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House G
04-06-2010, 06:17 PM
I have to admit that my Duke bias often makes be think that our opponent is getting the benefit of more calls than we are. After watching us play Cal, Purdue, Baylor, West Virginia, and Butler, I felt like we played some very physical teams. I thought Purdue and Butler in particular were allowed to play a style of defense that frequently included a lot of hand-checking, grabbing, shoving, etc. Whereas Duke's big men appear capable of "dishing it out", our guards seem to play a less-aggressive style with regard to these tactics.

Is this a function of the players we have? Are different styles of defense played in different conferences? If so, do teams recruit certain players to match that style of play? Is the seemingly rougher style of play related to bigger, stronger players? To what extent do the zebras dictate this type of play? Since everyone preaches that "Duke gets all the calls", are we now held to a different standard? Do teams try to take advantage of this sentiment? Has the game changed to where teams now adopt the old Georgetown defensive philosophy of committing so many fouls that the zebras can't possibly call all of them?

I feel that our team did a remarkable job of dealing with some very aggressive, physical defensive teams in the tournament. Perhaps this is a trend in college basketball. I personally believe that this style of defense has gone too far and that it detracts from the offensive flow of a game. Any thoughts?

theAlaskanBear
04-06-2010, 06:21 PM
Duke had one of the toughest routes defensively! Purdue, Baylor, WVU, and Butler: Common factor? Aggressive hard-nosed D. It does detract from the offensively flow, but as long as refs refuse to call the bumping/holding/checking, its going to be bad because it allows marginal offensive teams to "stay with" the better offensive teams.

Spam Filter
04-06-2010, 06:27 PM
The officiating in the NCAA has definitely be a "let them play variety" this tourney, which leads to some very physical games. There was so much handchecking and grabbing last night by Butler frankly I'm shocked we even managed 60 pts.

But this style of play benefits the underdogs because in a game of pure skill Butler wouldn't stay within 10 points of Duke. So the more physicality and fouling they allow, the more even the game becomes. I'm sure that's why the NCAA has opted for this route.

That's why a recruit like Tyler Adams is going to be much more useful to Duke in the future than a even a recruit like Quincy Miller.

DukieTiger
04-06-2010, 06:44 PM
^I'd like to throw Tyler Thorton into that mix as well. I know we lose a lot of toughness with Zoubs and LT especially, but I hope we keep that hard-nosed edge that has made this season special. I feel like this group of guys has developed a really tough mentality over four years... and I think it is the rebirth of the Duke winning culture, if you will. The Seniors and next year's seniors will pass that along to the likes of Kyrie, Thorton, Plumlees, etc. It's becoming increasingly evident that you have to have a sort of toughness to make it in the NCAA tournament, and I like the direction our teams of the future are going in that regard.