MBB: Duke 68, UConn 59 Post-Game Thread [Archive]

COYS

11-27-2009, 07:27 PM

Jon Scheyer was the best player on the court tonight, by far. Maybe not the best shooting night for him, but he handled the physicality of the game, gave as good as he got on defense, and made all the right plays. Anyone who still worries about his defense should rewatch this game. Not bad for an alarmingly unathletic player ;).

Also, our alarmingly unathletic frontline destroyed UCONN on the boards. It wasn't already pretty and with better positioning and stronger hands, we would have had an even bigger advantage, but Lance and Zoubs really came through when we needed them. Their rebounding dramatically increased our overall defensive efficiency. Miles' finishing was attrocious tonight, but his rebounding and 5 fouls were definitely welcomed.

Finally, Dawkins is a true gamer. He's smart, smooth, and has a ridiculously fast release on his jumper. With Singler ice cold again, Dawkins' shooting was invaluable. I'm excited to see how his career goes because you can definitely see the signs of greatness (not to talk a freshman up too much :))

cwaugh

11-27-2009, 07:28 PM

Jon played his typical game and Dre and Thomas were the difference makers in this game. Miles also had a decent game but has got to start throwing down those dunks. I was also impressed by how hard everyone was going after the loose balls. When Kyle starts playing to his potential and we get Mason back, this team is going to be hard to beat.

_Gary

11-27-2009, 07:29 PM

I still think we have to hold off coming to too many conclusions just yet. Once we get Mason back and give him a few weeks to get into the flow we'll know more. I'd say we won't know a whole lot about our full potential till we get into the ACC season.

ivydevil

11-27-2009, 07:29 PM

Fun game to watch. I would have loved to see more of Andre Dawkins, and fewer fouls! Except for the Calhoun technicals...Those are obligatory every game.

hq2

11-27-2009, 07:29 PM

So where has Lance Thomas been for the past 4 years anyway? He sure played like a man tonight; must be afraid of losing his minutes once MP2 comes back. Too many forced shots by Nolan. Overall, though good D; helps to play against a team that I don't think made a shot from beyond 10 feet the whole game. It, is however, nice to know we can hold our own under the basket (especially rebounding) against a good tough street ball team. That will help later, assuming we can actually get our offense going (Singler? MP1?).

VanDuk

11-27-2009, 07:31 PM

I'm sure that UCONN was very pleased with how much more athletic they were when they were getting absolutely dominated on the boards and shut down in their half court offense.

Which was entirely due to what I said about our great defensive rotations as a team, and nothing to do with what you quoted from my post. Not to mention that 11 or 12 of those rebounds were from Thomas.

But agreed, we played with good effort defensively as a team. Which will be needed in supply this year to hide glaring holes with our interior defenders.

JaMarcus Russell

11-27-2009, 07:31 PM

One of Duke's biggest weaknesses in the past few years has been a reliance on jump shots. If we weren't hitting shots, we wouldn't win the game against quality opponents. Tonight, the big 3 were 13-51 yet we had a comfortable lead in the second half. This is due to aggressive defense and excellent rebounding. I was very impressed with our rebounding tonight. The team showed a lot of toughness and heart, and Thomas played his best game as a Dukie.

Zoubek had some good moments in the first half as well, grabbing 9 boards in the first 20 minutes.

I wish that Dawkins had gotten more playing time, especially when we started playing "stall ball" with about 12 minutes left. His style would have been perfect for those possessions. And while it was frustrating as hell to watch us run down the clock for a while, it worked. UConn couldn't run a transition game, and they had to ultimately resort to desperation fouls, and our guys knocked down 6 of 8 in the last minute or so.

Very good win. Man of the match is Scheyer, but Thomas deserves a lot of credit, and I just might vote for him.

Wheat/"/"/"

11-27-2009, 07:32 PM

I thought that was a solid team defensive effort from Duke tonight. Much better than the ASU game. The difference was the play of Zoubek and Thomas. They were active defensively all night and rebounded well.

Zoubek made better decisions with his passing and agressiveness. I thought Duke played their best when he was on the floor.

If Duke can get that effort from them every night, and a little better effort from Plumlee, while Singler finds his usual game, they will be tough to beat.

WiJoe

11-27-2009, 07:32 PM

Not pretty. I'll take the bottom line.

:D

Saratoga2

11-27-2009, 07:34 PM

Great example of Duke defense leading them to the win. Holding an explosive team down and preventing the eassy baskets for the most part. I think we have seen LT at his best tonight. What a game. He was agressive, went for rebounds, took charges, played excellent defense and made his foul shots. If he can do this on a regular basis Duke becomes hard to beat.

Not enough good things to say about Scheyer either. He is just a tremendous and composed player. His one TO tonight came as a result of a poor pass from Zoubek. 19 points, 5 assists and countless good defensive plays. He did all this without really getting a break on the calls.

Nolan also looked great and played aggressively. He is so athletic and confident out there. What a great deal to have Scheyer and Smith at guard.

Dawkins was a real force out there as well. He can really be out there and provide offense and reasonable defense against the other teams best.

Singler played hard, but his offense has not really clicked this season as yet. It will and then that will be another plus.

I thought our bigs did a reasonable job out there. I love Plumlee as he is athletic and determined. He can score and is a tough rebounder. Zoubek played his game and I was glad to have another big to take minutes and fouls and really, Kelly can come in and provide another big man for now. He plays pretty well. Mason is on the bench and will provide another high quality big man.

Very encouraging game for the team. Beating a very good team like UCONN in a convincing manner has got to have everyone on a high. I am especially happy to see LT play the best game of his career when it really counted. Go DUKE

COYS

11-27-2009, 07:37 PM

Kelly can come in and provide another big man for now. He plays pretty well.

As much as I like Kelly's IQ and passing on offense, his lack of strength was a little bit more obvious tonight. I think he will still be able to contribute in certain games as matchups dictate, but tonight was definitely not one of them.

basket1544

11-27-2009, 07:39 PM

A win is a win. And a win over UCon(n) is good every time. Jon did a great job keeping the game under control and not running when UConn wanted them to run. Lance did a terrific job of doing what he does best, cleaning the glass. Neither team shot well from the field and the difference in this game was Andre's three point shots and the team's free throw shooting. Kyle's stroke will come back. No worries about that.

DukeCO2009

11-27-2009, 07:39 PM

Glad to get out of there with a win. We shot horribly, Kyle was MIA, and we needed all 15 fouls from our 4-5 guys to hold them off. Taking our foot off the gas and going to stall ball with 6-7 minutes left (IIRC) wasn't the best idea either, IMO. Bottom line: they hit their free throws and make some of the easy shots they missed and we lose.

Lots of good, though. Jon was fantastic again today, and Lance (whom I've long called our X-factor) put in a workmanlike effort. Dawkins is a budding star. He's going to be a big, big factor as the season progresses. He just has an amazing feel for the game and the best jump shot we've had since JJ. Was also really please with Nolan's game. He's improved so much that it's hard to believe it's the same player out there wearing #2. The guy is a sparkplug.

GADevilFan

11-27-2009, 07:41 PM

Very good D; impressive rebounding. I, for one, enjoyed watching Zoubs play. Enjoyed it.

slower

11-27-2009, 07:42 PM

Great game by Jon (smartest player since Spanarkel) - as we all know, he's criminally underrated. Agreed with many others that this was Lance's best game - he was the heart of the team tonight. Also feeling good about Dre. Despite the gut-wrenching ugliness of the last 1/4 of the game, it does make me feel good about their toughness. I'm actually surprised the UCons didn't get more chippy, but I think that was due to our guys handling the rough play with maturity and (maybe more importantly) by not backing down or being intimidated by the physicality. Mason should be a huge addition - can't wait to see him in action soon.

And I actually thought the stall-ball was a good idea this time. Things could have gotten totally out of hand if we had rushed it too much.

Sixthman

11-27-2009, 07:43 PM

We made UCONN look like a not very good team. We literally imposed our will on them, and did it without much offense, without scoring from Singler, and with no help from the Zebras (the third foul on Plumlee was the worst call I have every seen, anywhere, anytime). This is exactly the kind of poor shooting that has led to a Duke loss in non-conference games recently, particularly in the NCAAs. Not so tonight, and likely not so this season. This is really something to build on.

ncexnyc

11-27-2009, 07:45 PM

Our seniors came up big this evening.

Nice to see someone helped Lance make it from Durham to MSG. He had an outstanding game, with a double double no less.

Brian played a very solid game, especially when Miles had to sit with fouls. He did alot better today, getting back on those flashes to the top. I also love when Duke goes down low to him with the ball, he's a solid passer.

Jon didn't have a great night percentage wise shooting the ball, but he made his baskets at key moments.

Kyle has been really off these last two games. I hope this won't last to much longer.

Nolan and Dawkins played very well.

Miles gave us size and 5 fouls. all of which we needed.

Hate to see OC and Kelly not getting much if any playing time.

All in all a great team effort. This team can bang with the big boys and we'll only get better once Mason comes aboard.

jipops

11-27-2009, 07:46 PM

We've faced two very different but very good defenses in these two wins in MSG. And both games our very good defense has pulled us through. UConn obviously didn't want to play this game in the half court, and I'm glad we kept it as such.

So much for being frighteningly nonathletic... paging Gottlieb. I guess Lance did a little bit to put a dent in that.

DBFAN

11-27-2009, 07:48 PM

so much focus on the negative here, we forget that for a stretch of time in that game we were playing some stellar basketball, which is why we went up by 20. The only reason it got close was because of the small ball we started playing. I know why Coach does it, it puts pressure on the kids to have to make great plays at the end of the game, but I swear one of these days I am going to have a heart attack. We have a very good team, that just might be great by the end of the season. Just think about it, Singler only had 5 pts, all three big men fouled out, and we don't have MP2, yet we were never really threatened at any point in the second half. Not to shabby

Go Duke

Saratoga2

11-27-2009, 07:48 PM

I didn't include this in my first post, but Vitale did his usual thing. He had a classic gaame to talk about, but he preferred to ramble on about a myriad of unrelated topics. Once talking about Siesta Key, down in Sarasota. Knight was at the game and he does so much better. Would love to see ESPN let Vitale do anything but Duke games.

NYC Duke Fan

11-27-2009, 07:49 PM

I've been on record as hating Lance Thomas. But today showed how his style works....he's a high risk, high reward player....goes for steals, charges, and blocks way too often, but today they worked.

But the key is that today he got a few good rebounds and kept fighting. And he even made free throws. Which was nice.

And yes, having a bajillion big men finally made a difference....all year long i felt that it had really not helped much. This game, it was the difference.

Hate is such a strong word. It should be reserved for something much, more important than a basketball player don't you think? Something that really effects your life, which basketball certainly does not.

miramar

11-27-2009, 07:51 PM

The three bigs played really tough, with 27 rebounds and 19 points between them, but they also combined for 15 fouls. Miles especially needs to cut down on the silly fouls, but Mason's return will provide 5 more fouls and should let Thomas play the glue guy off the bench. If he can play the way he did tonight, he will be another Dave McClure.

Finally, it's great to have another Dawkins in the backcourt.

dukelifer

11-27-2009, 08:02 PM

Duke fought for this win. This was a physical game and I think it wore on the players. Both teams had a hard time finding the basket. One thing we learned is that Scheyer can play the point against physical guards. He looked pretty strong out there. He is not forcing anything. I think it is clear that Dawkins is Duke's best shooter- he has an excellent almost picture perfect stroke. You can park that kid beyond the three point line and kick out to him all day long. That weapon is key for Duke to win games. I thought K could have used him more when they went into that dry spell. Nolan is not as good a shooter as he thinks he is. His strength is on the break. While Singler was a non-factor- I was puzzled why he stopped looking for his shot in the last ten minutes- every play seemed to end in Smiths hand. I never thought Duke would have a chance with him not scoring- that says a lot.

For all those folks asking for Thomas to sit- you saw why he is so valuable. He played like a man tonight and is Duke's best defender. He is a very solid player and you have to like how he has been hitting his throws. That alone will get him 6-8 points a game.

At times, Plumlee shows that he could be great- but he seems to over play and over dunk. He must be the leader in missed slams. Hopefully he will calm it down. Zoubs again got rebounds. If he could jump 5 more inches- he would be a lottery pick- but he seems to get small after he gets the ball. Still he is bounding very well this year. At a minimum, Mason will give 5 more fouls- we will need them if this week is any indication.

This game is not going in the vault either- but a win against UConn is always nice. Duke learned a lot about itself this week. They need to work out some more kinks- but Duke is playing bigger - now they need to find a way to convert more of the offensive bounds they are getting. Singler is in a slump- but I expect he will get out of it soon.

SCMatt33

11-27-2009, 08:02 PM

I thought that the foul situation wasn't as bad as it looked. Only Plumlee was taking bad fouls. I'm pretty sure Zoubek could stand still and foul out of a game and lance played his heart out. I think this was a pretty good example of what stallball will do to a game. The offense stunk but the game was shortened because of it. And to be honest. If we're shooting under 30%, I don't mind seeing the number of possessions reduced. We just need to work on getting a quality shot off at the end, even if it comes with 10 seconds left on the shot clock instead of waiting until the very end when you have no options left.

CLW

11-27-2009, 08:02 PM

Total team effort was needed to get the W. Was surprised we were able to control the boards against a big/physical/athletic UConn squad.

Our defense combined with UConn having virtually zero outside shooters was key to overcoming a bad night shooting.

duke09hms

11-27-2009, 08:05 PM

To quote the Hans: WOW!

I've been pretty down on Lance and Zoubs for a while, but man, at least for tonight, they definitely made me eat my words, and I owe them an apology.

On a night where we were pretty cold offensively, shooting what 29%? It looked just like another early NCAA exit against a super athletic team. But not this time, we had our 3 inside players pull down 27 boards and hold their own on defense with BOTH aggression and control. It is SO crucial to have those offensive rebounds, 2nd chance opportunities and points on a night when our shooters are locked down and shots aren't falling.

Sure sure, Zoubs still had some balls knocked away and couldn't finish easy buckets, but he still played like a man out there tonight. Where have these 2 been the last 3 years? Z and Lance played like totally different players tonight - blocking shots, offensive rebounding, good defense against UConn's frontcourt and athletic slashers. They are definitely the Men of the Match.

The great thing is that we still have a lot of room for improvement, we are definitely not peaking early. Once Plumlee learns to maintain the focus to finish those dunks and lobs, he will be scary good. Nolan, too.

It was also great to see our motion offense and our great ball movement. In the past, our strategy against athletic teams that took away our drive would have just been to jack up 3s and hope for the best, but not today.

Thanks God for Andre Dawkins - that kid is a playa!

Duke76

11-27-2009, 08:06 PM

loved Calhoun's comments on K and Duke...."hardest team to beat because K imposes his will on his team and the team imposes their will on the opposing team" not exact...who can recite that better than me

Dawkins makes me smile every time he comes on the court. He is a killer and gonna be fun to watch. Glad we held our composure and it sure was a contrast to the other team. Other than Carolina can't think of any other team I'd rather beat?? maybe Kentucky

Jim3k

11-27-2009, 08:13 PM

I remember Lance as a FT liability as a freshman. As a senior, though, he is money. Seven of eight from the line -- outstanding. Great improvement over the years and leaves his heart on the floor.

And, while Schey er played the best all-round game, I want to give a shout to Zoubek. Eight of his 11l rebounds were offensive. He made some really good passes out of the rebound mess -- sure, he's still inconsistent, but boy does he come to play. He's a big body who does things positively when the trees are blowing around.

And anybody who things Kyle didn't show up because of his ofensive performance doesn't understand what was happening on the floor. He stopped so many things from starting, it's unbelievable. He was very unselfish out there and played really good hard-nosed defense.

jacone21

11-27-2009, 08:16 PM

Remember last year when that guy kept coming on to the forum talking about a Saluki Hangover? I think UCONN is suffering from something akin to that right now.

CDu

11-27-2009, 08:17 PM

That was fun.

Great game by Lance Thomas this afternoon. I don't know where it came from, but he was an animal on the boards tonight. He was still foul happy, but I'll take 11 and 10 and 29 minutes from him any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

Zoubek gave a lot of energy too. He didn't provide much of any scoring, but his 8 offensive rebounds kept a lot of possessions alive for us. On a horrible shooting night, that helped a lot.

Another solid shooting night for Dawkins. When he's on (which has been a lot so far), he's a really nice weapon away from the ball.

But as for the whole team - wow. I've never seen UConn look soft, but they just didn't seem to want to mix it up with Duke today. I can't remember the last time I saw us manhandle a good team on the boards like that. It was just a great effort from our guys today. They didn't have the shooting touch, but to get the win in spite of 13-51 shooting from our big 3 is really impressive.

KandG

11-27-2009, 08:25 PM

First off, the positive: anytime Duke can out-tough and out-ugly UConn, I'm thrilled. Nice effort, even if the offensive execution the last ten minutes left so much to be desired I don't know where to start. I hope in the future when Duke decides to slow it down, they remember that Kyle Singler should touch the ball more than once or twice every five minutes.

Now the negative: that might have been one of the worst games of basketball I've ever watched between two good teams since the Knicks and Heat had their uglyball playoff series of the late 1990s.

I have a friend who prefers pro ball (and other sports) who says college basketball is like watching two ugly people engaged in lovemaking -- loud and passionate, but not something anyone would really want to watch. A bit much (and I have my own jokes about the NBA), but I haven't been a fan of how college ball has devolved into a lot of low-scoring wrestling matches the last five years.

This game was like watching two ugly people engaging in foreplay, and constantly banging their head against the headboard, snoring and farting for ten minutes, then getting back at it again. Just unbearable.

The NBA implemented a number of rules changes to open up the game the last five years, based on how painful their game had become to watch. I sure hope the NCAA does something similar soon with college basketball.

moonpie23

11-27-2009, 08:25 PM

i enjoyed this win very much. revenge is best served cold.

it's amazing how well they played sans physical players.:rolleyes:

moonpie23

11-27-2009, 08:29 PM

when exactly WILL we see gotleeb?

duke09hms

11-27-2009, 08:34 PM

Sure it wasn't pretty, but we've been unable to win these ugly physical games for a while - '07 Pitt game in MSG, our recent tournament exits. Which is why we've been branded "soft."

The fact that we were able to out-tough a great UConn team bodes well for us. Great to see our guys showing some fight and anger - like Nolan swatting a shot from behind after getting 2 shots blocked, and Miles doing the same was SO refreshing to see.

rsvman

11-27-2009, 08:37 PM

Victory over evil empire #2!

Ugly or not, I loved it!:)

Hermy-own

11-27-2009, 08:42 PM

A sweet victory on a night when our shooting was weak, but UCONN could literally not buy a bucket. They had so many close shots inside that did not fall. If they had fallen, wouldn't have played stall ball for 7 minutes, and it almost would have been worth it to see a more interesting game.

So, I could make a commentary on all of the players, but it would pretty much repeat what everyone else has said. I just want to give kudos to Thomas for his spectacular game.

I know we won, but Coach K is back to the 7 man rotation (Zoub & Dawkins), which is very frustrating at this point in the season. At this pace, the players will be gassed, physically, but more so emotionally, by the end of the season. The bench players will be frustrated, and the court players will have spent too much of their intensity in the regular season. In a best case scenario, when Mason comes back he makes this team into an 8 man rotation, and maybe with him & Lance on the floor, Singler could take a breather.

Developing the freshman (and Olek) is also important. What do you guys think? I know many of you hate UCon a lot, so maybe a win is a win. I would really like to see the rotation expanded though.

Just want to say - pleased we can win with a bad game by Singler, but I attribute our large lead w/ 7 min to go to bad shooting by UConn as much as anything.

lmb

11-27-2009, 08:43 PM

Sixthman

11-27-2009, 08:49 PM

Great game, although tough to watch.

It was such a contrast to see how the UConn players let the refs frustrate them, compared with how Duke players complain and then move on. In the 'head game' battle, Duke killed them. You could see the angst on their faces and they really let it get to them, especially at the line.

I get the feeling that they will learn from this and be much better and under control come March. Duke did a lot of great things but also have lots of mistakes that they can learn from as well.

Nice to out-tough them and find a way to win. Go Duke!

This has always been a strength for Duke, but tonight it was striking. Duke was positively unflappable, almost never reacting to the call or no-call. We really keep our focus. UCONN, on the other hand, seemed to feed off of their Coach, who screamed about many no-calls the replay showed involved absolutely no contact.

jipops

11-27-2009, 08:52 PM

I did not see us employ any stall ball until about a couple minutes left. The plan looked to be to keep the game slow and at a half court pace. Early in the 1st it was evident we did not want to be running with these guys. UConn is another excellent defensive team folks. No we didnt' shoot the ball well but they had quite a bit to do with this. I also think we started losing our legs with about 8 or 9 minutes left with our big 3 playing a full 40 minutes the previous game.

Not to much to quibble with here. When is the last time we had a team beat a team at UConn's level where one of our main scorers was taken out of the game. Would anyone else here have thought before the game that Kyle would score 5 pts and Duke would win? We aren't even operating at full strength yet.

JaMarcus Russell

11-27-2009, 09:02 PM

I know we won, but Coach K is back to the 7 man rotation (Zoub & Dawkins), which is very frustrating at this point in the season. At this pace, the players will be gassed, physically, but more so emotionally, by the end of the season. The bench players will be frustrated, and the court players will have spent too much of their intensity in the regular season. In a best case scenario, when Mason comes back he makes this team into an 8 man rotation, and maybe with him & Lance on the floor, Singler could take a breather.

I wish K had played Dawkins a bit more in the last 10 minutes, but that's about my only complaint. Kelly is a very good player and can be a very useful sub against many opponents (including UNC). However, UConn is probably one of the worst match-ups for him, so I am not surprised to see that he only played 4-5 minutes tonight. With Mason back, we will definitely have 8 guys for every game, and with Kelly, we will probably have 9 guys who play 10+ minutes in most games. I think that in certain cases, we will have 8 guys getting 10+ minutes (Zoubek should sit more against very fast teams and Kelly should sit against physical teams like UConn).

That isn't really bad depth, to be honest. Most teams go with 7 or 8 guys for their key minutes, and I don't think we will be all that different. The problem for Duke is that they have basically 4 guys for 3 positions and 5 guys for 2 positions, but it's not the end of the world. Lots of championship teams have relied on their starting 5 for the majority of minutes, and I think exhaustion is used too frequently as a reason for Duke's tournament losses the past two years because there are lots of teams whose stars play comparable minutes.

-jk

11-27-2009, 09:07 PM

I think K's goal this weekend was to teach the team how to win a championship, not so much give individual players development time.

-jk

duke09hms

11-27-2009, 09:15 PM

yeah, plus we can't really argue with andre getting 17 mpg, that's a good amount for a frosh. Ryan Kelly, I would have liked to see more against ASU, thought his intelligent passing and instincts would have been great against their zone, but UConn is a terrible matchup for him, so 5 minutes tonight is understandable.

I think our team will probably run 9 deep once Mason gets back, and that's hardly a thin team. 8 may be a little short, so I hope Kelly will get his 5-10 mpg or so backing up Singler as we go further into the season.

jpfrizzle

11-27-2009, 09:22 PM

We passed it.

Neals384

11-27-2009, 09:32 PM

Wow! I was so impressed today. This is why I love college basketball.

Neal

diveonthefloor

11-27-2009, 09:33 PM

Any links to Coach K's post game presser (audio/video/transcript)?

Grey Devil

11-27-2009, 09:35 PM

Any links to Coach K's post game presser (audio/video/transcript)?

Check out the K addresses Duke being "alarmingly unathletic" (http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18090) thread.

DukeUsul

11-27-2009, 09:37 PM

from goduke (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=204841093)

Greg_Newton

11-27-2009, 09:39 PM

I think K's goal this weekend was to teach the team how to win a championship, not so much give individual players development time.

-jk

Yeah, I hope you're right with that. I was wishing K would put in Kelly during that cold spell in the second half... he's very good at initiating some half-court offense from the inside out. I do hope that he eventually gets closer to 10 mpg, although I can't argue with letting Lance do his thing today.

I think the last 5-10 minutes were a good example of why we should give each of the big three a five minutes breather some time in the game. Understandably, Jon and Nolan looked gassed. There's really not much drop-off in play when we put Andre in... why not just cycle them through to the bench once or twice? Andre has looked really, really good. He's not just hitting easy shots, he's hitting tough, big shots, and he's doing so reliably. Love his killer instinct. Stud.

I guess Miles just isn't quite all the way there yet. He shows flashes, but needs to learn to keep his body vertical on defense (no bumping) and attack the rim more aggressively on offense. If there is an open lane to the basket, he should have his mind set on one thing only - a monster dunk. I do wish we would get him the ball in the post sometimes though, I'd like to see what he can do on his own.

All in all, very encouraging game today. We should be fun to watch once we add a certain long, skilled, athletic 6-10 shot blocker to complete our solid 8-9 man rotation.

Nolan needs to start wearing a helmet and knee pads.

WiJoe

11-27-2009, 09:41 PM

The Devils need a cut man to assist the team doctor. The fellas will all sleep well tonight and wake up bruised, but happy.

:D

A-Tex Devil

11-27-2009, 09:48 PM

Anytime we shoot ~30% and pretty much handle a top 20 team, that is impressive. What if we had shot, say, 42%? THe guys that got major minutes tonight are tough dudes. Good to see.

OldSchool

11-27-2009, 09:52 PM

Zoubs again got rebounds. If he could jump 5 more inches- he would be a lottery pick

In so many endeavors in life, the margin between success and mediocrity can be excruciatingly small.

A marginal improvement in Brian's jumping ability, strength in gripping the ball in traffic, ability to sense the presence of people around him and quickness in defensive positioning would translate from a good basketball player to a dominant college low post player.

buzz

11-27-2009, 09:53 PM

3PT
UConn 0-4 (zero three-pointers)
Duke 6-18

TO
UConn - 16
Duke - 9 (very low, considering how ugly the game looked)

As a result of these two things, we never gave the momentum away, and UConn never took it. I also thought the hedge was used to great effect to disrupt the dribble-drive.

Shawn6891

11-27-2009, 09:55 PM

COYS

11-27-2009, 09:57 PM

Big game tonight. We will be ok this year but what gets me going is thinking about Kyrie and Nolan starting in our backcourt next year with Seth and Andre coming off the bench. We are going to make Harrison pay.

I also found a nice post game piece here.
(http://www.scrappernation.com/2009/11/duke-cruises-by-uconn.html)

I think this game should've demonstrated yet again just how important Scheyer is and how impressive he is as a player. I agree that Duke will be good next year, but do not sleep on our team this year. Scheyer and Singler may not be here next year and, no matter how good Kyrie is, those guys only make a team better. Personally, I can't wait to see Mason suit up.

Shawn6891

11-27-2009, 10:03 PM

I think this game should've demonstrated yet again just how important Scheyer is and how impressive he is as a player. I agree that Duke will be good next year, but do not sleep on our team this year. Scheyer and Singler may not be here next year and, no matter how good Kyrie is, those guys only make a team better. Personally, I can't wait to see Mason suit up.

I know we'll be losing Jon, but you got to be excited about Kyrie. We need that dynamic Jay Williams type point guard. That's what Kyrie is. Did you hear the guys saying he would make an impact similar to what John Wall is doing right now at Kentucky? It's going to be scary.

COYS

11-27-2009, 10:06 PM

I know we'll be losing Jon, but you got to be excited about Kyrie. We need that dynamic Jay Williams type point guard. That's what Kyrie is. Did you hear the guys saying he would make an impact similar to what John Wall is doing right now at Kentucky? It's going to be scary.

Oh don't worry, I'm really excited about Kyrie. I think we'll be great next year. I'm just saying that you can't sleep on this team and that with Jon and possibly Kyle plus some important post depth in Thomas and Zoubs leaving, we're going to be losing a lot of talent, as well. I'm just going to sit back and enjoy watching Jon play in a Duke uni for one last season before I get too worked up over what Kyrie will bring to Duke.

Jim3k

11-27-2009, 10:13 PM

Any links to Coach K's post game presser (audio/video/transcript)?

Here's a link to the presser from the NIT site. (http://www.nit.org/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/nit/sports/m-pnit/auto_pdf/DukeFinalQuotes) I had to use a browsere other than Firefox for Mac to read it.

It is hilarious insofar as Gottleib's 'alarmingly unathletic' remark of the other day.

Q. Doug Gottlieb called your team alarmingly unathletic. Did you think today answered that question pretty emphatically?
COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: He should be an expert on alarmingly non-athletic. So I'll have to take a look at that a little bit closer because it comes from an expert who actually knows what it feels like to be alarmingly non-athletic.
Actually, we're pretty athletic; we're just not as athletic as Connecticut. Singler is a really good athlete. Lance, Miles. Jon is not leaping tall buildings with a single bound but he's a real good athlete. But I wouldn't call us like this athletic team, but we're not amazingly non-athletic. And I would rather not get into a discussion with Doug because I have respect of his stature and he should have his arguments with people of similar stature. That would be a good thing.

Too bad Jason Williams wasn't a glib...but he will be.

jv001

11-27-2009, 10:14 PM

I know we'll be losing Jon, but you got to be excited about Kyrie. We need that dynamic Jay Williams type point guard. That's what Kyrie is. Did you hear the guys saying he would make an impact similar to what John Wall is doing right now at Kentucky? It's going to be scary.

It was Dickie V that said it. So take it with a grain of salt. I know Kyrie is going to be a good if not great player at Duke, but look at what Jon and Kyle bring to the table. Plus we lose Lance and Zoubs our two seniors. Let's enjoy this team before getting so excited about next years. I like the make up of this team, especially after Mason gets back. Great game tonight from Lance, Zoubs, Andre and of course Jon. Good supporting games from everyone else that saw action. Can't say anything bad when we beat uconn. Go Duke!

IBleedBlue

11-27-2009, 10:20 PM

I want us to destroy Clemson twice this year. Hopefully, adding Mason to the front court will help us wear out the Clemson's front court and then our shooters can shoot those daggers...
I have almost been waiting for an year to see that happen...and today my confidence in this team went up another notch...

duke09hms

11-27-2009, 10:25 PM

speaking of Clemson, did anyone catch the way we broke their attempt at a full-court press? Smart passing and court awareness baby! Led to an easy layup by Nolan (I think).

Let's see clemson bring their press again, we owe them big time from last year!

Poincaré

11-27-2009, 10:25 PM

I feel a lot better about the team now that it has beaten a good team. At the very least it gives me more patience. Rebounding (and Miles' shot-blocking) and defense were on display tonight. At the same time, I found myself worrying about the fact that none of the bigs could finish easy shots near the basket. Both Zoubek and Lance unnecessarily fake, dribble, shuffle, and waste time in various other ways, allowing defenders to collapse on them. They should condition themselves to go straight up with the ball when they are underneath the basket. Offense remains a work in progress for the entire team. We cannot keep going 6+ minutes without a basket against good teams.

Fortunately, each player (except Ryan Kelly) demonstrated his potential value tonight. It never seemed like the entire team played well at the same time, but at least each player played well at various parts of the game.

Kedsy

11-27-2009, 10:31 PM

Mason's return will provide 5 more fouls and should let Thomas play the glue guy off the bench. If he can play the way he did tonight, he will be another Dave McClure.

Wow, way to sell Lance short with what appears to be an attempt at a compliment. Did Dave McClure ever have a double-double in his career? No disrespect meant to Mr. McClure, but if Lance continues to play the way he did tonight he'll be way better than Dave ever was.

OldSchool

11-27-2009, 10:36 PM

"I didn't want them taking 3s," Calhoun said of his team, "I thought we had the quickness to go by them."

K in the locker room with the team before the Arizona State game:

"Fellas, I want you to let Glasser dribble circles around you. You big guys, just hold up a second or two before recovering from your hedges. And you guards, let the ASU guards blow by you to the basket, where they can draw fouls on our big guys."

Jon: "But coach, that doesn't make any sense! Don't you want us to win?"

K: "Oh, I want you to play well enough to win - but just enough to win."

K then makes a pre-game telephone call to the ESPN studios, and asks to speak to Doug Gottlieb.

K: "Doug, when you go on the air today, if you want to slam my team as "alarmingly unathletic," guys who should be embarassed to even take the floor with those magnificent human specimens from UConn, you go ahead. Do it. I dare ya!"

Calhoun reviews the ESPN game tape. His plan to beat Duke: No 3-balls, we'll "out-athlete" them! We'll just out-run and out-jump those couch potatoes!

K to Coach Knight after the game: "I love it when a plan comes together!"

AtlDuke72

11-27-2009, 10:36 PM

UConn seemed to give up on trying any outside shots. Even at the end of the game all they did was try to drive to the hoop. Hard to see how they will beat any good teams with that approach no matter how talented they may be. This is even more true if they shoot free throws as poorly as they did tonight.

UConn's ability to block shots was a huge factor in Duke's poor shooting tonight. We do not seem to have anyone who can create a shot when the clock is running down. Plenty to worry about on the offensive end, but the defense tonight on both sides was really strong.

strawbs

11-27-2009, 10:41 PM

Does the Nit season tip-off have an all tourney team or mvp? If so, anyone know who made the team or was mvp?

Wander

11-27-2009, 10:49 PM

Does the Nit season tip-off have an all tourney team or mvp? If so, anyone know who made the team or was mvp?

Glasser of ASU, Walker and Dyson of UConn, and Nolan and Scheyer from Duke. Scheyer, of course, was the MVP.

devilboomer

11-27-2009, 10:49 PM

Does the Nit season tip-off have an all tourney team or mvp? If so, anyone know who made the team or was mvp?

Scheyer, Nolan, Glasser (ASU), Dyson (UConn), and Walker (UConn).

Scheyer was MVP.

Kedsy

11-27-2009, 10:51 PM

elvis14

11-27-2009, 10:52 PM

I really enjoyed watching Duke play one of those teams I love to see lose. To win such a physical game is important for our team b/c much of this game was called like and NCAA tournament game (no calls on lots of blocking, pushing, etc). Nice to see Lance have a good game. We just beat an undefeated 13th ranked UConn team to win a tournament. Sweet!

Wow, way to sell Lance short with what appears to be an attempt at a compliment. Did Dave McClure ever have a double-double in his career? No disrespect meant to Mr. McClure, but if Lance continues to play the way he did tonight he'll be way better than Dave ever was.

Just because Lance had a good night, let's not project this game to Lance's overall play. A couple of times a season he shows up like he did tonight and I love it when he does. You said "if Lance continues to play the way he did tonight...". Have you watched the last 4 years and seen anything that makes you believe that Lance will play like he did tonight with any regularity? Did you see the ASU game in the semi-finals? Dave McClure was a MUCH better defender night in and night out than Lance is night in and night out. So you may have meant no disrespect to McClure but you very much disrespected him. Give me a choice between the two guys and I'll take Dave McClure and it's a easy choice. Lance did play great tonight, let's focus on that and revel in it!

dukelifer

11-27-2009, 10:52 PM

BTW- ASU killed LSU and Boateng had 17 and 8. Maybe folks got a bit too excited about UConn's big win.

Newton_14

11-27-2009, 10:55 PM

A lot of people had Turkey on Thursday and Crow on Friday. Tonight our team went to war with a very talented and physical team and literally beat them down. So much for Duke being soft.

Lance was an absolute warrior out there in what was an absolute war. I know I said that in the MOTM thread but just wanted to emphasize it. That game was no place for the meek. It was a man's game. Just how our guys competed was a huge deal to me. Not surprising at all, but it was good to see all of our kids battle like that.

The game had the intensity of a late round NCAA game. I loved how we came out running with them in the beginning and then settled into a nice flow. I think that caught UCon off guard a bit.

To be able to win a game like that with Singler in an offensive funk is impressive. It shows we have a lot of kids that can step up when needed and provide points. Had Singler been as good offensively as he has been in all the games prior to New York this would have been a huge blowout that ends in double digit defeat for UCon.

Even though Miles did not have great stats, he still battled hard and played well at times. He has come a long way since last year. He is a work in progress who makes mistakes at times but he is becoming a player. That experience tonight will serve him well once the conference wars begin.

Jon was great again, Nolan, Zoubs, and Andre were solid and Kelly gave good minutes while he was in there. I still say he will be in the rotation as the season moves along. He has great skills, he just needs to keep working hard and keep improving.

Once Mason comes back and gets in the flow, the team will get even better. I would have loved to have seen a healthy Mason in that game tonight. Would have been a great experience for him and another big for Duke to call on in a huge battle.

Just a great win against a team we all love to beat! The team defense and rebounding was great.

Bring on Wisconsin!!

Kedsy

11-27-2009, 11:00 PM

Mason's return will provide 5 more fouls and should let Thomas play the glue guy off the bench. If he can play the way he did tonight, he will be another Dave McClure.

Just because Lance had a good night, let's not project this game to Lance's overall play. A couple of times a season he shows up like he did tonight and I love it when he does. You said "if Lance continues to play the way he did tonight...". Have you watched the last 4 years and seen anything that makes you believe that Lance will play like he did tonight with any regularity? Did you see the ASU game in the semi-finals? Dave McClure was a MUCH better defender night in and night out than Lance is night in and night out. So you may have meant no disrespect to McClure but you very much disrespected him. Give me a choice between the two guys and I'll take Dave McClure and it's a easy choice. Lance did play great tonight, let's focus on that and revel in it!

I was reacting to a post that said, "if [Lance] can play the way he did tonight, he will be another Dave McClure." I responded that if he can continue to play the way he did tonight he will be way better than McClure. Which is true. It's hard to argue otherwise. Since I was accepting the original poster's hypothesis, then whether or not there's sufficient evidence to suggest he will in fact play this well on a regular basis is irrelevant to my post.

Oh Canada

11-27-2009, 11:11 PM

Just went to watch the game I had recorded on my PVR/DVR and somehow it got erased.

I hope this hasn't already been stated but is there somewhere I can watch the game online without being a member? I'm hoping they've saved it somewhere to be watched.

Help??

moonpie23

11-27-2009, 11:14 PM

i think most of us would LIKE for mp1 to be a bit further along, but i think he's coming on just fine.....his aggression is now more targeted and controlled....

i think he's gonna be a beast towards the end of the year....

oh....btw...if you're interested in some humor, head over to the UK board and read some of their posts about the game...

dukelifer

11-27-2009, 11:14 PM

Kedsy

11-27-2009, 11:14 PM

BTW- ASU killed LSU and Boateng had 17 and 8. Maybe folks got a bit too excited about UConn's big win.

Or maybe folks didn't give Duke's interior defenders enough credit for Boateng's dismal performance on Wednesday night?

dukestheheat

11-27-2009, 11:18 PM

Hats off to Duke and also to our all-world all-everything coach, Superman Coach K!

He had Duke mentally ready to play tonight (lacking versus ASU) and also the help defense was there if FORCE tonight (also lacking versus ASU)!

I am so proud of this team and what they've accomplished! This win and the adjustments K had to make to get the guys ready underscores one great lesson for me: the value of experience. We have the benefit of having Superman as our coach and we saw it again tonight! The guys were pumped and ready to go, and this had K's signature all over it.

GO DUKE! GO Duke football and BEAT Wake Forest tomorrow!

dukestheheat!

elvis14

11-27-2009, 11:19 PM

I was reacting to a post that said, "if [Lance] can play the way he did tonight, he will be another Dave McClure." I responded that if he can continue to play the way he did tonight he will be way better than McClure. Which is true. It's hard to argue otherwise. Since I was accepting the original poster's hypothesis, then whether or not there's sufficient evidence to suggest he will in fact play this well on a regular basis is irrelevant to my post.

Sorry about that, I missed the OP hypothesis part of that. I really enjoyed Lance's play tonight but I really loved the way McClure played defense (if only he could shoot).

gwwilburn

11-27-2009, 11:27 PM

This may have been an ugly win, but still a W that eases the pain of watching Duke choke away a lead to the Huskies six (Six?) seasons ago. BTW, has Kyle gotten more than a couple open looks in the past to games? I know he's not acting himself on the offensive end of the floor, but its not like he's missing a ton of open jumpers.

Kedsy

11-27-2009, 11:36 PM

Sorry about that, I missed the OP hypothesis part of that. I really enjoyed Lance's play tonight but I really loved the way McClure played defense (if only he could shoot).

I loved McClure's defense too, and I thought his shooting problems were mostly issues of confidence. He was a great rebounder for his size and a great glue guy.

Having said that, I think Lance brings some things to the table that Dave never had. I don't think Dave ever really defended PGs, for example, and Lance has shown he can do that in a pinch. Lance also is a little better defending centers than Dave was and has much better abilities attacking the rim. He doesn't always have the strength to finish, but if he's learned to hit his free throws (as he did tonight) then this is a little less of a problem.

The biggest thing we saw from Lance today that we haven't seen so much before was his ferocious rebounding. And, like Dave McClure's shooting I think the problem with Lance's rebounding has been more in his head than in any lack of ability. So if the light bulb finally went on, I think there's a decent chance we can see this sort of rebounding ferocity on a much more consistent basis in the future. I hope so, anyway.

But I guess my final point on this subject is I think we (as a group) tend to make comparisons too much. Lance Thomas shouldn't be striving to be "another Dave McClure," and we shouldn't think of him that way. I know it's cliche, but he should simply be the best Lance Thomas he can, and that seems to be getting better and better, despite the lack of love he's received from a lot of posters prior to today's game.

Oriole Way

11-28-2009, 12:59 AM

I'm glad K didn't listen to all those DBR posters who after the Arizona State game declared this team can't succeed if Lance and Z play regular minutes. Lance was absolutely incredible tonight and Z continued his rate of 20+ rebounds per 40 minutes played.

I'm also thrilled we were able to pass the test against a team with ultra-quick guards and a very athletic frontcourt. UConn is exactly the sort of team that a lot of people said we couldn't beat, but we didn't appear to have so many problems defensively containing their athleticism.

I am one of the posters who wants to see less of Zoubek and Thomas.

Thomas had an awesome game tonight, and I will give him credit for playing superbly. Zoubek was also very good, playing like a senior and providing some great rebounding.

But I stand by my assertion that Dawkins and both Plumlees will be more important to this team's ultimate success than the two seniors.

I am obviously extremely happy with the win. We won once again with two of our top 3 players shooting a combined 7-34 from the field. Smith and Singler shot absolutely atrociously from the field tonight, yet we won the game handily. Thomas and Zoubek were a big reason why.

However, there are still areas where improvement is needed. I criticize only because I want Duke to learn and improve from each and every game.

Duke's endgame execution was completely ineffective tonight. Duke went without a field goal for the final 5:30 minutes, and against better teams and/or a smaller lead, we will be allowing teams back into games too easily. This is more a matter of execution, so I'm confident that we will improve on our set plays and cruch time scoring, but we need to look over our offensive sets during the final 5-7 minutes and figure out better ways to score so that opposing teams aren't afforded the opportunity to make comebacks.

Dawkins was 4-6 from the floor with 3 rebounds, 0 assists and 0 turnovers in 17 minutes. 17 Minutes for the night's most efficient player is far too little PT. Aside from being our most efficent player on this night, I believe that Dawkins is Duke's 4th best player, even as a freshman. I think that a team's best players should be on the court for the most minutes, so I hope that Dawkins is afforded the chance to play more often, at the very least when his play warrants it.

But criticisms aside, it was a satisfying, gritty win. I saw a Duke team that was highly motivated and played with passion. When the shots start falling against the top-teir competition (they will) and the talent level falls in line with the effort and determination we saw tonight, this will be a very tough team to beat.

Jumbo

11-28-2009, 01:01 AM

Hey all,
I'll try to take some time to read through this thread tomorrow and post some thoughts on the game and where this team stands. But tonight, I just want to say that I hope you all can enjoy this win. We spend so much time worrying about what's going to happen and complaining when things don't go our way that we all need to do a better job of appreciating wins like this one. Go Duke!

HCheek37

11-28-2009, 01:39 AM

Great to see the guys in person this weekend, played so hard and while they didn't shoot well, they sure did give a full effort and really earned the trophy.

It is a very small piece of redemption over Coach Calhoun (keep it classy) and the UConvicts, nothing better than looking up towards their section in the 2nd half after Dre's 3 point play and seeing them seeing down and shutting up. :D

After the game got to talk briefly to a bunch of the guys and shake hands with Coach K. Very impressive weekend if not for a full performance in either game but for the toughness and tenacity showed by this team.

As a side note, met Kyrie Irving briefly as he walked out of the MSG exit tunnel around the same time as the team headed for the bus. Good kid, smiling big knowing that next year he will be helping this team win some more titles.

ice-9

11-28-2009, 01:46 AM

I loved McClure's defense too, and I thought his shooting problems were mostly issues of confidence. He was a great rebounder for his size and a great glue guy.

Having said that, I think Lance brings some things to the table that Dave never had. I don't think Dave ever really defended PGs, for example, and Lance has shown he can do that in a pinch. Lance also is a little better defending centers than Dave was and has much better abilities attacking the rim. He doesn't always have the strength to finish, but if he's learned to hit his free throws (as he did tonight) then this is a little less of a problem.

The biggest thing we saw from Lance today that we haven't seen so much before was his ferocious rebounding. And, like Dave McClure's shooting I think the problem with Lance's rebounding has been more in his head than in any lack of ability. So if the light bulb finally went on, I think there's a decent chance we can see this sort of rebounding ferocity on a much more consistent basis in the future. I hope so, anyway.

But I guess my final point on this subject is I think we (as a group) tend to make comparisons too much. Lance Thomas shouldn't be striving to be "another Dave McClure," and we shouldn't think of him that way. I know it's cliche, but he should simply be the best Lance Thomas he can, and that seems to be getting better and better, despite the lack of love he's received from a lot of posters prior to today's game.

One more thing about Lance -- he was aggressive tonight going to the basket especially after the rebound. That's how he was able to get to the free throw line so often.

Lance defended well, rebounded well, and made himself enough of an offensive force that we were able to withstand a poor shooting night.

Love him or hate him, we wouldn't have won this game without Lance. (Or Zoubek.)

Jackson

11-28-2009, 07:05 AM

I don't know if this has already been posted or not, but I am really thankful we were able to win with Singler being a no-show offensively. The last couple of games have been disturbing in that respect. Thomas and Zoubek played great especially Thomas. I wish, however, that I could get that panicky feeling out of the pit of my stomach whenever either of them puts the ball on the floor. If Zoubek could handle the ball with poise, he could end up in the NBA. Dawkins is playing so much better than I could have ever hoped for at this point in his development. Scheyer and Smith are the best un-athletic backcourt in the country. Did anyone else notice how MP1 had to duck his head to keep from hitting the backboard when he blocked a shot? WOW! When MP2 comes back, what a team! Nice to see a win when Duke doesn't shoot well.

oldnavy

11-28-2009, 07:40 AM

This is a game that we would have lost last year. Poor outside shooting has done us in the last few years, but yesterday we found a way to win despite the outside woes. THAT IS A VERY GOOD THING!

Side note: Kyle appeared to be a little weak to me over the past two games. Seems most of his shots were coming up just short. Even his FT attempt hit the front of the rim. Anyone know if he has been sick?

I think this team is going to be special. They really seem to enjoy playing together and are very unselfess. I loved Zou's kick out to Dawkins!!
LT was the MOTM in my opinion. His effort was crucial.

Neals384

11-28-2009, 08:29 AM

K in the locker room with the team before the Arizona State game:

"Fellas, I want you to let Glasser dribble circles around you. You big guys, just hold up a second or two before recovering from your hedges. And you guards, let the ASU guards blow by you to the basket, where they can draw fouls on our big guys."

Jon: "But coach, that doesn't make any sense! Don't you want us to win?"

K: "Oh, I want you to play well enough to win - but just enough to win."

K then makes a pre-game telephone call to the ESPN studios, and asks to speak to Doug Gottlieb.

K: "Doug, when you go on the air today, if you want to slam my team as "alarmingly unathletic," guys who should be embarassed to even take the floor with those magnificent human specimens from UConn, you go ahead. Do it. I dare ya!"

Calhoun reviews the ESPN game tape. His plan to beat Duke: No 3-balls, we'll "out-athlete" them! We'll just out-run and out-jump those couch potatoes!

K to Coach Knight after the game: "I love it when a plan comes together!"

I love this! LOL

ReformedAggie

11-28-2009, 08:43 AM

BlueintheFace

11-28-2009, 09:54 AM

I don't have much to say about this game except:

1) Lance and Zoubs were amazing.

2) It's going to be hard for Kyle to beat out Jon for ACC POY at this rate.

3) Our big men CAN in fact win games for this team when a few of our perimeter stars struggle (and boy did Kyle and Nolan struggle).

4) I have run out of adjectives and names for Jon. I'll just go with the most appropriate... Winner.

5) Dawkins is lacking some lateral quickness and got absolutely burned on the perimeter a few times, but if he can find a way to improve a bit with his man-to-man defense, he is going to be a HUGE contributor. I am very impressed with his offensive game.

6) Rebounding allows this team to win ugly this year... win when the shots aren't falling. I believe this fact is the most important thing I have taken from this tournament.

oldnavy

11-28-2009, 10:06 AM

Thanks for all your comments, I understand the game so much better reading this forum.

One thing tho, how can you say Singler didn't show up just because he didn't score points? I'm only a girl but I saw him doing so much on the floor and being unselfish. Maybe I don't get it, but he was stopping so much scoring I don't know how you can say he "didn't show up?"

He definitely showed up. He was critical in the ASU game, when he hit like three in a row and in the Ucon game he played well, especially on the defensive end. He just seemed a little "weak", like he might be under the weather a little. I noticed on his shots, which more often than not were short, which is a sign of tired legs... may not be what's going on, but it looked like that to me. Singler is the last person on this team that I worry about producing, he will bounce back!
I also am becoming a HUGE Scheyer fan. I always liked him, but he is quickly rising on my chart of all time favs. He is so dang consistent!!
And how can you not love Andre?? He literally looks like a kid in an amusement park when he is on the floor. What an infectious smile that kid has!
Enough for my man crushes…

smklin

11-28-2009, 10:18 AM

This has always been a strength for Duke, but tonight it was striking. Duke was positively unflappable, almost never reacting to the call or no-call. We really keep our focus. UCONN, on the other hand, seemed to feed off of their Coach, who screamed about many no-calls the replay showed involved absolutely no contact.

I think a LOT of this stems from Scheyer's leadership. What I really took away from tonight's game is Scheyer's unbelievable potential to set the tempo and attitude of a game. For a guy who didn't play a lick of point his first two years and only played a little last year, he understands the system and his role remarkably well.

diesel

11-28-2009, 10:20 AM

I see a lot of criticism of our end game against the Victs. But isn’t stallball a necessity when we have a big lead but our three bigs have fouled out and Kyle Singler has three fouls? Do we have the resources to play a normal tempo game under these circumstances?

One thing that heartened me tremendously about this game was Lance Thomas making 7 out of 8 three throws: the best performance on the team. As recently as the ASU game, I used to have a feeling of dread whenever he went to the line. This is a magnificent improvement!

ForeverBlowingBubbles

11-28-2009, 10:24 AM

Anyone think Singler's shooting may have been negatively affected by the weight he gained in the off season?

slower

11-28-2009, 10:36 AM

It was Dickie V that said it. So take it with a grain of salt.

I believe Dickie V was quoting/paraphrasing Howard Garfinkel, wasn't he?

oldnavy

11-28-2009, 10:38 AM

Anyone think Singler's shooting may have been negatively affected by the weight he gained in the off season?

I don't. His shot looks good, and is usually on line... he will work this out, besides he does a lot more than just shoot. I think his strength added will help him on his drives to the basket.

jgehtland

11-28-2009, 10:41 AM

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Kyle LOSE a lot of weight in the off season?

slower

11-28-2009, 10:47 AM

I found myself worrying about the fact that none of the bigs could finish easy shots near the basket. Both Zoubek and Lance unnecessarily fake, dribble, shuffle, and waste time in various other ways, allowing defenders to collapse on them. They should condition themselves to go straight up with the ball when they are underneath the basket.

It's true that the big guys do need to work on that, but going straight up is often easier said than done against a shot-blocking team like UCon. I seem to recall Miles/Zoubs/Lance finishing off inside with a few layups. It would also depend on how the refs are "letting them play" inside. But I do agree with your basic point.

dukestheheat

11-28-2009, 10:51 AM

Anyone think Singler's shooting may have been negatively affected by the weight he gained in the off season?

...think it has an impact on his shooting slump. No doubt he's in a slump; look at his average over the last couple games and at least offensively, he's down right now. As many other posters have noted, he's working hard in other areas to help Duke, and we needed him last night to do the same!

He will emerge from this and the best advice here to any great shooter, while in a slump, is to keep shooting it; the great thing is that the team stepped up that help defense last night (props to Superman, our Coach!) to help make up for our shooting woes. Man oh man, look at my buddy Nolan, who scored sixteen but had to take twenty-two shots to get those!

dth.

camion

11-28-2009, 11:06 AM

I just want to say that I love Zoubs. He gives everything he has and is definitely an asset to the team.

I wish he had a bit more vertical, but it is what it is. I just keep thinking that if only the basket were 9'10" instead of 10' high he would be a dunking machine. :)

Duke76

11-28-2009, 12:04 PM

for the winners and the losers:
Composure vs lack thereof
end of story

Jumbo

11-28-2009, 12:13 PM

Wow, I have to say I'm a bit shocked by the tenor of some of the posts in this thread. I don't want to call anyone out, but I just don't understand how people can be lamenting so many different things and even looking ahead to next year already.

Folks, this was a big, big win. Want to know why? This was exactly the kind of game we've lost in the NCAA Tournament recently. Think about every supposed (and I say supposed, because I believe some are myths) theme in those losses, and then apply them to UConn:
-Big, physical opponent? Check.
-Quick guards who generally can get into the lane Check.
-Poor shooting night by Duke? Check.

And we won. We won easily. We won with frustrating officiating that certainly rattled UConn, even though Duke got the short end of the stick on a number of plays.

I'm going to save some of the global analysis for the next "Phase" thread, but I want to make a few other points.

-This team is experienced. I'll post the game chart a little later, but Duke played extended minutes with a lineup of Scheyer-Smith-Singler-Thomas-Zoubek. That's three seniors and two juniors. It's pretty hard to rattle a group like that.

-Duke got plenty of good looks that somehow didn't stay down. Scheyer had a couple of great looks from three that were halfway down and popped back out. Kyle missed a couple of easy floaters that he normally converts. And so forth. And while the number of putbacks we couldn't convert was frustrating, it was great just to generate those opportunities. And pretty soon, we're going to have a 6'10" guy playing major minutes who WILL convert those plays -- by dunking.

-Jon Scheyer controlled the game. When Duke had chances to run, he pushed the ball ahead, made great decisions, and got us easy baskets. When it was time to slow things down, he ran the offense beautifully and got Duke in the right sets. It's a pleasure to watch him play the point. It's shocking to me that some people still don't appreciate him -- and how much we'll lose without him around next year. And as good as he was on offense, his D on Dyson might have been better. We've long talked about how Scheyer is such an underrated defender, and is particularly adept at hounding guys off the ball, fighting through screens, etc. Dyson is used to coming off screens, catching and shooting -- usually wide open. Just go back to the LSU game and watch. But last night, every time he caught the ball, Jon was right in his face. That's why UConn didn't get any threes. And Dyson let that frustration boil over at both ends, forcing some bad shots, missing FTs and pushing and shoving on D ... until he eventually fouled out, which should have happened much earlier.

-I'd say Duke played a modified stallball (it's not as if they weren't trying to score or were intentionally waiting until the final 8 seconds to start the offense) -- they were moving far earlier in the shot clock but just had trouble connecting on a couple of passes to get the shots we wanted. But with such a big lead, and guys in foul trouble, it was the right strategy.

-The team is so poised, and it makes such a difference. Playing through contact is huge, and Duke really showed toughness in this way. Scheyer gets hit on that drive to the hoop. No call? No problem, he flips in a circus shot. Guys are getting banged left and right, going for board or getting their shots "blocked" with tons of contact down low? They kept working. No goaltending call at the end of the half? Play on. Gavin Edwards lands on Nolan? Scheyer cuts his eye? Neither missed a play.

-Finally, just to point this out again, Duke kept two really quick guards out of the lane, out-rebounded a big, active frontline, defended the paint superbly (Miles' shotblocking presence is making a big difference) and built a 20-point lead against a big-name school in a big-game environment. Can you think of many higher-profile wins in the past few seasons? I can't. This is a great, great building block and, as I'll touch on in the Phase posts, it's hopefully just the beginning. Because not only does this win demonstrate the fact that Duke has much more of a margin for error than we've enjoyed in the past, this team can also get much, much better.

This is one to be excited about.

TNDukeFan

11-28-2009, 12:34 PM

Jumbo. Well said.

camion

11-28-2009, 12:39 PM

Yup.

We just flat outplayed them.

BD80

11-28-2009, 01:34 PM

... (the third foul on Plumlee was the worst call I have every seen, anywhere, anytime). ...

I thought is was a decent call, MP's left hand was on the shooter's shoulder; it was just so inconsistent with the way things were called at the other end.

... Zoubs again got rebounds. If he could jump 5 more inches- he would be a lottery pick- ...

If he could jump five inches ...

... I'm pretty sure Zoubek could stand still and foul out of a game ...

Zoub's third foul was called while he was at the scorer's table ...

... This game was like watching two ugly people engaging in foreplay, and constantly banging their head against the headboard, snoring and farting for ten minutes, then getting back at it again. ...

Are you the dad from sh1tmydadsays@twitter.com ?

speaking of Clemson, did anyone catch the way we broke their attempt at a full-court press? Smart passing and court awareness baby! Led to an easy layup by Nolan (I think). ...

You mean the ONE possession uCon tried to press until it got to desperation time? Hysterical. Even Calhoun realized that perhaps they shouldn't try that again!

I'm glad K didn't listen to all those DBR posters who after the Arizona State game declared this team can't succeed if Lance and Z play regular minutes. ...

Go figure, Coach K is a better coach than the average DBR poster. He certainly is a better coach than I would be, I was so frustrated with the way Z started the game with multiple turnovers and fouls, I would not have kept him in, or used him very much until necessary.

Someone noted that Duke just plays better when Z is in the game. He knows where he is supposed to be, he knows the offense and what he has to do to help make the offense work. His boxing out lead to many rebounds for himself and others. He is truly thinking every second he is out there. If he could only hold onto the ball when making an offensive move, sigh.

... The biggest thing we saw from Lance today that we haven't seen so much before was his ferocious rebounding. And, like Dave McClure's shooting I think the problem with Lance's rebounding has been more in his head than in any lack of ability. ...

So something may have motivated Lance? Maybe like Coach K calling him an NBA level player? Why that wascly wabbit ...

As long as we don't place Lance in a position where he must generate offense, he is clearly a starter. If he continues making free throws, he will also be a closer. We haven't seen Lance closing the door on our trapping defense yet - if he carries yesterday's attitude throughout the season - he is going to generate a lot of steals for us.

feldspar

11-28-2009, 02:04 PM

Wow, I have to say I'm a bit shocked by the tenor of some of the posts in this thread.

Agreed. I can't believe how much of an "it was an ugly win, but I'll take it" tone I'm getting from this thread.

I was absolutely giddy after the game yesterday. All my in-laws were razzing me all day about how "athletic" UConn is and how Duke was going to get run up and down the floor by a team that has owned us in the last decade.

Instead, I was left to watch the last part of the second half by myself because everyone else knew the game was over when Duke went up by 20.

This was a big win. Not huge, but really big. Enjoy it.

mapei

11-28-2009, 03:59 PM

I think a LOT of this stems from Scheyer's leadership. What I really took away from tonight's game is Scheyer's unbelievable potential to set the tempo and attitude of a game. For a guy who didn't play a lick of point his first two years and only played a little last year, he understands the system and his role remarkably well.

Totally agree with all of this except for the "didn't play a lick of point" part. Jon actually played a fair amount of point his freshman year, running the team when Paulus was out with an injury early in the year, and then filling in some when Greg was given a rest during games when Greg was healthy (admittedly not very many minutes that year).

COYS

11-28-2009, 05:45 PM

One other thing that I forgot to mention in my earlier posts was that it was plain to see how our size has dramatically improved our transition defense, as well. Some might say that UCONN wasted a number of opportunities in transition, but part of their problem with running the semi-break against us, especially in the second half, was that our guys are so long that even simple bounce passes to cutting players are made extremely difficult. Nolan Smith may only be 6'2'' but he's got a pretty good reach. Other than Nolan, everyone else on the team is pretty big and it was obvious that UCONN just wasn't used to passing around that length.

DukieInBrasil

11-28-2009, 08:08 PM

Three guys made excellent things happened in this game: LT, Z and Dre. LT recorded his 1st 2x-double!!! K may have only been trying to motivate LT with his comments about the NBA, but if he puts up numbers like this in ACC play, it might not be hyperbole to opine that LT could get a look from a team. Z has been on a mission this year, and that mission is rebounds; grabbing 11 against a top-line frontcourt. His O against good inside players still looks rather anemic, but any points from Z that come along with 11 rebounds is gravy. Dawkins is increasing his profile rapidly; merely mentioned as an aside earlier, he is forcing opponents to worry about him or get thrashed.

When Jon, LT and Z were Fr., this game would have been lost, even with the lead we enjoyed at halftime. Both of these games (ASU too) featured key second half runs that essentially put the game away. They weren't the "classic Duke runs", but they did smother the opposition on D for several minutes which allowed the O to push the lead.

Neither of the games in the Garden was particularly pretty, but taken together are an excellent indicator of the grit and substance of this team. Backcourt depth? Check, Dawkins has far exceeded my expectations so far. Frontcourt toughness? Check, we fouled out half of our post and still won the rebounding battle decisively, both overall and offensive. I'm excited for Mason's return!
As an additional note, Herb's SunDevils whooped LSU, further enhancing our stock (RPI).

Newton_14

11-28-2009, 11:24 PM

I watched the game again tonight and looked for things I missed watching it live. One of the really good things about last night was how for the most part we had really good movement on offense, but most of all we attacked the basket like crazy.

Even though the shooting percentage was putrid, we did a lot of good things offensively. Everyone still calls us a jumpshooting team, but last night there was certainly a lot more going on than just jacking up jumpshots. If we keep that same approach good things will happen on offense. Not everyone has the shotblockers UCon has and we will certainly not shoot 29% very often.

The other thing I noticed was how well Andre played defense. He just continues to improve on D. And there were several times where he was matched up on Stanley Robinson, and Andre really played him well.

Adding in a healthy Mason Plumlee to an already really good team will make us deeper, and a lot more dangerous. The way Miles and the other guys are protecting the rym already, and then adding a great shot blocker like Mason, will serve to make our interior defense better than it has been since some guy nicknamed The Landlord was protecting the paint.

Like Jumbo said, this was a big-time win against a very good opponent on a big stage...

Kedsy

11-29-2009, 12:17 AM

Adding in a healthy Mason Plumlee to an already really good team will make us deeper, and a lot more dangerous. The way Miles and the other guys are protecting the rym already, and then adding a great shot blocker like Mason, will serve to make our interior defense better than it has been since some guy nicknamed The Landlord was protecting the paint.

One not completely obvious thing that Mason is going to give us is an incredible flexibility of lineup. If we want to play big we can go with Jon or Nolan, Kyle, Lance, Mason, and Miles or Z, and we should still be quick enough to defend most teams. If we want to play small and quick we can go with Jon, Nolan, Andre, Kyle, and Mason (or possibly Miles), and still be big enough to rebound and guard the rim.

I'm not sure playing Miles and Z together is best from a defensive standpoint, so without Mason we'd need Ryan to be in the big lineup, but he doesn't appear strong enough yet to really make that lineup particularly successful. Similarly, without Mason the small lineup would likely have Lance as the 2nd big and despite his great game against UConn that lineup would have a hard time holding its own on the boards and would have little shot blocking presence.

What I guess I'm saying is the return of Mason means more than just getting back a potentially good player; it gives us the flexibility to have multiple looks that will be really difficult for most teams to match up with and should allow us to adapt to any situation, even within the same game.

Which makes the UConn win even more satisfying, considering how much better we're going to be in the very near future.

ice-9

11-29-2009, 01:19 AM

One thing I love about this November win is that, despite it just being a great win, it's obvious our team has so much more room to improve. The potential for this team is apparent.

Offense
- More motion
- Singler back to his usual self
- Mason Plumlee
- Miles being able to complete his dunks
- Lance finishing in traffic down low
- Zoubek consistently rebounding the way he did and more put-backs
- Dawkins taking more minutes and more shots
- Kelly and Olek getting more experience

Defense
- Zone option
- Trees of shotblockers
- Depth = fouls to give
- Zoubek becoming more mobile
- Dawkins, Kelly and Olek learning Duke D

For once in a long time I can see how we can be MUCH better in March then we are in November.

Wander

11-29-2009, 03:42 AM

Scheyer gets hit on that drive to the hoop. No call? No problem, he flips in a circus shot.

Man, you would not believe how angry these group of neutral fans around me at MSG got for screaming at the ref about this one during the ensuing timeout.

Anyone notice that Singler now does the Battier defense of putting his hand over an opponent's eyes? At least he did during this game, and it seemed to work really well.

NSDukeFan

11-30-2009, 09:58 AM

I'm glad K didn't listen to all those DBR posters who after the Arizona State game declared this team can't succeed if Lance and Z play regular minutes.

For over 8oo reasons I have more faith in K's decisions than many of the armchair DBR posters who are quick to disagree with him when we don't win by as many as they feel we should, or in as pretty a fashion.

I am one of the posters who wants to see less of Zoubek and Thomas.

But I stand by my assertion that Dawkins and both Plumlees will be more important to this team's ultimate success than the two seniors.

Aside from being our most efficent player on this night, I believe that Dawkins is Duke's 4th best player, even as a freshman.

I do always find it impressive when people acknowledge what they previously said, after they may have been proven wrong, or more evidence comes to light. Not that many do, but some certainly do. Impressive.
Dawkins and both Plumlees will certainly be important to our success this year and will likely be bigger scorers than Lance and Brian. Keep in mind though, that most successful teams in the NCAA tournaments are built around upperclassmen. No matter what, the three S's will be key to our success, but our other two seniors may very well play a large part as well.
I think Dawkins may be our 4th best scorer, but IMO is not our fourth best player. I think if he was, he would be starting, or a "sixth starter".

Love him or hate him, we wouldn't have won this game without Lance. (Or Zoubek.)
I agree and look forward to more from our "other" seniors.

I don't have much to say about this game except:

3) Our big men CAN in fact win games for this team when a few of our perimeter stars struggle (and boy did Kyle and Nolan struggle).

4) I have run out of adjectives and names for Jon. I'll just go with the most appropriate... Winner.

6) Rebounding allows this team to win ugly this year... win when the shots aren't falling. I believe this fact is the most important thing I have taken from this tournament.
It is encouraging to see our team more well rounded this year, with more contributions outside the big 3. It is great to be able to win a game where we shot poorly. There is a pretty good chance that will happen sometime in the NCAA tournament and it would be nice to have other ways to make sure we still get a W.

Wow, I have to say I'm a bit shocked by the tenor of some of the posts in this thread. I don't want to call anyone out, but I just don't understand how people can be lamenting so many different things and even looking ahead to next year already.

Folks, this was a big, big win.

-Finally, just to point this out again, Duke kept two really quick guards out of the lane, out-rebounded a big, active frontline, defended the paint superbly (Miles' shotblocking presence is making a big difference) and built a 20-point lead against a big-name school in a big-game environment. Can you think of many higher-profile wins in the past few seasons? I can't. This is a great, great building block and, as I'll touch on in the Phase posts, it's hopefully just the beginning. Because not only does this win demonstrate the fact that Duke has much more of a margin for error than we've enjoyed in the past, this team can also get much, much better.

This is one to be excited about.
It has definitely been a very exciting start to the season.

slower

11-30-2009, 10:29 AM

Man, you would not believe how angry these group of neutral fans around me at MSG got for screaming at the ref about this one during the ensuing timeout.

Anyone notice that Singler now does the Battier defense of putting his hand over an opponent's eyes? At least he did during this game, and it seemed to work really well.

Don't you know that Duke gets all the calls? And that means that we are not supposed to complain about anything, even when our guys are getting mugged. I'm quite certain that will be a common tactic this year (much like other years), to play on any possible internal "Bilas Syndrome" (I'm going to call any overreaction against perceived "Duke bias" by the name "Bilas Syndrome" from now on ;)) of the refs and just try to manhandle us, thinking that it will intimidate us.

Love Kyle's "Battier D". Might as well learn from the master!

airowe

11-30-2009, 11:07 AM

Don't you know that Duke gets all the calls? And that means that we are not supposed to complain about anything, even when our guys are getting mugged. I'm quite certain that will be a common tactic this year (much like other years), to play on any possible internal "Bilas Syndrome" (I'm going to call any overreaction against perceived "Duke bias" by the name "Bilas Syndrome" from now on ;)) of the refs and just try to manhandle us, thinking that it will intimidate us.

Love Kyle's "Battier D". Might as well learn from the master!

I noticed that too. Kyle seems to really alter alot of shots that way, especially against smaller, quicker guys where he's just not in good enough position to block their shot.

I finally got around to watching the game on Saturday and that sequence of events towards the end of the first half where Scheyer obviously got fouled, made it with no call, Robinson comes barreling in to the lane with Zoubs standing tall and flat-footed, and gets called for a block, and then the obvious goaltending when whomever it was on Ucon grabbed the rim was some of the most horrible officiating I've seen in a while.

Regardless, I thought it was an amazing performance by our guys and they showed they can play uptempo, fast break (that finish by Andre was amazing int he first half), and in a halfcourt setting. All while not shooting very well, and not getting a usual performance from our All-American.

superdave

11-30-2009, 11:38 AM

I attended the ASU game on Wednesday night. There were a few fans from ASU and LSU but mostly UConn and Duke fans. The boos and insults yelled at Duke as they entered the stadium and warmed up were notable.

The game itself was pretty ugly because of Sendek's style. The section I was sitting in (half UConn, half other fans) was openly mocking Boateng every time he came. Man, he looked bad.

The UConn game really sticks out for two reasons: Lance and Zoubek. Lance was actually jumping over people to rebound the ball. I'm not sure I've seen him elevate as often in his four years. As for Brian, he was a wrecking ball in the lane, using his body mass and elbows to control the paint to actually win the rebounding margin from one of the nation's traditionally excellent rebounding/shot blocking teams. Both are very encoruaging signs.

CDu

11-30-2009, 11:45 AM

The UConn game really sticks out for two reasons: Lance and Zoubek. Lance was actually jumping over people to rebound the ball. I'm not sure I've seen him elevate as often in his four years. As for Brian, he was a wrecking ball in the lane, using his body mass and elbows to control the paint to actually win the rebounding margin from one of the nation's traditionally excellent rebounding/shot blocking teams. Both are very encoruaging signs.

I agree with most of your post. However, I'd note that while UConn has historically been a good rebounding/shotblocking team, this year they have been a mediocre/poor rebounding team. They were outrebounded by both Colgate and Hofstra, and they only outrebounded William and Mary by one. They did kill a pretty bad LSU team on the boards, though. And they are still a great shotblocking team.

But yes, the games by Zoubek and Thomas were very encouraging. Hopefully they continue to play as well as this team continues to develop. Adding Mason Plumlee should only help them as they can play aggressively without worrying about fouling out.