MOTM: Duke vs. UNC (March 9, 2013)

[JBDuke]

Who was Man of the Match in Duke's 69-53 win over Carolina?

[bbosbbos]

Hard to pick. If have to choose, SC is MOM.

[JBDuke]

I think this one comes down to Seth or Mason. Mason played as well as I can remember him playing all year, but Seth was the primary cause of the big early lead that we rode for the rest of the game, so my vote goes to Mr. Curry.

[OldPhiKap]

1. Seth kills in first half, opens up huge lead. (The difference IMO)
2. Mason closes, makes it. Impossible to close.
3. Quinn finishes through contact at end. Should not be overlooked.


9F!

[mike88]

Clearly Seth Plumlee

[fisheyes]

Clearly Seth was the man in the first half but Mason was THE MAN in the second half. He prevented any chance of a UNC comeback. Therefore he gets my one vote since we can't split 'em.

[CLW]

Seth and Mason were great but IMHO they do NOT go off w/o Kelly in the lineup. If Kelly was still out Plumlee gets doubled every time he touches the ball now you cannot double him with all the shooters. Curry also cannot be the primary focus of the defense b/c of Kelly.

Kelly's presence gave opportunities for Mason and Curry and boy did they take advantage.

Ryan gets my vote.

[pamtar]

Great to see Mason finally have a big game, but Seth set the tone early and gave us the cushion. Great glue work from Ryan and especially TT. QC was quite thorough in his duties as well. :D

[Les Grossman]

Could be either Seth or Mason,
but Seth's display of will in the 1H was the diff, imo

[Les Grossman]

Clearly Seth Plumlee
what he said

[Les Grossman]

Digger just picked Duke to go to the Final Game

[Greg_Newton]

Legacy-type game for Seth and he probably deserves it, but I thought it might have been a bigger game, in the scheme of things, for Plumlee. 23 and 13 on solid %s, and generally was getting after it like he was before his little funk. The rebounding was the most encouraging part.

So sweet.

[OldPhiKap]

Digger just picked Duke to go to the Final Game

Crap.

[MCFinARL]

Seth and Mason both awesome tonight--Seth's made shot from a sitting position on the court was completely ridiculous. But i voted for Quinn because he played well all game, hustled (5 rebounds and a steal), controlled the ball really well (5 assists to 2 turnovers), and was the key factor, between killing the clock and making a couple of key buckets, in preserving the lead when UNC finally started to make a run.

[devildeac]

Clearly Seth Plumlee


what he said

Wrong. I think you meant Mason Curry;).

[Durham Thunder]

The entire team deserves this one!!

[jipops]

I went with Mason just because he was more consistently good throught. But Seth was stellar in the 1st hitting some amazing shots. Quinn deserves some props as he was terrific. He setup Mason well.

[devildeac]

Tough call here tonight. Seth kept us from a slow start and had a sensational first half. Mason, who has had a rough couple weeks, played a solid first half but had a monster second half so I'll vote for him. Quinn with a very solid game, too.

[wallyman]

Just as the Miami MOTM HAD to be Ryan, this time it can't be one person. Has to be Seth and Mason as co Men OTM.

[dukelifer]

Mason was a force. Curry was solid in the first half but Mason was very strong on the boards. The seniors were the difference tonight.

[Dev11]

Without that timeout he called for us, UNC would have kept riding the wave and closing the gap. Hats off to ole Roy for that one.

[UrinalCake]

Clearly what we need to do is bundle Curry inside a Mason jar (http://shop.wildtree.com/pages/cfRecipes_Detail.cfm?RecipeID=944)

[moonpie23]

i voted for mason.......but it was really both of them...

[loran16]

I voted for Tyler Thornton. Let me explain:

First of all, anyone who knows me knows how critical I am of Thornton. I am not a fan.

Yet today he was dedicated to guarding Bullock, STAYED ON HIM constantly through multiple screens, and barely got lost defending nobody after coming over to help. He had a monster defensive game - the first time in a while. And well, shut down Bullock, and Carolina is worthless. Pretty much what happened.

[-bdbd]

Could easily go to either Curry or MP2, but as Bilas pointed out Cook had a VERY solid game too, and I was a LITTLE tempted to vote for Kelly simply b/c of the value he provided as a major decoy that Carolina focused on, thus freeing up Seth and Ryan for very big games.

[Bob Green]

My vote goes to Mason Plumlee. We needed to press our size advantage and MP2 took it to the Heels all game. Curry was very impressive leading us to the big early lead so I was very tempted to vote for him but in the end it was Mason's 13 rebounds that made the difference.

[jv001]

I voted for Seth as he got us started and got us the big first half lead. His shooting really opened up the paint for Mason. In the 2nd half, Mason put on a show. Either could be MOM but I went with Curry as he got us off to the fast start. We are pretty much unbeatable when we start like that. Tyler played a great game even though he did not score but 3 points. His hustle and defense is just another part of what makes this team "special". Quinn had a very good game dishing out 5 assists and only two turnovers. Ryan played well but foul trouble hurt him. Josh provided some energy and good minutes off the bench. Rasheed played ok, but once again had trouble hanging on to the ball. Better times await him. GoDuke!

[MCFinARL]

Without that timeout he called for us, UNC would have kept riding the wave and closing the gap. Hats off to ole Roy for that one.

So true--I was shocked when he called that time out. Not sure, by itself, it's worth MOTM, though. ;)

[captmojo]

1. Seth kills in first half, opens up huge lead. (The difference IMO)



9F!

IMO too.That opening barrage was exactly what was needed to set the tone for the game. Break out big and never look back. Next play!

Point of order: Never backspace out a 9F! from anyone else's quote.

[Native]

It's a toss-up between Seth and Mase, as many astute posters have already pointed out.

I'll give it to Seth for setting the tone, but I want to point out that Mason hit the boards like a man tonight, and if we get a game like that out of him on the boards every night we'll be hard to handle. Quinn also helped seal it late.

[Saratoga2]

As it shoulld be Mason and Seth are essentially tied for MOTM

[Buckeye Devil]

I will go against the grain and say Quinn. I thought he hit a couple of big shots including one NBA range 3. He handled the ball well and ran the offense pretty effectively. I know at one point he had 5 or 6 assists and no TO's.

[SupaDave]

I had to give Hot Curry the nudge. He made a shot while almost on the floor!

[-jk]

I had to give Hot Curry the nudge. He made a shot while almost on the floor!

Giving new meaning to the "fall-away" jumper. And I think he managed to keep his left foot planted (while his right bounced and slid out of control) to avoid the travel.

-jk

[Newton_14]

Clearly Seth Plumlee

I disagree. I think it was Mason Curry. :)

This one was tough. Man.

I honestly would call this one a tie and go with both as Co-Players of the game. Seth definitely dropped the first bomb and opened the gaping hole in the bow that had the heels bailing water all game long, but he got tired and only had the two free throws in the 2nd half. Mason had 8 points in the first half, scored the first 10 Duke points in the 2nd half to stymie any notion of a heel run, and had the 11 boards with good defense all night. So I went with Mason who had the more complete game.

Tough call though as Curry was just awesome. Watching him destroy the much bigger and more athletic Reggie "Coach K loots like a R**" Bullock was very satisfying for me.

Funny how we all have players we dislike in the UNC rivalry, but Bullock for that comment alone, and Strickland for his dumb arse comment about "Hope that system K runs does not mess up Kyrie's game" will always keep them at the top of that list for me.


Curry had his way in that first half, Mason sunk the UNC ship and sent it to the depths of the sea!

[JNort]

I voted for Cook because the efficient he appeared to have when initiating the offense and his good on and off ball D on Paige. He really disrupted the Carolina offense