MBB: Duke 84, BC 68 Post-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Put your post-game thoughts here.

[OldPhiKap]

Nolan, Seth, Ryan. GG.

[CLW]

Starters played well. Curry and Kelly really shot the ball well.

Mason hit the glass pretty well but his free throw shooting could be a big weakness in a tighter contest.

[jv001]

on Seth to have a big game and did he deliver tonight. Nolan and Ryan also played very well. Go Duke!

[Dukeface88]

Pretty sure this is the best shooting night we've had in a while. Gave up a lot of open shots on the other end, but I'm not sure if that's because of our D or BC's O.

Also, if I was an opposing coach I'd have my walk-ons foul Mason for 10 or 15 straight possessions as soon as we got in the bonus. They're basically turnovers.

[Bob Green]

Our starters really played a great game with balanced scoring:

Smith - 28
Curry - 20
Singler - 14
Kelly - 14
Mason -8

But zero points off the bench is less than optimal.

[taiw93]

The ball movement tonight was excellent, and we really did look like a Final Four team. However, it is worth noting that this is the same BC team that has lost to Harvard and Yale this year.

[Saratoga2]

The offense was pretty cold to start with Ryan keeping Duke whole. After that, we got huge contributions from Seth and Nolan with Plumlee chipping in. Kyle and Nolan combined for more than 40 again. So good to have senior leadership.

I am a little disappointed that such a good talent as Andre has seeminly has gone into a funk. Maybe he is the kind of kid that needs to have his confidence reinforced. He has great shooting form and we know we will need him.

The thing that is a little disconcerting is that our defense was giving up some easy points. BC is a pretty good offensive team but Duke needs to tighten up to be in it at the end.

Like to hear from someone who was at the game and their thoughts from first hand close up observation.

[jv001]

Our starters really played a great game with balanced scoring:

Smith - 28
Curry - 20
Singler - 14
Kelly - 14
Mason -8

But zero points off the bench is less than optimal.

Our best bet for bench points is Andre, but he's really struggling right now. His defense has been bad. Body language was better tonight, but still not as much emotion as the other guys. Sure hope he get's it going. Go Duke!

[riverside6]

Final Stats for the game here...

http://www.scacchoops.com/ViewHDGame.asp?hSchedule=7032

Impressive scoring balance tonight. Great to see Seth Curry finally breakout offensively in a game. According to Airowe, Curry was the 7th Blue Devil with a 20+ pt game this season.

[DukieTiger]

With apologies to Seth, Ryan and Nolan- a couple things that stood out to me:

1) Duke attempted 19 fts; BC only 9

2) Duke forced 13 turnovers off 10 steals

3) Duke had 20 points in transition (I believe that's correct, according to the end of game graphics)

Glad to see our guys come out and play with confidence and an aggressive mindset in this game. Got some run outs for the first time in a while, seemingly. Played the passing lanes well and forced them into a lot of tough shots- especially in the first 35 minutes.

[SCMatt33]

That was quite an interesting game. First, I'm really glad to see a good team shooting game at home as it had been a while. I thought our half court offense was pretty stagnant in the first 10 minutes, but it started to turn around in the middle of that long scoring slump. We didn't finish the plays, but we tried to get it inside both on the drive and the pass, and I think it really helped.

Defensively, that had to be the weirdest game I've seen in a while. Aside from a few ill advised three point attempts by BC, it was really boom or bust, with Duke either getting a block/turnover or BC getting a layup/open three point shot. I didn't mind the emphasis on trying to keep them inside the arc and giving up layups, except that it didn't work exactly. After some early jitters, missing their first four three pointers, BC went 7 for 16 the rest of the way (at least according to ESPN's box score). It's also not like they were just draining a bunch of contested shots either (although one or two were), they got some really good looks and nailed them. I also find it interesting that BC only took 9 free throws, but 7 of them were only one shot (5 and one's, 2 missed one-and-ones).

Outside of the 3 point defense though, I thought we did a really good job. Guys got some high percentage looks which opened up the threes, and we did a great job converting on fast break opportunities. On to New York.

[wsb3]

Our starters really played a great game with balanced scoring:

Smith - 28
Curry - 20
Singler - 14
Kelly - 14
Mason -8

But zero points off the bench is less than optimal.

I did not realize zero points off the bench. And I was feeling really good Bob.
I thought we were much better with team defense in the second half. It seemed the adjustments made at half time were right on the money.

[BD80]

Our starters really played a great game with balanced scoring:

Smith - 28
Curry - 20
Singler - 14
Kelly - 14
Mason -8

But zero points off the bench is less than optimal.

Playing players other than the starters is a key ingredient to bench scoring

[jv001]

1. BC hurt us early with back door layups. Good scouting by Donahue.
2. Mason has been a beast on the boards. Just wish he would hit his FTs.
3. Miles is playing well and is doing his part. Hope he hits that jump hook.
4. Seth played well offensively and defensively. Really moved his feet on d.
5. Nolan forced some shots early but really got it going.
6. Kyle his usual tough self.
7. Thought for a while that Ryan was not going to miss again this year.
8. Andre in a funk. Needs to come out of it soon.
9. Good to know that Tyler is not going to hurt us when he comes in. Very stable player.
10. We've got the greatest coach ever and Go Duke!

[basket1544]

Playing players other than the starters is a key ingredient to bench scoring

Between Miles, Andre and Josh they only took 4 shots. I don't think any one of the four played enough to get in the flow of the game and score.

[lotusland]

The internet audio was left on between the game and the wrap up. Gminski said "Just two white guys in a box" and after they both laughed Brando said something like "this is why Billy left" and hearing Packer mentioned Gminski said "Mr. Happy."

I think the comment about two white guys in a box and why Billy left may have had something to do with the heat up there b/c when they came back on for the wrap up they both looked like Gary Williams in a sauna wearing a suit.

[Reilly]

no bench points ... damn that Olek Czyz for transferring ....

[Bob Green]

Playing players other than the starters is a key ingredient to bench scoring

I'm not sure what point you are trying to make. The bench played 36 minutes:

Miles - 14 mins
Dawkins - 10 mins
Thornton - 9 mins
Hairston - 3 mins

Seth Curry scored 20 points in 33 minutes so I would expect the bench to score some points in 36 minutes.

[jv001]

I'm not sure what point you are trying to make. The bench played 36 minutes:

Miles - 14 mins
Dawkins - 10 mins
Thornton - 9 mins
Hairston - 3 mins

Seth Curry scored 20 points in 33 minutes so I would expect the bench to score some points in 36 minutes.

About what I would expect based on the play by the guys off the bench. Maybe a few more for Miles and Thornton would be ok. But Andre is a liability on defense right now and Coach K plays his best defenders. Go Duke!

[jipops]

Miles is going to have box scores like this but he does continue to be a threat. He had one offensive move tonight which bewildered me. He posted and spun toward the baseline with a clear line to the basket, then inexplicably turned back towards the middle to attempt a far more difficult fade-away baby hook. I just didn't understand that move at all. He gave up two points with that move, possibly more.

This was Mason's 5th straight game with double digit rebounds. I believe he has carved out a role on this team.

I'm happy with the win but I gotta say the defense in the last 10 minutes was dreadful. I think the only possessions BC didn't score were where they missed the front ends of 1and1's. That helped keep this a double digit win - that and Nolan just scoring when he wanted to during that stretch.

Kelly has become a nice option for us.

Andre is clearly struggling right now, not much different than how Curry was struggling just a couple weeks ago. He'll be ok, we are certainly going to need him. Brutal two game stretch coming up.

[jv001]

Miles is going to have box scores like this but he does continue to be a threat. He had one offensive move tonight which bewildered me. He posted and spun toward the baseline with a clear line to the basket, then inexplicably turned back towards the middle to attempt a far more difficult fade-away baby hook. I just didn't understand that move at all. He gave up two points with that move, possibly more.

This was Mason's 5th straight game with double digit rebounds. I believe he has carved out a role on this team.

I'm happy with the win but I gotta say the defense in the last 10 minutes was dreadful. I think the only possessions BC didn't score were where they missed the front ends of 1and1's. That helped keep this a double digit win - that and Nolan just scoring when he wanted to during that stretch.

Kelly has become a nice option for us.

Andre is clearly struggling right now, not much different than how Curry was struggling just a couple weeks ago. He'll be ok, we are certainly going to need him. Brutal two game stretch coming up.

I agree with most everything you said, but Seth played pretty good defense while in his shooting slump. Andre is not. Go Duke!

[lotusland]

About what I would expect based on the play by the guys off the bench. Maybe a few more for Miles and Thornton would be ok. But Andre is a liability on defense right now and Coach K plays his best defenders. Go Duke!

Andre had a nice block from behind. I didn't notice any poor defense on his part but I could have missed it. I think Seth was just playing too good to take out tonight and Andre's shot is not falling right now. I'd like to see Andre get about 5 minutes game at the 3 but Kyle is playing too good to sit long and Ryan is earning his minutes at the 4. With Kyle gone next year Andre may be our best option at 3 if he improves as much this summer as last.

[jipops]

Two great, great plays in this game.

1. Seth outruns the BC guy, dives on the floor and bounce passes the ball right to Kelly.
2. Nolan with that behind the back cross-over drive and dish.

[jipops]

I agree with most everything you said, but Seth played pretty good defense while in his shooting slump. Andre is not. Go Duke!

Seth played good on the ball defense but on the weak-side he would make a lot of mistakes in the past - losing his guy, failing to rotate for help. I think he has gotten better in this area. He was great in the 2nd half taking away the back door. I think Andre has lost a bit of intensity. He'll get it back.

[superdave]

Andre had a nice block from behind. I didn't notice any poor defense on his part but I could have missed it. I think Seth was just playing too good to take out tonight and Andre's shot is not falling right now. I'd like to see Andre get about 5 minutes game at the 3 but Kyle is playing too good to sit long and Ryan is earning his minutes at the 4. With Kyle gone next year Andre may be our best option at 3 if he improves as much this summer as last.

When a guy is not getting good looks it's usually the pg's job to fix that. But we dont have a true pg so it's going to come down to us either running plays for Andre (or Seth actually) or him working his butt off to find the open spot on the floor.

I did think the up and down pace favored Seth tonight over Andre because he can relieve Nolan of some ball handling duties and pressure the ball on the other end. Matchups I suppose.

[jv001]

Andre had a nice block from behind. I didn't notice any poor defense on his part but I could have missed it. I think Seth was just playing too good to take out tonight and Andre's shot is not falling right now. I'd like to see Andre get about 5 minutes game at the 3 but Kyle is playing too good to sit long and Ryan is earning his minutes at the 4. With Kyle gone next year Andre may be our best option at 3 if he improves as much this summer as last.

We all know that Coach K cuts minutes from the guys that are not playing good defense. He seldom sits anyone just because his shot's not falling. Matter of fact he tells the player to keep shooting. Just look at Kyle and Nolan. They keep putting it up because they believe the next one is going in. Andre has seen his minutes decrease because of his defense and his handle being weak. These two areas can be corrected with hard work in practice. Andre has the talent to be very very good. Go Duke!

[weezie]

Two great, great plays in this game.

1. Seth outruns the BC guy, dives on the floor and bounce passes the ball right to Kelly.
2. Nolan with that behind the back cross-over drive and dish.

And one good sigh of relief when Mason made the consecutive free throws. Great to see him relax.

[BigZ]

I don't believe Andre is really struggeling it is just that Curry is playing really well. When Curry is scoring Dre will get less minutes and when Dre is scoring Curry will get less minutes. The two are almost interchangeable players so when is hot the other will get less PT.

[devildeac]

Cheer of the night:

As a BC player was tying his shoe lace between 2 FT, the Crazies chanted: "double knot, double knot, double knot."
:D

[BD80]

I'm not sure what point you are trying to make. The bench played 36 minutes:

Miles - 14 mins
Dawkins - 10 mins
Thornton - 9 mins
Hairston - 3 mins

Seth Curry scored 20 points in 33 minutes so I would expect the bench to score some points in 36 minutes.


My main point is that we shouldn't worry about bench points when the starters average 33 min and 16.8 points. We also shouldn't get on any of the subs for not scoring, its not really their roles - except perhaps Andre - who is slumping right now.

This team has plenty of balance - we now have six or seven players who have scored more than 20 in a game this season?

[ElSid]

Two great, great plays in this game.

1. Seth outruns the BC guy, dives on the floor and bounce passes the ball right to Kelly.
2. Nolan with that behind the back cross-over drive and dish.

I'd venture to add the slightly more ordinary 3/4 court outlet pass from Mason to Seth for 25 foot three pointer. That kind of play highlights how we can have 11 points at the 10 minute mark of the 1st half and finish with 84.

Love to see Mason continuing to develop into a role that suits the team. That was a smart pass from him. Seemed like he looked for it, like he and Seth had talked about it beforehand.

[OldPhiKap]

Two great, great plays in this game.

1. Seth outruns the BC guy, dives on the floor and bounce passes the ball right to Kelly.
2. Nolan with that behind the back cross-over drive and dish.

3. Kyle driving the length of the court, beating the defender on his hip, and going coast to coast.

It's so easy to overlook how much Kyle contributes on both ends of the floor. Selflessly. As odd as this sounds, he is one of the most underappreciated fantastic players we have ever had.

And, in my book, player of the NCAA final constitutes a "national recognition" for jersey retirement. But we can take that up in April. G-Man is with me.

[stillcrazie]

Just saw Nolan's behind the back dribble and dish to Mason for the dunk on ESPN as #4 in their top plays of the day.

[flyingdutchdevil]

It's so easy to overlook how much Kyle contributes on both ends of the floor. Selflessly. As odd as this sounds, he is one of the most underappreciated fantastic players we have ever had.

I disagree. Kyle has received a significant amount of love on both DBR and the mainstream media. After all, he was the pre-season NPOY this year (This is all warranted, of course!). IMO, and I've beaten a dead horse with this, Nolan is the most underappreciated Dukie in the last few years. He is finally getting the praise he deserves on the national level because there is no way to not appreciate what he brings to the table (and because there are only 2-3 players playing on a higher level right now).

You're right in that Kyle one of the most fantastic players we've ever had. His praise is completely warranted. But I disagree that he is underappreciated. That "honour" goes to Nolan.

[dukeimac]

Well Kelly came back to earth:

1st half 5-5 FG, 1-1 3P
2nd half 1-4 FG, 1-3 3P

The good thing was, I believe he went 0-2, 0-2 in the 2nd half and then went 1-2, 1-1.

Now we see how he bounces back, that is the most important part of this. He has to continue with the confidence and feel the stroke. Otherwise, we might not see Kelly the rest of the season, hope will see him again.

Same goes for Miles. He needs to understand his playing time, or lack there of, is because of opposing teams lack of size. Duke was best served, against BC, to go with Kelly who posses a match up problem (can block shots) and with Mason being a man among boys of the boards, Miles time will be limited. He just needs to understand there will be games they need him and he has to contribute. But this is a work in progress and I believe he will be ready come tourney time.

As a coach, and having read Coach K's books, I believe he is being very selective in picking Miles time because he is conditioning Miles to come off the bench. They will need him to come off the bench and be productive in the tourney so they need to prepare him for that now.

In Coach K I trust ...

[Bob Green]

My main point is that we shouldn't worry about bench points when the starters average 33 min and 16.8 points. We also shouldn't get on any of the subs for not scoring, its not really their roles - except perhaps Andre - who is slumping right now.

This team has plenty of balance - we now have six or seven players who have scored more than 20 in a game this season?

Thanks for the explanation. I don't desire to make a big deal out of zero bench points during a game where we won by double digits, but it would make me more comfortable if Dawkins and Miles had scored. Dawkins is a player who is capable of dropping 20 and it is disconcerting to see a goose egg next to his name in the box score.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Thanks for the explanation. I don't desire to make a big deal out of zero bench points during a game where we won by double digits, but it would make me more comfortable if Dawkins and Miles had scored. Dawkins is a player who is capable of dropping 20 and it is disconcerting to see a goose egg next to his name in the box score.

Hey Bob,

Definitely see your concern. It's a little shocking when you see that the starts scored 100% of the points. Usually, I would have been a little concerned. However, the fact that 4 of the 5 players were in double-digits (and if Mason hits 67% of his free-throws, we would have had 5 players in double-digits) helps to reassure me that this team has the potential to be on the most balanced-scoring Duke teams in a long time. Nolan and Singler are obviously taking the bulk of the scoring right now, but the potential for any player to bust out and score 20 points in a game is incredibly unique to college ball.

The more this team players sans-Irving, the more I fall in love with it (although Nolan's ridiculous play as of late has a lot to do with that).

[swood1000]

I noticed for the first time Seth chewing on his mouth guard the same way that his brother used to when he played for Davidson. Maybe he's been doing this all along, but I hope he's developing the confidence to play consistently at Stephen's level.

[MChambers]

Miles is going to have box scores like this but he does continue to be a threat. He had one offensive move tonight which bewildered me. He posted and spun toward the baseline with a clear line to the basket, then inexplicably turned back towards the middle to attempt a far more difficult fade-away baby hook. I just didn't understand that move at all. He gave up two points with that move, possibly more.

I saw it the same way. Someone in the in-game thread liked the move, but it struck me that he had a path to the basket if he used his left hand for the layup, and might have drawn a foul. I wish Miles was more comfortable initiating, or at least accepting, contact on this post moves. He seems to spend way too much effort avoiding contact on his shots. As strong and athletic as he is, he should accept the contact and draw some fouls.

[MChambers]

I'd venture to add the slightly more ordinary 3/4 court outlet pass from Mason to Seth for 25 foot three pointer. That kind of play highlights how we can have 11 points at the 10 minute mark of the 1st half and finish with 84.

Love to see Mason continuing to develop into a role that suits the team. That was a smart pass from him. Seemed like he looked for it, like he and Seth had talked about it beforehand.
How often do you see an outlet pass for a three-pointer without a dribble? That pass was my favorite play of the game. Not that the other highlights weren't wonderful.

[4decadedukie]

A) As indicated by other participants, our defense was frequently superb; however, we permitted several lane-driving layups that were almost embarrassing.
B) Mason performed very well in several areas, but he needs to focus and to improve his free-throw shooting; last night this was not critical, but as the season progresses, we all know there will be games where a few points will determine the outcome.
C) Ryan has come so far, so rapidly, and I am increasingly impressed with his performance and his long- and near-term potential.
D) Nolan is the "happy warrior" and should be a legitimate NPOY candidate.

[BD80]

3. Kyle driving the length of the court, beating the defender on his hip, and going coast to coast. ...

AND USING HIS LEFT HAND TO FINISH!!!! Nolan's skill set is amazing and continues to improve. I swear Nolan was channeling Kyrie with a few of those second half drives!

[wilson]

Another very encouraging performance all around. I echo the sentiments of Bob Green, et. al., who have pointed out that we've gotta have more than zero points off the bench.
I was quite pleased with Seth's breakout, and I thought this was Nolan's best, most surgical performance from start to finish in a while (which is saying a lot). Kyle was a little off, and we're approaching the point of the season where we'll need him to start shooting at a higher percentage, but as we've all said over and over, I'm still not worried about him.
Lastly, Ryan Kelly has just about turned the corner from "he's had a solid series of games" to "he's a key player on our team, and integral to our further development this season." Would it be unreasonable to call him the third option on offense until further notice? And, at the season's beginning, did anyone foresee that being the case on the eve of February?

One nit to pick with the announcers: Why did they repeatedly insist on referring to Seth's 20 points as a career-high? He averaged 20 points (actually slightly more) two seasons ago! I recognize that that came in a different uniform, but the distinction between a career high and a Duke career high is not a difficult one to make!

[CDu]

In the first half, I was very frustrated by our start. We seemed out of sync, and missed an opportunity to put BC in the rear-view mirror early. Thankfully, the shots began to fall and we pulled away to another comfortable win.

It was a strange game, where all of the starters had solid (or better) scoring nights but we got literally nothing offensively from the bench. Coach K really rode the starters in this one, accordingly.

Great game for Curry. I'm not sure why the broadcast team kept saying that his 20 points was his career high, considering that he averaged 20.2 ppg as a freshman. It was his season high and his Duke career high (which will be equivalent terms through this year). But in any case, that was a terrific shooting performance by him. Now, obviously he's not going to shoot 6-9 from the field and 5-7 on threes. But hopefully he can be closer to this level than he had been in the past several games.

Smith was obviously terrific as well. 28 points (1.4 pps), 8 assists, only 1 turnover. He puts up such big numbers that it's easy to forget how much pressure is on him to run the offense and score prolifically. That just shows how much well he played. He had a bit of an up-and-down start, but his last 30 minutes were absolutely fantastic.

Kelly once again poured in the points when given the opportunity. He's turning into quite the catch-and-shoot threat. If he can remain a double-digit scoring threat, that's a big boost to the offense. He could do a little more on the boards, but he did have 4 blocks which may partially explain the lower rebound numbers.

Singler had a tough shooting night, but he gave his usual great effort. And 14 and 6 isn't bad by any means.

Mason got yet another double-digit rebound game. His free throw shooting has been atrocious, and that is a concern moving forward. But he's settling in very well defensively and becoming very agressive on the boards. He's also making better decisions with the ball - not forcing shots when they weren't there. I'd love to see him develop as a scorer, but right now if he can just be an effective finisher when the opportunity arises, that'll still be very good.

Not a great night for Dawkins and Miles, and their minutes reflected this (along with the fact that Curry and Kelly had big nights). Thornton had a quiet evening, though he was on the floor when Curry caught fire so his +/- will probably look really good. Hairston didn't really play enough to have a noticeable impact either way.

The defense was a bit feast or famine, which is probably partly due to BC's offense. BC is a very efficient offensive team, so it's not shocking that they'd score somewhat well when they got shots off. We did force a lot of turnovers and blocked some shots.

It was nice to see the ball fall through the net a bunch. We had been shooting pretty poorly in recent weeks, so this was refreshing. Granted, BC is one of the worst defensive teams among the BCS conferences, so I'm not sure how much to take from this. But at the very least, it's nice to see shots go in for a change. Hopefully it is a confidence builder.

[gus]

1. BC hurt us early with back door layups. Good scouting by Donahue.

I don't mean to pick on you here, but I wouldn't call this "good scouting". Duke's susceptibility to the back door cut is common knowledge and has existed for as long as I can remember (I started watching Duke in the Hurley era), and is a trade off from the strategy of aggressively attacking passing lanes. Some teams are able to exploit it better than others.

[OldPhiKap]

I don't mean to pick on you here, but I wouldn't call this "good scouting". Duke's susceptibility to the back door cut is common knowledge and has existed for as long as I can remember (I started watching Duke in the Hurley era), and is a trade off from the strategy of aggressively attacking passing lanes. Some teams are able to exploit it better than others.

There's that (which is certainly true), but it is also coupled with the fact that BC pulls its center out towards the perimeter and thus draws our center/pf out of the lane. BC's new offense really spreads the floor nicely, I thought.

[PADukeMom]

Had to watch the game online...hate it but another great win at Cameron. Nolan was soild as always. Great game for Seth. Didn't see Miles at all???? When/why is Nolan wearimg a brace on his leg?

[tbyers11]

Overall a pretty good performance. Offense seemed quite out of sync the first 10 minutes or so but thankfully (in large part to our defense) BC's offense was quite out of sync as well. On defense, it did seem we were a bit schizophrenic in that we either forced a steal, blocked a shot or gave up a fairly uncontested layup or three attempt. I think part of this was game plan in that we really wanted to limit 3 point attempts and overplayed the perimeter a bit. Part of it was also that BC is a very good passing team. As a whole, I think the defense was pretty good. We forced BC into more turnovers than usual and we held them (according to Ken Pom) to their 4th lowest offensive efficiency of the season.

As for the lack of bench scoring, I am not too worried in general because what if Andre had started and Seth had this game off the bench. There are only so many non-Nolan/Kyle shots to go around. Ryan and Seth did very well with them in this game. Mason even got 8. As long as 2 non-Nolan/Kyle step up each game it doesn't matter to me who it is.

However, I am a bit worried about Andre in that if he doesn't have a hot offensive start his defense and shot selection (or hunting his shot) seems to suffer. Both Andre and Seth normally seem to need significant minutes to become efficient offensively. With Nolan and Kyle playing 38-40 minutes/gm and Miles/Ryan/Mason occupying 65-70 of the 80 minutes at the "4" and "5", that leaves at most 50 minutes left. Tyler, rightfully so for defensive reasons, has been taking about 10/gm. That leaves about 40 minutes for Seth and Andre combined. It seems like in most games against solid competition, one of the two has played quite well while the other has not played very well. Generally, Andre was playing well earlier in the season while Seth was not. Recently, Seth has been playing much better and Andre seems to be in a slump.

Best case scenario is that both players are effective in 20-25 minutes/gm. That is not always possible but it seems to me that whichever player has an off night has a drastically bad off night. If we can get consistently average performances from both of these guys on their "off" nights, we will be a much more consistent team.

[Lid]

Although Miles didn't score, he was a steal-machine for a few straight possessions in the second half. Loved to see that.

Was I the only one cringing when the band started to play the goodbye song with >3 minutes left? On the anniversary of the Gone in :54 game, no less? Yikes, talk about tempting fate.

[moonpie23]

i think K put a stop to it.....seemed like it only went two measures, then faded quickly...

[HCheek37]

Anyone else have a momentary freakout when Kyle had a BC player fall into the back of his leg causing him to go down? That is the type of injury that tears an ACL or causes some knee damage. Luckily for kyle his leg was stationary and not headed in a different direction. That could have been our season right there.

All in all, great performance for the last 28 minutes and another win in the ACC behind us. Good luck to Dave Bradley in putting together a top 5 from last night...lots of highlight plays:

Seth steal and pass to Kelly from the floor
Nolan steal and dunk
Nolan behind the back dribble and dish
Plumlee alley-oop late
Seth's barrage of 3s
Kelly's blocks
Kyle outrunning BC and flushing it down

[PADukeMom]

Weird...I didn't see miles at all last night. How did I miss a 6'10" guy??? SMH!

One thing I didn't like though was when I say a young lady holding a sign that said "Have A Safe Trip". If it was just a "SEE YA BUH-BYE" kind of thing than okay but if it was in anyway a reference to the UNC plane scare...so in bad taste. I would never wish anything like that on anyone.

Is it just me?

[PADukeMom]

Anyone else have a momentary freakout when Kyle had a BC player fall into the back of his leg causing him to go down? That is the type of injury that tears an ACL or causes some knee damage. Luckily for kyle his leg was stationary and not headed in a different direction. That could have been our season right there.



I freak out anytime one of our guys takes a hard hit. Loved Kyrie's "OPTOEMISTIC" on his cast. 1 week...a very long week!

[Olympic Fan]

This team has plenty of balance - we now have six or seven players who have scored more than 20 in a game this season?

Seven:

Nolan (season high 33 vs. UAB)
Kyrie (season high 31 vs. Michigan State)
Kyle (season high 30 vs. Oregon)
Andre (season high 28 vs. Bradley)
Mason (season high 25 vs. Marquette)
Ryan (season high 20 vs. Wake Forest)
Seth (season high 20 vs. Boston College)

Miles hit 19 against Wake Forest last season, but his high this year is 14 (against Bradley). Josh hit 12 against St. Louis. Not sure that Miles will ever get to 20, but I'd be willing to bet good money that Josh does at some point in his career -- probably next season. Tyler could do it at some point in his career, but it's not going to happen this year.

I was just wondering if this has ever happened before -- seven 20-point scorers in one season? The '99 team had seven guys who eventually scored 20-plus, but only five of them did it that season.

[Matches]

I was just wondering if this has ever happened before -- seven 20-point scorers in one season? The '99 team had seven guys who eventually scored 20-plus, but only five of them did it that season.

During the '07-'08 season, we had seven players top 20 pts in a game:

Singler
Scheyer
Henderson
Paulus
Nolan
Nelson
King

[-bdbd]

Weird...I didn't see miles at all last night. How did I miss a 6'10" guy??? SMH!

One thing I didn't like though was when I say a young lady holding a sign that said "Have A Safe Trip". If it was just a "SEE YA BUH-BYE" kind of thing than okay but if it was in anyway a reference to the UNC plane scare...so in bad taste. I would never wish anything like that on anyone.

Is it just me?

I took the "safe trip" as a reference to the UNC plane squeamishness. And I thought it was pretty funny. I hope the Crazies have some plane references ready for the 'heels in a couple weeks... Chants of "Have a nice flight!" Or a sign about "Air Turbulence Ahead!"

:rolleyes:

[CDu]

Weird...I didn't see miles at all last night. How did I miss a 6'10" guy??? SMH!

One thing I didn't like though was when I say a young lady holding a sign that said "Have A Safe Trip". If it was just a "SEE YA BUH-BYE" kind of thing than okay but if it was in anyway a reference to the UNC plane scare...so in bad taste. I would never wish anything like that on anyone.

Is it just me?

I thought the sign said "Fly home safely," which is a derivation of the commonly-used "drive home safely" in the final minutes of a Duke win with the knowledge that BC is most certainly not driving home.

It could either be a reference to the UNC plane incident (which would be slightly poor taste) or it could be a reference to the fact that the Northeast is getting killed with snow right now.

[PADukeMom]

I thought the sign said "Fly home safely," which is a derivation of the commonly-used "drive home safely" in the final minutes of a Duke win with the knowledge that BC is most certainly not driving home.

It could either be a reference to the UNC plane incident (which would be slightly poor taste) or it could be a reference to the fact that the Northeast is getting killed with snow right now.

Okay as a Mom & sports fan...no...I just think of Marshall & cringe. We are DUKE fans & can do better.

Don't remdin me of this white crap that is outside. I am looking at 2 feet of it & looks like more is on the way.

[Monmouth77]

Did anyone notice Coach K's defensive chess move in the last minute of the first half when BC called timeout to set up a shot?

With about 44 seconds left in the half, and the score 39-32 Duke, Donohue called timeout and took what seemed like an eon setting up a play that could have cut the margin to 4 going into the half. There was a clock management issue, and he had a ton of time in addition to the timeout to diagram a play. During the dead time the camera panned to all the BC players nodding and listening and looking at the white board. And then.....

....the buzzer sounded and Duke took the floor in a 2-3 zone and BC's entire plan which was apparently premised on attacking the man to man (and presumably involved some kind of backdoor cut) fell apart and they rushed a 3 point shot from deep that clanged off the rim and gave Duke the ball with plenty of time to execute their offense. Kelly hit a jumper and all of the sudden we are up 9 instead of maybe 4 going into the half. I thought that was a great moment in the game.

[OldPhiKap]

Did anyone notice Coach K's defensive chess move in the last minute of the first half when BC called timeout to set up a shot?

With about 44 seconds left in the half, and the score 39-32 Duke, Donohue called timeout and took what seemed like an eon setting up a play that could have cut the margin to 4 going into the half. There was a clock management issue, and he had a ton of time in addition to the timeout to diagram a play. During the dead time the camera panned to all the BC players nodding and listening and looking at the white board. And then.....

....the buzzer sounded and Duke took the floor in a 2-3 zone and BC's entire plan which was apparently premised on attacking the man to man (and presumably involved some kind of backdoor cut) fell apart and they rushed a 3 point shot from deep that clanged off the rim and gave Duke the ball with plenty of time to execute their offense. Kelly hit a jumper and all of the sudden we are up 9 instead of maybe 4 going into the half. I thought that was a great moment in the game.

Very good observation. You know that Donohue didn't draw up a 23 footer out of rhythm with no one under the basket.

[MChambers]

Very good observation. You know that Donohue didn't draw up a 23 footer out of rhythm with no one under the basket.
I burst out laughing when I realized Duke was in a zone, because it was obvious that BC wasn't expecting it. I think K used this last year in the World Championships at the end of one of the games. It's a nice trick.

[camion]

Why is the Duke zone like the Spanish Inquisition? :confused:

[BD80]

Why is the Duke zone like the Spanish Inquisition? :confused:

Soft cushions?

The comfy chair?

jk

Everyone knows the three main weapons are: fear, ruthless efficiency, a fanatical devotion to Coach K, nice blue uniforms and surprise!

[dukee94]

Why is the Duke zone like the Spanish Inquisition? :confused:

No on ever expects the Spanish Inquisition. Or a Duke zone.

[dukee94]

I thought the sign said "Fly home safely," which is a derivation of the commonly-used "drive home safely" in the final minutes of a Duke win with the knowledge that BC is most certainly not driving home.

It could either be a reference to the UNC plane incident (which would be slightly poor taste) or it could be a reference to the fact that the Northeast is getting killed with snow right now.

I had to watch on-line so couldn't see the exact specifics, but I would assume any "fly home safely" cheer is simply because they are the Eagles.

[diveonthefloor]

Didn't see a thread on this...

Was it just me, or did K sorta call out the students for being "flat" during the BC game?
I thought I heard something about this in the post game presser.
Any thoughts?

[pfrduke]

Didn't see a thread on this...

Was it just me, or did K sorta call out the students for being "flat" during the BC game?
I thought I heard something about this in the post game presser.
Any thoughts?

Didn't see the press conference, but this is the first game that I can recall this season in which K got up on the sidelines specifically to get the crowd going. At least at that moment of the game, he wasn't happy with the noise/energy level.

[alteran]

I thought the sign said "Fly home safely," which is a derivation of the commonly-used "drive home safely" in the final minutes of a Duke win with the knowledge that BC is most certainly not driving home.

It could either be a reference to the UNC plane incident (which would be slightly poor taste) or it could be a reference to the fact that the Northeast is getting killed with snow right now.

I think it was a reference to them being the Eagles, the joke being that Eagles would fly themselves home rather than drive a bus.

[Greg_Newton]

I wonder if anyone learned as much from playing with Kyrie as Nolan did?

It's amazing how much of his game's he's seemingly picked up. Was it just me, or was he at a whole other level last night in the open court? I almost wonder if he's just getting over a nagging injury or something, because I swear I saw a gear I didn't know he had a couple times last night.

He was doing the thing Kyrie used to do where it almost doesn't matter what the defense does because he gets going so fast and launches himself at the rim so strongly that whatever contact the confused defender might initiate doesn't really affect him. That was up there with Kyrie's MSU game as one of the more dominant all-around performances by a Duke PG in the last few years, IMO.

I've also been subtly impressed with all three bigs recently, despite Ryan being the only one really scoring. Mason still makes the occasional cringeworthy play, but he's gotten dramatically smarter and more fundamentally sound over the last couple months. He's getting some strong rebounds, just eating up anything that comes near him with those venus flytrap arms, and really positioning himself well on defense. Even around the perimeter, he's "playing big" and taking up space that contributes to "filling the floor with defense", as K puts it. He still makes too many late shot-block attempts that have no chance of succeeding, but he's getting better at that timing too.

It's nice to see him building up from doing the little things correctly, rather than just focusing on bringing the building down every play.

[DukieInBrasil]

I wonder if anyone learned as much from playing with Kyrie as Nolan did?

It's amazing how much of his game's he's seemingly picked up. Was it just me, or was he at a whole other level last night in the open court? I almost wonder if he's just getting over a nagging injury or something, because I swear I saw a gear I didn't know he had a couple times last night.

He was doing the thing Kyrie used to do where it almost doesn't matter what the defense does because he gets going so fast and launches himself at the rim so strongly that whatever contact the confused defender might initiate doesn't really affect him. That was up there with Kyrie's MSU game as one of the more dominant all-around performances by a Duke PG in the last few years, IMO.

I've also been subtly impressed with all three bigs recently, despite Ryan being the only one really scoring. Mason still makes the occasional cringeworthy play, but he's gotten dramatically smarter and more fundamentally sound over the last couple months. He's getting some strong rebounds, just eating up anything that comes near him with those venus flytrap arms, and really positioning himself well on defense. Even around the perimeter, he's "playing big" and taking up space that contributes to "filling the floor with defense", as K puts it. He still makes too many late shot-block attempts that have no chance of succeeding, but he's getting better at that timing too.
Well Mason did score 8 vs BC, and it woulda been at least 10 if could shoot FTs better than his currently miserable 40%. Still, i dig your point in view of MP IIs play since Kyrie has been injured. I think your earlier point about Nolan playing alot like Kyrie vs BC is quite related to the fact that Mason had a much better offensive performance last night than recently. Nolan had shredded their D so many times that eventually Mason was the guy in the right place at the right time on a few occasions.
Though not necessarily related to frontcourt scoring, I did like how Miles got 4 steals. He didn't do much else of note, but the steals alone were a huge stat.

[ncexnyc]

As usual here is my morning after take on yesterday's game, except this time it's quite a bit later as I didn't get done watching till around 4 AM and work has been very busy today.

Another impressive offensive performance by the team. I've read some posts questioning the defense, but Donohue has done a fine job with his team and his Cornell team from last year showed they could put up points while hanging with the big boys.

Kelly's Heroes had got to be happy today. This is the third consecutive big outing for Ryan and it appears he's the real deal. GMan commented about Ryan being a sneaky shot blocker, but I think it's more that the people he is defending just haven't realized just how tall he is.

Nolan was terrific yesterday. I'm very surprised that BC decided to guard him the way they did. He certainly was on his game and his shots were falling, a big improvement from his last game's shooting woes.

Kyle continues to provide stability to the team and giving the team whatever it is on a particular night.

Seth had the huge game many of us have been waiting for. The question is will he be able to do this game in and game out.

Mason posted his 5 consecutive game with double figures in rebounds. He played under control and didn't have any poor shots. I love the fact that last night, instead of the volleyball spike block, he kept the ball under control, snagged it getting hit from behind and managed to throw a beautiful outlet pass to Seth. This play happened in the first half and in the second he had another 3/4 court outlet, which Seth converted into a deep 3.

The boxscore doesn't do justice to the subs.
Andre had an awesome block on a 3 on 1 break.

Miles had a really excellent defensive game in the short time he was on the court. He had two early steals, broke up a backdoor pass, and then was responsible for a heldball, which went in our favor. All of this in a very short span during the early portion of the 1st half.

Not much more you can ask for in a game. We shot well and defended well while the game was still being contested.

[Saratoga2]

Kelly's Heroes had got to be happy today. This is the third consecutive big outing for Ryan and it appears he's the real deal. GMan commented about Ryan being a sneaky shot blocker, but I think it's more that the people he is defending just haven't realized just how tall he is.

Nolan was terrific yesterday. I'm very surprised that BC decided to guard him the way they did. He certainly was on his game and his shots were falling, a big improvement from his last game's shooting woes.

Kyle continues to provide stability to the team and giving the team whatever it is on a particular night.

Seth had the huge game many of us have been waiting for. The question is will he be able to do this game in and game out.

Mason posted his 5 consecutive game with double figures in rebounds. He played under control and didn't have any poor shots. I love the fact that last night, instead of the volleyball spike block, he kept the ball under control, snagged it getting hit from behind and managed to throw a beautiful outlet pass to Seth. This play happened in the first half and in the second he had another 3/4 court outlet, which Seth converted into a deep 3.


Miles had a really excellent defensive game in the short time he was on the court. He had two early steals, broke up a backdoor pass, and then was responsible for a heldball, which went in our favor. All of this in a very short span during the early portion of the 1st half.



We have Nolan playing offense and defense at a new and higher level. Kyle's defense if very good and he along with Nolan put up 40 or more game after game. Kyle's shooting could be a little more efficient. Both Nolan and Kyle have the physical condition to play hard for the entire game.

Ryan is also playing improved defense and we all know about his blocks. He appears to be very difficult to defend due to his size and he is a very smart player. It appears he worked very hard on his shot, getting more arc in his recent performances. It appears that his improvements will be lasting.

Coach K praised Seth's defense and his shot was on. While it was a nice game, I wonder how he will stack up against big and agile guards.

Both Mason and Miles are gradually improving, with Mason having a dominating rebounding form and both are somewhat intimidating around the rim.

We have Tyler as a backup guard who can play frenetic and bothersome defense when needed and Josh who has some good attributes but needs to improve his defense to get significant time.

What is troublesome is what has been going on with Andre. Just a few games ago, his offense was stellar and was improving while he played defense with energy. We know his handle needs to improve and he was being encouraged to drive and get to a mid range shot. The rest is still there. Size, mobility, strength, beautiful stroke. So why has his performance fallen? Is there something clinical in what is going on? Has he interpreted coaching instructions that has made him tentative? My thought is that getting Andre back may be the second most important thing for the team to do going forward. The first would be to get Kyrie back.

[Newton_14]

Have to disagree with those who think Miles was somehow disappointing last night. He brought great energy off the bench and was everywhere on defense. He had 4 steals in a very short time period and another deflection that led to a steal. He also disrupted a play that caused a scrum on the floor and Miles tied the BC player up for a jump ball and Duke had the arrow. So that is 6 extra possessions from Miles. The coaches and players all gave him great props each time he came out of the game. He only had one chance to score and missed on his jumphook. Kyle missed him twice when Miles was open right under the basket and Kyle took the shot from the lane and missed both times. Not a terrible decision by Kyle or anything as he normally makes those shots, but a soft lob to Miles both times would have been a better play.

K did get on the crowd in the 2nd half. It had gotten really quiet (all the clock problems did not help with that) at times in both halves and K finally had enough.

Not sure if you guys caught this on TV or not, but in the first 5 minutes of the game, the coaches were all imploring the team to push it immediately off defensive rebounds and after BC makes. A couple of times Ryan got a rebound and kind of methodically handed it off to Nolan not in any kind of hurry and K went nuts as did Wojo and Collins. Right after Kelly did that the 2nd time, Mason did the exact same thing the very next defensive trip and K lost it. He immediately motioned for Miles an Josh to sub in for Ryan and Mason.

It seemed K really wanted our guys to push the tempo hard an get out on the break before BC could set their D. Mason had several really good outlet passes after that point and we played much better I thought after we began pushing it more.

Great to see Seth bust out and get his stroke going. He was working a lot during the pre-game warmups on catching passes an getting the shot up quickly. He and Casey worked on that for a good length of time from different spots out on the wing and in the corner.

As for BC, I was very impressed with how well coached they are. If Donahue can get more talent in there he will build a good program and win games.

[Dukeface88]

I think it was a reference to them being the Eagles, the joke being that Eagles would fly themselves home rather than drive a bus.

We used it last year too, so you can be assured it has nothing to do with UNC. It was partially a joke about being Eagles (we were flapping our arms instead of the fake bus driving), partly Boston being so far away that had probably flown, and partly because "drive home safely" was on hiatus following the Dawkins accident (we were shushing people before the "fly" variation broke out).

[CDu]

I think it was a reference to them being the Eagles, the joke being that Eagles would fly themselves home rather than drive a bus.

Excellent point. I'm a bit embarrassed I didn't make that connection before I posted. I got half way there (the derivation of "drive home safely") but somehow couldn't make the connection that eagles fly? Yikes.

[savekyriestoe]

I freak out anytime one of our guys takes a hard hit. Loved Kyrie's "OPTOEMISTIC" on his cast. 1 week...a very long week!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy6_TJYbuP0