Duke vs. UVA Post-Game Thread

[Section 8]

Yes, pwnt.

We are looking like we did in the first half of the season (post-Pitt), pushing the ball and being aggressive, getting open shots with the extra pass. Sweet. Tar Heels beware!

9F

[greybeard]

The one thing that I've been troubled by is the seeming absence of easy scoring opportunities inside off a penetrating pass. What most normal basketball people (I wear that as a badge of courage) would call a post-up game. It seems to me that the few times Duke has struggled this year has been when teams came up with inventive ways to keep the attackers from getting all the way to the rim while covering the three-ball kick outs.

I saw that game tonight. Singler had several easy baskets off feeds from others; not dishes off of drives, penetration with the pass. What was MOST encouraging to me was Lance's delivery of at least one of those passes. The interior passing game between the two has heretofore gone the other way. Kyle sneaking a bounce pass through a crack in the defense as Lance rolled to the basket and caught it in stride. Not tonight. Tonight Lance got it to Singler who had his guy killed underneath. Not an easy feed. Held it high and used his hands. Nobody was prepared to react and he gave them nothing preliminary to signal what was coming.

I do not think that this was happenstance. I think that this is growth due to deliberate exploration between the two in practice. I think that Duke, even as we watch what we would now call its "regular" offense is evolving and its players are growing. The team is becoming more diverse when most would be content to sit on the strength of what is truly a remarkable offensive array that the wing-dribble-attack initiation produces. Now, you stop that by having the littles stay at home and try to guard three players (Lance, Singler, and the penetrator) with two and Duke can have the two bigs play two-man ball. Awesome.

Seeing players developing during the course of a season marked by so much growth to begin with makes this a special season.

A word about Scheyer: who he reminds me of is a mixing between two greats, Clyde and Pistol. When he dribbles on the exterior or is near the basket (that shot off the rebound I have never seen before; I have seen guys shoot back to the basket from that position many, many times; have done it myself hundreds (when I was a much younger man), but never with the delivery and type spin Scheyer put on it. Pure Pistol, as is often the case when he is dribbling high near his hip, looking the defender dead in the eye, near half court. Pure Pistol. But, then there is the economy, the humility, the focus, of Clyde.

No, Scheyer does not have the skills of either, at least not yet, and Clyde was perhaps the best in the NBA for at least several years, but if you saw those guys play, and then you watch Scheyer, I think you'll see some of it.

What a display of basketball!

[billybreen]

Has it been discussed yet what happened to Paulus' face?

[Duvall]

Has it been discussed yet what happened to Paulus' face?

I assume it was the elbow from Gonzalez in the State game.

[devildeac]

I resemble that remark!

I thought you predicted 29-0 at this time...

[Jumbo]

Has it been discussed yet what happened to Paulus' face?

Patrick Davidson stopped by to visit...

(It was the Gonzalez elbow.)

[aro24]

Got my first visit to JPJ tonight....a first rate venue.
Loved the ball movement tonight...slashing to the lane and the quick diagonal kick out to the corner resulted in a lot of open 3's. Singler had a hard time getting them to go down tonight, but I admired that he kept shooting them...
Overall the ball movement and the extra pass opened up a lot of good looks tonight. I hadn't seen that much over the past few games...
Good win....now on to Saturday.
GTHC GTH !

ARo24

[duketaylor]

I also visited JPJ tonight, an awesome venue. Family in tow and had a blast for $120 and a sweet victory. Just got back. We were upstairs; it was quiet for the most part until UVA made the 2nd half run, then it got quiet again and plenty fled. Really enjoyed a solid Duke win (I've been to C'ville for a few Duke losses, not good) and the upcoming showdown. Burn, baby, burn!!

[UncleBill]

What I really love about this team, and it was in form tonight, are the small almost intangibles that don't show up on a stat sheet or highlight reel. They don't save a ball from going out of bounds, they pass it to the open man as the ball is going out of bounds. If they can't grab a rebound, they tip it to the open man for a clean shot. They really are gelled well a lot of the time, just KNOWING where the open man will be (except for the Paulus perfect pass to where he THOUGHT Nelson was going to be). It is something I see on other teams every so often, but something I see a lot with these guys.

UVa left a lot of rolls open on the pick and roll, and Duke could have taken advantage of that several times, but didn't seem to be looking for it. So obviously they still have a little work to do, but for a team that I thought was going to be REALLY good NEXT year, wow, I am pleasantly surprised.

[feldspar]

My wife asked me earlier why I was so uptight about tonight's game. I told her it was because for me to be confident about Saturday's game against Carolina, I needed to see the "old" Duke team against Virginia. I needed to see the Duke from the first half of the season: great pressure defense, trapping, good ball movement, balanced scoring, forcing turnovers, pushing the ball. Not the timid Duke I've been seeing over the past couple of weeks: no fluidity on offense, poor communication, lack of fire, etc.



I'm confident about Saturday.

Solid, solid, solid win. What I liked most about this game was the versatility we showed on defense. The zone worked magically because it was executed almost flawlessly. I also loved the tenacity I saw in the rebounding department. We went after EVERY rebound like we knew we already owned it.

Bring it on, Carolina. I'm not afraid of you, this team's not afraid of you, these players aren't afraid of you. We're not intimidated by your ranking. We're not intimidated by the fact that you're "healthy." We're sending you right where you belong on Saturday and taking back what belongs to us: The ACC.

GO TO HELL CAROLINA! GO TO HELL!!!

[Jumbo]

Feldspar, I think we saw a better Duke team on offense. I mentioned this in another thread, but I can't repeat it often enough: The way Gerald Henderson has suddenly emerged as a passer is incredible. After playing with his head down for much of the season, he is now seeing the floor and making plays for others. All three of Duke's wings can now slash, draw and dish and sure enough, Henderson, Scheyer and Nelson each finished with four assists.

Duke scored 86 points despite going to the spread offense with about 9 minutes left. Duke scored 86 points despite Kyle Singler's shooting 8-for-21, including 2-for-9 from 3-point range. Duke scored 86 points despite going 8-14 from the FT line.

I'm really encouraged by Gerald's improvement, especially in light of a signficant injury. I'm also encouraged by the fact that Singler is going to the basket more, and that Duke is giving him the ball in the post more often. The only thing that worries me on offense right now is Singler's 3-point shot; he is just 3-for-19 from downtown in his last three games and 9-for-37 over his last six. Kyle is missing wide-open looks, and Duke's offense has so many options that it's almost impossible for defenses to prevent Singler's open threes, especially when he is covered by a bigger, slower player. That shot will be there all season, and he'll have to knock it down for Duke to beat really good teams.

[feldspar]

Feldspar, I think we saw a better Duke team on offense.

Agreed. I'm just so freakin' pumped, I couldn't get it all out.

I WISH IT WAS SATURDAY ALREADY

[dukemomLA]

Except for the first 15 minutes, it was an exciting game to watch (for us Duke fans). Still have to ache for Sean S. A fabulous, amazing player -- shall we ALL pray that he'll do great in the NBA.

Can't wait for Sat. (...I'd love to know the movie B.O. totals in N.C. for Saturday night). GHTC GTH. Saturday can't come soon enough.

I LOVE the balanced scoring on this team -- and as said, all those intangibles that don't show up on the stat sheet. Kudos to Zoub. He continues to offer valuable minutes, and grows each game as a force to be reckoned with.

Get King Taylor back on track with the confidence he should have...and there's no end in sight.

[Bob Green]

I just finished watching the first half on tape, which I missed due to being on the waterfront working on a ship, and I was really impressed with how Brian Zoubek was into the flow of the offense. He made some really good passes. I see it as a significant event that Zoubek is playing well. He is coming on strong at the perfect time of the season.

I echo Jumbo's comments about Henderson as well as everyone's comments on ball movement, balanced scoring, pressure defense, etc...

Bring on Carolina as we are ready!

[SMO]

From SMO in the pre-game thread:


1. A 30+ point win... 16 points, never more than 20.
2. Less than 8 Duke turnovers.... 12 turnovers
3. At least 50% of our points in the paint... 17 of 33 made field goals were either layups or dunks, plus a hook-shot by Singler, means 36 of 86 points (41.8%)
4. 15+ minutes from Taylor King regardless of how he plays... one minute in the first half, two minutes at the end of the game
5. 10+ minutes from Zoubek (please note, Brian must "look like a basketball player" during these minutes for them to count)... 16 minutes, he looked pretty solid to me.
6. A double double from Kyle Singler... 15 points, 7 rebounds
7. Zero turnovers from Gregg (sic) Paulus... Just the one errant pass in the first half
8. At least 3 nice mid-range jumpers from Henderson... One, at 15:39 of the 2nd half
9. Fewer than 15 points from Singletary... 18 points, 6 in the last 8 minutes after Duke had pulled away.
10. No inappropriate cheers from the UVA fans... not that I heard.
11. 18+ minutes from Nolan Smith... Only 9 minutes and Scheyer ran the point for a few possessions.
12. 2+ points from David McClure... No points in five minutes.
13. 100% FT shooting from Demarcus Nelson... 2 for 5
14. No less than 8pts and 5 boards from Lance Thomas... 1 point, 1 rebound
15. 2 nice drives and at least 2 threes from Jon Scheyer, along with at least 50% shooting from the floor... Only had the two sweet rebound baskets, shot 3 of 5 from the floor.
16. Someone exhibiting substantial "toughness" (e.g. stitches, taking a hard foul, sticking up for teammates)... Does the foul on LT count?
17. At least a little zone to mix them up!... Substantial periods of zone in both halves!!
18. No stall-ball!... Slowed down the offense with ~7 minutes to go, but didn't "stall" (hold the ball near midcourt for 20+ seconds) until 4 minutes left and an 81-64 lead.

Close on a number of them, but gotta grade strictly: just 4 of 18 goals met. I guess that means this game was a terrible performance that might as well count as a loss...

My thoughts exactly...couldn't even bear to watch!

I hope everyone realizes this list was written with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

[whereinthehellami]

1st 8 ACC games
Duke averaged 86.6 Pts/gm while their opponents averaged 71.6 Pts/gm. That is a difference of 15 pts/gm in Duke's favor.

Last 6 ACC games
Duke averaged 82.2 Pts/gm while their opponents averaged 78.5 Pts/gm. That is a difference of 3.7 pts/gm in Duke's favor.

Since the midpoint of the ACC season Duke has scored 4.2 less points a game while their opponents have scored 6.9 more points a game. That comes out to about an 11 pt/gm swing against Duke. While the offense and defense are related, they have had some issues on both side of the ball. Can they turn things around before the tourney? Good question. They are a tough team but it is a bad time of the year to not be playing at the peak of your game.

The above post was from another thread that was closed. I thought it was interesting that the score (86-70) pretty much matched the amazing numbers Duke averaged thru the first 8 ACC games (87-72). Good to see.

[mlk]

those are high standards

From SMO in the pre-game thread:


1. A 30+ point win... 16 points, never more than 20.
2. Less than 8 Duke turnovers.... 12 turnovers
3. At least 50% of our points in the paint... 17 of 33 made field goals were either layups or dunks, plus a hook-shot by Singler, means 36 of 86 points (41.8%)
4. 15+ minutes from Taylor King regardless of how he plays... one minute in the first half, two minutes at the end of the game
5. 10+ minutes from Zoubek (please note, Brian must "look like a basketball player" during these minutes for them to count)... 16 minutes, he looked pretty solid to me.
6. A double double from Kyle Singler... 15 points, 7 rebounds
7. Zero turnovers from Gregg (sic) Paulus... Just the one errant pass in the first half
8. At least 3 nice mid-range jumpers from Henderson... One, at 15:39 of the 2nd half
9. Fewer than 15 points from Singletary... 18 points, 6 in the last 8 minutes after Duke had pulled away.
10. No inappropriate cheers from the UVA fans... not that I heard.
11. 18+ minutes from Nolan Smith... Only 9 minutes and Scheyer ran the point for a few possessions.
12. 2+ points from David McClure... No points in five minutes.
13. 100% FT shooting from Demarcus Nelson... 2 for 5
14. No less than 8pts and 5 boards from Lance Thomas... 1 point, 1 rebound
15. 2 nice drives and at least 2 threes from Jon Scheyer, along with at least 50% shooting from the floor... Only had the two sweet rebound baskets, shot 3 of 5 from the floor.
16. Someone exhibiting substantial "toughness" (e.g. stitches, taking a hard foul, sticking up for teammates)... Does the foul on LT count?
17. At least a little zone to mix them up!... Substantial periods of zone in both halves!!
18. No stall-ball!... Slowed down the offense with ~7 minutes to go, but didn't "stall" (hold the ball near midcourt for 20+ seconds) until 4 minutes left and an 81-64 lead.

Close on a number of them, but gotta grade strictly: just 4 of 18 goals met. I guess that means this game was a terrible performance that might as well count as a loss...

[bigj4194]

Agreed. I'm just so freakin' pumped, I couldn't get it all out.

I WISH IT WAS SATURDAY ALREADY

As UVA is now out of the picture...I feel it is time (not that it isn't always) to start the wonderful cheering of GO TO HELL carolina GO TO HELL!!!



The UVA game impressed me to see us finally shooting well again, though if you look at Singler's numbers, he was 8-21 including 2-9 from 3s...A good night in terms of points, but does that seem slightly abnormal to anyone else? G had the second highest amount of shots taken and he took 13.

Glad to see us hitting our shots again.

One last thought, ZOOOOOOUBEK actually impressed me last night...while he wasn't that productive his defense looked good, now we just need him to produce on the offensive side of the court!

9F9F9F9F9F9F9F

[twisterduke81]

We made it there last night with the kids. When Paulus went to the sideline, an extremely obnoxious UVa fan close by starting shouting "What's the matter Slumpy, You need a nap-going to the coach to help you." Never heard the Slumpy remark before. My ten year old-future Cameron Crazie turned around and told her he was bleeding and doing what the ref told him to do.
There was an exquisite beauty in watching our three-point shots go in last night.

[Classof06]

I think this was the exact kind of game Duke needed going into not only the Carolina game but the ACC and NCAA tournaments. There were 3 things that stood out to me and also have me very encouraged:

1. The re-emergence of Gerald: Duke was at its best during our 12-game win streak b/w Pitt and Wake when Gerald was at his best. Besides the turnovers, it was clear that Gerald was the missing link in those 2 losses. When Gerald is on, Duke is a much more dangerous team because of the respect the opposition has to have for his athleticism.

2. Our balance is back: This is related to Gerald's point in that last night, I saw the kind of scoring balance that we exhibited in the middle of the year with 5 players in double figures. When Duke is balanced like this, I believe they can beat anyone in America.

3. Zooooouuuuuubek: This kid is coming along. I can't say enough about how proud I am of Brian. He looked like a player out there last night and this also helps Duke in so many different ways. I said if he can give Duke 10-15 minutes a game, that would be huge; he played 13 solid minutes last night. If he can do that come March, this team has a much better chance to win it all. I would never dream of equating Brian to Ty Lawson, but having Zoubek Saturday night will undoubtedly help Duke relative to the last time we played Carolina. If nothing else, it makes Hansbrough's job just a tiny bit tougher and gives Duke help on the boards that they will desperately need.

This season flew by but here comes the funnest part, folks...