MBB: Duke 66, UConn 56 Post-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Put our post-game thoughts here.

[OldPhiKap]

Nice grind. Not pretty, but kept the lead and the whole team played well.

Boatright was insane.

[conmanlhughes]

At least we fouled out Brimah. Little bit of revenge being served there, I guess.

[gurufrisbee]

Too many turnovers. Bothered me like the Michigan St game to see us play such good defense to keep forcing the other team into mid range or longer jumpers and then they keep hitting them. Boatright is a fantastic player. Ollie is super annoying. He has a permanent "whiner" face. If he doesn't want to whine so much he should teach his players that full court defense is not done well by clothes lining the other point guard and post defense is not done well by slapping at the other team's center's chest.

[AncientPsychicT]

Today... is a good day!

[mr. synellinden]

Nothing from the bench - that is very disturbing. Grayson, MJ and MPIII played very little and Rasheed had a pretty bad game - 0-4, no points and 5 turnovers. We are going to need more than that from him and our bench in general.

[arnie]

Today... is a good day!

Yes and we get all the calls!

[fisheyes]

Sloppy game for sure.
Amile was awesome.
Okafor was Okafor.
The 3 by Winslow was the nail.
We hit the foul shots at a pace that kept them at bay.
Have a nice break guys!
Come back refreshed for the drive to 1000!

[53n206]

Worried about depth. Not many minutes from the bench,poor productivity. If or when our first five gets in foul trouble we may have serious problems.

[dukelifer]

Winslow and Jones showed themselves again to be gamers. They like the big moment and play their best when the pressure is on. That is a good sign. Jefferson has become an outstanding rebounder and you have to like the way Okafor passed the ball as he was surrounded the entire night. The bench was not good tonight but that will come with more playing time. Usually Sheed plays better in these types of games. The team can win ugly and that is good to see.

[NashvilleDevil]

Nothing from the bench - that is very disturbing. Grayson, MJ and MPIII played very little and Rasheed had a pretty bad game - 0-4, no points and 5 turnovers. We are going to need more than that from him and our bench in general.

And they still won by 10 points. Bench was bad tonight but they've been good most of the year.

[FerryFor50]

Winslow = closer.

Cook and Sheed had off nights.

Jones was rock solid.

Okafor... great passer.

Jefferson is the perfect complement to Oak.

The bench wasn't great, but this was a pretty physical game. Reminded me of the old Big East. (not in a good way)

I'll take the win though.

[azzefkram]

It certainly wasn't a pretty game but we won. Great games by Amile, Tyus and Jah. Quinn was pretty good even though his shot wasn't falling. I thought his D on Boatright was respectable. Justise seemed to be taken out of the game by that early charging foul though he rallied in the fourth quarter. Sheed was dreadful. MP3 and MJones gave them some positive minutes. Greyson looked a bit like a deer in the headlights out there which struck me as odd since he's been fairly confident when he's played.

UConn is definitely better than their record and one of the better defenses we've faced.

[DukeDevil]

My random thoughts,

Okafor was a beast, but I felt that his most important contribution was playing smart, passing out. His hands and ball control are just so impressive. His ability to snatch in passes always makes me shake my head in disbelief. His body language before drawing Brimah's fourth was just so dominant...he was basically daring Brimah to stop him.

Tyus just always shows up big when we need him.

Winslow was MIA for a lot of the game, but kudos to him for persisting and then showing up big late on both ends of the floor. I have to say that his refusal to become frustrated and disappear was so very unfreshman-like. I also really appreciated Bilas pointing how how K was having him set up in the post for the pass in from Okafor from the top of the paint to help take advantage of a mismatch. I know he didn't connect on it (or may have once), but I love when the commentators can actually bring to light things I may not have noticed otherwise. I bet K continues to try to play this move to take advantage of size mismatches with Winslow.

Marshall...I always want you to do well man...can we slap some glue stick to those hands? He keeps getting passes in great position and just can't reign them in.

Sulaimon, I was frustrated to see that he didn't show up very well today, but he's still my guy. I'm hoping he can put together several good games in a row coming back from the holidays.

Bench was fairly MIA today in general...

[DukieInBrasil]

Tyus, rises up to play big in big games, even though UCons are not the toughest this year their backcourt is tough. And Tyus did a commendable job. Amile also played like a man, and Jahlil overcame the Poke-the-Oak defense.
I'll save the negatives for myself, i'll just savor a tough neutral court win over a worthy opponent.

[JBDuke]

... I also really appreciated Bilas pointing how how K was having him set up in the post for the pass in from Okafor from the top of the paint to help take advantage of a mismatch. I know he didn't connect on it (or may have once), but I love when the commentators can actually bring to light things I may not have noticed otherwise. I bet K continues to try to play this move to take advantage of size mismatches with Winslow.
...

I think the key was UConn's aggressive doubling of Jah. He could pull two big guys all the way to the high post, leaving the low post free for Justise or Amile. We've seen lots of teams double Jah in the post, but they generally haven't doubled him that far from the basket. If anyone else tries UConn's defensive schemes on Jah, I suspect we'll see more of those plays.

[mgtr]

I like our starting five a lot -- what's not to like? Sheed is normally a gamer, but stepping in bounds on the endline, and trying to bring the ball upcourt against a team like UCon, not so much. I like the effort of Marshall Plumlee, but he needs a lot of catching the ball drills. I guess that Matt Jones needs to decide if he is a defender or a shooter. He started the season shooting great, but he may need to back off. If he can continue to defend well, there is a place for him on this team.
Back to the starting five, as a lad, many years ago, I read a book called "The Fighting Five," about a successful high school basketball team. My fantasy played out, as my own high basketball team was so successful that I couldn't make the team (Don Nelson was on that team!) So I see our starting five as the modern "Fighting Five." I look for continued success.

[Philadukie]

I thought UConn played a tough defensive game. They really disrupted us with their length and quickness. Boatright especially. He was marvelous, but as Bilas said in the post game, UConn didn't really have anyone else that could consistently score. Hamilton had some nice one on one moves though.

I thought our guys should be praised for playing in a tough defensive oriented game, shooting poorly from 3, and still winning by double digits - yet again. In fact, isn't this the first time in history that a Duke team has won it's first 10 games by double digits? Think about that.

I don't get some of the negativity, and I think some of the comments are using a VERY small sample size to make blanket conclusions. Bench play was "disturbing" and "we're in trouble with our depth?" Really? Compared to whom? Kentucky. Who else? Good grief. Go watch the Wisconsin or Stanford or Mich St games again. Our bench played just fine in those games.

Also, in another thread someone said we're seeing the "real Winslow now" with respect to offense. What Winslow would that be? The one who averages 12 points a game and scored, wait for it, 12 points tonight?

How about giving the team, in the middle of a distracting exam and holiday period, a little break. At least save those drastic conclusions until the first loss (and yes, there will be a few for those who are eager to panic).

[FerryFor50]

I like our starting five a lot -- what's not to like? Sheed is normally a gamer, but stepping in bounds on the endline, and trying to bring the ball upcourt against a team like UCon, not so much. I like the effort of Marshall Plumlee, but he needs a lot of catching the ball drills. I guess that Matt Jones needs to decide if he is a defender or a shooter. He started the season shooting great, but he may need to back off. If he can continue to defend well, there is a place for him on this team.
Back to the starting five, as a lad, many years ago, I read a book called "The Fighting Five," about a successful high school basketball team. My fantasy played out, as my own high basketball team was so successful that I couldn't make the team (Don Nelson was on that team!) So I see our starting five as the modern "Fighting Five." I look for continued success.

Jones took one shot. He played 6 minutes. Didn't really get enough time to do much. Not sure why he needs to back off. He's shooting 45% from 3. Cook went 2-7. Should he back off, too?

He's a 3 and D guy. That's what championship teams need.

[SCMatt33]

This seemed like a pretty even game for most of the night, except for that 15-2 run early in the second half. Duke goes on 15-2 type runs all the time to change games, but this one was quite a bit different than we're used too. First, it too awhile. This wasn't a run where Duke scored 15 points in possessions in a span of 2:30. This run took over 5 minutes to complete. Duke did take care of it's scoring in only 10 possessions (scoring on 8 of them), but they were longer possession fueled by offensive rebounding and longer possession (though the run was capped with some fast break opportunities). Second, this run involve a very big defensive stand over a long period of time. From the point that UConn tied the game at 30 with 18:16 remaining, they only score 2 points over the next 6 and a half minutes. Duke went on a big, long run, and they did it playing at UConn's pace. The third and probably most surprising statistic about the run is that it came without a made three point field goal. Seriously, when's the last time you can remember Duke going on a 15-2 run without a three? The run started with 6 consecutive 2 pointers and ended with 3 FT's. That right there is the ball game and it was able to happen on a night when Duke was only shooting 26% from 3 and 37% overall.

I'm sure you can criticize a lot of things about this game and the Elon game right before it, but these guys are still Freshman. You heard Jah in the ESPN interview talking about being excited to go home to his family tomorrow. These kids have never been away from home for months at a time, and couple that with what I'm sure was a stressful week of finals, it's understandable to see some mental (turnovers) and physical (shooting) lapses. It was also outstanding to see that during this time, the real emphasis has been put on defense, because that can get you through a lot of bad nights.