Charting Duke vs. Purdue (NCAA Tournament)

[Jumbo]

Well, hello there, Elite Eight! So nice to see you again! How did Duke get here? Well, those five experienced starters did the bulk of the work. Duke performed far better with the senior bigs in the game than with the Plumlees. That's significant, because Miles and Mason will have to raise their game against Baylor, given that team's size, length, athleticism and depth inside. There's a strong chance that Duke's bigs could end up in foul trouble in that next game, putting even more of a burden on the young guys. Plus, Duke needs them to make plays in the middle against that zone and to punish Baylor on the offensive glass.

It was nice to see K finally switch up the 2-at-a-time frontcout subs (even if it was in response to foul trouble). Lance and Miles played well together (doesn't it seem like forever ago that they were the starters and Zoubek was coming off the bench?) and Mason and Zoubek did a solid job as a pair as well. One thing really surprised me, though. Given Purdue's small lineup, ball pressure and Duke's offensive struggles, I expected K to try a smaller lineup with Dawkins in the game and Singler at the 4. I thought using Singler as a screener and asking Dawkins to spread the floor in the corner might have opened things up, but K seemed determined to stay big and to figure out how to run the offense without an extra guard on the floor. And, in the end, I can't blame him -- it worked in the second half.

There's not much else to say from a plus/minus perspective, other than to hope that Duke really brings it against Baylor and that the guys who might not have functioned particularly well in the lineups below adjust against a team that will present entirely different challenges.

Anyway, on to the numbers ...

Individuals
Kyle Singler 68-53 (+15)
Nolan Smith 65-51 (+14)
Jon Scheyer 70-57 (+13)
Lance Thomas 57-44 (+13)
Brian Zoubek 38-26 (+12)
Miles Plumlee 29-27 (+2)
Mason Plumlee 13-13 (+0)
Andre Dawkins 8-8 (+0)
Ryan Kelly 2-4 (-2)
Jordan Davidson 0-2 (-2)

Per 40 Minutes
Brian Zoubek +20
Lance Thomas +16.8
Kyle Singler +15.4
Nolan Smith +14.7
Jon Scheyer +13.7
Miles Plumlee +5.3
Mason Plumlee +0
Andre Dawkins +0
Ryan Kelly -80
Jordan Davidson -80

Lineups
Scheyer-Smith-Singler-Thomas-Zoubek (x7) 26-18 (+8)
Scheyer-Smith-Singler-Thomas-Miles (x4) 23-18 (+5)
Scheyer-Smith-Singler-Mason-Zoubek 7-4 (+3)
Scheyer-Dawkins-Singler-Thomas-Zoubek 5-4 (+1)
Scheyer-Smith-Dawkins-Singler-Thomas 1-0 (+1)
Smith-Dawkins-Singler-Thomas-Zoubek (x2) 0-0 (+0)
Scheyer-Smith-Dawkins-Thomas-Kelly 2-2 (+0)
Smith-Dawkins-Singler-Mason-Miles 0-0 (+0)
Scheyer-Davidson-Dawkins-Thomas-Kelly 0-2 (-2)
Scheyer-Smith-Singler-Mason-Miles (x3) 6-9 (-3)

[CameronCrazy'11]

So, once again, pretty much Duke's entire lead was built with Big Z on the court. Love this guy!

[NSDukeFan]

Well, hello there, Elite Eight! So nice to see you again! How did Duke get here? Well, those five experienced starters did the bulk of the work. Duke performed far better with the senior bigs in the game than with the Plumlees. That's significant, because Miles and Mason will have to raise their game against Baylor, given that team's size, length, athleticism and depth inside. There's a strong chance that Duke's bigs could end up in foul trouble in that next game, putting even more of a burden on the young guys. Plus, Duke needs them to make plays in the middle against that zone and to punish Baylor on the offensive glass.

It was nice to see K finally switch up the 2-at-a-time frontcout subs (even if it was in response to foul trouble). Lance and Miles played well together (doesn't it seem like forever ago that they were the starters and Zoubek was coming off the bench?) and Mason and Zoubek did a solid job as a pair as well. One thing really surprised me, though. Given Purdue's small lineup, ball pressure and Duke's offensive struggles, I expected K to try a smaller lineup with Dawkins in the game and Singler at the 4. I thought using Singler as a screener and asking Dawkins to spread the floor in the corner might have opened things up, but K seemed determined to stay big and to figure out how to run the offense without an extra guard on the floor. And, in the end, I can't blame him -- it worked in the second half.


I wonder if K didn't have as much confidence in Andre's ball-handling vs. the intense ball pressure Purdue was applying. I am thinking it is similar to when Duke played Clemson. I expect Andre to get some more minutes against Baylor and hopefully can hit some big jumpers.

[94duke]

I wonder if K didn't have as much confidence in Andre's ball-handling vs. the intense ball pressure Purdue was applying. I am thinking it is similar to when Duke played Clemson. I expect Andre to get some more minutes against Baylor and hopefully can hit some big jumpers.

IIR, Andre got some minutes towards the end when Purdue was pressing.
I thought Coach K was doing that to use Andre as an extra ball handler.
Thoughts?

[CDu]

IIR, Andre got some minutes towards the end when Purdue was pressing.
I thought Coach K was doing that to use Andre as an extra ball handler.
Thoughts?

I read that as Coach K putting him out there to get an extra foul shooter on the floor (as Purdue was also in "foul to extend the game" mode) moreso than having an extra ball handler. Though he is probably a better ballhandler than the Plumlees (who I believe were the alternatives).

[Delaware]

I read that as Coach K putting him out there to get an extra foul shooter on the floor (as Purdue was also in "foul to extend the game" mode) moreso than having an extra ball handler. Though he is probably a better ballhandler than the Plumlees (who I believe were the alternatives).

K went offense for defense a coupel of trips near the end with Dre and Miles (free throw shooting was my read on that).

[Newton_14]

One interesting note to me is, in a game as tight as this game was for a long stretch all of our normal rotation line ups finished no worse than even. I know we ran out late to the comfortable lead but I expected at least one of the normal line ups to be negative. Not so.

As good as Purdue's defense was, ours was better.