PDA

View Full Version : Man of the Match vs. Baylor (NCAA Tournament)



JBDuke
03-28-2010, 07:36 PM
Cast your vote for Man of the Match in Duke's win over Baylor in the South Regional final.

billyj
03-28-2010, 07:38 PM
There were a lot of heros in that game, but none played bigger than Nolan Smith.

RoyalBlue08
03-28-2010, 07:39 PM
Storybook game. Nolan dedicates the game to his Dad before the game, and goes out and has the game of his life. I am so happy for him. This vote is no contest.

Delaware
03-28-2010, 07:40 PM
Hand's down! Nolan! He tweeted before the game that this one was for his father... great game.

Welcome2DaSlopes
03-28-2010, 07:41 PM
You can't with a straight face say the MOTM wasn't NOLAN

strawbs
03-28-2010, 07:42 PM
1. nolan, played an amazing game
2. jon, great to see him hitting shots again, hit a lot of big threes
3. zoubs, I know he fouled out but especially in the 2nd half he contributed a lot while being in foul trouble
4. plumlees/andre, nice to see these guys step up and contribute in the biggest game of the season.

Andre Buckner Fan
03-28-2010, 07:42 PM
I have to give Lance Thomas a vote, but clearly Nolan is MOTM.

hotbutteredseoul
03-28-2010, 07:43 PM
I would love to give Lance some love, but it's gotta be Nolan today. He singlehandedly sliced that zone to shreds. Amazing performance.

Cicero
03-28-2010, 07:44 PM
Nolan Smith, for playing winning basketball. Honorable mention goes to Lance Thomas, who made so many crucial plays down the stretch.

coldriver10
03-28-2010, 07:44 PM
Nolan, without question. But my vote for Biggest-Comeback-in-the-Second-Half would be for Lance. His first half wasn't very good, but he made some HUGE plays in the 2nd half. No question we wouldn't have won without his offensive rebounds and that put-back (and one).

Les Grossman
03-28-2010, 07:44 PM
What were his stats, anybody? He had to be close to 30 and a half dozen assists.

dukebluelemur
03-28-2010, 07:44 PM
Gotta go with Lance, 8 offensive rebounds... and that utterly utterly clutch putback.

lpd1982
03-28-2010, 07:45 PM
Nolan's tweet from this am

"This one is for you Dad!! I love you! #43..... Let's go Duke!"

Dad would be real proud...

nyr484
03-28-2010, 07:45 PM
ndotsmitty

Duke Mom
03-28-2010, 07:45 PM
Nolan "So Solid" Smith!:)

Jumbo
03-28-2010, 07:51 PM
Geez, JB, you couldn't give me half an hour to celebrate before I did my duty? Come on, we have a winning routine to protect!!!

terrih
03-28-2010, 07:52 PM
A TEAM win, from Jon making 50% of his 3 pt shots, Lance on his rebounding and dunk, Z, Kyle on D and clutch fts, the Plums and Andre. But Nolan was MOTM in my book! So, so excited for this team. FINAL FOUR!!!

calltheobvious
03-28-2010, 07:52 PM
Yessirr!!

CDu
03-28-2010, 07:54 PM
I went with Nolan for hitting so many big shots and getting a career-high 29 points. But Honorable mention has to go to Scheyer for his big shots and ballhandling, and to the bigs for putting up a combined 20 points and 30 rebounds.

BobbyFan
03-28-2010, 07:56 PM
Nolan is the MOTM.

But Jon and Nolan together were amazing in attacking the zone; they were making the right decision almost every single time. I loved watching it. In fact, I may have to replay this one in the very near future.

JBDuke
03-28-2010, 07:56 PM
Geez, JB, you couldn't give me half an hour to celebrate before I did my duty? Come on, we have a winning routine to protect!!!

Some moderators around here take their duties seriously... ;-)

SoCalDukeFan
03-28-2010, 07:57 PM
because basketball is a team game and you win or lose as a team.
But if I did it would be Nolan, Lance, Jon.

SoCal

Jumbo
03-28-2010, 08:01 PM
Some moderators around here take their duties seriously... ;-)

If this leads to bad luck ...

BTW, I voted for Nolan, but Jon was great too!!!

Channing
03-28-2010, 08:06 PM
obviously nolan, but andre's threes in the first half were HUGE. Both really stemmed the tides when BU started getting some momentum

coldriver10
03-28-2010, 08:09 PM
If this leads to bad luck ...
Crap, I'm a superstitious person, too. :)

sleepybear
03-28-2010, 08:11 PM
I had to vote Jon Scheyer. He hit some huge shots and handled the ball all game long while getting mugged.

flyingdutchdevil
03-28-2010, 08:12 PM
I have a feeling that Nolan will finally be getting his just desserts. Finally.

Papa John
03-28-2010, 08:13 PM
Can we vote multiple times for Nolan? He was phenomenal tonight!

Great to see Scheyer's shot falling. Great contributions from the big man by committee, particularly Lance after a pretty poor first half, who turned around and played an utterly inspired second stanza. Also nice to see Dawkins give some solid minutes and hit a couple of icewater 3s... Singler struggled to get into an offensive rhythm, but it's great to see that whenever any of our big three are struggling on offense, they refuse to let it affect the rest of their game. Kyle played some strong D down the stretch, and was money at the line. This team is tough as nails--both physically and mentally!

CLW
03-28-2010, 08:18 PM
Nolan did it all tonight. Penetrated the zone; big 3s and played solid D.

cspan37421
03-28-2010, 08:21 PM
Nolan had the best game, without doubt. But my vote is to Jon and his shot coming back - without that happening, we are two S-es down, and we lose.

mgtr
03-28-2010, 08:22 PM
Nolan by acclamation, but everyone who played made a real contribution. Can't ask for more.

mus074
03-28-2010, 08:25 PM
Nolan's cool demeanor and fierce determination to make winning plays was jaw-dropping. Making big shots is huge, but playing like you know you are going to do what you need to do is simply stunning. Its JJ, Shane and JWill good. I am in love with Nolan Smith.

sivartrenrag
03-28-2010, 08:25 PM
Nolan. I'm sure his pops is proud.

juise
03-28-2010, 08:48 PM
Nolan is Duke's tournament MVP for the first four rounds. His on-ball defense has limited penetration in the last three rounds and obviously his offense has carried Duke through several stretches. He's just been great.



Nolan. I'm sure his pops is proud.

Nolan's pre-game tweet (~3PM ET):

"This one is for you Dad!! I love you! #43..... Let's go Duke!"

NSDukeFan
03-28-2010, 08:48 PM
I realize Nolan probably deserves this, but I was just cheering at the screen so much for Lance for all his offensive boards in the second half, the and-one dunk, and the dishes for threes.

Spy
03-28-2010, 08:48 PM
Nolan. No argument.

Newton_14
03-28-2010, 09:03 PM
Nolan all the way! First, he played great D on Tweety (and how fitting that Nolan who loves to "Tweet" would guard him), and he hit 3's, he hit floaters, midrange jumpers, and layups, plus mopped the floor to clean up the wet spot, and lastly, went nose to nose with the enemy in protecting his backcourt mate in a scrum! Loved it!

Way to go Nolan Ndotsmitty Smith, you took your game up a notch in the biggest game to date of your career!

Props to Jon for knocking down shots and managing the game (1 TO) and to Lance for literally willing himself into positions to grab key offensive rebounds again and again!!

Props to Zoubs, MP1, MP2 and MP3 for all making winning plays at some point during the game.

A great team win!!!

Final Four bound folks!!!

Go Duke!

cspan37421
03-28-2010, 09:08 PM
Marshall Plumlee made a winning play for us? Dang, we're going to have to vacate our FF appearance, because I don't think he was eligible.

cptnflash
03-28-2010, 09:08 PM
Nolan not only was the man offensively, but also held Tweety Carter to 12 points and forced him into 4 turnovers. Much like the Cal game, Nolan dominated a key matchup on BOTH ends of the floor. Now that is being the MAN! Great to see him justifiably named Most Outstanding Player of the region. Way to go, Nolan!!

NYDukie
03-28-2010, 09:38 PM
I know Nolan was the man, I voted for him, as his game today was so great but I just want to say every guy that played today made a positive contribution that affected the outcome. I do want to give one guy a special thanks and that is to Andre Dawkins. Kid comes in for Singler, who is in foul trouble and off his game, and hits two big 3's at points in the game that were critical. It was under the radar but kept the Duke bus rollin!!!!

dukestheheat
03-28-2010, 09:42 PM
Thank God for Nolan Smith. I want to remind everyone that it is I, Dukestheheat, that is the UNofficial and fully and (probably totally) UNrecognized President of the DBR Nolan Smith Fan Club!

Nolan was the total superstar and he propelled us to victory and willed us to Indianapolis.

Go Duke!

dukestheheat.

theAlaskanBear
03-28-2010, 09:46 PM
Nolan was by faaaar the player of the game, but I had to vote for Thomas, to show my appreciation. I have abused Thomas all year, but he made some incredible plays to give us that "edge". (thinking of the dunk/putback and the offensive boards).

I did not know about Nolan's tweet. That is really really special.

Azdukefan
03-28-2010, 11:29 PM
Not quite sure there should even be anyone other than Nolan getting votes. I will admit I shed a tear thinking about how Nolan must have felt as the game came to a close and he realized that he had the game of his life in front of his father. The kid is easy to love.

DevilHorns
03-28-2010, 11:34 PM
Not quite sure there should even be anyone other than Nolan getting votes. I will admit I shed a tear thinking about how Nolan must have felt as the game came to a close and he realized that he had the game of his life in front of his father. The kid is easy to love.

Try to read this without shedding a few tears:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/tournament/2010/columns/story?columnist=oneil_dana&id=5036508


"I got a little emotional in the room watching, but it really motivated me," said Nolan, who was awarded South Region most outstanding player. "I always play for him, to honor him and he's always with me, but today I could really feel him. There were a couple of times, a couple of shots, that I knew he was with me."

Lennies
03-29-2010, 12:27 AM
Nolan was awesome today, we would be crying now without his play. I hope Singler's wrist feels a lot better next week.

Classof06
03-29-2010, 12:48 AM
I have to give Lance Thomas a vote, but clearly Nolan is MOTM.

Co-sign. Nolan was the best player on the court for each of the 40 minutes he played.

But I've got to give a shoutout to Lance. So many, myself included, have spent the past 3 years talking about what he can't do...only to eventually realize that you can't get to Final Fours and you can't win national championships without players like Lance Thomas. He was excellent today.

I'm ecstatic for Nolan and the whole team...but especially these 3 seniors.

Son of Mojo
03-29-2010, 07:55 AM
The team pulled together well in this one, and we needed every contribution. But (to do my Larry David) having said that...........Nolan was dominant. Loved watching him have this kind of game. Keep it in a bottle and open it again this Saturday (and hopefully the Monday after). :D

summerwind03
03-29-2010, 09:27 AM
I'm pleased and proud to vote for Nolan Smith -- what a guy! Yessir!

ReformedAggie
03-29-2010, 09:43 AM
Nolan too - but kudos to Singler for his awesome (and rarely mentioned) work on the non-scoring part of the game today. I LOVE THIS TEAM.

ACCBBallFan
03-29-2010, 11:19 AM
Defintiely Nolan, but a lot of fine performances by both teams

Rating Player
86 Nolan Smith, G
80 Ekpe Udoh, F-C

78 Jon Scheyer, G
71 LaceDarius Dunn, G

57 Tweety Carter, G
56 Quincy Acy, F
55 TOTALS-Baylor
52 TOTALS-Duke

42 Kyle Singler, F
42 Anthony Jones, F

35 Lance Thomas, F
33 Brian Zoubek, C
31 Miles Plumlee, F

22 Andre Dawkins, G
21 Mason Plumlee, F

15 A.J. Walton, G
11 Josh Lomers, C

2 Fred Ellis, F

DukieBoy
03-29-2010, 11:51 AM
A part of me wanted to vote Lance for that huge putback dunk and 1, but without Nolan, we wouldn't have been that close

Magnolia888
03-29-2010, 01:12 PM
Nolan, Nolan, Nolan! I'm so glad he plays on our team.

Honorable mentions to Lance and Jon.