MOTM: Duke vs. Va Tech (Jan 9, 2016)

[JBDuke]

Who was Duke's Man of the Match in their 82-58 win over Va Tech?

[Les Grossman]

who else?

Does he have any eligibility left after this year?
Does he have one more brother?

[Saratoga2]

Marshall played like superman today. What happened to ignite him? He even was very good from the line. Keep being aggressive and coach K, keep that game plan working for Marshall.

[Native]

Zoubek lives!

[weezie]

MP rollin'

[duke blue brewcrew]

Marshall gets my vote two games in a row. I love that he's learning how to make himself available for the pass around the basket by driving teammates. When he receives the ball, he's looking to finish and believes that he can. He was oustanding from the FT line, rebounded like a beast, and did anyone see that lefty hook off the window?! :) GET AFTER IT BIG FELLA...LGD!

[ThrowItAround]

Duke can't develop big guys though.

[MCFinARL]

who else?

Does he have any eligibility left after this year?
Does he have one more brother?

Alas, I think only a younger sister, who is playing volleyball at, I think, Notre Dame. So we may have to wait until the next generation for more Plums.

[Clay Feet POF]

Jack Nicholson will be very Proud..Chief!!

[jv001]

Another quality game for the big guy with the following stats:
Points= 21 on 6-7 from the field 9-10 Free Throws.
Rebounds= 10 with 3 offensive rebounds
Blocks= 2 and many more altered shots
Turnovers 0. hanging on the ball and taking it strong to the hole.
Fouls= 1, now that's an improvement from his first three years.

Yeh, MPIII get's my vote with strong performances from Ingram and Grayson. GoDuke!

[OZZIE4DUKE]

MP3 twice in a row! Who'd a thunk it? Hey Marshall! Can you make it three in a row on Wednesday night???!!!!! :cool:

[DukeDevil]

Marshall is the man, but I don't want to overlook Ingram who set the tone early and delivered knockout punches with his play early on. If Marshall can continue to deliver 10+ and 8+, this team is going to be playing in April.

[jv001]

Marshall is the man, but I don't want to overlook Ingram who set the tone early and delivered knockout punches with his play early on. If Marshall can continue to deliver 10+ and 8+, this team is going to be playing in April.

Ah, so you're one of the 3 voters that did not vote for Ken Griffey for Baseball Hall of Fame, :cool: Ingram did have a good game and was Player of the Game on TV. GoDuke!

[jipops]

I went with Luke for the Wake game. But Marshall earned this one on both ends of the floor.

[Indoor66]

I went with Luke for the Wake game. But Marshall earned this one on both ends of the floor.

No disrespect intended, but I don't understand this.

[Bob Green]

Marshall Plumlee earned my voted with strong play on both ends of the court. He is the MOTM! I have been very down on Plumlee for a long time but he has come on like gangbusters the past few games. While I expected his stats to decline with the start of conference play, they have actually improved. It is very nice being wrong. Hopefully, Plumlee can keep it going strong.

Runner up: Brandon Ingram for getting us off to a fast start and being aggressive on the boards the whole game.

Honorable Mention: Grayson Allen for...for being Grayson Allen. He plays with reckless abandon and it is exciting.

[camion]

Marshall Plumlee earned my voted with strong play on both ends of the court. He is the MOTM! I have been very down on Plumlee for a long time but he has come on like gangbusters the past few games. While I expected his stats to decline with the start of conference play, they have actually improved. It is very nice being wrong. Hopefully, Plumlee can keep it going strong.

Runner up: Brandon Ingram for getting us off to a fast start and being aggressive on the boards the whole game.

Honorable Mention: Grayson Allen for...for being Grayson Allen. He plays with reckless abandon and it is exciting.

Quick question: Is it possible to play with abandon that isn't reckless?

[Indoor66]

Quick question: Is it possible to play with abandon that isn't reckless?

If the rain keeps up, will it come down?

[NYBri]

No question.

[DukeFanSince1990]

I voted Brandon because he helped fuel the quick start to help with the initial burial. And I am a contrarian. But wow, Plumlee! Keep it up!

[elvis14]

I voted for MP3. I haven't looked at any stats I just know that he was a leader and played with passion and the rest of team fed off him. What a great game to watch.

[Newton_14]

I voted Brandon because he helped fuel the quick start to help with the initial burial. And I am a contrarian. But wow, Plumlee! Keep it up!

I joined you. MP3 was great, but I thought Brandon did many things that do not show up in stats, in addition to also having great stats. Brandon was key when we put them away in the first half.

MP3 had a career game for himself that's for sure. I hope he can keep having high impact games.

[CPDUKEGUY24]

It's my pleasure and an honor to vote for The Wizard of Warsaw...aka Plumdog Millionaire...aka MPIII.

[AIRFORCEDUKIE]

Went with MP3, because dude killed it all day. I love the way he is playing now, taking it hard to the rim, getting in the way of people, you can see other teams getting slightly intimidated by his mere presence. If he keeps this up it will be huge come march and our games against the better ACC teams.

[sagegrouse]

Quick question: Is it possible to play with abandon that isn't reckless?

Couldn't one play with "abandon" that represented "sleep-walking," not recklessness?

[left_hook_lacey]

I voted Brandon because he helped fuel the quick start to help with the initial burial. And I am a contrarian. But wow, Plumlee! Keep it up!

I voted for Brandon for the same reasons. Not to take anything away from Marshall, but if Ingram wan't stripping this nets early and often and causing major assignment problems, Marshall wouldn't have had as much room to operate and work near the rim. Marshall played well, not saying he didn't, but I think he is reaping the benefits of what opposing defenses are willing to surrender.

[duke blue brewcrew]

I voted for Brandon for the same reasons. Not to take anything away from Marshall, but if Ingram wan't stripping this nets early and often and causing major assignment problems, Marshall wouldn't have had as much room to operate and work near the rim. Marshall played well, not saying he didn't, but I think he is reaping the benefits of what opposing defenses are willing to surrender.

I understand your point about Ingram, but I feel like Allen did as much early net stripping as Ingram did early to losen things up. On top of that, the MP3 of old wouldn't be able to make defenses pay the way he is currently. MP3 has turned a corner IMHO, and I hope it continues. In all, I'm loving the progress and growth all of the Duke players are showing as they season progresses.

[CDu]

Plumlee is such an odd case. In the last two games, he's made like two moves (the fake-and-drive against Wake and the sweeping hook against Va Tech). But he's scored 40 points, thanks to a combination of his teammates drawing so much attention away from him and his ability to hit free throws. So it is hard for me to pick him for the honor when he is for the most part scoring on uncontested shots.

Still, none of the others in this game really stood out other than Brandon Ingram. His 16 points (on just 7 FGA), 9 rebounds, and 6 blocks were really impressive. But for this one, I'm going to go with Plumlee. He's probably not going to have many games like this where he leads the team in scoring and rebounds, so I'm going to go with him.

[CameronBornAndBred]

So it is hard for me to pick him for the honor when he is for the most part scoring on uncontested shots.
That would imply that you are voting solely on offensive output. Marshall creates points for himself and for teammates, as well as preventing points by the other team by his gobbling up of rebounds. Throw in 2 blocks to the mix, and a few other opponent's missed shots simply through his presence underneath, and he is helping keeping our margin of victory larger than what it could be if he wasn't there.
One last point..."scoring for the most part on uncontested shots" means that he is putting himself in the position to make them. He doesn't live under the basket; many times he is at the key setting screens. For him to be in position for an easy bucket is a skill he has become much, much better at.

[CDu]

That would imply that you are voting solely on offensive output. Marshall creates points for himself and for teammates, as well as preventing points by the other team by his gobbling up of rebounds. Throw in 2 blocks to the mix, and a few other opponent's missed shots simply through his presence underneath, and he is helping keeping our margin of victory larger than what it could be if he wasn't there.

No, it doesn't imply that at all. In fact, I quite often vote for a guy that doesn't lead the team in scoring. My point actually is the opposite of voting solely on offensive output, as I'm taking into account the degree of difficulty of that offensive output.

And his "gobbling up" of rebounds is a bit of an overstatement. He had one more rebound than Ingram (who had 4 more blocks), and in ACC play actually has one fewer rebound than Jefferson (in 15 fewer minutes, so his rebound rate is still slightly higher). He's doing a solid job on the boards, but not such an amazing job that it'd put him above the guys doing the heavy lifting offensively (and defensively - Ingram has 10 blocks and 5 steals in ACC play; Plumlee has 4 blocks and 2 steals).

But, given that the rest of the team was so balanced in the offensive load AND that he did lead the team in rebounds, I decided to vote for him in this game. Not sure if I voted for the Wake game, but if I did it would have been for Kennard, Allen, or Ingram.


One last point..."scoring for the most part on uncontested shots" means that he is putting himself in the position to make them. He doesn't live under the basket; many times he is at the key setting screens. For him to be in position for an easy bucket is a skill he has become much, much better at.

Most of his points came on standing on the baseline and waiting for drivers to leave him easy baskets. Yes, he occasionally is still setting high screens and rolling, but that's been a MUCH smaller part of his game in the last few games. In fact, I'd say that the single biggest reason that he has been scoring so much is because the coaching staff changed the offense to pin him down on the baseline underneath/behind the backboard (and minimized his high ball screens) and had our guards drive from the perimeter and draw his man away. It's true he doesn't live under the basket - he's living just behind the basket.

[Lar77]

I had to give it to Marshall. He went 9-10 at the free throw line! And his form looked good. If Marshall can continue to be reliable from there and continue to assert himself as a leader, we will do well. Besides, he scored 21 points. At the beginning of the year, did anyone think he could score 20 in a game?

Honorable Mention to Brandon. For hitting the first two 3s and for great defense. He is just plain good.