Duke vs Bellarmine Game Thread

[riverside6]

Duke kicks off exhibition play with Bellarmine in 15 minutes, and the starting lineups are posted... Curry, Rivers, Murphy, Mason Plumlee and Miles Plumlee. You can follow the live stats here:

http://www.scacchoops.com/ViewHDGame.asp?hSchedule=10618

[SCMatt33]

Here's a list of radio streams (http://tunein.com/radio/stations/Duke-Blue-Devils-Radio-Stations-a37610/). They won't all work, but you should be able to find at least one that works.

[J4Kop99]

Murphy starting?

[Bluedevil114]

Murphy starting?

Is this a wake up call for Dawkins? Maybe it is Coach K saying Murphy has more energy/attitude in practice.

[Bluedevil114]

Murphy starting?

Or maybe it is for Tony Parker. If you practice hard you can make the starting line up as a freshman.

[loldevilz]

Murphy starting?

Wow, very surprised to see that starting lineup if it stands. Kelly looked to be one of the best if not the best player through the first few scrimmages. Anyways, its not set in stone and there will definitely be changes throughout the year.

[J4Kop99]

Yeah I have no idea what the reasoning is. The obvious reason would be that Murphy has simply outplayed Dawkins so far... however, Murphy would have had to outplay him by a substantial amount IMO if he were to "steal" the starting spot from Dawkins already.

This could just be Coach messing around with line-ups because it is an EX. game.

-On the topic of Tony Parker: he better hear it from the Crazies tonight. I doubt they will disappoint.

[J4Kop99]

Wow, very surprised to see that starting lineup if it stands. Kelly looked to be one of the best if not the best player through the first few scrimmages. Anyways, its not set in stone and there will definitely be changes throughout the year.

Well, I can't speak for other, but I personally did not believe that Duke would have ever went with a starting line-up consisting of Kelly, and the 2 Plums at the 3,4,5. I think that is too slow of a line-up and I would not trust kelly defending the 3 position.

I look at it as Kelly is battling with one of the Plumlees for the 4 spot and Murphy-Dawkins are battling for the 3.

-Basically, if this actually is a statement by K (which I do not really think that it is) then I think he would be calling out Dawkins and not Kelly.

[CDu]

Anyone else getting a "connection error" at goduke.com? I purchased the 1-month membership, but can't seem to access the feed.

[SilkyJ]

Anyone else getting a "connection error" at goduke.com? I purchased the 1-month membership, but can't seem to access the feed.

same here. see we can agree :)

[77devil]

Anyone else getting a "connection error" at goduke.com? I purchased the 1-month membership, but can't seem to access the feed.

Same.

[ChillinDuke]

Anyone else getting a "connection error" at goduke.com? I purchased the 1-month membership, but can't seem to access the feed.

Same problem.

[delfrio]

Anyone else getting a "connection error" at goduke.com? I purchased the 1-month membership, but can't seem to access the feed.

Yep, I can't get it to work on either IE or Firefox. Frustrating, especially as I joined just to see the exhibition games...

[dcar1985]

Anyone else getting a "connection error" at goduke.com? I purchased the 1-month membership, but can't seem to access the feed.

Yea Im getting the same thing....bummer

[Fuqua's Finest]

I personally like the lineup. I think the Plumlee's play well off each other. Seth will be a Jon reincarnation and Austin provides the Nolan shake and bake. As far as the wing position, I think it's interchangeable. I mean worst case scenario we bring Dre, Ryan, and Thornton/Cook off the bench. That's a pretty explosive bench, not to mention if Josh has improved and is ready to contribute. This shall be interesting.

[m g]

My duke inside access isn't working either. It didn't work properly the only other time I tried buying it. This service sucks.

[Oriole Way]

Well, I can't speak for other, but I personally did not believe that Duke would have ever went with a starting line-up consisting of Kelly, and the 2 Plums at the 3,4,5. I think that is too slow of a line-up and I would not trust kelly defending the 3 position.

I look at it as Kelly is battling with one of the Plumlees for the 4 spot and Murphy-Dawkins are battling for the 3.

-Basically, if this actually is a statement by K (which I do not really think that it is) then I think he would be calling out Dawkins and not Kelly.

I think a much better lineup than tonight's is Curry/Rivers/Dawkins(or Murphy)/Kelly/Miles with Mason coming off the bench as the 6th man. Dawkins is definitely being called out, but I'm not sure why Kelly is part of the lineup shuffle, especially since he's a captain.

I'm sure K has his reasons, but to me, Mason Plumlee has been least deserving of a starting spot based on not only his inconsistent play last season, but also his play in the exhibition games thus far.

[terrih]

Every year Goduke promises great ways to see/hear the first few games. Every year, they fail miserably. WHY OH WHY do I keep giving them my money.

Yes, connection error using 2 different computers. Have tried everything. Even bought an extra HDMI cord so I could hook the laptop up to the TV for this game. So annoyed.

[dukee94]

Also getting 'connection error.' I had video on before the game so everything was initially working, until the actual event that I wanted to see.

[diveonthefloor]

Anyone else getting a "connection error" at goduke.com? I purchased the 1-month membership, but can't seem to access the feed.

Yep, same problem here.

[Bojangles4Eva]

same here. see we can agree :)

Same for me.....This is not the first time Inside Access has taken a digital dump during video broadcast of an exhibition game, so I can't say this is very suprising

[jlear]

Same for me 2 computers multiple browsers...sucks

[loldevilz]

Well, I can't speak for other, but I personally did not believe that Duke would have ever went with a starting line-up consisting of Kelly, and the 2 Plums at the 3,4,5. I think that is too slow of a line-up and I would not trust kelly defending the 3 position.

I look at it as Kelly is battling with one of the Plumlees for the 4 spot and Murphy-Dawkins are battling for the 3.

-Basically, if this actually is a statement by K (which I do not really think that it is) then I think he would be calling out Dawkins and not Kelly.

I mean I'm surprised that Mason is starting over Kelly. I'm also surprised that Murphy is starting over Dawkins, but I think there has definitely been some indication that he will eventually end up as the starting small forward.

[Oriole Way]

Did GoDuke ever provide refunds for subscribers who had technical difficulties last season (or previous seasons)?

[jlear]

working now

[CDu]

Same for me.....This is not the first time Inside Access has taken a digital dump during video broadcast of an exhibition game, so I can't say this is very suprising

Fantastic... Glad (though also sorry for everyone) that I'm not alone.

[dcar1985]

Yea Im getting the same thing....bummer

Up now!

[CDu]

working now

Not for me (at least not yet)

edit: now working.

[J4Kop99]

I think a much better lineup than tonight's is Curry/Rivers/Dawkins(or Murphy)/Kelly/Miles with Mason coming off the bench as the 6th man. Dawkins is definitely being called out, but I'm not sure why Kelly is part of the lineup shuffle, especially since he's a captain.

I'm sure K has his reasons, but to me, Mason Plumlee has been least deserving of a starting spot based on not only his inconsistent play last season, but also his play in the exhibition games thus far.

100% agree. I also like Kelly in the starting line-up. As for Mason being least deserving... we have to remember that we have not seen one minute of practice time.

...unless, of course, you have seen the Duke practices and in that case I would say you are a very lucky human being.

[Oriole Way]

100% agree. I also like Kelly in the starting line-up. As for Mason being least deserving... we have to remember that we have not seen one minute of practice time.

...unless, of course, you have seen the Duke practices and in that case I would say you are a very lucky human being.

Nope, haven't seen practices. Just offering my take on things based on the information those of us not close to the program have available.

[77devil]

Feed is choppy-ish here. anyone else? Using latest version of FireFox

[CDu]

So what was the actual starting lineup?

So far, the two minutes I've seen (small sample szie caveat) have been as I'd expect: two guards, one of Dawkins/Gbinije/Murphy, and two bigs.

[Oriole Way]

So what was the actual starting lineup?

So far, the two minutes I've seen (small sample szie caveat) have been as I'd expect: two guards, one of Dawkins/Gbinije/Murphy, and two bigs.

Curry/Rivers/Murphy/Mason/Miles

[CDu]

Curry/Rivers/Murphy/Mason/Miles

Ah, ok. Thanks!

[Gthoma2a]

Miles has two fouls? He has got to get that under control so his progress as a player can really show. He has improved a lot, but he has to be able to stay on the floor. Our tempo is showing to be very low so far. If that lasts, hopefully we can use that to control opponents.

[CDu]

Miles has two fouls? He has got to get that under control so his progress as a player can really show. He has improved a lot, but he has to be able to stay on the floor.

Two offensive fouls without the ball I believe

[FireOgilvie]

We're bricking all of our 3s and giving them uncontested jumpers. We look awful.

One point game.

[Billy Dat]

FWIW...the feed has been working fine for me but I didn't log-in until 5 mins in.

This is interesting...a good pre-season opponent as they really run their offense nicely. Let's see how we respond this last few minutes of the half.

[CDu]

32-31 Duke with 2:24 to go in the half. Bit of a sloppy start. Lots of missed shots. Lots of missed assignments/poor rotations on defense leading to easy baskets.

[loldevilz]

I guess we're picking up right where we left off during that Arizona game.

[CDu]

38-33 at the half. We look like a team still trying to figure things out. Which is probably accurate at this point in the season. We're also playing a deeper rotation than I would expect as the season progresses (I think we've gone 10 deep already).

[Billy Dat]

Nice finish to the half with the Tyler, Cook, Rivers, Miles/Ryan, Mason line-up. This opponent really shoots from 3 well and their success nailing a bunch of treys as they erased our 15 point lead in the middle of the half has set up their drive game. At the same time, K's being playing a lot of guys and really mixing the line-ups. We shouldn't have let them come back the way we did, but it's been a revolving door line-up. It's fun watching the new guys. We have a huge size advantage, we need to try and maximize more. Also, we haven't hit one 3.

[jipops]

I have no access to the game but I can honestly say I don't find the halftime score to be the least bit surprising. It's going to be a work in progress for awhile. This team has to figure itself out and it's going to take some time, I don't care what the preseason polls say. Other than a win, the best that can come out of these early games is that everyone remains healthy.

[gumbomoop]

I think we've gone 10 deep already.

According to live stats, 11-deep, all but MP3.

[Billy Dat]

Pretty cool - they just had all the parents on the floor and introduced them after playing a K "Welcome top the Season" video. The Plumlees got introduced last...maybe Perky can suit up, dude looks about 6'10".

[ChillinDuke]

Nice finish to the half with the Tyler, Cook, Rivers, Miles/Ryan, Mason line-up. This opponent really shoots from 3 well and their success nailing a bunch of treys as they erased our 15 point lead in the middle of the half has set up their drive game. At the same time, K's being playing a lot of guys and really mixing the line-ups. We shouldn't have let them come back the way we did, but it's been a revolving door line-up. It's fun watching the new guys. We have a huge size advantage, we need to try and maximize more. Also, we haven't hit one 3.

This.

Granted it's the first game and an exhibition, so K is probably still feeling out lineups and what have you. We really have a lot of different looks we can throw at teams. Lots of versatility. Pretty exciting.

Also, Cook looks really good. Moving nicely, looks great with the ball.

- Chillin

[Oriole Way]

I have no access to the game but I can honestly say I don't find the halftime score to be the least bit surprising. It's going to be a work in progress for awhile. This team has to figure itself out and it's going to take some time, I don't care what the preseason polls say. Other than a win, the best that can come out of these early games is that everyone remains healthy.

Completely true, and completely agree.

[CDu]

According to live stats, 11-deep, all but MP3.

Yeah, that's correct. Forgot that Dawkins came off the bench. 11 deep is correct. I'd expect 8-9 in real games.

[delfrio]

I'd like to see more of Cook and Curry playing together. Seems we've been trying a number of 2 point-guard lineups, but not that one so much (that I saw).

[Billy Dat]

This Curry, Thornton, Rivers, Mp1&2 line-up is nice. They've settled down. We still haven't hit a 3, but we've started going to the hole with good results. Nice drive by Austin, Curry with a nice banker in the lane, nice wrap-around slam by Miles after he gathered himself and created some space without walking. Bellarmine have hit some tough shots - they really are a solid, solid offensive machine...like a FIBA drive and kick squad - everyone looking for 3s.

[SCMatt33]

Well, there shouldn't be any hubris this year about a giant oh-fer from 3 happening at an inopportune time. Good shooters can still go cold together.

[Billy Dat]

We just nailed our first 2 3s, Tyler and Seth with Seth's being a potential 4 point play. I think we have looked best with a Thornton, Rivers, Curry perimeter. Mason shook loose with a nice reverse dunk, an alley-oop and a breakaway. The Ryan, Miles, Mason frontcourt rotation looks good. What doesn't look good...Andre, Andre...oh where are you Andre...a non-entity.

[jipops]

Wow, Seth has 6 boards right now? Is the game a fast tempo or is he simply reaping the benefits of our larger frontcourt players boxing everyone out?

[Billy Dat]

Wow, Seth has 6 boards right now? Is the game a fast tempo or is he simply reaping the benefits of our larger frontcourt players boxing everyone out?

It seems pretty fast. Bellarmine doesn't mess around on offense - they run some nice stuff and don't use a ton of clock.

[Duvall]

Wow, Seth has 6 boards right now? Is the game a fast tempo or is he simply reaping the benefits of our larger frontcourt players boxing everyone out?

A little of both. But the real question is - should Seth be benched?

[J4Kop99]

Are the stats telling the whole story with Murphy/Dawkins? Are they both having a bad game?

[ChrisP]

A little of both. But the real question is - should Seth be benched?

Is this an attempt at sarcasm? Or, were you being serious?

[Duvall]

Is this an attempt at sarcasm?

A weak one.

[ChrisP]

A weak one.

Ok, thanks for clarifying. I don't have the online feed - just keeping up by what I'm reading here.

[gwlaw99]

One of the bigger positives, I saw tonight was Austin really letting the game come to him. Quinn had 4 assists in 10 minutes. Mason and Miles were solid, but mostly dunks. Was hoping to see the new post up moves. Its hard to take too much from this game because we shot so poorly from 3 and it looked like I was seeing 3 or 4 different Duke teams.

[jipops]

A little of both. But the real question is - should Seth be benched?

I think he should. Seth shouldn't have more boards than assists.

[ChrisP]

Final score, anyone?

[diveonthefloor]

Little surprised at the degree of rust given the performance on the Asian trip.

Wonder of Bellarmine was rusty also? Sure didn't look it.

Murphy and Gbinije are very, very, very green.

Thought Thornton had another great defensive performance. He will be valuable this year. May see him alot down the stretch in close games.

[Gthoma2a]

I think he should. Seth shouldn't have more boards than assists.

Perhaps he should be playing the 2. We have a guy who got 4 or five assists in about 10 minutes.

[OZ]

Final score, anyone?



Duke 87-62

[jv001]

Perhaps he should be playing the 2. We have a guy who got 4 or five assists in about 10 minutes.

Or maybe at the 4 or 5. GoDuke!

[CDu]

Final score, anyone?

87-62.

[SilkyJ]

Perhaps he should be playing the 2. We have a guy who got 4 or five assists in about 10 minutes.

You mean this guy (http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?26400-The-quot-Quinn-Cook-should-maybe-probably-be-starting-quot-Thread)?

[davekay1971]

Thanks for all the posts. It was helpful to get at least some sense of what was happening in the game.

Sounds like Dre hasn't quite figured out how to fit in to the offensive flow this year.

Nice to hear the reports on Quinn and Tyler performing so well. Seth certainly seems to be ready to be a leader (whether at the point or the 2). I was very happy to see all 3 bigs getting double digit points. They must have been a focus of the offense!

Can't wait to actually see a game. Getting close!

[Devilsfan]

It was raining threes! Well at least attempted threes.

[Devilsfan]

Looks like we might struggle this year. We did beat mighty Bellarmine by 20.

[jipops]

So we shot 14% from 3 yet 55% overall. Hmm... maybe this helped - 3 frontcourt bigs a combined 15-20.

[CDu]

The good:

- We won comfortably after a bumpy stretch late in the first half.
- The Plumlees got a lot of dunk attempts. Mason looked especially active. I can only remember one non-dunk/layup for the Plumlees, and that was a little turnaround 5-7 footer for Mason. Granted, they were much bigger and more athletic than Bellarmine's bigs. But it was nice to see them aggressive and involved.
- Cook looked comfortable out there in limited minutes.
- Thornton showed some good instincts away from the ball. I think he gets a bit too much credit for his on-ball defense (which I don't think is as good as some suggest), but he's been fantastic at helping on switches and picking off or tipping passes.
- Curry looked good out there. His 3pt shot wasn't falling, but he still averaged over a point per shot and added 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. I'd not expect 16.7% 3pt shooting for him on too many nights.
- No one got hurt.
- Rivers seemed to play within the offense rather than forcing the action. So much of his gifts are one-on-one gifts that I feel like it's a difficult balancing act for him to find his niche on a talented team. I think he did a solid job of it tonight.

The bad:

- Bellarmine exploited our defense occasionally with some good ball movement and nice off-ball movement. We lost some assignments at times.
- Our perimeter shooting was terrible.
- Dawkins looked about as involved as he often did last year on offense.
- Murphy and Gbinije looked like freshmen out there (not unexpected, since they are indeed freshmen).

The other:
- The team went with a rotation of the Plumlees, Kelly, and Hairston exclusively at the 4 and 5 spots. I'd expect to see this to be the case throughout the year. The "3" spot was manned by Murphy, Dawkins, Gbinije, and at times Rivers (when we went really small with two of Cook/Curry/Thornton). I can imagine the starting spots varying at the 3, 4, and 5 spots a bit throughout the year. I'd be bit surprised if Curry and Rivers don't start every game at the guard spots.
- No Marshall tonight.
- Deeper rotation tonight than I'd expect once the season starts. Along the same lines, a more equitable split of minutes than I'd expect once the season starts.

[jv001]

The good:

- We won comfortably after a bumpy stretch late in the first half.
- The Plumlees got a lot of dunk attempts. Mason looked especially active. I can only remember one non-dunk/layup for the Plumlees, and that was a little turnaround 5-7 footer for Mason. Granted, they were much bigger and more athletic than Bellarmine's bigs. But it was nice to see them aggressive and involved.
- Cook looked comfortable out there in limited minutes.
- Thornton showed some good instincts away from the ball. I think he gets a bit too much credit for his on-ball defense (which I don't think is as good as some suggest), but he's been fantastic at helping on switches and picking off or tipping passes.
- Curry looked good out there. His 3pt shot wasn't falling, but he still averaged over a point per shot and added 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. I'd not expect 16.7% 3pt shooting for him on too many nights.
- No one got hurt.
- Rivers seemed to play within the offense rather than forcing the action. So much of his gifts are one-on-one gifts that I feel like it's a difficult balancing act for him to find his niche on a talented team. I think he did a solid job of it tonight.

The bad:

- Bellarmine exploited our defense occasionally with some good ball movement and nice off-ball movement. We lost some assignments at times.
- Our perimeter shooting was terrible.
- Dawkins looked about as involved as he often did last year on offense.
- Murphy and Gbinije looked like freshmen out there (not unexpected, since they are indeed freshmen).

The other:
- The team went with a rotation of the Plumlees, Kelly, and Hairston exclusively at the 4 and 5 spots. I'd expect to see this to be the case throughout the year. The "3" spot was manned by Murphy, Dawkins, Gbinije, and at times Rivers (when we went really small with two of Cook/Curry/Thornton). I can imagine the starting spots varying at the 3, 4, and 5 spots a bit throughout the year. I'd be bit surprised if Curry and Rivers don't start every game at the guard spots.
- No Marshall tonight.
- Deeper rotation tonight than I'd expect once the season starts. Along the same lines, a more equitable split of minutes than I'd expect once the season starts.

Thanks for the good run down of the game CDu. I wasn't able to see the game but your update gives me an idea of what the team needs to work on. Lot's of predictions on player rotations from other folks though. Go Duke!

[delfrio]

How about Miles hitting the free throws? 75%, up from under 60% last year. Keep it up!

[jipops]

- Deeper rotation tonight than I'd expect once the season starts. Along the same lines, a more equitable split of minutes than I'd expect once the season starts.

Definitely a deeper rotation that what we'll see once we get to the teeth of the ACC season. But provided nobody gets hurt it is difficult to see how the rotation could get fewer than 8 guys. K seems very determined to keep Thornton in the mix and Cook seems to bring some things to the table.

[uh_no]

How about Miles hitting the free throws? 75%, up from under 60% last year. Keep it up!

Small sample size: statistical abberation! Jk. Hope he can keep it up

[homebre]

Is this indicative of a possible red shirt, or is he not ready yet?