MBB: Duke vs Notre Dame (1/29, 7 pm, ESPN) Pre-game and In-game Thread

[Bob Green]

Discuss the Notre Dame game here.

[Devilwin]

Notre Dame is depleted. We should beat them but we'll have to make the free throws and be careful with the ball.

[tbyers11]

Notre Dame is depleted. We should beat them but we'll have to make the free throws and be careful with the ball.

Yes, very depleted. No Bonzie or DJ Harvey. According to Brey's comments last week, Matt Farrell won't be playing either to make sure his ankle heals. A ND team that only played at best 7 guys when fully healthy without its top 2 players and its sixth man (when all healthy) is not the same.

On top of cutting down on TOs and FTs. I sincerely hope we see more bench minutes whether we blow them out early or not. Guys are going to be tired after the short turnaround. Thankfully no travel.

[uh_no]

Yes, very depleted. No Bonzie or DJ Harvey. According to Brey's comments last week, Matt Farrell won't be playing either to make sure his ankle heals. A ND team that only played at best 7 guys when fully healthy without its top 2 players and its sixth man (when all healthy) is not the same.

On top of cutting down on TOs and FTs. I sincerely hope we see more bench minutes whether we blow them out early or not. Guys are going to be tired after the short turnaround. Thankfully no travel.

i didn't realize, but contrary to usual, they're one of the slowest teams in the country this year. good. our guys need a break.

[gofurman]

Yes, very depleted. No Bonzie or DJ Harvey. According to Brey's comments last week, Matt Farrell won't be playing either to make sure his ankle heals. A ND team that only played at best 7 guys when fully healthy without its top 2 players and its sixth man (when all healthy) is not the same.

On top of cutting down on TOs and FTs. I sincerely hope we see more bench minutes whether we blow them out early or not. Guys are going to be tired after the short turnaround. Thankfully no travel.

Reasons duke may win 1). No Bonzi. No Ferrel and no Harvey Who was helping w lack of Bonzi

2) short turnaround but Notre Dame playd at 8pm Saturday and travel. We get to stay home

3) I don’t see how they handle Bagley and Carter when we are on O

4). Cameron

5). Notre Dame is Not as good on road

Reasons to worry 1). They can shoot the three

2). They shoot FTs very well

3) do they play 4 out one in w no Bonzi? The big Lithuanian is the only real big guy and Moon at the 4 can shoot ! Bagley and Carter may be a liability if they are shooting the 3 w Moon at 6’9. Tough cover

4). Look at last few games. They lost but BARELY. 1 point loss to UNC they coulda won. double OT loss to good Louisville team. Their record is a little deceiving.

[CDu]

i didn't realize, but contrary to usual, they're one of the slowest teams in the country this year. good. our guys need a break.

They actually are pretty regularly a slow-tempo team. Last year was their first in a long time being among the top-200 in tempo.

They have always been an efficient offense, but typically they play at a snail’s pace.

[gofurman]

They actually are pretty regularly a slow-tempo team. Last year was their first in a long time being among the top-200 in tempo.

They have always been an efficient offense, but typically they play at a snail’s pace.

CDu. Need your scouting report !

[ndkjr70]

Most of my friends are Domers so I’ve caught a few games. Notre Dame with Farrell and Bonzie is a bonifide top-15 team very capable of beating Duke convincingly in Cameron.

I watched the “game” against VT last night, if that’s what you want to call it, and boy was it ugly. I think duke wins this one by 20+ and we’re seeing a lot of reserves down the stretch

[Natty_B]

Most of my friends are Domers so I’ve caught a few games. Notre Dame with Farrell and Bonzie is a bonifide top-15 team very capable of beating Duke convincingly in Cameron.

I watched the “game” against VT last night, if that’s what you want to call it, and boy was it ugly. I think duke wins this one by 20+ and we’re seeing a lot of reserves down the stretch

I don’t see any team, nationwide, that could beat Duke “convincingly” in Cameron. Guess we won’t find out with this ND bunch.

[ncexnyc]

I sincerely hope the kids stay focused on this game after the tough loss Saturday.

It's true ND is seriously depleted, but I've watched several of their recent losses and they still show up and fight hard every game.

Don't let the Irish hang close and score the quick KO. I don't want to see this game coming down to some freak play.

[CDu]

I feel a bit bad giving this scouting report for Notre Dame, as they are REALLY shorthanded in this one. No Colson (ACC PoY candidate), no Harvey (key 6th man and burgeoning performer), and per Brey no Farrell (All-ACC PG and second-best player). They are just a shell of the team that would have otherwise been sure to land an upper-third of the league season.

That said, here we go. Notre Dame has historically been a slow-paced, uber-efficient offensive team that struggled defensively. This year, they've still been really solid offensively, but have been also solid defensively. They don't turn the ball over, they crash the offensive glass ferociously, and they don't foul.
Unfortunately, I don't expect that team to show up tomorrow (at least not most of it). Without their two best offensive players, the Irish are REALLY shorthanded on that end. They should be reasonably solid defensively, but the offense just doesn't have the bite it should have without those guys (especially Colson and Farrell). In short, this is a game we should win fairly easily if Farrell is still out.

Centers: Martinas Geben (6'10", 250lb senior from Lithuania) is the starter in the middle. He's really improved over last year, going from a nonentity on the floor to a very solid contributor. He averages 10 and 8 for them in 24 mpg. Geben is VERY slow, and not a good vertical athlete at all. But he's strong and effective around the basket, and has a decent shooting touch too (including 81% from the FT line). He will work hard, rebound well on both ends, and get garbage points. But Carter should give him fits on the other end unless the refs "let'em play". Even then, Carter should give him more than he can handle on offense. The backup center is John Mooney (6'9", 250lb soph). Mooney is a big, physical guy who can shoot it but also lacks athleticism. Very good 3pt shooter and defensive rebounder, but doesn't bring much else. He might start at PF, but ditto the comments about Gebben's defense here.

Forwards: Colson would be the starter here, but he's still out with injury. So either Mooney or Austin Torres (6'7", 235lb senior) will get the start at PF. Torres is sort of the absolute opposite of Mooney: fairly athletic, but absolutely zero offensive skills. Torres is a good offensive rebounder, not as much a defensive rebounder. Both Mooney and Torres are foul-prone, averaging a combined 3.2 fouls per 24 minutes played. With the injury to Colson, there is a good chance that Elijah Burns (6'8", 240lb junior) will see the court some. Burns is a rugged player with a good shooting touch and is a solid rebounder on both ends. But, like the others, he's going to be overmatched by our bigs.

Wings: Rex Pflueger (6'6", 205lb junior) is the key player on the wing in the absence of Harvey. Don't let the surfer-dude appearance and California roots fool you: he's a very tough defensive player. Probably the best defender on the Irish squad. Unfortunately, he hasn't developed offensively as hoped. In some ways, Pflueger is a bit like Matt Jones. He's a capable shooter and solid ballhandler and passer, but just not a consistent enough offensive player. TJ Gibbs (6'3", 190lb sophomore) was the other wing until Farrell got hurt. But now, he'll be playing PG. Gibbs is a dynamic athlete and has really emerged as a scorer. He's up to 41.5% from 3 this year, and is the leading scorer since Colson went down. Gibbs is coming off a 27 point game against Va Tech, and is their most dangerous player on offense. Nikola Djogo (6'7", 210lb sophomore) has been thrust into the other starting wing spot. Djogo is a lanky wing with a capable 3pt shot. He's been very inconsistent so far though, and is not good defensively.

Guards: Matt Farrell (6'1", 175lb senior) is the normal starter, but it sounds like he is out for this game. If Farrell played, he's a real bulldog of a PG with terrific skills. Good shooter, good passer and ballhandler, pesky defender. He's an All-ACC level PG. His absence really hurts them. They have literally no depth on the perimeter. Gibbs and Pflueger will be asked to play 40 minutes and share the PG duties, and whenever Djogo sits they will go with 3 bigs. It's a mess.

Brey is a terrific coach, and I'll never put anything past him. But this is a game we should win handily. Gibbs can be a handful for sure, and if Pflueger and/or Djogo has a good night from 3, they can hang around. But honestly they are just so bereft of talent and experience, with only Gibbs and Pflueger having averaged even 13 mpg in a season prior to this year, and only Geben joining them in averaging at least 10 mpg in a season previously.

[uh_no]

They actually are pretty regularly a slow-tempo team. Last year was their first in a long time being among the top-200 in tempo.

They have always been an efficient offense, but typically they play at a snail’s pace.

huh. i guess i was just selectively seeing that they had good offense and ignored the fact that they were actually slow.

[CDu]

huh. i guess i was just selectively seeing that they had good offense and ignored the fact that they were actually slow.

It is certainly a bit counterintuitive, as you would think a high-efficiency offense with poor defense would want MORE possessions rather than less. But I think the issue is that they really work to get good shots within their offense, as opposed to having a ton of quick-strike scoring options.

[CameronDuke]

In 2015 when Duke went on their "run" in the ACC and rode it to a natty title, they lost at Notre Dame and Sheed got kicked off the team. They traveled to Virginia who rarely loses league games ever but especially not at home at the JPJ, and Tyus Stones dropped a dagger 3 late to win that game. This year, Duke played Virginia at home in an emotional roller coaster and lost a game late they could have probably won if a few more things go right and the ball bounces their way so to speak. Now Duke hosts Notre Dame in a game I am predicting starts Duke's 2018 "run". I still think this team can get to 15-3 in the ACC like the 2015 squad. Interestingly if it does happen, the "turning points" in 2015 and 2018 would come against Notre Dame and Virginia.

[DavidBenAkiva]

^^ good write-up CDu.

I'm sort of bummed that this is such a depleted Notre Dame team. I expect Duke to come out with some attitude after losing a close one to UVA and dominating from the onset against an overmatched and tired Fightin' Irish team.

1/28/2018: 80-75 L to Virginia Tech
After a week off, 7 Irish players appeared in the box score while 4 of them playing 30 minutes or more (Gibbs, 40; Pfluegger, 38; Djogo, 34; and Mooney, 32). Notre Dame did completely out-rebound VA Tech and shot the ball well from 3-point range. They had nearly as many 3-point attempts (29) as 2-point attempts (32). Of course, VA Tech shot the ball extremely well, hitting 14 of 25 three-point attempts (56.0%).

1/20/2018: 58-67 L @ Clemson
Matt Ferrell was one of 8 Irish that played in this game. While Ferrell led the team in assists (6), he shot the ball very poorly (2-11, with all but one attempt from 3). Temple Gibbs played the whole 40 minutes while Pflueger and Farrell both topped the 32-minute mark.

1/16/2018: 82-78 L to Louisville
Against the Cardinals, 9 Irish played in the double-overtime affair with Matt Ferrell and Temple Gibbs playing 48 minutes apiece. D.J. Harvey was injured after logging 7 minutes while Elijah Burns only checked in for 2 minutes. Ferrell shot the ball very poorly (8-25, including 4-14 from 3). The Irish had a great 50.0% offensive rebounding rate.

1/13/2018: 69-68 L to UNC
Without Matt Ferrell or Bonzi Colson, the Irish played 8 guys with Gibbs (39), Harvey (37), and Pflueger (34) staying on the court for most of the game. Notre Dame had another impressive performance on the offensive boards, grabbing 50.0% of the available rebounds.

1/10/2018: 53-60 L @ Georgia Tech
The beginning of the losing streak started one the road without Matt Ferrell or Bonzi Colson. The Irish had a poor shooting performance, hitting on just 4 of 18 attempts (22.2%). Temple Gibbs logged all 40 minutes of this one with Rex Pflueger playing 35 minutes.

Based on these performances, I expect Notre Dame to trot out a 7-man rotation. Gibbs has played nearly every minute of every game this year. He'll be starting at point guard. Rex Plfueger and Nikolo Djogo will start on the wing with Martinas Geben and John Mooney at the forward positions. Elijah Burns and Austin Torres will come off the bench, but I doubt they do more than provide a few minutes and fouls. The Irish won't have anyone to replace Gibbs and Pflueger. I wouldn't be surprised if Grayson and Gary try to run them off of screens to get them tired on defense. After made baskets, Duke will set up a 3-quarter-court press. Expect a lot of 3-point attempts and long rebounds.

[arnie]

^^ good write-up CDu.

I'm sort of bummed that this is such a depleted Notre Dame team. I expect Duke to come out with some attitude after losing a close one to UVA and dominating from the onset against an overmatched and tired Fightin' Irish team.

Based on these performances, I expect Notre Dame to trot out a 7-man rotation. Gibbs has played nearly every minute of every game this year. He'll be starting at point guard. Rex Plfueger and Nikolo Djogo will start on the wing with Martinas Geben and John Mooney at the forward positions. Elijah Burns and Austin Torres will come off the bench, but I doubt they do more than provide a few minutes and fouls. The Irish won't have anyone to replace Gibbs and Pflueger. I wouldn't be surprised if Grayson and Gary try to run them off of screens to get them tired on defense. After made baskets, Duke will set up a 3-quarter-court press. Expect a lot of 3-point attempts and long rebounds.

Not sure why you think our 7-man rotation will have more energy than ND’s rotation such that we’ll get them tired on D. I fully expect us to win, but ND will come to Cameron desperate.

In ACC play, we haven’t proven much yet: 4 wins against the 2 poorest teams (1 combined win) and 2-3 against the competitive teams. I’m surprised expectations remain so high; will have to play at a high level to win 12 ACC games, and with a letdown in a game or 2; could easily finish only 11-7. Every remaining conference game should be competitive.

[richardjackson199]

Vegas line is Duke by 14.5.

Time to get mean and cover by a lot.

[Kedsy]

could easily finish only 11-7.

Far as I'm concerned, that's crazy talk. I'll be surprised if we finish worse than 13-5. I'm not saying 14-4 is likely, but I think 14-4 is more likely than 11-7.

[arnie]

Far as I'm concerned, that's crazy talk. I'll be surprised if we finish worse than 13-5. I'm not saying 14-4 is likely, but I think 14-4 is more likely than 11-7.

I hope you’re right and it’s possible; I just don’t expect it.

[CDu]

Far as I'm concerned, that's crazy talk. I'll be surprised if we finish worse than 13-5. I'm not saying 14-4 is likely, but I think 14-4 is more likely than 11-7.

I agree. I think 15-3 is more likely than 11-7.

[gofurman]

I agree. I think 15-3 is more likely than 11-7.

Has Been odd. Either v easy w Pitt and Wake or we seem to get UVA. Not many middlin' good teams to measure against. FSU was one and they ate our D alive. Good win at Miami. Looked good v UVA. We haven't seen UNC or Clemson or Louisville yet.

[Devilwin]

It's so hard to predict when we are talking about freshmen. Talent wise, we can win all of our remaining games. But just look back to the UVA game. So many turnovers and missed free throws doomed us against a team we could and should have beaten. I feel the key to it all remains Grayson. He snaps out of his shooting funk, we can roll to the Final Four. He doesn't, we can be in for a roller coaster ride the rest of the way. He is the team leader, and I admire his attitude, he has the heart of a tiger.
Maybe he's trying too hard? I don't know, but we need his scoring I believe for a truly successful season.

[left_hook_lacey]

Vegas has us as a 14 point favorite. Should be a cake walk. Just gotta play smart, stay healthy.

[KShip21]

Vegas has us as a 14 point favorite. Should be a cake walk. Just gotta play smart, stay healthy.

and play zone......

[DukieInBrasil]

and play zone...

I don't know about zone vs. ND, they can really shoot the 3. I'm sure it will get sprinkled in from time to time, but i think K is gonna stick by Duke's porous m2m defense and hope the guys learn it a little better in this game.
I know i've been calling for Duke to abandon m2m defense, but if the zone isn't producing turnovers (like it did vs MSU) or bad shots (like briefly vs UVA) i'm not sure that it's a better option. It's just hard to teach Fr. how to play good defense, but from all appearances Duke's Fr. are getting better at defense, slowly.

[DavidBenAkiva]

Not sure why you think our 7-man rotation will have more energy than ND’s rotation such that we’ll get them tired on D. I fully expect us to win, but ND will come to Cameron desperate.

In ACC play, we haven’t proven much yet: 4 wins against the 2 poorest teams (1 combined win) and 2-3 against the competitive teams. I’m surprised expectations remain so high; will have to play at a high level to win 12 ACC games, and with a letdown in a game or 2; could easily finish only 11-7. Every remaining conference game should be competitive.

I don't share your pessimism towards this season. What I saw against UVA was a team that absolutely dominated the interior of the most vaunted defense in college basketball. Some are saying this is the best defensive team in recent history. It is according to some advanced stats (KenPom). And Duke erased a 13 point deficit against that defense like it was nothing. A couple of things break our way - making the front-end of 1-and-1 free throw opportunities, for example - and people are talking about Duke being the best team in the country this morning. We've seen real, sustained effort on defense. Even in the first half against UVA, we were holding them to less than 1 point per possession primarily playing man-to-man defense. In order for this Duke team to be elite, our guards need to play well. That's it. One improvement from Grayson, a couple of smarter plays from Trevon and Duke is as elite as any team in the nation. That's what I see.

[Troublemaker]

Vegas has us as a 14 point favorite. Should be a cake walk. Just gotta play smart, stay healthy.

and play zone...

Not happening, KShip21... You should know by now that Duke will be a m2m-first team under Coach K, whether that's right or wrong.

And I also disagree with the notion that Duke can't win comfortably tonight playing m2m for 40 minutes.

[CDu]

and play zone...


I don't know about zone vs. ND, they can really shoot the 3. I'm sure it will get sprinkled in from time to time, but i think K is gonna stick by Duke's porous m2m defense and hope the guys learn it a little better in this game.
I know i've been calling for Duke to abandon m2m defense, but if the zone isn't producing turnovers (like it did vs MSU) or bad shots (like briefly vs UVA) i'm not sure that it's a better option. It's just hard to teach Fr. how to play good defense, but from all appearances Duke's Fr. are getting better at defense, slowly.

Actually, this Notre Dame team isn't great at shooting the 3. Especially not without Farrell. They have just two guys shooting above 33% from 3pt range (Gibbs and Mooney). In ACC play, they are shooting just 33% from 3, good for 13th in the conference. Historically Notre Dame is a great 3pt shooting team. But that was back when they had guys like Beachem and Vasturia on the wings. Djogo and Pflueger are certainly capable of hitting 3s, but they haven't done so with any consistency.

That being said, I would probably still be okay with man-to-man in this game. Despite not having great shooters, Notre Dame also lacks playmakers without Colson and Farrell (and to a lesser degree Harvey). Gibbs is a terrific playmaker, but he's literally the only guy capable of getting a good shot for himself. So this is a good, fairly low-risk chance for the team to get better at man-to-man. We KNOW that Coach K is going to try his darnedest to get this team to play man-to-man. So any opportunity to work on it is a good thing.

[BobBender]

Discuss the Notre Dame game here.

I believe ND’s Gibbs is named ‘Temple’ , not Terrance. This on the heels of UVa’s backcourt being identified as ‘Travis’ Guy and ‘Travis’ Jerome in his Saturday evening piece. I know these articles are produced on the fly, but sloppy editing is becoming the norm.

[weezie]

I'll be silently congratulating Steve Vasturia for graduating last May. That guy used to just stiletto us. I thought he'd never leave.

[MrPoon]

Here is what I want from this game (I’m sure K and everyone here have been waiting to hear!)

1) Keep improving on our D. I’d like to attack a banged up team and create some turnovers with pressure. I’m not biased to M2M vs zone, I just want us to do it well! I do like the idea of going back and forth to keep teams on their heels.

2) Paging Grayson. He is contributing in a lot of ways. The double digit rebound game a few games ago, his leadership, back up PG duties, etc. But this team, will never be a great defensive team. They need to put pressure on the opposition lots of ways. And his outside shooting and his ability to drive off of that spacing helps the interior players and creates fouls. He’s a great FT shooter and we all know recently the wrong guys right now are getting to the line. To me this team’s ceiling is final four and maybe even a step below that depending on the bracket and depending on seeding if we can’t count on GA scoring 12ish pts. A couple threes, a couple drives and few FTs. It feels like this almost needs a separate thread. We track the D, we track dunks, but GAs offensive struggles are a surprise. I get a cold stretch but this feels even more than that.

3) Duval, I’m not going to restart the exhausting Duval debate (I really like him and his improvement may be our only hope for late season wins if GA doesn’t shake off this slump). But no one will argue he can still get better with his decision making and his scoring consistency. I’ve been particularly surprised with his struggles AT the rim, that isn’t him and I think that is an adoration. This is a game where his tempo will help and I’d love to see him keep taking steps and put the Wake game behind him.

4) Get healthy. Javin, Bolden and even O’Connell with the flu bug all need to get well and build more depth. We looked a step slow with 5 to go against Virginia. Which is to be expected with such long defensive possessions. I know this board loves Javin but I think a healthy, confident Bolden makes the opposition more nervous. The poor kid can’t stay healthy and fit but his size and shot blocking is a nice 6th man sub.

[thedukelamere]

3) Duval, I’m not going to restart the exhausting Duval debate (I really like him and his improvement may be our only hope for late season wins if GA doesn’t shake off this slump). But no one will argue he can still get better with his decision making and his scoring consistency.

I'm a firm believer in (unfortunately) needing to make memorable mistakes in order to truly learn, which is why I love watching Tricky's steady growth this season. Still prone to make an ill-timed mistake here or there, but it's usually not the same type of mistake... Hopefully his muscle memory will make his spidey-senses tingle the next time he has the opportunity to:

- Shoot a 3 early in the shot clock with 2 minutes to play protecting a small lead
- Drive 1 on 4 against the #1 defensive team in the country, leaving your feet and realizing there is no hope of an outlet pass opening up
- Throw full-court pass into triple coverage when you have a defensive minded team on the ropes in the half court

I predict he's going to play a smart, efficient game tonight, finishing with a double-double (13 pts, 11 ast) and earning a handful of MOTM votes.

[uh_no]

But this team, will never be a great defensive team.
Don't look...but this team's been playing great defense the past couple weeks...and the number they put up saturday would have us at third in the country...if that's not "great" or doesn't indicate that they can become great, then your standards are way too high.


To me this team’s ceiling is final four and maybe even a step below
uh what? Did we not just go toe to toe with arguably the best team in the country with a team who more than anyone is likely to not be playing up to their potential yet? and the CEILING is the final four? No. the ceiling is a banner. period. To argue that the most talented team in the country has no chance to win the championship is crazy.

Agree with everything else...but these two comments caught me out.

[Highlander]

I've got tickets tonight! I've only attended one other game in Cameron this year, which was the Pitt game a week and a half ago, so that bodes well for our chances.

Anyone who would like me to guarantee a win vs. UNC I will happily accept your ticket :)

[MrPoon]

Don't look...but this team's been playing great defense the past couple weeks...and the number they put up saturday would have us at third in the country...if that's not "great" or doesn't indicate that they can become great, then your standards are way too high.


uh what? Did we not just go toe to toe with arguably the best team in the country with a team who more than anyone is likely to not be playing up to their potential yet? and the CEILING is the final four? No. the ceiling is a banner. period. To argue that the most talented team in the country has no chance to win the championship is crazy.

Agree with everything else...but these two comments caught me out.

Thanks for the follow up, you are such an astute poster and I value your comments. Our D clearly has improved but I also think we’ve improved against offenses that aren’t great. I’m sure there are statistics to support the view that they are MUCH better. I watch teams still getting open threes, late pick-ups in transition, and uncertainty in our big men on who they have when offenses move the D around, especially teams that are good at perimeter screens. We are getting better than we were against BC no doubt. And I hope I’m wrong because being pretty good, would be more than enough with this offense and especially with the unstoppable force of Bagley. (By the way, his 30 against UVA has to merit some special recognition! Does UVA retire an opponents number if he gets 30 on a Bennett coached team?!).

Re the Final Four ceiling comment, you pulled out half the statement. This team can ABSOLUTELY win the whole thing and has the most talent in the country. My point was/is not without GA scoring in a more reliable manner. He doesn’t need to be Soph GA, he’s doing more nuanced things for this team but his offense will need to be a pillar that this team can count on when things get rough, and it’s not there now, nor has it been for awhile. That is all I’m suggesting. I can’t recall who recently wrote an article to that effect, maybe CBS, but I stand by the statement. We can debate why he is not looking the same but something is off. He is leading in so many ways, I really admire the year he is having. BUT there will be key games where their backs are against the wall and we’ll need his scoring and it has not been there (like Saturday).

[Dub]

uh what? Did we not just go toe to toe with arguably the best team in the country with a team who more than anyone is likely to not be playing up to their potential yet? and the CEILING is the final four? No. the ceiling is a banner. period. To argue that the most talented team in the country has no chance to win the championship is crazy.

Agree with everything else...but these two comments caught me out.

The ceiling is without question...THE ROOF! Looking forward to a dominating performance tonight. Find me in the in-game thread with infinite optimism. :)

[wavedukefan70s]

40 minutes of solid focused basketball.if we are up by 3 or 35 .I just hope for the same intensity.im also going watch Grayson wrist/hand.it may just be me.but I swear he has been flexing and shaking it last few games.maybe I'm just crazy .we shall know soon enough.this could be the turning point of our season.

[dukelifer]

40 minutes of solid focused basketball.if we are up by 3 or 35 .I just hope for the same intensity.im also going watch Grayson wrist/hand.it may just be me.but I swear he has been flexing and shaking it last few games.maybe I'm just crazy .we shall know soon enough.this could be the turning point of our season.

Can’t see how he could have hurt it- it is not like he is reckless with his body.

[Kedsy]

this could be the turning point of our season.

Turning from what to what? I know we just lost a game, but we've won 5 of 6 and we're #4 in the country.

[CDu]

Turning from what to what? I know we just lost a game, but we've won 5 of 6 and we're #4 in the country.

Right, if there was to be a turning point, it would have to be the State game. Since then, our defense has played consistently well against a variety of opponents. Prior to that, the defense was playing badly.

Of course, at that point we were still a top-5 team. But we were trending in the wrong direction as of State, and since have played really well again.

I don’t think a close loss to another elite team is a turning point.

[uh_no]

bolden Warming up again. hope we get him back tonight

[-jk]

DBR Chat (http://forums.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/misc.php?do=cchatbox) is open!

If it gets a bit slow, refresh the page. If you're on a mobile device, you'll need to select "Blue" at the bottom.

As always - please follow the DBR Posting Guidelines.

Let's Go Duke!

-jk

[wavedukefan70s]

Right, if there was to be a turning point, it would have to be the State game. Since then, our defense has played consistently well against a variety of opponents. Prior to that, the defense was playing badly.

Of course, at that point we were still a top-5 team. But we were trending in the wrong direction as of State, and since have played really well again.

I don’t think a close loss to another elite team is a turning point.

To where we play a full 40 minutes of elite basketball.instead of spurts.

[riverside6]

Live tempo-based stats for Duke/Notre Dame, starters posted...
https://www.scacchoops.com/notre-dame-at-duke-basketball-live-stats-01292018

[BigZ]

Defensive rebounding has been poor lately

[wavedukefan70s]

bolden Warming up again. hope we get him back tonight

I hope so too.

[BigZ]

Duval needs to play calmly

[WHOneedsSOX]

Too bad Colson is out. Him going against Bagley and Carter would've been exciting to watch.

[BobBender]

Discuss the Notre Dame game here.

So Bilas keeps harping on how young we are, which means he is bringing nothing to the table as an analyst. Who does he think the audience is? Casual channel surfers? This is what we are, and have been for the last 4 years. We are ‘young’ this year, we’ll be ‘young’ next year, and we’ll be ‘young’ until K retires. The young thing is getting old

[gocanes0506]

Geez these refs are awful.

[jipops]

Geez these refs are awful.

Yea, the last 2 fouls on Carter were ridiculous

[wavedukefan70s]

Ok I'm crazy .no hand or wrist flex from Allen.k was limping though.im glad colson isnt in .we may be behind.

[duke4ever19]

Yea, the last 2 fouls on Carter were ridiculous

I thought Carter went straight up with his completely vertical on that one foul call, which he was trying to argue afterword. Can't do much as a defender when you get called for jumping straight up with your hands over your head. "Principle of verticality" as Coach K has been referring to it in post-game interviews.

[Dub]

Okay half but we’re up 8 against a severely undermanned squad. Feels like we should be up more. Grayson and Trent are hitting shots. And our bigs are playing solid. Wish we would try to get Bolden going a little bit. Marvin tried to on that one play. Our guards need to learn how to post pass more efficiently. FTs were meh again. I expect us to cover the spread as we typically hit 8th gear in the 2nd half.

[gocanes0506]

They have no one inside and we throw up terrible and contested jumpers. Give Bagley the ball until he begs to come out. Dudes just don’t look motivated to play. Same type play that lost the BC and State games. Ah the ups and downs of a freshmen laden team.

[CDu]

Aside from Bagley forgetting to stay home on Mooney (one of Notre Dame's only 2 shooters), the defense has been solid. Offense has been sloppy. But, we're winning by 8. So can't complain too much.

[PackMan97]

Come on guys... State needs a completely destroyed and disheartened y team to play this weekend.

[WHOneedsSOX]

They have no one inside and we throw up terrible and contested jumpers. Give Bagley the ball until he begs to come out. Dudes just don’t look motivated to play. Same type play that lost the BC and State games. Ah the ups and downs of a freshmen laden team.
Duke's post passing is awful. Has been all season.

[gocanes0506]

Duke's post passing is awful. Has been all season.

True that. Killed the chance to win against UVA

[gocanes0506]

They there is the motivation !

[MChambers]

Aside from Bagley forgetting to stay home on Mooney (one of Notre Dame's only 2 shooters), the defense has been solid. Offense has been sloppy. But, we're winning by 8. So can't complain too much.

There were quite a few backdoor cuts, too, but Bagley’s defense in the first half was bad. Seems more locked in now (early second half).

[wavedukefan70s]

We look scared to go down low.

[gocanes0506]

Its time to take Grayson out.

[jjredickrules]

We’re letting them hang around. Not a good sign.

So many turnovers this stretch. Ouch.

[karmacoma]

What exactly are we running offensively this half?

[jipops]

What exactly are we running offensively this half?

Nothing

[MChambers]

Thought that was a point of emphasis this year, but ND’s bigs are not always set on their screens.

[LasVegas]

Its time to take Grayson out.

This aged well.....

[WHOneedsSOX]

Bagley looks tired. Why not give him a couple minute break right before the 8 minute timeout?

[MChambers]

Bagley with at least two impressive blocks down low. Haven’t seen much of that from him.

[YmoBeThere]

It is feeling like a Jack White MOTM kind of night.

[WHOneedsSOX]

Wow, 18-0 run. That happened fast.

[Dub]

And there goes that 8th gear...

[karmacoma]

This message has been approved by the Jack White for MOTM Campaign.

[kAzE]

Jack white going H.A.M. makes my day :)