Charting Duke v. Butler

[pfrduke]

Duke relied on a few key runs to arrive at what turned out to be a 12-point margin: the first two times the Irving-Smith-Dawkins-Singler-Mason lineup played, it outscored Butler 15-4, and in the second half, a key 10-0 stretch took Duke from a 2 point deficit to an 8-point lead that proved too much for Butler to overcome. In that latter stretch, Smith-Dawkins-Singler and Miles were in for all 10 points, and Curry in for Irving for the last 7. The starting lineup struggled (and only showed up twice, at the start of each half), and we went super-small a couple times, but on the whole, we're starting to find the combinations that work the best.

Individuals
Andre Dawkins 72-56 (+16)
Nolan Smith 80-65 (+15)
Kyle Singler 65-51 (+14)
Seth Curry 35-27 (+8)
Miles Plumlee 25-18 (+7)
Mason Plumlee 53-50 (+3)
Kyrie Irving 56-54 (+2)
Tyler Thornton 2-2 (0)
Josh Hairston 2-2 (0)
Casey Peter 0-2 (-2)
Ryan Kelly 20-23 (-3)

Per 40 Minutes
Seth Curry +22.9
Miles Plumlee +21.5
Andre Dawkins +20.0
Kyle Singler +19.3
Nolan Smith +17.1
Mason Plumlee +4.6
Kyrie Irving +2.4
Tyler Thornton 0
Josh Hairston 0
Ryan Kelly -8.6
Casey Peters -80.0

Lineups (Score, times used, margin)
Smith-Curry-Dawkins-Singler-Miles (7-0, x1, +7)
Irving-Smith-Dawkins-Singler-Mason (24-18, x5, +6)
Irving-Smith-Dawkins-Singler-Miles (11-9, x4, +2)
Smith-Curry-Dawkins-Singler-Mason (9-7, x3, +2)
Smith-Curry-Dawkins-Singler-Kelly (2-0, x1, +2)
Thornton-Smith-Curry-Dawkins-Hairston (2-0, x1, +2)
Smith-Curry-Dawkins-Mason-Kelly (1-0, x1, +1)
Irving-Smith-Dawkins-Kelly-Miles (2-2, x1, 0)
Irving-Smith-Singler-Kelly-Miles (0-0, x1, 0)
Irving-Smith-Dawkins-Mason-Kelly (0-0, x1, 0)
Irving-Smith-Curry-Dawkins-Mason (7-8, x2, -1)
Irving-Curry-Dawkins-Singler-Mason (2-3, x1, -1)
Smith-Curry-Dawkins-Kelly-Miles (5-7, x2, -2)
Thornton-Curry-Peters-Dawkins-Hairston (0-2, x1, -2)
Irving-Smith-Singler-Mason-Kelly (10-14, x2, -4)

[Bob Green]

The Charting matches up with the Man-of-the-Match thread voting. Dawkins played a very nice game against Butler.

[RoyalBlue08]

Yes, I'm glad to see Andre come out on top in the +/-, because that was what my eyes told me as well.

[superdave]

It's nice to see Seth in the game while good things are happening for us, even if he's not filling up the score card. I do hope he's able to be used well this year because I think he can push this team to another level by February.

As for Andre, I know he's added a nice pump fake, a couple of hard dribbles and some great D to his game, but confidence is the only thing I can really think of that's drastically different. It's not like he was lacking those aforementioned skills last year, he just didnt seem comfortable asserting himself in those ways. Fun to watch the growth!

[COYS]

It's nice to see Seth in the game while good things are happening for us, even if he's not filling up the score card. I do hope he's able to be used well this year because I think he can push this team to another level by February.

As for Andre, I know he's added a nice pump fake, a couple of hard dribbles and some great D to his game, but confidence is the only thing I can really think of that's drastically different. It's not like he was lacking those aforementioned skills last year, he just didnt seem comfortable asserting himself in those ways. Fun to watch the growth!

I thought this was a particularly important game for Seth. He played very solidly without letting his scoring (or lack thereof) affect his game, negatively. With a few easier contests on the horizon, I think we may get a chance to see Seth start to define his role on the team more clearly.

As for Dawkins, it really has been exciting to watch him develop. His ability to play the three on defense has radically altered the face of our most effective lineups. He is a strong finisher on the break who is equally capable of spotting up for a transition three or taking to the rim with authority. The more defenses are forced to become aware of Dawkins, the more it will open up the court for everyone else.

Also, Kyle and Nolan's numbers consistently show that they are still the heart and soul of the team, although Kyrie is certainly working his way into the inner circle. When either of them is out of the game, the team defense drops off dramatically. And despite the fact that my own eyes tell me that Nolan is still figuring out how to run the half court offense, the fact is, our offense is better when he's in the game, even if Kyrie's out and Nolan's running the point. When Nolan and Kyle start to get it going from three point land, it will take more pressure off of the rest of the team on offense and may make Kyrie and Mason look even better than they already do.