MBB: Duke 73, Syracuse 54 Post-Game Thread

[g-money]

I'm almost liking this kid more than I like T "money" Jones - and that's saying something. In addition to the highlight reel blocks and dunks, he does so many little things out there that don't end up in the stat sheet. The kid's just a winner.

What are the odds of an NBA lockout next year so we can keep these guys for one more season? Ha.

[Newton_14]

Check out K's post press conference. Two interesting comments in the final 2 minutes: challenges officials to be more consistent in how they call games and called the quick rematches with both Syracuse and Carolina unfair. Acknowledged that is it done for television but called it unfair nonetheless.

I think Ferry will agree with me in that it was yet another game where ACC refs were really bad, including the one ref that I believe has been the best ACC ref for the past 3 or 4 years. (The grey haired ref tonight, not Roger Ayers or the bald guy). Just way too many obvious missed calls on both teams. We took two solid charges, 1 in each half, one by Grayson and one by Winslow, with both on Christmas driving. Both were called blocks. Both were called shooting fouls and Christmas did not even have control of the ball on his charge on Grayson, let alone made a shooting motion, and he barely had control of the ball when he charged into Winslow. MP3's first foul was crap. Evidently he fouled Christmas' shoulder with his chest. Then there was the Tyus drive where he got fouled but they called out of bounds on him, then on the Cuse possession immediately following that, the Cuse player drove, lost the ball out of bounds, and they called it out of bounds on Duke, giving Cuse the ball. It was nuts.

They called an offensive goal tending on Cuse that was wrong, and there were a few more iffy calls against them as well. But like I said, just another bad night at the office by ACC Refs. K was beside himself at several points.

[FerryFor50]

I think Ferry will agree with me in that it was yet another game where ACC refs were really bad, including the one ref that I believe has been the best ACC ref for the past 3 or 4 years. (The grey haired ref tonight, not Roger Ayers or the bald guy). Just way too many obvious missed calls on both teams. We took two solid charges, 1 in each half, one by Grayson and one by Winslow, with both on Christmas driving. Both were called blocks. Both were called shooting fouls and Christmas did not even have control of the ball on his charge on Grayson, let alone made a shooting motion, and he barely had control of the ball when he charged into Winslow. MP3's first foul was crap. Evidently he fouled Christmas' shoulder with his chest. Then there was the Tyus drive where he got fouled but they called out of bounds on him, then on the Cuse possession immediately following that, the Cuse player drove, lost the ball out of bounds, and they called it out of bounds on Duke, giving Cuse the ball. It was nuts.

They called an offensive goal tending on Cuse that was wrong, and there were a few more iffy calls against them as well. But like I said, just another bad night at the office by ACC Refs. K was beside himself at several points.

What drove me crazy was calling some of those uncalled pushes as traveling violations. OF COURSE HE WALKED - HE WAS PUSHED!

[FerryFor50]

What drove me crazy was calling some of those uncalled pushes as traveling violations. OF COURSE HE WALKED - HE WAS PUSHED!

Yeah, no foul here.

_DSC8427.jpg

[TruBlu]

Check out K's post press conference. Two interesting comments in the final 2 minutes: challenges officials to be more consistent in how they call games and called the quick rematches with both Syracuse and Carolina unfair. Acknowledged that is it done for television but called it unfair nonetheless.

I hate playing against the Syracuse zone, especially when they are allowed to basically pummel Jahlil on every possession. The kid honestly gets fouled every time he touches the ball even when he doesn't take a shot.

I'm a little surprised there haven't been more complaints on the threads about the officiating in this game . . . maybe because the game wasn't in doubt? My observations from being at the game was that there were some horrible calls against Duke, although I might be slightly biased. A couple of bad traveling calls when fouls on Cuse would have been a better call, the blocking call on Winslow are some examples. They did not change the output of the game, fortunately.

Agree with Newton that Jahlil gets beaten up on practically every offensive possession. He even gets fouled when he doesn't touch the ball. Christmas should have fouled out midway through the first half. I hope Jahlil doesn't bruise easily.

On a side note, Amile seemed to be more involved and intense in this game, although it didn't show up his stat line. (My apologies to those who don't like "eye tests".)

Also, I'm a little surprised that Jimmy didn't self-eject himself at the end of the game.

[SCMatt33]

Interesting stat of the night: Duke got 16 offensive rebounds in 34 attempts tonight for a 47.1% offensive rebounding percentage. That's a really good night on the offensive glass. As expected, Jah led the way with 7 offensive boards. It was however a real team effort in this category as 7 of the 8 guys got at least one offensive rebound. The one guy who didn't...Amile Jefferson. That seems a bit surprising even with his recent dip in play. Still, good job by the team tonight attacking the glass. Really helped take the edge off of an off night for the half-court offense.

[Duke 81 LA]

Rakeem Christmas is the kind of player we all miss. A four year player who has matured into his talent and is looking as a first round pick. Congrats to him on a not-very-good-team that has taken itself out of post season of his great senior year. I wish him the best of luck.

Wouldn't you say Quinn Cook qualifies as just that type of player, too?

[uh_no]

Some rare chalk talk. Tyus was told to leave Cuse's PGs (when off the ball) to help clog up the middle. One-man zone type thing. Coach used the word "ice" for the first time in a presser, although it's been obvious since the preseason that's what Duke has been doing this season on ball screens. Jahlil played ice well in this game, according to Coach.

I actually noticed that with tyus....on some of the really early posessions in the game, when the ball was in the far corner, he would drop down onto the far side of the lane. When i saw it I was almost going to explain it as "strong side man, weak side zone" because TBH, when I saw it my head kind of exploded...what kind of defense has the guard dropping into zone low on the block when the ball is on the other side of the floor...

I figured what the end goal was, but that didn't mean it didn't LOOK like the strangest thing. I'm glad I wasn't going nuts, and TBH, I don't think it's that bad of an idea, with the big IF the guards can recover fast enough.

[Neals384]

Nice to see some help side D this time around. Wonder how long K will go with this lineup bringing Amile off the bench?

Rest of the season.

[roywhite]

Justise Winslow = Swiss Army Knife.

Dude does a little bit of everything and is tough as nails. Haven't had too many guys like him -- maybe David Henderson or a Chris Carrawell, but more athletic. Justise has some days where he doesn't shoot a high percentage and still makes plays, but when he is hitting shots, he's a terrific complement to the inside/outside game of Jah and our 3-point shooters.

[Bob Green]

what else is there to say that hasn't been said?

Your signature is missing the asterisk.

[dukelifer]

I'm almost liking this kid more than I like T "money" Jones - and that's saying something. In addition to the highlight reel blocks and dunks, he does so many little things out there that don't end up in the stat sheet. The kid's just a winner.

What are the odds of an NBA lockout next year so we can keep these guys for one more season? Ha.

Sad to say it but he is NBA ready and will likely be a first round pick.. Even J-Will and Stephen A Smith made mention of it. Of course he will need to be a much better shooter particularly in the midrange - as there are many guys in the league that possess his athleticism. His strengths are attacking the basket and stand still 3's. Right now he is a below average NBA talent and and above average college talent- but he has a solid to very good NBA future of he can expand his game.

[Jackson]

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this. I watched the game on ESPN and that segment during the first half interviewing Joe Lunardi made me crazy. Why does that network continue to do stuff like that? Total interruption of the game. There were at least three possessions by both teams that were minimized on the screen and ignored by commentators. So ready for the NCAA just to avoid stuff like that from ESPN. Other than that, great game after the letdown in Blacksburg on the defensive end. It never stops to amaze me how Okafor can hold a basketball like a grapefruit.

[conmanlhughes]

I thought last night Okafor did pretty well on defense. He was helping on the pick and rolls, and it looked like he was boxing out on rebounds as well. Not to mention I thought he played very well against Christmas, and only had trouble with those crazy running hooks he kept making.

[jv001]

I thought last night Okafor did pretty well on defense. He was helping on the pick and rolls, and it looked like he was boxing out on rebounds as well. Not to mention I thought he played very well against Christmas, and only had trouble with those crazy running hooks he kept making.

I thought Jah played great defense. Got to go to church. GoDuke!

[fisheyes]

What are the odds of an NBA lockout next year so we can keep these guys for one more season? Ha.

Hmmmm...I wonder if we know someone who runs the NBA?
Hmmmm...I wonder if we could.....

[NYBri]

Wouldn't you say Quinn Cook qualifies as just that type of player, too?

Absolutely. I have made that point about Quinn multiple times in other threads. I referred to Rakeem in this thread because it's the last time we'll see him.

[duke74]

Hmmmm...I wonder if we know someone who runs the NBA?
Hmmmm...I wonder if we could.....

I went to school with Gary Bettman here in Forest Hills, but don't think he'd listen to me if I asked him.

[TKG]

I went to school with Gary Bettman here in Forest Hills, but don't think he'd listen to me if I asked him.

Just spin it to him that it might help NHL TV ratings or something...

[tbyers11]

Don't forget the torture of looking at whatever that is on top of Lunardi's head.

I find it hard to believe, but it appears that Lunardi's hair is real.

Guess he needs a new hairstylist not a new wig.