MBB: Duke 69, Syracuse 65 (NCAA Sw16) Post-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Put your post-game thoughts here.

[Dub]

Survive and advance...On to the Elite 8. Let’s Go Duke!

[Chicken Little]

That game wasn't as ugly as Nolan Smith's suit.

[House G]

I feel like I spent the last 2 hours in a dentist’s chair.

[subzero02]

Wow... poor shooting but we survived... and we advanced.

[WHOneedsSOX]

Wins are wins. Move on and hope shots fall Sunday.

[arnie]

Thank you Gary.

[kaufmjo]

Need better shot selection and jumpers Sunday. Relying on 25 foot threes not a winning strategy

[dalmatians98]

I have a stomachache.

[scottdude8]

Over the course of an NCAA tournament it’s improbable that a team is gonna play their best every game. The best teams can win a game or two when they aren’t hitting on all cylinders. That’s what happened tonight.

[ice-9]

I'm looking forward to splashing every 3-point shot vs. Kansas and reverting back to the mean.

(Please Lord.)

[subzero02]

Need better shot selection and jumpers Sunday. Relying on 25 foot threes not a winning strategy

It'll be much easier to score against Kansas. They don't play a stifling zone.

[Dukehky]

Gary Trent Jr. has ***** the size of boulders. He is that dude.

[OldPhiKap]

Whew.

[porkpa]

I have a heart condition. If this game didn't give me "The Big One" to quote Fred Sanford, then nothing will.

[Furniture]

The jacket was the difference.....

[InSpades]

I was nervous for the entire game...

I like the games where we make outside shots a lot more than the games we don't.

Carter and Bagley were great. We'll need more than just those 2 to beat Kansas.

We need good Duval back... the zone defense is not conducive to his offensive skill set but... he needs to make better decisions.

Survive and advance...

[duke4ever19]

My anxiety level was through the roof.

Thank you for making those free throws, Mr. Trent.

[mr. synellinden]

I thought Marvin’s putback after a Carter miss to put us up 60-53 was the play of the game. And we got the ball to Grayson and Gary at the end to shoot FTs and they went 4-4 without hitting the rim.

Survive and Advance indeed.

[Phoenix22]

Survive and advance!

Wow, a chalk region and the east is almost chalk as well.

Bring on Kansas!

[curtis325]

Win pretty, win ugly. Just win, baby.

[WHOneedsSOX]

I was nervous for the entire game...

I like the games where we make outside shots a lot more than the games we don't.

Carter and Bagley were great. We'll need more than just those 2 to beat Kansas.

We need good Duval back... the zone defense is not conducive to his offensive skill set but... he needs to make better decisions.

Survive and advance...

Carter is going to have to go up against that brick wall Azubuike Sunday and Duval is going to be at a huge experience disadvantage vs Graham. Kansas has a lot of shooters too. Going to be a tough, tough game as it should be.

[dyedwab]

Gary Trent Jr. has ***** the size of boulders. He is that dude.

I couldn't agree more with this, especially since, for most of the night, he didn't have his shot.

Also, Wendell Carter Jr. is the man - He's the reason we won.

[proelitedota]

Wow glad I was drunk as hell otherwise I would have died.

[mr. synellinden]

Duke shot 5-26 from 3 and still won.

[Dukehky]

Carter is going to have to go up against that brick wall Azubuike Sunday and Duval is going to be at a huge experience disadvantage vs Graham. Kansas has a lot of shooters too. Going to be a tough, tough game as it should be.

Yeah, but Svi is going to have to guard Marvin. I'll take that all day. Not to mention Carter can step out then drive on Azabuike. I like this matchup. Their guards are going to have to make shots they're not used to shooting.

[91devil]

G
R
I
N
D

.....and Advance

[Phoenix22]

I thought Marvin’s putback after a Carter miss to put us up 60-53 was the play of the game. And we got the ball to Grayson and Gary at the end to shoot FTs and they went 4-4 without hitting the rim.

Survive and Advance indeed.

Grayson bricked the front end of a 1 and 1.

[Saratoga2]

I thought Marvin’s putback after a Carter miss to put us up 60-53 was the play of the game. And we got the ball to Grayson and Gary at the end to shoot FTs and they went 4-4 without hitting the rim.

Survive and Advance indeed.

Grayson missed the front end of a one on one making the end risky. Gary sealed the deal with his free throws.

[freshmanjs]

I thought Marvin’s putback after a Carter miss to put us up 60-53 was the play of the game. And we got the ball to Grayson and Gary at the end to shoot FTs and they went 4-4 without hitting the rim.

Survive and Advance indeed.

4-5. Grayson missed (and did hit the rim)

[Rich]

I thought Marvin’s putback after a Carter miss to put us up 60-53 was the play of the game. And we got the ball to Grayson and Gary at the end to shoot FTs and they went 4-4 without hitting the rim.

Survive and Advance indeed.

Actually, Grayson short armed missed one of his free throws in the closing minutes. But he's entitled to miss one every now and again.

[SCMatt33]

I'm just dumbfounded on how poor the offensive decision making was in the second half. They made so many good efforts to get inside in the first, and even when they struggled to execute, they ran the right stuff. They just abandoned that to jack nba threes without the ball ever getting closer than 18 feet in entire possessions. And every time they did drive or pas to the post they got great looks, only to jack three more nba threes. And normally, the bad decisions fall to duval, and while he did shoot a couple early in the half, it was really Allen and Trent that settled without trying to look inside, despite the massive success when they did.

If we can just make good decisions on offense, we showed just how great we can be. Fortunately, they made just enough good offensive decisions today to get away with the bad ones.

Gary Trent didn't even look alive in a very good way on those last free throws, despite the refs best efforts to ice him to check .4 seconds.

[jipops]

Nice to see us finally win a close one. I think we were something like 0 for our last 6 in games decided by 5 points or less.

The pace of KU is going to be very different.

[dukelion]

Over the course of an NCAA tournament it’s improbable that a team is gonna play their best every game. The best teams can win a game or two when they aren’t hitting on all cylinders. That’s what happened tonight.

This

It's why a lot of decent teams are already out.

Only 7 TOs tonight.....very pleased with that.

[sbroc012]

Phew. If anything goes to show just how tough it is to play against the zone. Just realize other teams that play against us feel the same way we did tonight, generally speaking.

[szstark]

I thought Marvin’s putback after a Carter miss to put us up 60-53 was the play of the game. And we got the ball to Grayson and Gary at the end to shoot FTs and they went 4-4 without hitting the rim.

Survive and Advance indeed.

Didn’t Allen miss the front end of a 1 and 1?

[Bluedog]

I thought Marvin’s putback after a Carter miss to put us up 60-53 was the play of the game. And we got the ball to Grayson and Gary at the end to shoot FTs and they went 4-4 without hitting the rim.

Survive and Advance indeed.

Grayson actually missed a front end of a 1 and 1... But did hit two clutch FTs before that. Maybe you suppressed that miss from memory because I wanted to! But, yes, wouldn't want anybody but Grayson and Gary taking those shots. Glad we got it to them in those situations.

[fidel]

Not the game I expected.

I'm coming' to join you, 'lisibeth!

[ns7]

Syracuse shot very well. 49% overall and I remember them making a significant number of mid range jumpers. They normally shoot very poorly. So fortunate win due to offensive rebounding and turnover margin.

[ehdg]

Hopefully we used up our bad/missed 3 pointers n Sunday most of them go down for us. Btw what is game Sunday? It’s the late game.

[RollDevils]

Felt like SU was getting every favorable bounce on some tough shots as well. We will have to shoot better on Sunday and run Graham off the 3 line.

[Duke76]

That game wasn't as ugly as Nolan Smith's suit.

loved his suit...needs to wear it every game now

[Rich]

I'm just dumbfounded on how poor the offensive decision making was in the second half. They made so many good efforts to get inside in the first, and even when they struggled to execute, they ran the right stuff. They just abandoned that to jack nba threes without the ball ever getting closer than 18 feet spin entire possessions. And every time they did drive or pas to the post they got great looks, only to jack three more nba threes. And normally, the bad decisions fall to duval, and while he did shoot a couple early in the half, it was really Allen and Trent that settled without trying to look inside, despite the massive success when they did.

If we can just make good decisions on offense, we showed just how great we can be. Fortunately, they made just enough good offensive decisions today to get away with the bad ones.

Gary Trent didn't even look alive in a very good way on those last free throws, despite the refs best efforts to ice him to check .4 seconds.

I'm no defensive guru, but I think Syracuse packed it in more and took some of those opportunities away in the second half.

Boy, they really found the seem in our zone with Dolezaj hitting those short jumpers. If the game lasted 5 more minutes I think we would have been in trouble.

I'll definitely take this one. I'm optimistic we'll play better (more in rhythm offensively) against Kansas.

[Bluedog]

I don't think our shot selection from three was actually that bad. Perhaps could have stepped in a little to not make them as long, but a lot of open looks just did not go down for Gary and Grayson. Turning down the wide open jumper from the FT line was more dumbfounding to me. We'll definitely need to shoot better to beat Kansas, but sometimes the zone does that to you. Survive and advance! Let's do this!!

[Sluggo]

I don't know what that was but it didn't feel like I was watching a basketball game. More like a rock fight. Glad we came away with the W. Looking forward to some basketball on Sunday.

[DaleDuke7]

Really happy to be going to the Elite Eight. Gary Trent was clutch for us. Tough game and we finally win a close one. I still would like to know how in the world we let Suracuse’s horrid offense shoot 49%. Aside from the fact that they practice against their own zone all season, I can’t think of one.

[Duke76]

Grayson bricked the front end of a 1 and 1.

no he missed the second one i believe

[heyman25]

We managed to keep Syracuse's hopes alive until Trent made the 2nd of a 1 and 1. Syracuse was better than Duke most of the game until the buzzer. We better play better Sunday.

[CDu]

no he missed the second one i believe

Nope, front end.

[Bluedog]

no he missed the second one i believe

Nope. He hit two of two the first time. Then went to line again and missed front end by clanking the front iron. Still, I'd want him and Gary to be the guys taking those shots and they went 4-5.

[rsvman]

no he missed the second one i believe

It was definitely the front end.

[uh_no]

129 adjusted o
100 adjusted d

one of our worser defensive performances recently. wings were often way too high leaving easy buckets down low. they ran the same play with high success all night long. putting them on the line more than we typically do also hurt a lot in a slow game.

was frustrated with the series of threes to open the second, though...not that they were BAD shots...but we weren't even trying to see if there were better shots.

Wonder if grayson hurt his hand. that was an atrocious second half performance.


not unhappy though. we pulled it out...which is all you need to do this time of year. thank god we won't face anyone whose seen the zone....cept fsu...time to rough up KU.

[Saratoga2]

No chance to look at statistics as yet but I thought Grayson, Marvin, Wendell, Gary and Bolden had good games and minutes. I also thought Alex did well in his few minutes.

Trevon didn't seem to do a lot of positive things and I almost hoped he would be taken out of the game toward the end since his decision making wasn't impressive and his free throw shooting is among the worst of our players who get minutes. I guess the coaches wanted him in for ball handling should we get pressed at the end.

I don't know what it is about Syracuse but our 3 point shooters seem to go cold against them even on wide open looks. I would guess we went maybe 4 or 5 for over 20. Not a good percentage and not a winning one against Kansas.

I am happy that we won and I know we all expected an ugly game with a nail biter finish but we really looked a lot worse tonight than the Pittsburgh games. I guess the strategy was to take away their 3 point opportunities and allow them to get the twos in the interior of the zone. They did that quite effectively and kept the game close by doing it.

On to Sunday and we may well be the underdog in that game. Need to come with our A game or go home.

[ipatent]

Syracuse shot better than Duke, 49% to 39%. The difference in the game was Duke's zone forcing 16 turnovers to Duke's 7 turnovers (didn't it seem like more?).

[SCMatt33]

I'm no defensive guru, but I think Syracuse packed it in more and took some of those opportunities away in the second half.

It wasn't any diffent than the first half, but we forced the ball in there in the first half and got to the line. Refs had a pretty tight whistle in the lane and the fact that we got to the bonus so early in the first, and they had to give multiple fouls to get us to the bonus in the second half tells you all you need to know about our efforts to attack the rim in the second half.

[summerwind03]

We play at 5:05 pm Sunday.

[Bluedog]

We play at 5:05 pm Sunday.

Quick turnaround....

[ehdg]

We play at 5:05 pm Sunday.

Thanks!

[jv001]

Grayson bricked the front end of a 1 and 1.

Grayson with 4/5 FTs, 15 points, 8 assists, 1 turnover, 2 steals and is the player that holds the zone together. Someone has to do the dirty work. GoDuke!

[Dub]

We managed to keep Syracuse's hopes alive until Trent made the 2nd of a 1 and 1. Syracuse was better than Duke most of the game until the buzzer. We better play better Sunday.

Not sure how they were the better team when we led basically from 3:00 left in the first half throughout the entire 2nd half. They were pesky no doubt and kept it close, but I didn’t see a better team. We won though so we can all be happy!

[UrinalCake]

Syracuse’s D completely took away the dribble penetration and the post entry passes. It’s not that we weren’t TRYING to get the ball to our bigs, it’s that the passes weren’t there. I’m glad we weren’t forcing it in, as that generally leads to a turnover. Passing over top for allez-oops was the only way to get the ball inside. Great job by Boeheim, he knew the only way they could win would be from shutting down the inside and hoping our three ball isn’t falling, and it ALMOST worked.

I sort of subscribe to the theory that it’s hard to shoot really well two games in a row, so I’m hoping the shots start falling Sunday against a more traditional defense. We’ll have to adjust to a very different style of play, but we’ve got the tools to do it.

[ChrisP]

We managed to keep Syracuse's hopes alive until Trent made the 2nd of a 1 and 1. Syracuse was better than Duke most of the game until the buzzer. We better play better Sunday.

I totally disagree - Syracuse was not better than we were most of the game. If Trent and Grayson just each hit ONE of those WIDE OPEN threes they missed, this game would have felt a lot different. Duke played very well, overall, we just didn't shoot well (again) against Syracuse's zone. Most teams don't. It happens.

I'm more concerned with Duval's decision making and Grayson bricking the front end of a crucial 1 and 1.

[dukelifer]

Tough game- but Cuse typically plays Duke well. Dolezaj has given Cuse a new weapon that has come out of nowhere. He is fundamentally sound, makes very good decisions and has a deadly shot from 8 feet out- some strange flip shot. Luckily he fouls a lot and did not play enough minutes. Make no mistake about it- this was a tough game against an excellent defensive team and Duke was fortunate to win. I think Duke will shoot better against Kansas. Next game is going to be hard but this Duke team is dangerous.

[jv001]

I don't think our shot selection from three was actually that bad. Perhaps could have stepped in a little to not make them as long, but a lot of open looks just did not go down for Gary and Grayson. Turning down the wide open jumper from the FT line was more dumbfounding to me. We'll definitely need to shoot better to beat Kansas, but sometimes the zone does that to you. Survive and advance! Let's do this!!

This was our main problem in the first half. We could have had 15 point lead if Carter and Marvin would have taken that shot. One thing for sure, we don't want Javin shooting any 3s and not many 2s. He's valuable on defense but not so much on offense. GoDuke!

[ncexnyc]

We were very fortunate to come away with the win and hopefully this was our bad game for the tournament. My bottle of Monkey Shoulder has enough left in it for three more games:D:D

I was extremely surprised that we didn't get another look at Alex in the 2nd half, especially after the spark he gave us in the 1st half, but he probably hurt his cause with his poor decision making after his steal, which resulted in zero points.

Note to Trevon, watch how Grayson feeds the bigs with a bounce pass that comes up to their waist, not a line drive that whistles by their feet.

[dukelifer]

129 adjusted o
100 adjusted d

one of our worser defensive performances recently. wings were often way too high leaving easy buckets down low. they ran the same play with high success all night long. putting them on the line more than we typically do also hurt a lot in a slow game.

was frustrated with the series of threes to open the second, though...not that they were BAD shots...but we weren't even trying to see if there were better shots.

Wonder if grayson hurt his hand. that was an atrocious second half performance.


not unhappy though. we pulled it out...which is all you need to do this time of year. thank god we won't face anyone whose seen the zone...cept fsu...time to rough up KU.

Allen shot poorly but I though his overall performance was pretty good- 8 assists, 2 steals and 1 TO. I thought Duval was fairly ineffective tonight.

[KandG]

That game played out almost exactly like Michigan State's nightmare meltdown against Syracuse. Team has a slack start to the second half, allows Syracuse to hang around and keep it within a possession or two, and stops moving the ball incisively and instead moves the ball laterally with no impact before jacking up long 3s. Cuse start driving the ball and getting to the line for FTs.

Coach K said the exact word that was on my mind in the post-game interview about this Duke team: "young". A *lot* of impulsive or tentative play when things got tight. I've praised Duval for being one of the most crucial elements of this team's substantial upside, but he was humbled by Syracuse's zone...apart from a few good plays, he was highly inert in the second half and deferred to Grayson heavily, afraid of making a mistake. Thank goodness for those big Alex minutes in the first half, and even he was bit by impulsiveness on that fast break drive that could have put us up 9 points at the end of the half.

All our bigs were good. Thought Bolden's wingspan helped a lot when we were able to get stops with him in the game, and it wasn't his fault Brissett kept throwing his body at him to draw fouls. Bagley was a bit rough on D in the first half and on the boards, but he was a monster in the second half on the offensive glass. We also did a good job forcing turnovers.

If that Bagley lob pass when it was 63-55 is just a little better and/or he doesn't fumble it, we're up 10 and probably cruising to the finish. Instead, we then give up a three and have to sweat the final minutes. I thought I was going to have an aneurysm when Carter committed that foul after we went up 65-60. Again, youth. Though youth in the form of Gary Trent ultimately saved us: what composure to hit that shot and those last two FTs.

Like Coach K said, I hope this is the great escape game where we got the mistakes and impulsiveness out of our system. To Syracuse's substantial credit, this is what they do, especially in the tournament. Those guys battled all game and that was distinctly uncomfortable to watch as a Duke fan.

[MrPoon]

Syracuse’s D completely took away the dribble penetration and the post entry passes. It’s not that we weren’t TRYING to get the ball to our bigs, it’s that the passes weren’t there. I’m glad we weren’t forcing it in, as that generally leads to a turnover. Passing over top for allez-oops was the only way to get the ball inside. Great job by Boeheim, he knew the only way they could win would be from shutting down the inside and hoping our three ball isn’t falling, and it ALMOST worked.

I sort of subscribe to the theory that it’s hard to shoot really well two games in a row, so I’m hoping the shots start falling Sunday against a more traditional defense. We’ll have to adjust to a very different style of play, but we’ve got the tools to do it.

I agree with all of this but would add, Boeheim really had his team use its length for strong close outs. Open threes became harder with their length. A shot fake here or there would have helped but its why GA took so many loooong 3s, it was the only open looks. Not the best looks but it’s what he saw. I think a go-pro from the guard’s perspective would be intersteing for this game. Such length seemed to really challenge the team. MSU had similar struggles. I wanted more post ups but K clearly had them thinking about not risking 50/50 turnovers on the entry pass.

[jv001]

That game played out almost exactly like Michigan State's nightmare meltdown against Syracuse. Team has a slack start to the second half, allows Syracuse to hang around and keep it within a possession or two, and stops moving the ball incisively and instead moves the ball laterally with no impact before jacking up long 3s. Cuse start driving the ball and getting to the line for FTs.

Coach K said the exact word that was on my mind in the post-game interview about this Duke team: "young". A *lot* of impulsive or tentative play when things got tight. I've praised Duval for being one of the most crucial elements of this team's substantial upside, but he was humbled by Syracuse's zone...apart from a few good plays, he was highly inert in the second half and deferred to Grayson heavily, afraid of making a mistake. Thank goodness for those big Alex minutes in the first half, and even he was bit by impulsiveness on that fast break drive that could have put us up 9 points at the end of the half.

All our bigs were good. Thought Bolden's wingspan helped a lot when we were able to get stops with him in the game, and it wasn't his fault Brissett kept throwing his body at him to draw fouls. Bagley was a bit rough on D in the first half and on the boards, but he was a monster in the second half on the offensive glass. We also did a good job forcing turnovers.

If that Bagley lob pass when it was 63-55 is just a little better and/or he doesn't fumble it, we're up 10 and probably cruising to the finish. Instead, we then give up a three and have to sweat the final minutes. I thought I was going to have an aneurysm when Carter committed that foul after we went up 65-60. Again, youth. Though youth in the form of Gary Trent ultimately saved us: what composure to hit that shot and those last two FTs.

Like Coach K said, I hope this is the great escape game where we got the mistakes and impulsiveness out of our system. To Syracuse's substantial credit, this is what they do, especially in the tournament. Those guys battled all game and that was distinctly uncomfortable to watch as a Duke fan.

FDD predicted Trevon might struggle against the Cuse zone and he was right. He'll do better against Kansas. GoDuke!

[Furniture]

Duke won.......

[-jk]

Duke won....

Phew!

-jk

[Billy Dat]

We won a Sweet 16 game, never a given no matter the opponent’s seed, especially a team with a Hall of Fame coach from our conference who happens to be close friends with our head coach.

I thought Syracuse played a very good game. We were lucky to get them in foul trouble and to make Battle work.


I don't think our shot selection from three was actually that bad. Perhaps could have stepped in a little to not make them as long, but a lot of open looks just did not go down for Gary and Grayson. Turning down the wide open jumper from the FT line was more dumbfounding to me. We'll definitely need to shoot better to beat Kansas, but sometimes the zone does that to you. Survive and advance! Let's do this!!

Agree, I don’t think I had a problem with any of the 3s we took. Grayson and Gary just didn’t knock them down. If they had hit a few of those looks, maybe we get separation.

Despite the missed 3s and crucial missed FT, Grayson made some big plays. I loved his ball faking to move the zone and his awareness to get the ball from Duval at the end before Cuse could put Trevon on the line.

The D was fine. Cuse had some good bounces and pulled some shots out of their nethers.

Our bigs came through.

Big props to That Kid Gary, huge shot in the lane and FTs at the end.

Psyched to play in the Elite Eight against Kansas. We owe them an L, they have had our number since Tyler Thornton in Maui.

[Furniture]

We managed to keep Syracuse's hopes alive until Trent made the 2nd of a 1 and 1. Syracuse was better than Duke most of the game until the buzzer. We better play better Sunday.

I think Duke were winning most of the game so sorry dear DBR forum colleague I beg to differ......

[LasVegas]

Duke won....

Wait....wasn’t Cuse the better team for most of the game? Or were we lucky to escape with a win? I can’t tell.....

[Bluedog]

Quick turnaround...

Well, I take that back considering Texas Tech has a noon tipoff. I thought Sunday games would be night ones just like tomorrow, but I guess not.

[MrPoon]

It’s interesting how the youth of this team played out. In my mind, youth shows itself in panicked, rushed or sloppy. Tonight it was tentative but conservative. Duke’s youth only turned it over 7 times to SY’s 16. Many time the ball was passed as a hot potato with out meaningful offensive effect but rarely was it treated sloppily.

That was actually the better of the two paths in a game like this, forced passes that lead to more possible points but also more TOs likely would have cost Duke the game.

Probably should have been a larger margin of victory based on many factors but our young team looked into the abyss of the Orange zone and came out alive! MSU and the “master of March” Izzo can’t say the same. (Shout out the the front page article on DBR about Izzo and March)

[-jk]

Well, I take that back considering Texas Tech has a noon tipoff. I thought Sunday games would be night ones just like tomorrow, but I guess not.

Old school CBS - can't preempt 60 Minutes!

-jk

[Phoenix22]

Old school CBS - can't preempt 60 Minutes!

-jk

Can't preempt Stormy Daniels!

[Mike Corey]

We survived and advanced. We will play better against Kansas.

[Ian]

I thought Duke played pretty well, Grayson could have hit a few more open 3s, but it's tough against this Syracuse length that you rush your shots even if you're open. We only had 7 turnovers all night, and down the stretch made the offensive plays to keep Syracuse at bay.

Syracuse I thought played well above their normal ability. They hit some very tough shots, played great defense, and fought hard on the offensive and defensive boards. MSU killed them on the boards, we weren't able to do that at all.

We need to shoot better against KU, and I think we will. Their defense is not in the same class as Syracuse. My biggest fear in the tourney was that we would make freshmen mistakes at the end of a close game and blow it. We didn't do that, we executed and made the right plays at the end of a 1 possession game.

[Bay Area Duke Fan]

Old school CBS - can't preempt 60 Minutes!

-jk

Don't want to miss the Stormy Daniels interview!

[Utley]

I loved K’s passion - it’s like he willed us to win tonight. Sunday is a special opportunity that he likely won’t have many more of. I really plan to savor it.

[pfrduke]

I thought Duke played pretty well, Grayson could have hit a few more open 3s, but it's tough against this Syracuse length that you rush your shots even if you're open. We only had 7 turnovers all night, and down the stretch made the offensive plays to keep Syracuse at bay.

Syracuse I thought played well above their normal ability. They hit some very tough shots, played great defense, and fought hard on the offensive and defensive boards. MSU killed them on the boards, we weren't able to do that at all.

We need to shoot better against KU, and I think we will. Their defense is not in the same class as Syracuse. My biggest fear in the tourney was that we would make freshmen mistakes at the end of a close game and blow it. We didn't do that, we executed and made the right plays at the end of a 1 possession game.

I completely agree with this. We played better than the final score reflected - we just missed some wide (WIDE) open shots. Didn't get frustrated and continued to play tough. If the fluke occurrence of Bagley bobbling a clean alley-oop doesn't happen, I think that ends up as a double-digit win.

[mr. synellinden]

4-5. Grayson missed (and did hit the rim)

Yep to all 6 or 7 of you who corrected me. My bad. I blocked it out.

[MarkD83]

Nolan....Roy called and wants his suit back....

[Neals384]

Nolan...Roy called and wants his suit back...

Please tell me how to clean beer off my keyboard. LOL

[brlftz]

two things I want to add:

- Duval had the presence of mind near the end to IMMEDIATELY find Grayson with a pass when he got the ball. was so relieved he got rid of it before they fouled him. you could almost sense his desperation to find either Grayson or Trent, and to his credit he got rid of it quickly
- Gary "Tyus Stones" Trent

[84Duke]

We managed to keep Syracuse's hopes alive until Trent made the 2nd of a 1 and 1. Syracuse was better than Duke most of the game until the buzzer. We better play better Sunday.

Wasn't Duke ahead for the entire second half?

[martydoesntfoul]

Nolan...Roy called and wants his suit back...
Slight correction: Sylvia called and wants her suit back...

[84Duke]

Wasn't Duke ahead for the entire second half?

Sorry about that comment, Mr. 25. I see 10 people beat me to it.

[laf136]

Yassss!!!!!!!!!

[SCMatt33]

two things I want to add:

- Duval had the presence of mind near the end to IMMEDIATELY find Grayson with a pass when he got the ball. was so relieved he got rid of it before they fouled him. you could almost sense his desperation to find either Grayson or Trent, and to his credit he got rid of it quickly

This was absolutely a huge play. You could see Syracuse's had a pretty sound strategy to try and trap but not foul Trent and Allen and force it to one. Of the other guys. I actually think Duval did a great job to be decisive, but not actually desperate to get rid of it and let the guys take a step or two towards him and commit before passing back out.

[brlftz]

This was absolutely a huge play. You could see Syracuse's had a pretty sound strategy to try and trap but not foul Trent and Allen and force it to one. Of the other guys. I actually think Duval did a great job to be decisive, but not actually desperate to get rid of it and let the guys take a step or two towards him and commit before passing back out.

yeah, the execution reflected urgency not desperation. but i am convinced i could sense some internal desperation :D

[brlftz]

yeah, the execution reflected urgency not desperation. but i am convinced i could sense some internal desperation :D

not letting me edit, so...what I wanted to edit and add in is that the flippant execution of my post doesn't do Duval justice. it was a super heads up play that I originally called out because I thought it was a great decision. he really had his head about him in a crucial moment

[burnspbesq]

Nolan...Roy called and wants his suit back...

Roy or Sylvia?

[Steven43]

I loved K’s passion - it’s like he willed us to win tonight. Sunday is a special opportunity that he likely won’t have many more of. I really plan to savor it.

Oh, I don't know. Coach probably will have one or two more Elite 8 games. That's what I'm expecting and hoping for.

[kAzE]

Win #1100 for K! Will he get to 1200?

Loved how aggressive Carter and Bagley were near the rim. They were the key to beating Cuse's zone.

Awesome composure down the stretch by Gary to close out the game with that floater and the free throws to seal it. I love him and still hold on to the tiny shred of hope that he will return for 1 more year and captain that team :)

[oldnavy]

I loved K’s passion - it’s like he willed us to win tonight. Sunday is a special opportunity that he likely won’t have many more of. I really plan to savor it.

The only thing I wish K had done different was, he should have had Nolan take off HIS jacket when he got mad early in the 2nd half...

[Reilly]

Duke under K in the Sweet 16, ordered by margin.

Syracuse 2018 is the 2nd worst SRS-rated team Duke played in the Sweet 16 under K.

Margin ... Opponent Year ... Duke SRS rating/Opponent SRS rating

+17 MizzSt 1999 1/27
+17 Minnesota 1989 3/29
+14 UConn 1991 4/18
+13 Syracuse 1998 1/35
+13 UCLA 2001 1/15
+13 Purdue 2010 1/13
+12 Seton Hall 1992 3/26
+10 Marquette 1994 9/25
+10 Illinois 2004 1/19
+10 MichSt 2013 4/12
+09 UCLA 1990 5/30
+06 Utah 2015 2/8
+07 Depaul 1986 3/38
+04 Syracuse 2018 2/43
+01 Rhode Island 1988 3/49

-01 Indiana 2002 1/9
-04 Kansas 2003 6/1
-06 Indiana 1987 11/3
-08 LSU 2006 2/10
-09 Florida 2000 2/5
-10 MichSt 2005 3/7
-14 Oregon 2016 12/18
-16 Arizona 2011 2/18
-23 Villanova 2009 6/14

Did not make Sweet 16

2017
2014
2012
2008
2007
1997
1996
1995
1993
1985
1984
1983
1982
1981

[devilnfla]

I thought Marvin’s putback after a Carter miss to put us up 60-53 was the play of the game. And we got the ball to Grayson and Gary at the end to shoot FTs and they went 4-4 without hitting the rim.

Survive and Advance indeed.

Actually Allen missed the front end of a one and one between his 2 and Gary's 2 successful fts.

[dyedwab]

Man, there are a lot a people here really unhappy about us winning a tough game where we didn't play as well as we could THAT ADVANCED US TO THE ELITE EIGHT. You know who isn't playing anymore? UNC. Kentucky. Michigan State. Virginia. Xavier. Purdue. We are! We haven't been here in a couple of years! Let's rejoice! And anyone who knows my fandom knows that optimism is not where my heads at. But I'm THRILLED THAT WE ARE STILL PLAYING!

About the game itself. I think Wendell Carter was the man tonight. When we were getting outrebounded, it seemed like he personally decided to remedy that. With a couple of blips, he was really good in the high post, making good decisions with the ball, he used his strength to get to the hoop, and was shot-altering on D.

We missed a lot of open shots and, at least for Grayson, some were just from too far out, but it didn't really affect the rest of how they played. That's encouraging, because this team (and other teams of recent vintage) had a tendency to let missed shots cascade into failure in effort and on defense. Didn't happen tonight,

Can I just repeat how happy I am that we are going to the Elite Eight!

[cspan37421]

Slight correction: Sylvia called and wants her suit back...

It's funny because it's true! Dang. Can you imagine a photo of them together?

But seriously, to whom did Nolan lose a bet?

Or, when did he start selling used cars?

I'm with a poster above - w/r/t 3-pt shooting, may the reversion to the mean begin!

[Saratoga2]

Couple of small points to add.

We played what looked at times like a 4-1 zone and Syracuse was able to get it inside thee perimeter for fairly easy scores. Near the end of the game, Grayson came off the perimeter to contest the catch and play of the guy who received the ball within our perimeter, forcing him to pass the ball back out. Grayson the recovered to the perimeter. That approached had worked for us before but wasn't used until near the end of the game. Either Grayson, or another perimeter player needs to make that move to improve our zone play.

Our use of pressure when Suracuse brought the ball up did cause a couple of TO's, but it was countered by our defense not getting back which led to easy points by Syracuse. All-in-all, the pressure may not have been a plus for our defense.


As the game wore on, Syracuse seemed more determined to stop any pass, other than a lob, into our front court. They backed off our 3 point shooters when it became apparent that we were very cold from outside. It worked for Syracuse as even when open from the 3, we continued to miss many opportunities. Sometimes poor shooting can lead to a lack of confidence and it appeared our best 3 point shooters lost confidence. Trevon and Javin just should not be taking those and Syracuse gave them room and concentrated on our better % shooters so it was smart coaching by them.

It still bothers me that our perimeter players playing the ball don't keep their hand in the shooters face, but let them down to their sides. AOC is an example of this and a good shooting team will shoot the 3 right over our defender. C'mon guys, you can refine your technique which might reduce the opponents shooting %. Even a slight reduction might be the difference in a game.

[OldPhiKap]

Congrats to Syracuse on a great run and a well-played game.

For us, playing a team like Syracuse is just a battle to figure out the puzzle of their zone. We did it. I would not worry about shooting percentages and all, that goes out the window when we play Kansas.

Congrats to Coach and the team on making the Elite Eight. Journey’s not over though. LGD.

[WVDUKEFAN]

I completely agree with this. We played better than the final score reflected - we just missed some wide (WIDE) open shots. Didn't get frustrated and continued to play tough. If the fluke occurrence of Bagley bobbling a clean alley-oop doesn't happen, I think that ends up as a double-digit win.

Yes. I agree.

[sagegrouse]

That game wasn't as ugly as Nolan Smith's suit.

The Duke players may not agree:


Duke's players saw Smith wearing it for the first time at the hotel before the game. They were, in a word, impressed.

"I said, 'Yo, that's clean,'" Wendell Carter Jr. said. "I need one."

[DukeDevil]

Win #1100 for K! Will he get to 1200?

This is Duke...he's going for a 1600. (showing my age with that SAT score)

Down the stretch, this team did NOT act like freshmen. I sure wish they had more entry passes rather than jacking up threes during the game, but I think that was mostly due to Syracuse's effective defense. I recall one play in particular where it just went back and forth among our guards at the 3 point line before a 3 got chucked up. Better than when Syracuse had that shot clock violation, so I appreciate the awareness of the situation, but man the offense was infinitely better when we got it inside.

On to the Elite 8!

[godukegodukego]

I am usually a reader, not a poster. But I'm breaking this self-imposed wall and giving a big shout-out to Marques Bolden. He made some important plays - blocking and altering shots - and even got a bloody nose and mouth. Go Bolden. Go Duke!

EDIT: I love watching him develop.

[OldPhiKap]

I am usually a reader, not a poster. But I'm breaking this self-imposed wall and giving a big shout-out to Marques Bolden. He made some important plays - blocking and altering shots - and even got a bloody nose and mouth. Go Bolden. Go Duke!

Tear down the wall!

Agreed.

[UrinalCake]

Wanted to mention that I thought Syracuse played our last full possession really poorly. We were up three with 38 seconds left and the ball. They only had five team fouls. I thought their best play would have been to just play straight up defense and try to get a miss and the ball back with about 8 seconds. Then they could try for a three to tie it up. If they fouled, then we’d get to inbounds the ball with less time on the clock, and by the time they could foul us two times (to get us into the one and one) there would be less than 30 seconds left.

They would up letting the clock run under 30 seconds left and THEN fouled. And it make matters worse (for them) they eventually fouled Allen when they could have fouled Duval earlier in the possession. Allen knocked them both down (give him credit for that, even though he kissed the Erin end on the next possession in the same situation).

Curious what you guys thought about their end game strategy, as well as our strategy of fouling Battle on the other end when we were up 3 with 7 seconds left.

[OldPhiKap]

Wanted to mention that I thought Syracuse played our last full possession really poorly. We were up three with 38 seconds left and the ball. They only had five team fouls. I thought their best play would have been to just play straight up defense and try to get a miss and the ball back with about 8 seconds. Then they could try for a three to tie it up. If they fouled, then we’d get to inbounds the ball with less time on the clock, and by the time they could foul us two times (to get us into the one and one) there would be less than 30 seconds left.

They would up letting the clock run under 30 seconds left and THEN fouled. And it make matters worse (for them) they eventually fouled Allen when they could have fouled Duval earlier in the possession. Allen knocked them both down (give him credit for that, even though he kissed the Erin end on the next possession in the same situation).

Curious what you guys thought about their end game strategy, as well as our strategy of fouling Battle on the other end when we were up 3 with 7 seconds left.

IIRC, Boeheim said in his post-game press conference that they tried to foul early but didn’t get it done.

As far as our foul, I like the percentages. An opponent has better odds of hitting a three than hitting the first ft, rebounding the intentional miss, and then scoring.

[Papa John]

Wanted to mention that I thought Syracuse played our last full possession really poorly. We were up three with 38 seconds left and the ball. They only had five team fouls. I thought their best play would have been to just play straight up defense and try to get a miss and the ball back with about 8 seconds. Then they could try for a three to tie it up. If they fouled, then we’d get to inbounds the ball with less time on the clock, and by the time they could foul us two times (to get us into the one and one) there would be less than 30 seconds left.

They would up letting the clock run under 30 seconds left and THEN fouled. And it make matters worse (for them) they eventually fouled Allen when they could have fouled Duval earlier in the possession. Allen knocked them both down (give him credit for that, even though he kissed the Erin end on the next possession in the same situation).

Curious what you guys thought about their end game strategy, as well as our strategy of fouling Battle on the other end when we were up 3 with 7 seconds left.

Fouling was the right call, they just needed to do it quicker. Think about it this way... If they defend straight up with no foul there and we burn clock then score, the game is pretty much over because they then have to bring it down and score quickly, then foul us twice in rapid succession just to get us on the line and play the odds. The fact that we weren’t even in the bonus yet (and needed to be fouled twice to get there) worked against Syracuse in that situation.

[mapleleafdevil]

I think a couple things make this game not so close. First, if we hit a few of those open threes we blow the game wide open. Second, MBIII gets that lob to put us up 10 rather than a goaltend with them coming down and hitting a three it makes a big difference.

I’m not too fussed about that game. I’m pretty sure we get open looks like that from the outside again, we hit at least twice as many, which opens things up inside again. Chalk it up to a cold shooting night.

[GeneBanksManCrush]

Mark me down as endorsing Nolan Smith's "Hockey Night in Canada" sartorial splendor and Gary Trent's ice-water veins.

Not a great night for Grayson but he's allowed those. I look for him to drop dimes against Kansas, which opens as a 4 pt favorite.

[oldnavy]

Mark me down as endorsing Nolan Smith's "Hockey Night in Canada" sartorial splendor and Gary Trent's ice-water veins.

Not a great night for Grayson but he's allowed those. I look for him to drop dimes against Kansas, which opens as a 4 pt favorite.

Not a great shooting night for Grayson, but I think he played very solid otherwise.

[curtis325]

It was a beautiful win if not a beautiful game. On to the Elite 8.

One thing I really liked was Coach K's timeout after the 4-0 Syracuse run to start the 2nd half. He got the players' attention.

[UrinalCake]

As far as our foul, I like the percentages. An opponent has better odds of hitting a three than hitting the first ft, rebounding the intentional miss, and then scoring.

There are lots of ways they could tie the game. They could hit the first, miss the second and get the rebound as you said. Even if they don’t immediately score, they could draw another foul in the ensuing scrum, or get a tie up. But the real nightmare scenario is that they hit both free throws, then get a turnover on the inbounds. Now they have a chance to WIN the game without even hitting a three. Or, they could hit both free throws, foul us immediately, then we miss the front end of our free throws and now they have about seven seconds to get down the court and only need to score two to win.

My issue is that if you are up three and just play defense, the worst that can happen is that they tie the game. If you foul them, you are giving them points and then giving them an opportunity (however small) to win it. Would you rather give up a 15% chance of them tying and going to OT, or a 3% chance of losing in regulation? And yes, these percentages are totally made up.

[UrinalCake]

(give him credit for that, even though he kissed the Erin end on the next possession in the same situation).

Wow, that was one heck of an autocorrect. With apologies to whoever Erin is, that was supposed to say “missed the front end.”

[Furniture]

https://mobile.twitter.com/TheDevilsDen/status/977400601490481152/video/1

The GOAT gets his hug.....

[oldnavy]

It was a beautiful win if not a beautiful game. On to the Elite 8.

One thing I really liked was Coach K's timeout after the 4-0 Syracuse run to start the 2nd half. He got the players' attention.

Agree... that is one of the reasons he is the GOAT. He can read the flow of the game and knows when to use the carrot and when to use the stick...

Like I said up thread, I just wished he had made Nolan rip his jacket off...

[Troublemaker]

I'm happy. Duke gave a B performance in order to stave off Cuse's A performance. Too many are reacting like we gave a D performance, instead.

Did you know that Duke's offense in this game achieved the lowest turnover rate against Cuse's defense in any game this season? That's quite impressive, particularly for this Duke team that struggles with turnovers, and it gave us a margin of error to be able to shoot poorly. Thus, overall, Duke posted the 6th-best offensive efficiency against Cuse's defense this season. We actually played well on offense overall, as hard as that may be for some to believe. Remember, Cuse has a terrific defense, and like Duke, employs an aggressive zone that forces turnovers.

That's all I want from this Duke team. Get a shot up on the rim every single time down the court. Sometimes we'll make the shot, sometimes we'll offensive rebound a miss, but even if we give up a defensive rebound on a miss, we have a better chance of getting back in transition and setting up our zone than if we give a live-ball turnover.

[oldnavy]

I'm happy. Duke gave a B performance in order to stave off Cuse's A performance. Too many are reacting like we gave a D performance, instead.

Did you know that Duke's offense in this game achieved the lowest turnover rate against Cuse's defense in any game this season? That's quite impressive, particularly for this Duke team that struggles with turnovers, and it gave us a margin of error to be able to shoot poorly. Thus, overall, Duke posted the 6th-best offensive efficiency against Cuse's defense this season. We played well on offense overall, as hard as that may be to believe for some. Remember, Cuse has a terrific defense.

That's all I want from this Duke team. Get a shot up on the rim every single time down the court. Sometimes we'll make the shot, sometimes we'll offensive rebound a miss, but even if we give up a defensive rebound, we have a better chance of getting back in transition and setting up our zone than if we give a live-ball turnover.

Yea, I don't understand the angst over this game. Missed open shots doesn't equate to poor game... if we hit 2 or 3 more open three's this game isn't even close.

Having said that, we may not survive another off night at this point in the season, so I hope that was a "one off" night.

[GeneBanksManCrush]

Not a great shooting night for Grayson, but I think he played very solid otherwise.

Very true but I remain emotionally scarred by the three point misses.

[GeneBanksManCrush]

Agree... that is one of the reasons he is the GOAT. He can read the flow of the game and knows when to use the carrot and when to use the stick...

Like I said up thread, I just wished he had made Nolan rip his jacket off...


This is correct. It wasn't an ugly suit; it was an ugly sport coat.

8226

[jv001]

Yea, I don't understand the angst over this game. Missed open shots doesn't equate to poor game... if we hit 2 or 3 more open three's this game isn't even close.

Having said that, we may not survive another off night at this point in the season, so I hope that was a "one off" night.

I suspected that our offense would struggle from the perimeter because of Syracuse's length and the way they close out on shooters. I was proud of our guys that they stayed composed throughout the game. Only 7 turnovers against that defense is great. Sure we missed some open threes but as long as the players don't let affect their confidence in the next game that's ok. We won the game and that's what matters. I really like the effort that Marques gave off the bench. He was not intimidated at all on the big stage. Now let's take care of business against the Jayhawks. GoDuke!

[ChrisP]

I'm happy. Duke gave a B performance in order to stave off Cuse's A performance. Too many are reacting like we gave a D performance, instead.

Did you know that Duke's offense in this game achieved the lowest turnover rate against Cuse's defense in any game this season? That's quite impressive, particularly for this Duke team that struggles with turnovers, and it gave us a margin of error to be able to shoot poorly. Thus, overall, Duke posted the 6th-best offensive efficiency against Cuse's defense this season. We actually played well on offense overall, as hard as that may be for some to believe. Remember, Cuse has a terrific defense, and like Duke, employs an aggressive zone that forces turnovers.

That's all I want from this Duke team. Get a shot up on the rim every single time down the court. Sometimes we'll make the shot, sometimes we'll offensive rebound a miss, but even if we give up a defensive rebound on a miss, we have a better chance of getting back in transition and setting up our zone than if we give a live-ball turnover.

This is pretty much exactly what I have been saying to my Duke buds - for THIS Duke team (who is so powerful offensively) - it's ALL about possessions. We don't need to shoot better than about 25% from 3 pt range as long as we defend, rebound and don't turn it over more than about 10x per game. I was happy with the low number of TOs last night (and it could have been even lower if Duval hadn't made some really bad decisions). The fact that Duke can defend and rebound like they can should scare opponents and make fans more confident that Duke can beat just about anyone this year. :)

[Bluedog]

There are lots of ways they could tie the game. They could hit the first, miss the second and get the rebound as you said. Even if they don’t immediately score, they could draw another foul in the ensuing scrum, or get a tie up. But the real nightmare scenario is that they hit both free throws, then get a turnover on the inbounds. Now they have a chance to WIN the game without even hitting a three. Or, they could hit both free throws, foul us immediately, then we miss the front end of our free throws and now they have about seven seconds to get down the court and only need to score two to win.

My issue is that if you are up three and just play defense, the worst that can happen is that they tie the game. If you foul them, you are giving them points and then giving them an opportunity (however small) to win it. Would you rather give up a 15% chance of them tying and going to OT, or a 3% chance of losing in regulation? And yes, these percentages are totally made up.

Not bad made up percentages. Actual percentages based on kenpom's analysis here: https://kenpom.com/blog/yet-another-study-about-fouling-when-up-3/

3.6% of teams that fouled ended up losing in regulation while only 0.3% lost in regulation defending. On the flip side, 11.2% of teams go to OT when it's straight up defense vs. 8% when fouling intentionally. You read that right. Somehow it's only a 3% difference.

Conclusion: not a huge difference, but defending straight up has yielded a slightly better win-loss result (93.5% wins vs 92%). Also, more teams by far elect to defend rather than foul intentionally. Coach K almost always chooses to defend so I was actually surprised last night. I think he does it more on feel rather than a strict philosophy.

[CDu]

I'm happy. Duke gave a B performance in order to stave off Cuse's A performance. Too many are reacting like we gave a D performance, instead.

Did you know that Duke's offense in this game achieved the lowest turnover rate against Cuse's defense in any game this season? That's quite impressive, particularly for this Duke team that struggles with turnovers, and it gave us a margin of error to be able to shoot poorly. Thus, overall, Duke posted the 6th-best offensive efficiency against Cuse's defense this season. We actually played well on offense overall, as hard as that may be for some to believe. Remember, Cuse has a terrific defense, and like Duke, employs an aggressive zone that forces turnovers.

That's all I want from this Duke team. Get a shot up on the rim every single time down the court. Sometimes we'll make the shot, sometimes we'll offensive rebound a miss, but even if we give up a defensive rebound on a miss, we have a better chance of getting back in transition and setting up our zone than if we give a live-ball turnover.

While I would have loved to have seen us hit 3-4 more of our wide open 3s (which would have made this a comfortable blowout) and do a better job on the defensive glass, it is important to remember that Syracuse is one of the absolute best defensive teams in the country. Seriously - they are a top-10 defense nationally. They shut down MSU last week. As you said, we were fairly careful with the ball, and actually ran a very effective half-court offense. We actually played better offensively than expected - our adjusted offensive efficiency was ~130. Our defense did a little worse than it has for most of the zone stretch, though a lot of that was late in the game as Syracuse was trying to come back and we were just trying to prevent 3s. For most of the game, we held them to below a point per possession.

Yes, we didn't win as comfortably as hoped. But we won, and we only won close because we had bad fortune on our open 3s. Hopefully our 3pt shooting will improve against Kansas, who is MUCH less imposing defensively than Syracuse.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

This is pretty much exactly what I have been saying to my Duke buds - for THIS Duke team (who is so powerful offensively) - it's ALL about possessions. We don't need to shoot better than about 25% from 3 pt range as long as we defend, rebound and don't turn it over more than about 10x per game. I was happy with the low number of TOs last night (and it could have been even lower if Duval hadn't made some really bad decisions). The fact that Duke can defend and rebound like they can should scare opponents and make fans more confident that Duke can beat just about anyone this year. :)

I maintain the position that if we don't make unforced turnovers, everything else will fall into place. Last night was confirmation of that - if our defense/rebounds/shots are off, but we protect the ball on offense, we can still come out on top.

[SoCalDukeFan]

I thought our D looked much better the five minutes that Alex played at the end of the 1st half. I believe we were behind when he came in and had the lead at halftime. May have been Syracuse's team on the floor at that time.

You win and advance and we did and I am very happy with the win.

SoCal

[SCMatt33]

Yea, I don't understand the angst over this game. Missed open shots doesn't equate to poor game... if we hit 2 or 3 more open three's this game isn't even close.

Having said that, we may not survive another off night at this point in the season, so I hope that was a "one off" night.

No, but let's not mistake passing around the perimeter for 20 seconds and taking an nba range three for catch and shoot threes from interior passes when you don't have to turn from 22 feet either. Duke fell into the classic Syracuse trap in the second half of settling for some mediocre opportunities because they were open. That's exactly what Syracuse's defense wants you to do. Duke shot 18 three pointers in the second half and only 15 two pointers despite having a huge size advantage and having some of their big guys in foul trouble. When the team actually made some effort to get inside the three point line at all, they had a ton of success.

The reason to be critical is that the only thing that kept Duke from winning 80-65 instead of 69-65 was poor decision making and settling for exactly what Syracuse wants you to settle for in the second half. Now we're there some good looks mixed in there too that Duke missed, sure, but there were a lot that were just settling when you didn't have to. Against a team like Syracuse, that plays zone and struggles to rebound and has limited offensive options, you can get away with it and "survive". But if Duke makes that many mental errors in shot selection against Kansas or if we're lucky, Nova or Texas Tech, they won't.

There's a ton of good stuff to look at as well. Bagley and Carter really got back on the glass I. That second half. As much as we've dumped on Duval in the past for his decision making. He made some of the best decisions down the stretch in staying away from those bad three. He did take some jumpers, but at least one, if not a couple really were those 22 foot looks from interior passing that he can make, and didn't try to do anything crazy. He also made what could have been the play of the game in finding Allen for that first one and one when Syracuse was willing to burn clock in order to bait Duke into giving him the ball to get fouled.

But again, Duke took 18 3's and 15 2's in the second half. When you have Bagley and Carter o your squad, that's not ideal shot selection, and it certainly won't be a recipe to win games going forward.

[DukieInKansas]

Two Questions:

1. Did Syracuse ever have the lead in the 2nd half? I can't remember.

2. Any suggestions on how to respond when your KU fan boss tells you that zone should be outlawed and that was the most boring game ever? (I told him no, it shouldn't be outlawed and said he must have never watched UVA play.)

[Bob Green]

1. Did Syracuse ever have the lead in the 2nd half? I can't remember.



My memory says no. They cut our lead to one point multiple times but they never took the lead in the 2nd half.

EDIT: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/playbyplay?gameId=401025881

[CDu]

My memory says no. They cut our lead to one point multiple times but they never took the lead in the 2nd half.

EDIT: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/playbyplay?gameId=401025881

You are correct. Not only did they never lead in the second half, they never actually tied. And while they had several possessions in which they could have realistically tied the game, they never had a possession with a realistic chance to take the lead in the second half (i.e., they never had the ball down by less than 3 in the second half).

[uh_no]

The reason to be critical is that the only thing that kept Duke from winning 80-65 instead of 69-65 was poor decision making and settling for exactly what Syracuse wants you to settle for in the second half.

I mean, and that our defense was poorer than it has been since UNC round 1. I'm kind of surprised how it is largely being swept under the rug. The offense overperformed last night and the defense underperformed significantly....mostly because of overloaded the bottom of the zone, our overplaying the wings, and then their getting easy buckets. Thank goodness they dunk like I do.

If bagley was unable to have the awareness of when to recover against cuse, then we may be in for a rough night should we be lucky enough to play nova. The only time we played better than cuse last night to any degree was at the end of the first half when Chukwu was on the bench. We won that stretch 16-10, and syracuse beat us 55-53 the rest of the way. Syracuse put up a 10/14 = .7 on offense in that stretch vs 55/37 = 1.5 the other 31 minutes.

That's atrocious. a 150.

The turnovers might have glossed over it a bit, but the defense was bad last night. Really bad.

K better have some serious adjustments ready if Kansas starts exploiting the zone the same way syracuse did.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I mean, and that our defense was poorer than it has been since UNC round 1. I'm kind of surprised how it is largely being swept under the rug. The offense overperformed last night and the defense underperformed significantly...mostly because of overloaded the bottom of the zone, our overplaying the wings, and then their getting easy buckets. Thank goodness they dunk like I do.

If bagley was unable to have the awareness of when to recover against cuse, then we may be in for a rough night should we be lucky enough to play nova. The only time we played better than cuse last night to any degree was at the end of the first half when Chukwu was on the bench. We won that stretch 16-10, and syracuse beat us 55-53 the rest of the way. Syracuse put up a 10/14 = .7 on offense in that stretch vs 55/37 = 1.5 the other 31 minutes.

That's atrocious. a 150.

The turnovers might have glossed over it a bit, but the defense was bad last night. Really bad.

K better have some serious adjustments ready if Kansas starts exploiting the zone the same way syracuse did.

I'm double-dipping from the Duke Defense thread, but isn't it possible that the Syracuse game was an aberration because they practice AGAINST the zone every day in practice? No one plays against the zone defense more than Syracuse does; they know the corner three trick, the top of the lane trick, where to penetrate, etc.

I don't see this as cause for alarm. Syracuse was always going to play pretty well against our defense as they know it better than we do.

[uh_no]

I'm double-dipping from the Duke Defense thread, but isn't it possible that the Syracuse game was an aberration because they practice AGAINST the zone every day in practice? No one plays against the zone defense more than Syracuse does; they know the corner three trick, the top of the lane trick, where to penetrate, etc.

I don't see this as cause for alarm. Syracuse was always going to play pretty well against our defense as they know it better than we do.

This mirrors my ultimate thoughts pretty well. Syracuse is more familiar with the zone, and further has already played against our zone.

In either case, it's always notable when a team significantly underperforms expectation on either side of the ball, and really notable since this is the first time a team has been able to consistently have success against it over the course of the game. As you point out, we have no idea if kansas (or anyone) will be able to do the things that Syracuse did. We need to be able to adjust if they do, though, and we didn't last night.

I think the big advantage for us is that Mykhailiuk IS a good three point shooter...let him stay out on the line instead of trying to tag team carter with azibuiki like cuse did last night.

[CDu]

I mean, and that our defense was poorer than it has been since UNC round 1. I'm kind of surprised how it is largely being swept under the rug. The offense overperformed last night and the defense underperformed significantly...mostly because of overloaded the bottom of the zone, our overplaying the wings, and then their getting easy buckets. Thank goodness they dunk like I do.

If bagley was unable to have the awareness of when to recover against cuse, then we may be in for a rough night should we be lucky enough to play nova. The only time we played better than cuse last night to any degree was at the end of the first half when Chukwu was on the bench. We won that stretch 16-10, and syracuse beat us 55-53 the rest of the way. Syracuse put up a 10/14 = .7 on offense in that stretch vs 55/37 = 1.5 the other 31 minutes.

That's atrocious. a 150.

The turnovers might have glossed over it a bit, but the defense was bad last night. Really bad.

K better have some serious adjustments ready if Kansas starts exploiting the zone the same way syracuse did.

Pretty sure your math is off on the bolded. Syracuse had 61 possessions. I think perhaps you meant 55/47 (117 - so still not good). And it is important to note that the bad efficiency is pretty much entirely due to us getting passive in the last 3 minutes. As of 2:40 to go, Syracuse had scored just 55 total points. So using your game stats above, they scored 45 points in 42 possessions (a 107) during the non-dominant stretch. Again, not great, but certainly not bad. I would call that fairly solid. Where things got ugly is that we allowed 10 points to Syracuse in their final 5 possessions. But we were up 8 with 2:40 to go, and had almost pushed it to 10 (Bagley fumbling the alleyoop and then not waiting for the ball to come off the rim cost us 2). So I think we were playing "not to lose" at that point.

The final five possessions were:
- long 3 by Battle: can't complain about that, just a good player hitting a tough shot
- jumper by Brissett off an offensive rebound: would have liked to see us get that rebound
- accidental mid-court foul by Carter when we were trying to make them run clock (Howard hit 2 free throws)
- fluke tip-in by Dolezaj: again would like to secure the rebound there, but that was flukey
- "intentional" foul on Battle because we were up 3 (Battle made 1)

So for 37 minutes, we held Syracuse to below a point per possession (unadjusted), then fell off in the last 3 minutes once we got a seemingly comfortable lead. The non-dominant stretch you mentioned still wasn't actually bad defense. It still equated to an adjusted efficiency of less than 100.

[uh_no]

Pretty sure your math is off on the bolded. Syracuse had 61 possessions. I think perhaps you meant 55/47 (117 - so still not good). oof. what kind of crackpot school would give me a degree.


So for 37 minutes, we held Syracuse to below a point per possession (unadjusted), then fell off in the last 3 minutes once we got a seemingly comfortable lead. The non-dominant stretch you mentioned still wasn't actually bad defense. It still equated to an adjusted efficiency of less than 100.

That's a fairer assessment, given the correct calculation and largely agree with the breakdown you proposed.

The 107 is still not a good number, and would put our defense somewhere around 170 in the country, and is still our worst performance since UNC R1. As Mtn Devil points out, there are at least some reasonable explanations which explain why this aberration may be just that, which I largely subscribe to.

There is enough evidence to not be especially worried about our defensive play, but mostly I'm just trying to absolve the offense from last night, which was actually really really good. The fact that it could have been better is a nice bonus.

[UrinalCake]

I watched both teams’ press conferences, and Boeheim had some pointed comments at the end of his. The interview session was over, and he came out on his own to say this. Every team they have faced has shot well below their season averages. And after every game, people say it was just luck that Syracuse’s opponent doesn’t shoot well. At some point you have to give them credit for making their opponents shoot poorly - for taking them them away from what they want to do and not allowing them to get the shots they want. And that’s a really good point.

As SCMatt said, if there’s something to be disappointed about it’s that we allowed Syracuse to dictate pace and that we were forced to play their style of game rather than the other way around.

[UrinalCake]

Not bad made up percentages. Actual percentages based on kenpom's analysis here:

Thanks for looking those up. Sounds like there’s not a huge difference either way. And of course there’s lots of other factors involved - how good the free throw shooters are, which team has momentum, whether your players are in foul trouble and thus would be at a disadvantage in OT, etc. I remember K saying after the Butler final in 2010 that he felt his team was gassed and would lose if it went to overtime, thus the decision to have Zoubs intentionally miss the second free throw.

[CDu]

The 107 is still not a good number, and would put our defense somewhere around 170 in the country, and is still our worst performance since UNC R1. As Mtn Devil points out, there are at least some reasonable explanations which explain why this aberration may be just that, which I largely subscribe to.

That was an unadjusted 107. Adjusted, it was a 99.9, which would be 77th nationally. Not great, but not awful. But you can't cherry pick away a 14-possession stretch of the game either. That stretch still happened. When combined with the 45 points in 42 possessions, we gave up 55 points in 56 possessions for an adjusted efficiency of 91.6 (which would be 4th nationally) over the first 37 minutes.

Then, with an 8-point lead and under 3 minutes to go, Battle hit a long, reasonably-contested 3. And then we had 3 straight possessions where we lost focus and Syracuse capitalized (scoring 6 points). That 4-possession stretch at the end was the difference between a top-5 defensive performance and what ultimately was a mediocre performance defensively. And that 4-possession stretch was fairly flukey.


There is enough evidence to not be especially worried about our defensive play, but mostly I'm just trying to absolve the offense from last night, which was actually really really good. The fact that it could have been better is a nice bonus.

Yeah, I certainly wouldn't blame the offense. It played very well considering the opponent. We just had some bad fortune on open 3s. But given who we were playing, our offense was absolutely good, even with those misses.

Part of the challenge with playing a low-possession game like that is that your efficiency numbers are subject to a few possessions skewing things dramatically. If we hit 2-3 of those several wide open 3s, we're up double-digits. And if we don't have brainfarts in those 3 possessions (the two offensive rebounds and the accidental mid-court foul by Carter), it could have been a dominant 15-20 point win. Instead, we missed those shots and we did commit those mistakes, and it resulted in a 10-15 point swing.

[COYS]

There is enough evidence to not be especially worried about our defensive play, but mostly I'm just trying to absolve the offense from last night, which was actually really really good. The fact that it could have been better is a nice bonus.

This point is well-taken. I am reminded slightly of our S16 win against Utah in 2015, except that game was the inverse for our offense and defense. Despite the lack of name recognition, Utah was a tough team and the game was closer than some thought it should have been. IIRC, that game was similar to the Cuse game last night, too, in that we had a lead through most of the game but could never stretch it out. We were worried about our offense (below 1 ppp for the game) but didn’t give enough credit to our defense for a dominant performance. Our defense continued to play at a high level the rest of the way to the title.

I’m cautiously optimistic that our offense, which has had a great three game stretch, will find the consistency it lacked at the end of the regular season and that the game was just a blip for a defense that has been elite for some time, now. If our defense returns closer to its average over the last 10 games but our offense continues to play well, we will be in good shape.

[uh_no]

That was an unadjusted 107. Adjusted, it was a 99.9, which would be 77th nationally. You're way over-adjusting here. Syracuse's offense is 2 points better than the national average, therefore the adjustment goes from a 107->105.

[Kedsy]

The reason to be critical is that the only thing that kept Duke from winning 80-65 instead of 69-65 was poor decision making and settling for exactly what Syracuse wants you to settle for in the second half. Now we're there some good looks mixed in there too that Duke missed, sure, but there were a lot that were just settling when you didn't have to. Against a team like Syracuse, that plays zone and struggles to rebound and has limited offensive options, you can get away with it and "survive". But if Duke makes that many mental errors in shot selection against Kansas or if we're lucky, Nova or Texas Tech, they won't.

Well, if we'd scored 80 it would have been around a 145 adjusted oEff, so I don't think you're correct here. The fact that we did put up an adjusted oEff over 130 should tell us that our offense was fine in this game. Defense, on the other hand, could have been a lot better.


Against a team like Syracuse, that plays zone and struggles to rebound...

Syracuse's offensive rebounding was the best such performance against us this season.

But even if you think that was a fluke, I don't know why you think they "struggle to rebound." Syracuse's defensive rebounding percentage is virtually identical to Duke's, and their offensive rebounding percentage, while not at Duke's level, is still tied for 26th in the country.


I'm double-dipping from the Duke Defense thread, but isn't it possible that the Syracuse game was an aberration because they practice AGAINST the zone every day in practice? No one plays against the zone defense more than Syracuse does; they know the corner three trick, the top of the lane trick, where to penetrate, etc.

I don't see this as cause for alarm. Syracuse was always going to play pretty well against our defense as they know it better than we do.

As I responded in the Duke Defense thread, I'd be more inclined to accept this explanation if we hadn't pasted a 0.68 dEff on them in the game against them at Cameron.

[CDu]

You're way over-adjusting here. Syracuse's offense is 2 points better than the national average, therefore the adjustment goes from a 107->105.

Depends on your methodology. Syracuse’s ORtg is 107.2. So I took a straight division adjustment: 107/107.2.

[kako]

5 thoughts post-game...

1. Cuse played well, just not well enough. Duke made it through the grinder. An ugly win is much better than a pretty loss.

2. Love K's temper to keep driving his young team. His whole point about the start of the 2nd half TO seemed spot on. The team can easily fall into mental traps. The GOAT motivational tactics moving forward are as important as Bagley and Carter's double-doubles or our 3-pt shooting percentage.

3. Bolden working hard - it's great to see. He's going to have to be a leader next year, probably even team captain (split with DeLaurier). If he can make his mark next year, maybe he will fulfill his potential and get to the NBA.

4. It seems to me K simply does not trust AOC's defense at all, otherwise he would sub out Duval for him in end of game situations. The Cuse strategy to foul Duval almost worked, if it hadn't been for Allen moving towards the ball right away to take that pass. Duke survived a very pedestrian game from Duval, 1-7 from the floor. Duke only had 7 TOs, but Duval had 3 of them. The team will need him to be better against KU.

5. Nova looks so strong and resilient right now. I have them winning it all, but I hope somehow, someway Texas Tech can take them out. If that's the case, then the KU game could be the game for the championship.

9F

[CDu]

Well, if we'd scored 80 it would have been around a 145 adjusted oEff, so I don't think you're correct here. The fact that we did put up an adjusted oEff over 130 should tell us that our offense was fine in this game. Defense, on the other hand, could have been a lot better.



Syracuse's offensive rebounding was the best such performance against us this season.

But even if you think that was a fluke, I don't know why you think they "struggle to rebound." Syracuse's defensive rebounding percentage is virtually identical to Duke's, and their offensive rebounding percentage, while not at Duke's level, is still tied for 26th in the country.



As I responded in the Duke Defense thread, I'd be more inclined to accept this explanation if we hadn't pasted a 0.68 dEff on them in the game against them at Cameron.

I don’t think our defense should have been a lot better. As I said above, we held them to below a point per possession for the first 37 minutes. Then we had 4 straight flukey possession to end in which they scored 9 points.

The 0.68 was an aberrantly great performance, fueled in part by playing at home and in part by Bagley’s return. So I don’t think I would use that as any sort of real barometer for what should be expected. They shot 6-25 on 3s in that game. If they have an 8-25 shooting night (comparable to last night in %) and don’t miss a ton of layups, it probably looks more like last night.

We definitely played worse defense last night than in Cameron. But I think a large chunk of the difference can be explained by random variation in shotmaking, more familiarity with facing our zone, the difference between home/neutral site, and perhaps some tourney jitters (as Coach alluded to).

[sagegrouse]

We definitely played worse defense last night than in Cameron. But I think a large chunk of the difference can be explained by random variation in shotmaking, more familiarity with facing our zone, the difference between home/neutral site, and perhaps some tourney jitters (as Coach alluded to).

Lessee,.... Yyracuse beat Arizona State, TCU and pundit-favorite Michigan State in its three previous games. Those are very, very good wins, taken collectively, and Syracuse has turned into a really good team. We shouldn't be prisoner of a performance @ Duke a month ago or the Orange's overall statistical performance for the season.

[InSpades]

On fouling at the end... 1 of the reasons I didn't like fouling was that they were on the double bonus and we were not. So we were trading 2 free throws for them for a 1 and 1 for us. Thankfully they only made 1 of 2 and then we made both and the game was essentially over but... that could have turned out much much worse for us.

Another thing I didn't like is having Duval in the game when he clearly wanted nothing to do w/ having the ball or going to the foul line. Having a player like that on the court has to increase the chances of a turnover. Surely there's someone on the bench we can trust to be out there and make a free throw? There's also the risk that they foul Duval when he doesn't have the ball (I know, this is often difficult to do).

Thankfully it all worked out!

An interesting stat... Syracuse had 3 players play all 40 minutes (Battle, Howard and Brissett). Duke had 2 players play all 40 (Allen and Trent) and another play 39 (Bagley). Lots of iron men out there last night.

[CDu]

You're way over-adjusting here. Syracuse's offense is 2 points better than the national average, therefore the adjustment goes from a 107->105.


Depends on your methodology. Syracuse’s ORtg is 107.2. So I took a straight division adjustment: 107/107.2.

I should add though that even using your methodology, our adjusted defense over the first 37 minutes was a 96.0, which would be 27th in the country.

It was a very solid defensive effort, that got marred by a fluky last 4 real possessions (not including the intentional foul at the end). I'm not sure I'd have any reason to be concerned by the fact that we were one long, contested 3 by Battle (or one fluky tip-in by Dolezaj) and a fluky foul by Carter from having had a top-30 defensive performance.

It was also a really strong offensive performance, in spite of having an awful night shooting the 3. So, I'd say it was reason for optimism moving forward.

[uh_no]

Depends on your methodology. Syracuse’s ORtg is 107.2. So I took a straight division adjustment: 107/107.2.

That only works if the national average is 100, which it is not. the average is 105.2, so the adjustment via that method would be 107 * 105.2/107.2, which is 105.

[CDu]

That only works if the national average is 100, which it is not. the average is 105.2, so the adjustment via that method would be 107 * 105.2/107.2, which is 105.

I disagree. Again, whether it "works" or not all comes down to methodology.

But as I said, even using your methodology, it was a top-30 defensive performance for 37 minutes up until those fluky last few possessions. Because it is inappropriate to exclude ~20% of the game by excluding those 14 possessions.

The defense was just fine up until the last 2:40 of the game. And in that last 2:40 of the game, Syracuse basically had 3 of their four scoring plays on fairly fluky outcomes. So I'm not going to be concerned that Syracuse scored 3 times on 3 fluky plays rather than 1 time on 3 fluky plays. Because that is really the difference between what was a top-30 defensive performance and what has people talking about defensive concerns.

[freshmanjs]

I disagree. Again, whether it "works" or not all comes down to methodology.

But as I said, even using your methodology, it was a top-30 defensive performance for 37 minutes up until those fluky last few possessions. Because it is inappropriate to exclude ~20% of the game by excluding those 14 possessions.

The defense was just fine up until the last 2:40 of the game. And in that last 2:40 of the game, Syracuse basically had 3 of their four scoring plays on fairly fluky outcomes. So I'm not going to be concerned that Syracuse scored 3 times on 3 fluky plays rather than 1 time on 3 fluky plays. Because that is really the difference between what was a top-30 defensive performance and what has people talking about defensive concerns.

I'm not sure why you are so willing to dismiss the 3 plays from the result. In any game, if you take out the 3 fluky-est scores from the opponent, the defensive performance will look a lot better.

[uh_no]

I disagree. Again, whether it "works" or not all comes down to methodology.

You can't use KP's number for Syracuse's defense, and then arbitrarily select an average against which to normalize, and then compare back against KP numbers. That's not how normalization works. If you were able to select the average any way you chose, you would be able to come up with any number you wanted as your adjusted efficiency.

Adjustment only works if all the numbers come from the same "system." You can't use KP for some of it and some other scale for the other half.

[CDu]

I'm not sure why you are so willing to dismiss the 3 plays from the result. In any game, if you take out the 3 fluky-est scores from the opponent, the defensive performance will look a lot better.

I'm not entirely dismissing them. They happened. But they happened in a very particular instance where we got a big lead late, and then lost our focus/discipline for a few possessions. Especially the Carter foul on Howard 40 feet from the hoop - no way that happens in the normal flow of play. It was pretty specific to us being up and trying to slow the game down).

I'm just pointing out how little the difference is between a top-30 defensive performance and what turned out to be a mediocre performance. It was essentially two scores. And those two scores came in a span of 4 plays, 3 of which were very fluky.

That's the problem with making blanket statements of concern in a game with just 60 possessions: unless the score is something absurd like 44 points or 80 points, a few possessions here or there can swing things from very good results to mediocre results (or from mediocre to very bad). I'm just not going to get too concerned over a couple of fluky possessions in that game. I don't think that game suggests any reason to be concerned about our defense moving forward.

[KandG]

I thought I was even-handed if slightly angsty when I posted about the game last night, just because it was a tense game and went very much according to the blueprint Syracuse has followed to beat teams in this tournament. But I generally felt good about how we handled attacking the zone for the first half and good portions of the second, and how our zone adjusted after allowing Syracuse to score more than I would have expected in the first 10-15 minutes of the game.

The metaphor I used for this game with a friend the other day went like this: hoping for Syracuse to beat Michigan State was kind of like rooting for your brother in a street fighting tournament, because you feel like you have a great chance of beating him since you're bigger and stronger. But then when you have to fight your brother, he knows exactly how you fight and knows a lot about certain things you learned from him in terms of how to fight, and how to counter, and how to get in your head. So it gets ugly and more than a little frustrating, not mention a bit personal.

So I wouldn't read too much into how the occasional struggles we faced last night might impact our chances to get to next weekend or beyond. Looking back on our last two Final Four runs, we definitely had difficult games even though the final score in many of them looked decisive. Even in 2015, that Utah Sweet Sixteen game was a real slog where we went up 15 before going scoreless for five minutes and allowing them to cut it to six twice.

Syracuse's zone was probably the worst possible defense for Duval to face. I think he'll be better playing against Kansas and any other teams we face if we're fortunate enough to get to next weekend.

Side note: I was going back and forth with someone who felt Coach K's decision to press on two different occasions toward the end of the game with a lead was peculiar, given how slowly Syracuse tends to play (you don't want to speed them up, you want time to come off the clock). The first time was with four minutes left after we went up nine at 62-53 (resulted in Syracuse scoring with 15 left on the shot clock), the other was with 50 seconds left after we went up 65-60 (resulted in Carter's silly foul). I get K's reasoning for the pressure at a high level, but tend to agree after rewatching the possessions that the press ended up backfiring, since on both occasions our back line was forced to move up and was compromised.

[House P]

On fouling at the end... 1 of the reasons I didn't like fouling was that they were on the double bonus and we were not. So we were trading 2 free throws for them for a 1 and 1 for us. Thankfully they only made 1 of 2 and then we made both and the game was essentially over but... that could have turned out much much worse for us.



To make things even less ideal, Duke fouled an 84% free throw shooter and there were still 7 seconds left on the clock. If Duke ends up losing the "2 shots vs 1 and 1 free throw shooting contest", Syracuse now has 5-6 seconds to get a potential game winning shot.

Duke was very fortunate that Battle missed one of his free throws and Duke was able to get the ball to Trent. If Battle makes both of his free throws and Duke fails to inbound the ball to Trent or Allen, we are looking at the very real possibility of having to watch a potential game winning shot from Syracuse.

Others have mentioned that Trent showed tremendous poise in swishing the game sealing free throws. Based on this, I will be altering the script of my frantic admonishments to the team when they are trying to protect a late game lead. Instead of feverishly shouting "get the ball to Grayson", I will now be shouting "get the ball to Trent (or Grayson)". I am still working out the best way to shout parenthetical text, so I am open to suggestions.

[House P]

Were my eyes playing tricks on me or did Duke have two possessions last night where they didn't play 2-3 zone (or 4-1 zone as the announcers called it)?

1. Sometime in the first half, it seemed to me that Duke was playing a 1-3-1 with Bagley out front and Duval in the back. If I recall correctly, Syracuse got a quick lay-up or dunk and Duke went back to the 2-3 for the next possession.

2. Sometime late in the game, Syracuse was in-bounding the ball with only a few seconds on the shot clock. It seemed to me that Duke played man-to-man for the final few seconds of this possession. I don't remember the outcome of this possession, but I think Duke either got a defensive stop or committed a foul.

If I recall correctly, both possessions came after timeouts. If this was the case, Boeheim probably spent the entire timeout drawing up a play against the 2-3. So, even if both possessions didn't end up is stops, I think it was pretty clever of Coach K to try to cause some confusion when Syracuse didn't have much time to adjust to a new defense.

[lotusland]

This was our main problem in the first half. We could have had 15 point lead if Carter and Marvin would have taken that shot. One thing for sure, we don't want Javin shooting any 3s and not many 2s. He's valuable on defense but not so much on offense. GoDuke!

Maybe in was dreaming but thought I remembered Javin knocking down a couple of 3s early in the season and thinking that he might be a serviceable shooter at least when left unguarded but, either I have a faulty memory or it was an aberration. These days Javin plays good defense but his offense is rough. As a sophomore he suffers from Plumlee hands and Zoubek traveling syndrome. Those guys all figured it out as upperclassmen so I’m looking forward to Javin’s improvement too.

[CDu]

Maybe in was dreaming but thought I remembered Javin knocking down a couple of 3s early in the season and thinking that he might be a serviceable shooter at least when left unguarded but, either I have a faulty memory or it was an aberration. These days Javin plays good defense but his offense is rough. As a sophomore he suffers from Plumlee hands and Zoubek traveling syndrome. Those guys all figured it out as upperclassmen so I’m looking forward to Javin’s improvement too.

Partially deceiving memory. DeLaurier did hit one 3 this year (1-8 overall). But yeah, he is extremely raw offensively.

Seems like he hasn’t figured out the pace of the game on either end. He has some highlight-reel defensive moments, but also roughly as many fouls as defensive rebounds.

Hopefully the game starts/continues to slow down for him next year and the year after. His athleticism is fabulous. But right now he still very much has the appearance of a puppy who hasn’t learned how to use his limbs yet. Everything is either all out or standstill.

If he figures out the pace and body control issues, look out.

[Nugget]

I'm happy. Duke gave a B performance in order to stave off Cuse's A performance. Too many are reacting like we gave a D performance, instead.

Did you know that Duke's offense in this game achieved the lowest turnover rate against Cuse's defense in any game this season? That's quite impressive, particularly for this Duke team that struggles with turnovers, and it gave us a margin of error to be able to shoot poorly. Thus, overall, Duke posted the 6th-best offensive efficiency against Cuse's defense this season. We actually played well on offense overall, as hard as that may be for some to believe.

I agree with this. We just had bad luck in the 2nd half w Gary and Grayson missing so many open 3s. If they just hit 1 each of the 4 or 5 wide open ones that didn't go down, then the whole tone changes. I thought their shot selection was good - they weren't settles or too quick or panicky hoists. They were wide open, in rhythm and just didn't go.

People are wildly overreacting to Javin and Trevon's games. Javin had 2 bad possessions (the bricked 3 and the travel). As for Trevon, maybe he took one or two too many Js, but they were wide open and your point guard has to be willing to shoot. As K said during the presser, this is one of his core philosophies - he wants his players to have the freedom to take shots and the psychological benefit of knowing you coach believes in you is more important than taking one or two objectively "bad" shots.

[Kedsy]

Maybe in was dreaming but thought I remembered Javin knocking down a couple of 3s early in the season and thinking that he might be a serviceable shooter at least when left unguarded but, either I have a faulty memory or it was an aberration.


Partially deceiving memory. DeLaurier did hit one 3 this year (1-8 overall).

In addition to his one in-season three (against Utah Valley), Javin also hit a three in one of the exhibitions and another in the Blue/White scrimmage. So it's not that your memory is deceiving you so much as your memory had trouble discerning the difference between Northwest Missouri State and Elon.

[mr. synellinden]

To make things even less ideal, Duke fouled an 84% free throw shooter and there were still 7 seconds left on the clock. If Duke ends up losing the "2 shots vs 1 and 1 free throw shooting contest", Syracuse now has 5-6 seconds to get a potential game winning shot.

Duke was very fortunate that Battle missed one of his free throws and Duke was able to get the ball to Trent. If Battle makes both of his free throws and Duke fails to inbound the ball to Trent or Allen, we are looking at the very real possibility of having to watch a potential game winning shot from Syracuse.

Others have mentioned that Trent showed tremendous poise in swishing the game sealing free throws. Based on this, I will be altering the script of my frantic admonishments to the team when they are trying to protect a late game lead. Instead of feverishly shouting "get the ball to Grayson", I will now be shouting "get the ball to Trent (or Grayson)". I am still working out the best way to shout parenthetical text, so I am open to suggestions.

As Trent went to the line, did you hear the announcers say that Trent shot 31 for 32 during the season in the last 5 minutes of a game? Now 33 for 34. A pretty incredible stat for a freshman.

[Phredd3]

I've heard several variations of, "We just had bad luck from three-point range," but I think Boeheim has this right: It was expected luck against that defense. Because their defense is so good, I thought we chucked them just a little faster and from just a little deeper than we usually do and are comfortable with. As a result, they were just a little less accurate than they usually would be. Hopefully, against a lesser defense, we will be more in rhythm and shoot with more comfort and confidence. But I don't see anything "unlucky" about those misses, and the sheet number of them still represent some bad decision-making in the teeth of an elite-level defense. Our strength was and is down low, and we didn't really play to that in the second half. That's our fault, not just bad luck.

[Kedsy]

I've heard several variations of, "We just had bad luck from three-point range," but I think Boeheim has this right: It was expected luck against that defense. Because their defense is so good, I thought we chucked them just a little faster and from just a little deeper than we usually do and are comfortable with. As a result, they were just a little less accurate than they usually would be. Hopefully, against a lesser defense, we will be more in rhythm and shoot with more comfort and confidence. But I don't see anything "unlucky" about those misses, and the sheet number of them still represent some bad decision-making in the teeth of an elite-level defense. Our strength was and is down low, and we didn't really play to that in the second half. That's our fault, not just bad luck.

As many have pointed out, our offense last night was very effective, even with the missed three-pointers. I don't know why some people seem adamant about casting blame for something that was actually pretty darn good.

[Phredd3]

As many have pointed out, our offense last night was very effective, even with the missed three-pointers. I don't know why some people seem adamant about casting blame for something that was actually pretty darn good.
Pretty darn good, but could have been even better - and which may need to be better against the better team we will face tomorrow evening.

[tux]

I've heard several variations of, "We just had bad luck from three-point range," but I think Boeheim has this right: It was expected luck against that defense. Because their defense is so good, I thought we chucked them just a little faster and from just a little deeper than we usually do and are comfortable with. As a result, they were just a little less accurate than they usually would be. Hopefully, against a lesser defense, we will be more in rhythm and shoot with more comfort and confidence. But I don't see anything "unlucky" about those misses, and the sheet number of them still represent some bad decision-making in the teeth of an elite-level defense. Our strength was and is down low, and we didn't really play to that in the second half. That's our fault, not just bad luck.

I think one thing this team has tended to do is go away from what's working when they get right on the cusp of putting the game away. Grayson had 3 (I think) straight possessions where he missed pretty long 3 pointers when we were up almost double digits. Duval also has a tendency to make aggressive decisions in those situations. It looks like we're about to coast, and then we have a series of empty possessions. Although, I admit I'm much less critical when those long shots drop and we do indeed pull away.

[uh_no]

I've heard several variations of, "We just had bad luck from three-point range," but I think Boeheim has this right: It was expected luck against that defense. Because their defense is so good, I thought we chucked them just a little faster and from just a little deeper than we usually do and are comfortable with. As a result, they were just a little less accurate than they usually would be. Hopefully, against a lesser defense, we will be more in rhythm and shoot with more comfort and confidence. But I don't see anything "unlucky" about those misses, and the sheet number of them still represent some bad decision-making in the teeth of an elite-level defense. Our strength was and is down low, and we didn't really play to that in the second half. That's our fault, not just bad luck.

I agree with MOST of what you say. That is why we do adjust for defenses when evaluating our offense...because we do expect to have to take slightly harder shots and such.

However, I disagree that most of those shots were poor decisions. Many of them were slightly further away than you'd want, as you point out, but we would still expect to hit those at a clip slightly higher than we did. K effectively said as much in his presser.

As others have pointed out, the best outcome of last night was the offense could have been even better.

[CDu]

You can't use KP's number for Syracuse's defense, and then arbitrarily select an average against which to normalize, and then compare back against KP numbers. That's not how normalization works. If you were able to select the average any way you chose, you would be able to come up with any number you wanted as your adjusted efficiency.

Adjustment only works if all the numbers come from the same "system." You can't use KP for some of it and some other scale for the other half.

Okay fine. My point still stands. Our defense last night was fine. It was a top-30 defense for 37 minutes, and then was hampered by a fluky last 3 minutes. I am not at all concerned about our defense. At all.

[ice-9]

Were my eyes playing tricks on me or did Duke have two possessions last night where they didn't play 2-3 zone (or 4-1 zone as the announcers called it)?

I was complaining continuously about this in the in-game thread. Posted four times about it.

We were over-respecting Syracuse's ability to shoot 3s and our zone was over-extended to the perimeter. Many times, 4 guys were literally standing around the 3-point line.

When Syracuse slipped a man to the free throw area and passed to him, they effectively had a 2-on-1 vs. our lone big in the post. That's how they got the easy floaters, dunks and alley-oops. Carter is good but we can't expect him to perform miracles.

Syracuse executed those plays so well and so quickly that our guys were too slow to adjust. I get that we want to prevent the 3-point shot but when they make that play, Bagley or Trent (usually Bagley) needs to sag in and provide support to Carter.

Thankfully we finally adjusted and eventually stopped those easy baskets. The Syracuse guy in the middle was forced to pass out to the perimeter again.

Overall we defended well enough, thanks largely to the turnovers we generated, but it was aggravating to see Syracuse score so easily when our zone was over-extended and we were slow to react when they took advantage.

Credit goes to Boheim for knowing how to exploit cracks in the zone.

Kansas will no doubt see the tape and learn. Hopefully they can't execute as well as Syracuse did, or that we will adjust, because unlike Syracuse, Kansas can shoot lights out.

[cato]

As SCMatt said, if there’s something to be disappointed about it’s that we allowed Syracuse to dictate pace and that we were forced to play their style of game rather than the other way around.

Wait, did we? It seemed to me that Duke played at the pace it wanted to play.

[TruBlu]

One way that Syracuse dictated pace was that after a made Syracuse made basket, one of their players would grab the ball out of the net, and set it down on the court away from the baseline. This caused a delay in us being able to inbound the ball, and allowed them to set up their defense. I did not see the refs give them any warning, but isn’t this considered a delay of game?

[Utley]

I was complaining continuously about this in the in-game thread. Posted four times about it.

We were over-respecting Syracuse's ability to shoot 3s and our zone was over-extended to the perimeter. Many times, 4 guys were literally standing around the 3-point line.

When Syracuse slipped a man to the free throw area and passed to him, they effectively had a 2-on-1 vs. our lone big in the post. That's how they got the easy floaters, dunks and alley-oops. Carter is good but we can't expect him to perform miracles.

Syracuse executed those plays so well and so quickly that our guys were too slow to adjust. I get that we want to prevent the 3-point shot but when they make that play, Bagley or Trent (usually Bagley) needs to sag in and provide support to Carter.

Thankfully we finally adjusted and eventually stopped those easy baskets. The Syracuse guy in the middle was forced to pass out to the perimeter again.

Overall we defended well enough, thanks largely to the turnovers we generated, but it was aggravating to see Syracuse score so easily when our zone was over-extended and we were slow to react when they took advantage.

Credit goes to Boheim for knowing how to exploit cracks in the zone.

Kansas will no doubt see the tape and learn. Hopefully they can't execute as well as Syracuse did, or that we will adjust, because unlike Syracuse, Kansas can shoot lights out.

I was wondering about the 4-1 look myself. I attributed it to Bagley being out of position but would love more expert opinions as to whether this look was intentional or not.

[devildeac]

One way that Syracuse dictated pace was that after a made Syracuse made basket, one of their players would grab the ball out of the net, and set it down on the court away from the baseline. This caused a delay in us being able to inbound the ball, and allowed them to set up their defense. I did not see the refs give them any warning, but isn’t this considered a delay of game?

Only if Laettner does it. (Yea, I'm going back quite a few years here.)

[ice-9]

I was wondering about the 4-1 look myself. I attributed it to Bagley being out of position but would love more expert opinions as to whether this look was intentional or not.

Definitely not an expert but it was clearly intentional, as part of the 2-3 but where the wings extend further out to prevent the 3-point shot. As long as those wings react quickly and sag in when appropriate it should in theory be OK.

I expect to see more of the "4-1 look" (i.e. an extended 2-3) more against Villanova and their four perimeter players.

[Devilwin]

I agree with most of what's been posted here about our offensive efficiency in the Syracuse game. But Kansas is a different animal. I have a feeling if our three point shooting is that bad against them, we may be coming home. Remember this..
Someone once said " There are lies, damn lies, and statistics".

[Saratoga2]

Definitely not an expert but it was clearly intentional, as part of the 2-3 but where the wings extend further out to prevent the 3-point shot. As long as those wings react quickly and sag in when appropriate it should in theory be OK.

I expect to see more of the "4-1 look" (i.e. an extended 2-3) more against Villanova and their four perimeter players.

Actually, it was Grayson who saqged in on at least two plays near the end of the game, forced the pass out and recovered to the perimeter. His awareness was hat prevented more easy scores by Syracuse inside.

[BandAlum83]

This is correct. It wasn't an ugly suit; it was an ugly sport coat.

8226

I, for one, appreciate and respect his fashion choices. The game before, he was also looking very natty in a blue patterned sport coat.

[ice-9]

Actually, it was Grayson who saqged in on at least two plays near the end of the game, forced the pass out and recovered to the perimeter. His awareness was hat prevented more easy scores by Syracuse inside.

He didn't shoot well but otherwise had a good game.

[BandAlum83]

I agree with MOST of what you say. That is why we do adjust for defenses when evaluating our offense...because we do expect to have to take slightly harder shots and such.

However, I disagree that most of those shots were poor decisions. Many of them were slightly further away than you'd want, as you point out, but we would still expect to hit those at a clip slightly higher than we did. K effectively said as much in his presser.

As others have pointed out, the best outcome of last night was the offense could have been even better.

ummmmmm...The best outcome of last night was the W. Why do we need to over analyze? And why do so many assume this performance predicts future performance? The game is about matchups, or so they say. Kansas is a completely different matchup.

To say any individual or the team needs to do x,y or z better, is moot. The different matchup will result in some things being done better and some worse. That's why coaches come up with game plans instead of just saying, "Do better! Make better decisions!"

I, for one, believe K and the staff will come up with a game plan that will put the team and players in the best position to be successful.

[uh_no]

I, for one, believe K and the staff will come up with a game plan that will put the team and players in the best position to be successful.

and you think the rest of us don't?

you're strongly hinting at a false dichotomy....one can look critically at the Syracuse game without necessarily implying it means anything for the kansas game.....which several, including myself, have explicitly done.

[BandAlum83]

and you think the rest of us don't?

you're strongly hinting at a false dichotomy...one can look critically at the Syracuse game without necessarily implying it means anything for the kansas game...which several, including myself, have explicitly done.

I wasn't calling anyone out by name. I don't really pay attention or remember who said what. What I do remember is reading a bunch of posts along the lines of "if we don't do better at X, we will lose against Kansas"

[construe]

As Trent went to the line, did you hear the announcers say that Trent shot 31 for 32 during the season in the last 5 minutes of a game? Now 33 for 34. A pretty incredible stat for a freshman.

Late in replying to this, but one of my favorite moments in Friday's game was when Trent was about to take the 2nd of his final FTs at the end there, and replied to someone (off camera) with: "I got this" and a little nod of his head. Ice cold killer. Let's hope he's our Tyus again this afternoon!