MBB: Duke v. Virginia Tech (ACCT) Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

[Chris Randolph]

Nolan looking much like yesterday to start. He is off shooting and he looks to be lacking the confidence/swagger that has made him a legit NPOY candidate. I don't like this for the NCAA's at all...

[muzikfrk75]

Nolan looking much like yesterday to start. He is off shooting and he looks to be lacking the confidence/swagger that has made him a legit NPOY candidate. I don't like this for the NCAA's at all...

The swagger has returned.

[NashvilleDevil]

Nolan looking much like yesterday to start. He is off shooting and he looks to be lacking the confidence/swagger that has made him a legit NPOY candidate. I don't like this for the NCAA's at all...

2 minutes in and you're writing him off. Nice.

[FellowTraveler]

I have absolutely no concern about Nolan's confidence, or his swagger.

That foul call on Dawkins sure looked like a hook from here.

[sporthenry]

That ball might have woken up Dre. Honestly, that didn't look on purpose but it also didn't appear he tried to avoid hitting him in the head. It wasn't like he was facing the stands, he stared Dre down, then threw it off his head.

But Dre seems a bit fired up.

[ChrisP]

Finally a 3 goes down! And from Nolan, no less! Let's go DUKE!!!
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[YourLandlord]

Git sum n dot

[SCMatt33]

Nolan heating up, though you have to think that open drive would have been a dunk without the toe injury.

[Son of Mojo]

Long as it ended in 2 points I'm happy.

[FellowTraveler]

Honestly, that didn't look on purpose but it also didn't appear he tried to avoid hitting him in the head. It wasn't like he was facing the stands, he stared Dre down, then threw it off his head.

It looked bad. Very bad. Not only was he looking directly at Andre's face when he threw the ball, he wasn't falling -- both feet were on the floor, and he was no longer moving forward. It was a very ugly looking play.

That said, I tend to assume things like this are inadvertent, particularly when they are out of the blue. Basketball is a fast-moving game, and there are going to be innocent plays that look bad. I found the rush to condemn Gerald Henderson for the incident in Chapel Hill distasteful, and I give the VT player the benefit of the doubt in this case.

[dairedevil]

happy that Nolan is able to play - seems to be without any ramifications from the toe - and his offense has returned :-)

glad to see that the ball bounced off his face has not affected Andre - just got a 3 :-D

Kyle hasn't scored - yet - is it time to start roasting him for his lack of offense?

[JohnGalt]

Nolan is saying:

"Hey, Harrison. Anything you can do, I can do better."

Classic.

[davekay1971]

Liking just about everything I'm seeing today. Not everything is falling, but guys like Andre, Seth, and Ryan are looking for opportunities; Nolan is Nolan; Kyle just dropped a 3; our defense is looking focused; we're doing well on the boards. We fell momentarily into settling for 3s, but overall we're doing a better job looking to penetrate and get points inside.

Keep it going, guys, put this away.

[El_Diablo]

It looked bad. Very bad. Not only was he looking directly at Andre's face when he threw the ball, he wasn't falling -- both feet were on the floor, and he was no longer moving forward. It was a very ugly looking play.

That said, I tend to assume things like this are inadvertent, particularly when they are out of the blue. Basketball is a fast-moving game, and there are going to be innocent plays that look bad. I found the rush to condemn Gerald Henderson for the incident in Chapel Hill distasteful, and I give the VT player the benefit of the doubt in this case.

Um, how could it possibly be inadvertent? It's not like he flipped it backwards or was off-balance. He fired the ball off Andre's face from two feet away, while looking right at him.

EDIT: Okay, maybe he was trying to throw it off Andre's neck and simply missed...

[El_Diablo]

At least it fired Nolan up though. He came right back, attacked the rim, and drew the foul. You could see in his body language that he was angry as we stalked up to the free throw line.

[Chris Randolph]

Nolan looking much like yesterday to start. He is off shooting and he looks to be lacking the confidence/swagger that has made him a legit NPOY candidate. I don't like this for the NCAA's at all...

I'm an idiot

[arnie]

Um, how could it possibly be inadvertent? It's not like he flipped it backwards or was off-balance. He fired the ball off Andre's face from two feet away, while looking right at him.

EDIT: Okay, maybe he was trying to throw it off Andre's neck and simply missed...

Don't forget - Greenburg is the coach and VPI is the school - what else would you expect.

[moonpie23]

Don't forget - Greenburg is the coach and VPI is the school - what else would you expect.

i'm not so sure about this...he's had some thugs playing for him yes, but i don't think he coaches it or approves of it....

[devilsadvocate85]

That ball might have woken up Dre. Honestly, that didn't look on purpose but it also didn't appear he tried to avoid hitting him in the head. It wasn't like he was facing the stands, he stared Dre down, then threw it off his head.

But Dre seems a bit fired up.

If you don't think so, you haven't seen Jeff Allen and his antics for his entire career. He looked right at him and hit him in the head with the ball. Andre was just standing there doing nothing.

[COYS]

It looked bad. Very bad. Not only was he looking directly at Andre's face when he threw the ball, he wasn't falling -- both feet were on the floor, and he was no longer moving forward. It was a very ugly looking play.

That said, I tend to assume things like this are inadvertent, particularly when they are out of the blue. Basketball is a fast-moving game, and there are going to be innocent plays that look bad. I found the rush to condemn Gerald Henderson for the incident in Chapel Hill distasteful, and I give the VT player the benefit of the doubt in this case.

I strongly disagree here. Dre was so close and he had to throw the ball quickly (hence, with a lot of force) before he fell out of bounds that it would have been difficult to extend his arms and get the ball below Andre's waist at his feet (a more legitimate target). He had a split second to look and see where Dre was, but that was about it. In high school I turned around in a similar situation and fired a ball with all my might right into the opposing player's . . . um . . . well, you get where I am going. I had just enough time to gather myself to put some force behind the throw, which made it look like I was sizing up where to throw it. However, I had absolutely no intention of hitting the player there. It just happened. The refs agreed, especially since the opposing player and I had no previous history of hard fouls during the game, and just ran over to make sure the opposing team's bench didn't start something. I felt bad, but I had no intent to harm. It's just part of the game. 'Dre seemed to know that, too.