Lets get the guys a rest now. Good victory today- after an intense week.
Whew!
Lets get the guys a rest now. Good victory today- after an intense week.
BC shot 55% from the field, but we still won by 10. A gutsy performance down the stretch. Kyle Singler is turning into a monster on the glass. His rebounding in this game and the Carolina game was really impressive. With his smooth 3-point stroke, he is a real inside-outside threat!
Bob Green
Singler appears to be becoming the best player on this team. Points, boards, blocks, defense, awareness. He is tops.
The change in Singler this year has been amazing. To see this guy emerge as the player he is has been awesome to watch.
I am glad that this game is over and like everyone else, I'm 'whew!'. Fifty bucks on the bet that Duke has some very intense practices to mentally ready the team for our next game. We just didn't bring it, mentally, in the first half. Great turnaround in the second half, though, and I'm proud of the way we fought through what looked like ennui today.
Henderson jumps like he's on a trampoline! The replays of his driving slam down the middle showed his speed and athleticism; I can't imagine having to stay with that guy on defense.
dth.
This game reminded me a lot of '06 NCAA game against LSU: poor 3-point shooting, good shot-blocking opponent, ugly game. It's good to know we can stay tough in bad games.
This was a great win for Duke... poor 1st half shooting, defense and terrible FT shooting throughout the game = a 10 point victory. This team is special. 90 points while not shooting the ball particularly well. Great win. GO DUKE!
We got a ton of offensive rebounds, although there seemed to be a lid on the rim for us today.
Maryland up next!
Singler and Nelson really carried this team. A combined 47 points and 18 boards(8 offensive rebounds).
Thomas played another good game. As has been said, he is starting to come into his own. Showing some really nice moves downlow. Wish he was a little better rebounder but not a bad one. Played another solid game.
Scheyer.. Jumbo, Im sorry. He didnt play terrible, but below average. Luckily he is a very solid FT shooter. Tried forcing too many things.
Smith. Played ok.. I like how he tries to blow by his defender and finishes with a layup(although 2 of them were blocked). I expect good things from him in the future.
Paulus and Henderson. Never really found their groove in this one. Luckily we didnt need them very much. Couple of good things was Gerald was 3/4 FT.
Zoubek. Well its good to see him back
also, good to see king get some minutes. I saw him lose alot of guys, but i like that he was in there.
Why did Singler get T'ed up after the hard foul on Henderson? There was no contact so I am assuming it must have been language.
This just seems a dangerous trend in officiating that the zeb's blow T's for jawing but don't control the overly physical play that is changing the very nature of the game, and structure of players faces, i.e. Demarcus' scar on his left cheek.
DeMarcus started the second half really strong, set the tone. In the first 4 minutes of the second half he had points, rebounds, assists, and a steal. He and Kyle played great.
I think the technical on Kyle was for a combination of running over to the action, getting in his face, and saying something. If he ran over there and helped Gerald up, no technical. But something was going on with Gerald, a few of the BC guys were roughing him up. Don't know what that was all about.
I think Henderson's wrist is bothering him. He looked really passive tonight, and on several occasions seemed to be favoring his wrist. Even on the dunk on the inbounds play in the second half, it looked like he finished with his left hand mostly.
Hopefully he gets whatever's wrong righted soon. We have a big game against Maryland next week, and we'll need him at full strength.
I had to listen to the second half on the radio. I'll say this. After BC, Cornell, Temple, FSU...the biggest difference between this team and last year is that this team wins the ugly games that last years team would blow at the end. Thats honestly a huge difference.
As I feared, Duke was in a bit of a post UNC funk in the first half. It is not that they played poorly- but there was lack of focus that can get you in trouble. They let BC get comfortable and then they felt they could compete all game. But in some sense, it turned out okay- because the game was a little more intense and a better prep for Maryland who will be the first team to see Duke for the second time. That will be VERY telling.
As for the team- we are beginning to see Singler emerge as a unique talent. He is getting used to the speed of the game and is beginning to show all he can do on the floor. Today he impressed me again with his boarding in traffic. Another player that impressed me again was Lance Thomas. He again is looking confident and aggressive. If there is one guy who was born to play the end of the game K -spread-delay offense it is Gerald Henderson. He absolutely loves the end of the game and Duke continues to execute when it counts. Again the early free throw shooting is awful and then a much better job in the second half. The early misses showed me a lack of focus.
All in all, they got the win they were supposed to get . The Maryland game will be very big and intense. They will be way up for this and Duke will need to have another great effort in crunch time to keep unbeaten.