Duke MBB vs Virginia Tech Post-Game Thread

[Bob Green]

Place your post game comments here.

[thomas]

I am not sure if we are the 4th best team in the country or the best team in the ACC, but I sure do love our toughness. Wow.

[heath_harshman4]

actually we are the 3rd best, and THE best in the ACC...

THE POLLS NEVER LIE...(totally sarcasm)

[zingit]

I am not sure if we are the 4th best team in the country or the best team in the ACC, but I sure do love our toughness. Wow.

Amen! Coach K was right to question our toughness after the Pitt loss, but it looks like the team has made leaps and bounds in that area. And we hadn't done so well in games away from home before, but we made a statement here tonight.

[dukegirlinsc]

I am not sure if we are the 4th best team in the country or the best team in the ACC, but I sure do love our toughness. Wow.

Why can't Duke be both ?

[Indoor66]

Why can't Duke be both ?

'Cause were 3 & the best!

[77devil]

Goon squad

[wisteria]

Lance is making strides out there. Anyone agrees?

A messy game that I don't know how to comment on. But we were tough, and we kept our poise in such hostile environment. Our guys showed great great maturity compared to last year.

[jjasper0729]

lance was good... he finished in the first half which has got to be good for his confidence. i wouldn't say he was invisible in the second half, but he didn't contribute as much as he did in the first half... at least I thought (but what do i know)

[Karl Beem]

Tools. Can't say much about some of the VT players either.

[mapei]

Loved the depth, loved the balance. I agree that no one was outstanding all game; it was more a guy here, a guy there.

Why all the chippiness? Why the loud booing every time Paulus touched the ball?

Henderson's FT shooting sucks.

[Jarhead]

They showed his Dad a few times when he missed a freebie. His Dad will take him to the wood shed.

[mr. synellinden]

They showed his Dad a few times when he missed a freebie. His Dad will take him to the wood shed.

At one point you could clearly read Sr.'s lips and he said "how can you go from being an 80% free throw shooter to a 65% free throw shooter?" And he clearly looked disgusted.

That was the major negative in this game. When your two best slashers - Henderson and Nelson - shoot 5-13 on FTs, or whatever it was, that is a major problem. There is undoubtedly going to be an ACC or NCAA Tournament game in which we will have to make FTs down the stretch to win and I am afraid this will be our Achilles weakness, more so than the lack of a post presence.

On the positive side, Lance looks ready to start making consistent meaningful contributions.

Our defense was outstanding again.

We worked the slow down game extremely well. One of the reasons I loved this strategy in this game was because it will help keep our legs fresh for MD - back to back ACC road games are always draining and a down to the wire slugfest with VT would have made it harder to bounce back and be sharp for MD.

SINGLER. I loved how you could just tell that he decided to take control of the game during a few short stretches. You first saw it in the first half after he made that ridiculous behind the back pass to Nelson for the layup. Then at the beginning of the second half starting with the 3 to answer their 3. I hope that is the beginning of us seeing more of that.

I think Henderson had one of his worst games of the season, if not the worst, but even in the midst of that you can see how good his mid-range/pull up game his. He rises on his mid-range jump shots and they look so pure coming out of his hands.

King can really shoot from anywhere inside of half court. It is ridiculous.

One question: the last three games it looks like Paulus is taking a lot of rushed, forced, off balance or quick three pointers. Does he just have the green light to shoot it any time or do these shots upset the coaching staff as much as they do one uninformed fan?

[feldspar]

One question: the last three games it looks like Paulus is taking a lot of rushed, forced, off balance or quick three pointers. Does he just have the green light to shoot it any time or do these shots upset the coaching staff as much as they do one uninformed fan?

He's making a lot of them, so I imagine he has the green light, and for good reason.

[mr. synellinden]

He's making a lot of them, so I imagine he has the green light, and for good reason.

Well, actually, he's not.

His last three games he is 2-15. (VT - 1-5; CLEM 0-4; FSU 1-6). And since the start of the year (2008) he is 8-32 - 25%.

That's why I noticed. He seems to have shot a lot of airballs and other poor 3-pointers recently. What I mean is he is shooting a lot his long-range shots in a rushed or off-balance manner. They're the shots that make you say, "that's a bad shot." It seems to me that he's forcing a lot offensively right now. I know he's made a couple of key plays at the end of games and had a big steal and layup against Clemson, but I think he is playing as poorly during the last three or four games as he did during stretches last season. I have always loved Paulus but to my eye he has regressed since ACC play started. I hope he comes out of it.

[77devil]

Well, actually, he's not.

His last three games he is 2-15. (VT - 1-5; CLEM 0-4; FSU 1-6). And since the start of the year (2008) he is 8-32 - 25%.

That's why I noticed. He seems to have shot a lot of airballs and other poor 3-pointers recently. What I mean is he is shooting a lot his long-range shots in a rushed or off-balance manner. They're the shots that make you say, "that's a bad shot." It seems to me that he's forcing a lot offensively right now. I know he's made a couple of key plays at the end of games and had a big steal and layup against Clemson, but I think he is playing as poorly during the last three or four games as he did during stretches last season. I have always loved Paulus but to my eye he has regressed since ACC play started. I hope he comes out of it.

I'll speculate that he is putting pressure on himself from Nolan's play. 3 point shooting was the best part of Greg's game earlier in the season, and he is trying to make an impact now but making some bad choices as a result of the pressure real or imagined.

[greybeard]

Devil07, I'm not sure you can confidently read that quote about Paulus as a rip. Paulus is a baller and, when things get overly physical, he pushes forward into the frey, and mixes it up pretty good. None of the Dukies back down from anyone. Paulus will step forward quicker than most.

Maybe coaches around the league see Paulus as being on the proactive side of rough play when he feels his team is being pushed. Not a rip at all then, at least as I see it.

On the other hand, maybe Seth saw Paulus' play as being overly aggressive to begin with, especially with regard to VT's freshman whom he thought he could intimidate. Maybe he didn't like it. If that was the case, I agree with you completely: the guy should have kept his mouth shut, no question.

[Devil07]

Devil07, I'm not sure you can confidently read that quote about Paulus as a rip. Paulus is a baller and, when things get overly physical, he pushes forward into the frey, and mixes it up pretty good. None of the Dukies back down from anyone. Paulus will step forward quicker than most.

Maybe coaches around the league see Paulus as being on the proactive side of rough play when he feels his team is being pushed. Not a rip at all then, at least as I see it.

On the other hand, maybe Seth saw Paulus' play as being overly aggressive to begin with, especially with regard to VT's freshman whom he thought he could intimidate. Maybe he didn't like it. If that was the case, I agree with you completely: the guy should have kept his mouth shut, no question.

I agree with you, rip is probably not the right way to describe this. Clearly Paulus has a way of getting under the skin of opponents (coaches and players). There's no real issue in him acknowledging that Paulus was mixing things up. What I found telling about the quote was that he chose to make a crack about Washington dunking over Paulus last year. Usually coaches try to remain above the fray when it comes to essentially trash talk. So I guess that it wasn't really the fact that Greenberg mentioned Paulus, but the way that he more or less mocked him that struck me.

[Duvall]

One question: the last three games it looks like Paulus is taking a lot of rushed, forced, off balance or quick three pointers. Does he just have the green light to shoot it any time or do these shots upset the coaching staff as much as they do one uninformed fan?

It's become pretty clear that our coaching staff wants shooters to shoot. That doesn't mean they agree with every shot taken, but the green light is given freely.

[Bob Green]

There are many positives from tonight's victory starting with balanced scoring and balanced minutes. Four players scored in double figures plus T. King with nine points on 60% shooting from behind the 3-point arc. Eight players logged double digit minutes. Lance Thomas and Dave McClure combined for 12 points and 6 rebounds in 24 minutes of action. Those two scoring points is a significant development in the maturing of this team. Duke had 15 assists to nine for VT. VT turned the ball over 22 times compared to Duke's 12. VT did outrebound Duke 37 - 34.

Overall, a great win on the road. I'm a happy camper!