MBB: Duke v Rhode Island (NCAA 2rd, 2:40 PM/CBS) Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Duke will play Rhode Island on Saturday in Pittsburgh in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Time and TV info to be announced.

[Bob Green]

We will have to guard the 3 PT line in this game. Rhode Island shot 11-28 (39.3%) in their victory over Oklahoma. For the season, they are 210-600 (35%).

This is another opponent where we will have a significant size advantage. Rhode Island plays a couple of 6'8" forwards and a bunch of guards.

[Truth&Justise]

Others will have more detailed analysis (saw it posted in the discussion of the region), but this is a veteran Rhode Island team. Most of them played in a ten point loss to Duke last year in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament. While that Duke team is pretty much completely different from the one that will take the floor on Saturday, I'd be happy with a similar result.

LET'S GO DUKE!

[jv001]

We will have to guard the 3 PT line in this game. Rhode Island shot 11-28 (39.3%) in their victory over Oklahoma. For the season, they are 210-600 (35%).

This is another opponent where we will have a significant size advantage. Rhode Island plays a couple of 6'8" forwards and a bunch of guards.

I think it was Miller that commented, " they better grow a lot over night". I really liked his commentary. I'm so glad we didn't have to listen to all those ESPN guys and Elmore. GoDuke!

[Chard]

Oklahoma turned it over 14 times, shot poorly from 3 and <67% at the line. I've seen a similar stat line before in Duke losses this year. Play like they did today and it should be another 10-pt win.

[DukeBlue666s]

Duke opens as a 10 point favorite. Sounds about right.

[MChambers]

I think it was Miller that commented, " they better grow a lot over night". I really liked his commentary. I'm so glad we didn't have to listen to all those ESPN guys and Elmore. GoDuke!

I wasn't expecting to like Miller, but when he and Bonner were joking about the flat tire an Iona player suffered at the foot of Grayson Allen, I wanted to hug them.

[SavDukeGrad]

I think it was Miller that commented, " they better grow a lot over night". I really liked his commentary. I'm so glad we didn't have to listen to all those ESPN guys and Elmore. GoDuke!

I completely agree! I've always liked Dan Bonner, and Reggie Miller was better than I remembered.

[Ian]

The key will be turnovers and FTs. Rhode Island fouls a lot and we need to make them pay at the line, they also force a lot of turnovers and we need value possessions and be strong with the ball.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

I wasn't expecting to like Miller, but when he and Bonner were joking about the flat tire an Iona player suffered at the foot of Grayson Allen, I wanted to hug them.

That was my fave Dan Bonner moment ever...not that there've been many....but that was great perspective, with just the right amount of snark.

But Bonner remains the announcer who can talk his way through a replay of an "and one" situation, and not notice that there are 24 inches of air between the scorer and the supposed fouler....

[Native]

Rhode Island is like Iona in the sense that they're also undersized relative to Duke. We're about four inches taller than them on average. However, they are far more balanced than the Gaels with a #62 AdjO and #35 AdjD in KenPom, and rated as the 45th team overall. They're also coached by Bobby Hurley's brother Dan, so there's a distant Duke connection. Rhode Island returns 66% of their minutes from last year's squad, which bowed out of the tournament in the second round to 3rd-seeded Oregon.

They play a very stout defense but are somewhat foul prone. They're generally good at running teams off the line, and teams typically shoot their averages within the arc. The one area where they are outstanding is ball security and turning over the other team: they are fifth in the country in defensive turnover percentage and 33rd in steals. Duval and Grayson will need to be very active at the top of our zone and crowd passing lanes as much as possible. We'll need to do a great job of protecting possessions and not forcing too much.

They are obviously more experienced than us in terms of age, but most of that age is at the SF and PF positions. Senior guard Jared Terrell is their go-to guy, shooting 42% from deep and 83% from the line this year. In spite of that, though, according to KenPom they usually start a freshman at the point and a sophomore at the two. 5-10 PG Daron Russell isn't a big offensive threat, but he takes care of the ball and creates turnovers, as mentioned above. SG Jeff Dowtin is their highest-rated player on offense and he will likely slide over to the point when Russell subs out.

They're a much better rebounding team than Iona, but still average by national standards, where they rank 99th in offensive rebounding percentage. Their starting PF and C are 6-5 and 6-8, respectively, which means that once again Bagley and Carter should have matchup advantages. Duke will once again need to capitalize on their size advantage inside and hit their free throws when given the opportunities to advance.

Should be a great game! Go Devils!

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Just got an alert on my phone from ESPN that Wendell Carter is playing with injured achilles....I had not heard that much specificity before.

[Bob Green]

Just got an alert on my phone from ESPN that Wendell Carter is playing with injured achilles...I had not heard that much specificity before.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-bas...chilles-tendon

Carter said it stems from a sprained ankle he had earlier in the season, and the only thing he can do for treatment is stretching or ice. But doctors said he is in no danger of further injury if he keeps playing on it.

[dalmatians98]

Just got an alert on my phone from ESPN that Wendell Carter is playing with injured achilles...I had not heard that much specificity before.

Apparently sore, but no danger of further injury. I hope that's the case. More here:
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-bas.../_/id/22782580

EDIT: I was busy getting the link and Bob Green beat me to it.

[MChambers]

Just got an alert on my phone from ESPN that Wendell Carter is playing with injured achilles...I had not heard that much specificity before.

But I highly recommend not getting alerts from ESPN!

[kako]

So who does Bobby Hurley root for? Odds say he will be at the game.

[UrinalCake]

Sounds like we'll have a similar defensive strategy as we did vs. Iona - extend the zone out to the 3 pt. line and leave one big under the basket. Sacrifice the foul line jumper in exchange for pressuring the threes and the rim. Rhode Island is not a team to be taken for granted; if we shoot like we did today then it should be a comfortable win but if we turn the ball over a lot then things could get dicey.

[OldPhiKap]

So who does Bobby Hurley root for? Odds say he will be at the game.

His brother. And I’m okay with that.

If anyone has missed the :60 on Hurley, REALLY worth finding. He and Danny are beyond close.

[gocanes0506]

We need to speed up the game. RI’s starters were very tired at the end of the game. Our starters played about 5 less minutes. Can we run them?

Also they beat OU, despite shooting 39% overall because OU turned it over 14 times and RI kept it low, OU shot terribly, and Young just forced stuff again.

Duke’s defense should be stout enough to keep them low enough. I didn’t see their PF having the touch to make a 10-12 footer.

Keys:
Duval
Not turning it over
Constantly pounding the ball down to Carter, Bagley, and Bolden

[subzero02]

I'm surprised we aren't favored by more than 9.5/10...