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View Full Version : MBB: Duke 60, VPI 56 ACCT Post-Game Thread



hurleyfor3
03-09-2012, 09:08 PM
And another close one with VPI. Discuss.

FerryFor50
03-09-2012, 09:10 PM
VPI is always tough because they play physical. Luckily, they shot worse than Duke.

Tyler had a lot of shots, but it was because he was often (left) open. Had to be a part of the VT game plan.

Missed Kelly on the boards, as well as his offensive versatility, but Hairston played well.

Dawkins is a magician... disappears a lot.

uh_no
03-09-2012, 09:12 PM
And another close one with VPI. Discuss.

At this point in the season, the W is all that counts. We're playing 3 in three days (hopefully....) with 2 serviceable big men (nothing against josh....but he's not going to provide the quality of RK). I don't think we were ever in DANGER of losing the game, but i think we had tomorrow on our minds after being up 10, which is okay....we don't want to kill ourselves when the game is mostly in hand.

NSDukeFan
03-09-2012, 09:14 PM
VPI is always tough because they play physical. Luckily, they shot worse than Duke.

Tyler had a lot of shots, but it was because he was often (left) open. Had to be a part of the VT game plan.

Missed Kelly on the boards, as well as his offensive versatility, but Hairston played well.

Dawkins is a magician... disappears a lot.

Dawkins missed his shots, unfortunately, but he looked like he was in the game, defended fine, got a few boards, just missed some good shots. I agree Hairston gave the team some good minutes. I think VT did want to leave TT open and I thought he took a few extra ones that were unnecessary, but I think he has to take the wide open ones in the flow of the offense. Tyler played two fantastic games vs. Green this year.

The D carried the team tonight.

#1Duke
03-09-2012, 09:14 PM
I'm trying to take something positive away from this game tonight and am having a difficult time thinking of much. Mason's free throw shooting was a high point though.
We need to step it up tomorrow if we hope to advance to the final.
Don't know if Miami or FS will leave 16 points at the front of the rim.

hurleyfor3
03-09-2012, 09:15 PM
I don't think we were ever in DANGER of losing the game

Neither did I. And we picked a good opponent to be lousy from 3 against. We can probably get away with another bad shooting day against the U, not so against fsu, and definitely not against unc.

CDu
03-09-2012, 09:16 PM
The media theme for this will be how well VT defended the 3 tonight. I think that's inaccurate. We took a lot of open 3s. They just didn't go down. Our three main guards went 2-13. That can't happen moving forward.

Kudos to Mason and Hairston for stepping up in the absence of Kelly and with Miles in foul trouble for so much of the game. They really held it together. After a very rough start on the boards, we really kept them in check in the second half on the glass.

Thornton deserves a lot of credit on the defensive end. He was a little quick with the trigger on some 3s, but that was somewhat forced by VT's design. Still, when you're shooting under 25%, that's not necessarily the decision you want to keep making.

And credit to the defense overall. We shot terribly all game, but we didn't trail after the 8-minute timeout of the first half. That's getting it done.

Hopefully this is a case of getting the bad game out of our system. But we'll have to play better tomorrow to advance.

Dr. Rosenrosen
03-09-2012, 09:17 PM
It would still have been nice to see more inside-out play. I 'm not sure why we're not seeing that. Minimal entry passes all night. When we do it good things happen including guards not named Tyler Thornton being open.

But god bless TT. If everyone played with his intensity all the time... wow...

CDu
03-09-2012, 09:18 PM
Missed Kelly on the boards, as well as his offensive versatility, but Hairston played well.

Actually, I'd say that our rebounding should improve with Kelly out. I think that Miles and Hairston are both better rebounders (by rebound rate). I think we missed Kelly offensively for sure, though. Would have been nice to have one more scoring threat and have one more guy to spread the floor (and hopefully take shots away from Thornton).


Dawkins is a magician... disappears a lot.

Zing!

arnie
03-09-2012, 09:18 PM
Neither did I. And we picked a good opponent to be lousy from 3 against. We can probably get away with another bad shooting day against the U, not so against fsu, and definitely not against unc.

Didn't think much of the offensive strategy near the end. Thought Rivers should have had the ball each time; but VPI wasn't up to the task. Guess the good news is winning with less than 20% 3-point shooting.

FerryFor50
03-09-2012, 09:18 PM
Dawkins missed his shots, unfortunately, but he looked like he was in the game, defended fine, got a few boards, just missed some good shots. I agree Hairston gave the team some good minutes. I think VT did want to leave TT open and I thought he took a few extra ones that were unnecessary, but I think he has to take the wide open ones in the flow of the offense. Tyler played two fantastic games vs. Green this year.

The D carried the team tonight.

He was ok on D, but not standout.

Sometimes it's good to be invisible on defense... means your guy isn't beating you.

However, he just wasn't in any rhythm on offense and his body language was pretty bad after missing the last shot he took (a layup, I think).

RoyalBlue08
03-09-2012, 09:19 PM
I'm trying to take something positive away from this game tonight and am having a difficult time thinking of much. Mason's free throw shooting was a high point though.
We need to step it up tomorrow if we hope to advance to the final.
Don't know if Miami or FS will leave 16 points at the front of the rim.

A win?

FerryFor50
03-09-2012, 09:20 PM
Actually, I'd say that our rebounding should improve with Kelly out. I think that Miles and Hairston are both better rebounders (by rebound rate). I think we missed Kelly offensively for sure, though. Would have been nice to have one more scoring threat and have one more guy to spread the floor (and hopefully take shots away from Thornton).



Zing!

I think Kelly gets better positioning than Hairston, but Hairston goes after it harder.

One thing I like about Hairston is that he plays like he's tall. Kelly doesn't always do that.

NSDukeFan
03-09-2012, 09:20 PM
I'm trying to take something positive away from this game tonight and am having a difficult time thinking of much. Mason's free throw shooting was a high point though.
We need to step it up tomorrow if we hope to advance to the final.
Don't know if Miami or FS will leave 16 points at the front of the rim.

Let me help you, the team won in a one-in-done tournament. Always a positive. Style points don't matter nearly as much as Ws.

CDu
03-09-2012, 09:21 PM
It would still have been nice to see more inside-out play. I 'm not sure why we're not seeing that. Minimal entry passes all night. When we do it good things happen including guards not named Tyler Thornton being open.

It's because we're just not good at it. Curry and Rivers are really terrible at throwing the entry pass, and Thornton is usually too unguarded to get that pass in there (his man helping down). It would be nice to see us go inside though. The Plumlees did a good job of getting position in the first half and didn't get looks.

Of course, Mason did get a couple of beautiful looks that he bumbled out of bounds, so it's not completely all on the guards.

dukelifer
03-09-2012, 09:21 PM
The media theme for this will be how well VT defended the 3 tonight. I think that's inaccurate. We took a lot of open 3s. They just didn't go down. Our three main guards went 2-13. That can't happen moving forward.

Kudos to Mason and Hairston for stepping up in the absence of Kelly and with Miles in foul trouble for so much of the game. They really held it together. After a very rough start on the boards, we really kept them in check in the second half on the glass.

Thornton deserves a lot of credit on the defensive end. He was a little quick with the trigger on some 3s, but that was somewhat forced by VT's design. Still, when you're shooting under 25%, that's not necessarily the decision you want to keep making.

And credit to the defense overall. We shot terribly all game, but we didn't trail after the 8-minute timeout of the first half. That's getting it done.

Hopefully this is a case of getting the bad game out of our system. But we'll have to play better tomorrow to advance.

Ugly ball- has been a while. Duke clearly did not shoot well- but as you say - they never trailed in the second half. Duke won UGLY by being scrappy and hitting shots at the right time. Thornton definitely made his mark on this game on D and O. This team has its issues but they do have a will to win and find a way. Tonight it was being hard nosed throughout. They should be a little more comfortable tomorrow - but that was not pretty.

CDu
03-09-2012, 09:22 PM
I think Kelly gets better positioning than Hairston, but Hairston goes after it harder.

One thing I like about Hairston is that he plays like he's tall. Kelly doesn't always do that.

I was merely talking about rebound rates. I'm think that Hairston rebounds a higher percentage of missed shots than Kelly. I'm certain that Miles does.

FerryFor50
03-09-2012, 09:22 PM
It's because we're just not good at it. Curry and Rivers are really terrible at throwing the entry pass, and Thornton is usually too unguarded to get that pass in there (his man helping down). It would be nice to see us go inside though. The Plumlees did a good job of getting position in the first half and didn't get looks.

Of course, Mason did get a couple of beautiful looks that he bumbled out of bounds, so it's not completely all on the guards.

Maybe Thornton will develop that shot a little more over the summer... could use it.

FerryFor50
03-09-2012, 09:24 PM
I was merely talking about rebound rates. I'm pretty sure Hairston rebounds a higher percentage of missed shots than Kelly. I'm certain that Miles does.

I know Miles is better. I think that Hairston's rebound rates are a reflection more of his minutes played than his rebounding prowess.

Because he goes after it so hard, he tends to pick up fouls. If he played the same # of minutes as Kelly, I think his rebounds would suffer because of foul trouble.

What are the foul rates between Hairston and Kelly?

EDIT: I know that "same number of minutes" doesn't make sense, because foul trouble means he'd not play as many... but you get my point. :)

CDu
03-09-2012, 09:24 PM
Maybe Thornton will develop that shot a little more over the summer... could use it.

If he does, look out. He'll scrappy like crazy on the defensive end, and then be an actual threat on offense. Yikes.

#1Duke
03-09-2012, 09:25 PM
A win?

Well, of course!! But I am thinking about tomorrow and the next day. Seriously, while we didn't have a good shooting night VT DID leave at least 16 point blank range points hanging out there. They didn't finish well.
I don't think we can count on that happening from here on out..... if 8 of those points would have fallen, the game would have been very different in the last several minutes.
While we rightfully lament our disappointing shooting from 3 point land, VT should be kicking themselves in the butt for leaving so many points in the paint where USUALLY a team has a MUCH higher percent of makes.

Newton_14
03-09-2012, 09:26 PM
I'm trying to take something positive away from this game tonight and am having a difficult time thinking of much. Mason's free throw shooting was a high point though.
We need to step it up tomorrow if we hope to advance to the final.
Don't know if Miami or FS will leave 16 points at the front of the rim.

It was an ugly game, and Duke was out of sync on offense all night. Something positive is we won ugly in a slow down game, when we were no where close to firing on all cylinders. Survive and advance.

In fairness to Andre, he played most of his minutes at the 4. Had to be awkward. Still, he made some positive plays even though he missed his shot attempts. His defense was serviceable, as he provided valuable minutes with Miles sitting with the 2 fouls. Not bad given the circumstances.

I thought we should have gone to Mason more on the block. We did not work hard enough to get him open, and then get him the ball. Mason not getting enough touches, combined with Seth having a really quiet night offensively, made for a really weird game on the offensive end. Tech played 5 on 4, daring Tyler to shoot. He made just enough shots to make them pay. When he missed, Tech could not capitalize either.

We live to see another day. Let's pull for Miami and see what happens.

NEWS ALERT: THE NCAA HAS DECLARED DURAND SCOTT IN-ELIGIBLE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. INTERESTING.

gumbomoop
03-09-2012, 09:27 PM
It would still have been nice to see more inside-out play. I 'm not sure why we're not seeing that. Minimal entry passes all night.

I have posted before that I never cease to be dismayed by the inability of perimeter players to make a simple 45-degree entry pass. Andre rarely even tries it, Seth, after seeming to be thinking about it for a few seconds, usually decides not to, Tyler does do it some, Austin rarely - though in his case I'm confident he is capable of doing so.

#1Duke
03-09-2012, 09:27 PM
Let me help you, the team won in a one-in-done tournament. Always a positive. Style points don't matter nearly as much as Ws.

My comments had nothing to do with "style" points. Everything to do with what we may face tomorrow.

CDu
03-09-2012, 09:27 PM
I know Miles is better. I think that Hairston's rebound rates are a reflection more of his minutes played than his rebounding prowess.

Because he goes after it so hard, he tends to pick up fouls. If he played the same # of minutes as Kelly, I think his rebounds would suffer because of foul trouble.

What are the foul rates between Hairston and Kelly?

EDIT: I know that "same number of minutes" doesn't make sense, because foul trouble means he'd not play as many... but you get my point. :)

Hairston certainly fouls more frequently, though I don't know that that is necessarily a fair explanation for rebound rates. There are lots of ways to commit fouls, and Hairston finds them all. :)

More to the point, I don't know that Kelly would have helped on the boards in this one. Many of VT's early rebounds were due to our bigs having to help on drivers and thus being forced out of rebounding position. And others were due to some crazy bounces. After the first 10-12 minutes, I thought we actually did really well on the boards.

FerryFor50
03-09-2012, 09:28 PM
If he does, look out. He'll scrappy like crazy on the defensive end, and then be an actual threat on offense. Yikes.

6.9 ppg, 5.3 apg, 39% from 3, 2.5 steals per game... would love to see those numbers from Tyler.

Would be very 96-97ish.

http://goduke.statsgeek.com/basketball-m/players/statlines.php?playerid=380

Billy Dat
03-09-2012, 09:31 PM
Aside from shooting percentage, it was a pretty evenly played game - we shot 37% and they shot 30%, plus we got 6 steals! Amazing to win when Thornton is your leading shot taker with 16, but he had to take those open looks.

No one has mentioned Austin winning that foot race for the and-1, the play that essentially sealed the game. That was really exciting. The Curry lob to Mason was also big and stemmed the run they were making. Also - how nice was Hairston's open court lay-up off that frenetic defensive possession - he's never shown that kind of control and poise, made me hopeful for the future. We, too, missed a lot of chippies at the rim - I often find myself screaming "FINISH!" at the screen.

It wasn't pretty but we showed a lot of heart and got the W.

FerryFor50
03-09-2012, 09:32 PM
Aside from shooting percentage, it was a pretty evenly played game - we shot 37% and they shot 30%, plus we got 6 steals! Amazing to win when Thornton is your leading shot taker with 16, but he had to take those open looks.

No one has mentioned Austin winning that foot race for the and-1, the play that essentially sealed the game. That was really exciting. The Curry lob to Mason was also big and stemmed the run they were making. Also - how nice was Hairston's open court lay-up off that frenetic defensive possession - he's never shown that kind of control and poise, made me hopeful for the future. We, too, missed a lot of chippies at the rim - I often find myself screaming "FINISH!" at the screen.

It wasn't pretty but we showed a lot of heart and got the W.

That Rivers layup at the end was big... iced the game.

It also sent Len Elmore into a tizzy about Duke getting away with a foul, as a bonus.

CDu
03-09-2012, 09:33 PM
No one has mentioned Austin winning that foot race for the and-1, the play that essentially sealed the game. That was really exciting.

Not to be lost in that was that the guy who finished second in that race to the ball was Mason. That's desire to win right there. Two guys beating VT to the ball on a 75-foot race for what would be the deciding bucket.

CDu
03-09-2012, 09:34 PM
That Rivers layup at the end was big... iced the game.

It also sent Len Elmore into a tizzy about Duke getting away with a foul, as a bonus.

So glad I got to listen to Brando and Alexander rather than Elmore.

Billy Dat
03-09-2012, 09:37 PM
The guards did a nice job on the glass:

Curry - 6
Rivers - 5
Thornton - 4
Dawkins - 3

That's two more than the Plumlees and Hairston combined.

Rivers also never sat down.

moonpie23
03-09-2012, 09:37 PM
take the win....get a good night's sleep......channel the zen........play on...

snowdenscold
03-09-2012, 09:40 PM
So glad I got to listen to Brando and Alexander rather than Elmore.

Agreed - I was actually able to get both games, so as soon as I saw Elmore and Patrick were on ESPN, I flipped over*.


*Actually I had to miss the first 30 minutes, so I DVR'd both channels to make sure one of them wasn't blacked out. Of course that meant I couldn't record Jeopardy! tonight =(

ncexnyc
03-09-2012, 09:41 PM
Kept waiting for us to land the knockout punch, but it never came. I'm happy to walk away with the unanimous decision and keep the belt.;)

Loved Tyler's hardnosed play and it's nice to see an announcer give him credit for it. I guess it has something to do with having actually played the game and understanding that it's not all about stats. Tyler did shoot several that he looked rushed on and hopefully we won't be in that same situation tomorrow.

Mason, Miles, and Josh were banging down low and it's nice to see our bigs play like they're bigs. A couple of bad fouls, but the effort was definitely there.

Seth and Austin did just enough to get us through this game. Think Austin got the benefit of several close calls, maybe things will even out the remainder of the season for all the calls that went against him earlier this year, where he was decked and came away with nothing to show for it.

Andre did his thing again, hopefully he's saving it for tomorrow or Sunday.:D He did snag several boards and seemed willing to mix it up, which is fine with me.

FerryFor50
03-09-2012, 09:42 PM
Agreed - I was actually able to get both games, so as soon as I saw Elmore and Patrick were on ESPN, I flipped over*.


*Actually I had to miss the first 30 minutes, so I DVR'd both channels to make sure one of them wasn't blacked out. Of course that meant I couldn't record Jeopardy! tonight =(

Crud. The game was on a different station than ESPN???

Soooooo would have changed the channel.

jv001
03-09-2012, 09:43 PM
Something I noticed tonight is Tyler's straight ahead speed. He can really motor. I hope he can improve his lateral speed and speed with the ball. Like someone said and improve that outside shot and he would be terrific. GoDuke!

jv001
03-09-2012, 09:44 PM
Hey, Tyler is terrific. GoDuke!

Billy Dat
03-09-2012, 09:48 PM
Think Austin got the benefit of several close calls, maybe things will even out the remainder of the season for all the calls that went against him earlier this year, where he was decked and came away with nothing to show for it.

All game, the refs were calling blocks instead of charges. If I am not mistaken, the only charge they called was very odd, when one of the VT big had the ball and kind of cleared our on Tyler under our hoop and they called a charge. We may have drawn another charge, too, but the whistles were going all block tonight, which I kind of liked.

roywhite
03-09-2012, 09:48 PM
Winning a tournament game = a good thing.

Winning despite shooting poorly = also a good thing.

Saratoga2
03-09-2012, 09:51 PM
Tournament time brings out a lot of close games. We won ours, but Syracuse didn't and Kansas is in trouble and may lose. Kentucky won but it was a close game.

What worries me about tonight is the high PT from a shortened bench. I thought they looked tired at the end after banging all game long. It would be great to get Andre going offensively. The past few games can't have helped his confidence.

Newton_14
03-09-2012, 09:54 PM
Not to be lost in that was that the guy who finished second in that race to the ball was Mason. That's desire to win right there. Two guys beating VT to the ball on a 75-foot race for what would be the deciding bucket.

Excellent observation CDu. That was impressive and I noticed it live as well. For a minute I thought Mason was going to beat them all to the ball. Also agree with an earlier post about our perimeter players being putrid with post feeding. It's befuddling. With Tyler, they layoff so far it makes it impossible for him to feed the post, so that negates the best post-entry passer we have. Austin also missed a very wide open Mason off the pick and roll late in the game. Of course Mason bobbled two of Austin's earlier passes so it equalled out in a sense.

I just feel as a team, we need to work harder to get the bigs touches on the block. They can score if we get them the ball down there.

ncexnyc
03-09-2012, 09:55 PM
Well, of course!! But I am thinking about tomorrow and the next day. Seriously, while we didn't have a good shooting night VT DID leave at least 16 point blank range points hanging out there. They didn't finish well.
I don't think we can count on that happening from here on out..... if 8 of those points would have fallen, the game would have been very different in the last several minutes.
While we rightfully lament our disappointing shooting from 3 point land, VT should be kicking themselves in the butt for leaving so many points in the paint where USUALLY a team has a MUCH higher percent of makes.

Do you really want to play the, "What if" game?

Seriously, Dre missed two lay-ups along with two 3 pt shots, which were superwide open. Throw in several of Tyler's wide open misses and a couple of bunnies that Mason and Miles left on the table and I'd say we were even.

Accept the win and the way in which it came as par for the course this season, nothing's been easy for this team, but the vast majority of the time they've found a way to get it done.

A-Tex Devil
03-09-2012, 09:56 PM
That was a pretty awful display of Mr. Naismiths game by both teams. Just gross. Glad we won. That is all.

Billy Dat
03-09-2012, 09:57 PM
Excellent observation CDu. That was impressive and I noticed it live as well. For a minute I thought Mason was going to beat them all to the ball. Also agree with an earlier post about our perimeter players being putrid with post feeding. It's befuddling. With Tyler, they layoff so far it makes it impossible for him to feed the post, so that negates the best post-entry passer we have. Austin also missed a very wide open Mason off the pick and roll late in the game. Of course Mason bobbled two of Austin's earlier passes so it equalled out in a sense.

I just feel as a team, we need to work harder to get the bigs touches on the block. They can score if we get them the ball down there.

Kelly is pretty good feeding Mason in the post, but our guards aren't. I credit VT's post D, they were very quick to double and triple Mason, the scouting report must talk about the ability to make him walk and cough up the ball. We have definitely gone away from trying to get him going early in games, but maybe it is more that the other defenses are trying to take that away as a #1 or #2 priority.

jv001
03-09-2012, 09:57 PM
Tournament time brings out a lot of close games. We won ours, but Syracuse didn't and Kansas is in trouble and may lose. Kentucky won but it was a close game.

What worries me about tonight is the high PT from a shortened bench. I thought they looked tired at the end after banging all game long. It would be great to get Andre going offensively. The past few games can't have helped his confidence.

It sure looks like his confidence has really taken a swan dive. He had some good looks from 3 and at the rim and could not connect. He really needs a game that he hits his first couple of 3s, but we've been saying that for a while now. GoDuke!

FerryFor50
03-09-2012, 09:59 PM
Kelly is pretty good feeding Mason in the post, but our guards aren't. I credit VT's post D, they were very quick to double and triple Mason, the scouting report must talk about the ability to make him walk and cough up the ball. We have definitely gone away from trying to get him going early in games, but maybe it is more that the other defenses are trying to take that away as a #1 or #2 priority.

Part of Kelly's ability to feed the post include his height and his ability to hit shots more than Thornton. But mostly his height.

hurleyfor3
03-09-2012, 10:03 PM
That was a pretty awful display of Mr. Naismiths game by both teams.

Hey, we scored more baskets than in the first game ever played. That's something I'm not certain Georgia Tech could have said last night.

CDu
03-09-2012, 10:04 PM
All game, the refs were calling blocks instead of charges. If I am not mistaken, the only charge they called was very odd, when one of the VT big had the ball and kind of cleared our on Tyler under our hoop and they called a charge. We may have drawn another charge, too, but the whistles were going all block tonight, which I kind of liked.

The charge on Raines was well-deserved, I think. He lowered his shoulder and cleared Thornton out. Totally agree with you on the other calls though. For the most part, I feel like officials have become too willing to call the charge, to the point that guys are getting away with all sorts of crazy slide-ins that should be blocks. The officials tonight called it much tighter on the block/charge and I appreciate it. I know that probably goes against our guys, because we've always been big on drawing charges. But I think it's good for the game.

CDu
03-09-2012, 10:06 PM
Crud. The game was on a different station than ESPN???

Soooooo would have changed the channel.

Watch the games tomorrow on CBS if you're in ACC country. Outside of ACC country? ESPN is all you get.

jv001
03-09-2012, 10:06 PM
That was a pretty awful display of Mr. Naismiths game by both teams. Just gross. Glad we won. That is all.

At this time of year, I just enjoy every win. Win baby, just win. GoDuke!

RoyalBlue08
03-09-2012, 10:13 PM
Part of Kelly's ability to feed the post include his height and his ability to hit shots more than Thornton. But mostly his height.

Seemed like when Tyler was trying to feed Mason in this game, his man was more fronting Mason than respecting Tyler's shot. I think either we have to live with Tyler shooting the open shot in that case, or have a different guard feeding the post.

HokieEngineer
03-09-2012, 10:16 PM
The charge on Raines was well-deserved, I think. He lowered his shoulder and cleared Thornton out. Totally agree with you on the other calls though. For the most part, I feel like officials have become too willing to call the charge, to the point that guys are getting away with all sorts of crazy slide-ins that should be blocks. The officials tonight called it much tighter on the block/charge and I appreciate it. I know that probably goes against our guys, because we've always been big on drawing charges. But I think it's good for the game.

For the most part, I thought it was a pretty well officiated game. It would have been nice to get an over the back call, but they let both teams play.

I hope the calling blocks when guys move under players who have already left their feet. There are so many things that are done in the name of safety (like the flagrant foul rules), but I see this a being a bigger potential risk. The officiating has evolved to the point that they often call fouls based on where the drive started than whether or not the defender moved underneath.

RockyMtDevil
03-09-2012, 10:19 PM
This game is pretty much what we expected right? Tech is going to battle you all night, and without Ryan our offense looked a bit out of sync. Put him in and we probably win by 12-14 or so. Saw him in a boot, I hope that doesn't mean anything more than he is just being very cautious. Tyler was huge, big put backs, was confidant in his shot, and he played good D.

Seth needs to get his offense going, he just seems off. Oh well, hopefully tomorrow we'll have had one under our belt without Kelly and the offense will run more smoothly. Didn't help that Miles was in foul trouble as well, that's two large hurdles to overcome against a solid defensive team, and we battled to the W.

jv001
03-09-2012, 10:19 PM
For the most part, I thought it was a pretty well officiated game. It would have been nice to get an over the back call, but they let both teams play.

I hope the calling blocks when guys move under players who have already left their feet. There are so many things that are done in the name of safety (like the flagrant foul rules), but I see this a being a bigger potential risk. The officiating has evolved to the point that they often call fouls based on where the drive started than whether or not the defender moved underneath.

I agree with you on this. It's a wonder more players are not injured when this occurs. GoDuke!

roywhite
03-09-2012, 10:24 PM
Official Boxscore (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=205395072)

Despite poor field goal shooting, both teams shot well from the line.

Dawkins, Rivers and Curry combined from 3-pt 2-13
Tyler Thornton from 3-pt 3-13

Mason played 37 minutes and had a pretty good stat line which included 12 points, 4-5 FT, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks; he turned it over 3 times, but the team had only 8 turnovers total.

Matches
03-09-2012, 10:25 PM
My favorite part was the part where we won.

My second favorite part was when the Maryland fans bombed the Raycom All-ACC poll and Stoglin and Mosley ended up on the first team.

dukelifer
03-09-2012, 10:28 PM
Winning a tournament game = a good thing.

Winning despite shooting poorly = also a good thing.

Winning when your shots don't fall is a sign of a tough team. Duke played hard and won. That is tourney ball. Tomorrow they may not miss. We can only hope.

FerryFor50
03-09-2012, 10:28 PM
Well officiated games and no Karl Hess....

Coincidence? Or conspiracy?!

jv001
03-09-2012, 10:29 PM
Official Boxscore (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=205395072)

Despite poor field goal shooting, both teams shot well from the line.

Dawkins, Rivers and Curry combined from 3-pt 2-13
Tyler Thornton from 3-pt 3-13

Mason played 37 minutes and had a pretty good stat line which included 12 points, 4-5 FT, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks; he turned it over 3 times, but the team had only 8 turnovers total.

roywhite thanks for the link. Our guards combined for 18 rebounds. That's outstanding and something we've been wanting from our guards. GoDuke!

DUKIE V(A)
03-09-2012, 10:34 PM
That Rivers layup at the end was big... iced the game.

It also sent Len Elmore into a tizzy about Duke getting away with a foul, as a bonus.

Lots of heart shown on that play!

gofurman
03-09-2012, 10:58 PM
- good win

- lots a' minutes played by 4 players.. all 40 for Rivers geez that's harsh

- hope the 'boot' on Ryan isnt a big thing.

uh_no
03-09-2012, 11:02 PM
- good win

- lots a' minutes played by 4 players.. all 40 for Rivers geez that's harsh

- hope the 'boot' on Ryan isnt a big thing.

we better hope for a friday game next week....and hopefully a game we don't have to exert too much in...or else that second round (god willing) will be mighty tough.

CDu
03-09-2012, 11:10 PM
As much as the officials were not calling the charge in our game, they're calling it like crazy in the nightcap. Some of these are just ridiculous.

CDu
03-09-2012, 11:12 PM
- good win

- lots a' minutes played by 4 players.. all 40 for Rivers geez that's harsh

- hope the 'boot' on Ryan isnt a big thing.

I could have sworn Rivers came out at least briefly. Can't say for sure, but I thought I remember a stretch in which he came out. Regardless, he sure played a lot.

Troublemaker
03-09-2012, 11:13 PM
Another poor shooting game from Austin. That's 4 in a row and now I'm heavily leaning towards "he's hit a freshman wall." Hopefully Austin can find a way to re-energize before the NCAAs. At this point, I care much more about that and also Ryan's foot being okay than winning this conference or getting a 1 seed. Much health to our guys.

CDu
03-09-2012, 11:18 PM
Another poor shooting game from Austin. That's 4 in a row and now I'm heavily leaning towards "he's hit a freshman wall." Hopefully Austin can find a way to re-energize before the NCAAs. At this point, I care much more about that and also Ryan's foot being okay than winning this conference or getting a 1 seed. Much health to our guys.

Not sure I buy the "freshman wall" thing. Rivers sure didn't look fatigued out there at all. He's a streaky shooter that takes some ill-advised shots. He didn't hit shots tonight, but nothing about his play tonight suggested to me that he has run out of gas.

1 24 90
03-09-2012, 11:42 PM
we better hope for a friday game next week....and hopefully a game we don't have to exert too much in...or else that second round (god willing) will be mighty tough.

Greensboro is a Friday/Sunday region so that's good news.

Kedsy
03-09-2012, 11:48 PM
The D carried the team tonight.

There were a few lapses, but I agree our D seemed to play much better than usual tonight. It was good to see.


Dawkins missed his shots, unfortunately, but he looked like he was in the game, defended fine, got a few boards, just missed some good shots.

I liked every shot Andre took. They just didn't go in. It happens sometimes. He was active on defense, ran the floor, and rebounded pretty well. He did not move around a lot in our half court sets, though. I'd like him to try harder to hunt his shot.


I think that Miles and Hairston are both better rebounders (by rebound rate). I think we missed Kelly offensively for sure, though.

Ryan's offensive rebound percentage is 8.1%, and Josh's is 11.9% (not including tonight), so Josh had rebounded better on offense. But Ryan's defensive rebound percentage is 15.3% and Josh's is 8.7%. Ryan is a significantly better defensive rebounder than Josh.


No one has mentioned Austin winning that foot race for the and-1, the play that essentially sealed the game. That was really exciting.

The play of the day. We just wanted it more than they did.


The Curry lob to Mason was also big and stemmed the run they were making.

Seth made several rather nifty assists. Best passing we've seen from him in awhile.


Kelly is pretty good feeding Mason in the post, but our guards aren't.

Actually, Andre has been pretty good at feeding the post, too. But he didn't get enough touches to do it tonight.


I could have sworn Rivers came out at least briefly. Can't say for sure, but I thought I remember a stretch in which he came out. Regardless, he sure played a lot.

He did come out at the end of the first half. But it was for less than a minute so he got credited for 40 minutes played.

Kedsy
03-09-2012, 11:56 PM
After all the debate about how we were going to play, it was interesting to see how it played out. For the most part, CDu was right and we more or less did what we'd done all year. Although we did play Andre at PF for a 6 minute stretch in the first half. It didn't work out so well score-wise (they outscored us by one point in the six minutes -- our 2 point lead shrunk to a 1 point lead), but if Andre's shots had gone down, the four-guard look might have been successful.

Tyler's 3 for 13 brings his season 3-point average down to 35.7% -- 28% since January 15. I noted his makes were all when he received the ball in the corner in rhythm. Every other three-pointer he tried missed, and many missed badly. He played well and hard on defense; that steal from behind after Austin turned it over was one of the plays of the game. But personally, I hope he keeps it down to three or so 3-point attempts per game.

Dukeface88
03-10-2012, 12:11 AM
After all the debate about how we were going to play, it was interesting to see how it played out. For the most part, CDu was right and we more or less did what we'd done all year. Although we did play Andre at PF for a 6 minute stretch in the first half. It didn't work out so well score-wise (they outscored us by one point in the six minutes -- our 2 point lead shrunk to a 1 point lead), but if Andre's shots had gone down, the four-guard look might have been successful.

Tyler's 3 for 13 brings his season 3-point average down to 35.7% -- 28% since January 15. I noted his makes were all when he received the ball in the corner in rhythm. Every other three-pointer he tried missed, and many missed badly. He played well and hard on defense; that steal from behind after Austin turned it over was one of the plays of the game. But personally, I hope he keeps it down to three or so 3-point attempts per game.

I agree that Tyler should not be shooting that many 3's, but I can't really blame him tonight. VPI was leaving him wide open, and it isn't like anyone else was knocking them down. Plus, some of those were with single digits on the shot clock - he really shouldn't be getting the ball in that position to begin with.

COYS
03-10-2012, 12:24 AM
There's nothing to gripe about from me with this game. In 2010 we had three similar ACC Tourney wins on the way to the ACC crown and, of course, the national title. Personally, I was impressed with our defense. It was probably our best defensive game all season when the competition is considered. Survive and advance.

greybeard
03-10-2012, 12:37 AM
Seth the Angry came up with a very god defensive game plan that was well executed. Somehow, Rivers and Curry were really pinched coming off high screens, more effectively than is usual. When the ball went inside, there were three defenders present. That had to be confusing to Mason and Miles, who were all but dared to shoot from say 10-12 feet--they seemed to have nothing else.

I've said it before, this offense does not seem to be designed for inside scoring by the bigs. Making entry passes coming off a high screen, several steps outside the three line, well, let's just say that getting it to Mason or Miles in a good spot with good timing is extremely problematic. You can't expect aneffective entry passes in that circumstance. Tyler was left alone behind the three line. He didn't need to stay there after a catch. Dribbling under control inside the line to a high percentage shooting spot (preferrably a bank shot) was an option. If an inside player begins to close, passing angles open up with Duke's bigs not plying a man down. If no challenge is made, Tyler shoots a high percentage shot, not a three when he was not hitting. I think that the only re4aswon that Tyler stayed behind the three line and shot when open was because he was instructed to. I'm in no position to second guess that call.

Given VT's defense, I think that this was a good win for Duke, especially without Ryan. I was really, really impressed with Harrison. He seemed to be the only guy on either team to show his joy at being out there. I think that he'll do much better with foul trouble in the next game. I think that this was the first game he has played in which his foul count was an issue--in other games, if he could not stop em, he had fouls to use. I think that he'll play with the mindset of a crucial big in a three man rotation from here on out.

Finally, it's time I think to "let the big dog eat." If teams are going to play Rivers and Curry so tough, and it seems certain that they will, Dawkins needs to get it going and his teammates need to do what they must to make that happen. They need to be Dawkins' Harry, to let Dawkins' know that they have his back, that, come what may, "we in [this battle]t shall be remembered--we few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother."

Will it work? Who knows, but seems like a plan to me. And, Miles, do remember to smile and relax; Harry did, they all did, and look how it turned out for them.

Have a great game!

Johnny Chill
03-10-2012, 12:55 AM
There were a few lapses, but I agree our D seemed to play much better than usual tonight. It was good to see.



I liked every shot Andre took. They just didn't go in. It happens sometimes. He was active on defense, ran the floor, and rebounded pretty well. He did not move around a lot in our half court sets, though. I'd like him to try harder to hunt his shot.



Ryan's offensive rebound percentage is 8.1%, and Josh's is 11.9% (not including tonight), so Josh had rebounded better on offense. But Ryan's defensive rebound percentage is 15.3% and Josh's is 8.7%. Ryan is a significantly better defensive rebounder than Josh.



The play of the day. We just wanted it more than they did.



Seth made several rather nifty assists. Best passing we've seen from him in awhile.



Actually, Andre has been pretty good at feeding the post, too. But he didn't get enough touches to do it tonight.



He did come out at the end of the first half. But it was for less than a minute so he got credited for 40 minutes played.

The play of the game was Hairston's 1 man fast break.

Kfanarmy
03-10-2012, 12:59 AM
I thought we should have gone to Mason more on the block.--. at least a couple of times, Mason was the recipient of entry passes that got by him...one of which was a near perfect pass from AR; Mason looked like he was trying to grab it with a couple of bricks...I think he left 6 points on the court by not getting ahold of the ball...a win is a win however.

Starter
03-10-2012, 01:24 AM
I'm surprised Thornton only hit three of his 13 threes. He's a pretty good shooter, and I'd have to think that left totally open for the majority of a game, he'd make you pay. I'd think a better team, if they employed this strategy and Thornton shot like this, would beat Duke. But that's contingent on Thornton shooting like this, which I can't imagine would happen often. And I don't think -- I'd hope, anyway -- that a better opponent wouldn't bother with this and would play it straight up. (Thornton didn't have more than 6 shots in any other game this year.) It was still sound strategy for Virginia Tech, who was outclassed; every shot that doesn't go to Curry, Rivers or a Plumlee, you take it. I'm actually glad this game plan was implemented at this point and time and by this opponent, since it presumably gives Duke something to think about in case someone else tries this.

I've been hard on Thornton this year, by the way -- not necessarily the player himself, but the amount our team has used him. And I still think, for example, that Quinn Cook should be playing more than three minutes in games at this point in time, for a variety of reasons. But I can't say enough about Thornton's effort level in this game, and his tendency to be in the right place at the right time was never more evident. I loved his chasedown steal. I think this was the best I've seen him defensively, and he definitely set a strong tone with his hustle.

Greg_Newton
03-10-2012, 01:28 AM
The play of the game was Hairston's 1 man fast break.

The Euro Hop!

I'm amazed by how much Thornton has improved over the course of the year. Among other things, he's become our best passer by far. At least ten times tonight, I did the old "Thornnnton!" while kind-of-chuckling thing... he's just always "the guy" doing "that thing".

I'm not really concerned by the shooting, as long as it doesn't get into his head. By my count, he only took one bad shot; just got to keep shooting those and have faith they'll start dropping in.

NYC Duke Fan
03-10-2012, 04:16 AM
Another poor shooting game from Austin. That's 4 in a row and now I'm heavily leaning towards "he's hit a freshman wall." Hopefully Austin can find a way to re-energize before the NCAAs. At this point, I care much more about that and also Ryan's foot being okay than winning this conference or getting a 1 seed. Much health to our guys.

Even if we win the tournament in my opinion we will not get a 1 seed. I think that no matter UNC has locked it up. If by some ridiculous moment, the committee did do it, we would be the weakest number 1 seed in recent years.

I have posted previously that I think that Coach K has done a fabulous job this year, but this is not a championship team by any stretch of the imagination. As I have said, do not be surprised if Duke does not get out of the first weekend of the Tournament.

Devilsfan
03-10-2012, 06:39 AM
If Thorton hits just two or three more of the WIDE open shots we could have rested a few more players, IMO. Also what's up with Mason's "look Mom no hands" act? It looked like Seth stole a page out of ol roy's play book where he picks a player and says let's let him beat us with his outside shooting. In ol roy's case it was Ryan. Seth picked Thorton. It almost (3-13) worked. Glad it didn't. Go Devils.

Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
03-10-2012, 06:46 AM
Even if we win the tournament in my opinion we will not get a 1 seed. I think that no matter UNC has locked it up. If by some ridiculous moment, the committee did do it, we would be the weakest number 1 seed in recent years.

I have posted previously that I think that Coach K has done a fabulous job this year, but this is not a championship team by any stretch of the imagination. As I have said, do not be surprised if Duke does not get out of the first weekend of the Tournament.

I addressed this on the other thread, but I don't know why you see Duke/UNC as either or. Especially with Kansas losing to Baylor. If Duke wins out this weekend and UNC either loses today or Sunday, what do you base the idea that UNC has it "locked up?" Nearly identical resumes and a head-to-head split (or 2-1 for Duke if they win v. UNC tomorrow).

I'm not sure why you are spreading your despair across so many threads on this board. It's survive and advance season! A win is a win. I saw a lot to like last night including a gritty, defending, rebounding team I hadn't seen in AGES and a nice emergence by Hairston.

GO DUKE!

Papa John
03-10-2012, 07:06 AM
I have posted previously that I think that Coach K has done a fabulous job this year, but this is not a championship team by any stretch of the imagination. As I have said, do not be surprised if Duke does not get out of the first weekend of the Tournament.

And don't be surprised if they make it to the final weekend either... This season, moreso than many in recent memory, appears to be a crapshoot (aside from Kentucky). Don't fall to one of the classic blunders of history:

1. Never make definitive predictions about the NCAA tournament,
2. Never get involved in a land war in southeast Asia,
3. Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!

Billy Dat
03-10-2012, 07:10 AM
And don't be surprised if they make it to the final weekend either... This season, moreso than many in recent memory, appears to be a crapshoot (aside from Kentucky). Don't fall to one of the classic blunders of history:

1. Never make definitive predictions about the NCAA tournament,
2. Never get involved in a land war in southeast Asia,
3. Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!

4. Never get less than twelve hours sleep
5. Never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city
6. Never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body.

Now you stick to that, and everything else is cream cheese.

devildeac
03-10-2012, 07:17 AM
we better hope for a friday game next week....and hopefully a game we don't have to exert too much in...or else that second round (god willing) will be mighty tough.


Greensboro is a Friday/Sunday region so that's good news.

This is another point that K mentioned/stressed/hoped for last PM in his post-game. As I mentioned somewhere else here, he said Ryan was responding well, he thought we would likely be a #2 seed and be playing in G'boro on Friday night and that Ryan would be ready for next week-end.

Papa John
03-10-2012, 07:18 AM
4. Never get less than twelve hours sleep
5. Never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city
6. Never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body.

Now you stick to that, and everything else is cream cheese.

Ha! Wow! Touché! What other movie-referenced rule sets can we use to flesh out this list? We could compile and present them to the board as the 15... 10! 10 commandments!

devildeac
03-10-2012, 07:45 AM
I saw a friend had posted this elsewhere and found it amusing:

http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2012/january/19/faces-seth-bingo

Papa John
03-10-2012, 07:53 AM
I saw a friend had posted this elsewhere and found it amusing:

http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2012/january/19/faces-seth-bingo

Aw, man... Wish I had that last night! Could have gotten bingo countless times (particularly given how much screen-time ESPN gave him... At one point, they had a split-screen between the game action and Seth, which was quite annoying to those of us interested in actually watching the game at hand [which, I presume, was everyone in the audience]).

arnie
03-10-2012, 07:54 AM
Agreed - I was actually able to get both games, so as soon as I saw Elmore and Patrick were on ESPN, I flipped over*.


*Actually I had to miss the first 30 minutes, so I DVR'd both channels to make sure one of them wasn't blacked out. Of course that meant I couldn't record Jeopardy! tonight =(

I did exactly the same as soon as I heard Patrick's dreaded voice. Can't imagine anyone would have done the opposite.

Papa John
03-10-2012, 08:09 AM
I did exactly the same as soon as I heard Patrick's dreaded voice. Can't imagine anyone would have done the opposite.

At one point last night, Hairston hit a 10-foot baseline jumper and Patrick excitedly said he had hit a 3-pointer, you don't see that every day... Then, moments later, he noted, "oh, it seems they only credited him with a 2-pointer." further evidence of the erosion of Patrick's mind, as there was absolutely no way a non-blind, sane individual could have possibly mistaken the shot in question for a trey. ESPN's production value in general for college basketball has been descending like a mudslide in recent years...

CDu
03-10-2012, 08:25 AM
I've said it before, this offense does not seem to be designed for inside scoring by the bigs.

Yeah, it's a weakness on this team. Dawkins and Kelly are good at feeding the post. Everyone else stinks at it. Thornton might be good at it, but his man is usually sagging off him to cheat on the big, so it's not available. Rivers and Curry are looking to score first, second, and third, so they frequently miss the window to feed the post. And then they aren't typically good at that pass on top of that.


Tyler was left alone behind the three line. He didn't need to stay there after a catch. Dribbling under control inside the line to a high percentage shooting spot (preferrably a bank shot) was an option. If an inside player begins to close, passing angles open up with Duke's bigs not plying a man down.

Totally agree here. It seemed like Thornton was in a hurry to take that wide open shot. He had SOOOOO much time and space, that he absolutely could have driven until forced to do something different. Or at the very least gotten himself composed to take the 3. I'm sure, as you said, that it was part of the gameplan for him to shoot if open. But given how badly he was shooting outside of the corners, I think he should have tried something else.


I was really, really impressed with Harrison. He seemed to be the only guy on either team to show his joy at being out there. I think that he'll do much better with foul trouble in the next game. I think that this was the first game he has played in which his foul count was an issue--in other games, if he could not stop em, he had fouls to use. I think that he'll play with the mindset of a crucial big in a three man rotation from here on out.

Totally agree here as well, but his name is Hairston - not Harrison. We should get our guys' names right.

CDu
03-10-2012, 08:27 AM
At one point last night, Hairston hit a 10-foot baseline jumper and Patrick excitedly said he had hit a 3-pointer, you don't see that every day... Then, moments later, he noted, "oh, it seems they only credited him with a 2-pointer." further evidence of the erosion of Patrick's mind, as there was absolutely no way a non-blind, sane individual could have possibly mistaken the shot in question for a trey. ESPN's production value in general for college basketball has been descending like a mudslide in recent years...

In fairness, that was an 18-20-footer. Still easily 2+ feet inside the 3-pt line and obviously not a 3-ball. But it wasn't a 10-footer.

CDu
03-10-2012, 08:34 AM
Ha! Wow! Touché! What other movie-referenced rule sets can we use to flesh out this list? We could compile and present them to the board as the 15... 10! 10 commandments!

There are plenty of gems here:
http://redstaplerchronicles.com/100-movie-rules-to-live-by/

I recommend the ones from the Gremlins, Fight Club, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Ghostbusters, Bull Durham, and Wedding Crashers.

CDu
03-10-2012, 08:42 AM
Although we did play Andre at PF for a 6 minute stretch in the first half. It didn't work out so well score-wise (they outscored us by one point in the six minutes -- our 2 point lead shrunk to a 1 point lead), but if Andre's shots had gone down, the four-guard look might have been successful.

Yeah, I had the overall strategy right (we stuck to our guns for 35 minutes), but I was wrong about the 3-5 fill-in minutes whenever a Plumlee was in foul trouble and Hairston needed rest. Coach K went with Dawkins at the 4 for a good 5 minutes in the first half after Plumlee's 2nd foul instead of Gbinije. We were a bit fortunate defensively (Mason got a couple of big help-side blocks as VT tried to post up a guard) and unfortunate offensively (missing open 3s). The 4-guard lineup definitely didn't hurt us much against VT. We were able to push tempo and VT was a bit sloppy in their ballhandling and transition defense

If we get a similar foul bind today, it will be interesting to see whether Coach K goes back to the small lineup again. FSU is much better defensively (making it a bit less likely that we'll get wide open 3s or good transition chances) and their bigs are much better at posting up (VT's bigs outside of Raines were either perimeter-guys like Eddie and Finney-Smith or just terrible players like Barksdale).

Hopefully we don't get in foul trouble early like we did against VT. But if we do and Coach K decides to go small, hopefully it works at least as well as it did last night.

Duke76
03-10-2012, 10:15 AM
Seth the Angry came up with a very god defensive game plan that was well executed. Somehow, Rivers and Curry were really pinched coming off high screens, more effectively than is usual. When the ball went inside, there were three defenders present. That had to be confusing to Mason and Miles, who were all but dared to shoot from say 10-12 feet--they seemed to have nothing else.

I've said it before, this offense does not seem to be designed for inside scoring by the bigs. Making entry passes coming off a high screen, several steps outside the three line, well, let's just say that getting it to Mason or Miles in a good spot with good timing is extremely problematic. You can't expect aneffective entry passes in that circumstance. Tyler was left alone behind the three line. He didn't need to stay there after a catch. Dribbling under control inside the line to a high percentage shooting spot (preferrably a bank shot) was an option. If an inside player begins to close, passing angles open up with Duke's bigs not plying a man down. If no challenge is made, Tyler shoots a high percentage shot, not a three when he was not hitting. I think that the only re4aswon that Tyler stayed behind the three line and shot when open was because he was instructed to. I'm in no position to second guess that call.

Given VT's defense, I think that this was a good win for Duke, especially without Ryan. I was really, really impressed with Harrison. He seemed to be the only guy on either team to show his joy at being out there. I think that he'll do much better with foul trouble in the next game. I think that this was the first game he has played in which his foul count was an issue--in other games, if he could not stop em, he had fouls to use. I think that he'll play with the mindset of a crucial big in a three man rotation from here on out.

Finally, it's time I think to "let the big dog eat." If teams are going to play Rivers and Curry so tough, and it seems certain that they will, Dawkins needs to get it going and his teammates need to do what they must to make that happen. They need to be Dawkins' Harry, to let Dawkins' know that they have his back, that, come what may, "we in [this battle]t shall be remembered--we few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother."

Will it work? Who knows, but seems like a plan to me. And, Miles, do remember to smile and relax; Harry did, they all did, and look how it turned out for them.

Have a great game!

Who is Greybeard talking about above "Harry" as is "Harry Potter" or someone else....sorry for being obtuse here??

moonpie23
03-10-2012, 10:56 AM
Even if we win the tournament in my opinion we will not get a 1 seed. I think that no matter UNC has locked it up. If by some ridiculous moment, the committee did do it, we would be the weakest number 1 seed in recent years.

I have posted previously that I think that Coach K has done a fabulous job this year, but this is not a championship team by any stretch of the imagination. As I have said, do not be surprised if Duke does not get out of the first weekend of the Tournament.

thanks debbie....very uplifting...

you know....i don't think you have to bother telling anyone you're from new york city....

oldnavy
03-10-2012, 11:07 AM
In fairness, that was an 18-20-footer. Still easily 2+ feet inside the 3-pt line and obviously not a 3-ball. But it wasn't a 10-footer.

It was about 12 cinder blocks out, so any fool would know that it wasn't a three pointer which are 14.65439 cinder blocks.... come on man!!

Loved the Seth spy cam shots.... I find it just fascinating to watch someone else watch basketball. At times I will find myself looking at my dog sitting on the couch watching the game to see his reaction rather than actually watching the game...

PLEASE ESPN give us more of the non-basktball action during the games. I would love to watch security guys that watch the crowd sometimes as well so we can watch someone who is watching the people that watch the game, how cool would that be!!

Devilsfan
03-10-2012, 11:10 AM
Did some previous poster help compose "the power of positive thinking" or is that poster merely a motivational writer? I would rather defy my eyes and believe in the saying "that's why they play the game". True except for Austin, we aren't going to win any beauty contests, but this is basketball not a beauty pageant.

gumbomoop
03-10-2012, 11:39 AM
Who is Greybeard talking about above "Harry" as is "Harry Potter" or someone else....sorry for being obtuse here??

Hairston.

DukeDevilDeb
03-10-2012, 11:54 AM
In fairness, that was an 18-20-footer. Still easily 2+ feet inside the 3-pt line and obviously not a 3-ball. But it wasn't a 10-footer.

You are right. It was definitely not a 10-footer but was well inside the 3-point line. What Patrick actually said after he blurted out "Hairston's three really helps" was "Oh, it appears they changed it to a 2!" Not, "I goofed" but I was right and the officials were wrong in changing the call.

I truly wish I were in Durham this weekend. I don't know whom I like less: Patrick or Elmore... If Patrick said one more time "Duke has been EGREGIOUS from three!" I don't know what I would have done, but it would have been ugly! As if viewers didn't see that our 3-ball wasn't falling.

Here's to a victory today against FSU!

LamJones
03-10-2012, 12:02 PM
thanks debbie....very uplifting...

you know....i don't think you have to bother telling anyone you're from new york city....

Debbie, I agree with you. This board is filled with homers who get way too emotional when opinions tip a bit to the negative side of the scale. Having said that, they often make great betting partners in March! That is, if you can do the unthinkable and somehow reconcile using your head instead of your heart...

I, too, don't think Duke makes it out of the first weekend. I hope I'm wrong. We'll have to wait and see.

The good news is that Mason, thus far, hasn't had the kind of season to justify leaving school early, so next year's team should be very solid. Hopefully, Austin stays. Again we should know more in a month and talk about it then.

Wheat/"/"/"
03-10-2012, 12:20 PM
Realistically, if Duke continues to play like the Va. tech game...the post season will come down to two words, "borrowed time".

greybeard
03-10-2012, 12:57 PM
at least a couple of times, Mason was the recipient of entry passes that got by him...one of which was a near perfect pass from AR; Mason looked like he was trying to grab it with a couple of bricks...I think he left 6 points on the court by not getting ahold of the ball...a win is a win however.

Greenberg said, "we wanted to make Thorton beat us." They did. Mason got off 6 shots, and made 4. One of the makes came immediately after a time out off an intricate play that ended with a lob over the rim which Miles caught behind the defense and threw down.. If you get a less than ideal pass, have been jammed all game, and maybe look too soon for an opening that probably wasn't there, not catching it is predictable and not a reflection of "brick hands." Seth shut down the inside game, that's the reason that Mason got only 6 shots.

From what I saw, when the ball was even approaching a position from which an entry pass could have been made, Mason was quickly double teamed by two inside defenders who not only impeded a pass even being thrown but also formed a wedge that prevented a catch and quick move to a scoring position if one was and cleanly got through. There also was a guard dropping down to prevent Mason from even thinking about bouncing the ball to maneuver to a better spot after a catch. The same was true of how Miles was defended inside. I think Seth had devised what we used to call a "bastard defense"--man with zone principles, that varied depending upon who had the ball and where, and that had five guys guarding four. Brick hands? Six shots? From where and in what circumstance? We saw different games.

Reilly
03-10-2012, 03:33 PM
.... I would love to watch security guys that watch the crowd sometimes as well so we can watch someone who is watching the people that watch the game, how cool would that be!!

A friend worked the tourney in Greensboro a couple years ago. Frank Beamer stopped in a concourse overlook area to watch a bit of a halftime routine. Friend overheard the security guard telling Beamer: "Sir, you can't stand there ... sir ... sir." After Beamer left, my friend asked the security guard if he knew who that was who he just moved along; the guard didn't. Just thought you'd like that story.

Papa John
03-10-2012, 04:31 PM
Realistically, if Duke continues to play like the Va. tech game...the post season will come down to two words, "borrowed time".

And shall we say the same about UNC continuing to play like the NCState game?

Wheat/"/"/"
03-10-2012, 10:02 PM
And shall we say the same about UNC continuing to play like the NCState game?

Absolutely.