MBB: Duke 56, Virginia 41 Post-Game Thread

[pfrduke]

Post your thoughts here.

[AZLA]

Execution was off tonight. But big props for Kelly, all around he played a nice game.

[superdave]

Not a whole lot of pretty basketball tonight and it was made frustrating by the fouls and bad bounces for Kyle. ACC road win.....next play.

[timmy c]

An ugly, ugly win. I hope the view from the Nolan Cam was better.

[dukelifer]

Post your thoughts here.

Do we have to? That was some ugly basketball. Only good things - Kyle got some rest- Ryan had a solid game and Nolan Cam followers got a good show. Other than that- it was a win as expected. Time to forget and get ready for Tech.

[Bob Green]

While I agree tonight's game was not aesthetically pleasing, our half court defense was impressive.

[MChambers]

Do we have to? That was some ugly basketball. Only good things - Kyle got some rest- Ryan had a solid game and Nolan Cam followers got a good show. Other than that- it was a win as expected. Time to forget and get ready for Tech.

Holding Virginia to 41 points has to reflect well on our defense, which has been lagging lately, so that's good.

[wsb3]

This game had as much flow as going to the dentist. A really bad dentist.:eek:

[SupaDave]

Yep - this game was won on the boards. Great job by the bigs - Kelly and the Plumlees as well as Nolan with 7 rebounds.

[mgtr]

The game was kind of boring after the first five minutes, when it became clear that we were likely to win. I liked some of Nolan's plays, however.

[Saratoga2]

For the first 5 minutes it seemed like a contest to see who could play the worst basketball. Lots of silly turnovers by both clubs. It seemed the bug even got into Kyle and Nolan.

It took Nolan some time but he finally settled down and then was the best player on the floor and the reason we won.

Kyle remained in a funk for the entire game. Usually Nolan and Kyle combined get 40 points, tonight it was 24 when you throw in 2 by Kyle. Jay Williams made it clear he didn't think Kyle's game has been at All American level and watching this game certainly makes you wonder what was going on with him.

I did think our half court defense improved in the second half and that helped to frustrate Virginia's offense. Ryan blocked shots and altered others. He also showed an inside presence finding ways to put up 11. Had they looked for him more he probably could have raised his point total. I also think Mason had a good game and clearly had the height and athletic ability advantage inside.

While Seth has steadily progressed, this game was not one of his best. I thought he was forcing his offense and was challenged handling the ball. Saying that, he still was important to our success. Dre has not really turned the corner yet either. Kind of passive on offense, however quick to put up a three when perhaps there were other options.

All in all, I think this game marked a regression in our play and hope they get it out of their skins before we face VT and UNC again.

[ncexnyc]

Kyle remained in a funk for the entire game. Usually Nolan and Kyle combined get 40 points, tonight it was 24 when you throw in 2 by Kyle. Jay Williams made it clear he didn't think Kyle's game has been at All American level and watching this game certainly makes you wonder what was going on with him.


Jay isn't the first person to say this. Approximately two weeks ago Seth Davis wrote a paragraph or two about Kyle's less than stellar play.

[uh_no]

First off: incredible defense all night. great defensive game
second off: horrible offense in the second half....we scored 20 pts in the half...that's horrid

that said, this worries me that we're still having these offensive woes....long stretches (5-10 minutes at a time) have already heavily contributed to two losses and have appeared in several other games (including both against virginia). It seemed nolan was running the point more (but i wasn't paying super close attention as the uconn game was slightly more highly contested), but games like this worry me come tournament time....when a St. Johns will come along and score more than 13 points in the second half

[dukelifer]

Holding Virginia to 41 points has to reflect well on our defense, which has been lagging lately, so that's good.

That and a very Duke friendly rim that seem to knock out at least 5 shots that were half way down.

[moonpie23]

ugllllllly..........good play around the basket on defense.....

kyle will get it back.....remember the baylor game.....

nolan is playing off the chain

[dukelifer]

First off: incredible defense all night. great defensive game
second off: horrible offense in the second half....we scored 20 pts in the half...that's horrid

that said, this worries me that we're still having these offensive woes....long stretches (5-10 minutes at a time) have already heavily contributed to two losses and have appeared in several other games (including both against virginia). It seemed nolan was running the point more (but i wasn't paying super close attention as the uconn game was slightly more highly contested), but games like this worry me come tournament time....when a St. Johns will come along and score more than 13 points in the second half

I would claim that in most tournament game in which Singler has two points and 4 fouls, Duke will be happy to win any way they can.

[uh_no]

I would claim that in most tournament game in which Singler has two points and 4 fouls, Duke will be happy to win any way they can.

Who denies this? It makes it much harder to win with those totals though....and just about every team we play in the tournament will be better than this virginia team (far better if you bypass the first round)

[dukelifer]

Who denies this? It makes it much harder to win with those totals though....and just about every team we play in the tournament will be better than this virginia team (far better if you bypass the first round)

Well sure- but how many games do you think Singler is going to have two points. That certainly did not help the totals. Today they guys played to the level of the competition. Duke was bad- but Virginia was worse.

[uh_no]

Well sure- but how many games do you think Singler is going to have two points. That certainly did not help the totals. Today they guys played to the level of the competition. Duke was bad- but Virginia was worse.

obviously it won't happen too often, but he was in a funk today and the team didn't find a way to score points despite it.....yeah they won....against a crummy virginia team. My point is that they need to find a way to perform on the offensive end when either the 3's aren't falling, or kyle is off, or whatever...last year they showed they could do that....i don't know if this years team with this performance from singler would win a game like the baylor game from last year....i honestly don't, and that's scary

[rthomas]

I would not say this was an ugly win. I would say this was more like grinding it out on the last 9 holes.

[gofurman]

The game was kind of boring after the first five minutes, when it became clear that we were likely to win. I liked some of Nolan's plays, however.

I LOVE boring wins

[elvis14]

Wow that was an ugly win. Very ugly. I feel weird saying I'm disappointed after a 15 point win but I am. Thank goodness UVa couldn't hit an open jumper tonight. On the positive side, I really liked the game Ryan played tonight. Thought we should have ran some more sets where we posted him up on the 6'4" guys guarding him.

It's probably time for a "What's wrong with Kyle" thread. For weeks I've read excuses but the bottom line is that right now he's not shooting well at all. Tonight he was pretty bad with the ball in his hands. I don't say that to be overly negative. I was shocked at what was going on with Kyle tonight (and really against UNC@CH as well). I know coach K has made adjustments in the past to help Kyle get started and right now he needs something. We need him to be a major part of the offense to make a real run at the NCAA's.

[jv001]

Many thought this could be a trap game and in a sense it may have been. We didn't get any offense from Kyle, Seth had a little drop in his stellar play and the turnovers were bad. But there were some good things to take away from this game. Nolan once again played well. 22 points in a low scoring game like this is big. Throw in 7 rebounds and 4 assists and you have a very good game. Ryan also played very well with 11 points, 5 rebounds and at least 4 blocks. Mason and Miles played well in a game where they were doubled almost everytime they received the ball. Virginia usually keeps the game in the
50s. So next play. Go Duke!

[dukeinal]

As good numbers and great defense as Nolan plays is part of Kyle scoring and lack of a 3rd outside option partially on Nolan? It may sound weird but multiple times today Nolan drove into the lane made multiple moves, put up a contested shot with one of Kyle, Seth, Dre or Kelly wide open spotted up for a shot. I have noticed this in other games but it was quite apparent in the 2nd half today when they were collapsing on him, before we went into the spread at the end of the game.

[dairedevil]

I wasn't able to see the game live, but I recorded it and am watching it now. Got a little feedback from my mom, and have read comments about the game. Here are a few of my thoughts...
1. The early turnovers sucked the life out of our offense. The first few baskets we made were on good plays - passes inside to Mason and Kelly, good passes for an open 3..but those plays alternated with sloppy ball handling and careless passes. They just didn't get into an offensive rhythm early, and it hurt.
2. Nolan continues to play with confidence and success (thank goodness). Although I think that sometimes he tries to do too much, he is willing to put this team on his back and carry it to victory if that's what it takes.
3. I love Kyle, he plays hard every single minute he's on the floor. I wonder if he's fatigued - mentally, if not physically. I would love to see him play with the success and abandon that Nolan has-wouldn't it be fun if they both had it going in the same game?
4. Don't know when I've heard as many balls clang off the rim - on both ends of the floor - gotta say I was amazed to see that we shot 50% for the game.
5. Virginia just looked about as bad as any team we've played this year. Hope that we just sank to their level, cause this wasn't very pretty.

I congratulate the team for grinding it out on the road and coming home with the W. That's what matters. There will be lessons to be learned from this, I'm sure the coaching staff will have plenty to use as teaching moments when they break down the film .
Next play, right?

[-bdbd]

1. The early turnovers sucked the life out of our offense. The first few baskets we made were on good plays - passes inside to Mason and Kelly, good passes for an open 3..but those plays alternated with sloppy ball handling and careless passes. They just didn't get into an offensive rhythm early, and it hurt.
2. Nolan continues to play with confidence and success (thank goodness). Although I think that sometimes he tries to do too much, he is willing to put this team on his back and carry it to victory if that's what it takes.
3. I love Kyle, he plays hard every single minute he's on the floor. I wonder if he's fatigued - mentally, if not physically. I would love to see him play with the success and abandon that Nolan has-wouldn't it be fun if they both had it going in the same game?
4. Don't know when I've heard as many balls clang off the rim - on both ends of the floor - gotta say I was amazed to see that we shot 50% for the game.
5. Virginia just looked about as bad as any team we've played this year. Hope that we just sank to their level, cause this wasn't very pretty.

I congratulate the team for grinding it out on the road and coming home with the W. That's what matters. There will be lessons to be learned from this, I'm sure the coaching staff will have plenty to use as teaching moments when they break down the film. Next play, right?

Just back from the game. A few thoughts:
- I was astonished at the number of Duke fans, wearing all asssortment oif Duke gear, who were in attendance. In an arena of around 17K, I'd guesstimate over 1,000 (maybe up to 1,500) Dukies visible and AUDIBLE. There were several times when Duke crowd chants, such as "Let's go Dev-ils!" kinda took over the stadium for a short while.
- Duke getting out early really squelched the 'hoos fans. Before the game the fans were talking a lot about how they led most of the game at Duke, how they'd just had a great comeback at FSU (from down by 16 (?) to within 3 points with a minute to go, only to fall short), and how they were primed to fight us tooth and nail.
- The body language on the bench and during timeouts for UVA seemed "down and frustrated." They never seemed to ever get any real hope that they could come back.
- I like the UVA fans. The ones I met, sat around were smart, well-spoken and pleasant. Having been at Comcast, this environment was totally 180-degrees different. (At MD I generally won't wear Duke gear for fear of drinks, explitives to be thrown my way.)
- John Paul Jones Arena is very new, clean and quite "vertical" in feel - even high up you didn't seem that far away. They seemed to be trying a lot of things like "big-boy" arenas to jazz up the crowd -- t-shirt cannons and parachutes from the catwalks, chinese unicyclist/juggler at half, video-board racecar competitions, etc. Crowd wasn't very loud though. I was told they don't sell out most games - maybe Duke and UNC and that's about it -- maybe VPI.
- Their coach, Bennett, has the respect of the fans.
- Some fans I spoke with don't seem to believe they have the horses to compete yet in the ACC. They need some more recruiting successes before they'll ever challenge the ACC's upper-echelon...

Despite a sloppy game, it was a fun experience and the Duke fans all seemed to have a pretty good time. Man, though, did UVA seem to miss a TON of open shots, even lay-ups!

A win is a win. Go Duke! Next play!

:D

[DukieInBrasil]

what an ugly game. Nolan played beautifully as well as Ryan Kelly. Even Mason had a very solid game. Everybody else pretty much stunk it up. The defense was good, perhaps even excellent, though it's hard to tell since UVa ain't so good. A double-digit conference road win? I'll take it every day of the week and twice on Sunday, and thrice if it's a Saturday on a certain March 5th.

[dukelifer]

obviously it won't happen too often, but he was in a funk today and the team didn't find a way to score points despite it.....yeah they won....against a crummy virginia team. My point is that they need to find a way to perform on the offensive end when either the 3's aren't falling, or kyle is off, or whatever...last year they showed they could do that....i don't know if this years team with this performance from singler would win a game like the baylor game from last year....i honestly don't, and that's scary

Today Duke shot 50% for the game- turnovers and dumb play seemed to kill the scoring in the second half.

[weezie]

And Tony Bennett's offensive philosophy is to hypnotize the other team to sleep, don't forget. I was surprised that the crowd stuck around for so long; the students behind us began checking their iPhones and half-heartedly heckling pretty soon after the 2nd half began.
Wouldn't be at all surprised if Kyle doesn't have a flu bug, he did look drained. He's lost some weight since the season began, that's pretty obvious.
There was a Chinese acrobat riding around on a unicycle at halftime, catching and balancing multiple bowls on her head but I still prefer Miles and his unicycle.
Ryan showed some great personality tonight, he's a good barker.
The 'hoos need to lose the ridiculous fire shooting team announcements at the beginning of the game, though. It was pretty silly.

[dball]

JPJ is a nice venue. Almost felt bad that there was such a huge Duke contingent. This weekend will probably be rocking when Tech rolls in.

Ugly, ugly, ugly. The first part of the game was incredibly sloppy with both teams mostly throwing the ball away. Mason did miss two interior passes, though in his defense he's become accustomed to crashing the boards and probably doesn't expect to get the ball.

Good play from the bigs. Ryan scored, blocked a couple of shots and defended well. Miles played good D and little brother was solid as well.

Kyle was off though he plays hard. You can really appreciate his effort when you're at the game. He is always trying for a rebound or helping on defense. Love the guy but his shot has been off.

Always good to grab another road win. But it was uuuuggggglllllyyyy.

[Kedsy]

Love the guy but his shot has been off.

He only took five shots. In and of itself, that may be an issue, but in my opinion not enough shots to form a judgment as to his "offness."

[Duke: A Dynasty]

No MOTM thread for this game?

[Saratoga2]

When Wisconsin played Ohio State, Wisconsin moved the ball around well against a very good Ohio State defense. They refused to take a bad shot and in many cases took the entire shot clock trying to get a good shot only to be forced to take a prayer in the end. They were fortunate to be shooting well and their patience was incredible.

Duke against Virginia had a decided size advantage with the two bigs and Singler. Virginia tried to counteract that by doubling inside and crashing the boards. They needed to keep their one good big in the game. We didn't seem to react well to what was happening. Too few passes back out from inside to the open man. Forced shots from Curry, Singler and even Smith and not much looking for our bigs. Singler seemed to be determined to take the ball inside and drew fouls bulling his way in and made ill advised passes.

What we came to as our sole offensive plan in the second half was to spread the floor and let Nolan with his variety of scoring skills to go against the Va defense. Lots of standing around by the other players and some forced shots by Nolan but it was effective because Va couldn't hit a shot to save themselves. Some of what we credit as excellent Duke defense was Va's inability to hit wide open shots. Perhaps they were tired out from their defensive effort inside.

I would prefer that Duke move the ball, look for a good shot and spread the offense among a wider variety of players. Our approach tonight is unlikely to be a winning one at VT or UNC. Having Kyrie for a game like this would have made us look entirely different. Hope he gets back soon.

[flyingdutchdevil]

He only took five shots. In and of itself, that may be an issue, but in my opinion not enough shots to form a judgment as to his "offness."

Maybe in this game, but Kyle's shot has definitely been off as of late. Since ACC play started (Jan 2), Kyle has been shooting 40% from the field. In the last 4 games, he's been shooting just 32%.

Kyle is a great basketball player and the intangibles that he brings to the game adds so much value to his game. But his shot has been off lately and he is settling for a lot of mid-range jumpers and 3-pts (and not making them). I would rather have Kyle on the floor than not, but if this slump continues, I'm not sure how far we can go in the tourney.

[oldnavy]

Virginia plays really good defense. They are very high energy and did not give up a lot of open shots. I think we need to give them a lot of credit for hanging in and playing a really tough game.

Overall, I think getting through a game played like this will be a great learning experience for the NCAA. Virginia reminds me of a strong mid-major team like we might face in the second round if we are fortunate enough to get that far. No disrespect to UVA, but their talent level is down with the injury to Scott, and they are going to be a team to recon with in the future.

Good game guys, next play!

[MChambers]

That and a very Duke friendly rim that seem to knock out at least 5 shots that were half way down.

But it's Virginia's own rims; holding another team to 41 points and 28% shooting on their own floor is impressive, any way you look at it.

[mkline09]

When Wisconsin played Ohio State, Wisconsin moved the ball around well against a very good Ohio State defense. They refused to take a bad shot and in many cases took the entire shot clock trying to get a good shot only to be forced to take a prayer in the end. They were fortunate to be shooting well and their patience was incredible.

Duke against Virginia had a decided size advantage with the two bigs and Singler. Virginia tried to counteract that by doubling inside and crashing the boards. They needed to keep their one good big in the game. We didn't seem to react well to what was happening. Too few passes back out from inside to the open man. Forced shots from Curry, Singler and even Smith and not much looking for our bigs. Singler seemed to be determined to take the ball inside and drew fouls bulling his way in and made ill advised passes.

What we came to as our sole offensive plan in the second half was to spread the floor and let Nolan with his variety of scoring skills to go against the Va defense. Lots of standing around by the other players and some forced shots by Nolan but it was effective because Va couldn't hit a shot to save themselves. Some of what we credit as excellent Duke defense was Va's inability to hit wide open shots. Perhaps they were tired out from their defensive effort inside.

I would prefer that Duke move the ball, look for a good shot and spread the offense among a wider variety of players. Our approach tonight is unlikely to be a winning one at VT or UNC. Having Kyrie for a game like this would have made us look entirely different. Hope he gets back soon.

I noticed the standing around too. Not to single out Andre but I noticed a lot of that from him after they talked about how Seth had talked to Steph about moving without the ball. Andre just seemed to hang out on the wing and didn't seem very active on the offensive end.

[Matches]

But it's Virginia's own rims; holding another team to 41 points and 28% shooting on their own floor is impressive, any way you look at it.

I guess - but a lot of it had less to do with our defense than it did with UVa's ineptness. If they'd been able to knock down half of the completely wide-open looks they had in the 2nd half, it would've been a competitive ballgame. I did like our rebounding, though - they were one and done most of the night.

[Duke4life92]

obviously it won't happen too often, but he was in a funk today and the team didn't find a way to score points despite it.....yeah they won....against a crummy virginia team.
Good road win against a scrappy defensive minded virginia team.
I guess - but a lot of it had less to do with our defense than it did with UVa's ineptness. If they'd been able to knock down half of the completely wide-open looks they had in the 2nd half, it would've been a competitive ballgame.
Dang,i'll take a road win while holding the opponent to 41 pts in there own gym even though they missed alot of open looks(we did miss wide open shots aswell)give credit to tough duke 'D'.It seems to me kyle has been frustrated with the lack of respect he has gotten from the officials this year and that has made him lose some focus but i believe he'll right the ship soon and be back to normal,he's too good to let the ticky tack crap the whistle blowers have been hitting him with this year ruin his season.I have faith in him.GO DUKE!!.Dang playing the cav's remind me of an old princeton team but without the good shooters :)

[mkline09]

Did anyone else get annoyed with the split screen focus on Nolan? It was OK for a short period but after a while I was just annoyed and my ADHD started kicking in and I couldn't focus on the game.

[KyDevilinIL]

Here's hoping last night was the bottoming out of Kyle's recent malaise/frustrations. Can only go up from that.

I thought Duke was ragged against UVa, although I'm not sure we played all that badly overall. Virginia plays an infuriating style but we were steady enough to eliminate any chance at a UVA run in the second half. Virginia had a lot of half-in-then-out shots in the second half. More than I remember seeing in one game in a while. That helped our cause.

Didn't mind seeing a boring outing at this point in the season. This week, with Virginia and Ga Tech at home, is on paper one of our easier weeks in a while. And we need to fortify ourselves for what will be the toughest four-game stretch of the season from Temple through UNC2.

[mkline09]

Here's hoping last night was the bottoming out of Kyle's recent malaise/frustrations. Can only go up from that.

I thought Duke was ragged against UVa, although I'm not sure we played all that badly overall. Virginia plays an infuriating style but we were steady enough to eliminate any chance at a UVA run in the second half. Virginia had a lot of half-in-then-out shots in the second half. More than I remember seeing in one game in a while. That helped our cause.

Didn't mind seeing a boring outing at this point in the season. This week, with Virginia and Ga Tech at home, is on paper one of our easier weeks in a while. And we need to fortify ourselves for what will be the toughest four-game stretch of the season from Temple through UNC2.

If Duke doesn't cough the ball up 8/9 times in the first 15 mintues they probably win this game by 25 instead of 15. It was an ugly game and if Virginia could have hit some of those shots where the ball was 2/3 in the rim it could have been a lot more interesting in Virginia's favor.

All in all the effort was good just not a terribly well executed game a times.

[Vincetaylor]

I noticed the standing around too. Not to single out Andre but I noticed a lot of that from him after they talked about how Seth had talked to Steph about moving without the ball. Andre just seemed to hang out on the wing and didn't seem very active on the offensive end.

Andre doesn't always look like he is totally exerting himself

[uh_no]

Did anyone else get annoyed with the split screen focus on Nolan? It was OK for a short period but after a while I was just annoyed and my ADHD started kicking in and I couldn't focus on the game.

Well... as a producer I would have wanted to give the viewers something interesting to watch....cuz a 33 pt second half certainly wasn't that....

[RockyMtDevil]

I don't know how ominous this game looms moving into March, but I do know this. I've not seen this many terribly played ACC games in a decade or more. UVA could not beat UNC's jv team, they are absolutely terrible.

Ga. Tech and Wake Forrest would finish 7-8 in the Horizon League, Maryland is average at best, if MD played in the Big East they would finish 11th, behind St. John's.

Ask yourself this, of any of the teams besides Duke and UNC that MIGHT make the tournament, do you expect them to win a game? Nobody in their right mind is putting money on FSU, Va Tech or Maryland to win a game in March...Let's get some new blood and new coaches in the league cause this is a yawn fest.

The only good sign is that it appears everyone has taken a step back this year. I can't remember a season where there were so many bad teams in the BCS leagues. Pac 10, SEC, ACC are all subpar...It's made for some very uninteresting nights of hoops.

[Matches]

Ask yourself this, of any of the teams besides Duke and UNC that MIGHT make the tournament, do you expect them to win a game? Nobody in their right mind is putting money on FSU, Va Tech or Maryland to win a game in March...Let's get some new blood and new coaches in the league cause this is a yawn fest.



Had Singleton not gotten hurt, I think FSU had a legit shot at getting to the 2nd weekend. Without him I doubt they do, but that's not really something that can be blamed on coaching.

In general, though, I agree - the ACC is historically bad this year. Quite honestly it's the continuation of a trend that's built for 5-6 seasons. IIRC BC is the only team other than Duke or UNC that has advanced to the 2nd weekend since about 2006.

[KyDevilinIL]

I don't know how ominous this game looms moving into March, but I do know this. I've not seen this many terribly played ACC games in a decade or more. UVA could not beat UNC's jv team, they are absolutely terrible.

Ga. Tech and Wake Forrest would finish 7-8 in the Horizon League, Maryland is average at best, if MD played in the Big East they would finish 11th, behind St. John's.

Ask yourself this, of any of the teams besides Duke and UNC that MIGHT make the tournament, do you expect them to win a game? Nobody in their right mind is putting money on FSU, Va Tech or Maryland to win a game in March...Let's get some new blood and new coaches in the league cause this is a yawn fest.

The only good sign is that it appears everyone has taken a step back this year. I can't remember a season where there were so many bad teams in the BCS leagues. Pac 10, SEC, ACC are all subpar...It's made for some very uninteresting nights of hoops.

Hard to disagree, although some will probably offer counter arguments in an attempt to convince themselves they're not seeing what they're actually seeing in the ACC this year. I don't see much Pac-10, but I see a lot of SEC. The SEC is even more miserable in most computer conference rankings, but I gotta say that I wouldn't have much faith in the ACC winning an ACC-SEC challenge right now.

Good thing is this stuff is usually cyclical.

[Billy Dat]

I know it's been said, but it needs to be said again so anyone who didn't watch understands....U-G-L-Y, you don't need no alibi cause you UGLY!!!!! My god, that game set basketball back some years, as I watched all I could think was...UVA SUUUUUCKS! Not their fault, they have injuries, etc., but...man...they had a lot of open looks they missed, so many needless turnovers, etc. Add in our first half turnovers and the general "watch while Nolan pounds the ball looking for a seam" and this was a comically bad game for a viewer.

I don't want to harsh on Nolan, though. He is not a pass first point and game after game his aggressive seeking of his own shot leads to (A) good shots that he (B) usually makes and (C) tends to loosen us up and get us going. He always seems to be the guy to will-in the runner that breaks a scoring drought. He really is a ruthlessly efficient scoring machine and I don't know that there is any guard in the country better at finishing in the open floor on the break, sweeping across the lane and finding a seam, pulling up for the nice midrange, squaring up off the dribble from three after jab stepping his man backward or losing his man on a screen (defender goes under) or generally using a stationary screener to free himself left or right. Maybe Jimmer is a better scoring machine, but I don't think his full repetoire is as sublime. That being said, there are times, like the final 8 minutes last night, when I'd have rather he worked on finding other guys.

Ryan Kelly was awesome on both sides of the floor. He blocked a bunch of shots and was generally in the right places on defense. How about that nifty Kevin McHale-esque low post move where he backed the defender down, spun, up faked, held his pivot and ducked under for the easy lay-up...what? Lenny Elmore was even impressed. He and Mason need more touches on offense, we will be so much better if their offensive ego continues to grow. I actually feel like our bigs are quietly improving to the point where it is going to surprise a lot of people. I like how we went to them early and often, but it's too bad our early turnovers killed some of that momentum.

Wither Kyle? I am inclined not to worry about him, or his impact on our prospects for the following reason. He is still a key focus of the other team's defensive gameplan. As such, even when he is not filling it up, he demands a lot of their attention. I don't see that changing. If it does, and other teams decide to leave him alone, he will make them pay. That frees things up for Kelly, Mason...basically everyone. For the most part, during his struggles, he has been taking contested shots, and trying to bull his way to the hoop. The problem with his bull rushes are that a ref can see them coming a mile away and they aren't going to give him the benefit of the doubt. He is much more effective when they start him off under the hoop and he comes off those pin down screens and curls to the hoop catching the ball in motion on one of those banana cuts - I haven't seen him do that in recent games. Most of this hand wringing is tied to his offense and, to me, that will be fine. He helps key our defense and rebounding, we are always better when he is on the floor, I think he's going to be fine.

[4decadedukie]

As some will remember, I have been critical of sloppy, lackluster execution earlier in this season. However, I was pleased with last night's UVa victory -- not because it was splendid Duke basketball, but rather because any ACC road win at this point in the season is a "good win." Particular kudos to Mason, Nolan, Ryan, and Seth (IMHO).

[DevilWearsPrada]

Duke fans were very well represented in the JPJ arena last night in HOOville!!!

Take away the UVA students and band, and Duke looked to be 40% of the Fanbase there!!

I called it Cameron Indoor West 64!!!

UVa fans are so nice. Very very cordial. I wore my Duke Blue Devil lighted horns!!! And carried my Lighted Trident!!! And annoited the JPJ arena with the Trident!!!

LETS GO DUKE!!

[Matches]

Ryan Kelly was awesome on both sides of the floor. He blocked a bunch of shots and was generally in the right places on defense. How about that nifty Kevin McHale-esque low post move where he backed the defender down, spun, up faked, held his pivot and ducked under for the easy lay-up...what?

I loved that move, and I also thought of McHale. I realize he had a smaller guy on him, but that was a really nice move. He did a great job of keeping his pivot foot planted.

[Kedsy]

Maybe in this game, but Kyle's shot has definitely been off as of late. Since ACC play started (Jan 2), Kyle has been shooting 40% from the field. In the last 4 games, he's been shooting just 32%.

Last year he shot 41.5% for the whole season. He has never been a particularly high percentage shooter. Even with his recent slump, he's shooting 36% from three-point range this season.

Kyle is a little streaky. Like everyone else, he shoots better after he sees the ball go into the basket a couple times. Right now, I think both he and Andre are pressing a little when they shoot, but they'll both calm down and have some big games when it matters most. I'm not concerned.


I would rather have Kyle on the floor than not, but if this slump continues, I'm not sure how far we can go in the tourney.

He had pretty much the same game against Baylor last year and we did OK.


I guess - but a lot of it had less to do with our defense than it did with UVa's ineptness.

I think it had more to do with our defense than you seem to believe. Open looks aren't so open if you're worried about a guy closing quickly. Our D was in their heads the whole game and even when they looked open, either they really weren't or they rushed their shots because they figured they wouldn't be open for long. That's what good defense does to you.

Or at least I know that's what happens to me if I'm being guarded by a good defender. I rush my shot and I miss what appear to be open looks.


If they'd been able to knock down half of the completely wide-open looks they had in the 2nd half, it would've been a competitive ballgame.

What do they say about pigs and wings? If you talk about what would have happened if one team rectified its mistakes, shouldn't you also consider the other team doing the same?

I think more likely than them making all their shots would have been us not turning the ball over 7 times in the first few minutes. If we hadn't done that the game would have been a complete blowout.

[mkline09]

Well... as a producer I would have wanted to give the viewers something interesting to watch....cuz a 33 pt second half certainly wasn't that....

You do have a point but I just didn't think that was it. Certainly not for the duration with which they showed it.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Last year he shot 41.5% for the whole season. He has never been a particularly high percentage shooter. Even with his recent slump, he's shooting 36% from three-point range this season.

Kyle is a little streaky. Like everyone else, he shoots better after he sees the ball go into the basket a couple times. Right now, I think both he and Andre are pressing a little when they shoot, but they'll both calm down and have some big games when it matters most. I'm not concerned.

Many - both on this forum and other media outlets - argued that Kyle had a low percentage last year because he was adjusting to playing the 3 rather than the 4. This year, Kyle initially showed that he was comfortable with the 3 but his shot accuracy has digressed lately. Right now, role players are stepping up but there will be a game where senior leadership will be vital and I hope Singler is out of this mini-slump by then.


He had pretty much the same game against Baylor last year and we did OK.

Last year we had a nearly-guaranteed 3 headed monster. This year it is down to 2.5 (I consider "the player who steps up" to be the 0.5 as it's not guaranteed) which leaves less room for error. That game was also Nolan's career game and he picked up the slack for Singler. Nolan can't do that every game.

I think that Singler will get out of this slump; he's too good not to. But I am concerned - no doubt about that.

[Bluedevil114]

I was at this game last night. Great seats, center court 12 rows up. I saw a lot of standing around on the offensive side. It was like the game plan was to throw it in to the bigs and let them work but with very little movement there were not a ton of open shots.

Andre really seemed to not move on the offensive side. I have no idea why we do not use these two guys like we used JJ. Running underneath and through screens in the lane to open them up for open looks. Seth will run off a high pick but rarely do I see him run from one side to the other through the lane. Too much passing around the perimeter and not enough ball screens. It was one of the worst games I have seen live and I usually see about three or four live a season.

There was not much dribble-drive and kicks either. Very boring game overall.

[CrazieDUMB]

Lots of frustration over this game, but frankly I don't see it. As a fan, I agree that it was a horrible game to watch. But the thing one has to remember is that Duke was leading for most of the game. Thus playing really slowly gave us a strategic advantage. I was actually pretty ok with the way we played.

The flip side is Kyle. Like most people, I'm not too upset about his output tonight, as everyone has a bad game once in a while. But after watching the past four or five games, I am worried about the fact that he doesn't seem to have a specific role on this team. K isn't really running a whole lot of screens for him, and I don't think he's fast enough to beat people off the dribble. His whole game seems to be grab the ball at the three point line, drive about 5 or 10 feet across the top of the key and shoot over a smaller defender for a contested 16-18 footer. He's been pretty remarkable at getting those low-percentage shots to go in (most of the time), but he doesn't seem to be getting any easy buckets. Not really sure what the plan is to use him more effectively - with Nolan playing so well, the coaching staff isn't gearing the offense around Kyle, which is what he needs to be the NPOY guy we expected him to be.

[PADukeMom]

Geeze guys...I am beginning to think I was watching a different game than most of you. What I saw last night was positive. I saw a Final Four team starting to gel. Yes I know Kyle's game is off but the positive is that it will come back.
Kyrie is Nolan's biggest fan. The information he is providing Nolan during time out's is what is upping his game. There is also the remote possibility that Kyrie does come back & even if he's game is 80% of what it was pre injury, I'll take that.

We had a great road win last night. Cheer-up!

[RockyMtDevil]

Geeze guys...I am beginning to think I was watching a different game than most of you. What I saw last night was positive. I saw a Final Four team starting to gel. Yes I know Kyle's game is off but the positive is that it will come back.
Kyrie is Nolan's biggest fan. The information he is providing Nolan during time out's is what is upping his game. There is also the remote possibility that Kyrie does come back & even if he's game is 80% of what it was pre injury, I'll take that.

We had a great road win last night. Cheer-up!

You were watching espn2 at 7:00 right because that team in black last night was not a Final Four team, and it was not a "great" road win. Let's take off the ACC glasses and admit that UVA is a horrendous team for god's sakes...

[ncexnyc]

Definitely a strange game. As a whole the team shot very well. I'd say our low point total was a combination of UVA's defense and the high number of turnovers we had. A lot has been made of Kyle's recent play. In his 4 games prior to last night he was averaging 15 pts with 7.5 rebounds per game. He made 24 of 57 shots, with his MD effort being his best, 10 of 15 and the UNC game, 3 of 17 being his worst. Not bad numbers, but definitely not what you'd expect from a senior pre-season AA candidate, let alone a NPOY candidate. Were the expectations to high? Maybe, maybe not. He has been asked to be a defensive stopper, a role Lance filled for us last year and one many dismissed at the start of the season. I guess we need a bench Kyle thread to get him going:D (by the way that's a joke)

I can't get to high on the play of our bigs, as UVA only had Sene, so basically it was 3 on 1. Ryan did show the smarts to take advantage of a smaller player. Mason did have several nice plays, including the slam to start the game.

Nolan had his usual excellent game. Enough with the comments about him pounding the ball and missing wide open shooters. He's been asked to score first, but he's still putting up solid assist numbers.

Seth was just a hair off. Several shots rattled around and spun out.

Andre needs to have some set plays run specifically for him to help him get his groove back. Several people have commented about his standing around, but if that is part of the spacing and his role in a specific set then we can't fault him for that. His D was shakey, which is being kind. On 3 consecutive plays he was torched for a basket. Tyler tried to get in after the first two, but there wasn't a dead ball situation to let him get in.

This team is still a work in progress. The talent is definitely there as we see flashes of it constantly, they still haven't achieved the day in, day out consistency, which will make them a great team.

[PADukeMom]

You were watching espn2 at 7:00 right because that team in black last night was not a Final Four team, and it was not a "great" road win. Let's take off the ACC glasses and admit that UVA is a horrendous team for god's sakes...

I have my blue glasses off, trust me. This team is starting to jell. I saw this happen last year after the G-town loss. I predicted nets way back then.
You are focusing on the negatives instead of the positives. This team will be awesome in March.

[lancepippin]

i can't believe nobody has mentioned this yet! it was not the best of games but at least the boys won in the BLACK uniforms last night! i thought those were burned after losing to FSU and St Johns in them. guess the curse is broken?!!

[Duke: A Dynasty]

Im just glad we won in the black unis. Those are by far my favorite!!!! I love the black unis and wish we wore it more.

[CBDUKE]

Duke fans were very well represented in the JPJ arena last night in HOOville!!!

Take away the UVA students and band, and Duke looked to be 40% of the Fanbase there!!

I called it Cameron Indoor West 64!!!

UVa fans are so nice. Very very cordial. I wore my Duke Blue Devil lighted horns!!! And carried my Lighted Trident!!! And annoited the JPJ arena with the Trident!!!

LETS GO DUKE!!

I was there last night and I actually saw you. Of course I didn't know it was you until just now. The UVA people are very nice, but there was a large Duke crowd there. The UVA fans seem to only cheer when their team does something, instead of cheering for them to help them do something. My second year going to JPJ to see Duke.

Also wanted to add that I watched the game today and got really tired of all the talk about UVA's injuries and how they would be able to give Duke a much better game if their "bigs" weren't injured. It seems to me that Duke has suffered a major injury this year as well. Most of this talk came from Len Elmore.

[DevilWearsPrada]

Jay isn't the first person to say this. Approximately two weeks ago Seth Davis wrote a paragraph or two about Kyle's less than stellar play.

Since I was at the UVa game last night, Kyle Singler looked to us to have the flu . He was paler than normal. I call it, "Sick White" looking color.

And listening to the Duke Girls game vs Md on Duke Radio. Announcer said Chelsea Gray did not travel with team, due to flu. And K Christmas was getting over the flu, and that Allison was not feeling well, and probably coming down with the flu, but is still playing.

I know Duke gives the athletes Flu Shots in the Fall. Shots or the Nasal flu prevention.

I felt bad for Kyle last night. Because he needs to keep up his stats for his NBA stock and the Duke Season and post play tourneys. He was clearly frustrated. And so many Duke fans drove to Charlottesville to see Duke play. And for the fans, I regret they didnt get to see a great Singler sensation performance. But the entire game was ugly, sloppy and hard to watch at times. Shots didnt fall either way. Turnovers on both ends. It was a frustrating game.

WHAT did the ANNOUNCERS say on ESPN last night? I was so glad when the final buzzer sounded. Loved the Road Win! Loved Being there again at JPJ arena in Cville. I call it HOOville.

With the Girls team having the flu, is the flu Flying around Duke campus or Other Teams?

[DevilWearsPrada]

I was there last night and I actually saw you. Of course I didn't know it was you until just now. The UVA people are very nice, but there was a large Duke crowd there. The UVA fans seem to only cheer when their team does something, instead of cheering for them to help them do something. My second year going to JPJ to see Duke.

Also wanted to add that I watched the game today and got really tired of all the talk about UVA's injuries and how they would be able to give Duke a much better game if their "bigs" weren't injured. It seems to me that Duke has suffered a major injury this year as well. Most of this talk came from Len Elmore.

DID we talk last night?????

Len Elmore (cough cough). When has Lenny Elmore ever cared for Duke? I would like to see the Duke UVa game on replay, to hear the comments from the analysts. I can only imagine what was said. However, the game was so ugly; I dont know if I would want to watch 40 minutes of that, again. However, to see some of Nolans great shots and Ryan's beautiful game... it might be a good to watch on Replay.

I thought the UVa students were out in full force. But they didnt get their team going or the fans. Like you said, UVa fans only cheered when something good happened. And the lower level, was too empty with the Season holder seats.

However, the media time out and half time entertainment was excellent. Very much like ACC tourney entertainment. I give the value of that a 10!

[Reilly]

....

However, the media time out and half time entertainment was excellent. ...

Here's the halftime gal from a Portland appearance .....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5MjD3TYVzo&NR=1

[94duke]

Here's the halftime gal from a Portland appearance .....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5MjD3TYVzo&NR=1

I think she performed at the G-boro Coliseum for the Duke/UNCG game.
Amazing.