Duke MBB vs. Michigan Post Game Thread

[Olympic Fan]

(1) I'm a little sorry that King Taylor hit those last two 3s ... everybody seems to focus on his 3-point shooting. I keep watching the rest of his game. I thought (even when he was 1-for-6 on 3s -- he finished 3-of-8) that he was having his best game. He played good help defense ... he rebounded fairly well and he made his 2-point shots (4 of 5).

He was also the "big man" when Duke had its first-half spurt, breaking open an 18-14 game. I loved that lineup -- K had both point guards, Scheyer, Nelson and King on the floor together. After scoring 18 points in 11 minutes, Duke scored 14 in the next 100 seconds -- nine by Nolan Smith.

(2) Yeah, it was a coming out party for Nolan. He played with the poise and confidence I saw in the exhibitions, but not lately. I know he didn't have any assists, but that was largely because no one could keep up with him in transition and when he penetrated in the halfcourt, Michigan was playing him to pass.

BTW, I know he officially had no assists. But go back and watch the tape -- he made the pass to the King in transition that led to King's 3.

(3) Another fairly tough game for Thomas -- his third in a row. I thought it was going to be another bad one for Zoubek too. He was useless in his first-half stint. But he may have played better in the second half than he's ever played at Duke (considering the competition -- Michigan's not great, but they do have some big, athletic guys up front). That was good to see.

A very sloppy first 11 minutes -- it looked like last year's team out there. I thought they were going to win 56-50 like we did last December all the time. The Nolan Smith-spurt was a thing of beauty and from that point on, there was only one slight glitch -- about a six minute stretch in the second half where the two teams were trading baskets (although the lead stayed between 18 and 22 points during that whole period).

[Buckeye Devil]

It was a good effort against a bad team (from a medicocre conference) in the infancy stages of learning a new system from a first year head coach.

Smith and Henderson looked great and King played good defense and came up with some good rebounds on both ends of the floor. Paulus quietly did a good job running the point and playing solid defense. Singler is still picking up some silly fouls which could hurt down the road against stiffer competition.

I can't help but think that Duke will need more production from Lance Thomas as it gets to the heart of the schedule.

[Saratoga2]

(1)
(3) Another fairly tough game for Thomas -- his third in a row. I thought it was going to be another bad one for Zoubek too. He was useless in his first-half stint. But he may have played better in the second half than he's ever played at Duke (considering the competition -- Michigan's not great, but they do have some big, athletic guys up front). That was good to see.

A very sloppy first 11 minutes -- it looked like last year's team out there. I thought they were going to win 56-50 like we did last December all the time. The Nolan Smith-spurt was a thing of beauty and from that point on, there was only one slight glitch -- about a six minute stretch in the second half where the two teams were trading baskets (although the lead stayed between 18 and 22 points during that whole period).

I think the game plan was to take the ball inside in the initial few minutes. Duke went that way several times and were coming up empty. Lance was a part of that and couldn't finish against the inside presence of Michigan. He has decent size and good athleticism and speed but has yet to show he can finish consistently. We had to get away from the inside strategy to get the offense started.

One play that wasn't mentioned that I thought was significant was when Scheyer drove the ball around the defense, drew the defender on the right side down low and hit David cutting to the basket for an easy bucket. That showed how aware Scheyer is of the floor and also showed that David is a mature player and recognized the possibility of Scheyer getting him the ball. On a night where there were many really fine plays, I liked this one the most.

Bill

[DevilWolf]

I'm also fairly sure that Smith was robbed of a couple of assists in the second half on good passes that led to fouls but missed shots.

[Slant]

One of the things I am taking away from this game is how active and agressive Zoubek was while he was in there. Scoring 7 points, scrapping after rebounds and loose balls, and no silly fouls in his 12 minutes played. That's what he has to do to be a stronger post presence.

If we can get Brian to do that this year for 20 minutes a game, it can be a big plus for the Devils. By seasons end, he could be a solid post presence - not great, but at least a firewall against bigger teams and of course Mr. Hansborough.

I have a good feeling that Brian may become one of the pleasant surprises this season for the team!

[southgater]

Although there were lots of positives in the game with Michigan, I was concerned about the half court defense. I didn't go back and check, but it seemed there were numerous occasions where a dribbler out front beat their man into the lane, which forced help from someone else to stop the drive. This then lead to a kickout to a man in the corner for an open 3-pointer. Fortunately, Michigan missed the vast majority of these open looks. A better shooting team would have made us pay for this big time. Not sure if this inability to stop the dribble drive was due to our crowding these guys out front or just being beaten by them - I don't recall who the defenders were on these.

On another front, I liked the energy that Lance started with on offense. Although he missed most of these shots, I liked that he was taking it to the rim and taking good shots. They will start to fall one of these days.

[jimsumner]

RE: Zoubek. His highlight for me occurred in the second half. Zoubs got stuffed on a shot. I mean absolutely stuffed. But he didn't pout, or whine, or look to the officials. He quickly got down on the floor-not that easy to do, I suspect, when you're 7'1"--wrestled the ball away from a Michigan player and retained possession. The definition of "next play."

[Bob Green]

Although there were lots of positives in the game with Michigan, I was concerned about the half court defense. I didn't go back and check, but it seemed there were numerous occasions where a dribbler out front beat their man into the lane, which forced help from someone else to stop the drive. This then lead to a kickout to a man in the corner for an open 3-pointer. Fortunately, Michigan missed the vast majority of these open looks. A better shooting team would have made us pay for this big time. Not sure if this inability to stop the dribble drive was due to our crowding these guys out front or just being beaten by them - I don't recall who the defenders were on these.

Overplaying on the perimeter and relying on help defense is Duke's primary strategy. The objective is to disrupt the opponent before they can execute their half court offense, create turnovers and convert those turnovers into points. I don't recall our perimeter defenders being beaten badly during the game.

You raise a valid point about the kickout for an open three point attempt.

[beltwayBD]

As a Wolverine alum (as well as Blue Devil), I found a few things to like in Michigan.

1) Ekpe Udoh -- almost got a double-double. And the guy can block shots like Taylor King can shoot the three.

2) DeShawn Sims and Kelvin Grady. They both performed well under pressure. Sims was 5 of 11 from the field and Grady, for a freshman playing at Cameron, was impressive from the point.

Manny Harris had an off game, but his abilities and potential are well established. Michigan will be an okay team this year, and a good team next year.

Love to see the Dukies do what they do best, and they did it yesterday. Can't wait to see them play Pitt, that will be a real contest.

[kmspeaks]

Just one more example of why we all love David McClure for doing all the little things. At the end of the first half when Greg dished to Nelson in the corner for a 3, Dave screened off the defender who was rushing out to challenge the shot.

Good look by Greg and good job by Nelson to knock down the shot but just wanted to point out the great job by Dave to make sure the shot went unchallenged. Great to have him back on the floor!

[beltwayBD]

Just one more example of why we all love David McClure for doing all the little things. At the end of the first half when Greg dished to Nelson in the corner for a 3, Dave screened off the defender who was rushing out to challenge the shot.

Good look by Greg and good job by Nelson to knock down the shot but just wanted to point out the great job by Dave to make sure the shot went unchallenged. Great to have him back on the floor!

Absolutely, let's hope he stays healthy and gets some more playing time. Coach K will have one hell of a rotation w/ McClure coming off the bench. Despite our difficulties last season, David was incredible coming off the bench for us last year.

[mgtr]

The point has been made repeatedly that the bench outscored the starters, but I don't know if anybody has noted the the three Freshmen nearly outscored the rest of the team. Not bad at all!

[Ben63]

Absolutely, let's hope he stays healthy and gets some more playing time. Coach K will have one hell of a rotation w/ McClure coming off the bench. Despite our difficulties last season, David was incredible coming off the bench for us last year.

McClure is such a valuable player for us. He does all of the little things and also does some things we don't ever see. Sure he sets those screens and rebounds, but I'm sure he is an excellent defender in practice to make the #1's better. He is more valuable than we think.