Duke MBB v. Marquette Post-Game thread

[throatybeard]

10 characters.

[77devil]

basically a 6 man rotation with a few minutes for nolan smith

[OZZIE4DUKE]

We don't need no stinkin' depth! But I think a few fresh bodies would have done wonders in the last 10 minutes for us. But hey! We won! What do I know?

[dukeisawesome]

Well, Marquette's genius strategy of mugging us and hoping the refs got tired of calling fouls eventually ran out of steam as they got into foul trouble. Seriously though, they are good and I thought we looked pretty good, but I would have loved to see a game with more flow to it.

[devildeac]

10 characters.

ok, Singler, Singler, Singler, Singler, Singler, Nelson, Singler, Henderson, Zoubeck(1st half), Singler

[hondoheel]

Gotta admit, Nelson impressed the heck out of me.

That was also my first time seeing James. I'm guilty of believing the hype, I guess, but either that was a WAY subpar game for him or he's severely overrated.

Great win for you guys. I don't see any reason why Duke shouldn't be undefeated going into ACC play.

[77devil]

We don't need no stinkin' depth! But I think a few fresh bodies would have done wonders in the last 10 minutes for us. But hey! We won! What do I know?

assume your joking ozzie otherwise you'll regret that sentiment at the end of the season

[sandinmyshoes]

Same mental toughness in the crunch that held off Illinois. The shortening of the bench is a worry, but maybe to be expected against this sort of team this early in the season. I confess to fretting that Coach K sacrifices development over the course of a season for individual wins early in the season, but I also have to confess losing stinks. So a win is a win.

[BattiersBaby]

Hello, Everybody!

I'm new here, but have been a Duke fan since the end of Shane Battier's senior year in 2001. Still love Duke!

Good game tonight, a nice, solid victory over Marquette.

Anyhow, just wanted to make a first post and to introduce myself.
Happy Thanksgiving!

BattiersBaby.

[Lord Ash]

First off, that was SO satisfying. Yeah there was no real flow, but damn. You could see it on the faces on the bench, and ESPECIALLY on the coaching staff faces; they really wanted this, with such a young team and one that it seems has very good chemistry.

Kyle Singler is real, real good. Period. Cool as the other side of the pillow with 13 seconds to go and him on the line, getting iced by time outs.

Henderson wasn't as amazing as last game, but still really good. He did seem to get a bit frustrated, and I hope he doesn't get in the habit of bouncing the ball extra hard when frustrated.

I am once again in love with Greg Paulus. Tough, tough, TOUGH kid, with good vision. I am glad he is healthy and leading this team again.

Dmark is strong as hell. I do find myself agreeing with an earlier post about him sometimes looking like he decides where he wants to go before making his move, and wonder if this will get him into a little trouble at some point, but jesus he is a bull. Free throws were better at the start, tho they got flat later.

Thomas and Zoubek continue to improve and impress. Lance in particular seems to have the trust of the coaches, and had a few nice moves/baskets. Keep that up, two headed post monster!

My fav at the moment tho is Jon Scheyer. He is just SO smart, and has such a great nose for the ball. Fantastic.

Nice to see that Coach K reads the boards and has agreed that he should use a zone a bit! It honestly does seem to be a nice change and throws a wrinkle into the attacks of other teams.

Okay, now for my gripe. Come on, our big strength is supposed to be our depth, and with like FIFTEEN minutes left I felt like our bench ceased to exist, much as seems to happen in many recent seasons, seasons that end with exhausted legs in the second round of the tournament. Come on, get Taylor in there for a minute of time at the 14 minute mark. Get Pocious in there for 45 seconds of time. Our guys were BLOWN by the end, and I seriously wonder if going with some subs would have hurt. I know a few folks will have a kneejerk reaction to this, but I guess more agree.

Anyway, a real nice way to cap off the start to the season, I think the guys (both players AND staff) will really enjoy this. Duke ball is a lot of fun to watch right now, with no expectations except to enjoy!

[dukediv2013]

I know that we could have used more minutes from the bench, but the bench players(esp. King) have not had the opportunity to play in any games like this game. We used all of the guards except Pocius. We won! No complaints here!

[Bluedawg]

Kyle as MVP..Good job Kyle and team!

[RepoMan]

basically a 6 man rotation with a few minutes for nolan smith

Seriously, i will lose my mind if anyone gripes about the use of depth, the minimal minutes for king, etc. I will especially go nuts if anyone mentions Marty. This was the third game in three days in a tournament we wanted to win to help reestablish confidence. In the final game against a very good team, we played our best guys down the stretch. So what? That's how you win. Play the best guys. This isn't 6 year old soccer.

So many positive things to discuss;

Beat a team that returned basically all guys from a team that soundly beat us last year.

Lance Thomas is a completely different player. Imagine his play in 2 years.

Singler gets it done, including doen the crunch. Just a tough player--and a freshman.

Markie still puts head down and gets tunnel vision, but, aside from occassional brain freeze, he is playing like a man among boys. I love seniors.

Paulus made a couple boneheads down the wire, but, really, what a difference health makes. Again, I think when it is all said and done, we will look fondly on the Paulus era.

I am sure I am forgetting to mention key, but just a great win. This is a very good very young team.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I know that we could have used more minutes from the bench, but the bench players(esp. King) have not had the opportunity to play in any games like this game. We used all of the guards except Pocius. We won! No complaints here!

King made (I think) a very brief appearance in the first half. If he doesn't get experience in "this type of game" here, when do you want him to get it? March? Zoubs played pretty well again. Why didn't he get a few minutes in the last 15 minutes? I know I risk involving the 1a gods with comments like that, but at least we don't have to talk about 1e.

[RelativeWays]

I'm just worried about the shortening of the bench in regards to Taylor and Marty (not worried about Dave, he needs to get his legs back). Niether shot the ball well against Princeton, but I think they needed to play more to make sure our guys are fresh. I do not want to see this team running out of gas towards Feb/March like Redicks last two teams seemed to do.

[Lord Ash]

Please, don't go losing your mind. No one is talking about "down the stretch." That would imply the last 5, 6, 7 minutes of the game. People are talking about basically THE ENTIRE SECOND HALF of the game. It is a legit thing to ask about, and considering most people have also said they loved a number of parts of the game, it is perfectly fine to discuss, especially when it is a concern and habit that has, arguably, hurt us in the past. After all, why do you think 1A is exactly that?

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Seriously, i will lose my mind if anyone gripes about the use of depth, the minimal minutes for king, etc. I will especially go nuts if anyone mentions Marty.

Sorry to contribute to your insanity. I typed my post below yours while you were typing yours.

[77devil]

Seriously, i will lose my mind if anyone gripes about the use of depth

Chill and get over it. Use of depth or lack of it are valid points of discussion whether you agree or not.

[RelativeWays]

In the other games this season, Marty has been a better ballhandler than his first two seasons, he can help collapse the defense and pass to an open player, he doesn't have to shoot. He just seems a lot more capable on the court and not as scary as before.

[Kilby]

Great win. I hope that Lance can continue to have strong showings. That, plus positive minutes from Zoubek will make Duke hard to beat. Did anyone notice that when a Duke player would try to come out high to screen the Duke player with the ball, more times than not, moved before the screen was set. Is this a lack of patience by the player with the ball or something that the coaches want?