Duke vs. Iona NCAAT (3/15 2:45 pm CBS) Pre-Game and In-Game Thread:

[ndkjr70]

I'm nervous about this game, for one reason: experience. We have a ton of guys who've never played in march before, going against a bunch of seniors who've done this two years in a row. A junior on Iona has never missed the NCAA tournament! That's a shockingly good resume for a 2-seed.

[CDu]

I'm nervous about this game, for one reason: experience. We have a ton of guys who've never played in march before, going against a bunch of seniors who've done this two years in a row. A junior on Iona has never missed the NCAA tournament! That's a shockingly good resume for a 2-seed.

While that is all true, it is also worth noting that this year's Iona team is missing its 3 best players from each of those two previous teams. And is a worse team than any Iona team over the last few years. Only Much has multiple years of tourney contributions coming into this season. McGill barely played as a frosh and has just 26 tourney minutes, Cassimir was out in 2016 and has just 27 tourney minutes, and Crawford just joined last year (30 tourney minutes). Ekogi and Lewis are grad transfers, and Griffin was a regular transfer. None of them have ever played in the NCAA tournament.

So while they are certainly a veteran team, and play for a team that has made the tournament 3 straight years, they actually aren't as tourney-experienced as you might think. They have a combined 147 minutes of tournament experience, and 62 of those are from Much.

So, they are largely as green as our guys are in terms of tournament experience.

[Reilly]

History of 15/2 upsets:

https://www.newsday.com/sports/colle...ment-1.4873282

Did you have to do that?

Yes, I did. Some around here are overconfident -- need to make them nervous. And some are too nervous -- need to make them confident. Mostly, I just need to keep stirring up hate and discontent wherever I go.

[proelitedota]

Iona is number 1 in experience. Duke is 2nd to last.
https://www.ncaa.com/webview/news/ba...?param=mml_app

[ndkjr70]

Iona is number 1 in experience. Duke is 2nd to last.
https://www.ncaa.com/webview/news/ba...?param=mml_app

Ironically enough, I would guess that Grayson Allen has almost the same amount of NCAA Tournament minutes played as Iona's team does combined, as pointed out by CDu.

[CDu]

Ironically enough, I would guess that Grayson Allen has almost the same amount of NCAA Tournament minutes played as Iona's team does combined, as pointed out by CDu.

He has more, actually. Allen has played 252 tourney minutes in his career. The Gaels have 147 combined.

[uh_no]

Ironically enough, I would guess that Grayson Allen has almost the same amount of NCAA Tournament minutes played as Iona's team does combined, as pointed out by CDu.

I would have wagered that grayson allen has more NCAA tournament championships than Iona's team does combined as well, but the one post upthread made me realize I was wrong :P :P

[Bob Green]

Duval status:

@dukebasketball
28s28 seconds ago

Despite suffering an ankle injury in the Blue Devils' ACC semifinal loss against North Carolina, Trevon Duval proclaimed himself "100%" on Wednesday afternoon:

Admittedly, Duval is most likely biased on Duval but it still good news to read.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Duval status:





Admittedly, Duval is most likely biased on Duval but it still good news to read.

I like the specificity....not just ready to go....not just okay to play...but 100%...hope it's accurate as well as specific...

[BigZ]

Prediction: Duke 83 Iona 58

[gep]

UCLA did their best imitation of a flat Duke basketball offensive performance last night with turnovers galore and an inability to score over long periods to go down to the Bonnies last night. Hope we have that flat lackadaisical play out of our system. While we should beat Iona, I hope we do it convincingly with good fundamental execution.

I thought about this coming home from work today. "If" Duke wins by a large, comfortable margin and the bench gets a lot of playing time, I think maybe the starters (freshmen) think that the NCAA is a "cake-walk"... and will play as such. I hope they get a good dose of "worry" in the first half... at least. Gotta maintain that focus.

[AZLA]

I have 100% confidence in this team. Time to fire up the engines and let ‘em run!

[proelitedota]

I thought about this coming home from work today. "If" Duke wins by a large, comfortable margin and the bench gets a lot of playing time, I think maybe the starters (freshmen) think that the NCAA is a "cake-walk"... and will play as such. I hope they get a good dose of "worry" in the first half... at least. Gotta maintain that focus.

Totally agree, our game against Troy last year had less drama than our 2015 games against Robert Morris.

[Spanarkel]

I'm apprehensive about this game for three reasons:

1) I'm apprehensive about all Duke games


2) Beware the ides of March


3) Ty Jerome graduated from Iona Prep


Let's go, Duke!

[Native]

This game does give me pause, as the Gaels are, on average, far older than Duke — with an average experience rating on Kenpom of 2.26 years to our 0.67 years, respectively. That can matter in March, as we all know.

With that being said: the Gaels are a good three-point shooting team, with a 3P% of 38.8% and an overall eFG% of 54.1%, and they rely on perimeter shooting for just over 36% of their total scoring output. They play just slightly faster than we do. They start junior guard Rickey McGill at the point — he's capable of filling it up, but has had single-digit point totals in two of their last five, hitting from three 38.5% of the time on the season. Shooting guard Schadrac Casimir is a strong three-point shooter at 46.3% and also boasts the highest ORtg on the team: 120.7. We'll need to be disciplined on defense and avoid letting these guys get hot.

The big story here will obviously in the paint, with Iona surrendering an average of four inches of height to the Blue Devils, according to Kenpom. They'll likely start 6-6 sophomore EJ Crawford at the 4 and 6-8 senior TK Edogi at the 5; Crawford is among their strongest offensive threats with an eFG% of 55% and a true shooting percentage of 58.4%. Of the two, Edogi appears to be the rebounding and defensive presence.

Carter and Bagley need to leverage their height advantage to control the glass and Grayson and Duval should make a concerted effort to get them the ball. If Carter can defend the smaller Crawford without fouling while he's in his zone, he should enjoy an advantage in that matchup. Crawford is shooting 35% from three on the season, which is a downtick from his 44.8% shooting mark a season ago.

The rebounding stats double down on the story: Duke is the #1-rated offensive rebounding team in the nation, which is a particular weakness of the Gaels, who are rated 303rd nationally in that category.

Iona's reliance on the long ball will mean that Duke has to stay disciplined on close-outs and do a good job of running people off the line. One weird consequence of our zone is that it tends to do a good job of this, though our wings can cheat up at times and leave the corners relatively unprotected. Iona is a middling shooting team once they're inside the arc, shooting 51.2% from the floor.

In short: pound the ball inside, punish Iona on the glass, and don't let them get hot from three.

[UrinalCake]

Duval status:

Awesome news; it looked really bad when he left the game last week. Coaching staff must have rubbed some extra tussin on it.

[jipops]

It will be interesting to see if our offense clicks at all today, even against a poor defense such as Iona. Not only that, how will our zone do against a team that likes to fire up 3's? I do expect the Gails to come out firing and for this to be much, much closer than all of us are comfortable with. I predict a single digit margin either way.

[OldPhiKap]

Awesome news; it looked really bad when he left the game last week. Coaching staff must have rubbed some extra tussin on it.

I would have more confidence if Duval's tweet had been in all caps. Because as we know, tweets in all caps are truerer.

[budwom]

I like the specificity...not just ready to go...not just okay to play...but 100%...hope it's accurate as well as specific...

I am always apprehensive as a sports fan when my team gives anything less than 110%.

[Saratoga2]

Iona's reliance on the long ball will mean that Duke has to stay disciplined on close-outs and do a good job of running people off the line. One weird consequence of our zone is that it tends to do a good job of this, though our wings can cheat up at times and leave the corners relatively unprotected. Iona is a middling shooting team once they're inside the arc, shooting 51.2% from the floor.

One thing I notice about Dukes defense at the 3 point line is a difference between how we guard the guy with the ball vs a UVA defender. Obviously, we are playing zone and they pack line, but there is a difference in individual defense. Take a guy like AOC for instance. He is tall and long for a guard and he is pretty quick. He guards the three point line a step away from his man with his hands extended to his side and occasionally waves his hands up. I noted he got shot over by a quick guard. In Virginia's case the guard tends to be closer to the man with the ball and they often extend one arm toward the potential shooters face. They have help so are not as worried about being blown by.

I wonder if AOC and other Duke defenders on the man with the ball at the three point line should play a little closer (a reached out hand should be able to tough the opponent on the forehead) and also have their hands up so it would be much harder to get a shot off. Others on Duke play in a similar manner but I tend to watch AOC since I believe he needs to tighten up his defense. Further out defenders can play off a little more as the shot gets more difficult.