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View Full Version : Phase V: Georgia Tech through UNC 2



DavidBenAkiva
02-10-2018, 08:51 AM
Losing 3 of the past 4, Duke appears to be heading in the wrong direction.
After showing marked signs of improvement on defense, Duke has put together a pair of its worst defensive performances leading into the final stretch of the regular season. It hurts to lose to UNC, especially since it seems that things are going south. Maybe the signs of improvement were a mirage against the ACC’s bottom dwellers, Pitt and Wake Forest. Now that real competition has arrived, things are going the wrong way. Or are they?

The predictive models are still very bullish on Duke. Team Rankings predictive rankings list Duke at #3 in the country. Ken Pomeroy has Duke at #5, as does ESPN’s BPI. In the Sagarin rankings, Duke is #8, but they are #2 in the Predictor and #4 in the Golden Mean. So maybe Duke has been a victim of bad play and a bad schedule. They’ve never been out of a game this year. They were within 1 or 2 possessions of UVA, UNC. and St. Johns in the final minutes. And 4 of the 5 losses on the year were on the road with the lone home loss against the presumptive unanimous #1 team in the country. Maybe this Duke is a good home team that hasn’t played well on the road. That wouldn’t be the first Duke team in history with that problem (2009-10 comes to mind).

Let’s take a look at where this Duke a little closer, looking at some stats and trends on offense and defense.

Shooting
On the offensive end, Duke shoots the ball very well, 7th best in the nation. Shooting well inside the arc might not have surprised us fans at the start of the season with such capable forwards and a point guard that is at his best attacking the rim. What is surprising is how well Duke shoots from beyond the arc. At 38.8%, this Duke team 34th in the country from 3-point range. This is very surprising given the many question marks about Duke’s shooting acumen at the start of the season. And yet, we have a center in Wendell Carter, Jr. that can reliably take open 3’s and a wing in Gary Trent, Jr. that is putting together the best shooting performance in Duke freshman history. Things turn south at the charity stripe, where Duke is near the bottom in the nation at 69.0% (259th in the nation). On the defensive side of things, it’s hard to score inside the arc against this team. Opponents make just 44.5% of their shots inside the arc, which is 15th in the nation. Beyond the arc, teams are making 3’s at a good clip, 34.4% (144th in the nation, or about average). What’s crazy about all of this is that Duke’s defensive stats were nearly the inverse last season. Teams shot 3’s at just 29.0% (4th in the nation) against Duke last year. If the team could run shooters off the line a little better, the defense will improve. Making it harder to hit from long range would go a long way towards fixing some of the biggest flaws on the defense.

Rebounding
Even after a bad run against St. Johns and UNC, Duke is still the #1 offensive rebounding team in the nation at 39.3%. But is Duke a good rebounding team? Maybe not. The team only ranks 143rd in defensive rebounds at 74.3%. The offensive rebounding allows Duke to maintain a highly efficient offense, creating second and third opportunities. It also allows the team to take relatively open 3’s, covering for a perceived deficiency at the start of the season. But the struggles on the defensive boards are troubling. It’s part of the overall defensive struggles of this Duke team to date. They have made it hard for opposing teams to score inside the paint. If they can limit opportunities off of long rebounds, it could shore up a lot of the problems they have been facing on the defensive end.

Blocks
Just a note here: Duke is good but not great at blocking the ball. Wendell Carter, Jr. is particularly good and Marques Bolden provides that dimension off of the bench. As a team, Duke is #32 in the nation at 8.5% block rate. Where they excel is avoiding the blocked ball. They are #8 in the nation at opponents block rate at just 4.0%.

Turnovers
Duke does not turn the ball over all that often on the season, at 14.1% of possessions (#34 in the nation). But they really struggle at generating turnovers. They are near the bottom of the nation (#308) in opponents turnover rate (also 14.1%). The team is above average at generating steals, 85th in the country (8.5% steals/play). It’s everywhere else where they struggle: forcing bad passes, taking charges (particularly indicting as this is Duke), and making the other team make mistakes. This, combined with so-so defensive rebounding, is a major cause for concern. Duke has troubles generating live-ball turnovers and otherwise stopping the other team. It is their biggest flaw.

Health + Rotation
The Duke team is getting healthier, but it is still worth mentioning as a factor in the next stretch. Marques Bolden was out for a stretch in the past two phases with a sprained MCL. Javin DeLaurier had a hamstring issue. Alex O’Connell came down with the flu. In their place, a group of unexpected players came off the bench, most notably Jack White. Justin Robinson also provided some key minutes in January but hasn’t played in recent games. The lack of guards and turnover issues has forced Grayson Allen back into the lead guard role. He excels at distributing the ball, but it seems clear that it comes as a detriment to his overall offensive contributions. And he is not a great on-ball defender. After getting key minutes in 2017, Jordan Goldwire has fallen out of favor in game play. The lack of guards to backup Duval, Allen, and Trent is causing issues. It forces players, most notably Allen, into roles they are not suited to play. Bolden has shown that he can provide a spark off the bench in his limited opportunities in ACC action. The curious development has been the willingness of Coach K to expand the bench in the first half before retracting those opportunities in the 2nd half. As Bolden and O’Connell work their way back to full health, their play in the 2nd half of games will be worth monitoring.

Neals384
02-10-2018, 10:15 AM
This phase features 7 games with a variety of good opponents who will test this team's mettle: home and away vs. Virginia Tech, on the road at Geaorgia Tech and Clemson, home against Syracuse, Louisville and the regular season ending rematch with UNC.

Saratoga2
02-10-2018, 11:28 AM
Phase V: .

Let’s take a look at where this Duke a little closer, looking at some stats and trends on offense and defense.

Shooting
Our 3 point shooting from both Grayson and Trevon has been weak with few exceptions while Alex has put up an excellent % on relatively few attempts to date. Given Grayson plays nearly 40 minutes a game, his lack of the 3 point shot has hurt this team. As you point out, maybe his use as the main distributor could be hurting his production.


Beyond the arc, teams are making 3’s at a good clip, 34.4% (144th in the nation, or about average). What’s crazy about all of this is that Duke’s defensive stats were nearly the inverse last season. Teams shot 3’s at just 29.0% (4th in the nation) against Duke last year. If the team could run shooters off the line a little better, the defense will improve. Making it harder to hit from long range would go a long way towards fixing some of the biggest flaws on the defense. It does seem like other teams consistently get more open looks from 3 this year and that we are often a little slow on closing out on the shooter. I do think improvement in that area would be a big help.

Rebounding
Even after a bad run against St. Johns and UNC, Duke is still the #1 offensive rebounding team in the nation at 39.3%. But is Duke a good rebounding team? Maybe not. The team only ranks 143rd in defensive rebounds at 74.3%. The offensive rebounding allows Duke to maintain a highly efficient offense, creating second and third opportunities. It also allows the team to take relatively open 3’s, covering for a perceived deficiency at the start of the season. But the struggles on the defensive boards are troubling. It’s part of the overall defensive struggles of this Duke team to date. They have made it hard for opposing teams to score inside the paint. If they can limit opportunities off of long rebounds, it could shore up a lot of the problems they have been facing on the defensive end. When Duke loses the rebounding battle and TO stat, as we have in the last couple of games, it requires our offense to be very efficient to stay in the game. Better help from the guards (Allen does well and O'Connell when in gets a reasonable share) is needed.



Turnovers
Duke does not turn the ball over all that often on the season, at 14.1% of possessions (#34 in the nation). But they really struggle at generating turnovers. They are near the bottom of the nation (#308) in opponents turnover rate (also 14.1%). The team is above average at generating steals, 85th in the country (8.5% steals/play). It’s everywhere else where they struggle: forcing bad passes, taking charges (particularly indicting as this is Duke), and making the other team make mistakes. This, combined with so-so defensive rebounding, is a major cause for concern. Duke has troubles generating live-ball turnovers and otherwise stopping the other team. It is their biggest flaw. It certainly seemed that we have lost the TO battle against quality teams this year.

ncexnyc
02-10-2018, 11:39 AM
Our inability to generate turnovers has big the biggest disappointment for me.

I really thought these long, athletic freshman, coupled with Grayson were going to wreak havoc in the passing lanes. Add Javin into that mix and I had visions of a track meet with our kids streaking to the other end of the court for monster jams steal after steal.

Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
02-10-2018, 11:48 AM
Turnovers
Duke does not turn the ball over all that often on the season, at 14.1% of possessions (#34 in the nation). But they really struggle at generating turnovers. They are near the bottom of the nation (#308) in opponents turnover rate (also 14.1%). The team is above average at generating steals, 85th in the country (8.5% steals/play). It’s everywhere else where they struggle: forcing bad passes, taking charges (particularly indicting as this is Duke), and making the other team make mistakes. This, combined with so-so defensive rebounding, is a major cause for concern. Duke has troubles generating live-ball turnovers and otherwise stopping the other team. It is their biggest flaw. It certainly seemed that we have lost the TO battle against quality teams this year.


It seems in our posses we have had a disproportionate number of unforced Turnovers that snowball at inopportune times. This is where I feel leadership (discussed at length on another thread) would be most helpful. A voice of someone in charge to settle things down. We need leadership to calm the troops, not to rally them. Our rallies seem dependable.

Ian
02-10-2018, 12:01 PM
Our inability to generate turnovers has big the biggest disappointment for me.

I really thought these long, athletic freshman, coupled with Grayson were going to wreak havoc in the passing lanes. Add Javin into that mix and I had visions of a track meet with our kids streaking to the other end of the court for monster jams steal after steal.

It's hard to get turnovers when teams don't use the pass against us to generate offense, they just run the P'nR to death against us because they know we can't guard it.

superdave
02-11-2018, 10:46 AM
After thinking about it for a couple of days, I'd like to see two specific changes, one on each side of the ball.

On offense, I would like to see Duke runs specific plays to spring Grayson for 3-point shots. We need him scoring to knock off elite teams, and set plays ought to work best for getting him looks. I think running set plays for Bagley would be important as well. The motion offense is too predictable right now, so set plays is a good way to counter the defense's scouting and schemes they are throwing at us.

On defense, I would like to see the 3/4 court press more. It's not a high pressure defense, so it wouldnt require a deep use of the bench. But it does force our opponent to play our pace. It's a control thing, forcing teams to run their offense on a much shorter shot clock. Our zone is useful for stretches but is not a total answer. I think the 3/4 court thing could be a good staple.

As others have noted, our losses have been close and the problems appear to be fixable. I think our offense needs to become less predictable and the defense needs to become more predictable with the two ideas above. We shall see. Time to put it all together!

Kedsy
02-11-2018, 11:09 AM
Good job DBA. You bring up a lot of things worth watching in this next phase.

Though personally, I would have put health first. :D


It's hard to get turnovers when teams don't use the pass against us to generate offense, they just run the P'nR to death against us because they know we can't guard it.

And yet, as DBA pointed out, teams haven't succeeded against us on two-point shots, so the PnR doesn't really appear to be killing us.

Sixthman
02-11-2018, 11:21 AM
On defense, I would like to see the 3/4 court press more. It's not a high pressure defense, so it wouldnt require a deep use of the bench. But it does force our opponent to play our pace. It's a control thing, forcing teams to run their offense on a much shorter shot clock. Our zone is useful for stretches but is not a total answer. I think the 3/4 court thing could be a good staple.

Our best defensive performance in the ACC was against Wake Forest at home. Admittedly Wake isn't the best competition. This was the game Coach K was out. Coach C ran more zone, and the team effectively got into passing lanes. Duke had 10 steals, 5 blocks, and only 15 fouls. My recollection is that the press was very effective. The half court zone was very effective.

Kedsy
02-11-2018, 01:49 PM
Though personally, I would have put health first. :D

See?

DukieInBrasil
02-11-2018, 02:57 PM
What i will be watching for in this Phase:

Growth from the Guard position: Trevon Duval started off so hot, against a mixed bag of opposing talent, but he did so well. I can't remember the last time he had a good game from start to finish. His development is one of the key factors for what the ceiling of this team can be. Grayson Allen has retrogressed in serious fashion since the first month of the season. He has been in a deep, deep slump since the beginning of ACC play. He has some moments, and he seems to be distributing the ball pretty well. He also, strangely enough as the only returning starter, seems to be playing without a defined role. Sometimes the PG, sometimes the SG, sometimes just completely removed from the offense. The coaching staff needs to fix this. He needs a clearly defined role and the coaches need to get him involved and have plays run for him.

Focus/passion/intensity for 40 freakin' minutes: This team still hasn't played an entire half, let alone an entire game, of focused quality basketball. The team is young, but they all presumably love the game, so getting them to understand what it takes to reach their potential as a team is of utmost importance.

Coaching: I hate to say it, but K has gotten outcoached quite a bit lately. It almost makes me barf in my mouth, but Ol' Roy outcoached K in a serious way. The adjustments at halftime by UNC were obvious and very effective. Duke didn't look like they made any adjustments whatsoever, and just looked sad and confused for most of the 2nd half. Whatever it is that K is doing isn't working very well. Others have said it and i agree: run set plays for these guys!!! Yes they are super talented, but they are freshmen going up against experienced and talented players, they might not understand what is the best way to get a bucket. Well, that's why we have the best coach in the game on the sideline, to figure out how to get the best out of them, and it is not working right now.

There is nothing about this team that indicates that they can't become the best in the country, but they aren't right now. All of the games that Duke has lost so far were games that could have been won with a little bit of luck, better focus by the players for more of the game, and better end game execution in those games. This team has had amazing end game execution at times, and when playing with focus is amazingly fun to watch. These guys are gaining experience, and i hope that learning is taking place that we're not seeing, that it all coalesces for them soon and that they can turn that learning into execution. If that happens, these guys are gonna be great.

Sixthman
02-11-2018, 04:41 PM
What i will be watching for in this Phase:

Growth from the Guard position: Trevon Duval started off so hot, against a mixed bag of opposing talent, but he did so well. I can't remember the last time he had a good game from start to finish. His development is one of the key factors for what the ceiling of this team can be. Grayson Allen has retrogressed in serious fashion since the first month of the season. He has been in a deep, deep slump since the beginning of ACC play. He has some moments, and he seems to be distributing the ball pretty well. He also, strangely enough as the only returning starter, seems to be playing without a defined role. Sometimes the PG, sometimes the SG, sometimes just completely removed from the offense. The coaching staff needs to fix this. He needs a clearly defined role and the coaches need to get him involved and have plays run for him.

Focus/passion/intensity for 40 freakin' minutes: This team still hasn't played an entire half, let alone an entire game, of focused quality basketball. The team is young, but they all presumably love the game, so getting them to understand what it takes to reach their potential as a team is of utmost importance.

Coaching: I hate to say it, but K has gotten outcoached quite a bit lately. It almost makes me barf in my mouth, but Ol' Roy outcoached K in a serious way. The adjustments at halftime by UNC were obvious and very effective. Duke didn't look like they made any adjustments whatsoever, and just looked sad and confused for most of the 2nd half. Whatever it is that K is doing isn't working very well. Others have said it and i agree: run set plays for these guys!!! Yes they are super talented, but they are freshmen going up against experienced and talented players, they might not understand what is the best way to get a bucket. Well, that's why we have the best coach in the game on the sideline, to figure out how to get the best out of them, and it is not working right now.

There is nothing about this team that indicates that they can't become the best in the country, but they aren't right now. All of the games that Duke has lost so far were games that could have been won with a little bit of luck, better focus by the players for more of the game, and better end game execution in those games. This team has had amazing end game execution at times, and when playing with focus is amazingly fun to watch. These guys are gaining experience, and i hope that learning is taking place that we're not seeing, that it all coalesces for them soon and that they can turn that learning into execution. If that happens, these guys are gonna be great.

I not only agree with your comments, but think they are the correct ones. To argue the other side on one point, it could be said that the fact that they have not been getting better is evidence that they cannot become the best team in the country. This team opened up great. Then, the last 25 days of December presented a time during which the coaches said we are going to get better because we have not had a chance to practice (because of an intense and busy game schedule) but would over the month of December. We seemingly got worse not better over this stretch. My thought was that this was a little sputtering, but a team that played great -- and tough -- winning basketball early would only get better -- particularly given their youth. It's now been better than sixty days, and, my gut tells me that as a team, they have regressed or at least regressed relative to the competition.

Opponents have figured out a formula for beating us, we've been knocked back, and we have not responded either within the game or from game to game. I agree that it feels like our coaches are being too passive. I remember back in the first ten or fifteen years of Coach K, when the team needed instruction or motivation, Coach would keep them at half time, barely coming out until the last minute (like two minutes to shoot around). At least at home, Duke has been the first team out of the locker every game this season, never catching any extra time for adjustments, motivation, spiritual counselling, or whatever else might make a difference. That and other things make this feel like the coaches are being pretty hands off. If that's so, I think it's time to change course.

rtnorthrup
02-12-2018, 06:32 PM
This is going to be a good measuring stick week and a half. Two home games against teams in the KenPom top 40 and a tough road game at Clemson. Honestly I think just about any record is possible. 3-0 and I think we can put a #1 seed back on the table, or at least in the conversation. 2-1 probably keeps us where we are. Anything below that and I think it will reinforce the narrative that Duke is in a downward slide right now (for right or wrong). Hope we get Marvin back sooner rather than later.

jv001
02-12-2018, 09:33 PM
Some very good posts for Phase V. I don't have much to add but here goes.

1) Coaching. The coaching staff has to prepare for different opponents and different playing styles each game. Yeh, so does every coach and team. However there are not many or maybe any that have 5 freshmen and 2 sophs in their first 8 players. Most every Duke player has certain individual things they need to improve on. There is just so much time allowed for practice. How are the coached going to get the guys prepared for each game? Coach K is the greatest but he's not a miracle worker. Too many of us take things like this for granted. VT is a very good team with a good coach and I think it's going to take a masterful coaching job for Duke to beat an experienced VT team.

2) Does Trevon come off the bench or does he start. We could find out Wednesday night. Marvin's availability could come into play here. Personally I want to see Trevon come off the bench after watching the game for 2-3 minutes. This gives him a chance to see what the opponent is doing, along side some coaching moments.

3) Defensive rebounding. I want to see a concentrated effort from our front line in boxing out on the defensive end and I want to see our guards help out as well. Not that they are doing a horrible job because Grayson and Trent have had double figure rebounding games already this season but Trevon can improve in this area.

4) Hustle back down court and stop the run outs. Forget about your missed shot and get back down court.

GoDuke!

Bob Green
02-13-2018, 04:18 PM
Focus/passion/intensity for 40 freakin' minutes: This team still hasn't played an entire half, let alone an entire game, of focused quality basketball. The team is young, but they all presumably love the game, so getting them to understand what it takes to reach their potential as a team is of utmost importance.

It is going to take 40 focused minutes to beat the teams on the schedule during this phase. Virginia Tech, @Clemson, Louisville, Syracuse, @Virginia Tech and North Carolina are six games we are capable of winning or losing. To win, the team must play a complete game.

I really hope the coaching staff is emphasizing finishing the 1st half strong and starting the 2nd half strong. We've consistently struggled there.

Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
02-13-2018, 04:19 PM
I really hope the coaching staff is emphasizing finishing the 1st half strong and starting the 2nd half strong. We've consistently struggled there.

It takes some mental adjustment as a fan. Our teams for so long have made halftime adjustments that allow us to blow the doors off team before the 16 minute mark.

elvis14
02-13-2018, 04:54 PM
I really hope the coaching staff is emphasizing finishing the 1st half strong and starting the 2nd half strong. We've consistently struggled there.

Finishing the first half strong and starting the second half strong is something I've generally considered a Coach K/Duke trademark. This year, we seem to finish the first half weak and get crushed at the beginning of the second half. Not sure what's up, but changing that would make a huge difference.

Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
02-13-2018, 05:02 PM
Finishing the first half strong and starting the second half strong is something I've generally considered a Coach K/Duke trademark. This year, we seem to finish the first half weak and get crushed at the beginning of the second half. Not sure what's up, but changing that would make a huge difference.

You and I are on the same DBR page this week. Well, except for my embrace of puns.

elvis14
02-13-2018, 05:08 PM
You and I are on the same DBR page this week. Well, except for my embrace of puns.

That gives me a few days this week to bring you around to my pun-hating ways! Tomorrow's Valentines day, I may try some sweet talk!

Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
02-13-2018, 05:09 PM
That gives me a few days this week to bring you around to my pun-hating ways! Tomorrow's Valentines day, I may try some sweet talk!

Trust me, your attempts will fall on deaf ears. Let's concentrate on the things we share in common!

Let's go Duke!

MarkD83
02-13-2018, 11:03 PM
It is going to take 40 focused minutes to beat the teams on the schedule during this phase. Virginia Tech, @Clemson, Louisville, Syracuse, @Virginia Tech and North Carolina are six games we are capable of winning or losing. To win, the team must play a complete game.

I really hope the coaching staff is emphasizing finishing the 1st half strong and starting the 2nd half strong. We've consistently struggled there.

Since Bob so nicely listed the 6 games left in the regular season what are our realistic assessments of how the team will finish?

Duke is now 20-5 with 2 inexplicable losses on the road, 2 very disappointing loses on the road and one toss-up loss at home. The are still very talented but they are only getting marginally better as a team while other teams are closing the talent gap with better team play. So my guess is no more home losses but losses at Clemson and at VT to go 4-2 and finish 12-6 overall. This gets them in the top 4 in the ACC and a bye into the quarters. Looking past that I hope they make it to the ACC finals and the Sweet 16. Their runs may well end at these points because they still play as if they are young and no one has taken on the refuse to lose mentality that they had in the PK80 tournament.

HereBeforeCoachK
02-13-2018, 11:11 PM
It's hard to get turnovers when teams don't use the pass against us to generate offense, they just run the P'nR to death against us because they know we can't guard it.

THIS ^^^^^ - and guarding that is not who this team is, nor can they become that team. They can however become a very respectable zone team, including the trap out of the zone, with their length and athleticism. Respectable D will be good enough for a deep deep run with this fire power on O.

Kedsy
02-13-2018, 11:29 PM
It's hard to get turnovers when teams don't use the pass against us to generate offense, they just run the P'nR to death against us because they know we can't guard it.

Serious question: when's the last time you thought Duke could guard the PnR? Because here's the last 10 years of Duke defensive turnover percentage:

TO%
-----
2009: 23.5%
2010: 21.4%
2011: 21.0%
2012: 18.5%
2013: 20.4%
2014: 18.5%
2015: 18.5%
2016: 17.2%
2017: 17.2%
2018: 16.3%

Clearly there's a trend here, but just as clearly there's something different about this season besides our inability to defend the pick-and-roll. Because it's been years since we were good at that, and this season's TO% is Duke's worst since the stat was calculable.

Bob Green
02-18-2018, 03:54 PM
Four games left in the regular season with three of them at home. We have a good opportunity to finish strong and secure the #2 seed in the ACC Tournament. One game at a time starting with Louisville on Wednesday.

2/21 - Louisville
2/24 - Syracuse
2/26 - @ Virginia Tech
3/2 - North Carolina

sagegrouse
02-18-2018, 04:10 PM
Serious question: when's the last time you thought Duke could guard the PnR? Because here's the last 10 years of Duke defensive turnover percentage:

TO%
-----
2009: 23.5%
2010: 21.4%
2011: 21.0%
2012: 18.5%
2013: 20.4%
2014: 18.5%
2015: 18.5%
2016: 17.2%
2017: 17.2%
2018: 16.3%

Clearly there's a trend here, but just as clearly there's something different about this season besides our inability to defend the pick-and-roll. Because it's been years since we were good at that, and this season's TO% is Duke's worst since the stat was calculable.

Seems like we did OK today against Clemson. 13 turnovers in what appear to be 50 possessions, or 26 percent. Is that what you got?

Troublemaker
02-18-2018, 04:23 PM
Seems like we did OK today against Clemson. 13 turnovers in what appear to be 50 possessions, or 26 percent. Is that what you got?

According to kenpom, the game had 66 possessions, so we forced turnovers on 20% of them. Still pretty good.

Hard to say what it would've been if Clemson's point guard Shelton Mitchell had played, though.

HereBeforeCoachK
02-18-2018, 05:34 PM
Hard to say what it would've been if Clemson's point guard Shelton Mitchell had played, though.


True - and on the flip side, two players who normally do not play carried Clemson's scoring for most of the first half - and those minutes wouldn't have been there.

DavidBenAkiva
02-18-2018, 08:34 PM
According to kenpom, the game had 66 possessions, so we forced turnovers on 20% of them. Still pretty good.

Hard to say what it would've been if Clemson's point guard Shelton Mitchell had played, though.

According to SCCACC Hoops, Clemson had an 18.9% TO%.

Duke's last 2 games:

@ GA Tech: 12.5%
Against VA Tech: 17.4%

I like that it is improving. I am not sure it is because Duke is suddenly forcing turnovers.

Kedsy
02-18-2018, 10:58 PM
Seems like we did OK today against Clemson. 13 turnovers in what appear to be 50 possessions, or 26 percent. Is that what you got?

I had 67.7 possessions (19.7% TO%) but still pretty good. Obviously Clemson's PG being out was a factor, but we also played a three-quarters court press for a healthy percentage of the game and got several TOs on Clemson inbounds plays. If we defend every game like we did today, our TO problem may be much less of a deal. But personally, I'd like to see us replicate this performance a couple times before I exhale.

Bluedevil114
02-19-2018, 06:14 AM
According to SCCACC Hoops, Clemson had an 18.9% TO%.

Duke's last 2 games:

@ GA Tech: 12.5%
Against VA Tech: 17.4%

I like that it is improving. I am not sure it is because Duke is suddenly forcing turnovers.

Possible that we are getting better at zone defense. The more you stick to one main defense the more you can refine it in practice. They looked much more comfortable yesterday than compared to the previous two games.

Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
02-19-2018, 06:46 AM
Possible that we are getting better at zone defense. The more you stick to one main defense the more you can refine it in practice.

Unless that defense is man to man. Apparently.

HereBeforeCoachK
02-19-2018, 07:29 AM
Unless that defense is man to man. Apparently.

Man to man D requires a "particular set of skills" - skills this team's players are not really possessed of. You have to have at least 3 guys who can stay in front of almost any dribbler. Our starting 5 has maybe 1, and he's not that passionate about this part of the game.

Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
02-19-2018, 08:08 AM
Man to man D requires a "particular set of skills" - skills this team's players are not really possessed of. You have to have at least 3 guys who can stay in front of almost any dribbler. Our starting 5 has maybe 1, and he's not that passionate about this part of the game.

I was just being sarcastic. I agree that this team is playing its best in zone.

HereBeforeCoachK
02-19-2018, 08:12 AM
I was just being sarcastic. I agree that this team is playing its best in zone.

Sorry, not enough caffeine in me yet.....

superdave
02-19-2018, 08:34 AM
That road win at Clemson was just what the team needed. Without Bagley, they beat a solid NCAA tournament team. They withstood a 10-0 run that tied the game late. They played solid defense throughout, which was even pretty exceptional at times. The bench played some pretty good minutes.

That was the sort of win a team should be pulling off late in the season. These guys would have lost this game a couple of weeks ago. The zone defense seems like a settled thing right. I even like the 3/4 court press and the slower tempo. They can run out on live ball turnovers, but are settling into a more half court game. There is plent of time to perfect these things the next three weeks and peak in March/April.