MBB: Duke 66, Syracuse 60 -- Post-Game Thread

[andyw715]

Oh and JB's "worst call ever" ? Just another snarky comment. He knows damn well the charge call on Triche last year in the final four game was much worse.

[greybeard]

If K played Marshall low with Parker high and wanted Marshall to score the ball, he would, 15 per game, is my guess, give or take. You do notice the multiple screen sets on a possession. WoJo says that Marshall defines how high Duke's upside is, and now Marshall gets deployed aka Zoubek. And, yet there are still those who insist that Zoubek's unique contribution on offense was not what made Duke such a tough out during its Championship run in 2010. This kid is no Zoubek. He is a potential force in the college game, imo.

[UrinalCake]

For all the crap we give Jay Bilas for being an anti-Duke homer, I thought his comments during the game regarding the block/charge were fair, and even more so this morning on ESPN radio. He said that the only reason the call is being made such a big deal by the media is because of Boeheim's outburst. Otherwise it's simply a difficult call that could go either way. Made the point that the no-call on Hood up in Syracuse was a much worse call. Went on to say it's a shame that such a great game was ended by the coach's behavior [as others have stated, even after the call Duke is up 2 and in bounding the ball. I think we were still in the one-and-one, though someone can correct me if I'm wrong on that. Regardless, with the way we were shooting free throws it seems reasonable to think we'd hit 1, leaving Syracuse down 3 with 8 or 9 seconds left, plenty of time to launch a Sulaimon-style 3 to send the game into OT].

The interviewer made the comparison to Marcus Smart and Bilas agreed that the media chastised the kid for losing his composure, yet Boeheim is literally fifty years older than Smart and lost his temper in a similar way.

As a side note, I don't think this has been mentioned but in the game at Syracuse I remember Boeheim being out on the court several times, even while the ball was in play. The announcers mention at least twice that the refs were warning him to get back, and who knows how many other times it happened unnoticed. I'm not sure if this is something he does often and is allowed to get away with based on his reputation, maybe one of the Syracuse fans could chime in, but it seems fitting that he continued to push the limits and finally got called on it.

[bedeviled]

I thought Amile and MP3 did an outstanding job on the hedges . They applied good ball pressure, did not foul and even knocked the ball loose a few times. They also didn't lose their man and got back before they got a wide open layup. Some of the best hedging I've seen since Bill Murray in Caddyshack

Thanks for the reply FF50. I found the part of the post-game presser that had dangled in my memory. It's below in the answer to Question 9. Spoiler alert: our bigs came out flat for the hedge, rather than jockeying Ennis toward a specific direction, in an effort to minimize the head of steam he could get.

I must have been asleep when I listened to the presser before, because I found lots of it interesting upon re-listening (epic games, hints re: MP3, JP's step-back 3-ptrs). K was quite talkative. So, I typed it up for those who would rather skim through than listen to the whole thing...or, like me, thought they read enough quotes in the many charge vs block media articles that I thought I knew what was covered in the presser.

Coach K's post-game press conference:
General comments (bold is mine to separate into sections):
The game was a celebration of basketball: Another great game. Different from the first one because it seemed like both teams were scoring easy up at Syracuse, and, today, it was really difficult to score. I don't know how either team could play any harder. What a great environment. I want to thank our fans. The whole...their celebration of basketball up there and our celebration of basketball here was phenomenal. It's what makes our sport so good. I love the NBA to death, but this is something they can't do, and we should always recognize that. The thing at Syracuse and here - that's our product: genuineness, purity.
Our effort/intensity: My guys...to fight like they did today...you know it was their 4th game in 8 days and coming after one of our worst halves of the season at North Carolina, they played great there, I'm not knocking them - I mean, they made us look bad...but to come back and play with this level of intensity was spectacular, absolutely spectacular. Our defense was really good.
Countering Syracuse's defense: Their defense adjusted. What they did in their zone, when we flashed, they stayed with the shooters. Up there, when we flashed, they collapsed a little, and then when you kick out you have a shot. They stayed with shooters today. So that's why we, what turned out to be a good move, was putting Rodney there. What that did was he could run offense in there a little bit. I mean, not great, but better.
On Rodney Hood and the basketball gods: And, Rodney...that part of the game was amazing. The basketball gods are the best...they put Rodney in the two plays, you know, the two defining plays...the dunk which was maybe a foul up there and the charge, which I think was a charge. Anyway, he was in the play both times. One turned out great for us and one didn't turn out great, and both teams are 1 and 1 and Hood's the guy. This was a signature game for him. He came up with that little bucket when we were having trouble scoring towards the end of the game that wasn't off of a play or anything, he just completed it, when scoring was difficult. I'm really happy for him. He's such a good kid and player...and, he's been in foul trouble...the thing at Syracuse. And, today, he was center-stage and he came through magnificently. I'm really happy for him; he's so deserving.

Q1a: (not completed)
A1a: You look good in pink, by the way. And you don't usually look good in anything. So you should, uh...did you ever think of a pink hat? Do you have one?...Well, I don't want to see those. I don't want to see those.

Q1b: What was "it?"
A1b: "It" was the toughness. In other words, no...there is no alternative...you fight through everything. That's what having "it" is. I tell my players all the time, the people on this planet who have "it" are mothers. Mothers, because, when something is happening with their kid, there is a sense of urgency that no one on this planet can get to. You know what I mean? And I tell my players that, like, "tell me your mothers would not...they have "it," for you...now you should have "it" for each other. You see "it" all the time, now have "it."" Do I sound like Ozzie and Harriet or Leave it to Beaver, now, or whatever?

Q2: ...defense...6 straight possessions where y'all scored...Was that a product of Rodney Hood?
A2: Rodney really handled the ball well and Rasheed and Quinn were good on top. We turned the ball over early and we took pretty good care of it after that. But, if I had to single out one kid, it's hood. He had to go all over. And, he was playing defense. All our guys contributed. Marshall played great, and we would have used him more in the second half...he had cramps. Every time we tried to sub him in, he had cramps. We had him at the scorer's table one time, you know, so he's got to get accustomed to playing more minutes. Get more fluids in him. He gave us a huge lift, too.

Q3: Surprised to see Coach Boeheim's reaction?
A3: You know...yes and no. I'm not surprised to see Jim's fire...because, that's why he is one of the greatest coaches in any sport. And, so, he reacted to it. You obviously don't want the game to end that way, but I applaud him for...you know, we're all both pretty old and we still care. You know, to me, he wants to win. That's why, when we're doing the United States thing, he's right there. He and I are right there, because I know that that's what he's going to do. You know, that's how he prepares. And that's why I love him. That's...with the two of us, it's been a really good team together.

Q4: ...mentally...epic kind of games like this late in the season...tempted to make too much out of it...?
A4: You mean, like, handling it? Well, to me, it's great preparation for the tournament. You know, because, if you're fortunate, you may win an epic type of game, like, the first time we won a National Championship. We beat Vegas. They had won 45 in a row. When we walked into our hotel, it was the Holiday Inn at the airport - they really revved it up for us, it was packed. Everybody was delirious, like we had already won. And, to me, it was our greatest National Championship because we had to overcome an epic win. A lot of people today would say that we won the National Championship that year when we beat Vegas. Just like a lot of people think we won the next year when we beat Kentucky. And, you have to get past those things if you're going to win. And, like, for them, they have a real quick turnaround 'cause they gotta go up to Maryland. And, Maryland's good and fighting like crazy. We have at least one more day to get ready, and we're playing at home, so we have to be ready for that.

Q5: ...these games...what does it say for the ACC in the future, with Louisville coming in next year?
A5: Well, I said it after our game up there that our conference, after that game, should recognize that the assets that they were able to get in Syracuse, Pitt, and Notre Dame and, then, Louisville are just the best assets for college basketball that any conference could get. And, so, we're seeing why right now. And, we should see how we take advantage of that going into the future where we don't assume we're going to be the best conference but we do all the things necessary to make that happen. You know, the Big East did a great job of that when they had those teams. They did a better job of it than us. I mean, they were really good, but we were really good, too. But, most people felt that they were better sometimes, and I'm not sure that they were. But, how they did it...people believed that.

Q6: ...with Syracuse joining the league, and it seems like more teams around the country are playing zone defense. Do you think teams, and your team specifically, will practice more zone offense...?
A6: That's a good question. We've played against more zone this year than any year, and that's without Syracuse. I think people copy successful programs, and they should look at Syracuse's zone. Now, what they need to do is get Christmas, Grant, and Fair playing that back line, and that zone will look really good...because, the thing that they don't give up very often is inside baskets. They protect the basket as well as any team in the country. The other reason I think there's been more zone is because of the rules of, you know, hand...they're calling a lot of, really a lot of fouls early, and so more people went to zone.

Q7: Are you playing more zone offense generally in practice, then, not just for zone teams?
A7: Ye-uh-n..No. We've prepared more for zone. And, we don't play zone. So, you know, we gotta do that and we have.

Q8: ...Parker's 3-point shots going down; he was 3 for 3. Was it a matter of it's his time that they start going down or was he doing something differently?
A8: Well, he didn't take them under pressure. They weren't after a jab and a step-back. And, I'm proud of him because he...this, you know...we haven't practiced it, so it's a huge adjustment...We told him, "You're on the perimeter, and Rodney's inside." And, so, it did give him a chance to look at the basket when he received the ball instead of coming up with his back turned. In the future, when he's not...after he's through playing here, pretty much, he's going to be that player. You know, where he's facing the basket and driving and shooting and scoring a lot of points. But, I thought he started out young in the game and then got old real quick in the last 25 minutes. He was a real man in the last 25 minutes.

Q9: What did you guys do so well...Ennis...?
A9: Well, I thought it was our big guys...how we defended the ball screen. When they go to the flat ball screen on top, a lot of times you send them one way or the other, but it gives them a head of steam. What we said for today was to not send him any way but to have our big guy go either way. And, so it's not necessarily a step-in, but you're...you don't give him the run. And, then, Rasheed and Quinn did a good job on him. He's a heck of a player. You know, both teams were worthy of winning this game, and both teams were worthy of winning the game up there. Going 1-1 is probably the way it should be.

Q10: Would you like to see this game played twice a year?
A10: You know what? I would like to see us figure out how many people have 9 o'clock games, how many people have Saturday-Monday, and see, in the big scheme of things, how that washes out for everybody. When you play 9 o'clock games, that's a tough thing. It's a tough thing. If you're the...I'm not saying we shouldn't and we don't want to play them...it's interesting to just look at how everybody, when they play...not just who they play, but when they play. And, if you're going to use your assets the right way, the make sure that you don't deplete your assets while you're doing it. In other words, when you're using...it's like with a great player, you know, you still have to give him some rest. They don't play 40 minutes, necessarily. And, after the season, I think we should all...we should have plans on how to do this the right way. We have a gold mine for college basketball - this conference has struck gold. We should be the top one if we continue to figure it out the right way.

[Steven43]

Thanks for being so positive after a huge win and after a week which saw them go 3-1

I happen to agree with bbosbbos that our second half game plans against UNC and Syracuse were pretty awful and I also agree that we have played very poorly against the zone. Our zone-busting 'plan' appears to be: pass the ball back and forth several times to each other outside of the three point line, make a half-hearted attempt at taking a step forward against the zone and then back out and pass to a teammate outside the three-point line then rush a hurried three that misses 75% of the time. And then when there are around five minutes left in the game and we have a 'huge' three or four point lead don't even pass the ball around the outside of the three-point line but instead have Quinn stand in place holding or dribbling the ball and cause our offense to stagnate even further (is that even possible?) and when the shot clock is almost out rush up a hurried three that misses 80% of the time.

Are you seriously defending this style of play? We should have beaten both UNC and Syracuse by at least six or seven points, maybe more. And the idea that this Syracuse team is some juggernaut is clearly false. In the last three weeks they barely beat Duke in overtime at home, struggled to beat an average Notre Dame team at home, barely beat a somewhat fading Pittsburgh team by 2 points, barely beat an okay NC State team by 1 point at home, and lost to a very mediocre Boston College team at home. They could EASILY have five losses this month with four of them coming at home.

While I definitely agree that it was a huge win and a very difficult eight days, there are plenty of things to not feel positive about in regard to this Duke team. I do think the problems are mostly solvable, but the question of whether or not we will solve them is very uncertain.

[ice-9]

Just to finalize our discussion about stall ball. I think we finally went into stall ball at the 5 minute mark. You could make the case we did it in the previous 2 possessions (resulting in a missed 3 by Cook and turnover by Sheed) but that was the first time down the court where K just held his hands up (as if to say, slow down). The previous two times, he was giving out plays almost immediately.

So if you go by this is when stall ball happened, our possessions go like this. 2 quick passes which resulted in a Hood corner 3 (something everyone is clamoring for) and a put back dunk by Jabari. The next possession was Cook penetrating with the spin move and the missed floater. Cook was a bit out of control but still got a pretty good shot off. Then, the play by Sulaimon when he drove, lost it, and kicked it to Hood for a lay up. The next time down, Sheed and Cook just passed it until Cook missed a 3. Then, they went to Parker in the lane for his layup.

Then Jabari got fouled on the rebound so that was all our possessions in stall ball. So they scored 6 points in 5 possessions. And even Cook's 3 was wide open so if it goes down, I'm sure nobody complains about it. Sheed penetrated attracted the defender and Cook probably had his most open 3 of the game. So I'm not sure Duke didn't necessarily get what they want.

Honestly, I'm less afraid of Syracuse in the ACCT than UVA, at least from a defensive standpoint. Duke has had much more trouble with the pack line defense and I think for the most part, they figured out Boeheim's zone.

I remember Quinn taking at least two three pointers during stall ball and both being bad shots? In any case, I would have preferred Rasheed or Rodney to shoot the three if we had to (both are 44% vs. Quinn's 34% for the season so far), and Quinn was also a good one step behind the arc when he took his shots. Open sure, kinda, but not a high percentage shot -- especially when open corner three was there for the taking. Even Parker is a more accurate shooter than Quinn.

[Steven43]

Did Duke win? Do free throws tonight matter for a game in March and April? Duke just ended a week 3-1 and capped it by beating Syracuse. Just stop with the negative after a big win.

So Duke survived by the skin of their teeth in Cameron to an average Maryland team that led most of the game and ultimately lost on a potential game-winning shot that hung on the rim and fell out, beat a very poor Georgia Tech, got completely dismantled in the second half to lose to an unranked UNC team, and barely survived in Cameron against an overrated Syracuse team and Duke fans are supposed to be turning cartwheels? I agree that it was a much-needed win, but i think it might be very short-sighted to think Duke fans shouldn't have anything negative to say simply because we won three out of four.

[SirBlueDevil]

Good Morning Duke Nation!

My thoughts on saturdays big win is this: Glad we won and take no shame in admitting it...I thought the call was the right one ( charge and not a block)...call me bias but i don't care!

To all cuse fans i say (Rodney Hoods tomahawk contact foul no call in your house)...karma is a.. you get the idea!

To sean may the former tar heel who put more work in making sure he made it to a local fast food court than that of the NBA's, lose the fat, lose the hate!

Go Duke Blue....now bring on Va Tech...Wake...and more importantly UNC!

[jv001]

So Duke survived by the skin of their teeth in Cameron to an average Maryland team that led most of the game and ultimately lost on a potential game-winning shot that hung on the rim and fell out, beat a very poor Georgia Tech, got completely dismantled in the second half to lose to an unranked UNC team, and barely survived in Cameron against an overrated Syracuse team and Duke fans are supposed to be turning cartwheels? I agree that it was a much-needed win, but i think it might be very short-sighted to think Duke fans shouldn't have anything negative to say simply because we won three out of four.

I think if you look at the schedule of the top ten teams, you will see that all have had some close scares along the way. Some of their fans probably feel the same way you do(bolded). Never before have the top teams been so evenly matched. So, you're going to have games like the ones you mentioned. You should see the Syracuse message boards and that team was undefeated a week ago and top ranked. I'm just enjoying the season, one game at a time. The season will be over before we know it and I for one will be clamoring for more Duke basketball. I guess us Duke fans sometimes get spoiled. You know top ten seasons, ACCT championships, NCAAT appearances, NCAAT championships and wins over the cheaters down the road. Next play and GoDuke!

[duke96]

OK guys, take it down a notch and stay civil please.

I think Troublemaker hit it on the head with MP3 (and to be honest i don't think ncexnyc was part of the conspiracy crowd either, but mountain was correct in that some folks were). Back to Troublemaker's point thought. The injury plus the surgery, along with the total loss of summer work, was a huge set back for MP3 that slowed his development. I think the staff has been uber cautious in bringing him along slowly, and I mentioned back in January, the 1 to 2 minutes per half, seemed like part of a plan to get his feet wet a little bit each game. It has since come out that he was not ready physically to handle more minutes. Per the trainers he has finally reached the point where he can take on heavier minutes, but the cramping thing last night is more proof that his body is still adjusting to the heavier load. His play has been getting better and better though. In the past two games against good competition he very much looked like a strong D1 Center and absolutely played at a high level. Some of those rebounds in traffic last night were stud plays.

It is great to see and should be celebrated and seen as a huge positive for this team. With him and Amile splitting time at the 5 that is just a tremendous new benefit to this team from an interior defense and rebounding aspect.

If the big fella keeps this up, this team takes another step forward. Fun times!

Is this about the time of year when Zoubek really started to step it up in 2010? Who remembers best?

[Wheat/"/"/"]

If K played Marshall low with Parker high and wanted Marshall to score the ball, he would, 15 per game, is my guess, give or take. You do notice the multiple screen sets on a possession. WoJo says that Marshall defines how high Duke's upside is, and now Marshall gets deployed aka Zoubek. And, yet there are still those who insist that Zoubek's unique contribution on offense was not what made Duke such a tough out during its Championship run in 2010. This kid is no Zoubek. He is a potential force in the college game, imo.

No way Duke gets past elite 8 without Zoubek in 2010.

Just watched the game replay on watch espn after a crazy weekend...didn't read much of this thread except the last page, so bear with me if I repeat stuff.

I'm liking Plumlee's play too. He's gonna be a big contributor if Duke goes far, he'll have to.

I don't have a sense for his scoring abilities yet, because I've really only seen him dunk. We need to see more scoring moves under defensive pressure to see where he's at at this point before we can expect 15 a game from him. He has good hands which means he he should be able to score, but for scoring inside a player needs to feel the defense and have touch on his shot, he'll get his chance to prove he has those abilities...he's a young player with nice upside.

I thought it was a great move by K to put Hood at the center of the zone for a big part of the game. It got him involved with his team and took advantage of his mid range skills.

Defensively Duke looked much more engaged, and I think it wore on the Orange.

I thought the same thing about the controversial foul as I did the last one at Syracuse, both could have been called either way. If I was calling them tho, I'd have made a no call on Hoods dunk, because I thought the defender got all ball before minimal contact. And I'd have made the charge call that they made at Cameron. So in my mind the officials made the right calls on those plays.

[jv001]

No way Duke gets past elite 8 without Zoubek in 2010.

Just watched the game replay on watch espn after a crazy weekend...didn't read much of this thread except the last page, so bear with me if I repeat stuff.

I'm liking Plumlee's play too. He's gonna be a big contributor if Duke goes far, he'll have to.

I don't have a sense for his scoring abilities yet, because I've really only seen him dunk. We need to see more scoring moves under defensive pressure to see where he's at at this point before we can expect 15 a game from him. He has good hands which means he he should be able to score, but for scoring inside a player needs to feel the defense and have touch on his shot, he'll get his chance to prove he has those abilities...he's a young player with nice upside.

I thought it was a great move by K to put Hood at the center of the zone for a big part of the game. It got him involved with his team and took advantage of his mid range skills.

Defensively Duke looked much more engaged, and I think it wore on the Orange.

I thought the same thing about the controversial foul as I did the last one at Syracuse, both could have been called either way. If I was calling them tho, I'd have made a no call on Hoods dunk, because I thought the defender got all ball before minimal contact. And I'd have made the charge call that they made at Cameron. So in my mind the officials made the right calls on those plays.

I have talked to several tarheel fans since "the play" on Saturday night and you are the first to say that the ref made the right call. But, you are a more level headed heel fan than most. If they were all like you, I wouldn't hate the tarheels. You're still not perfect, but you're better than most As for the two plays in question, I think the block/charge call was much harder to call correctly than the dunk at Cuse. As bad as the media hates on Duke, almost all said that was a foul on Rodney's dunk attempt. When a defender get's his hand on the ball, but bodies up or hits a players arm while they are shooting, it's a foul. That call has been made a trillion times and rightfully so. The worst part about the block/charge call was JB's mental breakdown on the play. Then in his press conference he was his mean spirited self. Except this time he did it while smiling. No apology to his team, the refs or conference. He has been a baby with all his crying about where the ACCT is going to be held and comments about the ACC compared to the Big East. I hope he stay healthy for a long time, but I hope he doesn't coach a long time. Lost some respect for him since Cuse joined the ACC. GoDuke!

[Troublemaker]

And then when there are around five minutes left in the game and we have a 'huge' three or four point lead don't even pass the ball around the outside of the three-point line but instead have Quinn stand in place holding or dribbling the ball and cause our offense to stagnate even further (is that even possible?) and when the shot clock is almost out rush up a hurried three that misses 80% of the time.

This is laughably wrong. Duke started stallball with 4:50 left and scored on 3 out of 5 possessions. These were the five possessions:

1 - Score. Wide open corner 3 from Hood. Tip-dunked by Parker
2 - Non-score. Cook missed floater in the lane.
3 - Score. Sulaimon fumbled ball on drive, then passed to cutting Hood for layup.
4 - Non-score. Cook missed a long 3-pointer out top. Bad possession.
5 - Score. Parker receives ball in high-post, drives for layup.

On all five possesions, Duke started attacking with about 20 seconds left on the shotclock. Only on the 4th possession did Duke take a hurried three. Only on two possesions was a three attempt even involved.

After these five possessions, Syracuse was in fouling mode. If Duke had hit our free throws, we would've had a 2-possession lead when the charge/block call happened.

[moonpie23]

I think jim needed to try and take the heat off his team being behind and looking at the 2nd loss in a row…….i doubt he goes ballistic if that play happens in the first half.


I'm glad our coach didn't act like a buttmunch on the Hood no-call up there….

[jv001]

This is laughably wrong. Duke started stallball with 4:50 left and scored on 3 out of 5 possessions. These were the five possessions:

1 - Score. Wide open corner 3 from Hood. Tip-dunked by Parker
2 - Non-score. Cook missed floater in the lane.
3 - Score. Sulaimon fumbled ball on drive, then passed to cutting Hood for layup.
4 - Non-score. Cook missed a long 3-pointer out top. Bad possession.
5 - Score. Parker receives ball in high-post, drives for layup.

On all five possesions, Duke started attacking with about 20 seconds left on the shotclock. Only on the 4th possession did Duke take a hurried three. Only on two possesions was a three attempt even involved.

After these five possessions, Syracuse was in fouling mode. If Duke had hit our free throws, we would've had a 2-possession lead when the charge/block call happened.

You have it the way I remembered the stall ball. I have not looked at the replay yet, so, I'll ask this question. On the two shots by Quinn, were they in the flow of the game. I think I remember saying while watching the game that Quinn's 3 was too quick or too far out. Or maybe both. What did you think of those two shots he attempted in the closing minutes? I think Quinn has played terrific defense in the last two game. He looks to be moving better. GoDuke!

[Troublemaker]

I happen to agree with bbosbbos that our second half game plans against UNC and Syracuse were pretty awful and I also agree that we have played very poorly against the zone. Our zone-busting 'plan' appears to be: pass the ball back and forth several times to each other outside of the three point line, make a half-hearted attempt at taking a step forward against the zone and then back out and pass to a teammate outside the three-point line then rush a hurried three that misses 75% of the time.

This is laughably wrong. First of all, you're conflating different zones. Has Duke struggled against 1-3-1 zones against MD and UNC? Yeah, probably. But has Duke struggled against Syracuse's 2-3 zone? Nope, not really. As Kedsy mentioned upthread, Duke has been responsible for the best and third-best offensive performances against Syracuse's zone this season as measured by points per possession. Syracuse plays a slow pace and so it's easy to think that Duke struggled against the zone when the score is in the 60s, but it's not true. It's also not giving Syracuse credit for playing zone very well. They have long rim protectors in the back and turnover-forcing machines up front.

Also, Duke got the ball into the high post plenty of times in both games. We also made plenty of drives against the zone by setting screens. The Orange constantly morph their zone to take things away (the high post, the 3s) so it's a constant chess match to figure out the best way to attack. Duke has attacked them better than any team they've faced, as mentioned.

[CajunDevil]

If not for cramps MP3 would have played 25 minutes vs. Cuse. I think the majority of Duke fans on this board need to adjust their minute totals to account for Plumlee's minutes. He is not just "serviceable" he is a really good sub and will be key for Duke making a Final Four run.

A few of the under-appreciated things Plumlee does:

1. He is the team's best screener. He never moves until the ball-handler has cleared the screen thus never resulting in illegal screens.
2. He is the team's best hedger. The play he made on Lamar Patterson of Pitt is an example of how well he plays the ball screen. He can either short-circuit the screen by beating the screener to the screen - as he did to Patterson - or he hedges making like very difficult for the ball-handler. Also, Plum has quick feet and quick hands, so he presents a real challenge not simply a speed bump that many bigs are on hedges.
3. He is a very good offensive rebounder and plays within himself on the offensive end - making few mistakes (except for the bad pass in the Cuse game).

I'm amazed at his progress this year... Credit MP3, credit coaching staff. Great job!

[gus]

So Duke [won close games] and Duke fans are supposed to be turning cartwheels?

Yes.

[Troublemaker]

You have it the way I remembered the stall ball. I have not looked at the replay yet, so, I'll ask this question. On the two shots by Quinn, were they in the flow of the game. I think I remember saying while watching the game that Quinn's 3 was too quick or too far out. Or maybe both. What did you think of those two shots he attempted in the closing minutes? I think Quinn has played terrific defense in the last two game. He looks to be moving better. GoDuke!

Quinn's floater was in the flow of the attack and came after a beautiful spin move by him. I'm not sure about Quinn's success rate with floaters but generally, he's a guard that I'm comfortable with trying to score inside.

Quinn's 3 was too long, imo, but he was forced to take it with the shotclock running down. This was a good defensive possession by Cuse denying the high post (or a bad possession by Duke, however one wants to look at it.)

[jv001]

Quinn's floater was in the flow of the attack and came after a beautiful spin move by him. I'm not sure about Quinn's success rate with floaters but generally, he's a guard that I'm comfortable with trying to score inside.

Quinn's 3 was too long, imo, but he was forced to take it with the shotclock running down. This was a good defensive possession by Cuse denying the high post (or a bad possession by Duke, however one wants to look at it.)

Thanks for your quick response. I guess it was Cuse's defense and not Quinn dribbling the shot clock down? GoDuke!