MBB 2R: Duke 73, Michigan 71 Post-Game Thread

[pfrduke]

Phew!

Survive and advance....

[TheRob8801]

Phew!
:eek:

[devildownunder]

I better not say anything else. Catch you guys next week.

[AlaskanAssassin]

sweaty palms...whew!

[NYBri]

Phew is right. Not pretty, but a win is a win. Go to work on the zone.

[House G]

Call 911.

[CLW]

that 1-3-1 zone DOMINATED us down the stretch. knocked us back and we settled for jacking up 3s

survive and advance

[TwiceDuke]

No more eight minutes of stall ball, please. Particularly when the momentum is shifting.

I almost feel guilty walking away from this one with a win.

[ice-9]

where is my heart attack medicine...

[BlueThru&Thru]

Looks like critics were correct abou the ACC this year. Our top seeds are struggling against middling seeds. Kinda worrying about when the heavy-weights show up.

[Bob Green]

There was no quit in Michigan today. They played hard to the bitter end. We survived and advanced so it is on to the Sweet 16! :cool:

[RoyalBlue08]

NCAA tournament not good for me heart. I'm not going to read this thread. On to the Sweet 16!

[djp10]

No more eight minutes of stall ball, please. Particularly when the momentum is shifting.

I almost feel guilty walking away from this one with a win.
yup, prevent defense too early

[FerryFor50]

that 1-3-1 zone DOMINATED us down the stretch. knocked us back and we settled for jacking up 3s

survive and advance

I disagree. They were driving early in the 2nd and having success against that zone. Then they stopped attacking. Just poor strategy.

[gumbomoop]

All credit to Michigan for out-executing the Devils down the stretch. I think and hope K will praise them in the post-presser. Excellent future for that young team.

[AZLA]

John Beilein coached a heck of the game.

Good playing, Michigan.

Thanks Kyrie.

Not sure what happened that game, but whatever it was, felt like Duke was completely confused.

[_Gary]

I have to agree that the stall ball, combined with that aggressive zone, just about did us in late. And I also have to agree that we jacked up too many 3's late. I love Dre's confidence, but he shot three trey's from the same spot and missed all three as the game was winding down. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. :D

[Newton_14]

where is my heart attack medicine...

I will find your heart medication if you will locate my ulcer medication for me..

That was gut-wrenching. We had to win the same game 3 times.

I love him but I think our Coach made some tactical errors down the stretch. But hey, he has won 900 games and I have won 0. Enough said.

[House G]

I agree with other posters that we should have gone 2-for-1 with 50 secs to go.

[turnandburn55]

I was getting the bad "Duke-Indiana 2002" feeling here with the stall-ball. I don't think the zone had much to do with our offensive lapse so much as our decision to wait until 10 seconds left on the shot clock to start our playbook... need more time than that to find good shots.

That being said, that last shot by Irving was exactly why we needed him back for the tournament. When things aren't going well, another player who can put the ball on the floor and create is priceless in the Tourney.

[ns7]

Looks like critics were correct abou the ACC this year. Our top seeds are struggling against middling seeds. Kinda worrying about when the heavy-weights show up.

ACC has only one loss so far: a Clemson team that got screwed on the timing of its games.

[ChrisP]

Of course I'm glad we won but the end of that game just left a bad taste in my mouth. We didn't look confident or smart at all. Of course, if we'd made even 1 three down the stretch, it would have given us a bit more breathing room.

Hard to question K - especially given the fact that we won - but...I did NOT like the way we attacked (or should I say, did NOT attack) that zone. Our offense was awful for the last 8 or so minutes. That was just...ridiculous. I have no idea why we were so content to try and run clock. That seemed boneheaded to me...

[tendev]

I am still shaking my head. I don't know what that was at the end. Poor defense and offensive execution. We were just hoping the clock would beat Michigan. It did but that is not going to get it done against better teams. Darius Miller can play and maybe Michigan is that good.

[Chris Randolph]

As stated by some of you, much credit to Michigan. Played a heck of a game and showed the heart worthy of a champion by battling back over and over!

Disappointed in the lack of fire Duke played with but that can be attributed to how Michigan slows you down and makes you grind it out, tough mental game.

Don't buy the "maybe the ACC is down, wonder how we will do against the big time teams." I guess the big east was down since Pitt lost to, technically, a mid-major!

Hey, the goal is to keep playing and we are!!!! Got some work to do! Time to scout AZ/TX

Go Duke

[Bluedevil114]

I am still shaking my head. I don't know what that was at the end. Poor defense and offensive execution. We were just hoping the clock would beat Michigan. It did but that is not going to get it done against better teams. Darius Miller can play and maybe Michigan is that good.

I could not agree more. Stall ball when you have Irving and Smith. Does not make sense to me. The 1-3-1 really took us out of our offense. The middle of our defense was wide open all day long.

Survive and Move on. Go Duke!!

[Trinity'10]

Looks like critics were correct abou the ACC this year. Our top seeds are struggling against middling seeds. Kinda worrying about when the heavy-weights show up.

The #1 that won the Big East LOST to an #8 that we beat early in the season. #8 seeds are perfectly good enough to beat anyone on any given night.

That being said, us taking the air out of the ball was certainly not good for my heart.

But we got the W and we got some good end of game experience for this crew going forward. Lots to build on this week in practice.

Survive and advance. The first 2 game tourney is behind us.

SWEET SIXTEEN!!!!! Be excited, its always an accomplishment, take nothing for granted.

[yancem]

Survive and advance but I don't understand why we weren't more aggressive against the zone the last few minutes. We were struggling to stop them on defense yet seemed more content to run clock than score points. With Smith and Irving on the court we should have been able to drive and create but we didn't even try!

Also, I wonder why MP2 was on the bench for so much of the game. Yes Kelly was having a good game but Mason has proven valuable over the last couple of months.

Again, survive and advance. We are going to need better outside shooting or be more aggressive going to the hole if want to keep advancing though.

[_Gary]

Many a champion has squeaked by early in the tourney so maybe this was that one game we got semi-lucky on and it will bode well for the next two weeks. *Fingers crossed*

[Eternal Outlaw]

Looks like critics were correct abou the ACC this year. Our top seeds are struggling against middling seeds. Kinda worrying about when the heavy-weights show up.

Not that I don't think that the ACC was down but this hardly points to it. Pitt went down, San Diego St was taken to extra minutes, and Florida had trouble with UCLA. All the top seeds that have played so far have found battles.

[BlueThru&Thru]

Yes, but every ACC team has struggled against middle to lower seeds. When the big boys i.e. OSU, TX etc come to play, Duke, Heels will have to take ther games to a higher level or go home.

[Bluedevil114]

Looking forward to go out west for a true neutral game. Even if Texas and San Diego State fans are there it still will be better than the UNC bandwagon fans in Charlotte.

Go Duke!!

[hedevil]

Survival! Im excited moving forward. Four days to work out the kinks and come out swinging in the sweet 16.

[hurleyfor3]

Nolan/Kyrie/Kyle/Seth/Ryan... that's our late-game lineup now? Oh well, he's won four more titles than I have.

[InSpades]

Awful playing stall ball against the zone.

One thing I don't get... if you're going to just play stall ball... why do you inbound it immediately as soon as you get it? The game clock is running... the shot clock is not running... why inbound it so fast? You could run 3-4 seconds per inbounds.

The offense was amazing when we were attacking and then we stopped attacking and you saw what happened. Very nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Also, 10 seconds left, up by 1... can we run a play to inbound the ball to our best free throw shooter? Kyrie is the purest free throw shooter I've seen at Duke since JJ.

Survive and advance... but let's play 40 minutes next time.

[Billy Dat]

I am going to try and accentuate the positive. Nolan carried us for a good chunk of the second half, Kyrie looks like he's back to being a core member of the team, the small line-up gave Andre lots of minutes to contribute, etc.

I can't say anything positive about the way we let that 1-3-1 buffudle us, but Kyrie hit a huge bucket when we needed it. Honestly, the way he was shooting free throws, I wanted us to have him on the line at the end.

I don't like our recent history as a 1 or 2 seed when we have a nailbiter in Game 2, but I am going to try and ignore that. On to the Sweet 16, and let's hope Texas/Arizona don't use a 1-3-1.

[buddy]

Hate to say it, but we got outcoached today. The 1-3-1 only had to work for 10 seconds because we took the air out of the ball. Don't know why we did that, because we had no plan to beat the zone. Nolan was unstoppable, until K decided to stop him. But at least it is a win.

[BlueThru&Thru]

Come on, you're Duke. Title Holders etc. What's this I'm thrilled to be "moving on" to the Sweet 16? Instead go gargle to get rid of the taste and hope they play smarter.

[Billy Dat]

Nolan/Kyrie/Kyle/Seth/Ryan... that's our late-game lineup now? Oh well, he's won four more titles than I have.

That line-up was better at stopping their perimeter game...we built the lead going small...I agreed with it until we lost all momentum against that 1-3-1.

[wsb3]

Is it my imagination or were the Plumlees used very little in the second half? I know our offense was bad but I thought once we were up our defense wilted and I just like our defense so much better with the Plumlees in the game.

[Philsfan]

Hard to believe no one had any steals.

[Utley]

I don't know what to make of this one. Felt like a solid effort on our part for the first 35 minutes, especially the first 15 of the 2nd half. It seemed like Michigan hit every shot but the last one from that point out and we got away from what got us that lead. More bad strategy than bad execution but a little bit of both.

We'll need to play all 40 to win from here.

[cspan37421]

My gut reaction is similar to just about everyone here - why play stall ball so early? It felt so boneheaded. But you know what, Coach K knows his basketball, and I would not be surprised if he would say (if we gave him "truth serum") that we simply could not stop Michigan down the stretch, and that our best chance of winning the game was limiting their possessions, which meant we needed to run off clock.

Of course, the shot clock violation was probably not part of that plan, but running off time probably was. We lacked speed on the defensive side. They were blowing by us, and we were not getting back on D after a change in possession quick enough.

Hats off to Kyrie for knowing when to use the glass on a jumper. It's an under-appreciated bit of offensive strategy. Tim Duncan uses it to a very high level; few others do.

[Billy Dat]

come on, you're duke. Title holders etc. What's this i'm thrilled to be "moving on" to the sweet 16? Instead go gargle to get rid of the taste and hope they play smarter.

troll alert

[CAT Blue Devil]

Survival! Im excited moving forward. Four days to work out the kinks and come out swinging in the sweet 16.

Here's to Seth keeping his confidence up; he looked very dejected at the end. Have to give it to UM though, they successfully pushed the game to a contest that highlighted their match-up's, not ours. Survive and advance.

[ChrisP]

Kenpom had us winning 73-62 and I remember noticing that we had 70 pts with over 3 minutes to go and thinking that we would score way more than 73 points today. Guess not. That was not a game that makes me feel good going forward but, hopefully, one full of coachable moments. Hey, look at it this way - at least we won't be overconfident going into the next round...

[TobaMom]

Can anyone tell me why the Plumlees played so little in the second half? Each was doing well in the first. Using the size advantage seemed logical to me, but I may be missing something (like, 900 wins, for instance.) :)

[Dukegbw3]

anyone know if we can watch the post-game press conference anywhere?

[FellowTraveler]

I agree with other posters that we should have gone 2-for-1 with 50 secs to go.

Yes. This. Drove me crazy when I saw [some other team] fail to do this yesterday, drove me crazy today. If you have a lead with a minute left, why would you take the (sizable) chance that the other team would end up with the ball in a position to hit a game-winner at the buzzer?

I know a lot of coaches have a near-religious devotion to "trusting their defense," but having to play end-of-game defense with the game on the line and no chance to get the ball back is not a good position to be in.

[hurley1]

We were hesitant and sluggish.....don't know why mason spent so much time on the bench and kelly spent so much time on the floor.....we can play much better than this, and we better or we are going to get booted.....this team is just not consistently good, even with all this talent...why ???

[hurleyfor3]

Kenpom had us winning 73-62 and I remember noticing that we had 70 pts with over 3 minutes to go and thinking that we would score way more than 73 points today.

I wouldn't surprise me if we were very close to the total number of projected possessions (65) but with Michigan playing far more efficiently than expected.

[Utley]

anyone know if we can watch the post-game press conference anywhere?

http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule

[SCMatt33]

Wow. that was pretty lucky that they didn't take advantage. We fell apart on both ends in the last 10 minutes and got lucky. Up until the last one by Kyrie, the stall-fense was terrible. I like using the stall-fense because we have been really good at it this year, but those were terrible possessions. For it to work, you can't just hold the ball and chuck up a shot at the end, you have to get into the lane for a layup or pass. Nolan has been excellent at that this year, but we didn't do it at all.

At the end of the game, we really fell in love with three's that weren't in the flow of the offense. In the last 7 minutes, Duke only had 5 possessions with a field goal (technically four, but I'm going to count Kyrie's shot as a separate possession since it was a complete reset on an out of bounds rebound with a timeout in between). In those 5 possessions, we took a three on three of them. The other two were the only ones in which we scored (Ryan's put back and Kyrie's short jumper). This isn't the same as when we chuck up too many three's in a game. This was just poor execution. In those possessions, plus some others with turnovers, Duke didn't look for an easy shot at the end of the clock, they just took a three on a catch and turn pass from the point.

Our defense is REALLY GOOD this year, and that's not an exaggeration, but at times, we can fall asleep for three or four minute stretches. We seem to have been more susceptible to large runs (8-0 or more) this year than in the recent past. There's been some games where similar to this one, we had a lead and gave up a big run. Until now, though it hasn't happened to close a game. The most recent one I can think of was in the Clemson game in Cameron, where we looked like we had broken it open early and then all of a sudden, they tied the game. If we get a lead in Anaheim, we CAN'T sit back.

[Duvall]

Come on, you're Duke. Title Holders etc. What's this I'm thrilled to be "moving on" to the Sweet 16? Instead go gargle to get rid of the taste and hope they play smarter.

Oh, this is one of those *bad* tournament wins. My mistake.

[cspan37421]

MP2 was probably out down the stretch because of his FT%. Not sure about MP1, but RK might best him from the line as well - and he can dribble & shoot jumpers more reliably.

I agree, it is befuddling that with the quickness we have at guard, we get very few steals, and none today.

[Dukegbw3]

http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule

Thanks!

[g-money]

Great game. Clark Kellogg pretty much nailed it on the head when he said that a wolverine never dies. But then again, he probably observed that phenomenon first hand in the OSU-Mich Big 10 tournament game.

Awesome work by Kyrie to hit the biggest shot of the game. He also set Andre up for a wide open three just before that, which would have removed all doubt had it gone in.

One minor critique: I think our offense would have been less stagnant against the 1-3-1 down the stretch if we could have kept one of the big men on the court to flash to the middle. To me the concern about poor free throw shooting is something you just have to live with in a tight game.

Beyond that, in K We Trust. Survive and advance baby!!!

[Utley]

That last shot remind anyone of Hayward's 2 pointer in the championship. Came from a different place but both seemed to be in the air forever and good the whole way.

[DukieInBrasil]

Looks like critics were correct abou the ACC this year. Our top seeds are struggling against middling seeds. Kinda worrying about when the heavy-weights show up.

#1 seed Pitt lost already, to an 8 seed. #10 seed FSU got the upset win. UNC has won its 2 games so far as a #2 seed (semi- :-( ). I wouldn't say that your assertion can be said to be valid due to a Duke win.

[BlueThru&Thru]

No, tournament wins are better than losses. However, depending on how they were achieved, close struggles can cause problems with confidence in future games.

[sporthenry]

I don't know how this game makes the critics right about the ACC. From here on out, almost every game is exclusively featuring top 25-30 teams. Michigan kept it close with KU, Syracuse, and OSU. So its not embarrassing to struggle with a team like that. At this point, winning is all that matters.

And UNC struggling with Washington was somewhat expected. UW was a very good team. Florida struggled with UCLA, Pitt struggled a bit with Butler. SDSU struggled with Temple. The biggest wins were BYU over Zaga and Richmond over a 13 seed. But nobody remembers how many points Duke beat Cal by last year, they only remember who won the last game.

[TwiceDuke]

Can anyone tell me why the Plumlees played so little in the second half? Each was doing well in the first. Using the size advantage seemed logical to me, but I may be missing something (like, 900 wins, for instance.) :)


The Plumlees were not helping the team on defense. Michigan's lineup was just too small and too quick for us to go big. It worked well in the first half when Michigan was playing man and giving up offensive boards. In addition, in the first half Michigan looked a bit more tentative on offense.

In the second half, that all changed. Michigan changed defensive schemes and played a lot more aggressively on offense. I liked the small lineup for us - if anyone had decided to step up. Unfortunately, this was just one of those games where shots were not falling at the end.

Speaking of shots not falling, Kyle's been short on just about everything for the last three weeks. Anyone know when he last saw an optometrist?

[GLTBD]

Is it okay to breathe now? Give MI credit they never gave up. Let's go DUKE !

[CAT Blue Devil]

Has K already done his press conference?

[Dr. Tina]

I also thought that we started stall ball way too early. We had them in the double bonus and didn't try to attack to get higher % shots or draw fouls. Waiting till the clock ticks down to 12 seconds was just flat out stupid. We seemed befuddled about what to do...so much so that I was wondering what K was telling them in the huddle.

Thank God we have Kyrie back because his driving and drawing fouls lead to many points on free throws. Also, his only field goal of the game was money. I think Kyrie and Nolan should have been doing more of that at the end.

Also, I want to know why K kept the Plumlees off the floor for large stretches of the 2nd half. My only guess may have to do with their poor free throwing or something, but really...we had the size and could have utilized it a lot better.

Survive and advance, but this one wasn't pretty for the last 4 minutes or so...that's for sure!

[InSpades]

Yes. This. Drove me crazy when I saw [some other team] fail to do this yesterday, drove me crazy today. If you have a lead with a minute left, why would you take the (sizable) chance that the other team would end up with the ball in a position to hit a game-winner at the buzzer?

I don't really mind running some clock at that point. If you're up by 1 then the other team isn't going to hold for the last shot (9 times out of 10 atleast). They are going to try to score and give themselves the chance to foul if they don't score. So you're getting 2 for 1 regardless of what you do there I think.

I never thought I'd see Duke w/ Plumlee x2 and Singler on the bench w/ 8 minutes left in a tense game. When Andre Dawkins is on the low blocks rebounding for a free throw then you know you've gone really really small. I don't see why Duke went so small. It seemed like the Plumlees were doing a pretty good job 'causing havok near the rim at both ends of the floor. Maybe K was afraid of all the good looks at 3s that we gave up in the 1st half. Either way... the small defense didn't seem to be too effective either.

[BlueThru&Thru]

BYU, if they continue to play like they did against the Zags, will be very tough.

[NashvilleDevil]

Yes the stall ball was started way to early but I think the moment that Singler got that 4th foul was when Duke started to look less confident on offense. Liked seeing Kyrie hit that big pull up off the glass. Wish one of Dre's threes would have dropped but glad he was not afraid to take the shots. Kelly stepped up in a big way in the 2nd half, got a couple of big put backs. Duke's D got beat a couple of teams on the screen and roll between Morris and Morgan. Don't know why the Plumlees sat so much in the 2nd half thought they would play so Duke could take advantage of their height underneath.

Tennessee or Michigan scared me this round. Tennessee because of their overall athleticism and if they played their A game Duke was going to have trouble. And Michigan is such a well coached team that does not get rattled and when their threes are dropping it gets them going. I think Duke will do fine against the remaining teams. Now that Coach K has won his 900th maybe the kids won't play as tight.

[taiw93]

I really did not understand our late-game strategy here. I would have liked to see the Plumlees play more late (it seemed like they were dominant when they were in) and us to be more aggressive down the stretch. The stall-ball made no sense to me.

But with that said, Nolan was superb, Kyrie is improving by the day (and hit a CLUTCH shot), and Kelly was rock-solid. I guess, as they say, survive and advance.

[cspan37421]

I'm not worried about their confidence; we have a lot of weapons and the burden is pretty widely distributed. Like a loss, a close win can also lead you to patch problems in your game you didn't know you had, or would not as easily recognize in a comfortable win.

That's why I wanted us to see UNC in the ACCT Championship. We needed to be tested by what was then a team playing as well as anyone in the country.

[sporthenry]

And the Plumlees weren't out there b/c they didn't matchup well. Kelly was having a good game and I think his defense is better than Masons in terms of keeping the guy in front of him. I think K was afraid of the constant switching and getting an MP on a shooter.

While stall ball will always piss me off, the team never seemed to worry and they knew what they were doing. KI showed some rust but better now than next game. But what really pissed me off was not having a hand up on Novak the whole game. He should never have gotten that many open 3's in the first half.

[tendev]

I don't know about coaching basketball but it seems logical that the stall is not as effective against the zone because you need to attack the zone with dribble drive and then a pass. This takes time to initiate. You need to start the attack earlier (20 secs on the clock) in order to get a good shot. You can't dribble down to 10 secs and then go 1 on 5.

On top of that the players start to think when they are standing there dribbling. They are human. They get nervous.

[Dr. Tina]

Has K already done his press conference?

No, you can find it here in a few...

http://www.wsfl.com/streamer/index.php?displaystreamer=true

[ChrisP]

This was just a weird game. 41 fouls were called. Compare that to 29 in the UNC-UW game. That's the same number (29) that were called in the DOUBLE OT game between SDSU and Temple. Only 36 were called in the Pitt-Butler upset.

Not sure what my point is here, exactly except to say that this was a weird game in many ways. Let's hope we don't see it's like again. I will say that I wouldn't have predicted a win with us shooting 5-20 from three pt range.

[Newton_14]

Has K already done his press conference?

CBS Sports Channel will carry it in just a few minutes. The Michigan presser just ended.

[NashvilleDevil]

don't know why mason spent so much time on the bench and kelly spent so much time on the floor

I thought Kelly played well in the 2nd half. Had a number of big shots at big moments for Duke. He did have some breakdowns defensively but those shots by him were huge.

[DukeGirl4ever]

Can anyone tell me why the Plumlees played so little in the second half? Each was doing well in the first. Using the size advantage seemed logical to me, but I may be missing something (like, 900 wins, for instance.) :)


I was frustrated with this as well. I thought we could have used that size advantage against the 1-3-1 especially with the alley-oop and Kyrie's court vision. I also think it would have helped having at least one Plumlee on the defensive end to be a bit of an intimidator with the shot block. I felt by going small we played to their strength.

I also didn't like the switching on EVERYTHING including the bigs. I understand switching with the guards but there was way too many times that Michigan had mismatches because of a high ball screen. I felt that our bigs should have stepped back and let the guards slide through.

I'm just venting...I can't question a 900 win coach, but I'm scratching my head on a few of these things.

[NashvilleDevil]

However, depending on how they were achieved, close struggles can cause problems with confidence in future games.

Or they can make the team better and give them plenty of confidence going forward.

[Chris Randolph]

Yes, but every ACC team has struggled against middle to lower seeds. When the big boys i.e. OSU, TX etc come to play, Duke, Heels will have to take ther games to a higher level or go home.

I believe every team that advances to the sweet 16 will have to raise their game to a higher level

[dukebluelemur]

Also, I wonder why MP2 was on the bench for so much of the game. Yes Kelly was having a good game but Mason has proven valuable over the last couple of months.


Mason was making some really sloppy decisions with the ball, he had close to half our team turnovers, in spite of limited minutes.

[Chitowndevil]

Wow, that was just a strange last 5 minutes. Michigan started trapping out of the 1-3-1 and it really seemed to bother us. Not sure why, that's a pretty standard look for them though they hadn't really used it until then. We were throwing the ball back and forth 35 feet from the basket and tossing up deep 3s. I think (and I often don't trust my memory when I'm this emotionally keyed) our only two FG in the last 4:30 were Kelly's putback and KI's game winning floater off glass. Other than that I'm not sure we even had a shot attempt from inside 17 feet. It just seemed very strange after we were getting whatever we wanted driving to the basket for much of the second half. That's about the least fun I've had watching a Duke win this year, but it sure beats the ever living heck out of the alternative.

[FellowTraveler]

My gut reaction is similar to just about everyone here - why play stall ball so early? It felt so boneheaded. But you know what, Coach K knows his basketball, and I would not be surprised if he would say (if we gave him "truth serum") that we simply could not stop Michigan down the stretch, and that our best chance of winning the game was limiting their possessions, which meant we needed to run off clock.

The other way to approach a situation in which you feel you cannot stop the other team from scoring is to make sure you score. Ideally, of course, you'd do both -- run down the clock and score more points.

The best way to do that with this team, in my opinion, is to run 15-20 (not 25) seconds off the shot clock, then look to score, and do so via dribble-drives by Kyrie and Nolan. Initiating such a drive with 20-15 seconds left on the shot clock, rather than 10, allows enough time for Plan B if the initial drive is stymied, and for 2 passes if the D collapses on the driver.

Waiting until 10 on the shot clock and trying to score by tossing the ball around the perimeter is a reliable way to run down the clock, but seems unlikely to result in points.

For years, my concern hasn't been that Duke starts taking the air out of the ball too early in the game; it's been that they take too much out per possession. If you aren't going to initiate until 10 seconds left, you better have a Jason Williams-type player who can reliably get a quality shot off at any time. Such players are exceedingly rare. Nolan is almost there. Kyrie could be. Nobody else Duke has had in years has that ability, so they should initiate a little sooner.

[House G]

BYU, if they continue to play like they did against the Zags, will be very tough.

? relevance

[CDu]

Whew. That was too close for comfort. Glad it's over and we're moving on. Hopefully we play better against whomever we face next week. Thank you to Smith for that big burst early in the second half. It's too bad we couldn't keep the lead comfortable. 58-43 seemed to have us in really good position. Thankfully Michigan just couldn't quite get over the hump.

There's no such thing as a bad win in the NCAA tournament. I definitely hope we play better, because we'll have to do so to keep winning. But for now, a win is a win, and we're moving on. One more goal has been achieved!

[CoachJ10]

Sir Charles actually had a good post game comment. Duke has shown they are at its best this season with Nolan dominating the ball. In the last 8 minutes of our stall ball...#2 did not have the rock enough.

[BattierBattalion]

Someone correct me here if need be, but we haven't had a close game (decided by last possession) in a LONG time where we won. I also think this reminds our guys that they aren't invincible. You have to play hard all game.

Some other thoughts:
1.) We still haven't figured out to integrate Kyrie offensively. This is completely understandable seeing how he's only played two games. He and Nolan both now need the ball in their hands to be effective.
2.) One of the worst games by Mason in recent memory. Just completely befuddled on the defensive end and made a lot of mistakes on the offensive one.
3.) The extended man-to-man just didn't work. The point is to force turnovers, but that didn't happen after 10 minutes into the game.

[duke4ever19]

Yes, but every ACC team has struggled against middle to lower seeds. When the big boys i.e. OSU, TX etc come to play, Duke, Heels will have to take ther games to a higher level or go home.

Didn't this same Michigan team play OSU tough 2 times losing 64-68 in the middle of the season and make it to the championship game only to play OSU tough again?

I think they also played Kansas to overtime this year.

I think you would say that Kansas and OSU are two pretty good teams. In fact, you named OSU as a "big boy" team. So either you must abandon your assertion that OSU is a "big boy" team (since they have also struggled with UM a few times this year) or admit that this perhaps Michigan is a pretty gutsy team that can on any given night take a "big boy team" down to the wire.

[tendev]

The strategy of limiting possessions works really well, even when you don't score as much, when your defense can get stops. The defense at the end was weak. Maybe the tight officiating was taking us away from playing hard on the defensive end. Regardless, the inability to put Michigan away is a troubling sign.

[wsb3]

Using some clock against man to man is one thing because you can get the matchups you want hopefully and exploit that, but against this zone... different story.

[jdk]

Hard to believe no one had any steals.

I know I saw Kyrie make a steal in the 2nd half.

[loldevilz]

I haven't be a fan as long a some people here so I was wondering if this is what Coach K normally does.

He completely changed the way we played in the second half putting out four guards at times and holding the ball till we could barely run a play.

In the 3 years that I've been a fan I haven't ever seen him do anything like what he did today. It seemed to me like suicide to stop playing your game.

[sporthenry]

And a bunch of teams have had similar close wins in the early tournament. In '09, MSU won by 5 in their 2nd round. In '08, Memphis won by 3 and was a FT away from a vacated title. So I wouldn't take too much credence into this close loss apart from stall ball. This was a gimmicky team who Duke won't face a team like this again.

[dukeblue4ever]

I know I saw Kyrie make a steal in the 2nd half.That was the only steal in the entire game.

[Dukegbw3]

coach k on the post-game press conference just said that we weren't in a designed delay offense even though that's kind of what it looked like. He stated that they went into a 1-3-1 and alluded to the fact that we haven't seen that defensive style very often, only had 2.5 practices with kyrie to prepare, and our guards were having trouble figuring out how to attack it....and Michigan was executing well.

[Dukeface88]

The other way to approach a situation in which you feel you cannot stop the other team from scoring is to make sure you score. Ideally, of course, you'd do both -- run down the clock and score more points.

The best way to do that with this team, in my opinion, is to run 15-20 (not 25) seconds off the shot clock, then look to score, and do so via dribble-drives by Kyrie and Nolan. Initiating such a drive with 20-15 seconds left on the shot clock, rather than 10, allows enough time for Plan B if the initial drive is stymied, and for 2 passes if the D collapses on the driver.

Waiting until 10 on the shot clock and trying to score by tossing the ball around the perimeter is a reliable way to run down the clock, but seems unlikely to result in points.

For years, my concern hasn't been that Duke starts taking the air out of the ball too early in the game; it's been that they take too much out per possession. If you aren't going to initiate until 10 seconds left, you better have a Jason Williams-type player who can reliably get a quality shot off at any time. Such players are exceedingly rare. Nolan is almost there. Kyrie could be. Nobody else Duke has had in years has that ability, so they should initiate a little sooner.

I think you hit the nail on the head here; if not generally, then at least with regard to Michigan's zone. We were using up quite a bit of shot-clock even when weren't trying to take the air out. We needed more time to break down the zone and get good looks; as it was, the offense stagnated and we ended up with contested jump shots (and in one case, not even one of those).

I also think Kyrie in particular needs to be aggressive in that situation. He hadn't been hitting his FGs, but he was able to force Michigan to foul. Hopefully, the aggression will come with more court-time.

Edit: One thing that puzzles me about our stall-ball is that there is very little movement before the ball-handler initiates. Even if we decided to pass up any shots, the additional movement and screening would help keep the defense honest.

[Chris Randolph]

I basically could quote just about this entire thread, anyways......

Some of you take winning for granted way too easily. We are in the sweet 16, again and now we are questioning a coach who is going to be the winningest in the history of the game (maybe this year). Not to mention a coach who has 4 national titles. And yes Kyrie hasn't been integrated back in that well yet. Duh, its his first two games back in 3 months!!! Geez people, really think about things before you post them

Yes, I would have loved a little more urgency in the final 5 minutes. But Michigan made great plays, give em credit. We didn't, but found a way to win with Kyrie's shot going down

I'm sorry that some of you are so negative that you miss out on the joy of still being alive for the title. I understand you may have concerns, but some of them are borderline idiotic

[Zerogee]

One very interesting stat - Kyrie Irving, 1-4, >11 points<. As a Laker fan in LA, people are always talking about Kobe's "points per shot" - when he's at 1.5 points per shot taken, the team usually does well. Redick, similarly, once had amazing game where he scored 41 points on only 13 shots.

So although Kyrie didn't look nearly as dynamic as he did at the end of the game on Friday, 2.75 points per shot is amazingly efficient. I was terrified at the end of that game, but (tickets willing) I'll be at Anaheim on Thursday confidently cheering them on.

[cspan37421]

The other way to approach a situation in which you feel you cannot stop the other team from scoring is to make sure you score. Ideally, of course, you'd do both -- run down the clock and score more points.

The best way to do that with this team, in my opinion, ...

Sounds right to me, but I'm not a BB coach. I'm sure our coaches know what strategy is best; sometimes it's easier said than done (on the court). Perhaps something was said in Coach K's presser about the last few minutes and our strategy (probably juxtaposed with our execution thereof).

One thought that crossed my mind is the difference between our Thurs game and this one. It was said that KI was mostly practicing with the second team, and IIRC he ended up finishing our mop-up vs. Hampton with that team, playing rather well. In this game, he often played alongside Nolan, in the place of Seth or Andre. Perhaps he is not yet integrated well with our first team - given that his role and skill set is much like what Nolan has been doing all year.

[House G]

BYU, if they continue to play like they did against the Zags, will be very tough.


Someone correct me here if need be, but we haven't had a close game (decided by last possession) in a LONG time where we won. I also think this reminds our guys that they aren't invincible. You have to play hard all game.

Some other thoughts:
1.) We still haven't figured out to integrate Kyrie offensively. This is completely understandable seeing how he's only played two games. He and Nolan both now need the ball in their hands to be effective.
2.) One of the worst games by Mason in recent memory. Just completely befuddled on the defensive end and made a lot of mistakes on the offensive one.
3.) The extended man-to-man just didn't work. The point is to force turnovers, but that didn't happen after 10 minutes into the game.

When Mason tries to post his man up, I cringe everytime. He just doesn't seem to have a legitimate move yet.

[sporthenry]

I think the team was also jittery b/c this was pretty much their first game. Mason looked completely uncomfortable with a smaller guy on him and they had some unforced TO's. I think when Duke faces a more traditional team, they will be better off.

[Dukegbw3]

I think the team was also jittery b/c this was pretty much their first game. Mason looked completely uncomfortable with a smaller guy on him and they had some unforced TO's. I think when Duke faces a more traditional team, they will be better off.

Agreed. Sounds like according to coach K's comments we were a little unprepared for the 1-3-1 (i.e. having minimal time w/ Kyrie back) and were winging it a little on offense at the end.

I like the fact we have a few good days of practice with Kyrie to solidify his role in the offense. Still think that Nolan should be our go to guy and Kyle should consider giving up any semi-contested 3 pointer for the rest of the tournament and take his man to the basket.

[OZ]

What I remember about today is that we got the lead when Nolan played the point and HAD THE BALL. With practice, I suspect we will get better, but, in this game, the team seemed disjointed and uncertain with KI at the point. I don't mean to sound ungrateful - I am thrilled to have KI back - but we just seemed to do better when Nolan was in charge. He is our best player and the one who makes things happen when we need them. I was in Greensboro and watched a team that had "found that missing link" and was on a roll. That team was missing today.

We move on.. that's the plan...

[Jeff Frosh]

We won. We advance. Get a grip. Everything else is irrelevant. All is well.

[moonpie23]

i hope everyone thinking we were a "lock" for the 4 or the title even got a good dose of reality today...Kyrie played pretty well, but his only basket wound up closing escrow..

EVERY game is going to be tough EVERY game.....

[FellowTraveler]

Silver lining:

Kyrie and Andre* got their first extended crunch-time minutes in an elimination situation; Ryan and Seth both played more such minutes than they have previously. The last ~10 minutes of the game didn't go particularly well, but several players got some (hopefully) valuable experience.

* I don't remember Andre playing significant second-half minutes during last year's tourney, though I could be mistaken, and he obviously played a key role against Baylor.

[gwlaw99]

I have learned over the years to hold my breath and accept stall ball. Coach K has not won 900 without knowing exactly what he is doing.

But, the way to beat a 1 3 1 zone is ball movement as the zone can't rotate as fast as the ball. This takes time to work so you need to start ball movement early in the clock. We did this in the first half and got wide open shots. So its not like our guys weren't prepared for it. Ball movement would have both run time off the clock and broke down the zone. Not sure why K played it the way he did especially after we couldn't do anything against the zone with 10 seconds on the clock. But what the heck do I know ? :)

[JohnGalt]

I really did not understand our late-game strategy here. I would have liked to see the Plumlees play more late (it seemed like they were dominant when they were in) and us to be more aggressive down the stretch. The stall-ball made no sense to me.

But with that said, Nolan was superb, Kyrie is improving by the day (and hit a CLUTCH shot), and Kelly was rock-solid. I guess, as they say, survive and advance.

I agree with the Plums comment, but K mentioned in his post-game remarks that there was no Delay Offense called, at least from the bench. I think the slow down in tempo - aka the perceived "Stall Ball" - was more a function of (a) Duke's lack of familiarity with Michigan's 1-3-1 and (b) Duke's unusual line-up of Kelly, Kyle w/ 3 guards. Fewer effective high-post screens hurt Duke's dribble-drive game resulting in less penetrating on offense.


Sir Charles actually had a good post game comment. Duke has shown they are at its best this season with Nolan dominating the ball. In the last 8 minutes of our stall ball...#2 did not have the rock enough.

True, but Kyrie had 9 free throws and the game winning bucket. His ability to get into the paint really, really, really opens things up the rest of the way. I agree Duke is at its best with Nolan dominating the ball...but working Kyrie into the equation is huge for us the rest of the way.
________

Either way I think that's a fabulous win for Duke. Michigan is a talented, young, well-coached team that has a high ceiling in the near future. Solid win. Go Duke!

[No Cute Name]

Chin up. A win is a win. We played well and had the game under control until around the time Singler got his 4th foul (need to see the replay on that one) and at the end everything went wrong. I also would have liked to attack earlier but we still could have scored, just didn't, and Michigan hit a lot of shots. Consider the alternative and enjoy the rest of the third [sic] round. :)

[cspan37421]

Looking at the box score:

UM had 7 steals to our 1 (ouch)
UM hit 91% from the line (72% for us ... not bad but not great. KI 90%; rest of team 60%. Guess who won't be fouled in a late game situation?)
arguably, UM defended the 3 from us well - we hit only 25%.
UM had only 7 turnovers (we had 10)

OTOH:

UM went cold from 3. At one point they were 5 of 9; they then went 2 of 12 the rest of the way.
We outrebounded them by 13 - yet they still put up 4 more shots than we did (see above on steals & TOs)

[Chris Randolph]

What I remember about today is that we got the lead when Nolan played the point and HAD THE BALL. With practice, I suspect we will get better, but, in this game, the team seemed disjointed and uncertain with KI at the point. I don't mean to sound ungrateful - I am thrilled to have KI back - but we just seemed to do better when Nolan was in charge. He is our best player and the one who makes things happen when we need them. I was in Greensboro and watched a team that had "found that missing link" and was on a roll. That team was missing today.

We move on.. that's the plan...

While I do agree with some of your post that Nolan is so good with the ball I will argue this: The team that was in Greensboro, might not have won a game like this WHEN NOT HITTING 3's. Much like today, whenever we had a game in which the 3 point shots weren't falling, Nolan would still get his. But the difference today was Kyrie's ability to draw foulds earn 9 points at the foul line and his 2 pointer at the end.

The coaches, who are national and world championship coaches, said "a team with Kyrie Irving is better than a team without him." I trust them

[dukeman28428]

i could not agree more. Stall ball when you have irving and smith. Does not make sense to me. The 1-3-1 really took us out of our offense. The middle of our defense was wide open all day long.

Survive and move on. Go duke!!

next play.....we will do better next time and we are alive and moving on toward the final four

[Kfanarmy]

Looks like critics were correct abou the ACC this year. Our top seeds are struggling against middling seeds. Kinda worrying about when the heavy-weights show up. like the heavy weights from the Big East?

[marinbobbyduhon]

Chin up. A win is a win. We played well and had the game under control until around the time Singler got his 4th foul (need to see the replay on that one) and at the end everything went wrong. I also would have liked to attack earlier but we still could have scored, just didn't, and Michigan hit a lot of shots. Consider the alternative and enjoy the rest of the third [sic] round. :)

As someone mentioned earlier, also; our game seemed to go south shortly after Kyle picked up his 4th foul. Kyle does so many of the small things that are important to our success, and it usually hurts our flow as a team when he is out of the line-up. Thankfully Kyrie, Nolan, and Kelly stepped up big at the end.

I am anxious to see who we will be playing. I think we match up better with Arizona, but I am just happy we are moving on.:o

[davekay1971]

coach k on the post-game press conference just said that we weren't in a designed delay offense even though that's kind of what it looked like. He stated that they went into a 1-3-1 and alluded to the fact that we haven't seen that defensive style very often, only had 2.5 practices with kyrie to prepare, and our guards were having trouble figuring out how to attack it....and Michigan was executing well.

That's about as simple and accurate a way to break down the last 6+ minutes of the game as I can imagine. We were out of synch, befuddled by the 1-3-1, had a guard out there who is still trying to reintegrate with our normal offense now also trying to work his way through the 1-3-1, and an opponent who has been surging the last 2 months of the season who was playing very, very well.

We were fortunate to advance, but advance we did. We now have four days to practice with Kyrie reintegrating more completely into our team game.

The road gets no easier, but I suspect we see a better Duke team next weekend than we saw today.

[DonnyDevil]

Nuff said. It's March... advancing is all that matters now. Yes we could have finished better at the end, but we won and we are still playing. Go Devils!!

[Kfanarmy]

I don't know how this game makes the critics right about the ACC. From here on out, almost every game is exclusively featuring top 25-30 teams. Michigan kept it close with KU, Syracuse, and OSU. So its not embarrassing to struggle with a team like that. At this point, winning is all that matters.

And UNC struggling with Washington was somewhat expected. UW was a very good team. Florida struggled with UCLA, Pitt struggled a bit with Butler. SDSU struggled with Temple. The biggest wins were BYU over Zaga and Richmond over a 13 seed. But nobody remembers how many points Duke beat Cal by last year, they only remember who won the last game. A close win here doesn't bother me, that team was half a dozen or so points away from being a lot higher seed; however the stall ball really took the sharpness out of the O and was ALMOST a mistake today...almost.

[tendev]

I got the sense that every time we got a double digit lead, we sort of relaxed, thinking that Michigan was just going to go away. They are a good team and when a good team has its back against the wall, they have nothing to lose. They relax and they start hitting shots. Then, the favorite starts to think and gets tight.

[mgtr]

I don't understand why, against Michigan, we didn't play our own sort of zone, with four guys out and Mason Plumlee hanging around under the basket. Then they have to try to beat us with jumpshots, not with layups. But, as another said, I have won 900 fewer games than Coach K. So a W is a W -- next game.

[dukestheheat]

Or they can make the team better and give them plenty of confidence going forward.

'survive and advance' and that's what we did today. I don't care if we win by 42 or by 1, it only takes one point to survive and advance. We absorbed a good push by a very determined team and held on for the win and we lived for another day. This Thursday night all we're going to remember is 'we're here!'

We have Superman as coach and he'll figure a way to get the Devils one more point than Texas or Arizona will score next Thursday night; K has FORGOTTEN more about playing deep in the NCAA than either coach coming up may ever learn so let's trust K to build off of this one. I am.

dukestheheat.

[Deladev]

No more eight minutes of stall ball, please. Particularly when the momentum is shifting.

I almost feel guilty walking away from this one with a win.


I feel nothing but PRIDE. As a matter of fact, I am proud of Michigan, as well as Duke.
Both teams and both coaches gave everything they had until the final buzzer.Thanks to the Spartan's and thanks to the Blue Devils for a tremendous display of skills, heart and guts.

Deladev for Duke

[Spam Filter]

People who thought we were going to blow Michigan out are the ones smoking crack.

They lost to Kansas in OT, lost to OSU 3 times in single digits, lost to Wisconsin by a point, and just came off the most lopsided win in an 8-9 game in the history of the tournament.

They are clearly a well coached team that knows how to execute and will find a way to stay in the game regardless of the opponent.

Just be glad we won and move on.

[simmias]

Thanks to the Spartan's
Dude, that's like calling Duke the Tarheels.

[Steve68]

coach k on the post-game press conference just said that we weren't in a designed delay offense even though that's kind of what it looked like. He stated that they went into a 1-3-1 and alluded to the fact that we haven't seen that defensive style very often, only had 2.5 practices with kyrie to prepare, and our guards were having trouble figuring out how to attack it....and Michigan was executing well.

I can't believe he said that. We had two guards way up high, dribbling the ball with no obvious intent of attacking the zone. They passed the ball between themselves most of the time and only went toward the basket with the ball when trapped - then the return pass restarted the dribbling action 35 feet from the basket again. I don't think the 1-3-1 stopped us - we stopped us by not attacking. We know how to attack a 1-3-1 and we didn't even try until less than 10 seconds remained on the shot clock. That had to be called from the bench. There is no way the players decided among themselves not to attack until 10 seconds remained that many times. I am not questioning K's integrity - I just don't understand why he would say that.

[BD80]

I agree with other posters that we should have gone 2-for-1 with 50 secs to go.

With Scheyer last year I think we would have.


Looking forward to go out west for a true neutral game. Even if Texas and San Diego State fans are there it still will be better than the UNC bandwagon fans in Charlotte.

Go Duke!!

Amen


Nolan/Kyrie/Kyle/Seth/Ryan... that's our late-game lineup now? Oh well, he's won four more titles than I have.

Best combination of ball-handling, free throw shooting, defense and rebounding. I concur.


... Now that Coach K has won his 900th maybe the kids won't play as tight.

It takes 898 or so to shake the nerves.

[Kfanarmy]

...For years, my concern hasn't been that Duke starts taking the air out of the ball too early in the game; it's been that they take too much out per possession... That's really the art isn't it, limiting opponents opportunities while scoring enough points to maintain a lead is the purpose. How much time you CAN AFFORD to take per possession is the key. So far so good, notwithstanding the heart palpatations.

[uh_no]

That had to be called from the bench. There is no way the players decided among themselves not to attack until 10 seconds remained that many times. I am not questioning K's integrity

I'm pretty sure you just called K a liar actually....I don't think you're giving enough credit to michigan's defense...No doubt the players knew the game situation and probably felt very little pressure....being up with under like 8 minutes to play was stall ball time last year, and I have no doubt players like kyle and nolan would move into that mode, regardless of the call from the bench

[Chris Randolph]

Much of the credit for Michigan's comeback should be given to their head athletic trainer. The tape job he did on Tim Hardaway Jr's ankles worked magically. Kid played great down the stretch

Rollin with Nolan baby!!!!!!

[Bluedog]

I can't believe he said that. We had two guards way up high, dribbling the ball with no obvious intent of attacking the zone. They passed the ball between themselves most of the time and only went toward the basket with the ball when trapped - then the return pass restarted the dribbling action 35 feet from the basket again. I don't think the 1-3-1 stopped us - we stopped us by not attacking. We know how to attack a 1-3-1 and we didn't even try until less than 10 seconds remained on the shot clock. That had to be called from the bench. There is no way the players decided among themselves not to attack until 10 seconds remained that many times. I am not questioning K's integrity - I just don't understand why he would say that.


I'm pretty sure you just called K a liar actually....I don't think you're giving enough credit to michigan's defense...No doubt the players knew the game situation and probably felt very little pressure....being up with under like 8 minutes to play was stall ball time last year, and I have no doubt players like kyle and nolan would move into that mode, regardless of the call from the bench

Guys, Coach K was saying he didn't call for stall ball on the last couple possessions when it was under a minute or so to play. However, he did call for stall ball with under about 4 min to play.

[wilson]

Guys, Coach K was saying he didn't call for stall ball on the last couple possessions when it was under a minute or so to play. However, he did call for stall ball with under about 4 min to play.This, I think, is why so many of us question the wisdom of going to stall ball with 15-20% of the game yet to be played. If you fail to execute a couple of times, or even if you do execute and just happen to miss a couple of shots, all of a sudden the other team can creep back into the game (especially when the total number of possessions is relatively low and the margin isn't huge to begin with), and it can be very difficult to just turn the offense back on. I think this is exactly what we saw today.

[gumbomoop]

We were fortunate to advance, but advance we did. We now have four days to practice with Kyrie reintegrating more completely into our team game.

I don't know whether my question here is important or not, but I'd be interested in what others know about Duke's immediate travel plans.

Do we really have 4 practice days? Seems unlikely. I assume they'll practice sometime tomorrow, and either fly west tomorrow late aft, or sometime Tuesday. So I wonder: (1) when they fly west, and (2) how many practices they actually have before the game Thursday. BTW, that the West region is a Thurs/Sat deal is a slight disadvantage here, IMO. Just the luck of the draw, but having to travel and get used to WDT, plus having one fewer day to practice - not preferable .... except for an unpleasant alternative.

[MaxAMillion]

I don't think people are focusing nearly enough on how limited the preparation time was for the UM 1-3-1 defense. I think the team did struggle when facing it. The pressure of the game impacted the way the team handled it as well.

My concern now goes to how Irving will be used going forward. Will he be the dominant ball handler or will it be Smith? Whose minutes go down and how will that player react? I am not suggesting that a player will have a bad attitude, but I think it is possible that players can lose confidence if they struggle early and then go to the bench (in this case Curry).

This really is a delicate balance that K has to play with the team going forward. I think the article posted on this site earlier in the week regarding the struggles that UNC had trying to reintroduce Kenny Smith to the team, is one that has merit. I am just not sure how these pieces will fit in together going forward.

It really is too bad that Irving got hurt this year. Duke could have been even better this year if they had him fully implemented into the gameplan every night with bench roles clearly defined.

[Kfanarmy]

Arguably Duke has four guys who have a good enough handle to dribble into the zone. It seemed at times they were all expecting someone else to do it. That may have something to do with the reintroduction of Kyrie. After Nolan's one man show early in the second half, someone else needed to pick up the attack while he caught his breath, and it seemed everyone was waiting for someone else to do it...just my impression. I really don't think that will happen again.

[NashvilleDevil]

People who thought we were going to blow Michigan out are the ones smoking crack.

They lost to Kansas in OT, lost to OSU 3 times in single digits, lost to Wisconsin by a point, and just came off the most lopsided win in an 8-9 game in the history of the tournament.

They are clearly a well coached team that knows how to execute and will find a way to stay in the game regardless of the opponent.

Just be glad we won and move on.

A friend of mine texted me after Pitt lost that 1 big team was out of the way for Duke. I had to respond that to me Michigan was a big team and I am glad Duke did not look forward to the next game like my friend.

[Saratoga2]

Matchups in this game were interesting. Seth has gotten better defensively this year but he can struggle on both offense and defense against some guards. He had significant PT but really was not a positive factor today.

Mason looked nervous and was not good at all at securing the ball. We had a really significant edge in size with the Plumlees in but they are turnover prone against the quicker defenders. Their foul shooting has also cooled off again and may cost us a game some day.

Kyle played a terrific game, but he is just not hitting from the 3 point line. Better to accept that and avoid the three than to rack up a 25% rate.

Clearly we had trouble adapting to the zone. Hard to believe Duke hadn't practiced that. We also had trouble stopping their open 3's. It was better in the second half. Andre was a better matchup than Seth on defense.

All that said, Kyrie is back and does make an impact in the game. His ball handling, passing and scoring all helped us greatly and will continue to do so. Nolan played very well as did Ryan. I liked the lineup at the end of the game with Kyrie, Nolan, Andre, Kyle and Ryan. All are good with the ball and can shoot free throws and all are an offensive threat. That lineup may not be optimal agaiinst teams with larger front lines, but with the Plumlees, we can quickly adapt to that. Good that we won, however, we really had the game put away and lost focus at the end. I too dislike the slowdown game. It was ineffective. Coach K did say that wasn't the plan, it just happened.

[DukeDiva]

I like this win...I believe that even though we had a meltdown with the 1-3-1 we fought hard and came out with a win. Yes I do have some complaints, but all in all I think this was just a bad match up for us and I liked how we stuck with it and got it done. Plus I just want to say even though I love all the guys, Nolan Smith amazes me every time he takes the court. Go Duke!

[ncexnyc]

I'm not sure what some of you were watching, but I was watching a college basketball game. The last time I heard anything about the rules the winners were determined by who had the most points at the sound of the horn. They don't give out style points and 10 years from now when we talk about our 2011 Championship team, no one will remember the 2 point win over Michigan.

[MartyClark]

I don't think people are focusing nearly enough on how limited the preparation time was for the UM 1-3-1 defense. I think the team did struggle when facing it. The pressure of the game impacted the way the team handled it as well.

My concern now goes to how Irving will be used going forward. Will he be the dominant ball handler or will it be Smith? Whose minutes go down and how will that player react? I am not suggesting that a player will have a bad attitude, but I think it is possible that players can lose confidence if they struggle early and then go to the bench (in this case Curry).

This really is a delicate balance that K has to play with the team going forward. I think the article posted on this site earlier in the week regarding the struggles that UNC had trying to reintroduce Kenny Smith to the team, is one that has merit. I am just not sure how these pieces will fit in together going forward.

It really is too bad that Irving got hurt this year. Duke could have been even better this year if they had him fully implemented into the gameplan every night with bench roles clearly defined.

Whew!! DVRed the game, just finished watching it.

I am very interested to see what Coach K does with Nolan and Kyrie's roles and minutes for the next game. I have confidence in Coach K's strategy and also think Kyrie will probably be a bit better on Thursday.

Arizona is up by 9 - Bring 'em on. Or the Longhorns for that matter.

[Blue_Devil03]

anyone who where i can see the post-game press conference?

[tommy]

this team is just not consistently good, even with all this talent...why ???

"Consistently" does not mean "without exception." This team is 31-4 and has been in the top 5 all year. Sorry, but that's being consistently good.

But no team in the history of sports has been good every single night, no matter how talented they have been. Everyone has off days and nights. And when you have one, and your underappreciated opponent plays very well, as Michigan did today, you should expect a loss or a tight win.

[moonpie23]

lots and lots of the same kinds of comments over on IC about the holes......(except for the controversy)

[wilson]

lots and lots of the same kinds of comments over on IC about the holes......(except for the controversy)I could give a $#%& about IC right now.
The difference between our two perhaps lackluster performances: They got some help via ineptitude on the part of their opponent. We decidedly did not.

[InSpades]

Duke shot 20 of 29 from 2 -point land (69%) and 5 of 20 (25%) from 3-point land. The Duke "bigs" went 9 of 11 from the floor (88%). Duke had a ton of success attacking the rim and very little success shooting from 3 and yet they settled for those jump shots almost exclusively late in the game. Michigan couldn't seem to stop Duke from driving and committed a ton of fouls trying to prevent it. There's no way the game should have been that close...

In the last 12 minutes Duke didn't hit a single jump shot until Kyrie's floater with under a minute left. Every single point came at the line or via layup.

[uh_no]

Duke shot 20 of 29 from 2 -point land (69%) and 5 of 20 (25%) from 3-point land. The Duke "bigs" went 9 of 11 from the floor (88%). Duke had a ton of success attacking the rim and very little success shooting from 3 and yet they settled for those jump shots almost exclusively late in the game. Michigan couldn't seem to stop Duke from driving and committed a ton of fouls trying to prevent it. There's no way the game should have been that close...

In the last 12 minutes Duke didn't hit a single jump shot until Kyrie's floater with under a minute left. Every single point came at the line or via layup.

Michigan was changing the defense up a lot late....they were not in 1-3-1 the whole game.

[diveonthefloor]

Didn't this same Michigan team play OSU tough 2 times losing 64-68 in the middle of the season and make it to the championship game only to play OSU tough again?

I think they also played Kansas to overtime this year.

I think you would say that Kansas and OSU are two pretty good teams. In fact, you named OSU as a "big boy" team. So either you must abandon your assertion that OSU is a "big boy" team (since they have also struggled with UM a few times this year) or admit that this perhaps Michigan is a pretty gutsy team that can on any given night take a "big boy team" down to the wire.

You beat me to it and you are exactly right!
Michigan is good. Unconventional, yes. Small, yes. But really good....they are actually outstanding!

The end of game was ugly, but Michigan did exactly the same thing to two other number one seeds (the only two others still left in the tourney).

BTW, Michigan basketball has a bright future.

[DukeUsul]

Michigan was changing the defense up a lot late....they were not in 1-3-1 the whole game.

I think you saw what I saw. We had decent success against their M2M but when they switched to 1-3-1 with what - 7-8 minutes left - we looked clueless. Did they even show that D at all before that point? I don't remember seeing it.

That move by Bielein really flummoxed us. As great of a coaching job as Bielein did, he would have done an even better job by showing it earlier. A few more possessions of us just not knowing how to attack that 1-3-1 and they would have won it.

Thank God we did take the air out. We didn't need to have more possessions where we had no idea what to do.

[rthomas]

Interesting that the headline on the front page is "A growing game for UNC" because this exactly fits our game too. The dudes that control the front page should put that up there "A growing game for Duke". Our guys will grow from this win. Well, should grow from this win.

Neither Texas in the two game I've seen nor Arizona seems to light it up. But next weekend is going to be real. And we will need our A game. Which I have no doubt about.

[watzone]

Post game interviews from Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler and Ryan Kelly - http://bluedevilnation.net/2011/03/rolin-nolan-smith-kyle-singler-ryan-kelly-post-game-interviews/


Kyrie Irving post game interview - http://bluedevilnation.net/2011/03/kyrie-irving-talks-his-big-shot-vs-michigan/

[FellowTraveler]

our game seemed to go south shortly after Kyle picked up his 4th foul. Kyle does so many of the small things that are important to our success, and it usually hurts our flow as a team when he is out of the line-up.

Singler committed his 4th with 9:50 remaining. The next 7 possessions ended like this:

1: Dawkins missed a jumper
2: Irving made 2 free throws
3: Irving turnover almost immediately upon getting a defensive rebound. I don’t remember this play, but given that the game log shows the TO occurring within a second of the rebound, this doesn’t really count as a “possession” for the purposes of evaluating Duke’s ability to run offense without Kyle.
4: Kelly made a layup off an assist from Irving.
5: Nolan made two free throws.
6: Nolan made a layup.
7: Nolan made two free throws.

That’s 10 points on the first 7 possessions without Kyle, and 10 points on 6 “real” possessions (ignoring #3 above.) That’s 1.43 or 1.67 points per possession, depending on whether you count #3. That’s highly successful offense.

Kyle Singler is an extremely valuable player (even though he’s made only 20 of his 91 three-point shots over his last 20 games.) But Duke’s offensive struggles didn’t kick in when he picked up his 4th foul.

[NYBri]

Nolan/Kyrie/Kyle/Seth/Ryan... that's our late-game lineup now? Oh well, he's won four more titles than I have.

The MPs can't handle the passing that is needed in the press. I wasn't upset about the line-up. Just needed better execution.

Kelly played great, BTW.

Survive and advance.

Hats off to Michigan. That was a tough team and will be for years. THey get some size and they will be very very good.

[tendev]

I think you saw what I saw. We had decent success against their M2M but when they switched to 1-3-1 with what - 7-8 minutes left - we looked clueless. Did they even show that D at all before that point? I don't remember seeing it.

That move by Bielein really flummoxed us. As great of a coaching job as Bielein did, he would have done an even better job by showing it earlier. A few more possessions of us just not knowing how to attack that 1-3-1 and they would have won it.

Thank God we did take the air out. We didn't need to have more possessions where we had no idea what to do.

My guess is that eventually as you play against it, you figure out how to attack the 1-3-1. Beilein saved it for the end when it gets tight. When it is tight, it is harder to hit a jump shot. It was almost like he was saving it for the end, when he needed it.

[Lulu]

Everyone defending the EARLY collapse into stall ball does realize that we were a simple made-basket away from losing this one, right? We should have NEVER been in that position. Sure... no one can ever know what would have happened otherwise, a convenient fact which, unfortunately, is probably what keeps this tactic alive.

If I were doing the math, I'd allow about 40 seconds of stall ball for every 3pts, factoring in that we probably commit a turnover about once every 2-3 minutes when we do slow it down. Today, we decided to start with 5-6 minutes on the clock (gotta check the DVR) while perfectly willing to give up 2 points every trip. It looked to me like we went exceptionally small at the end strictly for the 3-pt defense. All that said, when we're "hot" I wish we'd always just put off the stall ball until the other team actually does catch up 4-5 pts... let them cool us down, not ourselves.

ESPN is showing right now where Novak was spotting up to end our tournament had Morris only passed it behind him on that last play. They actually just took K to task for taking the air out of the ball, haven't really heard that from the ESPN heads before.

On another topic:
Can anyone here explain the reasoning behind refusing to go 2-for-1. I just scratch my head every time that opportunity is passed up. I mean, which is better:
a) Opponent with the ball for up to 35 sec, and we get another 10 second possession.
b) Opponent with the ball for 25 sec, and no possession for us.

I would always trade an extra 10 seconds on the opponents shot clock for an extra possession, especially if we're already just standing there burning clock anyway. That's basically what this comes down to, barring fouls etc if that's a significant factor. I almost assume the someone at Duke has done some sort of statistical analysis defending burning the clock down to zero no matter what.

[NashvilleDevil]

They actually just took K to task for taking the air out of the ball, haven't really heard that from the ESPN heads before.


Unless Bobby Knight is one of the ESPN heads I tend to not listen to anything they have to say regarding coaching strategy. Only Bobby Knight knows what it takes to get 900 wins in Division I basketball.

[uh_no]

Unless Bobby Knight is one of the ESPN head I tend to not listen to anything they have to say regarding coaching strategy. Only Bobby Knight knows what it takes to get 900 wins in Division I basketball.

You're missing out on a lot of awfully good insight, then. (and a ton of bad). Would you ignore what rick pitino or jim boeheim would have to say on the subject? Coach K seems to put huge amounts of faith in his assistants (wojo, dawkins...etc) none of them have 900 wins....why should he listen to them since they clearly don't know what it takes to get to 900 wins.

Coach K is good, but that doesn't mean that other people can't have different opinions on the best course of action, or that they can't be right.

[InSpades]

I think you saw what I saw. We had decent success against their M2M but when they switched to 1-3-1 with what - 7-8 minutes left - we looked clueless. Did they even show that D at all before that point? I don't remember seeing it.

That move by Bielein really flummoxed us. As great of a coaching job as Bielein did, he would have done an even better job by showing it earlier. A few more possessions of us just not knowing how to attack that 1-3-1 and they would have won it.

Thank God we did take the air out. We didn't need to have more possessions where we had no idea what to do.

I think this is 100% wrong. They showed the 1-3-1 a bit earlier in the game and Duke handled it just fine. The reason it was successful late in the game is because Duke sat there and dribbled the ball 30 feet from the basket until there were about 10 seconds left on the shot clock. 10 seconds is not enough time to operate and find the holes in the zone so it led to Duke taking poor shots. When Duke finally decided to attack they got a very high percentage shot for Kyrie. Duke let the 1-3-1 be more effective than it ever should have been by playing into Michigan's hands.

Definitely credit to Michigan for a well-played and well-coached game. But I think Duke could have done a lot more to limit the effectiveness of the zone.

[InSpades]

On another topic:
Can anyone here explain the reasoning behind refusing to go 2-for-1. I just scratch my head every time that opportunity is passed up. I mean, which is better:
a) Opponent with the ball for up to 35 sec, and we get another 10 second possession.
b) Opponent with the ball for 25 sec, and no possession for us.

I would always trade an extra 10 seconds on the opponents shot clock for an extra possession, especially if we're already just standing there burning clock anyway. That's basically what this comes down to, barring fouls etc if that's a significant factor. I almost assume the someone at Duke has done some sort of statistical analysis defending burning the clock down to zero no matter what.

I talked about this before but... I'll say it again. I don't think it's really that relevant when you're up by 1. Assume Kyrie misses that floater there and Michigan gets the ball back w/ 30 seconds left down by 1. They are very unlikely to hold the ball and take the last shot. Some coaches might do that (we saw it with Morehead St. vs. Louisville) but most will just try to score and then foul if they miss to extend the game. So you have a decent chance of going 2 for 1 anyway.

[Jeff Frosh]

I don't get all this over analysis. We are in the sweet 16. Enjoy people. Relax. Drink your bevaage of choice. We are Duke!!

[geoff2]

I think this is 100% wrong. They showed the 1-3-1 a bit earlier in the game and Duke handled it just fine. The reason it was successful late in the game is because Duke sat there and dribbled the ball 30 feet from the basket until there were about 10 seconds left on the shot clock. 10 seconds is not enough time to operate and find the holes in the zone so it led to Duke taking poor shots. When Duke finally decided to attack they got a very high percentage shot for Kyrie. Duke let the 1-3-1 be more effective than it ever should have been by playing into Michigan's hands.

Definitely credit to Michigan for a well-played and well-coached game. But I think Duke could have done a lot more to limit the effectiveness of the zone.
Kryrzewski said in the post-came press conference that they were not trying to stall at that point in the game, that if an opportunity presented itself earlier they would have tried for a good earlier shot. But he said that they were flummoxed by the defense.

[wilson]

I don't get all this over analysis.Um...did you wander in here by accident?

[mgtr]

Totally agree with Jeff Frosh. I am sitting in front of the big TV watching Zona and Texas. Don't care who wins. I am getting mellow. Life is good. Until Thursday.

[Jeff Frosh]

Um...did you wander in here by accident?
LOL I wandered in here on purpose. I am a bottom line kind of guy. A win is a win.:o

[InSpades]

Kryrzewski said in the post-came press conference that they were not trying to stall at that point in the game, that if an opportunity presented itself earlier they would have tried for a good earlier shot. But he said that they were flummoxed by the defense.

At which point? They were clearly trying to stall for a good portion of the last 10 minutes. Or do you think Kyrie and Nolan dribbling the ball without going anywhere is really a part of our usual offense?

[DukeDevilDeb]

Of course I'm glad we won but the end of that game just left a bad taste in my mouth. We didn't look confident or smart at all. Of course, if we'd made even 1 three down the stretch, it would have given us a bit more breathing room.

Hard to question K - especially given the fact that we won - but...I did NOT like the way we attacked (or should I say, did NOT attack) that zone. Our offense was awful for the last 8 or so minutes. That was just...ridiculous. I have no idea why we were so content to try and run clock. That seemed boneheaded to me...

Coach K said in the press conference that we were not playing stall ball... that we simply couldn't find a good shot before we HAD to take one. Too bad about the shot clock violation, but I think that goes on Irving's long period of time away from game situations.

Keep marching, Devils!

[DukeDevilDeb]

I haven't be a fan as long a some people here so I was wondering if this is what Coach K normally does.

He completely changed the way we played in the second half putting out four guards at times and holding the ball till we could barely run a play.

In the 3 years that I've been a fan I haven't ever seen him do anything like what he did today. It seemed to me like suicide to stop playing your game.

When you are old and grey like the rest of us, you will realize that you cannot just keep playing your game when the other team has come up with an effective way of outplaying you. He took the MPs out because (1) they are slower than Michigan's guards, and (2) Mason, at least, is not a great freethrow shooter (my understatement of the century). He played 4 guards because he NEEDED to play 4 guards to keep up with Michigan's offense. Further, if we were going to be shooting against the 1-3-1 zone, we weren't looking for baby hooks! We needed threes and those are not the MPs shots!

900 wins. That is absolutely incredible!

[Neals384]

I think you saw what I saw. We had decent success against their M2M but when they switched to 1-3-1 with what - 7-8 minutes left - we looked clueless. Did they even show that D at all before that point? I don't remember seeing it.


MI went to the 1-3-1 twice in the first half for only a single posession each time. At 15:57 and at 12:32. The firest one ended when Miles made a bad pass and Nolan ended up on the floor, held ball, arrow to MI. The second one was handled just right - lots of ball movement, open 3 ptr by Kyle, assist Kyrie.

[omar]

My thought ... K was out coached. It bothered me to see our "bigs"on the bench at crunch time. Four guards & Kyle constituted a more more mobile attack with a higher shooting percentage, however, it negated our size advantage and lessened rebound potential at both ends of the court. Tired big men still play tall. Even the talking heads made a rare critique of the Olympian.

[Neals384]

Singler committed his 4th with 9:50 remaining. The next 7 possessions ended like this:

1: Dawkins missed a jumper
2: Irving made 2 free throws
3: Irving turnover almost immediately upon getting a defensive rebound. I don’t remember this play, but given that the game log shows the TO occurring within a second of the rebound, this doesn’t really count as a “possession” for the purposes of evaluating Duke’s ability to run offense without Kyle.

Right. Kyrie grabbed a rebound and landed with a toe OOB.

[NashvilleDevil]

You're missing out on a lot of awfully good insight, then. (and a ton of bad). Would you ignore what rick pitino or jim boeheim would have to say on the subject? Coach K seems to put huge amounts of faith in his assistants (wojo, dawkins...etc) none of them have 900 wins....why should he listen to them since they clearly don't know what it takes to get to 900 wins.

Coach K is good, but that doesn't mean that other people can't have different opinions on the best course of action, or that they can't be right.

I understand in the 24 hour news cycle talking heads have to talk about something. But I think they and we as fans overanalyze everything. People are still talking about Coach K's miss FT startegy in the title game as if it didn't work because Hayward almost made the shot. It did work and Duke won a title so there's no sense in discussing what ifs.

After today's game it has all been about stall ball and it's effectiveness (a topic that comes up every year). As Duke fans we know this strategy is coming and for the most part it works. It worked today, sure the outcome was not what our hearts needed but it still worked. So when the ESPN heads start talking about K making a strategic error I tend to ignore them. Now I am not saying K is perfect as a coach. I thought he mishandled the end of the Va. Tech game in Blacksburg and he has been outcoached at times in the tourney. But to rehash all the what ifs over and over can be tiresome. Duke won and learned from this game and we know they'll be ready for Arizona on Thursday.

[Neals384]

That was the first time all year we've used the Ryan plus 4 guards lineup. When they went to the 1-3-1 zone I really wanted Mason in the game. That D is wide open for alley-oops.

[FellowTraveler]

Right. Kyrie grabbed a rebound and landed with a toe OOB.

Ah, yes, that was it. So that certainly doesn't count as a possession, and Duke scored 1.67 points per possession on the six possessions after Singler's fourth foul. Obviously I'd rather have Kyle on the court than not, but Duke's offense was fine after the foul.

[Regenman]

Why are people even talking about Mason? He had 4 turnovers in 18 minutes. That's one of the primary reasons he wasn't put back in later (and his free throw shooting is also a factor).

[Newton_14]

Chin up. A win is a win. We played well and had the game under control until around the time Singler got his 4th foul (need to see the replay on that one) and at the end everything went wrong. I also would have liked to attack earlier but we still could have scored, just didn't, and Michigan hit a lot of shots. Consider the alternative and enjoy the rest of the third [sic] round. :)


Ah, yes, that was it. So that certainly doesn't count as a possession, and Duke scored 1.67 points per possession on the six possessions after Singler's fourth foul. Obviously I'd rather have Kyle on the court than not, but Duke's offense was fine after the foul.

I agree that losing Kyle did not hurt the offense today, but it did in fact hurt our defense. Kyle is the glue to our defense and we were hurt on that end of the floor during the stretch he was sitting.

[dyedwab]

1. Whether or not we intentionally went to "stall ball", when Michigan went to 1-3-1, it knocked us back on our heels and made us passive on the offensive end. This team is prone to periods of passivity on offense - which, at their worst, manifest themselves in multiple ill-advised threes that don't fall (see St. John's, VPI, FSU, and UNC #2).

2. That said, here's something that is unexpected given how the game turned out - MI's last lead was at 4-2. The last tie? at 26-26 with 5:45 left in the first. We didn't play all that well, but we didn't relinquish the lead

3. They couldn't stop our drives and we stopped driving.

4. If our defense had gotten stops in the last 10 minutes, our offensive problems would have been moot.

5. Michigan is really good - well coached with a lot of young talent. If the "last 10" were still part of the criteria, I think they would have been a higher seed.

We won, let's move on, and, after beating the team we beat for the National Title in 1992, we have a shot to beat the team we beat for the National Title in 2001. (and the 1991 and 2010 opponents are still alive as of this writing)

[tendev]

LOL I wandered in here on purpose. I am a bottom line kind of guy. A win is a win.:o

Agreed, but I don't recall any NCAA tournament where we have hung on like that in the round of 32 and gone on to the Final Four, much less win it all. I am sure someone can come up with an exception but this win did not instill alot of confidence in me that this team is on its way to Houston. Then again, maybe Michigan just played a great game and there is nothing to fret about.

[Chard]

I don't think anyone should get the feeling that this was a "bad" loss or that Duke should feel lucky. Duke won that game. What I saw was Duke players went out and got the win. Sure, it was tight at the end but there where some great plays on both ends of the floor by Duke to seal the deal.

Go listen to Watzone's interviews at BDN.net if you have the time. You'll see that the players understood that Michigan was a very good team. You'll also see players that are happy to advance regardless of the score.

Coach K was put in a pickle by the foul situation and the plan that Michigan was using to attack Duke. He adjusted and found a way to win. He did another masterful job of managing the game by guiding his players and placing them into a position to win. Hats off to the staff!

1 point or 20 points. Duke is in the Sweet Sixteen!

Prediction: Kyle Singler is going to blow up! Something about him being back out West.

[superdave]

That 1-3-1 was pretty nasty. I thought it was effective because they played some man then switched back to the zone. Different looks can be confusing for the offense. I thought Duke needed to use the dribble drive more to attack it, but we more or less took what they gave us.

My biggest concern at halftime was the tempo was too slow. Duke's guard should have pushed the ball more to get some easy buckets and try to speed the less athletic team up. But Michigan really dictated pace.

Also, I'm a little surprised that Kyrie got so many crunch-time minutes. But Seth had been shooting poorly on the day so it was hard to put him out there. The end-game lineup was certainly by Coach K's feel for the game - better ball handling and shooting, but not as athletic.

Super "Arizona next" Dave

[CLT Devil]

I had a terrible thought cross my mind - Nolan missed the free throw, his last shot as a college bball player after Michigan comes down and hits a three for the win. I would hate for Nolan to go out like that, after all he has given on and off the court. Thankfully they went for the tie and it was never a possibility because of Michigan's choice to go for the tie.

I relaize of course that every team but one goes out on a loss, but I just couldn't stand it if he went out like that. He year has become legendary. I don't know where it stacks up for all time as far as stats, but whenever we need a big shot, stop, play, etc it seems like Nolan is there.

What a crazy day of games...good to be on the winning side!

[jipops]

Looking forward to go out west for a true neutral game. Even if Texas and San Diego State fans are there it still will be better than the UNC bandwagon fans in Charlotte.

Go Duke!!

I second or third this notion. So glad to get the heck out of Tarheel Town Charlotte.

[1 24 90]

I second or third this notion. So glad to get the heck out of Tarheel Town Charlotte.

Unfortunately, Arizona & San Diego State won't have far to travel. But that didn't hurt us against Baylor or Butler last year.

[uh_no]

Unfortunately, Arizona & San Diego State won't have far to travel. But that didn't hurt us against Baylor or Butler last year.

here's to hoping it's duke and uconn then :D

[BluDvlsN1]

Lot's of posts, lot's of thoughts,lots of interesting opinions!
Makes for fun reading, thanks all!

I have my own set of questions that I'm curious about and would relish the opportunity
to ask Coach over a beer! But it will never happen! So, I just metion this!

I think KI, made really good contributions, in Ft's,picking up loose balls, finding Ryan underneath, he was a valuable contributor!

I like our team, and the points made by some really savvy posters on Michigans
future is really well said! that's a very good basketball team!

Bottom line, it's March we're still playing, and we have time to prepare, and a Hall of Fame coach doing the preparing!!!

Life is good!!

[SuperTurkey]

here's to hoping it's duke and uconn then :D

If it is, I suggest an immediate and permanent ban of uh_no. Traitors in our midst!

[uh_no]

If it is, I suggest an immediate and permanent ban of uh_no. Traitors in our midst!
I'm called a traitor back home for going to Duke, and I'm called a traitor here for being from CT...C'est la vie.

I have not yet decided on a preference for the outcome of that game, should it come to pass, and I doubt I will be able to. I will at best be strictly an observer. If at some point I feel one team will give me a better shot to win a national title, so be it. Either way, I think I will enjoy a phenomenally played game between my two favorite teams.

[NSDukeFan]

Yes, but every ACC team has struggled against middle to lower seeds. When the big boys i.e. OSU, TX etc come to play, Duke, Heels will have to take ther games to a higher level or go home.
I'm not too worried about the big boys at Texas right now.

Wow. that was pretty lucky that they didn't take advantage. We fell apart on both ends in the last 10 minutes and got lucky. Up until the last one by Kyrie, the stall-fense was terrible. I like using the stall-fense because we have been really good at it this year, but those were terrible possessions. For it to work, you can't just hold the ball and chuck up a shot at the end, you have to get into the lane for a layup or pass. Nolan has been excellent at that this year, but we didn't do it at all.

...
Our defense is REALLY GOOD this year, and that's not an exaggeration, but at times, we can fall asleep for three or four minute stretches. We seem to have been more susceptible to large runs (8-0 or more) this year than in the recent past. There's been some games where similar to this one, we had a lead and gave up a big run. Until now, though it hasn't happened to close a game. The most recent one I can think of was in the Clemson game in Cameron, where we looked like we had broken it open early and then all of a sudden, they tied the game. If we get a lead in Anaheim, we CAN'T sit back.
As usual, I thought you made some really good points. I think tendev (below) makes a good argument for why stall ball wasn't as effective in this game. I agree with him that it was purely a matter of timing. The guys attacked at the proper time had they been going against a man defense or a more conventional zone that they are better prepared for. Against this D, I think it would have been preferable to stall, but just start attacking a bit earlier to move the defense a bit more to open a better driving lane. As others have stated, I haven't won 900 games, however.

As to your last paragraph, I don't know if the team's defense has been consistently good enough to warrant capital letters. I believe it has been the last few games. I thought Duke came out with a very good defensive intensity in this game, but Michigan had a very good offensive first half as they didn't turn it over, eventually got penetration and then kicked it out and rotated it to get open 3s. Just fantastic ball movement on their part and the lack of turnovers hurt Duke as well. I don't know that Duke defended quite as well in the second half. The two fast break hoops hurt and there were a couple more miscommunications that led to easier baskets as well. I now realize I am agreeing with most of what you said as the overall defense was good except for a stretch.

I don't know about coaching basketball but it seems logical that the stall is not as effective against the zone because you need to attack the zone with dribble drive and then a pass. This takes time to initiate. You need to start the attack earlier (20 secs on the clock) in order to get a good shot. You can't dribble down to 10 secs and then go 1 on 5.

On top of that the players start to think when they are standing there dribbling. They are human. They get nervous.
I think this minor tweak may have helped as I said above.

The other way to approach a situation in which you feel you cannot stop the other team from scoring is to make sure you score. Ideally, of course, you'd do both -- run down the clock and score more points.

The best way to do that with this team, in my opinion, is to run 15-20 (not 25) seconds off the shot clock, then look to score, and do so via dribble-drives by Kyrie and Nolan. Initiating such a drive with 20-15 seconds left on the shot clock, rather than 10, allows enough time for Plan B if the initial drive is stymied, and for 2 passes if the D collapses on the driver.

Waiting until 10 on the shot clock and trying to score by tossing the ball around the perimeter is a reliable way to run down the clock, but seems unlikely to result in points.

For years, my concern hasn't been that Duke starts taking the air out of the ball too early in the game; it's been that they take too much out per possession. If you aren't going to initiate until 10 seconds left, you better have a Jason Williams-type player who can reliably get a quality shot off at any time. Such players are exceedingly rare. Nolan is almost there. Kyrie could be. Nobody else Duke has had in years has that ability, so they should initiate a little sooner.
I agree with your post, but only in this particular situation against a defense that has to be moved to get a driving lane. Against man-to-man or most zones, Nolan has been able to get a driving lane while initiating the offense with 10 or fewer seconds left.


Looking at the box score:

UM had 7 steals to our 1 (ouch)
UM hit 91% from the line (72% for us ... not bad but not great. KI 90%; rest of team 60%. Guess who won't be fouled in a late game situation?)
arguably, UM defended the 3 from us well - we hit only 25%.
UM had only 7 turnovers (we had 10)

OTOH:

UM went cold from 3. At one point they were 5 of 9; they then went 2 of 12 the rest of the way.
We outrebounded them by 13 - yet they still put up 4 more shots than we did (see above on steals & TOs)

It was uncharacteristic of our seniors to miss some key foul shots (Nolan at the end and Kyle two front end of 1 and 1s) that would have helped. One of the biggest reasons this game was uncomfortably close in my opinion is that Duke was not able to turn over Michigan and generate easy points or extra possessions. Michigan did a great job executing on offense and holding onto the ball. I thought they played a very good game. Count me impressed.

I am also impressed and relieved that Duke has lived for another day and I get to see Kyle and Nolan play at least one more game in a Duke uniform.

[NashvilleDevil]

Agreed, but I don't recall any NCAA tournament where we have hung on like that in the round of 32 and gone on to the Final Four, much less win it all. I am sure someone can come up with an exception but this win did not instill alot of confidence in me that this team is on its way to Houston. Then again, maybe Michigan just played a great game and there is nothing to fret about.

It's not Duke but I remember Tyus Edney's full court drive to beat Missouri in 1995 by one point. I would take Duke up 2 with seconds to go and Michigan having to go full court for the win than being down 1 and hoping Kyrie or Nolan can make a ridiculous full court drive and an acrobatic layup for the win.

[devildeac]

1e
2f
5d

(had to look them up myself)

[devildeac]

yup, prevent defense too early

There was a little bit of "prevent offense" worked in there, too.

[devildeac]

Looking forward to go out west for a true neutral game. Even if Texas and San Diego State fans are there it still will be better than the UNC bandwagon fans in Charlotte.

Go Duke!!

The 2 dolts/cretins/morons/idiots/wankers (select one or all) behind us complained about every call that went Duke's way and about every call that went against UM. I was almost calling DBR for Klemnop's bail money when they started to continually refer to K as "rat this" and "rat that."

[devildeac]

I am going to try and accentuate the positive. Nolan carried us for a good chunk of the second half, Kyrie looks like he's back to being a core member of the team, the small line-up gave Andre lots of minutes to contribute, etc.

I can't say anything positive about the way we let that 1-3-1 buffudle us, but Kyrie hit a huge bucket when we needed it. Honestly, the way he was shooting free throws, I wanted us to have him on the line at the end.

I don't like our recent history as a 1 or 2 seed when we have a nailbiter in Game 2, but I am going to try and ignore that. On to the Sweet 16, and let's hope Texas/Arizona don't use a 1-3-1.

They might work on their 1-3-1 or 2-3 this week.

[uh_no]

The 2 dolts/cretins/morons/idiots/wankers (select one or all) behind us complained about every call that went Duke's way and about every call that went against UM. I was almost calling DBR for Klemnop's bail money when they started to continually refer to K as "rat this" and "rat that."

You could have calmly reminded them about

a) the 1992 championship game (or his undefeated record against the not so fab 5)
b) the 2 vacated final four appearances (and about 100 wins) in 1992 and 1993 due to one of the biggest gambling scandals in college sports history
c) how even a guy with the brain of a rat still seems to 1) always beat their team and 2) beat 900 teams over 30 years

[devildeac]

I know I saw Kyrie make a steal in the 2nd half.

That was our only one of the game.

[BD80]

here's to hoping it's duke and uconn then :D

I kind of like the thought of playing through a field of teams we have played in prior championship games:

Michigan
Arizona
uCon
Butler
Kansas

[devildeac]

That was the only steal in the entire game.

Well, technically not. UM had 7. That was our only one. (Sorry, too many of our errant/lazy/ill-advised passed are stuck in my mind.:))

[pfrduke]

I kind of like the thought of playing through a field of teams we have played in prior championship games:


Butler
Kansas

Can't play both of them.

[1 24 90]

I kind of like the thought of playing through a field of teams we have played in prior championship games:

Michigan
Arizona
uCon
Butler
Kansas

We can't play both Butler & Kansas. They would be in the opposite side of the national semis.

[Newton_14]

The 2 dolts/cretins/morons/idiots/wankers (select one or all) behind us complained about every call that went Duke's way and about every call that went against UM. I was almost calling DBR for Klemnop's bail money when they started to continually refer to K as "rat this" and "rat that."

I talked to a friend today that had the exact same experience in Greensboro last weekend. He said a man and his wife that sat in front of him used the rat word about 100 times during the title game and was calling all of our players names, especially Kyle. He said they spent way more time yelling vulgar terms at K and our players and the ref's than actually pulling for UNC.

Then when Kelly hit the 3 late, and my friend was yelling and screaming CHEERING for Duke, the lady had the nerve to turn around and ask if he came to the game just to act like a child "cheering" for Duke, and did he not realize Duke is the most hated team on earth?

Needless to say my buddy lit in to her about the "differences" in how he chose to pull for Duke during that game compared to her "cheering" methods in support of her team.

Unreal. They are becoming worse than Maryland fans..

[Son of Mojo]

Give Michigan credit--they played pretty good defense overall and did well on taking advantages against us like on defensive miscues (mainly bad switches). Regardless, we won the game. I had hoped for a close game because I felt the team needed one for tournament toughness later on, but hadn't wanted it to be this tightly contested to the end. Let's hope they do learn from it and get stronger from it.

I do have to say, I detest the ball deflating tactic. If we're up by 20 with > 6 minutes left, sure. Do it some. Otherwise keep attacking, especially if you've been scoring on recent possessions with the ball. I will never understand it but that's why I'm not a coach. Blowing a 15 pt. lead looked way too easy today.........keep attacking.........

[devildeac]

I think you saw what I saw. We had decent success against their M2M but when they switched to 1-3-1 with what - 7-8 minutes left - we looked clueless. Did they even show that D at all before that point? I don't remember seeing it.

That move by Bielein really flummoxed us. As great of a coaching job as Bielein did, he would have done an even better job by showing it earlier. A few more possessions of us just not knowing how to attack that 1-3-1 and they would have won it.

Thank God we did take the air out. We didn't need to have more possessions where we had no idea what to do.
I am not gonna go back and watch it again but we sat upstairs in the nose dome-south and I believe UM used it on several (3? 4?) possessions in the 1st half because I commented on it to one of the few Duke fans in our vicinity.

[wilko]

Strange game. One we were fortunate to win.
We pretty much did what we wanted for 3/4 of the game.... then we got amnesia or something and forgot what to do...

Lots of folks were trash talking against the stall ball -
We make 1 shot and its moot. Heck of a time for a drought.... Still, I never panicked and obviously no one on the Duke bench did.

Others were trashing small-ball.
Free-throw shooting, and ball handling. We needed it. That line up gave it!

It came out OK, but a different bounce or 2 and we are crying in our beer.
Go Duke! Lets give Mr Miller a reason to stay out West and not think about Raleigh

[DevilYouthCoach]

Sir Charles actually had a good post game comment. Duke has shown they are at its best this season with Nolan dominating the ball. In the last 8 minutes of our stall ball...#2 did not have the rock enough.

I haven't read anyone else suggesting this, but I had the distinct feeling that our team has not adjusted successfully to Kyrie's presence yet. I didn't feel that Nolan was showing his usual verve out there, for instance. And certainly Kyrie is not yet up to his old full-speed dominance. i think a certain kind of ambivalence is present among the players. I sense a question about "who is the guy who is going to take the ball to the hole?" Just a thought....

[devildeac]

You could have calmly reminded them about

a) the 1992 championship game (or his undefeated record against the not so fab 5)
b) the 2 vacated final four appearances (and about 100 wins) in 1992 and 1993 due to one of the biggest gambling scandals in college sports history
c) how even a guy with the brain of a rat still seems to 1) always beat their team and 2) beat 900 teams over 30 years

I forgot to mention that those mouth-breathers were unc bandwagon fans. Sorry. There were not many yellow/blue clad UM fans there. A huge majority of the UM fans were wearing pastel blue:mad:.

[Reilly]

Agreed, but I don't recall any NCAA tournament where we have hung on like that in the round of 32 and gone on to the Final Four, much less win it all. ....

Year-Round Opponent Margin

02-64 Winthrop +47
01-64 Monmouth +43
11-64 Hampton +42
99-64 FLAM +41
99-32 Tulsa +41
98-64 Radford +36
90-64 Rich +35
93-64 SIll +35
04-64 AlaSt +35
91-64 LaMn +29
10-64 ArkPB +29
86-32 OldD +28
04-32 StnHall +28
00-64 Lamar +27
92-64 Camp +26
03-32 CentMich +26
09-64 Bing +24
89-64 SCSt +21
86-08 Navy +21
99-08 Temple +21
10-04 WVU +21
92-02 Mich +20

89-16 Minn +17
91-08 StJn +17
99-16 MizzSt +17
88-64 BosU +16
85-64 Pepp +16
06-64 Southern +16
88-32 SouM +15
91-32 Iowa +15
10-32 Cal +15
90-04 Arka +14
91-16 Ucon +14
92-32 Iowa +13
98-16 Syracuse +13
01-32 Mizzou +13
01-16 UCLA +13
06-32 GWU +13
10-16 Purdue +13
92-16 SHall +12
94-64 TxSo +12
94-32 MichSt +11
01-04 Maryland +11
05-64 DelState +11
88-08 Temp +10
94-16 Marq +10
01-08 USC +10
01-02 Arizona +10
03-64 ColoSt +10
04-16 Illini +10

90-16 UCLA +09
94-08 Purdue +09
89-08 Gtwn +08
05-32 MissSt +08
86-16 DePa +07
86-64 MisV +07
87-64 TxAM +07
89-32 WestV +07
91-02 Kans +07
02-32 ND +07
10-08 Baylor +07
98-32 OkSt +06
99-04 MichSt +06
87-32 Xavr +05
94-04 Florida +05
00-32 Kansas +05
09-32 Texas +05
90-32 StJn +04
86-04 Kans +04

97-64 MurrSt +03
04-08 Xavier +03
92-04 Indiana +03
91-04 UNLV +02
10-02 Butler +02
11-32 Michigan +02
88-16 RhodeIs +01
90-08 UCon +01
92-08 Kentucky +01
08-64 Belmont +01

85-32 BosC -01
02-16 Indiana -01
04-02 UConn -01
84-32 Wash -02
98-08 Kentky -02
07-64 VCU -02
86-02 Louisville -03
99-02 UConn -03

03-16 Kansas -04
94-02 Ark -04
93-32 Cali -05
87-16 Indi -06
08-32 WVU -06
88-04 Kans -07
06-16 LSU -08
00-16 Florida -09

05-16 MichSt -10
97-32 Providence -11
96-64 EastMi -15
89-04 SHal -17
09-16 Nova -23
90-02 UNLV -30

[devildeac]

I talked to a friend today that had the exact same experience in Greensboro last weekend. He said a man and his wife that sat in front of him used the rat word about 100 times during the title game and was calling all of our players names, especially Kyle. He said they spent way more time yelling vulgar terms at K and our players and the ref's than actually pulling for UNC.

Then when Kelly hit the 3 late, and my friend was yelling and screaming CHEERING for Duke, the lady had the nerve to turn around and ask if he came to the game just to act like a child "cheering" for Duke, and did he not realize Duke is the most hated team on earth?

Needless to say my buddy lit in to her about the "differences" in how he chose to pull for Duke during that game compared to her "cheering" methods in support of her team.

Unreal. They are becoming worse than Maryland fans..

Ozzie had an unbelievable experience in Greensboro last weekend. He, along with many others in his section started a GTHc,GTH cheer and the usher told them to be quiet and even threatened to go get his supervisor if they didn't stop that cheer. Oz told me the usher disappeared LONG before the game was over. If he hadn't, Ozzie was gonna start the cheer again. Right next to him.

http://crazietalk.net/ourhouse/images/smilies/24.gif

[wilko]

Needless to say my buddy lit in to her about the "differences" in how he chose to pull for Duke during that game compared to her "cheering" methods in support of her team.

I would not have been able to deal with that....
My smart mouth would have made it worse .. for everyone..

"Oh.. I very much appreciate your offer to cover the costs of my ticket... wha? oh thats not what you meant?... Lady, don't make me remove the stick from your rectum and beat you with it.. If you don't give me $, you don't get to tell me what to do."

I'm just nutty and crass that way.

[g-money]

A couple of positives from today:

- Kyrie looked much better both in terms of endurance level and lateral quickness on D.

- Andre was rock solid on D as well - no mental mistakes (if I recall correctly), good closeouts on shooters, and several instances where he provided key help to stop penetration.

And one negative: It's too bad we didn't get more out of the Plumlees, especially in the second half. Miles and Mason are going to have to step up - and Coach K will need to put his trust in them - if we are to succeed against the athletic frontlines ahead.

In any case, it's great to have beaten a very solid Michigan team. On to Anaheim!

[UrinalCake]

A lot has been said about the last eight or so minutes of the game, but give our guys credit for their play up to that point, especially the first part of the second half, which gave us enough cushion to endure that drought. Nolan absolutely took over for a stretch, and his ankle-breaking crossover that left that guy on the ground looked straight out of the And-1 Mix Tour. Disappointed that Kyle missed the front end of the one-and-one twice in the first half, that could have really given us a little more cushion.

[duke96]

Smart move by K to tell Nolan to miss that second free throw at the end. Some may question the strategy, but you must admit that it has worked twice for us in recent big NCAA games.

;)

[hurley1]

A lot has been said about the last eight or so minutes of the game, but give our guys credit for their play up to that point, especially the first part of the second half, which gave us enough cushion to endure that drought. Nolan absolutely took over for a stretch, and his ankle-breaking crossover that left that guy on the ground looked straight out of the And-1 Mix Tour. Disappointed that Kyle missed the front end of the one-and-one twice in the first half, that could have really given us a little more cushion.

i think we were about 80% effective today.....nolan is our only true " clutch " player....time for some others to step up and join him.....

[uh_no]

i think we were about 80% effective today.....nolan is our only true " clutch " player....time for some others to step up and join him.....

i recall seth making some pretty clutch 3's against carolina....andre was pretty clutch last year against baylor....nolan also missed some free throws against ct if I recall correctly

just saying

[devildownunder]

Looking forward to go out west for a true neutral game. Even if Texas and San Diego State fans are there it still will be better than the UNC bandwagon fans in Charlotte.

Go Duke!!

It won't happen. We'll be in Anaheim, not all that far from Arizona, going against U of A, whose fans, believe me, still have a huge chip on their shoulder about the ref supposedly handing us the championship in 2001. Then there will also be UConn fans (hate us), and SDSU/west coast basketball fans, who hate us as a symbol of what they'll call west coast bias.

There are no more truly neutral crowds for us in the NCAAs. We're either in 1 or 2 extremely Duke friendly arenas are in one of the countless places filled with Duke haters.

[uh_no]

Then there will also be UConn fans (hate us)

At least 1 doesn't :)

[hillsborodevil]

I couldn't stand Dean's four corners. It's like watching two snails race. The NCAA had to implement the shot clock. I know Coach K has now won 900 games but his "hold the ball" tactics and "run out the clock" almost cost Duke the victory yesterday. Coach K would have reached 1000 wins this year if he would let his teams play versus Hold the Ball.

[gcashwell]

I couldn't stand Dean's four corners. It's like watching two snails race. The NCAA had to implement the shot clock. I know Coach K has now won 900 games but his "hold the ball" tactics and "run out the clock" almost cost Duke the victory yesterday. Coach K would have reached 1000 wins this year if he would let his teams play versus Hold the Ball.

He said they weren't playing stall ball.

What I don't understand is why he let the offense go stagnant like that without trying something. It's like K gave up.

[Saratoga2]

i think we were about 80% effective today.....nolan is our only true " clutch " player....time for some others to step up and join him.....

Kyrie hit his free throws and also hit the key basket at the end. How much more clutch can you be?

[hurley1]

Kyrie hit his free throws and also hit the key basket at the end. How much more clutch can you be?

alot more.....Kyrie did alright, but i'm talking about hurley, hill, laettner " clutch ".....

[Curt]

I couldn't stand Dean's four corners. It's like watching two snails race. The NCAA had to implement the shot clock. I know Coach K has now won 900 games but his "hold the ball" tactics and "run out the clock" almost cost Duke the victory yesterday. Coach K would have reached 1000 wins this year if he would let his teams play versus Hold the Ball.

right on target, we need to ATTACK!

[NSDukeFan]

Agreed, but I don't recall any NCAA tournament where we have hung on like that in the round of 32 and gone on to the Final Four, much less win it all. I am sure someone can come up with an exception but this win did not instill alot of confidence in me that this team is on its way to Houston. Then again, maybe Michigan just played a great game and there is nothing to fret about.
I am not sure I can come up with an exception, but I know for sure that Duke has not gone on to the final four in any year that it did not make the sweet sixteen. There is a better chance of Duke winning the national title right now than there was at the beginning of the weekend.

Smart move by K to tell Nolan to miss that second free throw at the end. Some may question the strategy, but you must admit that it has worked twice for us in recent big NCAA games.

;)
Nice post. That's just great coaching.

[77devil]

Agreed, but I don't recall any NCAA tournament where we have hung on like that in the round of 32 and gone on to the Final Four, much less win it all. I am sure someone can come up with an exception but this win did not instill alot of confidence in me that this team is on its way to Houston. Then again, maybe Michigan just played a great game and there is nothing to fret about.

The scare against Miss. Valley St. in 1986 in the round of 64 is the one that comes immediately to mind. That team came up one game short, as we all know, but I submit it had nothing to do with any weakness exposed on the first weekend. I think the reintegration of KI is a more critical issue, and I wish Duke was playing Fri./Sun. next weekend so it had an extra day to prepare after a cross country trip.

[Duke76]

I was at the game and i think those watching on tv lose out on some physical perspectives by not being there. The 1-3-1 zone was very imposing. Their 3 guys playing along the line were difficult to penetrate without a big at the foul line and if we had put in one of the Plumlees they were getting eating up on the perimeter offense Michigan was running. I am not even sure big guy at the foul line would have help. We were successful with that early in the season but I don't think it was a 1-3-1 defense we were playing against.

Anyway, I thought Michigan just played a heck of an unconventional game against us that we persevered on. We shot 51%, just didn't hit those shots in the corner that Dre had, etc. By the way, we were behind the bench and Coach lit into them with one of those special K tirades and those guys really responded. I think i would have run out of the gym but Nolan and all of them really stepped up.

By the way, Kyrie had a few disruptive plays on defense where he slaps....picks away at the ball from behind which caused at least two turnovers. that shot he hit was right in front of me....most beautiful floater and he had to react to the potential charge by going straight up.....exciting, exciting game to watch.

Our Devils are clutch, Carolina would not have won that game, imo

[weezie]

He said they weren't playing stall ball.

What I don't understand is why he let the offense go stagnant like that without trying something. It's like K gave up.

I'm convinced that's not the case. It's not a stall. The ball handler is watching for something; we're not in on what is really going on. Yesterday's last few offensive sets were a silent count. We were lucky enough to get great seats low down (bought the stubs from a departing hole for $20) where we could see Nolan's eyes and he was calculating. At least in this game, it wasn't a real stand around and bounce the ball stall. Sometimes is works, sometimes it doesn't.

I think I kind of freaked out during those last few seconds, still can't quite believe what Kyle did on defense. He looked completely melded with his man. I've seen tango dancers have more distance between each other. Superlative body control.

[OldPhiKap]

I was at the game and i think those watching on tv lose out on some physical perspectives by not being there. The 1-3-1 zone was very imposing. Their 3 guys playing along the line were difficult to penetrate without a big at the foul line and if we had put in one of the Plumlees they were getting eating up on the perimeter offense Michigan was running. I am not even sure big guy at the foul line would have help. We were successful with that early in the season but I don't think it was a 1-3-1 defense we were playing against.


Looked the same from my seat upstairs, too. Although I kind of disagree when K said that we did not go to "stall ball" because there sure was a lot of standing around by everyone. No screens to try to free someone up or to let Nolan/Kyrie drive.

But K's won 900 games more than I have, so -- survive and advance!

[weezie]

we were behind the bench and Coach lit into them with one of those special K tirades and those guys really responded. I think i would have run out of the gym

We were behind the mi bench and could hear most of what K said, too. I can't remember too many times he's been more "demonstrative". He also bellowed at the crowd behind the bench, and I must say, no offense meant to you Duke76, he was right. The letter to the IDs that was included in the ticket envelope, explaining away the crappy vertigo level seats was supposed to ameliorate the fact that many of us were treated poorly in favor of administration members who sat on their hands instead of cheering. Even the well-seated four rows of "beloved Crazies," (ID vocabulary, not a sarcastic comment from me, please) were worryingly limp.

[Billy Dat]

Agreed, but I don't recall any NCAA tournament where we have hung on like that in the round of 32 and gone on to the Final Four, much less win it all. I am sure someone can come up with an exception but this win did not instill alot of confidence in me that this team is on its way to Houston. Then again, maybe Michigan just played a great game and there is nothing to fret about.

It's interesting that you bring this up because over the past 10 years, when we have a high seed (1 or 2 esp. - which we usually have), I see our second round game as a harbinger of our potential. More often then not, when it's close, I thought, we lose earlier than we should. But, it's not really the case, although it has happened a few times.

When it's happened:
2000 - nail biter over Kansas, lose in Sweet 16 to Florida
2002 - nail biter over Notre Dame, lose to Indiana in the Sweet 16
2005 - close game with Mississippi State, lose to MSU in Sweet 16
2009 - close game with Texas, lose to Villanova in Sweet 16

When it hasn't:
2001 - nail biter with Missouri, win the National Championship
2006 - Beat GW pretty easily, lose to LSU in Sweet 16

Other scenarios:
2003 - As a 3 seed, we whup Central Michigan in round 2 and lose a close game to #2 seed Kansas in (ack) Anaheim
2004 - Whup Seton Hall in round 2, go to the Final Four and lose to UConn
2007 - VCU first round loss
2008 - WVU second round loss after barely beating Belmont in round 1

So, history does kind of favor an early exit after a second round nail biter when we are a high seed, but let's hope this year is more like 2001...summoning the ghost of Shane, JDubs, Nate, CBooz, CDu, Casey, Mikey D and Matty C.

[duke96]

Anyone have a link to the transcript of the press conference? Sorry if I missed it somewhere. thanks.

[OldPhiKap]

We were behind the mi bench and could hear most of what K said, too. I can't remember too many times he's been more "demonstrative". He also bellowed at the crowd behind the bench, and I must say, no offense meant to you Duke76, he was right. The letter to the IDs that was included in the ticket envelope, explaining away the crappy vertigo level seats was supposed to ameliorate the fact that many of us were treated poorly in favor of administration members who sat on their hands instead of cheering. Even the well-seated four rows of "beloved Crazies," (ID vocabulary, not a sarcastic comment from me, please) were worryingly limp.

We were upstairs directly across from the Duke section, and I think your description is pretty accurate. Very dead atmosphere for both games, really, until they got tight at the end. But K did fire up the faithful and we jumped out to a lead. Then Michigan went zone, we stood around, and the air went back out again.

I don't expect the atmosphere in CA to be as tranquil.

[MChambers]

Much of the credit for Michigan's comeback should be given to their head athletic trainer. The tape job he did on Tim Hardaway Jr's ankles worked magically. Kid played great down the stretch

Rollin with Nolan baby!!!!!!
I really think that after you get crossed up like that you shouldn't be allowed to play the rest of the game.

[MChambers]

Agreed, but I don't recall any NCAA tournament where we have hung on like that in the round of 32 and gone on to the Final Four, much less win it all. I am sure someone can come up with an exception but this win did not instill alot of confidence in me that this team is on its way to Houston. Then again, maybe Michigan just played a great game and there is nothing to fret about.
Hey, and we've never won a championship in a year in which we did not lose to UNC. Except for last year.

I'm not at all worried about the closeness of the game. If we had shot free throws better, we would have been up by double-digits at half time. If Kyle hadn't gotten his fourth foul, on what was apparently a bad call, our defense would have been better.

[wilko]

I know UM was saddened by the loss and all that... their season DID just end after a hard-fought game.

However, did any insightful reporter think to ask them how Duke compared to the teams they have played? Having played all of the #1 seeds they might have some interesting comments/observations to share..

Just curious...

[COYS]

It's interesting that you bring this up because over the past 10 years, when we have a high seed (1 or 2 esp. - which we usually have), I see our second round game as a harbinger of our potential. More often then not, when it's close, I thought, we lose earlier than we should. But, it's not really the case, although it has happened a few times.

When it's happened:
2000 - nail biter over Kansas, lose in Sweet 16 to Florida
2002 - nail biter over Notre Dame, lose to Indiana in the Sweet 16
2005 - close game with Mississippi State, lose to MSU in Sweet 16
2009 - close game with Texas, lose to Villanova in Sweet 16

When it hasn't:
2001 - nail biter with Missouri, win the National Championship
2006 - Beat GW pretty easily, lose to LSU in Sweet 16

Other scenarios:
2003 - As a 3 seed, we whup Central Michigan in round 2 and lose a close game to #2 seed Kansas in (ack) Anaheim
2004 - Whup Seton Hall in round 2, go to the Final Four and lose to UConn
2007 - VCU first round loss
2008 - WVU second round loss after barely beating Belmont in round 1

So, history does kind of favor an early exit after a second round nail biter when we are a high seed, but let's hope this year is more like 2001...summoning the ghost of Shane, JDubs, Nate, CBooz, CDu, Casey, Mikey D and Matty C.

To go along with your point, we've also never had a team try and integrate a key freshman back into the rotation at this point in the season. Honestly, we played a decent game until the final 5 minutes when our defense and offense both went to sleep. The unfamiliar 1-3-1, excellent play by Michigan, excellent coaching by Beilein, and the obvious unfamiliarity the team had with end of game situations with Kyrie on the court all played a huge role, with the latter perhaps playing the biggest. I think the Kyrie factor makes finding other historical analogs even more difficult. Ultimately, we will either win or lose in Anaheim, and most likely the result will have very little to do with how we played today (unless 'Zona breaks out a 1-3-1 zone all of a sudden and we continue to play like we did in the final 5 minutes).

[Matches]

Looked the same from my seat upstairs, too. Although I kind of disagree when K said that we did not go to "stall ball" because there sure was a lot of standing around by everyone. No screens to try to free someone up or to let Nolan/Kyrie drive.



Yeah, I have a hard time reconciling that statement with what I saw on the court, too. I went back and re-watched those last few minutes last night, and we're literally sitting 35 feet from the basket with Kyrie and Nolan playing catch. A team that was attempting to attack the zone without success would have been behaving much differently than we were. Put it like this - if K *didn't* tell them to go to stallball, he should've been up screaming at them to do something other than what they were doing.

That's not to call K out or anything - I actually had little problem with the last few minutes - survive and advance - but his statement that what we saw *wasn't* stall-ball is a bit of a head-scratcher.

[Matches]

To go along with your point, we've also never had a team try and integrate a key freshman back into the rotation at this point in the season. Honestly, we played a decent game until the final 5 minutes when our defense and offense both went to sleep. The unfamiliar 1-3-1, excellent play by Michigan, excellent coaching by Beilein, and the obvious unfamiliarity the team had with end of game situations with Kyrie on the court all played a huge role, with the latter perhaps playing the biggest. I think the Kyrie factor makes finding other historical analogs even more difficult. Ultimately, we will either win or lose in Anaheim, and most likely the result will have very little to do with how we played today (unless 'Zona breaks out a 1-3-1 zone all of a sudden and we continue to play like we did in the final 5 minutes).

IMO historical analogs are problematic anyway. Every year is different - every team is different. The margin between winning and losing is so thin that it's really dangerous to read too much into the results from a given year. If Boozer gets the foul call against Indiana in '02, for example, we likely advance who knows how far. Would that mean that the close win over ND was a good sign or a bad one? Who knows - not sure it has any relevance to *this* year and this team.

[Billy Dat]

To go along with your point, we've also never had a team try and integrate a key freshman back into the rotation at this point in the season. Honestly, we played a decent game until the final 5 minutes when our defense and offense both went to sleep. The unfamiliar 1-3-1, excellent play by Michigan, excellent coaching by Beilein, and the obvious unfamiliarity the team had with end of game situations with Kyrie on the court all played a huge role, with the latter perhaps playing the biggest. I think the Kyrie factor makes finding other historical analogs even more difficult. Ultimately, we will either win or lose in Anaheim, and most likely the result will have very little to do with how we played today (unless 'Zona breaks out a 1-3-1 zone all of a sudden and we continue to play like we did in the final 5 minutes).

Maybe the 2001 ties can be extended to the re-incorporation of Kyrie and Carlos. Granted, CBooz played almost the whole season and missed only 6 games, but let's remember that he look very ineffective against UCLA and USC in the regionals but was looking great against both Maryland and Arizona in the FF. I think Kyrie is going to look even better on Thursday and is key to our success. I also think, like 2001, K will stick with his line-up and keep Curry with the starters and bring Kyrie off the bench as he did with Casey Sanders and Boozer.

[devildeac]

We were upstairs directly across from the Duke section, and I think your description is pretty accurate. Very dead atmosphere for both games, really, until they got tight at the end. But K did fire up the faithful and we jumped out to a lead. Then Michigan went zone, we stood around, and the air went back out again.

I don't expect the atmosphere in CA to be as tranquil.

Students got 1st priority on the 550 tix the ncaa made available to Duke. The ID director said they bought about 80 of them and they were $77/session x3 sessions so the cost was $231 (plus $5 for processing and ~$18 for UPS 2 or 3 day shipping for those of us who ordered on Sunday or Monday through ticketmaster). The remainder were sold to the folks weezie mentioned and the players got tix for their family, too, but not sure how many each. When we played at the RBC Center in Raleigh several years ago, I'll guess 150-200 Crazies attended and they were pretty loud and entertaining, too. Right, Ozzie;)? I did not attend the ACCT championship but I'd guess the atmosphere at Time Warner (aka smith center south) yesterday was very similar with 'hole fans buying up a great majority of the extra tix and cheering more loudly against us than they did for their own team. I am not sure what a good solution would be. Our fans were pretty quiet and pretty small in numbers, despite the fact there were >2500 tix still available according to the Raleigh n&o last Wednesday and Thursday. I wasn't there in 2005 (?) when our band AND cheerleaders were lustily booed by the bandwagon blue fans, but I can't imagine yesterday being much different.

Mr. Winters also indicated about 1250 tix would be available for Anaheim this weekend through the ID office so he anticipated a little better showing there for/from our fans, assuming we won yesterday. I spoke with him Friday during halftime of our game against Hampton. So, I hope all you rabid west coast fans are on the phone/computer now making your purchases and preparing your game voices:D.

[Reilly]

...

So, history does kind of favor an early exit after a second round nail biter when we are a high seed, but let's hope this year is more like 2001....

99-32 Tulsa +41 .......... Final 2
86-32 OldD +28 ........... Final 2
04-32 StnHall +28 ....... Final 4
03-32 CentMich +26
88-32 SouM +15 ......... Final 4
91-32 Iowa +15 ..........National Champs
10-32 Cal +15 .............National Champs
92-32 Iowa +13 ...........National Champs
01-32 Mizzou +13 .........National Champs
06-32 GWU +13
94-32 MichSt +11 ......... Final 2
05-32 MissSt +08
89-32 WestV +07 ...... Final 4
02-32 ND +07
98-32 OkSt +06 ........... Elite 8
87-32 Xavr +05
00-32 Kansas +05
09-32 Texas +05
90-32 StJn +04 ............ Final 2
11-32 Michigan +02

85-32 BosC -01
84-32 Wash -02
93-32 Cali -05
08-32 WVU -06
97-32 Providence -11

Under K, when Duke wins by 10+ in 2d round, 9 of 11 times make Final 4 or more.
Under K, when Duke wins by 1-9 pts in 2d rnd, 2 of 8 times make Final 4 or more.

If Duke wins by 6+ points, 11 of 15 times win Sweet 16 game.
If Duke wins by 1-5 points, 1 of 4 times win Sweet 16 game.

Five losses in the 2d round: 2 in 80s, 2 in the 90s, 1 in 00s, 0 in 10s

[MChambers]

I also think, like 2001, K will stick with his line-up and keep Curry with the starters and bring Kyrie off the bench as he did with Casey Sanders and Boozer.
And as he did with Grant Hill in 1992.

[devildeac]

And as he did with Grant Hill in 1992.

And Hurley in 1991 for a week or two, IIRC.

Even though Seth did not have a very good game yesterday, I still think Kyrie remains the 6th man but plays "starter minutes," as Grant did as you mentioned above.

[COYS]

Maybe the 2001 ties can be extended to the re-incorporation of Kyrie and Carlos. Granted, CBooz played almost the whole season and missed only 6 games, but let's remember that he look very ineffective against UCLA and USC in the regionals but was looking great against both Maryland and Arizona in the FF. I think Kyrie is going to look even better on Thursday and is key to our success. I also think, like 2001, K will stick with his line-up and keep Curry with the starters and bring Kyrie off the bench as he did with Casey Sanders and Boozer.

I think the difference is that Carlos was a sophomore and the team had already played most of the season with him in the lineup. Kyrie is a freshman who played 8 games way back in November and early December. Reintegrating him into the lineup is made that much tougher by the fact that the team was never entirely familiar with him at the point. I agree with you, though, that Kyrie will look better and better as the tourney goes on if we are lucky enough to continue to advance. Similarly, I agree that he will continue to use the starting lineup with Curry

[OldPhiKap]

I could be wrong, but I don't think we've ever won a NC without surviving our second game of the tournament. So I think we're on perfect track.

Go Duke!

[dukelifer]

It's interesting that you bring this up because over the past 10 years, when we have a high seed (1 or 2 esp. - which we usually have), I see our second round game as a harbinger of our potential. More often then not, when it's close, I thought, we lose earlier than we should. But, it's not really the case, although it has happened a few times.

When it's happened:
2000 - nail biter over Kansas, lose in Sweet 16 to Florida
2002 - nail biter over Notre Dame, lose to Indiana in the Sweet 16
2005 - close game with Mississippi State, lose to MSU in Sweet 16
2009 - close game with Texas, lose to Villanova in Sweet 16

When it hasn't:
2001 - nail biter with Missouri, win the National Championship
2006 - Beat GW pretty easily, lose to LSU in Sweet 16

Other scenarios:
2003 - As a 3 seed, we whup Central Michigan in round 2 and lose a close game to #2 seed Kansas in (ack) Anaheim
2004 - Whup Seton Hall in round 2, go to the Final Four and lose to UConn
2007 - VCU first round loss
2008 - WVU second round loss after barely beating Belmont in round 1

So, history does kind of favor an early exit after a second round nail biter when we are a high seed, but let's hope this year is more like 2001...summoning the ghost of Shane, JDubs, Nate, CBooz, CDu, Casey, Mikey D and Matty C.

Well the winner of the Duke- UNC ACCT final has gone to the FF every year but one. Lots of harbingers. And of course- the end result of this game is a bit misleading. Yes- Duke did not execute well down the stretch yesterday- but late in the second half, they had a big lead. Not sure about the other games you mentioned. Duke played pretty well yesterday for most of the game.

[roywhite]

And Hurley in 1991 for a week or two, IIRC.

Even though Seth did not have a very good game yesterday, I still think Kyrie remains the 6th man but plays "starter minutes," as Grant did as you mentioned above.

Seth's performance moving forward is very important, even if Kyrie's role and minutes increase. Seth seems to struggle if he starts out slowly and is prone to an occasional bad game (at VaTech, for example). Have to remember that he is a newcomer to the NCAA tournament environement, too.

Frankly, I think Duke wins it all if we shoot well from 3 the rest of the way. And that's not to say we can't win if we shoot somewhat below season averages.

[Scorp4me]

I'm surprised by how fast Kyrie has been reintegrated into the lineup. We won, so no complaining, but I wonder the result of this game had we played without Kyrie. More like we did in the ACC Tournament final. I suppose the same can be said about if we played more like we did in the ACC Regular season final. The point is, if we lose questions will be asked.

I'll give K alot of rope before complaining. I'll do the same for Kyle. But a coaches job is to put the kids in a the best position to succeed. I scream every time Kyle takes a 3 and lately I've been right to scream. His shooting stroke is just gone, it's been gone for a while, and it doesn't appear to be coming back before the end of the year. Yet he continues to take those 3's. If Dre takes some 3's and misses it's one thing. If Mason takes some 3's and misses it's another. I simply don't understand why K hasn't adjusted that one aspect of Singler's game. It's not as if it's his only aspect, the kid does so much more positive!

[devildeac]

Seth's performance moving forward is very important, even if Kyrie's role and minutes increase. Seth seems to struggle if he starts out slowly and is prone to an occasional bad game (at VaTech, for example). Have to remember that he is a newcomer to the NCAA tournament environement, too.

Frankly, I think Duke wins it all if we shoot well from 3 the rest of the way. And that's not to say we can't win if we shoot somewhat below season averages.

Yea, that was my implication with Kyrie continuing to come off the bench. Seth's confidence is very important, along with his contributions. I really felt bad when his first 2 or 3 shots did not go in and did not anticipate a good afternoon for him:(.

I agree with your second point, too. I doubt we'll advance though if we have one of our ~25% games from 3 point range (like 5/20 or 6/24), though I could imagine the scenario where we are 1/4 or 2/8 from beyond the arc and our perimeter players dribble/penetrate well and shoot well from inside that range and the Plumlees and Kelly score well from up close, too:D.

[Matches]

Yea, that was my implication with Kyrie continuing to come off the bench. Seth's confidence is very important, along with his contributions. I really felt bad when his first 2 or 3 shots did not go in and did not anticipate a good afternoon for him:(.



I think Seth is mentally tough enough to handle coming off the bench if that's what the team needs. He's going to play big minutes one way or another, so he'll have plenty of chances to contribute. Plus, he's a shooter, and shooters tend to have very short memories of poor shooting performances.

With that said, I love Kyrie as the 6th man. I especially like having him and Dawkins come in together, around the first TV TO.

[Duke31122]

You ca not compare Michigan to other number 8 seeds. It is just like K said they expected a game just like the Butler game last year. Michigan was a feisty bunch and they almost beat Ohio State twice as well as take Kansas into overtime. You can not think Duke is weak by any means because of that win that is just obsurd.

[rsvman]

I couldn't stand Dean's four corners. It's like watching two snails race. The NCAA had to implement the shot clock. I know Coach K has now won 900 games but his "hold the ball" tactics and "run out the clock" almost cost Duke the victory yesterday. Coach K would have reached 1000 wins this year if he would let his teams play versus Hold the Ball.

This can be nothing more than speculation, and I think it's bad speculation, at that. There's a wide perception that "stall ball" doesn't work, but this perception is based on strong recollection of two or three games that went horribly wrong. Your mind conveniently forgets about the other 200 that went our way. The goal is not to have a wide margin of victory, but to win the game.

Because there is always so much controversy about "stall ball" on the boards, one season I kept track of what happened when we went to this strategy: what the score was when we started it, how much time was left, what the outcome was, and what the final margin was. Surprisingly, quite a few times the margin either increased or stayed the same. Other times the margin slipped a bit but we still came away with the victory. By the time I finished this exercise, I was pretty convinced that the strategy, as a whole, is extremely successful.

I'll see your speculation and raise you mine: K would probably have about 800 wins right now if he never used stall ball.

(Oh, and by the way, my conjecture has just as much validity as yours; that is to say, none whatsoever.)

[Jderf]

Kyrie holds two interesting streaks at Duke. In every game he has played for the Devils he has scored double digits. And in every game he has played for the Devils we have won.

His last and only field goal from last night preserved both.

[ForkFondler]

88-32 SouM +15 ......... Final 4
91-32 Iowa +15 ..........National Champs
10-32 Cal +15 .............National Champs
92-32 Iowa +13 ...........National Champs
01-32 Mizzou +13 .........National Champs
06-32 GWU +13


It's over. ;) The above data conclusively demonstrates that we needed to win by 13 or 15 to win the title. Now, the Final 2 is the best we can hope for.

[Chard]

I'll admit that I also was scratching my head while watching the game. I was frustrated. I said some dirty words!

However, I went back and watched the game; mainly the second half. I came away with a much different outlook.

I encourage those of you who are still bewildered to do the same.

58-48 with 9:50 to go Singler was called for a foul which was his fourth. It was clear that a Michigan player pushed Singler into the other Michigan player. This was when Michigan was able to run get back into the game. The score was 68-62 when Singler came back in around the 5 minute mark. This was a huge development in the game.

Now check out the play-by-play (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/playbyplay?gameId=310790150) from the 9:50 mark. Kyrie was great. He hit two free throws, gets an assist, a defensive rebound that is a turnover due to a toe out of bounds, a steal, a "foul" that was really a flop imho, a missed jumper that Kelly converts, a shot clock violation and then the game-winning shot. This also doesn't account for the great passes that resulted in good but missed shots. Also notice that Nolan Smith hits five free throws and a lay up during that span.

My point? This was a great win by Duke and not something to be frustrated about.

[Reilly]

I could be wrong, but I don't think we've ever won a NC without surviving our second game of the tournament. So I think we're on perfect track.

Go Duke!

The data appear to back you up. All five of the times we lost in the second round, we did not win the national championship. It's actually worse: we did not even make the sweet 16 those years. In contrast, all 20 times Duke won in the second round, it made the sweet 16; 4 of those 20 were champs; 8 of those 20 were in the final game; and 11 of those 20 were in the Final 4. Putting it all together, we have a 25% chance of advancing past the sweet 16 (based on 1 of 4 under 10 point round of 32 victories leading to an elite 8 or better performance) ... or is that an 84% chance of advancing past the sweet 16 (based on kenpom) ... or something .....

[Saratoga2]

This can be nothing more than speculation, and I think it's bad speculation, at that. There's a wide perception that "stall ball" doesn't work, but this perception is based on strong recollection of two or three games that went horribly wrong. Your mind conveniently forgets about the other 200 that went our way. The goal is not to have a wide margin of victory, but to win the game.

Because there is always so much controversy about "stall ball" on the boards, one season I kept track of what happened when we went to this strategy: what the score was when we started it, how much time was left, what the outcome was, and what the final margin was. Surprisingly, quite a few times the margin either increased or stayed the same. Other times the margin slipped a bit but we still came away with the victory. By the time I finished this exercise, I was pretty convinced that the strategy, as a whole, is extremely successful.

I'll see your speculation and raise you mine: K would probably have about 800 wins right now if he never used stall ball.

(Oh, and by the way, my conjecture has just as much validity as yours; that is to say, none whatsoever.)

Watchiing VCU take apart a good Purdue team provides an interestingly different approach to the end of game strategy. They just kept up a relentless fast paced attack which Purdue couldn't handle. Stall is not a strategy I think you will see them employ. It worked for them so there are multiple ways to deal with the end of game. Theirs didn't involve having to sweat out a last second shot by their opponent to get the win.

[Kedsy]

So, history does kind of favor an early exit after a second round nail biter when we are a high seed, but let's hope this year is more like 2001.

Well, the sample size is pretty small. But the reason I don't think history is that much of a guide for this year's tournament performance is the re-integration of Kyrie. Presumably he will improve and the team will mesh better with him as each game goes on.

Interestingly, the last time (only time?) we tried to re-integrate a key player back into the rotation at this late date was, you guessed it, 2001. Although Carlos Boozer didn't actually play in the 2nd round game against Missouri (which was a 13 point Duke win, so not nearly as much of a nailbiter as last night).

[Dr. Tina]

The Devil's Den calculated that in Kyle has shot 5-39 from 3 in his last 11 games, giving his 3FG% rate - 12.8%. Using a website I found online that has tracked his stats for the last 4 seasons, this is what they show about Kyle's 3 point shooting in all games:

07-08

3FG - 51
3FGA - 150
3FG% - 34%

08-09

3FG - 69
3FGA - 180
3FG% - 38.3

09-10

3FG - 85
3FGA - 213
3FG% - 39.9

10-12 (to date)

3FG - 60
3FGA - 190
3FG% - 31.6%

Taking multiple 3's, Kyle's best games shooting the 3 this season have largely come against OOC and, arguably, inferior competition:

Princeton (2-3; 67%), Oregon (5-9; 55.6%), Bradley (4-9; 44.4%), St. Louis (2-4: 50%), Elon (3-5; 60%), UNCG (4-7; 57.1%), UAB (3-6; 50%)

In conference, Kyle's 3's fell best in these games:

FSU (5-11; 44.5%), the 2 MD games (3-7; 42.9% and 2-4; 50%), and to a lesser extent, against Wake (3-8; 37.5%).

In the ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament combined, Kyle has been 15% (3-20) from beyond the arc. His best game in March was against MD. He went 0-4 from 3, but he was 10-15 FG and 9-9 on the charity stripe.

Coach K and Kyle continue to say that nothing is wrong with Kyle's shot and that he's not lacking confidence. The latter is obvious since he continues to shoot the 3 despite the fact that this season has been his worst 3 point shooting performance of his entire Duke career.

Kyle's been most effective either shooting jumpers inside the arc or driving into the lane for a basket (and possibly drawing a foul). He needs to keep doing these things offensively for us to be successful, and keep the 3pt shooting to a minimum. I'm not sure what the deal is with his 3 point shot, but I can't totally buy that there isn't something either mental or mechanically going on to have resulted in such a drop off in his shooting touch this season.

I'm not saying any of this to take away from Kyle's amazing defensive contributions and all the little things he's done either. He's been a warrior for us on those fronts, and I want him to continue to be. I'd just like to see him do more of the things that have been successful for him all year long, and the 3 doesn't seem to be it this season.