MOTM: Duke vs. Wake Forest (1/22/11)

[Bob Green]

Who was the Man-of-the-Match today?

[loran16]

This has to be unanimous. Ryan Kelly flat out dominated.

[CDu]

This has to be unanimous. Ryan Kelly flat out dominated.

If I were a betting man, I'd say it won't be unanimous. We've seen this sort of story before (role player having a monster game and not getting the unanimous vote). But maybe this will be a first.

That said, I also voted for Kelly of course.

[jv001]

This has to be unanimous. Ryan Kelly flat out dominated.

won't happen.

[camion]

I'm always tempted to vote for Kyle because he brings it for 40 minutes every single game.

Today it's Ryan.

[basket1544]

One of these days I'm going to vote for Kyle or Nolan as appropriate to the situation. But like last game when I had to vote for Miles, this game I have to vote for Ryan. I don't think he was the best player of the game, but this was his best game and for that I am proud of him. Here's to many more MOTMs for Ryan!

[Bob Green]

I voted for Ryan Kelly as he really brought it today, but I was tempted to vote for Tyler Thornton. Thornton played a great game and he has earned minutes with his defensive intensity. He played 22 minutes today and I expect Thornton to continue to play at least 10 minutes a game. Thornton will be a critical player for us, down the stretch, against teams with two fast guards. His defense is money and he is earning playing time!

[CDu]

Didn't take long for the unanimity to go away...

That said, Singler did have 24, 7, 4 assists and only 1 turnover. I certainly don't begrudge any vote for Singler. It was close to 50/50 for me.

[Lord Ash]

Voting Ryan because he really blew up... but could EASILY have voted for Kyle, who scored some big buckets. He really has that step-back down PAT.

[marinbobbyduhon]

One of these days I'm going to vote for Kyle or Nolan as appropriate to the situation. But like last game when I had to vote for Miles, this game I have to vote for Ryan. I don't think he was the best player of the game, but this was his best game and for that I am proud of him. Here's to many more MOTMs for Ryan!

I guess we all interpret MOTM differently. Early in the second half Wake cut the game to 44-40 and Kyle hit our next 9 points to put it back to double digits. Wake never got it below 10 again and we went on to win handily. For that reason alone, I voted Kyle the MOTM. But I thought Ryan was great this game and I echo the sentiment of his having many more MOTM votes, and I fully expect him to win for this game though I believe it to be Kyle.

[loran16]

I guess we all interpret MOTM differently. Early in the second half Wake cut the game to 44-40 and Kyle hit our next 9 points to put it back to double digits. Wake never got it below 10 again and we went on to win handily. For that reason alone, I voted Kyle the MOTM. But I thought Ryan was great this game and I echo the sentiment of his having many more MOTM votes, and I fully expect him to win for this game though I believe it to be Kyle.

Here's our point: Kyle was IN THE GAME when Wake cut the score down.....

In other words, you're counting Kyle's made baskets and ignoring the fact that Kyle missed 10 shots and took 13 more shots to make 4 more points than Ryan.

Ryan was perfect. He did no wrong. He is the man.

@Bob- Agreed, TT played some great D today. I just have issues though voting for a defensive player in a game in which we blew the opponent away and they don't have much of an O anyhow.

[CDu]

Here's our point: Kyle was IN THE GAME when Wake cut the score down.....

In other words, you're counting Kyle's made baskets and ignoring the fact that Kyle missed 10 shots and took 13 more shots to make 4 more points than Ryan.

Ryan was perfect. He did no wrong. He is the man.

@Bob- Agreed, TT played some great D today. I just have issues though voting for a defensive player in a game in which we blew the opponent away and they don't have much of an O anyhow.

In fairness to Singler, his shots were often much more contested than Kelly's. Kelly relied on Singler and Smith to create his shot opportunities for him by drawing defenders.

That's not to disparage Kelly's performance (heck, I voted for him after all). He did still have to make those wide open shots. But I do think that Singler deserves some credit for the degree of difficulty in role. Kelly did (literally) everything he was asked to do. It's just that what he was asked to do was a little easier than what Singler was asked to do.

It's a matter of balancing execution with degree of difficulty. In my opinion, Kelly takes the cake. But I don't discount what Singler did.

[loran16]

In fairness to Singler, his shots were often much more contested than Kelly's. Kelly relied on Singler and Smith to create his shot opportunities for him by drawing defenders.

That's not to disparage Kelly's performance (heck, I voted for him after all). He did still have to make those wide open shots. But I do think that Singler deserves some credit for the degree of difficulty in role. Kelly did (literally) everything he was asked to do. It's just that what he was asked to do was a little easier than what Singler was asked to do.

It's a matter of balancing execution with degree of difficulty. In my opinion, Kelly takes the cake. But I don't discount what Singler did.

Oh agreed. Singler played well (by contrast, voting for Nolan Smith would've been very poor, because while he got 19 points, he did it so inefficiently by shooting in situations where he should have thought otherwise quite often).

I'm just saying that for me, the Man of the Match ought to be the person who played the best in a game (and I admit, i've voted otherwise a few times for other various reasons). And well, Kelly played better than anyone today...he even passed up a few open looks.

[dukepsy1963]

It is becoming more and more difficult to say who was the MOTM. In each game there is always someone who goes far beyond what they normally are "expected" to do. This was the case with Kelly today. He has improved this year as much as anyone else on the team (I think more in many respects) and he gets better with each game.
Today, although Kyle was once again a "man of the hour/game," here comes Kelly with a "career" game. Seems everyone is having one....and that is great! But.. in order to give the MOTM his due, you have to put aside the fact that Kyle and Nolan are "men of the match" every night!

Maybe we need to put Nolan and Kyle aside and vote on the rest!

Another matter, if all our guys happened to have a 'MOTM" on the same day, I think we might score over 200 points! Wouldn't that be great!

[4decadedukie]

Ryan Kelly did it all, did it especially well, did it with exceptional efficiency, and was a key offensive and defensive catalyst; it would be very difficult to fault his performance in any way, even in the most minor manner.

[superdave]

In fairness to Singler, his shots were often much more contested than Kelly's. Kelly relied on Singler and Smith to create his shot opportunities for him by drawing defenders.

That's not to disparage Kelly's performance (heck, I voted for him after all). He did still have to make those wide open shots. But I do think that Singler deserves some credit for the degree of difficulty in role. Kelly did (literally) everything he was asked to do. It's just that what he was asked to do was a little easier than what Singler was asked to do.

It's a matter of balancing execution with degree of difficulty. In my opinion, Kelly takes the cake. But I don't discount what Singler did.

I voted for Kyle because every time we started to swoon, he got us a tough, contested bucket. Also, all of Ryan's scoring opportunities were because someone else made a play. I actually thought Ryan played better defensively than offensively. Ryan shot well, but Kyle dragged us through Wake's best minutes.

[Cameron]

I settled on Ryan today. And by settled I mean Ryan scored 20 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the floor, including four straight three-pointers, and played outstanding defense in apprehending six rebounds and two steals. This was a choice presenting no difficulty.

If it wasn't apparent already, then this game solidified Ryan's wherewithal to step in and take over as Duke's next great versatile swingman once Kyle graduates. Danny. Christian. Grant. Shane. Mike. Kyle. Ryan. He obviously has areas to improve to become as strong an adversary as the rest of the guys on this list, namely in continuing to get stronger and more comfortable fraying with opposing bigs when stepping into the post (even though his facility for moves in the paint is fundamentally very sound), but Ryan is as polished as they come. He understands where to be, when to be there and sees the court exceptionally well, determining precisely when to shoot and when to pass in situations where a teammate has a more efficient opportunity to score.

The only fault I had tonight with Ryan's game was the one or two occasions where he was openly unselfish and deferred on an open three, even though, admittedly, he probably dished off to someone with a closer look. Superb effort.

[wsb3]

I voted for Ryan Kelly as he really brought it today, but I was tempted to vote for Tyler Thornton. Thornton played a great game and he has earned minutes with his defensive intensity. He played 22 minutes today and I expect Thornton to continue to play at least 10 minutes a game. Thornton will be a critical player for us, down the stretch, against teams with two fast guards. His defense is money and he is earning playing time!

Agreed Bob.

I recall back in the summer (Duke Basketball being a year round sport) the concerns about replacing Brian & Lance. The Plumlees were chatted about with the most frequency but I remember reading an article about Ryan and the work he was doing to make sure he was major part of things. Nice to see the work and determination has paid off for him.

I think Tyler was huge. He just seems so unselfish, such a good teammate, that will check his ego at the door and do whatever he can to help the team win.

[NSDukeFan]

Here's our point: Kyle was IN THE GAME when Wake cut the score down.....

In other words, you're counting Kyle's made baskets and ignoring the fact that Kyle missed 10 shots and took 13 more shots to make 4 more points than Ryan.

Ryan was perfect. He did no wrong. He is the man.

@Bob- Agreed, TT played some great D today. I just have issues though voting for a defensive player in a game in which we blew the opponent away and they don't have much of an O anyhow.


In fairness to Singler, his shots were often much more contested than Kelly's. Kelly relied on Singler and Smith to create his shot opportunities for him by drawing defenders.

That's not to disparage Kelly's performance (heck, I voted for him after all). He did still have to make those wide open shots. But I do think that Singler deserves some credit for the degree of difficulty in role. Kelly did (literally) everything he was asked to do. It's just that what he was asked to do was a little easier than what Singler was asked to do.

It's a matter of balancing execution with degree of difficulty. In my opinion, Kelly takes the cake. But I don't discount what Singler did.


I voted for Kyle because every time we started to swoon, he got us a tough, contested bucket. Also, all of Ryan's scoring opportunities were because someone else made a play. I actually thought Ryan played better defensively than offensively. Ryan shot well, but Kyle dragged us through Wake's best minutes.
I voted for Ryan, but Superdave's rationale I think is the best for why it is very reasonable to vote for Kyle. When the team struggled offensively and needed someone to step up and create a shot, it was Kyle (as per usual, along with Nolan) who stepped up to make the big plays. I don't disagree with either of loran16 or CDu's points, just thought Superdave's were the closest to how I feel about Kyle's impact.

...

The only fault I had tonight with Ryan's game was the one or two occasions where he was openly unselfish and deferred on an open three, even though, admittedly, he probably dished off to someone with a closer look. Superb effort.

I don't fault Ryan here at all. I don't think it is a problem if you don't take every open three you get, even if you haven't missed in a week. I thought he took the most wide open ones and used a pump fake to see if he could maybe get by his man to get an easier shot or just keep the offense going when he wasn't open. I thought he displayed great decision making on the offensive end. Funny, two games ago, I saw some posts discussing how Ryan should be planted in the post and not take outside shots. After a couple of perfect shooting games (where he has looked very good shooting with confidence) those voices seem to have quieted.

Has Tyler been called the Bulldog yet? That is what I think of when I see him picking up his man and just relentlessly harassing them. Great to see him working hard and earning minutes. I think it is ok for Duke to take a guy who isn't thought of as a top tier recruit if the coaching staff sees potential in him. ;)

[bluepenguin]

Did I see on Jim Sumner's Player of the Game poll that someone actually voted for Nolan? I don't see that at all.
This is why it will never be unanimous.