903!! MBB: Duke 74, Michigan State 69 Post Game Thread

[FerryFor50]

One good takeaway is that Duke hung with MSU on the glass after MSU owned the glass against UNC. Hopefully that carries over!

[Bob Green]

The good:
- Andre Dawkins was on tonight. He hit threes. He made some driving shots. He looked really good. I hope we see this more.

Great analysis, but you didn't specifically point out the most important aspect of Dawkins' performance - his defensive presence. Dawkins scored his first two points by stepping into the passing lane, stealing a pass and breaking away for a snowbird lay-up. He continued to play solid defense for the entire game!

[TonyWR]

Yes, yes he does.

First off, congrats to the best coach, ever, in any sport.

Secondly, if this game had gone another 2 minutes I feel strongly we would have witnessed a Duke meltdown. You don't go up almost 20 then end the game in that fashion.

This team is young yes and the season is early but if Miles, Mason and Rivers don't correct what we saw from them tonight then it's gonna be a very frustrating season. This team can't compete with the extremely talented and physical teams like Kansas and Kentucky. Next week against OSU will be another nail biter for sure, I don't feel good about what may happen. I hope I'm wrong, I really do. I was not impressed with tonights game. Everyone should thank Dawkins and Curry for carrying this game on their backs.......

[OldPhiKap]

positives:

1. Dre is the chronic. Killer.
2. Austin can get to the lane, needs to learn the pull-up and the kick-out.
3. Great to see us step up to the brawl that is MSU basketball (I mean that in a good way -- we could have backed down but stood up and out-banged them).
4. Ryan is a great mis-match we can exploit in many games.
5. Thorton, only going higher in my book. Solid.
6. Several great interior passes by Mason in the second half.

things to work on:

1. we got lost on a lot of picks in the first half -- did better in the second.
2. didn't move the ball throught he Plumli as well as the first two games; need to get that inside-outside going.

[Bluedevil114]

Congrats to Coach K!! It has truly been an honor to be a Duke fan for the past 32 years!! Go Duke!! A tough game that will help us develop down the road. Go Duke!!

[loldevilz]

Congrats to Coach K!

I know he won't stop at 903. I fully expect him to hit 1000! It will be a mark that will never be matched by another Div1 Men's basketball coach!

As for the game
Positives-
1) Andre Dawkins was unreal. Its amazing what he can do when he is "on".
2) Great rebounding by the bigs. Impressed that we showed the toughness to hang with them on the boards.
3) Really responded well to half time talk

Negatives-
1) The Plumlees were almost totally absent on the offensive end
2) Really did not manage the game well, very similar to the Belmont debacle
3) Rivers struggled scoring the ball

[Oriole Way]

First off, congrats to the best coach, ever, in any sport.

Secondly, if this game had gone another 2 minutes I feel strongly we would have witnessed a Duke meltdown. You don't go up almost 20 then end the game in that fashion.

This team is young yes and the season is early but if Miles, Mason and Rivers don't correct what we saw from them tonight then it's gonna be a very frustrating season. This team can't compete with the extremely talented and physical teams like Kansas and Kentucky. Next week against OSU will be another nail biter for sure, I don't feel good about what may happen. I hope I'm wrong, I really do. I was not impressed with tonights game. Everyone should thank Dawkins and Curry for carrying this game on their backs.......

There were some alarming negatives to the game (Rivers having an awful game, Miles ditto, not being able to put the game away after being up 20, lackluster post play), but I think it's huge that Andre Dawkins, who's essentially been a 5th option - at best - in the first two games of the season emerge as someone who carried us in a big game.

It's really disappointing to see Miles take such a step back and not build on any of his success from practices and the China/Dubai trip. Him having a Zoubek-esque senior season would go a long way to making this a Final Four-caliber team. Now, he should go to the bench until he starts playing like a senior. I was advocating benching Mason in favor of Kelly to start the season, but now I think Kelly and Mason should be our starting frontcourt for the next few games.

Regardless, there's plenty of talent and plenty of work to do. Congrats to Coach K on such an incredible accomplishment.

[Billy Dat]

Big night for K and the program - let's hope he keeps pushing to 1000+.

The first half was a mess, aside from Dre's sublime shooting. A lot of those shots were pretty heavily contested, too. He was just feeling it. Although he couldn't help but be quieter in the second half, he was still a meaningful presence making a bunch of shots, playing tough on D, agitating the other team a little...his best all around game in a long time. Ok, Dre, you've given your admirers more hope that you will be this kind of player game in and game out. Please justify their hopes and dreams.

I, too, though Kelly was our next best player. He was solid on both ends, scoring, rebounding, contesting shots, spacing the floor, handling the ball, etc. He was the frontline star.

Curry was solid. As others have said, he needs to work on finishing games, but he did a lot of scoring and was a real pest on defense.

We didn't get Mason the ball enough early, and the early foul plus the technical had him out of sorts - I also thought that I saw a fair sized shiner near his eye, so maybe he was mad because he was getting hit. To that I say...Man up, dog! Still, he kept battling and, ultimately, had a good game although how many people screamed at him through their TV when he picked up that ridiculous 3rd foul?

Agree about Rivers, but a lot of his moves were on point and he wasn't getting any love from the refs. He's going to have freshman games, but I don't think we'll see too many when he gets within 3 feet of the hoop and comes up empty as many times as he did tonight.

Thornton gave us some decent minutes, Miles was a little dissapointing (esp the technical). Hairston actually gave us some good minutes in the first half, as did Cook.

MSU missed a TON of easy baskets...like, layups, over and over. The also fumbled a lot of passes right under the basket. They played well the first 10 but their turnovers let us stay in the game, and then we got hot to start the second and they got very cold. But, we also toughened up and started scrapping and hustling more...I love the way we contested those under the basket opportunities.

Solid win, we are a work in progress but we are evolving. No one is emerging as a game-in, game-out person you can count on, but Curry is probably the closest so far with Mason and Kelly next then Rivers and Dawkins. Naturally, Mr. 903 is always ready game-in, game out. Way to go, Coach!

[jipops]

Mich St scored 13 points in the final 1:21 of the game. The lack of poise at the end is a concern. I expected us to be outplayed in the post, but the lack of post play was still surprising. Bad showing by the frontcourt offensively on this stage. We simply have to get more out of Miles to be successful this season. The mistakes he made out there were more freshmen-like than senior.

But a tough win. Andre found his spots and stayed focused all throughout. The defense for the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half was superb. Seth seems to be finding more and more comfort in his role, just still needs more time. 903!!

[Newton_14]

First off, congrats to the best coach, ever, in any sport.

Secondly, if this game had gone another 2 minutes I feel strongly we would have witnessed a Duke meltdown. You don't go up almost 20 then end the game in that fashion.

This team is young yes and the season is early but if Miles, Mason and Rivers don't correct what we saw from them tonight then it's gonna be a very frustrating season. This team can't compete with the extremely talented and physical teams like Kansas and Kentucky. Next week against OSU will be another nail biter for sure, I don't feel good about what may happen. I hope I'm wrong, I really do. I was not impressed with tonights game. Everyone should thank Dawkins and Curry for carrying this game on their backs.......

A few things to consider here. First, except for the dumb dead ball foul, Mason played a heck of a game. This despite only getting 3 shot attempts. He defended really well, had amazing passes and was all over the place making things happen. People will point to MSU missing "easy shots", but much of that was due to the pressure the 3 bigs were putting on the MSU bigs. Our bigs challenged shots, especially Mason and Kelly, and either blocked, altered, or caused MSU to rush numerous shotsl Give some credit to the defense.

2nd, Miles is high strung and this was a night of high emotion. He simply wanted it too badly and rushed all night long. He will help this team this year. I am willing to give him and the other kids a break on mental mistakes due to the pressure they were under from 903. The media treated this like a NCAA Title game.

Finally, Austin is a freshman who pressed too much on the big stage (and again the high emotion of 903) and got frustrated.

As we move forward Austin will get much better. I am not worried about him at all.

The guys played great out there tonight for much of the game. The team defense and interior defense was really good most of the game. The poor finish was fatigue, and excitement, both of which led to mental errors and poor execution.

Now that the record is behind us, the guys can settle into a normal season.

All that said, tonight is not a night for criticism. It is a night for celebration. Under that pressure, this inexperienced team could have laid an egg. THey didn't.

[Saratoga2]

We got a win against a good well coached team, but all was not great.

What was great was Andre's shooting in both halfs. Many of his shots were against a bigger player. He went to the basket at least two times and hit his free throws. His defense and presence were also solid.

Seth shot well and was definitely trusted by coach K but his end of game management was rocky to say the least. Making a long pass early in the clock when we really needed to take time off. Ball handling issues and passing into trouble. What he needs is to think what he is doing out there.

Our bigs played hard for the entire game but Miles jst suffers from not being able to deal with pressure. Coach K cut his playing time down.

Mason had happy feet in the first half and was petulant enough to give a couple of silly fouls. Fortunately for us, his second half was a big improvement, with solid passing, shot altering presence and the like. Why we passed to him at the end of game situation seems like poor management by our guards who know his foul shooting isn't good.

Unlike others, I thought Kelly's first half smacked of trying too hard defensively and getting beat doing it. His second half was altogether different when he played much smarter and hit all his shots. I would move him into a starter position with Mason going forward.

Austin had a poor game for him, fouling when he shouldn't have and being a little too aggressive going to the basket. That said, it is nice to see a guy who can beat an opponent off the drive. If he drives and dishes more and also uses his outside shot, he can be a very big positive factor. Yes, he is a freshman, but he has what it takes to be a star player. Expect more from his as the season moves on.

Tyler was a big factor in the game as well. I thought his defense was outstanding when we made the run and his ball handling is a benefit, taking some of the pressure off of Seth. Until Tyler took the dirty knee to his head, he was playing great. That should have been called as a two shot foul and possession for Duke.

Hairston was in briefly and looks very strong but didn't stay in for long. He doesn't have Miles size but his is still better with the ball. We also had Quinn in for a while and he didn't impress with his defense so coach K didn't go that way again. We didn't see Michael or Alex as the game got close at the end.

It was a good learning experience and the lessons for our bigs is to play smarter in the first half, the lessons for our guards is to better manage the end of game situation.

[NovaScotian]

can anybody tell me which former players/other important people were at the game besides rmk?

[hudlow]

When I first heard about this guy coming to coach Duke...I thought I'd wait a while before I even put too much effort into learning how to pronounce his name correctly...he wouldn't last over a season...maybe two.

Thanks Coach K.

Crow never tasted any better.

hud

[1 24 90]

can anybody tell me which former players/other important people were at the game besides rmk?

They talked to Shane and Grant Hill. They also showed Duhon, Boozer & Dunleavy and said that Jay Will and Bobby Hurley were there but never showed them.

[sagegrouse]

Congratulations to Coach K! Great coach and class act.

I thought our defense was amazing in teh second half. All of a sudden, the Spartans couldn't score and we were getting all the loose balls.

All day, Andre, all day! An amazing breakout performance at just the right time.

Seth was money the entire game. I thought Mason had a good second half and was surprised to see he didn't score more.

sagegrouse

[Utley]

Most importantly - anyone know where the afterprty is?

[dukelifer]

First, congrats to K. If it couldn't be in Cameron- winning 903 in the Garden- a basketball mecca- is probably the next best thing.

There was much to like in the game and much to keep an eye on going forward. Having Dre take on the role of JJ Redick was nice to see. He is such a good shooter- he simply needs to play with some swagger. He did this tonight because he got hot early. Unfortunately, he can so easily get down on himself and disappear - but when he is on- he can be explosive. Kelly is playing with some swagger these days. He has much more confidence and is such a good free throw shooter. Duke needs to use him more. Curry is solid at the point and Thornton will play a lot- since he does all the dirty work. Mason struggled scoring the ball- but he is passing well. He and Ryan can make a good duo.

As for concerns, Rivers has so much to learn about playing college ball. He is playing much more physically talented players and he has yet to figure out how to get his shot over defenders. His misses in traffic are effectively turnovers and often lead to run outs. K clearly wants him to be a driver- but he would benefit by hitting some short jumpers and picking his spots better. I am sure he will make the adjustments- but he is really pressing. The other concern is how Duke is losing big leads. Part of this is due to the lack of drivers to effectively run the stall. When Rivers figures it out- this should help. Curry made a few forced passes that were ill-advised. Right now- no lead is safe with this team. The good news is that they are getting big leads.

Duke is a good team- but they will be an adventure until Rivers figures it out. The next few games will be huge tests for Duke. All we know is that they will be battle tested going into the ACC season.

[Billy Dat]

can anybody tell me which former players/other important people were at the game besides rmk?

The Duke Blue Planet Twitter feed posted a pic
http://twitpic.com/7eqxuj

I spot the following guys, some faces look familiar but I can't place them (is that T.Hill talking to Brand?):
Dunleavy, Battier, Duhon, Hurley, Abdelnaby, Brand, Boozer, Hill, Kyrie

[DuKe4LiFe#30]

Andre was on fire beyond the arc. And also drove the ball in for layups and played decent defense. Picked a great time to hAVE his best game a blue devil!

Congrats to coach k and his family

[fogey]

I thought Quinn's defense was energetic and that he worked very hard; he actually stays in front of his man as well or better than anyone. Tyler gets beat all the time, but has great IQ and help defense, nose for steals. When Quinn gets that, he will be outstanding. The bonus: his offensive tools- quickness, passing skills, and (as we saw last game) a nice shooting touch.