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Bob Green
11-05-2008, 06:25 AM
Any speculation on the second exhibition game? Who starts? Who plays together? Anything else? I don't expect any player to see more than 20 minutes of playing time and L-R has three 6'8" players on the roster so hopefully they can give Plumlee, Thomas and Zoubek some solid competition in the post.

hoseman
11-05-2008, 07:52 AM
Lenior Rhyne is a cup cake compared to the Presbyterian College Blue Hose. Coach K knows this fact and is preparing the Duke team for a tough game after the warm up LR game.

davekay1971
11-05-2008, 09:32 AM
I'm hoping, whoever starts at center, that Coach K will try several combinations of Zoubek, Plumlee, Thomas, McClure, and Singler at the 4-5 spots. I'd love to see some experimentation with Zoubek and Plumlee on the floor at the same time. I'd also love to see Pocius and Williams get plenty of minutes.

jimbonelson
11-05-2008, 10:28 AM
is there going to be a chat for tonights game?

wolfpackdevil
11-05-2008, 12:45 PM
Any speculation on the second exhibition game? Who starts? Who plays together? Anything else? I don't expect any player to see more than 20 minutes of playing time and L-R has three 6'8" players on the roster so hopefully they can give Plumlee, Thomas and Zoubek some solid competition in the post.

Just a little story for the game. Jeff Thomas, a freshman for L-R, played at Northern Durham high school last year. Just a couple miles away from CIS.

We are expecting a good bit of students from Northern to come to the game tonight.

Congratulations to Jeff, and good luck to their team tonight

nyr484
11-05-2008, 01:53 PM
Does anyone know if it is possible to watch or listen to the game tonight for free on the internet?

Indoor66
11-05-2008, 01:56 PM
Does anyone know if it is possible to watch or listen to the game tonight for free on the internet?

This site (http://www.1010wspc.com/wzky.htm) often carries basketball and football games.

RainingThrees
11-05-2008, 02:24 PM
If I was a betting man I would put my money on Duke. Call me crazy.

grad_devil
11-05-2008, 04:08 PM
...their athletics department has another connection with Duke. Can you name it?

--grad_devil

Indoor66
11-05-2008, 04:26 PM
...their athletics department has another connection with Duke. Can you name it?

--grad_devil

Fred Goldsmith is their football coach!

jimsumner
11-05-2008, 04:50 PM
"Fred Goldsmith is their football coach!"

Only half the answer.

jimsumner
11-05-2008, 04:59 PM
http://www.lrbears.com/Staff/Bio/McGeachy.htm

grad_devil
11-05-2008, 06:23 PM
You win, jimsumner!

I run into Neil quite a bit on business...all of his associates say bringing up his time at Duke (one game in particular) is a good way to get the cold shoulder :)

--grad_devil

RainingThrees
11-05-2008, 09:13 PM
Any thoughts on the game from people who saw it? All I know is that Brian had 15 points and 8 rebounds and the score was 95-42 Duke, and I jacked that from another board.

Saratoga2
11-05-2008, 09:18 PM
There was no thread up yet, so I am putting this in. It appears that Zoubek used his advantage well tonight and Singler is just great. With all the lineup changes, it is hard to criticize the number of turnovers, but there were over 15, didn't get the last count. It appeared to be a good workout for all, and the starting lineup appears to be Singler, Henderson. With Zoubek's performance tonight, he looks like he would be a viable starter against some teams.

Kedsy
11-05-2008, 09:51 PM
Any thoughts on the game from people who saw it? All I know is that Brian had 15 points and 8 rebounds and the score was 95-42 Duke, and I jacked that from another board.

Game statistics from GoDuke.com:

http://www.goduke.com/liveStats/newLiveStats.dbml?SPSID=22726&DB_OEM_ID=4200&DB_LANG=C&KEY=&SPID=1845&SPORT_ID=1845&GAME_STAT_ID=99548

shadowfax336
11-05-2008, 10:01 PM
I was at the game, it featured a small crowd and some small players to match.

Thoughts on a couple players:


Miles- looked like a freshman a lot tonight. Not bad, just often tentative. Still didn't hurt us, but a step back from the last two performances

Zoubs- solid game, made some moves that were more athletic than anything I remember seeing from him, still struggled with holding on to the ball at points, but really had a nice second half

Singler- quite honestly looked like he didn't belong on the same court as everybody else. He was simply an unfair advantage in a game where Duke didn't need any extra advantages. He drove to the hoop at will, rebounded, had a couple highflying dunks including one alley-oop that he went way up to catch (something I at least had never seen from him before) and then to cap it all off just decided to pull up and nail an NBA 3 in a defenders face late in the game.

Nolan was decent but up and down, Paulus was more consistent but quiet, Gerald rebounded and passed well but wasn't really a factor scoring wise besides one ferocious dunk, Marty and Elliot both had their moments.


All in all a solid effort despite some defensive laxness/gambling early on

phaedrus
11-05-2008, 10:03 PM
Zoubek did some great things on offense. A little lefty hook-shot, some drop-steps, a reverse lay-up, and a really slick backdoor pass that led to a lay-up for Marty. All we need this guy to do is make steady, incremental improvements, and it will make a huge difference for our team.

Singler was sensational, Nolan and EWill had some nice drives. Jon and Gerald pretty quiet.

Play of the game: In the first half, Marty races back downcourt to stuff a breakaway dunk, Battier-style. He got called for a foul, but it was a great play nonetheless.

jimsumner
11-05-2008, 10:32 PM
Mike Krzyzewski was visibly frustrated at at the small size of the crowd at the post-game media conference.

BlueintheFace
11-05-2008, 10:36 PM
Generally
1) It was just a very quiet game in which we went about our business. Except for the first 10 minutes, the defense was absolutely great and on offense everything seemed to be a layup because we had so much more size and athleticism (only 17 3pt attempts all game... that's like one half for us normally).
2) Nobody stuck out because we played so well collectively as a team (and because nobody played a lot of minutes and there was no established rotation of course)
3) There was very little dribbling on offense once the ball got to the wings... there was just very impressive ball movement for a lot of posession
4) Although Gerald was quiet he showed signs of improved distribution ability.
5) Maybe we WILL see the ball go down low to the big man a bit more this season... K wouldn't have called for it (4 or 5 times at least) if he didn't see value in giving Zoubs the in-game reps.

Here is a quick rundown on the players for those who didn't see the game... of course, just one man's opinion:

Zoubek looked good, but I have to say... a lot of those moves down low would have gone the other way for offensive fouls if those guys had fallen down or shuffled their feet a bit. He kept leading with the basket side elbow on pivots and hooking/ elbowing the opponent. He got called for it a lot last year. Still, he had a very nice game.(15 pts)

Kyle was a star and just had a great game. 9-11 from the field and lots of drives to create (22 pts)

Nolan scored a lot, but had some ups and downs running the offense... good defense for most of the game though. (14 pts)

Lance played with the most energy I thought... had one steal for a dunk

Elliot had some trouble with his handle, but took some smart shots after getting a talking too in the first half from K.

Paulus had a quiet consistent game.

Gerald didn't really assert himself much but wasn't bad.

Marty made some of the best plays off the ball to get open, but also probably made the most mistakes.

Miles didn't do anything wrong, but didn't do anything impressive either. He used his enormous height advantage to alter/block a lot of shots.

Jon made some really smart plays but was quiet too.

Czyz got a dunk and a turnover (we might be saying that a lot this year)

Dave had some foul issues but altered a few shots on D with typical smart plays

phaedrus
11-05-2008, 10:38 PM
Mike Krzyzewski was visibly frustrated at at the small size of the crowd at the post-game media conference.

It was a pretty pathetic crowd all-around: grad students, undergrads, ticketed sections. Obama hangover?

nyr484
11-05-2008, 10:38 PM
After looking at the stats it concerns me that Duke shot 4-17 from 3 pt range in Cameron (home of the softest rims ever) against a sub-par opponent. Can anyone who watched the game elaborate on the poor long-range shooting?

BlueintheFace
11-05-2008, 10:40 PM
Mike Krzyzewski was visibly frustrated at at the small size of the crowd at the post-game media conference.

“For us playing our first weekday game is different. We were good, we played well, but there was something missing and the same thing with the crowd. We should remind all of our Duke fans that we start our season on Monday. Every game counts and if you’re not going to come, let us know and we’ll sell the seats. We shouldn’t have an empty seat in Cameron. It’s the way it is. I know I can sell them, I’ll go sell them. I appreciate the support of the students who were here. I would like us to understand that people want to come to games. We would love to have everybody here but if you don’t want to be we won’t force you. Let’s get it out to people who want to be here.”

- Coach K

gotham devil
11-05-2008, 10:50 PM
“For us playing our first weekday game is different. We were good, we played well, but there was something missing and the same thing with the crowd. We should remind all of our Duke fans that we start our season on Monday. Every game counts and if you’re not going to come, let us know and we’ll sell the seats. We shouldn’t have an empty seat in Cameron. It’s the way it is. I know I can sell them, I’ll go sell them. I appreciate the support of the students who were here. I would like us to understand that people want to come to games. We would love to have everybody here but if you don’t want to be we won’t force you. Let’s get it out to people who want to be here.”

- Coach K
If our biggest problem is our crowd, everything else must be in pretty good working order.

RelativeWays
11-05-2008, 10:53 PM
I was in section 3, I can't say say from my vantage point there were a ton of empty seats, smatterings here or there but no huge sections with no people. Maybe the floor area was different. Student section was packed in the middle, empty on the sides. I noticed the new devil likes coming to the the second level and trying to have fun with the fans and crazy towel guy.

As far as the team goes, Smith Singler and Zoubs were great, Scheyer played a little better in the second half and neither Greg or G seemed to really assert themselves offensively. I don't think Greg took many shots at all, G did, but couldn't get some of them to fall and seemed to get pretty frustrated. While Plumlee was a non factor offensively, he moves so well with the team and played good defense. Dave and Marty really fired up the team late in the 1st when the other guys seemed to be sleepwalking a bit. Got worried when Dave hit the ground but he walked off on his on. I don't think he came back in the game after that though. Email is going to be good, just not right away. He has a great 1st step to the basket and he's longer and lankier than I thought. Still has the freshmen jitters. K seems to be rotating two squads and they both have interesting and different looks.

shadowfax336
11-05-2008, 11:00 PM
From a student perspective I know lots of people simply didn't do homework last night staying up to watch the election all evening. Its tough to do that 2 nights in a row at Duke... And the election also overshadowed discussion of sports as well, so people may not have been planning ahead to the game. We'll see as things move forward, but I think for tonight that explains the students at least

riverside6
11-05-2008, 11:40 PM
After looking at the stats it concerns me that Duke shot 4-17 from 3 pt range in Cameron (home of the softest rims ever) against a sub-par opponent. Can anyone who watched the game elaborate on the poor long-range shooting?

Not only that, according to our enhanced box score (http://www.scacchoops.com/ViewHDGame.asp?hSchedule=2073), Duke was 29-31 on dunks and layups and 6-28 on all other shots (excluding free throws).

COYS
11-05-2008, 11:40 PM
According to our new enhanced box score (http://www.scacchoops.com/ViewHDGame.asp?hSchedule=2073) (see the shot data tab), Duke was 29-31 on dunks and layups and 6 for 28 on all other shots (excluding free throws). Does this concern anyone?

No. We'll shoot 60% on jump shots in some games and we'll shoot 20% in others. What I hope will be different for us this year compared to last is that with Singler another year stronger, better, and better conditioned, a healthy Henderson, a sophomore Nolan, and more depth all around in the post, we'll be able to score in a variety of ways for the duration of the season. Jump shots, drives, a little post-scoring sprinkled in, three's, free-throws, etc . . . As long as we play K's brand of defense well, we'll get enough easy buckets. With the ability to run a few set plays to get points in the post and with the ability of our guards to drive, create, and either score or pass to one of our many shooters, we should be able to get enough points to win. Obviously, shooting well is important, but it's not that big of a deal for us to have one game where we don't shoot well.

BlueintheFace
11-06-2008, 12:03 AM
Not only that, according to our enhanced box score (http://www.scacchoops.com/ViewHDGame.asp?hSchedule=2073), Duke was 29-31 on dunks and layups and 6-28 on all other shots (excluding free throws).

No. That's like saying, "Hey, if you take away the parts where we did well, you are left with the parts where we didn't.... so is anybody worried that those other parts exist?"

I guess ideally we would have hit all of our layups/dunks and our jump-shots, but thats not how the game of basketball works.

JDev
11-06-2008, 12:21 AM
Zoubek played well and he must have looked good in recent practices because K pulled him off the bench for Plumlee very quickly. It seemed like only three minutes or so in, but I could be wrong.
Duke's defense did not look so good at first, and an ACC-caliber team will take advantage of that slow start. K let them have it over their early effort. The good news is that after the first 10 minutes or so, Duke's defense was outstanding. Singler had one of those games where he earns every bit of praise lavished on his all-around abilities.

mo.st.dukie
11-06-2008, 12:54 AM
Duke's defense did not look so good at first, and an ACC-caliber team will take advantage of that slow start.

Good thing they won't play an ACC team for another 2 months. The good thing about exhibition and early season games is that they allow a team to work out the kinks and establish roles and a rotation. Most teams in the country probably don't look so great for the entire 40 minutes of an exhibition game. The key is to have the team running like a well-oiled machine in March and April.

gep
11-06-2008, 01:59 AM
I read through the post-game quotes, and this was a bit puzzling from Coach K...

*************
On leadership from captains
“There should a running commentary as the game is going along with those two guys. It would make everyone else talk. I think the longer we play we’ll do that better. It’s a matter of being comfortable.”
*************

Question on leadership from captains... Coach K mentions "those two guys"... I thought there were 3 captains... Greg, Gerald, Jon?:rolleyes: Or, was this taken out of context?

Edouble
11-06-2008, 02:07 AM
I attended the game tonight. My first game in Cameron since 2005, so it was nice to be back, even if it was only for an exhibition. My thoughts on the game are as follows:

The Crowd-- Embarassingly small. I sat in Section 8 and looking around the upper bowl, it seemed to be about half full. Section 17 was barely half full. The Crazies that were at the exhibition game did an admirable job, but the numbers just weren't there to make it seem like Cameron. I hope this is a result of election hangover, otherwise it worries me. I went with a first-timer to Cameron and I felt that I had to explain that tonight was not quite on par with the real Cameron atmosphere. Despite the fact that it was an exhibition game, the crowd was not good. It seems Coach K is backing me up on this.

Singler-- Right now, he looks like a First Team All-American. He's clearly put on some muscle and the skill set and athleticism he brings is unique for his size. He went up and grabbed a ball (and slammed it down) that I did not know he had the ability to get. Any worries about him gaining weight and losing a step can be put to rest. He hit an NBA 3. He actually looked like a guy that had come down from the NBA to scrimmage with some college guys. He is a future ACC POY if he stays past this season, and possibly even if he does not. Alongside Plumlee he gives Duke the look of having a large, imposing frontcourt.

Plumlee-- I can't believe this guy is on our team. He's the exact player that we need. Everything I've read about him that I've wanted so badly to believe is true: he is actually that tall, that big, and that mobile. While Zoubek actually showed a more varied set of low post moves this evening, Plumlee was the one I went away more excited about. He has lateral quickness, and he doesn't fall down when he uses it. Plums is very coordinated for a freshman at his size, and he will make a huge impact on the team's fortunes this season.

Scheyer-- Scheyer spent a fair amount of time running the point, I think in the second half. He looks like the same player I've grown to love already, and I'm excited he's on our team. He was excellent at keeping the ball under control against smaller, quick guards, and he showed excellent court vision on a few passes.

Henderson-- I was suprised not to see more from Henderson's mid-range game tonight. He seemed like he was sort of waiting around to make a spectacular play, but when that opportunity wasn't there, he wasn't much of a threat. He had a clear out drive into the lane where he showed how damn quick he is, he had another drive into the lane that didn't turn out like he wanted it to, and then he sort of went away. I know he has a lot of ways to score, but he didn't really seem to use any of them.

Smith-- I was very impressed with Nolan. He seemed to be comfortable with having the starting spot and he did a good job running the team. I'm very excited to have him on the floor for extended minutes this season. I think with Nolan, Williams, Henderson, and Singler, we may have the ability to really put people away with our quickness this year. It's clear that Zoubek is ready to do more, but the athleticism on the squad is very impressive up close, even against a D II team.

Paulus-- I've often thought over the last few years that the look on Paulus' face was very telling of Duke's fortunes. Tonight when he went in the game, he looked like a warrior who was ready for a fight, small crowd or not, DII team or not, starting or not, he seemed to have a look on his face like he's leaving it all on the court this last go round. He played a quiet game, but I thought he played very well. He made a smart play where he threw up a three pointer as an opposing player flew into him after a shot fake, so that he went to the line for three shots. I thought he played a good defensive game too. I know he gets a lot of crap for being a slower one-on-one defender, but his man wasn't getting by him at will or anything tonight.

Williams-- I'll be suprised if he's not playing full starter's minutes next year. Wow!!! He's got the physical tools to be great. Williams reminds me a bit of a pit bull just waiting to be unleashed. He's long and wiry, but not weak, sort of (physically) like a taller Jamal Crawford. Elliot had a great highlight dunk and showed that he's incredibly quick. He showed signs of being a great one on one defender. Time is the only thing that conference teams have on their side right now with regards to this kid. At some point though, probably sooner than later, he's going to put a hurt on some people. I think he's going to eat up any minutes Pocious may have had a chance at earning this season. I know there's a big Marty contingency out there, but Elliot is going to be a very scary weapon coming off of the bench. I'm sure he'll put up 16-18 on some random January night when the team's in a funk and he goes in to shake things up.

Zoubek-- Improved. Scored a lot, showed a variety of post moves, but against much shorter guys. It was hard to see if these moves would work against real ACC players. Big Z definitely looks quicker in his post moves, but he doesn't have the overall mobility of Plumlee. I was impressed less by his scoring numbers and more with two particular moments: the first was when Z went up for an offensive board close in to the basket, got it, brought it down a few inches, moved his trunk around to avoid the outreached hand of two defenders, and went back up and put the ball in, all without shuffling. It was the kind of play that would have been a turnover at the end of last season. The second instance that Z really impressed me was when he did a spin move into the lane and finished with a left handed lay-up. It was a really pretty move that he could have used successfully against a stronger, taller player, as he really worked to get separation from his defender, instead of just pounding it down on a smaller guy.

He seemed to really get on himself on a few missed put backs and missed rebounds. I'm not sure that he's a total headcase, but he's got to be sure to move on the "next play". Hopefully with increased minutes, he'll put less pressure on himself to play perfectly.

Thomas-- We didn't press one time tonight, so it was hard for LT to show off his value to us in the full court press. He does seem to have gained some strength, but overall there wasn't much to go on tonight. He had a nice breakaway dunk where I was worried that he would lose his handle, but he did complete the play.

Lulu
11-06-2008, 05:19 AM
I don't live in the area, so I couldn't even take advantage of this, but Duke should open up a good-sized portion of the undergrad section to either grad students, or as tickets to be purchased by alumni. My opinion is that this should be enacted for 2-4 years, as a benefit to the local fans and a probation of sorts for the current undergrads. Attendance is pathetic, and the team clearly is not appreciated for what it is.

Oriole Way
11-06-2008, 06:39 AM
I don't live in the area, so I couldn't even take advantage of this, but Duke should open up a good-sized portion of the undergrad section to either grad students, or as tickets to be purchased by alumni. My opinion is that this should be enacted for 2-4 years, as a benefit to the local fans and a probation of sorts for the current undergrads. Attendance is pathetic, and the team clearly is not appreciated for what it is.

It's just one bad showing. When I was an undergrad, we got to see the AE Sports Select All-Stars and other fancy-named teams that might have been tricked us into going to see the games. But on a more serious note, a current student already mentioned that election night threw off some schedules. Exhibitions have always been more sparsely attended anyway. I think Coach K is overreacting, and before punishing the undergrads, there needs to a pattern of poor attendance for regular season games.

Wander
11-06-2008, 06:51 AM
G is now something like 18-18 on free throws!

riverside6
11-06-2008, 07:07 AM
No. That's like saying, "Hey, if you take away the parts where we did well, you are left with the parts where we didn't.... so is anybody worried that those other parts exist?"

I guess ideally we would have hit all of our layups/dunks and our jump-shots, but thats not how the game of basketball works.
I look at it slightly differently. Duke played an inferior opponent and Duke was allowed far more layups and dunks today for that reason alone. Against a more equally matched opponent, I'm betting the shooting will need to improve.

Don't get me wrong, Duke played well and a number of posters on the board are hitting the positives, I just thought I'd point out one negative.

JasonEvans
11-06-2008, 08:28 AM
Czyz got a dunk and a turnover (we might be saying that a lot this year)


I love his potential, but I am betting we don't say that very much this year from Olek because he simply won't get enough playing time... at least not once we start facing ACC-level competition.

--Jason "good reports from everyone-- love to hear how well Singler is playing!" Evans

SushiChef
11-06-2008, 08:30 AM
Not only that, according to our enhanced box score (http://www.scacchoops.com/ViewHDGame.asp?hSchedule=2073), Duke was 29-31 on dunks and layups and 6-28 on all other shots (excluding free throws).

I think the reason for the poor shooting percentage from the field is simply lack of rhythm. Coach K was experimenting with different looks (combination of players) throughout the game. No one can get in a solid rhythm when they're only playing 2-5 minutes at a time.

MChambers
11-06-2008, 08:54 AM
I'm not worried about this team's shooting. I think that should be the least of our concerns. I agree that last night's shooting performance is not good, but I think that time will show that we are a good shooting team.

As long as we are playing strong defense and causing turnovers, we will get some easy buckets. Also, I'm very gratified to hear that Zoubek and Plumlee are looking good.

1Devil
11-06-2008, 08:56 AM
After looking at the stats it concerns me that Duke shot 4-17 from 3 pt range in Cameron (home of the softest rims ever) against a sub-par opponent. Can anyone who watched the game elaborate on the poor long-range shooting?

No matter what anyone says, 3-point shooting percentages for Duke and everyone else are going to be down this year because of the new line. Duke won't be adversely affected because everyone's in the same boat. But I think we'll see slightly fewer 3-pointers taken and a somewhat smaller percentage made over the course of the season.

LanceChef
11-06-2008, 08:58 AM
I'll echo Coach K's concerns on the attendance. It was easily the lowest I've seen over five years in Cameron, both in the student sections and the upper level. Besides weakening the atmosphere, it also is dangerous for recruiting purposes. The crowd was undersized and quiet for the previous game with Harrison Barnes in the crowd. If John Wall made an unofficial visit last night and saw the even-smaller crowd, we'd be underselling one of our greatest and most unique assets. I'm also assuming that those closely following recruiting are the same ones that made it to the game.

Kudos to those that made it, however, as the Crazies did make some noise given the size last night.

bloodevil
11-06-2008, 09:12 AM
I had extra tickets to last night's game as I always do for the exhibition and early season games. I do not use the ticket exchange program, because I never know until the last minute how many tickets I will have available. After 5 minutes of attempting to GIVE my tickets away, I went inside just in time for tipoff with 4 extras in my pocket. (That's $100 if you can't do the math.)
This might sound hard to believe, but it is not easy to convince someone to drive an hour and 15 minutes (one way) to Durham to watch Duke play a DII opponent on a Wednesday night when they have family obligations, etc. I am not complaining about the scedule. I understand the need for these games, but not everyone I know is as enthusiastic about them as I am. I always remind these people of this when they call me for Duke/UNC, especially since I don't ask my friends to pay for their tickets.

whereinthehellami
11-06-2008, 09:18 AM
Some interesting items from the boxscore:


Only 2 duke players scored in double figures (Singler, Smith). It's been awhile since that has happened.


G lead the team with assists (4). He also had 3 TOs. Not a good night from Duke in terms of assists:TOs (19:16).


Duke only had 2 blocks against a small DII team (Plumlee, Thomas). That is not a good thing. Duke needs to play bigger than that.


3 duke players had 3 steals (Singler, Scheyer, & McClure). Duke plays the passing lanes as good as anyone.


Greg Paulus, arguably Duke's best shooter, only took 3 shots. Hopefully this isn't a sign of any chemistry issues.


L-R was 2-13 from 3. Duke was 1-8 from 3 in the first half. That is some bad shooting.

6th Man
11-06-2008, 09:29 AM
I drove from Winston-Salem to watch the game. I'm not a season ticket holder but was able to buy tickets at center court for $30 from Duke. So I am confused. I assumed they opened this game up to the folks like me that are unable to get season tickets. Do season ticket holders have the option of selling this game back or why was I able to buy them from the Duke ticket office? As a huge fan it is frustrating that people will not show up. If any of you ticket holders ever need someone to purchase tickets, I'm your guy! :D

Also, I wasn't quite as overly enthused as everyone else about the performance on the court. Kyle Singler looked awesome, but other than that nothing stood out too much. A lot of Zoubek's points came in the second half against guys half his size. I agree with the poster that stated with Duke's frequent substitutions, it was hard for anyone to get a rhythym.

As far as the 3-point line, it is so minimal that I don't see that being an issue. I think the problem is what Coach K said with the double line for men and women. It messes with you having those 2 lines in your vision. I walked on the court after the game and couldn't believe what a minor difference the 3-point line is when you are standing right there.

III
11-06-2008, 09:34 AM
“For us playing our first weekday game is different. We were good, we played well, but there was something missing and the same thing with the crowd. We should remind all of our Duke fans that we start our season on Monday. Every game counts and if you’re not going to come, let us know and we’ll sell the seats. We shouldn’t have an empty seat in Cameron. It’s the way it is. I know I can sell them, I’ll go sell them. I appreciate the support of the students who were here. I would like us to understand that people want to come to games. We would love to have everybody here but if you don’t want to be we won’t force you. Let’s get it out to people who want to be here.”

- Coach K

The frustrating thing is that the only people who are going to read that quote are the people who were there (and are always there).

However, I bet (as is natural), we're blowing things a little out of proportion. Exhibition attendance is always a little smaller, and it's probably not much (if any) smaller than last year. If things don't improve for the first regular season games, then we can start worrying.

jimsumner
11-06-2008, 09:34 AM
"On leadership from captains
“There should a running commentary as the game is going along with those two guys. It would make everyone else talk. I think the longer we play we’ll do that better. It’s a matter of being comfortable"

Despite what the press release said, the question specifically referenced Henderson and Scheyer.

Rudy
11-06-2008, 09:40 AM
I think that was a mistake. Weekday game after the election against meaningless competition. You might get more students out for another intrasquad scrimmage. They've already seen what the guys can do against nothing competition.

AtlDuke72
11-06-2008, 09:49 AM
Zoubek-- Improved. Scored a lot, showed a variety of post moves, but against much shorter guys. It was hard to see if these moves would work against real ACC players.

Let's see - about 19 minutes, 6-8 shooting- 15 points, 8 rebounds. He is 7'1" and will be taller than everybody he plays against even "real ACC players". He will also be somewhat slower. To me he looks like a real weapon who will be extremely difficult to handle for most of the teams we will play. It is too bad that no matter what the kid does somebody is questioning him. He has been injured virtually the entire time he has been at Duke and missed the chance to improve over the summers. Questioning whether he is a "head case" is hard to understand. I think he will be real good this year and even better next year if he can avoid another injury.

aimo
11-06-2008, 10:23 AM
Do season ticket holders have the option of selling this game back or why was I able to buy them from the Duke ticket office?

This year, for the exhibition games, season ticket holders were allowed to opt out of buying them. Apparently, quite a few people chose not to buy these tickets. And it seems that the ticket office did a rotten job of advertising the fact that there were tickets available. If Coach K feels the need to complain to someone, let it be to the people who were responsible for those extra tickets not being sold. Or, better yet, make the exhibition games free like they used to be so people of lesser means, especially nowadays, can see a game in Cameron.

Coach K needs worry about his team, not the crowd.

Edouble
11-06-2008, 10:34 AM
Zoubek-- Improved. Scored a lot, showed a variety of post moves, but against much shorter guys. It was hard to see if these moves would work against real ACC players.

Let's see - about 19 minutes, 6-8 shooting- 15 points, 8 rebounds. He is 7'1" and will be taller than everybody he plays against even "real ACC players". He will also be somewhat slower. To me he looks like a real weapon who will be extremely difficult to handle for most of the teams we will play. It is too bad that no matter what the kid does somebody is questioning him. He has been injured virtually the entire time he has been at Duke and missed the chance to improve over the summers. Questioning whether he is a "head case" is hard to understand. I think he will be real good this year and even better next year if he can avoid another injury.

Real ACC players are stronger and quicker. That's a fact. No disrespect to the Lenoire-Rhyne players, but ACC calibre players are better, and not just taller. Some actually aren't any taller. They will be pushing against Z harder and reaching spots that he's trying to pivot to faster as he makes his moves. There's a lot more than height that goes into playing in the post. If height were the #1 factor in post success explain Boozer's success. Explain why Hanstravel is about to burn up the record books.

You need to read more carefully. There was no questioning if Z is a head case. I said he is NOT a head case.

From my impressions of the game, it is easy for me to see that Singler is an elite player and one of the best in the country. Zoubek played well, but from my vantage point and seat, it was difficult to see if his ability and some of his moves were legit enough for the ACC. Some of them were, and those were mentioned and praised.

BlueintheFace
11-06-2008, 10:38 AM
I love his potential, but I am betting we don't say that very much this year from Olek because he simply won't get enough playing time... at least not once we start facing ACC-level competition.

--Jason "good reports from everyone-- love to hear how well Singler is playing!" Evans

that was kind of my point. He won't be getting enough time all year to average more than a dunk and a freshman mistake per game.

6th Man
11-06-2008, 11:02 AM
This year, for the exhibition games, season ticket holders were allowed to opt out of buying them. Apparently, quite a few people chose not to buy these tickets. And it seems that the ticket office did a rotten job of advertising the fact that there were tickets available. If Coach K feels the need to complain to someone, let it be to the people who were responsible for those extra tickets not being sold. Or, better yet, make the exhibition games free like they used to be so people of lesser means, especially nowadays, can see a game in Cameron.

Coach K needs worry about his team, not the crowd.

Thanks for the explanation AIMO. If I wasn't such a fanatic and reading the web-sites constantly I would have never know I could have purchased them. So you are right....it wasn't heavily promoted.

AtlDuke72
11-06-2008, 12:17 PM
.

You need to read more carefully. There was no questioning if Z is a head case. I said he is NOT a head case.

The first quote was, "I'm not sure that he's a total headcase, . . ."


Sure sounds like questioning to me. I think it was very unfair. Maybe next time you need to read your post more carefully, hopefully before you publish it. I agreed with most of your post, just don't think Zoubek is treated fairly on this Board by a lot of people.

Edouble
11-06-2008, 12:43 PM
.

You need to read more carefully. There was no questioning if Z is a head case. I said he is NOT a head case.

The first quote was, "I'm not sure that he's a total headcase, . . ."


Sure sounds like questioning to me. I think it was very unfair. Maybe next time you need to read your post more carefully, hopefully before you publish it. I agreed with most of your post, just don't think Zoubek is treated fairly on this Board by a lot of people.

I'm not a lot of people. I'm only responsible for what I write. "Unfair" is looping me in with a bunch of other posters that are not me. I have a history of saying very positive things about Zoubek on this board. I took a bit of criticism about a month ago for suggesting that he would play 20mpg and average 7 boards per.

Were you at the game? He really seemed upset with himself for missing some easy plays. He needs to be sure to move on to the next play. When he got upset with himself, it was a little much.

Did you see Adam Morrison slamming the ball into his head during the 2006 NCAA Tournament? That scared me. During that game at least, Morrison seemed like a headcase. Zoubek was getting upset with himself too, but it wasn't nearly at that level, hence, I'm not sure that he's a total headcase. BUT, if you were at the game, you would have seen that he became very upset with himself several times. Upset in a way that no other players did. It's good to want to perform well, but when he's having a good game, he can't put pressure on himself every time he touches the ball to finish with a great play. I can see getting upset like that if he had goofed on several plays in a row--a lot of players do that. His reaction to missing on just a few plays was a little suprising and maybe even uncalled for, IMO, because he was having a very successful time on the court last night. Now, I don't presume it is my place to dictate how Zoubek should react, but his reactions were suprising, and that is just my reaction to seeing him get upset with himself over one or two small things in the midst of a good game for him.

This was just one little thing that I noticed and not by any means a great lasting impression that I thought about for hours afterwards. However, it seems I need to explain myself in greater detail as my words are being picked apart by someone who is a big Zoubek fan.

millerecu
11-06-2008, 01:35 PM
Was when Olek got his one slam of the game and the Crazies yelled "you got Czyzzzzz'd on". I just lost it!

AtlDuke72
11-06-2008, 02:31 PM
This was just one little thing that I noticed and not by any means a great lasting impression that I thought about for hours afterwards. However, it seems I need to explain myself in greater detail as my words are being picked apart by someone who is a big Zoubek fan.[/QUOTE]


Based on one little thing you noticed, which did not create a lasting impression, you raised the question of whether Zoubek is ' a total headcase". I don't think you need to explain any further, I think you should apologize.

Edouble
11-06-2008, 02:37 PM
Based on one little thing you noticed, which did not create a lasting impression, you raised the question of whether Zoubek is ' a total headcase". I don't think you need to explain any further, I think you should apologize.

It seems like you raised the question actually. :o

AtlDuke72
11-06-2008, 02:44 PM
It seems like you raised the question actually. :o

First you slander the kid, then you deny you said it, then you 'explain" that it is unimportant , then you claim someone else 'raised the question" . Enough.

jimsumner
11-06-2008, 03:07 PM
In his three years at Duke, I have neither seen nor heard anything that would remotely suggest that Brian Zoubek is a "head-case" and cannot imagine why anyone would suggest that he is.

mepanchin
11-07-2008, 07:08 AM
No matter what anyone says, 3-point shooting percentages for Duke and everyone else are going to be down this year because of the new line. Duke won't be adversely affected because everyone's in the same boat. But I think we'll see slightly fewer 3-pointers taken and a somewhat smaller percentage made over the course of the season.

2 comments

1. Last year Ken Pomeroy published a study on basketballprospectus.com detailing FG% from various distances from the basket. The difference between 20 and 21 feet was negligible on the whole.

2. Last season in 2 exhibitions Duke shot 14 for 55 from 3 for 25.45%. This year Duke shot 14 for 45 for 31.11%. At this point it is simply too early to be jumping to conclusions like "No matter what anyone says, 3-point shooting percentages for Duke and everyone else are going to be down this year."

RelativeWays
11-07-2008, 08:22 AM
Gerald missed a 3 point shot, got his own rebound and ended up losing the ball right after. During the ensuing time out, he was mad enough to punch his chair. I don't think he was losing his mind, just visibly showing frustration on missing a play he felt he should have made compounded by an off night for him. I wouldn't compare anying Zoubek does to Morrison, because Adam Morrison looks like a psycho killer and anything he does that shows anger is going to a lot worse in that light. Zoobs had a good game but he wants to make the plays he thinks he should. K played him much more than Miles that night and I'm sure he wants to make the most of his opportunity and doesn't want to let down his coaches. Its natural under those circumstances that some frustration can manifest, but even mentioning the phrase "head case" doesn't need to enter the conversation. When Zoubek gets long greasy hair, scraggly facial hair and looks like someone who would kill a girl just as well as date her, then we can wonder about his mental stability.

....on second thought, if Zoubs starts talking to himself about the voices in his head that make him want to kill during games, he may not have anyone who wants to guard him:D

Steps to improve big man play
1. Work on footwork and positioning
2. Go up strong for rebounds and putbacks
3. Pretend you are a violent bipolar sociopath.

jimsumner
11-07-2008, 11:27 AM
"You need to read more carefully. There was no questioning if Z is a head case. I said he is NOT a head case.

The first quote was, "I'm not sure that he's a total headcase, . . .""

How would you respond to a quote that started "I'm not sure that ATLDuke72 is a total moron?" Would you argue that that statement is a refutation of the idea that you are a moron? Or would you feel that it suggested that you were a moron or at least might be?

Tim1515
11-07-2008, 11:32 AM
2 comments

1. Last year Ken Pomeroy published a study on basketballprospectus.com detailing FG% from various distances from the basket. The difference between 20 and 21 feet was negligible on the whole.

2. Last season in 2 exhibitions Duke shot 14 for 55 from 3 for 25.45%. This year Duke shot 14 for 45 for 31.11%. At this point it is simply too early to be jumping to conclusions like "No matter what anyone says, 3-point shooting percentages for Duke and everyone else are going to be down this year."

I understand this point...and really the line isn't that much different...but it isn't as simple as saying players made similar percentages from a slightly longer distance.

One huge thing to keep in mind is where the defense starts. Many defenses play inside the 3 point line...so a shot taken from 21 feet instead of 20 last year might not have been contested as closely...if at all. This year the "new" 21 will be 22 feet.

IMO Jason Williams was a perfect example. He could rain nba length 3s in college...but they were always uncontested. Once he reached the nba he struggled with his long range shot because now all of a sudden those same shots were contested.

Edouble
11-08-2008, 12:32 AM
How would you respond to a quote that started "I'm not sure that ATLDuke72 is a total moron?" Would you argue that that statement is a refutation of the idea that you are a moron? Or would you feel that it suggested that you were a moron or at least might be?

I'd say "I'm not sure that Jim Sumner can keep all of his posters straight". ;)

AtlDuke72
11-08-2008, 07:51 AM
"You need to read more carefully. There was no questioning if Z is a head case. I said he is NOT a head case.

The first quote was, "I'm not sure that he's a total headcase, . . .""

How would you respond to a quote that started "I'm not sure that ATLDuke72 is a total moron?" Would you argue that that statement is a refutation of the idea that you are a moron? Or would you feel that it suggested that you were a moron or at least might be?

I completely agree. Please note, however, that the poster who wrote the statement about Zoobs was Edouble and not me.

jimsumner
11-08-2008, 11:06 AM
Apologies to all.

Mea culpa on the names.