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View Full Version : MBB: Duke vs. Mercer, NCAAT R64 (3/21, 12:15, CBS)



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hurleyfor3
03-16-2014, 06:26 PM
Discuss our Round of 64 matchup with Mercer here.

Reilly
03-16-2014, 06:43 PM
http://about.mercer.edu/traditions/

CameronDuke
03-16-2014, 06:44 PM
We should know if we play Thursday Saturday or Friday Sunday. Which is it?

pfrduke
03-16-2014, 06:44 PM
We should know if we play Thursday Saturday or Friday Sunday. Which is it?

Raleigh is Friday.

CameronDuke
03-16-2014, 06:46 PM
Great, thanks.

OldPhiKap
03-16-2014, 06:48 PM
I watched Mercer's semifinal against S.C. Upstate and then final tourney game at Florida Gulf Coast. This is a real team that has a bunch of seniors, good guards, and has had a great year. This is a tough game, friends.

Ichabod Drain
03-16-2014, 06:51 PM
This is my worst nightmare come true... I'll give a rundown on The Bears later when I get home.

Duke31122
03-16-2014, 06:56 PM
They are ranked 99th by KenPom and have one avg double figures. I have watched some of their competition and it isn't that great. However they are experienced. We should be able to take them by 10+

CameronDuke
03-16-2014, 07:00 PM
The last time we opened the NCAAT versus a team I had never heard of was in 2012 in Greensboro against Lehigh. We play another team I have never heard of in Raleigh this year and I have learned my lesson not to sleep on them. This game is not an automatic win for Duke. I will be one nervous fan all week!

Edouble
03-16-2014, 07:12 PM
Their best player is senior Langston Hall, a 6'4" guard averaging 14.7 ppg and 5.6 apg. I would think that Sulaimon will draw Hall on defense, but that Hood may spend time on him as well.

I would imagine that he is not an NBA talent like CJ McCollum was, but not having seen him play, I really have no clue. McCollum, to me, was a nightmare because we didn't have a lockdown defender to keep up with him. Having defended Harris and Warren pretty well over the past few days, I hope we are prepared to stop Hall.

arnie
03-16-2014, 07:15 PM
The last time we opened the NCAAT versus a team I had never heard of was in 2012 in Greensboro against Lehigh. We play another team I have never heard of in Raleigh this year and I have learned my lesson not to sleep on them. This game is not an automatic win for Duke. I will be one nervous fan all week!

We haven't suffered major injuries this year, don't have to travel far, the game is Friday which helps and we have good athletes- no excuses if we don't win.

gumbomoop
03-16-2014, 07:17 PM
They shoot lots of 3s, 21/game, 37% of their total FGAs; compared (and comparable) to Duke's 22/game and 39% of total FGAs.

Edouble
03-16-2014, 07:21 PM
On pins and needles and can't believe we have to wait until Friday night.

Looking at Mercer's starter's size alone, they run out at:

6'2" 170lbs
6'4" 180 lbs
6'6" 200 lbs
6'6" 200 lbs
6'10" 220

I have to think that Jabari being defended by a guy that is 6'6" is a clear advantage for Duke. Amile's counterpart appears to be equally thin at 6'10" 220, so at least Amile doesn't have to go up against any serious beef, although he has actually shown well against bigger guys with his quickness and mobility.

BronxBlueDevils
03-16-2014, 07:46 PM
Hi all. My first post after years of shadowing and reading. Please be gentle

Just to note...one of their assistant coaches is a former UNC JV player and coach. His name is Doug Esleeck.

Go Duke

gofurman
03-16-2014, 07:53 PM
The last time we opened the NCAAT versus a team I had never heard of was in 2012 in Greensboro against Lehigh. We play another team I have never heard of in Raleigh this year and I have learned my lesson not to sleep on them. This game is not an automatic win for Duke. I will be one nervous fan all week!

You haven't heard of mercer? It's a good school academically nearby in Atlanta (well Macon technically - little south of Atlanta)... They beat FGCU last year and should have been the team in the tourney instead of FGCU but blew it on the tourney weekend. This year they did what they should have last year

Solid solid team. Mercer is Better at guard than inside. The one reason this doesn't worry me as much as Lehigh is we now have have Suliamon and Matt jones and Thornton to defend - vs Lehigh we only had Thornton then. And more importantly we have Parker and hood to score more than the Ryan Kelly type team. Mercer doesn't have a Parker stopper. When we played Lehigh we were reliant on Austin Rivers and more on the three ball. No offense but I would rather rely on a freshman star with strength like Parker than a 2 guard like Rivers. Just more consistent. Parker and hood should always be worth almost 30 pts together

Newton_14
03-16-2014, 08:00 PM
You haven't heard of mercer? It's a good school academically nearby in Atlanta ... They beat FGCU last year and should have been the team in the tourney instead of FGCU but blew it on the tourney weekend. This year they did what they should have last year

Solid solid team. Mercer is Better at guard than inside. The one reason this doesn't worry me as much as Lehigh is we now have have Suliamon and Matt jones and Thornton to defend - vs Lehigh we only had Thornton then. And more importantly we have Parker and hood to score more than the Ryan Kelly type team. Mercer doesn't have a Parker stopper. When we played Lehigh we were reliant on Austin Rivers and more on the three ball. No offense but I would rather rely on a freshman star with strength like Parker than a 2 guard like Rivers. Just more consistent. Parker and hood should always be worth almost 30 pts together

We did not have Ryan against Lehigh, which is a big reason why we lost. We had MP1 and MP2 and a bunch of small guards in Rivers, Curry, Thornton. Dawkins or Thornton had to play the 3 and we had no one but Tyler to guard Mccollum.

We are much better equipped for Mercer than we were for Lehigh. Anyone know when we will find out what time the game is? We will know tonight or will it not be announced until tomorrow?

Bob Green
03-16-2014, 08:03 PM
And more importantly we have Parker and hood to score more than the Ryan Kelly type team.

A big problem we had in 2012 against Lehigh was Ryan Kelly being injured and unavailable to play. With a healthy Ryan Kelly, we don't lose to Lehigh.

NashvilleDevil
03-16-2014, 08:07 PM
Haven't seen it on here yet but I'm gonna say it. Duke works Mercer like they did Davidson to start the year. I know many posters are skittish to make predictions that Duke will dominate after Lehigh but this team is capable of putting big offensive numbers for both games this weekend.

tbyers11
03-16-2014, 08:08 PM
We did not have Ryan against Lehigh, which is a big reason why we lost. We had MP1 and MP2 and a bunch of small guards in Rivers, Curry, Thornton. Dawkins or Thornton had to play the 3 and we had no one but Tyler to guard Mccollum.

We are much better equipped for Mercer than we were for Lehigh. Anyone know when we will find out what time the game is? We will know tonight or will it not be announced until tomorrow?

Game times for the first, err, second round usually come out on Sunday night. Start checking the web (or here) in an hour or so if the standard holds.

CameronDuke
03-16-2014, 08:13 PM
You haven't heard of mercer? It's a good school academically nearby in Atlanta (well Macon technically - little south of Atlanta)... They beat FGCU last year and should have been the team in the tourney instead of FGCU but blew it on the tourney weekend. This year they did what they should have last year

Solid solid team. Mercer is Better at guard than inside. The one reason this doesn't worry me as much as Lehigh is we now have have Suliamon and Matt jones and Thornton to defend - vs Lehigh we only had Thornton then. And more importantly we have Parker and hood to score more than the Ryan Kelly type team. Mercer doesn't have a Parker stopper. When we played Lehigh we were reliant on Austin Rivers and more on the three ball. No offense but I would rather rely on a freshman star with strength like Parker than a 2 guard like Rivers. Just more consistent. Parker and hood should always be worth almost 30 pts together

We had the same team we have now against Vermont and let's just say we, um, underachieved that game this year...

gofurman
03-16-2014, 08:14 PM
A big problem we had in 2012 against Lehigh was Ryan Kelly being injured and unavailable to play. With a healthy Ryan Kelly, we don't lose to Lehigh.

Probably true. Can't know for sure. Ryan was out and that hurt a lot. However, point is I was calling that a "Ryan Kelly type team". I Should have been more clear. I meant that the team that lost to Lehigh was a little slow on D and reliant on 3 shooting. Better of me would have been to say our guard defenders then were ( I think ) Dawkins and Rivers and Seth Curry and Thornton. Thornton the only of those who I consider a truly strong defender.

Now we have Thornton and Matt jones ( though not many minutes) and Suliamon for D on the perimeter plus at the three and four Hood and Parker are long. Through Parker still gets lost in rotations I know. Hood is pretty good on D. Just w Hood OR Parker we probably beat Lehigh.

Edouble
03-16-2014, 08:18 PM
We had the same team we have now against Vermont and let's just say we, um, underachieved that game this year...

It's also the same team we had against UNC, Pitt, NCState, Virginia, and Syracuse, who are all in the tournament.

Honestly, I take huge exception when you say that we are the "same team". I'm quite sure that we are a different and better team than we were in November.

NashvilleDevil
03-16-2014, 08:22 PM
We had the same team we have now against Vermont and let's just say we, um, underachieved that game this year...

Wrong. Alex Murphy was on the team then. Different personnel and Duke will have the 3 best players on the floor Friday night.

CameronDuke
03-16-2014, 08:26 PM
How about this then, tell me if it's fair or not- we have shown we can beat good teams and lose to pathetic teams. Mercer probably lays somewhere in between those two parameters. We will be dressing out the majority of players that beat those good teams and lost to those bad teams on Friday. Nothing in March is a given. What do you think of that?

NashvilleDevil
03-16-2014, 08:28 PM
How about this then, tell me if it's fair or not- we have shown we can beat good teams and lose to pathetic teams. Mercer probably lays somewhere in between those two parameters. We will be dressing out the majority of players that beat those good teams and lost to those bad teams on Friday. Nothing in March is a given. What do you think of that?

I think Duke wins by 25+

DukieInKansas
03-16-2014, 08:30 PM
I like that unc is in San Antonio - having a less hostile crowd in Raleigh for the game will be nice.

dukelifer
03-16-2014, 08:30 PM
How about this then, tell me if it's fair or not- we have shown we can beat good teams and lose to pathetic teams. Mercer probably lays somewhere in between those two parameters. We will be dressing out the majority of players that beat those good teams and lost to those bad teams on Friday. Nothing in March is a given. What do you think of that?

This is all true. Duke will not take them lightly and Mercer could shoot lights out. Duke probably can beat them 80% of the time. But 20% is a chance. All you can do is play the games.

Newton_14
03-16-2014, 08:33 PM
Ease it up a little guys.

Our guys just need to play well, and the rest will take care of itself. We have enough good defenders to keep one kid from killing us (especially if that kid is a guard or wing). As a 3 Seed you have to respect the opponent in the first round no matter what. I think our guys will get some much needed rest tonight and all day tomorrow then go to work Tuesday and come out Friday fresh and focused. They just need to play Duke Basketball. Thats all.

We need to get back to using the 3 pointer more. Did not do enough of that Friday or today. Too much driving. Let's get back to our bread and butter. We have the weapons.

FerryFor50
03-16-2014, 08:33 PM
Mercer is #99 in Kenpom. 116 in offense. 103 in defense.

Best non-conference win? #87 Seton Hall. Langston Hall had 24 in that game. Mercer took 22 threes.

They did play Texas (#39) tough. Lost by 3. Hall had 22 in that game. Mercer took 30 threes.

Lost to Oklahoma (#29) by 14. Hall had only 7 points. Mercer took 28 threes.

Beat #90 Ole Miss. Hall had 17. Mercer took 20 threes.

Mercer appears to be a team that likes the 3. They shoot about as well as Duke (38%). Out of the 1963 shots they took, 721 were from three. That's 36.7% of their shot attempts. Duke attempts a three on 39% of their shot attempts. Mercer seems like they might be a mini-Duke.

They are 112th in the country in FT attempts. They are 9th in the country in defensive rebounding. But they are 177th in defensive rebounds allowed.

Hall averages 10.6 shots a game, but only shoots 39% from the field (ouch). Takes about 6 threes per game (60% of your top scorer's shots are from three? yeesh). Gets to the line about 4.5 times per game. He's a 6'4" senior who has gotten better each year, but Mercer doesn't really have much outside of him. I'm happier we got Mercer than Florida Gulf Coast (who got blown out by NC State).

If we want to compare to CJ McCollum the year Lehigh beat Duke, CJ averaged 21.9 ppg on 44% shooting. He averaged 20 shots per game, but only 6 were from 3. He was primarily a slasher. Hall seems to be a shooter.

LobstersPinchPinch
03-16-2014, 08:37 PM
How about this then, tell me if it's fair or not- we have shown we can beat good teams and lose to pathetic teams. Mercer probably lays somewhere in between those two parameters. We will be dressing out the majority of players that beat those good teams and lost to those bad teams on Friday. Nothing in March is a given. What do you think of that?

I think that's fair. We recently lost to Wake Forest, which has a similar Kenpom profile to Mercer.

Your concern is probably shared by a decent number of us, and I suspect we'll be a popular pick for a 3-14 upset. On the other hand, the ESPN Giant Killer model says we're pretty safe, so I too expect that we'll win, but may be closer than some expect, given we can give up 80 to anyone.

Saratoga2
03-16-2014, 08:40 PM
Not looking past anyone, but the Duke team has strengths and weaknesses that were guessed at during the start of the season and we have gotten a mixed bag of results since, which should be reflected in who starts and how the substitutions are made. Jabari was thought to be a star quality player and he has exceeded even what most of us had hoped for. His defense is still a little raw but his rebounding has been a big plus.

Rodney Hood was rumored as a really excellent talent who could score and defend. He too has lived up to the billing with the second highest scoring average and defensive capability the coach K praises. One thing to note is that he is thin and not a banger or rebounder.

Rasheed is one of our taller and quicker guards who can defend and can also slash although against a zone his value is reduced as his outside shot is only good not excellent. Another quick but thin guy but one with experience.

Amile was a little bit of an unknown going into the season. He has progressed a great deal with smart positioning for rebounds and now is developing scoring potential. Another guy who is on the smallish size for a power forward and one who can be pushed around by a bigger forward.

Josh is our most experienced forward with some heft but is short for his position and not particularly athletic. He has a tendency to foul at a high rate and big forwards can shoot over him.

Marshall was injured at the outset but has steadily improved in the role of providing a solid defensive presence for the team. Coach says he lacks stamina. I don't see that and when you have a guy more than 6'11" and 260# on a team with small quick guys, he obviously can be used against teams with bigger forwards and centers.

Andre has been a mystery to many of us. Coach pulls him quickly but when given a reasonable chance, he puts up points better than most other guards. Is he really that bad a defender when we watch guards blow by our other starting guards.

Quinn has also had ups and downs but now seems to be back in the grove. Better decision making and better shooting.

Tyler has been starting of late and is a defensive dynamo who also picks up fouls very quickly. Both he and Quinn are small and when on together reduce our chances of rebounding. Tyler doesn't put up many points except in rare occasions.

Then there is Matt who is a bigger guard who is by reputation a good defender but so far hasn't given us the scoring one might have expected given his reputation.

Finally, there is Semi, a gifted athlete with not much experience who has had little chance to shine but has hit shots when given a chance. He has the size and strength to have been brought along but sits on the bench.

Taken together we have a small quick team with a couple or stars but who have a weakness defending large forwards/centers. The team also shows signs of wilting at the end of games. Against Virginia a little more of Marshall, Andre and Matt might have made the game more interesting. Is coach K inflexible with his lineup? I for one hope he expands to a wider substitution policy and reacts when we are clearly getting it handed to us. (9 to 1 rebound over the last few minutes). Losing to Virginia was not the worst thing since they are really good, but not making adjustments going forward would be pretty sad.

NashvilleDevil
03-16-2014, 08:50 PM
I think that's fair. We recently lost to Wake Forest, which has a similar Kenpom profile to Mercer.

Your concern is probably shared by a decent number of us, and I suspect we'll be a popular pick for a 3-14 upset. On the other hand, the ESPN Giant Killer model says we're pretty safe, so I too expect that we'll win, but may be closer than some expect, given we can give up 80 to anyone.

They lost to Wake in Winston Salem. That is a terrible loss but this team will be focused and I think being in the acc title game and having a shot to win late will have this team hungry for the tournament.

hurleyfor3
03-16-2014, 08:52 PM
We all like Pomeroy, so by far the most likely 14/3 upset is NCCU/Iowa State, 78 vs. 23.

MCFinARL
03-16-2014, 08:52 PM
Ease it up a little guys.

Our guys just need to play well, and the rest will take care of itself. We have enough good defenders to keep one kid from killing us (especially if that kid is a guard or wing). As a 3 Seed you have to respect the opponent in the first round no matter what. I think our guys will get some much needed rest tonight and all day tomorrow then go to work Tuesday and come out Friday fresh and focused. They just need to play Duke Basketball. Thats all.

We need to get back to using the 3 pointer more. Did not do enough of that Friday or today. Too much driving. Let's get back to our bread and butter. We have the weapons.

This is a bit ironic--arguing that Duke should drive less and shoot more threes? But I agree completely with you.

J4Kop99
03-16-2014, 08:52 PM
game times should be out soon

OldPhiKap
03-16-2014, 08:54 PM
Mercer is senior-dominated and won a big game on the road to win its conference tourney. This is a real tough team for us.

It is more about the experience than the position-by-position match.

NSDukeFan
03-16-2014, 08:54 PM
Probably true. Can't know for sure. Ryan was out and that hurt a lot. However, point is I was calling that a "Ryan Kelly type team". I Should have been more clear. I meant that the team that lost to Lehigh was a little slow on D and reliant on 3 shooting. Better of me would have been to say our guard defenders then were ( I think ) Dawkins and Rivers and Seth Curry and Thornton. Thornton the only of those who I consider a truly strong defender.

Now we have Thornton and Matt jones ( though not many minutes) and Suliamon for D on the perimeter plus at the three and four Hood and Parker are long. Through Parker still gets lost in rotations I know. Hood is pretty good on D. Just w Hood OR Parker we probably beat Lehigh.

Wouldn't a "Ryan Kelly type team" be a great shooting, smart, fantastic help-side D team that consistently shows improvement has bigs that handle the ball well and spaces the floor really well?

dukelifer
03-16-2014, 09:24 PM
Mercer is senior-dominated and won a big game on the road to win its conference tourney. This is a real tough team for us.

It is more about the experience than the position-by-position match.

Okay- I had to watch a game of theirs. They have one up on ESPN3. Watched 10 minutes or so. I can see why this could be a difficult team for Duke. They are disciplined and pass the ball well. They are not big time athletes- but they know how to play well together. They will give Duke fits if Duke thinks that they can out-athlete them. Duke needs to play smart but this will not be a cakewalk. Their D is not great- but solid.

tbyers11
03-16-2014, 09:29 PM
According to NCAA.com (http://www.ncaa.com/scoreboard/basketball-men/d1/2014/03/21)

Game is on CBS

We haven't played an early game very often recently. Show up early for those with tickets.

moonpie23
03-16-2014, 09:36 PM
i don't know if y'all noticed at the end of today's game........this team, and the coaching staff are pissed!!!!


it's good that they are angry....

dukebballcamper90-91
03-16-2014, 10:00 PM
Even without Kelly, we should've never lost to Lehigh. Mercer will be a tough game. I think they will come to play, I hope we do. Let's GO DUKE!

BlueDevilBrowns
03-16-2014, 10:00 PM
According to NCAA.com (http://www.ncaa.com/scoreboard/basketball-men/d1/2014/03/21)

Game is on CBS

We haven't played an early game very often recently. Show up early for those with tickets.

Sweet! I hate those 9:45 games so much. If we are fortunate enough to advance, we can get a nice dinner, a good night's rest, and a full off-day before Sunday.

Bluedog
03-16-2014, 10:03 PM
Harlan, Miller, and Len Elmore with the call. Why did we have to get Elmore?!

Tappan Zee Devil
03-16-2014, 10:29 PM
i don't know if y'all noticed at the end of today's game........this team, and the coaching staff are pissed!!!!


it's good that they are angry....

agreed - I hope that we have a "no prisoners taken" attitude for the next several weeks.

UrinalCake
03-16-2014, 10:29 PM
i don't know if y'all noticed at the end of today's game........this team, and the coaching staff are pissed!!!!

I'm hoping that between our loss today, the way that we lost, and the fact that we're going to spend the entire week hearing the media proclaim that we have a good chance at losing this game... that we come out with an edge on friday. There's really no reason to not be motivated for this game.

I don't know anything about Mercer but from what I've read so far on this thread, I'm hoping Amile steps up and gives us some inside scoring. I think he had a really good ACCT and needs to take it to the next level and actually expect to be a scoring option, not just an afterthought who picks up occasional buckets.

TexHawk
03-16-2014, 10:31 PM
We all like Pomeroy, so by far the most likely 14/3 upset is NCCU/Iowa State, 78 vs. 23.

3 seed projections via Kenpom:
Iowa State/North Carolina Central. 76-70. 73% probability.
Duke/Mercer. 79-67. 88%.
Creighton/Louisiana Lafayette. 87-74. 87%.
Syracuse/Western Michigan. 69-59. 84%.

Ichabod Drain
03-16-2014, 10:32 PM
I graduated from Mercer in 2010, still live in Macon and attend most the Bears home games. This game is a personal nightmare for me as I have longed for the Bears to make the Tourny every year since I was a freshman, and now they're playing Duke who I have been a lifelong fan of. Here's what I can tell you:

To reiterate what has been said, Mercer is a team with extreme experience/leadership (SEVEN SENIORS). That's seven seniors who have been dying for a crack at the NCAA's for four years now. We are also really deep. There are 12 guys who average nine minutes or more. Also the entire starting five are seniors.

Mercer is very disciplined on the offensive end of the court. They are not afraid to take a possession deep into the shot clock and wait for a good shot. They are smothering on the defensive end of the ball and really get their momentum there.

Here are the major players:

Langston Hall - Senior PG - Langston set the ASUN career record for assists earlier this season. He is a very talented distributor and three point shooter but isn't too much of a threat to take it directly to the hoop.

Daniel Coursey - Senior C - Daniel has a good back to the basket game. He's got the jump hook down pat if he's close to the basket. He's a very good shot blocker and post defender. I'm not sure if he's quick enough to guard Amile but Mercer does really well with help defense. I saw someone say he's listed a 6-10 220 but if i had to guess I'd say he probably closer to 6-11 235.

Jake Gollon - Senior PF - This will be Duke's biggest advantage, partly because he'll guard Jabari and partly because he can be the biggest bonehead on the court at times. He's similar to Hairston but with a slightly better shot. I loathe Jake Gollon 98% of the time. And he's a sixth year senior... that's right he was granted two red shirts.

Bud Thomes - Senior SF - Bud was Mr Basketball in Colorado in High School. He's a little streaky but at times he can be lights out from three. He's not going to kill you with anything but the three.

Anthony White JR - Senior SG - White's a very well rounded SG who has the best mid range game on the team. He's got a goos shot be he also isn't going to take it straight to the hoop usually.

Ike Nwamu - Sophomore Wing - Ike is insanely atheletic and built like a brick house. He's comparable to Semi for all purposes. He's the most slasher like player we have on the team and can throw down some monster dunks. Hi shot from long range isn't that reliable though it's been a little better as of late.

The two other Centers are the backup PG Kevin Canevari and backup C Monty Brown.

Obviously my money is on Duke but Mercer is a very well rounded well coached team who loves to play defense and get's it's momentum from there and the three point line. As with most teams they have no answer for Jabari and probably Hood as well. If we guard the three well and play to our strengths it should be a decently easy win but don't expect the Bears to concede at any point.

Also they are pumped about playing DUKE!

BlueDevilBrowns
03-16-2014, 10:48 PM
agreed - I hope that we have a "no prisoners taken" attitude for the next several weeks.

Yes. This team can go as far as it wants to go. The talent is there. The skill is there. Just have to give consistent effort and 40 minutes of concentration.

I don't believe matchups are as important as our team's mindset before and during the games.


It's all about "us".

Let's do this Devils!!!

Newton_14
03-16-2014, 10:53 PM
According to NCAA.com (http://www.ncaa.com/scoreboard/basketball-men/d1/2014/03/21)

Game is on CBS

We haven't played an early game very often recently. Show up early for those with tickets.

You can get upperlevel tickets through the NCAA website (which takes you to the NC State website if you want to skip the extra step). Tickets for the 1st Session are $66 ea. Prices on Stubhub are quite a bit higher.

gumbomoop
03-16-2014, 10:57 PM
I graduated from Mercer in 2010, still live in Macon and attend most the Bears home games. This game is a personal nightmare for me as I have longed for the Bears to make the Tourny every year since I was a freshman, and now they're playing Duke who I have been a lifelong fan of. Here's what I can tell you:

To reiterate what has been said, Mercer is a team with extreme experience/leadership (SEVEN SENIORS). That's seven seniors who have been dying for a crack at the NCAA's for four years now. We are also really deep. There are 12 guys who average nine minutes or more. Also the entire starting five are seniors.

Mercer is very disciplined on the offensive end of the court. They are not afraid to take a possession deep into the shot clock and wait for a good shot. They are smothering on the defensive end of the ball and really get their momentum there.

Here are the major players:

Langston Hall - Senior PG - Langston set the ASUN career record for assists earlier this season. He is a very talented distributor and three point shooter but isn't too much of a threat to take it directly to the hoop.

Daniel Coursey - Senior C - Daniel has a good back to the basket game. He's got the jump hook down pat if he's close to the basket. He's a very good shot blocker and post defender. I'm not sure if he's quick enough to guard Amile but Mercer does really well with help defense. I saw someone say he's listed a 6-10 220 but if i had to guess I'd say he probably closer to 6-11 235.

Jake Gollon - Senior PF - This will be Duke's biggest advantage, partly because he'll guard Jabari and partly because he can be the biggest bonehead on the court at times. He's similar to Hairston but with a slightly better shot. I loathe Jake Gollon 98% of the time. And he's a sixth year senior... that's right he was granted two red shirts.

Bud Thomes - Senior SF - Bud was Mr Basketball in Colorado in High School. He's a little streaky but at times he can be lights out from three. He's not going to kill you with anything but the three.

Anthony White JR - Senior SG - White's a very well rounded SG who has the best mid range game on the team. He's got a goos shot be he also isn't going to take it straight to the hoop usually.

Ike Nwamu - Sophomore Wing - Ike is insanely atheletic and built like a brick house. He's comparable to Semi for all purposes. He's the most slasher like player we have on the team and can throw down some monster dunks. Hi shot from long range isn't that reliable though it's been a little better as of late.

The two other Centers are the backup PG Kevin Canevari and backup C Monty Brown.

Obviously my money is on Duke but Mercer is a very well rounded well coached team who loves to play defense and get's it's momentum from there and the three point line. As with most teams they have no answer for Jabari and probably Hood as well. If we guard the three well and play to our strengths it should be a decently easy win but don't expect the Bears to concede at any point.

Also they are pumped about playing DUKE!

Many thanks for detailed report. Look forward to further posts from you as game approaches. Any tidbits, or even larger thoughts and points, will be appreciated.

tbyers11
03-16-2014, 11:00 PM
3 seed projections via Kenpom:
Iowa State/North Carolina Central. 76-70. 73% probability.
Duke/Mercer. 79-67. 88%.
Creighton/Louisiana Lafayette. 87-74. 87%.
Syracuse/Western Michigan. 69-59. 84%.

Duke's is a little higher because KenPom considers this a semi-home game for us. I don't know exactly how much that it is but I'd guess about 2 points or about 5%.

Still my take is that Mercer isn't really a tough draw for us by the numbers. It is about your basic 3-14 draw.

gofurman
03-16-2014, 11:01 PM
if it makes anyone feel better Duke opened as a 13 point favorite.. So Vegas thinks half the money will go on either side of 13 points

Now I am sure we were about that over Lehigh too... a few more, UVA is a 20 pt fav... UNC is a 4 point fav - go Providence !

NYBri
03-16-2014, 11:04 PM
I graduated from Mercer in 2010, still live in Macon and attend most the Bears home games. This game is a personal nightmare for me as I have longed for the Bears to make the Tourny every year since I was a freshman, and now they're playing Duke who I have been a lifelong fan of. Here's what I can tell you:

To reiterate what has been said, Mercer is a team with extreme experience/leadership (SEVEN SENIORS). That's seven seniors who have been dying for a crack at the NCAA's for four years now. We are also really deep. There are 12 guys who average nine minutes or more. Also the entire starting five are seniors.

Mercer is very disciplined on the offensive end of the court. They are not afraid to take a possession deep into the shot clock and wait for a good shot. They are smothering on the defensive end of the ball and really get their momentum there.

Here are the major players:

Langston Hall - Senior PG - Langston set the ASUN career record for assists earlier this season. He is a very talented distributor and three point shooter but isn't too much of a threat to take it directly to the hoop.

Daniel Coursey - Senior C - Daniel has a good back to the basket game. He's got the jump hook down pat if he's close to the basket. He's a very good shot blocker and post defender. I'm not sure if he's quick enough to guard Amile but Mercer does really well with help defense. I saw someone say he's listed a 6-10 220 but if i had to guess I'd say he probably closer to 6-11 235.

Jake Gollon - Senior PF - This will be Duke's biggest advantage, partly because he'll guard Jabari and partly because he can be the biggest bonehead on the court at times. He's similar to Hairston but with a slightly better shot. I loathe Jake Gollon 98% of the time. And he's a sixth year senior... that's right he was granted two red shirts.

Bud Thomes - Senior SF - Bud was Mr Basketball in Colorado in High School. He's a little streaky but at times he can be lights out from three. He's not going to kill you with anything but the three.

Anthony White JR - Senior SG - White's a very well rounded SG who has the best mid range game on the team. He's got a goos shot be he also isn't going to take it straight to the hoop usually.

Ike Nwamu - Sophomore Wing - Ike is insanely atheletic and built like a brick house. He's comparable to Semi for all purposes. He's the most slasher like player we have on the team and can throw down some monster dunks. Hi shot from long range isn't that reliable though it's been a little better as of late.

The two other Centers are the backup PG Kevin Canevari and backup C Monty Brown.

Obviously my money is on Duke but Mercer is a very well rounded well coached team who loves to play defense and get's it's momentum from there and the three point line. As with most teams they have no answer for Jabari and probably Hood as well. If we guard the three well and play to our strengths it should be a decently easy win but don't expect the Bears to concede at any point.

Also they are pumped about playing DUKE!

Totally fine analysis.

Jabari will not let us lose to Mercer. Take that to the bank.

gofurman
03-16-2014, 11:05 PM
We all like Pomeroy, so by far the most likely 14/3 upset is NCCU/Iowa State, 78 vs. 23.

NCCU beat NC State - they are no joke !

Newton_14
03-16-2014, 11:14 PM
NCCU beat NC State - they are no joke !
Central is a solid team and well coached. Unless they are star struck by the first time ever appearance, I expect them to challenge hard for 40 minutes and have an outside chance of winning. I hope they pull it off. that would be cool.

gofurman
03-16-2014, 11:36 PM
This is a bit ironic--arguing that Duke should drive less and shoot more threes? But I agree completely with you.

That is ironic. I like the way th team is driving more and playing inside a lil better -esp Jabari !!! (And amile too, nice that he is doing more than just put backs sometimes, that's a big help if he gets 10 pts )

I like strong inside play. We need it

Go duke

ice-9
03-17-2014, 03:20 AM
We all like Pomeroy, so by far the most likely 14/3 upset is NCCU/Iowa State, 78 vs. 23.

Nice!!! I actually have this in my bracket!

ice-9
03-17-2014, 03:24 AM
I graduated from Mercer in 2010, still live in Macon and attend most the Bears home games. This game is a personal nightmare for me as I have longed for the Bears to make the Tourny every year since I was a freshman, and now they're playing Duke who I have been a lifelong fan of. Here's what I can tell you:

To reiterate what has been said, Mercer is a team with extreme experience/leadership (SEVEN SENIORS). That's seven seniors who have been dying for a crack at the NCAA's for four years now. We are also really deep. There are 12 guys who average nine minutes or more. Also the entire starting five are seniors.

Mercer is very disciplined on the offensive end of the court. They are not afraid to take a possession deep into the shot clock and wait for a good shot. They are smothering on the defensive end of the ball and really get their momentum there.

Here are the major players:

Langston Hall - Senior PG - Langston set the ASUN career record for assists earlier this season. He is a very talented distributor and three point shooter but isn't too much of a threat to take it directly to the hoop.

Daniel Coursey - Senior C - Daniel has a good back to the basket game. He's got the jump hook down pat if he's close to the basket. He's a very good shot blocker and post defender. I'm not sure if he's quick enough to guard Amile but Mercer does really well with help defense. I saw someone say he's listed a 6-10 220 but if i had to guess I'd say he probably closer to 6-11 235.

Jake Gollon - Senior PF - This will be Duke's biggest advantage, partly because he'll guard Jabari and partly because he can be the biggest bonehead on the court at times. He's similar to Hairston but with a slightly better shot. I loathe Jake Gollon 98% of the time. And he's a sixth year senior... that's right he was granted two red shirts.

Bud Thomes - Senior SF - Bud was Mr Basketball in Colorado in High School. He's a little streaky but at times he can be lights out from three. He's not going to kill you with anything but the three.

Anthony White JR - Senior SG - White's a very well rounded SG who has the best mid range game on the team. He's got a goos shot be he also isn't going to take it straight to the hoop usually.

Ike Nwamu - Sophomore Wing - Ike is insanely atheletic and built like a brick house. He's comparable to Semi for all purposes. He's the most slasher like player we have on the team and can throw down some monster dunks. Hi shot from long range isn't that reliable though it's been a little better as of late.

The two other Centers are the backup PG Kevin Canevari and backup C Monty Brown.

Obviously my money is on Duke but Mercer is a very well rounded well coached team who loves to play defense and get's it's momentum from there and the three point line. As with most teams they have no answer for Jabari and probably Hood as well. If we guard the three well and play to our strengths it should be a decently easy win but don't expect the Bears to concede at any point.

Also they are pumped about playing DUKE!


Great, thanks for this! Sounds like we'd match up pretty well.

Troublemaker
03-17-2014, 06:47 AM
I graduated from Mercer in 2010, still live in Macon and attend most the Bears home games. This game is a personal nightmare for me as I have longed for the Bears to make the Tourny every year since I was a freshman, and now they're playing Duke who I have been a lifelong fan of. Here's what I can tell you:


Thanks, Ichabod!

Your scouting report dovetails nicely with their statistical profile -- a team that shoots threes but doesn't draw fouls.

I don't like the fact that Mercer starts 5 seniors, but overall, they don't appear to be a bad matchup for Duke.

jmck214
03-17-2014, 10:37 AM
I graduated from Mercer in 2010, still live in Macon and attend most the Bears home games. This game is a personal nightmare for me as I have longed for the Bears to make the Tourny every year since I was a freshman, and now they're playing Duke who I have been a lifelong fan of. Here's what I can tell you:

To reiterate what has been said, Mercer is a team with extreme experience/leadership (SEVEN SENIORS). That's seven seniors who have been dying for a crack at the NCAA's for four years now. We are also really deep. There are 12 guys who average nine minutes or more. Also the entire starting five are seniors.

Mercer is very disciplined on the offensive end of the court. They are not afraid to take a possession deep into the shot clock and wait for a good shot. They are smothering on the defensive end of the ball and really get their momentum there.

Here are the major players:

Langston Hall - Senior PG - Langston set the ASUN career record for assists earlier this season. He is a very talented distributor and three point shooter but isn't too much of a threat to take it directly to the hoop.

Daniel Coursey - Senior C - Daniel has a good back to the basket game. He's got the jump hook down pat if he's close to the basket. He's a very good shot blocker and post defender. I'm not sure if he's quick enough to guard Amile but Mercer does really well with help defense. I saw someone say he's listed a 6-10 220 but if i had to guess I'd say he probably closer to 6-11 235.

Jake Gollon - Senior PF - This will be Duke's biggest advantage, partly because he'll guard Jabari and partly because he can be the biggest bonehead on the court at times. He's similar to Hairston but with a slightly better shot. I loathe Jake Gollon 98% of the time. And he's a sixth year senior... that's right he was granted two red shirts.

Bud Thomes - Senior SF - Bud was Mr Basketball in Colorado in High School. He's a little streaky but at times he can be lights out from three. He's not going to kill you with anything but the three.

Anthony White JR - Senior SG - White's a very well rounded SG who has the best mid range game on the team. He's got a goos shot be he also isn't going to take it straight to the hoop usually.

Ike Nwamu - Sophomore Wing - Ike is insanely atheletic and built like a brick house. He's comparable to Semi for all purposes. He's the most slasher like player we have on the team and can throw down some monster dunks. Hi shot from long range isn't that reliable though it's been a little better as of late.

The two other Centers are the backup PG Kevin Canevari and backup C Monty Brown.

Obviously my money is on Duke but Mercer is a very well rounded well coached team who loves to play defense and get's it's momentum from there and the three point line. As with most teams they have no answer for Jabari and probably Hood as well. If we guard the three well and play to our strengths it should be a decently easy win but don't expect the Bears to concede at any point.

Also they are pumped about playing DUKE!

I know what you are going through. I am a Rhode Island graduate and my only trip to Cameron was the 2008 November game between URI and Duke. I figured Duke would run away with the victory but the game was a lot closer than I thought and URI actually had a lead with under two minutes to go. I was rooting for Duke but I felt kind of guilty going against my alma mater and URI ended up being on the wrong side of the bubble that year so it's safe to say a win at Duke would have gotten them in.

CDu
03-17-2014, 11:33 AM
Thanks Ichabod for the detailed breakdown of the Mercer team. From your analysis, it doesn't sound like Mercer does either of the things that really give us trouble defensively (attack off the dribble and offensive rebound).

If they're hitting their 3s, they could give us a tough game. But it doesn't sound like they'll get us in foul trouble nor will they beat us to the offensive glass.

It appears that Mercer is a good defensive team for their conference, but on the national scale they are probably not that great. They are a good defensive rebounding team (again, largely against smaller teams), but not much on the offensive glass.

We will have the 4 or 5 best players on the court (no disrespect intended to Hall, but I'd take Cook and Sulaimon over him for sure). That should be enough to get us through, unless Mercer goes bonkers from 3pt range.

gofurman
03-17-2014, 12:31 PM
Thanks Ichabod for the detailed breakdown of the Mercer team. From your analysis, it doesn't sound like Mercer does either of the things that really give us trouble defensively (attack off the dribble and offensive rebound).
If they're hitting their 3s, they could give us a tough game. But it doesn't sound like they'll get us in foul trouble nor will they beat us to the offensive glass.

It appears that Mercer is a good defensive team for their conference, but on the national scale they are probably not that great. They are a good defensive rebounding team (again, largely against smaller teams), but not much on the offensive glass.

We will have the 4 or 5 best players on the court (no disrespect intended to Hall, but I'd take Cook and Sulaimon over him for sure). That should be enough to get us through, unless Mercer goes bonkers from 3pt range.

I would back this - every team seeded 15 or highr is good at something... and can beat anyone else on a given day. BUT - no jinx - its matchups and we dont want teams that A) get a ton of dribble penetration - think Lehigh CJ McCollum... or B) play super-star level D (especially by pressure / turnovers / ability to strip the ball w strong guards). Example: the Best Defensive teams in our league? Clemson and UVA. both beat us.

Thats my opinion on what we dont want anyway. I dont think anyone denies dribble penetration is an issue for our team to stop... and the great defensive teams like Clemson and UVA (pack-line D) can be very troublesome - Clemson almost swept us - as they mitigate our great O and then our lackluster D becomes more important to getting the W. If we can score 80+ (on a bad D) it masks our intermittent D. You cant score 80 on Clemson or UVA.

Anyone Agree these are the two things we most Dont want to see in matchups? Or Disagree? To me these 2 supercede what some fear - a mismatch of size and big boys inside vs Amile and Plum3.

summary - I think Mercer is a decent matchup for us. they appear from the scouting to be shooters and not slashers. Ill take it

*the only score I saw early on that scared me so,me was Mercer played even (lost by 3) w Texas - thats very very respectable as Rick Barnes teams are very strong and tough. That score shows they do have the abillity. Typically Texas rebounds well (like a lesser Mich State). that one scares me a little

Clay Feet POF
03-17-2014, 02:07 PM
After funneling all these posts with their valid historical records and statistical facts in my head I come away with this for the NCAAT.

1) The players will play extra hard

2) Will the Coaches trust the bench to provided some relieve from fatigue and prevent the defense from committing late game fouls,

3) Based on 2 Hopefully Dru and MP3 see more game time. Also maybe providing the offence with more energy for rebounds, late game FT, and more leg lift in their shots.

In a nutshell this is ON the COACHES and how they steer this ship……Let’s Go Duke!

Reilly
03-17-2014, 02:18 PM
Keeps running through my head when I think about playing Mercer ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9BA6fFGMjI&feature=kp

bbosbbos
03-17-2014, 02:31 PM
You probably underestimate cheater's fans. They will buy tickets to Raleigh and support our opponents. lol ;)


I like that unc is in San Antonio - having a less hostile crowd in Raleigh for the game will be nice.

superdave
03-17-2014, 03:05 PM
I would back this - every team seeded 15 or highr is good at something... and can beat anyone else on a given day. BUT - no jinx - its matchups and we dont want teams that A) get a ton of dribble penetration - think Lehigh CJ McCollum... or B) play super-star level D (especially by pressure / turnovers / ability to strip the ball w strong guards). Example: the Best Defensive teams in our league? Clemson and UVA. both beat us.

Thats my opinion on what we dont want anyway. I dont think anyone denies dribble penetration is an issue for our team to stop... and the great defensive teams like Clemson and UVA (pack-line D) can be very troublesome - Clemson almost swept us - as they mitigate our great O and then our lackluster D becomes more important to getting the W. If we can score 80+ (on a bad D) it masks our intermittent D. You cant score 80 on Clemson or UVA.

Anyone Agree these are the two things we most Dont want to see in matchups? Or Disagree? To me these 2 supercede what some fear - a mismatch of size and big boys inside vs Amile and Plum3.

summary - I think Mercer is a decent matchup for us. they appear from the scouting to be shooters and not slashers. Ill take it

*the only score I saw early on that scared me so,me was Mercer played even (lost by 3) w Texas - thats very very respectable as Rick Barnes teams are very strong and tough. That score shows they do have the abillity. Typically Texas rebounds well (like a lesser Mich State). that one scares me a little


Agree with you and CDu here. We lose defensive intensity for stretches which hurts us on dribble drives and on the boards.

To bring up a note of caution about Mercer, recall the Davidson game. Our coaches game-planned to take away their 3-point shots. That worked as Davidson shot 3-21 on 3's. But they shot over 50% on 2s as let them in the lane a lot. Davidson is smart and knows you can counter the passing lane over-play by going backdoor, and you can slash to the rim when the 3 is guarded. But we still ran away from them that night.

So if we take away the 3, with a similar gameplan, we cannot neglect helpside D and cannot neglect protecting the rim. Those are things we have gotten a little better at over the season.

Ichabod points out in his nicely detailed post that Mercer is very patient on the offensive end. UVA was as well. We had our best run vs UVA when we sped them up in the second half. We did that by over-playing the passing lane. Classic Duke D. Jabari jumped around a big to steal an entry pass. We kept pushing the pass and go a few transition opportunities. That's how you break their discipline.

I don't know if we will see any big defensive adjustments at this point. I would bet our gameplan is to chase Mercer off the 3-point line. Additionally, I'd bet that Tyler continues to play big minutes because he is the only one getting into the passing lanes as much as K would like. If the rest of the guys can do more of that, and we start playing downhill, Quinn and Andre can pick up more minutes.

Super "Still hoping for the hockey lines to come back" Dave

Neals384
03-18-2014, 07:33 PM
One thing we don'w want to do against Mercer is play Overtime. They are 5-1 in OT, including two double OT wins and one triple OT win.

Billy Dat
03-19-2014, 09:56 AM
Scouting Cinderella: Which MidMajors can Pull upsets
by Jeff Borzello
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24490916/scouting-cinderella-which-mid-majors-can-pull-upsets

Mercer vs Duke

What they do well: “The biggest thing is they play together. They play together offensively. They have a good offensive game-plan. They want to play half-court basketball, they have shooters on the wing, they have a point guard who guides the offense, and a big guy who can finish inside. They're efficient. Langston Hall has great poise, a great understanding of the game. He's been running the system for four years. He's a true leader, he doesn't get rattled. He plays the same way in every game. He can make shots, end of shot clock, end of the half, end of the game.
(more at link)

DukeUsul
03-19-2014, 11:22 AM
I'm looking at Ken Pom's numbers on this matchup. It's been said upthread that both teams here like the 3. I'll note however, that we are much better at limiting other teams' 3-pt attempts.

3PA/FGA (percentage of shot attepmts that are 3s): Mercer 37.2, Duke 39.0

3PA/FGA allowed (what each team's opponents do): Mercer 36.4, Duke 24.0

Some of that may be due to the styles of our opponents, but you'd think over 30 games so far, that difference would mostly wash out. So you may be able to say that Duke does a great job (#4 according to Ken Pom) at limiting 3pt attempts by our opponents.

So a key to the game may be in our ability to rotate to defend cutters when we take away the 3. I'm sure K is smarter than all of us combined, so I would expect that's something he's working on (as it's consistently a weakness of our tendency to stretch and overplay our defense).

pfrduke
03-19-2014, 11:36 AM
I'm looking at Ken Pom's numbers on this matchup. It's been said upthread that both teams here like the 3. I'll note however, that we are much better at limiting other teams' 3-pt attempts.

3PA/FGA (percentage of shot attepmts that are 3s): Mercer 37.2, Duke 39.0

3PA/FGA allowed (what each team's opponents do): Mercer 36.4, Duke 24.0

Some of that may be due to the styles of our opponents, but you'd think over 30 games so far, that difference would mostly wash out. So you may be able to say that Duke does a great job (#4 according to Ken Pom) at limiting 3pt attempts by our opponents.

So a key to the game may be in our ability to rotate to defend cutters when we take away the 3. I'm sure K is smarter than all of us combined, so I would expect that's something he's working on (as it's consistently a weakness of our tendency to stretch and overplay our defense).

If you were asked to sum up a Coach K defense in a single philosophy, "don't let opponents shoot 3s" would be the most accurate statement. It's the one defensive thing we've done more consistently - and more consistently well - than anything else. We've been in the top 25 in this category nationally in every year since 2003 and in the top 5 nationally in all of those years except for last year (24th - a real aberration for us) and 2010 (11th). As you say, the commitment to extending the defense out to the three point line and running shooters off of those shots does open up interior lanes, which requires help and rotation, but that's something that we are always vulnerable to and thus (I suspect, having never been in a practice personally) are always working on.

FerryFor50
03-19-2014, 11:37 AM
If you were asked to sum up a Coach K defense in a single philosophy, "don't let opponents shoot 3s" would be the most accurate statement. It's the one defensive thing we've done more consistently - and more consistently well - than anything else. We've been in the top 25 in this category nationally in every year since 2003 and in the top 5 nationally in all of those years except for last year (24th - a real aberration for us) and 2010 (11th). As you say, the commitment to extending the defense out to the three point line and running shooters off of those shots does open up interior lanes, which requires help and rotation, but that's something that we are always vulnerable to and thus (I suspect, having never been in a practice personally) are always working on.

I think part of it is, however, that teams realize they can beat Duke off the dribble and get open shots or our guys in foul trouble. If a team goes into a game thinking they are going to beat Duke in a 3 point shooting contest, they're going to be in for a rude awakening. So how much of our ability to limit teams' three point attempts is due to the defense and how much is due to the fact that teams simply know to pound it in against us?

wgl1228
03-19-2014, 11:47 AM
If we win, would we play Sunday afternoon or night? Any idea?

rasputin
03-19-2014, 11:58 AM
If we win, would we play Sunday afternoon or night? Any idea?

CBS doesn't decide that until after the winners are identified from the "second" round games on Friday.

MCFinARL
03-19-2014, 12:12 PM
That is ironic. I like the way th team is driving more and playing inside a lil better -esp Jabari !!! (And amile too, nice that he is doing more than just put backs sometimes, that's a big help if he gets 10 pts )

I like strong inside play. We need it

Go duke

Don't get me wrong--I don't think we should stop driving to the basket. I'm just thinking about a slightly different balance of driving and threes--enough of each provides better opportunities for the other.

OldPhiKap
03-19-2014, 12:14 PM
Mercer shoots 73% from the line. Would be really nice to maybe play some D without fouling in this one.

pfrduke
03-19-2014, 12:57 PM
I think part of it is, however, that teams realize they can beat Duke off the dribble and get open shots or our guys in foul trouble. If a team goes into a game thinking they are going to beat Duke in a 3 point shooting contest, they're going to be in for a rude awakening. So how much of our ability to limit teams' three point attempts is due to the defense and how much is due to the fact that teams simply know to pound it in against us?

I agree there is some chicken and egg aspect to it, but not every one of our teams in the past 12 years has struggled with containing players off the dribble, even while committing to denying 3-point shots.

Our defense, when it works best, is designed to force as many 2-point jump shots as possible - no 3s, no layups. We've been superb at the former for a dozen years. We've had varying degrees of success at the latter - some teams have been really good, others (this year's, for example) have not. So I don't think it's accurate to say that our extreme success (and I mean extreme - I don't think there's a single team over the past dozen years that has allowed a lower percentage of their opponents' points to come from behind the arc than Duke) at limiting 3s is attributable to every team that has played Duke for the past 12 years saying "we know we can just beat these guys off the dribble and pound it inside, so we'll ignore 3 point attempts."

Separately, if teams do come into games with that mindset, I think Coach K is happy about it. He'd much rather fight an offense that's trying to score almost exclusively within 20' than from beyond it.

flyingdutchdevil
03-19-2014, 01:08 PM
Mercer shoots 73% from the line. Would be really nice to maybe play some D without fouling in this one.

But is that possible with this team? It seems that playing D and fouling are synonyms with this team.

I find it very interesting that, collectively, our thoughts on this year's D went something like this:

October: "We're gonna press the hell out of the opponents and play exceptional denial D"
November: "We are so inexperienced and that is why our D is not great"
December: "We are so inexperienced and short and that is why our D is terrible"
January: "We're getting so much better at D. It doesn't seem like it's that much of a liability anymore"
February: "We regressed a little on the D, but at least we're rebounding well and defending the 3pt shot well"
March: "Yeah...so we need to score a lot of points a game to win this tourney. We can either foul or give away easy lay-ups as our effective D strategy."

pfrduke
03-19-2014, 01:10 PM
Mercer shoots 73% from the line. Would be really nice to maybe play some D without fouling in this one.

The fouling has been a huge problem for us this season. From 2003-2013, our defensive free throw rate* was higher than 34% only once (way back in 2003, at 37.6%). This season it's at 40.2%, which is 165th in the country. That's really bad. Now, the average is up across the country this year with the new points of emphasis, but Duke's increase in fouling has well outpaced the rising tide. Our defense has been unable to adjust to the new whistles, and it's let opponents get easier points at the line. The increase in fouling against what an average Duke team would be doing in this environment has cost us roughly 2 points per 100 possessions this year just at the line, without even taking into account the easier interior scoring that's been allowed by people trying to avoid foul trouble.

*Free throw attempts divided by field goal attempts - so 34% means our opponents shoot 34 free throws for every 100 shots they take from the floor.

jv001
03-19-2014, 01:16 PM
The fouling has been a huge problem for us this season. From 2003-2013, our defensive free throw rate* was higher than 34% only once (way back in 2003, at 37.6%). This season it's at 40.2%, which is 165th in the country. That's really bad. Now, the average is up across the country this year with the new points of emphasis, but Duke's increase in fouling has well outpaced the rising tide. Our defense has been unable to adjust to the new whistles, and it's let opponents get easier points at the line. The increase in fouling against what an average Duke team would be doing in this environment has cost us roughly 2 points per 100 possessions this year just at the line, without even taking into account the easier interior scoring that's been allowed by people trying to avoid foul trouble.

*Free throw attempts divided by field goal attempts - so 34% means our opponents shoot 34 free throws for every 100 shots they take from the floor.

Great post on these numbers. We have seen many teams go to the zone defense to combat that point of emphasis thingy you mentioned. An effective zone can slow a team down, it can help when players are in foul trouble and it gives the opponents something else to prepare for. I know it's too late for Duke to go zone this year, but playing a good zone could have helped if we had been able to practice it early in the year. That's all I'm going to say about zone defense at this time. GoDuke!

azzefkram
03-19-2014, 02:05 PM
The fouling has been a huge problem for us this season. From 2003-2013, our defensive free throw rate* was higher than 34% only once (way back in 2003, at 37.6%). This season it's at 40.2%, which is 165th in the country. That's really bad. Now, the average is up across the country this year with the new points of emphasis, but Duke's increase in fouling has well outpaced the rising tide. Our defense has been unable to adjust to the new whistles, and it's let opponents get easier points at the line. The increase in fouling against what an average Duke team would be doing in this environment has cost us roughly 2 points per 100 possessions this year just at the line, without even taking into account the easier interior scoring that's been allowed by people trying to avoid foul trouble.

*Free throw attempts divided by field goal attempts - so 34% means our opponents shoot 34 free throws for every 100 shots they take from the floor.

This shouldn't be too shocking since about 30% of the available minutes are played by guys who average about 5 or more fouls/40. I'm not sure it's an adjustment issue since most of the culprits are at or below their career averages. Swapping Tyler for Seth probably gets you most of the way there. It's not a slam on Tyler, he just fouls at a much higher rate than Seth did.

gumbomoop
03-19-2014, 02:32 PM
.... not a slam on Tyler, he just fouls at a much higher rate than Seth did.

Going forward, I hope both Tyler and Amile can limit those silly fouls that put them on the bench in first half, and either limit their play or exit them from the game in the second half. Tyler is always on the edge between aggressive-but-smart D and dumb-over-aggressive play. And Amile seems amenable, or at least susceptible, to unthinking, foolish touch fouls. Such lack-of-focus fouls both get the opposing team more quickly to the FT line and limit K's substitution options in both halves.

Have to assume every little thing counts: not blocking out at FT line; not blocking out, period; fouling the 3-bomber; dumb, especially useless, fouls; dumb thunder-dumbs. Yes, players will make mistakes. IMO, 4 of the above 5 should never happen, and useless fouls but rarely. Alas.

pfrduke
03-19-2014, 03:01 PM
This shouldn't be too shocking since about 30% of the available minutes are played by guys who average about 5 or more fouls/40. I'm not sure it's an adjustment issue since most of the culprits are at or below their career averages. Swapping Tyler for Seth probably gets you most of the way there. It's not a slam on Tyler, he just fouls at a much higher rate than Seth did.

I'm not sure exactly who all you are referring to, but the culprits, at least in terms of year over year change, are not Josh and Tyler. Tyler didn't take Seth's minutes at all - he plays almost exactly the same percentage of minutes as he did last year - and Josh's minutes shrunk substantially. Last year, an average Duke game saw 5.1 fouls from Josh and Tyler; this year, that number is 4.8.

Jabari basically took Mason's minutes and they foul at exactly the same rate, so no real difference there. Minutes for Quinn and Rasheed last year (together 62.7 mpg) are essentially matched by minutes for Quinn, Rasheed, and Andre this year (together 67.3 mpg) and the group collectively fouls at exactly the same per 40 rate.

Instead, there are two main culprits, one of which, I think, is fixable and one of which, I think, is not. Starting with the latter, Ryan's minutes from last year have gone to Amile and Marshall this year (Ryan and Amile last year averaged 29.7 mpg together*; Amile and Marshall average 30 mpg together this year). Amile and Marshall collectively commit about .8 fouls per 40 more than Amile and Ryan did in the same minutes. Those two are just a little foul prone, and I don't think that will likely change in the tournament run. Still, that difference only amounts to 2 fouls every 3 games, given the minutes they play.

*since we're looking at this on a season level, this is minutes per team game, not minutes per game played by the player

As to the second, you were right to flag the absence of Seth as a contributing factor, but it's not because Tyler is playing in his place. Seth's minutes, instead, have been taken by Rodney, and he is making a big difference in terms of fouling - he has 86 already while Seth had only 60 (in 2 more games). As to why I think this is curable, Rodney's fouling is dramatically different from his freshman year at MSU - there, he committed only 1.6 fouls per 40 (good for 33rd in the country); this year, that figure has almost doubled to 3.1. He's had 4 or more fouls in 11 games, including in 5 of our losses. Rodney is clearly capable of fouling less, and doing so could make a material difference (there's not necessarily causal correlation here, but we're 15-2 if he has 2 or fewer fouls and 11-6 if he has 3 or more). Getting him back to disciplined defense without fouling would be a big help.

There's also a non-player specific issue, which is that our opponents are shooting more free throws for each of our fouls - last year, 671 attempts on 645 fouls; this year, we've committed 14 more fouls to date but allowed 59 more free throw attempts. This could be from any number of factors: a) fewer offensive fouls; b) a greater percentage of shooting vs. non-shooting fouls; c) a greater percentage of non-shooting fouls in bonus/double bonus situations; or d) some combination of the above.

gwlaw99
03-20-2014, 01:09 AM
So I just watched a couple of Mercer games on espn 3 from their conference tournament. Was not that impressed. Most of their offense is from wide open threes by getting zone defenses out of position. Pass, pass, pass, pass then shot wide open 3 pointer because zone can't get over in time. Obviously this won't work nearly as well against a switching man to man defense. They do have a lot of good three point shooters, but most contested 3s were missed. Guard the three point line well and we win. They have a pretty good high post/low post game, but I don't see it working on us. They have no one who can guard Jabari or Hood. Their point guard looks good, but nothing THAT special. Not remotely in the same ballpark as McCollum. I was starting to worry after reading this thread, but if we come in and play hard nosed defense on their guards and don't allow wide open 3s, we win handily.

Atlanta Duke
03-20-2014, 10:36 AM
The commentator for our game tomorrow starts working the refs in this USA Today article on the changes for charge/block calls

Len Elmore, the television analyst and former Maryland standout, said North Carolina was the best team at taking charges. Then Duke started to take a lot of charges, he said, which was compensation for not having a lot of shot blockers.

"When Josh Hairston comes into the game, a guy drives to the basket, he is not going after the shot," Elmore said. "He is trying to step because he knows he can't block the shot. They don't have shot blockers on that team."...

Elmore said some players continue to flop, and with some success.

"They are out there," he said. "And some places you'll get the call."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2014/03/20/change-on-block-charge-rule-call-tournament-officiating/6611865/

Wonder to where Len is referring with regard to "some places" where he thinks you get the charge call;)

OldPhiKap
03-20-2014, 10:38 AM
The commentator for our game tomorrow starts working the refs in this USA Today article on the changes for charge/block calls

Len Elmore, the television analyst and former Maryland standout, said North Carolina was the best team at taking charges. Then Duke started to take a lot of charges, he said, which was compensation for not having a lot of shot blockers.

"When Josh Hairston comes into the game, a guy drives to the basket, he is not going after the shot," Elmore said. "He is trying to step because he knows he can't block the shot. They don't have shot blockers on that team."...

Elmore said some players continue to flop, and with some success.

"They are out there," he said. "And some places you'll get the call."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2014/03/20/change-on-block-charge-rule-call-tournament-officiating/6611865/

Wonder to where Len is referring with regard to "some places" where you get the charge call;)

I hope he goes to the Big ## with the Twerps.

Reilly
03-20-2014, 11:51 AM
I hope he goes to the Big ## with the Twerps.

If so, I picture some unsuspecting, polite Nebraska farm couple -- with their orderly life, and a sense of decorum and fair play -- sitting down to watch a hoops game next winter, and Len comes on talking conspiracy and mis-representing everything, and grumpily grumping along.

dukelifer
03-20-2014, 11:55 AM
So I just watched a couple of Mercer games on espn 3 from their conference tournament. Was not that impressed. Most of their offense is from wide open threes by getting zone defenses out of position. Pass, pass, pass, pass then shot wide open 3 pointer because zone can't get over in time. Obviously this won't work nearly as well against a switching man to man defense. They do have a lot of good three point shooters, but most contested 3s were missed. Guard the three point line well and we win. They have a pretty good high post/low post game, but I don't see it working on us. They have no one who can guard Jabari or Hood. Their point guard looks good, but nothing THAT special. Not remotely in the same ballpark as McCollum. I was starting to worry after reading this thread, but if we come in and play hard nosed defense on their guards and don't allow wide open 3s, we win handily.

I also looked at them. The key is to play disciplined. This is a solid team that knows how to work as a unit. If Duke is business like and keeps focus- they should move on. But a team that shoots threes can always get back in a game -if you stop paying attention to D. This Duke team loses focus and it has been a weakness all year- not moving the ball and settling for quick jumpers- letting teams get to rim after establishing big leads etc . Quinn is particularly prone to this and as he goes- so goes the team. I am hoping for a very business like team that is a bit angry at not closing the deal at the ACC tourney. You cannot win the tourney unless their is a collective belief in one another. We will see if Duke has the mental toughness- the talent is there.

Dukehky
03-20-2014, 01:59 PM
Is the pre game press conference for this one available anywhere?

bronston22
03-20-2014, 03:36 PM
Great to be back to some college basketball that actually means something.

Regular season is a welcome distraction but meaningless except for a couple of UNC games. And the tourney is worse - those crowds were pathetic. Now let's play ball!!!

The Gordog
03-20-2014, 05:44 PM
Thanks, Ichabod!

Your scouting report dovetails nicely with their statistical profile -- a team that shoots threes but doesn't draw fouls.

I don't like the fact that Mercer starts 5 seniors, but overall, they don't appear to be a bad matchup for Duke.

If you can not draw fouls you can not beat Duke, the way we are playing lately. Our problem is that when JP and Hood have foul issues they play matador D and don't drive in side as frequently.

NSDukeFan
03-20-2014, 08:59 PM
Great to be back to some college basketball that actually means something.

Regular season is a welcome distraction but meaningless except for a couple of UNC games. And the tourney is worse - those crowds were pathetic. Now let's play ball!!!

I disagree strongly with every part of this post.

Acymetric
03-20-2014, 09:02 PM
I disagree strongly with every part of this post.

There were quite a few empty seats in the ACC tournament, at least what you could see on TV. Do disagree with the rest of it although I certainly enjoy the NCAA tournament more than the regular season with respect to non-Duke games.

dalmatians98
03-20-2014, 09:28 PM
Great to be back to some college basketball that actually means something.

Regular season is a welcome distraction but meaningless except for a couple of UNC games. And the tourney is worse - those crowds were pathetic. Now let's play ball!!!

Wow. Guess you missed the first Duke - Syracuse game -- and the second one, for that matter.

brevity
03-20-2014, 10:00 PM
Great to be back to some college basketball that actually means something.

Regular season is a welcome distraction but meaningless except for a couple of UNC games. And the tourney is worse - those crowds were pathetic. Now let's play ball!!!

Ugh. Do you work for CBS or Turner Sports? Swooping in at the tail end of the season, after months of us being raised by ESPN, with your shiny NCAA contract. You're like some sort of trophy, young buck stepfather that invites us to call him "Dad." Well, you're not my father, you hear me?

(Unless you're Charles Barkley. Still not a role model, but I'd call him Dad.)

Mike Corey
03-21-2014, 09:44 AM
Gameday quick-hitters:

This is going to be a tough, tough game.

Mercer is large, experienced, capable, and motivated. They play lots of guys and throw lots of weapons at you accordingly. They want to be the FGC of 2014.

I fully anticipate this will come down to the final four minutes.

NashvilleDevil
03-21-2014, 09:48 AM
Gameday quick-hitters:

This is going to be a tough, tough game.

Mercer is large, experienced, capable, and motivated. They play lots of guys and throw lots of weapons at you accordingly. They want to be the FGC of 2014.

I fully anticipate this will come down to the final four minutes.

I guess I am a little more confident that Duke wins going away. I think we are going to see full beast mode Jabari and even though Mercer is experienced and deep they do not have anyone who can stop him.

FerryFor50
03-21-2014, 10:00 AM
Gameday quick-hitters:

This is going to be a tough, tough game.

Mercer is large, experienced, capable, and motivated. They play lots of guys and throw lots of weapons at you accordingly. They want to be the FGC of 2014.

I fully anticipate this will come down to the final four minutes.

Mercer is nowhere near athletic enough to be this years FGCU.

NashvilleDevil
03-21-2014, 10:12 AM
Mercer is nowhere near athletic enough to be this years FGCU.

I know it has zero bearing on anything but didn't Duke go on some ridiculous 30-0 run against FGCU in Cameron last year?

CDu
03-21-2014, 10:21 AM
Gameday quick-hitters:

This is going to be a tough, tough game.

Mercer is large, experienced, capable, and motivated. They play lots of guys and throw lots of weapons at you accordingly. They want to be the FGC of 2014.

I fully anticipate this will come down to the final four minutes.

1. They aren't that large. They rotate 3 guys at center: two who are about Amile Jefferson's size (one is an inch taller) and one actual big (6'11", 250) guy who plays about as much as Plumlee plays. Aside from that, nobody else is over 6'6". They don't have short guards, but I'm not overly concerned about the length of the opposing guards. We'll have the size advantage at PF and SF, and Sulaimon, Dawkins, and Thornton aren't going to be bothered by being guarded by a guy an inch or two taller.

2. They are NOTHING like FGCU last year. FGCU was a young, brash, ridiculously athletic team that looked to run and dunk. These guys don't look to run and don't really attack the basket off the dribble. They are a 3pt shooting team.

3. The thing that makes them dangerous is their experience and their 3pt shooting. But in just about every other aspect of the game, we have a BIG advantage. Heck, even in terms of 3pt shooting, we're as good as they are.

We could certainly lose, as anything can happen in a single-elimination tournament. But we should absolutely win. And we should win by double-digits. Hopefully we play our game, stay out of foul trouble, and get a comfortable win.

Mike Corey
03-21-2014, 10:23 AM
The comparison isn't to FGC literally, fwiw. Sorry for not clarifying above. :)

DukeAlumBS
03-21-2014, 10:23 AM
I know it has zero bearing on anything but didn't Duke go on some ridiculous 30-0 run against FGCU in Cameron last year?

I just found it at Go Duke. Duke beat Florida Gulf Coast by 25 or 30 early in the season.
A good point, different team this year. I feel more positive with what we have. When all is perfect!
Nice day
Duke by 30 I guess!

Nice day
Jimmy

OldPhiKap
03-21-2014, 10:33 AM
Mercer has lots of upperclassmen; won its conference tournament at FGCU; and has won several games in overtime.

I expect a very poised team that will not be intimidated to play us.

This will be a tough game, especially if we foul a lot. If we play high-level defense, we should prevail.

DukeAlumBS
03-21-2014, 11:09 AM
Mercer has lots of upperclassmen; won its conference tournament at FGCU; and has won several games in overtime.

I expect a very poised team that will not be intimidated to play us.

This will be a tough game, especially if we foul a lot. If we play high-level defense, we should prevail.
They are good my friend, I know this. Sorry for the high point spread in this one. I said Duke wins by 30 as a joke.
The line is 13 I saw.
Duke by 15 in this one!
Nice day, GO DUKE
You all have a nice day

Jimmy

-jk
03-21-2014, 11:42 AM
DBR Chat (http://forums.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/misc.php?do=cchatbox) is open.

-jk

riverside6
03-21-2014, 11:42 AM
Live tempo-based stats for Duke/Mercer, starters posted

http://www.scacchoops.com/ViewHDGame.asp?hSchedule=26155

DukeWarhead
03-21-2014, 11:52 AM
Let's go boys. It's a new, six-game season. Sending you positive vibes from the Northwest.

A solid win would make watching the rest of today's games so much more enjoyable.

Go Duke!

JNort
03-21-2014, 12:15 PM
This game is gonna be a walk through for our guys. 18+ point differential as we win

DBFAN
03-21-2014, 12:16 PM
Watching the CBS sports crew all trying to think of the ways that Mercer will beat Duke is so annoying. But what's even worse is that none of the. Would come out and Say they would pick Mercer. Just a bunch of let's wait and see what so and so does. C'mon stick to your guns, but don't just say things because you don't like us


Go get em boys

Go Duke

pfrduke
03-21-2014, 12:19 PM
Has the makings of a shoot out early. We've had 3 defensive possessions and played well once (and even that one Mercer scored - the one they missed was still a defensive breakdown).

pfrduke
03-21-2014, 12:20 PM
Thankfully, Mercer's helping us out with some unforced errors.

DukieInBrasil
03-21-2014, 12:26 PM
Hood has not looked comfortable so far, and has taken some poor shots. That drive by Amile was a nice idea but the shot that followed was terrible. The guys need to settle down and they'll be fine. They're getting by their defenders but they need to pass the ball more.

gumbomoop
03-21-2014, 12:27 PM
Thunder-dumb by Jabari, misses. Dumb. Hope we don't need those 2 at end.

arnie
03-21-2014, 12:28 PM
Thankfully, Mercer's helping us out with some unforced errors.

H subbing in and no Dawkins. Don't get it

gumbomoop
03-21-2014, 12:31 PM
Fouled 3-bomber. Dumb.

g-money
03-21-2014, 12:31 PM
I'm not a fan of the press. "Shock and awe" isn't going to work against a veteran team like Mercer, and with our general defensive ineptitude we ought to focus on just keeping our men in front of us.

Edit: it looks like we dialed back the press as I was typing. Moot point.

arnie
03-21-2014, 12:38 PM
H subbing in and no Dawkins. Don't get it

Well Dawkins is cold, but still hope he gets more pt today.

mapei
03-21-2014, 12:39 PM
It's so annoying to have to play an away game on our home turf . . . It's also annoying that Cook is the only one on our team that can shoot so far.

_Gary
03-21-2014, 12:39 PM
I'm just not understanding the reemergence of Josh in the rotation over Marshal. I completely disagree. Cook, Andre, Marshal and a little of Matt (for some good defensive pressure) should be our bench, imho. Nothing more and nothing less. But whatever.

Cameron
03-21-2014, 12:39 PM
If we're being honest, I think we all saw this coming.

Hopefully our guys settle down, get some inside looks for Jabari and remember who we are. Problem is Mercer is a legitimate adversary. These guys already believe they can beat us and, 10 minutes into the game, that is scary.

Rasheed with a great first half thus far. He is really bringing it.

GGLC
03-21-2014, 12:41 PM
Jabari is back to chucking off-balance long-range twos. Not good to see. I can't remember the last time our offense looked like it had a plan that it was executing.

...And Quinn has to stop thinking that he's the best three-point shooter on the team.

Potato
03-21-2014, 12:42 PM
Mercer is annoying.

mapei
03-21-2014, 12:43 PM
It's so annoying to have to play an away game on our home turf . . . It's also annoying that Cook is the only one on our team that can shoot so far.

Nice to see Sheed making me look foolish with that statement. ;)

sporthenry
03-21-2014, 12:43 PM
Duke is living/dying by the 3. But I have no problem with it. Beyond just the efficiency of the 3 point shot, they are getting wide open shots. Mercer is asking Duke to beat them on the outside. So just continue to do it.

Defense isn't very good.

slower
03-21-2014, 12:43 PM
If we play high-level defense, we should prevail.

Unfortunately, that's never a given, with this team.

mapei
03-21-2014, 12:45 PM
Unfortunately, that's never a given, with this team.

We're fouling a lot, too.

slower
03-21-2014, 12:45 PM
I just found it at Go Duke. Duke beat Florida Gulf Coast by 25 or 30 early in the season.
A good point, different team this year. I feel more positive with what we have. When all is perfect!
Nice day
Duke by 30 I guess!

Nice day
Jimmy

Just be you, Jimmy. You is enough.

rsvman
03-21-2014, 12:46 PM
We're fouling a lot, too.

Correction: the refs are calling a lot of fouls.

Mabdul Doobakus
03-21-2014, 12:46 PM
The 3's have almost all been wide open. I'm ok with raining wide open 3's all game long. The only one I didn't like was when Cook broke his defenders ankles and then bizarrely pulled up for an off balance 3 instead of running down a wide open lane. Pretty sure he was trying to finish off a Sportscenter highlight.

We need to stop committing dumb fouls.

Potato
03-21-2014, 12:47 PM
Correction: the refs are calling a lot of fouls.

i liked that one where the ref waited to see if the ball went in or not before calling a foul

Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
03-21-2014, 12:47 PM
Jabari is back to chucking off-balance long-range twos. Not good to see. I can't remember the last time our offense looked like it had a plan that it was executing.

...And Quinn has to stop thinking that he's the best three-point shooter on the team.

Because clearly that would be Sheed

alteran
03-21-2014, 12:47 PM
...And Quinn has to stop thinking that he's the best three-point shooter on the team.

He's hitting half his threes in the game so far, isn't he? I'll take 50% from three, and I'll even give kudos for it.

GGLC
03-21-2014, 12:48 PM
Our guys keep running into each other on offense.

Potato
03-21-2014, 12:49 PM
feel like we should be up much more

mapei
03-21-2014, 12:53 PM
Rebounding is saving us.

Onlyduke
03-21-2014, 12:54 PM
It absolutely disgusts me that Duke is playing in Raleigh and the crowd is so against them. Give me a break!

HaveFunExpectToWin
03-21-2014, 12:55 PM
Suilamon the Conquerer? Elmore is a strange man.

Brockt10
03-21-2014, 12:55 PM
This team has never heard of the word defense....I am starting to blame it on the coaching staff. Come up with a different strategy when the team can't stay in front of a defender.

kcduke75
03-21-2014, 12:56 PM
could not agree more. they are nowhere near as talented as us, but we let them hang around. need to put the ball in the basket before they get hot from 3 and make a game of it.

Potato
03-21-2014, 12:57 PM
Man I was wanting Dawkins to make that one

CR9
03-21-2014, 12:58 PM
Dre's shot not there.

Dukeface88
03-21-2014, 12:58 PM
This game is going to be decided by whether our shooting heats up before our rebounding goes cold.

mapei
03-21-2014, 12:58 PM
Either Jabari or Hood needs to start scoring.

GGLC
03-21-2014, 12:59 PM
Don't feel like this team has grown at all over the course of the year.

Doug.I.Am
03-21-2014, 01:00 PM
It absolutely disgusts me that Duke is playing in Raleigh and the crowd is so against them. Give me a break!

Noticed that too, disgusting....

dairedevil
03-21-2014, 01:00 PM
C'mon, Duke! I had some really crappy news this morning, and could use some cheering up with a victory.

kcduke75
03-21-2014, 01:00 PM
Need to get it to JP in scoring position

jipops
03-21-2014, 01:02 PM
The 3's just have to keep going down. We can't rely on any defense to pull this one out.

MaxAMillion
03-21-2014, 01:04 PM
It absolutely disgusts me that Duke is playing in Raleigh and the crowd is so against them. Give me a break!

It just shows you how few Duke fans are in the state of North Carolina. I would rather see Duke play in the New York/New Jersey area.

sporthenry
03-21-2014, 01:04 PM
Defense is atrocious. Team will be lucky to get out of Raleigh.

GGLC
03-21-2014, 01:05 PM
Our spacing on offense is...perplexing.

slower
03-21-2014, 01:05 PM
Don't feel like this team has grown at all over the course of the year.

Another vastly disappointing first half. There's absolutely NO way to predict what this team will do from game to game. But I just can't see them even sniffing the Final Four.

Potato
03-21-2014, 01:06 PM
yeah this isn't good. this has been a frustrating year because i feel like this team had so much talent

UrinalCake
03-21-2014, 01:06 PM
Zero movement on offense. Even coming out of a timeout we stand around and jack up a 3. Is this supposed to be a zone offense? It's like the players don't even care.

ChrisP
03-21-2014, 01:06 PM
The crowd is annoying but...Duke has no excuse. Mercer playing really hard and deserves a ton of credit but this is just...bad. If we lose, it will be WAY more than just "bad", though. I would hope the veterans on our team would remind the rest of the guys of one word: LEHIGH. :mad:

J4Kop99
03-21-2014, 01:06 PM
a 1 pt lead at half. Same problems as always. There is just no identity to this team.

arnie
03-21-2014, 01:06 PM
Don't feel like this team has grown at all over the course of the year.

A really confused team- just don't play well together.

pfrduke
03-21-2014, 01:08 PM
Weird half. We've taken 13 more shots, made 5 more 3s, are killing them on the glass, and are up just 1 (them shooting 52% to our 35% has a lot to do with it). Too many fouls and too many inside finishes that didn't happen. It really doesn't feel like it should be a 1 point game, though.

JamminJoe
03-21-2014, 01:08 PM
Oh man...why can't we defend when we are shooting well? The 3pt shooting can't stay this hot, so we better start defending in the 2nd half.

Cameron
03-21-2014, 01:09 PM
After today, our 2008 win over Belmont oddly could become even more important than it was six years ago.

Losing to two #15s and a #14 would have to be some kind of record (maybe one Lute Olson currently holds?)

sagegrouse
03-21-2014, 01:10 PM
Not getting discouraged -- what good would that do? We need to keep the defensive pressure up; I believe the Bears' shooting percentage will go down. More importantly, we need to attack the basket and get some baskets and fouls. We will (should?) shoot much better in the second half from inside.

Go Duke!

Potato
03-21-2014, 01:10 PM
if you would have told me sheed and cook had combined for like 20 the first half i'd say we're coasting to the finish line

dcdrumsinc
03-21-2014, 01:10 PM
21 three point attempts in the first half against a small undersized team. And I'm sure there were those saying we don't shoot that many threes. Live and die by the three. Said it back in November...1st or 2nd round exit. Is it 2015 yet?

rsvman
03-21-2014, 01:11 PM
Here's hoping that Coach K is drawing up some brilliant strategy that will allow us to pull away in the second half.

CDu
03-21-2014, 01:12 PM
Well, bad defense and shaky offense so far from our guys. We're fortunate to be up by 1 at the half. Need to come out more disciplined in the second half. We have a substantial advantage in athleticism inside. We need to take advantage of that.

GGLC
03-21-2014, 01:12 PM
Not getting discouraged -- what good would that do? We need to keep the defensive pressure up; I believe the Bears' shooting percentage will go down. More importantly, we need to attack the basket and get some baskets and fouls. We will (should?) shoot much better in the second half from inside.

Go Duke!

They're taking mostly open shots inside, though, so the most effective way to get their shooting percentage to go down would be to play better defense. It's not like they're hitting circus shots or unconscious threes, a la Derrick Williams a few years ago.

Mike Corey
03-21-2014, 01:12 PM
Not getting discouraged -- what good would that do? We need to keep the defensive pressure up; I believe the Bears' shooting percentage will go down. More importantly, we need to attack the basket and get some baskets and fouls. We will (should?) shoot much better in the second half from inside.

Go Duke!

I think this is perfectly stated.

Attack the basket and ramp up the defense and we survive and advance.

ChrisP
03-21-2014, 01:12 PM
We took 21 threes in the first half? I realize that the 3 ball is our game but I'm sorry, taking 21 threes in a half (especially the 1st) is just not a recipe for success, IMHO.

gumbomoop
03-21-2014, 01:12 PM
Hope Jabari stays down low with Amile/Marshall, leaving the 3-bombing to Rasheed, Rodney, Andre, and Quinn. Just no sense having Jabari out on the perimeter. He and Amile can get O-rebounds and FTs.

Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
03-21-2014, 01:12 PM
Oh man...why can't we defend when we are shooting well? The 3pt shooting can't stay this hot, so we better start defending in the 2nd half.

We are shooting 35%. Let me know when you feel we stop shooting well.

Onlyduke
03-21-2014, 01:12 PM
Here's hoping that Coach K is drawing up some brilliant strategy that will allow us to pull away in the second half.

I hope so, too! This is just too close for comfort .........

rhcpflea99
03-21-2014, 01:13 PM
Don't feel like this team has grown at all over the course of the year.

You must have not been watching defense from the begining of the season.

Brockt10
03-21-2014, 01:13 PM
Does anyone else get pissed off at the waste of talent on this team? This game summarizes the season perfectly.

GGLC
03-21-2014, 01:13 PM
There needs to be more, better, and crisper ball movement offensively, plain and simple. This has been the issue with this team for most of the second half of the season.

It's ugly to watch.

jipops
03-21-2014, 01:14 PM
None of what is transpiring is at all surprising. Statistically we have been playing our worst defense of the season since the month of March started. The 2nd half of the State game may be the one exception. But Wake, UNC, Clemson, and UVA have all shot over 50% against us. None of those are particularly strong teams on offense. Now Mercer (107 on offense in kenpom) is now shooting over 50% for the half. For whatever reason, we seem to be incapable of guarding anyone at this point.

J4Kop99
03-21-2014, 01:14 PM
For those of you asking Jabari to get down low, you do understand that our spacing is atrocious, right? There's nowhere for him to go.

ncexnyc
03-21-2014, 01:15 PM
Dre's had plenty of chances, but hasn't done anything yet. Amile looking really good, but Jabari and Rodney need to get more aggressive on the interior.

sporthenry
03-21-2014, 01:15 PM
21 three point attempts in the first half against a small undersized team. And I'm sure there were those saying we don't shoot that many threes. Live and die by the three. Said it back in November...1st or 2nd round exit. Is it 2015 yet?

Most of the 3's were fine. Mercer was using a zone and packing it down low. Towards the end, Duke got a bit 3 happy but they are shooting 38.1% from 3. If you take Sheed's half court 3 away, it becomes 40%. 40% from 3 is the equivalent of 60% from inside the arc.

It isn't the 3's. Offense got a bit stagnant towards the end of the half but they scored 35 points. Let's not ignore why this team will lose. It is defense. Other team shooting 52% and getting to the FT line. That is why Duke is only up 1.

GGLC
03-21-2014, 01:16 PM
For those of you asking Jabari to get down low, you do understand that our spacing is atrocious, right? There's nowhere for him to go.

Atrocious is probably a better word than perplexing to describe our spacing, but I was trying to be diplomatic. :p

ice-9
03-21-2014, 01:16 PM
It's our defense man...blown assignments, missed switches, inexplicably giving shooters too much space, way too much fouling...our offense is fine. They're packing the point and daring us to shoot. That we can get so many offensive rebounds is impressive.

GGLC
03-21-2014, 01:17 PM
It's our defense man...blown assignments, missed switches, inexplicably giving shooters too much space, way too much fouling...our offense is fine. They're packing the point and daring us to shoot. That we can get so many offensive rebounds is impressive.

Respectfully disagree. Our offense is not "fine" at all.

sporthenry
03-21-2014, 01:18 PM
Respectfully disagree. Our offense is not "fine" at all.

It isn't great but with the offensive boards, it is adequate. 35 points in the 1H should be more than adequate to beat nearly anyone, let alone Mercer. No disrespect to Mercer as they are clearly a good team but imagine this defense versus a team with the offensive capabilities of ours.

Brockt10
03-21-2014, 01:19 PM
This game ranks up there with all time worst Duke performances

J4Kop99
03-21-2014, 01:19 PM
Atrocious is probably a better word than perplexing to describe our spacing, but I was trying to be diplomatic. :p

well, look no further than my flame and your two pitchforks haha

Duke3517
03-21-2014, 01:21 PM
Not trying to make excuses but this is not a 14 seed. The NCAA has got to do a better job at seeding these teams.

In the 2nd half though...pound the rock inside to Parker. Relying on 3 pointers will be an L and another embarrassing first round loss when really Mercer deserves a lot more respect than a 14 seed.

Cameron
03-21-2014, 01:21 PM
This game ranks up there with all time worst Duke performances

I'd argue that it ranks right up there as one of the most predictable. We are playing exactly how we were expected to play. Anyone here who is surprised is telling an untruth.

CDu
03-21-2014, 01:21 PM
Respectfully disagree. Our offense is not "fine" at all.

We've scored 35 points on 29 possessions. That's an efficiency of 1.207 points per possession, which is not far off our season average. The problem is that we are allowing 34 points per 30 possessions, for an efficiency of 1.133 points per possession allowed. That's terrible.

Our offensive flow has not been good, but we've dominated the offensive glass and hit a bunch of 3s, which means our offense has actually been very efficient. We just haven't defended well at all. If we hold them to even a point per possession (which isn't good), we have a somewhat comfortable 5 point lead.

dukelifer
03-21-2014, 01:22 PM
Well, bad defense and shaky offense so far from our guys. We're fortunate to be up by 1 at the half. Need to come out more disciplined in the second half. We have a substantial advantage in athleticism inside. We need to take advantage of that.

Game is how I expected. Duke needs to step up and take it or there will be an upset. This Duke team has struggled to dictate the game.

CDu
03-21-2014, 01:23 PM
Not trying to make excuses but this is not a 14 seed. The NCAA has got to do a better job at seeding these teams.

Pomeroy disagrees with you. He sees them as a strong 14/weak 13. They're seeded just about right.

dukelifer
03-21-2014, 01:24 PM
This game ranks up there with all time worst Duke performances

You clearly do not watch a lot of Duke basketball.

-jk
03-21-2014, 01:24 PM
Easy, folks. Remember: no venting here.

-jk

Brockt10
03-21-2014, 01:25 PM
You clearly do not watch a lot of Duke basketball.

I watch every game......and this is as pitiful as any other game.

CameronDuke
03-21-2014, 01:26 PM
This game ominously reminds me of the Lehigh Duke 2012 NCAA Tournament game...

GGLC
03-21-2014, 01:27 PM
We've scored 35 points on 29 possessions. That's an efficiency of 1.207 points per possession, which is not far off our season average. The problem is that we are allowing 34 points per 30 possessions, for an efficiency of 1.133 points per possession allowed. That's terrible.

Our offensive flow has not been good, but we've dominated the offensive glass and hit a bunch of 3s, which means our offense has actually been very efficient. We just haven't defended well at all. If we hold them to even a point per possession (which isn't good), we have a somewhat comfortable 5 point lead.

Agree to disagree. As a poker player, I am not results-oriented: our offensive flow has been awful, and therefore our offense has not been good. Offensive rebounds and last-second threes notwithstanding.

J4Kop99
03-21-2014, 01:29 PM
Don't give me that nonsense about Mercer being too good of a 14 seed... Look at our roster vs. theirs. Look at our coach and his experience vs. theirs. The only way Duke should lose is because they were outplayed. There is absolutely NO reason for Duke to be outplayed.

Enough with the excuses. This Duke team either has to step up right now or go home and hope for a better season next year. I'm so sick of listening to people try and make excuses for this team.

One day it's the refs, the next day it is the team we are playing is too good. Enough. Win or go home.

ChrisP
03-21-2014, 01:30 PM
Can we take some MORE 3's? Please? :rolleyes:

GGLC
03-21-2014, 01:31 PM
Mercer is actually passing the ball cleanly in the interior. We should give that a shot.

Karl Beem
03-21-2014, 01:32 PM
Nice knowing you Jabari.

dukelifer
03-21-2014, 01:32 PM
This is the worst performance I have ever seen from Duke. It is worse than we played vs Lehigh in 2012.

3 on Parker - that could be ball game

Billy Dat
03-21-2014, 01:33 PM
Jabari is starting to panic. Maybe our defense will improve with him on the bench.

CameronDuke
03-21-2014, 01:33 PM
This is the worst performance I have ever seen from Duke. It is worse than we played vs Lehigh in 2012.

Mabdul Doobakus
03-21-2014, 01:33 PM
Again. I'm OK with the wide open 3's. Those are good shots. But poor defense is going to put a lot of pressure on this team to make a high percentage of these shots. There's enough talent on this roster we should be able to beat Mercer about twenty different ways, but if you can't play defense you have no margin for error.

dcdrumsinc
03-21-2014, 01:33 PM
Not trying to make excuses but this is not a 14 seed. The NCAA has got to do a better job at seeding these teams.

In the 2nd half though...pound the rock inside to Parker. Relying on 3 pointers will be an L and another embarrassing first round loss when really Mercer deserves a lot more respect than a 14 seed.

that, or we are just a poor basketball team...

Potato
03-21-2014, 01:33 PM
we aren't winning this one

CR9
03-21-2014, 01:33 PM
All you can do is laugh, really. Did Collins matter that much?

ChrisP
03-21-2014, 01:33 PM
OMG, what in the HECK are we DOING on DEFENSE? Yeah, I know it's been bad all year, but layup after layup followed by Jefferson fouling 35 feet from the hoop is just...mind boggling to me.

slower
03-21-2014, 01:33 PM
I'd argue that it ranks right up there as one of the most predictable. We are playing exactly how we were expected to play. Anyone here who is surprised is telling an untruth.

And it may just end like some of us thought it might. Just put us out of our misery.

Billy Dat
03-21-2014, 01:35 PM
Most of the 3s we've taken have been open shots. It's our defense that is killing us - which is not a new story. I wish we'd keep Jabari on the post and try and work inside out for more balanced 3s, but none of it will matter if we can't get stops.

CameronDuke
03-21-2014, 01:35 PM
This is how it went at Clemson, ND and Wake: things went south, Duke couldn't pull out of tailspin. We'll see what they've got today...

Ping Lin
03-21-2014, 01:35 PM
Throw in a zone? Something has to be done on D!

gumbomoop
03-21-2014, 01:35 PM
Jabari on the perimeter. Not smart. Nor was his slap foul a few seconds earlier. Silly foul by Amile. Three silly fouls in less than a minute. Such foolish, lack-of-concentration plays make it tough.

dcdrumsinc
03-21-2014, 01:35 PM
Don't give me that nonsense about Mercer being too good of a 14 seed... Look at our roster vs. theirs. Look at our coach and his experience vs. theirs. The only way Duke should lose is because they were outplayed. There is absolutely NO reason for Duke to be outplayed.

Enough with the excuses. This Duke team either has to step up right now or go home and hope for a better season next year. I'm so sick of listening to people try and make excuses for this team.

One day it's the refs, the next day it is the team we are playing is too good. Enough. Win or go home.

finally someone said it!!

cruxer
03-21-2014, 01:36 PM
Mercer is really packing the lane and daring us to hit 3s. it will take patient offense to crack that. We aren't patient. Then again, the problem in this game is on the other end of the court.

CDu
03-21-2014, 01:36 PM
Most of the 3s we've taken have been open shots. It's our defense that is killing us - which is not a new story. I wish we'd keep Jabari on the post and try and work inside out for more balanced 3s, but none of it will matter if we can't get stops.

Yup. This team just can't play defense. It's amazing really. It's been a problem throughout the season and it is currently the problem today. The offense has been okay (not making a good percentage, but getting lots of second-chance points). But the defense has been brutal.

mapei
03-21-2014, 01:37 PM
Our (many) fouls are really hurting.

pfrduke
03-21-2014, 01:37 PM
We're going to end up putting them in the bonus pretty soon, which is not good.

dcdrumsinc
03-21-2014, 01:37 PM
I may not be a basketball expert, but can I make this point. Even if most of the 3's taken are open threes, wouldn't making the defense move more and challenge them inside, banging down low wear them out on offense. Taking the 1st available open 3 is making their life on defense much easier and for that reason they can expend more energy on the offensive end. Just a thought

Mabdul Doobakus
03-21-2014, 01:37 PM
These fouls are going to start becoming a problem very very soon.

ChrisP
03-21-2014, 01:37 PM
Seriously, Amile? Seriously???

sporthenry
03-21-2014, 01:37 PM
And it may just end like some of us thought it might. Just put us out of our misery.

Honestly, I kinda feel the same way. Not really venting. For once, I'd actually wouldn't be upset by this loss which says something about this #3 seed. Figured defense would be their demise. Just figured it would come later.

burns15
03-21-2014, 01:37 PM
IMO, this has been one of K's worst coaching jobs. Duke consistently has more talent, athleticism, and dpeth than their opponents this year, yet continues to struggle. The team has not really improved any of their weaknesses of the year, and the one player who fills lot of holes (Marshall) doesn't play enough. I think we should take our blue glasses of and truly evaulate his coaching job this year. Losses to Wake, Clemson, Notre Dame, and close calls against Clemson, UMD at home, and Vermont just further my point.

Billy Dat
03-21-2014, 01:38 PM
That's it Tyler!!!!!!!!!!!

sporthenry
03-21-2014, 01:38 PM
While I think the fouls have been ticky tack. They are playing dumb. Refs have called every reach in. So what does Duke do? Reach in all the time.

Duke needs to attack and get these fouls. Refs will call stuff in the post.

The Gordog
03-21-2014, 01:39 PM
Yup. This team just can't play defense. It's amazing really. It's been a problem throughout the season and it is currently the problem today. The offense has been okay (not making a good percentage, but getting lots of second-chance points). But the defense has been brutal.

well terrible calls like that block on Jefferson don't help. And why doesn't K take him out!

ice-9
03-21-2014, 01:39 PM
Agree to disagree. As a poker player, I am not results-oriented: our offensive flow has been awful, and therefore our offense has not been good. Offensive rebounds and last-second threes notwithstanding.

There's no shortage of what can be improved.

But between offense and defense, defense is most definitely the bigger problem.

JasonEvans
03-21-2014, 01:39 PM
Tiny Thor appears to not quite be ready for his Duke career to be over. I wish some of our other guys played with half as much heart as him.

-Jason "my kingdom for some D!" Evans

A-Tex Devil
03-21-2014, 01:39 PM
- If we can't beat Mercer, the staff needs to reevaluate it's tourney preparation

- We get Tennessee (dangerous), Iowa (bad) or UMass (Really?). I can envision Tennessee pulling a Zona 2011, but that's unlikely. We'd have to play really poorly to lose to Iowa or UMass. If we lose to Tennessee, I think chances are next to none we played a reasonably adequate game and just couldn't pull it off.

- Michigan. Would be a great game. We know we can beat them, but if we go out to Big Blue playing well, hats off to the Wolverines.

There are 4 teams I could envision in the elite 8 if we get that far. We can beat all of them without needing a perfect game. We just need to play well.

Like I said above - this is a really favorable bracket given our 3 seed. But, of course, we have to play well.


That is all....

CameronDuke
03-21-2014, 01:39 PM
Let's Go!!!!! Show some fight Duke!!

Mabdul Doobakus
03-21-2014, 01:39 PM
Great hustle by Sheed. Need a lot more of that.

CR9
03-21-2014, 01:40 PM
Finally; some heart.

Billy Dat
03-21-2014, 01:41 PM
Let's go D...come on, baby!!!!!!!

ChrisP
03-21-2014, 01:41 PM
We are getting KILLED in the lane with no calls! Unbelievable!!! :mad:

Mabdul Doobakus
03-21-2014, 01:41 PM
Man we're just so confused and slow to rotate on D. Bailed out by a nice block on that last possession.

sporthenry
03-21-2014, 01:41 PM
Pressure defense worked there but don't really understand it. Team is experienced. Not going to speed them up or turn them over.

I would agree that this coaching job, mainly continuing to trot out a high pressure defense, has been poor. No reason why we don't see more 2010 defense. Or at least some more zone. Thought K was learning from Boeheim with team USA.

cspan37421
03-21-2014, 01:42 PM
This game - no matter how it turns out - puts an exclamation point on the season, one in which Duke's defense was exceptionally poor (by Duke standards). It really calls for a shake-up of responsibilities on the coaching staff, even if no one is let go, we clearly need our coaches in positions where they can best develop the talent. Anyone who thought Wojo wasn't a great big man coach should just look at our interior defense before and after he moved on from that role.

regarding perimeter defense, I can't help but suspect that Cook never has not yet returned to being 100%. He's lost a step. I can't speak for the others, but TT is the only one who might focus on ball pressure defense, and he has a tendency to foul.

I do miss the days of solid Duke defense. We're not even average on that count, not among post-season teams. But defense wins championships.

Billy Dat
03-21-2014, 01:42 PM
Jabari has been so bad D on that I am actually worried about him stopping our defensive momentum. Come on big guy!

BobBender
03-21-2014, 01:42 PM
There are moments it is hard to discern the low-major squad out there. Frenetically jacking up threes. Someone took issue last Sunday wwhen I said "live by the three, die by the three". I stand by that. This is not Duke basketball

dcdrumsinc
03-21-2014, 01:42 PM
Turrible D

pfrduke
03-21-2014, 01:43 PM
I would consider leaving Parker on the bench a little longer - our spacing and movement has been a little better with him on the bench.

Mabdul Doobakus
03-21-2014, 01:44 PM
I don't understand that travel call against Cook.

ChrisP
03-21-2014, 01:44 PM
I don't understand that travel call against Cook.

I really didn't, either. Looked to me like the ref blew the whistle before (or perhaps right as) Cook caught the pass!?!?

BobBender
03-21-2014, 01:44 PM
We are getting KILLED in the lane with no calls! Unbelievable!!! :mad:

Are we going to "it's the refs" again? We are hammering their guys inside too--open your eyes!

sporthenry
03-21-2014, 01:44 PM
I don't understand that travel call against Cook.

It is a travel. He picked up his pivot before he dribbled. Never called in the NBA. Rarely called today. Wonder who the refs are today? Remind me a ton of mid major refs. Every reach in is called. Calling actual travels.

In some ways, it is nice to see travels called, but it is tough to adjust to.

Billy Dat
03-21-2014, 01:45 PM
This game - no matter how it turns out - puts an exclamation point on the season

We could win by 10+, there is a ton of time...come on man, react like this when its over.

sporthenry
03-21-2014, 01:46 PM
There are moments it is hard to discern the low-major squad out there. Frenetically jacking up threes. Someone took issue last Sunday wwhen I said "live by the three, die by the three". I stand by that. This is not Duke basketball

Well, actually it is Duke basketball. As far back as KenPom goes, Duke has been more heavily reliant on the 3 than most. In retrospect of advanced stats, it appears K was ahead of his time with this.

Shooting 42.6% from 3 won't cost Duke. It is actually laughable that a team shooting 42% from 3, on 26 shots no less, is actually being accused of "dying" by the 3.

Mabdul Doobakus
03-21-2014, 01:47 PM
It is a travel. He picked up his pivot before he dribbled. Never called in the NBA. Rarely called today. Wonder who the refs are today? Remind me a ton of mid major refs. Every reach in is called. Calling actual travels.

In some ways, it is nice to see travels called, but it is tough to adjust to.

I watched it in slow mo. He caught the pass on a bit of a jump, landed on both feet, and then the ball hit the floor before he even took a step. But I guess different people can watch the same replay and see things differently. A little harder to tell for sure because the scoreboard was in the way.

sporthenry
03-21-2014, 01:48 PM
Where is Marshall? Duke getting killed down low.

daveyro
03-21-2014, 01:49 PM
Most of the 3s we've taken have been open shots. It's our defense that is killing us - which is not a new story. I wish we'd keep Jabari on the post and try and work inside out for more balanced 3s, but none of it will matter if we can't get stops.

They seem to to be packing it in such that Hood and Parker can't make the lane. So we are a three point shooting team. But as others have pointed out, we are not playing good defense. Looked like K wen to a semi-trap on inbounds for a few minutes and it seemed to work.

J4Kop99
03-21-2014, 01:49 PM
Sulaimon keeping us in this thing. Parker is lost and Hood can't get into the lane.

Edit: Suilaimon and cook*

ice-9
03-21-2014, 01:50 PM
I understand the frustrations.

I too am frustrated. Why can't this team get their defense together?

Posters here keep talking about how this team has a ton of talent...but maybe that talent doesn't extend to defense. Maybe we're just a talent-deficient team when it comes to defense.

Jabari is not playing well. The team does seem to flow better when he was on the bench.

gumbomoop
03-21-2014, 01:51 PM
Better chance to win if Jabari stops shooting jumpers and stays low for pass and O-rebounds.