MBB: Duke 78 Miami-Fl 75 Post-Game Thread

[Troublemaker]

Please discuss here.

[JDev]

Great comeback. Duke played much more aggressive and moved the ball much faster in the second half, and it showed offensively. Paulus was oustanding. When the plus/minus is posted, the Paulus-Scheyer-Henderson-McClure-Singler line-up will show up big time. That unit was great today.

[geraldsneighbor]

Felt like the Belmont game last year. The game just kept going. The first half I was angry, the second have angry. Then I was happy when we made a run. Then nervous. Then happy we won. Just a preview for UNC I guess Wednesday. GP is back folks.

[shadowfax336]

Beautiful to see Paulus playing like the 3rd team all ACC player he was last year, I think Nolan can get used to coming off the bench...
I posted this in the MOTM thread, but McClure was huge with his 7 offensive rebounds, 13 total rebounds and 2 steals (unofficial stats). We took 19 more shots from the field than Miami, and McClure was a huge reason why.

[CDu]

Awful, AWFUL first half. Great shooting to get us back in, and I think that broke Miami's confidence and they crumbled a bit. Can't believe they bounced back to get it to OT.

McClinton is really good. There's not much more to say about that.

Interesting move by Coach to go with McClure, Henderson, Scheyer, Paulus, and Singler for almost the entire second half. Spot minutes for Thomas and Smith only.

Great comeback win, and it was nice to see Paulus make an impact and Scheyer hit a bunch of shots. Singler looked better today, but he just couldn't buy a break. Nice to see double-digit rebounds from him. Great game from McClure.

On the downside, I'm concerned about Smith right now. He's looked bad for several games now, with the exception of the Maryland beatdown. Zoubek too. It would be great for the two of them (or Thomas or Plumlee) to get going. Otherwise, we look a lot like last year's team (with improvement from Henderson and Singler offsetting the departure of Nelson).

But it was nice to see us claw back from what was starting to look like another catastrophe. To get a win after being down 16 is huge, and hopefully will help a lot against UNC in terms of our confidence.

[DukeWarhead]

McClinton is really good, I'll say that.
Any time Duke can shoot 32.7% from the floor and win, its a steal and I'll take it. Great comeback, and yes, nice to see Greg Paulus again.

[Kedsy]

Beautiful to see Paulus playing like the 3rd team all ACC player he was last year, I think Nolan can get used to coming off the bench...
I posted this in the MOTM thread, but McClure was huge with his 7 offensive rebounds, 13 total rebounds and 2 steals (unofficial stats). We took 19 more shots from the field than Miami, and McClure was a huge reason why.

I will be surprised if Nolan doesn't start against UNC. We need his defense on Lawson, and while Singler can occasionally guard Hansbrough, he shouldn't do it for the majority of the game. If the 5 that played most of today's 2nd half play vs. UNC, then McClure will be on Hansbrough, and Paulus would presumably have to guard Lawson, which I just don't think he can do very well.

[CDu]

I will be surprised if Nolan doesn't start against UNC. We need his defense on Lawson, and while Singler can occasionally guard Hansbrough, he shouldn't do it for the majority of the game. If the 5 that played most of today's 2nd half play vs. UNC, then McClure will be on Hansbrough, and Paulus would presumably have to guard Lawson, which I just don't think he can do very well.

The way Smith is playing right now (don't know if it's injury or confidence or what), I'm not sure going with Smith will help against Lawson. He's struggling. Paulus certainly will have his problems on defense, but he's at least providing an impact on offense. We'll see, I guess. If Smith gets the start, hopefully he bounces back.

[Kfanarmy]

put the team back on track...biggest problem in defense was transitioning from sooo many missed shots. when they started hitting, team looked much better on D. Hopefully pulled a couple of folks out of their shooting slump.

[ice-9]

Great win, but somewhat concerning. We were all waiting to see how this Duke team would react following the Clemson beatdown. Not the big bounce back game we were all hoping for, but at least we pulled out a win (in OT no less). I'd probably feel better if that comeback was fueled by penetration and lay-ups instead of long outside shooting, but a win is a win. So I guess the verdict is still...TBD. I'm sure we'll learn more against UNC.

[KandG]

Terrible start, and I'm still concerned about Nolan Smith -- we need him to be better to be one of the elite teams. With that said, Paulus really, really stepped up his game today and (mostly) acquitted himself very well on defense.

I'm surprised there aren't more people posting...that was one of the most entertaining games of the season, even with our first half (which Miami deserves some credit for). Those last ten minutes of regulation, in particular, were a constant back and forth struggle. I almost found myself rooting for McClinton to make that last ridiculous three, because I loved seeing both teams bring out the best in each other.

[calltheobvious]

Felt like the Belmont game last year. The game just kept going. The first half I was angry, the second have angry. Then I was happy when we made a run. Then nervous. Then happy we won. Just a preview for UNC I guess Wednesday. GP is back folks.

...but not about Duke. I'm embarrassed about my own Chicken Little temper-tantrum at half-time. The guts that group of young men showed in the second half was truly something to behold. They took my own petulance and stuck it in my eye. Just another not-so-subtle reminder that being proud of our team and our school is about so much more than wins and losses.

Greg Paulus. Seriously. Greg freaking Paulus. The guy who's been criticized more than maybe any Duke starter K's ever had. The guy who gets benched his senior year. And then comes in for only his second start of the year and does that. I can't even fathom what he's been through psychologically this year, to say nothing of the injuries he's battled his entire college career.
I don't know that I've ever been any more proud of an individual player than I am of Greg right now.

And Dave. That was the greatest Cameron performance by a player scoring fewer than three points since Wojo had one point and eleven(?) assists against UNC in 1998.

I don't know where this team's going. There are certainly some issues to sort out. But I know that after this season is over I'm going to look back at today's game, and I'm going to be content.

[captmojo]

Giant confidence boosting game here, with a tough squad of goats coming in next.

Don't think too much about it, but Virginia is hangin' tough, right now, with the holes.

[EarlJam]

Awful, AWFUL first half.



No kidding. GREAT win and we showed incredible toughness in the second half. Maybe we can learn from that.

But in the first half, we weren't just missing, we were shooting like some of the worst rec players I've ever seen (Steve Hall and Tim Fender come to mind).

After Nolan's shot that hit the backboard like a bazooka shell, I thout we'd have to have an official timeout to fix the goal.

I say this light-heartedly and non-critically because I really think it's a testament to the team's toughness how we came back from a horrendous and disasterous first half.

I'm proud of Our Guys!

-EJ

[chrisheery]

The game changed when Gerald got that put back slam. We continued to get offensive boards after that. Without those rebounds, our shooting would have killed us, but you get a lot more confident shooting when you know you might get another chance without much damage being done.

Despite the remarkable come back and just transformation mentally of this team in the second half, we still need to find more consistency with something inside. Singler and Henderson usually have guys they can take inside and should. Zoubek doesn't do much but I think it is partially due to not getting the ball when he could do the most with it and not getting the ball enough to try new things. Think if we never gave the ball back to Scheyer when he was cold. Today never would have happened. I am not saying they are comparable skill level, but Zoubek could be another Luke Scensher (spelling?) easily with the opportunity.

[JDev]

Kyle finished with 17 and 10, but according to ESPN, he was 5-24. He obviously needs to be much more efficient, but it is great to see that even if his shot is not falling, he does not change the way he plays. He still makes winning plays and has a huge impact on the game.

[hughesmiester]

Maybe I'm looking through rose colored glasses, but I am only taking positve things out of this game. What a second half, and overtime. Was worried after the Canes forced OT that we wouldn't be able to match their intensity but boy was I glad I proved myself wrong.

Did we really want to have these guys answer questiions about facing their third consecutive ACC loss against UNC Wednesday? Nope, they can build on this with even more confidence heading into Wednesday. Great win, hard fought.

GP and McClure, wow what else can you say?

[Saratoga2]

Greg was a difference maker today and was everywhere picking up loose balls and knocking balls away. With 18 points, his contribution was total. Nice to see that the circumatances were right for him to have a very good game.

As poorly as we played in the first have offensively, we recovered in the second. I thought Henderson's ability to penetrate and get his shot away inside and mid range really helped us the most, yet I think the man of the match should go to Greg.

I loved both Scheyer's and McClure's defense on McClinton. That kid is pro quality and they were able to slow him down most of the game.

Unexpected win after the first half.

By the way, what was coach K thinking with his substitution early in the first half. It gave up about 8 points in a couple of minutes. We don't need that kind of handicap going forward.

[roywhite]

One of the keys to the game was how quickly Duke erased Miami's big lead. At 17:22 in the second half, Miami was up 16, and by 12:11, Duke was up by 4!

The final sequence in that time frame was an 8-pt swing in Duke's favor. Henderson scored (after a McClure offensive rebound); on the Miami inbounds, Paulus got a steal and a score; Paulus and DeQuan Jones then got tangled up and Jones nailed Paulus with an elbow, drawing a flagarant foul and ejection. Scheyer hit the first free throw, missed the second, but Duke got the rebound, and Scheyer quickly hit a 3-pointer. 8-0 in less than 30 seconds. Amazing.

[snowdenscold]

Was it just me or did it seem like Miami couldn't miss from 3? Ours would keep bouncing off, but no matter how difficult the shot theirs would go in. I'm still amazed McClinton was able to send the game into overtime with that ridiculous 3 - but given the rest of the game it wasn't as shocking as it might have been.

[geraldsneighbor]

Maybe I'm looking through rose colored glasses, but I am only taking positve things out of this game. What a second half, and overtime. Was worried after the Canes forced OT that we wouldn't be able to match their intensity but boy was I glad I proved myself wrong.

Did we really want to have these guys answer questiions about facing their third consecutive ACC loss against UNC Wednesday? Nope, they can build on this with even more confidence heading into Wednesday. Great win, hard fought.

GP and McClure, wow what else can you say?

Very good post. I agree that when they forced OT it seemed like with out shortened bench(bench? what's a bench?) we would be out of gas. I mean this in all honesty was the type of ball game I expected. A fight for a win which I think is better then a 30 point win going into UNC. Jon, G, and even Kyle looked great in the second half. The senior leadership of Paulus and McClure though...wowwww.

Whose fatigued?

[Highlander]

This was a game that we could not afford to lose if we want to challenge for a #1 seed and the conference crown. Miami is good, don't get me wrong, but you just have to win at home when you're favored.

I think it was J-Dev who said he expected Miami to zone us for most of the game, and for it to be a low scoring game. He certainly called the first half to a tea. I didn't think we played all that badly on defense, and we didn't turn the ball over a ton or give Miami a bunch of easy baskets. Our offense was just stagnant, and at least half the time it didn't look like we ran much of anything resembling an offense, unless you call standing around for 20s then jacking up a 3 an offense. The other half of the time we did, but just couldn't hit any of our shots.

In the second half we went with a smaller lineup and it paid huge dividends as we started to get hot. Two of our big three (Jon and Gerald) started to carry us, with Paulus playing well too. Kyle's shot was off for much of the game, and he seemed to have problems getting anything going. He did hit some big shots down the stretch however. I didn't like Paulus's late 3 to put us ahead, but it went in so I won't complain too loudly.

Jack McClinton is really, really good. During the last 5 minutes of the game, he was essentially unstoppable on offense. I thought we had the game won in regulation, but McClinton had other ideas.

During OT we kept Miami scoreless for almost 4 minutes and built a 6 point lead. Then we hit our FT's down the stretch to win.

Very incredible comeback from 16 down. This team showed a lot of heart in the face of adversity. I don't know if we turned a corner tonight on our offensive woes, but I hope so. I'd love to see what this team could do if our big 3 all get hot at the same time.

Congrats on a great win..

[davekay1971]

I'm glad we won. That's the overriding feeling.

The negative signs are obvious - would have liked to see us come out sharper and more aggressive. I guess we were tentative...not sure what was wrong in the first half, really. Hopefully Singler and Smith won't stay in their funk any longer...hopefully.

The positives: Scheyer may be coming out of his offensive funk. Henderson still looks dominant at times. Paulus looks much more confident. We showed tremendous heart in coming back. We finished despite a phenomenal late game performance by McClinton (who's an absolute stud).

It's a win, and we needed that. Hopefully we can take the 3 consecutive terrible halves we played and learn some important lessons, then take the second half today and use it as a stepping stone to the rest of the season.

[brumby041]

I'll echo others in terms of the play of McClure and Paulus. Excellent!

And after only 19 points in the first half, a great comeback and a sorely needed win.

One thing I don't understand: I'll grant that McClinton is a good player, but how does he get away with pushing off with his off arm on nearly every play? Why doesn't that get called? I know I saw K asking the ref for it at least a couple of times.

-----------

Announcing: G-Man >>>>> Bilas

[sivartrenrag]

Greg Paulus is the epitome of every reason I love Duke. Passion, heart, guts, intensity, hustle, and pride. I'll never understand why he's been criticized so much. Maybe he's not the most athletic PG Duke has had, but win or lose, I'm proud he wears a Duke uniform.

Henderson and Singler are great, too =D

[geraldsneighbor]

All the talk with Paulus was how he had to shield off defenders and today he was really good in confronting the defense head on. I know it wasn't high pressured Miami defense but still. He handled it well. UNC will have a short bench Wednesday too, so hopefully our friends from Charlottesville can take them the distance today.

[grossbus]

"I will be surprised if Nolan doesn't start against UNC. We need his defense on Lawson"

his defense has been about as good as his offense of late.


we are back to short bench and small ball...because it worked. K played the guys who were getting it done. i can't argue with the results, but it can't be a long term solution, because we know where that leads.

boy, singler and scheyer too with some really open misses.

GP with a step up game...not perfect, by any means, but delivered what was needed, especially late.

no picnic coming up. we need to start playing earlier.

[DukieInBrasil]

Glad we were able to squeak a nail-biter at home, but sheesh, our boys need to learn how to shoot again beofre the UNC game. Maybe the comeback in the 2nd half is a harbinger of an uprising in determination in our boys.
It´s good top see Kyle grab a doubleX2 but his shot is really off, he shot just ~22% from the floor. As a percent that is bad, but what is worse is that he ended up taking 20+ shots. Horrible shooting actually, but it wasnt just him. No one shot well, including the %-leader for the game Henderson who shot 44%. Maybe that was a result of Miami´s D, but this continues a streak of ice-cold shooting from Duke. Scheyer didnt shoot very well from the floor, but got to the line a lot, which he has done quite well during his personal shooting slump, plus he hit at a decent rate from 3. Even GP, who scored a lot more than he has been lately, didnt shoot particularly well.
The utter lack of production off the bench (minus Dave´s spectacular 13 rebounds) is disappointing, especially considering that 2 of those guys were giving us (or at least me) great reason for secretly feeling that we could be really good this year, Nolan and Z.
One really nice thing to take away from the game, 2 actually, were that we had a nice assist/turnover of 13/9 and that we out-rebounded Miami. So those are 2 things to feel good about in adition to the comeback win
Anyway, chalk up a win and let´s hope the boys clear their minds and get fired up for UNC at home.

[miramar]

I don't know what Coach K told them at halftime, but I sure wish I had a recording.

These guys are tough, as shown by the minutes played by four of the starters: Singler (43), Scheyer (42), Paulus (40), and Henderson (38).

Fortunately, Carolina is four days away.

[Kedsy]

Something to get excited about...I don't think so.

You only get excited when your team wins the national championship? I guess you've been bored by a lot of wonderful basketball over the past 25 years. I should think an overtime win would be very exciting even if the team was in last place.

In the first half the team seemed to play like they did against Clemson and in the second half that changed. To me, that's an exciting turn of events.

Personally, I think the lesson learned is that if Duke brings 100% energy and passion we're a very good team that could beat anybody in the country. If we mail it in, we can lose by 27. If the players can maintain their intensity levels, then good things are going to happen. Here's hoping they do.

[chrisheery]

Gman and his partner (who was it?) were just great today. I wish Raycom's announcers could do ESPN games. They keep it simple, pay attention, and know the game. I know Bilas knows the game, but sometimes he tries to show his knowledge so much that it is annoying and negative.

Anyway, I loved the call today, just great to hear two guys involved in the game who knew what they were talking about. I think this might mostly be aimed at Mike Patrick who is the worst announcer in the world. He gets names wrong, makes assertions that are absurd, and puts his partner in a strange position of having to say everything to avoid hearing him talk.

[mgtr]

Some of the players in my opinion have regressed or just not gotten better.

Smith has regressed, up until today Paulus has not gotten any better, Thomas and Zoubek have not gotten any better at all, Pocius has either regressed or not gotten any better, Scheyer has not gotten any better and may have regressed a bit, Williams is a non entity, contributing virtually nothing.


I think that up until the second half of the game today, much of the above criticism is correct (I would disagree about Scheyer, his shot has been off, but he does everything else great). In the second half today, both Scheyer and Paulus showed their stuff. On the other hand, Smith looks lost, Williams looks lost, and Zoubek and Thomas show no improvement.
I wonder what Coach K sees in practice that causes him to put in Pocius and Williams at the same time? Plumlee gave a few good minutes against Clemson, but we didn't see him today. Very confusing.
However, we had a wonderful second half, and it was great to win.
Now, for UNC!

[RelativeWays]

^^^^ What DaveKay said.

After an embarrassing performance I really wanted to see this Duke team come out and do everything in their power to smash Miami. That didn't happen and things went awry in the 1st half. The key is is being down 15+ at home, after being smashed just a couple of nights before, this team could have hung its head and got spanked again (we know Miami is capable....ask Wake). They didn't and instead fought back and won an emotionally tough game. Did we turn a corner, where does that put us? I really have no idea. I figured on two outcomes, 1) we'd win convincingly showing the world that we wouldn't takes Wednesday's thrashing lying down 2) we'd put in a tepid performance that would either result in a back to back loss, or a phone in victory that we'd eek out in the last 2 minutes. Neither one of those scenarios happened. We sure didn't blow out Miami, and the 1st half, we stunk, but really fired it up the 2nd half. I don't know where that puts us.

Dear Greg Paulus and Dave McClure. Thank you for remembering that you are seniors and would not allow this team to lose this game. We need you to do that every game from here on out or we're doomed. I don't think Duke has had a truly emotional leader since Duhon left in 2004 and I think thats been part of the reason of our decline. We may not have been getting the talented big men we need for post scoring, we also haven't had that one player that galvanizes the team and wills us to victory. Gp is the closest thing we have and Dave's play is remarkable a lot of times. You guys need to emotionally carry this team from here on out.

[EarlJam]

I'll echo others in terms of the play of McClure and Paulus. Excellent!



I'll echo all true sentiments on McClure. I love that guy!

A small point that is rather moot now: I'm I the only one that noticed when McClure got MUGGED on the sideline (dude was over his back), then the ball went off Miami. The call? Out of bounds, Miami ball.

-EJ

[roywhite]

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=3664701

Some interesting numbers in the official box:

McClinton with 34 points, and was 5-6 from 3-pt
Dave McClure with 13 rebounds
Duke with an 18-7 edge in offensive rebounds

Quite a comeback. Whew.

[snowdenscold]

I'll echo all true sentiments on McClure. I love that guy!

A small point that is rather moot now: I'm I the only one that noticed when McClure got MUGGED on the sideline (dude was over his back), then the ball went off Miami. The call? Out of bounds, Miami ball.

-EJ

Wasn't that the one the announcers showed the replay and clearly pointed out the refs had the wrong call (this was with about 2 minutes left)? Or am I confusing the two?

And btw, I would have been super pissed if we had lost the game then since that switch of possession would have been critical.

[DukeWarhead]

Just like K said in the offseason - this is one of those wins that we need not feel relieved just to get, but excited for a tough, comeback win. A season is made of ups and downs and after 1 1/2 games of down, these guys turned it around in a big way, so its nothing but good.
Won or lose against the holes won't change the fact that this was a great win and worth remembering at seasons' end - whenever that may be.
Also, stop worrying about a #1 seed. It's not important right now. What is important is getting better in each game and finding the game that works. Seeding will take care of itself and so will the tourney... Duke just needs to play like it is capable of playing and I have faith in a good outcome.
Enjoy the ups, people.

[HDB]

A really gritty comeback. I didn't think they had it in them so I give them huge credit. However, the win doesn't really eliminate the concerns I have with the offense. 39 three point attempts today. 39! No way that style wins in March.

[roywhite]

Talk about finding a way to win:

Miami had a 13-pt lead at half
Miami shot 9-15 from 3-pt for the game
2nd half---Miami shoots 56.5% FG and Duke 42.1% FG.

This one belongs to the seniors. Great job by Dave and Greg.

[DukeCO2009]

That was the worst first half I've seen since, well, Clemson. Hell of a comeback, though. A lot of teams would have packed it in, but this team has as much heart as I've seen in a Duke team since 2001. Wow. The key to the gmae, IMO, was the way we attacked the zone in the second half. For the first twenty minutes, we would dribble 20-25 seconds off the clock, jack up a three, and hope for the best. In the second half, we rotated the ball much quicker. This was only possible because we hit the guy flashing to the high post--Kyle, Dave, Lance, and occasionally G. That really opened up the court and allowed us to get easier shots. For the entirety of the first half, our guys looked like they were sitting back and waiting for Miami to come out of the zone--glad we got it together.

[hudlow]

A half anywhere remotely like the first half Duke had against Miami and Carolina will beat the breath out of Duke Wednesday night.

I'm glad Duke had to struggle to win this game. They surely didn't need a cakewalk going into the Carolina game. These guys can play but they're still afraid to play aggressively.

If they don't play the best 2 halves of their season on Wednesday, it's going to be a long night.

The shot selection needs to improve and the shots are going to have to drop. That's what's expected when you're recruited to the best program in the country.

hud

[DukeWarhead]

Duke does not need to play their very best of the season to beat UNC. They need to play with intensity and smarts and focus on D.
Look at the first half of UVA-UNC. Tarholes shooting 27%. See, they are capable of playing poorly as well. I'm sure they'll beat UVA, because the hoos will give up, but the hole have proven that they are not particularly consistent either and that they can struggle.
I realize that both teams bring out thier best game for each other.
I still like Duke's edge on defense and mental game. They showed tonight that they don't panic.
I just like our chances - gotta have confidence.

[dukelifer]

If you were to script a comeback game- it would be the one we all just saw. If Duke had shot 60% and won going away- I am sure we would still have doubts about this team. One big doubt I had was whether this team could win a close game. Today they showed they could fight back and win a game even when an opponent was having a great night. Duke took that game from Miami and that was good to see. This game is about fight and tonight the boys fought- even with the unbelievably poor shooting performance by Singler for most of the game. But is it me, but he seems to play his best when he is really angry. Someone needs to get that boy angry before every game.

This game saw Scheyer find his stroke, Paulus find mojo and swagger and it saw Henderson overcome some first half tentativeness. I think it is now official, but Dave McClure is the college version of Dennis Rodman. Duke does not win this game without his ability to give the team second chances. he had 7 offensive rebounds and everyone was big. He is getting too valuable to keep him off the court- despite his offense- although to give him credit- he can score around the hoop if folks make an effort to get him the ball.

Paulus needs to start- maybe not play the most- but he does play better as a starter. Nolan has had his chance to shine- but right now he is in a funk. Paulus needs to bring his emotion to this team. Duke is certainly not clicking but they are fighting and that is all we can ask for.

[BlueintheFace]

Greg Paulus... what a kid. He was EVERYWHERE on that floor.

Greg Paulus- 40 minutes
Nolan Smith- 7

... I'm not sure what this stat means going forward (especially the Carolina game), but WOW. Our Defense definitely has a higher ceiling with Nolan on the floor. On the other hand, Greg is playing a better all around brand of basketball (especially on offense) right now I think. Interesting decision for K coming up.

[heyman25]

Glad for the win. Paulus and McClure were outstanding.Scheyer Henderson and Singler have to play so much,because the bench does not provide anything. I would give Plumlee and Williams a thumbs down. Here it is February and their contributions have been negligible.Pocius rarely scores Zoubek and Thomas are regressing to last season performances. The team shooting all season especially in Cameron is awful.
The 2010 recruiting is off to a good start. Kelly and Mason Plumlee I hope can do more than Miles Plumlee and Elliott Williams are doing.However next recruiting opportunity hit the road jack and find some quality players. We still need another guard from the class of 09. I know Nolan will snap out of it. Not so sure about Elliott this year. I doubt if Wall will come to Duke. Hope we can close Harrison Barnes by the spring. The reason our bench is lacking boils down to misreading potential in recruiting. Last 4 years or more.

[arnie]

The good news, Dave played great as a "5" today and likely played most every minute in the 2nd half/OT. He seems to do more with less than any player I've seen.

The bad news, Dave had to play essentially the entire 2nd half for us to win. I really don't think we win this game with LT or Z playing the 2nd half. Small ball seems to be the only way we can play well which isn't comforting in March.

Good to see Paulus hit those shots, track down rebounds etc., he played as well as possible.

[CDu]

Greg Paulus... what a kid. He was EVERYWHERE on that floor.

Greg Paulus- 40 minutes
Nolan Smith- 7

... I'm not sure what this stat means going forward (especially the Carolina game), but WOW. Our Defense definitely has a higher ceiling with Nolan on the floor. On the other hand, Greg is playing a better all around brand of basketball (especially on offense) right now I think. Interesting decision for K coming up.

I think it means that Coach K wasn't happy with the team's play, and said to the upperclassmen "I'm going with you guys, and you guys are going to win the game for us." And sure enough - Henderson, Paulus, McClure, Scheyer and Singler had big second halves to get it done.

Smith's play since the Asheville game just hasn't been there. He's 30-86 from the floor (34.9%) and his scoring is way down (7.3ppg). He had a couple of nice games in that stretch, but for the most part has been struggling for a while. Early in the season, he made sense as the starter, but today it was the right decision to play Paulus and not Smith given how they were playing.

Hopefully, Smith gets whatever is wrong figured out, because he can be an impact defender. But today, he just wasn't getting it done. Coach K went with the guys who were getting it done.

[DukeCO2009]

Glad for the win. Paulus and McClure were outstanding.Scheyer Henderson and Singler have to play so much,because the bench does not provide anything. I would give Plumlee and Williams a thumbs down. Here it is February and their contributions have been negligible.Pocius rarely scores Zoubek and Thomas are regressing to last season performances. The team shooting all season especially in Cameron is awful.
The 2010 recruiting is off to a good start. Kelly and Mason Plumlee I hope can do more than Miles Plumlee and Elliott Williams are doing.However next recruiting opportunity hit the road jack and find some quality players. We still need another guard from the class of 09. I know Nolan will snap out of it. Not so sure about Elliott this year. I doubt if Wall will come to Duke. Hope we can close Harrison Barnes by the spring. The reason our bench is lacking boils down to misreading potential in recruiting. Last 4 years or more.

1. Hard to give Plumlee and Williams a thumbs down when neither gets much burn. IMO, Miles has looked great when he's played. His defense isn't awesome, but he's a step up from Z on the offensive end. EWill hasn't shot well, but his athleticism makes him a threat when he's on the court.

2. Zoubek has indeed regressed.

3. Lance has been playing well, and I think you're giving him some undue criticism.

[1Devil]

1. Hard to give Plumlee and Williams a thumbs down when neither gets much burn. IMO, Miles has looked great when he's played. His defense isn't awesome, but he's a step up from Z on the offensive end. EWill hasn't shot well, but his athleticism makes him a threat when he's on the court.

2. Zoubek has indeed regressed.

3. Lance has been playing well, and I think you're giving him some undue criticism.

Plumlee is a step up from Zoubek on the offensive end as well. I don't understand why Plumlee is not getting all of Zoubek's minutes at this point.

[wisteria]

I am not really good at the basketball Xs and Os. While I understand our defensive scheme, could somebody enlighten me on what sort of offensive system we are playing?

[-bdbd]

They had several chances to fold (like they did at Littlejohn) and today they STOOD UP. I thought Gerald was HUGE, as he started slashing and drawing attention, which left other guys open, plus whenever we NEEDED a bucket he seemed to be the best at CREATING one. We clearly need Gerald to continue to develop his assertiveness if we want to go deep in March.

Dave McClure has become "Mr. Glue." Interestingly, I remember his recruitment out of UCONN territory 4-5 years ago, and that was what K told him and his family -- he expected Dave to eventually be a "intangibles" sort of good teammate, and potential team captain. Finally consistently healthy, he's delivering this year very well. Expect him to be a MAJOR contributor down the stretch. This team seems to need his focus, energy and intensity.

I was one of those who applauded the switch to Nolan as starting PG in Nov. But 'got to say, Greg certainly brings some intangibles, and is terrific at being in the right place at the right time. I'd like to see both of the, playing more at the same time, so Smith can guard the speedy PG's of the world, while Greg is the primary ballhandler. Versus North Carolina@chapel hill I wouldn't be surprised to see Greg start, but not necessarily guarding their speedy PG, at least not to start. Why not let Gerald do that and slide Paulus and Jon (or Lance) to guard their 2 and 3 respectively?

I expect it to be a good one for the lead in the ACC. Raycom did a fans texting poll in the first half of the UVA-chapel hill game, and, no surprise (why do they DO these things anyway???) the UNC fas predicted 75-25% that chapel hill would win the Duke game. Giggle-giggle....

-BDBD :o

[ForeverBlowingBubbles]

Hopefully this is a sign that we indeed hit bottom on the season and can expect a strong resurgence. Good work men.

[bjornolf]

I love Zoubek, and I have pulled for him since the beginning, but if there is a remotely athletic big man on the opposing team, he will eat Zoubek's lunch. Zoubek can body people up, but he's not athletic enough to shoot over athletic big men near his size, and he's not quick enough laterally defensively and his footwork isn't good enough to cover athletic bigmen. He can body them up, but I noticed several times today that Graham would take him out to the three point line to set a screen and just blow by him back to the rim. He even beat him by two steps on that one play in the first half where he just dribbled right by him from the three point line. He just doesn't have the speed to recover from outside when hedging on a screen or even just trying to stay with his own man on one. He couldn't even hold position on a rebound when he got it today. They'd just go around him. I saw him hanging his head several times today when he failed to get a rebound that was his by all rights by positioning, and he could even force them to go over his back to get them.

If they put him on Tyler, he will get destroyed at both ends of the floor. He does fine if he's on a bigman that's either smaller and only slightly more athletic than he or if they are of similar size but of equal or lesser athleticism. He can probably stick with big men that stay inside and never venture past the foul line, but any big man that moves a lot is just too much for him. I've kept the blinders on for a couple years, being satisfied in his strength when he can overpower his opponents. But the last several games, I think he has really dragged the team down.

That said, great win for the guys and a GUTTY comeback. I loved this game, and I think it's just what we needed going into the Carolina game. While I certainly think that Carolina is more talented than Miami, I don't think they're as tough as Miami. I don't know if we'll beat UNC, but I think we can definitely out-tough them.

Oh, and for the person that asked, Gminski's partner was a guy named Steve Martin.

[Houston]

This was a great win and a much needed win after the Clemson game. Congratulations to the seniors w/o whom we do not win. However, I am still concerned this team does not generate any easy baskets and lives (and dies) by the three. This is a risky formula for a deep run in the tournament.

[chrisheery]

Plumlee must have had an awful few days of practice, because his skill set seems like it would have been ideal in this game. I get why people think Elliot isn't ready. When he plays, he makes the same mistakes over and over again. Miles showed some good signs in the recent games. He could have hit the baseline short corner or freethrow line jumpers that were available against the zone. He also would have been ideal for offensive rebounding help. That said, it is hard to argue with the lineup that as in because it was very effective in turning things around.

[norduck]

K cut his post game interview with Bob Harris short by saying he had an important family coming in. Watzone, can you clue us in ?

[CDu]

I am not really good at the basketball Xs and Os. While I understand our defensive scheme, could somebody enlighten me on what sort of offensive system we are playing?

We run some high screens, with our shooters looking to shoot or slash to the lane off of it. It's not a typical offense, because we don't have a true point guard and we don't have a true post player. So we play to our strengths, which is slashing wings.

Today, we were facing a 2-3 zone, so we had guys flashing from the baseline up to the free throw line. That player then passed out to other shooters, or turned and shot. It got us a lot of open 3s.

[concrete]

Lance Thomas - for me - is starting to become the most frustrating Duke player since Ricky Price.

I like his defense but

a) he still fouls like a Freshman. Dumb fouls, fouls he should know better than to pick up.

b) he doesn't catch the ball and turn when he posts up. There were several "poor" entry passes into him but he had enough of a chance to corral them . Instead they ended up turnovers because he doesn't secure the ball.

c) his rebounding is horrible...I don't understand how Dave can get 10 rebounds and Lance (even when given the minutes) only gets a 3 or 4.

He's too athletic, too long, and too active not to be doing more for this team.

[FireOgilvie]

I really liked what Paulus did today on the offensive end. That 3 was huge. However, it seems like every game he's in is a shootout... for every point Duke scores, the other team matches it. This was also the case today. He has a bad habit of running past his man while either going for a steal or trying to compensate for being out of position, which leads to a huge number of points for the other team. He'll hit a huge 3, then go for a steal (and miss), and the other team will score because Paulus just took himself out of the defense. It happens all the time. I think this habit, which can be easily fixed (CONTROL YOUR BODY - don't overrun the play), is just as bad as his inability to guard quick point guards. His gambles sometimes pay off (he had 3 steals), but more often than not they don't.

Scheyer was huge for us today. He looked great.

McClure was the difference-maker. He had some really really clutch rebounds.

Singler still looks sick to me. He looks like he lost a lot of weight.

Zoubek was terrible today, which surprised me. I really like what he has done for us this year at times, and he usually at least shows up to play.

I would really like to see Nolan start playing up to his ability again. He will be critical to any kind of deep NCAA Tournament run.

[concrete]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm5gzj31odY

you know if you go youtube, i see highlight clips (prior to playing his 1st official game at duke) of lance flying around, grabbing boards, getting put back dunks and just being an athletic menace...so I'm not sure what the hell happened since then.

[jv001]

I really don't know what to think about this team. I started out the year thinking this was a special team. We did not have to use Kyle on the opposing #5 and Zoubek and Thomas were really improving. "Fools Gold". Since the ACC season began, Brian and Lance have been mostly invisible against good big men. I know some say Lance has been good lately. Well maybe a game or two. That does not qualify him to be the player we need at the #5. Jon, Greg and Kyle had not been shooting well. Today Jon and Greg stepped up. Kyle had a good overall game, but his 3 point shooting is terrible. He even struggled on the inside. Nolan began the season looking pretty good but now he is playing badly. Dave McClure has been the player that has more of less saved us. He puts it on the line every game. Today his 13 rebounds were the difference. Now for the unc game, I now think we need Greg's offense more than we need Nolan's defense. A few games ago I would have never said that. Guys bring your best game Wednesday and beat the holes. Go Duke!

[CDu]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm5gzj31odY

you know if you go youtube, i see highlight clips (prior to playing his 1st official game at duke) of lance flying around, grabbing boards, getting put back dunks and just being an athletic menace...so I'm not sure what the hell happened since then.

I think a lot of it is about comfort and confidence. Thomas is obviously really athletic, but but there are plenty of great athletes who don't manage to put it together when they get in game situations. It appears that it hasn't really clicked for Thomas at the college level.

It probably doesn't help that Thomas isn't that strong with the ball. He frequently has problems going up strong and finishing in traffic. Granted, that's not the easiest thing to do, but continually struggling with it can't help your confidence.

[concrete]

I think a lot of it is about comfort and confidence. Thomas is obviously really athletic, but but there are plenty of great athletes who don't manage to put it together when they get in game situations. It appears that it hasn't really clicked for Thomas at the college level.

It probably doesn't help that Thomas isn't that strong with the ball. He frequently has problems going up strong and finishing in traffic. Granted, that's not the easiest thing to do, but continually struggling with it can't help your confidence.

I think the most frustrating is his lack of rebounding prowess after 3 years of ACC experience.

[CDu]

I think the most frustrating is his lack of rebounding prowess after 3 years of ACC experience.

I think it's all tied together. His play is still so frenetic all the time, bordering on spastic. I think the lack of rebounding and struggles with overaggressiveness are related to the NCAA game just not slowing down for him yet.

I agree it's frustrating, because he has loads of athleticism and does have talent. You just want to see the light click and have him be a consistent impact player. There's still time, so maybe it comes for him.

[Newton_14]

The fact that we saw 23 minutes of basically the same kind of play we saw for 40 minutes against Clemson, and were playing a quality opponent that was shooting lights out, and that quality opponent has an ACC POY candidate who played at a really high level, and finally, we were 16 points down with 17 minutes to go, the fact that we won this game is truly remarkable.

One of the better comebacks in a long time. Let's remember at the start of the year a lot of experts expected Miami to be the 4th strongest ACC team. There is a reason Miami torched Wake on Wednesday; they are a darn good team. They are very athletic, have a great shooter/scorer in McClinton, plus other good shooters, have big athletic guys in the post, and play really solid defense. Miami is no slouch.

So it was great to see our guys come out of the funk and overcome all of that in 22 minutes of play. And as someone else mentioned, it took less than 6 minutes to turn a 16 point deficit into a 4 point lead. Once the 2nd half started the way it did, I had resigned myself to the fact that this was going to be a 2 game and likely 3 game "funk". I am still somewhat amazed that they pulled out the win. Especially given the fact that Miami did not fold.

A great win.

[Newton_14]

I love the guys on this team, but offensively they frustrate the heck out of me. Throughout the season, we have seen many stretches in games where the spacing, cutting, and passes were all great and the offense was like poetry in motion. It led to multiple types of open looks, from layups to mid-range jumpers, to wide open threes. When this team has played their best offense they have had balance and utilized the 3 but did not rely on it.

But on the flip side, we have also seen many stretches where the exact same guys looked as though they had never played offense before in their life and had no idea what to do. Even today in the 2nd half, they played great to erase the lead, and got points in a variety of ways, but went through a stretch after going up by 5 where they stopped the movement and just shot like 5 or 6 three's in a row and made none. Then they once again went back to good spacing, movement, passing and shot selection.

Someone else mentioned shot selection. A big part of the reason the shooting % has been so bad at times this year has been due to shot selection moreso than just missing good shots.

The one other problem I see on the offensive end, is they do not attack the basket nearly enough anymore. With Gerald, Kyle, Jon, and Nolan, we should see far more attacking by driving to the middle of the paint and forcing fouls or getting good looks. Gerald especially is really hard to stop when he attacks there.

Anyway, that is just my take on the offensive woes. I still believe this team has a high ceiling and can play much much better on the offensive end. If the offense starts clicking it will take pressure off the defense and this team can achieve great things. Let's hope it starts Wednesday night around 9pm or so....

[NYC Duke Fan]

You only get excited when your team wins the national championship? I guess you've been bored by a lot of wonderful basketball over the past 25 years. I should think an overtime win would be very exciting even if the team was in last place.

In the first half the team seemed to play like they did against Clemson and in the second half that changed. To me, that's an exciting turn of events.

Personally, I think the lesson learned is that if Duke brings 100% energy and passion we're a very good team that could beat anybody in the country. If we mail it in, we can lose by 27. If the players can maintain their intensity levels, then good things are going to happen. Here's hoping they do.

I was only saying that I was not excited about Duke beating Miami in overtime AT CAMERON, when they were a 15 point favorite, especially coming off the Clemson game. I thought that they should be firing on all cylinders and put away Miami early on.

[FerryFor50]

I was only saying that I was not excited about Duke beating Miami in overtime AT CAMERON, when they were a 15 point favorite, especially coming off the Clemson game. I thought that they should be firing on all cylinders and put away Miami early on.

Getting completely destroyed a couple of days ago didn't clue you in to the fact that they are nowhere near firing on all cylinders? :p

But seriously, I expected this game to be tough - Duke was shellacked, Miami shellacked Wake, who had beaten us... and Miami possessed the very things Duke has trouble with - big, physical front line and a top flight scorer at guard.

I'm just glad they didn't go 0-2 this week.

[Kedsy]

The good news, Dave played great as a "5" today and likely played most every minute in the 2nd half/OT. He seems to do more with less than any player I've seen.

The bad news, Dave had to play essentially the entire 2nd half for us to win. I really don't think we win this game with LT or Z playing the 2nd half. Small ball seems to be the only way we can play well which isn't comforting in March.

Good to see Paulus hit those shots, track down rebounds etc., he played as well as possible.

Except Dave wasn't playing "5," he was guarding McClinton.

[FerryFor50]

Except Dave wasn't playing "5," he was guarding McClinton.

Which is even more impressive that McClinton got as many points as he did...

[MB in MD]

I Kyle had a good overall game, but his 3 point shooting is terrible. He even struggled on the inside.

Though there have been lots of posts expressing concern about Kyle's 3-point shooting, I haven't seen too much on the board about Kyle's struggles on the inside. We know that Zoubek and Thomas have trouble around the rim, but it sure seems like Kyle is missing as many easy layups as they are. Even before his 3/16 debacle from 2 point range today, Kyle is under 50% from 2 over the past 8 games and only a little bit over for the season, and given that his game is not a lot of pull up jumpers inside the 3 point line, it seems that he should be shooting a much higher 2pt percentage. (I don't know if there are layup charts anywhere to confirm that he is missing a lot or if it's just my impression.) Some of the ones he missed today were almost laughable, but it seems like every game recently (except UVA--he was 2/2 from 2) has had a couple of missed chippies. Have people noticed this too? I don't want to get the fatigue argument going again, because I don't really think that's it, but do you think it could be in his head a little?

[Kedsy]

Versus North Carolina@chapel hill I wouldn't be surprised to see Greg start, but not necessarily guarding their speedy PG, at least not to start. Why not let Gerald do that and slide Paulus and Jon (or Lance) to guard their 2 and 3 respectively?

Who would you like Paulus to guard, 6'6" Danny Green (their 3) or 6'4" Wayne Ellington (their 2 and top scorer in the past several games)?

Paulus had a good matchup against Miami, but against teams like UNC and Wake who have very quick point guards and big two guards, he just doesn't.

[ncexnyc]

A really nice comeback win today and let's all remember, they don't give out style points, it's just L's and W's.

Our 3 headed center was MIA today. At least in the past, we were getting minutes from them. Brian got embarassed twice by Graham before he was shown his spot on the bench and Lance is back to being Lance, lots of movement and energy with little to show for it. Like another poster mentioned how does DMc, with less size do such a better job than Lance game after game? Where was Miles today?

Nice to see Jon nailing shots on a consistent basis today.

The Nolan vs Greg debate just had a major dose of fuel dumped onto that fire. I think those cheap fouls Nolan picked up didn't let him get into any type of flow today. Those intangibles Greg's fan club are always talking about were quite evident today. I'm still not sold on Greg checking Ty on Wednesday.

Kyle definitely seems under the weather, hopefully a few more days of rest will get him back to his normal self.

G continues his solid play and seems to be unstoppable when he wants to dominate a game.

David continues to shine, always in the right place at the right time to snag a rebound or tip the ball to another player.

Lots of 3 point attempts and a small line-up, as Alfred E. Newman used to say, "What, me worry?":D

[grossbus]

"His play is still so frenetic all the time, bordering on spastic"

i am beginning to think of him as the scarecrow in wizard of oz.

[roywhite]

The Nolan vs Greg debate just had a major dose of fuel dumped onto that fire. I think those cheap fouls Nolan picked up didn't let him get into any type of flow today. Those intangibles Greg's fan club are always talking about were quite evident today. I'm still not sold on Greg checking Ty on Wednesday.



Not sure what to make of Nolan these last few games; he's really struggling. When he was in today, he seemed totally befuddled about how to attack Miami's zone defense. He was about 35-40 feet from the basket (and several feet away from the closest defender) just pounding the ball on the floor and finally passing around the perimeter.

Nolan has seen plenty of Ty Lawson, since they were teammates at Oak Hill, so perhaps he'll feel more comfortable Wednesday. Hope so.

[devildeac]

McClinton is really good, I'll say that.
Any time Duke can shoot 32.7% from the floor and win, its a steal and I'll take it. Great comeback, and yes, nice to see Greg Paulus again.

That's an old quote from Tom Butters who hired K. He said we need to have a coach who can have us win on a night when we only shoot 33% or something like that...

[Virginian]

What a game!

I thought/hoped Paulus would start. I figured we needed his intensity and senior leadership. But I thought he'd start for Jon. I'm a big fan of Jon's, but he's been in a slump and could stand to come in from the bench, I figured. Then he turned in a great game. Go figure. I guess K knows what's he's doing.

I'm thinking Zoubek's going to get fewer and fewer minutes as the season winds out. He's just doing nothing for the team on either offense or defense. The other players won't throw him the ball even when he's wide open.

A great win, but we still have the same problems. We continue to rely on Kyle, G and Jon and if one of them is off we're in trouble. Now, if Greg can be a force, then we're running on four cylinders, which could work nicely, especially if David is the fifth guy on the floor.

Speaking of all cylinders, what a beast McClinton is. Scored last 11 points of the regulation period and all 7 of overtime for Miami. And the game-tying three-shot at the end of regulation? Are you kidding me? Geez! I kept yelling "foul him, foul him, don't let him shoot!" But no one listened!

On to UNC. It's going to be brutal.

[jipops]

Not sure what to make of Nolan these last few games; he's really struggling. When he was in today, he seemed totally befuddled about how to attack Miami's zone defense. He was about 35-40 feet from the basket (and several feet away from the closest defender) just pounding the ball on the floor and finally passing around the perimeter.

Nolan has seen plenty of Ty Lawson, since they were teammates at Oak Hill, so perhaps he'll feel more comfortable Wednesday. Hope so.

There is a decent chance Nolan may not face the same level of defense in UNC as he's seen in the last couple games (I hope so anyways). UNC did give up 90+ pts to Maryland less than a week ago.

I'm really curious as to what is going on with Kyle. He's mostly our only offensive option in the post but for 3 straight games he's really been struggling. Most of his shots have been from the perimeter but had issues around the basket today as well. Is it really fatigue, or just some funk to get out of the system before March?

McClure saved us today providing extra possessions.

[gofurman]

Greg Paulus... what a kid. He was EVERYWHERE on that floor.

Greg Paulus- 40 minutes
Nolan Smith- 7

... I'm not sure what this stat means going forward (especially the Carolina game), but WOW. Our Defense definitely has a higher ceiling with Nolan on the floor. On the other hand, Greg is playing a better all around brand of basketball (especially on offense) right now I think. Interesting decision for K coming up.


Great win - worrisome going forward is:
paulus hendo singler scheyer all at 40 minutes or more !! Well, one was at 38 or so but that is sick... we needed that win but with UNC twice, BC, Wake all left on the schedule I hope we don't hear about it later as one that really wore down Singler Scheyer.. until now we were playing 8 or 9 guys at least ten minutes... then today only 6 play ???

Any thoughts on why the bench (lack of) today?

[roywhite]

I'm really curious as to what is going on with Kyle. He's mostly our only offensive option in the post but for 3 straight games he's really been struggling. Most of his shots have been from the perimeter but had issues around the basket today as well. Is it really fatigue, or just some funk to get out of the system before March?



No inside info, but I think Kyle has been physically sick. Against Clemson, he seemed hollow-cheeked and thin, like he had lost perhaps 10 pounds.

Just my observation (and I've seen a few other poster comments about it).

[wisteria]

It was said that Singler was sick at the UVa game, a week ago.

[ncexnyc]

Great win - worrisome going forward is:
paulus hendo singler scheyer all at 40 minutes or more !! Well, one was at 38 or so but that is sick... we needed that win but with UNC twice, BC, Wake all left on the schedule I hope we don't hear about it later as one that really wore down Singler Scheyer.. until now we were playing 8 or 9 guys at least ten minutes... then today only 6 play ???

Any thoughts on why the bench (lack of) today?

Nice to see BC mentioned here. Skinner's managed to quietly manuever his squad into contention for the ACC crown. As long as they have a stud like Rice, they are always a threat to win any given game.

[UrinalCake]

Great win - worrisome going forward is:
paulus hendo singler scheyer all at 40 minutes or more !! Well, one was at 38 or so but that is sick... we needed that win but with UNC twice, BC, Wake all left on the schedule I hope we don't hear about it later as one that really wore down Singler Scheyer.. until now we were playing 8 or 9 guys at least ten minutes... then today only 6 play ???

Any thoughts on why the bench (lack of) today?

It was pretty clear to me (and several other posters) that the bench players are simply not able to contribute (excepting McClure, of course). As I've said before in other threads, I would rather play the starters heavy minutes and win than give the bench players time and then lose. Maybe you believe that guys like Plumlee, Williams, and Pocious could had played more minutes in this game and we still would have won, but I would disagree. So unfortunately, you can't have it both ways, at least not until the bench players can hold their own.

[Rudy]

Marty's struggles make me sad. I've always thought he could be a big contributor and an exciting player. But the strength of his game, offense, has been weak this year -- 10/33 (30%)overall from the field and 3/22 (14%) from 3 pt. land. It's like he's become Taylor King (remember him?), thinking he needs to be instant offense off the bench and launching quick 3's as soon as he comes in. He can be a slasher, seems to me. Oh well, probably too late for him to be a factor this year, since he is likely not going to get enough minutes to settle in. Good luck to him for next year.

[roywhite]

It was pretty clear to me (and several other posters) that the bench players are simply not able to contribute (excepting McClure, of course). As I've said before in other threads, I would rather play the starters heavy minutes and win than give the bench players time and then lose. Maybe you believe that guys like Plumlee, Williams, and Pocious could had played more minutes in this game and we still would have won, but I would disagree. So unfortunately, you can't have it both ways, at least not until the bench players can hold their own.

On this team, if you can contribute, you get the time. Paulus (until today) and McClure were not starters; look at the time they got.

Plumlee, Williams, and Pocious will all get more opportunities, but they are not guaranteed anything, nor should they be.

[hustleplays]

Greg Paulus... what a kid. He was EVERYWHERE on that floor.

Greg Paulus- 40 minutes
Nolan Smith- 7

... I'm not sure what this stat means going forward (especially the Carolina game), but WOW. Our Defense definitely has a higher ceiling with Nolan on the floor. On the other hand, Greg is playing a better all around brand of basketball (especially on offense) right now I think. Interesting decision for K coming up.

I don't think it's much of a decision, and I think K has already made it. Did you catch K's post-game? In addition to saying that Greg's play was "huge," he said that the team had had only "ok" leadership, but in adversity, needed real leadership, and Greg earned it. K went on to say that that's the best way to become a leader, "under fire." He repeated "under fire." Paulus will start, unless he can't, for some reason. This team really has needed leadership. Does GP have all the conventional pg skills? No, of course, and I have been one of the many who have been disappointed and critical. But I have always appreciated his heart, his fire, and his team-first selflessness. He does remind me of WoJo and Hurley -- yes, all three are different, but none were blessed with, say, J Williams gifts. Our team needs heart and poise. We don't have great size or strength, we can only make it up with heart, poise and teamwork. K was brilliant, I thought, in contrasting good threes with bad threes -- and it's not that some go in and some don't -- it's that good threes are connected: they're connected with the flow of the play and the team, and, because of that, the shooter isn't focused on "I have to make this shot" but rather on I'm completing our play for the team. That's a way to break game pressure. The team did that in the 2nd half, not in the first. I have no idea how many games this imperfect but scrappy and always learning team will win, but tonight's game was encouraging -- they had all the reason in the world to pack it in at half-time, but they didn't! btw, don't you just love college and acc hoops! we are so lucky.

[dukemsu]

Tremendous effort on the glass in the second half. McClure led the way every bit as much as Greg.

Despite the win, I worry about the offense with this team more than any Duke team in memory. I was very pleased to see Kyle take the ball to the hole in OT-we have become an almost completely perimeter team.

Are there any adjustments that can be made on that at this point in the season? Or are we who we are? Or whatever Dennis Green said on that beer commercial?

dukemsu

[captmojo]

I am not really good at the basketball Xs and Os. While I understand our defensive scheme, could somebody enlighten me on what sort of offensive system we are playing?

No one has answered this but I'll give my description. I call it "Watch the guy with the ball - maybe he'll do something".

I don't know if it's a ploy for the purpose of saving energy, (sickness is evident on the team) or some other reason, but if you noticed, the sense of urgency was definitely increased and lots more movement of players, without the ball, in the second half. This constant motion on offense creates scoring opportunities for a greater number of players and allowed for, with increased intensity of defense, the valiant comeback.

Three of the last four halves of play have reminded me of JJ Redick's senior season, with the exception that during that year, he seemed to be the only one in motion, looking to get open.


BTW, this is a big part of what made JJ so special. The opposition knew what he was trying to do and yet could not always rise to meet this challenge.

[RelativeWays]

The UNC game is huge and young players get rattled in that atmosphere so for the game against BC I'd like to K try Greg and Nolan at the guard spot, with Scheyer and Elliott playing some backup. Scheyer is a consistent ball handler and EW needs some burn. With Scheyer on the floor he can concetrate more on ball handling and slashing (which he's good at) and not ill advised 3 pointers. I see the same benefit for GP and Nolan. Nolan can score, but hasn't quite put it together at the PG spot, he has someone else who can run the point fairly effectively and shoot long range. I'd give it a shot anyway, if EW can play smarter, it would be a huge boost to our bench.

As far as inside play, I'd really go with Plumlee at this point and have LT come in for Kyle when he needs a blow or has too many fouls. LT is a better 4 than 5 anyway. Dave has proven that he can start, I'd just like to see him get a couple of putbacks. Heck, if he can shoot FTs, then he should go up and try to get fouled.

[arnie]

Except Dave wasn't playing "5," he was guarding McClinton.

And that is why it was put in "quotes". We are back to playing without a presence in the middle - not that I would do it any differently with the players we have. It's just disappointing that none of the 3 have stepped up yet.

[UrinalCake]

I'm no expert but my explanation would be that the four players without the ball spread out to positions on the floor, along either side of the baseline and at the wings near the three-point line. When the offense initiates they should be in continuous movement, setting screens for each other as they switch places. You can frequently see a player motioning to a teammate to come towards him, indicating a position swap, immediately before the motioning player sets a screen on that teammate's defender. The motion forces the defense to make decisions regarding whom to cover. At this point it's up to the offense to read the defense and then decide how to attack. The system requires intelligent players who can read the defense, make the proper decisions, and communicate to each other what they're doing.

There are very few set plays in this type of offense; one that stands out in my mind is a double screen that sets up an alley-oop for Gerald that is usually reserved for moments when we really need a key bucket and an emotional lift. I've probably seen the exact same play run a dozen times this year, and 11 of them are highlights on sportscenter.

Previous comments from wisteria and captmojo seem to suggest that we have no offensive system (forgive me if I've interpreted this incorrectly). During the first half of this game I certainly felt that way, we were just standing around and then heaving up bad shots... and it seems inexplicable why that would happen. Honestly though, even in the second half our half-court offensive "system" didn't seem that much better; the difference was that we got offensive rebounds and some turnovers and thus could put up more shots...