Duke MBB vs. Marquette Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Post your pre-game and in-game thoughts about the Maui Invitational Championship game vs. Marquette here.

[wisteria]

I hope the team gets some good rest after such a intensive tough game tonight, considering that Marquette had a blow-out game today. We didn't go very deep tonight, so we'll see if the starters will be tired or not tomorrow.

[Troublemaker]

We went plenty deep. An 8-9 man rotation with nobody playing more than 32 minutes in a competitive game is very good depth.

Marquette is obviously going to be opposite of Illinois with their very good guards and iffy bigs. I think the thing that stands out most about their guards is their quick hands. Duke needs to be very careful to not show them the ball tomorrow. Also, it will help to keep the court spread because a lot of their ball thefts come from guards helping out on drives.

Speaking of helping out on drives, I hope our big men can block some shots and draw some charges tomorrow when the Marquette guards penetrate. Rotations need to be sharp, obviously.

[whereinthehellami]

Lineup

Starters
James JR 5-11
McNeil JR 6-3
Matthews JR 6-5
Hayward SO 6-6
Burke JR 6-8

Reserves , over 10 MPG
Acker SO 5-8
Cubillan SO 6-0
Fitzgerald SR 6-9
Barro SR 6-10


Notes

• Return their top seven scorers from last year's team.
• Four guys average double figures (Mcneil leads at 17 PPG), three of them are guards.
• Their leading rebounder Barro, at 7 RPG, doesn't start, plays 19 MPG.
• As a team they shoot 49% FG, 74% FT, and 33% from 3.
• As a team Duke is shooting 51% Fg, 75% Ft, and 42% from 3!
• Marquette avergaes 11 steals per game and Duke gets 9 SPG.
• The Eagles only had 6 assists versus Chaminade and got outrebounded by 11.
• Marquette shot 11-17 from 3 last night against the Cowboys.

[pamtar]

Anyone remember the score from last year?

[Wander]

Marquette looked much, much better than they actually are last night. I have no idea how OSU let James hit all those three pointers, he's a bad shooter and I doubt he'll shoot a similar percentage tonight. They have issues when they can't create turnovers, so if we take care of the ball well, we'll win.

[Saratoga2]

Marquette looked much, much better than they actually are last night. I have no idea how OSU let James hit all those three pointers, he's a bad shooter and I doubt he'll shoot a similar percentage tonight. They have issues when they can't create turnovers, so if we take care of the ball well, we'll win.

Will DeMarcus play James on defense. I expect we will play more man defense than zone tonight.

[CDu]

This will be a good test for our perimeter guys tonight. Last night was tough on the bigs, but tonight will push our guards and wings.

It will also be a good barometer for where Paulus is. He struggled mightily with the suffocating defense from their backcourt. Hopefully with a healthier foot and more confidence he'll be more effective.

I'm very excited to see tonight's game. Marquette is very athletic and it will be a good test for us.

[Troublemaker]

Duke opens as a 4-pt favorite. It's been quickly pushed to 5, so far.

[dukeisawesome]

Anyone remember the score from last year?

They mentioned it last night, maybe 73-62 if I remember.

I actually think we are going to do better against Marquette than we did against Illinois. I feel like we are going to struggle against teams with bigs, but our depth and athleticism on the perimeter is going to be too much for most teams to handle, even a team like Marquette with a good backcourt. It's really quite an asset to have so many guys who are versatile, teams are going to struggle matching up with us.

[hondoheel]

Unless they get into foul trouble, Marquette's backcourt will outplay Duke's. As deep and good as Duke's guards are, Marquette's are better and more experienced. Tonight should be a huge game for Singler and perhaps even Zoubek. No reson they shouldn't dominate inside.

What happened to King last night? Is he hurt? He could be a factor in this game too, if available.

[Troublemaker]

Unless they get into foul trouble, Marquette's backcourt will outplay Duke's. As deep and good as Duke's guards are, Marquette's are better and more experienced. Tonight should be a huge game for Singler and perhaps even Zoubek. No reson they shouldn't dominate inside.

What happened to King last night? Is he hurt? He could be a factor in this game too, if available.

I wouldn't trade Duke's guards for Marquette's. Duke's guards are overall better shooters, which makes them overall better players because the other aspects of the game are pretty even between the two sets of guards. Both defend and penetrate well.

[Olympic Fan]

The score of last year's game WAS 73-62.

The game was actually pretty even most of the way ... I think it was tied at 56 with about four minutes left when Marquette took control and dominated the closing minutes. Duke outrebounded the Warriors 35-32 (8 for McRoberts; 7 for Thomas), but committed 19 turnovers (and forced just nine) and shot under 38 percent from the floor (vs. 46 for Marquette). James (25 points) and McNeal (17 points) did most of the damage. McRoberts led Duke with 15 -- on 4-of-16 shooting.

It will be pretty much the same Marquette team. For Duke, the big personnel change is Singler for McRoberts ... but also, Henderson played just five minutes against Marquette last year (going 0-for-5) and that was the period when Paulus was playing very poorly (7 pts., six turnovers, two assists and five fouls). I think both will perform a good deal better this time.

Should be a heck of a game ... Marquette is very good, but I've got to think Duke's made a bigger improvement since the last meeting. Of course, I may be looking at it through dark blue glasses.

[Classof06]

This is going to be a great game to use as a measuring stick to see how far we've come along since last year. I said last night was a game we would've lost last year and tonight's game is a game we lost last year. IMO, I think this is a game where our improved depth will shine through. Marquette is certainly capable of beating us, but I expect Duke to win it. And please believe all of our returning players will have last year's 73-62 game on their minds.

As good as Paulus is playing, these are the kinds of games that you expect Nolan Smith to get significant minutes for defensive purposes. As much as Paulus has progressed, I can't see him staying in front of James or McNeal on a consistent basis.

Marquette is also a pretty pedestrian team down low. I think it was Tom Brennan on ESPN last night saying Marquette's guards are great but whenever their froncourt steps up, that's a "pleasant surprise". I think Singler, Thomas and even Zoubek should be able to put points up against this serviceable but not spectacular Marquette frontcourt. The same goes for Paulus, Nelson and Henderson if they are able to get into the lane and attack the basket.

I see Duke winning by anywhere from 7-15 points.

[SilkyJ]

We went plenty deep. An 8-9 man rotation with nobody playing more than 32 minutes in a competitive game is very good depth.

We could have played taylor and nolan a little more, but we should be pretty fresh. These guys are in great shape, obviously.

Will DeMarcus play James on defense. I expect we will play more man defense than zone tonight.

I would imagine we'll try and start Greg on James to at least give him a shot with his healed foot. He has looked much improved so far this season on D. Tonight will be a good test.

We always play more man than we do zone, so I'm guessing you mean relative to last game. In that case I actually think we could see quite a bit of zone if they start hurting us on dribble drives.

[captmojo]

Should be tighter than I like. They play fast and loose. Good shooters too.

Continued good work at the charity stripe could be what puts the difference in Duke's favor. I hope I'm proven wrong on the tight contest stuff.

Let's Go Duke!

[Cicero]

I'm planning to watch (1) how well we rotate on defense and (2) how effective our perimeter players are against their defense. Unlike last year, I think we have a good chance to put their guards in foul trouble by attacking the rim, especially if the officials call the game as tight as they did last night.

Let's go Duke!

M. Tullius.

[mgtr]

The computer model that some have quoted has been pretty accurate for the last two games. What does it say for tonight?

[WiJoe]

This will not go well for Duke.

marquette will outhustle Duke, pound them on the boards and eventually wear them down.

It might not be close.

At least they're wearing white.

C'mon guys, prove me wrong!

[VaDukie]

This will not go well for Duke.

marquette will outhustle Duke, pound them on the boards and eventually wear them down.

It might not be close.

At least they're wearing white.

C'mon guys, prove me wrong!

Sure doesn't look that way so far!

Nelson continues to play very well, Singler has rebounded well from a somewhat subpar game (no doubt due in part to Marquette's lack of size), Zoubek continues to improve, and Paulus has a few nice passes.

Pretty impressive that we can be up like this with Henderson and Scheyer with a combined 2.