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View Full Version : MOTM: Duke vs. Clemson (Feb 11, 2017)



JBDuke
02-11-2017, 03:06 PM
Who was Duke's Man of the Match in their win over Clemson today?

lotusland
02-11-2017, 03:08 PM
Could go to any number of guys named Luke Kennard

Wander
02-11-2017, 03:16 PM
You guys all missed the real story of this game. Matt Jones played 100% perfect defense on a guy who was first team all-ACC last year. We lose by 10 without that.

CDu
02-11-2017, 03:18 PM
You guys all missed the real story of this game. Matt Jones played 100% perfect defense on a guy who was first team all-ACC last year. We lose by 10 without that.

Yeah Jones was excellent. He dominated on the defensive end, Kennard on the offensive end.

Native
02-11-2017, 03:20 PM
Voted for Luke, but shout-out to Matt Jones for steady defense (as always) and to Frank who had a few key plays.

Ballboy1998
02-11-2017, 03:21 PM
Had to go with Luke willing us to victory, but as others have said, Matt gets an honorable mention for playing a great game.

Indoor66
02-11-2017, 03:37 PM
Matt's defense carried the day. Kennard was great but no win without Matt on this hangover day.

jv001
02-11-2017, 03:49 PM
I voted for Luke but could have voted for Matt. This is 2 games in a row that he's played great defense, but Luke bailed us out in the 2nd half. GoDuke!

MrPoon
02-11-2017, 04:05 PM
Tempted to vote for Giles because I am certain the Duke staff check our polling numbers and my lone protest vote might push them to use him more. But then I was worried that Luke would check and think his effort went unappreciated, so I picked Luke. I take the burden of voting very seriously.

I am ordering t-shirts with "Free Giles" on the front. Both for the staff to see and for Giles to get his confidence boosted. Anyone else want one?

DukieInKansas
02-11-2017, 04:27 PM
Tempted to vote for Giles because I am certain the Duke staff check our polling numbers and my lone protest vote might push them to use him more. But then I was worried that Luke would check and think his effort went unappreciated, so I picked Luke. I take the burden of voting very seriously.

I am ordering t-shirts with "Free Giles" on the front. Both for the staff to see and for Giles to get his confidence boosted. Anyone else want one?

If it comes with a ticket to the next home game, count me in. I'll find a way to get there. :D

BluDvlsN1
02-11-2017, 04:28 PM
I love good defense, and Matt does it consistently
I particularly love good trapping D that causes turnovers into quick offense.

But if you break the game down to it’s simplest terms,
If two teams play perfect defense it’s a zero sum game.

It takes good offense that can beat good defense to win,
Luke did that and more..

36 min, 7-16 FG, 4-8 3pt, 7-9 Foul shots, 8 boards, 1 assist,1steal,1TO, 25 pts

Matt 38 min, 2-4 shooting/3’s, 2 boards,1 asst, 1 steal, 6 pts, Great defense

Luke played good D throughout, maybe not lockdown, but in the final
minutes, was on most of the balls.

Love Matt, perfect team guy and captain

I Voted for Luke

ps..
I want the "Silence of the rams" Tee Shirt , I'll wear it 0n 3/4/17 for the regular season sweep.

slower
02-11-2017, 04:35 PM
Tempted to vote for Giles because I am certain the Duke staff check our polling numbers and my lone protest vote might push them to use him more. But then I was worried that Luke would check and think his effort went unappreciated, so I picked Luke. I take the burden of voting very seriously.

I am ordering t-shirts with "Free Giles" on the front. Both for the staff to see and for Giles to get his confidence boosted. Anyone else want one?

You're not a fan of the late, great "Free Darko" website, are you? I still have a "Free Darko" button.

chrishoke
02-11-2017, 04:45 PM
It's my birthday so I wanted to vote for me, as I am sure many of you did.:)

superdave
02-12-2017, 09:45 AM
You guys all missed the real story of this game. Matt Jones played 100% perfect defense on a guy who was first team all-ACC last year. We lose by 10 without that.


Yeah Jones was excellent. He dominated on the defensive end, Kennard on the offensive end.


Matt's defense carried the day. Kennard was great but no win without Matt on this hangover day.

Matt held Blossomgame to 3-12 from the floor. We dont win if Matt does not bring that to the game. He was face guarding Blossomgame at time. It looked really annoying from a Clemson perspective...just constant hugging and attention.

Ballboy1998
02-12-2017, 10:09 AM
Matt held Blossomgame to 3-12 from the floor. We dont win if Matt does not bring that to the game. He was face guarding Blossomgame at time. It looked really annoying from a Clemson perspective...just constant hugging and attention.

After struggling while apparently battling a short-term injury against Pitt, I think Matt has had two of his most outstanding games of the season against UNC and FSU. He was quiet offensively in both, but also didn't do anything unwise offensively in either and just took a couple good looks in the flow of the offense. And defensively he has been elite against two top covers. I realize that J. Jackson had pretty good and efficient numbers against Duke, but he hit some very difficult shots to do it, and almost all in the first half.

I know this is going back to the wrong game, but in the second half, J. Jackson was 2/5 from the field, which includes the late three where (1) Jones had switched off Jackson and drawn what should have arguably been an offensive foul on the initial shot, and (2) it was largely dumb luck that Tatum's block bounced right to J. Jackson for the long three.

Excluding the somewhat flukey 3 off the blocked shot, Jackson only attempted one other shot in the last 12 minutes of the game, which he missed. You can credit some of this to Roy's failure to emphasize feeding the hot hand (and best offensive player), but just as we saw yesterday against Blossomgame, Matt put a huge amount of energy and effort into fronting Jackson and denying him the ball in the first place, which is really the only way to stop a guy that was making some of the shots Jackson was making. And for all that intense defense and ball denial, the only time Matt sent Jackson to the line was on that tickey-tack bump with 11 seconds left in the game.

If you are one of those folks on this board who constantly bemoans Matt getting so much playing time, I suggest you go rewatch the second half of the unc game and/or the entire Clemson game. Not coincidentally, Matt logged the most total minutes over the last two games.

richardjackson199
02-12-2017, 10:29 AM
Luke obviously got hot in the 2nd half which helped.

But I voted for Matt.

I felt like Luke actually tried to do too much down the stretch which hurt us. He kept going 1 on 5 and was not looking to share the ball. After Clemson adjusted to that, they got lots of stops leading to the near disaster finish.

Yes, if Clemson hoisted up a 3 at the buzzer that banks in and we lose to Clemson at home, I think it would have been very bad. Because the remaining games on our schedule are all extremely difficult. So it's nice that we're going into them with some confidence and momentum. But to win them we're going to need to share the ball better, get more assists in winning time, and use this game as a wake up call. I know we were very tired from UNC - perfectly understandable. But this game should not have been this close at home after holding Clemson to 18 first half points.


Remaining Schedule:
--At UVA - will be extremely difficult to win. If we thought Clemson's defense was tough, we know what UVA will bring. UVA will really want this win at home. We better play like we want it more. I don't think we played like we wanted it more for the full 40 minutes against Clemson.

--Home vs. Wake - I expect will be extremely difficult to win. Their loss in Winston hurt like hell. Wake's motivation for payback will be off the charts. And they didn't like us very much before that outcome. Expect anything, and Allen will really need to be prepared to keep his cool no matter what. Part of why Wake just thrashed State by 30 is because Wake is pretty damn good. They've lost many games they were leading in the 2nd, but don't count on that happening a 2nd time against us. We better be ready to fight another war, all 40 minutes this time.

--At Syracuse - will be extremely difficult to win. Cuse has been a nightmare at home all year. Those guys are crazy good and desperate. Boeheim is buds with K, but his motivation to beat him is off the charts. Gillon has shown he can go off for over 40. Battle is clutch and was recruited by Duke early (like Dennis Smith). Any other number of their guys could light us up in the Carrier Dome - Andrew White, Taurean Thompson, Lydon, or Roberson.

--At Miami - will be extremely difficult to win. Larranaga and their whole team remember their debacle 2nd half in Cameron. You can bet there is no game on Miami's schedule they want more than that one. Their house will be full, hostile, and rocking. They'll be motivated for payback, and they're playing extremely well as a team now. I think Allen will also need to be extra careful in this one. It will take another 40 minute war to beat Miami in Coral Gables.

--Home vs Florida State - will be extremely difficult to win. Their length and strong, quick point guard and wing play looked like a nightmare matchup for us last time out. Cameron and Duke better be ready. We might need to play as well together as we did vs. UNC to beat this FSU team.

--At UNC - will obviously be extremely difficult to win. They should be at full strength with Hicks, and don't count on Berry missing big free throws at home.

--ACC Tourney - will be extremely difficult to win any game in the ACC. So finishing in the top 4 standings with the double bye to minimize tired legs for our short rotation will be crucial.

So I keep hearing how tough UNC's remaining schedule is. UNC's unbalanced conference road schedule has been much easier than ours. I'd argue that our remaining schedule will be every bit as tough for us as UNC's will be for them.

Play together, share the ball, go to war on Duke defense, and expect to have to play out of our mind for 40 minutes to win any of these games.

The good news is we will definitely be battle tested for the NCAA Tourney, where the same will be true.

Should be fun, but let's avoid the meltdown if we drop a few. This will be a challenging stretch from here on out.

CDu
02-12-2017, 10:58 AM
Luke obviously got hot in the 2nd half which helped.

But I voted for Matt.

I felt like Luke actually tried to do too much down the stretch which hurt us. He kept going 1 on 5 and was not looking to share the ball. After Clemson adjusted to that, they got lots of stops leading to the near disaster finish.

Yes, if Clemson hoisted up a 3 at the buzzer that banks in and we lose to Clemson at home, I think it would have been very bad. Because the remaining games on our schedule are all extremely difficult. So it's nice that we're going into them with some confidence and momentum. But to win them we're going to need to share the ball better, get more assists in winning time, and use this game as a wake up call. I know we were very tired from UNC - perfectly understandable. But this game should not have been this close at home after holding Clemson to 18 first half points.

I would be fine with a vote for Jones over Kennard as I think both were deserving. But I think your assessment of Kennard's play down the stretch is fairly off. We trailed 45-44 with 10 minutes to go. From that point on, we had all of FIVE possessions that didn't result in a basket or a trip to the line. Two of those four misses were open 3s by Kennard. One was an open jumper by Tatum. The other two were open 3s, one each by Allen and TJackson.

Our offense was magnificent down the stretch, and Kennard was the most magnificent. As a team, 11 of 16 possessions (~70%) ended in a basket or a trip to the line. For Kennard? He succeeded on 7 of 9 possessions in which he ended the possession. That is utterly fantastic.

The only reason that we didn't pull away down the stretch was because we couldn't get stops on the other end. Nothing about our offense over the last 10 minutes of the game was flawed.

richardjackson199
02-12-2017, 11:10 AM
I would be fine with a vote for Jones over Kennard as I think both were deserving. But I think your assessment of Kennard's play down the stretch is fairly off. We trailed 45-44 with 10 minutes to go. From that point on, we had all of FIVE possessions that didn't result in a basket or a trip to the line. Two of those four misses were open 3s by Kennard. One was an open jumper by Tatum. The other two were open 3s, one each by Allen and TJackson.

Our offense was magnificent down the stretch, and Kennard was the most magnificent. As a team, 11 of 16 possessions (~70%) ended in a basket or a trip to the line. For Kennard? He succeeded on 7 of 9 possessions in which he ended the possession. That is utterly fantastic.

The only reason that we didn't pull away down the stretch was because we couldn't get stops on the other end. Nothing about our offense over the last 10 minutes of the game was flawed.

Disagree.
Credit to K & G for this in the other thread:
"Duke had 11 of its 13 assists in the first 26:20, only 2 in the final 13:40 (both of which led to 3 pointers). A lot of one on one as Luke tried to single handedly take us to the finish line,"

Luke has said it himself many times in after-game interviews - for Duke to be at our best, we need to share the ball. Gorgeous assists are how we look our best. Look at how we played on offense in the Georgia Tech game by contrast.

If we had played flawless offense for the last 10 minutes, we would not have been in position to lose in Cameron to Clemson with one last shot.

Saratoga2
02-12-2017, 11:23 AM
Disagree.
Credit to K & G for this in the other thread:
"Duke had 11 of its 13 assists in the first 26:20, only 2 in the final 13:40 (both of which led to 3 pointers). A lot of one on one as Luke tried to single handedly take us to the finish line,"

Luke has said it himself many times in after-game interviews - for Duke to be at our best, we need to share the ball. Gorgeous assists are how we look our best. Look at how we played on offense in the Georgia Tech game by contrast.

I disagee. Coach K in the press conference mentioned that they went to Kennard in the stretch as they saw something in the matchups that was favorable. Kennard delivered when no one else seemed to be able to. I also have no problem with Jones being selected as man of the match, however without Kennard we were dead meat in the game.

CDu
02-12-2017, 11:34 AM
Disagree.
Credit to K & G for this in the other thread:
"Duke had 11 of its 13 assists in the first 26:20, only 2 in the final 13:40 (both of which led to 3 pointers). A lot of one on one as Luke tried to single handedly take us to the finish line,"

Luke has said it himself many times in after-game interviews - for Duke to be at our best, we need to share the ball. Gorgeous assists are how we look our best. Look at how we played on offense in the Georgia Tech game by contrast.

If we had played flawless offense for the last 10 minutes, we would not have been in position to lose in Cameron to Clemson with one last shot.

We were successful on 11 of our last 16 possessions. That is as flawless as you are reasonably going to get over a 10 minute stretch. Our issues down the stretch were on defense, not offense.

richardjackson199
02-12-2017, 12:31 PM
I would be fine with a vote for Jones over Kennard as I think both were deserving. But I think your assessment of Kennard's play down the stretch is fairly off. We trailed 45-44 with 10 minutes to go. From that point on, we had all of FIVE possessions that didn't result in a basket or a trip to the line. Two of those four misses were open 3s by Kennard. One was an open jumper by Tatum. The other two were open 3s, one each by Allen and TJackson.

Our offense was magnificent down the stretch, and Kennard was the most magnificent. As a team, 11 of 16 possessions (~70%) ended in a basket or a trip to the line. For Kennard? He succeeded on 7 of 9 possessions in which he ended the possession. That is utterly fantastic.

The only reason that we didn't pull away down the stretch was because we couldn't get stops on the other end. Nothing about our offense over the last 10 minutes of the game was flawed.

You made some excellent points to support your argument. I didn't realize all that when I first posted. I admit I had no desire to go back and watch that game again. I'll give you every point.

In my opinion our offense was not flawless. We benefitted from some friendly officiating down the stretch (for a nice change). Possessions where we have no good shot at the end of the shot clock and get bailed out by a foul on Clemson won't always happen. Hero ball 1 on 5 isn't our best offense. I would argue that hero ball would almost never be flawless offense unless you have Kevin Durant or MJ suiting up.

We fought hard, and did barely enough to win. But we were going long stretches without field goals in the 2nd half. Some of our stretches of most flawless offense imo were down the stretch against Wake (when Luke was flawless, but we did it more as a team), UNC game, Florida, and Georgia Tech.

I'm proud of us for gutting out that win yesterday while playing that drained, because we needed it.

But that was the easiest game left on our schedule, and maybe by a decent margin. To keep winning and be the team we want to be in March, we need to play both much better defense and offense than we did in the 2nd half vs. Clemson IMO.

I just want us to keep improving not only defense, but also ball movement on offense to get our guys better shots. When we do that we have guys who can finish even more open 3's, and-ones, or dunks. This team doesn't have a stud pg who can just break down a defense off the bounce and create a nice easy shot in the clutch. But we have shown stretches of beautiful ball movement and are at our best when we're assisting great shots.

Our upcoming stretch is very difficult, but this team can win every one of those games if we keep getting better. We'll need a tin man with heart, lionly courage, and we must play smart. Otherwise I'll leave the straw man and scarecrow out of it, because I can't refute any of your good points. So I'm also cool with 70% efficiency if we can shoot free throws like we did at Notre Dame. :cool:

DukieInBrasil
02-12-2017, 05:54 PM
Disagree.
Credit to K & G for this in the other thread:
"Duke had 11 of its 13 assists in the first 26:20, only 2 in the final 13:40 (both of which led to 3 pointers). A lot of one on one as Luke tried to single handedly take us to the finish line,"

Luke has said it himself many times in after-game interviews - for Duke to be at our best, we need to share the ball. Gorgeous assists are how we look our best. Look at how we played on offense in the Georgia Tech game by contrast.

If we had played flawless offense for the last 10 minutes, we would not have been in position to lose in Cameron to Clemson with one last shot.

Duke scored on 11 of 17 possessions, as pointed out earlier, and Luke scored on 7 of 9 possessions. That's pretty awesome. Put another way, Luke scored on 77.77% of possessions that he used. The rest of the team scored on 50% of possessions they used. Using your logic, Duke would have lost that game since we would have been going to the least efficient option. As pointed out by others, it was the defense not the offense that should be getting your attention. I didnt see any indication from anyone else that they were going to take the burden of scoring to get us the win.

richardjackson199
02-12-2017, 08:04 PM
Duke scored on 11 of 17 possessions, as pointed out earlier, and Luke scored on 7 of 9 possessions. That's pretty awesome. Put another way, Luke scored on 77.77% of possessions that he used. The rest of the team scored on 50% of possessions they used. Using your logic, Duke would have lost that game since we would have been going to the least efficient option. As pointed out by others, it was the defense not the offense that should be getting your attention. I didnt see any indication from anyone else that they were going to take the burden of scoring to get us the win.

I never suggested that someone other than Luke should have been taking our shots. I suggested that in my opinion, we play better when we are sharing the ball better and getting more assists. We did not get many assists in the 2nd half, and I thought it stagnated our offense. I thought it looked like one player was trying to take over 1 on 5, posession after possession, rather than moving the ball around trying to get the best shot. I'm all for feeding the hot hand. I just think it works better within a flowing offense that prioritizes sharing the ball to get the best shots.

I cited games or stretches of games where Duke shared the ball well and got lots of assists. I think that's a fun and effective brand of basketball to watch. Using my logic, we would have lost? More assists means more made baskets, so I disagree.

Yes our defense was also problematic. Thomas looked like a tough matchup for Amile, due to his size, strength, and mobility.

I had already conceded CDu's points, so thanks for repeating them and piling on. And for telling me what % 7/9 is. In the future, I'll try to do a better job keeping my illogical opinions of how our team can get better to myself. DBR can be a rather unfriendly place to share opinions these days.