Mercer - Tennessee

[Bay Area Duke Fan]

Mercer is down by 15 at halftime.

Maybe not so underrated.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Can we not do this?

[hurleyfor3]

Mercer? Who?

[Saratoga2]

The ACC is doing poorly and Duke may have done the worst of those schools.

[BlueDevilBrowns]

The ACC is doing poorly and Duke may have done the worst of those schools.

I would say the NINE teams in the ACC that didn't even make the NCAAT did worse than us.

[Duvall]

The ACC is doing poorly and Duke may have done the worst of those schools.

*shrug* Tournaments are weird.

[FerryFor50]

I would say the NINE teams in the ACC that didn't even make the NCAAT did worse than us.

And the one in the Big 10...

But really, who cares? Not making it out if the first weekend is a failure for every team.

[gofurman]

I really ask - only a little in frustration... I didn't watch (I was watching UNC go down !!!!!!!! ) - how was this so easy for UT? What did they have that we didn't? please reply - I really am asking here.

Help D? ability to stop dribble penetration?

[Native]

I really ask - only a little in frustration... I didn't watch (I was watching UNC go down !!!!!!!! ) - how was this so easy for UT? What did they have that we didn't? please reply - I really am asking here.

Help D? ability to stop dribble penetration?

Defense and the name "DUKE" isn't written on their jerseys in big, blue letters.

People get up to play us, play the game of their lives, expend all of their energy doing so, and then look awful the next game. It's like clockwork.

[_Gary]

Defense and the name "DUKE" isn't written on their jerseys in big, blue letters.

People get up to play us, play the game of their lives, expend all of their energy doing so, and then look awful the next game. It's like clockwork.

Truer words have never been written.

[gofurman]

Defense and the name "DUKE" isn't written on their jerseys in big, blue letters.

People get up to play us, play the game of their lives, expend all of their energy doing so, and then look awful the next game. It's like clockwork.

I don't deny this some, but I am SSUUURRRE Mercer was "up" and motivated to the hilt to win and get to the durnn sweet 16! If it was regular season and Duke followed by UT, I would allow this a little. But in a tourney Mercer barely ever gets to play in EVER? No. They wanted to win today in the worst way and be like Dayton. Actually that's a good analogy - Mercer and Dayton. I am sure Dayton LOVED (!!!) beating their neighbor they hear about all the time - OSU... (similar to Mercer beating us) ... But Dayton still came out and won the next game too and are in the sweet 16. Mercer was very motivated today I have no doubt. I am not going to lay this on - " they play difft vs Duke than UT", not when its in the NCAA tourney and a chance to tell their grandkids they made the sweet 16 is on the line.

So - back to original question. What did UT have that we did not?

[Atlanta Duke]

What did UT have that we did not?

The headline to this story provides a good guess

Tennessee uses its size and strength to manhandle Mercer

http://college-basketball.si.com/2014/03/23/tennessee-manhandles-mercer-advances-to-sweet-16/

[gofurman]

Truer words have never been written.

Nah - Jay Wiliiams, Elton Brand, Battier, Boozer, Laettner teams had Duke on the Jersey - and they REFUSED TO LOSE. Didn't matter the "motivation" of Mercer. I recall watching us play Winthrop in the round of 64 in 01(?) - about that time. Man, it was a joke. It was like 75-35. We just firggin crushed people. Their motivation to hope they could beat Duke didn't matter one iota. We overwhelmed them and broke their will.

Why cant we do that now with freshman of the year Parker... ACC 2nd team Rodney hood. NBA Suliamon etc???

[beach rev]

Youngest son is a freshman at UTK, and is a pretty good student of the game. He painted up for the UT-Florida game in Knoxville (my tuition money at work!), and he's been telling me all year that the talent is there; they've just been wildly inconsistent. He loves Stokes and McRae, and with the way Richardson and Barton stepped up today, they will be a tough out.

[Wander]

People get up to play us, play the game of their lives, expend all of their energy doing so, and then look awful the next game. It's like clockwork.

For the love of god, can we stop this lame excuse? One day during the offseason when I'm bored I'm going to post a thread that crunches numbers and disproves this, but for now suffice it to say that the NCAA tournament is sufficient in and of itself to get teams to play with effort and excitement.

[FerryFor50]

For the love of god, can we stop this lame excuse? One day during the offseason when I'm bored I'm going to post a thread that crunches numbers and disproves this, but for now suffice it to say that the NCAA tournament is sufficient in and of itself to get teams to play with effort and excitement.

I think the idea of playing in the first round of your first NCAA tournament a team full of 4 year guys was the main reason Mercer got up to play, in addition to being able to play Duke.

I also think the name "MERCER" on their jerseys helped Duke not get as up to play them.

What did Tenn do that Duke didn't? They played slightly better defense (held Mercer to 45% shooting, which isn't that impressive) and played way better offense (49% shooting versus Duke's 35%). They also got to the line more and sent Mercer to the line less. And took better care of the ball (7 turnovers to Duke's 12).

We can point to Duke's defense for being why they lost to Mercer, but I'm more inclined to blame both the offense and defense for that one.

[gofurman]

For the love of god, can we stop this lame excuse? One day during the offseason when I'm bored I'm going to post a thread that crunches numbers and disproves this, but for now suffice it to say that the NCAA tournament is sufficient in and of itself to get teams to play with effort and excitement.

THIS. Do we really not think Mercer tried to beat UT to get in the daggum sweet 16???::

Wander, I agree 100% - that's a WEAK excuse. CMon.. If we are to be the hunted then we should relish it and KILL the other team . Be DUKE.

[eddiehaskell]

Mercer beat Duke...but in the regular season Duke beat UVA, Michigan and UCLA - three of the 16 teams that are still playing. We also played decently well against a fourth team - Arizona.

Not sure how you can totally explain that except to say weird things can happen in a one and done format.

[FerryFor50]

Mercer beat Duke...but in the regular season Duke beat UVA, Michigan and UCLA - three of the 16 teams that are still playing. We also played decently well against a fourth team - Arizona.

Not sure how you can totally explain that except to say weird things can happen in a one and done format.

Yep. That's why I couldn't get too mad about the loss to Mercer. Especially after all the other carnage with top teams this first weekend.

All about matchups...

[gcashwell]

UT has three quality big men. That's the difference.

[Furniture]

Defense and the name "DUKE" isn't written on their jerseys in big, blue letters.

People get up to play us, play the game of their lives, expend all of their energy doing so, and then look awful the next game. It's like clockwork.

That's true but it should also give Duke an advantage by being used to playing in hostile atmospheres and tough games.

[eddiehaskell]

That's true but it should also give Duke an advantage by being used to playing in hostile atmospheres and tough games.I agree, but Duke's two best players (Hood/Parker) have never played in a game THAT big.

[Matches]

I agree, but Duke's two best players (Hood/Parker) have never played in a game THAT big.

Neither had anyone on Mercer's team.

[Saratoga2]

Tennessee won by 20 against a team we couldn't handle, even though two of our guards had exceptional games. We have/had, whichever is now correct, a future NBA star and a t least one other NBA player and yet we under-performed. Suggests something wrong with our strategy and also perhaps a lack of development of some of our secondary players. The problems were evident during the season and while some improvements were made, we fell back to bad habits in our final game.

We had a long statement in another string of what the players need to do next year to get better and that was a well thought out message. I do think the kids tried very hard to succeed so it wasn't a lack of effort on their part. What is also needed is something generated by the coaching staff to improve our approach to the new reality of the NCAAs with foul interpretations. Virginia seems to have found IT. Maybe our coaching staff can find IT as well. Line changes and heavy substitution worked for us for a while. It is not necessarily the answer but neither is what we did in our last game, so I hope the coaching staff really opens up to new possibilities.

[77devil]

The headline to this story provides a good guess

Tennessee uses its size and strength to manhandle Mercer

http://college-basketball.si.com/2014/03/23/tennessee-manhandles-mercer-advances-to-sweet-16/

TN would have been a match up problem for Duke with their wide bodies on the front line. I must confess that I picked TN in a pick six pool. While I was almost certain TN would beat UMass for 11 points, and I took the -4.5 in Vegas, I believed beating Duke was a very real possibility, hence the pick.

[Karl Beem]

Tennessee won by 20 against a team we couldn't handle, even though two of our guards had exceptional games. We have/had, whichever is now correct, a future NBA star and a t least one other NBA player and yet we under-performed. Suggests something wrong with our strategy and also perhaps a lack of development of some of our secondary players. The problems were evident during the season and while some improvements were made, we fell back to bad habits in our final game.

We had a long statement in another string of what the players need to do next year to get better and that was a well thought out message. I do think the kids tried very hard to succeed so it wasn't a lack of effort on their part. What is also needed is something generated by the coaching staff to improve our approach to the new reality of the NCAAs with foul interpretations. Virginia seems to have found IT. Maybe our coaching staff can find IT as well. Line changes and heavy substitution worked for us for a while. It is not necessarily the answer but neither is what we did in our last game, so I hope the coaching staff really opens up to new possibilities.

Having both Rodney and Jabari shooting blanks the same game was highly unlikely. OTOH the team seemed uncoachable. A number of times K said that they wouldn't do as they were told. I freaked out when under 3 minutes, score tied, after a time out, 14 secs on the shot clock, Jabari took a step-back 3. I knew we were done when it missed. I've seen stats that indicated that the Duke team of the last 10 minutes of games wouldn't make the tourney. The first 30 minutes, they were top 5.

[rsvman]

Neither had anyone on Mercer's team.

Yes, but they had nothing to lose.



To me, it's a big difference. My father, who is retired from being a professor at Brigham Young, called me up on Saturday to ask me how Duke was doing (he already knew). I told him that Duke did just about as well as BYU did (they lost in the first round to Oregon). I thought this would equalize things, but it really didn't. Sure, both BYU and Duke lost in the first round, but other than that there are few similarities.

BYU was a mediocre team with mostly middling talent, and they lost one of their two best players to a broken bone or a torn ACL right before the NCAA tournament began. Nobody expected anything of them. They were expected to lose. Had they won, it would've been awesome, but nobody was disappointed with their loss.

Duke is in the exact opposite position. They recruit great players and the team has had great success. They are thought of as a blue-blood program, and expectations are always high. They are expected to win. Had they won, it would've been business as usual, but everybody was disappointed with their loss.

[mgtr]

I agree, but Duke's two best players (Hood/Parker) have never played in a game THAT big.

And, sadly, they didn't play in this one, either. I like both players a lot, but maybe they just weren't ready to be Prime Time Players.

[MCFinARL]

Having both Rodney and Jabari shooting blanks the same game was highly unlikely. OTOH the team seemed uncoachable. A number of times K said that they wouldn't do as they were told. I freaked out when under 3 minutes, score tied, after a time out, 14 secs on the shot clock, Jabari took a step-back 3. I knew we were done when it missed. I've seen stats that indicated that the Duke team of the last 10 minutes of games wouldn't make the tourney. The first 30 minutes, they were top 5.

Really? Can you document this? K has certainly described the team as young, and perhaps even said they were struggling with some things, but your statement suggests he said they were insubordinate or refusing to cooperate with coaching. I doubt this is true, and I doubt even more that K would say it.

[Karl Beem]

Really? Can you document this? K has certainly described the team as young, and perhaps even said they were struggling with some things, but your statement suggests he said they were insubordinate or refusing to cooperate with coaching. I doubt this is true, and I doubt even more that K would say it.

That's what I remember.