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View Full Version : Attention Jim Sumner



Rich
02-06-2012, 04:42 PM
I read in another thread that you were the author of the Miami game recap, which isn't apparent from the article itslef because it's signed "by DBR." Clearly, the tone of the article was very different from most DBR recaps and I could tell the article wasn't written by those who usually write game recaps. I think the tone you took was somewhat harsh, but clearly honest and straightforward, and not sugar-coated. Usually the game recaps have a softer tone with more of a silver lining or reason to stay positive, particularly with losses.

However, I really do appreciate your straightforwardness and was wondering, in all your years covering Duke basketball, has this team been the most difficult to figure out? We clearly have talent, but there is some aspect of our drive to win (and play defense) that's missing. Perhaps it's a chemistry problem, I don't know, and I suppose Coach K and the team do their best to keep something like that under wraps. I've always taken pride in Duke basketball that we rarely ever lose to an inferior team, especially at home, because we play hard every possession. Between the talent and the effort - not taking plays off (particularly on the defensive end) - we usually pull out a "W". Now, both Florida State and Miami are good teams, but these are not the types of games Duke basketball generally loses at home and certainly not two games so close together. And even in the years where we were not really title contenders, it seemed we played hard, but lacked talent or experience. As Coach K mentioned after the St. John's game, if the team doesn't do it his way, he said, they'll have a fight on their hands.

What's your gut? Why is this team such an anomoly? Why are they having such difficulty getting K's system? I've been following Duke basketball since I was a freshman in 1986 and I've never heard K talk about struggling to have a team follow him. What's up with that?

Monmouth77
02-06-2012, 05:13 PM
Non-sequitor to your post but, I've got to take issue with your signature-- i.e., the bit about "never storming the court."

It happened twice in my tenure at Duke-- the 1997 and 1998 Carolina games-- and the emotion was probably warranted both times: in 1997 we were breaking a 7 game losing streak to the Heels, and '98 was a miracle comeback against a theretofore-invincible-looking Jamison/Carter/Cota Heels team, in a game that won us the regular season title.

Anyway, just keeping it real.

And I'm not Jim Sumner, but to your point, I suspect that the team's defensive struggles are a big part of what exasperates him this year (to the extent one reads exasperation in his comments and appearences). Weaker and less experienced teams-- say the 2007 team -- still played first class defense, and it has been Duke's steadfast identity. It is weird and unsettling to not be able to rely on our D.

1999ballboy
02-06-2012, 05:20 PM
Dockery's halfcourt buzzer-beater was another instance of court-storming.

uh_no
02-06-2012, 05:21 PM
Non-sequitor to your post but, I've got to take issue with your signature-- i.e., the bit about "never storming the court."

It happened twice in my tenure at Duke-- the 1997 and 1998 Carolina games-- and the emotion was probably warranted both times: in 1997 we were breaking a 7 game losing streak to the Heels, and '98 was a miracle comeback against a theretofore-invincible-looking Jamison/Carter/Cota Heels team, in a game that won us the regular season title.

Anyway, just keeping it real.

And I'm not Jim Sumner, but to your point, I suspect that the team's defensive struggles are a big part of what exasperates him this year (to the extent one reads exasperation in his comments and appearences). Weaker and less experienced teams-- say the 2007 team -- still played first class defense, and it has been Duke's steadfast identity. It is weird and unsettling to not be able to rely on our D.

Also happened when dockery put it in from just outside teer library to beat VT.....

coach K has said "we don't storm the court because of who we beat: we storm the court for championships"

jimsumner
02-06-2012, 05:22 PM
I read in another thread that you were the author of the Miami game recap, which isn't apparent from the article itslef because it's signed "by DBR." Clearly, the tone of the article was very different from most DBR recaps and I could tell the article wasn't written by those who usually write game recaps. I think the tone you took was somewhat harsh, but clearly honest and straightforward, and not sugar-coated. Usually the game recaps have a softer tone with more of a silver lining or reason to stay positive, particularly with losses.

However, I really do appreciate your straightforwardness and was wondering, in all your years covering Duke basketball, has this team been the most difficult to figure out? We clearly have talent, but there is some aspect of our drive to win (and play defense) that's missing. Perhaps it's a chemistry problem, I don't know, and I suppose Coach K and the team do their best to keep something like that under wraps. I've always taken pride in Duke basketball that we rarely ever lose to an inferior team, especially at home, because we play hard every possession. Between the talent and the effort - not taking plays off (particularly on the defensive end) - we usually pull out a "W". Now, both Florida State and Miami are good teams, but these are not the types of games Duke basketball generally loses at home and certainly not two games so close together. And even in the years where we were not really title contenders, it seemed we played hard, but lacked talent or experience. As Coach K mentioned after the St. John's game, if the team doesn't do it his way, he said, they'll have a fight on their hands.

What's your gut? Why is this team such an anomoly? Why are they having such difficulty getting K's system? I've been following Duke basketball since I was a freshman in 1986 and I've never heard K talk about struggling to have a team follow him. What's up with that?

I honestly don't know. I'm not sure it's chemistry. But usually, when you go in a Duke locker room, you can tell who the leaders are. You can't with this team. Who's leading, who's following, who's getting out of the way? They haven't figured it out yet. And the clock is ticking.

The ideal is for every player to play hard every second of every game.

That's an unobtainable goal and some really good teams have had some real moments of miserable play. The 1989 team got absolutely blown out a home by Carolina. Just hammered. Phil Henderson blasted the 1990 team as "crybabies" after the loss to GT in the ACCT. The 1991 team played so poorly at UVA that K had them practice as soon as they got off the bus. Grant Hill broke his nose at that practice. That same team lost to UNC by 22 in the ACC title game. Elton Brand played so poorly against Florida that K demoted him for the next game. Brand was national POY that year. Remember the NCSU debacle of 2010?

So, there are precedents for Duke teams getting it together. Then again, we have 2007, which started strong and collapsed down the stretch. So, there are precedents the other way. Just not as many.

I'm not sure I've seen K this frustrated in public. But I can't discount the possibility that he's been this frustrated before and just hid it better.

The curious thing is how often Duke's lack of energy has manifested itself at Cameron. I do believe at a subconscious level, the team has come to think that winning at home is some kind of birthright. And I think blaming the Crazies is an easy out. I think that's K's major frustration. How can you put on a Duke jersey and not go out on the court with pride and focus and intensity every single time?

I do think this team has enough talent and experience to be really, really good. But I think some guys have to dig down and motivate themselves instead of waiting for someone else to flip the switch for them.

Off to see the women play.

mr. synellinden
02-06-2012, 05:38 PM
I do think this team has enough talent and experience to be really, really good. But I think some guys have to dig down and motivate themselves instead of waiting for someone else to flip the switch for them.




I think this is what it comes down to. It makes me think of the pre-game speech in Any Given Sunday (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9CD7uj2TL0&feature=related). Are our guys willing to fight for that inch? I saw that Coach K called out the juniors. Can Seth, Ryan, Andre and Mason bring it offensively and defensively on every possession? If they can, we can be a Final Four team. If not, we could just as easily lose in the first round.

ChicagoHeel
02-06-2012, 06:05 PM
The curious thing is how often Duke's lack of energy has manifested itself at Cameron. I do believe at a subconscious level, the team has come to think that winning at home is some kind of birthright. And I think blaming the Crazies is an easy out. I think that's K's major frustration. How can you put on a Duke jersey and not go out on the court with pride and focus and intensity every single time?

This may sound strange, but I wonder if UNC and Duke have similar problems this year. K's post game comments yesterday, where he lambasted the team for a lack of hunger and energy sound similar to some of Roy's comments earlier this year. ONe thing that often comes up in discussion among UNC fans is that there is no one guy on our team that is naturally hyper-competitive and intense- no Hansbrough or George Lynch-type to set the tone. It's like the players have to remind themselves to get fired up. It's not that they don't care, its just that they are generally mellow personalities and don't have that competitive edge that makes them want to destroy every opponent on every possession of every game. The result is that they don't always come out with a desire to throttle the opponent and get caught off guard when a lesser team plays with greater intensity. I think that's what happened to us in two of our three losses- we waltzed in and expected to beat the un-ranked opponent. Maybe you guys have a similar set of personalities (Rivers excluded). You expect to win in Cameron and so don't get up for the game the way you should.

The upside of this is that, although you lose some games you shouldn't, you rarely play lackluster in games that you know matter. When you know it's going to be a battle, you're mentally prepared for the fight. But when you go in thinking it's going to be a win, the more mellow side takes over. At least that's been the case for UNC. I think we've played well in the games circled on the calendar. The rest, eh, not so much. Other than the OSU game, hasn't Duke pretty much been the same? You've played well against ranked teams and against teams that might be weak but you knew going in are dangerous (e.g. @Maryland), but let your guard down against other opponents (and during games when you've had a big lead).

Kedsy
02-06-2012, 08:28 PM
This may sound strange, but I wonder if UNC and Duke have similar problems this year. K's post game comments yesterday, where he lambasted the team for a lack of hunger and energy sound similar to some of Roy's comments earlier this year. ONe thing that often comes up in discussion among UNC fans is that there is no one guy on our team that is naturally hyper-competitive and intense- no Hansbrough or George Lynch-type to set the tone. It's like the players have to remind themselves to get fired up. It's not that they don't care, its just that they are generally mellow personalities and don't have that competitive edge that makes them want to destroy every opponent on every possession of every game. The result is that they don't always come out with a desire to throttle the opponent and get caught off guard when a lesser team plays with greater intensity. I think that's what happened to us in two of our three losses- we waltzed in and expected to beat the un-ranked opponent. Maybe you guys have a similar set of personalities (Rivers excluded). You expect to win in Cameron and so don't get up for the game the way you should.

The upside of this is that, although you lose some games you shouldn't, you rarely play lackluster in games that you know matter. When you know it's going to be a battle, you're mentally prepared for the fight. But when you go in thinking it's going to be a win, the more mellow side takes over. At least that's been the case for UNC. I think we've played well in the games circled on the calendar. The rest, eh, not so much. Other than the OSU game, hasn't Duke pretty much been the same? You've played well against ranked teams and against teams that might be weak but you knew going in are dangerous (e.g. @Maryland), but let your guard down against other opponents (and during games when you've had a big lead).

I think you may be on to something. All this season, I've noticed a lot of parallels between Duke and UNC.

If your theory is right, we should see two hyper-focused teams this Wednesday. Should be quite the battle.

Rich
02-06-2012, 09:15 PM
How do you like my sig now?

MulletMan
02-06-2012, 09:36 PM
How do you like my sig now?

Well...technically it should say, "game winning half court shot". Cuz, you know, we didn't storm it after Capel's shot in 1995. You know, if you're going for full on precise.

OldPhiKap
02-06-2012, 10:15 PM
"Storming the court randomly, but judiciously, when we feel it is appropriate."



As to the team -- and I'm not in the league of Jim at all -- there is a definite lack of maturity and leadership that needs to kick it into gear. We have the talent to play with anyone. Who the @#@$ wants to take control of this team and lead us forward?!?

Some player needs to take ownership of this thing, and get everyone on board. Laettner-style or Battier-style, it needs to be done.

Mike Corey
02-06-2012, 10:34 PM
We have the talent to play with anyone. Who the @#@$ wants to take control of this team and lead us forward?!?

Here's my candidate, though I am more confident he will emerge by fall rather than by March.

2353

Lord Ash
02-06-2012, 10:50 PM
Here's my candidate, though I am more confident he will emerge by fall rather than by March.

2353

Yep, Quinn has shown that connection, already, with K. Seem to recall Quinn walked off with Coach after he broke the record or something similar... will have to think back.

Newton_14
02-06-2012, 11:00 PM
Yep, Quinn has shown that connection, already, with K. Seem to recall Quinn walked off with Coach after he broke the record or something similar... will have to think back.

It was after the Washington game in New York where Quinn had to come in cold in the last 5 minutes and help close out the win after Seth, and Austin had fouled out. Quinn handled it well and K gave him a big hug after the game.

Newton_14
02-06-2012, 11:01 PM
Here's my candidate, though I am more confident he will emerge by fall rather than by March.

2353

Thanks Mike. Is that photo from yesterday or another game?

Rich
02-06-2012, 11:32 PM
"Storming the court randomly, but judiciously, when we feel it is appropriate."

Thanks for the suggestions. In the spirit of pharmaceutical disclaimers and truth in advertising I have yet again adjusted my sig.

OldPhiKap
02-07-2012, 08:27 AM
Thanks for the suggestions. In the spirit of pharmaceutical disclaimers and truth in advertising I have yet again adjusted my sig.

LOL, all you need to do is add the side effects and you're golden! OPK



As for Quinn -- I agree that may be in our future, but not sure it is going to happen this year. It really needs to be Seth (preferably) or one of the upperclass bigs. Hard to put that on a frosh -- Kyrie notwithstanding.

Mike Corey
02-07-2012, 08:48 AM
LOL, all you need to do is add the side effects and you're golden! OPK



As for Quinn -- I agree that may be in our future, but not sure it is going to happen this year. It really needs to be Seth (preferably) or one of the upperclass bigs. Hard to put that on a frosh -- Kyrie notwithstanding.

I can't disagree with that.

I suggest Cook, though, because the upperclassmen don't seem to want it...and if Cook can just stay healthy and keep improving after the tough loss Sunday, he can begin to do more than play the part.

Dr. Rosenrosen
02-07-2012, 08:48 AM
Would be nice to see Ryan and Miles step up and grab hold of the leadership role given that they were named as co-captains this year. Not saying the titles mean they are great leaders or that others cannot lead as well (or instead). But given the general lack of identifiable leadership, the door is wide open for our captains to try to do something about it - if they want to.

OldPhiKap
02-07-2012, 09:10 AM
I can't disagree with that.

I suggest Cook, though, because the upperclassmen don't seem to want it...and if Cook can just stay healthy and keep improving after the tough loss Sunday, he can begin to do more than play the part.

I agree on Cook, and am baffled by the highlighted part (which matches my view from the couch).

Mason, Miles and Ryan are playing pretty well and have stepped up. It is hard to lead from the baseline, though, and the defensive problems we have had start up top. Someone in the backcourt needs to take control, and again I think Seth can be that man.

It's halftime in America, guys.