Man of the Match vs. Purdue (NCAA Tournament)

[Jumbo]

Who was the Man of the Match in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 win over Purdue?

[Welcome2DaSlopes]

Stats say Kyle but watching it can be either Kyle, Jon, Nolan, or Zoubs. they all played hard,( at least for the second half)

[GoingFor#5]

Very tough call, but I went with Smitty. Singler kept us in it and then the other 2 S's took over, but I really like how Smitty keyed the critical run in the 2nd half.

[Andre Buckner Fan]

Welcome back Jon! Not a moment too soon.

[fisheyes]

Jon has guts!

[EKU1969]

I went with Singler. He just kept everything going.

[jv001]

Went with Jon for his great 2nd half. He must have had some kind of pressure on him to get it going. Those inside shots he was hitting the first of the year came back tonight and we needed every one of them. Go Duke!

[summerwind03]

Kyle really did everything tonight, but I was happy Jon and Nolan joined him in the second half! And Zoubs is still a rebounding machine.

[mgtr]

Well, I held my nose and picked Singler. He deserved it, but Scheyer has to be the sentimental favorite. Nolan made some critical shots. Lance, Zoubs and Miles definitely contributed a lot. Tough choice.

[NM Duke Fan]

Once again a tough call, but went with catalyzer Nolan because he took charge with agressive drives to the hoop and his 7 points in a row, which then seemed to jolt Jon to start getting more agressive in driving as well. Those 3 baskets by Nolan changed the whole complexion of the game.

[papa whiskey]

Jon's late game buckets in the paint to put it away.

[Ian]

I voted for Jon.

Reposting what I posted in the post game thread:

Jon is my MOTM.

That play with the game 35-35 all, and the shot clock running down, he just willed his way to the basket, he was fouled about 4 times on that drive but he just kept going, and when he scored on that play I knew we were going to win the game, because I knew if we played with that type of will we are the better team and would win.

Not surprisingly after that play we went on a huge run to put the game away.

[The Gordog]

I went with Kyle. 2 halves and all the little things. First half scoring, key rebounds and tap outs, handling the press at the end, hitting free throws down the stretch. Singler is Iron.

[BobbyFan]

Jon's play was the most encouraging. But I have to go with Kyle who was an absolute rock from beginning to end. Without him, Purdue puts some distance on us heading into halftime.

[DevilHorns]

Remember Kyle kept us in the game in the first half. W/o him we would be St. Marys vs Baylor in the 1st half. OK maybe not that bad but you get the point.

Kyle is the man.

[Welcome2DaSlopes]

I went Brian Zoubek because although our 3S played great so did Zoubs with his 14 rebs.

[NSDukeFan]

Solid contributions from all our starters tonight. I went with Kyle for the whole game, but I loved Nolan leading the run that put some distance between us and them and Jon having a great second half.

[Billy Dat]

To me, it's got to be Kyle. Where would we have been without him in the first half and he keyed the momentum shift at the end of the half which, to me, was a big turning point in the game.

Very happy to see Jon seem to shake his tightness and get that bounce back in his step.

[buzz]

Nolan's spurt was the difference maker tonight, so I give him the nod. Nice effort by all in a messy slugfest.

[Newton_14]

I went with Kyle only because he was solid in both halves. Had to deduct points from Nolan and Jon for their struggles in the first half. That said, Jon and Nolan both had great 2nd halves to help Kyle and give us the big lead.

Jon's performance in the 2nd half was one of the best turnarounds I have seen in sometime. To shoot it as poorly as he had for the last 3 halves and then bounce back with the 2nd half performance he had out there tonight was something special to see.

He got his driving/twisting and finishing mojo back!

Zoubs with 14 boards was awesome as well.

Go Duke!!

[borodevil16]

Gotta give it to ryan for throwing some bows at the end. Glad to see him getting physical

[greybeard]

This is a snap. It has to be Kyle, the warrier; no wait, Smith, when Kyle's wrist got hurt, played as tough and cold against intense pressure as I've seen; but, hold on, Jon, what courage, insane that he would will his way to find his offensive game and then abuse, yes, abuse those Purdue defenders who were playing as physically on the exterior as you will see this side of a Ravens Steelers game; but, I don't know, you get chippy fouls called on you in a game that was one of those cage fights and you get 14 boards and even though there is no usual role for you as a scorer you team with your brother of four years for a high low play in which you make a fantastic contested reception and finish at the rim; and wait, Miles plays great offensively and is great on the boards; and you are a senior who takes the most intense college player on the planet and outworks him.

Easy, a snap. For someone else maybe. I thought that this was a street fight, that Perdue needed it to be a street fight, and these guys went to war, and the MOTM was all of them, and every guy on this team, whether they played or not. Most teams loose this game. Extraordinary.

[DukeDevilDeb]

therefore there was no single MOTM. Kyle was steady throughout; he had three turnovers, 8 rebounds. Smith was just the MAN at the end of the first half. I really think his basket there turned the whole game around.

But Jon... I cannot believe Jon. He shoots poorly in the first half--hadn't made a field goal for 52 minutes at one point. Then he comes in for the second half and hits a three, and 4 two-pointers and 7 free throws, and we're up to stay.

Zoubs with 14 rebounds (10 of them offensive) in 24 minutes; Miles making a key field goal in the first half which he almost never does; Lance getting 4 offensive rebounds and 2 assists... our starting 5 getting 37 rebounds! Mason hit two free throws... just a great second half.

I must confess I was really concerned during the first half... until, that is, Nolan hit the final shot. But watching them come out after halftime convinced me that Coach had worked his magic again. That was a tough Purdue team.

So my vote... MOTM to the whole TEAM! :D

Go Devils!

[vb5678]

I initially voted for Singler, but I think Nolan had a really great game. His plays were huge momentum swings, from the shot at the end of the first half to his 3 to cap a great personal run. Plus, he even helped a kid mop the floor tonight. He really did everything!!!

[DevilHorns]

Gotta give it to ryan for throwing some bows at the end. Glad to see him getting physical

That made me laugh outloud! Well done!

[Dukeface88]

Got to give this to Scheyer. He said his shot was in Houston, and he was right. Apparently it just took a while to unpack it. He also seemed to be the only one not to get hit by the turnover bug, other than that one bobbled pass towards the end. All of the Big 4 had great games though (Yes, Big 4. Zoubek deserves to be included with the S's now).

[cptnflash]

I am stunned that Kyle didn't win this unanimously. I guess I understand votes for Nolan, given his shot at the end of the first half (off a rebound which Kyle kept alive) and his 7 point run to create our first real separation in the second half, but come on.... Kyle had 24 and 8, and totally saved our bacon in the first half. He was the only one who could hit anything at all.

[devildeac]

Singler for two halves well-played. Jon, Nolan and Brian for fine performances as best supporting actors.

[Saratoga2]

I have no argument with those that chose Kyle or Jon, however, I chose Nolan because of his intense defensive play along with him hitting key baskets such as the one at the end of the half and then his 7 point spurt when needed at the end.

[TruBlu]

Although this was a true team victory, had to vote for Jon due to the importance of him finding his stroke and moving forward.

[4decadedukie]

I voted for Kyle, however, I am greatly surprised Brian hasn't received more votes; his defense, rebounding, toughness, second chanced points, offensive assistance (setting picks, etc.) were outstanding and a key catalyst to our victory (and -- obviously -- it was a GREAT TEAM VICTORY and every player made excellent contributions to the win).

[davekay1971]

I went with Zouby. This was one of those games where you could make an argument for a few people. Singler as our only reliable offense in the first half. Scheyer for his management of the game in the second half. Nolan as the spark-plug that put us ahead to stay and really opened the game up. The whole team D. But Zoubs work on the boards and clogging up the inside, limiting Purdue's chances on the offensive end and giving us extra chances on the other, were really fun to watch. Enough can't be said about his emergence as a legitimate post presence, and last night's game typified the difference he makes for this team.

[Merlindevildog91]

but I voted for Kyle, who held us together when everything else in the first half was falling apart.

[mapei]

I am stunned that Kyle didn't win this unanimously. I guess I understand votes for Nolan, given his shot at the end of the first half (off a rebound which Kyle kept alive) and his 7 point run to create our first real separation in the second half, but come on.... Kyle had 24 and 8, and totally saved our bacon in the first half. He was the only one who could hit anything at all.

I'm not stunned, but otherwise those are my sentiments exactly. Kyle has been carrying this team on his back. It was terrific to see him get some help last night (I thought Jon was acually a liability in the first half), but without him we are an NIT team.

[CDu]

Went with Singler, because it is a 40-minute game. Without his offense in the first half, we might be down 5-10 points. He wasn't too bad in the second half, either.

That said, Smith had a big stretch that pushed us comfortably ahead for good (he scored 7 straight to take us from 42-40 to 49-40). And of course Scheyer was fantastic in the second half.

It's also interesting to note that the big three were all really big in the second half. Smith went 5-7 for 11 points; Scheyer was 5-9 for 16 points; Singler was 3-6 for 13 points. That's 13-22 and 40 points in the second half alone. So while I gave my vote to Singler, it's not like he was head and shoulders above the rest.

[tele]

Lance played well too, battled on d the whole game, took a couple of charges. It was a total team effort though against a tough Purdue team. Maybe it would be best to divide the votes equally for each player? Have to hand it to Coach K too for the adjustments in the second half. Should be used to playing on that court after grinding it out in this game.

I voted for Scheyer, mainly for senior leadership at winning time.

[dukestheheat]

Our Great One Nolan Smith was awesome tonight, hitting a key 3, but I actually voted for Singler for MOTM, as he seemed to keep everything going the whole time for the team!

dth.

[moonpie23]

i went with jon because his play sparked the separation...... kyle, z and nolan were amazing too...

[Son of Mojo]

Give it to Kyle for both halves of solid play but we do not win that game without Nolan getting those driving shots to finally drop (along with that HUGE three he made) and Jon getting some to fall too. Z, Lance (two really good passes for assists made up for that awful travel he did), and Miles (if he can keep hitting that jumper look out) stepped up big for us. I hope that we can see more of Dre and Ryan as well for Baylor........I've got a feeling we're going to need all hands on deck the rest of the way in a major way.

[Newton_14]

therefore there was no single MOTM. Kyle was steady throughout; he had three turnovers, 8 rebounds. Smith was just the MAN at the end of the first half. I really think his basket there turned the whole game around.

But Jon... I cannot believe Jon. He shoots poorly in the first half--hadn't made a field goal for 52 minutes at one point. Then he comes in for the second half and hits a three, and 4 two-pointers and 7 free throws, and we're up to stay.

Zoubs with 14 rebounds (10 of them offensive) in 24 minutes; Miles making a key field goal in the first half which he almost never does; Lance getting 4 offensive rebounds and 2 assists... our starting 5 getting 37 rebounds! Mason hit two free throws... just a great second half.

I must confess I was really concerned during the first half... until, that is, Nolan hit the final shot. But watching them come out after halftime convinced me that Coach had worked his magic again. That was a tough Purdue team.

So my vote... MOTM to the whole TEAM! :D

Go Devils!

Just one minor quibble with your post. The bolded part. Actually for sometime now, Miles has been taking 1 or 2 jumpers like that per game and knocking them down regularly, which is great to see for him. He has become really consistent with that mid-range shot. It's going to make him a dangerous player as his career progresses.

Other than that, great post!
Go Duke!

[greybeard]

I'm not stunned, but otherwise those are my sentiments exactly. Kyle has been carrying this team on his back. It was terrific to see him get some help last night (I thought Jon was acually a liability in the first half), but without him we are an NIT team.

For the most part, the amount of physical contact being permitted by exterior defenders in this tournament has made for a lot of ugly play. Perdue took what is permissible to and beyond its limits, in my opinion--physically negated Duke's offense by preventing the Big Three from getting anywhere near a screen, on or off the ball. I am not sure I understand how that is possible within the rules of the game, but in keeping with the high road that K took in his remarks afterwards will assume that somehow it is.

As a consequence, a good deal of Duke's offense consisted of what I recall about 6th-grader play--a really skilled guy dribbling around all over the place until he wills an opening and overwhelms lesser players. Singler was the first of the Big Three to "get" that that was all that was available.

I thought that when Scheyer took his turn at that type of game he was silly good, silly in the sense that he literally dribbled all over the place, from one side of the court to another, with defenders following but having nothing to push against because Jon wasn't penetrating until he decided to and then found advantage and took it to the basket at his tempo and finished in cute little ways that left Perdue's body-him-up defenders looking like a bunch of, well, beaten Sixth Graders.

I think you could have chosen better than the term "liability."

[Jumbo]

For the most part, the amount of physical contact being permitted by exterior defenders in this tournament has made for a lot of ugly play. Perdue took what is permissible to and beyond its limits, in my opinion--physically negated Duke's offense by preventing the Big Three from getting anywhere near a screen, on or off the ball. I am not sure I understand how that is possible within the rules of the game, but in keeping with the high road that K took in his remarks afterwards will assume that somehow it is.

As a consequence, a good deal of Duke's offense consisted of what I recall about 6th-grader play--a really skilled guy dribbling around all over the place until he wills an opening and overwhelms lesser players. Singler was the first of the Big Three to "get" that that was all that was available.

I thought that when Scheyer took his turn at that type of game he was silly good, silly in the sense that he literally dribbled all over the place, from one side of the court to another, with defenders following but having nothing to push against because Jon wasn't penetrating until he decided to and then found advantage and took it to the basket at his tempo and finished in cute little ways that left Perdue's body-him-up defenders looking like a bunch of, well, beaten Sixth Graders.

I think you could have chosen better than the term "liability."

That's a great description of what the game was like, and agree with you that Scheyer's getting to the basket was, in fact, the turning point of the game and directly led to Smith's spurt shortly after Jon started to get going.