Possible Changes

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

This is a great point. Thanks for making it.

I agree. Seems people on both sides would be happy to see MP3 get on the court so that SOMEONE can say "I told you so," either way.

Myself, I am content to let Coach K evaluate talent and I will just watch from my sofa and sip an adult beverage.

Hope to see vast improvement today again UVa,

Go Duke!

[uh_no]

I agree. Seems people on both sides would be happy to see MP3 get on the court so that SOMEONE can say "I told you so," either way.

Myself, I am content to let Coach K evaluate talent and I will just watch from my sofa and sip an adult beverage.

Hope to see vast improvement today again UVa,

Go Duke!

hot chocolate?????? :P

i think we all hope to see better play tonight...there's no way around it....the end of the season isn't getting any further away

[Matches]

I agree. Seems people on both sides would be happy to see MP3 get on the court so that SOMEONE can say "I told you so," either way.

I think sometimes the concept of change is inherently appealing. We look and see that what we're doing now isn't working, and want to try something different. It's the "how could it get worse?" line of logic.

Constant tinkering can do its own type of damage, though. I kind of think K and the staff have tinkered a bit too much this year - guys seem to fall in and out of favor at the drop of a hat. I have no idea what Rasheed Sulaimon's role on the team is, for example, because it seems to change from one game to the next. If changes are made, and I'm not denying that some may be needed, hopefully it would be with an eye toward stabilizing the team and the rotation rather than just trying new combinations because they are new.

[dukelion]

I foresee relatively minor changes tonight. I fully expect Matt Jones to get some run (he was inserted late against Clemson doing the defense for offense rotation with Dawkins) especially considering his defense was praised earlier in the year.

And yes I also see Marshall getting some minutes but most likely in 3-4 range as has been the case recently.

To me the biggest improvement that needs to happen is the post-game of Jabari. IMO he was (and Duke was) at their best against Michigan when he operated almost exclusively in the mid to high post and more importantly defended/rebounded solidly against a pretty physical Michigan front line. Like it or not, at 6’ 9” and 240 Jabari is our most talented post defender and will be for the remainder of this season. He needs to step up and not allow guys like to Nnoko to play volleyball in front of the rim.

Jabari played better last game but I still feel he’s in a bit of rut.

As he goes Duke goes from here on out.

[Saratoga2]

Some of you must think Marshall's only role in practice is to fetch water for Josh and Tyler or something.

Of course Coach K has tried Marshall at center. Of course Coach K has given Marshall plenty of time in lineups with Jabari and Rodney and the rest of the starters and evaluated him.

What you're actually asking for is this: you want Coach K to use Marshall for extended minutes in a televised non-blowout game so you yourself can confirm whether he deserves those minutes or not. Because, in reality, Coach K has already tried Marshall and already has an opinion about this.

Now maybe his opinion is awful, and sight unseen, us fans have a better idea than him about the amount of minutes that Marshall should play in competitive games. Fine. I'm actually less bothered by that argument than the "Why not try?" one. And I have been as hopeful as anyone on the Marshall front, going back to the offseason.

Marshall has seen little floor time in recent games, but that which he has seen has been competitive with our other bigs. That argument has been used by several contributors and to me has validity. He is 7' and 260 pounds and plays with energy. He might well do as well or better than some of the alternatives.

[Troublemaker]

Not sure why the above quote is even a good point. I am not in any way, and I doubt seriously if anyone else here is either, hoping to shove anything into Coach K's face.

I don't think you want to "shove it" in Coach K's face. Not sure how you got that. I have no issues with you, Cameron. Quite the contrary, actually. I enjoy most of your posts.

Marshall has seen little floor time in recent games, but that which he has seen has been competitive with our other bigs. That argument has been used by several contributors and to me has validity. He is 7' and 260 pounds and plays with energy. He might well do as well or better than some of the alternatives.

I haven't been unhappy with Marshall's performances in his short stints, either. Although I don't really have a strong opinion either way because the samples are so small. As I've said before, I'm a big fan of Marshall and have been hopeful since the preseason that he is good enough to play 10-15 mpg eventually.

[Troublemaker]

Getting back to the thread topic, possible changes...

One thing that will likely change from the Clemson game is Amile will go back to guarding the center primarily. He has generally done much better than Jabari at that assignment.

For a really wacky change, though, it's possible the coaches could have Jabari and Rodney flip defensive assignments as well. That is, Jabari guards the 3 and Rodney guards the 4. While I don't love the idea of Rodney guarding 4s and I have no clue how well Jabari guards wings, I see this as a possibility because Jabari has struggled so much defending ball screens.

Typically teams will ball screen using their 4s and 5s, so theoretically, making this move would decrease Jabari's involvement in those actions. Now, it's possible Rodney wouldn't fare better at defending them but I'd be surprised since Jabari has been, imo, very poor hedging, communicating, and overall making the proper decisions when his man goes to screen. Obviously, some teams (including UVA) can post up Rodney if he were guarding 4s, but I view that as the lesser of two evils at this point (and Jabari doesn't fare well with post defense anyway). We have to get better at defending penetration, which can be helped tremendously by getting better at ball screen defense. That's my wacky thought of the day.

[gurufrisbee]

1. What is wrong with Duke?

Andy Katz: Defense. Defense. Defense. Duke cannot defend at the level it has in previous seasons. The Blue Devils don't have a stopper on the perimeter and they certainly don't possess one inside. They continue to get exploited. Shot selection continues to be an issue as well. Duke associate head coach Steve Wojciechowski said these are fixable. The Blue Devils will find out Monday against a suddenly resurgent Virginia.

Eamonn Brennan: For a while there -- shortly after they gave up 90 points in 65 possessions in a home win over Vermont -- it looked as if Duke was trending in the right direction defensively. The Blue Devils looked better in a loss against Arizona; they handled Michigan in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge; they held an explosive UCLA offense to 63 points in 72 possessions in Madison Square Garden. But they've regressed again, and if you can't guard on the road in conference play, you're doomed to inconsistency.

C.L. Brown: The Blue Devils' undersized frontcourt will be vulnerable defensively against just about every league opponent. Sometimes they can mask it. Some teams will take advantage the way Clemson just did with its starting frontcourt accounting for 48 points and 37 rebounds.