MOTM: Duke v. Syracuse (Mar 24, 2018)

[JBDuke]

Who was Duke's Man of the Match in their Sweet 16 win over Syracuse tonight?

[IrishDevil]

I don't see where I can vote for Nolan's jacket

[flyingdutchdevil]

I don't see where I can vote for Nolan's jacket

This thread is man of the match. Not man who nearly blinded me with his eccentric fashion sense.

[weezie]

The freshmen hung it tight. Well done youngsters.

[duke4ever19]

I went with Mr. Trent for the clutch free-throws. A miss on the front end there could have been very costly.

Bagley was fantastic, but I'm going to go with the clutch shooting at the line.

[MrPoon]

Hard choice, Trent or Carter for me, Took Carter for his consistency and FT shooting throughout.
That or Bolden’s lip

[jv001]

Grayson for his 15 points, 2 steals and 8 assists/1 turnover. He is the steading influence in the Duke zone. GoDuke!

[Saratoga2]

Several players had good games but I thought Grayson provided the steady influence to keep us from panicing when things didn't go right. I thought Trevon didn't help him all that much so he had a more difficult time to keep things going than when Trevon is contributing.

[devildeac]

I went with the dude who hit the final FTs after the ref tried to ice him :mad:.

[SCMatt33]

I really wanted to give it to Trent for the free throws and that late runner, but he and Allen settled for so many nba threes before that and it was a big part of why we needed them to begin with, so I just couldn't vote for him. Bagley was such a load, especially in the second half finally attacking the glass, and while not late, he went 6-8 himself from the line, which given his struggles, is really good and we needed all of them.

[Utley]

Teen for coming up big when it mattered most. I can’t go Grayson after short arm8ng that free throw. I thought Carter was more aggressive than Bagley

[kAzE]

Wow that's some balanced voting! Grayson did a nice job of handling the ball all game, but I wish he could have knocked down a few more of those wide open 3s to give us a bit more of a lead, and the brick on the 1-and-1 almost gave me a heart attack.

I thought Wendell's physicality and rebounding gave us the edge we needed to overcome that extremely tough defense, and he kept us ahead all game with his free throw shooting, so he gets my vote for this game.

[DukeBlue666s]

Don’t think I’ve EVER seen the voting so divided!

[brlftz]

some good cases on here. point well taken that we didn't shoot great from 3 and Bagley and Carter kept us in it, but DAMN if Trent didn't look inspiring stepping up to the line for those last free throws. And the runner in the lane that he hit prior to that was the shot of the year.

SO FAR

[Bob Green]

Wendell Carter earns my vote with his 14 points and 12 rebounds. At the half, Coach K stated we built a seven points lead due to defensive rebounds and getting out in transition before the Syracuse zone could get set. Wendell Carter was the man on the glass with eight defensive rebounds.

[OldPhiKap]

While not MOTM, someone needs to add — how about that spark O’C gave at the end of the first half? Reserve MOTM points for him. Although Bolden and Javin were both very good when they were in too.

Total team win.

[JNort]

I went with WC for his steady game throughout. Allen and Trent frustrated me with some of those 3s, Bagley had trouble getting it going and was underwhelming on the glass for much of the game it seemed.


Also I know he hasn't gotten a vote but props to Duval. I know this isn't his type of game since he struggles shooting but, I loved that after seeing everyone else just standing around and passing along the perimeter Duval would burst into the lane making the zone collapse. That helped more than stats can probably show.

[Papa John]

Any one of Allen, Bagley, Trent, or Carter is a solid pick. I also voted Carter because I thought he had the most consistent game tonight, but was tempted to choose Allen for his level-headed play on an off shooting night. He’s really emerged as a leader at the right time.

I also think Duval was getting too much unearned criticism on the post game thread. He actually played a pretty well controlled game, not really pressing too much into bad situations. I thought a couple of his TOS were more on teammates for not being on the same page (recall one first half play he drove the lane, drew the wing defender, and whipped it out to Trent for an open trey, but Trent left his spot and the ball sailed OB... I thought that one was on Trent, not Duval). Also, as someone else on the PG thread noted, Duval has good end game awareness to get the ball to a better FT shooter.

[OldPhiKap]

I also think Duval was getting too much unearned criticism on the post game thread.

Welcome to this season. Wholly agree. Duval is at his best in the open floor, something that just doesn’t happen against Syracuse often.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Four worthy players to vote for, which is why we won! Ultimately I chose Bagley here, and Allen on the main page’s poll. LGD GTHc! 9F!

[Papa John]

Welcome to this season. Wholly agree. Duval is at his best in the open floor, something that just doesn’t happen against Syracuse often.

True, and to his credit I think he recognized that and didn’t force the issue too much last night. A sign of growth and maturity, which he has also done quite a bit of toward the end of this season. I wish he’d stay another year, but I fear he’s been making a solid case for being a first round pick.

[Clay Feet POF]

GA= Glue.

[fan345678]

Glad to see this thread include some recognition of Duval's work! I thought he was very important for us last night, always prodding and forcing Syracuse to move, work, and think on D. Tre played a big part in their bigs' early foul trouble by getting them out of position and getting the ball to our bigs. His assist numbers were down because our big guys were getting fouled and Grayson and Gary were missing shots. If we had made a few more threes, we would be singing Duval's praises for collapsing the top of the zone and getting kick-outs to our shooters. A couple of Grayson's assists were due to Duval getting the ball up the court fast in transition after a steal.

Of Duval's three turnovers, one was a lob that Wendell thought was a shot, and another was a drive-and-kick where Tre zigged and Gary zagged. Even though Tre doesn't have the length of the guards at the top of Syracuse's zone (or of AOC), he is quick enough to get in position to defend a shot and make them think twice about trying to penetrate. Sure, he was 0-3 from three, but all three were good open shots after we'd moved the ball around (i.e.- not rash or rushed).

I was actually very encouraged by Duval's play last night.

[LasVegas]

I went with carter. I just love what he brings to the team. A guy who plays BIG and STRONG. He showed a ton of heart last night on some of these boards and hit some nice mid range jumpers.

I’m also becoming impressed with Bolden as well. He has given some great minutes the last few weeks. I really hope he stays and puts in the work because I think next year could be a breakout year for him.