MBB: Duke 78, WVU 57 Post-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Put your post-game thoughts here.

[DukeUsul]

Feels great to be peaking at the right time. These guys are playing efficient basketball.

[BlueintheFace]

Right time of year for all three to be playing well. Right time of year to be peaking.

Amazing.

[devildownunder]

Played our best all year tonight. One more game and it's ours!

Great job guys. I know I didn't see this coming before the tourney started.

[GoingFor#5]

Great execution AGAIN. We need just 1 more game like this.

ONTO THE TITLE GAME!

[jv001]

Now let's see who was suppose to have that #1 seed? Oh yeh. it was and is Duke University!!!!!!

[TNDukeFan]

one of the players said to Mazzula, "This one's for Greg."

[sweetchiba51]

1 more!!

[PhillyDuke]

We're duke and that's that...get it right!!!

[Greg_Newton]

What. An. Effort. Proud doesn't begin to describe it.

It kind of seems like they kind of relaxed and started playing loose once they made the final four. They finally walked the walk in the tournament, came up big when they needed to, and got to the promised land all our elite teams had (the FF). Then it's kind of like they kind of let out a collective exhale... no more doubters to answer to, just give 'em hell.

Love it.

[Heelkiller1]

One game away baby. Jon said his greatest memory at Duke hasn'y happened yet...........Well I hope Monday is one heck of a day .lol

[grossbus]

man, we play like this on monday and we will be very hard to beat!!!

[wilko]

Congrats to our guys!!!
Such determination..

BTW - I hope that WVa's dude is ok. His knee went the wrong way before any contact was made. It looked horrible. My best to him.

Good win!!

[towerview road]

For me, Jordan Davidson's 3 was the best part of the game.

Lol.

[Orange&BlackSheep]

how a-u-t-o-m-a-t-i-c Nolan is from three right now??? Best game of the year ... this team is so impressive it is hard to believe how much character they have.

[darkblue2769]

This just feels good. Great game, the team played like they were proud of the name on their jerseys from the opening minutes, and I am so proud to be a fan of these guys, and to have seen them play as much as I have this year. Monday can't come soon enough!

[Merlindevildog91]

I have seen from our guys. If we can keep this up for forty minutes, Banner #4 will be hanging in the rafters and I will personally help the economy of wherever NC shirts, hats, etc., etc., are made.

[Saratoga2]

Nice to be able to say that Duke played well for 40 minutes with good defense and a very crisp offense with all the big three having excellent scoring games, with many baskets assisted. We also got a great game from Zoubek who really makes a difference out there. The Plumlees were good as backups and Thomas played his very effective defensive game.

On to the finals with everyone healthy and playing well. More to say tomorrow but for now nothing could be better for the team. Sorry to see Butler go down. The kid is a really good player and person.

[Newton_14]

How bout them Blue Devils!!!!

One win away from a National Title!! Great Great Feeling!!


Prayers to Deshaun Butler. That is the only negative on a great night. I really hated to see that. You guys pray for that kid. That looks like a very bad injury and I hate to see him have that happen in a Final Four game. Terrible.

Get Well Soon Deshaun.


Way to go Duke Blue Devils!!!!

[Lulu]

I know it's weird to anticipate this year's final more than any other, but this is truly intriguing this year. I mean, Butler is the one other team I've been pulling for this whole tournament, and of all years for a mid-major to make the final it's against us. Butler might not carry the fanbase that the vast majority of tournament teams carry, but they might have the entire rest of the country on their side. Gotta wonder what the ratings will be this year - arguments both ways...

..Maybe this belongs in a Butler pre-game thread

[Richard Berg]

For me, Jordan Davidson's 3 was the best part of the game.

I totally called it :D In Jumbo's pre-FF thread a few days ago, of course. And then in front of the TV 15 minutes ago, as soon as JD motioned to Kelly that he didn't need a screener to escape the halfcourt trap area, I said to my girlfriend "he's not just bringing it upcourt 1:1, he wants a clear-out." BAM.

[4decadedukie]

A marvelous team win: offensive production, defensive suffocation, but most of all teamwork and selfless play. On to the National Championship. My heart is filled with joy and admiration.

[CameronDuke]

Going to the title game baby!

To quote the great movie Field of Dreams, "Is this heaven?"

So proud of the guys tonight!

Let's Go Duke! Bring home our 4th title on Monday!

[mgtr]

Our five starters all had excellent games -- they all did what they were supposed to do. Who could ask for more? Very enjoyable.

[Newton_14]

how a-u-t-o-m-a-t-i-c Nolan is from three right now??? Best game of the year ... this team is so impressive it is hard to believe how much character they have.

Hard to stop a kid playing for a cause. Nolan is in a zone and it is just amazing to watch. He has a chance do something very special Monday Night. Given his story with his father, it will be very fitting to see him help seal the deal and match his father's title in the same town.

[aro24]

I have seen from our guys. If we can keep this up for forty minutes, Banner #4 will be hanging in the rafters and I will personally help the economy of wherever NC shirts, hats, etc., etc., are made.

I was thinking the same thing....great game all around. I was actually thinking in the 2nd half....how do I vote for just one guy for Man of the Match....needs to be a choice, this time, for the whole team. Everyone contributed, in their own way, to a great team victory.

On to Monday!

ARo24

[jkidd31]

Pumped for Monday night. What's impressive is this team had only lost once since late January. What a run.

[mgtr]

I see the MOTM isn't posted yet. Just as well, because I don't know how to choose.

[Lord Ash]

WOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Jeez... chances like this come about very, very, very rarely. I hope we snatch it up!!!!

Cannot explain how happy or excited I am...

And cannot explain how happy I am for our seniors... they have worked so, so hard for this, have gone through so much negativity...

One more game. I hope we come out gangbusters and never let up.

[Mabdul Doobakus]

man, we play like this on monday and we will be very hard to beat!!!

We play like this on Monday and Butler won't have a chance. There's a reason we're Goliath.

I know no one wants to see woofing at this point, and Butler has won 29 games in a row, but let's call it like it is. We just have to play good to win. We don't have to do what we did tonight. And I'll be the first to admit I didn't really expect to get here, but now that we are here, and we're peaking, and we're playing against a mid-major team in the final, let's be honest...if we lose, it's going to feel like the biggest blown opportunity in Duke basketball history and it's going to sting. I expect to be 10 pt favorites.

That said...all the pressure is on us now, and Butler will have a lot of fan support on their sides. Thankfully, with only a two day turnaround, I think all that stuff won't have time to sink in, and we'll just go out there and play ball.

[Cockabeau]

Win or Lose what a year!

How far you have come Z/LT!

[Bluedevil114]

YES BABY!! 4th National Title is one win away!!

Where are all those people that said Coach K and the Olympic team was hurting his coaching and recruiting. He has looked like a totally different coach all year long!!

Nate is a big difference also with these big guys down low.

GO DUKE!!

[Les Grossman]

Wow, all three of Duke's weapons were lethal tonight, and ZOU was the Lord of the Key. Save a little for Monday, fellas, no one can touch you when you play like that!!

OK, so much for commentary. Now for what I really wanted to say:
YEAH-H-H-H-H BABY11111

[DukieInBrasil]

What a thoroughly satisfying win. Everyone played well, and did their jobs correctly.
I hope Da'sean Butler recovers quickly, please no ACL tears.

On to Butler U., let's tear them apart!!!!

[-bdbd]

Going to the title game baby!

To quote the great movie Field of Dreams, "Is this heaven?"




No, it's Indiana.
;)

[34dukegal]

Great game from all of the starters, been a long time since all three clicked like that. The assist numbers were very impressive, as well as the second chance points.

Anybody think that T on Miles was a direct result from the Baylor game? I'm thinking after nothing was called that game it became a point of emphasis with the refs. The Baylor players did far worse and nothing was called, but Miles looked like he was trying to avoid landing on somebody but gets t'ed up.

No matter what happens Monday night this is by far my favorite Duke team.

[mike88]

I see the MOTM isn't posted yet. Just as well, because I don't know how to choose.

I don't think any one player should be named MOTM - from here on out, the whole team is MOTM, win or lose Monday

[TampaDukie]

Hard to stop a kid playing for a cause. Nolan is in a zone and it is just amazing to watch. He has a chance do something very special Monday Night. Given his story with his father, it will be very fitting to see him help seal the deal and match his father's title in the same town.
I want that for Nolan so much. His father seemed like such a great guy, and it's great to see Nolan following in his footsteps.

Still grinning from ear to ear. Tonight's win is for for all the pundits and so-called "experts" who whined about us getting the #1 seed and nevertheless picked us to lose before the Final Four. How you like us now?

[Les Grossman]

One of the worst recent bball experiences in recent years was listening to WVa woof and rip our guys after they beat us 2 (3?) years ago. Payback is sweet. And no woofing from our guys after kicking WVa's tail.

[camion]

Great game plan, great execution, great shooting. That was our best overall game of the season and about well as we can play. You just don't handle West Virginia like that without superior games from everyone. I am so very proud of this team. They have so reached their potential and then just kept on going. That Schmingler guy is unstoppable.

I feel really bad about Butler's injury though. I hope it's not too serious though it looked bad. It's a truly sad way for his career to end.

[Brim]

What did it say on the Blue Devil's headband?

[miramar]

I'm looking forward to Monday.

[hedevil]

Who would have thought that Kyrie and company would be comng in trying to win back to back titles? I know there's still a game to be played, I'm just saying, you know.

[GoingFor#5]

We have a size advantage against Butler and they play pretty smart so I expect them to guard the 3 well. So Z and the Plumlees are probably going to need to look to score a bit more than usual rather than always look for the Big 3.

[follyblue]

WOW . . . just WOW!

[Dukefan4Life]

Yesssssssssss! One more game! what an awesome game we played tonight! we shot the lights out! JUST ONE MORE BABY JUST ONE MORE!!!!!!!:D

[JaMarcus Russell]

This is the best and most complete game Duke has played all year. We have not shot at a high percentage in most games this year, but tonight, the 3's were dropping, and Nolan and Jon did a great job driving to the hoop. When you throw in how well Lance and Zoubek have continued to rebound in the past 2 months, we saw Duke peak at the right time.

I am very happy right now, but I'm going to wait until the end of the Butler game to really celebrate.

[rotogod00]

anyone catch nolan just say that he's playing focused and well so that it's not scheyer, lance, AND singler's last game

[martyp]

Uh oh...

"I didn't want it to be Jon, Kyle, and Lance's last game.."

[GoingFor#5]

Eeeeek just heard that

[PSurprise]

20-5 according to ESPN. 20 assists on 29 makes. Excellent! Way to go guys! One more to go!

[hedevil]

I hope Nolan meant Z

[-bdbd]

I know we are all thrilled to have THIS team in particular playing for a championship. But I truly am sorry to see Butler injured. He's a great player and nobody wants to see him hurt. 'hope he's ok and bounces back.

Duke Press Conference underway on ESPN.

[NSDukeFan]

That was a fantastic performance against a very solid team. Congratulations on a terrific game and season.

[dukeblue1206]

I think Nolan either misspoke or he let a cat out the bag just a sec ago in the news conference after the game. Reporter asked why he was playing better and he basically said because he was trying to make sure it was not Jon, Lance, and Kyle last game. Either he meant to say Zoubs or he knows Kyle is gone. But saying that I will take a National Title at the expense of Kyle leaving.

[ajgoodfella7]

I'm sure Nolan meant Zoubek because he didn't even mention his name. I think just a slip of the tongue in error. At least I hope.

[Virginian]

Everyone played great. But I was really impressed with Singler in the first half. He was a monster, just on fire -- particularly after his shooting slump the last game. I thought he really set the pace for the entire team in the first half. Then the other guys caught the spirit and it was off to the races.

Wow!

[GoingFor#5]

LOL at the reporter trying to get Scheyer to say he's never heard of Butler before.

[nmduke2001]

Uh oh...

"I didn't want it to be Jon, Kyle, and Lance's last game.."

I noticed the same thing (my wife did actually). We had to replay it to make sure that is what he said.

[34dukegal]

Uh oh...

"I didn't want it to be Jon, Kyle, and Lance's last game.."

Possibly a mistake and meant to say Jon, Brian and Lance? :confused:

[BlueintheFace]

Possibly a mistake and meant to say Jon, Brian and Lance? :confused:

...wouldn't be so sure.

Jordan's shot was awesome

[Saratoga2]

Great game plan, great execution, great shooting. That was our best overall game of the season and about well as we can play. You just don't handle West Virginia like that without superior games from everyone. I am so very proud of this team. They have so reached their potential and then just kept on going. That Schmingler guy is unstoppable.

I feel really bad about Butler's injury though. I hope it's not too serious though it looked bad. It's a truly sad way for his career to end.

Remember that this WVa team just made Kentucky look bad and we had them by the short hairs before D. Butler went down. We showed our merit in this game and even the most one sided pundits will be able to see this team is special.

[greybeard]

K surprises again! There were all kinds of new wrinkles to start the game and throughout the first half. It began with Brian scoring off screen and roll. They haven't look for that all season. Singler and Smith attacked the rim on clearouts from the baseline. Singler kept attacking the basket against the longer defenders and ajusted the arc on his shot, a drive from the top, and Duke was putting amazing pressure at the rim.

Seems Jon took umbrage at the awards. He was steely focused, and amazing on his shot. He and Singler and Smith guarded terrifically on the exterior, and were willing to push and did so effectively.

I was amazed that Hugs did not play zone. I thought that that was his best chance.

Can't say enough about the seniors. They are men now, no doubt about it and are as tough mentally and physically as they need to be. W Va tried to get tough with them; Duke was tougher.

Singler, as I've said before, and as I just heard Doug Gottlieb say, is playing better than anyone in the country and has been for the last two months. He is smart long, gets his shot off quickly and finds balance in amazing ways, puts it on the floor and stays under control, man, a great, great 3/4 on both ends.

Zoubek, I always saw much more in him than most people recognized. Never in my wildest dreams. Never. I am thrilled for him. I am floored by him. THE STORY OF THE YEAR IN BASKETBALL. kOBE CAN SCORE A HUNDRED; ZOUBEK IS THE STORY!

[BobbyFan]

I hope Nolan meant Z

I'm pretty sure he did.

[34dukegal]

Remember that this WVa team just made Kentucky look bad and we had them by the short hairs before D. Butler went down. We showed our merit in this game and even the most one sided pundits will be able to see this team is special.

I really hope that it's not reported as Duke won, but D. Butler was hurt so WVa may have won had he not gotten hurt. We were up by 14 or 15 when he went down and didn't look to be losing that lead. Duke just played the best game all year, hope Monday night they don't let up one bit.

[Boston Dukie]

I was worried about his wrist, but clealry that is over

All of the big 3 (heck, all of the team) are feeling it now

Everyone in the country will be rooting against Duke, and honestly that is how it should b. Bring it on!

And any Duke fans in the Indy area, BUY the Mich State and West V tickets!!!

If Duke wins it all, who cares if Kyle leaves, I will take it in a heart beat (although I am not sure he is leaving. With all the early entries so far, plus those I am expecting, plus his status on these draft boards, I a am hopefully he comes back to push himself to the top of the 1st round)

I bet your Butler (or better said, the Butler coaching staff) is scared out of their minds right now after seeing that offensive performance against West V

[Cockabeau]

Win or lose...TY Z for playing like a beast...LT too

[pfrduke]

Plus/minusing the game

Duke:

Scheyer: +21 (75-54)
Singler: +18 (75-57)
Thomas: +15 (63-48)
Smith: +13 (68-55)
Zoubek: +11 (50-39)
Miles: +10 (28-18)
Mason: +6 (15-9)
Dawkins: +5 (9-6)
Davidson: +3 (3-0)
Kelly: +3 (3-0)

West Virginia:

Pepper: +1 (3-2)
Jennings: -3 (0-3)
Payne: -3 (0-3)
West: -3 (0-3)
Thoroughman: -3 (0-3)
Mitchell: -4 (2-6)
Flowers: -8 (25-33)
Kilicli: -10 (11-21)
Jones: -12 (55-67)
Mazzulla: -13 (48-61)
Smith: -14 (48-62)
Butler: -15 (48-63)
Ebanks: -18 (45-63)

[34dukegal]

I can't understand a word this kid is saying.

edit to say I'm talking about Ebanks

[rotogod00]

blaming the refs

[BobbyFan]

Brilliant passing for the 2nd straight game.

And Coach K ran circles around Huggins, whose team was completely out of sync on defense.

[towerview road]

Everybody should watch the press conference live right now - Huggins is on:

http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=ncaa&media=175780

Wellington (no longer there) said calls weren't being called under the basket.

[ncexnyc]

An outstanding team effort. I'm especially pleased for our Seniors. Jon has put up great numbers during his career, but I don't know if I ever felt that this was HIS team. I guess that just goes to show that he has been the ultimate team player and has done everything that Coach K has asked him to, whether it be the 6th man, a shooting guard, and now our PG. Both Lance and Brian have received more than their fair share of negative comments here at DBR during their careers. Both young men have stuck with it and we're now seeing all their efforts payoff.

Congratulations to the the Seniors and also to the team. Let's close this out on a high note Monday night.

PS That look on Coach K's face was priceless when Jordan buried that 3 pointer.

[FerryFor50]

Everybody should watch the press conference live right now - Huggins is on:

http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=ncaa&media=175780

Wellington (no longer there) said calls weren't being called under the basket.

Doesn't surprise me. That Huggins (and WVU) - all class. :rolleyes:

[mike88]

I really hope that it's not reported as Duke won, but D. Butler was hurt so WVa may have won had he not gotten hurt. We were up by 14 or 15 when he went down and didn't look to be losing that lead. Duke just played the best game all year, hope Monday night they don't let up one bit.

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=300930150

Check out ESPN's recap:

1) reiterates the "most hated team"
2) the huge "drought" of Final Four appearances
3) said Butler's knee injury had "insult added to injury" for getting a charge
4) blamed Zoubek for "conking" Mazzulla of the head
5) chastised Plumlee for hanging on the rim "way too long"

by my count, they are only missing the "easiest path to the champiionship" meme and the "Duke gets all the calls" - ESPN needs to use a checklist!

[Richard Berg]

Plus/minusing the game

Duke:

Scheyer: +21 (75-54)
Singler: +18 (75-57)
Thomas: +15 (63-48)
Smith: +13 (68-55)
Zoubek: +11 (50-39)
Miles: +10 (28-18)
Mason: +6 (15-9)
Dawkins: +5 (9-6)
Davidson: +3 (3-0)
Kelly: +3 (3-0)

West Virginia:

Pepper: +1 (3-2)
Jennings: -3 (0-3)
Payne: -3 (0-3)
West: -3 (0-3)
Thoroughman: -3 (0-3)
Mitchell: -4 (2-6)
Flowers: -8 (25-33)
Kilicli: -10 (11-21)
Jones: -12 (55-67)
Mazzulla: -13 (48-61)
Smith: -14 (48-62)
Butler: -15 (48-63)
Ebanks: -18 (45-63)
Utterly ridiculous.

(in a good way)

[billy]

We were up by 14 or 15 when he went down and didn't look to be losing that lead.

It was 15. I made particularly sure to look just in case (not that it would ever happen) someone blamed the outcome on the refs.

[flyingdutchdevil]

What an outstanding performance by our players!!! The Law Firm did amazing!!! All three were firing on all cylinders, which I don't think happened this year.

I feel really, really, really bad for D. Butler. What a great individual and basketball player. Hope he recovers well and gets drafted high. College basketball needs more players like him.

Two cents on the technical - was definitely a technical. If you don't think it was, please take off the duke blue glasses.

[Virginian]

Everybody should watch the press conference live right now - Huggins is on:

http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=ncaa&media=175780

Wellington (no longer there) said calls weren't being called under the basket.

No one who watched that game can say the refs didn't call it fairly. WVA scored only 26 points in the second half and exactly half of those points, 13, were from the free-throw line. WVA made only 6 field goals the entire second half. If it hadn't been for the refs, WVA would have lost by 30.

[milehighdukie]

Great team effort tonight. Great job by the big 3, outscoring West Virginia by themselves. On to the championship. GTHC GTH- Go Duke!!!!

[Welcome2DaSlopes]

DUKE......Let's go man, 1 more game

[SharkD]

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=300930150

Check out ESPN's recap:

4) blamed Zoubek for "conking" Mazzulla of the head

I thought it was Kyle's razor-sharp-titanium chin that bloodied Mazzula's scalp. I was shocked that Nance and Kellogg expressed zero concern for how Kyle fared on that exchange, especially considering that Mazzula jumped into Kyle.

[wiscodevil]

duke didnt take a foul shot for the first 27:30 of the game.

[InSpades]

What a spectacular performance by the entire team. Duke is gonna make people rethink the "there's no great team this year" statement. They did everything right out there. By my calculations Duke had 53 possessions and scored 78 points... that's almost 1.5 per possession. So efficient offensively and plenty good enough on D. Very proud of the 3 Ss for not letting the enormity of the game get to them. One more game!

[Merlindevildog91]

Wasn't it Kyle's chin and not Zoubs that bloodied Mazzulla's head?

[pfrduke]

Here's a fun little stat for everyone. West Virginia never had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead for the last 34 minutes of the game. Just... wow.

[trinity79]

. . . but I thought the Plumlees came up HUGE, so to speak.

[-bdbd]

For those who haven't watched Butler much...
DO NOT TAKE BUTLER LIGHTLY.

They are not a big name, but this is a DAMN GOOD TEAM. Duke will need to play a great game on Monday night. If we don't Butler will win. That said, I expect K to have them motivated abd ready. They play terrific D and we will NOT make as many threes (53%!!) and other shots. This Butler team is on an incredible win streak - 25+ games. Geez! (and they weren't at all an array of cupcakes - including Syracuse and MSU!)

Stay focused Duke!

[Papa John]

duke didnt take a foul shot for the first 27:30 of the game.

I'm sorry, but you must not have read the memo... Duke gets all the calls...

[towerview road]

I stand corrected. I had assumed that Huggins would blame the refs and/or somehow otherwise speak ill of Duke and/or K.

Just the opposite. I give you credit, Huggins. Praised Duke and K. Didn't mention the refs or calls ONCE. Very, very positive, especially about Duke and its players.

[FerryFor50]

For those who haven't watched Butler much...
DO NOT TAKE BUTLER LIGHTLY.

They are not a big name, but this is a DAMN GOOD TEAM. Duke will need to play a great game on Monday night. If we don't Butler will win. That said, I expect K to have them motivated abd ready. They play terrific D and we will NOT make as many threes and other shots.

Stay focused Duke!

The only reason Butler doesn't scare me as much as WVU or Baylor did is because Butler is a much smaller and less athletic team. Better shooters, yes. But overall, if Duke doesn't lay an egg, they've got a solid chance to take home the championship! :)

[nyesq83]

What did it say on the Blue Devil's headband?

"Please Retire Me, Already"

[mgtr]

I agree that Butler is a strong team and cannot be taken lightly. I think, however, that we can just overwhelm them with size and scoring. Hopefully they do not have a clever plan to disrupt our game.

[hedevil]

I saw on another thread that Battier, Dunleavy Jr, and others would be at the game. Any news on that?

[34dukegal]

For those who haven't watched Butler much...
DO NOT TAKE BUTLER LIGHTLY.

They are not a big name, but this is a DAMN GOOD TEAM. Duke will need to play a great game on Monday night. If we don't Butler will win. That said, I expect K to have them motivated abd ready. They play terrific D and we will NOT make as many threes and other shots.

Stay focused Duke!

I agree, but I'm very happy that we've had to play a couple of physical teams as it seems that Butler is very physical. I think that's a big advantage for Duke, we should be ready and even seem to be playing better against the physical teams than the non-physical teams this year.

[pfrduke]

Also, that was a ridiculous offensive performance. It was a deceptively slow game - just 54 possessions - and we scored 78 points, good for 1.44 points per possession. That was, by far, the best offensive performance against West Virginia this season.

[mike88]

For those who haven't watched Butler much...
DO NOT TAKE BUTLER LIGHTLY.

They are not a big name, but this is a DAMN GOOD TEAM. Duke will need to play a great game on Monday night. If we don't Butler will win. That said, I expect K to have them motivated abd ready. They play terrific D and we will NOT make as many threes and other shots.

Stay focused Duke!

Butler is very good- they don't turn it over, play great defense, and usually shoot pretty well. Their guards are great at digging for steals. We should have some advantage on the boards, but they are 12th in lowest offensive rebound % allowed. I can imagine a game like the Purdue game. Hayward vs. Singler will be a great match-up!

[trinity79]

after having to suffer through the abject humiliation of 2 UNC championships in the last 5 years, ain't it gonna be great to say D-U-K-E, baby! I mean, let's be honest here.

[FerryFor50]

This is a great photo:

[mike88]

Also, that was a ridiculous offensive performance. It was a deceptively slow game - just 54 possessions - and we scored 78 points, good for 1.44 points per possession. That was, by far, the best offensive performance against West Virginia this season.

and our best offensive performance since the Penn game (even better than UNC at Cameron)

[Welcome2DaSlopes]

after having to suffer through the abject humiliation of 2 UNC championships in the last 5 years, ain't it gonna be great to say D-U-K-E, baby! I mean, let's be honest here.

I hear you, I feel it too.

[SharkD]

Also, that was a ridiculous offensive performance. It was a deceptively slow game - just 54 possessions - and we scored 78 points, good for 1.44 points per possession. That was, by far, the best offensive performance against West Virginia this season.

But, haven't you heard? Our offensive efficiency always falls off after the ACC Tournament... because of tired legs... because Coach K insists on playing his star players in every game.

And we have math -- math! -- and graphs! to prove it. (And r-squares!) Math always trumps reality.

[mike88]

This is a great photo:

that must be photo-shopped - don't you know there were no players under the basket?

[TNTDevil]

Wasn't it Kyle's chin and not Zoubs that bloodied Mazzulla's head?Yes.

Singler trots away unfazed, Mazzula goes out bleeding. Foreshadowing?

H/T to Zoubek- played like a man possessed. Never. Ever. Have I witnessed a player get exponentially better with every game.

The difference in the NT game will be the platooning of the bigs. I expect a big game from the Plumlees.

[Lulu]

I can only assume, and hope, that Coack K isn't going to allows the team to take Butler as lightly as some on these boards seem to do.

I really hated the post I saw referring to already as the "biggest blown opportunity" if we were to lose. Duke has to play really, really well Monday to win. Butler is freaking GOOD. They were ranked, what?, 11th pre-season? How high do you think they would have been ranked if they were wearing Ky or UNC jerseys? The are a very good team, and very experienced. If we don't take them every bit as serious as we should any team we meet in the NC game, we lose.

Link to the Huggins presser? I was watching, but they went to commercials.

[SharkD]

This is a great photo:

But... there was no chance for injury!

According to Clark Kellogg, so it must be Photoshop.

[Papa John]

I stand corrected. I had assumed that Huggins would blame the refs and/or somehow otherwise speak ill of Duke and/or K.

Just the opposite. I give you credit, Huggins. Praised Duke and K. Didn't mention the refs or calls ONCE. Very, very positive, especially about Duke and its players.

Credit? How could Huggins possibly blame the refs in this game? We outfouled them... By 4... And had a technical... The only folks who could possibly spin the officiating conspiracy theory after that game are the deluded hacks in Bristol, CT...

[Bluedog]

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=300930150

Check out ESPN's recap:

1) reiterates the "most hated team"
2) the huge "drought" of Final Four appearances
3) said Butler's knee injury had "insult added to injury" for getting a charge
4) blamed Zoubek for "conking" Mazzulla of the head
5) chastised Plumlee for hanging on the rim "way too long"

by my count, they are only missing the "easiest path to the champiionship" meme and the "Duke gets all the calls" - ESPN needs to use a checklist!

That is NOT ESPN's recap. That is the AP, specifically written by Eddie Pells. Yahoo! Sports has the same recap:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap;_ylt=Ahi1TX8pH.APTJCnNUiEvSTevbYF?gid=201004 030173

But I agree with everything you said. That recap was crap..the most biased AP article I have ever read. Too bad Joedy McCready or Aaron Beard didn't write it who typically write Duke recaps in Durham.

Having said that, AWESOME win!!! Best game we've played all year. Looking forward to being there for the finals! :) Go Duke! Let's DO THIS!

[bluepenguin]

Duke is playing for the title on Monday.

And unc didn't even get invited to the big dance.

GTHC GTH

[towerview road]

Credit? How could Huggins possibly blame the refs in this game? We outfouled them... By 4... And had a technical... The only folks who could possibly spin the officiating conspiracy theory after that game are the deluded hacks in Bristol, CT...

No one should blame the refs - I thought the officiating was fair, or even slightly biased in WVU's favor.

HOWEVER, after Huggins' shouting about "they don't get fouls" with the De'Sean Butler knee injury situation, I assumed (incorrectly) he would blame the refs for not calling some imaginary fouls (this narrative is also supported by 99% of internet chat forums, all UNC fans, and ESPN).

[BobbyFan]

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=300930150

Check out ESPN's recap:

1) reiterates the "most hated team"
2) the huge "drought" of Final Four appearances
3) said Butler's knee injury had "insult added to injury" for getting a charge
4) blamed Zoubek for "conking" Mazzulla of the head
5) chastised Plumlee for hanging on the rim "way too long"



Is it me or am I noticing that "editorialized" comments are a larger part of associated press articles than before.

[jipops]

I can only assume, and hope, that Coack K isn't going to allows the team to take Butler as lightly as some on these boards seem to do.

I really hated the post I saw referring to already as the "biggest blown opportunity" if we were to lose. Duke has to play really, really well Monday to win. Butler is freaking GOOD. They were ranked, what?, 11th pre-season? How high do you think they would have been ranked if they were wearing Ky or UNC jerseys? The are a very good team, and very experienced. If we don't take them every bit as serious as we should any team we meet in the NC game, we lose.

Link to the Huggins presser? I was watching, but they went to commercials.

You're spot on there. Look who they've beaten. This is a team that plays a frenetic style of defense and forces a ton of turnovers then gets out and runs with it. As great as Jon has been he's still not a pg so this may be an extremely difficult matchup here. We'll be the heavy favorite, but this is going to be an extremely grueling game to watch. Think Purdue with a much better offense.

[bluedevil2012]

Is it me or am I noticing that "editorialized" comments are a larger part of associated press articles than before.

Yep. Also, in ESPN's instant analysis, they claim the turning point of the game was the Butler injury. Clearly, if he stayed in the game, WVU would have won :rolleyes:

[FerryFor50]

Is it me or am I noticing that "editorialized" comments are a larger part of associated press articles than before.

Yea whatever happened to unbiased journalism? Or even reporting the events THE WAY THEY HAPPENED. Sheesh.

[FerryFor50]

Yep. Also, in ESPN's instant analysis, they claim the turning point of the game was the Butler injury. Clearly, if he stayed in the game, WVU would have won :rolleyes:

Well to be fair, WVU pretty much gave up after that. They were at least still fighting to stay in it until that point. The energy just faded on them.

[nyesq83]

I hear you, I feel it too.

Pleeeease - one game at a time.

[SharkD]

Is it me or am I noticing that "editorialized" comments are a larger part of associated press articles than before.

The AP's political coverage has been increasingly slanted over the last 3-4 years; it's not shocking to see their sports reporters start to inject a little 'color,' as well.

[NashvilleDevil]

No one should blame the refs - I thought the officiating was fair, or even slightly biased in WVU's favor.

HOWEVER, after Huggins' shouting about "they don't get fouls" with the De'Sean Butler knee injury situation, I assumed (incorrectly) he would blame the refs for not calling some imaginary fouls (this narrative is also supported by 99% of internet chat forums, all UNC fans, and ESPN).

I have a different take on that. I think Huggins said that because he is looking at his star player writhing in pain and needs to say something.

I know he has issues graduating players and his personal issues but I have always liked Huggins and what I saw when he was consoling Butler was a coach who cares deeply for his players and wanted to let him know he was there.

[Welcome2DaSlopes]

Pleeeease - one game at a time.

I know I need to control myself, but with one game left, it's hard to do, especially with the group of guys we have on this team.

[hedevil]

I guess WVU really did deserve that #1 seed over DUKE!! LMAO!!!!

[nyesq83]

I know I need to control myself, but with one game left, it's hard to do, especially with the group of guys we have on this team.

1986
1994
1999

is all I am saying

That said, this team has come a long way since the VCU game.

Once again we will be the Evil Empire, and Butler gets a few extra hours to recoup, so I hope the guys get some serious rest and replenishment

[BigZ]

Did K take a little swip at UNC in the press conference after the game? He was asked about how all the tough post season losses effected the Seniors this year and talked about their Freshman year and said "They were a team of Freshmen and Sophmores but at least made the tournament".

[Neals384]

Anybody think that T on Miles was a direct result from the Baylor game? I'm thinking after nothing was called that game it became a point of emphasis with the refs. The Baylor players did far worse and nothing was called, but Miles looked like he was trying to avoid landing on somebody but gets t'ed up.

I thought he went too far in bringing his knees up, and it was a reasonable call.

Another possibility is that the ref thought Kyle made the basket, in which case Miles had no business hanging on the rim. But if that's what they thought, they're wrong.



No matter what happens Monday night this is by far my favorite Duke team.

Totally agree!

[TampaDukie]

Did K take a little swip at UNC in the press conference after the game? He was asked about how all the tough post season losses effected the Seniors this year and talked about their Freshman year and said "They were a team of Freshmen and Sophmores but at least made the tournament".
I didn't take it that way at all. In the context of his larger comments, I think he was just pointing out that the 2006-07 team was young and inexperienced, but still managed to make it to the tournament, which was a good achievement for that team, so he didn't consider them a "failure" just because they lost in the first round.

[camion]

I'll never forget my first love, the '86 team, but this one is really special too.

[greybeard]

K came out in attack mode. Making a team defender against the layup is where the offensive game begins. It is the single imperative in basketball--do not give up the easiest shot in the game.

This year Duke deployed in a novel way. It presented very little, except on putbacks, scoring attempts at the rim, especially at the beginning of games and especially by the bigs. this game K had a tank attack at the rim. Z rolling and receiving off of screens twice in the first few minutes. Singler attacking the rim repeatedly. Then, thoughout the first half, singler, smith, even Mason who got grabbed before he really get going, attacking along the baseline when off side help had been cleared out.

I think that this shocked Huggins and more importantly his players. The other thing that shocked them was how physically tough Duke was. WV tried to rough house and intimidate and Duke players literally hurt them when they did. No, I don't mean made plays, which they did, I mean they took people down who tried to rough them up. They were the meanest guys on the block, keeping their princely smiles they were as tough as Navy seals.

I think that these two new deployments won the high ground on the battlefield from which K deployed the troups and chopped down WV like the North did to the South at Gettysberg. The artillary were the 3s, the close fighting were the drives to the basket, the fall away Js, the screens, and of course the offensive boards. On defense, Duke owned the paint and managed to pressure all over the half court. The sight of Z guarding guys and shutting them down at the 3 line without help said it all.

This was the third week in a row when Duke deployed in ways that we gave inot seen before. That K is not the COTY is a travisty. You know what, he doesn't care. He is a General whose troups believe in him and him in them and they are doing things in the game that are what college ball is all about.

I cannot end without saying that I was terribly disappointed with the decision of the Butler coach to put no, 52 back in the game after it was pretty much a certainty, actually ignore "the pretty much," that the kid was concussed. The coach is young but this action in this day and age is unforgiveable and deserves serious sanction.

[Kedsy]

Our big men only had 12 points combined in this game. Doesn't K realize that if we don't get a lot more offensive contribution from our bigs we're a Sweet Sixteen flame out at best?

[LSanders]

I'll never forget my first love, the '86 team, but this one is really special too.

I know what you mean ... Watched it on the big screen on the quad ... Sad silence afterward.

[hotbutteredseoul]

this game K had a tank attack at the rim. Z rolling and receiving off of screens twice in the first few minutes. Singler attacking the rim repeatedly. Then, thoughout the first half, singler, smith, even Mason who got grabbed before he really get going, attacking along the baseline when off side help had been cleared out.

I loved this response to the Huggins idea of having his players switch EVERY screen. We just screened at the high post relentlessly, creating mass chaos at about the foul line, and then we would have one guy sneak out the back for open layups. Just amazing gameplanning. Then, when they started collapsing hard to try to get those blocks like they got in the first few minutes, we just shot them to death. Adding the dribble drives of the Law Firm to this whole mess just destroyed WVA's defensive will.

We ended up scoring 1.5 points per possession? Are you kidding? An absolutely masterful performance.

[Billy Dat]

The second half of the Purdue game really appears to be where this team slayed their demons. Since then, they have played with such amazing confidence, it oozed from them from the start of the game today. Singler shrugged off the tough offensive performance against Baylor by coming out blazing. Scheyer basically got kidnapped by the body snatchers for stretches of the postseason until 2nd half Purdue...he's been back to Nov/Dec Jon. Nolan played great with 3 fouls.

This board has collectively lamented our annual ability to get better in March, yet that's exactly what we are doing this year. We've played our best two games the last two games.

Now that Duke is poised to play for the title Monday, it seems more people should have expected this success, but there was truly no precedent for expecting that they could play, in the NCAAs, the way they've played since second half of the Purdue game. My mind is blown.

1 more to go!!!!!

[Verga3]

Great game and nice to see lots of family members were there. Couldn't possibly have noticed everyone, but it was neat to see Mark Alarie (and his two beautiful young children), Kenny Dennard, Johnny Dawkins, Phil Henderson, Shane Battier, Mike Dunleavy, Greg Paulus, Lee Melchionni, Josh McRoberts, Billy King, and Mike Brey.

Anybody see any more family at the game?

[cptnflash]

Late to this thread, just got home from an alumni game watch party, haven't read any of the previous posts so apologies if I'm reiterating what others have already said, but here goes...

1) First of all, how does that Karma taste, Joe Mazzulla?

2) I've been saying for a while that if we ever had a game where Jon, Nolan, and Kyle all shot well at the same time, we would be impossible to beat. Well, it just happened. But the odds of it happening again on Monday are very small.

3) In the first half, we didn't play very good defense and WVU got way too many open looks, both inside and outside the arc. To their credit, they knocked most of them down. But we did everything else really well - we rebounded, we didn't turn the ball over, and as I previously mentioned, we shot well.

4) In the second half, we continued to do everything else well, AND we started playing better defense. Thus, the blowout end result.

5) One of the best moments of my career as a Duke fan was when Jordan Davidson hit that 3 to push the margin over 20. I was laughing out loud. That's some serious Karma right there. Mock us, and our walk-ons will rain 3's on you!! We will tag you back!!

[noyac]

Does anyone know the story as to why the WVU fan was taken away by the police at the game. I thought it was hillarious that he was being dragged up the aisle by a police officer right by the Duke section. I could not hear what our fans were saying but it sure seemed to make him more angry. I guess it is another sign of how classy their fans are.

[weezie]

It was more than one! I counted three. No clue but it looked like booze.

[noyac]

It was more than one! I counted three. No clue but it looked like booze.

You mean they smuggled in some moonshine?

[BigZ]

I was only 5 and 6 when Duke won their first two titles but this would be my favorite title team if they win Monday night. In 2001 Duke was the favorite, this year Duke has heard nothing but criticism and hatred. I am almost sad at the sametime b/c it seemed that our three seniors just got started playing their best ball, Jon had been good but nothing near this good his first three years. Lance and Z have become two of my favorite players in Duke history. I just wish we had a little more time with these three guys.

[JG Nothing]

Does anyone know the story as to why the WVU fan was taken away by the police at the game. I thought it was hillarious that he was being dragged up the aisle by a police officer right by the Duke section. I could not hear what our fans were saying but it sure seemed to make him more angry. I guess it is another sign of how classy their fans are.

If you mean section 153, I am pretty sure he was removed for taunting. He was sitting at the bottom of the Duke section at the beginning of the game. After every WV basketball, he jumped up, turned around, pointed and screamed at the Duke supporters, and beat his chest like a gorilla. And yes, the Dukies gave him a nice sending off as he was escorted out of the stadium.

I saw at least three other incidents of WV fans being removed by police including a couple in handcuffs. Nice fan base.

[snowdenscold]

Mock us, and our walk-ons will rain 3's on you!!
That is quite the tagline - I love it!

[LSanders]

@ IC ... In answer to: "Any feasible way Butler could knock off 'd__k'?"



Posted: Yesterday 11:31 PM

RE: How much will d__k beat Butler by?

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00 0,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00 0,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00 0,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00 0,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00 0,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00 0,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00 0,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00 0,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00 0,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00 0,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00 0,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00 0,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00 0,000,000,000,


Despite being eternally spelling-challenged, gotta love the answer by on of the Holes ... :D

[TampaDukie]

Was just watching the "March Madness Highlights" on CBS College Sports. They showed part of Coach K's locker room speech after the game. He walked into the room and told the team, "I'm going to tell you guys the same thing I told 3 previous national championship teams." Then he wrote "NEXT PLAY" on the whiteboard, and told them, "Don't even enjoy this. We don't have time." Then he relented and said, "I'll give you thirty seconds. We played great," with a little half smile on his face.

It was great to see. I'm glad he's emphasizing to them that they haven't won anything yet, and instead of celebrating a great performance, they immediately have to start focusing on Butler. With him leading the way, I have no doubt they will be excellently prepared for Monday night.

ETA: It's nice to hear the CBCCS panel discussing fouls and bad officiating with nary a Duke mention. They are really taking the Butler/MSU refs to task for the no-call on the Hayward "block."

[weezie]

@ IC ... In answer to: "Any feasible way Butler could knock off 'd__k'?"




Despite being eternally spelling-challenged, gotta love the answer by on of the Holes ... :D

AHHHH, the sound of teeth being gnashed in chapel hole!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D:D:D

[weezie]

You mean they smuggled in some moonshine?

Mebbe they brought it from their still down by the ce-ment pond.

[A-Tex Devil]

I've never posted this before, and all you guys can yell at me Tuesday morning if it's a jinx, but......

A half decent Duke team hasn't lost to a mid major since.... ummmm.... ? I don't know.

1996 EMU? We had walk ons plyaing.
2007 VCU? THe most frustrating Duke team ever and a testament to our seniors that they can recover from that dysfunction of a team.

Cincy in 1999 is the only thing close.

Long story short.... Good Duke teams don't lose to mid-majors. It's like a scientific rule or something...

[noyac]

Mebbe they brought it from their still down by the ce-ment pond.

in the front pocket of their bib-overalls by osh-kosh.

[JaMarcus Russell]

2007 VCU? THe most frustrating Duke team ever and a testament to our seniors that they can recover from that dysfunction of a team.

What was so dysfunctional about that team? Obviously they weren't one of the stronger sides of the past few years, but I think their biggest weakness was just youth. People talk about UNC being young this year, even though they start a 4th year junior, a senior, and a super senior. Well, the 2007 squad was my senior year team, and we had 1 junior and no seniors on the entire team, except for maybe one walk-on.

[A-Tex Devil]

What was so dysfunctional about that team? Obviously they weren't one of the stronger sides of the past few years, but I think their biggest weakness was just youth. People talk about UNC being young this year, even though they start a 4th year junior, a senior, and a super seniors. Well, the 2007 squad was my senior year team, and we had 1 junior and no seniors on the entire team, except for maybe one walk-on.

That was the first Duke team since 94-95 that didn't look like they were having fun. And it wasn't fun to watch them either. That VCU game was an abomination, and it always seemed to me like the non-freshmen just wanted out of that season.

[Welcome2DaSlopes]

Hey guys guess what? We are in the Championship game, let's enjoy that and be ready for another win on monday and talk about that season during the summer. haha ok Thanks

[Eternal Outlaw]

Hard to believe win or lose Monday is it for this team. Hopefully they have one more great game like tonight in them.

[gumbomoop]

The second half of the Purdue game really appears to be where this team slayed their demons. Since then, they have played with such amazing confidence, it oozed from them from the start of the game today.

Now that Duke is poised to play for the title Monday, it seems more people should have expected this success, but there was truly no precedent for expecting that they could play, in the NCAAs, the way they've played since second half of the Purdue game.

Your Purdue theory is intriguing. I'd have put the turning point earlier, probably in the ACCT grind, but you're undoubtedly right that the demon that needed slaying was NCAAT too-early-departure-gremlin.

As for expecting success, there was a fairly vigorous debate back in Sept re our hopes/fears for a deep run in NCAAT. We optimists - I the looniest of the loony optimists - argued that we had real talent, and that there were no teams that were likely to be as good as last season's UNC, UConn, maybe Pitt. So we optimists said Duke would be preseason top 7-10.

Now, looking back, I see that my optimism really was truly loony, for I was optimistic with no notion whatsoever of how steady LT would become, nor, of course, how Z would rise from nowhere. Nor was I at all certain that NS could become aggressive on O. I thought he could, but would he? I think my optimism came from a belief that KS would be NPOY, that JS is the most court-aware player I've seen in quite a while, and that MP2 would be really good.

Gradually I became aware that this team was "weirdly" assembled, and that in that weirdness dwelt some hidden, and possibly important, attributes. The team looked, I don't know, interesting. Further, by midseason, if not before, it appeared that NS and JS were on some really close wavelength, and probably KS, too. Interesting.

Z emerged from nowhere - except, I guess, for those who understood just how his injuries had held him back. A total revelation. Interesting, to put it mildly.

Other posters started honing in on KenPom and "dork polls." Interesting numbers. I became obsessed. KenPom interpreters kept saying, "KenPom says Duke is really good." Interesting.

Interesting things kept happening. UNC imploded, a delightfully interesting sidebar melodrama, which. looking back, probably deflected attention from the main story, which was actually a lot more interesting, if not as fascinating: Duke's better than anybody knows. [Did K know?]

Tonight [morning, actually], the only people who still don't know how good Duke is ...... number in the millions, which include, but are not limited to, The Haters and The Stoopids. Right now The Haters are filled with hatred, while The Stoopids are, maybe, not quite as stoopid as they were yesterday.

[ice-9]

I've never posted this before, and all you guys can yell at me Tuesday morning if it's a jinx, but......

A half decent Duke team hasn't lost to a mid major since.... ummmm.... ? I don't know.

1996 EMU? We had walk ons plyaing.
2007 VCU? THe most frustrating Duke team ever and a testament to our seniors that they can recover from that dysfunction of a team.

Cincy in 1999 is the only thing close.

Long story short.... Good Duke teams don't lose to mid-majors. It's like a scientific rule or something...

Nooooooooooooooooooooo! You jinxed us!

Any time someone says we'll win because of something that happened in the past, I cringe... Those past teams are different to the Duke team today. And VCU, Cincinnati et. al. are also different to Butler. This is the national championship game!

If we win, it'll be because we played hard, executed well and wanted the game more. It won't be because we defeated Tulsa a few years ago in a regular season game.

[mike88]

Your Purdue theory is intriguing. I'd have put the turning point earlier, probably in the ACCT grind, but you're undoubtedly right that the demon that needed slaying was NCAAT too-early-departure-gremlin.

As for expecting success, there was a fairly vigorous debate back in Sept re our hopes/fears for a deep run in NCAAT. We optimists - I the looniest of the loony optimists - argued that we had real talent, and that there were no teams that were likely to be as good as last season's UNC, UConn, maybe Pitt. So we optimists said Duke would be preseason top 7-10.

Now, looking back, I see that my optimism really was truly loony, for I was optimistic with no notion whatsoever of how steady LT would become, nor, of course, how Z would rise from nowhere. Nor was I at all certain that NS could become aggressive on O. I thought he could, but would he? I think my optimism came from a belief that KS would be NPOY, that JS is the most court-aware player I've seen in quite a while, and that MP2 would be really good.

Gradually I became aware that this team was "weirdly" assembled, and that in that weirdness dwelt some hidden, and possibly important, attributes. The team looked, I don't know, interesting. Further, by midseason, if not before, it appeared that NS and JS were on some really close wavelength, and probably KS, too. Interesting.

Z emerged from nowhere - except, I guess, for those who understood just how his injuries had held him back. A total revelation. Interesting, to put it mildly.

Other posters started honing in on KenPom and "dork polls." Interesting numbers. I became obsessed. KenPom interpreters kept saying, "KenPom says Duke is really good." Interesting.

Interesting things kept happening. UNC imploded, a delightfully interesting sidebar melodrama, which. looking back, probably deflected attention from the main story, which was actually a lot more interesting, if not as fascinating: Duke's better than anybody knows. [Did K know?]

Tonight [morning, actually], the only people who still don't know how good Duke is ...... number in the millions, which include, but are not limited to, The Haters and The Stoopids. Right now The Haters are filled with hatred, while The Stoopids are, maybe, not quite as stoopid as they were yesterday.

One of the fun things about this year so far is that this team has won in ways that are different than past Duke teams, and it has taken quite a while for some people to recognize it. I think those of us who follow Duke closely had a feeling that this team was going to play (and win) differently pretty early in the year but I am not sure West Virginia really even believed it before the game today - from their pre-game comments, i think they planned to out-tough us today- what a difference two years and some more big bodies and experience makes.

The availability of tempo-free statistics like those at KenPom has been really valuable. In an era when anyone and everyone can call themselves a journalist, it has been great to have real data to separate those who really get what this team is about from those that are just recycling old memes (Duke relies on the 3; Duke is soft)

[Lulu]

from pat forde's blog during the game:
Aaaaaaand Curtis Shaw finds a way to get a T into the proceedings. That's why they call him Quick Draw Curtis Shaw.

Yes, Miles didn't have to hang on so long. But no, it wasn't nearly as flagrant as so many that haven't been called all tournament long.

I've been wondering ever since, do you guys think Coack K was hitting his head after that play (when he turned his back) because he was thinking a) how careless Miles was, or b) how unbelievable the call was?

[Bob Green]

I've been wondering ever since, do you guys think Coack K was hitting his head after that play (when he turned his back) because he was thinking a) how careless Miles was, or b) how unbelievable the call was?

My initial reaction was: b) how unbelievable the call was. I haven't changed my mind. Yes, Miles did hang on longer than he had to, however, the fact remains he hung on the rim to keep from falling onto Singler. In retrospect, the T is irrelevent as we beat WVU by 21 and are headed to the National Championship Game.

[mgtr]

So, the UNC team must be thinking - Gee, the I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.ies are playing for a national championship, and we came in second in the losers' tournament!

[devildownunder]

I've never posted this before, and all you guys can yell at me Tuesday morning if it's a jinx, but......

A half decent Duke team hasn't lost to a mid major since.... ummmm.... ? I don't know.

1996 EMU? We had walk ons plyaing.
2007 VCU? THe most frustrating Duke team ever and a testament to our seniors that they can recover from that dysfunction of a team.

Cincy in 1999 is the only thing close.

Long story short.... Good Duke teams don't lose to mid-majors. It's like a scientific rule or something...

My goodness, if I didn't know better I'd think you had money on Butler making a post like that. C'mon, dude!

[Welcome2DaSlopes]

Hey he's just being honesty, you can't really knock him for his opinion.

[devildownunder]

Yep. Also, in ESPN's instant analysis, they claim the turning point of the game was the Butler injury. Clearly, if he stayed in the game, WVU would have won :rolleyes:

You've gotta be kidding me. They're saying that was a turning point that cost WV the game? Seriously?

[oldnavy]

Well to be fair, WVU pretty much gave up after that. They were at least still fighting to stay in it until that point. The energy just faded on them.

NO, to be fair, he had not been a large factor in the game (10 points) and we were in complete control up by 15 points when he went out. It is fantasy to think that they would have won this game if he had not gotten hurt.

It may make some Duke haters and WVU fans feel better to think that, but it is not reality...

[oldnavy]

My initial reaction was: b) how unbelievable the call was. I haven't changed my mind. Yes, Miles did hang on longer than he had to, however, the fact remains he hung on the rim to keep from falling onto Singler. In retrospect, the T is irrelevent as we beat WVU by 21 and are headed to the National Championship Game.

I agree with you Bob. AND... It is only a T if the ref calls it a T. I can show you 20+ examples far more egregious than this that went uncalled. But, it is all academic at this point. In fact I am glad they called it in retrospect. It just gives the haters less fodder...

[BigDuke6]

My initial reaction was: b) how unbelievable the call was. I haven't changed my mind. Yes, Miles did hang on longer than he had to, however, the fact remains he hung on the rim to keep from falling onto Singler. In retrospect, the T is irrelevent as we beat WVU by 21 and are headed to the National Championship Game.

I agree that he held on to break his fall or not to hurt others in the area. The T did bother me a little at the time. What bothered me the most was early in the first half WV had 6 players on the court and the officials were about to start the play but one of the officials told WV that they had too many men on the court. I can understand warning a player he may get a technical because of his actions or maybe he needs to calm down but this was a simple case of the coaching staff not knowing who was on the court.

Oh well. Didn't matter.

[TampaDukie]

Yep. Also, in ESPN's instant analysis, they claim the turning point of the game was the Butler injury. Clearly, if he stayed in the game, WVU would have won :rolleyes:
You've gotta be kidding me. They're saying that was a turning point that cost WV the game? Seriously?
Yes and no. They called in a turning point in the game and said that Duke was "pulling away" when it happened. Dude, we were up by 15. We were pretty much already pulled away by that point.

The analysis doesn't suggest that Butler's injury is what made the difference or cost WVU the game, though. In fact, it's absolutely gushing in it's praise of how well Duke played, using the word "awesome" about 5 times.

[davekay1971]

What an unbelievable game by Duke! I don't know if we could play any better than we did. We dominated that game, and it was a team victory. I haven't voted on MOTM and I'm not sure who the heck I'd vote for.

This team is so worthy of praise. The anti-Duke crowd will never, never give them their due. That's okay. This team knows what they're accomplishing. We, as Duke fans, can appreciate what we're watching.

One more thank you to this team for taking us for such a great ride. One more game to go.

[cspan37421]

I'm enjoying this run, but it's sad that you just about can't enjoy it with anyone who wasn't already a Duke fan. It really is us against the world, and yet there's really no rational reason for the world to be against us. There's extreme confirmation bias going on, warped perceptions, etc. There's just nothing we can do to change people's minds. Forget them, I guess you say, and enjoy the moment. But there's no reason we should be portrayed as the evil empire, given how the program is run, how the players play.

I would like, sometime, for K to be asked about irrational Duke hate in a press conference, and give the whole duke-hatin' nation a dressing down.

[devildownunder]

Yes and no. They called in a turning point in the game and said that Duke was "pulling away" when it happened. Dude, we were up by 15. We were pretty much already pulled away by that point.

The analysis doesn't suggest that Butler's injury is what made the difference or cost WVU the game, though. In fact, it's absolutely gushing in it's praise of how well Duke played, using the word "awesome" about 5 times.

Thanks for explaining that.

[roywhite]

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22490&SPID=1835&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=204922277

Still feels great the morning after, and the boxscore shows some outstanding performances.

Jon Scheyer's line---38 minutes; 7-13 shooting including 5-9 from 3-pt; 23 points; 6 assists with 0 turnovers; 2 steals

Kyle with 21 pts, 9 rebounds, 5 assists

Zoubs with 10 rebounds, 3-4 shooting, 3 assists

etc. etc.

Great performance and it came in such a big game against a very good opponent!

[devildownunder]

Missed it live because I have Australian in-laws who didn't realise coming by our place for Easter would interrupt my basketball viewing.

Anyway, I think calling that a techinical -- when measured against non-calls in similar situations in the tournament -- is a real stretch. Even some of the Baylor players against Duke got away with as much.

[Saratoga2]

At the beginning of the year, I thought Zoubek and Thomas had little chance to improve their play significantly and was hopeful that Smith and the Plumlees could take this team beyond where they had been. I was wrong and now see that really all of the team has gotten much better and it seems to be still happening.

Zoubek game has improved tremendously. He seems to have become far more aggressive rebounding while cutting down on the fouls. His passing and screens are now excellent and he is even starting to score regularly.

Coming into the season, Thomas had problems being over aggressive and picking up silly fouls, his shooting was weak and he didn't seem to rebound. Recently, he has cut down on his fouls, has been getting more rebounds, can shoot the mid range jumper and hit his foul shots while still playing very solid defense.

If those two making improvements weren't enough, Smith has elevated his game with impressive on ball defense, his outside shooting and his ability to penetrate and his the short jumper make him possibly the most improved player on the team.

Then there is Kyle, who has had to learn the 3 position after being successful at the 4. His defense and rebounding have always been good, but he has also learned to get the ball of a feed and go to the bucket in a variety of ways, while his outside shot is usually very good.

Scheyer took up the point last year and has grown in that role. He knows the strengths of the team and makes the plays with very few turnovers. His scoring is back after a drought. I would say Jon is a mature but still improving player.

Miles has come a long way and it generally takes time for big men to learn how to be effective. His rebounding is good, his defense improving and he now has a mid range jump shot he can use. It is great to have an improving sub for center.

Mason has also come a long way. As a freshman big man, he is getting a better idea of what he can do. He is dangerous inside and is likely to be a block machine in the future. Another great asset to have off the bench.

Dawkins has shown what he can do. At 6'4", strong and athletic, he is aan excellent back up for our big two guards and even for Singler at times. While he still needs to learn how to get his shot, when he gets open, he is a real threat from the 3 point stripe. Clearly other teams need to guard him closely.

The pooint of all this rambling is that our players have all improved a great deal this year, which makes this team much better than last years, while we have most of the same players out there. We do have more depth at the 4 & 5, but otherwise this team has the same personnel, planning at a higher level. Coach K and the staff should be recognized for the improvement.

[striker219]

"It's like I just saw the Mona Lisa get up out of her chair and hit 13 3-pointers against one of the country's best defenses. At times, it felt kind of like that."

Eamonn Brennan hasn't been the biggest Duke cheerleader this year but that was pretty good. Link (http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/10115/duke-butler-first-look-at-the-final)

[devildeac]

Does anyone know the story as to why the WVU fan was taken away by the police at the game. I thought it was hillarious that he was being dragged up the aisle by a police officer right by the Duke section. I could not hear what our fans were saying but it sure seemed to make him more angry. I guess it is another sign of how classy their fans are.

There were several folks in our section (144) who were escorted out by security. I could not tell what team they were supporting as they had no school colors to display. Their removals happened over about a 20 minutes period during the 1st game. Several appeared to be intoxicated. Not sure what led to their ejections but I can imagine.

I also wonder what AT LEAST a dozen wvu fans were doing in our section. Who sold them their tix? And, how can they be reported to the ID/Duke ticket office? There were several groups of 4 Butler and MSU fans in front of us, too.

[devildeac]

Missed it live because I have Australian in-laws who didn't realise coming by our place for Easter would interrupt my basketball viewing.

Anyway, I think calling that a techinical -- when measured against non-calls in similar situations in the tournament -- is a real stretch. Even some of the Baylor players against Duke got away with as much.

Miles forgot to slap the backboard. Oh, wait a minute, even THAT wasn't a T against Baylor.

[jipops]

There were several folks in our section (144) who were escorted out by security. I could not tell what team they were supporting as they had no school colors to display. Their removals happened over about a 20 minutes period during the 1st game. Several appeared to be intoxicated. Not sure what led to their ejections but I can imagine.

I also wonder what AT LEAST a dozen wvu fans were doing in our section. Who sold them their tix? And, how can they be reported to the ID/Duke ticket office? There were several groups of 4 Butler and MSU fans in front of us, too.

Looks like we need 'Ol Roy policing our section.

[devildeac]

Looks like we need 'Ol Roy policing our section.

The only problem is that we were not shooting FT at the time...:rolleyes:;)

[jipops]

2007 VCU? THe most frustrating Duke team ever and a testament to our seniors that they can recover from that dysfunction of a team.


I think you're following along with the media's misguided perceptions in that one. That 2007 was loaded with freshmen and sophomores and a multitude of personnel weaknesses. The fact they got in the tournament is a testament to Coach K's will. Go ahead and compare to this season's Tarheels (a team with experience and more talent) to provide perspective. Nothing dysfunctional about that team, they just plain wore down and lost. I know I'm getting off topic but there have been other seasons far more frustrating than 2007.

However, it has been beautiful seeing that core group come together. It is quite impressive what experience can do for a team.

[Eckster]

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22490&SPID=1835&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=204922277

Still feels great the morning after, and the boxscore shows some outstanding performances.

Jon Scheyer's line---38 minutes; 7-13 shooting including 5-9 from 3-pt; 23 points; 6 assists with 0 turnovers; 2 steals

Kyle with 21 pts, 9 rebounds, 5 assists

Zoubs with 10 rebounds, 3-4 shooting, 3 assists

etc. etc.

Great performance and it came in such a big game against a very good opponent!

The game was already decided of course but Davidson's 3 was beautiful. Top of the key, nothing but net. Great moment on the biggest stage for that guy who has put in so much work to help this team behind the scenes over the years. It may have been meaningless to the outcome, but had to feel good for that kid.

[CLW]

Did anyone notice that Nolan said during the post-game interview that he didn't want this to be Kyle's last game (in addition to John and Lance)?

Maybe I'm reading too much into that one quote but sounds like Singler has only one more game in a Duke uniform.

[weezie]

Did anyone notice that Nolan said during the post-game interview that he didn't want this to be Kyle's last game (in addition to John and Lance)?

Maybe I'm reading too much into that one quote but sounds like Singler has only one more game in a Duke uniform.

I fear you are right.

[jimbonelson]

Did anyone notice that Nolan said during the post-game interview that he didn't want this to be Kyle's last game (in addition to John and Lance)?

Maybe I'm reading too much into that one quote but sounds like Singler has only one more game in a Duke uniform.

I heard it also, and I hope that game equals national championship

[CDu]

What a display by the Devils!

I thought it was amazing that we held the second-best offensive rebounding team in the country to 0 second-chance points for the majority of the game. It wasn't until the game was largely decided that WVU finally started getting some points off of rebounds. The effort on the glass by Zoubek, Singler, and the team was impressive.

Further, the offense was just amazing. Scheyer and Smith had 42 points, 12 assists, and ZERO turnovers between them. That's fantastic guard play. And it was great to see what happens when the big three are all playing well in the same game against a good team.

I am just so happy with the toughness of we showed. WVU has out-toughed their opponents all season, but it was us that looked like the bruisers. They tried to play tough. We matched them and then some. After three consecutive years of being out-toughed in the tournament, we've now gone three consecutive games of out-toughing three teams who make a habit of being the tougher team. That's really impressive.

We won nearly every facet of the game. We out rebounded them. We did a much better job on the offensive glass (percentage-wise and total). We shot much better. We blocked more shots. We forced more turnovers. The only area in which we didn't win was at the free throw line. But we won the other areas so convincingly that it didn't matter.

Just one more to go. Hopefully the team has it in them to get the job done one more time Monday night!

[DukeDevil]

Does anyone know the story as to why the WVU fan was taken away by the police at the game. I thought it was hillarious that he was being dragged up the aisle by a police officer right by the Duke section. I could not hear what our fans were saying but it sure seemed to make him more angry. I guess it is another sign of how classy their fans are.

I believe it was booze/disruptive as well. I was grabbing some food when a WVU fan was taken out during the MS/Butler game and and the guy tried to casually walk back to the game when the security guy looked away. The security guy noticed and there was some loud shouting back and forth...with the security guy/officer? (had a badge and gun...) yelled "you wanna take this downtown?!"

[DukeDevil]

the couple next to me had some home made T-Shirts on that said "it's all relative in west virginia." Priceless.

[nyesq83]

the couple next to me had some home made T-Shirts on that said "it's all relative in west virginia." Priceless.

Abercrombie & Fitch sold those as well.

My WVA in-laws make fun of it. It's like K with his Polish jokes.

[gumbomoop]

I'm enjoying this run, but it's sad that you just about can't enjoy it with anyone who wasn't already a Duke fan.

I would like, sometime, for K to be asked about irrational Duke hate in a press conference, and give the whole duke-hatin' nation a dressing down.

1. The consolation that is this DBR board might be sufficient to sustain you. There's a reason it's frequently observed by non-Duke posters that this board is different. That reason has mostly to do with the fact that Stoopidity does not reign here, as on many other boards. Hard to de-program Stoopidity out of the Stoopids.

2. Better that that particular sermon come not from K, nor from Vitale, but from Gottleib or Hubert, or, I don't know, maybe Jim Lehrer or Denzel Washington. Wait: how about Nelson Mandela?

[oldnavy]

I fear you are right.

I think he got Brian and Kyle confused. Kyle is not listed as one of the first 60 picks on nbadraftnet.com. I doubt he will go in the draft this year.

[scheyeronfire]

It looked like it just said "Mountaineers" but obviously that's not right. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Spy]

I think it said MountainERRS.

[GODUKEGO]

You are right!!!

[NSDukeFan]

Our big men only had 12 points combined in this game. Doesn't K realize that if we don't get a lot more offensive contribution from our bigs we're a Sweet Sixteen flame out at best?
If we don`t develop our bench and get our big 3 some rest they are going to wear out and we won`t make it past the sweet 16 again.


2) I've been saying for a while that if we ever had a game where Jon, Nolan, and Kyle all shot well at the same time, we would be impossible to beat. Well, it just happened. But the odds of it happening again on Monday are very small.

This is of course a concern going into the Butler game. Kentucky and Syracuse were not able to use any of the domination in previous games to help them in their final games this year. I believe the Butler game will start at 0-0 despite our fantastic game in this one. It certainly nice to see the big 3 all shooting lights out in one game against a very good team. I would love to see the team to continue its improvement for one more game.


What an unbelievable game by Duke! I don't know if we could play any better than we did. We dominated that game, and it was a team victory. I haven't voted on MOTM and I'm not sure who the heck I'd vote for.

This team is so worthy of praise. The anti-Duke crowd will never, never give them their due. That's okay. This team knows what they're accomplishing. We, as Duke fans, can appreciate what we're watching.

One more thank you to this team for taking us for such a great ride. One more game to go.
Well said, what a great victory. It is great for the team to play its best game of the year in the Final Four. It would be even greater to do it again on Monday.


I'm enjoying this run, but it's sad that you just about can't enjoy it with anyone who wasn't already a Duke fan. It really is us against the world, and yet there's really no rational reason for the world to be against us. There's extreme confirmation bias going on, warped perceptions, etc. There's just nothing we can do to change people's minds. Forget them, I guess you say, and enjoy the moment. But there's no reason we should be portrayed as the evil empire, given how the program is run, how the players play.

I would like, sometime, for K to be asked about irrational Duke hate in a press conference, and give the whole duke-hatin' nation a dressing down.

Remember though that although it may not seem like it because of some media bias, Duke may be the most hated team, but it is also one of the most, if not the most, liked team.

Here are a couple additional points about one of the most fun games to watch in awhile that I don`t remember seeing mentioned here.
1) As great a shooter as Andre is, I think he has made some good decisions driving to the hoop in the last few weeks. I think he has also progressed defensively. The area that I found last night that he didn`t help us was movement without the ball. I thought that was the biggest issue when Nolan left the game with foul trouble. At that time there were only two options on the perimeter to release the ball to. Fortunately, our bigs (especially the starters) do a pretty good job of being outlets in the high post for passes to keep our offense going. I wonder if on offense the team stayed away from Andre`s side unless he was open for a jumper, or if he doesn`t cut off screens as well and move without the ball well enough to be a significant part of the offense at this point. I don`t expect that to be a problem for him next year, but it appears to be for teams that deny hard on the perimeter, such as Purdue, WV and, I expect Butler.
2) Miles Plumlee, IMO, just seems to be moving his feet much better on defense. When he was guarding out to the three point line vs. WVU, I saw him moving his feet very well to keep his man in front of him and didn`t foul. Good job stepping up when needed at the end of this year, Miles.
3) Brian Zoubek provides such a big boost with his offensive rebounding. It is so huge to have all the extra possessions the team gets from his fantastic boardwork.

[roywhite]

Duke--WV replay coming up very shortly 9:00 PM Eastern on CBS College Sports Channel (613 on DirecTV).

[moonpie23]

watching now......it's always interesting afterwards to hear kellog building the OTHER team up and pointing out how the OTHER team is going to "handle" duke and then .......backtracking as the game turns...

[devildeac]

I think it said MountainERRS.

That is correct.:D

[Brim]

I think it said MountainERRS.

Thanks, Spy and GODUKEGO!

[jdj4duke]

There is a great scene at the 8:38 mark in the first half. The ball swings around the left perimeter, and is in Singler's hands. The WVU player guarding (#5- Jones, I think?) him is playing face up and pretty much right on top of Kyle.

Singler gives a little step, goes straight up, and buries the jump shot. Kyle turns and heads down court, back on D. The WVU player stands there, watches the shot float through, and just drops his head, shoulders, and arms like he was hit in the stomach, kind of a "I was in that guy's face for the last 5 seconds and it did absolutely nothing to stop him"

[camion]

There is a great scene at the 8:38 mark in the first half. The ball swings around the left perimeter, and is in Singler's hands. The WVU player guarding (#5- Jones, I think?) him is playing face up and pretty much right on top of Kyle.

Singler gives a little step, goes straight up, and buries the jump shot. Kyle turns and heads down court, back on D. The WVU player stands there, watches the shot float through, and just drops his head, shoulders, and arms like he was hit in the stomach, kind of a "I was in that guy's face for the last 5 seconds and it did absolutely nothing to stop him"

I remember watching that play during the game and saw the expression. It was a, "What more can I do?" type of thing. Kyle just took his stellar defense and scored anyway.

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/demotivators_2096_101141

[whereinthehellami]

I loved seing Mazulla flailing around on the court. Flopping around screens, begging for calls. Zero toughness when it counted.

I thought the T on Miles was a horrible call. As someone who used to dunk alot (using a picnic table) when I was younger, if you don't hang on the rim and pull up after running/dunking at full speed you will land on your back and/or head. A big, bad call in a game like this.

I also thought that the officiating tilted to WVU pretty good. Kye was getting alot of contact on his drives to the rim with no calls whereas Butler was getting alot of ticky tack calls on his drives. And then when he went down, WVU seemed to get even more ticky tack calls called in their favor.

Great game for Duke though. The chemistry, discipline, and toughness were exceptional. Duke's leadership and experience has seemingly grown into a belief that the team can't lose.

[BD80]

Does anyone know the story as to why the WVU fan was taken away by the police at the game. ...


It was more than one! I counted three. No clue but it looked like booze.

I think they were from Huggins' AA support group. They arrived in a car bearing a bumper sticker: "What happens in Indy, stays in Indy"


I loved seing Mazulla flailing around on the court. Flopping around screens, begging for calls. Zero toughness when it counted. ...

I thought we were overplaying his floor slapping two years ago, .... until I saw replays of Mazulla mocking John Wall after the Kentucky game, doing the moronic "John Wall dance." Mazulla deserved that 20 point beat down!

[Neals384]

I watched the replay last night, and noticed a few things I missed the first time.

1) The traveling Crazies deserve an assist on one play. WV had the ball, and the crazies counted down 3-2-1. WV threw up a three point brick just as the crazies got to zero...except that there were really 6 seconds left on the shot clock!

2) Kyle's turnover at 17:00 of the second half is a mystery. He was posted up on Mazzula, took the basline on him, and was called for the turnover. The announcers said "he stepped on the baseline", but that's not what it was - he was at least a foot from the baseline on every step. The ref making the call was off-screen, so I'm still at a loss as to what the call was. No way did he travel on the play either.

3) At 11:50 of the second half, Kilicli was called for traveling. Kilicli looked mystified, Huggy gave the refs a big stare. My slo-mo reply showed Kilicli actually moved his left foot three times, and his right foot three times.

4) WV's defense was nowhere near as good as advertized. On one play, Butler turned his head and Scheyer lost him, no screen required. Butler came flying back just as Jon buried the three from the right corner. Of course, maybe they'd never seen an offense as fab as Duke's!

Go Duke!

[Exiled_Devil]

4) WV's defense was nowhere near as good as advertized. On one play, Butler turned his head and Scheyer lost him, no screen required. Butler came flying back just as Jon buried the three from the right corner. Of course, maybe they'd never seen an offense as fab as Duke's!

Go Duke!

And Purdue's...and Baylor's...

This is part of the reason I am not taken in by the talk of Butler's defense tonight. We've lowed through a defensive wall for half the tourney.

[CDu]

And Purdue's...and Baylor's...

This is part of the reason I am not taken in by the talk of Butler's defense tonight. We've lowed through a defensive wall for half the tourney.

To be fair, Butler's defense is much better than Baylor's and it's substantially better than WVU's as well. It's not quite as good as Purdue's defense, but it's close. And we didn't exactly light up Purdue - though we weren't completely shut down either.

By comparison (based on Pomeroy), here are the defensive efficiencies of the last four teams we'll have faced:

Purdue: #4
Baylor: #34 (#31 before we beat them)
WVU: #22 (#12 before we killed them)
Butler: #6

[jipops]

To be fair, Butler's defense is much better than Baylor's and it's substantially better than WVU's as well. It's not quite as good as Purdue's defense, but it's close. And we didn't exactly light up Purdue - though we weren't completely shut down either.

By comparison (based on Pomeroy), here are the defensive efficiencies of the last four teams we'll have faced:

Purdue: #4
Baylor: #34 (#31 before we beat them)
WVU: #22 (#12 before we killed them)
Butler: #6

What is comforting is that we did score 46 pts in the 2nd half vs. the #4 rated defense.

[CDu]

What is comforting is that we did score 46 pts in the 2nd half vs. the #4 rated defense.

Yeah, once we figured out not to throw the ball away and not to force shots against their shotblocker, we cruised.

Butler does things similarly to Purdue on the perimeter. But they provide zero shotblocking presence. Instead, they just hope you miss and then keep you from getting rebounds. Purdue blocks shots but lets you get second chances.

I think we'll probably hit just enough shots and get just enough second chances to build a relatively comfortable lead. I was just noting that this defense is, on paper, MUCH better than Baylor's, and definitely better than WVU's as well.