Curry's Performance against Oklahoma

[bigj4194]

We play Davidson on January 7th. Based off of tonight's performance where he had 44 points and how he plays, I'm wondering what everyone else thinks. I think he is going to be a handful for our team. I think the only people that could possibly guard would be a combination of Nolan and Email. Davidson is a team that relies on Curry who is a fantastic player, but can we hold him to under 30 points?

[BlueintheFace]

The kid is impossible to contain. The key is to just get the ball out of his hands and deny deny deny

[Acymetric]

I can't decide if I think he plays better with a point guard or as a point guard.

I'm going to say that his stats would be a little lower, but that the team might do better. This is assuming that the PG was as good or better than Curry at PG, which would mean a solid player, not necessarily a star.

[shadowfax336]

Or do what Oklahoma did and shut down his teammates. You can't win if one guy has all your points. The scary thing though is that, as the announcers kept pointing out, he actually wasn't all that hot, he missed quite a few shots he's capable of hitting.

[Ders24]

Or do what Oklahoma did and shut down his teammates. You can't win if one guy has all your points. The scary thing though is that, as the announcers kept pointing out, he actually wasn't all that hot, he missed quite a few shots he's capable of hitting.

That is usually what I buy into with one dominant player. Assuming our offense is clicking and we actually do hold the rest of the team to low-scoring nights I would say we would be in pretty good shape.

[shotrocksplitter]

Curry-monster is a superstar. He is tireless and runs every second of every possession. I think that maybe the only way to slow his scoring down is to force him to cover someone who is just as tireless, running him ragged on defense.

A Scheyer v Curry matchup would be legendary.

[NYC Duke Fan]

Guard him with Billy Knight or Brian Davis

[fogey]

6 for 15 from three is not exactly Barron-esque. Oklahoma won the game. Unless SC shoots it better from downtown, I like our chances.

[dukelifer]

We play Davidson on January 7th. Based off of tonight's performance where he had 44 points and how he plays, I'm wondering what everyone else thinks. I think he is going to be a handful for our team. I think the only people that could possibly guard would be a combination of Nolan and Email. Davidson is a team that relies on Curry who is a fantastic player, but can we hold him to under 30 points?
Davidson is very well coached and the offense is designed to exploit Curry. He is a handful because he is active, has a quick release, is an excellent free throw shooter and is learning to get to the line. His penetration is where Duke needs to be careful because he can get a lot of bigs in foul trouble. I think you can only hope to contain him. Fortunately, he is small and Duke has a number of guys to throw at him- don't forget Scheyer. You also have to make him work on D. The rest of the Davidson team is not at his caliber and is slightly down from last year. Will be a good game for Duke.

[Bob Green]

Curry scored 20 points in 34 minutes last season, but we won:

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=1330785

I expect we will win again.

[Dukie4Life]

Davidson is developing as a team under the leadership of Curry at the PG. This will only help our boys mesh well together with senior leadership and upperclassmen! Our freshman will be eager to play this kid. They watched him last year almost beat UNC and I was in Charlotte for our game and it was scary! (but we won so I'm all good!!!)

I tend to agree with let him go nuts and contain the other four players on the team REBOUND the ball, (he's great but he proved lastnight he can't make them all) and run!

I'm excited to see this game its going to be a great one!

[davekay1971]

Curry was a stud. Even though he was cold (for him), he's improved over last year in that he's even better at getting to the line. That's a skill, and he's very good at it. When you add that to sick range and the ability to perform in the clutch, he's really become a scoring machine. He may end up averaging over 30 ppg for the year.

Davidson's strength is that they are a good team of supporting players around a superstar who play in a good system. They're well coached, and their defense is good. They're going to be very tough to beat.

One thing I can say for Coach K, is that Duke has gone up against one superstar teams several times in the past, and we usually win, because Coach K motivates a defensive stopper to limit that one guy, and lets the rest of the team shut down the supporting cast. It's a good question for us against Davidson: who will be the defensive stopper? I think Nolan is going to get the assignment at first, and we're likely to some other guys rotate on him in spells.

If Curry had been as hot as Baron was against us, he would have had 60+ against Oklahoma.

BTW - Jeff's doing a pretty good job out there...

[davekay1971]

"I'm really proud of our guys for digging in and finding a way. People got to witness two great performances, two special performances by two special players,"

Does this quote sound like anyone we know? That could be Coach K talking, but it was a quote by Jeff Capel referring to Blake Griffin and Steph Curry from last night's game. Funny how you carry your mentors with you in life.

[Ignatius07]

Stephen Curry is probably the best college player we will face all year, but I'm not really sure why some are singling out Davidson as a particularly tough match-up. Yes, they are absolutely a good team - mostly because of Curry - but we're going to play a couple teams soon (Purdue and, hopefully, UCLA) that will provide a much tougher test in terms of the overall team game.


A Scheyer v Curry matchup would be legendary.

Why would this be legendary? I think Scheyer is a very good player, but he is not in Curry's league. Why do you even think they would guard each other? In fact I highly doubt they will. Curry wouldn't guard Scheyer because I really think Scheyer would abuse him with his height. Scheyer might guard Curry, but from the little I have seen, I would hope Elliot gets a chance, with his tenacity and length. As for Nolan, we all think he can get to be a great defender, but he's not there yet.

Anyway, the Davidson game is one of the five or so teams that I am especially excited about playing (UCLA, Purdue, UNC, and Wake being the others).

[bigj4194]

Stephen Curry is probably the best college player we will face all year, but I'm not really sure why some are singling out Davidson as a particularly tough match-up. Yes, they are absolutely a good team - mostly because of Curry - but we're going to play a couple teams soon (Purdue and, hopefully, UCLA) that will provide a much tougher test in terms of the overall team game.



Why would this be legendary? I think Scheyer is a very good player, but he is not in Curry's league. Why do you even think they would guard each other? In fact I highly doubt they will. Curry wouldn't guard Scheyer because I really think Scheyer would abuse him with his height. Scheyer might guard Curry, but from the little I have seen, I would hope Elliot gets a chance, with his tenacity and length. As for Nolan, we all think he can get to be a great defender, but he's not there yet.

Anyway, the Davidson game is one of the five or so teams that I am especially excited about playing (UCLA, Purdue, UNC, and Wake being the others).

I think your analysis along with everyone else here is correct. I was merely reflecting on the Davidson game that I was watching last night and was impressed, as always when watching Curry play, with his performance. I know its looking past quite a few good teams, UCLA, Purdue, etc., but it was an interesting question to start thinking about who would guard him as if we can't control him I legitimately worry about this game.

That said...we have a couple of big games between now and then and we should be focusing our efforts on these games before we start thinking about Davidson.

[jipops]

Guard him with Billy Knight or Brian Davis

I assume you meant the former GM of the Sixers and not the former GM of the Hawks.

[elvis14]

Stephen Curry is probably the best college player we will face all year, but I'm not really sure why some are singling out Davidson as a particularly tough match-up. Yes, they are absolutely a good team - mostly because of Curry - but we're going to play a couple teams soon (Purdue and, hopefully, UCLA) that will provide a much tougher test in terms of the overall team game.

Why would this be legendary? I think Scheyer is a very good player, but he is not in Curry's league. Why do you even think they would guard each other? In fact I highly doubt they will. Curry wouldn't guard Scheyer because I really think Scheyer would abuse him with his height. Scheyer might guard Curry, but from the little I have seen, I would hope Elliot gets a chance, with his tenacity and length. As for Nolan, we all think he can get to be a great defender, but he's not there yet.

Anyway, the Davidson game is one of the five or so teams that I am especially excited about playing (UCLA, Purdue, UNC, and Wake being the others).

We are singling out Davidson for a couple of reasons. First this is a thread about the Davidson vs. Oklahoma game. Davidson is a team that's down here in our own back yard. For some of us that makes it more interesting. Then there's the fact that we played Davidson last year and it was a great game in which Curry was impressive. It's an interesting game to us so we single it out.

Scheyer vs Curry could be legendary because Curry is a scoring machine and Jon is a great defender. Generally great scorers vs great defenders are where legendary matchups come from. Elliot isn't ready and isn't anywhere near as skilled a defender as Jon. To say that Jon isn't in Curry's league...that's just underestimating Jon, IMO. I like the idea of putting McClure on him some too.

On a more general note I agree with those of you that state we beat Davidson by letting Curry get his (i.e. not double teaming) and trying to rebound and stop his teammates. With our depth on the wings what I'd like to see us do is rotate who defends Curry (Nolan, Jon, G, Elliot, Marty, Dave, Zoubek (just kidding :D)).

Is it Thursday yet?

[davekay1971]

This is also a Davidson team that pushed us, UNC and UCLA during the regular season last year, then made it two rounds further than us in the tournament before pushing the eventual national champions to the limit.

I think we're going to beat Davidson. I think we're significantly better than last year. But Davidson is at least no worse than last year, and Curry, from what I can tell, is even better.

Oklahoma, at Oklahoma, is an opponent that we would have been hard pressed to beat last night, and I was impressed by a couple of things from Davidson: (1) the held even with Oklahoma for the last 6 minutes of the 1st half with Curry on the bench, and (2) They came back from 20 points down in the second half, survived an OKLA surge to push the lead back to 15, then got it within a basket in the last minute against Oklahoma...in Oklahoma's house.

If we want to keep Davidson from celebrating a win in Cameron, we'd better bring our A game.

[RepoMan]

I still can't wrap my mind around the concept that the Hokies didn't give Curry an offer. Most likely, if they had, he'd be playing in the ACC, and Va Tech would look really good.

[davekay1971]

I still can't wrap my mind around the concept that the Hokies didn't give Curry an offer. Most likely, if they had, he'd be playing in the ACC, and Va Tech would look really good.

That's the risk of all the early recruiting. Some guys look great in 9th and 10th grade then don't develop. Other guys develop later. Classic example: an unheralded 6'7" kid enrolls at the Naval Academy, puts on 4 inches, and becomes David Robinson.

[bird]

On a more general note I agree with those of you that state we beat Davidson by letting Curry get his (i.e. not double teaming) and trying to rebound and stop his teammates. With our depth on the wings what I'd like to see us do is rotate who defends Curry (Nolan, Jon, G, Elliot, Marty, Dave, Zoubek (just kidding :D)).

IMO, Duke's historical approach to a dominant player is to (a) match up best defender generally, but rotate multiple defenders and keep up the pressure; (b) work as hard a possible to deny the ball the player once out of his hands; and (c) sacrifice attention to a secondary player in order to accomplish (a) and (b). There is a reason why secondary players go off so regularly against Duke, yet Duke still wins. So I basically disagree that Duke would take the approach suggested above, and let Curry get his while focusing on secondary players (except to apply ball pressure to interfere with passing to Curry).

[BD80]

Originally Posted by NYC Duke Fan
Guard him with Billy Knight or Brian Davis


I assume you meant the former GM of the Sixers and not the former GM of the Hawks.

I was thinking of Billy King, specifically because Curry reminds me of Mark Macon.

I hope Stephen has better luck than Macon at the next level. But in January, we need someone to lock him down. Let's see if Nolan is the defender everyone says he is. I doubt EMail will be ready, and I don't think Paulus, Scheyer or G are good enough defenders unless we platoon them and are prepared to use a lot of help.

How about siccing McClure on him? I don't see Curry as much of a point guard, and Dave can make it tough for Curry to get shots off.

[JDev]

It is sort of the old adage coaches used when facing Michael Jordan in his heyday. Do you guard him as tightly as possible, and make the other guys beat you, or do you guard the other guys, never double him, and make him beat you by himself. The only sure thing is that Curry is a terrific player.

[dukemomLA]

Curry is AWESOME!! truly awesome. And....yes I think we can contain him to under 30 point, maybe even 20.

But let's give him props as a player for whom to cheer on. Well....not when Davidson is playing Duke........... but otherwise. YAHOOO Steph C. I LOVE it when a player at a smaller school leaps tall buildings in a single bound and outlasts all expectations.

[SilkyJ]

Why would this be legendary? I think Scheyer is a very good player, but he is not in Curry's league. Why do you even think they would guard each other? In fact I highly doubt they will. Curry wouldn't guard Scheyer because I really think Scheyer would abuse him with his height. Scheyer might guard Curry, but from the little I have seen, I would hope Elliot gets a chance, with his tenacity and length. As for Nolan, we all think he can get to be a great defender, but he's not there yet.


Couple things: 1) I think Nolan is a GOOD defender already, maybe not great but definitely good. I think he will do a good job on curry...

2) I think we will see scheyer guard curry for a couple reasons, one of them being that he is just generally a good defender and I don't think K will give Nolan a couple respites throughout the game. Secondly, scheyer is considered to be the best off ball defender, i.e. he's the best at guarding shooting guards who like to run around screens, etc. So if they start running curry around screens and playing him a little at the 2, which I imagine they will do a little of, then scheyer would almost certainly matchup with him.

Elliot would be another great option to throw at him, if he plays. I hope he sees more minutes this year...I didn't like sitting he and miles so much last game. I understand the argument that they had looked a little lost, but we've got to get their juices flowing, we need them contributing to be a legit top 5 team, imho.

[ACCBBallFan]

Davidson is not as good a team as they were last year having lost their PG and their best forward. They would have had the improved Curry anyway.

I think the key is to make Curry beat you from deep, and not let him drive to get the bigs into foul trouble. That and limit the supporting cast that is definitely not as good as last year's.

It will be a competitive game but not as strong a foe as UNC(2), UCLA or Purdue, perhaps on same plane as Wake, Miami and Clemson.

It is kind of like playing Singletary in past years or Tyrese Rice who is still around this year, possible he can single handedly beat you but shoud not happen.

[ricks68]

Davidson is not as good a team as they were last year having lost their PG and their best forward. They would have had the improved Curry anyway.

I think the key is to make Curry beat you from deep, and not let him drive to get the bigs into foul trouble. That and limit the supporting cast that is definitely not as good as last year's.

It will be a competitive game but not as strong a foe as UNC(2), UCLA or Purdue, perhaps on same plane as Wake, Miami and Clemson.

It is kind of like playing Singletary in past years or Tyrese Rice who is still around this year, possible he can single handedly beat you but shoud not happen.

Took most of the words right out of my mouth. I don't think Davidson will be close to being as tough as Wake or Miami, however. I also think that if we make it to the UCLA game, we may do a lot better than expected.

ricks