Man of the Match vs. Georgia Tech

[Jumbo]

Who was the Man of the Match vs. Georgia Tech?

[geraldsneighbor]

Singler was our answer in the post. G had another huge game, but Kyle's 13 boards coupled with 19 points were what in the end lifted us to 15-1.

[Jumbo]

This is a tough one, because we really won it with D. Singler was hot/cold, G scored but didn't do much else, Paulus hit a couple of big jumpers, but that doesn't make him MOTM, Scheyer came on late and played a good floor game, but his overall shooting disqualifies him ... hmmm. I think I'll wait for the official box score to go up before actually voting!

[SupaDave]

I liked Zoubek's presence. He was quite disruptive and got called for some cheapie fouls...

[Jumbo]

I liked Zoubek's presence. He was quite disruptive and got called for some cheapie fouls...

Man, I dunno. I thought he didn't do a good job of holding his position down low and actually could have been called for more fouls.

[Madrasdukie]

I agree mostly with Jumbo. But I think the edge has to go to Singler esp. with his rebounding numbers. Also, those three's he stroked early in the second half were definetly momentum boosters. I just wish the free throw shooting was better, but I guess it was a very physical game.

[arnie]

Man, I dunno. I thought he didn't do a good job of holding his position down low and actually could have been called for more fouls.

I think a pattern is emerging - pick either Singler or Henderson and the answer is always right. We need "go to" players and hopefully, that combo works all year.

[Jumbo]

I think a pattern is emerging - pick either Singler or Henderson and the answer is always right. We need "go to" players and hopefully, that combo works all year.

Not sure about that. Throw out the last two games and the the answer would be "Singler or Scheyer." It's clear that we have three guys who are on a different level from the rest of the team, though.

[Cameron]

Greg Paulus.

He really took advantage of the extended minutes he was given in the first half, hitting two BIG outside jumpers and scoring eight quick points off the bench that helped give our team a pulse. Before those big threes, we hadn't had one, and Tech had been starting to stretch its lead.

I think Greg's success early helped set the tone for our team and we were then able to take the lead, which, although we certainly didn't play very smooth, we never relinquished.

Sure Greg finished with just those eight, and didn't record any assists or grab any boards, but he played solid. He played well at the point, more than handling Tech's constant pressure on the ball out front, and his defense was above par. There may have been a couple of jumpers hit in his face, but there were no blow-bys and he had great position in front of his man for the most part.

Nice game, Greg.

If I had one complaint, it would be that he is almost too passive at times out front. On that one play where Greg was called for the double late in the first half, he should have pulled up and drilled the 25-footer. He has that range and I'd like to see him be a little more selfish about it.

[geraldsneighbor]

Greg Paulus.

He really took advantage of the extended minutes he was given in the first half, hitting two BIG outside jumpers and scoring eight quick points off the bench that helped give our team a pulse. Before those big threes, we hadn't had one, and Tech had been starting to stretch its lead.

I think Greg's success early helped set the tone for our team early and we were then able to take the lead, which, although we certainly didn't play very smooth, we never relinquished.

Sure Greg finished with just those eight, and didn't record any assists or grab any boards, but he play solid. He played well at the point, more than handling Tech's constant pressure on the ball out front, and his defense was above par. There may have been a couple of jumpers hit in his face, but there were no blow-bys and he had great position in front of his man for the most part.

Nice game, Greg.

If I had one complaint, it would be that he is almost too passive at times out front. On that one play where Greg was called for the double late in the first half, he should have pulled up and drilled the 25-footer. He has that range and I'd like to see him be a little more selfish about it.

I agree, but when your battling for playing time your going to naturally be more passive on the floor, especially when it comes to shooting. That was a shot when GP knew he was getting 28 minutes a night last year he would've taken because he was playing more free. I think tonight was a possitive step forward in him not only earning more PT, but gaining some much needed confidence. Greg always has thrived in road venues, just ask the folks in Chapel Hill.

[mgtr]

Singler, Henderson. Singler, Henderson. OK, Singler. Unless its Henderson. I went for Singler this time based solely on gut feel.
I thought that Smith just about disappeared tonight. Paulus, when he was in there, was not great (too passive, somebody said, I agree), but was better than Smith. Has Smith not recovered fully from his knee banding?
Scheyer couldn't hit anything early, but improved a lot at the end.

[FireOgilvie]

Singler, despite his free throw shooting. His rebounding puts him ahead of everyone else in this one.

Henderson looked good as well.

[geraldsneighbor]

Again, I am afraid Singler's FT shooting is a direct correlation with him being forced to play more in the post. He is a guy that normally shoots around 78 percent and already his season percentage is dwindling near 70 percent.

[weezie]

I liked Zoubek's presence. He was quite disruptive and got called for some cheapie fouls...

Absolutely. Zoubs was called three times for breathing heavily. He finally got two hands on an offensive rebound midway through the 2nd half and it began the hold off of the Rambling Wreck.

Instead of trading pro for college commentators, how about an experiment switching pro refs for the college doofuses for a game. Baloney calls all night long tonight.

[Jumbo]

Upon further review (http://www.goduke.com/pdf5/365919.pdf?ATCLID=3646796&SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&DB_OEM_ID=4200), I'll go with Singler. 19 and 14, plus only one turnover = too good to ignore.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Kyle by a smidgen.

[elvis14]

I went with G. Could have just as easily went with Kyle. Look forward to Jon getting back on track because I see lots of games where our big 3 are arguably the MOTH. I'm starting to think Cameron is related go Greg or just has a crush on him :D

[ice-9]

G played well throughout but it was Kyle's 3-pointers and offensive rebounds that turned a single possession game into a double digit win. You can go either way but this time Kyle gets my vote.

It was nice to see G's stop-and-pop though and he made some excellent drives that opened up shooting opportunities for others.

[Madrasdukie]

...Has Smith not recovered fully from his knee banding?
Scheyer couldn't hit anything early, but improved a lot at the end.

I was wondering the same thing about Nolan.

Scheyer also had five assists to no turnovers.

[Cameron]

I'm starting to think Cameron is related go Greg or just has a crush on him

Nope, I just really appreciate what he gives to this team in terms of heart, shooting, and leadership on the court. He's a definite verbal leader for this club. He's 100 percent Duke, like a Chris Collins, and I love it. Tough, determined, and gritty. Never backs down.

[greybeard]

Only saw the first half (married life, yeesh), but I saw enough to rule out one player, and that would be Mr. Singler. Singler had the ball at the three line, looked Zoubek square in the eye with Zoubek looking back from maybe two feet from the basket and nobody anywhere near him. Instead of throwing the ball to Zoubek for an easy two, Singler looked up and launched a three.

Now, if this were the first time that that had happened maybe I could forgive it, not really, but for argument's sake I'll say it, but it wasn't. I didn't see the FS game but the game before Singler did the same damn thing, only he drove the basket instead of passing that time.

If your best player and passer will not pass the ball to Zoubek when Zoubek is dead a$# free at the rim, one of them needs to sit. I do not understand why K did not pull Singler immediately after that play; I think that, if K and Singler keep it up, Duke's best chance to win the ACC, much less the NCAA, Championship is lost.

One possible explanation for Singler's actions is the comment made by a previous poster about what he would do if Zoubek mouthed off to him on the floor the way he seemed to have been doing to his teammates at least early in the season--namely, he would freeze Zoubek out. I discounted that as a possibility stating that K would never stand for it; rather, K would take care of Zoubek himself if he thought that there was a problem and would insist that his players to make the plays that are presented, not to be playing enforcement games on the court. Looks like I might have been wrong.

In any case, this has to qualify as easily the worst play by any Duke player I've seen all season.

[jv001]

I went with Kyle but could have easily gone with Gerald. Kyle's 14 rebounds made the difference over Gerald's great shooting..7/14 fgs, 2-2 threes, 3-4 freethrows. Assist to Turnover 3-3, Pretty much even when you include Kyle's poor freethrow shooting but I voted for Kyle.

[Jumbo]

Only saw the first half (married life, yeesh), but I saw enough to rule out one player, and that would be Mr. Singler. Singler had the ball at the three line, looked Zoubek square in the eye with Zoubek looking back from maybe two feet from the basket and nobody anywhere near him, and then looked up at the basket and launched a three.

Now, if this were the first time that that had happened maybe I could forgive it, not really, but for argument's sake I'll say it, but it wasn't. I didn't see the FS game but the game before Singler did the same damn thing, only he drove the basket instead of passing that time.

If your best player and passer will not pass the ball to Zoubek when Zoubek is dead a$# free at the rim, one of them needs to sit. I do not understand why K did not pull Singler immediately after that play; I think that, if K and Singler keep it up, Duke's best chance to win the ACC, much less the NCAA, Championship is lost.

One possible explanation for Singler's actions is the comment made by a previous poster about what he would do if Zoubek mouthed off to him on the floor the way he seemed to have been doing to his teammates at least early in the season. I discounted that as a possibility stating that K would never stand for it; rather, he take care of that with Zoubek himself and require his players to make the plays that are presented, not to be playing enforcement games on the court. Looks like I might have been wrong.

Worst play by any player in a Duke uniform I've seen all season.

You need to stop harping on this subject, and you need to change your tone. Kyle Singler is not deliberately freezing Zoubek out. I know you spend the bulk of your time focusing on Zoubek. It's clouding your judgment. Zoubek has not shown that he can consistently catch the ball with his back to the basket and make a scoring play. There are places where he is effective catching the ball and other places where he shouldn't receive the ball. Just because you think the right play that was "presented" was a pass to Zoubek doesn't mean Singler, Coach K or James Naismith would agree. Ease up on this, okay?

[Dukerati]

It's between G and Singler for me and I went with G. Singler was a beast on the boards and that is hard to overlook but G was simply more efficient offensively (didn't miss his free throws!) and played outstanding defense. In fact, I hardly remember G being involved in very many plays defensively today and I believe it is because he was so effective in denying his man the ball.

[Jarhead]

Solely on the basis of rebnounds, I voted for Singler. The rest of the stats were about even.

[DukieBoy]

This was a quality team win tonight. Paulus came off the bench early to provide a spark. Kyle was his normal stat stuffing self. Henderson made athletic plays throughout and demanded the ball at the end. Scheyer, although he struggled through most of the game, found his shot at the end to bury a couple of threes to help ice the game. Zoubek played really well on defense and got quite a few defensive rebounds. However, my vote went to Singler. His all around production was one of the biggest keys to the game.

However, one thing that has bothered me is Nolan Smith. He hasn't seemed like himself against FSU and GT. Maybe it's just me but I hope he can get back on track for Saturday.

[devildeac]

Singler based on a fine rebounding performance against a pretty good sized GT front line with LT and BZ not contributing much tonight.

[elvis14]

Nope, I just really appreciate what he gives to this team in terms of heart, shooting, and leadership on the court. He's a definite verbal leader for this club. He's 100 percent Duke, like a Chris Collins, and I love it. Tough, determined, and gritty. Never backs down.

I know, hope you didn't mind me kidding with you a bit. The last discussion on this subject was lively and I wasn't trying to start it back up, just messing with you little

[greybeard]

You need to stop harping on this subject, and you need to change your tone. Kyle Singler is not deliberately freezing Zoubek out. I know you spend the bulk of your time focusing on Zoubek. It's clouding your judgment. Zoubek has not shown that he can consistently catch the ball with his back to the basket and make a scoring play. There are places where he is effective catching the ball and other places where he shouldn't receive the ball. Just because you think the right play that was "presented" was a pass to Zoubek doesn't mean Singler, Coach K or James Naismith would agree. Ease up on this, okay?

Point well taken about tone and about reference to other poster's past speculation about possibility that players might decide to deliberately freeze Zoubek out. I do not think that Singler was doing that, but I do think that he saw that Zoubek was wide open at the rim.

I also think that Singler's failure to pass the ball to Zoubek was emblematic of Duke's very subpar play during the first 10 plus minutes of the game. I cannot imagine that either K or Singler would analyze that play in any other terms; if you don't get Z the ball in that circumstance, why have him on the court. Singler, in my opinion, needs to make that play. Check the replay; don't worry, you will know the play I'm talking about.

[Son of Jarhead]

Couldn't decide btween Kyle & G, so I picked the "glue guy" instead... Dave... that guy is solid.

[JDev]

Singler. A double-double against the best rebounding team in the league thus far. Clearly the toughest guy on the floor.

[Edouble]

On a night when we needed all the rebounds we could get, Kyle was probably just slightly ahead of G for man of the match based on the box score alone. I voted for Henderson though, because with his game really soaring right now, I thought he added a some energy, confidence, and life to the team as a whole. That little intangible got G my vote tonight.

[captmojo]

Kyle may have scoring and rebounding stats but G played the more consistent game from tip to buzzer. Therefore my vote went to G.

Kyle needs to take a little longer look at the rim before he motions with his free throw attempt. I like how he takes the time to catch his breath, and understands he has plenty of time to do so, before beginning his motion.

[Saratoga2]

Greg Paulus.

He really took advantage of the extended minutes he was given in the first half, hitting two BIG outside jumpers and scoring eight quick points off the bench that helped give our team a pulse. Before those big threes, we hadn't had one, and Tech had been starting to stretch its lead.

I think Greg's success early helped set the tone for our team and we were then able to take the lead, which, although we certainly didn't play very smooth, we never relinquished.

Sure Greg finished with just those eight, and didn't record any assists or grab any boards, but he played solid. He played well at the point, more than handling Tech's constant pressure on the ball out front, and his defense was above par. There may have been a couple of jumpers hit in his face, but there were no blow-bys and he had great position in front of his man for the most part.

Nice game, Greg.

If I had one complaint, it would be that he is almost too passive at times out front. On that one play where Greg was called for the double late in the first half, he should have pulled up and drilled the 25-footer. He has that range and I'd like to see him be a little more selfish about it.

While Greg hit some crucial baskets early on in the game, he also made mistakes that you wouldn't expect from a sr. pt guard. Fouling away from the basket with the clock running down, palming when not under much pressure and a couple of others. His defense is also a notch below the starters.

To me it had to be Singler, who did a lot of things well, particularly boxing out and getting rebounds in traffic

[Cavlaw]

Man, I dunno. I thought he didn't do a good job of holding his position down low and actually could have been called for more fouls.
That may be true. On the other hand, I thought a couple of the calls that were made on him were definitely phantom fouls.

I liked that he had faster hands on defense and was able to make a couple plays before his man even went up with the ball. I disagree with J&B's main page comment about his speed on defense beyond the arc, though - it looked to me like GT purposefully switched him on a few screens to leave him defending a guard while his man took advantage of a height mismatch that resulted on one of our guys in the post.

I do think he continues to make progress, I just hope he plays a little better on Saturday and that things start clicking more for him before we go to Wake at the end of the month.

[Smitty1911]

I had to go with Singler by a hair over Henderson. I love it when it's a tough decision with multiple guys playing well. Singler's rebounds and general presence down low pushed him over the top for me. If not for his 3 late 3-pointers, I would've voted for Mo Miller -- I swear he was playing for our team most of the game. Good signs from Scheyer with his stroke coming back towards the end and Paulus with some good shots and fewer mistakes. I also thought McClure came in and gave us great minutes when it was clear Z and LT weren't getting it done.

[1DevilishKing]

Although that was a sloppy 1st half. I must say that it was "team" effort. And our boys are going to have to step it up in the upcoming weeks. We have a tough schedule coming up and will need every one digging deep to pull this off. As for who's the Man?. GH gave it his best including Paulos. The Z didn't a great job as well as Scheyer. Sing was sensational
to say the least. Smith, Thomas, The Mack, even Pocious
produced some results to even the odds against the tech.
Overall I would have to say, once again G.Henderson is awarded player of the game! Great job to the whole team &
coaching staff!

1DevilKing.

[jpfrizzle]

On a night when we needed all the rebounds we could get, Kyle was probably just slightly ahead of G for man of the match based on the box score alone. I voted for Henderson though, because with his game really soaring right now, I thought he added a some energy, confidence, and life to the team as a whole. That little intangible got G my vote tonight.

I have to agree with this guy. G played a solid game. He was there when we needed him. Voting for either Kyle or G was a tough one no doubt.

[DukieInBrasil]

the 14 rebounds from Singler is great, making 4 double-doubles this year. But the <50% FT shooting ain´t good, i don´t think you can earn MOTM if you don´t shoot FTs, plus he was 2-8 from 3 and 6-15 FG, all-in-all a poor shooting game. G on the other hand shot 50% FG 100% 3FG and 75% FT, all-in-all a very good shooting game, on an otherwise terrible shooting night for the team. Plus G had 7 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals, nothing bad a bout the balance in G´s on-court activity. It´s pretty close to a tie in my book, but i think there is a slight edge to G simply for being more efficient.

[RainingThrees]

You need to stop harping on this subject, and you need to change your tone. Kyle Singler is not deliberately freezing Zoubek out. I know you spend the bulk of your time focusing on Zoubek. It's clouding your judgment. Zoubek has not shown that he can consistently catch the ball with his back to the basket and make a scoring play. There are places where he is effective catching the ball and other places where he shouldn't receive the ball. Just because you think the right play that was "presented" was a pass to Zoubek doesn't mean Singler, Coach K or James Naismith would agree. Ease up on this, okay?

Sorry but how many times since conference games started have you seen Zoubek catch the ball in a good position to post up? I've seen that maybe twice in the last 3 games so to say he can't score consistantly is wrong because he never gets the ball down there. I had trouble watching the game because of certain players jacking up 3's when we needed to go inside, thank God for G keeping Tech honest with those drives, and for making those tough mid range shots.

[AtlBluRew]

I was so happy to see Marty P. get in the game I had to give him a vote here!

[ncexnyc]

I gave my vote to Kyle. He started the game jacking 3's, which worried me, but he finally realized he was needed down low and from there on he became a beast on the boards and sticking put-back after put-back.

Nice to see a positive contribution from Greg yesterday, especially with Jon having a horrid shooting game until the very end.

G continues to get better and again he gave us a couple of nice drives to the left and that midrange shot is definitely back.

[arnie]

Sorry but how many times since conference games started have you seen Zoubek catch the ball in a good position to post up? I've seen that maybe twice in the last 3 games so to say he can't score consistantly is wrong because he never gets the ball down there. I had trouble watching the game because of certain players jacking up 3's when we needed to go inside, thank God for G keeping Tech honest with those drives, and for making those tough mid range shots.

This discussion reminds me of the Casey Sanders days. After a while, I tended to blame the guards for passing him the ball after Casey turned it over. Zoubek is better at catching the ball, but tossing it to him under the basket is no sure thing. IMO, I think we need him in to rebound, stay planted more on defense, tip in missed shots,etc., with isolated passes inside.

[elvis14]

This discussion reminds me of the Casey Sanders days. After a while, I tended to blame the guards for passing him the ball after Casey turned it over. Zoubek is better at catching the ball, but tossing it to him under the basket is no sure thing. IMO, I think we need him in to rebound, stay planted more on defense, tip in missed shots,etc., with isolated passes inside.

I agree that it's no sure thing but it's important. If Z makes a few of these during a game it'll create more room for others. Luckily Z has shown that he'd a pretty darn good passer. Get him a few baskets down low (or even good shot attempts) and teams will start to collapse on him a bit and give us open threes or lanes to the basket. I'm not saying run the offense inside out all game long thru Z but do it enough for the other to recognized that he can't be ignored. Of course Z needs to finish and he needs to get good position and get a good entry pass as well.

[Cavlaw]

I really like what Zoubek has been doing this year, but I do think there remains significant room for improvement.

I believe he needs to keep working on hand strength and coordination to be a better pass receiver and rebounder.

I'd also like to see him play with more confidence under the basket on offense. He makes some terrific strong plays, and some terrific finesse plays, but his first instinct when he gets a pass or rebound often seems to be to take the ball down low with both hands while he thinks about what to do next. Sometimes you have to, and sometimes you have to kick it back out if nothing is there, but it seems that his reaction is just too slow at times when an opportunity for immediate action exists.

Finally, and I'm not sure how you address this, but I'd like to see him better positioned for rebounds, particularly on the offensive end. He's getting quite a few, and it helps the team a lot, but in many instances he gets boxed out very effectively or is just on the wrong side of the hoop. I don't know how you get better at that, but some guys just always seem to show up where the ball is, like Dennis Rodman. Maybe it has to do with awareness of where the shot is coming from and so where it is likely to rebound to on a miss.

[greybeard]

If Zoubek gets touches inside he will score the ball. I think that he has proven that. I recall that his shooting percentage is way up there, and his free throw percentage is outstanding. Scores at the rim are much more important than any other scores, including a three, in my opinion. I think that Zoubek can give you on good percentage more scores at the rim than he currently is.

Now, is Zoubek doing as much as K would like to create really, really good scoring chances? I think that the dirth of passes he is receiving says that he is not. Perhaps K is challenging him to improve his ability to get and hold position, which as Jumbo has pointed out (you think) are not his strong suit. If so, that would be ideal. But, if he doesn't, I think that this team is best served by maximizing Zoubek's scoring opportunities at the rim taking his skill set exactly as it is. We shall see how things develop.

I should point out that I agree with those who see some wobbliness in Zoubek's offensive game that makes me nervous at times. However, he has consistently scored the ball notwithstanding that wobbliness. The question is, if you really need a score, and you see Zoubek in a really good position at the rim, do you get it to him without hesitation. Right now the answer on this team seems to be NO. Me, I'm a YES man on this one. grey "the strength of the pack is in the wolf" beard

[Troublemaker]

If Zoubek gets touches inside he will score the ball. I think that he has proven that.

Has he proven that against fellow 7-footers, though? I think Zoubek's offensive role was reduced the past couple of games because he was going up against unusually tall (for college bball) front lines, and we'll see him become more involved in the offense again when we play shorter teams. Truth be told, I probably would've liked to have seen him attempt a few more shots against FSU and GaTech, but I have no idea how effective he would've been. My guess is not very. The one time in the past two games that we saw him attempt a post move, the FSU center swatted it back easily. Aminu also got him from behind in last night's game. I'm a Z fan, but he doesn't have much hops or suddenness to his game; he's just tall, and he might only be able to score against smaller front lines, and not against two of the tallest teams in the country.

[captmojo]

I like Zoubek's presence on the floor. His efficiency does open opportunities or others. There was one time, last night, where he knocked his own rebound away from himself...out of bounds. This may be lack of confidence. He needs to work on his handwork and have no fear of taking it up to the rim.

[1DevilishKing]

I'm a fan of "GH & KS". Both are spectacular players. When one is hot the other is luke warm. Actually not a bad combi-
-nation, If you ask me. But when they're both on "UNSTOPPABLE"! Lets not point fingers. Its a team effort
and the whole team needs to be on. Not just one or two guys
every player on that squad is a "GO2 guy". But that's just my own personal opinion. I'm not worried they'll get it together. We should give props to The "Z" & to "GP" for there
hard work and effort they both put fourth to show and prove
what talent they possess. Job well done!

1DevilishKing.

[1DevilishKing]

I had to vote for GP he is underrated. I tried to remain neutral. In this. Is this poll meant to derail my Devils?
It's bad enough the media does not give any of the Blue Devils credit. We can talk Scheyer or we can talk KSing
McClure is great at his position-still no credit. I am sick of The BlueDevils being blackballed. It should be against the law to do so.

1DevilishKing.

[jv001]

I had to vote for GP he is underrated. I tried to remain neutral. In this. Is this poll meant to derail my Devils?
It's bad enough the media does not give any of the Blue Devils credit. We can talk Scheyer or we can talk KSing
McClure is great at his position-still no credit. I am sick of The BlueDevils being blackballed. It should be against the law to do so.

1DevilishKing.

I don't see how you think Greg is underated at this point in the season. He's been injured since last summer and not played very well so far. Last year he was probably our best outside shooter, but this year he's not shooting well. However last game he did hit some key shots in the first half. Maybe this gets him going and we will see last years version, Go Greg and Go Duke!