jimsumner
11-08-2015, 07:12 PM
Duke beat Saint Leo today 116-33 in their second and final exhibition game.
St. Leo is a D-2 school from Florida coached by former Duke player Missy West.
Their tallest player is 5-11--they have four of them.
So, Duke did what any rational team would and pounded them inside, 76-10 edge in points in the paint, 24-2 on second-chance points, 50-23 rebounding edge.
Now, this may seem like clubbing baby seals and I'll have more thoughts on this down the page. But imagine if Duke had given in to temptation and started jacking up 3s or free-lancing. We'd be all over them. But they didn't and it's always a good sign when any team shows discipline and teamwork, especially a young team.
And the size differential doesn't explain the 42 St. Leo turnovers and 25 Duke steals. That would be talent differential but also a large dose of effort and execution on Duke's part.
And no, I've never seen a team with four assists and 42 turnovers.
Amber Henson tweaked a knee in practice and didn't dress out. We are told it is minor.
Angela Salvadores made her belated Duke debut and she was rusty, which was expected. Her nine-point, five assist, three-turnover game seems pedestrian but doesn't even hint at her overall ability.
And her game has some flair, a lot actually. She missed a reverse in traffic and a behind-the-back pass went awry.
There was one play in the second half when she threw a perfect, 50-foot pass in transition to Faith Suggs. Suggs wasn't expecting the pass and the result was a turnover.
But you do not harness this kind of ability and Duke darn well better learn how to play with her. Kendall Cooper compared her no-look passes to those of Chelsea Gray; "if you weren't ready, you were either getting a finger hurt or your face hit."
Cooper wasn't very good against Pfeiffer last week--in fairness she missed a bunch of practice after a concussion. She had 14 points and 11 rebounds in 16 minutes against St. Leo. Low-hanging fruit? Sure. But that fruit hung just as low last week and she didn't pick it.
So, a good sign. As was Rebecca Greenwell cutting her turnovers from seven against Pfeiffer to two. She led everyone with 26 points and made 4-6 from beyond the arc.
Oderah Chidom got the start in place of Henson and scored 16 points (7-8 from the field) and freshmen Crystal Primm (14 points) and Haley Gorecki (16 points) continue to impress.
Azura Stevens? Ten points, 11 rebounds, five steals. She did force some things in the second half and there was a period--the third actually--when Duke became emotionally disengaged. But Duke was up 68-7 at the time and human nature is human nature. It's really hard to focus with a 60-point lead.
About that margin of victory. I'm going to anticipate some questions here.
Could Duke schedule more competitive teams? Probably not. Depth--or lack therof--is one of the big differences between men's college basketball and women's college basketball. There just aren't anywhere near as many good high-school girl's basketball players as there are boy's and that carries over. Lots of debate as to why; quality of coaching, limited opportunities, the fact that the NBA looks a lot more attractive to a 12-year-old-boy than the WNBA looks to a 12-year-old girl.
But darn near every D-2 men's team has players that you can imagine playing on an ACC team, maybe not starting but definitely in the rotation.
Not so with the women.
Does Duke run up the score? Every other top women's program wins games by scores like this. Duke is not an outlier. Duke is playing a really good Texas A&M team the week after next and they aren't going to get ready for a game like that by taking their foot off the gas pedal.
In addition, recall that women's teams have male students to practice against. This means you don't need walk-ons. So, when McCallie goes to the bench at the end of blow-outs, she's still bringing in top-tier talent.
Besides, the St. Leo's of the world not only know what they're getting into, they know they only benefit if they get that kind of effort from the Duke's of the world.
Coaches of D-2 teams--men and women-consistently cite two advantages of playing games like these.
The first is that they get to run their sets, their schemes, their plays against a level of competition they will not face in the regular-season. Have even moderate success against Duke and it will seem easier against people who aren't eight feet tall.
But even more importantly, they want to see how their teams compete. Duke jumped to a 6-0 lead after a minute, three lay-ups. It was 23-2, then 34-5 after a period, 63-7 at the half.
She said her team was intimidated in the first half. She used words like "tentative," "scared," "awestruck," "very nervous."
But she challenged her team at halftime, telling them that she would never have brought them into Cameron if she didn't think they could compete. She said it was "personal" for her.
And her team responded with a major uptick in effort and grit. It can't be easy hitting the floor for a loose ball or drawing a charge when you're getting blown out on the road. But she found out which of her players were willing to give that effort and that's what she came for and that's going to pay off down the line for them.
Or so the theory goes. If you learn the right lessons. But that's why teams like that hit the road to endure 83-point losses.
Back to Duke. Penn next Friday, at the Palestra. Home opener next Sunday against Winthrop, then Texas A&M November 18 at 7:00. That's a Wednesday and the highest-profile non-ACC team visiting Cameron this season. A real test for Duke and if you're inclined to see a women's game in person, this might be one to consider.
St. Leo is a D-2 school from Florida coached by former Duke player Missy West.
Their tallest player is 5-11--they have four of them.
So, Duke did what any rational team would and pounded them inside, 76-10 edge in points in the paint, 24-2 on second-chance points, 50-23 rebounding edge.
Now, this may seem like clubbing baby seals and I'll have more thoughts on this down the page. But imagine if Duke had given in to temptation and started jacking up 3s or free-lancing. We'd be all over them. But they didn't and it's always a good sign when any team shows discipline and teamwork, especially a young team.
And the size differential doesn't explain the 42 St. Leo turnovers and 25 Duke steals. That would be talent differential but also a large dose of effort and execution on Duke's part.
And no, I've never seen a team with four assists and 42 turnovers.
Amber Henson tweaked a knee in practice and didn't dress out. We are told it is minor.
Angela Salvadores made her belated Duke debut and she was rusty, which was expected. Her nine-point, five assist, three-turnover game seems pedestrian but doesn't even hint at her overall ability.
And her game has some flair, a lot actually. She missed a reverse in traffic and a behind-the-back pass went awry.
There was one play in the second half when she threw a perfect, 50-foot pass in transition to Faith Suggs. Suggs wasn't expecting the pass and the result was a turnover.
But you do not harness this kind of ability and Duke darn well better learn how to play with her. Kendall Cooper compared her no-look passes to those of Chelsea Gray; "if you weren't ready, you were either getting a finger hurt or your face hit."
Cooper wasn't very good against Pfeiffer last week--in fairness she missed a bunch of practice after a concussion. She had 14 points and 11 rebounds in 16 minutes against St. Leo. Low-hanging fruit? Sure. But that fruit hung just as low last week and she didn't pick it.
So, a good sign. As was Rebecca Greenwell cutting her turnovers from seven against Pfeiffer to two. She led everyone with 26 points and made 4-6 from beyond the arc.
Oderah Chidom got the start in place of Henson and scored 16 points (7-8 from the field) and freshmen Crystal Primm (14 points) and Haley Gorecki (16 points) continue to impress.
Azura Stevens? Ten points, 11 rebounds, five steals. She did force some things in the second half and there was a period--the third actually--when Duke became emotionally disengaged. But Duke was up 68-7 at the time and human nature is human nature. It's really hard to focus with a 60-point lead.
About that margin of victory. I'm going to anticipate some questions here.
Could Duke schedule more competitive teams? Probably not. Depth--or lack therof--is one of the big differences between men's college basketball and women's college basketball. There just aren't anywhere near as many good high-school girl's basketball players as there are boy's and that carries over. Lots of debate as to why; quality of coaching, limited opportunities, the fact that the NBA looks a lot more attractive to a 12-year-old-boy than the WNBA looks to a 12-year-old girl.
But darn near every D-2 men's team has players that you can imagine playing on an ACC team, maybe not starting but definitely in the rotation.
Not so with the women.
Does Duke run up the score? Every other top women's program wins games by scores like this. Duke is not an outlier. Duke is playing a really good Texas A&M team the week after next and they aren't going to get ready for a game like that by taking their foot off the gas pedal.
In addition, recall that women's teams have male students to practice against. This means you don't need walk-ons. So, when McCallie goes to the bench at the end of blow-outs, she's still bringing in top-tier talent.
Besides, the St. Leo's of the world not only know what they're getting into, they know they only benefit if they get that kind of effort from the Duke's of the world.
Coaches of D-2 teams--men and women-consistently cite two advantages of playing games like these.
The first is that they get to run their sets, their schemes, their plays against a level of competition they will not face in the regular-season. Have even moderate success against Duke and it will seem easier against people who aren't eight feet tall.
But even more importantly, they want to see how their teams compete. Duke jumped to a 6-0 lead after a minute, three lay-ups. It was 23-2, then 34-5 after a period, 63-7 at the half.
She said her team was intimidated in the first half. She used words like "tentative," "scared," "awestruck," "very nervous."
But she challenged her team at halftime, telling them that she would never have brought them into Cameron if she didn't think they could compete. She said it was "personal" for her.
And her team responded with a major uptick in effort and grit. It can't be easy hitting the floor for a loose ball or drawing a charge when you're getting blown out on the road. But she found out which of her players were willing to give that effort and that's what she came for and that's going to pay off down the line for them.
Or so the theory goes. If you learn the right lessons. But that's why teams like that hit the road to endure 83-point losses.
Back to Duke. Penn next Friday, at the Palestra. Home opener next Sunday against Winthrop, then Texas A&M November 18 at 7:00. That's a Wednesday and the highest-profile non-ACC team visiting Cameron this season. A real test for Duke and if you're inclined to see a women's game in person, this might be one to consider.