Duke MBB vs. West Virginia Post-Game Thread

[rsvman]

The poster who mentioned PRESSURE rather than tiredness has it exactly right, IMO.

Did anybody else notice that as soon as the game was out of reach (i.e., as soon as the shots didn't matter) we started making them? We made three in a row as soon as it became obvious that the game was over regardless. That's why I think the problems stem from trying too hard, and feeling the pressure.
As soon as the momentum began to switch WVa's way, they started making the 3's, even tough ones, off balance and with decent defense. They got excited and they were enjoying playing basketball.


Thanks to DeMarcus Nelson for a great senior season. Too bad it couldn't have ended on a higher note.

[sagegrouse]

1. A winning team needs easy baskets. I didn't see any today. There few run-outs, and the shots we missed close to the basket were opposed.

2. A good defense and 40% shooting from the 3-pt. line will win almost any game. If either condition is not met, see point #1.

sagegrouse

'A beautiful weekend -- I think I'll hit the slopes.'

[FerryFor50]

Was it me or did this team just look like it was dragging its feet through mud the final few weeks of the season? It just seemed like there was no passion, no hustle.

How does a team we match up well with, size wise, out rebound us 45-19? Hustle.

[Karl Beem]

Was it me or did this team just look like it was dragging its feet through mud the final few weeks of the season? It just seemed like there was no passion, no hustle.

How does a team we match up well with, size wise, out rebound us 45-19? Hustle.

It was you. They just sat back and let us miss.

[dukechem]

I turned off the game with about 5 minutes to go. It was clear that we had no chance to win. WVU was getting every rebound; if we made a stop, we'd throw it away on the next possession or take a desperation 3 from NBA range; WVU clearly had the confidence and momentum, and nothing was going to change.

I just couldn't take any more moving screens, charging fouls, reach-in fouls, and wide-open back door plays.

I hope that it comes out that several members of the team were sick and that accounts for their performance. The alternative is that the team really isn't as good as its lofty record. We have to be the worst 28-6, 2-seed in the Tournament.

I sure would rather have a 6-5 November/December and a 22-1 January/March. These late season swoons sure take away from the pleasure this team brought early in the year.

[Saratoga2]

1. A winning team needs easy baskets. I didn't see any today. There few run-outs, and the shots we missed close to the basket were opposed.

2. A good defense and 40% shooting from the 3-pt. line will win almost any game. If either condition is not met, see point #1.

sagegrouse

'A beautiful weekend -- I think I'll hit the slopes.'

We had a total of 8 points from Singler, Thomas and Zoubek combined. How do you win with nothing much going on inside?

[Sandman]

This is a sad, sad day. I think a lot of us will join you in having a drink - maybe several! What I don't understand is where is the team we saw play earlier this year? The team the stomped Wisconsin, played even with Pitt, beat the 'holes. It seems that other teams got better as the season progressed and we got worse. What's up with that?

Just wait til next yesr!!

[FerryFor50]

It was you. They just sat back and let us miss.

Is that why they got to every loose ball?

[FerryFor50]

I turned off the game with about 5 minutes to go. It was clear that we had no chance to win. WVU was getting every rebound; if we made a stop, we'd throw it away on the next possession or take a desperation 3 from NBA range; WVU clearly had the confidence and momentum, and nothing was going to change.

I just couldn't take any more moving screens, charging fouls, reach-in fouls, and wide-open back door plays.

I hope that it comes out that several members of the team were sick and that accounts for their performance. The alternative is that the team really isn't as good as its lofty record. We have to be the worst 28-6, 2-seed in the Tournament.

I sure would rather have a 6-5 November/December and a 22-1 January/March. These late season swoons sure take away from the pleasure this team brought early in the year.

They are a good team. You don't win 28 games on a fluke with one of the toughest strength of schedules in the nation. You don't register wins over UNC, Marquette, and Wisconsin, nearly win the regular season ACC outright with UNC having a good year all by accident.

What happened to this team was strange. They just suddenly lost their mojo. The shots stopped falling. They stopped being as scrappy. Not sure why, but it stinks, because they wasted a solid start.

[Jumbo]

Was it me or did this team just look like it was dragging its feet through mud the final few weeks of the season? It just seemed like there was no passion, no hustle.

How does a team we match up well with, size wise, out rebound us 45-19? Hustle.

What's funny (well, not really funny, but odd) is that this was a deep team. Only one guy averaged over 30 mpg this year. Paulus played 32 minutes today and Henderson played 31. Everyone else was below 30. Ten guys played. Eight guys got double-digit minutes. Meanwhile, Alexander went the full 40, Nichols went 38 and Ruoff went 36.
I'm going to try to get to the bottom of the whole "flu" thing. It just doesn't make sense why the team would be so tired late in the year, especailly given Duke's obsession with conditioning.

[ForeverBlowingBubbles]

They are a good team. You don't win 28 games on a fluke with one of the toughest strength of schedules in the nation. You don't register wins over UNC, Marquette, and Wisconsin, nearly win the regular season ACC outright with UNC having a good year all by accident.

What happened to this team was strange. They just suddenly lost their mojo. The shots stopped falling. They stopped being as scrappy. Not sure why, but it stinks, because they wasted a solid start.

I'm not trying to hate - just going to disagree with you that the performance was strange. I think the last 3 years now Duke has lost its mojo towards the end of the season.

We need to find Duke's mojo and quick.

[battierfan]

They are a good team. You don't win 28 games on a fluke with one of the toughest strength of schedules in the nation. You don't register wins over UNC, Marquette, and Wisconsin, nearly win the regular season ACC outright with UNC having a good year all by accident.

What happened to this team was strange. They just suddenly lost their mojo. The shots stopped falling. They stopped being as scrappy. Not sure why, but it stinks, because they wasted a solid start.

You're right. In my view, as I've said in other posts, they lose their mojo because they don't enjoy the game and don't play for themselves. They worry too much and try so hard to please K that they cannot relax and just play within the flow of the game. They are thinking too much rather than just playing the game and letting the chips fall where they may.

[TwoDukeTattoos]

Duke cut the lead to two posessions with 8 seconds to go. Does anyone other than me wonder why Duke just stood there and let the time expire? Why didn't they go for the steal or a quick foul??? I don't understand that.

[Onlyduke]

I believe this team needed a sports psychologist. Seriously ... as soon as they were in tight situations they froze and couldn't do anything right. Lots of talent but they froze.

[trinitydevil]

...Zoubek and King during the 2nd half? Someone above talked about minutes played, but failed to mention these 2 didn't play significant, if any, minutes in the 2nd half. As I recall, TK hit a really nice step in jumper in the first half, and did not play a second in the second half.

In the Belmont game, he hit a big shot just before the halftime horn and again, did not play in the 2nd half. Sorry if I seem confused by this, but I am...

Especially considering that Markie, who I LOVE, was playing (and I bet he will be the first to admit it) miserably. Talk about giving a guy a chance? This has been a shortcoming of this staff for years in my opinion. I said in another post, you cannot get into a flow when playing 2-3 minute stretches. Ain't gonna happen (Sorry, I am from the south).

[DC Chak]

Disappointing, but not surprising given recent games.

This team was evidently too dependent on Nelson and Singler creating offense. Both of these guys had severe drops in their productivity (probably across all stats) from the last UNC game to date. Once those offense creating options were diminished, it became that much tougher for Henderson to create. Scheyer did what he could, but against most NCAA tourney level wing defenders, he's not a good enough athlete to convert wholly on his own -- usually his best hope is to get to the line. Paulus got what he could out of his drives, and all too often jacked up deep 3s, because while they weren't particularly good shots, they were as good as anything else we were creating.

When the 3 point shooters are missed, the defense can sag on the driver instead. The more shots we miss early, the more they continue to sag and clog things up.

The D'Antoni offense can work if you've got 5 guys who can take their man off the dribble, or if you've got 1 or 2 who can, and 3 others who can hit the 3. By the end of this season, we were lucky if we had 1 effective penetrator.

This team overachieved early and in the middle of the season. Our hopes (and rankings) might not get so high if we actually played real road games before the ACC. That said, I understand why we don't -- we have alums spread all over the country and we can make a lot more revenue (while the football team can't) by playing in remote NBA arenas vs. Cameron, or by getting the road team take. As long as Pitt keeps recruiting from the 5 boroughs, I'm sure they'd like to play us in MSG every year.

[Devilsfan]

That didn't get us much farther, did it? Maybe we didn't have as good a supporting cast then, but I think I remember us running out of gas against an inferior LSU team, too.

[HDB]

I really felt nervous at the half. I thought we easily should have been up 10+ at that point had we been in any kind of rhythm on the offensive end. Unfortunately my fears were realized with a brutal 2nd half performance...

[_Gary]

What's funny (well, not really funny, but odd) is that this was a deep team. Only one guy averaged over 30 mpg this year. Paulus played 32 minutes today and Henderson played 31. Everyone else was below 30. Ten guys played. Eight guys got double-digit minutes. Meanwhile, Alexander went the full 40, Nichols went 38 and Ruoff went 36.
I'm going to try to get to the bottom of the whole "flu" thing. It just doesn't make sense why the team would be so tired late in the year, especailly given Duke's obsession with conditioning.

I agree 100% Jumbo. I'm just scratching my head trying to figure out why this particular version of the Blue Devils seemed tired at the end of the year. But darned if they didn't look really worn out in March. I wanted to buy the "flu" excuse after the first game, but it's a hard pill to swallow after today. I don't believe it's a legit reason for what we saw happen today. Too many outside shots were missed short and too many opposing guards have blown past us in the last several weeks for me to come to any other conclusion other than that we were indeed spent emotionally and to some degree physically.

Gary

[DevilCastDownfromDurham]

That didn't get us much farther, did it? Maybe we didn't have as good a supporting cast then, but I think I remember us running out of gas against an inferior LSU team, too.

We had AN outside shooter and AN inside player. One played great against LSU, one got blanketed with double- and triple-teams. There isn't one cure-all for our program, but lacking both a legit creating PG AND any semblance of post play on either end is a pretty sure-fire way to run it into the ground.