Man of the Match vs. Boston College (ACC Tourney)

[Jumbo]

Who was the Man of the Match vs. Boston College in the ACC Tournament?

[Son of Mojo]

Between the missed shots (rim-out 3's, layup/dunk) and FT's and breakdown's in defense at the end......we're very fortunate. Singler saved this game--easy MOTM. We'll have to pick up our game since we know Maryland will be out for blood.

[FerryFor50]

This one should be a no-brainer.... Singler!

But Elliott and McClure played great D.

[Les Grossman]

Kyle was ready to play. the others, not so much

[InSpades]

Gotta be Kyle, he is the reason we won that game. He's becoming my favorite Duke player. He works so hard. I just wish he worked a little harder on defense under the basket instead of guarding the ball. We sure could use him under the basket getting a few more rebounds.

[Les Grossman]

about the D play of McClure and EW

[CameronBornAndBred]

Kyle got my vote, but Dave was sooooo important. LGD!!

[jv001]

I know someone will vote for a player other than Kyle, but if they do they must have been watching pay for view and not this game. Go Duke!

[Papa John]

If anyone DOESN'T vote for Kyle, I will be shocked...

[pamtar]

G made the winning basket but I would have approved of K calling Kyle's number. He was on point all night. Great D and lots of buckets.

[mgtr]

Consider yourself shocked! I agree Kyle was great, but please don't ignore the defense EWill played on Rice. Both made great contributions.

[jv001]

Consider yourself shocked! I agree Kyle was great, but please don't ignore the defense EWill played on Rice. Both made great contributions.

I'd suggest you look at the boxscore when it come out. I know Elliot did a very good job on Rice, but what about the points, rebounds and blocks Kyle had? No contest. Go Kyle and Go Duke!

[ncexnyc]

Not even close tonight, Kyle by a landslide.

[FireOgilvie]

Kyle with 6 blocked shots. Wow! I mentioned earlier that we needed someone to step up and block some shots and we did it tonight.

[camion]

I split my vote. I thought Kyle was really good on the offensive end, but that Singler guy was a defensive juggernaut.

[captmojo]

It might make folks happy to know I voted for Kyle tonight. McClure was a very close second. His defensive positioning was great! I was quite surprised to not see him in at the end, but I must remember, it's a growing and learning experience for Elliot who came through like a champ.

[dyedwab]

but wanted to also give props to Elliot for his d on Rice. He took Rice out of the game for long stretches.

[mr. synellinden]

Look, EWill played some great defense and had 8 rebounds, and Gerald hit the winning shot, and Scheyer hit some big threes and played another stellar game at the point, but how can this not be a shutout?

Career high 26 points, 9 rebounds and 6 blocks. 10 - 15 from the field, 3-6 from three. And if you watched the game, his contribution and impact on the game was as impressive as the stats.

[gumbomoop]

Without question, KS. But without DMc [not to mention G and JS], we lose. DMc blocks out, blocks shots, flicks passes, and now that he's healthy, he's very athletic, which isn't so noticeable because he lacks confidence offensively and has a mediocre handle. In virtually every game, he "contributes" points by denying 6-7 points to the opposition. Hope he goes out on a high note, for we're gonna miss him frightfully next year.

[mgtr]

I'd suggest you look at the boxscore when it come out. I know Elliot did a very good job on Rice, but what about the points, rebounds and blocks Kyle had? No contest. Go Kyle and Go Duke!

Look, I agree that Kyle was a an absolute hoss tonight. He fought for balls, stole balls, and made critical baskets. But he has won MOTM a bunch. We could not have won without him, but I would argue that we couldn't have won without Williams on Rice. In fact, earlier this year, we didn't win without Williams on Rice.
On the other hand, this may be another "team" win game. We needed all the parts we brought to the party. McClure gets short shrift, when he plays his heart out, and outrebounds taller players (and blocks both shots and players!). The big three do their thing, or at least two do most games. Tonight they were all involved. Thomas makes a few great plays every game and helps to clog up the middle and provide midcourt defense. To add to the big three plus Thomas, a Williams/Smith combo may be the answer.
I am delighted that we play tomorrow, and that we play Maryland instead of Wake.
There were some real upsets yesterday and today, glad we were not among the throng.
'PS - I feel sorry for Greg Paulus. I hope he can contribute in stretches in the next few weeks.

[heyman25]

I can't believe anyone did not vote for Kyle Singler. He did everything necessary to keep us in the game and win. To the other members of the DUKE team get with the program.

[gumbomoop]

This may be another "team" win game. We needed all the parts we brought to the party. McClure gets short shrift, when he plays his heart out, and outrebounds taller players (and blocks both shots and players!).

Good point about team win. And for at least the first half of this season, I'd been boorishly moaning about how "no one" appreciates DMc as much as I. Indeed, in a previous post in this thread, I sorta [boorishly] did it again.

But while I'm pleased to continue to point out DMc's special strengths, I have to say that you and I just may be wrong [!!] that he still "gets short shrift." I'd say that by now, virtually no one underappreciates DMc. By this point in the season, one would have to be a boor, a churl, or a lout [I hope these are gender-neutral terms] to fail to appreciate DMc.

[heyman25]

McClure is very strong on defense and boards, but the statistics don't lie. 17 of the 33 rebounds were Singler and Williams.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=290720150

Duke would not have won without the play of Kyle Singler. Like Kyle says let's play 40 minutes and beat Maryland today.

[CDu]

Look, I agree that Kyle was a an absolute hoss tonight. He fought for balls, stole balls, and made critical baskets. But he has won MOTM a bunch. We could not have won without him, but I would argue that we couldn't have won without Williams on Rice. In fact, earlier this year, we didn't win without Williams on Rice.
On the other hand, this may be another "team" win game. We needed all the parts we brought to the party. McClure gets short shrift, when he plays his heart out, and outrebounds taller players (and blocks both shots and players!). The big three do their thing, or at least two do most games. Tonight they were all involved. Thomas makes a few great plays every game and helps to clog up the middle and provide midcourt defense. To add to the big three plus Thomas, a Williams/Smith combo may be the answer.
I am delighted that we play tomorrow, and that we play Maryland instead of Wake.
There were some real upsets yesterday and today, glad we were not among the throng.
'PS - I feel sorry for Greg Paulus. I hope he can contribute in stretches in the next few weeks.

With all due respect, I don't see this as a logical reason for not voting for Singler. Every win requires good performances by multiple players. Every win is, in some way, a team win. Team's simply don't win solely because of one player. Even if they have one dominant offensive player, they also get contributions defensively from others. That doesn't mean those role players are

And the argument that "we didn't beat BC earlier without Williams" is irrelevant too, in my opinion. For a counter, I'd argue we wouldn't have won last night's game without Singler. The addition of Williams may or may not have been the key difference between the two games (could have been that we were not playing at BC this time). But even if it was, it's only a change at the margins - we already had a really good chance to win thanks to the rest of the team we put on the floor. Williams probably upgraded our chances, but that doesn't mean he was the most important piece to the puzzle - he was just one of the final pieces to the puzzle.

I also don't understand the "let's vote for someone else because player X has been honored a bunch already." But, I guess it's a nebulous honor honor anyway (just like the MVP award is) and is thus subject to often-unquantifiable rationale depending upon the person voting, so I'll stop debating it further.

[jv001]

With all due respect, I don't see this as a logical reason for not voting for Singler. Every win requires good performances by multiple players. Every win is, in some way, a team win. Team's simply don't win solely because of one player. Even if they have one dominant offensive player, they also get contributions defensively from others. That doesn't mean those role players are

And the argument that "we didn't beat BC earlier without Williams" is irrelevant too, in my opinion. For a counter, I'd argue we wouldn't have won last night's game without Singler. The addition of Williams may or may not have been the key difference between the two games (could have been that we were not playing at BC this time). But even if it was, it's only a change at the margins - we already had a really good chance to win thanks to the rest of the team we put on the floor. Williams probably upgraded our chances, but that doesn't mean he was the most important piece to the puzzle - he was just one of the final pieces to the puzzle.

I also don't understand the "let's vote for someone else because player X has been honored a bunch already." But, I guess it's a nebulous honor honor anyway (just like the MVP award is) and is thus subject to often-unquantifiable rationale depending upon the person voting, so I'll stop debating it further.

I can see now why I question voters selection on awards and sometimes I say they must be unc alum or fans. So if Duke fans cannot agree on an award like MOTM when it is so clear cut, then I shouldn't second guess unc media alum when they vote the way they do. I guess beauty is in the eye of the be holder. Go Duke!

[ACCBBallFan]

Singler ran away with this one, but some of the other contests were competitive:

Rating Player-Pos
97 Kyle Singler, F

64 Joe Trapani, F
63 Tyrese Rice, G
63 Jon Scheyer, G

54 TOTALS-Duke
53 Biko Paris, G
50 Corey Raji, F

48 TOTALS-BC
47 Josh Southern, C
46 Elliot Williams, G
45 Lance Thomas, F
43 Gerald Henderson, G-F

32 Rakim Sanders, G-F

25 Nolan Smith, G

19 David McClure, F
17 Tyler Roche, F

05 Reggie Jackson, G
05 Brian Zoubek, C
04 Cortney Dunn, F
01 Greg Paulus, G

[roywhite]

By the way, Kyle Singler now has taken the season scoring lead back from Gerald Henderson. Let's hope it goes back and forth over the next 8 games!