MBB: Boston College 89, Duke 84 Post-Game Thread

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

The rebounds were confounding. Late game play was frustrated but not smart. We will get better.

Props to BC. I hope we don't look like that again this season. We never played to our strengths.

[TKG]

Using my eye test, our D looked pretty bad. I am sure there exists some quantitative measure that contradicts this and will prove that our D is average to above average. But it sure doesn't look that way.

[duke4ever19]

I was very impressed with the job BC did in keeping Bagley out of the equation in the second half, especially in the home stretch.

He was often out of position for rebounds/put-backs and when he was fed the ball he would get harassed by the help defense and be forced to throw it back out. From a pure basketball standpoint, it was beautiful to watch.

It's not like none of our previous opponents failed to implement that game plan (they certainly tried), but for some reason, a guard-laden BC team did it the best I've seen to date.

The two deficiencies with this team are it's defense (which I chalk up to inexperience/learning curve, but can be fixed/improved) and the lack of another deadly perimeter shooter to make teams pay for over-playing Bagley and Carter. I suspect O'Connell could be that guy (I like his stroke) but he has to do it without being a liability on defense.

[azzefkram]

Have fairly underwhelming performances by everyone not named Gary, toss in some exceptionally spotty officiating, then add a heaping pile of hot shooting by BC and, Viola! an upset. BC played a great game and earned the win. It stinks heading into a break on a loss.

[jv001]

F1-WTF? Only that PoS luckie could make that horrible a call in that situation.We didn't deserve to win anyway but the horrible shot by Duval, followed by yet another insane 3 by BC and the beyond ridiculous F1 put that in-reach for them, then out of reach for us.

If the refs are going to make that call, every time Grayson has the ball we should shoot FTs and get the ball after the shots. What a terrible call, but as you said, we did not deserve to win this game. The only time Marvin and Carter get the ball consistently is when Grayson get's it to them. Duval has a lot to learn in that respect. Those behind the back passes look good sometimes but we need the sure pass and score. Trevon is looking like the freshman he is. GoDuke!

[BobBender]

Put your post-game thoughts here.

Relax, the model is not about December, it's about February and March. The 2015 team had hiccups through January, and then it came together. I know there's more money to be made in early-season neutral site games, but perhaps an early, true non-conference road game would help if the ACC season is going to start on Dec.9

[UrinalCake]

BC shot out of their minds, but we didn’t match their intensity. Other than Grayson and Trent, the team looked like they were sleepwalking. Not sure why we completely ignored Bagley after the first 10 minutes. The only time he got the ball in the second half was out past the three point line, where he either took a three or tried to drive which isn’t his strength at all.

We did a better job clos My out on the shooters in the second half, but this was a game where they got into a rhythm and then jut couldn’t miss. Some terrible decisions by Duval down the stretch as well. I’m not too upset that we lost, but wished we had executed better.

[uh_no]

Is it that hard to believe they get outrebounded when the other team shoots over 50% and Duke didn't? More opportunities at defensive rebounds for them.

Absolutely. even adjusting for opportunities, the rebounds were effectively a wash. That shouldn't happen given the talent we have on the block.

[devilseven]

Black uniforms. Have we ever played well in black uniforms?

[Reddevil]

Welcome to the ACC rooks.

Exactly right. They need to understand that they WILL take everyone's best shot. BC will now go about their mediocre ways.

Can someone please educate young basketball fans. Either insult your team by chanting "over-rated" OR storm the court. Not both. I wonder how BC's team felt about the over-rated chant. It diminishes the accomplishment dopes!

Anyway, it's probably a good loss. This is what road games in the ACC look like padawan.

[Billy Dat]

there is no reason we should be getting out rebounded. ever. that ought to be some serious motivation for the bigs. given some of wendel's preseason comments (nobody should be close to us), I hope this is the kick in the pants he needs. it's no coincidence he was riding the bench while delaurier had 4 fouls, methinks. wouldn't be surprised if delaurier starts next week.

I think K was trying to go small because Carter's perimeter defense is not a strength. When he checked back in, he got a few buckets and I thought he'd be having another game where his modest play was overcome with a final strong flourish. Twas not to be.

I mostly chalk this up to BC playing out of its proverbial mind and, unlike the other comeback games, we did seem to play young. I appreciate Grayson's fight, but this was a game where I felt like he let his emotions control him more than he should. I think he felt like he should have been getting more calls, and was trying to draw fouls instead of taking good shots.

Still, up 4 with the ball under 2 minutes, we should have won the game. The charge against Bagley when he was driving in for a lay-up was a tough whistle, Marvin trying to pass to Carter instead of shooting in the final couple of minutes was another tough decision. The offense in general seemed confused about how to attack BC's defense but, as someone else pointed out, we scored 80+. That's not usually a sign that the offense was the problem, which leads back to our D...

@JohnGasaway
For Duke fans, the good thing about playing an ACC game in early December is a head start on the annual “Our supremely talented team looks awful on defense” panic.

[MrPoon]

It's either game plan or execution...and I'm betting it's not the guy with 5 titles failing to put together a competent game plan for 5 future NBA players to beat boston college.

there is no reason we should be getting out rebounded. ever. that ought to be some serious motivation for the bigs. given some of wendel's preseason comments (nobody should be close to us), I hope this is the kick in the pants he needs. it's no coincidence he was riding the bench while delaurier had 4 fouls, methinks. wouldn't be surprised if delaurier starts next week.

The rebounding has been a theme in all close games with strong efforts late masking what was too close all game long. Really surprising to me.
Poor shot selection in the first ten minutes of the second half and bigs not helping our gaurds off of switches. The good news is the problems have been the same ones...the bad news is they aren’t improving.
Disagree with most that Duval is the problem. Not a great game for him but not why we lost. Bigs have to handle guard penetration and switch’s better and not be boxed out for long stretches. Carter was invisible in first half and Bagley much of the second.its like they were waiting for something to happen late in the game instead of making it happen.

[TNTDevil]

Exactly right. They need to understand that they WILL take everyone's best shot. BC will now go about their mediocre ways.

Can someone please educate young basketball fans. Either insult your team by chanting "over-rated" OR storm the court. Not both. I wonder how BC's team felt about the over-rated chant. It diminishes the accomplishment dopes!

Anyway, it's probably a good loss. This is what road games in the ACC look like padawan.

LOL. This seems to be rampant amongst the latest classes of CBB hoops fans... yelling #$%^ just to yell, without regard to the yell's actual relevance.

Derp.

[Troublemaker]

So yeah, an over/under of 4 regular season losses is fair (although maybe bump that to 5 now), we're not the '99 team, and we can't win the ACC regular season with offense only.

I thought we actually did start this game focused and playing well but BC got hot from long range, and their hot shooting caused our play to deteriorate, particularly offensive decision-making, which was disappointing. So yeah, we didn't play 40 minutes of focused ball like I had hoped.

The rebounding wasn't too fluky. BC came into the game 76th in the country in DReb% and 27th in the country in OReb%. There are going to be opponents who can stay with us on the boards. That's why we have to play better defense, improve offensive decision-making, and hopefully find or develop another shooter (because we're not going to be able to just offensive-rebound our way to wins all the time.)

In contrast to the rebounding, BC's shooting WAS very fluky. They came into the game shooting 31.8% from three. And it wasn't just the threes. They were hot from 17 feet and midrange as well. If they weren't on fire, we would've have won, sure, but we didn't play well enough in the other areas of the game to deserve to win.

Interestingly, amid the 89 points that BC scored, we probably showed a bit of improvement in the guard/big man combo up top playing ball screens and handoffs. Particularly when compared to how poorly they played it at PK80, although there were still a couple of lapses. And Grayson had a very good defensive game. Just wish he had made better decisions on offense and/or shot better.

I'm still encouraged by the entire season to this point and look forward to seeing them grow. Good luck on finals, guys.

[Devilwin]

Lots of our guys made poor decisions with the ball. Not just Duvall. Even Grayson took several ill advised shots, as did Bagley. And this team has no clue on defense whatsoever. BC earned the win with their shooting. But we have lots of work to do during the break. We are way too talented to lose to teams like BC. It was disgusting to watch. But I believe K will right the ship.. As of now though, we are not the best team. But the potential is there..

[flyingdutchdevil]

We scored 80+ points. BC/Duke fan base was 60/40. Crowd pretty lame until final minute.

Duke needs some defensive urgency.

[uh_no]

their hot shooting caused our play to deteriorate, particularly offensive decision-making

I think that's a really important point, and certainly leads to the observation that we were "unprepared."

We need to play our offensive game regardless of what's going on on the other side. That comes with some experience, and the best we can do is hope the guys learn from it.

[Saratoga2]

BC shot out of their minds, but we didn’t match their intensity. Other than Grayson and Trent, the team looked like they were sleepwalking. Not sure why we completely ignored Bagley after the first 10 minutes. The only time he got the ball in the second half was out past the three point line, where he either took a three or tried to drive which isn’t his strength at all.

We did a better job clos My out on the shooters in the second half, but this was a game where they got into a rhythm and then jut couldn’t miss. Some terrible decisions by Duval down the stretch as well. I’m not too upset that we lost, but wished we had executed better.

Yes, Duval made mistakes trying for the spectacular play and driving into a crowd. He needs to adjust his game, but he has exceptional talent and will come along. Grayson played very hard and did some good things but his shot was off a mile and he kept taking it, early in the clock when there were other options. Grayson and Duval are quality players who have to look at the game tapes and make adjustments.

[weezie]

Two things: better be real sure when dribbling behind back in traffic and under the backboard and no standing still to watch the Grayson Allen Show. Keep moving.

[jv001]

I think K was trying to go small because Carter's perimeter defense is not a strength. When he checked back in, he got a few buckets and I thought he'd be having another game where his modest play was overcome with a final strong flourish. Twas not to be.

I mostly chalk this up to BC playing out of its proverbial mind and, unlike the other comeback games, we did seem to play young. I appreciate Grayson's fight, but this was a game where I felt like he let his emotions control him more than he should. I think he felt like he should have been getting more calls, and was trying to draw fouls instead of taking good shots.

Still, up 4 with the ball under 2 minutes, we should have won the game. The charge against Bagley when he was driving in for a lay-up was a tough whistle, Marvin trying to pass to Carter instead of shooting in the final couple of minutes was another tough decision. The offense in general seemed confused about how to attach BC's defense but, as someone else pointed out, we scored 80+. That's not usually a sign that the offense was the problem, which leads back to our D...

@JohnGasaway
For Duke fans, the good thing about playing an ACC game in early December is a head start on the annual “Our supremely talented team looks awful on defense” panic.

Agree with your entire post. Carter get's lost on defense a lot and so does Trevon. The back door on Trevon really hurt late in the game. OADs trying to learn K's man2man D

I too was pleased with Grayson's fight but not so much with his emotions getting the best of him. It looked like he wanted to quiet the BC crowd. By the way, whoever said they would not have many fans at the game was way off.

I have to give BC credit for taking our bigs out of the game at times. That's a first but I don't think it will be the last time we see it. I'm hoping Coach K has a Bobby Hurley sit down with Mr. Duval. GoDuke!