MBB: Duke v. St Francis-PA (Tue 12/5, 9ET, ESPNU) Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Duke hosts St. Francis Tuesday evening in Cameron. The game is on ESPNU at 9 pm ET.

[BandAlum83]

Go Duke!!!

[Troublemaker]

Despite being ranked 80 spots or so lower than South Dakota in kenpom, St Francis PA appears to me to be a worse matchup for Duke, keeping in mind that Duke essentially ended the game with USD in the first half and held their best player Matt Mooney to 3 points.

St Francis PA appears to have several quick, little guards that also shoot threes. They drive for layups and kick for open threes. Highlights of their recent game against American (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If3o--yhkNU). Team stats (http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/stats/_/id/2598).

The best of St Francis Pa's guards is athletic sophomore Keith Braxton. He's their leading scorer and leading rebounder and actually plays the 4 for them but is only 6'4", 208-lbs. He hung 25 points and 11 rebounds at Louisville in a 12-pt loss for SFP. Lville-SFP box score (http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400986089). Freshman year highlight video of Braxton (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeFlHr44TtI). I'll be interested to see if Bagley and Duke can shut down Braxton the way Grayson and Duke shut down Mooney of USD. This will be a good test of where Marvin is at in guarding the perimeter. In order to make a defensive impact in the NBA, he pretty much has to be a switchable big man onto guards.

[camion]

St Francis may be a bad match-up for us, but we're a bad match-up for them also. Another 30/15 game is a real possibility for Marvin if he plays normal minutes.

[elvis14]

St Francis may be a bad match-up for us, but we're a bad match-up for them also. Another 30/15 game is a real possibility for Marvin if he plays normal minutes.

This what I see too. Marvin, Wendell, Javin and Trent are going to give these guys fits. Plus we are big enough on the interior to make the drive portion of their drive and dish not as effective as it has been against other teams.

[Troublemaker]

St Francis may be a bad match-up for us, but we're a bad match-up for them also. Another 30/15 game is a real possibility for Marvin if he plays normal minutes.


This what I see too. Marvin, Wendell, Javin and Trent are going to give these guys fits. Plus we are big enough on the interior to make the drive portion of their drive and dish not as effective as it has been against other teams.

To be clear, I wouldn't say (and didn't say) St Francis is a bad matchup for Duke on any sort of absolute scale. I surely expect a comfortable win here. I was merely making a relative comparison to our most recent opponent, which we thrashed in the first half.

[Truth&Justise]

Despite being ranked 80 spots or so lower than South Dakota in kenpom, St Francis PA appears to me to be a worse matchup for Duke, keeping in mind that Duke essentially ended the game with USD in the first half and held their best player Matt Mooney to 3 points.

St Francis PA appears to have several quick, little guards that also shoot threes. They drive for layups and kick for open threes. Highlights of their recent game against American (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If3o--yhkNU). Team stats (http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/stats/_/id/2598).

The best of St Francis Pa's guards is athletic sophomore Keith Braxton. He's their leading scorer and leading rebounder and actually plays the 4 for them but is only 6'4", 208-lbs. He hung 25 points and 11 rebounds at Louisville in a 12-pt loss for SFP. Lville-SFP box score (http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400986089). Freshman year highlight video of Braxton (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeFlHr44TtI). I'll be interested to see if Bagley and Duke can shut down Braxton the way Grayson and Duke shut down Mooney of USD. This will be a good test of where Marvin is at in guarding the perimeter. In order to make a defensive impact in the NBA, he pretty much has to be a switchable big man onto guards.

They seemed to play well at Louisville, particularly 3pt shooting (10 for 21) and rebounding (outrebounded Louisville 35-33). The game was competitive (8-12 point difference) down the stretch. That should give us some pause. But really, this is probably more a barometer of Louisville's quality than concern for Duke's ability to win on Tuesday.

[GeneBanksManCrush]

I just looked them up. They've got 13 guards on that team!

[budwom]

KenPom gives St. Frank (anyone watching Shameless?) a solid 1% shot tomorrow...

[Troublemaker]

They seemed to play well at Louisville, particularly 3pt shooting (10 for 21) and rebounding (outrebounded Louisville 35-33). The game was competitive (8-12 point difference) down the stretch. That should give us some pause. But really, this is probably more a barometer of Louisville's quality than concern for Duke's ability to win on Tuesday.

Yes, I think Duke will win.

Pointing out an opponent's strengths, linking some highlights, and drawing attention to their best player and an interesting matchup for Marvin do not mean I think this game is up in the air.

[elvis14]

To be clear, I wouldn't say (and didn't say) St Francis is a bad matchup for Duke on any sort of absolute scale. I surely expect a comfortable win here. I was merely making a relative comparison to our most recent opponent, which we thrashed in the first half.


Yes, I think Duke will win.

Pointing out an opponent's strengths, linking some highlights, and drawing attention to their best player and an interesting matchup for Marvin do not mean I think this game is up in the air.

Sorry if my post made it seem like you were being negative towards our team or anything like that. Didn't mean to put words into your mouth in any way. As much as they can be a bit of a bad matchup for us, we are more of a bad match up for them (and we are just more talented). Our being a bad or worse matchup for them doesn't negate the point you were making, however.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Sorry if my post made it seem like you were being negative towards our team or anything like that. Didn't mean to put words into your mouth in any way. As much as they can be a bit of a bad matchup for us, we are more of a bad match up for them (and we are just more talented). Our being a bad or worse matchup for them doesn't negate the point you were making, however.

These guys are ranked #194 in KenPom. Duke is playing at home. They have two dudes over 6'5" who play this year.

I am just praying for no injuries. And maybe fewer turnovers. And intense defense for 20+ minutes (40 minutes is just asking too much at this point).

[BandAlum83]

Yes, I think Duke will win.

Pointing out an opponent's strengths, linking some highlights, and drawing attention to their best player and an interesting matchup for Marvin do not mean I think this game is up in the air.

I think we will win also. I actually think Duke will win any individual game this year.

Does that mean I think we will go undefeated? It is certainly a possibility, but unlikely. Even more unlikely, is the notion that St. Frank (at home, no less) will be the team to knock us out of the rank of the unbeaten.

[BLPOG]

I just looked them up. They've got 13 guards on that team!

My count, they have 11 Guards and 2 "G"s. :rolleyes:

(roster (http://www.sfuathletics.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball))

[Kedsy]

My count, they have 11 Guards and 2 "G"s. :rolleyes:

(roster (http://www.sfuathletics.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball))

Well, we have one "G." Maybe if we ask nicely, Gerald Henderson can sit behind the bench and we'll have two "G"s.

[Truth&Justise]

Yes, I think Duke will win.

Pointing out an opponent's strengths, linking some highlights, and drawing attention to their best player and an interesting matchup for Marvin do not mean I think this game is up in the air.

Ah, my comment had more bite than I intended. Apologies.

It's great when folks post detailed analysis of the teams we don't know much about. I'm a worrier by nature -- I have this crazy notion that if I take all the opponents seriously and get to know something about them before the game, then the team also won't be complacent. Or maybe I'll just feel less bad if/when we lose a game because I understood ahead of time why it could happen.

Anywho, thanks for your post. Agree that this will be a good chance to see how our team fares against a team with a diametrically-opposed roster construction. And ultimately comparing our game to Louisville's might give us a little insight into the strength of this year's Cardinals.

[Troublemaker]

Here's Louisville coach David Padgett discussing St Francis in his postgame presser (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBGWJRCup5k)

He mentioned how St Francis' quickness off the dribble and spacing frustrated Louisville's defense. Also added that as a former post player, he recalled how hard it was for a big guy to guard those little quick guys on the perimeter.

[Troublemaker]

Sorry if my post made it seem like you were being negative towards our team or anything like that. Didn't mean to put words into your mouth in any way. As much as they can be a bit of a bad matchup for us, we are more of a bad match up for them (and we are just more talented). Our being a bad or worse matchup for them doesn't negate the point you were making, however.


Ah, my comment had more bite than I intended. Apologies.

It's great when folks post detailed analysis of the teams we don't know much about. I'm a worrier by nature -- I have this crazy notion that if I take all the opponents seriously and get to know something about them before the game, then the team also won't be complacent. Or maybe I'll just feel less bad if/when we lose a game because I understood ahead of time why it could happen.

Anywho, thanks for your post. Agree that this will be a good chance to see how our team fares against a team with a diametrically-opposed roster construction. And ultimately comparing our game to Louisville's might give us a little insight into the strength of this year's Cardinals.

No problem, guys, and no need to apologize. :-)

[DukieTiger]

Well, we have one "G." Maybe if we ask nicely, Gerald Henderson can sit behind the bench and we'll have two "G"s.

Poor ary Trent Jr. :)

I’m actually really interested in this game, as I think it will be the first time this season they have experienced a “normal” week of practice and games. Interested to see what was emphasized today and what role the bench has heading in to ACC play on Saturday.

[Henderson]

Duke is only an 11.5 pt. favorite this morning. At Cameron. Against a 3-4 team that lost to Stony Brook and San Francisco. Hmm.

[budwom]

Duke is only an 11.5 pt. favorite this morning. At Cameron. Against a 3-4 team that lost to Stony Brook and San Francisco. Hmm.

odd indeed, KenPom has duke by 24...

[Henderson]

odd indeed, KenPom has duke by 24...

It may be a mistake on the Vegas Insider website (http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-basketball/odds/las-vegas/) I suppose. I haven't verified it at a sports book.

[UrinalCake]

I didn’t watch the South Dakota game, but in our other games against overmatched opponents K has chosen to stick with the M2M defense, presumably so we can practice it more, even when the zone would have been more effective. Curious to see what we do in this one. If their guards continue to blow by us and kick for open threes, it will be a good learning opportunity.

[plimnko]

my yahoo sports app has duke -26.5 tonight

[tbyers11]

It may be a mistake on the Vegas Insider website (http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-basketball/odds/las-vegas/) I suppose. I haven't verified it at a sports book.

Yeah, my Yahoo app has Duke -26. Jump on that -11.5 if you can :D

[DavidBenAkiva]

Here's what I'll be watching for in the matchup tonight:

What does the defense look like for the first half?
How long into the second half does the team retain focus?
Can Gary Trent, Jr. start hitting his shots from 3?
Can Wendell Carter, Jr. stay out of foul trouble?
Will Marques provide a spark off the bench?

[Troublemaker]

It may be a mistake on the Vegas Insider website (http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-basketball/odds/las-vegas/) I suppose. I haven't verified it at a sports book.

Yeah, it's a mistake (data entry error) on the website. 11.5 is really the Georgia-Winthrop line. (The TV channel listed on the site for Duke-St Francis is the SEC channel, which is of course wrong. Also, for the few people who know what I'm talking about, the rotation numbers 765 and 766 map to Winthrop and Georgia at other places that list these lines.)

[Henderson]

Yeah, it's a mistake (data entry error) on the website. 11.5 is really the Georgia-Winthrop line. (The TV channel listed on the site for Duke-St Francis is the SEC channel, which is of course wrong. Also, for the few people who know what I'm talking about, the rotation numbers 765 and 766 map to Winthrop and Georgia at other places that list these lines.)

Yeah, they also had the time of the game wrong. Oh well, I don't generally gamble, but that -11.5 tickled my tummy.

Now, St. Francis +26? That looks interesting as a psychological hedge. I might be willing to risk a few dollars to see Duke make a sufficiently sustained effort to win by 27 points. I could see Duke getting up by 25 early in the second half and winning by 22. Beating the crap out of St. Francis is surely not a priority for Coach K at this point in the season.

Edit/Addendum: Sports betting is legal where I live. If it's not in your state, I'm not encouraging you to either gamble illegally or discuss illegal sports betting on DBR.

[COYS]

This will be another game in which I'm sure we'll see the staff get the guys to practice their man-to-man defense. Duke has been decent at most parts of defense this year EXCEPT for forcing turnovers. In fact, per KenPom, we are near the bottom of all of NCAA basketball at forcing turnovers on defense with a sub-300 ranking. It's REALLY hard to have an elite defense if the other team is always able to put up a shot. Duke is doing a good job limiting opposing 2pt% compared to previous seasons (which isn't surprising given our size inside) and, while opposing 3pt% is up, it's not all that high. The big issue I see is that we NEVER turn the other team over. Forcing a few more turnovers would make a pretty big difference in Duke's defensive efficiency.

To be honest, I find our low opposition turnover percentage totally baffling. In fact, our steal percentage is actually pretty decent. We rank 100th in steal percentage, which isn't elite but is far from poor, especially when coupled with our strong block%. The fact that we're stealing the ball from the opposing team at a reasonable rate but are otherwise not forcing turnovers makes me suspect that perhaps we've actually just gotten a little unlucky and opposing teams have simply avoided dumb mistakes at a higher rate than can be sustained. At least, that's what I hope. At the same time, I also hope our steal percentage will creep up a little bit . . . especially as we improve our man-to-man defense. If we're able to get one or two extra steals per game and the other team starts making dumb mistakes (the occasional travel, pass that sails into the bleachers . . . typical college basketball stuff) at a normal rate, it might be that our defense is actually very close to reaching the top 20. However, if opposing teams aren't making dumb mistakes against us because we're just not applying the right kind of pressure, it will be very difficult to develop an elite defense even if the team is almost perfect at every other aspect of our man-to-man or zone schemes.

[budwom]

I didn’t watch the South Dakota game, but in our other games against overmatched opponents K has chosen to stick with the M2M defense, presumably so we can practice it more, even when the zone would have been more effective. Curious to see what we do in this one. If their guards continue to blow by us and kick for open threes, it will be a good learning opportunity.

yes, to me this is the question du soir. Don't mind if we work on man to man even if it springs leaks.

[Nrrrrvous]

If you will pardon the interruption for my moment of basketball nirvana...

After watching Duke play on TV for nearly 30 years, (88-89) seeing them play live in Charlottesville, Blacksburg, Vegas, Charlotte, and Greensboro. Reading these boards religiously for many, many years (not posting a lot, but reading daily from Aug to Apr). Scribbling an ultimatum on a bucket list from a hospital bed in '95. And, of course, all the daily "Why Duke?" for a guy who grew up in VA, went to VT, and never had a snowball's chance of going to school there...

I will be attending my first game tonight in the hallowed halls of Cameron.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.:D

Go Duke!

[MChambers]

If you will pardon the interruption for my moment of basketball nirvana...

After watching Duke play on TV for nearly 30 years, (88-89) seeing them play live in Charlottesville, Blacksburg, Vegas, Charlotte, and Greensboro. Reading these boards religiously for many, many years (not posting a lot, but reading daily from Aug to Apr). Scribbling an ultimatum on a bucket list from a hospital bed in '95. And, of course, all the daily "Why Duke?" for a guy who grew up in VA, went to VT, and never had a snowball's chance of going to school there...

I will be attending my first game tonight in the hallowed halls of Cameron.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.:D

Go Duke!
Have a great time!

[accfanfrom1970]

Have a great time!

Sit down seats or in the bleachers with the students?

[rsvman]

If you will pardon the interruption for my moment of basketball nirvana...

After watching Duke play on TV for nearly 30 years, (88-89) seeing them play live in Charlottesville, Blacksburg, Vegas, Charlotte, and Greensboro. Reading these boards religiously for many, many years (not posting a lot, but reading daily from Aug to Apr). Scribbling an ultimatum on a bucket list from a hospital bed in '95. And, of course, all the daily "Why Duke?" for a guy who grew up in VA, went to VT, and never had a snowball's chance of going to school there...

I will be attending my first game tonight in the hallowed halls of Cameron.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.:D

Go Duke!

Awesome! Enjoy. Bring earplugs if you are sensitive to noise.

[Olympic Fan]

I appreciate the historical place for St. Francis in basketball history -- mostly due to Maurice Stokes, the St. Francis grad who was the NBA's first black superstar ... and a very tragic figure in the history of the game.

Also, St. Francis is also cited as one of the few teams to never play in the NCAA Tournament ... note that is St. Francis of New York; St. Francis of Pa. has been once (in 1991).

[rasputin]

I appreciate the historical place for St. Francis in basketball history -- mostly due to Maurice Stokes, the St. Francis grad who was the NBA's first black superstar ... and a very tragic figure in the history of the game.

Also, St. Francis is also cited as one of the few teams to never play in the NCAA Tournament ... note that is St. Francis of New York; St. Francis of Pa. has been once (in 1991).

It must be incredibly confusing for there to be two St. Francis teams that play in the same conference.

[Nrrrrvous]

Sit down seats or in the bleachers with the students?

Sit down seats. It's all good!

[unclsam1]

Duke is only an 11.5 pt. favorite this morning. At Cameron. Against a 3-4 team that lost to Stony Brook and San Francisco. Hmm.

What? ESPN says Duke a 27.5 point favorite.

[subzero02]

I appreciate the historical place for St. Francis in basketball history -- mostly due to Maurice Stokes, the St. Francis grad who was the NBA's first black superstar ... and a very tragic figure in the history of the game.

Also, St. Francis is also cited as one of the few teams to never play in the NCAA Tournament ... note that is St. Francis of New York; St. Francis of Pa. has been once (in 1991).

I had never heard of Maurice Stokes before so I did some brief research and stumbled across this Grantland article from 2013.

http://grantland.com/features/bryan-curtis-tragic-inspirational-story-maurice-stokes/

[Pghdukie]

27 - 27.5 seems the line on most sights. 28-30 by game time - maybe.

Maurice Stokes was a great player and a great human being.

[mgtr]

27 - 27.5 seems the line on most sights. 28-30 by game time - maybe.

Maurice Stokes was a great player and a great human being.

Jack Twyman was a great human being! I cannot even imagine my doing all that he did.

[Olympic Fan]

Jack Twyman was a great human being! I cannot even imagine my doing all that he did.

The friendship between Twyman and Stokes is one of the great stories in sports history.

[DukieInBrasil]

Did anyone notice that in the front page game thread, Javin's horizontal forearm is getting blocked by the backboard edge? I think he either made the shot or got fouled for FTs despite jumping so high that he got his off-hand arm impeded by the thing he was shooting at.

[weezie]

The crowd at this hoo vs mountain guys game looks catatonic. A very unelectrified crowd.

[MChambers]

The crowd at this hoo vs mountain guys game looks catatonic. A very unelectrified crowd.
Wrong thread?

[weezie]

Wrong thread?

Yes, def wrong thread. Was just making an observation while praying for this game to end. Bad mood.

[riverside6]

Live tempo-based stats for Duke/St. Francis (PA), starters posted...

https://www.scacchoops.com/st-francis-pa-at-duke-basketball-live-stats-12052017

[DukeDevil]

chat not open yet?

[weezie]

so far so good.

[DukeDevil]

when even carter hitting 3s...it's gonna be ugly for the other team.

[brevity]

chat not open yet?

Chat: http://forums.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/misc.php?do=cchatbox

[UrinalCake]

Looks like we picked up five guys from the local Y to scrimmage against

[moonpie23]

ummm....something is backwards tonight.....the radio is WAY behind the TV......lol....


karma...

[rsvman]

Looks like we picked up five guys from the local Y to scrimmage against

Or, we are just playing amazing basketball. Can't decide which.

[DukeDevil]

On track for a 160 point game :rolleyes:

[DukeDevil]

is chat open and they just didn't put up a thread? I don't have the link...

[moonpie23]

is chat open and they just didn't put up a thread? I don't have the link...

we didn't get invited...
:(

[DukeDevil]

It must be naysayers only today :p

[TheOldBattleship]

I've got us at 6 missed shots and 5 offensive rebounds right now. Yeesh. That's absurd.

Edit: make that 7 and 6. (Though, to be fair, did all three of Bolden's come on that one sequence where he just COULDN'T get the ball to go in (until he did)?)

[TheOldBattleship]

Bagley's passing has been phenomenal today. He's basically adding an entire new dimension to what he does every third game at this point. Like, he's passed reasonably well all year, especially driving to the hoop, but he's firing skip passes to the perimeter off of double teams like it's nothing today. He's not racking up the assists, but he's been really impressive moving the ball. That find to Trent in the corner was a legit high-level NBA pass (though admittedly it's easier to do that against two guys 10 inches shorter than you are). His rate of development this year (adding nuance to his already outrageous production) is really, really impressive.

[curtis325]

Trent has found his stroke. Maybe his shooting has turned the corner. I'm trying to think of more cliches.

[TheOldBattleship]

I don't want to belabor a point that everyone already knows, but, hey, I'm having fun tracking this: currently at 16 missed shots and 11 offensive rebounds.

Bolden has contributed 4 of the missed shots and 5 of the o-boards. I think that he's boarded all 4 of his misses.

[TheOldBattleship]

Bagley's basically adding an entire new dimension to what he does every third game at this point.

If the three point stroke he's flashing even remotely holds up, I honestly don't even know where you put his ceiling. If bigs, in particular, have to jump out on his shot and open up to the drive.... Yikes.

[LasVegas]

I’m not sure what to even make of this

[CDu]

I don't want to belabor a point that everyone already knows, but, hey, I'm having fun tracking this: currently at 16 missed shots and 11 offensive rebounds.

Bolden has contributed 4 of the missed shots and 5 of the o-boards. I think that he's boarded all 4 of his misses.

Well, almost. He missed a transition layup off the bottom of the rim that was grabbed by a St Francis player. But he did do a big-time Moses Malone impression.

[YmoBeThere]

FWIW, a good friend of mine started for St. Francis when they made their lone NCAA appearance. He said Rooks and Williams were big dudes.

[AGDukesky]

That first half performance was ruined because we didn’t break the all time record for points- where’s the killer instinct?!

[PackMan97]

Something scary to think about....

St Francis isn't playing bad (other than rebounding). They are shooting 44% from the field, 41% from beyond the arc with only 5 turnovers!

[TheOldBattleship]

Well, almost. He missed a transition layup off the bottom of the rim that was grabbed by a St Francis player. But he did do a big-time Moses Malone impression.

Ah, thought I might've missed one. Regardless, it's good to see Bolden doing a really great job of just being very large (definitely not meant as an insult, either; there are times when he doesn't do such a great job of that, so it's nice to see him remembering that he is, in fact, a big, strong guy).

[CDu]

Ah, thought I might've missed one. Regardless, it's good to see Bolden doing a really great job of just being very large (definitely not meant as an insult, either; there are times when he doesn't do such a great job of that, so it's nice to see him remembering that he is, in fact, a big, strong guy).

Yep, completely agree. I suspect this is what he looked like in high school: just bigger than everyone else and mopping up in the paint. Unfortunately that hasn’t translated to ACC-level opponents yet. Hopefully he gets there. It is nice to see the baby steps here.

[Atldukie79]

We may have missed a record for points in a half, but we are still on track to break the total points for a game.
If memory serves, and there is no guarantee of that, Duke scored 136 vs Virginia in the 1965 season.

[DU82]

We may have missed a record for points in a half, but we are still on track to break the total points for a game.
If memory serves, and there is no guarantee of that, Duke scored 136 vs Virginia in the 1965 season.

That is correct. Only need 66.

[yancem]

Bagley's passing has been phenomenal today. He's basically adding an entire new dimension to what he does every third game at this point. Like, he's passed reasonably well all year, especially driving to the hoop, but he's firing skip passes to the perimeter off of double teams like it's nothing today. He's not racking up the assists, but he's been really impressive moving the ball. That find to Trent in the corner was a legit high-level NBA pass (though admittedly it's easier to do that against two guys 10 inches shorter than you are). His rate of development this year (adding nuance to his already outrageous production) is really, really impressive.

Bolden has also made several really nice passes. Unfortunately, his teammates haven’t made the shots but he is showing good vision. Also love tha Moses Malone imitation 😄

[fuse]

Why did we schedule this game?

Happy to watch an almost unwatchable game for the right reasons.

I hope that we see a lot of Goldwire, O’Connell, DeLaurier, Bolden and Robinson in the second half. Maybe even a Tucker sighting?

[TheOldBattleship]

Bolden has also made several really nice passes. Unfortunately, his teammates haven’t made the shots but he is showing good vision. Also love tha Moses Malone imitation 😄

Yeah, that's a good call. He really zipped that one out to Trent (O'Connell?); just a bullet from the right block to the 3 point line on the left elbow.

[snowdenscold]

I honestly don't even know where you put his ceiling.
The roof.

[moonpie23]

they are letting bolden feel "being the man"....

that's awesome...

[TheOldBattleship]

Yep, completely agree. I suspect this is what he looked like in high school: just bigger than everyone else and mopping up in the paint. Unfortunately that hasn’t translated to ACC-level opponents yet. Hopefully he gets there. It is nice to see the baby steps here.

Bagley's been a really good frontcourt partner for him so far (haha, well, for everybody, but particularly for Bolden). He does a really nice job of playing high-low with Bolden, and he's so willing to roam the floor and demand attention that he opens up the middle for Bolden. Keeps the traffic in the paint to a minimum (always seems to me that Bolden actually does a pretty decent job of playing strong against his guy, but when there's other action around him, guards digging down, bigs stunting over, etc., he gets indecisive and passive pretty quickly, and often loses the ball). Here's hoping that they can keep building that chemistry to the point where that kind of lineup is able to put together solid minutes in the ACC!

[jacone21]

The Devils are pretty good at entry passes these days.

[DukeWarhead]

No reason for starters to be in still. None. Keep them healthy

[moonpie23]

No reason for starters to be in still. None. Keep them healthy

TOTALLLLLLLLLLY agree with this.....they've had their fun...

[DukeBlue666s]

48 rebounds already! What’s the most in program history?

[TheOldBattleship]

TOTALLLLLLLLLLY agree with this....they've had their fun...

Well, looks like we're gonna see 7 minutes or so of Goldwire, White, Tucker, Robinson, and Vrank!

[moonpie23]

it's good that they got this night.....they're gonna need all of this going forward...

go duke!!

[curtis325]

Double-double for Bolden.