MBB: Duke 77, Belmont 76 - Post-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Put your post-game thoughts here.

[moonpie23]

it's gonna be a long season.....

:(

[OldPhiKap]

Experienced interior, new roles on the outside.

Lots of good energy and talent, need to harness it.

Mason and Tyler, way to go!

Great post-game interview with Mason, btw -- very well-spoken.

[Mcluhan]

I loved every minute of it.

I think it's a stroke of genius that it was scheduled. We battled hard in our first game. And from here on out this relatively young team takes nothing for granted.

Actually, our schedule's been brilliant for three months now.

[juise]

it's gonna be a long season.....

:(

You mean... this team is a work in progress and it's going to be fun to see how they play at the end of the year.

Not to mention that Belmont is a solid team and will easily be in the tournament. This could be listed as a key win on Duke's NCAAT resume at the end of the year.

[Bob Green]

it's gonna be a long season.....

:(

I disagree! We just got off to a great start by beating a quality opponent. Belmont is very good and I'm glad we were able to play and win against a very good team to start the season.

[rsvman]

Tough win, but a win is a win. Disappointed that we couldn't maintain a pretty big lead.

Impressed by Dawkins's key three pointer. Looked cool as a cucumber. Ryan made the big free throws, too.

I think the team will get better. Rivers is no Irving, but he's got serious skills. I think the season will be interesting; I hope to see the team gel a lot in the next few weeks.

[OrangeDevil]

it's gonna be a long season.....

:(

Belmont is a skilled, experienced and well-coached team. Better to face them now than the tournament. Our guys are still learning their roles and, at times, playing at too fast at break neck speed. We'll get better. The despair is much too premature.

[gcashwell]

Considering what I saw in the exhibitions, I could not be more pleased. Somebody always came up big when necessary.

Thorton was incredible. I was a little disappointed in Austin's ability to finish. Perimeter D needs work.

Again, this game made me feel great. I like the team a lot.

[billyj]

Belmont is a good team, we played really well. It will be fun watching this team grow this year. No expectations.

[Duvall]

it's gonna be a long season.....

:(

A close win over a likely NCAA Tournament team on November 11 is clearly cause for concern.

[Saratoga2]

The good news is it was a win against a good team and a learning experience for our players. We had 10 or more from 5 players in doing that. Kelly making 2 for 2 from the line sealed it.

There are some obvious areas for improvement but it is late now and they will be discussed in the threads to follow. Way too many turnovers and too much sloppy play. Having Dawkins pick up four fouls fairly early forced the team to play a narrow lineup. Thornton is a good alternative and he has to learn to moderate his aggressive play just a little. We will need him to play significant minutes this year.

Look forward to the commentary

[Dukeface88]

it's gonna be a long season.....

...because we'll still be playing in April?

Seriously, I don't think this game tells us much. Bellmont is a good, veteran team; it isn't suprising this was a close one.

[Gthoma2a]

I see a lot of ups and downs this year (I hope more ups than downs). I would have liked to see more Quinn. I like Tyler too, but Quinn gives us an offensive kick. Tyler had great intensity (and I love that), but also fouled out in a close game. We don't have much depth if it stays like it was tonight. We will need some more depth to stay with a team that runs like UNC. I don't know if we have the lungs on our squad to get guys to play Scheyer, Singler or Smith minutes. With that said, I am looking forward to the next game! I love this sport!

[A-Tex Devil]

1. Belmont's good
2. Our interior D is not
3. Our perimeter is going to be nails this year, especially if QC can come along too
4. Austin looks to have a knack for getting to the line, which is huge because when his offense is so so like tonight he is still getting us points
5. Kelly will play better. Off night tonight.

First game. Should be an interesting year. Hopefully more 2000/2003 than 2007.

[diveonthefloor]

Belmont is good.

Duke is young and probably not as good as their current poll rating.

Question:

Does Duke drop in the polls Monday morning?

[Ultrarunner]

I was looking for G to walk through the door and in steps Andre. Big shot at the critical time.

I'm a little disappointed we couldn't hold our lead and that is likely going to cost us somewhere down the road. I expect that the team will grow and this will become less a concern.

Mason was downright dominating but he needs to improve his A/TO ratio. Otherwise, the double-double was nice to see. It was really nice to see him playing defense on his feet rather than bounding all over the court.

Nice game by Seth and Tyler.

[NSDukeFan]

I disagree! We just got off to a great start by beating a quality opponent. Belmont is very good and I'm glad we were able to play and win against a very good team to start the season.


A close win over a likely NCAA Tournament team on November 11 is clearly cause for concern.

Exactly. I am very pleased the team was able to pull out the win and I very much enjoyed the focus of pounding the ball into Mason and Mason doing good things with it in the post. I thought the team for the most part did a good job shutting down Belmont's three point shooters, which was likely a focus going in. Great to get a quality win this early in the season.

[uh_no]

Belmont is good.

Duke is young and probably not as good as their current poll rating.

Question:

Does Duke drop in the polls Monday morning?

Doubt it. We beat a decent team, and the polls are terribly predictable....you win you don't drop

[-bdbd]

Wow. What a game! Look folks - the sky is not falling. Belmont is good, experienced and probably a NCAA team. Duke is very young. We will be a very different team come Feb and March.

I was watching on-line via ESPN. WOW - there are some obnoxious 'haters out there. Nothing but vulgarities and anti-Duke filth. EVERY call goes Duke's way, or so they SCREAM. Every thing about Duke, their fans, their Coach, the school is relentlessly insulted. Mostly nasty little NC and MD and Fla and Ohio St fans. Geez, how empty is your life to camp out on-line on your rival's opening game win and spew forth endless filth and vulgarities! I gotta go clean off after seeing all that filth... Never again.

It seems like we are in desperate need of some composure and confidence/steadiness on this team. Give 'em some time. They just played "young."

1 - 0 baby! Next play!

[cspan37421]

That was a really exciting game - felt like a game for the regular-season ACC title. Belmont is very, very well-coached and their players never give up. I can't believe we have to play another tomorrow! I wonder if we're predestined to win.... ;)

Did anyone catch the female announcer calling Austin Rivers a rookie, instead of a freshman? She did it twice I think.

Seth was really good shooting tonight. I am not sure we want to be giving him up at shooting guard (and yes, I know we have but one position: winner!) to play the point. Austin was good at getting to the line. He racked up fouls remarkably quickly toward the end of the game though. And while Andre hit that great shot, he had not had that good of a game until then.

Lots of turnovers.

Mason had a really, really good game overall, but boy, we don't need our bigs driving the lane from 25 feet out, do we? It doesn't take that long to get your feet set.

So glad it's basketball season again!

[Bob Green]

Does Duke drop in the polls Monday morning?

No, Belmont rises in the polls.

[killerleft]

Choppy, sloppy win over a tough opponent. Lots of questions to be answered yet, but there's lots of time to study up. We did well at the end, yay on Dre, Tyler, and Ryan, no choking for these guys!

This is a positive result. Now we need to schedule a game to be played on an iceberg so we can one-up the 'ol Roys!

[OldPhiKap]

1. Belmont's good
2. Our interior D is not
3. Our perimeter is going to be nails this year, especially if QC can come along too
4. Austin looks to have a knack for getting to the line, which is huge because when his offense is so so like tonight he is still getting us points
5. Kelly will play better. Off night tonight.

First game. Should be an interesting year. Hopefully more 2000/2003 than 2007.

1. Agreed.
2. Not sure I agree, Belmont had speed and good passing. Mason and Miles held position relatively well.
3. Lots of players, all with different skills. Interesting to see how K works it all in.
4. Agreed, if he can finish those plays he is a top national player.
5. Kelly has unlimited upside, perhaps our biggest "X" factor.

[Bluedevil114]

I feel much better with what I saw tonight versus how we played against Division II opponents. Duke needs to cut down on the turnovers and work on the perimeter defense and I think they will be fine. Mason looked better but still need to work on moves around the basket and it was scary watching Mason and Miles try to run the two man show down low. Looked out of sorts together.

Duke will continue to improve. Curry looked incredible if you take away a couple of his turnovers tonight.

Go Duke!!

[ice-9]

11/11/11, a day of firsts! This is my first post to DBR in a very, very long time, and is my first look at the team for the team's first regular season win. Some quick impressions:

- Austin Rivers' talent is undeniable, though it was a tale of two halves for him. In the first, he was able to get his shot any time he wanted, and the stretch where he was able to repeatedly draw fouls early in the game was key in pulling Duke forward. In the second, he wasn't nearly as successful. Still, I predict Rivers will be our most important player by the end of the season...the ball will be in his hands when we need a play most. He'll either draw the foul, dish to an open big man, kick out to a shooter, or finish the play himself.

- I like what I see with Mason. He makes an impact on the game in all aspects, as before (especially rebounding -- this is guy is clearly an elite rebounder), but I like that he's calling for the ball a lot more. That hook looks like it'll finally start dropping with regularity and will be practically impossible to block with his height.

- Ditto with Miles. I loved that strong play where he drew the foul in the first half. Even the play where he ended up traveling was OK in that he showed initiative and aggression. Our bigs are quick and athletic; we have to be able to capitalize on that.

- Ryan disappointed a bit relative to the hefty box scores he put up on the China and Dubai trips. That one pass into the stands was inexplicable. But at the end of it Ryan settled down and turned in a solid performance, 12 points and 6 rebounds.

- For a while in the first half I was wondering whether Seth Curry was in the game at all, then I realize he was one of the leading scorers. He wasn't high profile, but he was effective especially with his 4-5 three piont shooting.

- Kudos to Tyler Thorton! He's the kind of player you have to pay attention to, otherwise be prepared to get the ball knocked out or outright stolen. Also made a few sweet jump shots and nice plays.

- Andre made the biggest shot of the game - wow! That said Andre is stil a question mark to me. I don't know if it's his baby face, but he looks like he's still teetering on the edge of being effective vs. playing tentative. He looked good when he drove and made that layup (off the Mason pass), and he looked scared when he had a wide open look but ended up traveling.

I thought we played well given this is the season opener, and given that Belmont is an extremely well coached, well oiled, highly experienced team. They defended very, very well and I suspect made us look worse than we actually are. And we didn't look that bad. Our defense was a lot better than what I was led to expect based on pre-game reports. Still though, we were a little lucky that Belmont hadn't shot as well as they normally do.

This Duke team is clearly a WIP, especially as indicated by our awful 19 turnovers. We have the pieces but don't quite yet have the identity. My prediction based on this one game -- I think we will be a balanced team. It won't be big dominated, but it won't be guard dominated either. Our bigs will score 40% of the points. Curry and Dawkins will take and make 3-pointers; Austin will have the ball when we need something to happen; and Tyler will play defense and do some of the ball handling. By the end of the season our rotation will go 7 deep although up to 10 will see minutes.

Finally, is it just me or was this the worst Cameron has ever been in a while? There were large stretches of the game where I can hear shoes squeaking and the ball bouncing!

[diveonthefloor]

No, Belmont rises in the polls.

My thinking also. Belmont looks like a top 25 team. At least.

[roywhite]

Tough win over a good Belmont team that would not go away.

Biggest gripe with the offense?
Too much dribbling.
Way too much of 6'10" guys dribbling in traffic, and too much of our guards dribbling into the lane and getting stripped.

Interesting work in progress.

[jipops]

Great, great win. Just because this isn't some name program from a major conference does it mean this win should be minimized. This Belmont team is as good as any other team in the ACC with the exception of the heels. Playing Belmont and coming up with a W after going through some lapses was big for our guys. Sure the execution fell way off the last 10 minutes, but when a play needed to be made we made it. Not bad for such an inexperienced team.

Ofcourse there are tons of things to work on. Offensive execution disappears for long stretches. There are some issues on defense in the post to address. It's November and this is a young team with no proven leader. If you are someone disappointed by a lot of the ugliness in this one then there is little chance of ever being satisfied. Still, for this team to come up with a win against an experienced legitimate tournament squad that knocked us back a few times speaks volumes about this Duke team.

[Fuqua's Finest]

Mixed feelings like most of us, but definitely not in meltdown mode......yet.

Pro: I really liked the way Mason played big. He was really the difference-maker in my opinion.
Con: Disappointed in Miles play. Thought he would've played a lot better. Seemed lost at times which is a no-no for a senior starter. Andre definitely needs to trust himself and just play. He lets the mental side of the game take him out his game completely and everyone on the court knows that.

Pro: Tyler Thornton coming in and playing some crucial minutes. Much needed energy burst.
Con: PG play in general tonite. Seth in particular underwhelmed me with suspect ballhandling and decision-making. I know he's not a true PG and it'll take time, but geez just slow down and let the game come to you.

Pro: The overall energy level in Cameron was amazing. Kudos to the fans.
Con: Killer instinct is not there. Quite honestly, I don't know who will demand the ball down by 2 with the last shot to win the game. I think Austin wants to be the guy, but K doesn't want it that way this early.

Pro: Belmont played a helluva game. They looked like a bunch of average guys, but they sure play ball. Thats what experience and continuity do for teams.
Con: The big 3 are gone. :(

Overall, I am extremely happy with the win. I think teams like Belmont will give us problems all season. In particularly in the ACC, I see Miami giving us fits because their guards are skilled. We can certainly use this as motivation to get better. Rotation on defense needs to get wayyy better ASAP. I look forward to Tuesday nights game as I think Belmont is a much worse matchup for us than Michigan St. We will lose somewhere between 5-8 games this season, but I'm truly hoping for a 2010 transformation with Miles finding his inner-Zoubek. Cheers!

[wallyman]

It's going to be a long year.

Absolutely. Not because we suck. We don't. Great win over a really, tough experienced team. But if your idea of the ideal Duke game is a blowout win where the last guys on the bench play in the middle of the second half (mine is), this is not that year. Gonna be a lot of agonizing nailbiters like this one. Will be fun, but will feel excruciating. I hope it goes well into March, but it's going to feel like a long year no matter how deep we go. Props to Mason, Tyler and wow -- what a shot by Andre.

[loran16]

Guys we just played our toughest first round opponent in a long long time (Pomeroy Rank #28) and we prevailed, despite having a team that was basically completely raw. That's a positive.

Some thoughts:
1. Tyler Thornton and Mason Plumlee were the stars. TT was IMO the best player, clearly playing best at point and being huge on defense. That said, I'm not sure if I'd say TT is the clear starter just yet at the 1.....against bigger teams with slower guards, his skills will be less useful. Still an amazing job. Mason justified his starting position quite well, but like TT, I don't think we can peg him in as the clear #1 big guy just yet - this was a smaller team than some conference teams and he never truly looked like a dominant big man, just a big man being dominant for a period of time (the two are different).

2. Both Ryan Kelly and Austin Rivers showed flashes of great improvement - Kelly was a no show in the first half but had an amazing second, while Rivers looked like a Frosh at times, lost at others, and then amazing at others.

3. Miles and Dre need some work. Dre hit the last shot. Fine. But he also made several dumb plays, couldn't hit some open shots, and just still isn't taking initiative enough, often just standing in a corner and hoping to get an open 3. Miles bombed a dunk (fine) and just seemed invisible or manhandled at times. We need more Miles.

4. The rest: Quinn Cook & Michael Gbinije(sp?) showed up for a short bit and didn't impress. Not an issue...they're both freshmen with time to learn.

I expect Presbyterian to be a breeze compared to this, so we'll see more experimenting, but expect us to start a lineup of TT-Seth-Rivers-Miles-Mason, with Kelly coming in fast.

[fc3]

Wow. What a great game.

I have no expectations for this team, other than for them to play Duke Basketball. I really don't know what to expect.

No, this may not be one of the more dominant teams in recent memory along the lines of '92, '99, or '01, but I look forward to watching them develop as a team. In a way it's more fun when expectations are not sky high.

But if you can't enjoy watching a game with such clutch plays by Dawkins and Kelly at the end, and a great overall performance by MP2, maybe you need to relax a little.

[Cicero]

So much more interesting that a 30-point win over a terrible team. Even if the players are not all young in terms of class year, everyone is young in their role on this team. It will be really interesting to see how the players grow into (and seize) their particular roles on this team. In this game, I thought that Mason played really well overall. At crunch time, Tyler was particularly notable, and Ryan and Andre had key contributions as well.

This is a team that has great potential to grow over the course of the season. The athletic and basketball talent is apparent, as is the youth and inexperience. It will be really interesting to see what Coach K can do with this team!

Go Duke.

[cspan37421]

But if your idea of the ideal Duke game is a blowout win where the last guys on the bench play in the middle of the fourth quarter (mine is), this is not that year.

Blutto: Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
Otter: [to Boon] Germans?
Boon: Forget it, he's rolling.
;)

[Billy Dat]

Agree that this was an incredible opponent to start the season and, despite sloppy Game 1 play on both sides for stretches, it was played at an incredible level for the opener. I applaud both squads.

Mason was our only player to put two halves together. Curry and Rivers were his running mates in the first half. I guess Thornton was his running mate in the second half, sort of (more on that later), but Mason was the key guy for us. Aside from double double and 6 assists, how about that D he played when they threw the ball away with 2:20 left? Nice hooks across the lane. He needs to work on not getting stripped, but he is showing that we need him to hunt for his shots.

Andre was his usual enigmatic self, but he warrants second billing because he nailed the biggest shot of the night. HUGE!

Much will be made of Thornton in the second half. It started with the early second half run when we pushed to 16, he had 2 steals and a 3. After that, though, I feel like he was kind of neutral because great plays would be followed by bad ones. From 4 min left to 1:30 left, he had s steal and fed to Austin for dunk (good), then had that nifty baseline drive (good) and made 2 free throws (good), but then commits two fouls within twenty seconds in the final minute and a half to give them 5 points, and he fouled out. I felt like for all his rep as a ball hawk, he's actually better at off ball steals and strips and he tends to get beat off the dribble. It was a net good game for him, but I don't give him player of the game kudos.

Curry, too, had a pretty solid game but I though his floor generalship, especially down the stretch, was iffy. He nearly turned it over twice on the play where Andre nailed the 3, he got stripped with 1 minute left, he committed a charge with 1:30 left. He didn't finish well. Still, he provided a lot of scoring which this team will need, and was great in the first half despite the foul trouble (but getting in foul trouble is a problem for important guys)

Rivers was much better in the first half. In the second he was a little out of control and his body language and frsutration were getting worse. He's a freshman, and I'm sure he'll be shown a video compilation of some of his arm throwing reactions to calls that went against the team. Still, he does force a defense to react to him, which is huge for us, he just needs to be in control. He was very important for us in the first half when his getting to the line got our scoring going.

Miles and Kelly put together a single solid big man game between them, Miles was ok in the first, Kelly was pretty solid in the second, including those big FTs with 7 seconds left. I found myself watching the Belmont bigs, Hedgepeth and the other dude, and wondering why our bigs never seem able to just efficiently operate and finish around the rim with consistency.

The team D was ok, a work in progress, this is the first game. I figured Belmont was going to hit some 3s. I feel like Belmont had a lot of opportunities to make this game even more interesting than it was. We got lucky with them throwing some balls away in key spots, and mssing some wide open looks in the last 2 minutes (esp. that airballed 3)

Misc. Fun Stuff:
-Lots of NBA faces in the crowd, aside from player families (Doc, Steph and Del) you had Mike D'Antoni and Reggie Theus.
-Ryan Kelly had an extremely goofy celebration after his dunk +1 in the second half
-Marshall Plumlee & Hilary Swank - separated at birth?

[cspan37421]

I guarantee you this game was more helpful to us than an easy blowout win fueled by a 3-point shooting barrage. Getting better by scheduling quality ooc opponents ... what a concept! [Hi Clemson]

[jacone21]

Five minutes listening to Coach K talk about this game and I'm feeling really good about this team. He's so awesome.

[SCMatt33]

Game Specific Thoughts:

-No stall-fence until the last possession. Rivers had a costly turnover with just over a minute left in the game and over 20 left on the shot clock. If Belmont didn't royally screw up the last 40 seconds (more on that in a minute), this would have gone in the file as strong evidence for stall-fense. I would suspect that this team hasn't practiced it enough yet for Coach K to have been comfortable using it with more than a minute to go.
-As I said earlier, Belmont royally screw up their chances in the last 40 seconds. Everyone will point to only getting one shot in the last 7 seconds while down 4, but they also really screwed up the possession where Dawkins hit the big 3. Mason Plumlee was standing there holding the ball for about 3-5 seconds in the middle of that possession with Duke up 1. As poor as he is from the line, why not foul him. I know they were guaranteed to get the ball back, but if you foul him, they would have been down 2 with the shot clock off at worst, and more likely down 2. You didn't have to worry too much about an offensive rebound since Plumlee would have been the one shooting.
-Blowing the 16 point lead looks bad, and it is, but it was also a bit because 3 point shooting regressed to the mean somewhat for both teams.

Big Picture Thoughts:

-Duke made a TON of mistakes in this game, and Belmont played a very sound game. You would expect that from an inexperienced team vs. a very experienced team. What I like though is that Duke forced mistakes while Belmont simply took advantage of unforced mistakes. That made it pretty clear to me that Duke is the better team on the floor, and if they had played later in the year, this game might not have been that close. Almost all of Duke's mistakes from the night can be fixed with teaching: blown assignments, horrific over-aggressiveness and selfishness and failing to recognize game situations (giving up open threes while trying to hold a lead)
-The one negative that's not really teachable is perimeter defenders getting blown by. I say not really because some of the guys have the lateral agility to make that first step with guards, Rivers especially, but this team is going to have a tough time stopping the quickest guards in the game unless they back off.
-Layups and three-pointers: Almost all of Belmont's field goals came on layups and three-pointers, and many of them were uncontested or lightly contested. That was somewhat a result of aggressive D and somewhat because of Belmont's patience, but you have to make teams score on tough shots and not give up the easy ones.
-The big guys, Mason especially, really played within themselves on the offensive end. The Plumlees did a good job of not forcing too many tough shots from their post moves, took jumpers only when they were wide open and the shot clock was low, and passed the ball well. Kelly didn't force tough threes and took advantage of positioning himself on the floor within the offense and on broken plays.
-This game was called tight. The fouling doesn't worry me.
-Coach K is only comfortable with a 7-man rotation right now. That tells me that others are really playing a level below those 7 in practice, because we've seen over and over again that in tough games, Coach K will only play his best players in the second half. They'll have to really step it up in practice for any of them to get more than a few minute first half cameo against legit competition.

[ThePublisher]

That final 3 was still in his hands at the buzzer, refs got it wrong. So the actual final score is 77-73.

Thornton was the man. He is Lance Thomas in a guard's body.

[Verga3]

Tough win, but a win is a win. Disappointed that we couldn't maintain a pretty big lead.

Impressed by Dawkins's key three pointer. Looked cool as a cucumber. Ryan made the big free throws, too.

I think the team will get better. Rivers is no Irving, but he's got serious skills. I think the season will be interesting; I hope to see the team gel a lot in the next few weeks.

Belmont is good....and Andre looked cool as a cucumber because he IS cool as a cucumber. This will be a tough team in March...very together.

[BD80]

Only caught the second half of the second half, but there is some room for the staff to coach up the PG position. Hopefully someone on the staff qualifies as a point guard coach. :rolleyes:

It is so great to see the guys on the floor again! :D

A lot of good teaching moments for guys learning new roles. On to 902!

[Duke79UNLV77]

Duke is very young. We will be a very different team come Feb and March.

I agree with the second statement, but not so much with the first. We started a senior, a red-shirt junior, a junior, a junior, and a freshman, and our 2main subs were a junior and a sophomore. That's not all that young for a big-time program these days.

That said, roles and style of play have shifted substantially and will continue to be tweaked. We really need to work on cutting down the turnovers. That seems to be the biggest area for growth for Rivers early on. Mason took a big step forward, but Miles still needs to finish better. One block for the team is not enough, given the collective Plumlee athleticism. The perimeter defense also needs to improve. I thought Ryan played better in the second half than the first. Both Andre and the team need to utilize his talent more. He had one good finish in the first half but later on hesitated, looked to pass, and walked. He still needs to move more but his pure shot will always be a weapon, as he showed late. I thought Cook played well, and obviously Tyler was a big energy lift. Murphy should carve out a role at some point. Seth shot well from 3, but is still figuring out his new role.

[Sixthman]

This team has improved a lot since recent exhibition wins. No reason to think that kind of improvement won't continue. Let's go Duke!

[dukedoc]

I was actually pretty encouraged. They lost a sizable lead, but still hung on in the end instead of getting too shaken.

Tyler and Mason! Wow. If they can maintain a good level of contribution I think this team will be pretty darn strong not because of superstar power per se but because of depth and balance. Seth is Seth. Andre with the clutch 3 pointer.

Too many instances of the big guys running to floor. That play when Mason tried to do an awkward dunk from Michael Jordan territory left me SMH. He did many more positive things tonight to offset those few awkward moments.

Finally, the positive side of a freshman being one of your most talented players is that Austin will be on the steepest learning curve on the team. He is already showing spurts of his well-known talent, and if he rides the curve through the year with Coach K's guidance, I truly think he'll be uber-dangerous come tourney time.

In case big man Tony Parker was watching, it was probably an encouraging sight to see Mason take center stage.

[lotusland]

Hoops again finally!
Great game for Mason and TT! Mason is a really terrific passer for a big man. He was a beast on the boards and a very servicable scorer tonight. I also thought AR's agressiveness was a big positive tonight. I thought Seth actually struggled at PG tonight. I like TT's effort but I don't think it bodes well for Duke if they need him to play anywhere near starter minutes. I hope Seth settles in at PG and Dawkins/Murphyor SG step up enough at the wing that we don't have to play AR there with 2 smallish guards.

Hopefully we can handle PC easily enough to get everyone some minutes tomorrow.

[delfrio]

So is Thornton the new Wojo? Stats-wise, Wojo was certainly better his freshman year, but I think the bar is certainly reachable. Whether Tyler ever gets defensive player of the year, I'm not sure, but it seems like he's got the tools (though I don't know if he's got quite enough of the fire yet).

[superdave]

We knew this was going to be a tough opponent, and we got a tight game. Duke showed some flashes of stellar play tonight but made enough mistakes and relaxed enough to let Belmont back in it.

I thought Duke got out-hustled and did not finish a lot of plays. But for an early game, they did plenty of things right. They fed the post well and played aggressively, but they dribbled into traps and played too fast at times. The knowledge and experience and talent is pretty good, but the polish and execution is not so good. We'll get better.

Hats off to Belmont. They are a cohesive team that did so many things right. As Coach K said in the post game presser, they wore us down.

[superdave]

Man of the Match vote?
Mason has 13, 14 and 6 assists. He was the only consistent guy for us tonight. The only one who played pretty well the whole game.

[feldspar]

it's gonna be a long season.....

:(

Really? I think it's going to be quite a fun season. Trust me, you'll look back on this game come March and be proud of this team for the gutty win they pulled out tonight.

Yes, they blew a 16-point lead, but they also didn't panic when Belmont cut it to 1. This team's got more poise than it should have with its lack of leadership.

All in all, a quality win in my book against one of the best mid-major teams out there.

[Greg_Newton]

Funny how you kept seeing Thornton creep ominously up to the scorer's table whenever the momentum started swinging towards Belmont's favor. I imagine whenever anything goes wrong, K slowly nods to Tyler and says in a low voice "Fix it.", then Tyler does what he needs to do. Kind of like Mike on Breaking Bad... he's the guy you don't want to see coming at you. :D

He had a couple tough breaks near the end, though. If you watch the freak and-1 when Clark to cut it to 72-71 in slow-mo, Thorton actually somehow cleanly hit the ball straight up out of Clark's hands... it just happened to go in the basket, and he got called with his fifth foul.

What in the world was Curry thinking forcing it with ~15-25 seconds on the shot clock, up 4, with a minute left? I thought his value was going to be his clutch nature in games like this, so hopefully he gets it together.

Mason played very well overall, but only decent on offense. He still needs to use his body much better - if you get iso post position 4 feet from the rim against a smaller guy, you should get a better shot than an 8-foot jump hook, even though it went in.

I think Kelly will start to be better when we play bigger, less flittish teams. He struggles when he gets sped up.

Miles needs to be a much better presence, IMO. Not sure why he didn't see the floor as the game went on, as Kelly wasn't playing particularly well, but he's close to being very good. He's using his strength much better (great power move in the first half), and I think he'll have some big games once he learns to read double-teams and sees a few more shots drop.

Rivers with a near-perfect game until the last five minutes. He gave away some points by getting too aggressive with his hands on defense late, but he's ahead of where I thought I'd be at this point. I almost think he should be the primary ballhandler, with Curry picking his spots to create in the halfcourt.

Anyone know why Murphy's in the doghouse so badly?

[Troublemaker]

I liked what I saw.

I mean, the high-end talent is clearly there. We have shooters galore, one potentially dominant penetrator, and experienced athletic bigs that are scoring points this year. There can't be more than 4 coaches in the country that like their roster more than ours.

Now, obviously, our team is also full of guys that are inexperienced in their current, increased roles and who need more games playing with each other to develop confidence in how each of them fits into the overall puzzle. They're not making the right play in every situation they encounter yet and they're not completely sure where their teammates are supposed to be at all times yet. But that will come. It's going to take time and it's going to be sloppy for awhile. But the odds are heavily in favor of this team reducing their turnovers and other mistakes as the season progresses.

It was the first game of the season and we got to see:
1) Mason playing like a dominant big man
2) Austin looking like a foul-drawing machine at times off the dribble
3) Andre adding another clutch three to his memory bank
4) Ryan adding a couple of clutch free throws to seal the game to his memory bank.

The team also got a win against the 19th best team from last year (Pom) who basically returned everyone. I can't ask for much more than that for our first game.

Fist!

[dukepsy1963]

.............I think. Good win tonight, though I was really concerned toward the end. Maybe it's been said, but ball movement and setting up people for 3's looked kinda ragged to me.

A Personal Note:

Next week I will be in Cameron for the first time since I got a Navy physical there in 1963. True! About 100 of us NROTC guys received our senior physicals there one hot spring afternoon. I understand that Cameron is still a furnace. Some things never change.

Seeing a game in Cameron again has been on my bucket list for a while now.....and now I'm going! I cannot wait...

[Neals384]

Seth was really good shooting tonight.

Well, 4/5 from beyond the arc is fantastic, but what about 1 for 8 on 2 pointers?

[Greg_Newton]

By the way, what in the world are we doing with that atrocious 4-high offensive set? Almost without fail, it just led to a Plumlee frantically pass-faking at the top of the key, with the rest of our players running around 15-20 feet from the basket until a guard forces something.

I'd like our default set to be Curry and Dawkins on the wings, the bigs on the blocks, and Rivers breaking down his defender and dishing to whomever's man helps. But regardless, our bigs should NEVER both be that far from the basket, IMO. We need to get them the ball on the blocks, and that's where they should be, period.

[Neals384]

- Austin Rivers' talent is undeniable, though it was a tale of two halves for him. In the first, he was able to get his shot any time he wanted, and the stretch where he was able to repeatedly draw fouls early in the game was key in pulling Duke forward. In the second, he wasn't nearly as successful. Still, I predict Rivers will be our most important player by the end of the season...the ball will be in his hands when we need a play most. He'll either draw the foul, dish to an open big man, kick out to a shooter,, or finish the play himself.



What I'm looking for from Austin is for him to make his teammates better. Just one assist tonight, five turnovers and his defense was suspect. If he can learn to dish to a big man or kick out to a shooter, that will be a big step in his transformation to team player. But so far I see no indication that he's looking for assists.

[Greg_Newton]

And I'll shut up... but lateral quickness could be something that is a factor going forward. Seth, Dre, Mason, Miles, and Kelly are not very quick laterally, which is why Belmont broke us down at will in the first half and got so many points around the rim. I think we're going to need our guards to back off a little bit at some point in the season if we want to give ourselves the best chance to win.

[Kedsy]

Mason was downright dominating but he needs to improve his A/TO ratio.

Mason's A/TO ratio was the best on the team tonight. And if he continued a 3/2 A/TO ratio, it would be the best such ratio for a Duke big man in awhile. Perhaps we're being a bit overcritical?


it's gonna be a long season.....
:(

Seriously? You're not usually an alarmist so I'm not sure what's up here. Personally, I was thrilled with the performance. Yes, we lost focus for a few minutes in the middle of the 2nd half, but overall I thought we did well.


- Kudos to Tyler Thorton!

Kudos to Tyler Thornton, too.


By the end of the season our rotation will go 7 deep although up to 10 will see minutes.

Well, that's exactly where we are in the beginning of the season. Against Belmont our rotation went 7 deep, although 10 saw minutes.


And I'll shut up... but lateral quickness could be something that is a factor going forward. Seth, Dre, Mason, Miles, and Kelly are not very quick laterally, which is why Belmont broke us down at will in the first half and got so many points around the rim. I think we're going to need our guards to back off a little bit at some point in the season if we want to give ourselves the best chance to win.

I disagree. I thought we played very good D in the first half. I didn't feel like they were breaking us down "at will." Not at all. They got points around the rim because they are crafty and snuck in while their man was double-teaming elsewhere. I thought our perimeter D was very strong in the first half. We lost concentration in the middle of the 2nd half and they started getting a few open threes, but overall it was much better defense than I expected. If our guards backed off, Belmont would have started hitting their threes earlier and we would have been in trouble.

[J4Kop99]

Normally I'd be pretty angry after a game like that... However, with this current team, I think a close game, against an experienced team is a perfect way to start the season.

I don't know what the panic level was like on DBR but for whatever reason, I continued to stay confident with this team. I knew that Belmont would make a comeback but I never believed Duke would lose the game.

-It is clear Coach has a lot of work to do with these guys but the potential is there for a big season. I liked, for the most part, what I saw out of Austin and Mason. Seth struggled from inside the arc but that shouldn't be a problem... Ryan and Andre were both disappointing but I can't really complain too much when you take into consideration the clutch shots that both made at the end of the game. The rest of the guys were solid and I look forward to tomorrow's game.

[wk2109]

And I'll shut up... but lateral quickness could be something that is a factor going forward. Seth, Dre, Mason, Miles, and Kelly are not very quick laterally, which is why Belmont broke us down at will in the first half and got so many points around the rim. I think we're going to need our guards to back off a little bit at some point in the season if we want to give ourselves the best chance to win.

I agree. Most of our big losses from the past couple of years (NC State, Georgetown, St. John's, Arizona) were a result of not being able to stop dribble penetration + dishes to bigs around the rim. A lot of that dribble penetration was happening against Belmont too. Disciplined upperclassman-filled teams will always be able to find the open man after breaking a perimeter defender down.

I wish Duke could utilize dribble penetration more often. Which leads to the next quote...


What I'm looking for from Austin is for him to make his teammates better. Just one assist tonight, five turnovers and his defense was suspect. If he can learn to dish to a big man or kick out to a shooter, that will be a big step in his transformation to team player. But so far I see no indication that he's looking for assists.

K has said that Austin is the team's best breakdown guy and that he is good at feeding the bigs off the dribble but not as good at kicking it out for open shooters. I think an important part of Duke's offensive development is Austin's improvement in making decisions once he breaks down his man. He did an awesome job of getting to the line in the first half, but he also needs to be able to finish at the rim (or utilize that floater), dish to a big, or kick it out to a shooter. I too didn't see any indication that Austin was looking for assists. He has the potential to generate a lot of offense for his teammates -- he just has to tap into it.


One thing re: Andre: his obvious unwillingness/inability to even try to dribble on the perimeter makes him a liability during crunch time. Tyler doesn't do much with the ball on the perimeter either, but at least he's capable of handling the ball against pressure. I guess two ballhandlers is enough some of the time, but I wish Andre could at least take a few dribbles around the perimeter to keep the offense flowing. But that shot he hit...wow. I call that the "Scheyer": hitting a late three to put the game just out of reach.

[airowe]

Recap from Ray Horn: http://www.dukehoopblog.com/2011/11/12/duke-vs-belmont-wrap-up/

Advanced Box Score: http://www.dukehoopblog.com/2011/11/12/duke-vs-belmont-advanced-box-score/

[ice-9]

What in the world was Curry thinking forcing it with ~15-25 seconds on the shot clock, up 4, with a minute left? I thought his value was going to be his clutch nature in games like this, so hopefully he gets it together.

I think it was to go for a 2-for-1, i.e. shooting early in the clock will ensure a second possession. It was something like 40 seconds left when he took the shot, which would mean we'd have another 15 to 20 seconds on the last possession.

[DukeCrow]

I think it was to go for a 2-for-1, i.e. shooting early in the clock will ensure a second possession. It was something like 40 seconds left when he took the shot, which would mean we'd have another 15 to 20 seconds on the last possession.

That seems reasonable, but Coach K specifically mentioned in the post-game press conference that Seth went too early on that possession.

[Vincetaylor]

Wow. What a game! Look folks - the sky is not falling. Belmont is good, experienced and probably a NCAA team. Duke is very young. We will be a very different team come Feb and March.

I was watching on-line via ESPN. WOW - there are some obnoxious 'haters out there. Nothing but vulgarities and anti-Duke filth. EVERY call goes Duke's way, or so they SCREAM. Every thing about Duke, their fans, their Coach, the school is relentlessly insulted. Mostly nasty little NC and MD and Fla and Ohio St fans. Geez, how empty is your life to camp out on-line on your rival's opening game win and spew forth endless filth and vulgarities! I gotta go clean off after seeing all that filth... Never again.

It seems like we are in desperate need of some composure and confidence/steadiness on this team. Give 'em some time. They just played "young."

1 - 0 baby! Next play!



We are not good this year. Period. We are a sweet 16 team that lost its best three players. Do the math.

[ChillinDuke]

Wow! What a game. Excellent opponent. It was so very clear that they are a well-coached and talented team. They will make some noise this year. Mason and Tyler played very nice games and were obvious keys in the win.


Game Specific Thoughts:

-No stall-fence until the last possession. Rivers had a costly turnover with just over a minute left in the game and over 20 left on the shot clock. If Belmont didn't royally screw up the last 40 seconds (more on that in a minute), this would have gone in the file as strong evidence for stall-fense. I would suspect that this team hasn't practiced it enough yet for Coach K to have been comfortable using it with more than a minute to go.

I think Coach K alluded to this in his post-game presser. Something to the effect that they pressured the ball and defended so well that we had to play offense [and so couldn't stall].

Side note: Tyler Thornton consistently both on this board and in the media gets labeled as a defensive stopper. I don't think this is accurate and believe this is a holdover from descriptions of him when he was a recruit. He wasn't (isn't) an uber-athlete, doesn't score in bunches, and doesn't possess otherworldly ball-handling skills, so the way that sites legitimized his ranking was by saying he is a proficient defender.

While I think TT is a good defender, I think we can maybe move away from simply saying he's a defensive stopper. We know more about him as a player now, and he simply has a nose for the ball. He has court savvy and a knack for anticipating plays and reacting. This isn't to completely disregard his defensive abilities, but I don't think it's accurate to call him a defensive specialist. His one-on-one defense doesn't seem to warrant this kind of distinction. But the plays he made in this game (and preseason games this year and at least the MD game last year) are "winning" plays as Coach would say. That absolutely deserves distinction.

- Chillin

[Starter]

We are not good this year. Period. We are a sweet 16 team that lost its best three players. Do the math.

That's pretty simple math, since it doesn't account for the remaining players being a year older and most likely better, nor does it include the addition of Austin Rivers. It also doesn't give last year's team the proper credit for how good it was, regardless of its Sweet 16 exit against a scalding hot Arizona team. I assure you -- I'm a Knicks fan, so I'm pretty familiar with "not good," and that doesn't apply to this 23-25 win team. They'll be plenty good. They just won't be the level of indomitable we've come to expect. It's reasonable to lower expectations, but let's not rule out a very solid season, which is what I think we're going to get. I'm happy with a close win over a Belmont team that was 19th in the Pomeroy rankings last year and brought back four starters.

I like Rivers a lot. I think he let his frustrations get the best of him in the second half and tried to force some things, but he's got a world of talent and the killer instinct to make the most of it. I see a few 30-point games in his future. (And perhaps the variety of coach figures in his life remind him that putting a ref on blast never has a positive result.) Curry's fine too; he'll get more fluid with his role as the season goes on, and his jumper already looks in midseason form.

Mason looked terrific, for the most part. You don't want to make too much of one game, but if this is what he is, well... this is exactly what they need him to be.

It's interesting with Thornton. He's got a nice little shot and was a real catalyst for a while on both ends. I also think he's physically overmatched playing man defense and I don't feel comfortable with the offense when he runs point. He's definitely viable, and he busts his tail, but I see him as having real trouble against more athletic teams.

Forgive me, but I'm still waiting for Ryan Kelly to impress me. This isn't to say he won't, it's just so far he seems like basically the same old Ryan Kelly I've always seen out there -- which does include very good free throw shooting. (That said, dating back to last year, he's a Horvath-esque 4-for-his-last-28 on threes...)

I'm not sure we will, but I'm hoping to see more of Cook as the year goes on to see what we have there.

Dawkins obviously has all the tools. He just needs the consistency. I was hoping this year, he wouldn't disappear for large portions of games, and I haven't given up hope.

I realize I sound hypercritical, but honestly, I enjoyed the game, even though this team has a far way to go. I loved watching guys like Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith grow and adapt into key components of a championship team, and I look forward to watching this team's progress in a similar vein. Krzyzewski's going to have to work very hard to groom this team, but I would think he relishes the challenge. I saw a few teams tonight that are clearly much, much better at this point, but I see no reason that Duke can't be a potential factor as they gel and find an identity led by Curry, Mason and Rivers. I'd advise not to pine for past Duke teams that murdered everyone, but instead enjoy the fact that we have Duke basketball back, the NCAA will likely never lock out or something, and settle in for an interesting and almost certainly successful season by any reasonable measure.

[Richard Berg]

We are not good this year. Period. We are a sweet 16 team that lost its best three players. Do the math.
This year we're coming off a Sweet Sixteen exit, having lost two first-round NBA draft picks plus a key 4-year starter.

Two years ago we were coming off a Sweet Sixteen exit, having lost two first-round picks and a 4-year starter (plus a 5th-year defensive workhorse).

I like your math! Let's hang a banner, QED.

[Richard Berg]

Haven't followed Pomeroy lately -- stats aren't as interesting in the early season -- but to my eye Belmont would finish in the top 4 of the ACC.

[blueduke59]

I've been watching Duke since 1965. This is one of the worst defensive teams I've seen in a long time to come out of Durham. I'm sure they'll improve but they have a long way to go on the defensive end. TT seems to be the only player who wants to play it. You can brag about how tough Belmont is all you want but they didn't have any business being in a position to win a game in Cameron. Two of all those wide open treys they missed go in and they would have freakin won

[TonyWR]

I've been watching Duke since 1965. This is one of the worst defensive teams I've seen in a long time to come out of Durham. I'm sure they'll improve but they have a long way to go on the defensive end. TT seems to be the only player who wants to play it. You can brag about how tough Belmont is all you want but they didn't have any business being in a position to win a game in Cameron. Two of all those wide open treys they missed go in and they would have freakin won

So true. The haters are loving this, seeing it as things to come. I cant imagine the scenario if Belmont would have won. Oh well..........

[arnie]

And I'll shut up... but lateral quickness could be something that is a factor going forward. Seth, Dre, Mason, Miles, and Kelly are not very quick laterally, which is why Belmont broke us down at will in the first half and got so many points around the rim. I think we're going to need our guards to back off a little bit at some point in the season if we want to give ourselves the best chance to win.

I also feel that's our greatest defiency - hopefully G will get in the lineup eventually to help with this and/or K makes some significant changes to our defensive strategy. Encouraged to see Mason go after it offensively and gotta believe Rivers will simply get better and better as the season progresses.

I also don't get the "we're young" statements - that sounds like our football coaches mantra for the last 30 years.

[SMO]

I disagree! We just got off to a great start by beating a quality opponent. Belmont is very good and I'm glad we were able to play and win against a very good team to start the season.

I'm with Bob. The reasons Belmont made it close were that they were a good team and Duke made some mental errors. Those are much easier to solve than a lack of talent, which is clearly not an issue.

[superdave]

We are not good this year. Period. We are a sweet 16 team that lost its best three players. Do the math.

Coach K does not share your sentiments. Nor the pundits who vote on the rankings.

Are you going to bother to watch this season?

[Billy Dat]

K played a lot of guys in the first half which kind of surprised me until they announced that we are playing again today at 4:30PM....have a lot of people, like me, missed that fact? Mike Breen said that K is trying to mimic the setting in Maui where you play every day. We need a Presbyterian Pre-Gam and In Game thread!

Looking at my comments last night, I was a little reluctant to give Tyler the credit he deserved for being a spark, for stepping up when we needed someone to make things happen. I still think he is falsely credit with excellent on ball defense when I feel like he routinely gets beat off the dribble. But, the fact is, including last year, he seems to be a gamer. Sometimes a guys skills don't translate to making plays. Andre is a guy who, in his history at Duke, has amazing skills, and has made some absolutely huge shots in huge spots, but isn't there game to game. Cook played nicely in the first half but Tyler's second half play kept Quinn on the bench. Seems like we're in for a fierce Tyler/Cook/Dawkins competition for minutes - Tyler's got the conch right now. Let's see what happens today at 4:30PM.

Another quick side note - how about K inserting Gbinije for defense on the last possession? That has to say something about how the kid is playing in practice. Also, someone earlier mentioned why Murphy is already in K's doghouse. Can a freshman not playing in his first college game really be considered in the dog house? I think that preseason start created more Murphy chatter than is currently warranted.

[Faison1]

I'm cheering as hard for Dawkins as anyone, but looking at the boxscore, the guy had zero rebounds.....ZERO! I find that curious at best. Wouldn't you expect your small forward/big guard to be mixing it up down low a bit more?

I didn't watch the game, so I don't know all the facts, but that stat jumped out at me.

[NYBri]

By the way, what in the world are we doing with that atrocious 4-high offensive set? Almost without fail, it just led to a Plumlee frantically pass-faking at the top of the key, with the rest of our players running around 15-20 feet from the basket until a guard forces something.

And the Belmont bigs were always in the right spot. Not so much ours.

Also, concerned abouts Rivers and finishing. Maybe KI spoiled me.

Lots of question and tons of holes...curious to see where this team ends up. Gonna be quite different than what we saw tonight...hopefully.

[wsb3]

It is one game..The first game...Little premature to think the sky is falling. I do believe the man on our sideline will use last night as a valuable teaching lesson. (I do hope in the film session he is able to convince Mason that he probably can't dribble 30 feet to the basket without charging.) March is a long way off. Our rivals struggled early last year and they were a basket away from going to the final four. Who knows? I think we knew Rivers would be too aggressive at times & make mistakes. But didn't we know that Coach K would allow that rather then him holding back? I am sure he will learn a lot, cut down on his mistakes, and I for one am excited how good he might be come March.

[oldnavy]

Wanted to sleep on the game before posting,

First impression was along the lines of Moonpie, but then with a nights sleep, I think we are going to be fine. Sure, this team is still trying to find its self. The talent is there, but they are going to have to learn their roles, which I feel they will do. So, I will enjoy watching this team develop.

Belmont is a GOOD team. This was a GOOD game for us. K said that the fans need to know that we played a Good team, and we do need to keep that in mind. This team could compete in this years ACC for a top five finish IMO.

Thornton is my favorite player now. He has the toughness that Singler had! Is it just me or does the team seem to be better with him on the court? I like this kid...

I liked that we got into the lane, but we need to finish. At least twice in the second half, we had good penetration only to get charges called when easy dump offs were available. This will improve I am sure with game play.

Overall it was a good, no VERY good win that we can build on.

The sky in not falling. GO DUKE!

[DUKIE V(A)]

Really enjoyed last night's game and am very excited about this team. Curry, Rivers, and Mason are the real deal. Plus, we have a bunch of other guys who are very capable of having big games. This team strikes me as very deep and cohesive.

Belmont is going to do some real damage this season. They are an excellent team. They are strong, smart, experienced, and play tremendous team basketball. Great playing a team like them.

[dyedwab]

I actually thought that this was the game likely to end our non-conference home winning streak. Belmont was very good last year, and returned basically their entire team, while we are team where everybody is in new roles, and is still figuring itself out

1) Mason was excellent. On the offensive end, and on the defensive end, guarding their big guys. If we get that kind of performance consistently, Mason becomes the player around which other teams have to design their game plans

2) Austin needs to remember he has teammates Boy, the talent is their, and he's gonna get fouled a lot. But keeping his head up for other players on offense. When he figures that out, he becomes that 2nd guy teams have to design their game around

3) Our Defense, while a work in progress, wasn't bad I thought that a lot of Belmont's easy bucket came not because our defense was bad, but because their offense was patient and their big guys especially were excellent at establishing the right position. And we made some bad decision on offense which led to easy plays for them.

4) Our big guys are great rebounders, but we need wings to get to the loose ball on long rebounds. When Belmont missed close in, I felt sure that our big men would grab the ball, and that missed shot would lead to one-and-done possession. On longer rebounds, though, Belmont beat us to the ball almost every time. That's on the perimeter guys.

5) Good opening win against a tough team. And this Duke team will be a lot better in March then it is now.

[wilko]

Not sure what other folks expected and a tad confused by the frustration.
Fact: We have a lot of guys in new roles. Role players need to step up to be leaders. They are immersed in the learning process and figuring out how to play together.
Fact:We aren't as good as some other teams in the Top Ten right now.

Don't sweat wins, losses, legacy or entertain those thoughts. Its unhealthy. Just enjoy these guys for who they are and watch them grow.

I saw some very encouraging things.
MP2 getting a double double and sniffing a triple double. NEED THAT effort consistently.
TT stepping in and showing Leadership and getting it done. Good for him.
Austin played within the offense for 4/5 of the game. He showed restraint and maturity (riven his rep) and gave flashes of his ability. The end of game execution was less than optimal, but hes learning how to have that "closing" game killer instinct. Well, he HAS it he just needs to execute it better. If he makes a conversion or two at that point, we prolly hold on to a close to double digit win. Hes figuring it out. I'll cut him some slack on the 1st home game.

Saw some things to fix.
Lateral movement defensively, good reactions to adjust, quickness and anticipation of where the ball is going to be. To me it looked like our anticipation was just off. Function of communication on the court? Seth's shoes. I think he was out there on skates or something. It seemed to me the kept falling down. Dre, is not yet comfortable being a "power" guard. He doesn't relish the contact in traffic. Until he gets used to that aspect of his role, he will struggle. LOVES his chops to take and make that last shot. Maybe he just needs some confidence. I hope that goes along way to that end. Miles.... trying to hard to do to much? Not his best effort. Did he re-enter the game after the missed dunk? The bench was NOT pleased. It looked like he lost his mind. I guess was contagious with Masons coast to coast attempt. (Hey MM that was 4 U!) It looked like a poor decision to do it then... but at least we showed that it exists within the offense and the bench doesn't restrict that from the bigs. So I hate it didn't work out, but I love that he DID it.

[Saratoga2]

Its pretty clear that the lineup right now includes the two Plumlees and Kelly as bigs and Curry, Rivers, Thornton and Dawkins as guards. It also looks like Quinn and Michael are the next to play.

From the game I think we will see Miles sit at crunch time (free throws and lack of consistent offensive abilities). The PG position remains to be seen. Seth is a better scorer than a playmaker and TT is more secure with the ball but no whiz kid either. Austin can handle but makes bad decisions at this point. Maybe Quinn deserves more of a look.

I agree with those that feel TT is more of a player than just a defensive specialist. If anything, he needs to temper his aggressiveness so he can stay in the game.

Mason looked good although a backline of Kelly and Mason are not that dominating defensively.

Kelly is a good player who will only get better as he defines and grows into his role.

Dawkins is an enima. Perhaps picking up all those fouls early is an indication he has decided he should be more assertive. Still his offense doesn't really show that assertive side.


Let us hope tongiht that the team can play more guys and we won't wear down are key players and frustrate our backups. By all accounts we should have an easier game in which some of the backups can get game experience and grow in confidence. Clearly they couldn't be played against Belmont.

[diveonthefloor]

Although they physically are completely dissimilar, Tyler reminds me of a young Shane Battier. Anticipates very well and takes advantage of a great hoops IQ by making "basketball plays."

Austin (and Seth to a lesser degree) need to study how Tyler does this, and try to incorporate this skill. And Austin, especially, needs to figure out that he can't successfully drive to the rim everytime he sets his mind to it. Even with his talent, he must pick and choose more wisely and learn to dish both inside and outside when the help defender comes. There is nothing more demoralizing than losing the ball on an ill-conceived overdrive which then leads to a fast break for the opponent.

Let's see what happens today.

[DukieInBrasil]

I knew the -12 line for Duke was too much. Glad to see our guys figure out how to stop that 15 pt swing that Belmont threw on us, sad to see the lack of concentration that allowed it to happen.
I was very disappointed to see so many careless turnovers in the lane, but i think that's be something that will be corrected over time.
I was very impressed with Mason's overall play. Great effort, good concentration pretty much the whole game. But what's up with Miles? Has any Duke player ever blown more uncontested dunks?
Kelly ended up with better stats than my eyes would have led me to believe, it seemed like he was a gaffe machine in the 1st half, 2nd half was solid though.
I was not impressed with our perimeter D either, although lotsa credit should be given to Belmont's efficient system. That's something that can also be improved on over the year. Belmont missed lots of open 3s in the 1st half as they just made our perimeter D look lame pretty much the whole game.

One critique of the DBR main board article though, they made quite a few errors about the stats of the game. They said RK had 6pts and 3 boards when he had 12 and 6. DBR said Dawkins was 2-7 from downtown, but was 2-7 from the floor 1-5 from 3. They also claimed we were out-rebounded but the box shows a tie (that's a bit nitpicky as adding up rebs can be difficult).

[77devil]

K played a lot of guys in the first half which kind of surprised me until they announced that we are playing again today at 4:30PM....have a lot of people, like me, missed that fact? Mike Breen said that K is trying to mimic the setting in Maui where you play every day. We need a Presbyterian Pre-Gam and In Game thread!

Looking at my comments last night, I was a little reluctant to give Tyler the credit he deserved for being a spark, for stepping up when we needed someone to make things happen. I still think he is falsely credit with excellent on ball defense when I feel like he routinely gets beat off the dribble. But, the fact is, including last year, he seems to be a gamer. Sometimes a guys skills don't translate to making plays. Andre is a guy who, in his history at Duke, has amazing skills, and has made some absolutely huge shots in huge spots, but isn't there game to game. Cook played nicely in the first half but Tyler's second half play kept Quinn on the bench. Seems like we're in for a fierce Tyler/Cook/Dawkins competition for minutes - Tyler's got the conch right now. Let's see what happens today at 4:30PM.

Another quick side note - how about K inserting Gbinije for defense on the last possession? That has to say something about how the kid is playing in practice. Also, someone earlier mentioned why Murphy is already in K's doghouse. Can a freshman not playing in his first college game really be considered in the dog house? I think that preseason start created more Murphy chatter than is currently warranted.

I watched the video this morning as I was out last night. I had the opposite reaction on the minutes. Besides Kelly and Thorton, who are solidly in the rotation, Cook and Gbinije combined for only 9 minutes. Apparently Duke never held a comfortable lead long enough for Coach K to feel inclined to use the bench more. We'll see if its different today against Presbyterian, but it looks like a 7 to 8 man rotation, which should come as no surprise to us, except perhaps for the stage of the season it is.

Glad to see you come around somewhat on Tyler. I agree about his on ball defense but there is no doubt he gave Duke a spark on several occasions and had a terrific offensive performance, a dimension rarely seen before.

One has to like 5 players in double figures. Obviously there are a lot of lessons from the game, that already have been mentioned in the thread. Let's hope our guys learn fast and execute because its a very tough schedule over the next month.

[cspan37421]

Did anyone notice the rattling sound of the rim on the Chapel side of the gym? It sounded like a bag of bolts, or that was going to fall apart at some point during the game.

We should have heeded JJ's advice on bad rims ... don't let your shots hit the rim!

[DukieInBrasil]

3. Miles and Dre need some work. Dre hit the last shot. Fine. But he also made several dumb plays, couldn't hit some open shots, and just still isn't taking initiative enough, often just standing in a corner and hoping to get an open 3. Miles bombed a dunk (fine) and just seemed invisible or manhandled at times. We need more Miles.

(in a Christopher Walken voice) "Our big man has a fever and the only prescription is more MILES!"

Miles did stroke those 2 elbow jumpers, which would really make our O tough to stop. If he hits 2 or 3 of those a game and plays strong with the ball down low, he could be scoring 10ppg.

[ice-9]

I have to say I'm a bit surprised to see the negative reactions expressed.

Belmont is pretty much as good as it'll ever be. They're a finished product as they return most everyone from last year, and each individual player is also probably even better than they were last year.

Duke is clearly a WIP team that will improve dramatically over the course of the season. We've got a lot of new pieces and our experienced players are learning new roles. Yet, in this nowhere-to-go-but-up state, we still managed to beat an excellent, NCAA tournament Belmont team.

We should be really happy about this game.

[DukieInBrasil]

Glad to see you come around somewhat on Tyler. I agree about his on ball defense but there is no doubt he gave Duke a spark on several occasions and had a terrific offensive performance, a dimension rarely seen before.
Never seen before in fact, as TT set a career high in the game. Very good game from TT.

[ncexnyc]

Moonpie's taken some heat for the, "It's going to be a long season" comment at the start of this thread, but I have too agree. I see a team with lots on nice pieces, but I don't see a coherent unit yet.

Seth: For the most part he did well as the team's PG, but he really made some bad decisions with the ball at the end of the game. There's a time and place to attempt to drive the lane and hopefully he'll pick that up. We need him on the floor for the firepower he provides, but I'm not very sure that come the end of the season he'll be there as the PG.

Austin: The kid is a tough match-up for any defender. Did a really nice job of getting to the rim and I'll take fouls and made free throws any day of the week over plain baskets. One moment of letting his emotions show in the 2nd half, when the hands went up behind his head, but it was a hotly contested game so I can live with that.

Tyler: The guy justs sparks the team with his energy and those points were a bonus. He has a nose for the ball and has the ability to read plays. I believe Billy Dat was right on, that Tyler is better coming off the ball than on the ball. It will be hard to keep this kid off the court.

Dre: A big bomb at the end of the game, but for the most part not much else. We need him, but I'm afraid he's going to lose minutes to Tyler and Cook as the season progresses unless he steps it up.

Mason: Loved the agressive play. Catch the ball and make-up your mind big guy. When he does that he's fine, when he stops to think bad things will happen.

Miles: A very disappointing game, but he's shown he can do it so I'm not worried.

Ryan: Not much of a factor in the 1st half, but picked it up nicely in the 2nd. I think that's a sign of him letting the game come to him rather than him forcing the issue.

Quinn: The young man looks smooth with the ball in his hands and is a pure PG. As we all know, he's got to improve his D, if he wants more court time.

I don't mind the blown lead, because they responded everytime Belmont made a run. Lots of things to work on, but if they continue to work and learn the season will turnout just fine.

[CarmenWallaceWade]

I have to say I'm a bit surprised to see the negative reactions expressed.

Belmont is pretty much as good as it'll ever be. They're a finished product as they return most everyone from last year, and each individual player is also probably even better than they were last year.

Duke is clearly a WIP team that will improve dramatically over the course of the season. We've got a lot of new pieces and our experienced players are learning new roles. Yet, in this nowhere-to-go-but-up state, we still managed to beat an excellent, NCAA tournament Belmont team.

We should be really happy about this game.


I can't say I'm surprised since folks are used to Duke cruising through the first few wins of the season. Fact is, this team has not played a cakewalk team to this point - China, exhibitions, and last night included. I'm very impressed with this team considering how different the engine is from last year. A lot of room exists for improvement, namely on defense and taking care of the ball. Last night we blew a lead but remained composed. The game went down to the final minute and we didn't cave to pressure. Great first test and we passed.

[watzone]

http://bluedevilnation.net/ Close game for sure but one a young team that is a work in progress will grow from. Players seemed calm afterwards, save a couple that did not get off the bench. Anyhow, link is to several interviews, Dawkins, THornton, Rivers, Coach K and soon to be up Mason Plumlee. Very little local TV coverage last evening so these are about the only clips out there. Go Duke, beat Presbyterian!

[mkline09]

I haven't read through most of the posts and I probably won't. Being at the game I saw a lot of knee jerk reactions to the game and I'm not at all surprised by that. Once upon a time I would have done the same thing. The fact was Duke played a very good team last night and right now Duke isn't a very good team. We all should be happy that a team that isn't anywhere close to being a complete product beat a team like Belmont. A team that got 8 votes to be in the preseason Top 25 and was ranked No. 4 in the mid-major preseason poll is no slouch. They are experienced, Duke is not. That probably is why the game was so close. When Duke built their 15 point lead most probably thought that was it, but an experienced team finds a way to fight back or put the game away and we all saw the more experienced team fight back. I'm not at all alarmed or surprised by the game. It was the first game, so it is pointless to me to worry at this point. This team is going to lose and against a really good team it is possible they will lose badly. It is a reality all Duke fans, I believe, are going to need to get use to. Now having said that I do believe they can and will get better. They have no identity right now. I think that will come. This appears to be a close team with some chemistry. That is a very good thing and will help them through tough times. They have the best coach who will mold this team into a very good team. I don't think Duke is Top 10 right now, but I think they can be by season's end and that is what matters in the end. Good win so lets all get ready for Duke-UVA and Duke-Presbyterian today.

[jv001]

I like the fact that we opened the regular season against a very good Div 1 team. A team that will probably make the NCAAT. They are an experienced group. I saw some very good play from everyone, but I also saw some room for improvement from those same players. Great shot by Andre at end, but still reluctant with the ball. It's rare that Mason(6'10") can handle the ball better than Dre. I just don't get it. His defense was ok, but I don't believe he had a rebound. Austin was good and I like his defense on the ball. He may be the best guard at staying in front of his man. Needs to better at passing the ball in the lane. Seth is ok handling the ball, but can make better decisions in the lane. He's going to be fine scoring the ball. Just ask unc. Tyler is tough as nails. He's not great at staying in front of his man, but he is physical enough to make it uncomfortable for his man to complete the play. Mason was to me the best player on the court last night. He did it all, score, rebound, defend and assist. Let's hope he builds on this game and reaches another level. Miles was ok, but did not see much time after the missed dunk. Ryan had a bad first half and a good 2nd half. I have no worries when it comes to Ryan. He will be fine. I hoped to see more of our freshmen against a lesser opponent. Quinn looked ok, but missed some open shots. G, well he didn't play enough for me to have an opinion on where he is at this point in the season. All in all, a good start. We won a game that we could have easily lost. Coach K will have the team hitting on all cylinders before long. GoDuke!

[SMO]

Moonpie's taken some heat for the, "It's going to be a long season" comment at the start of this thread, but I have too agree. I see a team with lots on nice pieces, but I don't see a coherent unit.

which is really disappointing considering it's mid-February...oh wait.

[mkline09]

which is really disappointing considering it's mid-February...oh wait.

I had a guy look at me after the game yesterday and basically in so may words say he thought Duke was going to suck this year!? I'm like really? There could be a lot of malox moments but it was the first game. I agreed with the guy I was with when he said I'd rather Duke suck at the beginning and get better rather than come out on fire and then fade down the stretch. Given those options I'd much rather them struggle early then get better.

[juise]

Dawkins is an enima.


I've read a lot of analysis on Andre, but this sounds like (and is one changed letter away from) being the most odd description I have ever seen. Perhaps you are thinking of that last shot as being cleansing after an otherwise rough game? ;)

[ncexnyc]

which is really disappointing considering it's mid-February...oh wait.
So are you saying you didn't see any room for improvement and that we are a finished product?

I see lots of opportunity for improvement and that means there will be lots of head scratching, cussing at the TV, wondering what was that kid thinking moments. Are the pieces there for a very good team? Absolutely. Can we get there? Well if anyone can mold them into a cohesive unit it's Coach K, but don't think for one moment there won't be any bumps along the way.

[ChillinDuke]

Haven't followed Pomeroy lately -- stats aren't as interesting in the early season -- but to my eye Belmont would finish in the top 4 of the ACC.

Just because Belmont isn't a well-known powerhouse team, casual observers/fans did not give them the respect they deserved pre-game and are still not respecting them even after they proved the respect is warranted.

Somewhere amongst the pre-game chatter/previews for this game, Belmont was compared favorably to FSU this year. FSU, by many accounts, is expected to challenge Duke for #2 in the ACC this year. At the very least they are a consensus #3. Your eye is correct.

Who the heck would want to play FSU to open the season?! Perspective. Very nice win last night...as an opener.

- Chillin

[Ultrarunner]

Mason's A/TO ratio was the best on the team tonight. And if he continued a 3/2 A/TO ratio, it would be the best such ratio for a Duke big man in awhile. Perhaps we're being a bit overcritical?


Probably not. A bit sarcastic maybe while aiming for irony.

Which makes this exchange.....a bit ironic

Just on a personal note, you won't often (I hate to say never) catch me making negative statements about the team. I appreciate that they are students first, athletes second and that basketball at this level is still a game. I find it very easy to look for the positives which are abundant.

Plus, there are a bevy of individuals that seemingly enjoy the negatives of any game or player. I don't quite get it but heck, it's a free board and I can just skip those comments after the fifteenth iteration. Life's to short for negativity for me.

Sorry my Mason comment didn't hit your funny bone. Lousy aim on my part.

[juise]

So are you saying you didn't see any room for improvement and that we are a finished product?

I see lots of opportunity for improvement and that means there will be lots of head scratching, cussing at the TV, wondering what was that kid thinking moments. Are the pieces there for a very good team? Absolutely. Can we get there? Well if anyone can mold them into a cohesive unit it's Coach K, but don't think for one moment there won't be any bumps along the way.

I don't think there is any debate about whether the team has room to improve. It's more about whether we believe the team will improve to a high level and whether we can enjoy that process.

[SMO]

So are you saying you didn't see any room for improvement and that we are a finished product?

I see lots of opportunity for improvement and that means there will be lots of head scratching, cussing at the TV, wondering what was that kid thinking moments. Are the pieces there for a very good team? Absolutely. Can we get there? Well if anyone can mold them into a cohesive unit it's Coach K, but don't think for one moment there won't be any bumps along the way.

Does it look like I said that?

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Recognizing it was the first game and the team will no doubt improve in coming weeks, a couple things stuck out for me:

1. Mason and at times Miles seemed to end up with the ball near the top of the key numerous times and neither they nor the team really seemed to know what to do. The defense backed off and dared them to shoot. Nice to seem them hit a couple. But that's not typically going to be our highest percentage play (unless perhaps it's Ryan out there). In those moments, we had no offensive flow and they each made a few bad decisions to try to drive b/c there seemed to be nothing else to do. If they were initiating the offense, that would be one thing, but it seemed to stall things out instead. It will be interesting to see how we end up managing the game with three consistent bigs.

2. The numerous missed opportunities for inside dishes to the bigs. Too much one on one type play at times. Would love to see easier scores from the bigs off dishes like the one TT gave in the 2nd half. We worked very hard to get shots inside and while AR got to the line a decent amount, we probably made it tougher on ourselves than it should have been. I was actually surprised to see 14 total assists - but clearly very few inside passes.

3. Perimeter D. Their guards were good, no doubt. But I'd love to see a better effort in coming weeks to stay in front of the ball. They broke us down too easily leading to inside dishes. It opened up their three point shots as well. Their passing was spectacular at times in the second half but the penetration we allowed cannot go unaddressed.

Full of hope for this group as learn to come together as a team. It will be an interesting ride.

[cspan37421]

So are you saying you didn't see any room for improvement and that we are a finished product?

I see lots of opportunity for improvement and that means there will be lots of head scratching, cussing at the TV, wondering what was that kid thinking moments. Are the pieces there for a very good team? Absolutely. Can we get there? Well if anyone can mold them into a cohesive unit it's Coach K, but don't think for one moment there won't be any bumps along the way.

I think the point is that it's still very early (i.e., it's not mid-February) and we have a lot of time to grow as a team into a reasonably coherent unit. Sure there will be bumps along the way ... no one doubts that. That said, I don't think I'll be cussing at the TV during those bumps, because my expectations are that we will struggle at times, particularly with fast and experienced opposing guard play. I remember when we couldn't keep Ty Lawson in front of us; I think we'll see some of that trouble even with guards far less quick and talented than Ty Lawson.

We have a solid, experienced frontcourt but a backcourt-by-committee at the moment, pretty much the opposite of a typical Coach K team. So it's a new challenge - but that's going to be what makes it interesting. I have confidence Coach K and staff will develop these kids and we'll have a winning team of which we can be proud. Not ruling out any championships, of course, but my point is that the "head scratching, cussing at the TV, wondering what was that kid thinking moments" is an unnecessary reaction to a team that is going to go through a learning process and some growth spurts. Sure, I'd love them to bring home another ACC title (regular season champs too) and an NCAA FF or title. Would love it. But it's not a choice between that and a season of frustrated fandom. They're just not experienced enough together (and may not - yet - have as much talent and BB IQ) as some teams from our recent past to act surprised and upset when they make mistakes.

[ncexnyc]

I don't think there is any debate about whether the team has room to improve. It's more about whether we believe the team will improve to a high level and whether we can enjoy that process.
The growth process is what's so special about the college game. Watching a kid come in as freshman and seeing the final product when he's a senior is why I always hold the 4yr players in higher regard than those who leave early.
Now as a guy who's always had, the glass is half empty view of life I didn't take Moonpie's comments to mean the season was over, but I got the feeling from some of the responses that they sure thought that's what he meant. Maybe he could clarify what it was he really meant to say.
I don't view this team the same I did last year's and I'm sure no sane person on this board does. How far will this team go and what's their ceiling I honestly can't say, but I'll be there for the full ride no matter what.

[SCMatt33]

I didn't mention it last night, but I think a very important point to bring up is to ask how well this team will learn over the course of the year? There are a lot of posts about how inexperienced this team is, and how they will be able to grow and fix those mistakes over the year. The problem is that not all young teams end up fixing those mistakes. As good as the coaches are, that is not always determined by their ability to teach, but by the players. There are teams that you expect to be able to learn well quickly that take a long time, and there are those that you think have no chance who put it all together.

The evidence from last night tells me that this team will be just fine in terms of growing. I point to how well they handled Belmont's intermittent press as an example. Belmont really changed that up throughout the game, but it was obvious that Duke had practiced it and was ready for it. No one panicked if it took 3 seconds to get a ball in, and I can't recall many (if any) turnovers being forced out of it. It's not like Duke has always been so textbook at press breaking, though I will admit that their press was not very aggressive once Duke got the ball in. Still, it was a good sign that they were able to take something a team does, practice for it, and fix it. I'm encouraged that it can also happen for this teams other flaws throughout the year.

[jimsumner]

Is it possible that your irony detector needs a recalibration?


So are you saying you didn't see any room for improvement and that we are a finished product?

I see lots of opportunity for improvement and that means there will be lots of head scratching, cussing at the TV, wondering what was that kid thinking moments. Are the pieces there for a very good team? Absolutely. Can we get there? Well if anyone can mold them into a cohesive unit it's Coach K, but don't think for one moment there won't be any bumps along the way.

[COYS]

I'm going to jump in and restate what has already been stated. Belmont is better than pretty much everyone in the ACC this year except for UNC, Duke (hopefully), and possibly FSU. We should have viewed this game as similar to an ACC opener against FSU, Maryland, or VaTech . . . teams that are often able to push us to the limit if not beat us. Belmont will probably be a top 25 RPI win for us on our tourney resume. They will definitely be a top 50 RPI win. It is possible that Belmont will be a Sweet 16 team. In addition, this is a Belmont team that returned virtually everyone from an 30-5 team last season. They are a well-oiled machine with veterans who have played in their roles for longer than any current Duke player has played in their new roles. They know how to play together (if that wasn't obvious) AND they are talented. This is not to say that Duke's performance was flawless or that there aren't questions to be answered, but the fact that the team won with every single Duke player playing their first real game in their new roles against a top 25 caliber Belmont team returning it's starting lineup that has been intact for over a year is a great sign. I'll be honest, I would not have been surprised if Duke had lost this game . . . and I wouldn't have even panicked if we had. We won and the team learned a lot.

Personally, I was pleasantly surprised with how well Austin's debut went. He let the game come to him in the first half and did a great job getting to the line. He made mistakes in the second half, but that is not surprising as he needs experience at this level to learn how to stay focused for all 40 minutes. Also, he got beat on a few backdoor cuts early in the game. None of them resulted in buckets for Belmont, but I was a bit concerned that he was overplaying the passing lanes for steals a bit too much. However, he learned from that and read most of the backdoor cuts in the second half. It was a subtle change in approach, but evidence that the kid not only has the drive and the skills, but also the ability to learn and learn quickly.

Mason was excellent. The guards left him on an island at the top of the key a few times which resulted in him trying to do too much. When he gets the ball at the free throw line, he's deadly. Back a few feet at the three point line and it's much more dicey. I LOVED that he was a playmaker for others. I've always seen him as a guy who is best on offense when he's creating for others at least as much as a he is for himself and that's exactly who he was. The turnovers are something to watch, but I'm surprised the board isn't more encouraged by his play. Outside of maybe the Marquette game last year, this was his best game in a Duke uni . . . and it may have been a better all around game than the Marquette game last season.

I thought Seth was great with the exception of the last five minutes of the game. The offense ran significantly better when he was orchestrating it, even if Tyler provides a different type of spark. He made some mistakes at the end of the game which were almost extremely costly, but I don't think that should take away from the fact that he looked good for 35 minutes. Now he's got some crunch-time experience to learn from. Five bucks says he'll be better the next time in a close and late situation.

Andre is still an enigma, but you gotta hand it to him for hitting that last three.

Ryan was quietly effective although he, like Mason, did too much ball handling at times. When he and Mason were quick with their moves, whether to pass, drive, or shoot, they were extremely effective. When they took too long to decide what to do, they committed turnovers. I expect this to improve with more experience.

Defensively, I agree with those who worry a bit about the lateral quickness of the guy guarding the point, whether it be Seth or Tyler. Both are crafty defenders, but neither did a great job stopping dribble penetration. Austin and Quinn have the ability to stop dribble penetration, but we need Austin off the ball (where he still needs some work) and Quinn is still learning. We'll have to see whether Seth and Tyler can consistently provide high pressure defense. Defense from the three spot is also a question mark. Andre is better but still not a high level defender. Plus, we need him to rebound more. Austin's lack of size could be an issue. Mike has potential and the physical tools, but is still a work in progress. This will also be something to watch. Finally, the bigs were solid for the most part, but it doesn't seem like Mason, Miles, nor Ryan are elite defenders. Collectively they can be very good, but they all need to maintain their focus for the entire game.

Anyway, I was encouraged by this game. The team looked better than they did at any other point, whether it be the preseason games or the games in China and Dubai. There are question marks, but the team already has a significant win under their belts to serve as a foundation on which to build. Can't wait for the game today!

[Rogue]

Belmont is good, will probably make the NCAA ( weak conference ) Passed VERY well, made some open shots and rebounded well.

Miles looked GOOD..
Thorton looked GOOD

We were slow.. We know we're slow on the front line,, and it showed.. Kelly didn't look good,, Rivers wasn't lights out ( turn overs, and didn't shoot all that well. ) We had too many turnovers..
Some of these things could and probably are just one game , "off game" type things..

Of all the things I saw that weren't good,, all but being slow is fixable.

Slow on the front line bothered me..

GOOOOOOO DUKE

[ArkieDukie]

We are not good this year. Period. We are a sweet 16 team that lost its best three players. Do the math.

Wow - you're giving up on the team awfully early in the season. I liked what I saw, considering the fact that this was our first regular season game against a quality opponent. The team is young, and they're still learning to play together. They have lots of potential. Yes, it might be a tough season, but I believe this team will grow a lot. I, for one, intend to enjoy the ride.

[CDu]

Thoughts:

The good:
- Mason Plumlee was aggressive on both ends of the floor. For the majority of the game, he looked very comfortable and made good decisions on offense. He did make a couple of boneheaded decisions in the second half. But he gave us 35 min, 13 pts, 14 reb, and 6 assists.
- Tyler Thornton was terrific in several stretches as well. He made a series of terrific steals early in the second half that helped build our lead, and he hit a pair of open 3s.
- Austin Rivers in the first half was terrific. He got to the rim repeatedly, and drew a number of fouls. He looked good at creating easy shots for himself.
- Seth Curry's 3pt shooting, especially in the second half. Curry hit a number of big 3s for us.
- Andre Dawkins' final shot. We were up by 1 late in the game, so I'm not sure we wouldn't have still won anyway. But Dawkins' shot sealed it. Good for him, and hopefully he can build off it.

The not so good:
- Perimeter defense. None of our guards looked good guarding their man (Thornton included). We'll need to improve on that.
- Defensive rotations. Tied to the first point, our help defense (aside from Thornton and occasionally Mason) was not terribly good. Belmont is an experienced, disciplined team and they made us pay for our mistakes.
- Austin Rivers in the second half. He looked like the freshman that he is. He forced bad shots, and committed turnovers on the way to forcing more bad shots. And he has yet to show evidence of being able to create for others off the dribble. Right now, it seems like when he drives, he's going to shoot. There were a couple of times in which an easy dropoff to a rolling big would have been a slam dunk, but Rivers put up an off-balance shot instead.
- Andre Dawkins the rest of the game. He was just nonexistent on both ends of the floor, with the exception of a great finish off a Mason pass.
- Late-game decision making. We looked like a team that wasn't sure how to finish. Even on the Dawkins 3, the offense looked confused until Dawkins was able to hit a long, contested shot late in the clock. Several possessions were poorly executed. Definitely something to work on.

The other:
- The bench shortened quickly. Since our bigs didn't get in foul trouble, we were able to go with a 3-man rotation. This meant no Hairston. We also so only a minute of Gbinije and no minutes from Murphy. Cook played only 8 minutes and didn't do anything noteworthy with those minutes. As the season progresses, I think this will be common.

This is still very much a work in progress, obviously.

[stillcrazie]

http://www.dukeblueplanet.com/

Marshall does the interviews at the end; Mason gives him the big brother treatment!

[J4Kop99]

http://www.dukeblueplanet.com/

Marshall does the interviews at the end; Mason gives him the big brother treatment!

Thanks for that. Marshall seems like a great guy. Some would be very upset with their situation on the team but he is making the most of it and you have to love to see that.

It's pretty clear that TT is both a fan favorite and a team favorite.

[slower]

http://www.dukeblueplanet.com/

Marshall does the interviews at the end; Mason gives him the big brother treatment!

I think Marshall is my new favorite. If the kid doesn't make it in basketball, he would KILL it in broadcasting. Awesomeness.

[stillcrazie]

I happened to walk across Towerview on campus next to him one day last summer and said hi and welcomed him to Duke. He had been signing stuff for kids before that. You could just tell by the way he carried himself that he was a great, great kid. Just super nice.

[mapei]

My positives:

Mason & Tyler. Just awesome.
Rivers looked very talented at times, especially 1st half, and more disciplined than I expected.
We beat a very good team in a game many of us were worried about. If the first half was closer than the score suggested, the full game may not have been (quite) as close as the final score suggested. Belmont got a little lucky at the end IMO.


Negatives:

Defense. An incredible number of Belmont's baskets came on very easy layups and, in the second half, WIDE open 3s.
End of game management. Why we were still rushing every possession, and why K let them rush every possession, is way beyond me. We were taking contested shots with 15-20 seconds left on the clock. I kept expecting K to step in and correct that but he never did, and it almost cost us the game.
This isn't a negative in the same way, but you just can't fix losing two senior producers and leaders like Nolan and Kyle. It's going to have an effect, and our end-of-year ranking is very unlikely IMO to match our (inflated) preseason ranking. It's just reality.

[Kedsy]

Sorry my Mason comment didn't hit your funny bone. Lousy aim on my part.

My bad. It's possible I get oversensitive attempting to deal with the unrealistic expectations of many posters.



Negatives:
Defense. An incredible number of Belmont's baskets came on very easy layups and, in the second half, WIDE open 3s.

I have a slightly different view of this. The easy layups were actually very cleverly obtained by Belmont. People in this thread have been saying it came from dribble-penetration but I didn't see that. I saw Belmont passing or backing the ball into seemingly useless positions, that turned out to be useful because it allowed a quick interior pass to another guy whose position didn't look all that advantageous when he got there but became an easy layup because of the combination of the two positions. Does that make any sense? Our inside guys weren't out of position, they just didn't recognize the danger. That's great work by Belmont, but not necessarily bad defense on our part.

I also thought for the first 30 minutes our perimeter D was pretty good. Their 0 for 7 from three in the first half was at least in part due to the quickness with which we closed on them. Once we built the 16 point lead, you could see our team relax and take a deep breath, and we stopped chasing them so closely. We still covered the primary guy and the first pass, but Belmont was able to find open threes on the 2nd or 3rd pass. Put another way, if we were playing a less disciplined team, I don't think you would have seen so many open threes.



This isn't a negative in the same way, but you just can't fix losing two senior producers and leaders like Nolan and Kyle. It's going to have an effect, and our end-of-year ranking is very unlikely IMO to match our (inflated) preseason ranking. It's just reality.


I disagree here, too. I believe our rating will go down, first when we lose a couple games in November and then again after a mini-swoon in January or February. But by the time the regular season ends, I believe our rating will be right back where it is now, if not a bit better. I'll be surprised if we don't earn a #1 or #2 seed in the NCAAT.

[cspan37421]

My positives:

Mason & Tyler. Just awesome.
...
This isn't a negative in the same way, but you just can't fix losing two senior producers and leaders like Nolan and Kyle. It's going to have an effect, and our end-of-year ranking is very unlikely IMO to match our (inflated) preseason ranking. It's just reality.


While I generally agree, I don't think Mason's play was uniformly great. It was mostly great, but a few real head-scratchers thrown in - such as driving so far from the basket that the defender had time to contemplate the imminent pain of taking the certain charge. Didn't he have two such drives? That does not negate all the great plays he made, but I just want to suggest that everyone has room for improvement; no one was uniformly great. But it's early, that's fine and expected, esp. on a team that lost 3 starters.

As far as losing two senior producers and leaders, and the notion that you can't just fix that, well, I beg to differ: Coach K has overcome that challenge in many years, has he not? Nolan and Kyle were great, but they're not the only great seniors we've had in Coach K's time. He can do it again, I believe.

[mapei]

As far as losing two senior producers and leaders, and the notion that you can't just fix that, well, I beg to differ: Coach K has overcome that challenge in many years, has he not? Nolan and Kyle were great, but they're not the only great seniors we've had in Coach K's time. He can do it again, I believe.

While Duke always comes back, it's not unusual for there to be a dropoff in the first year after a Hill-Hurley-Laettner, Brand-Langdon-etc, or Battier-Williams-Boozer leave. We've now ended the Scheyer-Singler-Smith regime. If that doesn't have any discernible effect, and we are a top-6 team at the end of the year as you suggest, it may be because Austin proves to be all-American caliber in complement to the veterans we have. Which could happen, I suppose.

[MChambers]

I have to say I'm a bit surprised to see the negative reactions expressed.

Belmont is pretty much as good as it'll ever be. They're a finished product as they return most everyone from last year, and each individual player is also probably even better than they were last year.

Duke is clearly a WIP team that will improve dramatically over the course of the season. We've got a lot of new pieces and our experienced players are learning new roles. Yet, in this nowhere-to-go-but-up state, we still managed to beat an excellent, NCAA tournament Belmont team.

We should be really happy about this game.
Exactly my sentiments. I really don't understand why any Duke fan wouldn't be happy with last night's results. We played a veteran team that probably is a top 25 team. We are a young team and have a lot to learn.

I said in the pre-game thread I'd be happy with a one point win and I am. It was distressing to give away so much of a big lead, but to me its more impressive that we were able to get such a big lead.

[BD80]

My bad. It's possible I get oversensitive attempting to deal with the unrealistic expectations of many posters.

...

Exhausted trying to manage expectations huh?

[Kedsy]

Exhausted trying to manage expectations huh?

I'm sticking my tongue out at you without the use of a smilie.

[Newton_14]

1. Belmont's good
2. Our interior D is not
3. Our perimeter is going to be nails this year, especially if QC can come along too
4. Austin looks to have a knack for getting to the line, which is huge because when his offense is so so like tonight he is still getting us points
5. Kelly will play better. Off night tonight.

First game. Should be an interesting year. Hopefully more 2000/2003 than 2007.

So I had a busy weekend including attending both games, and this is my first chance to read this thread and I have not read past your post here. That said. I had to stop and commennt on item 2. That comment is way off. Our interior defense was good against Belmont and really good yesterday against the Coleman kid who is legit. The Belmont scheme spread us out, and their kids executed really well. Our bigs made a few mistakes here and there, but overall I felt they defended well. The help defense from the guards and wings broke down a few times allowing the Belmont bigs to get easy scores in the first half. The staff was all over them for it. Two times it was Quinn and another time it was Austin. That's 3 buckets scored by Belmont bigs that were not the fault of our bigs. Belmont caught up by nailing 3's and their PG penetrating, not because our bigs defended poorly.

The help defense was much better yesterday, and the competition really doesn't matter. Guys were much better at rotating in the help dept and being where they were supposed to be to disrupt plays.

[LSanders]

To all the naysayers ... Belmont is a veteran team, probably NCAA tourney bound and led by one of the best coaches in the business.

#7 Vanderbilt undertook a somewhat similar challenge against Cleveland State in Nashville with a slightly different outcome: CS 71 - Vandy 58

So, I'll take a 1-point win over a class team like Belmont any day.

[OldPhiKap]

To all the naysayers ... Belmont is a veteran team, probably NCAA tourney bound and led by one of the best coaches in the business.

#7 Vanderbilt undertook a somewhat similar challenge against Cleveland State in Nashville with a slightly different outcome: CS 71 - Vandy 58

So, I'll take a 1-point win over a class team like Belmont any day.

Belmont is certainly the best team in Nashville.

[uh_no]

Belmont is certainly the best team in Nashville.

Pat Summitt's women might have an argument.....but I agree with you.

[devildeac]

Belmont is certainly the best team in Nashville.


Pat Summitt's women might have an argument.....but I agree with you.

I didn't think Pat Summitt's team played (much) in Nashville.

Home to the Lady Vols basketball program, the floor in Thompson-Boling Arena is named for women's basketball coach Pat Summitt.

Capacity: 21,678

Address:
1600 Phillip Fulmer Way
Knoxville, TN 37996

;)

[Gthoma2a]

Don't think we can be upset with this game considering Vanderbilt has already lost a game. UNC ended up closer than expected to UNC-Asheville, and almost all contributions were from starters. We played a good team and we won. You can't complain about that. Now, on to Michigan State. I am starting to think that there isn't as much separation between the top teams as the analysts tried to sell it as this year.

[uh_no]

I didn't think Pat Summitt's team played (much) in Nashville.

Home to the Lady Vols basketball program, the floor in Thompson-Boling Arena is named for women's basketball coach Pat Summitt.

Capacity: 21,678

Address:
1600 Phillip Fulmer Way
Knoxville, TN 37996

;)

nashville/knoxville....its all tennessee....

[OldPhiKap]

Pat Summitt's women might have an argument.....but I agree with you.

Pat probably has the best team in Tennessee, no doubt.

[shoutingncu]

Belmont is better than pretty much everyone in the ACC this year except for UNC, Duke (hopefully), and possibly FSU. We should have viewed this game as similar to an ACC opener against FSU, Maryland, or VaTech . . .


Belmont is good, will probably make the NCAA ( weak conference ) Passed VERY well, made some open shots and rebounded well.


We played a veteran team that probably is a top 25 team.


To all the naysayers ... Belmont is a veteran team, probably NCAA tourney bound and led by one of the best coaches in the business.


Were the announcers correct that Belmont is now 0 for the last 17 against ranked opponents?

[uh_no]

Were the announcers correct that Belmont is now 0 for the last 17 against ranked opponents?

well chances are they play 1 or 2 a year at the beginning of the year, and its also likely that they have never had a team nearly as good as the one they have this year. (well....2007......)