WBB: #13 Duke 74, #21 Syracuse 72

[wandalee]

The women play Syracuse tonight at Cameron. Game time is 6:30. The game will be shown on ESPN3.

I don't know anything about this Syracuse team, but they gave ND a good fight last week.

[jimsumner]

The women play Syracuse tonight at Cameron. Game time is 6:30. The game will be shown on ESPN3.

I don't know anything about this Syracuse team, but they gave ND a good fight last week.

Unfortunately, they're bringing their weather with them.

This should be a good test for the post-Calhoun future. Duke has had some time to adjust to her loss. But Syracuse is much better than Wake Forest, good enough to beat an unfocused Duke team.

[devildeac]

Unfortunately, they're bringing their weather with them.

WTH? I didn't know 5 or 6 feet of snow was in the forecast:o.

[Henderson]

Side note: after the win against Wake, Coach P's first comments in the post-game presser were about the excellent on-floor leadership. I wonder if someone had a come-to-Jesus conversation with her between the last two games.

[Kedsy]

Side note: after the win against Wake, Coach P's first comments in the post-game presser were about the excellent on-floor leadership. I wonder if someone had a come-to-Jesus conversation with her between the last two games.

Or maybe she thought we had excellent on-floor leadership against Wake but not against Connecticut.

[Henderson]

Or maybe she thought we had excellent on-floor leadership against Wake but not against Connecticut.

She certainly seemed to expressing that view, but it's not hard to acknowledge some intervening activity.

I'm a P fan, but with eyes wide open.

[burnspbesq]

She certainly seemed to expressing that view, but it's not hard to acknowledge some intervening activity.

I'm a P fan, but with eyes wide open.

You should have that keyboard of yours looked at. It somehow typed "acknowledge" instead of "dream up."

[Duvall]

Or maybe she thought we had excellent on-floor leadership against Wake but not against Connecticut.

Based on the Wake game, this seems unlikely.

[GGLC]

You should have that keyboard of yours looked at. It somehow typed "acknowledge" instead of "dream up."

I think this is an uncalled for swipe at one of the best posters and most passionate Duke fans on this board.

[DU82]

Five minutes in, 15-7 Duke. Azura has 10 already, Elizabeth the other five.

The women look focused and playing well so far.

[burnspbesq]

I think this is an uncalled for swipe at one of the best posters and most passionate Duke fans on this board.

Noted. Also noted is the complete lack of substantiation for what was asserted.

[Duvall]

This is one of the weirdest games I have ever seen.

[DU82]

This is one of the weirdest games I have ever seen.

Why? Because we have some really good offensive flow, but are losing players occasionally on D?

Syracuse is pressing after made baskets, and are fronting Elizabeth at the mid out line, taking that press-breaker away. After that happened twice, we've adjusted (yes, an in-game adjustment) sending a big to the wing.

Another good pass out of the middle to KJ for a three. 29-18 9:30 in.

[Duvall]

Why? Because we have some really good offensive flow, but are losing players occasionally on D?

No, because Duke has so much more size on the court.

[DU82]

No, because Duke has so much more size on the court.

Guess I'm just used to it by now. One guard under 6', and the rest towering over most teams.

Syracuse has some size, with a 6'6" center, and three 6'4" players, including the Day twins from Raleigh that IIRC were heading to Chapel Hill before they came to their senses. Don't believe we've seen their 6'6" player yet, and the starting Day twin has two fouls already.

[burnspbesq]

Duke shot 64 percent from the floor, including 7-9 from three.

Cuse on pace to toss up 40 three-pointers.

[DU82]

45-37 at the half.

Syracuse staying in the game with seven 3s, and 13 Duke turnovers, many unforced. Kendall passed to the white shirted Syracuse coach on one. Some of the turnovers are due to Syracuse pressuring the ball handlers, something else we're used to by now.

Rebecca has found her shot so far, and along with Azura and Elizabeth are leading the way.

[CameronBornAndBred]

FYI...#4 ND is down by 20 to Miami at the half.

[burnspbesq]

At the half, Pitt leads Carolina by ten, and Miami leads ND by 20.

[AIM4excellence]

Under 8 min timeout. Duke up 65-53.

[AIM4excellence]

Under 8 min timeout. Duke up 65-53.

Curious fact: Both teams have made 9 threes. Duke has shot 13, Syracuse - 31. Duke now with 19 TO's. I'd better post quick or the number will change again.

[Stray Gator]

Under 8 min timeout. Duke up 65-53.

And in the next two minutes after the under-8-minute timeout, Duke made five turnovers and scored no points. Duke now had 23 turnovers, which is largely why, despite shooting a much better percentage, Duke has not been able to pull away. Rebounds are even, yet Syracuse has taken 16 more shots from the field than Duke -- all due to Duke's inability to protect the ball. Those gift possessions are keeping Syracuse in the game.

[devildeac]

My gametracker has stopped with 3:57 to go with Duke up 67-61 but they've got a Twitter feed and a SU fan keeping it updated. Now at 70-66 with 2:39 to go and SU uses their last TO. It was 65-53 Duke with 8 to go.

[Duvall]

Tied 72 all.

[devildeac]

Oh my. Gametracker updates now to 72-72 and 0:52 to go. 25 TO and getting outboarded 36-33. Last TO was a Duke shot clock violation:mad:. Butler hit her 8th 3 of the game. Ya think they might wanna guard her:rolleyes:. But she could also be 8 for 24 or 8 for 30 as they've now launched 38 3s.

[Duvall]

And Duke escapes, 74-72.

[devildeac]

Duke, 74-72. Final.

[Henderson]

Win = Win

[-jk]

phew!

-jk

[burnspbesq]

Well, we survived.

[AIM4excellence]

phew!

-jk

With this lineup, I can understand the turnovers. But getting outrebounded? Ms. "20/20" EWill with 4 rebounds. But, yes, we survived with the W.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Win's a win. Way to hang on ladies...whew!

[Karl Beem]

They need to stop recruiting tall people who can't play.

[burnspbesq]

Better late than never: Duke did a great job on Butler on Cuse's last possession. They ran her off the three-point line and made her a passer.

[burnspbesq]

With this lineup, I can understand the turnovers. But getting outrebounded? Ms. "20/20" EWill with 4 rebounds. But, yes, we survived with the W.

More than half of Cuse's offensive rebounds were by guards. Most of their offensive rebounds came 8-12 feet from the basket, off shots that never had a chance of going in. Our post players were establishing position and watching rebounds fly out three feet over their heads. The people at the top of the zone weren't locating and putting a body on an orange jersey on the perimeter.

[burnspbesq]

Final score: Pitt 84, North Carolina 59.

[burnspbesq]

2:04 to go, Miami 71, ND 60.

[burnspbesq]

Final score: Miami 78, ND 63.

[DU82]

Just home from Cameron...

Good things:
Rebecca found her shot for at least a day. It helps that a few plays were run to get her open threes.
Ka'lia is playing much better and in control. Slowing things down a bit has helped her settle down and run the team.
The overall offense was much, much better.

Bad things:
Azura on the bench, clearly sick (hopefully temporary, and she won't give whatever bug she has to the rest of the team.)
Elizabeth getting offensive fouls, thinking she's a point guard (that and multiple missed close shots.)
Twenty-five turnovers, many unforced, or by dribbling across the half-court line and getting trapped needlessly.


Syracuse played well, but they live or die with three. As mentioned, their 19 offensive rebounds came mostly on missed threes, long rebounds when we were mostly in good position. We did a really good job covering them, but they, especially Butler, hit some tough shots.

On to Florida State, which is going to be a tough game down there. At least we didn't lose like other ranked teams tonight.

[burnspbesq]

Just home from Cameron...

Any frostbite?

[DU82]

Any frostbite?

It's 21 degrees here in south Durham. Warmer than the Syracuse shooters.

[dudog84]

They need to stop recruiting tall people who can't play.

#4 Notre Dame loses to unranked Miami 78-63.

#8 UNC loses to unranked Pitt 84-59.

We beat #21 Syracuse...yeah, our team sucks.

[Karl Beem]

#4 Notre Dame loses to unranked Miami 78-63.

#8 UNC loses to unranked Pitt 84-59.

We beat #21 Syracuse...yeah, our team sucks.

What does your response have to do with my comment?

[Mike Corey]

Nice win for Duke. Cannot be easy to play, let alone beat a quality opponent, having to adjust on the fly without a just-transferred teammate.

[dudog84]

What does your response have to do with my comment?

We are well-known to have a tall team this year. You state "They need to stop recruiting tall people who can't play", i.e. they suck at basketball. Sorry if I missed your sarcasm, but I don't think I did.

[Kedsy]

They need to stop recruiting tall people who can't play.

wtf are you talking about?

[Karl Beem]

wtf are you talking about?

My opinion is that we have a lot of tall but poor players.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

My opinion is that we have a lot of tall but poor players.

Well then, in that case, you stated your opinion rather eloquently.

[dudog84]

My opinion is that we have a lot of tall but poor players.

So my sarcasm detector is intact and functioning properly. Also on the plus side, you don't have lousy wit (at least not in this case). Unfortunately, on the negative side, you have lousy judgment.

[Kfanarmy]

I'm not sure how you fix the turnover mess...Duke is averaging over 18 a game for the season, more than 22 for the past five games. That's a bunch, and it was getting worse before the recent departure of Calhoun. Duke is now 241st in Turnovers per game (256 in TO Margin) of 343 teams. Their size may be a contributing factor both to the number of TOs and their ability to overcome them. If they can cure some of their ball handling woes, some of these Ws may come a bit easier. It will be hard to overcome 25 TOs against the top 10, especially on a bad shooting night with what trends to be a somewhat disorganized offense, and no true PG. Honestly when you add it all up, the group of women on the floor are working their tales off. But they need some help with ball handling.

[NSDukeFan]

...Honestly when you add it all up, the group of women on the floor are working their tales off. But they need some help with ball handling.

I hope they retain the ability to tell stories. They shouldn't be working that hard. (:

[Kfanarmy]

I hope they retain the ability to tell stories. They shouldn't be working that hard. (: harder than my spell checker apparently.

[DevilWearsPrada]

Nice win for Duke. Cannot be easy to play, let alone beat a quality opponent, having to adjust on the fly without a just-transferred teammate.

Absolutely! I know it has been a huge adjustment to the Duke Girls without Sierra as the Starting Point Guard!!!! Glad our girls stayed focused and Got the Win!!!

[AIM4excellence]

Absolutely! I know it has been a huge adjustment to the Duke Girls without Sierra as the Starting Point Guard!!!! Glad our girls stayed focused and Got the Win!!!

Starting PG? I could be wrong here but I don't think she played one minute at PG at Duke, despite the fact that it is the position of greatest need for this team. There are two players ready, willing and able to play the wing spot, the position Sierra played almost exclusively - Azura', who started at SF and Becca, who switched seamlessly between the two wings at SG and SF. Mercedes got more minutes at PG to give Ka'lia some breathers. The loss of Lynee Belton is felt as she had been backing up EWill at Center before she went down to ACL. Kendall can play there on defense but is providing very little offense.

[gumbomoop]

Duke has plenty of size to help Elizabeth on interior, but it appears that they're down to only 4 players for the 3 perimeter spots. Seems likely, given ball-handling/turnover woes, that 3 of these 4 will nearly always be on the floor: Ka'lia, Becca, Azura, Mercedes. In turn, this seems to mean that the first 3 of these must play 32-35 mpg each, with Mercedes moving toward 17-20 mpg. Yes?

Maybe Coach P can steal a few mpg resting 2 of the 4 perimeter players at same time, but surely only infrequently.

[Couldn't get accent to work on iPad for correct spelling of Azura's name......]

[Kedsy]

Duke has plenty of size to help Elizabeth on interior, but it appears that they're down to only 4 players for the 3 perimeter spots. Seems likely, given ball-handling/turnover woes, that 3 of these 4 will nearly always be on the floor: Ka'lia, Becca, Azura, Mercedes. In turn, this seems to mean that the first 3 of these must play 32-35 mpg each, with Mercedes moving toward 17-20 mpg. Yes?

Maybe Coach P can steal a few mpg resting 2 of the 4 perimeter players at same time, but surely only infrequently.

[Couldn't get accent to work on iPad for correct spelling of Azura's name......]

I think this is close to what will happen, at least if Mercedes continues to play as well as she has lately. IIRC, Coach P has occasionally used Amber at SF at times in the past, so that could be the plan when 2 of your 4 perimeter players rest.

[jimsumner]

Calhoun did play point for a possession or two here and there.

With her departure, look for Chidom to play lots of 3 for the rest of the season. Henson also, to a lesser extent.

[dudog84]

Question for anyone who was at the game. It seemed from watching (small computer screen, ESPN3, and my eyes are getting older) that the Syracuse coach was on the court a lot. Was he? I haven't been to a live game anywhere in a long time, men's or women's, so maybe he wasn't or it's not unusual. I remember one of our players (Cooper?) throwing a pass to him when there was no player from either team close to his position.

[DU82]

Question for anyone who was at the game. It seemed from watching (small computer screen, ESPN3, and my eyes are getting older) that the Syracuse coach was on the court a lot. Was he? I haven't been to a live game anywhere in a long time, men's or women's, so maybe he wasn't or it's not unusual. I remember one of our players (Cooper?) throwing a pass to him when there was no player from either team close to his position.

He was on the court a lot, while in front of his bench. I had been under the impression that the coach's box extended onto the court three feet, however the NCAA rule book doesn't actually say that. Most coaches will be given that leeway when the ball is on the other end of the court, especially in Cameron where there isn't the normal distance between the sideline and bench. He also went out of the box a few feet along the sidelines on occasion, as most coaches do, but was coaching instead of complaining (the refs will usually ignore the former, but not the latter.)

When Kendall passed the ball to him, he was in the middle of the coach's box (about even with the free throw line) but I don't believe he was actually in front of the sideline on the playing court. It was pretty clear she saw a white shirt, and thought it was a teammate. (Still a pretty big bonehead play, though.)

[dudog84]

He was on the court a lot, while in front of his bench. I had been under the impression that the coach's box extended onto the court three feet, however the NCAA rule book doesn't actually say that. Most coaches will be given that leeway when the ball is on the other end of the court, especially in Cameron where there isn't the normal distance between the sideline and bench. He also went out of the box a few feet along the sidelines on occasion, as most coaches do, but was coaching instead of complaining (the refs will usually ignore the former, but not the latter.)

When Kendall passed the ball to him, he was in the middle of the coach's box (about even with the free throw line) but I don't believe he was actually in front of the sideline on the playing court. It was pretty clear she saw a white shirt, and thought it was a teammate. (Still a pretty big bonehead play, though.)

Good info, thanks. I thought if he was on the court it could have been a mitigating factor in the pass. I was trying to help her out...yeah, white shirt, but paired with long dark pants on a middle aged man. :o