MBB: State 84, Duke 76 Post Game Thread

[Bob Green]

Keep it civil, folks.

[chaosmage]

Guy in wheelchair gets knocked over.

In the vein of keeping it civil, that is all.

Nice to see our bench guys get some burn, and I'll like State again when they beat UNX.

[FerryFor50]

Disappointing, but not unexpected. I said ncsu would win this game. Duke played well without Kelly, but Leslie and Howell were too much. State owned the 2nd half and that was the difference. Let's just hope they play this well against the Holes.

[CLW]

We got DESTROYED on the glass after roughly mid-way through the 1st half. We were +10 on the glass and finished -2.

We got SMOKED in transition.

State really challenged our 3 point shooters well giving very few open looks only Curry was able to connect from 3

Curry got hurt -- if he is out for any significant period with Kelly we will have to fundamentally change how the team plays.

Sheed is REALLY in a funk and appears to be pressing. He needs to settle down and let the game come to him like he did early in the season.

I thought Josh played REALLY well

I thought Amile played REALLY well

[roywhite]

Lost to a good team playing well. It happens.

In the second half, we didn't rebound as well or defend well inside.

[Furniture]

State played reall well. Would we have won if we had Kelly?

[grossbus]

Josh and amile could not sustain in second half. Rasheed has really hit the wall. Curry goes down. Mason played very well.

If we get healthy, we will be fine.

[Wander]

We played reasonably well, not sure how much we actually learned from this game. We need to get healthy, fix the rebounding somehow (which was great for a half), and get Rasheed out of his slump... all things we already knew.

[dyedwab]

That's that State team that everyone thought was gonna win the ACC this year.

That they decided to show up against Duke is irritating, but not unexpected.

[FerryFor50]

State played reall well. Would we have won if we had Kelly?

Kelly would have helped, but no one was stopping Howell.

[Utley]

I am more than okay with what I saw form Duke today. Real good effort in adapting to a world without Ryan, LOVE what I saw from Amile today - and very proud of Josh too. Only real negative as far as I am concerns would be if the Curry injury is serious. It's clear that we need Ryan to be a Final 4 team but we win a lot of games with today's effort. It all comes down to Ryan and Seth's health now.

[gumbomoop]

Impressive win by Pack against still very strong Duke. Pack fans have every reason to be thrilled with Howell, Leslie, Brown, and Wood. Each of those guys had excellent-to-superb game.

Agonizing misses in close on several shots for Duke.

All congrats to Pack. Excellent effort, game plan, execution.

[Lunchab1es]

Bah. Good effort, all things considered. Good to see some quality play from Amile and Hairston.

Hope Seth is OK.

Next play.

[Duke79UNLV77]

We've gotten away from this the last 4 games. He's staying away from the basket a bit much, and guards are staring him down some when he gets position. He got all of his today through offensive rebounds, a steal, and creating for himself starting farther from the basket.

Bad Idea Jeans sprinting the wheel chair out front to rush the court.

This loss doesn't hurt our chances at a #1 seed. Need to hold serve to get it back in the conference race.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Congrats, Wolf Pack. Well played. With the injury coming in, then Seth going down and the guys in foul trouble, this was not a bad loss. Any loss hurts, but this one we just got beat by a quality team that played well. Next game. Go to HELL carolina!

[TruBlu]

Not as much upset over losing an away game to the preseason pick for the ACC, as I am about Seth's injury. Hopefully it is minor.

On the positive side, our bench got some burn (out of necessity), and produced.

Next play.

[burnspbesq]

Stuff happens. Bad calls are part of the game.

Positive: Josh and Amile combined for 18 and 9.

[dukebluesincebirth]

So frustrating because we know Ryan would have increased our chances SO much in this game. Leslie is a talented player, but I have to think a strong defender like Ryan would have at least slowed him down enough to keep us closer at the end. Then you throw in the senior leadership and points that Ryan routinely contributes, and it's a different ballgame. I knew we would miss Ryan but it was so glaring in this game at so many points he could've helped. I was pleased with Amile and Josh though. Gotta move forward. Go Devils.

[DukieInBrasil]

After a slow start (yet again), Seth really heated up and ended up having a very nice game. I sure hope he doesn't miss any games like what happened last time he hurt an ankle. Solid game from Mason, despite not rebounding as well in the 2nd half. I liked what Quinn did, i wish he could have hit at least one 3 during the meat of the game to keep the D stretched more, but still gutty performance. Great to see that Amile can step in and be more than solid. If he wasn't a Fr., he wouldn't have fouled out, or if we had been playing in Cameron, those were totally home-cooking calls. Hairston had a decent game, better than i expected.
We could really have used some production from Rasheed to put some pressure on their perimeter D. Instead Rasheed had his worst game of the year, 0-10 FGs, and no rebounds or any other contributions. Hopefully that means he'll set a career high in the next game.
Thornton fouled out again. So did Cook and Jefferson.

[ice-9]

Let's not panic guys. We were't that bad.

1. Guys stepped up. Amile and Hairston overall played about as well as you could have asked for. They had tough defensive assignments; toughest than they might face until the NCAA tournament.

2. We were disjointed. Missing Ryan disrupted our offensive flow and defensive stoutness. But as the guys get more practice time, they'll surely get better. The cupboard isn't bare, we just need time to gell. This is a new team playing against a mature, talented NC State team.

3. Sulaimon had one of his worst games so far at Duke. I think these games will prove to be more the exception than the norm; every freshman gets into a wall and perhaps this is his. Sulaimon will get better and so will we.

4. Mason wanted to take over the game. He didn't quite always succeed, but his fire was a positive sign and the team responded to it by feeding him the ball toward the end of the game. It was a bit late, but better that it at least happened.

5. Seth was cold-blooded killer, and if not for his slip he'd probably drain a couple more threes. We've still got an awesome player there.

6. NC State as a whole was on fire. They made a lot of lucky shots. It happens.

We are going to lose games -- as far as that goes, this wasn't that bad of a loss.

[Chris Randolph]

Gotta get healthy-ier. Biggest issue long term.

Proud of the effort from the team. Jefferson and Hairston flat got after it. They were overmatched and still held their own for as long as they could. Howell and Leslie are a tremendous frontcourt when they come to play.

NC State was preseason pick to win ACC and possible Final 4 for a reason. Very good team especially when they flip the switch on, which they always do for Duke. Nothing to be ashamed of in losing to them on the road.

Leslie/Howell were just better than Plumlee/Hairston/Jefferson. That was the difference. Throw Kelly in there and the game turns out different.

Quinn was not shooting well again but that happens. Rasheed has hit a shooting wall, lost confidence. He will get it back, too much season left for him not to.

All in all, never satisified or ok with a loss. But there were many chances for us to get run out of the gym and we made a push. Proud of Duke.

[kaufmjo]

Winces a lot. Needs to be in at end

[mike88]

More so than "hitting the wall" teams are realizing than Rasheed really prefers to go right and are taking that away- he will need to work hard on some counters - still love his defense and competitiveness

[chaosmage]

Is to watch the next game and see how long Ol' Roy stays on the court.

Ironic from the announcer to hear: "This is a Carolina team that takes a ton of threes."

Isn't that something they knock us about most of the time?

[Saratoga2]

I thought our guys played hard and well for the majority of the game. Mason had an excellent game as did Curry and Cook. The surprise, if you can call it that, was how well Amile contributed. Josh also played his top game as well.

What went wrong? We couldn't find a way to guard Howell and Leslie. Howell for his size and Leslie was just a great player today. Amile tried defensively but fouled out. Tyler was below par today.

We need to find a way to utilize both Alex and Marshall. Not saying they could have changed the outcome, but they might have reduced the fouls on some of out players.

Rasheed hasn't found his offensive as yet. He played good defense, but we needed more scoring from him and he is not yet able to do it against strong defenders.

Coming out of the game we have to worry about Seth's health more than ever.

I thought the NCState fans showed more class in their win.

I will go back and look at the stats.

[DavidBenAkiva]

Did anyone else notice that Howell basically stopped scoring when Marshall came in and played D on him? That was impressive to me. Hopefully, that shows he is progressing and will earn him some more PT. The NCSU strategy at that point was to use Leslie's speed against Plumlee, which worked. Still, it was nice to see that Marshall held his own.

Time flies like an arrow
Fruit flies like a banana
-- Groucho Marx

[CDu]

I always hate losing. But we were playing agianst a good team, on the road (in our first road game of the year), without one of our senior stars and without one of our other senior stars (and only 3 point threat today). A close loss doesn't bother me too much.

The positives:
- Mason was strong at the start and strong down the stretch. He showed some nice post moves in the second half.
- Jefferson and Hairston were very active offensively, combining for 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
- Curry was terrific offensively (again).
- Cook had some very nice moments, and didn't allow Brown to completely dominate him. Brown definitely won the battle, but it was closer than I'd have expected.
- We did a good job of chasing Wood for the most part. We only lost him in transition, which resulted in a couple of big 3s for them.

The negatives:
- Mason got outplayed by Howell, especially in the second half. After about the 8 minute mark, Mason was dominating the game. But Howell stepped it up in the second part of the first half and throughout the second half.
- Couldn't defend Leslie.
- Poor transition defense. That is why State won the game.
- Though Cook played well, he did force some questionable shots in the second half. But he had a tough assignment, and with Thornton in foul trouble he was asked to play the entire game and initiate the offense. That's tough.
- Some freshman mistakes by Jefferson. He'll learn.
- Sulaimon had an awful night offensively. He just couldn't get anything going. Part of it was him chasing Wood a lot, but he's been slumping for a while now. Hopefully the break over the next couple of weeks will help.
- And obviously, there's the ankle injury to Curry. That was critical, as I felt we were making a late push when he went down, and he was leading the charge. Hopefully it's just a rolled ankle and he'll not miss any action, but it's a concern moving forward.

Again, it sucks to lose. But we showed a lot of fight against a very good team on the road without one of our senior stars and without another star for a few minutes at the end. Can't complain too much.

[chaosmage]

Did anyone else notice that Howell basically stopped scoring when Marshall came in and played D on him? That was impressive to me. Hopefully, that shows he is progressing and will earn him some more PT. The NCSU strategy at that point was to use Leslie's speed against Plumlee, which worked. Still, it was nice to see that Marshall held his own.

Time flies like an arrow
Fruit flies like a banana
-- Groucho Marx

And I was hoping he'd finish the game. It wasn't going to hurt to play him instead of Josh.

[CDu]

Did anyone else notice that Howell basically stopped scoring when Marshall came in and played D on him? That was impressive to me. Hopefully, that shows he is progressing and will earn him some more PT. The NCSU strategy at that point was to use Leslie's speed against Plumlee, which worked. Still, it was nice to see that Marshall held his own.

Time flies like an arrow
Fruit flies like a banana
-- Groucho Marx

To be fair, that was more a function of NC State going to Leslie pretty much every time downcourt down the stretch. I don't think Marshall did anything noteworthy to stop Howell.

[Bob Green]

Did anyone else notice that Howell basically stopped scoring when Marshall came in and played D on him?

No. I did not notice. Marshall only played three minutes.

[devildeac]

"Josh Jefferson" played 37 minutes with 9/14 FG, 9 boards, 1 A, 2 blocks, 2 TO and "only" 7 fouls. Seriously impressive.

And, on the other end, we had 3 guys foul out and no NCSU player had more than 3:mad:. The "foul" on the shoulda-been-a-steal had to be the "Wirtz" of them all.

[DBFAN]

I think he is prob ok, I would imagine if it came down to a one possession game and we had the ball he would have come back. I felt so sorry for him and his mom, but so proud of that guy, what a freakin warrior. When someone hears the post game presser let us know what they say about Seth.

[davekay1971]

With the exception of Curry aggravating his injury, and the obvious fact that we came out with a 1 in the loss column, I saw nothing to worry about in this game.

State played their best game of the season, and if you didn't expect that, you don't know how important this game was to State (coaches, players, fans, everyone). This was the biggest game of their season, bigger, by far, than their game against us in Cameron or either game against UNC. We definitely received State's best shot today.

And, without Kelly for the whole game, and without Curry in the end-game, we kept this within striking distance.

Mason had a great game. Curry had a great game. We expect that of our seniors.

Cook, despite a couple bad shots, had a very good game. Jefferson ran into foul trouble, but showed us that he's a player who's ready to contribute now. I loved seeing what he brought in Kelly's absence. He doesn't remotely replace Kelly's offense, but he will do very well while Kelly is out, and will provide depth when Kelly comes back.

I would have liked to see a little more out of Hairston and Thornton, but you can't question their effort and heart.

Our team played well. We were shorthanded, badly shorthanded by the end of the game with Curry down, and we played well in a hostile environment.

Frankly, I could care less that we lost this one game. I'm happy we played well, and very, very concerned about Curry.

[DukieInBrasil]

Did anyone else notice that Howell basically stopped scoring when Marshall came in and played D on him? That was impressive to me. Hopefully, that shows he is progressing and will earn him some more PT. The NCSU strategy at that point was to use Leslie's speed against Plumlee, which worked. Still, it was nice to see that Marshall held his own.

Time flies like an arrow
Fruit flies like a banana
-- Groucho Marx

I noticed that too, and was wondering why it took K so long to go with Marshall when we needed someone to be able to contain Howell. Marshall didn't get any stats, but he definitely reduced Howell's effectiveness.
I wonder if Amile doesn't get the start in the next game. Rasheed needs to get a different perspective and get productive again. Maybe start Amile and Thornton? Josh did well, but he is better suited to providing reserve play, and let Rasheed back Thornton up.

[devildeac]

NCSU didn't have many things go against them today shooting 50% on 3s (small sample size today) vs 40% for the year, had soooo many bounces and rolls go their way and shot an unbelievable 87% FT today vs 66.7% on the year.

[Philadukie]

This game could have really gotten away from us several times (and would have really gotten away from most teams). Lots of credit for keeping it pretty close. Biggest positive was Amile's play. If he didn't have foul trouble he could have had another 6 points or so against a high-caliber opponent. Very impressive. All the fouls were freshman mistakes.

NC State -- a Final Four caliber team -- had to play a great game on their home court against us without arguably our most important player. I frankly wouldn't want to be them when they come to Cameron or if they see us in the ACC Tourney (if Ryan comes back).

I think we take a couple more road losses without Ryan. Depending on when he comes back there could still be enough time to regain our non-conference form (but be even stronger if Amile continues to play well). Of course, need Seth to be healthy and Rasheed to start making shots (he's still playing great D).

[Saratoga2]

After Cook picked up his second foul, he had to back off a little on defense. There were a couple easy NCState scores resulting from that. Cook still played an excellent overall game.

[arnie]

"Josh Jefferson" played 37 minutes with 9/14 FG, 9 boards, 1 A, 2 blocks, 2 TO and "only" 7 fouls. Seriously impressive.

And, on the other end, we had 3 guys foul out and no NCSU player had more than 3:mad:. The "foul" on the shoulda-been-a-steal had to be the "Wirtz" of them all.

Amile is a player! Amile had 50% of the good offensive stats quoted above for "JJ" in half the minutes of Hairston; Amile had both blocks and none of the turnovers. Of course the 5 fouls kept him out of the game, but I'm really encouraged by what I saw both offensively and defensively Hopefully, Amile will be in the regular rotation after Kelly returns.

Am really surprised how poorly be got back on defense - not typical Duke. And Sulaimon has to find his shot soon!

[davekay1971]

I noticed that too, and was wondering why it took K so long to go with Marshall when we needed someone to be able to contain Howell. Marshall didn't get any stats, but he definitely reduced Howell's effectiveness.
I wonder if Amile doesn't get the start in the next game. Rasheed needs to get a different perspective and get productive again. Maybe start Amile and Thornton? Josh did well, but he is better suited to providing reserve play, and let Rasheed back Thornton up.

I hate to say this, because I love Thornton as much as the next guy, but Tyler didn't show me anything that Rasheed didn't. They were both ineffective on offense and played good defense. However, I think Sheed's more athletic, has better potential to score in any given game, and plays defense that's about as good as Tyler's with less fouling. Unless K wanted to bench Sheed to send a message to him, I'd still lean toward starting him over Tyler. And I'm not seeing anything in Sheed's play that says he needs to have a message sent to him. The kid's playing hard...if anything, he's pushing too hard.

[CoachJ10]

Perhaps I will betray my age...but there used to be a time when every ACC game was competitive. It is nice to see a glimpse of what it could be like when it is not just just Duke and UNC dominating the ACC. Duke is made better by having a more competitive conference...even if that means the potential for more losses than we as fans might want.

As for this game in particular, good effort overall. Mason and Quinn continued their solid play.

When individually guarding either Howell or Leslie, Mason did a great job (that blocked dunk got in CJL's head). Unfortunately in the 2nd half, Mase was torn when the Pack would repeatedly go to whomever Mason wasn't guarding and he was relegated to being the 2nd defender, trying to block shots and leaving his guy to rebound.

Rasheed is on a good run of bad luck. He will get his due on the offensive end. He is smart and will learn.

One last comment that I have noticed throughout the season...Mason and Quin are in phenomenal shape. When they are on the court, even for 30+ mins, they are going at 110%. Kudos to them for the hard work to get there.

[Saratoga2]

I noticed that too, and was wondering why it took K so long to go with Marshall when we needed someone to be able to contain Howell. Marshall didn't get any stats, but he definitely reduced Howell's effectiveness.
I wonder if Amile doesn't get the start in the next game. Rasheed needs to get a different perspective and get productive again. Maybe start Amile and Thornton? Josh did well, but he is better suited to providing reserve play, and let Rasheed back Thornton up.

Tyler wasn't much of a positive factor today. The foul to provide the 4 point shot was dumb as was the woof that followed it. I still would stay with Rasheed as a starter. His quickness and high motor make him valuable on defense and he makes fewer dumb plays. I would be happy with Quinn, Seth, Rasheed, Amile and Mason as our starters, at least until Ryan returns.

[jcastranio]

I thought we played well - NC State just played a little better.

There were a few things that didn't go our way:

Scott Wood kept State in the game early 3-3 on three-pointers.

I thought, in the second half, that we were unlucky on the boards. Yes, Howell grabbed rebounds - I swear that at least four or five were when we had the position and the ball bounced high or hung on the rim too long (and our guy jumped at the wrong time). Those resulted in our missing the opportunity for easy putbacks on our end and in them getting several easy putbacks on their end. It ended up impacting the game about 8-10 points. Just unlucky, but certainly we didn't need that unluckiness today.

We had a few short shots by Amile and Josh that should rimmed out.

Even without Ryan - we will beat State anywhere else.

I did not think Mason was "outplayed" by anyone - he commanded attention on offense and was doing double duty on defense.

Congrats to State.

[gumbomoop]

To repeat something I mentioned on another thread: we catch a schedule break now, as we play but one game in the next 10 days. Play GaTech in CIS next Thurs, then not again until away to Miami on Wed 1/23. Good time for Seth to get some rest, and for K and staff to strategize and coach new lineup combos.

We're gold.

[newclasspack]

Guy in wheelchair gets knocked over.

In the vein of keeping it civil, that is all.

Nice to see our bench guys get some burn, and I'll like State again when they beat UNX.i laughed i shouldn't but did. Man that was War. Good game. i tend to stay off the internet for games, because that's when the stupid stuff is said but this was a great game. I really hope curry is alright. it just looked like a sprain to his non injured leg. IF this was war here... when we come see y'all its gonna be the apocalypse

[jcastranio]

On offense, Rasheed needs to ...

Draw the foul when he drives. He should be able to do that almost every time. Like many high school players transitioning to college, many times he drives and then goes to great lengths to avoid contact.

Stop and take the ten footer. He seems hung up on the 3 pointer or the layup - I think his best shot early in the season was the mid-range. He can get that shot every time. Every. Time.

There, that should get him out of the slump. No charge.

[jv001]

Tyler wasn't much of a positive factor today. The foul to provide the 4 point shot was dumb as was the woof that followed it. I still would stay with Rasheed as a starter. His quickness and high motor make him valuable on defense and he makes fewer dumb plays. I would be happy with Quinn, Seth, Rasheed, Amile and Mason as our starters, at least until Ryan returns.

I agree with your starters. Amile brings lots of energy to this team and can finish plays. Josh played ok today but really struggled in defending CJ, but who didn't. Mason on one occassion defended Leslie well and he missed the shot, but Josh was out of position to get the rebound and gave up a big basket late in the 2nd half. Marshall, Amile and even Alex have more ceiling to their games. Josh is best as the tough guy off the bench to guard a PF or C. We need Seth in the lineup or we will really be hurting. Let's hope his injury is not severe. GoDuke!

[dukelifer]

With the exception of Curry aggravating his injury, and the obvious fact that we came out with a 1 in the loss column, I saw nothing to worry about in this game.

State played their best game of the season, and if you didn't expect that, you don't know how important this game was to State (coaches, players, fans, everyone). This was the biggest game of their season, bigger, by far, than their game against us in Cameron or either game against UNC. We definitely received State's best shot today.

And, without Kelly for the whole game, and without Curry in the end-game, we kept this within striking distance.

Mason had a great game. Curry had a great game. We expect that of our seniors.

Cook, despite a couple bad shots, had a very good game. Jefferson ran into foul trouble, but showed us that he's a player who's ready to contribute now. I loved seeing what he brought in Kelly's absence. He doesn't remotely replace Kelly's offense, but he will do very well while Kelly is out, and will provide depth when Kelly comes back.

I would have liked to see a little more out of Hairston and Thornton, but you can't question their effort and heart.

Our team played well. We were shorthanded, badly shorthanded by the end of the game with Curry down, and we played well in a hostile environment.

Frankly, I could care less that we lost this one game. I'm happy we played well, and very, very concerned about Curry.

Curry's injury to his other leg (not sure) is a huge concern. If Duke loses Curry and Kelly for a couple of weeks- winning the regular season is going to be a big challenge. Rasheed's shooting woes are not unexpected but they are a concern. He may or may not find his way out of it. Duke was able to get great games from Amile and Josh that effectively gave us Ryan's offensive contribution and when Curry went out- Duke's chances of making interesting faded as well. But games in the tourney are usually down to the wire and players have to play their best and sometimes one has to take over. That guy might need to be Quinn. Duke could not really handle State and while State played a very good game- they did not really play out of their heads. Duke may have been able to put a little more game pressure with Ryan out there but I am not sure the D would have been much better. This was a toss up game with Ryan and State had the edge without him and they took care of business. But with Curry perhaps injured- I am more worried about the short term future. A few tough games loom and most if not all will be close. Duke will need to play better at the end of the game.

[CDu]

To repeat something I mentioned on another thread: we catch a schedule break now, as we play but one game in the next 10 days. Play GaTech in CIS next Thurs, then not again until away to Miami on Wed 1/23. Good time for Seth to get some rest, and for K and staff to strategize and coach new lineup combos.

We're gold.

Yup. It's never good to get injuries. But if you're going to get them, it's best to get them right before you have your last long break of the season. Hopefully Curry's ankle is just a minor sprain. If so, he should be able to go against Ga Tech. Hopefully we can win that comfortably enough to get him rest. Then, he gets a long break until Miami.

It's also good timing to catch Miami without Johnson. Their alternative (Gamble) isn't very good, so Jefferson and Hairston will have a much easier task in that one (unless Coach K decides to have them guard the more versatile Kadji to give Mason some rest on defense).

Aside from the freshman mistakes on fouls (gotta play smarter with 3 and then 4 fouls), I LOVED what I saw from Jefferson. He was not intimidated. He was not overmatched. He was energetic and productive. Hairston played better than I expected, too, but Jefferson really stood out. Now if he can just learn not to foul!

[ChillinDuke]

All things considered we played very well today. A lot of adversity in this game (both before and during) and we kept it close the entire way.

Offense was not the problem today. We scored >70 pts which I was concerned we wouldn't hit. Defensively, we couldn't stop Leslie or Howell. Howell may have been the frustrating one because we collectively hoped Mason would be able to at least match him which he didn't quite do. Leslie - woof. He really played great offense. It came down more or less how I expected - Hairston and Amile splitting Kelly's time and largely performing admirably. Amile plays the passing lane well (had at least one poke away) and has some very nice touch around the hoop, but he couldn't guard effectively to the tune of 5 fouls in 12 minutes. Josh had 1 foul in 25 minutes and, to my eye, was much more comfortable on defense although even he couldn't stop Leslie (especially the jumper).

I would really like to see Mason try to block a few more shots. There are times where I feel he saves his fouls in the first half (which is fine). But if you save your fouls, then at least get aggressive. He minimally turned up the aggression in the second half and tried to block one or two, but there were plays (a swipe at Howell under the basket, a Leslie pivot and jump/hook) where I just thought Mason has to either take a foul there or at least get as high off the floor as possible and make them make a tough a shot. Mason finished with 1 foul. Leslie and Howell shot 9-10 from the stripe today (take nothing away from that), but they are a combined 62% for the year and should have been forced to shoot more of those. If they continued hitting at that clip, so be it.

I'm frustrated/upset at the loss as usual, but I'm encouraged that, despite the loss of Kelly last game, the loss of Seth in the 2nd half, the struggles of Rasheed, the foul trouble of Amile and Tyler, and the difficult road atmosphere, we looked more than capable out there and kept this game well within reach for 40 whole minutes.

And frankly, if Kelly plays then this is a COMPLETELY different game, and I think we probably win.

- Chillin

[ncexnyc]

I really loved the effort the team put forth in a difficult situation. Amile is one slippery dude around the basket and he will only get better as the season progresses. Josh gave it his all, but great effort couldn't offset Leslie's vastly superior talent. Mason ans Seth did all you could ask from your seniors. I hope Seth's injury isn't anything major.

Rasheed is definitely in a funk, more missed layups, but the hustle and defense are still there so it's hard to complain. Quinn is a very good PG and you can't fault some of shots he took, somebody had to take them.

Tyler had that dumb T. Wood started woofing and had already been T'd, no need for the cheap push. Clearly not one of Tyler's better games.

Liked when Coach K put Marshall in. Leslie was feeling it and the bigger, more mobile Mason was more up to the challenge of guarding him than Josh was at that point in the game. Marshall was able to neutralize Howell, which gave us a chance.

[DBFAN]

Did anyone else catch Greenberg after the game with the silly and confusing statement that Even without Kelly and Jefferson and Hairston playing well, that it still wasn't enough for Duke to beat State Acting like we had even more weapons and that we just couldn't beat State. Man I am really starting to think he doesn't like us

[jv001]

Curry's injury to his other leg (not sure) is a huge concern. If Duke loses Curry and Kelly for a couple of weeks- winning the regular season is going to be a big challenge. Rasheed's shooting woes are not unexpected but they are a concern. He may or may not find his way out of it. Duke was able to get great games from Amile and Josh that effectively gave us Ryan's offensive contribution and when Curry went out- Duke's chances of making interesting faded as well. But games in the tourney are usually down to the wire and players have to play their best and sometimes one has to take over. That guy might need to be Quinn. Duke could not really handle State and while State played a very good game- they did not really play out of their heads. Duke may have been able to put a little more game pressure with Ryan out there but I am not sure the D would have been much better. This was a toss up game with Ryan and State had the edge without him and they took care of business. But with Curry perhaps injured- I am more worried about the short term future. A few tough games loom and most if not all will be close. Duke will need to play better at the end of the game.

State defended Cook very well today. They were tough with him and it resulted in 4 turnovers. However he did have 7 assists to go with his 17 points. We can discuss the game all day and all night, but it's clear we really need Ryan Kelly to be an elite team come March. The one thing going for us is that if Ryan comes back to the player he was when he went out, we should be better with Amile getting more minutes. Let's just hope Seth is not out with another Duke injury. GoDuke!

[sporthenry]

We've gotten away from this the last 4 games. He's staying away from the basket a bit much, and guards are staring him down some when he gets position. He got all of his today through offensive rebounds, a steal, and creating for himself starting farther from the basket.

This was perhaps the most troubling trend from today. Mason shot 70% on 10 shots that included a miss on a fast break lay up. What that tells me is that either he couldn't be stopped or didn't even get enough chances to make State stop him. Mason wasn't great at getting position but when he did/does, he needs the ball. Towards the end, Duke looked like Duke of the last few years. Completely ignore Mason with a man on his back and chuck up a bad 3.

And the thing with Mason is that he gets affected on the rest of his game when he doesn't get touches. Not meant as a knock b/c it takes special players to not allow this to affect the other parts of his game. But he often seems to lose focus on defense and even rebounding. The one Howell rebound where he just went over Josh, Mason was kind of spectating. And this is worse on offense b/c when you work so hard to get in position only to see a 3 point shot and its tough to get the energy to chase the ball down. Mason seems to get pumped up when he is involved and Duke just went away from him today.

[davekay1971]

Did anyone else catch Greenberg after the game with the silly and confusing statement that Even without Kelly and Jefferson and Hairston playing well, that it still wasn't enough for Duke to beat State Acting like we had even more weapons and that we just couldn't beat State. Man I am really starting to think he doesn't like us

He also just complimented Duke on our consistency taking everyone's best shot every game. He and Pearl are a couple of clowns and I assume the 4 letter has them on there for entertainment rather than insight, but I don't think either of them is being unfair to Duke in their commentary.

[buddy]

This was a competitive loss against a good team with something to prove on their court. Amile got some much needed minutes, and demonstrated the energy he can bring to the game. He got abused on defense, but the experience will improve him. Hairston gave a good effort, but why does he think he should be taking 18 foot jump shots. I love Thornton's energy, but his chippiness cost the team today. Maybe he needs that "edge", but with the team already short-handed, his retaliation was counterproductive. He needs to channel the energy positively.

I'm more concerned about Seth. Fortunately we get a little break, and play the next one at home, but if neither he nor Kelly can play (and Kelly won't) against GT, our guys will have to be much smarter.

[Bob Green]

Jefferson ran into foul trouble, but showed us that he's a player who's ready to contribute now. I loved seeing what he brought in Kelly's absence. He doesn't remotely replace Kelly's offense, but he will do very well while Kelly is out, and will provide depth when Kelly comes back.

Frankly, I could care less that we lost this one game. I'm happy we played well, and very, very concerned about Curry.

I agree with both your points above. Jefferson proved he belongs in the rotation and the injury to Curry is concerning. It looked to me that Curry rolled his left ankle when he slipped so his injury today is unrelated to his right shin problem. Perhaps that is a good thing, but now he is banged up in multiple places.

[sporthenry]

He also just complimented Duke on our consistency taking everyone's best shot every game. He and Pearl are a couple of clowns and I assume the 4 letter has them on there for entertainment rather than insight, but I don't think either of them is being unfair to Duke in their commentary.

Call me crazy but I actually have enjoyed Pearl and Greenberg so far this year. Earlier this year, Greenberg was very complimentary of Duke and even the comments at the half of the UNC/FSU game seemed complimentary. I'm not sure what else or who else people would want but they provide some insight from a coaching perspective and Greenberg does have some insight into Duke specifically.

[DBFAN]

He also just complimented Duke on our consistency taking everyone's best shot every game. He and Pearl are a couple of clowns and I assume the 4 letter has them on there for entertainment rather than insight, but I don't think either of them is being unfair to Duke in their commentary.

Yeah I just found it to be very confusing and strange more than anything

[newclasspack]

Shout out to Coach K for not abandoning his players on the floor. Classy Move.

[Bob Green]

Shout out to Coach K for not abandoning his players on the floor. Classy Move.

It is not a classy move, it is the norm. Only a clown would abandon his players on the court.

[newclasspack]

It is not a classy move, it is the norm. Only a clown would abandon his players on the court.You Spelled Roy wrong

[Teton Jack]

I'd rather win, but the team played hard. Given the circumstances we knew it would be a difficult day. The hardest part to take was seeing State beat us down the court so often for easy baskets. Transition killed us.

Nevertheless, on the positive side:

1.We saw some different combinations out there and some options that might become important down the road. Jefferson showed we could go big more often in a game. He played good defense and rebounded well.

2. Talking about bigs, MP3 came in and, while the flow of the game had Leslie taking most of the shots, I noticed that Duke suddenly started controlling the boards again. He earned more time today.

On the less positive side:

- We miss Kelly's offensive capabilities (duh!). The dynamic duo put up good numbers on points and rebounds but they were from missed shots. Nothing bad about that, but neither make the kinds of offensive plays that open up the inside for Plumlee. We needed someone who could hit the shot that follows dribble penetration. Our threes came from high screens. When we drove the lanes, the shot went up, even if it wasn't there because we only had one really effective outside threat. Murhpy didn't play enough to know whether he could fill that need. He was open a couple of times but the cross-court pass never materialized.

[kmspeaks]

You never want a loss but I don't think I'll be losing too much sleep over this one

A conference road game without a senior star, trying to mount a second half charge and then your other senior star goes down
A freshman steps up and provide good offense and rebounding, just couldn't stay on the floor due to fouls
A ranked team who was picked to win the conference and they're still rushing the floor when they beat you



Not a bad year to be a Duke fan.

[throatybeard]

A ranked team who was picked to win the conference and they're still rushing the floor when they beat you
[/LIST]


To me, they looked more like they were rushing a guy in a wheel chair.

[newclasspack]

To me, they looked more like they were rushing a guy in a wheel chair.CJ Leslie picked him up after he fell

[DBFAN]

According to ESPN Curry rolled his ankle, was not available to media, hoping it is no major setback

[Duvall]

CJ Leslie picked him up after he fell

Doesn't make the other State students any less selfish and dumb.

[chaosmage]

Had a friend get on my case (and weirdly enough, it was brought up on the IC board), because K was basically walking away as he shook Gott's hand. I told him at least he was there at the end of the game.

Silence has never been so golden...

[newclasspack]

Doesn't make the other State students any less selfish and dumb.wow ok then

[Duvall]

wow ok then

Rushing the court is dumb, dangerous and should be banned everywhere.

[TruBlu]

Rushing the court is dumb, dangerous and should be banned everywhere.

Beating Duke should be banned everywhere. Problem solved.

[newclasspack]

Rushing the court is dumb, dangerous and should be banned everywhere.
So you're saying being a college student shouldn't happen ever? gotcha.

[Danke Shane]

Do schools hand out those "wacky, super original and clever over-sized heads" to the students behind the backboards, or do those students bring them in? I want to know which entity is responsible for this overplayed trend before making fun of them. Thanks.

[dukeman28428]

Did anyone else catch Greenberg after the game with the silly and confusing statement that Even without Kelly and Jefferson and Hairston playing well, that it still wasn't enough for Duke to beat State Acting like we had even more weapons and that we just couldn't beat State. Man I am really starting to think he doesn't like us

Greenberg has an obvious dislike for Duke and that is OK but he should not display it when he is supposed to be neutral. I never liked him when he was at Va Tech and dislike him even more now. He and Bruce Pearl are very shallow and when they come on, I switch the channel and will continue to do so. GO DUKE

[chaosmage]

So you're saying being a college student shouldn't happen ever? gotcha.

He's pointing out that we've had members of the Duke family (I read about it, forgot where) get hurt in these things, and although Duke students have done it once that I remember clearly (Dockery's 3), and perhaps others, it's still dangerous.

It can be done in an organized fashion, but most schools don't try, and it's a minor miracle that no one has been seriously, permanently hurt.

[chaosmage]

Greenberg has an obvious dislike for Duke and that is OK but he should not display it when he is supposed to be neutral. I never liked him when he was at Va Tech and dislike him even more now. He and Bruce Pearl are very shallow and when they come on, I switch the channel and will continue to do so. GO DUKE

It can be done properly - see Jay Bilas. Sometimes I have to go and remind myself that he graduated from Duke. Jay Williams does a good job, but still gets the UNX jab in from time to time, as did Hubert Davis in reverse. Greenberg is still angry that he wasn't successful at VT, that K and the Devils used VT as a punching bag more often than not, and how he humiliated himself by scheduling low and whining when he didn't get into the tournament.

Of course, if you ask Carolina fans, ESPN is Duke's sports network.

Bless my wife, she's taking me to the Apple Store and Starbucks to make me feel better ;-)

[sporthenry]

Greenberg has an obvious dislike for Duke and that is OK but he should not display it when he is supposed to be neutral. I never liked him when he was at Va Tech and dislike him even more now. He and Bruce Pearl are very shallow and when they come on, I switch the channel and will continue to do so. GO DUKE

Again, I don't get this. Greenberg was very neutral today. All he really said is that this wasn't an upset since NC State was actually favored to win the ACC. I actually took this as somewhat of a compliment since being upset insinuates that the other team isn't good which isn't the case with State.

And he acknowledged the impact of injuries and was very complimentary of both Duke and NC State as a whole. Again, both being former coaches, they provide insight that normal analysts don't. I'm not really sure what else people want but it seems unless you went to Duke, someone here won't like you and even if you went to Duke like Bilas, you still aren't above reproach.

ETA: There was one comment earlier in the year when he insinuated going into Duke and getting calls was tough so I guess that rubbed some people the wrong way but I would venture if you did a study, this would probably be the case.

[gumbomoop]

I'd like to say again what a hard fought, exciting game we saw today. State's guys executed marginally better than our guys. I can - and did a couple of times in the in-game thread - note a couple of plays when our guys did not execute well. Other times they did.

But nothing but praise for Howell's fierceness, Leslie's wonderful moves, Brown's assists, and Wood's perfect shooting. Honestly, I didn't "notice" either Purvis or Warren, but the boxscore says they played their part. Pack's Big 4 played smart, all game long. Good for them, and Gottfried, too, seriously.

It's a commonplace to say that Duke gets everybody's best shot. Although it sure seems to be accurate, relatively few teams have a shot that tops Duke. State's shot was true, because its shooters were, from all over. When Duke struck back, they didn't panic.

Pack visitors, hope you keep coming over, regularly. Like to hear your update on your team, your thoughts on ours, maybe on UNC's, too. See you again, let's say 3 more times.

[miramar]

I hope that Amille keeps developing and that Alex joins in the fun. With Rasheed in a funk the two will be key even when Ryan comes back.

I hate to lose but it was good to see a real ACC game.

[dukelifer]

I hope that Amille keeps developing and that Alex joins in the fun. With Rasheed in a funk the two will be key even when Ryan comes back.

I hate to lose but it was good to see a real ACC game.

If not for Curry's injury- there are lots of silver linings. But not knowing how bad and how long he might be out has made it hard to speculate on Duke's chances of winning games going forward. With the two best three point shooters- two most experienced players out of the lineup-Duke is a completely different team. Not sure Duke can regroup in the heart ACC play with their two best players out.

[DukeWarhead]

As long as the Pack brings the same grit and fire to their two matchups with the baby blues, then it's Okay. If they spend those two games committing stupid turnovers, airballs, and get a case of the tripovermyselfs, then I'll be quite miffed. UNC has very little chance of beating the team we played today - so I'm hoping that team shows up against them. Twice.

[allenmurray]

So you're saying being a college student shouldn't happen ever? gotcha.

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/17/sports/sp-crowe17

Ask Joe Kay.

How many more 18 year old kids will have to be paralyzed before schools decide that this is too dangerous.

[DBFAN]

Again, I don't get this. Greenberg was very neutral today. All he really said is that this wasn't an upset since NC State was actually favored to win the ACC. I actually took this as somewhat of a compliment since being upset insinuates that the other team isn't good which isn't the case with State.

And he acknowledged the impact of injuries and was very complimentary of both Duke and NC State as a whole. Again, both being former coaches, they provide insight that normal analysts don't. I'm not really sure what else people want but it seems unless you went to Duke, someone here won't like you and even if you went to Duke like Bilas, you still aren't above reproach.

ETA: There was one comment earlier in the year when he insinuated going into Duke and getting calls was tough so I guess that rubbed some people the wrong way but I would venture if you did a study, this would probably be the case.

He may do a good job in general, but originally I was only referring to something he said right before they wentt off air. First of all it didn't make since, but he said even with Amile and Josh playing we weren't good enough to beat State. He was either implying that we had an advantage because we didn't have Ryan today (which is why it did not make since) or he was trying to get at that with great games from no matter who it was Ryan,Josh,Jefferson...etc we just weren't as good as State. And I imagine that is because he had to sit there and ramble on about how he picked State to win the conference.

[dukelifer]

As long as the Pack brings the same grit and fire to their two matchups with the baby blues, then it's Okay. If they spend those two games committing stupid turnovers, airballs, and get a case of the tripovermyselfs, then I'll be quite miffed. UNC has very little chance of beating the team we played today - so I'm hoping that team shows up against them. Twice.

History suggests they won't, unfortunately

[OldSchool]

State did a good job defending Quinn and Mason against the entry pass and the pick and roll. Clearly the coaches kept trying to work this angle but State was long and energetic. If they played other teams that hard, they would be ranked much higher.

Amile was very solid. He showed poise and toughness. With Josh and Amile we can’t effectively play our one-in four-out offense that works so well for us. This new lineup relies on Mason’s interior passing to hit the other big in the post area when he is double-teamed. I thought on the whole Mason made some good passes in this situation. We missed a number of close-in shots that we should make, enough to make a difference in the game.

Marshall is quite a presence in the post. You can tell he is not yet smoothly in the flow of what everyone is doing. From the brief time we saw this lineup, if Marshall had had more game time under his belt, this looked like it could have been quite an effective combination against Howell and Leslie. Marshall could be a big X factor by the end of the season if he can get steady game time.

[OldPhiKap]

Hats off to the Pack.

Next play, some good things to build on and some things to work on.

[Newton_14]

My thoughts on the game. I thought our two Seniors played really well, our two Juniors were solid, though Tyler was not at his best, and I was very pleased with the minutes Amile gave us off the bench. He got hosed on several of those foul calls as well. A nice coming out party for him, which is why I did not believe for one minute the crowd would bother him and it didn't. He played great.

Our younger starters struggled and we needed both to come up big. Rasheed is just having a hard time right now. May do him some good to reduce his minutes and give Murphy some burn. Quinn was ok but not at his best, and our team defense just did not have their normal intensity and stopping power today. We let them get out in transition too often that led to easy scores. I suspect that gets corrected next time around in Cameron. Then down the stretch we were dealing with foul trouble and had problems defending Leslie. But give him credit. He played a great game today and was very under control. When Leslie is hitting jumpshots, you pretty much have to tip your hat and move on. Not normal for him.

Offensively I thought Seth and Mason both were solid, but we did not go to Mason nearly enough. We have to feed the big fella early and often. Mase should have gotten 15+ shots today.

The positives for me, was we showed we can compete with the best w/o Kelly, even though we are not as good as with him, and Amile played so welll it will definitely earn him more minutes moving forward, even when Ryan comes back.

I do worry about Seth, but we have known all along there would be times when the injury would rear its head. Unfortunately it happened today. If he stays in those last 3-4 minutes, it would have been interesting. He was dialed in on offense and State was starting to have trouble containing him.

But, them's the breaks. Congrats to State on playing a great game.

Next Play

[cptnflash]

Not much to add. Proud of the way our guys competed, and hope that Seth is ok. The schedule break should help. We really missed Ryan on the defensive end.

Overall it was a disappointing four hours of college basketball this afternoon... was hoping to enjoy a Duke win and a UNC loss, and got the opposite. At least I didn't miss a nice afternoon outside!

[CDu]

I do worry about Seth, but we have known all along there would be times when the injury would rear its head. Unfortunately it happened today. If he stays in those last 3-4 minutes, it would have been interesting. He was dialed in on offense and State was starting to have trouble containing him.

Actually, the leg injury Curry has been dealing with all season has yet to rear its head. Today's injury was a rolled left ankle. His chronic leg injury is in his right leg. This was just a fluke injury.

[Newton_14]

Actually, the leg injury Curry has been dealing with all season has yet to rear its head. Today's injury was a rolled left ankle. His chronic leg injury is in his right leg. This was just a fluke injury.

To me, he was limping long before that play happened, and it looked like he was grabbing his right shin as if that was where the pain was. Watching the replay several times it did not look like he rolled the left ankle, it just got stuck and he went down. Maybe it was the left ankle that he injured but it sure looked like he was holding the right shin.

If that is the official word though, hopefully it is just a minor sprain.

I agree with your earlier post on Mason. I thought he was great out there today and should have gotten the ball more. The post move in the center of the lane where he made multiple moves then went up and under was a thing of beauty. We need much more of that.

[Newton_14]

To me, they looked more like they were rushing a guy in a wheel chair.

I am not a fan of rushing the court after hoop games. Football is less of an issue because there is room for players to get the heck out of the way. I will say that todays rush was done as about as well as you could do it and yet the dude in the wheelchair still got knocked over.

The non-basketball issue I had was the configuration of the seating. State had students directly behind our bench. The Duke family and friends were a full section away down in the corner. That is a recipe for disaster and should not be allowed. That said, if I am K, the padded seats in Cameron directly behind the opposing bench, come up and get shifted down into the corner for the State game. Their family and friends can sit down in the corner, and State can get a dose of a full section of Native and his fellow undergrads directly behind their bench. We can even have Ozzie give the famous horn to Native to sneak in. Turnabout being fair play and all that...

[uh_no]

I am not a fan of rushing the court after hoop games. Football is less of an issue because there is room for players to get the heck out of the way. I will say that todays rush was done as about as well as you could do it and yet the dude in the wheelchair still got knocked over.

The non-basketball issue I had was the configuration of the seating. State had students directly behind our bench. The Duke family and friends were a full section away down in the corner. That is a recipe for disaster and should not be allowed. That said, if I am K, the padded seats in Cameron directly behind the opposing bench, come up and get shifted down into the corner for the State game. Their family and friends can sit down in the corner, and State can get a dose of a full section of Native and his fellow undergrads directly behind their bench. We can even have Ozzie give the famous horn to Native to sneak in. Turnabout being fair play and all that...

I think we should force NCSU guests to sit among the undergrads.

[devildeac]

I am not a fan of rushing the court after hoop games. Football is less of an issue because there is room for players to get the heck out of the way. I will say that todays rush was done as about as well as you could do it and yet the dude in the wheelchair still got knocked over.

The non-basketball issue I had was the configuration of the seating. State had students directly behind our bench. The Duke family and friends were a full section away down in the corner. That is a recipe for disaster and should not be allowed. That said, if I am K, the padded seats in Cameron directly behind the opposing bench, come up and get shifted down into the corner for the State game. Their family and friends can sit down in the corner, and State can get a dose of a full section of Native and his fellow undergrads directly behind their bench. We can even have Ozzie give the famous horn to Native to sneak in. Turnabout being fair play and all that...


I think we should force NCSU guests to sit among the undergrads.

I kinda like both of these ideas 3118.

3119

[Native]

Their family and friends can sit down in the corner, and State can get a dose of a full section of Native and his fellow undergrads directly behind their bench. We can even have Ozzie give the famous horn to Native to sneak in. Turnabout being fair play and all that...

I would wish that form of punishment on no man...

...but, if you insist, I'd be happy to oblige. I can assure the board at large that, regardless of seating arrangements, they will be sorry they beat us when they make the journey into Cameron on February 7th.

[CDu]

To me, he was limping long before that play happened, and it looked like he was grabbing his right shin as if that was where the pain was. Watching the replay several times it did not look like he rolled the left ankle, it just got stuck and he went down. Maybe it was the left ankle that he injured but it sure looked like he was holding the right shin.

If that is the official word though, hopefully it is just a minor sprain.

I agree with your earlier post on Mason. I thought he was great out there today and should have gotten the ball more. The post move in the center of the lane where he made multiple moves then went up and under was a thing of beauty. We need much more of that.

He definitely rolled his left ankle. It happened slipping on the court. That is the leg he was holding when he was down. When he came back to the bench, he had an ankle brace on his left leg.

He did seem to get banged up earlier (not sure what exactly he hurt or how it happened), but that wasn't related to the injury that took him out of the game.

[subzero02]

Let's not panic guys. We were't that bad.

1. Guys stepped up. Amile and Hairston overall played about as well as you could have asked for. They had tough defensive assignments; toughest than they might face until the NCAA tournament.

2. We were disjointed. Missing Ryan disrupted our offensive flow and defensive stoutness. But as the guys get more practice time, they'll surely get better. The cupboard isn't bare, we just need time to gell. This is a new team playing against a mature, talented NC State team.

3. Sulaimon had one of his worst games so far at Duke. I think these games will prove to be more the exception than the norm; every freshman gets into a wall and perhaps this is his. Sulaimon will get better and so will we.

4. Mason wanted to take over the game. He didn't quite always succeed, but his fire was a positive sign and the team responded to it by feeding him the ball toward the end of the game. It was a bit late, but better that it at least happened.

5. Seth was cold-blooded killer, and if not for his slip he'd probably drain a couple more threes. We've still got an awesome player there.

6. NC State as a whole was on fire. They made a lot of lucky shots. It happens.

We are going to lose games -- as far as that goes, this wasn't that bad of a loss.

Mason is on a mission this year... It was evident in his very aggressive offensive play.iirc, aside from the between the legs dribble that was stolen and the missed fast break layup, it was well focused aggression.

[Wheat/"/"/"]

It is not a classy move, it is the norm. Only a clown would abandon his players on the court.

To be fair, there was a whole lot more "electricity" in the air last year at FSU against UNC than today's Duke/State game when Roy pulled the team. And as we saw today that can be a dangerous situation.
It always seems to be conveniently forgotten in these shots at Roy I see from time to time that Roy intended for all the players to leave the court at the same time and that Hamilton recommended Roy do so, as well.
It might play well on the board, but I don't think it's fair to say Roy abandon'd his players in that spot. He was trying to do what he thought would be best for all of them in a no-win situation and unfortunately poor communication left those players out there.
The haze of battle, and all that...you know:)

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/01/17/1783580/5-left-behind-in-confusion.html

[Newton_14]

He definitely rolled his left ankle. It happened slipping on the court. That is the leg he was holding when he was down. When he came back to the bench, he had an ankle brace on his left leg.

He did seem to get banged up earlier (not sure what exactly he hurt or how it happened), but that wasn't related to the injury that took him out of the game.

Ok, thanks. I missed that. He was definitely gimpy earlier too. The kid played a heck of a game. It really sucks that he isn't fully healthy. I hate that for him. Given how well he has played, especially attacking the basket, he could be putting up ridiculous numbers at full strength.

Really good to only have 1 game in the next 10 days.

[mapleleafdevil]

Classy comments by Scott Wood:

Scott Wood on if this is the biggest win of his career: “I don’t know. It’s tough because they’re not 100 percent healthy. Curry’s a little beat up, Kelly’s a little beat up, so it’s tough to say this is the best win. ... But to win the ACC, you have to go through Duke. I’d like to win against them when they’re 100 percent.”

[Newton_14]

Classy comments by Scott Wood:

Scott Wood on if this is the biggest win of his career: “I don’t know. It’s tough because they’re not 100 percent healthy. Curry’s a little beat up, Kelly’s a little beat up, so it’s tough to say this is the best win. ... But to win the ACC, you have to go through Duke. I’d like to win against them when they’re 100 percent.”

Agree. Great kid. Tyler got under his skin a bit today (which led to the uncharacteristic woofing) but he showed moxie in not letting it affect his shot. We held him in check other than the 3 daggers in the first half, but we paid dearly for the attention we had to give him as it opened up the lane for Leslie and Howell. They hit us with more than a couple of back door passes when our bigs were trying to help keep a hand in his face while our guards came through the screens.

Wood has worked hard on his game and as you note is a good kid to boot. Hats off to him.

[Bob Green]

To be fair, there was a whole lot more "electricity" in the air last year at FSU against UNC than today's Duke/State game when Roy pulled the team. And as we saw today that can be a dangerous situation.
It always seems to be conveniently forgotten in these shots at Roy I see from time to time that Roy intended for all the players to leave the court at the same time and that Hamilton recommended Roy do so, as well.
It might play well on the board, but I don't think it's fair to say Roy abandon'd his players in that spot. He was trying to do what he thought would be best for all of them in a no-win situation and unfortunately poor communication left those players out there.
The haze of battle, and all that...you know:)

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/01/17/1783580/5-left-behind-in-confusion.html

Whatever, it's your story and you're entitled to stick with it.

[roywhite]

Official Boxscore (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=205940563)

A few things jump out:

Not only did Rasheed go 0-10 for the field, he had 0 rebounds, 0 assists, and 0 steals. Seems his shooting difficulties are affecting the rest of his game.
Tyler also had very little to show for his 19 minutes
NC State even shot very well from the line...20-23; just another indication of how focused they were in this game
Lorenzo Brown had 13 assists, but no other Pack player had an assist; easier said than done, but effectively defending Brown would disrupt the Pack offense.

Josh and Amile did some really good things, but we definitely missed our "stretch 4" player Ryan Kelly. The beauty of the "stretch 4" is that he draws out a defender which opens up driving lanes and presents match-up problems for the opposing defense. In addition, I've got to think Ryan would have given us better interior defense against Howell and/or Leslie.

Not sure what K can do to compensate if Ryan is out for an extended period. Probably just work with Amile and Josh and see if there is a role for Alex and/or Marshall.

[CDu]

It always seems to be conveniently forgotten in these shots at Roy I see from time to time that Roy intended for all the players to leave the court at the same time and that Hamilton recommended Roy do so, as well.

It might play well on the board, but I don't think it's fair to say Roy abandon'd his players in that spot. He was trying to do what he thought would be best for all of them in a no-win situation and unfortunately poor communication left those players out there.
The haze of battle, and all that...you know:)

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/01/17/1783580/5-left-behind-in-confusion.html

Your story isn't accurate at all here. Hamilton didn't recommend that Williams take his players off the court. On the contrary, Hamilton looked very confused when Williams left the floor.

And if Williams was really concerned that all of the players get off the court, why didn't he actually wait until they all left the court before he left? In fact, why was he the FIRST guy off the court, before any of the other coaches or players left the floor?

Williams' postgame comments were a poorly-handled attempt to cover for what it really was: a frustrated coach angry with the loss and irritated by the impending court storming wanting to get out of the building as soon as possible. At the very least, it was very poor form for a leader of men to leave the court before he knew his guys were safe. More likely, though, the "safety" argument was an excuse to get off the court, and his anger got the better of him and he did something really, really dumb.

[dukedoc]

Official Boxscore (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=205940563)
Not only did Rasheed go 0-10 for the field, he had 0 rebounds, 0 assists, and 0 steals. Seems his shooting difficulties are affecting the rest of his game.
Tyler also had very little to show for his 19 minutes

At the beginning of the year when we started with guns blazing (including the freshman Sulaimon), many critics said that because of our senior leadership we had already maxed out our capabilities and Kentucky and other teams that underwhelmed early on would catch up by March, given their relative youth. They forgot that some of our critical personnel like Sheed and Amile are freshmen as well and have just as steep learning curves. Then there's Quinn who is playing his first fully healthy year and is on his own steep curve.

I take heart in the fact that Sheed is much better than the way he played today. Tyler is better than the way he played today. Ryan is better than the way he didn't play at all today.

We don't just have one fantastic freshman in Sheed, but clearly also in Amile who had a fantastic game. Marshall also is only beginning on his curve.

We played a close game short handed against a talented and amped up team who brought their A game in their home environment. If we can get healthy and continue to develop the way we have been, we'll be truly scary when it counts the most.

[Duvall]

To be fair, there was a whole lot more "electricity" in the air last year at FSU against UNC than today's Duke/State game when Roy pulled the team. And as we saw today that can be a dangerous situation.
It always seems to be conveniently forgotten in these shots at Roy I see from time to time that Roy intended for all the players to leave the court at the same time and that Hamilton recommended Roy do so, as well.
It might play well on the board, but I don't think it's fair to say Roy abandon'd his players in that spot. He was trying to do what he thought would be best for all of them in a no-win situation and unfortunately poor communication left those players out there.
The haze of battle, and all that...you know:)

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/01/17/1783580/5-left-behind-in-confusion.html

I know that's what Roy said, but I can't believe that it was actually true. Are we really supposed to believe that Roy thought that the coaches had agreed to call the game early - something only the officials have the authority to do?

That was a made-up excuse offered to satisfy the UNC faithful, and it doesn't hold water.

[Wheat/"/"/"]

Your story isn't accurate at all here. Hamilton didn't recommend that Williams take his players off the court. On the contrary, Hamilton looked very confused when Williams left the floor.

And if Williams was really concerned that all of the players get off the court, why didn't he actually wait until they all left the court before he left? In fact, why was he the FIRST guy off the court, before any of the other coaches or players left the floor?

Williams' postgame comments were a poorly-handled attempt to cover for what it really was: a frustrated coach angry with the loss and irritated by the impending court storming wanting to get out of the building as soon as possible. At the very least, it was very poor form for a leader of men to leave the court before he knew his guys were safe. More likely, though, the "safety" argument was an excuse to get off the court, and his anger got the better of him and he did something really, really dumb.

I'm with Bob here...whatever, it's your story and you are entitled to it.

[CDu]

I'm with Bob here...whatever, it's your story and you are entitled to it.

Fact: Hamilton looked confused as Williams left the court.

Fact: Williams was the first guy off the floor for UNC.

Based on these two facts, my story seems a lot more reasonable than yours.

[oreorudy]

At the beginning of the year when we started with guns blazing (including the freshman Sulaimon), many critics said that because of our senior leadership we had already maxed out our capabilities and Kentucky and other teams that underwhelmed early on would catch up by March, given their relative youth. They forgot that some of our critical personnel like Sheed and Amile are freshmen as well and have just as steep learning curves. Then there's Quinn who is playing his first fully healthy year and is on his own steep curve.

I take heart in the fact that Sheed is much better than the way he played today. Tyler is better than the way he played today. Ryan is better than the way he didn't play at all today.

We don't just have one fantastic freshman in Sheed, but clearly also in Amile who had a fantastic game. Marshall also is only beginning on his curve.

We played a close game short handed against a talented and amped up team who brought their A game in their home environment. If we can get healthy and continue to develop the way we have been, we'll be truly scary when it counts the most.


In total agreement with this post. Also love the team chemistry and intensity.

[Billy Dat]

State defended Cook very well today. They were tough with him and it resulted in 4 turnovers.


State did a good job defending Quinn and Mason against the entry pass and the pick and roll. Clearly the coaches kept trying to work this angle but State was long and energetic. If they played other teams that hard, they would be ranked much higher.


I just read through the whole thread and these were the only comments I found about State's D which I thought was really excellent. Granted, we were adjusting to life on offense without Kelly, and that is no small adjustment, but they did a very good job of making us work for everything we got, especially once they started limiting us to one shot.

On offense, they were just very tough to contain as others have mentioned. It would be hard for anyone to contain State the way they played today. As someone said, when Leslie is hitting face up 15 footers, what can you do? But, they also had some incredibly timely shots. I specifically remember the 3 by Lorenzo Brown when we had cut it to 3 with 12:30 left and the contested lay-up Leslie made over Mason when we had cut it to 4 with two minutes left. They answered every challenge. They also turned the tables on us by being the better team to start the second half. They broke that tie right before the half and then jumped out by 8 with 3:30 of the second. We never got the lead back in the second half. We also missed a couple of chippies that would have kept the lead within 4 in the last 7 minutes or so. We had our chances.


NCSU didn't have many things go against them today shooting 50% on 3s (small sample size today) vs 40% for the year, had soooo many bounces and rolls go their way and shot an unbelievable 87% FT today vs 66.7% on the year.

While they made their own luck, this was very true. The way the ball was bouncing made me think it wasn't going to happen for us today.

I had no idea Quinn had 17 points. I like the fact that he can have a quiet 17, it means he is becoming a better scorer. I know he wasn't efficient in his scoring, but we need him to help pick up the load and be someone the defense has to worry about.

Everyone has praised Amile and Josh and Seth and I agree so nuff said. I though Tyler's tough guy stuff didn't work today and the 4-point play for Wood was a really big turning point in the first half. Mason showed a sweet McHale-esque counter late in the game when he drove left across the lane, faked the hook, stepped under and got a lay-up. Keep throwing those counters, big dog!

No loss is good, but we are in an adjustment mode. State played really well today. Add another court storm to our resume and let's lick our wounds and move on.

[uh_no]

Fact: Hamilton looked confused as Williams left the court.

Fact: Williams was the first guy off the floor for UNC.

Based on these two facts, my story seems a lot more reasonable than yours.

how about we not rehash this? it's completely off topic, and frankly, it's not worth arguing anymore about.

[Furniture]

His (Wood) first three was Sick! A real dagger to the heart!

[Kedsy]

- We miss Kelly's offensive capabilities (duh!). The dynamic duo put up good numbers on points and rebounds but they were from missed shots. Nothing bad about that, but neither make the kinds of offensive plays that open up the inside for Plumlee. We needed someone who could hit the shot that follows dribble penetration. Our threes came from high screens. When we drove the lanes, the shot went up, even if it wasn't there because we only had one really effective outside threat.


Josh and Amile did some really good things, but we definitely missed our "stretch 4" player Ryan Kelly. The beauty of the "stretch 4" is that he draws out a defender which opens up driving lanes and presents match-up problems for the opposing defense. In addition, I've got to think Ryan would have given us better interior defense against Howell and/or Leslie.

In another thread, we were talking about whether we could replace Seth's scoring if he had to miss a game or games due to injury. I used the Delaware game as an example to show that playing Amile and Alex at the wing could replace Seth's scoring, but we would still miss his shooting (and other qualities), and that our overall offense would suffer even though we could make up his scoring.

I think we need to look at the loss of Ryan the same way. Josh and Amile showed today that they can make up for the loss of both Ryan's points and his rebounds (and then some). Obviously they may not do that every game, but at least they showed they're capable of it. But that's not nearly the whole story and obviously our team is a lot weaker without Ryan in there. The posts quoted above touch on several of the reasons why, but I'll add some more. First, I think Mason looked like he felt obligated to take things on his own shoulders; his attempts to take over were partly successful, but also led to a couple costly turnovers. Also, obviously he'd have more room to maneuver if State's second big defender had to make a choice between helping with Mason and guarding Ryan. Second, Quinn and Rasheed (and Seth, to a lesser extent) have to work a lot harder to get open shots. The shots they took today were not nearly as open and "good" as they would have been with Ryan spacing the floor. Quinn, Rasheed, and Tyler have neither picture perfect shooting form nor a lot of experience making their own shot at the college level. If they have to create for themselves or take a more covered shot, they're going to shoot a lower percentage, which is exactly what happened today. Finally, as Roy White noted, we really missed Ryan's defense. I think it was Leslie, not Howell, who really killed us in the 2nd half. And he would have had a much more difficult time doing that if Ryan was defending him.

Finally, I think a big part of why we've been so good this season is because we don't get ruffled and know exactly what we have to do to win. We lose a big part of that when Ryan doesn't play and it was noticeable today. If Seth has to miss some time too and we're without both of them, I'm afraid it'll be even more noticeable.


Our younger starters struggled and we needed both to come up big. Rasheed is just having a hard time right now. May do him some good to reduce his minutes and give Murphy some burn.


I take heart in the fact that Sheed is much better than the way he played today.

First of all, I seem to be in the minority but I thought Rasheed played pretty well today, despite his poor shooting and lack of counting stats. His defense on Wood was by and large excellent. Wood couldn't miss, but he hardly saw the ball when Rasheed was on him. And defense is the main skill Rasheed brings to the table. At least this season, offense should be considered gravy where he's concerned.

As far as his recent poor shooting is concerned, I think there are several things at work there. While it's possible it's the "freshman wall," I'm not sure I buy that. I think part of it is a simple slump (or however the random chance people describe a slump). I think a bigger part of it is a reversion to the mean. Earlier in the season when he was shooting so well, some people touted him as a great shooter and I suggested perhaps he wasn't as great as they thought because his form wasn't that good and it was very possible his overall shooting would end up at 40% or lower and his three-point shooting would end up 35% or lower. And that's exactly where he is right now. I mention this not to pat myself on the back, but rather to point out that shooters with poor form can shoot a high percentage for short periods but often can't maintain that high percentage, and Rasheed may be in that boat. Quinn and Tyler, too, for that matter.

Having said all that, I think the biggest reason for Rasheed's recent shooting decline is he gets worse quality shots when we "need" him to score than he does when he's the fifth option. When Ryan and Seth are firing on all cylinders, Rasheed only has to take wide open shots and there's no pressure. So against Wake, when Ryan and Seth combined to shoot 8 for 14 from 3-range, Rasheed took better shots and made 2 of 4 threes (of course, Wake's poor defense may have had influence here as well). Against Clemson, Rasheed's poor shooting didn't really start until the 2nd half, when Ryan was out and Seth wasn't shooting well. Against State, Ryan wasn't playing so there was more pressure for Rasheed to score -- he couldn't sit back and wait for the perfect wide open shot, and thus his shooting suffered. Granted, my examples showcase a very small sample size, but to my eyes at least this concept can be readily seen when watching the games. Early on in the season, he took pretty much all wide open shots in rhythm, and he made a lot of them. Lately he's been attempting more difficult shots because that's what we need him to do, but a lot of them aren't going in.

That said, none of the above would really explain going hitless on ten tries. I think some of that has to be attributed to random chance and bad luck, and possibly the fact that he was being guarded by a taller player.


Lorenzo Brown had 13 assists, but no other Pack player had an assist; easier said than done, but effectively defending Brown would disrupt the Pack offense.

Yeah, nothing to do about it now, but I wonder if it would have been better to have Rasheed check Brown and let Seth chase Wood around. Rasheed did a great job on Wood, but perhaps disrupting their entire offense would have been more advantageous.

[Furniture]

In another thread, we were talking about whether we could replace Seth's scoring if he had to miss a game or games due to injury. I used the Delaware game as an example to show that playing Amile and Alex at the wing could replace Seth's scoring, but we would still miss his shooting (and other qualities), and that our overall offense would suffer even though we could make up his scoring.

I think we need to look at the loss of Ryan the same way. Josh and Amile showed today that they can make up for the loss of both Ryan's points and his rebounds (and then some). Obviously they may not do that every game, but at least they showed they're capable of it. But that's not nearly the whole story and obviously our team is a lot weaker without Ryan in there. The posts quoted above touch on several of the reasons why, but I'll add some more. First, I think Mason looked like he felt obligated to take things on his own shoulders; his attempts to take over were partly successful, but also led to a couple costly turnovers. Also, obviously he'd have more room to maneuver if State's second big defender had to make a choice between helping with Mason and guarding Ryan. Second, Quinn and Rasheed (and Seth, to a lesser extent) have to work a lot harder to get open shots. The shots they took today were not nearly as open and "good" as they would have been with Ryan spacing the floor. Quinn, Rasheed, and Tyler have neither picture perfect shooting form nor a lot of experience making their own shot at the college level. If they have to create for themselves or take a more covered shot, they're going to shoot a lower percentage, which is exactly what happened today. Finally, as Roy White noted, we really missed Ryan's defense. I think it was Leslie, not Howell, who really killed us in the 2nd half. And he would have had a much more difficult time doing that if Ryan was defending him.

Finally, I think a big part of why we've been so good this season is because we don't get ruffled and know exactly what we have to do to win. We lose a big part of that when Ryan doesn't play and it was noticeable today. If Seth has to miss some time too and we're without both of them, I'm afraid it'll be even more noticeable.





First of all, I seem to be in the minority but I thought Rasheed played pretty well today, despite his poor shooting and lack of counting stats. His defense on Wood was by and large excellent. Wood couldn't miss, but he hardly saw the ball when Rasheed was on him. And defense is the main skill Rasheed brings to the table. At least this season, offense should be considered gravy where he's concerned.

As far as his recent poor shooting is concerned, I think there are several things at work there. While it's possible it's the "freshman wall," I'm not sure I buy that. I think part of it is a simple slump (or however the random chance people describe a slump). I think a bigger part of it is a reversion to the mean. Earlier in the season when he was shooting so well, some people touted him as a great shooter and I suggested perhaps he wasn't as great as they thought because his form wasn't that good and it was very possible his overall shooting would end up at 40% or lower and his three-point shooting would end up 35% or lower. And that's exactly where he is right now. I mention this not to pat myself on the back, but rather to point out that shooters with poor form can shoot a high percentage for short periods but often can't maintain that high percentage, and Rasheed may be in that boat. Quinn and Tyler, too, for that matter.

Having said all that, I think the biggest reason for Rasheed's recent shooting decline is he gets worse quality shots when we "need" him to score than he does when he's the fifth option. When Ryan and Seth are firing on all cylinders, Rasheed only has to take wide open shots and there's no pressure. So against Wake, when Ryan and Seth combined to shoot 8 for 14 from 3-range, Rasheed took better shots and made 2 of 4 threes (of course, Wake's poor defense may have had influence here as well). Against Clemson, Rasheed's poor shooting didn't really start until the 2nd half, when Ryan was out and Seth wasn't shooting well. Against State, Ryan wasn't playing so there was more pressure for Rasheed to score -- he couldn't sit back and wait for the perfect wide open shot, and thus his shooting suffered. Granted, my examples showcase a very small sample size, but to my eyes at least this concept can be readily seen when watching the games. Early on in the season, he took pretty much all wide open shots in rhythm, and he made a lot of them. Lately he's been attempting more difficult shots because that's what we need him to do, but a lot of them aren't going in.

That said, none of the above would really explain going hitless on ten tries. I think some of that has to be attributed to random chance and bad luck, and possibly the fact that he was being guarded by a taller player.



Yeah, nothing to do about it now, but I wonder if it would have been better to have Rasheed check Brown and let Seth chase Wood around. Rasheed did a great job on Wood, but perhaps disrupting their entire offense would have been more advantageous.

Rasheed is also missing layups and dunks. I think he is better driving for the baskets getting fouls and knocking down his FT's. He is doing that very well!

[robobevan]

Lots of love on the board for Amile which is understandable but only a few comments about Josh. First of all, yesterday was his birthday so Happy Birthday! I also thought he did lots of really nice things for us. Especially when we got off to a little slow start he made a few hustle plays and got a couple baskets that got us going. He also got his hands on a couple balls on defense and took a charge. Plus he stayed out of foul trouble which was not easy in this game. I only remember one jumper and the rest of his shots were around the bucket so I think he played his role very well. He also had to be playing a little tired as not used to so many minutes. Go Josh! Great job.

[oldnavy]

Fact: Hamilton looked confused as Williams left the court.

Fact: Williams was the first guy off the floor for UNC.

Based on these two facts, my story seems a lot more reasonable than yours.

This is correct. Especially the fact that Roy was at the head of the line getting off the court. Anyone knows that when you are leading a group OUT of a dangerous situation you are the last to leave. Do Captains jump off a sinking ship first?? No, the correct thing to do in that situation would be to send the bench off the court with the assistants, and stay and coach the walk on's to the end of the game and then ensure that they all get off the court before you. How anyone can see what Roy did and try to justify it is beyond me.

Come on, Roy did a bone head thing, it happens. All the revisionist talk will never change what millions of people saw with their own eyes.

[CDu]

As far as his recent poor shooting is concerned, I think there are several things at work there. While it's possible it's the "freshman wall," I'm not sure I buy that. I think part of it is a simple slump (or however the random chance people describe a slump). I think a bigger part of it is a reversion to the mean. Earlier in the season when he was shooting so well, some people touted him as a great shooter and I suggested perhaps he wasn't as great as they thought because his form wasn't that good and it was very possible his overall shooting would end up at 40% or lower and his three-point shooting would end up 35% or lower. And that's exactly where he is right now. I mention this not to pat myself on the back, but rather to point out that shooters with poor form can shoot a high percentage for short periods but often can't maintain that high percentage, and Rasheed may be in that boat. Quinn and Tyler, too, for that matter.

I have to disagree here. Reggie Miller, Peja Stojakovic, and Michael Adams are just a few examples (and far from the complete list) of guys with bad form who were good shooters. You don't have to have JJ Redick form to shoot well. You just have to have to be able to repeat the same successful shooting form, regardless of what that form is.

Sulaimon was considered a good, though streaky, 3 point shooter in high school. And he's shooting 35.6% from 3 this year. It's not going out on much of a limb to suggest that a shooter will shoot below 40%. And even on the (hopefully) tail side of a slump, 35.6% is still a pretty good percentage (better than a 50% eFG%).

As for his overall FG%, I think that decline is more a function of missing a TON of layups and shots around the basket lately. I wouldn't call that regression to the mean. I'd call that bad luck combined with perhaps pressing a bit mentally.

[slower]

Although I'm generally in the ever-popular "Negative Nellie" group, I actually feel really good about the game (was finally able to watch it on DV-R). Great game by Mason, including a monster first half. Excellent showings also by Quinn and Seth, and great contributions from Amile and Josh. Sheed just couldn't get them to go down - several were just in and out. State's a very good team when they are clicking. Assuming Seth's latest injury is minor and temporary, and assuming Ryan is able to return, we should be in good shape.

[Monmouth77]

I think emotion was such a huge factor in this game that a lot of what we saw defies the usual statistical analyses. The game was played at a level that we typically see during the regular season only in Duke-Carolina games (or some of the Duke-Maryland games of the last decade or so) with guys on both sides stepping up and playing out to the very edges of their ability.

Wood's shot to start the game is a perfect example, and it set the tone for State for the whole game. I know he is a deadly three point shooter with long range, but, knowing that we would make it a defensive point of emphasis to chase him around he took a shot from an absurd distance and made a statement that he would find a away to make a mark.

What impressed me about our play is that we matched their emotion as best as we could in the circumstances (playing on the road, and not having the same pressure to win as they did). Amile's energy in particular, was impressive, and his play was a revelation. I also thought Quinn looked to be in control at all times, and that Seth nearly willed us to victory before he tweaked his ankle.

As others have noted, it's a radically different look to have Amile (or Josh) playing in the post instead of Ryan playing out on the wing. It puts more pressure on Mason to deal with two post defenders whether or not teams are explicitly double teaming, and it clogs the driving lanes for Quinn, Seth and Rasheed who are use to having Ryan draw defenders away from the paint.

But there is something to be said for the style of play that the two-post lineup facilitates, as our defensive rebounding in the first half, along with any number of putbacks and easy chip shots off interior passing attests.

The stretch of beautiful play in the first half when we led by as many as 6 or 8, and Amile was playing at his most effective, is something to strive for in Ryan's absence.

Overall, I think if we played our game on Saturday against any other team in the conference we'd have won decisively. And though State does have some size advantages at the wing spots that make it harder for our guys to get their shots off (a problem last year against them too) I'd say that emotion carried the day for NC State.

I think we'll win more conference games than the Pack, but they will be good, and I look forward to the rematch in Durham.

[Zeke]

Having trouble finding Box Score for NCS game on DBR site. Any suggestions?

[roywhite]

Having trouble finding Box Score for NCS game on DBR site. Any suggestions?

Boxscore (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=205940563)

goduke.com is a good place to find boxscores and stats for Duke games and the season as a whole

[Newton_14]

Boxscore (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=205940563)

goduke.com is a good place to find boxscores and stats for Duke games and the season as a whole

Interesting data from the boxscore. Can't get much more even than that. Interesting too, that both PG's shot poorly (Brown- 3-13/Cook- 6-16) but distributed well (Brown-13 assists/Cook- 7 assists). Each had 4 TO's.

Points in the paint-DU 42,ST 42. Points off turnovers-DU 15,ST 7.
2nd chance points-DU 22,ST 16. Fast break points-DU 15,ST 22.
Bench points-DU 10,ST 10. Score tied-2 times. Lead changed-6 times.
Last FG-DU 2nd-00:19, ST 2nd-01:42.
Largest lead-DU by 8 1st-08:52, ST by 10 2nd-07:42.

[greybeard]

Impressive win by Pack against still very strong Duke. Pack fans have every reason to be thrilled with Howell, Leslie, Brown, and Wood. Each of those guys had excellent-to-superb game.

Agonizing misses in close on several shots for Duke.

All congrats to Pack. Excellent effort, game plan, execution.

You score the ball against a scorer and some of the swag gets lost. Many say defense creates offense; my view, exercising some dominian over a scorer on the other end often is a difference maker. "You can't stop me either," or at least, "I can get what I want often and there is nothing that you can do about it" speaks.

[Channing]

Putting aside my general distaste for rushing the court, I understand why fans/students do it. Along those lines, I "get" why the NCSU fans rushed the court after beating Duke (as an aside, I love that UNC has fallen to the point where they are no longer worthy of a rush).

However, what on earth was that kid in the wheel chair doing? How on earth did someone not stop that? I don't care if that kid has been NCSU's biggest fan since the day he was born (I did read an article where he is the team's stat keeper and a huge fan); he should not have been allowed to rush the court. It was a sheer miracle that he didn't suffer serious bodily harm even though he was thrown from his wheel chair. Thank goodness CJ Leslie was able to get him and pick him up.

I know everything about kids do stupid things and kids will be kids but come on, some adult somewhere should have stepped in at some point. Watching on TV I could see what was about to unfold and was mortified.

I'm glad no serious harm befell the kid, but really hope someone at NCSU or the ACC takes a closer looks at what happened.

[Bluedog]

http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323596204578241900883447458.html


In the past 10 seasons, Duke has lost 31 true road games. Fans rushed the court after 25 of them (80.6%). They have rushed the court after blowouts, like Clemson fans did in 2009 after a 27-point beat-down. They have rushed the court after nail-biters as Maryland fans did in 2005.

I can't imagine any other team in the country comes close. Even in 2006-2007 when we went 8-8 in the ACC and got a 6 seed in the tournament, two out of the four teams that beat us at their home rushed the court.

[TruBlu]

http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323596204578241900883447458.html
I can't imagine any other team in the country comes close. Even in 2006-2007 when we went 8-8 in the ACC and got a 6 seed in the tournament, two out of the four teams that beat us at their home rushed the court.

And one of them probably held a riot.