comfortably against a talented team. In a perhaps related note, Duke introduced two new starters after some of the worst defensive performances in years.

[Saratoga2]

Michigan chose to try to stop Rodney and Jabari and to some extent they were successful. That did provide more opportunities for our other scorers to make a solid contribution. Clearly Dre in limited minutes gave us a boost with 2 bombs and and layup. Also, Quinn kept plugging and began to hit from outside and drive inside. His prowess from the free throw line sealed the game. Having Tyler hit a couple of 3's was also big and Marshall was a big help although he only got in for 3 minutes, if that. Marshall missed his two free throws badly and needs to improve there to be in the game at crunch time.

The defense was excellent for much of the game and having Matt come in and be effective adds another body that can be relied on. I think his offense is also there and can be exploited more in future games. Getting more players involve cuts down on the fatigue factor, which might have contributed to our two losses.

In the end, I thought both Josh and Amile with 4 fouls apiece were ineffective on defense and I wondered why Marshall didn't get back in. He obviously had played with a lot of energy and clearly bothered Michigan with his size and aggressiveness. He might have been able to counter McGary's finale. Maybe it was the foul shooting or perhaps the coach just doesn't trust him to play defense at crunch time.

We won and we still had Rasheed, Semi and Alex on the bench. These are all talented guys so we are very flexible. Hope that all of these get some burn in the easier games before ACC play begins.

[roywhite]

Boxscore and a few thoughts the morning after:

Very significant defensive improvement by Duke in the last few games; Michigan shot 30.8% from the field in the first half; their second half numbers were inflated by garbage time in the last few minutes.

Lot of griping on this board for some reason; this was a nationally ranked team that Duke beat by double digits; I listened to Coach K's press conference and he was very pleased with the performance and the effort.

I got the impression that Jabari tried to defer a bit in order to blend his game in with the team; some scoring balance can be a good thing.

Back to the defense, the thing that concerned me was one Michigan player, LeVert, figured out the way to attack this Duke defense was through the dribble drive; this is still an area of concern for team defense.

What a weapon Andre can be -- 8 quick points, and he changed the game.

[SheltonBob]

Hairston had 1 rebound and 4 fouls in 21 minutes, which is terrible, but he made a couple really nice plays on defense. I'm actually quite happy that he shot those wide open jumpers; he just needs to take his time. He makes those shots in warm-ups and practice. I'm guessing he was told to shoot when he was open, as there was no hesitation. That hasn't been the case this season - the 3 shot attempts tonight was a season high. If you look at his stats from previous years, he had almost twice as many FG attempts per minute.

Plumlee had 3 rebounds, 2 points, and a blocked shot in 6 minutes. I really think he's by far our best option at center (if he is healthy enough to play). His height and athleticism impact the game in so many ways. He did exactly what I said would happen when he blocked that shot - just stood there while the opposing guard freaked out that he suddenly had to shoot it over a 7 footer.

Great game by Cook.

I really hope Sulaimon uses this as positive motivation.

Very Well Stated Re: MPIII - His Play Tonight was an important part of a TEAM victory. His hustle and I'll Show You, Coach K, that I deserve to play more was exciting. He has earned more playing time to share the #5 spot with Amile Jefferson. There will be times when what Josh has to offer will be important, but IMO not more PT than MPIII.

[NashvilleDevil]

Impressive win if you have 1st round aspirations come March. Not impressive if you want to be a National title winner. We are going to be playing teams like Kansas and Arizona when it comes down to the final four, probably not this weak Michigan team. That's how Duke basketball should be judged. And a home game at cameron is different than playing in a dome come March. I still saw too many three point shots with guys standing outside the line (Hood) rather than catch and look to slash as arizona and kansas did to us.

Matt Jones needs to play more

No more Thornton and Hairston please. Amile and plumlee seemed like a good combo at 4 and 5 for bits of the game

Jeez. Duke has one of their best wins of the year and the negativity about it is quite ridiculous. It seems many are disappointed in the win because the last two minutes Michigan got some easy baskets after Duke had backed off with 2 minutes left.

Also this team is no where near a finished product and that is refreshing after many thinking Duke always peaks early and runs out of gas come tournament time. As for Kansas and Arizona, I think Arizona is about as good as they are going to get and if Duke plays them in march the results will be different. And Duke does have first round aspirations because they would like to be a tournament team.

[Troublemaker]

Excellent win for the team, but a bad game for DBR.

If anyone thought the post game thread from Friday's game went out of control wait till you see what happens on here after what we saw last night.

The MP3 chatter will build up to a roar over the next few days. Even though he had only 1 block, he definitely altered several other close in attempts, which resulted in misses.

The offensive outburst from Dre is also going to be a major talking point over the next few days as well as Matt's solid play.

Well, these are all excellent developments for the team.

In the case of, for example, MP3, it's not like my take has been "I hope that kid never plays!" It's been "I hope Marshall can provide us with rim protection, but it is early in the season and he will have to be gradually eased into the rotation because he's coming off offseason surgery and rehab. He could have a major breakthrough the next game Duke plays or it could be two months from now; let's stay patient and let it play out."

Hopefully, seeing Marshall perform well in a short stint against Michigan will relieve the impatience and thoughts that Coach K is stupid from some folks, but if, in fact, the impatience and stupid thoughts intensify instead, I am still okay with it (and I know you are, too) because seeing MP3 play well in a short stint right now is a great development for the team regardless.

[Troublemaker]

Impressive win if you have 1st round aspirations come March. Not impressive if you want to be a National title winner. We are going to be playing teams like Kansas and Arizona when it comes down to the final four, probably not this weak Michigan team. That's how Duke basketball should be judged.

Yeah, I had the same reaction. Even though it said Michigan on Duke's schedule, I wanted Kansas and Arizona to come out of that tunnel instead since I have national title aspirations, and I wanted Duke to whup both of those teams right here right now in early December. Gradual development and building towards something are myths. As is, since Michigan came out of that tunnel despite my wishes to defy the schedule, nothing good came out of that game at all.

[davekay1971]

Yeah, I had the same reaction. Even though it said Michigan on Duke's schedule, I wanted Kansas and Arizona to come out of that tunnel instead since I have national title aspirations, and I wanted Duke to whup both of those teams right here right now in early December. Gradual development and building towards something are myths. As is, since Michigan came out of that tunnel despite my wishes to defy the schedule, nothing good came out of that game at all.

Not to mention, I was hoping for the team to magically be transported to a big neutral site arena where Coach K had to sit on a chair on the raised court. No game means anything, regardless of how we play, unless it's against a top 5 team on a neutral court. Frankly, I'm not sure why K bothers to schedule any games in Cameron Indoor Stadium, and I have no idea why any team outside of the top 5 is scheduled at all. Unless we're playing a potential Final Four team in a potential Final Four arena, it's all meaningless.

[OldPhiKap]

Not to mention, I was hoping for the team to magically be transported to a big neutral site arena where Coach K had to sit on a chair on the raised court. No game means anything, regardless of how we play, unless it's against a top 5 team on a neutral court. Frankly, I'm not sure why K bothers to schedule any games in Cameron Indoor Stadium, and I have no idea why any team outside of the top 5 is scheduled at all. Unless we're playing a potential Final Four team in a potential Final Four arena, it's all meaningless.

Don't forget the unicorns. Is it asking too much to have some friggin' unicorns?!?

[oldnavy]

Why can't you dig how beautiful it is out here, why can't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyh-JpWdGmQ

[jv001]

Kenpom disagrees slightly

I have to wonder how kempom has unc rated ahead of Duke? I can't put too much emphasis on the ratings at this time of year. Duke will get better but I don't know about the heels. GoDuke!

[NashvilleDevil]

I have to wonder how kempom has unc rated ahead of Duke? I can't put too much emphasis on the ratings at this time of year. Duke will get better but I don't know about the heels. GoDuke!

Maybe the throttling they have to Louisville?

[flyingdutchdevil]

Impressive win if you have 1st round aspirations come March. Not impressive if you want to be a National title winner. We are going to be playing teams like Kansas and Arizona when it comes down to the final four, probably not this weak Michigan team. That's how Duke basketball should be judged. And a home game at cameron is different than playing in a dome come March. I still saw too many three point shots with guys standing outside the line (Hood) rather than catch and look to slash as arizona and kansas did to us.

Matt Jones needs to play more

No more Thornton and Hairston please. Amile and plumlee seemed like a good combo at 4 and 5 for bits of the game

I agree! We should start Todd Zafirovski at the 4 AND the 5. We don't need five players on the floor when Todd is on the floor. I mean, he's only played 30 seconds all year! He must be amazing.

Also, what a terrible game by Quinn. Let's start Nick Pagliuca for the remainder of the season.

[jv001]

On a night where we had some very good performances (cook, marshall, dre)...I hate to focus on the refs...but they were atrocious tonight. Just awful. Jabari should have had at least 15 ft attempts (he was getting smacked on every attempt inside the paint).

Some nights refs are more noticeable than others...but if we had been losing this game and the refs acted like this tonight, I would have been irate.

Also...Quinn...good things happen when you drive to the hoop. Remember that!

For all the talk about enforcing rules on the defensive end, those refs sour ate their whistles last night. Especially when Jabari was shooting in the lane. It's got to be confusing on how to play defense because one game it's touch fouls and the next is let em play. I sure wish they would get their act together. GoDuke!

[Mike Corey]

Good win by Duke. Expecting March form in early December is unfair and unrealistic and a sure-fire way to miss out on the fun that this season (as most every season) will surely provide.

We know we can produce offensively. Where we had been getting exploited was defensively. Big strides the last few games. Shutting down Stauskas and McGary, for the most part, is very encouraging.

I agree that on offense we're settling for shots too much. We have the talent to get to the basket, or at least get unconstested perimeter shots. I'd also like to see us run more, but that's why I'm a fan and not on the sidelines.

K is motivating Mr. Sulaimon. K is the master at this stuff. Sulaimon has responded publicly rather well. I have no doubt that Sulaimon will come out of this a better player and contributor.

[jv001]

Maybe the throttling they have to Louisville?

Or the losses to Belmont and UAB. GoDuke!

[MChambers]

If anyone thought the post game thread from Friday's game went out of control wait till you see what happens on here after what we saw last night.

The MP3 chatter will build up to a roar over the next few days. Even though he had only 1 block, he definitely altered several other close in attempts, which resulted in misses.

The offensive outburst from Dre is also going to be a major talking point over the next few days as well as Matt's solid play.

I agree, and the next game isn't until December 16, so we will have to agonize about this game. How we will pass the days at work?