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Jumbo
03-19-2009, 02:10 PM
Attack early
No settling for jump shots early in the game. Go the rim and see what they're made of down low.

Extend the pressure D
This is an old Coach K staple -- in first-round games, in particular, he likes to press and trap early against a low-seeded team. Again, let's test their resolve.

Hit the offensive boards hard
This has been a secret strength of Duke all season, even against bigger teams. The only risk is giving up fast breaks, and Binghamton is willing to play a fast tempo. That said, I'm not sure they'll want to run with Duke that much.

Maintain mental discipline
Duke played with a great edge in the ACC Tourney. We've got to keep that going tonight, regardless of the supposed strength of the opponent. That means playing focused, intense but not tight, and relaxed but not sloppy.

Remember what got us here
There's a tendency against a small-conference foe for players to try to take advantage of supposedly weaker opponents and do things that aren't familiar. This team has a great recipe right now -- primary scoring from Henderson, Scheyer and singler, other offensive contributions from Smith, great team D, excellent screening/spacing/offensive rebounding from McClure, Thomas and Zoubek. Guys need to remember their roles and stick to them.

Go get it done. Go Duke!

BlueintheFace
03-19-2009, 02:52 PM
I'm curious to see if K uses Zoubek more than usual in this game given the size of the opponent. I mean, they are REALLY small.

dcarp23
03-19-2009, 03:02 PM
I'm curious to see if K uses Zoubek more than usual in this game given the size of the opponent. I mean, they are REALLY small.

People keep bringing this up, and it may be correct, but if I recall correctly Zoubek has been a lot more effective this year in games against bigger teams. When the tallest player Binghamton's rotation is 6'6, it seems that there is less of a need for Brian to play all that much. We will see.

jv001
03-19-2009, 03:04 PM
Attack early
No settling for jump shots early in the game. Go the rim and see what they're made of down low.

Extend the pressure D
This is an old Coach K staple -- in first-round games, in particular, he likes to press and trap early against a low-seeded team. Again, let's test their resolve.

Hit the offensive boards hard
This has been a secret strength of Duke all season, even against bigger teams. The only risk is giving up fast breaks, and Binghamton is willing to play a fast tempo. That said, I'm not sure they'll want to run with Duke that much.

Maintain mental discipline
Duke played with a great edge in the ACC Tourney. We've got to keep that going tonight, regardless of the supposed strength of the opponent. That means playing focused, intense but not tight, and relaxed but not sloppy.

Remember what got us here
There's a tendency against a small-conference foe for players to try to take advantage of supposedly weaker opponents and do things that aren't familiar. This team has a great recipe right now -- primary scoring from Henderson, Scheyer and singler, other offensive contributions from Smith, great team D, excellent screening/spacing/offensive rebounding from McClure, Thomas and Zoubek. Guys need to remember their roles and stick to them.

Go get it done. Go Duke!

We need to come out and play hard from the opening tip. Like Jumbo said we need to come out pressing them and playing them tight. Don't let them hang around too long because they will begin to feel good about themselves and that could lead to some hot outside shooting. Guard the 3 point shooters. Continue the good play we have shown the last several games. Go Duke!

InSpades
03-19-2009, 03:10 PM
People keep bringing this up, and it may be correct, but if I recall correctly Zoubek has been a lot more effective this year in games against bigger teams. When the tallest player Binghamton's rotation is 6'6, it seems that there is less of a need for Brian to play all that much. We will see.

I think it's a lot more about how he matches up defensively. Wake is a very big team but he doesn't match up very well against them (except maybe MacFarland). When MacFarland is out they are still reasonably big, but they are way more athletic than Zoubs can handle. Florida St. is also big, but not as athletic, so he has been effective against them. I think the difference is in the athleticism of the guy he would be guarding, not necessarily just the size.

Bob Green
03-19-2009, 03:33 PM
Extend the pressure D
This is an old Coach K staple -- in first-round games, in particular, he likes to press and trap early against a low-seeded team. Again, let's test their resolve.

I really desire to see us press and trap and score points off turnovers. We should be able to disrupt Binghamton's offensive flow with our superior skill and athleticism. Additionally, attacking on defense and pushing the pace on offense could result in some foul trouble for Binghamton. We could really expand our talent advantage by forcing a couple of their starters to the bench with foul trouble.

sagegrouse
03-19-2009, 04:03 PM
Attack early
No settling for jump shots early in the game. Go the rim and see what they're made of down low.
Go get it done. Go Duke!

Darn. I was hoping the message from Jumbo was: "Show up." Guess I'll have to bite my nails.


sagegrouse

Delaware
03-19-2009, 04:23 PM
Darn. I was hoping the message from Jumbo was: "Show up." Guess I'll have to bite my nails.


sagegrouse


I know you know this sagegrouse and I saw the emoticon, but thought I'd use your note to say.... "Show Up" doesn't work much any more... see the Memphis game earlier today! Come out and respect every opponent and play hard and smart from the tip.

JDev
03-19-2009, 04:43 PM
I think it will be very important to keep Rivera (I believe he is their 20pt. scorer) from going off. When these mid or low major teams have a legit player of the year in their conference (Rivera didn't get it, but that seems to have nothing to do with performance) they sometimes take on a new life and new level of confidence when he is playing well. He is obviously Duke's defensive focus and the first name on the scouting report. If he has to struggle for shots and struggle for points it will have significant overall effect on Binghampton. Make them play against the best team they have seen all year without a lot of output from their go-to star. Duke did a good job of this in the ACC Championship against FSU and Douglas. Douglas got his points, but he was not efficient and was forced to take many tough shots. I don't know, but I would think that Rivera is not the player Douglas is.

Bob Green
03-19-2009, 04:54 PM
Rivera is listed at 6'4" 190. Who will draw the primary assignment of guarding him? Henderson, Williams and Scheyer are all of similar size so our strategy of switching on every screen should be okay but I'm curious as to who will be assigned as Rivera's primary defender. Elliot Williams? I'm thinking we would desire to keep Henderson and Scheyer out of foul trouble so Williams will probably draw the assignment. Off the bench, Mr. Rivera meet Mr. McClure!

JDev
03-19-2009, 04:58 PM
Rivera is listed at 6'4" 190. Who will draw the primary assignment of guarding him? Henderson, Williams and Scheyer are all of similar size so our strategy of switching on every screen should be okay but I'm curious as to who will be assigned as Rivera's primary defender. Elliot Williams? I'm thinking we would desire to keep Henderson and Scheyer out of foul trouble so Williams will probably draw the assignment. Off the bench, Mr. Rivera meet Mr. McClure!

I think you are absolutely right in saying that Dave will see his share of Rivera. Elliot is comparably sized, and as you said having him in foul trouble does not hurt Duke near as much as say G or Scheyer. I would bet Elliot and Dave get him the bulk of the first half, and G gets in the mix in the second. With all the screen switiching, at some point everyone will get a taste.

Devilsfan
03-19-2009, 05:32 PM
Zoub should see action also. He did well against the smaller D-2 schools in the begining of the year. He also surprised me with his play last Sunday. I hope he keeps it up.

hudlow
03-19-2009, 05:54 PM
I'd like to see Zoub get some time against a team where he could be the key man for Duke. Work the ball into him and force him to score. Let him get into a rhythm and he's already shown he can play some good D.

Tonight's the night.

He's playing well but a good confidence builder right now might release the monster we all know that's in him and we're Final 4 all the way.

Go Duke!

hud

yancem
03-19-2009, 06:08 PM
I'd like to see Zoub get some time against a team where he could be the key man for Duke. Work the ball into him and force him to score. Let him get into a rhythm and he's already shown he can play some good D.

Tonight's the night.

He's playing well but a good confidence builder right now might release the monster we all know that's in him and we're Final 4 all the way.

Go Duke!

hud

I think that giving Zoubek some good minutes tonight would be a good idea. First of all, the tallest player for Binghamton is 6'6" which means that we should be able to post Zoubek fairly easily and possibly get them into foul trouble. Secondly, our second round opponent may be Texas and they have some solid height so getting Zoubek some minutes tonight should help him on Saturday.

superdave
03-19-2009, 08:13 PM
Zoubek played really well in the non-conference early season, presumably against shorter teams. If he busts his bum like he did against FSU, he's going to earn some minutes.

We're playing with confidence right now. We know who we are and everyone understands their roles. I'm really looking forward to this!