MBB: Duke 84, EMU 46 Post-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Put your post-game thoughts here.

[OldPhiKap]

Talk about a blue wave. Crimey.

[PackMan97]

Eastern Michigan nearly won the second half...Duke needs to bring out their inner NC State and learn how to really put away these cupcakes ;)

;)

[pfrduke]

Only disappointment is that Buckmire and Besser couldn't get their shots to fall. Those two teams were just not playing the same level of basketball.

[Duke76]

Talk about a blue wave. Crimey.

think I'll stay up for sports center to see how they discuss our win with all the dunks...had to be close to a record....but how soon will a Cam vigil get started....0 minutes in the second half???
thought I saw him come down gingerly on ankle making a lob pass to Zion

[JetpackJesus]

Duke has played three games, and I believe Zion has fewer than 10 missed shots. That's pretty remarkable.

[Troublemaker]

Duke freshmen can't play defense.

[Brockt10]

Felt bad for EMU. Good news is we know our 2nd/3rd string can compete with a 15 or 16 seed in the tourney.

[DavidBenAkiva]

Any update on Cam Reddish? He didn't play the 2nd half. Was it precautionary?

[Dub]

Loved the rotations as the game was a blow out from early on. Enjoy this folks because this team is special. You probably won’t see a team this entertaining in a long time. The biggest surprise to me is how well we protect the ball being so young. We pass the ball so crisply and we finish at the rim consistently.

If I had to knit pick it’ll be FTs. RJ is pretty mediocre from the line so far. Hope he improves. Also hope Cam was held out as a precaution. Otherwise another dominant effort by the good guys. On to Maui...

[Brockt10]

Any update on Cam Reddish? He didn't play the 2nd half. Was it precautionary?

Mercifully

[curtis325]

Eastern Michigan nearly won the second half...Duke needs to bring out their inner NC State and learn how to really put away these cupcakes ;)

;)

Duke 3; cupcakes 0.

[Indoor66]

Loved the rotations as the game was a blow out from early on. Enjoy this folks because this team is special. You probably won’t see a team this entertaining in a long time. The biggest surprise to me is how well we protect the ball being so young. We pass the ball so crisply and we finish at the rim consistently.

If I had to knit pick it’ll be FTs. RJ is pretty mediocre from the line so far. Hope he improves. Also hope Cam was held out as a precaution. Otherwise another dominant effort by the good guys. On to Maui...

RJ also left himself open to some teaching about forcing long passes vs making a solid pass.

[MChambers]

I can’t remember seeing a beat down like that since 82-50 in 2010.

Great defense, especially the full court press. I thought Javin and Marques both were very good, even on offense. Nice to see White hit some threes. I’m not worried about teams zoning Duke, at least with a Syracuse type zone, after tonight.

FT shooting is an issue, but I expect the freshman will improve.

[Channing]

https://247sports.com/college/duke/Article/duke-basketball-dominates-eastern-michigan-124744440/

"The only interesting thing to come out of tonight's game was Cam Reddish not starting the second half. The 6'8" freshman was limping slightly in huddles on the bench, but there has been no official indication as to whether or not he's injured, and if he is the severity of it."

[Saratoga2]

Not many turnovers but I did think the guys did get a little wild with their passing, trying to do too much. On the floor, I have trouble differentiating Reddish and Barrett so hard to say who is making those passes but it seemed like one. The other nitpicking is that AOC handles the ball like a hot potato. He can't wait to give it up. The kid is smooth and can score in many ways but seems not to want to explore his offensive potential.

Love this team and love the idea of having White and AOC available. Both can contribute. Maui should tell us a lot more. Hope Reddish is okay.

[dukelifer]

Duke was disruptive on D. They played so fast- and EMU could not keep up. Zion is such a good ball player- great instincts for the game. His dunks are demoralizing. Jones has all the tools of an elite guard except the ability to shoot and finish. He will get better but his ball handling and court vision are excellent. Barrett is going to bounce between frustrating and spectacular all year. Tonight we saw some of both and still easily got over 20. Jack was steady as usual. The biggest surprise was Goldwire- he was pesky and relentless on D. That was nice to see. Hopefully Reddish is okay- my guess is he felt a tweak and K decided it was not worth the risk. Impressive win.

[howardlander]

https://247sports.com/college/duke/Article/duke-basketball-dominates-eastern-michigan-124744440/

"The only interesting thing to come out of tonight's game was Cam Reddish not starting the second half. The 6'8" freshman was limping slightly in huddles on the bench, but there has been no official indication as to whether or not he's injured, and if he is the severity of it."

Coach K said he had a minor groin strain, was held out as a precaution and could have played if needed.

[kAzE]

Zion starred again, but the 3 juniors really came to play in this one. Jack, Marques, and Javin all had really good games. That was fun to watch.

[DukieInBrasil]

glad to see that the walk-ons got to play, although they made nary a shot.
all 13 players grabbed a rebound, and nice to see Bolden play strong.
Zion continues to be amazing, and continues to destroy the idea that RJ Barrett is better (at least at this point in their careers). His FG% is roughly double that of RJB.

[Duke76]

Coach K said he had a minor groin strain, was held out as a precaution and could have played if needed.

all time Duke dunk record will be set by this team this year, imo

[dukelifer]

glad to see that the walk-ons got to play, although they made nary a shot.
all 13 players grabbed a rebound, and nice to see Bolden play strong.
Zion continues to be amazing, and continues to destroy the idea that RJ Barrett is better (at least at this point in their careers). His FG% is roughly double that of RJB.

Zion will be a much better player at this level. Just too big and strong. Not sure about the next level- but I know who will get more buzz and highlights. Both Zion and RJ will need to improve their shooting for the NBA. In that sense, Cam may be more NBA ready.

[DukieInBrasil]

Duke was disruptive on D. They played so fast- and EMU could not keep up. Zion is such a good ball player- great instincts for the game. His dunks are demoralizing. Jones has all the tools of an elite guard except the ability to shoot and finish. He will get better but his ball handling and court vision are excellent. Barrett is going to bounce between frustrating and spectacular all year. Tonight we saw some of both and still easily got over 20. Jack was steady as usual. The biggest surprise was Goldwire- he was pesky and relentless on D. That was nice to see. Hopefully Reddish is okay- my guess is he felt a tweak and K decided it was not worth the risk. Impressive win.

i'll pick that nit, he scored exactly 20, but took 21 shots and 7 FTs to get them. That's not the sort of efficiency i'd like to see from a guy taking 21 shots.
Zion, based on %s, would have made 16 or 17 FGs, for 32+ points. We should be getting the ball to Zion more. RJ did have 6 assists, indicating that he makes high quality passes for good shots.

[subzero02]

Duke has played three games, and I believe Zion has fewer than 10 missed shots. That's pretty remarkable.

He is now 32 of 39(82+%) on the season. UNREAL!!! I think the field goal percentage award that's given at the end of the year should be renamed the Zion.

11 of 13
11 of 14
10 of 12

[dukelifer]

i'll pick that nit, he scored exactly 20, but took 21 shots and 7 FTs to get them. That's not the sort of efficiency i'd like to see from a guy taking 21 shots.
Zion, based on %s, would have made 16 or 17 FGs, for 32+ points. We should be getting the ball to Zion more. RJ did have 6 assists, indicating that he makes high quality passes for good shots.

I did not look at the box score. Yes- that is not great. His drives were fine but his outside shooting and free throw shooting were poor tonight.

[OldPhiKap]

Any update on Cam Reddish? He didn't play the 2nd half. Was it precautionary?

K said in press conference that it was a mild groin injury. He could have played under other circumstances but given the score they just held him out. Will be fine for Hawaii.

[Devilwin]

Too many missed free throws marred an otherwise great performance.

[Skydog]

i'll pick that nit, he scored exactly 20, but took 21 shots and 7 FTs to get them. That's not the sort of efficiency i'd like to see from a guy taking 21 shots.
Zion, based on %s, would have made 16 or 17 FGs, for 32+ points. We should be getting the ball to Zion more. RJ did have 6 assists, indicating that he makes high quality passes for good shots.

Zion wouldn't have made 16/17 of 21 if he had taken shots from where RJ did. RJ helps us space the floor while Zion dominates under the basket. Different tasks, both essential.
Yes RJ didn't have his best shooting tonight but it was a tiny sample and it wasn't terrible either (OE=1.07). For the first 3 games - still a very small sample - he's is 59% ft, 52% from 2 and 30% from 3. Obv needs to improve at both lines but I expect he will. RJ also assists on 25% of his possessions (Tre assists 29% for comparison) so he is doing a lot to improve everyone else's fg%. Especially Zion's since a lot of his dunks come off RJ helpers.

[devildeac]

He is now 32 of 39(82+%) on the season. UNREAL!!! I think the field goal percentage award that's given at the end of the year should be renamed the Zion.

11 of 13
11 of 14
10 of 12

This is quite encouraging/promising and bodes well for him not shooting 11/40 in the 2nd cheats game as someone else extrapolated earlier this week. Of course, he may not get those 45 rebounds and/or 30 blocked shots either :rolleyes:.

[camion]

He is now 32 of 39(82+%) on the season. UNREAL!!! I think the field goal percentage award that's given at the end of the year should be renamed the Zion.

11 of 13
11 of 14
10 of 12

A large number of his shots were already in the goal when he released them, so high percentage shots. Still I’m impressed with Zion’s non-dunk shots around the goal. He seems to have a soft touch and few defenders (mere mortals) are strong enough to bother his delivery.

[uh_no]

our KP defense went form 9->5 in one go. unsurprising given our and UK's performances today. Our first half defense was a 33 efficiency, which I must imagine must be among the best defensive performances in a half ever by any team.

[Kedsy]

I can’t remember seeing a beat down like that since 82-50 in 2010.

Funny. I can't remember seeing a beat down like that since two games ago against Kentucky.


ADVANCED STATS

Possessions: 72.52 (our slowest game of the year, including the exhibitions, but we were playing the 312th slowest team in the nation, so achieving an average pace is probably pretty good)

OFFENSE

oRtg: 1.16 (Our worst offensive performance of the year, but considering we emptied the bench midway through the first half, I'm not worried)
eFG%: 50.0% (again worst of the year, with the same caveats)
3pt%: 20.8% (most of the downside came from this stat; though I guess it's a comfort we can shoot this badly and still crush a decent team (KenPom #131, after this game))
2pt%: 58.5% (same as we did against UK)
%threes: 31.2% (probably in the sweet spot for number of threes attempted)
FT rate: 20.8% (better than we did against Army, but still way too low)
OR%: 52.3% (an awesome offensive rebounding performance, after two lousy ones against UK and Army)
TO%: 15.2% (about the same as we did against Army; as I said then, if this is the norm it's pretty good (better than 2015, for example))
a/to: 2.1:1 (we've been 2:1 or better in every game that Tre has played in)
%assisted: 63.9% (2nd straight game over 60%)
fast break pts: 29 fb pts for 34.5% (very, very strong)

DEFENSE

dRtg: 0.63 (a wow number, even against this level of competition)
eFG%: 33.1% (ditto)
3pt%: 16.7% (ditto again)
2pt%: 36.0% (again ditto, though not quite as good as we did here against Army)
%threes: 26.5% (very good, even better since they didn't hit them)
FT rate: 4.4% (and wow again; our best number of the season so far)
DR%: 67.3% (decent, not great)
TO%: 26.2% (fabulous; more of this, please)
a/to: 0.47:1 (also fabulous)
%assisted: 42.9% (pretty nice)
fast break pts: 4 fb pts for 8.7% (fewest fb points by pct, including the exhibitions)
block%: 16.2%; 22.0% of 2-point shots (not as good as against Army, but still pretty darn good)


This game was out of hand so early that these numbers don't tell us much. Still nice to see, though.

[DukieInBrasil]

Zion wouldn't have made 16/17 of 21 if he had taken shots from where RJ did. RJ helps us space the floor while Zion dominates under the basket. Different tasks, both essential.
Yes RJ didn't have his best shooting tonight but it was a tiny sample and it wasn't terrible either (OE=1.07). For the first 3 games - still a very small sample - he's is 59% ft, 52% from 2 and 30% from 3. Obv needs to improve at both lines but I expect he will. RJ also assists on 25% of his possessions (Tre assists 29% for comparison) so he is doing a lot to improve everyone else's fg%. Especially Zion's since a lot of his dunks come off RJ helpers.

yep, you're right, shot selection is important. One of the reasons Zion's shot selection can be so good is b/c guys like RJ get him the ball in good places to score, as i pointed out. However, my point is that, with Zion's insanely great FG%, the team should work harder to get him the 21 shots, instead of RJ. You might be right that he wouldn't make 16 or 17 out of 21, but he made 2 more FGs on 9 fewer attempts than RJ, so i'd settle for 13 - 15 FGs rather than 8.

[TKG]

Perimeter shooting
Free Throws
Lazy Passes


Now, all of you, get off my lawn!

[PackMan97]

Duke 3; cupcakes 0.

That may. Be true but NC State is feasting on cupcakes at a historic pace this season. We have become the first team in THE HISTORY OF THE ACC to win each of our first three games by 46 points or more.

Duke clearly has some catching up to do. After all, you only won your first game by 34 points and are only beating teams by an average of 31 points.

You should definitely be thankful you only have to play NC State once this season. ;)



if only life really worked like this

[tteettimes]

I just hope that ONCE isn’t one time too many
I’ve seen too many movies in my life time

[UrinalCake]

K said in press conference that it was a mild groin injury. He could have played under other circumstances but given the score they just held him out. Will be fine for Hawaii.


https://youtu.be/vg9ruee3Vos

[Acymetric]

all time Duke dunk record will be set by this team this year, imo

Did we ever figure out the all-time NCAA record when we went through this last year?

[Messimorgan17]

Duke was disruptive on D. They played so fast- and EMU could not keep up. Zion is such a good ball player- great instincts for the game. His dunks are demoralizing. Jones has all the tools of an elite guard except the ability to shoot and finish. He will get better but his ball handling and court vision are excellent. Barrett is going to bounce between frustrating and spectacular all year. Tonight we saw some of both and still easily got over 20. Jack was steady as usual. The biggest surprise was Goldwire- he was pesky and relentless on D. That was nice to see. Hopefully Reddish is okay- my guess is he felt a tweak and K decided it was not worth the risk. Impressive win.

So far, what I love about this team is that they are committed to man-to-man defense like the Coach K teams of old. Unlike last year, every single player is working on D and most importantly diving for loose balls. It is very refreshing to see five star One and dones working so hard on D. Perhaps our traditional culture is somehow returning with this group and it will re-set the tone for the remaining years of Coach K‘s reign. It’s very exciting to see.

[dukelifer]

That may. Be true but NC State is feasting on cupcakes at a historic pace this season. We have become the first team in THE HISTORY OF THE ACC to win each of our first three games by 46 points or more.

Duke clearly has some catching up to do. After all, you only won your first game by 34 points and are only beating teams by an average of 31 points.

You should definitely be thankful you only have to play NC State once this season. ;)



if only life really worked like this

As long as you do it to UNC twice this season- then we are happy.

[kAzE]

we were playing the 312th slowest team in the nation, so achieving an average pace is probably pretty good)


If a team is ranked 312th in slowness, wouldn't that make them a really fast team? :)

[Kedsy]

If a team is ranked 312th in slowness, wouldn't that make them a really fast team? :)

Eek. I think you got me.

[BlueDevilCorvette!]

Jack White don't mind sticking his nose in for a rebound, or diving for a loose ball. If open, he will take the shot but rarely takes a bad shot at all. He really does so many great things for this Duke team and overall, has a nice feel for the game. I'm glad he is a captain because he surely leads by example!

[DukieInBrasil]

Just wanted to point out trivia:
Jack White has hit more 3s this year so far (5) than he hit in his career prior (3), and has now scored more points this year (25) than either of his 1st 2 (22, 21) seasons at Duke.
He's averaging 25+ mpg and seems to have firmly entrenched himself in the top 6 of the rotation. It's a pretty dramatic growth in his role on the team.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Just wanted to point out trivia:
Jack White has hit more 3s this year so far (5) than he hit in his career prior (3), and has now scored more points this year (25) than either of his 1st 2 (22, 21) seasons at Duke.
He's averaging 25+ mpg and seems to have firmly entrenched himself in the top 6 of the rotation. It's a pretty dramatic growth in his role on the team.

He's the most fundamentally sound and strong rebounder Duke has, and as we know, his hops are pretty darn good too. He's the best practice 3 point shooter on the team apparently - and if he gets good game minutes, that will probably translate to him becoming a threat from 3. I was glad to see a few go down for him last night. We need him confident for conference games, tougher games, closer games.

[Kedsy]

He's the most fundamentally sound and strong rebounder Duke has...

I don't know how to measure "most fundamentally sound and strong rebounder" but I do know that, using rebounding percentage as an objective measure, Jack White has been our third-best defensive rebounder and our fourth-best offensive rebounder this season:

---------------------
DR% (at least 10mpg)
---------------------
Javin DeLaurier: 23.1%
Zion Williamson: 21.9%
Jack White: 15.9%
Jordan Goldwire: 13.7%
Cam Reddish: 11.8%
RJ Barrett: 11.7%
Alex O'Connell: 10.4%
Tre Jones: 8.3%
Marques Bolden: 7.4%

---------------------
OR% (at least 10mpg)
---------------------
Zion Williamson: 16.8%
Javin DeLaurier: 10.4%
Marques Bolden: 10.0%
Jack White: 8.9%
Alex O'Connell: 4.7%
Cam Reddish: 4.4%
Tre Jones: 3.5%
Jordan Goldwire: 3.1%
RJ Barrett: 2.2%

Neals384 excellent plus/minus thread shows that (at least in the first two games) Jack has spent about half his time at PF and half at SF. So maybe he doesn't have quite the opportunity to rebound as the guys who split time at C/PF, but I'm not sure he would top Zion's or Javin's rebound numbers even if he played "big" 100% of the time. I'm also dubious that we should discount Zion's and Javin's superior athleticism as making them less fundamentally sound and/or strong in their rebounding efforts.

Frankly, looking at Jordan Goldwire's defensive rebounding numbers while playing as a 6'2" PG, we might be seeing more fundamental soundness there (or it might be just the luck of the long rebound, hard to say after only three games). The one thing I can say for sure is Marques Bolden needs to beef up his defensive rebounding if we want to continue our dominance when the competition gets better; 7.4% is astonishingly bad for a 7-footer. Last season his DR% was 17.8%, so hopefully it's just an early-season blip.

[jv001]

He's the most fundamentally sound and strong rebounder Duke has, and as we know, his hops are pretty darn good too. He's the best practice 3 point shooter on the team apparently - and if he gets good game minutes, that will probably translate to him becoming a threat from 3. I was glad to see a few go down for him last night. We need him confident for conference games, tougher games, closer games.

I think you're correct about Jack being fundamentally sound rebounding the bb. I would even go as far to say he might be the most fundamentally sound player on the squad. He may not be the most athletic(but he's athletic), he might not be the best shooter(jury still out) and he may not be the quickest player(not slow either) but he sure knows the Duke system(offense and defense). So far he's gotten my attention and it looks like he's gotten Coach K's as well. GoDuke!

[jimsumner]

For me, the highlight of White's game against EMU was the play where he put the ball on the floor from about 25 feet out and finished with a dunk. His rebounding and 3-point shooting are and will continue to be assets to this team. But he's never been especially confident in his ability to create off the dribble. If he can continue to refine that, he becomes more dangerous and Duke becomes even harder to defend.

[kAzE]

---------------------
DR% (at least 10mpg)
---------------------
Javin DeLaurier: 23.1%
Zion Williamson: 21.9%
Jack White: 15.9%
Jordan Goldwire: 13.7%
Cam Reddish: 11.8%
RJ Barrett: 11.7%
Alex O'Connell: 10.4%
Tre Jones: 8.3%
Marques Bolden: 7.4%

Ugh . . . maybe it's because Marques is challenging an inordinate number of shots (which would naturally put him out of position for defensive rebounds), but that number needs to come up.

Marques has played well thus far this year, but his lack of rebounding ability for a guy with his size and length has always been a mystery to me.