MBB: Duke 98 Oregon 71 Post-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Put your post-game thoughts here.

[CDu]

We had some amazing stretches of basketball, and some sloppy stretches. But obviously overall it was a terrific performance (again). Singler was unbelievable. He was the best player on the floor. The Plumlees each had really nice games as well. They didn't score a ton, but they got lots of rebounds and I believe both were on the floor for the big outburst early in the second half.

It's nice when you can commit 20 turnovers and sill win by basically 30 points. However, it would certainly be even nicer if we could cut down on those turnovers.

[ajgoodfella7]

Having not gotten to watch the game and after listening to everyones comments, it is just unbelievable how much offensive firepower this team has. To score 98 points when a lot people were saying they had a few extremely sloppy stretches is truly remarkable. I know Oregon is not a top team, but nonetheless, to beat them by 27 points in what amounts to a road game is very impressive.

[SCMatt33]

I think it's a good sign when you win by almost thirty over a Pac-10 team (even a bad one) on the west coast and come away feeling that it was an average performance. BTW, I loved how we blatantly tried to get Kyle up to his career high for 2 minutes so that he could be pulled from the game. Congrats to Kyle on a great homecoming.

[CLW]

Dr. Jeckle / Mr. Hyde type performance is the only way I can describe it to those who are :confused: about the in game posts about sloppy play and then seeing 10 points go on the board just like that.

Nolan in particular seemed to force himself into bad situations on multiple occasions.

IMHO, the first time this team loses will likely be due to too many turnovers/sloppy play.

[sagegrouse]

Vis-a-vis previous comments on announcers: Did anyone know that Oak Hill academy is in West Virginia?

Good game, good effort, good for Kyle, what a career!

sagegrouse

[BigZ]

this team is the most talented college hoops team in years, we play poorly in stretches while extending the lead at the sametime. I thought despite fouling out Miles was very good and rebounded well. Nolan's turnovers against the press were the only concern.

[jammsb]

Eventually these kids will play with more discipline and organization and possibly become the best team to ever wear the Duke uniform. They are fast, talented and motivated. They need to settle down, which they will do. When all the puzzle pieces are in place, I believe they will be next to unstoppable.

[UpNorthDevil]

Most of the sloppiness occurred with Kyrie on the bench. Nolan was clearly having trouble with the press in the first half. Team performed much better in the second half. Coach K essentially called off the dogs with about 8 mins to go. Starters could have won by 40+ easily. Not bad overall. It seemed they didn't take this game as seriously as the Kansas State one, but a win is a win. It will be very hard to press this team with Kyrie on the floor. I think Coach K needsa to find a way to get Tyler more experience when it counts. It will help down the road.

[BigZ]

Is this Oregon team supposed to be good? I don't know much about them and it is hard to tell how good a team is when they are so overmatched. I do think this is the first opponent who played as hard as Duke in the game.

[RoyalBlue08]

I guess we didn't need more confirmation, but I think it was a great sign how well Kyle played in what amounts to a pressure situation. He had giant billboards all over that city. It wouldn't be a stretch to imagine him come out tight or trying too hard or whatever. But he dominated while letting the game come to him at the same time. And if possible it looks like his catch and release off the screen has sped up even further. This will only serve Duke well as the season progresses and serve him very well at the next level.

[Cockabeau]

Wowo,teams are going to have their hands full with this teams ability to go on spurts

[quota]

CBS Sports box score lists Kyrie with only 3 assists. That doesn't seem right to me.

[UpNorthDevil]

Is this Oregon team supposed to be good? I don't know much about them and it is hard to tell how good a team is when they are so overmatched. I do think this is the first opponent who played as hard as Duke in the game.

They were picked to finish last in the PAC-10, so prolly not too good but you never know. UConn was picked to finish last in the Big East and look what they have done so far this year. They were clearly overmatched but they never quit and played hard to the last second. I think they will surprise a lot of teamsl.

[KandG]

Is this Oregon team supposed to be good? I don't know much about them and it is hard to tell how good a team is when they are so overmatched. I do think this is the first opponent who played as hard as Duke in the game.


I think you summed it up well. This Oregon team played about as hard as any Duke opponent this year, including Marquette. The caveat is -- they aren't very good, especially when it comes to shooting. They had multiple opportunities to make the game interesting given how sloppy our play was, and they kept missing layups and clanking outside shots. For a while, it seemed like all their points came on steals or offensive rebounds.

Really weird game overall -- I swear the first few minutes of the second half was about as bad as we've looked all year, then a few missed Oregon shots, a few made 3s and a couple of fastbreaks, and *bang*, we're up 30 points.

[dball]

Vis-a-vis previous comments on announcers: Did anyone know that Oak Hill academy is in West Virginia?

Good game, good effort, good for Kyle, what a career!

sagegrouse

Didn't Marques Johnson mention Duke's tough games in the ACC with teams like Florida State and Virginia State as well?

[mgtr]

Really weird game overall -- I swear the first few minutes of the second half was about as bad as we've looked all year, then a few missed Oregon shots, a few made 3s and a couple of fastbreaks, and *bang*, we're up 30 points.

Best description of how the game changed quickly that I have seen. *bang*, we're up 30 points. That is just exactly how it happened. Amazing.

[InSpades]

It's weird to watch a game where Duke is handily beating their opponent and yet there are so many frustratingly sloppy plays. If this team can cut down on their turnovers while maintaining their impressive shooting percentages they will be pretty much impossible to beat. On 62 field goal attempts they scored 79 points. That is ridiculously efficient from the field. However when you add in the 19 turnovers it becomes merely really really good :).

Nolan and Kyle accounting for 10 of the 19 turnovers is a bit puzzling. Nolan clearly struggled with the press, which isn't a huge concern (I doubt we'll face much pressing and that's a situation where Kyrie will shine). It seems like the offense just forces things a bit too much sometimes. Sometimes it leads to amazing plays (like Nolan's half-court alley-oop to Miles) but too often it leads to turnovers. The team is so good that they shouldn't have to force anything.

Andre Dawkins continues to be amazingly efficient. On 39 field goal attempts he has scored 60 points for a 1.54 points per field goal attempt. He's going to be pretty special.

[Madrasdukie]

CBS Sports box score lists Kyrie with only 3 assists. That doesn't seem right to me.

According to goduke.com Kyrie had 6 assists:

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&ATCLID=205036620&DB_OEM_ID=4200

[basket1544]

According to goduke.com Kyrie had 6 assists:

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&ATCLID=205036620&DB_OEM_ID=4200

That's KState game.

[Saratoga2]

In general it became obvious that the Dukke starting team would blow Oregon off the floor after about 3 or 4 minutes. I think Coach K decided he could try a whole variety of substitutions and get an idea how well things would go. As aresult, there was a lot of confusion on the floor and Oregon actually cut the lead to 13. As someone mentioned, with a better team on the floor, Duke built the lead to 30 in the blink of an eye and the game was never in doubt. There were some lessons from the game and some really encouraging signs.

Dood signs:
Singler's shooting was incredibly efficient tonight. Best night for him certainly this year, if not ever. If his game is elevated to that level, the team gets even stronger.

Dawkins is continuing he good play and shooting. Good to see him game after game show the consistency and excellence that is a big plus for the team.

Miles game was much better tonight in my opinion. He had a size advantage, but it also seemed he is starting to round into the effective player we need inside.

Nolan played well off the ball offensively. His game improved in the second half

Kyrie had another really good game.

Everyone of the top ten players had at least one point.

Not so good:

There were many many times when Oregon players got the ball in the corner orr around the perimeter where there was no defense at all near them. That seems uncharacteristic of a Duke team and it is only due to Oregon's ineptness that they didn't get more easy baskets.

Twenty turnovers. Some of which may have been due to the many varying lineups on the Duke side, but we see again that Nolan's best comes as the off guard. He didn't handle the press well at all. In general there were lots of sloppy plays. Even Kyrie had his mistakes but I didn't feel they were very serious.

This game should provide a lot of teaching moments for coach K. The team will need to get over the lack of concentration and play their best against Mich St.

[dukeblue4ever]

According to goduke.com Kyrie had 6 assists:

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&ATCLID=205036620&DB_OEM_ID=4200Yahoo gave KI two assists:confused: and ESPN doesn't have a box score.

[dukejim1]

Glass Half full
Convincing road win against a non-conference opponentnever hurts with seeding.
Dre, Kyle and Nolan shot well
Mason continues to grow game by game, it is not all potential now.
We got a good workout against a good press.

[Madrasdukie]

That's KState game.

Yes, I just realized it and was going to post a correction.

[dukebluelemur]

CBS Sports box score lists Kyrie with only 3 assists. That doesn't seem right to me.


Goduke's is up now (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=205038144)... KI with only two Assists. Apparently the Rose Garden scorers are stingier for college players than they are for the blazers :mad:

[Richard Berg]

Seth's shooting woes continue. Some ugly-looking turnovers from Nolan. Other than that, I'm not going to read much from this performance. The team has been on the road for over a week, Coach K was playing uncharacteristic lineups, and there was the unusual brother vs brother factor pervading the gametime atmosphere.

Tons to be happy about, of course, but until I see them brought to bear against Izzo, I'm gonna keep the weauxgods in check :)

[loran16]

I'm not going to talk about the good in this post. We know it already. This team has enough firepower that against a bad team, even on their own floor, the bad team has no chance unless they shoot insanely good while we're having a bad game.

Oregon didn't shoot insanely well (Duke's D was good), but did manage 0.85 PPP. But Duke averaged only 1.18PPP, below our season average.

Some reason for that is really minor: For example, Seth couldn't hit a shot today (0/4 in the first half, 1/6 overall) and he had a few open shots. That won't happen often. And that's just a fluke.

But the turnovers, and just overall play, that's not a fluke...we've seen that in multiple games this year (Marquette, Cal Poly Ponoma, Miami (OH)). The team has issues putting it all together for more than 5 minute stretches....for example in this game, Duke jumped out to a 63-33 lead with 14:33 to go. Duke never extended that lead past 33 points, and wound up basically playing even (well down 2) to Oregon for the remaining 14 minutes.

Oregon is a BAD team folks. They're ranked worse than any ACC foe aside from Wake this year. And Duke didn't have walk-ons in, or really bad line ups (not that we really have any). The team should have extended that lead at least to 40 at one point, if not 45. It wasn't basically taking it easy....it was just failing to extend the lead.

None of this is saying Duke is bad. Duke is really really good. We won by 28 in one of our 2 worst performances of the season (Worst was to Marquette). But against good teams, this type of performance would make things precarious, and it's so far from how good this team can become.

This team today played at like 20% of its potential. At it's best this year, it's played at like 60%. It can do a lot better.

(I'd say last year the team on average played at like 70% after Zoubek started...with it hitting its top play in the WVU game (100% of potential)).

[loran16]

Seth's shooting woes continue. Some ugly-looking turnovers from Nolan. Other than that, I'm not going to read much from this performance. The team has been on the road for over a week, Coach K was playing uncharacteristic lineups, and there was the unusual brother vs brother factor pervading the gametime atmosphere.

Tons to be happy about, of course, but until I see them brought to bear against Izzo, I'm gonna keep the weauxgods in check :)

Continue? He was 2-4 against KState with a good 3. Not sure i'd call that shooting woes. (Though yes, he was poor against Marquette).

[Eternal Outlaw]

Great to see the guys live today even if it wasn't a spectacular game overall. As noted, way too many turnovers and sloppy play.

I don't know how it looked on TV but Kyrie put on the most impressive single play dribbling clinic I have ever seen.

Not a surprise but Singler got a huge pop during introductions. Not sure if it was because K recruited Singler or picked Blazer Head Coach McMillan part of his Olympic staff or just straight respect but K got a noticeable bigger pop as well when introduced. It was just a notch below Kyle's. I don't know what he usually gets in non-ACC arenas (can't imagine it is ever good there) but this was an impressive show of respect by the opposing fans.

Certainly an impressive showing by the Duke fans, maybe half the arena was Duke blue. Many Duck fans were walking away from the arena commenting about it.

[ncexnyc]

Twenty turnovers. I'm sure that could have some people worried, but I believe a large portion of them were due to a lack of focus. Considering the lack of stiff competition, I really can't blame the kids for this.

Whenever someone has come remotely close to making it a game, this team gets it's focus back and turns it on reestablishing it's dominance.

[DukieInBrasil]

I'm not sure if anyone else noticed this, but there were multiple lob attempts to the Plumbros in the post which the MPs did not seem prepared for. They certainly didn't look like they were ready to receive a lob for a dunk and fumbled at least 2 away. It looks like the guards know how crazy mad ups the MPs have but the MPs are not on the same page as the guards in terms of getting the ball in the air for a massive dunk.
It was nice to see the two of them go for double digit rebounds in the same game together, that's a good omen. As everyone gets more acclimated to each other and thinking along the same lines, this team is gonna be insanely exciting.

[juise]

I really enjoyed getting to see Duke for the first time in 4 years. There were a ton of Duke supporters. Visually, there was definitely more blue than green/yellow. The Singler supporters had some creative attire (hint: Duke colors do not match Oregon colors very well). Having been in the arena, I didn't get to see Kyle's post-game interview, but I assume that he really enjoyed the chance to play in his home state. Both boys got a lot of support, but Kyle's standing ovation as he exited the game was really special. When he waved to crowd, the response was the loudest the arena got all night.

The overall atmosphere of the game was pretty weak. I think it was primarily caused by the lack of rhythm in the game with all the foul calls as well as the big Duke lead and the overall sloppy play. Duke clearly didn't handle the half court press well at the end of the first half and beginning of the second. That and playing against the zone gave K some teaching moments (with Nolan specifically) that I hope will benefit Duke as the season goes on.

Kyrie seemed to tweak his ankle on the first Oregon possession (when he stole the ball in the back court after Kyle's made jumper), but he recovered nicely and had some very impressive drives. Nolan also found his offense later in the game and was warmly cheered for when he left the game. It was good to see Miles and Mason each in double figure rebounds. Some of the fouls on Miles were incredibly weak, so I'm not too concerned about him fouling out in 19 minutes. Actually, some of the fouls against Ryan and Josh were atrocious as well.

I really hope that K finds himself another Oregon recruit in the next 5 years. It was such a treat to see the team (and so many Duke fans) today.

[delfrio]

I'm not sure if anyone else noticed this, but there were multiple lob attempts to the Plumbros in the post which the MPs did not seem prepared for. They certainly didn't look like they were ready to receive a lob for a dunk and fumbled at least 2 away. It looks like the guards know how crazy mad ups the MPs have but the MPs are not on the same page as the guards in terms of getting the ball in the air for a massive dunk..

To me, it looked like about half of those passes were just really bad. The guards were trying to force the issue to the MPs, which makes sense given the quality of the opponent, but many of those passes didn't end up in good positions.

[UpNorthDevil]

I'm not going to talk about the good in this post. We know it already. This team has enough firepower that against a bad team, even on their own floor, the bad team has no chance unless they shoot insanely good while we're having a bad game.

Oregon didn't shoot insanely well (Duke's D was good), but did manage 0.85 PPP. But Duke averaged only 1.18PPP, below our season average.

Some reason for that is really minor: For example, Seth couldn't hit a shot today (0/4 in the first half, 1/6 overall) and he had a few open shots. That won't happen often. And that's just a fluke.

But the turnovers, and just overall play, that's not a fluke...we've seen that in multiple games this year (Marquette, Cal Poly Ponoma, Miami (OH)). The team has issues putting it all together for more than 5 minute stretches....for example in this game, Duke jumped out to a 63-33 lead with 14:33 to go. Duke never extended that lead past 33 points, and wound up basically playing even (well down 2) to Oregon for the remaining 14 minutes.

Oregon is a BAD team folks. They're ranked worse than any ACC foe aside from Wake this year. And Duke didn't have walk-ons in, or really bad line ups (not that we really have any). The team should have extended that lead at least to 40 at one point, if not 45. It wasn't basically taking it easy....it was just failing to extend the lead.

None of this is saying Duke is bad. Duke is really really good. We won by 28 in one of our 2 worst performances of the season (Worst was to Marquette). But against good teams, this type of performance would make things precarious, and it's so far from how good this team can become.

This team today played at like 20% of its potential. At it's best this year, it's played at like 60%. It can do a lot better.

(I'd say last year the team on average played at like 70% after Zoubek started...with it hitting its top play in the WVU game (100% of potential)).

You have to remember Duke was playing its third string for about the last 7-8 mins in the game while Oregon was still trying its best. Duke could have won by 50 points but I don't think that is what Coach K wanted to accomplish tonight. Kyle, Nolan, Kyrie and Mason left the game pretty early. There were some ugly moments but some beautiful, fluid basketball as well. I think saying they played 20% of there potential is far too harsh. There is really nothing to be gained by hammering an overmatched opponent. Everyone is so focused on idiotic metrics like KenpPom and Sagarin that they sometimes lose sight of sportsmanship. Fortunately NCAA basketball does not depend on metrics. It determines its champion on the court.

[Devilsfan]

What appears to be the use of Ryan starting in an apparent attempt to get Miles' head into the game seems to be working. Miles is starting to play like he belongs on the court with Kyle, Nolan, Kyrie, Mason, Dre and Seth. That said I beleive Ryan's practice play must have warranted his starting.

[RoyalBlue08]

What appears to be the use of Ryan starting in an apparent attempt to get Miles' head into the game seems to be working. Miles is starting to play like he belongs on the court with Kyle, Nolan, Kyrie, Mason, Dre and Seth. That said I beleive Ryan's practice play must have warranted his starting.

Of course, it's hard to know, but here is my theory on this. It's more about lineup combinations that it is about Ryan necessarily being better than Miles. With our current starting lineup it allows Mason to play more of a low post role with Ryan being the high post guy. If you start Miles, he goes to the low and brings Mason out on the high post more. The problem is that Mason is better the closer he gets to the basket. To make the most of the lineups then it makes sense to have Miles sub for Mason and a small sub for Ryan (and move Singler to the 4). I realize there are times that both MPs are together on the floor, but I think the current lineup minimizes those minutes, and in my opinion that is best for this team.

[calvindog]

I guess we didn't need more confirmation, but I think it was a great sign how well Kyle played in what amounts to a pressure situation. He had giant billboards all over that city. It wouldn't be a stretch to imagine him come out tight or trying too hard or whatever. But he dominated while letting the game come to him at the same time. And if possible it looks like his catch and release off the screen has sped up even further. This will only serve Duke well as the season progresses and serve him very well at the next level.

I think Kyle is the last guy we need to be concerned about when it comes to production in pressure situations. If I recall, he had a good couple of games in the Final Four last year.

[Duke: A Dynasty]

Loved most of the game. But the passing under pressure was horrible. They kept throwing wild passes up court and it would go out of bounds, get stolen, or one of our guys would have to reach out and barely grab it.

[dukelifer]

I'm not going to talk about the good in this post. We know it already. This team has enough firepower that against a bad team, even on their own floor, the bad team has no chance unless they shoot insanely good while we're having a bad game.

Oregon didn't shoot insanely well (Duke's D was good), but did manage 0.85 PPP. But Duke averaged only 1.18PPP, below our season average.

Some reason for that is really minor: For example, Seth couldn't hit a shot today (0/4 in the first half, 1/6 overall) and he had a few open shots. That won't happen often. And that's just a fluke.

But the turnovers, and just overall play, that's not a fluke...we've seen that in multiple games this year (Marquette, Cal Poly Ponoma, Miami (OH)). The team has issues putting it all together for more than 5 minute stretches....for example in this game, Duke jumped out to a 63-33 lead with 14:33 to go. Duke never extended that lead past 33 points, and wound up basically playing even (well down 2) to Oregon for the remaining 14 minutes.

Oregon is a BAD team folks. They're ranked worse than any ACC foe aside from Wake this year. And Duke didn't have walk-ons in, or really bad line ups (not that we really have any). The team should have extended that lead at least to 40 at one point, if not 45. It wasn't basically taking it easy....it was just failing to extend the lead.

None of this is saying Duke is bad. Duke is really really good. We won by 28 in one of our 2 worst performances of the season (Worst was to Marquette). But against good teams, this type of performance would make things precarious, and it's so far from how good this team can become.

This team today played at like 20% of its potential. At it's best this year, it's played at like 60%. It can do a lot better.

(I'd say last year the team on average played at like 70% after Zoubek started...with it hitting its top play in the WVU game (100% of potential)).

I will take winning by 20+ against a team from a legit conference after a long road trip any time. Duke is not a finished product - nor do we want them playing 100% this early. Like last year- Duke needs to peak late if they have a shot to win again. It is all about getting into a groove when it counts. Winning by 28 or 40 at this point really does not matter. We are seeing glimpses with this team of how good they can be. Next game will be a big test of their focus.

[Bob Green]

It was great to watch the game live at the Rose Garden. The Duke crowd was very energetic throughout the game. Kyle Singler set the tone early and played a very steady game. Kyrie Irving seems unstoppable when he makes the decision to attack the rim. Andre Dawkins looks smooth on the court scoring 14 points with ease. Mason and Miles were very good inside combining for 12 points and 22 rebounds. In my opinion, from very good court side seats, several of the lob passes were off target, specifically the ball was too deep for the big guys to catch and shoot.

The big difference in watching live compared to the TV is the ability to hear the guys communicating on the court. The Duke players were constantly talking to each other.

Overall it was a great day to be a Duke fan in Portland!

[loran16]

I will take winning by 20+ against a team from a legit conference after a long road trip any time. Duke is not a finished product - nor do we want them playing 100% this early. Like last year- Duke needs to peak late if they have a shot to win again. It is all about getting into a groove when it counts. Winning by 28 or 40 at this point really does not matter. We are seeing glimpses with this team of how good they can be. Next game will be a big test of their focus.

Really that's like calling Wake a team from a legit conference. Oregon is bad.

Also, no offense, but it's false to be saying that you don't want them to be playing 100% this early....it's not as if the choices this team has are to play 100% right now and not 100% later or to play 100% later and not now.

You ALWAYS want your team to play near it's capacity as soon as possible. For this Duke team, if they were playing at capacity right now, they'd blow out MSU by 40 and Oregon by 50+. How's that a bad thing? The goal is to develop as fast as possible to ensure you get a top seed in the tourney, sweep the ACC and beat our hated rivals, and maximize our shots at a National Championship.

Listen, We just beat Oregon by 28 @ Oregon. While playing really really down for our talent. This could bode well, and certainly makes me shiver in anticipation about hwo we'd play when we've put it all together. But well, I don't think its unreasonable to want some progress in the team's development to happen, so that it plays closer to its potential, especially with the MSU game coming up....and then the ACC play starting in a month.

My post was ignoring the good, because the good is so obvious. This team makes us giddy because for spurts we can see how high it can reach...and yet it hasn't ever so far this season been able to put up that type of effort over say an entire half. It isn't wrong of us to hope, or even expect more.

[georg004]

What a great experience! The basketball game itself has been well dissected on other threads, so let me focus on the experience with the game as background:

duke fans were there in full force - I saw someone say that "maybe half" of the sold-out arena were wearing Duke Blue, but I have no doubt that 55-60% were. That impression was confirmed by multiple Oregon fans, including my daughter, a U of O junior


There was a total sense of shared pride between the two groups. For us Dukies living in OR, it was pride in our team and especially in Kyle, a great player and a fine young man with his head on straight. For the U of O fans, it was the same sense of pride in Kyle, our homegrown Oregon product, a third-generation product of a legendary Oregon family of athletes, on both sides. . .

and for both groups, an equal sense of pride in EJ, who played tough, played great, and never gave in to Duke, his brother or anyone else. Like Kyle, and like his mom and dad . . . a big heart, a fine player, a sportsman, and a gentleman.


Oregon has a great football program - maybe a national champion. Their basketball program is rebuilding, but they've hired an excellent coach and targeted significant resources into building the program into a national championship contender. They know they are not there yet, but their supporters are filled with confidence. They knew they would lose today, but they also know - wait a couple years, and then look out Duke!


Duke has a great basketball program - maybe a national champion. Their football program is rebuilding, but they've hired an excellent coach and targeted significant resources into building the program into a national championship contender. They know they are not there yet, but their supporters are filled with confidence. They knew they if they played Oregon today, they would lose, but they also know - wait a couple years, and then look out Oregon!

Bottom line - Oregon is Duck country, but they also love the Duke Blue Devils, appreciate Duke's excellence - and know that they have contributed to it.

[Newton_14]

It was great to watch the game live at the Rose Garden. The Duke crowd was very energetic throughout the game. Kyle Singler set the tone early and played a very steady game. Kyrie Irving seems unstoppable when he makes the decision to attack the rim. Andre Dawkins looks smooth on the court scoring 14 points with ease. Mason and Miles were very good inside combining for 12 points and 22 rebounds. In my opinion, from very good court side seats, several of the lob passes were off target, specifically the ball was too deep for the big guys to catch and shoot.

The big difference in watching live compared to the TV is the ability to hear the guys communicating on the court. The Duke players were constantly talking to each other.

Overall it was a great day to be a Duke fan in Portland!

Thanks for the report from front row seats Bob! Always good to catch the action in person as you see so much more. I was at the Football game trying to will our guys to victory there to no avail.

Watched the game on DVR when I got in from the Football game. Singler was good from the get go, even adding in the trick shot with the NBA 3 Off Glass!;)

He also gave baby brother a nice shoulder/forearm on that drive to the rack. A good win but like others noted, too sloppy in spurts. That will get corrected so not overly worried. They have been on the road for a full week now so that factored in as well. It will be good to get them back home.

Kyrie had great drives again, and he is proving to be almost unstoppable if he finds a lane. Interesting that he almost always goes left. Good play from all of our bigs with Miles and Mason playing good defense and were great on the boards. Kelly handled the press well and looked good knocking down that 3. He is proving to be really good when he catches and shoots in rythym.


Andre started slow but got in going for a very easy 14 points. Awesome to see him continue his good play. We will need a solid night out of him next Wed. Seth struggled tonight, but still hit the nice 3 down the stretch.

We scored 98 with 20 turnovers which is hard to do. We are too good of a ball handling team to have that many turnovers so I expect this is an anomally that will get corrected soon. This team still has a ways to go to jell into a truly dynamic team but they can certainly get there. Just need to keep working.

Bring on Mich St! Wednesday night at Cameron will hopefully be a big night for the boys in blue!

[proelitedota]

Thanks for your impressions.

It's great to have sport fans in Oregon that share our mutual respect and admiration for both of our athletic programs. Outside of an rivalry, this is how relationships between fan bases should be.

[darthur]

Really that's like calling Wake a team from a legit conference. Oregon is bad.

And when has a 30-point away victory in ACC play ever been considered less than excellent, no matter who the opponent is?

For a little perspective:
- Oregon is 4-2. Our first three opponents are a combined 4-12.
- This game was in Oregon at the end of a week-long road trip. Our first three games were all in Cameron.
- Oregon is 111 in Sagarin. Our first opponents are 163, 176, 334. Wake Forest by the way is 172.

And as others have said, this game was over 10 minutes in, and both teams knew it. Don't read too much into the details. And also, as others have said, I doubt the goal was to humiliate EJ's team in front of his family.

[Billy Dat]

I am surprised no one has mentioned the play in the first half when Nolan, being closely guarded at midcourt, threw an alley-oop that Miles caught while spinning and reverse dunked one handed. Nolan was actually standing on the midcourt logo, and Miles didn't smoothly flush it, but it was really insane. The bench reaction shot, especially Kyrie screaming, "That's what I'm talking bout!" was priceless.

Mason showed some nice ball handling ability today. As others have said, they threw a lot of press and zone at us and Mason (and Ryan as mentioned) were nice pressure valves. On their zone D. Mason caught a foul line entry pass, faked the reversal to the 3 point line, spun and put it on the floor to go hard to the hole and was fouled. The game is really slowing down for him - it's exciting to see.

Our players don't see a 1-2-2 zone press or halfcourt D so the turnovers were kind of expected. Nolan needs to sharpen up some of his passing as I found him to be a bigger culprit than Kyrie. But, even when they shaved the lead, I never even considered that they could come back on us. I was also watching to see if the sloppy play was going to have K go into a rage but they didn't show it on TV.

The defense needs to tighten up, we are giving up tons of wide open 3s, especially in transition. But, for those who felt a 30 point lead should have been pushed to 50...how often does that ever really happen? 30 seems to be the magic number that it becomes insulting to pile on to.

[uh_no]

duke fans were there in full force

insert generic swipe at cameron crazies/crusties /students/tailgate....etc

:P

[cptnflash]

Was traveling today and didn't get to see the game at all. Has anyone found it available for replay via the internet? I'll gladly pay if necessary, but can't find it anywhere. Obviously ESPN didn't cover it but surely they're not the only ones that serve up replays, right?

[Greg_Newton]

Was traveling today and didn't get to see the game at all. Has anyone found it available for replay via the internet? I'll gladly pay if necessary, but can't find it anywhere. Obviously ESPN didn't cover it but surely they're not the only ones that serve up replays, right?

I second this. Thanks in advance.

[burnspbesq]

Was traveling today and didn't get to see the game at all. Has anyone found it available for replay via the internet? I'll gladly pay if necessary, but can't find it anywhere. Obviously ESPN didn't cover it but surely they're not the only ones that serve up replays, right?

There is a game listed at 1:00 a.m. Pacific time on Fox College Sports Atlantic that doesn't say who the teams are. I'm recording that just in case.

Had a fantastic time at the game. One additional observation: There's no way Andre Dawkins is only 6'4." He was matched up against E.J. Singler, who is listed at 6'6," more than once, and they are the same size. Also saw Dre and Josh standing together at the hotel, and there is no more than one inch difference in their heights.

[DukieInBrasil]

One additional observation: There's no way Andre Dawkins is only 6'4." He was matched up against E.J. Singler, who is listed at 6'6," more than once, and they are the same size. Also saw Dre and Josh standing together at the hotel, and there is no more than one inch difference in their heights.
Perhaps Andre pulled a Dunleavy? Mike was listed as 6'7 before arriving and then at the end of his Fr. year they listed him as 6'9. Andre enrolled at Duke very young for his class and might very well still be in his "growth phase".

[bluepenguin]

The big difference in watching live compared to the TV is the ability to hear the guys communicating on the court. The Duke players were constantly talking to each other.
Interesting you should mention that. I had the game playing through my surround sound system and I swear this was the first game that I distinctly heard the players talking and very clearly. It was if they were in the room with me. It was also weird in that I heard different players in the right and left speakers. It was liked they had the court antenna mikes turned on high.

[dukelifer]

Really that's like calling Wake a team from a legit conference. Oregon is bad.

Also, no offense, but it's false to be saying that you don't want them to be playing 100% this early....it's not as if the choices this team has are to play 100% right now and not 100% later or to play 100% later and not now.

You ALWAYS want your team to play near it's capacity as soon as possible. For this Duke team, if they were playing at capacity right now, they'd blow out MSU by 40 and Oregon by 50+. How's that a bad thing? The goal is to develop as fast as possible to ensure you get a top seed in the tourney, sweep the ACC and beat our hated rivals, and maximize our shots at a National Championship.

Listen, We just beat Oregon by 28 @ Oregon. While playing really really down for our talent. This could bode well, and certainly makes me shiver in anticipation about hwo we'd play when we've put it all together. But well, I don't think its unreasonable to want some progress in the team's development to happen, so that it plays closer to its potential, especially with the MSU game coming up....and then the ACC play starting in a month.

My post was ignoring the good, because the good is so obvious. This team makes us giddy because for spurts we can see how high it can reach...and yet it hasn't ever so far this season been able to put up that type of effort over say an entire half. It isn't wrong of us to hope, or even expect more.

I am not sure it is reasonable to expect 100% every game. I have never seen a Duke team do it for a season. Even the 99 team took a while to get clicking. There are lulls- there are many moments of sloppy play- particularly against lesser opponents. But good teams win ugly and when you are beating a team by 28- even good teams lose focus. I also have seen really "bad" team press very "good" team for a significant part of a game in the ACC. What makes a team bad is usually the inability to maintain consistency of effort. Duke played hard yesterday as did Oregon- but sloppy play on one side often leads to sloppy play the other.

[dpslaw]

A replay of the game is listed for 1:30 this (Sunday) afternoon on Fox Sports South.

[Underdog5]

You ALWAYS want your team to play near it's capacity as soon as possible.


I am not sure it is reasonable to expect 100% every game.

I can tell you from close observation that the 1992 team played pretty much at 100% from start to finish with mild bumps due to adjustments for injuries. That was also coming off a national championship year but a team returning almost all of its key players and only really having to adjust for 1 key new reserve.

This team (also a national champion returning a lot of key pieces) is making more of an adjustment because it replacing a senior with a freshman at arguably the most important position in college basketball. They are also playing a much different style that I think is going to result in more turnovers generally although less than they are currently as they develop more chemistry.

Either way I look at it, it seems like good news for this team. First time in a while that my friendly haters really have nothing to say but "I hope they don't figure out how good they can be."

[roywhite]

I am surprised no one has mentioned the play in the first half when Nolan, being closely guarded at midcourt, threw an alley-oop that Miles caught while spinning and reverse dunked one handed. Nolan was actually standing on the midcourt logo, and Miles didn't smoothly flush it, but it was really insane. The bench reaction shot, especially Kyrie screaming, "That's what I'm talking bout!" was priceless.



It was a Sports Center top 10 play of the day (on a busy sports day).

Great play, and, I agree, great reaction on the Duke bench.

[sagegrouse]

Also, no offense, but it's false to be saying that you don't want them to be playing 100% this early....it's not as if the choices this team has are to play 100% right now and not 100% later or to play 100% later and not now.

You ALWAYS want your team to play near it's capacity as soon as possible. For this Duke team, if they were playing at capacity right now, they'd blow out MSU by 40 and Oregon by 50+. How's that a bad thing? The goal is to develop as fast as possible to ensure you get a top seed in the tourney, sweep the ACC and beat our hated rivals, and maximize our shots at a National Championship.

Listen, We just beat Oregon by 28 @ Oregon. While playing really really down for our talent. This could bode well, and certainly makes me shiver in anticipation about hwo we'd play when we've put it all together. But well, I don't think its unreasonable to want some progress in the team's development to happen, so that it plays closer to its potential, especially with the MSU game coming up....and then the ACC play starting in a month.



Without taking issue with your central point, which is addressed below, I see an instructive contrast between last year's post-Thanksgiving disaster at Wisconsin and the game yesterday with Oregon. Last year's team, when it played poorly, was lifeless. At Wisconsin, it seemed like the team forgot to get off of the bus. Same at State and Georgetown.

This year, it seems like poor play is frantic and sloppy, not lethargic. I heard from a number of folks at the game who said the speed of the Duke team, especially on defense, was amazing. Surely this is due to having a wealth of talent in the backcourt, as opposed to Jon and Nolan's having to play so they could be on the court the entire game.

Back to what I think is your central point: YOU want to Duke to play at near 100% from the beginning of the season onward, and YOU seem to get upset when they don't. Fair enough: that is YOUR position and so be it.

sagegrouse

[hq2]

Indeed a nice play by Miles. Overall, it's hard to complain about the way they're playing when they score 98, but it seemed to me that in the late first half and the early second half there was way too much jump shooting and too much standing around. In addition, I didn't see the bigs helping the other players with many screens and picks during that stretch either. That illustrates exactly how the team will lose, if it does; come in overconfident, don't attack the basket, and shoot nothing but jumpers. Against a better opponent, this could have been an L. I'm sure K will have something to say about it.

[Indoor66]

Indeed a nice play by Miles. Overall, it's hard to complain about the way they're playing when they score 98, but it seemed to me that in the late first half and the early second half there was way too much jump shooting and too much standing around. In addition, I didn't see the bigs helping the other players with many screens and picks during that stretch either. That illustrates exactly how the team will lose, if it does; come in overconfident, don't attack the basket, and shoot nothing but jumpers. Against a better opponent, this could have been an L. I'm sure K will have something to say about it.

I bolded the statement that is, IMO, the basis for team growth. I have always learned more from mistakes that from what worked. K can teach from the described stretch and the team can learn and grow.

Like K says, each player, each team has its own journey. Sometimes there are slips and sliding on the path. That is how we learn and expand our understanding and ability. I like the growth I see. We are a good team now and will be very good team in the future. I am just going to enjoy the journey....

[MChambers]

Perhaps Andre pulled a Dunleavy? Mike was listed as 6'7 before arriving and then at the end of his Fr. year they listed him as 6'9. Andre enrolled at Duke very young for his class and might very well still be in his "growth phase".

If Dawkins is really bigger than listed, this will put a whole new spin on the big vs. small lineup debates!

[78Devil]

"I am surprised no one has mentioned the play in the first half when Nolan, being closely guarded at midcourt, threw an alley-oop that Miles caught while spinning and reverse dunked one handed. Nolan was actually standing on the midcourt logo, and Miles didn't smoothly flush it, but it was really insane. The bench reaction shot, especially Kyrie screaming, "That's what I'm talking bout!" was priceless."

Can anyone tell me about what minute in the first half this play took place? Missed the "Top Ten" plays on ESPN, but I have the game recorded.

[roywhite]

If Dawkins is really bigger than listed, this will put a whole new spin on the big vs. small lineup debates!

Yep, big issue; time to break out the cinder blocks for official measurements.

[tbyers11]

"I am surprised no one has mentioned the play in the first half when Nolan, being closely guarded at midcourt, threw an alley-oop that Miles caught while spinning and reverse dunked one handed. Nolan was actually standing on the midcourt logo, and Miles didn't smoothly flush it, but it was really insane. The bench reaction shot, especially Kyrie screaming, "That's what I'm talking bout!" was priceless."

Can anyone tell me about what minute in the first half this play took place? Missed the "Top Ten" plays on ESPN, but I have the game recorded.

According to the GoDuke play-by-play (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=205038144) it took place with 6:33 left in the first half and put Duke up 31-12.

[JohnGalt]

Without taking issue with your central point, which is addressed below, I see an instructive contrast between last year's post-Thanksgiving disaster at Wisconsin and the game yesterday with Oregon. Last year's team, when it played poorly, was lifeless. At Wisconsin, it seemed like the team forgot to get off of the bus. Same at State and Georgetown.

This year, it seems like poor play is frantic and sloppy, not lethargic. I heard from a number of folks at the game who said the speed of the Duke team, especially on defense, was amazing. Surely this is due to having a wealth of talent in the backcourt, as opposed to Jon and Nolan's having to play so they could be on the court the entire game.


Great post, Sage. These guys ALL want to be on the court whenever possible. And with the depth of the backcourt - and resultant scarcity of minutes - they're willing to run themselves to exhaustion for an extra minute out there. That shows excellent team attitude and can only bode well for development - both personal and team - down the rode.

Maybe we can finally escape a year without the 'tired legs' talk come March? :p

[Bob Green]

Maybe we can finally escape a year without the 'tired legs' talk come March? :p

Nope! The constant substituting will wear out our player's legs due to having to run back and forth to the scorer's table. :D

[Les Grossman]

Miles is clicking in w the new team. Even Ryan Kelly seems to be finding a spot, inside, rebounding.
Only Seth seems still a bit out of phase. Is there reason for concern? If he can be instant O off the bench while waiting a yr for the starting job to open up, watch out. I wonder if he's getting enough pt to find his rhythm ?

[-jk]

Miles is clicking in w the new team. Even Ryan Kelly seems to be finding a spot, inside, rebounding.
Only Seth seems still a bit out of phase. Is there reason for concern? If he can be instant O off the bench while waiting a yr for the starting job to open up, watch out. I wonder if he's getting enough pt to find his rhythm ?

He's averaging 20 minutes a game.

I think the bigger issue is that it's a very different game than the one he played at Liberty or practiced last year. Everyone on the team has to adjust.

-jk

[dukelifer]

I can tell you from close observation that the 1992 team played pretty much at 100% from start to finish with mild bumps due to adjustments for injuries. That was also coming off a national championship year but a team returning almost all of its key players and only really having to adjust for 1 key new reserve.

This team (also a national champion returning a lot of key pieces) is making more of an adjustment because it replacing a senior with a freshman at arguably the most important position in college basketball. They are also playing a much different style that I think is going to result in more turnovers generally although less than they are currently as they develop more chemistry.

Either way I look at it, it seems like good news for this team. First time in a while that my friendly haters really have nothing to say but "I hope they don't figure out how good they can be."

Not sure I agree- or perhaps what you mean by 100 percent. In one of their early games against Virginia (an unranked team and not a tourney team) they shot 43% from the floor- 4-15 from three and had 14 turnovers in a 68-62 win. In that game (in which they main guys all played), they shot 31% in the second half. If that is as good as that team could play against a non-ranked opponent then it is a surprise they won the NC. Great teams do not always play great.

[loran16]

This year, it seems like poor play is frantic and sloppy, not lethargic. I heard from a number of folks at the game who said the speed of the Duke team, especially on defense, was amazing. Surely this is due to having a wealth of talent in the backcourt, as opposed to Jon and Nolan's having to play so they could be on the court the entire game.


Indeed! Like i mentioned, I think Duke played its 2nd worst game vs Oregon. But even that has a chance to win.



Back to what I think is your central point: YOU want to Duke to play at near 100% from the beginning of the season onward, and YOU seem to get upset when they don't. Fair enough: that is YOUR position and so be it.

sagegrouse

I agree with the blue, and not the red. No team plays at 100% every game, even if they are a veteran team that is fully developed. As I said, I think Duke last year played at 100% of potential in a single game last year: West Virginia. I want them to hit that mark, but I don't think they will every game, nor am I disappointed when they don't.

I want the team to hit a certain level though every game, lets say 50% at worst, 70% usually. There will be mistakes, certainly, but really nowhere near this game. And I don't think that's an unfair expectation.

Today, as I've said, we played pretty poorly. The thing is we are so talented that against a terrible opponent, that wouldn't show. At all. But against good opponents, playing at this level would probably result in a loss, unless they play so poorly as well. That's where my feelings stem from.

[sagegrouse]

Originally Posted by sagegrouse

This year, it seems like poor play is frantic and sloppy, not lethargic. I heard from a number of folks at the game who said the speed of the Duke team, especially on defense, was amazing. Surely this is due to having a wealth of talent in the backcourt, as opposed to Jon and Nolan's having to play so they could be on the court the entire game.

Indeed! Like i mentioned, I think Duke played its 2nd worst game vs Oregon. But even that has a chance to win.

Not so fast there! You took my quote out of context. In full context it would have read, "In periods of poor play, Duke's play is sloppy, unlike the lethargic play of last year." I thought Duke had a very good game that got out of control for a few minutes each half. Second worst game? Those are your words.




Back to what I think is your central point: YOU want to Duke to play at near 100% from the beginning of the season onward, and YOU seem to get upset when they don't. Fair enough: that is YOUR position and so be it.

sagegrouse


I agree with the blue, and not the red. No team plays at 100% every game, even if they are a veteran team that is fully developed. As I said, I think Duke last year played at 100% of potential in a single game last year: West Virginia. I want them to hit that mark, but I don't think they will every game, nor am I disappointed when they don't.

I want the team to hit a certain level though every game, lets say 50% at worst, 70% usually. There will be mistakes, certainly, but really nowhere near this game. And I don't think that's an unfair expectation.

Today, as I've said, we played pretty poorly. The thing is we are so talented that against a terrible opponent, that wouldn't show. At all. But against good opponents, playing at this level would probably result in a loss, unless they play so poorly as well. That's where my feelings stem from.


Well you can agree or not with the red, but it is my OPINION that "YOU seem to get upset." And since I was good enough enough not to challenge your opinion, I wish you would allow me mine. In fact, the BF quote shows you actually agree with my statement in red.

sagegrouse

[Underdog5]

what you mean by 100 percent

If the definition is 100% offensive efficiency in every game for a season, I concede without consulting history that 1992 or any team (Duke or otherwise) for that matter is always at 100% on both sides of the ball. Don't even think that's a reasonable goal to consider. My point was that 1992 team began the year clicking at its peak and stayed there the entire year (with a few minor bumps on the way) while this team will certainly undergo a process to get to its peak form.

The game you cited was the first game of the ACC during Christmas break in another teams gym but no excuses... the results on offense were not 100% of that teams potential. Defense on the other hand was 100% and this game was never in doubt. As I recall, the only game that year (yep, including the losses) where the team was truly off its peak was @Clemson where K had to pull the starters for a good portion of the game to make a point that their effort was lacking.

[loran16]

Not so fast there! You took my quote out of context. In full context it would have read, "In periods of poor play, Duke's play is sloppy, unlike the lethargic play of last year." I thought Duke had a very good game that got out of control for a few minutes each half. Second worst game? Those are your words.


Errr I didn't mean to imply those were your words. My comment was that I agreed that unlike last year, when poor play was lethargic, this year it's just sloppy and thus is still able to beat teams who are poor or are doing poor themselves. We agree on this, no?




Well you can agree or not with the red, but it is my OPINION that "YOU seem to get upset." And since I was good enough enough not to challenge your opinion, I wish you would allow me mine. In fact, the BF quote shows you actually agree with my statement in red.

sagegrouse

Errr how? 70% of potential for this team will win every game unless an opponent is both great and plays their to their top of potential. But it still won't be the best we can be. Even so, I wouldn't complain about such a performance.

During a game, I get upset by bad plays, but if those are kept to a reasonable minimum, I won't complain.

Not sure why we're arguing with this. I want 70% of potential, I'll probably be fine with a little less; I thought yesterday's effort was in the 20% range.

[-jk]

100% this. 100% that. Whatever.

What I want to see is: first a full faith effort every time. Never let your guard down. Take no prisoners. Ever.

Then a good faith effort at being the best we can be (cliches be damned - K is Army, after all).

If we do that every game...

-jk

[marinbobbyduhon]

What a great experience! The basketball game itself has been well dissected on other threads, so let me focus on the experience with the game as background:

duke fans were there in full force - I saw someone say that "maybe half" of the sold-out arena were wearing Duke Blue, but I have no doubt that 55-60% were. That impression was confirmed by multiple Oregon fans, including my daughter, a U of O junior


There was a total sense of shared pride between the two groups. For us Dukies living in OR, it was pride in our team and especially in Kyle, a great player and a fine young man with his head on straight. For the U of O fans, it was the same sense of pride in Kyle, our homegrown Oregon product, a third-generation product of a legendary Oregon family of athletes, on both sides. . .

and for both groups, an equal sense of pride in EJ, who played tough, played great, and never gave in to Duke, his brother or anyone else. Like Kyle, and like his mom and dad . . . a big heart, a fine player, a sportsman, and a gentleman.


Oregon has a great football program - maybe a national champion. Their basketball program is rebuilding, but they've hired an excellent coach and targeted significant resources into building the program into a national championship contender. They know they are not there yet, but their supporters are filled with confidence. They knew they would lose today, but they also know - wait a couple years, and then look out Duke!


Duke has a great basketball program - maybe a national champion. Their football program is rebuilding, but they've hired an excellent coach and targeted significant resources into building the program into a national championship contender. They know they are not there yet, but their supporters are filled with confidence. They knew they if they played Oregon today, they would lose, but they also know - wait a couple years, and then look out Oregon!

Bottom line - Oregon is Duck country, but they also love the Duke Blue Devils, appreciate Duke's excellence - and know that they have contributed to it.

I really like this post. Oregon loves its Ducks in football - and for great reason we are proud of them. They are a great team. For a few years, with great players such as Ridenour, basketball at Oregon was gaining momentum. Although I am an ardent (some who know me would say rabid) Duke basketball fan through and through, I can't but hope that Oregon's BB program keeps growing in the right direction.

That being said, I was sitting in a section of the Rose Garden that was pretty eveniy divided between Duke and Ducks fans. But I thought the house leaned a little bit more towards the Blue Devils.

And on a side note, the man to my right was a Terrapin alumnus and very proud of his ACC heritage. Every time the Ducks would start a "Let's go Oregon" chant, he would counter with a "Let's go ACC" chant. I was pretty amused by it. He also gushed about Coach K before the game even began, telling me what a great coach and man Coach K is. And he emphasized how humble K is and what great kids he brings into the program. He was cheering as loud as I was when Coach K was announced before the game. I really enjoyed my conversations with him as the game went on. He called Gary "Sweaty" and couldn't wait to tell his wife when I confided that I have been a Duke fan for over 45 years.

And he picked up that I was from the Medford area and love Kyle Singler. Of course, that wasn't too hard to figure out.

It was a wonderful day for true blue Duke fans from Southern Oregon!

[georg004]

we're all Duke fans, but each region, each state, experiences our fandom in a different way. . .

for those of us in Oregon. . . well, we're a small state, and not only that, a long way from RDU. The sports news here is all about the Pac-10. Nevertheless, we were proud to send Dunleavy to Duke, and proud of how well he did there.

Kyle Singler was even more special to us Oregon Dukies. I wish Duke fans knew how deeply connected Kyle is to Oregon, how his mother and father were great athletes at OU and OSU, and his grandparents were Oregon athletes as well. He is Oregon through and through -- and Duke through and through, just like we are.

So sending our Oregon - our Medford, Oregon - son to Duke was a very, very special event for us.

And now he is the leader of the best team in college basketball. This is as good as it gets, and we Oregon Dukies are filled with pride.

And guess what - everyone else here in Oregon is, too. Oregon loves Duke. There are no Duke haters here.

[tylervinyard]

Instead of worrying about 100% or whatever, we need to let everyone including the team as a whole run their race at their own pace. We're ridiculously talented and we have so much potential, but we're essentially a new team this year. The returning players have new roles and are being asked to play differently than last year. Kyle and Nolan are being asked to lead. The rest of the returning players are being asked to play at a much higher level for more minutes than they were ever asked to last year. There is no more Scheyer, no more Lance and no more Zoubs. We are not playing slow and methodical nor playing the same type of defense. We need time for lineups to gel, everyone to find roles, players to grow talent-wise and confidence-wise. We should be happy that when we make mistakes, we're only losing the 4 minute mini-games (as opposed to the whole game). You learn when you make mistakes, and hopefully you can learn without losing. We are so talented that sometimes we lose focus, sometimes we force things.

Back to this argument about 100%:

Does that mean 100% of our potential now or playing at 100% of our full potential that we should be reaching by the end of the season? Hopefully the former rather than the latter, because hopefully we're going to get better and better all the way up until the title game which we hopefully win. Can you see I'm a little hopeful? If it is the former, it's still so subjective, it could be argued that we are playing up to our "current" potential, because we playing amazing in spurts and losing focus in spurts which is to be expected. Our current and our long term potential is so much higher than the rest of the country, we should just be happy and enjoy the ride.

[rhcpflea99]

I've been a Duke fan for 23 years and watching them live was a dream come true. The atmosphere at the game was amazing for being away game. Oregon fans wanted nothing more but to watch Kyle do what Kyle does. I met tons of people from Medford that came to watch Kyle play. I had a chance to meet with Dell Curry (he was cool). Kyrie had dozen of family member there. I'll put up pic soon as I can.

[BD80]

... Maybe we can finally escape a year without the 'tired legs' talk come March? :p


Nope! The constant substituting will wear out our player's legs due to having to run back and forth to the scorer's table. :D

And think of all the wear on their knees squatting in front of the scorer's table when they instead could be comfortably seated on the bench with their legs stretched out!!