MBB: Duke vs Florida Gulf Coast Pre-Game/In-Game Thread

[ChillinDuke]

Didn't see this up anywhere, and I'm fiending so here goes nothing...

As you probably were assuming, FGCU doesn't appear overly intimidating on paper. But they beat Miami by 12, so the matchup deserves a bit more consideration.

First of all, FGCU has started the same lineup for all 3 of their games:

- Bernard Thompson is a 6'3" sophomore guard who leads the team at 15.0 ppg. Doesn't appear to be a point guard as his A:T is 3:9 for the year. However, he does have 8 steals and 13 rebounds. A member of the A-Sun All-Freshmen team last year.

- Sherwood Brown is a 6'4" senior guard who is second on the team with 14.3 ppg. Again, a lowly A:T of 2:7. He has 15 boards on the year. Brown was on the A-Sun All-Conference 2nd Team last year.

- Eric McKnight rounds out their top-3 scorers as a 6'9" redshirt-sophomore forward out of Raleigh, NC. Averaging 8.3 and 6.3 with 7 blocks on the year.

- 6'8 junior forward Chase Feiler and 6'3" sophomore guard Brett Comer are the other two starters. Not big scorers, either of them, at only 6.0 and 4.3ppg, respectively. Both are grabbing 3.7rpg, and Comer appears to be the primary ballhandler with an A:T of 15:9. Comer was another member of the A-Sun All-Freshmen Team last year and led the conference in assists.

Somewhat surprisingly, they go deep into their bench as all 12 of the players who have seen game time this year are averaging over 10mpg. Granted, three of them have only played in one game thus far. They have 6 guys at 6'8" or taller, but none over 6'10". (Don't appear to be shot blockers as they have 13 team blocks - of which McKnight has 7 of them).

Team per-game averages:
Points: 68.7
Rebounds: 35.7
Assists: 13.7
Turnovers: 20.3 (perhaps problematic)
Blocks: 4.3
Steals: 9.0
FG%: 50%
3PT%: 37%
FT%: 71%

They are tipped toward the younger end of the spectrum (3 frosh, 5 soph, 4 juniors, 2 seniors), especially since 2 of the juniors haven't seen any minutes thus far.

Perhaps most noteworthy (and perhaps indicative of the team?) is that coach Andy Enfield is in his 2nd year at the helm of FGCU after a three-year stint as assistant coach at FSU under Leonard Hamilton. Contrary to Hamilton's defensive juggernaut teams, Enfield has installed an up-tempo style with an emphasis on 3-pt bombs. Last year, in their first year of postseason eligibility as a D-I team, Enfield led his squad to the championship game of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament where they led regular season champ Belmont 42-39 at the half before falling short of an NCAAT bid.

According to Pomeroy FGCU ranks 120th in the nation (early season KenPom caveats and all) with AdjO and AdjD right around that number. That's good for 3rd overall in the A-Sun.

That's all I've got. Hope this gives everyone some perspective. Doubt they can keep up with us, but they did have the horses to take down Miami, albeit at FGCU. Anyone who can share more info would be greatly appreciated.

- Chillin

[roywhite]

Thanks, chillin, for a nice write-up.

A win over Miami this year and a close contest with Belmont last year makes them a team worthy of respect IMO.

[Dukeblue91]

Thank you for the writeup.

[Big Pappa]

Great stuff Chillin.

I have two big hopes for this game. The first one is that Quinn follows up his great game against Kentucky with another confident outing. I love the way we get up the floor with him in the game and he is getting better and better with his decisions. My other hope is that Alex gets some good burn today and gains some in-game confidence. I think he will end up being a major weapon for us, this year and in the future, so I hope today is the day that he puts the DNP and 2 minutes against UK behind him.

Also that we get the W, of course.

[TruBlu]

Great stuff Chillin.

I have two big hopes for this game. The first one is that Quinn follows up his great game against Kentucky with another confident outing. I love the way we get up the floor with him in the game and he is getting better and better with his decisions. My other hope is that Alex gets some good burn today and gains some in-game confidence. I think he will end up being a major weapon for us, this year and in the future, so I hope today is the day that he puts the DNP and 2 minutes against UK behind him.

Also that we get the W, of course.

And Amile!

[devildeac]

Good friends of ours spotted Seth in a protective boot at the WBB game last PM. Sounds worrisome but my SIL said the FB players he knew often wore a protective boot after games/minor injuries to rest/help protect minor injuries. Hope he's right.

[MCFinARL]

Good friends of ours spotted Seth in a protective boot at the WBB game last PM. Sounds worrisome but my SIL said the FB players he knew often wore a protective boot after games/minor injuries to rest/help protect minor injuries. Hope he's right.

Seems plausible we might see limited minutes for Seth in this game, assuming things are going well, so he can rest up for the tournament games. So I'm not going to freak out unless he doesn't play at all--that might make me nervous.

[subzero02]

I really hope Alex has a nice game in terms of scoring

[wilko]

I really hope Alex has a nice game in terms of scoring

I'd settle for a health dose of minutes played.

[magjayran]

Things I'd like to see:
1) Offense running through Mason. Double double for him with 4 assists
2) The team taking open threes when they're available and hitting at 40% clip or better
3) A solid performance from Quinn, not necessarily from a stats perspective but stats are nice too
4) Good perimeter D
5) Some decent playing time for the Amile and Alex matched by decent play by both
6) 20 point win

Of course if the team wants to go nuts with a triple dub for Mason, 30 minutes and points for Alex, 18 assists for Quinn, and holding these dudes under 50 points that would be acceptable too.

[WiJoe]

HELP! HELP!

Looking for a radio outlet that is not blacking out the broadcast.

[Dukeblue91]

I second the thoughts in regards of Alex and Amile, also does anyone know if there is a chance that MP3 will play a couple of minutes?
I'm really looking forward to seeing what MP3 will bring to the team for real not just wishful thinking.

[riverside6]

Live tempo-based stats for the Duke/FGCU game, starters posted...

http://www.scacchoops.com/ViewHDGame.asp?hSchedule=14424

Cook getting the start for Duke.

[gep]

HELP! HELP!

Looking for a radio outlet that is not blacking out the broadcast.

Just found it here...

http://tunein.com/radio/The-Buzz-620-s28291/

Bob Harris... player intros now...

[ChillinDuke]

Things I'd like to see:
1) Offense running through Mason. Double double for him with 4 assists
2) The team taking open threes when they're available and hitting at 40% clip or better
3) A solid performance from Quinn, not necessarily from a stats perspective but stats are nice too
4) Good perimeter D
5) Some decent playing time for the Amile and Alex matched by decent play by both
6) 20 point win

Of course if the team wants to go nuts with a triple dub for Mason, 30 minutes and points for Alex, 18 assists for Quinn, and holding these dudes under 50 points that would be acceptable too.

About halfway there...

...And we're 8 mins in.

- Chillin

[IBleedBlue]

At the second media timeout and no sign of Alex Murphy yet.
Everyone including Amile Jefferson, Josh Hairston & Tyler Thornton have come in already. Sulaimon is back from the bench and no Alex Murphy.
This is discouraging to see.

[Ggallagher]

Quin is looking really strong with some beautiful passes

[Furniture]

Quin is looking really strong with some beautiful passes

Cook is looking GREAT!

[chaosmage]

must have a green light, because he is throwing it up. Making them, but yeah.

Good to see Jefferson out, still concerned about Murphy, but K knows best.

Getting outrebounded worries me, we have height and speed, should be killing them inside.

Knowing the guy is from FSU, it does feel like we are playing them.

And they are shooting lights out from 3-range. Not good.

[jipops]

At the second media timeout and no sign of Alex Murphy yet.
Everyone including Amile Jefferson, Josh Hairston & Tyler Thornton have come in already. Sulaimon is back from the bench and no Alex Murphy.
This is discouraging to see.

Maybe we shouldn't be in denial about the Keeley blog.

Giving up a ton of 3's right now.

[Furniture]

I'm loving this team. Nice and warmed up now!!!!

[trinity79]

someone on Duke's coaching staff or Seth or somebody, please explain to young Sulaimon that when you get the ball out in the corner you don't HAVE to shoot the 3. You can also get your man up in the air and drive the baseline. That means you'll probably either get the dunk or get fouled (sometimes even both). Either of those possibilities offers a higher percentage shot than the 3 does. It's just math. I mean, he certainly has the athletic wherewithal to take it to the rack if he gets there before the opposing big men do.

[Furniture]

someone on Duke's coaching staff or Seth or somebody, please explain to young Sulaimon that when you get the ball out in the corner you don't HAVE to shoot the 3. You can also get your man up in the air and drive the baseline. That means you'll probably either get the dunk or get fouled (sometimes even both). Either of those possibilities offers a higher percentage shot than the 3 does. It's just math. I mean, he certainly has the athletic wherewithal to take it to the rack if he gets there before the opposing big men do.

I'm sure he will start doing that very soon

[COYS]

someone on Duke's coaching staff or Seth or somebody, please explain to young Sulaimon that when you get the ball out in the corner you don't HAVE to shoot the 3. You can also get your man up in the air and drive the baseline. That means you'll probably either get the dunk or get fouled (sometimes even both). Either of those possibilities offers a higher percentage shot than the 3 does. It's just math. I mean, he certainly has the athletic wherewithal to take it to the rack if he gets there before the opposing big men do.

That's true, but it's hard to complain with Rasheed's play, so far. He's been composed, he's played excellent defense, he's been getting to the line, and now his threes are falling. Hard to complain with 13 points on 8 field goal attempts plus strong defense.

[sporthenry]

someone on Duke's coaching staff or Seth or somebody, please explain to young Sulaimon that when you get the ball out in the corner you don't HAVE to shoot the 3. You can also get your man up in the air and drive the baseline. That means you'll probably either get the dunk or get fouled (sometimes even both). Either of those possibilities offers a higher percentage shot than the 3 does. It's just math. I mean, he certainly has the athletic wherewithal to take it to the rack if he gets there before the opposing big men do.

He is a work in progress but 50% from 3 and 13 points on 8 shots is impressive for a freshmen. Certainly more efficient than AR was. When do we star the Sulaimon Draft Vigil? When do the Crazies start chanting "1 more year."

[Cameron]

Rasheed Sulaimon is a straight trigger man. Kid is just a cool customer on the court.

Love the energy Quinn is bringing as well. He's really improved his shot. It looks nice.

[chaosmage]

Is doing the halftime report??? Wow!!

[JBDuke]

Is doing the halftime report??? Wow!!

I thought it was Sam the Eagle. My bad.

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=sam+the+eagle&num=10&hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1366&bih=628&tbm=isch&tbnid=nc8bC5xjveemQM:&imgrefurl=http://vinylmationkingdom.com/%3Fp%3D2662&docid=_CMrg9XXAvIBhM&imgurl=http://vinylmationkingdom.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Sam02.jpg&w=300&h=205&ei=T5KpUIXbOfOy0AHOhIHgBw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=434&vpy=209&dur=3924&hovh=164&hovw=240&tx=142&ty=97&sig=104388514992750085877&page=1&tbnh=155&tbnw=222&start=0&ndsp=26&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0,i:109

[moonpie23]

sam is telling me, "i KNOW him!"......lol...


rasheed is fearless....

[superdave]

Is doing the halftime report??? Wow!!

Ha ha. Matt Doherty is completely white-haired now.

I miss him coaching Unc...

[Duvall]

Doherty interviewing Roy? Awkward.

[Big Pappa]

52-30 at the half. Quinn (among others) looks great with 8 points, 6 assists, and 3 boards so far. Alex remained in his warm-ups throughout the half. I'm really hoping he gets some minutes in the 2nd half...

[Dukeblue91]

Any news on Alex?
I did not even see him on the bench of the few times the camera went to it.
I hope he is okay.

[COYS]

Excellent first half after a slightly shaky start. As usual, offense is not a problem for Duke. Who knew Rasheed would be such an offensive force? He's a legitimate threat on offense plus his defense has been awesome. Mason's scoring and hitting his free throws, Quinn is diming (6 assists, even if the 3 turnovers are not ideal), and Ryan got going on the boards. Ryan, Seth and Josh had some trouble guarding the three point line, early. That led to a pretty big barrage of threes. But K seems to have shored that up a bit with a few extra minutes from Amile plus a revitalized Ryan after he sat for a while. Seth has struggled defensively and has seemed just a step out of synch, but we all know how quickly he can turn things around. In the meantime, it's just nice to know that Mason can continue his strong play so far and that Rasheed is the real deal.

Only bad thing is no minutes for Alex, but we'll see how things go. It's hard to argue against Amile, as he's played well in virtually every game since he put on a Duke uni, not counting his "incomplete" against UK. I'm still not convinced that Alex is completely out of the rotation, as it is very rare to hear coach K talk a guy up like he did Alex (not that he talked him like he did Kyrie, or anything, but still) only to have him fall out of the rotation, entirely. Perhaps he's got a bit of a Miles Plumlee issue going on where he's practicing well but thinking too much once he gets into a game.

[Saratoga2]

Anyone have thoughts on the slow start. Are we not prepared for a street fight. Certainly, the team got it together and the guys got it going on both offense and defense. Nice to see Amile getting some time and it is clear that he can do a lot with his length.

Ryan started very slow but he seems to have taken his game inside.

[Dukeblue91]

52-30 at the half. Quinn (among others) looks great with 8 points, 6 assists, and 3 boards so far. Alex remained in his warm-ups throughout the half. I'm really hoping he gets some minutes in the 2nd half...

Oh you actually saw him?
I have been trying to but the camera moves way to fast when they go by the bench.

[superdave]

23-0 run to close out the half. Quinn Cook's pressure on the ball turned a slow start into a big lead.

No Alex Murphy so far.

[Big Pappa]

Any news on Alex?
I did not even see him on the bench of the few times the camera went to it.
I hope he is okay.

On the bench, but in his warm-ups.



Only bad thing is no minutes for Alex, but we'll see how things go. It's hard to argue against Amile, as he's played well in virtually every game since he put on a Duke uni, not counting his "incomplete" against UK. I'm still not convinced that Alex is completely out of the rotation, as it is very rare to hear coach K talk a guy up like he did Alex (not that he talked him like he did Kyrie, or anything, but still) only to have him fall out of the rotation, entirely. Perhaps he's got a bit of a Miles Plumlee issue going on where he's practicing well but thinking too much once he gets into a game.

I would agree about the MP1 sentiment, but he has gotten 2 out of a possible 100 minutes of game action thus far. I don't think K (or anyone) can know if he is doing too much of anything once he gets in a game because he's barely been in.

[chaosmage]

I disagree with us having a slow start, as it seemed that it was more of them hitting everything they threw up rather than us playing badly. Our athleticism caught up with them and we just overpowered them, in addition to our 3-balls finally starting to fall.

I truly believe, regarding Alex, that if we keep this lead up, then we will see him in the game. If he is in the doghouse, we won't see him no matter how much of a lead we get.

[Cameron]

If you watched Rasheed in high school or in the all-star games and saw the way he scored as easily any of the other superstars in those games -- maybe not as much, but as effortlessly -- you knew this kid was going to be a talent on the offensive end. He's great. And to top it off, he plays even harder defensively. He's the next big thing in Durham. Next year he is going to be a monster.

[COYS]

On the bench, but in his warm-ups.



I would agree about the MP1 sentiment, but he has gotten 2 out of a possible 100 minutes of game action thus far. I don't think K (or anyone) can know if he is doing too much of anything once he gets in a game because he's barely been in.

I should have qualified that . . . he looked like he was thinking way too much in the exhibitions whereas Amile looked just about his equal on defense and fit into the offense far more easily. We did get to see him then and Amile definitely looked better, even though i didn't think Alex looked as bad as some thought. I think Alex's minutes have been stymied as much by Rasheed as anything else. He's really locked down starter's minutes which puts a bigger squeeze on our forwards and small forwards.

[miramar]

Ha ha. Matt Doherty is completely white-haired now.

I miss him coaching Unc...

He speaks as poorly as Digger. Must be a Notre Dame thing, at least pre-Mike Brey.

[Dukeface88]

He is a work in progress but 50% from 3 and 13 points on 8 shots is impressive for a freshmen. Certainly more efficient than AR was. When do we star the Sulaimon Draft Vigil? When do the Crazies start chanting "1 more year."

Yeah, but he put up those 8 shots before anyone else had more than 4, and started 1-5. He put up a ton of shots against Kentucky too.

I really like his game, especially on the defensive end, but I think there's room for improvement on his shot selection. That's something that should come with experience.

[Furniture]

That's true, but it's hard to complain with Rasheed's play, so far. He's been composed, he's played excellent defense, he's been getting to the line, and now his threes are falling. Hard to complain with 13 points on 8 field goal attempts plus strong defense.

I believe he just did it!

[Cameron]

Coach K would be the first person to encourage Rasheed Sulaimon to shoot when open, and shoot every time when open. In fact, I believe heading into the year, Rasheed gave an interview where he said that the staff wanted him to shoot and shoot often and that that's what they wanted him to do. They believe in him, and so far, for good reason.

Sulaimon will be one of our three leading scorers by year's end.

[_Gary]

Great game from most everyone thus far. Very pleased with what I've seen from Quinn in particular because I honestly believe he's the key to how far this team goes. No Alex in the first half, and if we don't see him in the 2nd I think it has to amp up the unfortunate talk about a possible transfer (and it wouldn't at all surprise me if that's where this saga with him is headed). But I'm hoping for the best because I like the kid a lot and can't imagine he wouldn't be a solid to very good player for Duke down the road.

[WiJoe]

Just found it here...

http://tunein.com/radio/The-Buzz-620-s28291/

Bob Harris... player intros now...

thanky!

[Big Pappa]

Murphy in the game at the 13 minute mark.

[_Gary]

Whew. Glad to see that!

[Dukeface88]

Suliamon will be one of our three leading scorers by year's end.

He'll need to beat out one of Seth, Ryan or Mason to do that. He's got some competition from Quinn as well. I'm not saying he won't, but I don't think it can be taken for granted.

Since I'm complaining about things while we're up 30, Mason needs to miss more so he can pad his rebound stats. :p

Edit: Speaking of Quinn, he's pretty close to a double-double right now.

[timmy c]

Mason is 10 of 11 from the charity stripe, so far. Yeah, Mason!

[chaosmage]

It is obvious that Mason is FAR more comfortable at the stripe. His body language and stroke look far less tense than last year. That applies to his whole game, just seems to come naturally this year.

Thoughts?

[Furniture]

Murphy in the game at the 13 minute mark.

I am liking what I see from Murhpy so far....

[Cameron]

He'll need to beat out one of Seth, Ryan or Mason to do that. He's got some competition from Quinn as well. I'm not saying he won't, but I don't think it can be taken for granted.

Since I'm complaining about things while we're up 30, Mason needs to miss more so he can pad his rebound stats. :p

Edit: Speaking of Quinn, he's pretty close to a double-double right now.

Ah, forgot about Ryan. Lol. Never underestimate the utter titillation of my fingers when a three ball has just landed in the hoop.

While I am sure there is a chance that Rasheed could break the top three, you're probably right. Fourth sounds more accurate.

[moonpie23]

ugh!! quinn just got a shot to his hand while shooting and is holding his arm... :( now going out......hope it's minor...

[BlueDevilBrowns]

ugh!! quinn just got a shot to his hand while shooting and is holding his arm... :( now going out......hope it's minor...

Time for "The Quinn Cook Wrist Vigil".

[Big Pappa]

I am liking what I see from Murphy so far....

Agreed. He was taken out at the 8:41 mark and finished 0-2, 2 boards and 1 TO. Thought he looked decent, except that every time the sub horn went off he looked terrified. Hope he can build on these minutes tonight.

[Bluedog]

Cook seems to be clapping and relatively cheerful on the bench, so that's good to see. Need him healthy going forward for sure.

[licc85]

Mason is 10 of 11 from the charity stripe, so far. Yeah, Mason!


Mase has been on fire from the foul line this year, I hope this isn't a fluke, he will be a scoring machine if he keeps this up.

[mattman91]

We want todd!

[licc85]

Ah, forgot about Ryan. Lol. Never underestimate the utter titillation of my fingers when a three ball has just landed in the hoop.

While I am sure there is a chance that Rasheed could break the top three, you're probably right. Fourth sounds more accurate.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if he was 2nd on the team in scoring behind Mason. I don't see Seth having a ton of 20+ point games honestly. He's our best shooter, but Rasheed still has a much better physical skillset to work with. Also, this is off the otp of my head, but I believe Rasheed is leading the team in field goal attempts through these first three games (not counting Mason attempts where he was fouled), and I dont think it's a fluke. I believe the coaches and his teammates are pushing him to be aggressive on offense. Once he settles down a bit and gets used to the speed and flow of the college game, he will be a dangerous scorer, and I see many 20+ point games for him down the road THIS year.

[BlueDevilBrowns]

For me, the stat of the night - 18 assists on 29 FG's.