MBB: Duke 88, Virginia Tech 56 Post-Game Thread

[pfrduke]

Blowout. Boom.

[davekay1971]

That was nice. Strong play all around.

[sporthenry]

I think this game was good for everyone here as well as the team. Should make things a bit happier around here for a little bit at least.

Wonder what negatives we can find though.

[Duvall]

I think this game was good for everyone here as well as the team. Should make things a bit happier around here for a little bit at least.

Wonder what negatives we can find though.

Zaf needs to work on his putbacks.

[CLW]

Hokies had 0% chance in this one. #1 they are a bad basketball team. #2 Duke came out focused and with an edge after the Maryland loss. Total domination and solid performances by just about everyone tonight.

[sagegrouse]

Let's check the "replacement players." Looks like Hairston, Murphy and Jefferson combined for 23 points and nine rebounds. Great playing, guys!

Now that the subs are adequately filling the gap, it MUST be time for Ryan to return.

sagegrouse

[cptnflash]

1) Obvious improvement in our energy level, facilitated by a few days off. Mason in particular looked refreshed.

2) Great to see us play hard for 40 minutes, even though the outcome was not in doubt after the first 15. We hear all the time about playing to a standard rather than the score, but often that's just talk - tonight it actually happened, which is awesome.

3) Don't get too excited about how good we looked tonight. Virginia Tech is the worst team in the ACC, and they had a terrible night from 3 (even for them) while we couldn't miss. We should (hopefully) win easily against Boston College at home this weekend too. Don't believe the hype.

[Billy Dat]

Just what the Doc ordered, also glad to hear that Ryan is off crutches and running in the pool.

[NashvilleDevil]

3) Don't get too excited about how good we looked tonight. Virginia Tech is the worst team in the ACC, and they had a terrible night from 3 (even for them) while we couldn't miss. We should (hopefully) win easily against Boston College at home this weekend too. Don't believe the hype.

Duke won and looked good doing it. I'm pretty excited about it.

[Duvall]

1) Obvious improvement in our energy level, facilitated by a few days off. Mason in particular looked refreshed.

2) Great to see us play hard for 40 minutes, even though the outcome was not in doubt after the first 15. We hear all the time about playing to a standard rather than the score, but often that's just talk - tonight it actually happened, which is awesome.

3) Don't get too excited about how good we looked tonight. Virginia Tech is the worst team in the ACC, and they had a terrible night from 3 (even for them) while we couldn't miss. We should (hopefully) win easily against Boston College at home this weekend too. Don't believe the hype.

Duke was favored by 13 by Vegas, 15 by Pomeroy and 12 by Sagarin. It's okay to feel good about a 32-point road win.

[throatybeard]

Everything is a disaster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Until we win a game by 32.

This team won't advance past [NCAAT round X] for sure!

I need to lie down, y'all.

Remind me, is Mason "exposed" or not?

[Furniture]

Strong!!!!!!!!!

[roywhite]

Nice to see the good shooting, good defense, and good effort through the lineup.

Josh had another strong game with 11 points on 4-6 from the field and 3-4 from the line.
Also good to see how he did in the all-important category of....number of times I yelled at him from the couch -- 0.

Loved that little baseline lay-up and one from Alex late in the game.

Nice momentum for the team heading into late Feb. and March.

[cptnflash]

Duke was favored by 13 by Vegas, 15 by Pomeroy and 12 by Sagarin. It's okay to feel good about a 32-point road win.

I feel great about the win! It just doesn't mean all that much for the future, that's all I'm saying. People have a tendency to overreact to both good and bad performances, in terms of their go-forward expectations (media in particular). Mine are unchanged.

[weezie]

Josh had another strong game with 11 points on 4-6 from the field and 3-4 from the line.
Also good to see how he did in the all-important category of....number of times I yelled at him from the couch -- 0.


That last category is a toughie.

Josh did quite well, agreed. Very important he get into the swing. The ref with all the hair was cuckoo with his whistle in first half but must have gotten the word in second.

[cptnflash]

Josh had another strong game with 11 points on 4-6 from the field and 3-4 from the line.
Also good to see how he did in the all-important category of....number of times I yelled at him from the couch -- 0.

To the extent that there's any "story" in tonight's game, I think this is it. This makes three pretty decent games in a row for Josh. That could still be random. But in my book, three is enough to at least believe there's a possibility of a trend developing.

[mo.st.dukie]

1)
3) Don't get too excited about how good we looked tonight. Virginia Tech is the worst team in the ACC, and they had a terrible night from 3 (even for them) while we couldn't miss. We should (hopefully) win easily against Boston College at home this weekend too. Don't believe the hype.

I will believe the hype. Duke is a very good basketball team when they are playing their game. Whether they show up or whether the other team executes a great gameplan to take them out of their game is another thing but the talent of this team is at a high level and they can beat anybody out there. They destroyed a team that all of NCSU, UNC, and Miami (the greatest team ever) struggled with (BTW, Miami also struggled with Boston College).

[wallyman]

Sure it was garbage time, but nice showing at the end of the game. 8 points in 3 minutes -- scoring three different ways.

[Furniture]

To the extent that there's any "story" in tonight's game, I think this is it. This makes three pretty decent games in a row for Josh. That could still be random. But in my book, three is enough to at least believe there's a possibility of a trend developing.

I think you are right!

[ChrisP]

Obviously, VT is not great, BUT...they did only lose to Miami by 9 at home AND took BOTH UNC and NC State to OT on each of those team's home courts. So...clearly they are capable of playing better than they did tonight. I'll take a 32 point road win this year in conference play all day everyday - and twice on Sunday!

Very solid game by Mason, Seth and Rasheed. We held Green a little below his average, too. The only Devil who seemed to have a sub par game was Quinn, but of course, he was limited by those 3 early fouls.

And I know basketball is a lot about matchups, but Josh showed me some things tonight! I hope we're seeing his emergence to a new level and that his trajectory from here on up will be solidly upward!

[dyedwab]

1) Don't get too excited about how good we looked tonight. Virginia Tech is the worst team in the ACC, and they had a terrible night from 3 (even for them) while we couldn't miss. We should (hopefully) win easily against Boston College at home this weekend too. Don't believe the hype.

I agree generally, but Eric Green is really really really good and we contained him, especially in the first half when we put the game out of reach. To me that was the most impressive thing about this game. Yeah, VTech is terrible, but Eric Green isn't and I thought we did a fantastic job on him

Other than, a couple of other points

1) Josh is playing his best basketball at Duke

2) Great to see Seth have a great game in Blacksburg after the last two years

3) It was great to see the intensity for the whole game, even though the result was a forgone conclusion early on

[roywhite]

Duke 88 -- VaTech 56 (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=206476783)

Duke with 15 assists and only 5 turnovers
34-25 advantage for Duke on the boards
Hokies 1-16 from 3-pt
Rasheed with a nice stat line -- 30 minutes 7-11 FG 3-4 3-pt; 17 pts 5 rebounds 2 assists 2 steals

[jipops]

2 less obvious things I really liked:

1. When Quinn got his 3rd foul in the first half there was no drop off when Tyler came in.

2. Josh's post move to open the 2nd half was very nice.

We may do ok in the NCAA-t if we can defend this effectively.

[mgtr]

I think that Josh is the main beneficiary of Ryan being out. Obviously he does not do the things that Ryan does, but he does the "josh" things better than before. And he actually made one of those long two-point jumpers.

[Olympic Fan]

Tonight was a good example of what Duke (and UNC) faces, compared with what everybody else faces on the road in the ACC.

I've seen VPI play at home a number of times and usually the crowd is blah ... I watched them once earlier this season and it looked like nobody wass in the building -- just a sea of empty seats.

That wasn't the case tonight. ESPN posted an interesting pregame picture:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/photos?photoId=2746581&gameId=330520259

Amazing the lengths teams will go to when Duke comes to town. Not complaining -- it's the price of sustained success. Just think we should never forget the hurdles Duke faces.

[ricks68]

Is it my imagination, or did I really see Alex play pretty good defense?:)

ricks

[NSDukeFan]

I think that Josh is the main beneficiary of Ryan being out. Obviously he does not do the things that Ryan does, but he does the "josh" things better than before. And he actually made one of those long two-point jumpers.

I am pretty sure this is untrue as Josh could not possibly be playing better because he is what he is. /sarcasm

[dukelifer]

Duke 88 -- VaTech 56 (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=206476783)

Duke with 15 assists and only 5 turnovers
34-25 advantage for Duke on the boards
Hokies 1-16 from 3-pt
Rasheed with a nice stat line -- 30 minutes 7-11 FG 3-4 3-pt; 17 pts 5 rebounds 2 assists 2 steals

If Seth and Rasheed are shooting, Duke is tough to beat. I did not expect such a wide margin of victory. That has not happened at Va Tech. The team was prepared and delivered. Seth is an outstanding college player and may be finally getting over his injury. He is fully capable of being the man. A great start to a very tough stretch of games.

[davekay1971]

Is it my imagination, or did I really see Alex play pretty good defense?:)

ricks

Not only did you see Alex play really good defense, you also saw Quinn give Alex a huge smile and "attaboy" (okay, probably said something less 1950s, but you get the idea) when Alex came to the sideline after switching onto Allen at the top of the 3 point arc and staying in front of him, making Allen give up the ball. It was not only a good defensive play by Alex, it shows the degree to which this team is focusing on and prioritizing defense. Alex didn't force a turnover, block a shot, make a 3, throw down a jam - he just stayed in front of Allen, and there was Quinn really giving him props on the sideline. This team recognizes and values the simple, but critically important, defensive plays.

[Indoor66]

Remind me, is Mason "exposed" or not?

I hope not. That is a crime in most instances.

[Channing]

This was obviously a fantastic offensive effort (and one of the best shooting efforts I have ever seen from a Duke team). However, I was really encouraged by Josh's game. It seems the last 2-3 games both he and Thornton have taken their games to a completely new level. With regards to Josh, I'm still not thrilled with the long 2-pt jumper, but if he can make it enough to force the other team to respect it Mason's life becomes a bit easier. He also looked really confident around the rim, both on the post move and the reverse. With regards to Thornton, I know it was mentioned, but when Cook went to the bench Thornton stepped in seamlessly. He obviously can't create like Cook, but he facilitated and made the open 3 pt looks.

The play of both of those guys was very very encouraging.

Oh ... and Seth is a bad bad man.

[gus]

If Seth and Rasheed are shooting, Duke is tough to beat. I did not expect such a wide margin of victory. That has not happened at Va Tech. The team was prepared and delivered. Seth is an outstanding college player and may be finally getting over his injury. He is fully capable of being the man. A great start to a very tough stretch of games.

Seth is one of my favorite players in the recent era. It started when he was redshirting -- it was clear from the blueplanet videos that he loves playing basketball and loves the team. And now, it comes across when he plays. Plus he's really cagey and moves so well without the ball. I think his lack of a near constant ear-to-ear grin this season is an indication of the pain he's played through.

Seth is a great player. He may not be a marquee, high lottery pick like Irving or Rivers, but he's the kind of player that makes a team great *and* fun to watch.

[devildeac]

I think this game was good for everyone here as well as the team. Should make things a bit happier around here for a little bit at least.

Wonder what negatives we can find though.

We missed a three in the first half:rolleyes:;).

[moonpie23]

can we now over react the other way and say we are a lock for the NBA finals?

:rolleyes:

[Billy Dat]

This was obviously a fantastic offensive effort (and one of the best shooting efforts I have ever seen from a Duke team). However, I was really encouraged by Josh's game. It seems the last 2-3 games both he and Thornton have taken their games to a completely new level. With regards to Josh, I'm still not thrilled with the long 2-pt jumper, but if he can make it enough to force the other team to respect it Mason's life becomes a bit easier. He also looked really confident around the rim, both on the post move and the reverse. With regards to Thornton, I know it was mentioned, but when Cook went to the bench Thornton stepped in seamlessly. He obviously can't create like Cook, but he facilitated and made the open 3 pt looks.
The play of both of those guys was very very encouraging.

I was feeling the same way - kind of like they are transitioning into the type of supporting-cast senior leader roles they will play next year - a little more calm, contained, controlled, and efficient. Let's hope it continues.

[Gthoma2a]

can we now over react the other way and say we are a lock for the NBA finals?

:rolleyes:

Only if Amile or Alex can put a body on Lebron in the conference finals.

[CDu]

Well, that was fun! It's nice to see the team seemingly hitting on on cylinders in a game. We dominated nearly from the opening tip to the final buzzer. My thoughts:

- Erick Green is an absolutely fantastic basketball player. It's a shame his team is so bad, because he should absolutely be in the national player of the year conversation. He won't be, because of his team's record. But to be able to score that much and that efficiently when EVERY opposing defense is focused only on you is truly amazing.

- Curry should be on the short list for ACC player of the year honors too. It's amazing how good he's been in ACC play for us.

- I love what Sulaimon is doing. I had a feeling he'd have kind of a Nolan Smith +1 year trajectory (i.e., be similar to sophomore Nolan as a freshman, junior Nolan as a soph, etc). But he's even exceeding that expectation. The kid can do it all: penetrate, shoot, pass, defend.

- It appears that Hairston may be finally getting comfortable on the floor. Back to back 11 point games, and more importantly he doesn't look as frantic out there. I'd still prefer that he not be so switch-happy on defense (had another bad one in the first half on Green), but he's getting better.

- Mason had a very nice bounceback game. It appears that the coaches got the message to him that he needs to play some defense, because he looked like a man possessed in the first half. He had 3 blocks, and 6 rebounds midway through the first half and just completely nullified Tech's game around the basket. He didn't score a ton, but he was extremely efficient. And of course he (along with Thornton) led the team in assists.

- I will echo the thoughts mentioned by someone earlier that it was impressive that we didn't miss a beat when Cook went out with 3 fouls midway through the first half. That could have been a real turning point, but Thornton, Curry, and Sulaimon really stepped up in running the offense.

- Murphy had one really nice driving reverse layup past Eddie shortly before Va Tech brought in the scrubs. And he hit the free throw! He also added a 3 and a putback against the scrubs near the end. But what was most notable was that he seemed really with it on defense. He got switched onto Green at least once in the first half, and stayed in front of Green preventing a shot. And he played solid defense the rest of the way when he was in there, too. Good for him.

- Jefferson was active on the boards (5 rebounds in 17 minutes). His offense clearly seems behind his rebounding, and he's still learning defensively. But he'll get there.

Just a fun, fun win. We took a scrappy but talent-short Va Tech team and manhandled them. Our scoring efficiency was off the charts: 53.6 FG%, 70.6 3pt%, 76.2 FT%, 9 offensive rebounds (in spite of the few misses), and only 5 turnovers. Even against a bad team, that's unbelievable.

[Udaman]

You know, I'm glad we won, and that we (for the first time in a while) simply dominated on the road from start to finish. I think this team has the potential to beat anyone, and when/if we get Kelly back has a legit chance to contend for the national title.

But.....

For the life of me I cannot understand why Plumlee played 36 minutes last night and Curry played 32. I'm sorry, but that just makes no sense, especially in Mason's case. The guy is clearly wearing down, as his two game stretch showed last week, and as even Coach K said after the Maryland loss. I know it's been 5 days since they last played....but really? We were up 20 at the half and 30 with 10 minutes left. At that point Mason should have been done for the night. Curry as well.

Huge Duke and Coach K fan, but his maddening propensity to play his starters into the ground during the season to the point that they have nothing left in March....well, it drives me nuts.

[Billy Dat]

You know, I'm glad we won, and that we (for the first time in a while) simply dominated on the road from start to finish. I think this team has the potential to beat anyone, and when/if we get Kelly back has a legit chance to contend for the national title.

But.....

For the life of me I cannot understand why Plumlee played 36 minutes last night and Curry played 32. I'm sorry, but that just makes no sense, especially in Mason's case. The guy is clearly wearing down, as his two game stretch showed last week, and as even Coach K said after the Maryland loss. I know it's been 5 days since they last played....but really? We were up 20 at the half and 30 with 10 minutes left. At that point Mason should have been done for the night. Curry as well.

Huge Duke and Coach K fan, but his maddening propensity to play his starters into the ground during the season to the point that they have nothing left in March....well, it drives me nuts.

I'm sure others will have an opinion, but I offer that part of the move is to make sure they get their stats to support their All Conference, All America and NPOY candidacies.

[Chris Randolph]

I really like Green's offensive game, outstanding scorer. If he had some knockdown shooters around him they would be very tough to beat

Duke was on a mission last night and completed it very effectively. Great productivity and balance from most everyone. Won't expect this kind of offensive efficiency too often but hopefully can build some confidence from this game.

[ArtVandelay]

It's amazing how much better a team looks (and the fans feel about the team) when you make your jump shots. Obviously it's not the be all and end all, but when you're hitting your 3s, the offense just "feels" a lot more crisp and fluid. Whereas some games you can move the ball well, space the floor, etc. and miss jump shots, and all of the sudden you start pressing and your offense looks stagnant.

Obviously this is a little simplistic, but I think people tend to overlook this point overall. Sometimes the game just comes down to shooting the basketball. Funny how that works. Last night was a prime example. We made everything from 3; VPI missed everything. Hard to win in that scenario if you're VPI.

Fortunately, we have been a very good 3 point shooting team all season. Here's hoping the shots continue to fall in big games.

[kmspeaks]

You know, I'm glad we won, and that we (for the first time in a while) simply dominated on the road from start to finish. I think this team has the potential to beat anyone, and when/if we get Kelly back has a legit chance to contend for the national title.

But.....

For the life of me I cannot understand why Plumlee played 36 minutes last night and Curry played 32. I'm sorry, but that just makes no sense, especially in Mason's case. The guy is clearly wearing down, as his two game stretch showed last week, and as even Coach K said after the Maryland loss. I know it's been 5 days since they last played....but really? We were up 20 at the half and 30 with 10 minutes left. At that point Mason should have been done for the night. Curry as well.

Huge Duke and Coach K fan, but his maddening propensity to play his starters into the ground during the season to the point that they have nothing left in March....well, it drives me nuts.

Didn't hear/read what K said after Saturday but I have to think that Mason was more mentally exhausted than physically. He has had to step up his already increased (compared to previous years) role and done everything in his power to carry this team once Ryan went out. Combine that with Duke getting everybody's best shot night in and night out, the NPOY conversation, and the emotions that go along with being a senior and knowing every game is one step closer to your last as a blue devil and it's no wonder the guy ran out of gas.

When you're beating a team the way Duke was last night a couple extra minutes aren't a grueling task that saps energy, they're FUN. Mason got 5 days to clear his head, re-focus, and re-energize. I don't think some extra minutes in a blowout are going to hurt him come March.

[Saratoga2]

For those on this site who chastise those who provide constructive criticism when things go badly or who applaud a good performance, I would suggest adding something substantial to the conversation.

Last night all I saw was positives.

1. Mason picked it up and played with energy with good defense and rebounding and efficient scoring.
2. Curry was able to put up 22 very efficiently.
3. Rasheed had an excellent overall game, slashing, shooting, defensing and rebounding
4. Quinn played well while in and Tyler ran the team seamlessly.
5. Josh really looks like things are finally coming together for him. He got 11 points and provided defensive energy
6. Alex made nice offensive plays and defended well getting 8 in only 11 minutes.
7. Amile was really effective defending and rebounding.

8. Best of all, we heard that Ryan has made it a step (no pun intended) back to the floor. Maybe it will be in time for Miami?

Great and focused win for the team.

[InSpades]

I for one was very disappointed. We did not execute nearly enough reverse layups. Reverse layup drills all day today at practice!

[Kedsy]

It's amazing how much better a team looks (and the fans feel about the team) when you make your jump shots. Obviously it's not the be all and end all, but when you're hitting your 3s, the offense just "feels" a lot more crisp and fluid.

I agree with this, but only to an extent. A lot of times, you make more shots because your offense is more crisp and fluid.

Last night we played good offense and got a lot of wide open looks. And we hit them, which doesn't always happen but it happens a lot more when the looks are that open. In Duke's case, especially without Ryan Kelly, we don't shoot as well when the looks aren't as good. I'm not talking about taking a shot with a guy draped all over you, but how open you are can be seen on a continuum. If you're open but the defender is close enough to make you think about whether you'll get the shot off or not, it's a lot harder to hit it. The games where we've shot poorly have almost all been in situations where our shots looked to me to be either not so open, or open but not wide open.

[rsvman]

For those on this site who chastise those who provide constructive criticism when things go badly or who applaud a good performance, I would suggest adding something substantial to the conversation.

Last night all I saw was positives.

1. Mason picked it up and played with energy with good defense and rebounding and efficient scoring.
2. Curry was able to put up 22 very efficiently.
3. Rasheed had an excellent overall game, slashing, shooting, defensing and rebounding
4. Quinn played well while in and Tyler ran the team seamlessly.
5. Josh really looks like things are finally coming together for him. He got 11 points and provided defensive energy
6. Alex made nice offensive plays and defended well getting 8 in only 11 minutes.
7. Amile was really effective defending and rebounding.

8. Best of all, we heard that Ryan has made it a step (no pun intended) back to the floor. Maybe it will be in time for Miami?

Great and focused win for the team.
I pretty much agree with all of this.
I'm emphasizing the bolded point, above, because I really think the offensive flow actually looked slightly better when Quinn was on the bench. It was especially noticeable early in the second half that when Quinn was playing there was a lot more dribbling, less passing, and the offensive flow looked worse. I hope this is something that can be worked on.

We need Quinn for many reasons, and he is an important cog in this machine. However, we need to make sure that we don't spend a lot of time watching Quinn dribble the ball, like Georgia Tech used to do when Kenny Anderson was there.

[rocketeli]

It was nice to have a game that was easy to watch. Obviously ACC coaches read our message boards, UNC is doing much better since Roy Williams took our advice and shortened his rotation and went small, and apparently the Duke coaches realized they needed to take the breaks off Mason a bit and give him the freedom to go after opposing players, which helps his whole game (it continues to amaze me how many posters think he was playing "bad" defense due to some failure on his part, rather than following the coaching staffs orders, as K repeatedly expresses in his pressers, to not foul) and they spent less time and effort sending telegraphed passes into a double teamed Mason in the first five minutes to try and get him "involved" in the offense.

BTW I was ROFL (see I speak the internet) over posters complaining about too many whistles last night. Why do you think we won so easily? VoTech came out with their usual thug ball--their center puts a gratuitous hit on Mason TWEET! They grab, tug and trip Seth cutting through the lane TWEET! It completely took them out of their game. They had no idea how to play clean defense and it showed.

[loran16]

That last category is a toughie.

Josh did quite well, agreed. Very important he get into the swing. The ref with all the hair was cuckoo with his whistle in first half but must have gotten the word in second.

I yelled at him twice: he took at least two long range mid-range jumpers (making the first). The other 4 shots were all up close, which is where he should shoot.

[tele]

I yelled at him twice: he took at least two long range mid-range jumpers (making the first). The other 4 shots were all up close, which is where he should shoot.

For a forward, a wide open mid range jumper is about as good as it gets. Up close Josh is at more of a disadvantage because of his height/hops and risk of getting blocked. I think he has to take those mid range shots to be a well rounded player. Even if you don't like them because of his shooting percentage he earns the one or two he takes a game by repeatedly putting his body on the line taking charges, usually as a help defender. Lance Thomas improved his midrange game and his defense over a few years, and his team did ok too. I think those are good shots, I think it helps the team when he takes them, even when he misses (with three guard offense, two bigs stuck on the blocks is too easy and predictabel to defend.)

Nice to see Mason feeling better, Quin looked a little under the weather though...

[g-money]

Great, dominating win last night. Whoever made the comment that the post-game threads are much shorter when Duke wins could use this as a case in point.

We kicked a-- last night folks, let's enjoy it!

[CDu]

For a forward, a wide open mid range jumper is about as good as it gets. Up close Josh is at more of a disadvantage because of his height/hops and risk of getting blocked. I think he has to take those mid range shots to be a well rounded player. Even if you don't like them because of his shooting percentage he earns the one or two he takes a game by repeatedly putting his body on the line taking charges, usually as a help defender. Lance Thomas improved his midrange game and his defense over a few years, and his team did ok too. I think those are good shots, I think it helps the team when he takes them, even when he misses (with three guard offense, two bigs stuck on the blocks is too easy and predictabel to defend.)

If Hairston was taking wide open 12-15 footers (i.e., actual mid-range shots), maybe I'd agree with your point here. But Hairston isn't shooting mid-range jumpers. He's shooting 19-footers. That's roughly the least efficient shot in basketball (almost as hard as a 3, but worth 33% less than a 3).

Granted, he did hit one of them last night. But I'd argue that that's not the type of shot Hairston should be looking for.

[jv001]

I pretty much agree with all of this.
I'm emphasizing the bolded point, above, because I really think the offensive flow actually looked slightly better when Quinn was on the bench. It was especially noticeable early in the second half that when Quinn was playing there was a lot more dribbling, less passing, and the offensive flow looked worse. I hope this is something that can be worked on.

We need Quinn for many reasons, and he is an important cog in this machine. However, we need to make sure that we don't spend a lot of time watching Quinn dribble the ball, like Georgia Tech used to do when Kenny Anderson was there.

And I pretty much agree with everything you said about Quinn's play. Quinn has said that Coach K has asked him to look for his shot more and I think he's been having a problem with that aspect of his game and being able to distribute the ball like he did earlier in the season. But I believe part of the problem is Ryans absence. What Quinn does really well is get after the opposing point guard. I would like for him to stay out of foul trouble but that comes with being aggressive. We really need him against the better teams we face. GoDuke!

[nchfries67]

It was nice to have a game that was nice and relaxing to watch, instead of stressful. I thought the team played excellent. I was particularly impressed with the way Mason stuffed the stat sheet. The guy could do everything last night. All of our shooters were nailing threes, and Josh, Amile, and Alex gave significant minutes. The entire team did a good job on Green. He still scored his share of points, but he had to work his butt off for them. Great team effort.

[UrinalCake]

Positives:
- 8/9 from three in the first half! That's not even Nintendo numbers. That's Nintendo-with-the-cheat-codes-activated numbers
- bench players got some minutes in a non-stressful situation, and we got to see glimpses of what they're capable of. I imagine their play in practice is more like this, and they just need to build confidence in game situations.
- some posters were criticizing Doris Burke in the in-game thread, but I liked her. She praised the Duke guys all around, but especially Seth. Said how disappointing it is that we don't get to see him healthy for his senior year, and also said he deserves consideration for ACC POY along with Mason, which I haven't heard other commentators mention (granted I have t watched every game)

Negatives:
- we played so well that there's nothing to complain about in the post-game threads!

[OldPhiKap]

Negatives:
- we played so well that there's nothing to complain about in the post-game threads!

Oh, Ye of little faith . . . .

[MChambers]

Oh, Ye of little faith . . . .

I'm just upset Greenberg isn't still coaching VPI! I'd love to beat one of his teams by 32.

Feel better now?

[wilko]

So uhhh.
Has anyone else noticed Josh's shooting % since he had surgery for an infection? Seems like hes off the charts right now.
Perhaps we should schedule the procedure for his other arm and perhaps legs too!

[OldPhiKap]

So uhhh.
Has anyone else noticed Josh's shooting % since he had surgery for an infection? Seems like hes off the charts right now.
Perhaps we should schedule the procedure for his other arm and perhaps legs too!

Maybe it is like a radioactive spider bite or something.

[Wander]

I yelled at him twice: he took at least two long range mid-range jumpers (making the first).

Well, it's pretty clear by this point that he has the coaches' blessing in taking these shots, right? So I doubt we're going to see this ever change.

[Des Esseintes]

Well, it's pretty clear by this point that he has the coaches' blessing in taking these shots, right? So I doubt we're going to see this ever change.

Agreed. CDu mentioned above it's the least efficient shot in the game, but that's not the same as saying it is without use. It helps provide spacing and also functions as a pressure release for the offense late in the clock. Miles had that same green light sometimes in previous years. Of course, the shot must be deployed with suitable rarity; otherwise, its inefficiency overwhelms the less tangible advantages awfully fast. Two of those a game, given the limited minutes Josh plays, are probably one too many. He took one early in the shot clock last night, and I suspect he got "notes" from the staff about that.

[oldnavy]

I agree with this, but only to an extent. A lot of times, you make more shots because your offense is more crisp and fluid.

Last night we played good offense and got a lot of wide open looks. And we hit them, which doesn't always happen but it happens a lot more when the looks are that open. In Duke's case, especially without Ryan Kelly, we don't shoot as well when the looks aren't as good. I'm not talking about taking a shot with a guy draped all over you, but how open you are can be seen on a continuum. If you're open but the defender is close enough to make you think about whether you'll get the shot off or not, it's a lot harder to hit it. The games where we've shot poorly have almost all been in situations where our shots looked to me to be either not so open, or open but not wide open.

There are not a lot of things that Ol Roy says that I agree with, but I do agree with him that the game is easier when the shots are falling....

In our games when the shots are not falling as often as we would like, it seems like they are sooo.... close to going in (some of Mason's shots excluded :p. ) Seth has had several shots this year that looked like they went at least half way down and popped out. It truly is a game of inches.

[Newton_14]

Great game by the good guys. Energy level by the entire team was off the charts better than the Maryland game. Mason looked like Mason again. Actually thought we should have went to him more than we did, but the perimeter guys were playing so well, we really did not need to. I agree with other posters that shooting well cures a lot of ills. Talent disparity aside last night was the antithesis of the Miami game. All of our perimeter shots were falling, all of the Hokies were missing. End result was 20-30 point margin throughout the game.

Despite the Hokies ineptness on offense, I thought our team defense was really good last night. It seemed like every single Duke player was hitting every defensive assignment perfectly on time with hedging, flashing, digging down, switching, rotating, help and recover, etc. It is beautiful to watch when a Duke team performs those assignments well collectively. Agree with CDu in that one of the few bad defensive misses was Josh switching onto Green at the top of the key in the first half. Josh does do that far too often. Josh actually had flashed out to stop Green while Tyler was fighting through the screen, and Tyler recovered quickly and was literally standing right behind Josh, so Josh should have released Green back to Tyler and recovered back to the Tech big. I love the enthusiasm, but that is one thing Josh needs to reign in with his defense. He played a really great game otherwise though..

It was one of our best defensive games of the year and not because of VaTech being a bad team. Loved seeing Mason show he can defend well w/o fouling. It's a good sign moving forward if he can limit the amount of times he has to dial it back early in games. Especially with Ryan on the verge of being back. Speaking of Ryan did you guys catch the stats chart they through up last night that showed the big fall off in team defense since losing Ryan? I thought that was telling. Ryan can really help this team defensively when he gets back.

Seth is just amazing, and I did not even care about the T. He looked much fresher last night too. I agree with K in that he might be leading the nation in scoring were he fully healthy and practicing every day. Good play by all the reserves other than MP3 who has to find a way to harness the energy and hype when he gets in there. The lefty layup that did not stay down was his best offensive move of the season. The game just needs to slow down a lot for him. He has talent, and will figure it out, but it is going to take time. Tyler looked more like his old self last night as well and is continuing to knock down the 3 at a high rate. Ran the offense really well also.

I am really excited about the future of Duke basketball and the future of Amile and Alex. The think I love about Amile is the kid knows how to play basketball at a high level. That's a gift that can't be taught. He is only limited right now by 3 things. 1. Lack of Bulk/Strength, 2. Lack of an outside shot, 3. Learning to defend one on one in the paint to challenge a shot w/o bringing his arm downs and getting the foul called. Unlike MP3, the game just needs to slow down just a wee bit for Amile. He is almost there with that part. Regarding his shot, one thing I noticed watching him at Summer League and watching him shoot free throws in Duke games this season, he is not a bad set shot shooter at all. Form is reasonably good, and he has a soft touch. He just can't shoot a lick when he has to shoot a jump shot quickly with a defender closing, or if he tries to shoot off the dribble. Kind of bizarre. Hopefully that will improve over time. But man does the kid know how to play the game, and how to score effectively in the paint. Going to be one of the really good Duke players. Murphy is not far behind him, but his main issue is confidence, and focus. The tools are there. He had a couple of great stints guarding Leslie in the State game, and the aforementioned play last night guarding Green. The kid is versatile defensively and is a scorer. Also very athletic. Hanging in the air on that drive last night and making it all the way to the other side of the rim from where he took off was damn impressive. With those two, Rasheed, Quinn, Rodney Hood, Jabari, Matt Jones, Semi, etc, it will be athlete city in Durham NC!

Which segways to my final thoughts on last night. I loved loved loved the full court pressing last night. Even though it was the soft version, I loved seeing it. Duke defense historically is in your face, intimidating, and meant to cause fear, disruption, and turnovers. Hope to see more of that this year, and by next year, I think K goes full throttle on very aggressive defense in many variations that will include some full court pressing mixed in.

Great win, and great vibes with Kelly. Let's see if they can follow it up with another great performance against BC this weekend. Go Duke!

[gep]

For the life of me I cannot understand why Plumlee played 36 minutes last night and Curry played 32. ... Huge Duke and Coach K fan, but his maddening propensity to play his starters into the ground during the season to the point that they have nothing left in March....well, it drives me nuts.

I remember a few years ago that in the post-game interview(?) someone asked about leaving the starters in till a couple of minutes left with a "huge" lead. IIRC, Coach K's response was that if you don't understand why he left the starters in, you don't understand college basketball. I took that to mean that "anything can happen in a short time".


When you're beating a team the way Duke was last night a couple extra minutes aren't a grueling task that saps energy, they're FUN. Mason got 5 days to clear his head, re-focus, and re-energize. I don't think some extra minutes in a blowout are going to hurt him come March.

It might actually be helpful... gives him a very positive feeling...


BTW I was ROFL (see I speak the internet) over posters complaining about too many whistles last night. Why do you think we won so easily? VoTech came out with their usual thug ball--their center puts a gratuitous hit on Mason TWEET! They grab, tug and trip Seth cutting through the lane TWEET! It completely took them out of their game. They had no idea how to play clean defense and it showed.

I thought that the whistles were frequent. But as you mention, I think this kept the game "clean". VaTech couldn't adjust, Duke did.


And I pretty much agree with everything you said about Quinn's play. Quinn has said that Coach K has asked him to look for his shot more and I think he's been having a problem with that aspect of his game and being able to distribute the ball like he did earlier in the season. But I believe part of the problem is Ryans absence. What Quinn does really well is get after the opposing point guard. I would like for him to stay out of foul trouble but that comes with being aggressive. We really need him against the better teams we face. GoDuke!

One thing I notice (maybe only me) but Quinn seems, at times, to dribble all over the court, then as time runs down, tries to get to the rim. Seems like quicker passes from/to him is better? [there... a negative post?]


It was one of our best defensive games of the year and not because of VaTech being a bad team. Loved seeing Mason show he can defend well w/o fouling. It's a good sign moving forward if he can limit the amount of times he has to dial it back early in games. Especially with Ryan on the verge of being back. Speaking of Ryan did you guys catch the stats chart they through up last night that showed the big fall off in team defense since losing Ryan? I thought that was telling. Ryan can really help this team defensively when he gets back.


I noticed this too in the first half. Seems like Mason wasn't worried about fouls, but just focused on playing good defense. Very effective.

GO DUKE!!!!!

[roywhite]

I re-watched the game vs the Hokies last evening and observed many of the same things that Newton points out above.

Our opponent was not terrible; they were not hitting 3's certainly, but it was a treat to watch Erick Green score 20+ points against very good defense, and Barksdale for VaTech had a very good performance. Mainly, VaTech was outplayed and out-shot by a very good Duke team playing at a high level.

Not only was our team defense very good, as Newton talks about, our team offense was very good. Every player on the floor contributed on offense; the movement was good, the ball handling was superb with a minimum of turnovers, and this happened with Quinn Cook having reduced minutes due to foul trouble. Coach K is likely to show this game as an example of how well a motion offense can work; constant movement on the perimeter and use of ball screens, excellent use of dribble hand-offs, plays run for the hot shooter Seth Curry, good passes to the post, good spacing, just really good execution overall.

The role players were superb. Josh had another double-figure scoring game, that included a tip, a really nice move for a lay-up and a jump shot. So long as he is in the flow and open, I don't mind seeing him take an occasional jump shot (ideally 12-15 feet rather than 17-18 feet). Tyler Thornton did a fine job of ball handling, running the offense in the absence of Quinn, and now has a trademark shot in the 3 from the corner. Amile and Alex look much more aware on defense and on the floor in general. I wouldn't call Rasheed a role player, but he certainly played his role well; he hit outside shots, he drove well, he defended well including generating turnovers, and his shot selection was very good. Mason was very active on the defensive end as noted by others and continues to hit his foul shots. And Seth is playing at a really high level now; he reminds me of vintage Redick play.

Really a fine performance by Duke and a pleasure to watch.