MOTM: Duke vs Miami (OH) (Nov 16, 2010)

[Bob Green]

Who was the Man-of-the-Match in the win over the RedHawks?

[loran16]

Gotta be Curry. Mason's numbers look good until you realize that the rebounds were inflated by him being the only big on the floor for 15 minutes.

[ajgoodfella7]

I agree, has to be Seth. When Duke was having trouble putting the ball in the basket, Seth was there all night to get them going.

[RelativeWays]

Mason had a good game, and was pretty active over all, I'll give him the nod. Seth was great as well.

[Gthoma2a]

I can't vote. I couldn't choose if I had to, both were outstanding. Mason getting a double-double is very nice, but Seth's ability was equally notable. I may not have been pleased with a lot that I saw from Miles, but my hat is off to him for staying in with the injury. That looked rough, and he showed grit.

[timmy c]

Probably should give the MOTM to the defense. The RedHawks never really found any rhythm. On the offensive side, SdotCurry was fantastic to watch tonight. His stroke looked effortless and the ball was ripping the twine.

[hedevil]

I went with Seth on this one. Mason did have a great game though, which was really big for Duke, considering that the other bigs didn't have their greatest outings. I think a game like this for Seth is huge for his confidence moving forward. I also loved Curry's free throw shooting.

[Newton_14]

Probably should give the MOTM to the defense. The RedHawks never really found any rhythm. On the offensive side, SdotCurry was fantastic to watch tonight. His stroke looked effortless and the ball was ripping the twine.

I second this. I voted for Mason for tossing out the double/double after so many have been down on him, but Seth is also a great choice.

Miles gets the Singler Is Iron tough guy award for staying in the game after the dislocated finger. That was sick.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I understand the votes for Mason, but honestly he couldn't hit the broadside of a barn tonight unless he dunked on it. Awesome rebounding job, crappy job shooting from close unless his hands touched the rim with the ball. An honest and true assessment. Seth started cold just as everyone else did (yeah I remember that airball!), but he goes back to the dorm with the points and the game..once he got going it was pretty.

[Wander]

Not the best game or stats from start to finish, but since the criteria for MOTM is flexible and left to each individual, I'm going to cheat a little bit.

The difference between a sluggish 19 point margin and a "wow, Duke is awesome" game was single-handedly carried out by Irving at the start of the 2nd half. He changed the game by himself just by starting to run with the ball. Example: a few plays after his personal 7-0 run, Duke has a 3 on 3 fast break, but all three defenders clog the middle because they're so scared of Irving driving. Easy three by Curry.

Nolan probably had the best all around night and I loved Mason's rebounding and attempts to be involved in the offense, but these first couple games are going to be remembered most because of Kyrie's debut. Irving imposed himself on the game in a way that promises great things for the season (even if it was for an admittedly short time because he screwed up fouling early).

[ArnieMc]

Nolan had 7/1 ATO, 10 points, 5 boards, 1 block and 2 steals. He was also steady as a rock on defense. I picked him by a nose.

[Acymetric]

I understand the votes for Mason, but honestly he couldn't hit the broadside of a barn tonight unless he dunked on it. Awesome rebounding job, crappy job shooting from close unless his hands touched the rim with the ball. An honest and true assessment. Seth started cold just as everyone else did (yeah I remember that airball!), but he goes back to the dorm with the points and the game..once he got going it was pretty.

Add that (and K said this in the postgame) Miami was basically leaving either nobody or 1 guy back to go for offensive boards (sending everyone else out to stop the break) and the rebounding isn't quite as impressive either. I thought Mason played well, but I would guess that only 2 or 3 rebounds came with an opposing player within 5-10 feet of him.

Still thought he had a good game, and played hard, but the double double is misleading.

Edit: Oh, and I voted for Nolan...he looked great all game.

[PumpkinFunk]

Seth was simply amazing tonight. He gets my vote on the eye test - he looked the best, by far.

[SCMatt33]

I gave it to Seth. I think Mason's double-double is a little deceiving. First, Miami literally didn't even try to rebound on its offensive end, leaving Mason a ridiculous number of uncontested rebounds. A couple of times, his biggest competition was another Duke player. I also have a problem giving MOTM to a guy who shot 2-6 from the foul line. That being said, I still think Mason had a good game, showing some good post moves and made some good plays, but the little things keep him from MOTM.

[jipops]

I went with Nolan, to me he was the best player on the floor tonight. Sure Curry had a great scoring night but who set him up? Nolan did a terrific job playing point for much of the game while Kyrie sat with fouls and racked up 7 assists with 1 turnover to go with 5 boards and 2 steals.

It was good to see Mason have a good night but as mentioned in the post game thread he was helped by Miami's game plan to not crash the boards. He still made a number of defensive errors out there.

[COYS]

I went with Nolan, to me he was the best player on the floor tonight. Sure Curry had a great scoring night but who set him up? Nolan did a terrific job playing point for much of the game while Kyrie sat with fouls and racked up 7 assists with 1 turnover to go with 5 boards and 2 steals.

It was good to see Mason have a good night but as mentioned in the post game thread he was helped by Miami's game plan to not crash the boards. He still made a number of defensive errors out there.

I went with Nolan as well, even though Seth is deserving as well. I liked Mason's play, but he did not dictate the game as much as Nolan did by both leading the offense and spearheading much of the suffocating defense. He has come a long, long way as a point guard, too. He has distributed the ball better the past two games than he ever has before at Duke. Also, his pull up jumper going left is becoming unstoppable. I think we'll see that some when the offense stagnates a bit and we need someone to make something happen. Late in the shot clock, that shot will always be in Nolan's back pocket.

[devildeac]

Anytime someone drops a double-double, I'm gonna seriously consider that player for MOTM. A couple more made FT woulda been even sweeter. Unless, of course, one of those "doubles" is TO:rolleyes:. Seth had a fine game, too, and that ndotSmitty fellow with his 7 A and only 1 TO was pretty good;).

[NSDukeFan]

I voted for Mason and am curious as to why everyone on Duke's team didn't get double figures in rebounds with Miami getting everyone back to defend the fast break. Must have been 14 times lucky?

[CDu]

I voted for Mason and am curious as to why everyone on Duke's team didn't get double figures in rebounds with Miami getting everyone back to defend the fast break. Must have been 14 times lucky?

Well, only one guy can catch any single uncontested missed shot, and Duke players weren't battling each other for rebounds all that often. Mason got more minutes at the 5 than anyone else, and more minutes at the 4/5 than anyone else. And since Miami was frequently not contesting shots, we weren't forced to send more than 1-2 guys after rebounds anyway. For those reasons, Mason was often the guy for Duke in position to catch the ball.

Were you able to watch the game (and I really don't mean in a snippy way)? Honestly, Mason's 14 rebound game was one of the most quiet 14 rebound efforts I've ever seen. I posted this in another thread, but it had the feel of a 5-7 rebound performance, due to the style of play Miami used. The box score looks much more impressive than the eyeball test. That's not to say Mason played badly (he was certainly not a liability out there) - just that he didn't stand out the way his stat line would suggest.

[NSDukeFan]

Well, only one guy can catch any single uncontested missed shot, and Duke players weren't battling each other for rebounds all that often. Mason got more minutes at the 5 than anyone else, and more minutes at the 4/5 than anyone else. And since Miami was frequently not contesting shots, we weren't forced to send more than 1-2 guys after rebounds anyway. For those reasons, Mason was often the guy for Duke in position to catch the ball.

Were you able to watch the game (and I really don't mean in a snippy way)? Honestly, Mason's 14 rebound game was one of the most quiet 14 rebound efforts I've ever seen. I posted this in another thread, but it had the feel of a 5-7 rebound performance, due to the style of play Miami used. The box score looks much more impressive than the eyeball test. That's not to say Mason played badly (he was certainly not a liability out there) - just that he didn't stand out the way his stat line would suggest.

I fortunately did get a chance to watch the game (and thanks for your parentheses as that could get interpreted as snippy otherwise.) I agree Mason's 14 rebounds didn't seem like a dominating rebounding performance, but he did get 3 offensive rebounds and at a certain point, I think it is better to congratulate his performance rather than criticize the way it was obtained. A quiet solid performance is still a solid performance.
I certainly don't have a strong argument against anyone who voted Seth or Nolan MOTM, but thought that some have not recognized an also solid performance from Mason, because he didn't wrestle enough for the rebounds he got.