MBB: Duke @ Florida St (Sat, Jan 12th, 2pm ET, ESPN) Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

[Troublemaker]

Please put your thoughts about this game in this thread.

[Troublemaker]

Because Wake is so bad, many will consider this to be our first true *true* road test.

[flyingdutchdevil]

...when I was in college, would wake up at 11am, roll over to Cameron, and have a great start to the weekend.

Now, sigh...is this what getting old feels like?

[brevity]

I used to love Saturday day games...

...when I was in college, would wake up at 11am, roll over to Cameron, and have a great start to the weekend.

Now, sigh...is this what getting old feels like?

Do you mean waking up at 11am, rolling over to Cameron, finding it empty, and realizing the game is in Tallahassee? I don't understand your question.

[devildeac]

Guessing this will be f$u's "bowl" game :rolleyes:.

I'd like to hear from some folks who have attended games there comment on the loudness and "quality" of the crowd (sobriety, too, I guess :rolleyes:) and other observations they've had over the last decade or so. From my TV-watching experience, not much has been favorable:mad:.

[CameronDuke]

I thought Duke had struggled majorly on the road in Tallahassee at FSU but checked and Duke is actually 8-5 in Tallahassee since the 2000-2001 season. It is a tough place to play and like virtually all venues Duke travels to in the conference, it is loud and hostile. I watched the first half of the FSU at UVA game last weekend and didn't come away all that impressed with FSU. They are long and have some big guards and lanky forwards/centers. I would expect Duke to be a 9-11 point favorite on the road. If Tre keeps pressuring the ball and dishing out lots of assists and Jack/Bolden/DeLaurier clean up the glass along with normal nights from RJ and Zion, Duke should win this one. Life on the road in the ACC is tough but from what I've seen out of Duke's defense thus far, I think we will not only be in this one but win somewhat comfortably.

Let's Go Duke!

[fuse]

A big test for the team. I look forward to a victorious outcome.

[CDu]

FSU has historically been a difficult-ish opponent for us when we go to Tallahassee. Even when they aren't great, they sometimes nip us there. It's not an easy place to play. The lighting is bad, the crowd isn't great, it's just a bad combination. So, yeah, this one should be a step up from Wake.

As for the Noles this year, they are again a solid defensive squad and okay-ish offensive squad. They are, as usual, athletic and physical, with good size on the perimeter. They force a lot of turnovers and block some shots, and generally make like annoying for the opposition's offense. They also foul a lot, which comes with their physical style of play. On offense, they draw fouls pretty well, and make a decent percentage of FTs. They are also an elite offensive rebounding team, and that's what keeps them afloat. They don't really do anything else particularly well offensively, including being a terrible shooting team and a terrible passing team. They are also turnover prone, which plays into our hands a bit (hopefully).

It's likely to be a slugfest, as it usually is with FSU, and especially so in Tallahassee. They'll throw a TON of bodies at us, some skilled, many not. Hope we're ready for it.

Centers: We're finally starting to run out of freakish 7-footers at FSU. However, we aren't quite there yet. Christ Koumadje (7'4", 270lb senior from Chad) is the starting center. Koumadje has always been a spindly player. But over his 4 years at FSU, he's put on 45 lbs such that he's now... less spindly. As you might expect, Koumadje is a great shotblocker. He's also gotten to be a great rebounder, on both ends of the floor. He has, however, ZERO offensive skills other than catching rebounds and dunking. He's not even all that high-percentage a scorer despite basically just attempting shots at the rim. Koumadje doesn't play a ton of minutes, but he does make an impact when he's in there. Behind Koumadje, the Noles bring sort of the opposite end of the spectrum in Raiquan Gray (6'8", 260lb freshman). Gray is a short-ish, stocky, interior player with sort of the opposite skill set to Koumadje. He's a good passer and decent shooter, but not very quick/athletic.

Forwards: Phil Cofer (6'8", 230lb fifth-year senior) is the starting PF. Cofer missed several games early in the season, and is just now rounding into form. He's a prototypical stretch-big: great 3pt shooter at his size. He was an All-ACC caliber player last year, but is still showing some rust as we get into conference play. Still, he's a really dangerous weapon for them. Alongside Cofer in the starting lineup is Terance Mann (6'7", 215lb senior). No, he's not the fictional writer from the Field of Dreams movie. Mann is kind of like Justise Winslow in style. He's a rugged, versatile player, capable of guarding 1-to-4, and not being a liability against many 5s either. He's a terrific rebounder and has improved his shooting over the years as well. He's the leader of this team, and a terrific player. The heart and soul of the Noles. Behind (and often alongside) those two is Mfiondu Kabengele (6'10", 250lb sophomore from Canada). Kabengele's major claim to fame is that he's Dikembe Mutombo's nephew. However, he's very little like his uncle in style of play. He is a strong rebounder and shotblocker somewhat like Dikembe, but Kabengele is also fairly skilled offensively and not afraid to get his shots up. The Cofer/Kabengele frontcourt pairing is a particularly interesting one offensively as it allows FSU to play 5-out at times.

Wings: Technically, you could list Mann here as well. He's the starting SF. But FSU has so many wings that I wanted to balance the list out. Aside from Mann, the other starter is MJ Walker (6'5", 215lb sophomore). Walker is an elite athlete and good 3pt shooter who hasn't quite figured out how to play the rest of the game of basketball. The former McDonald's All-American somehow manages to be an inefficient offensive player despite shooting 38% on a high volume of 3s, mainly because he takes and misses a lot of bad 2pt shots. And despite his size and athleticism, he's an awful rebounder and a poor defender overall. It's a disappointing waste of talent. Still, because he's so athletic and can shoot, he is capable of a monster night at any time because he can get his shot off against anyone. The other primary wing is PJ Savoy (6'4", 210lb senior). Savoy isn't overly athletic, but he's on the court to do one thing: shoot 3s. And he puts them up, for sure. Over 80% of his FGA at FSU have been 3s. He shoots 5 3s per 20 minutes this year, and that's substantially down from his rate in previous years. He's struggling a bit from 3 this year, but he's a 38% career shooter from deep. Leaving him open is a baaaaaaad idea. Anthony Polite (6'6", 215lb redshirt freshman from Switzerland) is next on the long list of wings. Polite missed last season with knee problems. He is a lanky player with good shooting touch, but still is working to catch up to the pace of play offensively. Finally, Devin Vassell (6'5", 170lb freshman) rounds out the wings (sort of). Vassell can shoot and provides yet another pesky defensive presence, leading the team in steal rate.

Guards: Trent Forrest (6'4", 215lb junior) is the PG. He's a steady-Eddie at the position. Nothing flashy, just a tough, physical, pass-first type of guard. Technically a combo guard, he's got a PG mindset and a SG body. He's not the steadiest of ballhandlers though, and has been turnover-prone this year. But in a half-court game, he's a solid contributor. He's also a very strong and willing defender. Behind (and sometimes alongside) Forrest is David Nichols (6'1", 185lb grad transfer from Albany). Nichols is the flashier player of the two combo guards at FSU. He's a terrific 3pt threat and not bashful about shooting. He is, however, fairly sloppy with the ball, with a team-worst turnover rate. Still, he's a nice complement stylistically to the bigger, more physical, less 3pt shooty Forrest.

FSU has a ton of depth and athleticism, and they are committed to making the game a war of attrition. I won't even venture a guess as to the outcome, because we could lose close or blow them out. Neither is really out of the realm of feasibility. TRank has us as an 8-point favorite, and that feels reasonable. As does our ~75% chance of winning. But that ~25% chance of FSU winning seems more glaring than it should be on paper.

[budwom]

^ good summary. I'll be impressed if we come away with a win, tough place for us, would not be stunned at all if we lose. Definitely a necessary step up in competition, it's what we want this time of year.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Do you mean waking up at 11am, rolling over to Cameron, finding it empty, and realizing the game is in Tallahassee? I don't understand your question.

That only happened once

[DukieInBrasil]

Hopefully Duke rolls into FSU and starts the game with more intensity and commitment to defense than they showed vs. Wake. It would be helpful if Cam doesn't turn it over a couple of times early, and it would be nice if the team could get him a dunk early as opposed to hoping he can connect on a 3 early.

[slower]

The thought of having to look at Leonard Hamilton's glaring mug for 2 hours makes bile rise in my throat. I seriously hope none of our guys gets injured in a thugfest. As you can tell, I'm not a fan of FSU AT ALL.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Hopefully Duke rolls into FSU and starts the game with more intensity and commitment to defense than they showed vs. Wake. It would be helpful if Cam doesn't turn it over a couple of times early, and it would be nice if the team could get him a dunk early as opposed to hoping he can connect on a 3 early.

I just hope Cam doesn't drive for the first 5-6 possessions. I like to idea of giving the ball to Zion in the high post for the first couple of possessions and letting him do his thing.

[Kedsy]

I thought Duke had struggled majorly on the road in Tallahassee at FSU but checked and Duke is actually 8-5 in Tallahassee since the 2000-2001 season.

With a couple exceptions, they're all hard. Of ACC teams against which we've played more than 3 games since 2000-01, FSU is the 6th hardest to play (out of 11), but only one game "behind" the hardest to play (if "hardest" can be measured by Duke's win/loss record in that venue).

DUKE ROAD GAMES, 2000-01 to 2017-18 (ranked from "hardest" to "easiest" venue)



Team W L pct
Louisville 1 2 0.333
N Dame 1 2 0.333
Syracuse 1 2 0.333
NCSU 7 6 0.538
Maryland 7 6 0.538
UNC 10 8 0.556
Miami 6 4 0.600
Va Tech 6 4 0.600
FSU 8 5 0.615
Wake 10 6 0.625
UVa 7 4 0.636
Pitt 2 1 0.667
Clemson 9 3 0.750
BC 7 2 0.778
Ga Tech 11 2 0.846

[cakerace]

To quote Miracle Max: "While you're at it, why don't you just give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it..."

Re: "I'd like to hear from some folks who have attended games there..."

Saw two Duke games in the Donald L. Tucker Center just after the turn of the century (circa '02 & '03???). I expected a win the first time, and was even more confident a year later, yet my record there as a spectator is 0-2. Was so high up in the rafters, looking straight down on the game was like having a bad "out of body" experience. Terrible lighting. Devastating place to loose as #1. [If God had meant for basketball to be played on a floor laid down on top of ice, he would have put the Indoor Stadium in the tundra.]

You've raised my blood pressure just recalling four of the worst hours of my life...

[devildeac]

To quote Miracle Max: "While you're at it, why don't you just give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it..."

Re: "I'd like to hear from some folks who have attended games there..."

Saw two Duke games in the Donald L. Tucker Center just after the turn of the century (circa '02 & '03???). I expected a win the first time, and was even more confident a year later, yet my record there as a spectator is 0-2. Was so high up in the rafters, looking straight down on the game was like having a bad "out of body" experience. Terrible lighting. Devastating place to loose as #1. [If God had meant for basketball to be played on a floor laid down on top of ice, he would have put the Indoor Stadium in the tundra.]

You've raised my blood pressure just recalling four of the worst hours of my life...

I'm sorry. I watched them on TV, too, and had similar feelings.

[OldPhiKap]

...when I was in college, would wake up at 11am, roll over to Cameron, and have a great start to the weekend.

Now, sigh...is this what getting old feels like?

No, it feels worse.

[thedukelamere]

Centers:Christ Koumadje (7'4", 270lb senior from Chad) is the starting center.

Anyone else's mind drift to the following equation?

Foreign 7 footer + Zanos =

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/WindingCalculatingGeese-size_restricted.gif

[BandAlum83]

Do you mean waking up at 11am, rolling over to Cameron, finding it empty, and realizing the game is in Tallahassee? I don't understand your question.

I plan to wake up at 10:30 - 11:00, roll to my kitchen for my morning coffee and electronic reading (DBR comes first of course), maybe making a little brunch after that (nothing too heavy - I'll be making popcorn at halftime), maybe catching a 12:00 game with about 10 minutes left in the half, and settling in for the main event. I may start it late, because I absolutely loathe commercials!

Shower and putting on of street clothes will come after 4:00, of course.

ETA: Getting older gets better for watching Duke BBall. The kids are out of the house. It used to be get up at 8:30 for some practice or game or performance or road trip...

So better for watching Duke Basketball, but I do miss coaching youth baseball, or keeping stats for lacrosse & softball, or all the things I did when the kids were younger.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Because Wake is so bad, many will consider this to be our first true *true* road test.

And we've had some nightmare experiences in that arena. The seating is very steep, and when it's full, it can get crazy. I'm betting it's jam packed full for Duke. Duke has seen that court stormed more than once.

[Kedsy]

And we've had some nightmare experiences in that arena. The seating is very steep, and when it's full, it can get crazy. I'm betting it's jam packed full for Duke. Duke has seen that court stormed more than once.

Other than BC and Georgia Tech, is there any arena in the ACC that's not difficult to win in? As can be seen from Duke's road win-loss record over 18 seasons (shown in an earlier post in this thread), the difference between the hardest place to play (based on win/loss record) and the 8th-hardest is just one (1) "standings game" (the difference between 7-6 and 7-4).

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Other than BC and Georgia Tech, is there any arena in the ACC that's not difficult to win in? As can be seen from Duke's road win-loss record over 18 seasons (shown in an earlier post in this thread), the difference between the hardest place to play (based on win/loss record) and the 8th-hardest is just one (1) "standings game" (the difference between 7-6 and 7-4).

There is no arena that is easy for Duke to win in.......for reasons discussed earlier and in other threads. But Duke's troubles in Tallahassee stretches back into the 90s as well....

[hudlow]

What's the over/under on FSU's Men's BB team average age?

:)

[ChillinDuke]

FSU has historically been a difficult-ish opponent for us when we go to Tallahassee. Even when they aren't great, they sometimes nip us there. It's not an easy place to play. The lighting is bad, the crowd isn't great, it's just a bad combination. So, yeah, this one should be a step up from Wake.

As for the Noles this year, they are again a solid defensive squad and okay-ish offensive squad. They are, as usual, athletic and physical, with good size on the perimeter. They force a lot of turnovers and block some shots, and generally make like annoying for the opposition's offense. They also foul a lot, which comes with their physical style of play. On offense, they draw fouls pretty well, and make a decent percentage of FTs. They are also an elite offensive rebounding team, and that's what keeps them afloat. They don't really do anything else particularly well offensively, including being a terrible shooting team and a terrible passing team. They are also turnover prone, which plays into our hands a bit (hopefully).

It's likely to be a slugfest, as it usually is with FSU, and especially so in Tallahassee. They'll throw a TON of bodies at us, some skilled, many not. Hope we're ready for it.

Centers: We're finally starting to run out of freakish 7-footers at FSU. However, we aren't quite there yet. Christ Koumadje (7'4", 270lb senior from Chad) is the starting center. Koumadje has always been a spindly player. But over his 4 years at FSU, he's put on 45 lbs such that he's now... less spindly. As you might expect, Koumadje is a great shotblocker. He's also gotten to be a great rebounder, on both ends of the floor. He has, however, ZERO offensive skills other than catching rebounds and dunking. He's not even all that high-percentage a scorer despite basically just attempting shots at the rim. Koumadje doesn't play a ton of minutes, but he does make an impact when he's in there. Behind Koumadje, the Noles bring sort of the opposite end of the spectrum in Raiquan Gray (6'8", 260lb freshman). Gray is a short-ish, stocky, interior player with sort of the opposite skill set to Koumadje. He's a good passer and decent shooter, but not very quick/athletic.

Forwards: Phil Cofer (6'8", 230lb fifth-year senior) is the starting PF. Cofer missed several games early in the season, and is just now rounding into form. He's a prototypical stretch-big: great 3pt shooter at his size. He was an All-ACC caliber player last year, but is still showing some rust as we get into conference play. Still, he's a really dangerous weapon for them. Alongside Cofer in the starting lineup is Terance Mann (6'7", 215lb senior). No, he's not the fictional writer from the Field of Dreams movie. Mann is kind of like Justise Winslow in style. He's a rugged, versatile player, capable of guarding 1-to-4, and not being a liability against many 5s either. He's a terrific rebounder and has improved his shooting over the years as well. He's the leader of this team, and a terrific player. The heart and soul of the Noles. Behind (and often alongside) those two is Mfiondu Kabengele (6'10", 250lb sophomore from Canada). Kabengele's major claim to fame is that he's Dikembe Mutombo's nephew. However, he's very little like his uncle in style of play. He is a strong rebounder and shotblocker somewhat like Dikembe, but Kabengele is also fairly skilled offensively and not afraid to get his shots up. The Cofer/Kabengele frontcourt pairing is a particularly interesting one offensively as it allows FSU to play 5-out at times.

Wings: Technically, you could list Mann here as well. He's the starting SF. But FSU has so many wings that I wanted to balance the list out. Aside from Mann, the other starter is MJ Walker (6'5", 215lb sophomore). Walker is an elite athlete and good 3pt shooter who hasn't quite figured out how to play the rest of the game of basketball. The former McDonald's All-American somehow manages to be an inefficient offensive player despite shooting 38% on a high volume of 3s, mainly because he takes and misses a lot of bad 2pt shots. And despite his size and athleticism, he's an awful rebounder and a poor defender overall. It's a disappointing waste of talent. Still, because he's so athletic and can shoot, he is capable of a monster night at any time because he can get his shot off against anyone. The other primary wing is PJ Savoy (6'4", 210lb senior). Savoy isn't overly athletic, but he's on the court to do one thing: shoot 3s. And he puts them up, for sure. Over 80% of his FGA at FSU have been 3s. He shoots 5 3s per 20 minutes this year, and that's substantially down from his rate in previous years. He's struggling a bit from 3 this year, but he's a 38% career shooter from deep. Leaving him open is a baaaaaaad idea. Anthony Polite (6'6", 215lb redshirt freshman from Switzerland) is next on the long list of wings. Polite missed last season with knee problems. He is a lanky player with good shooting touch, but still is working to catch up to the pace of play offensively. Finally, Devin Vassell (6'5", 170lb freshman) rounds out the wings (sort of). Vassell can shoot and provides yet another pesky defensive presence, leading the team in steal rate.

Guards: Trent Forrest (6'4", 215lb junior) is the PG. He's a steady-Eddie at the position. Nothing flashy, just a tough, physical, pass-first type of guard. Technically a combo guard, he's got a PG mindset and a SG body. He's not the steadiest of ballhandlers though, and has been turnover-prone this year. But in a half-court game, he's a solid contributor. He's also a very strong and willing defender. Behind (and sometimes alongside) Forrest is David Nichols (6'1", 185lb grad transfer from Albany). Nichols is the flashier player of the two combo guards at FSU. He's a terrific 3pt threat and not bashful about shooting. He is, however, fairly sloppy with the ball, with a team-worst turnover rate. Still, he's a nice complement stylistically to the bigger, more physical, less 3pt shooty Forrest.

FSU has a ton of depth and athleticism, and they are committed to making the game a war of attrition. I won't even venture a guess as to the outcome, because we could lose close or blow them out. Neither is really out of the realm of feasibility. TRank has us as an 8-point favorite, and that feels reasonable. As does our ~75% chance of winning. But that ~25% chance of FSU winning seems more glaring than it should be on paper.

Thanks for the summary. Always helpful to reacquaint with our conference rivals.

I assume with Koumadje starting, this is a game where Marques should be helpful. Although FSU's 3-point ability potentially runs counter to that.

Interesting to watch.

- Chillin

[DukieInBrasil]

Thanks for the summary. Always helpful to reacquaint with our conference rivals.

I assume with Koumadje starting, this is a game where Marques should be helpful. Although FSU's 3-point ability potentially runs counter to that.

Interesting to watch.

- Chillin

on the one hand Koumadje seems like precisely the kind of player that Bolden should flourish against, and on that same hand Big 'Ques has been playing really well lately. On the other hand, Bolden should not really play a moment that Koumadje is not on the floor since Javin would be a much better match for their other C, as well as being able to move better to keep up with the rest of their 3pt shooting options.
Iow, this might be a game in which Big 'Ques moves back to the starting rotation.

[sagegrouse]

And we've had some nightmare experiences in that arena. The seating is very steep, and when it's full, it can get crazy. I'm betting it's jam packed full for Duke. Duke has seen that court stormed more than once.

Lots of the best seats for sale at $800 or more. Sounds like a sell-out to me

[CameronDuke]

With a couple exceptions, they're all hard. Of ACC teams against which we've played more than 3 games since 2000-01, FSU is the 6th hardest to play (out of 11), but only one game "behind" the hardest to play (if "hardest" can be measured by Duke's win/loss record in that venue).

DUKE ROAD GAMES, 2000-01 to 2017-18 (ranked from "hardest" to "easiest" venue)



Team W L pct
Louisville 1 2 0.333
N Dame 1 2 0.333
Syracuse 1 2 0.333
NCSU 7 6 0.538
Maryland 7 6 0.538
UNC 10 8 0.556
Miami 6 4 0.600
Va Tech 6 4 0.600
FSU 8 5 0.615
Wake 10 6 0.625
UVa 7 4 0.636
Pitt 2 1 0.667
Clemson 9 3 0.750
BC 7 2 0.778
Ga Tech 11 2 0.846


Wow, thanks for putting that together. 6-4 at both Miami and Virginia Tech since they joined the ACC from the Big East, ouch.

[duke2x]

I watched the first half of the FSU at UVA game last weekend and didn't come away all that impressed with FSU. They are long and have some big guards and lanky forwards/centers. I would expect Duke to be a 9-11 point favorite on the road

I would agree. FSU is probably not as good as the polls and computers suggest. FL wasn't good in November, they escaped a 2nd round Purdue team, and lost to a 2nd round Villanova team. If they are top 15, there's a gap between top 5 and top 15, which is what my Snellen chart says right now.

For whatever reason, Bart Torvik's site has predicted Duke with near perfection in the first 2 ACC games. Both Duke's scoring total and margin of victory were within 2 points.) Duke 83-75 (down from 17 two weeks ago) is what was there yesterday. Sagarin also says Duke by about 9.

It's only going to be 65-70 and cloudy/rainy in Tally on Saturday. I was hoping for better weather. :(

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Wow, thanks for putting that together. 6-4 at both Miami and Virginia Tech since they joined the ACC from the Big East, ouch.

7-6 versus NCSU over that same time frame = even BIGGER ouch......

[Stray Gator]

Lots of the best seats for sale at $800 or more. Sounds like a sell-out to me

Back in the late 90s and early 00s, when I lived in Tallahassee and was an officer of the local Duke Club, we would host a pregame function with a buffet dinner and "coach talk" in the Leon County Civic Center before the Duke vs. FSU game. Back then, even though the Duke game was the only one that sold out every season (which is probably still the case), I was able for many years to buy a block of seats for the Duke Alumni Association (which sold and distributed tickets to our fans) from FSU's group sales office -- for $5 per seat.

As for the atmosphere in the Civic Center during Duke games, I could write volumes, but will simply note for now that the student section may be even more obnoxiously crude than Maryland's -- they were the ones who held up signs and chanted obscene taunts about J.J. Redick and his sister -- while the FSU fans in general routinely demonstrate their ignorance of the rules by loudly booing every call that goes against the Noles, no matter how plainly correct, and constantly screaming that the officials should whistle Duke for imaginary fouls or traveling violations. Even after moving away from Tallahassee, we continued to return and attend the game for a few years. But we finally stopped going about 10 years ago, and I don't miss the experience at all.

[duke2x]

Guessing this will be f$u's "bowl" game :rolleyes:.

I'd like to hear from some folks who have attended games there comment on the loudness and "quality" of the crowd (sobriety, too, I guess :rolleyes:) and other observations they've had over the last decade or so. From my TV-watching experience, not much has been favorable:mad:.

It's a middle of the road crowd the few times I've gone. Beer is sold in the arena like Wake. It's a pro-style arena like UNC, NCSU, Louisville, UK, but I think they've gotten rid of the 70's plaid/Rupp Arena seat cushions. The rule of thumb for ACC road games as I've been to them all: nothing is Cameron, but I don't want this to digress to a true road game discussion.

When goduke posts the actual series results in the game notes, I would like to see Duke (as #1) v. other Duke comparison. 2001 and 2006 (which Doug Gottlieb blamed on the officials) might really be outliers that the media just likes to endorse. Of course, we could argue that UVA is actually #1 if we win.

[Troublemaker]

Wow, thanks for putting that together. 6-4 at both Miami and Virginia Tech since they joined the ACC from the Big East, ouch.


7-6 versus NCSU over that same time frame = even BIGGER ouch...

What are we baselining ouch expectations against, though? For example, there was a recent John Gasaway article (ESPN insider) that showed that Duke won road games essentially at the same rate as fellow bluebloods UNC and Kentucky. (Duke and UNC were a little bit behind Kentucky, but Kentucky also plays in the weaker conference). Road games are tough and will provide ouchies for pretty much anyone.

[Kedsy]

But Duke's troubles in Tallahassee stretches back into the 90s as well...

This is not true. Duke's record in Tallahassee from 1992 (FSU's first year in the ACC) to 2000 was 7-2, with one of the losses during the lost season of 1995 (a year in which we lost all eight ACC road games), and the other one a one-point loss in 1993. The only ACC team during that period against which Duke fared better on the road than against Florida State was NC State (8-1).

[HereBeforeCoachK]

What are we baselining ouch expectations against, though? For example, there was a recent John Gasaway article (ESPN insider) that showed that Duke won road games essentially at the same rate as fellow bluebloods UNC and Kentucky. (Duke and UNC were a little bit behind Kentucky, but Kentucky also plays in the weaker conference). Road games are tough and will provide ouchies for pretty much anyone.

My expectation against State was that Duke was probably the better team in all 13 games, and by a large margin in many of those games, and to go barely .500 indicates a road venue that is particularly unkind. Meanwhile, Duke does very well in Chapel Hill and very well in Charlottesville, even though you wouldn't expect that necessarily, given the quality of the opponent. We've won a couple games in Chapel Hill in the last 6 years or so we had no business winning.....

[-bdbd]

Certainly not a fun place for Duke to play, especially given their often brutally physical style of play.

My biggest memory of Duke playing at FSU will always be the year that the Shelden Williams team went in there (2006?), played the entire game 5 on 8 -- there was a ESPN-pushed theme that year that "Duke gets all the calls," and we'd just come off of a close win at BC where some late calls went our way. The ACC made damn certain it didn't happen in Tallahassee. We literally fouled out our entire starting roster, were called for over thirty (!) fouls - FSU was called for well less than half that - and as a result FSU eeked out a tight win. This was one of those games where K pulled the primary players at the very end for their safety, as a storming was imminent.

And for our trouble, UNC-grad/announcer Stew Scott led the broadcast off at Sports Center with a story about "Does Duke get all the calls?" He highlighted a single play where Williams "got away with" a 'almost goal tending' non-call - it was the right call - and Stew spent 5 minutes disecting whether this proved that we were getting all of the calls. I think it featured interviews with such luminaries as "Sweaty Gary" Williams. It must've burned Stew to no end that his story ran on a night where we were called for about 35 fouls, to maybe 14 for FSU...

[CDu]

I would agree. FSU is probably not as good as the polls and computers suggest. FL wasn't good in November, they escaped a 2nd round Purdue team, and lost to a 2nd round Villanova team. If they are top 15, there's a gap between top 5 and top 15, which is what my Snellen chart says right now.

For whatever reason, Bart Torvik's site has predicted Duke with near perfection in the first 2 ACC games. Both Duke's scoring total and margin of victory were within 2 points.) Duke 83-75 (down from 17 two weeks ago) is what was there yesterday. Sagarin also says Duke by about 9.

It's only going to be 65-70 and cloudy/rainy in Tally on Saturday. I was hoping for better weather. :(

Yes, I meant to mention that FSU has been trending downward all season after “peaking” against UF to open the year. Part of that is that they only recently got Cofer back, and he hasn’t played well yet. But they have indeed been playing more like a top-40 team than a top-15 team for the past month or so.

[duketaylor]

Certainly not a fun place for Duke to play, especially given their often brutally physical style of play.

My biggest memory of Duke playing at FSU will always be the year that the Shelden Williams team went in there (2006?), played the entire game 5 on 8 -- there was a ESPN-pushed theme that year that "Duke gets all the calls," and we'd just come off of a close win at BC where some late calls went our way. The ACC made damn certain it didn't happen in Tallahassee. We literally fouled out our entire starting roster, were called for over thirty (!) fouls - FSU was called for well less than half that - and as a result FSU eeked out a tight win. This was one of those games where K pulled the primary players at the very end for their safety, as a storming was imminent.

And for our trouble, UNC-grad/announcer Stew Scott led the broadcast off at Sports Center with a story about "Does Duke get all the calls?" He highlighted a single play where Williams "got away with" a 'almost goal tending' non-call - it was the right call - and Stew spent 5 minutes disecting whether this proved that we were getting all of the calls. I think it featured interviews with such luminaries as "Sweaty Gary" Williams. It must've burned Stew to no end that his story ran on a night where we were called for about 35 fouls, to maybe 14 for FSU...

I remember watching that game and thinking it was the "posterchild" for any and all "Duke gets all the calls" crap. Still do. Should be an interesting/rough game. FWIW, I like the mid-afternoon Saturday games as it doesn't result in the long wait to get to the tip, like many 9pm or NCAA tourney games do. This will be two Saturdays in a row I get to double-dip with hoops and NFL (Go Cowboys!!),

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Yes, I meant to mention that FSU has been trending downward all season after “peaking” against UF to open the year. Part of that is that they only recently got Cofer back, and he hasn’t played well yet. But they have indeed been playing more like a top-40 team than a top-15 team for the past month or so.

...and part of that is the Leonard Hamilton effect.......:cool:

[westwall]

DUKE ROAD GAMES, 2000-01 to 2017-18 (ranked from "hardest" to "easiest" venue)



Team W L pct
Louisville 1 2 0.333
N Dame 1 2 0.333
Syracuse 1 2 0.333
NCSU 7 6 0.538
Maryland 7 6 0.538
UNC 10 8 0.556
Miami 6 4 0.600
Va Tech 6 4 0.600
FSU 8 5 0.615
Wake 10 6 0.625
UVa 7 4 0.636
Pitt 2 1 0.667
Clemson 9 3 0.750
BC 7 2 0.778
Ga Tech 11 2 0.846



Not to suggest that playing in Tallahassee will be easy, it should be noted that this Duke team has yet to play on the road at the three "hardest" ACC venues -- Louisville, Notre Dame and Syracuse -- as well as at Virginia Tech, all of whom can lay claim to be harder for Duke than Florida State. Greatest awaits!

[House G]

Back in the late 90s and early 00s, when I lived in Tallahassee and was an officer of the local Duke Club, we would host a pregame function with a buffet dinner and "coach talk" in the Leon County Civic Center before the Duke vs. FSU game. Back then, even though the Duke game was the only one that sold out every season (which is probably still the case), I was able for many years to buy a block of seats for the Duke Alumni Association (which sold and distributed tickets to our fans) from FSU's group sales office -- for $5 per seat.

As for the atmosphere in the Civic Center during Duke games, I could write volumes, but will simply note for now that the student section may be even more obnoxiously crude than Maryland's -- they were the ones who held up signs and chanted obscene taunts about J.J. Redick and his sister -- while the FSU fans in general routinely demonstrate their ignorance of the rules by loudly booing every call that goes against the Noles, no matter how plainly correct, and constantly screaming that the officials should whistle Duke for imaginary fouls or traveling violations. Even after moving away from Tallahassee, we continued to return and attend the game for a few years. But we finally stopped going about 10 years ago, and I don't miss the experience at all.

And speaking of obscene, Jameis Winston hadn’t even matriculated yet.:(

[OldPhiKap]

For such a flat state, the FSU campus is surprisingly hilly.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

For such a flat state, the FSU campus is surprisingly hilly.

Well FSU is kind of in that part of Florida that's more like Georgia Alabama....than like the main peninsula of Florida....

[budwom]

Other than BC and Georgia Tech, is there any arena in the ACC that's not difficult to win in? As can be seen from Duke's road win-loss record over 18 seasons (shown in an earlier post in this thread), the difference between the hardest place to play (based on win/loss record) and the 8th-hardest is just one (1) "standings game" (the difference between 7-6 and 7-4).

I take you all the way back to last year when we lost at BC, so I'm not sure how easy that is.

[CDu]

Well FSU is kind of in that part of Florida that's more like Georgia Alabama...than like the main peninsula of Florida...

I grew up like 75 minutes from Tallahassee. It's very different on the Panhandle than it is in what most people think of Florida. And yes, "South Georgia" is very applicable to the Eastern part of the Panhandle, and "South Alabama" is very applicable to the Western part.

[Kedsy]

I take you all the way back to last year when we lost at BC, so I'm not sure how easy that is.

Well that was only the 2nd time we'd lost there since BC joined the ACC. There's a difference between "easy" and "guaranteed win."

[rasputin]

I remember watching that game and thinking it was the "posterchild" for any and all "Duke gets all the calls" crap. Still do. Should be an interesting/rough game. FWIW, I like the mid-afternoon Saturday games as it doesn't result in the long wait to get to the tip, like many 9pm or NCAA tourney games do. This will be two Saturdays in a row I get to double-dip with hoops and NFL (Go Cowboys!!),

There was also the comment by Billy Packer, I think it was in the FF semifinal in 2001 against Maryland, something along the lines of "Duke is starting to get the calls." A less overt comment, but on a bigger stage.

[Nugget]

There was also the comment by Billy Packer, I think it was in the FF semifinal in 2001 against Maryland, something along the lines of "Duke is starting to get the calls." A less overt comment, but on a bigger stage.

Packer didn't actually say that -- what he said was that the Maryland fans in particular (and the arena generally) were going nuts because they believed Duke was getting all the calls.

It was still irresponsible and furthered the narrative, but what he actually said wasn't quite as outrageous as we want to remember it.

Interestingly, I was reading John Feinstein's book about Coach K, Dean and Valvano last week and, while it was mostly a somewhat lazy rehash of material Feinstein has already used in other books, he included some comments from Coach K following the 2004 Final Four loss to U.Conn that I don't recall ever having seen before (my guess is they were made privately/off-the-record but Feinstein felt safe using them now, or perhaps they were contemporaneously published and I'm just forgetting them) in which Coach K explicitly said that Jim Calhoun was working the refs that entire game with "Duke doesn't foul" and "Duke gets all the calls"-type comments and that, in Coach K's view, the refs "bought into it" and called the game in a manner that he believed was biased against Duke.

I know that we as fans all saw it that way with the dozen+ whistles against Shelden, Shav and every other Duke player over 6 foot 4 after Okafor got 2 fouls in the first half. But, I don't remember Coach K making any public comments afterwards to indicate that he did, too.

[OldPhiKap]

Well FSU is kind of in that part of Florida that's more like Georgia Alabama...than like the main peninsula of Florida...

Florida is the state with the lowest high point.

Truth.

[Kedsy]

Florida is the state with the lowest high point.

Truth.

I had always thought it was Delaware, but I just looked it up and you're right: Florida beats Delaware by 103 feet (345 to 448).

[ChillinDuke]

I had always thought it was Delaware, but I just looked it up and you're right: Florida beats Delaware by 103 feet (345 to 448).

Pretty remarkable when you consider Florida is more than 26x Delaware's size (in sq miles).

- Chillin

[UrinalCake]

There was also the comment by Billy Packer, I think it was in the FF semifinal in 2001 against Maryland, something along the lines of "Duke is starting to get the calls." A less overt comment, but on a bigger stage.

Fantastic column by the late, great Al Featherston on the topic. Seriously, this belongs in the hall of fame of journalism.

Link (https://www.dukebasketballreport.com/2006/2/5/4986842/featherston-on-duke-and-officiating)

As for this game, I’m really hoping for a big showing from Bolden. He’s been steadily improving and in the ACC we’re going to be facing quality big men every night. Also looking to see if our freshmen can stay poised when faced with adversity on the road.

[sagegrouse]

I grew up like 75 minutes from Tallahassee. It's very different on the Panhandle than it is in what most people think of Florida. And yes, "South Georgia" is very applicable to the Eastern part of the Panhandle, and "South Alabama" is very applicable to the Western part.

FWIW, the beautiful white sand beaches of the Florida Panhandle are an extension of what we in in the Carolinas called the "Sand Hills." They are an ancient seacoast of sand, scrub and pine trees. They, among other uses, lend themselves to golf course construction. Thereby, you have Pinehurst and Augusta National, all part of the same strip, and horse country in Camden and Aiken SC. I believe the ancient coastal strip extends all the way to the Forida Panhandle.

[jimsumner]

Pretty remarkable when you consider Florida is more than 26x Delaware's size (in sq miles).

- Chillin

But most of that is in swamps or sink-holes.

[NYBri]

Florida is the state with the lowest high point.


Love the construct of that sentence. :cool:

[DavidBenAkiva]

FSU has historically been a difficult-ish opponent for us when we go to Tallahassee. Even when they aren't great, they sometimes nip us there. It's not an easy place to play. The lighting is bad, the crowd isn't great, it's just a bad combination. So, yeah, this one should be a step up from Wake.

Centers: We're finally starting to run out of freakish 7-footers at FSU.

I really enjoy these write-ups, CDu!

One note: We are not done with FSU 7-footers, not by a long shot. They are a permanent feature of the FSU roster. Next year, Leonard Hamilton has two more 7-footers coming in, including 7'1" Balsa Koprivica and 7'3" Naheem McLeod. The former was, at one point, a top 10 recruit in the class of 2019 that still has signs of good athleticism and fluidity of movement at that size. I'm less familiar with McLeod, although his nickname seems to be "Big Duke" and he is a Top 150 or Top 200 player.

[CDu]

I really enjoy these write-ups, CDu!

One note: We are not done with FSU 7-footers, not by a long shot. They are a permanent feature of the FSU roster. Next year, Leonard Hamilton has two more 7-footers coming in, including 7'1" Balsa Koprivica and 7'3" Naheem McLeod. The former was, at one point, a top 10 recruit in the class of 2019 that still has signs of good athleticism and fluidity of movement at that size. I'm less familiar with McLeod, although his nickname seems to be "Big Duke" and he is a Top 150 or Top 200 player.

Thanks DBA!!!

And good to know about the monster pipeline not running dry yet for Hamilton. He has made quite it a point in his career to stockpile enormous-but-usually-underskilled project bigs. Sounds like McLeod fits that model, but maybe Koprivica is more skilled than Hamilton usually gets.

[devildeac]

Fantastic column by the late, great Al Featherston on the topic. Seriously, this belongs in the hall of fame of journalism.

Link (https://www.dukebasketballreport.com/2006/2/5/4986842/featherston-on-duke-and-officiating)

As for this game, I’m really hoping for a big showing from Bolden. He’s been steadily improving and in the ACC we’re going to be facing quality big men every night. Also looking to see if our freshmen can stay poised when faced with adversity on the road.

That is indeed another great article by AF/OF. It's long so I'll summarize:

billy packer was indeed a huge d-bag.

[BigWayne]

FWIW, the beautiful white sand beaches of the Florida Panhandle are an extension of what we in in the Carolinas called the "Sand Hills." They are an ancient seacoast of sand, scrub and pine trees. They, among other uses, lend themselves to golf course construction. Thereby, you have Pinehurst and Augusta National, all part of the same strip, and horse country in Camden and Aiken SC. I believe the ancient coastal strip extends all the way to the Forida Panhandle.

In other words, "south of the gnat line." (http://southofthegnatline.blogspot.com/p/gnat-line-101_28.html) Good to visit in the middle of winter.

[Kedsy]

I really enjoy these write-ups, CDu!

One note: We are not done with FSU 7-footers, not by a long shot. They are a permanent feature of the FSU roster. Next year, Leonard Hamilton has two more 7-footers coming in, including 7'1" Balsa Koprivica and 7'3" Naheem McLeod. The former was, at one point, a top 10 recruit in the class of 2019 that still has signs of good athleticism and fluidity of movement at that size. I'm less familiar with McLeod, although his nickname seems to be "Big Duke" and he is a Top 150 or Top 200 player.

And McLeod goes to the same high school that I went to, though in my day the basketball team's center was around 6'3".

[budwom]

FWIW, the beautiful white sand beaches of the Florida Panhandle are an extension of what we in in the Carolinas called the "Sand Hills." They are an ancient seacoast of sand, scrub and pine trees. They, among other uses, lend themselves to golf course construction. Thereby, you have Pinehurst and Augusta National, all part of the same strip, and horse country in Camden and Aiken SC. I believe the ancient coastal strip extends all the way to the Forida Panhandle.

Panhandle/Redneck Riviera* sand is ultra white, almost like powder...quartz based I believe, quite different from the usual, coarser east coast sand.
Tried a vacation once at Gulf Shores Alabama, not bad. Different.

* term is widely used by locals, not a Yanqui insult.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Florida is the state with the lowest high point.

Truth.

Im sure.....my wife is from there, and we have family in Orlando area, Cocoa Beach area, Naples and the Florida Keys...Islamorada specifically. So we visit most parts of the state....and have indeed visited the Red Neck Riviera. At one time thought about moving to Fairhope Alabama, near the RR.

And speaking of lowest high point, the tours in Key West make a big deal about the "highest hill" in the town. You can hardly tell it's there...

[HereBeforeCoachK]

he included some comments from Coach K following the 2004 Final Four loss to U.Conn that I don't recall ever having seen before (my guess is they were made privately/off-the-record but Feinstein felt safe using them now, or perhaps they were contemporaneously published and I'm just forgetting them) in which Coach K explicitly said that Jim Calhoun was working the refs that entire game with "Duke doesn't foul" and "Duke gets all the calls"-type comments and that, in Coach K's view, the refs "bought into it" and called the game in a manner that he believed was biased against Duke.
.

Heck yeah that's exactly what happened. Sometimes I wish the SID at Duke would release data that proves Duke does NOT "get all the calls." I've always thought that game was when Shav Randolph decided to leave college....all the college officials everywhere seemed to feel free to call fouls on him all the time. I'm thinking he said sceerrreewwww this after that game and turned pro.

[BlueHeaven]

Guessing this will be f$u's "bowl" game :rolleyes:.

I'd like to hear from some folks who have attended games there comment on the loudness and "quality" of the crowd (sobriety, too, I guess :rolleyes:) and other observations they've had over the last decade or so. From my TV-watching experience, not much has been favorable:mad:.

I've been to the game twice. Two years ago, I went with my 76 year old father and my mom. There was a little kid (like 5 or under) with his parents behind us, so I was reluctant to stand up. The guy in front of me stood up almost the whole time and twice I tapped him on the shoulder to ask him to sit down when there was no action so I could see. He yelled at me and then threatened my father...to the point that other fans stepped in. It was a horrible experience. The time before that, we had a blast (and Duke won--and I ran into my sorrority big sister who lives in Texas??!!). The crowd is loud, drinking and rowdy. Maybe not so much drinking at 2pm, but they are tuned up for this game. My job is based in Tallahassee, so I am there frequently and just got back from dropping my son off for spring semester at FSU. This game is all anyone can talk about sports wise, and certainly more interesting than politics! Expect a very very loud enthusiastic crowd. I also saw FSU at the Orange Bowl Classic over the holidays and they are HUGE in person. If Cofer is healthy (despite his too short and tight shorts), they are tough game.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

I've been to the game twice. Two years ago, I went with my 76 year old father and my mom. There was a little kid (like 5 or under) with his parents behind us, so I was reluctant to stand up. The guy in front of me stood up almost the whole time and twice I tapped him on the shoulder to ask him to sit down when there was no action so I could see. He yelled at me and then threatened my father...to the point that other fans stepped in. It was a horrible experience. The time before that, we had a blast (and Duke won--and I ran into my sorrority big sister who lives in Texas??!!). The crowd is loud, drinking and rowdy. Maybe not so much drinking at 2pm, but they are tuned up for this game. My job is based in Tallahassee, so I am there frequently and just got back from dropping my son off for spring semester at FSU. This game is all anyone can talk about sports wise, and certainly more interesting than politics! Expect a very very loud enthusiastic crowd. I also saw FSU at the Orange Bowl Classic over the holidays and they are HUGE in person. If Cofer is healthy (despite his too short and tight shorts), they are tough game.

Florida State football fans are rowdy, loud and likely to be indulging in adult beverages...all to the extreme. I think they duplicate this in basketball once a year...and that will be today. Probably lucky it won't be a later game...because crowds simply get more amped later in most cases...but it will be full, it will be hostile and yes, FSU with Cofer is very good and they are HUUUGE - which makes them a bad match up for Duke this season. Zion can fly over everybody, but the immense height will be a challenge for Jack, Javin, Marques, Cam and RJ...

I"m not seeing 8 rebounds and 5 blocks for Jack today....for example.

[budwom]

It should be interesting to see if any of FSU's height inside is bothersome to Zion...

[Bob Green]

It should be interesting to see if any of FSU's height inside is bothersome to Zion...

I do not expect their height to bother Zion but I expect it will bother Bolden. I agree it will be interesting to observe.

[-jk]

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

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

As always - please follow the DBR Posting Guidelines.

Let's Go Duke!

-jk

[DukieInKansas]

That's a new one - ESPN moved the end of the Louisville game to ESPN News instead of the beginning of the Duke game.

[WHOneedsSOX]

Reddish looks good today. Very aggressive. Zion getting mugged again inside with no call. Nothing new.

Wonder if Tre is sick. Looks like he's dragging out there all game.

[Truth&Justise]

Just gotta say, so great seeing Reddish playing well. He can really raise the ceiling on how good this team can be.

[robed deity]

That last Zion outlet was absurd.

[SavDukeGrad]

Is it just me, or are Zion and RJ getting mugged every time they drive to the basket? With no call. The same does not seem to apply on the other end.

[Stray Gator]

Is it just me, or are Zion and RJ getting mugged every time they drive to the basket? With no call. The same does not seem to apply on the other end.

Yes, FSU players are being allowed to maul Duke's players on every drive with impunity -- and in some cases, poke them in the eye -- but that double standard in officiating at the Leon County Civic Center is customary, so get used to it.

[AGDukesky]

Somebody remind Tre that he’s not the #1 option on offense

[arnie]

Is it just me, or are Zion and RJ getting mugged every time they drive to the basket? With no call. The same does not seem to apply on the other end.

It’s as though zebras think mugging Zion doesn’t count.

[jwillfan]

From what I can see we look pretty bad...not how they are playing but I am trying to watch on my computer in a coffee shop and the wifi is terrible :cool:

7 points with a couple of minutes and we go out on a 0-8 run to head to the locker room down a point - not good however. 3 point D could use some work.

[LasVegas]

Somebody remind Tre that he’s not the #1 option on offense

I want Tre taking those type of shots all day. Just missing them today.

[Dukehk]

We just need to hit some jumpshots.

That eyepoke was ridiculous. How was that not called a foul. To make it worse the refs allowed florida state to play 5 on 4 and they hit a 3.

Hopefully we come out aggressive and running. Credit to florida state who are doing a good job marking Tre really tightly and throwing us off our offense in half court.

Jack White and Co. need to step up and hit some open jumpshots so that the lane doesnt get packed.

[Dukehk]

I want Tre taking those type of shots all day. Just missing them today.

Unlucky really. Just missing some wideopen midrange jump shots.

[rsvman]

Down one to a sloppy bank shot 3. Tre missing shots he normally hits. A little sloppy with the ball. A lot of guys driving into 3 big guys and coming up empty.

[arnie]

We just need to hit some jumpshots.

That eyepoke was ridiculous. How was that not called a foul. To make it worse the refs allowed florida state to play 5 on 4 and they hit a 3.

Hopefully we come out aggressive and running. Credit to florida state who are doing a good job marking Tre really tightly and throwing us off our offense in half court.

Jack White and Co. need to step up and hit some open jumpshots so that the lane doesnt get packed.

Remarkable stat at half. Despite contesting every drive by Duke, FSU called for only 5 fouls.

[WHOneedsSOX]

Yes, FSU players are being allowed to maul Duke's players on every drive with impunity -- and in some cases, poke them in the eye -- but that double standard in officiating at the Leon County Civic Center is customary, so get used to it.

Isn't it an automatic foul usually when you bring your arms down when going for a block? Seems like they do it everytime.

But Duke is fine. Just an ugly 3 minute stretch but they'll be fine. Just have to find that one guy making those 3's and box out.

[SavDukeGrad]

Yes, FSU players are being allowed to maul Duke's players on every drive with impunity -- and in some cases, poke them in the eye -- but that double standard in officiating at the Leon County Civic Center is customary, so get used to it.

This is one of the worst disparities I can remember. Can’t believe the difference in the way the 2 ends are being called. I haven’t checked the stats to see the free throw differential, but I imagine it is substantial.

[wavedukefan70s]

I've been to the game twice. Two years ago, I went with my 76 year old father and my mom. There was a little kid (like 5 or under) with his parents behind us, so I was reluctant to stand up. The guy in front of me stood up almost the whole time and twice I tapped him on the shoulder to ask him to sit down when there was no action so I could see. He yelled at me and then threatened my father...to the point that other fans stepped in. It was a horrible experience. The time before that, we had a blast (and Duke won--and I ran into my sorrority big sister who lives in Texas??!!). The crowd is loud, drinking and rowdy. Maybe not so much drinking at 2pm, but they are tuned up for this game. My job is based in Tallahassee, so I am there frequently and just got back from dropping my son off for spring semester at FSU. This game is all anyone can talk about sports wise, and certainly more interesting than politics! Expect a very very loud enthusiastic crowd. I also saw FSU at the Orange Bowl Classic over the holidays and they are HUGE in person. If Cofer is healthy (despite his too short and tight shorts), they are tough game.
That doesn't surprise. Luckily I went in neutral clothes years ago.i wont go back
.that and jrs git a hot head .I'm to old for that.besides the crowd. It's always physical there to fsu benefit .our guys will have to tough this one out literally.

[Bob Green]

This is one of the worst disparities I can remember. Can’t believe the difference in the way the 2 ends are being called. I haven’t checked the stats to see the free throw differential, but I imagine it is substantial.

Nope. Duke with 7 fouls while FSU has 5.

[wavedukefan70s]

Isn't it an automatic foul usually when you bring your arms down when going for a block? Seems like they do it everytime.

But Duke is fine. Just an ugly 3 minute stretch but they'll be fine. Just have to find that one guy making those 3's and box out.

Not at that rathole .they have free reign.its been like that since sam Cassell was there.

[WHOneedsSOX]

Reddish is playing really well today. Wonder why no Zion 4 minutes into the half even though he's on the bench...

[robed deity]

No idea how that wasn't an and one on Reddish transition layup.

[Stray Gator]

No idea how that wasn't an and one on Reddish transition layup.

Like I said, get used to it.

[TruBlu]

Reddish is playing really well today. Wonder why no Zion 4 minutes into the half even though he's on the bench...

Got poked in the eye in the first half, on a legal poke ... according to the refs.

[Bay Area Duke Fan]

Got poked in the eye in the first half, on a legal poke ... according to the refs.

Hope he’s ready next week.

[WHOneedsSOX]

Got poked in the eye in the first half, on a legal poke ... according to the refs.

Yeah, guess he's not returning today.

[Dukehk]

fsu probably one of the worst matchups for us.

They just got long athletic shotblockers that stop us from getting in the lane. Especially when the refs dont call anything on a 7'4 guy mauling everyone, yet the minute Bolden breathes its a foul.

We needed Jack and O'Connell to hit some 3's but both have been invisible today. We are just really tentative and poor in the half court right now. Not fast breaking and not running any semblance of an offence.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

TV Teddy hasn't had his moment in the spotlight yet. Wait for it.

[rsvman]

Hand certainly not out of hand, but something has to change.

[Dukehk]

Some of the guys don't look prepared enough for this road game. We need to get the offence going somehow.

That cofer guy just loves playing against us..when does he graduate!! He's probably 25 now.

Hopefully Zion is ok. Can we put him back in already?

[porkpa]

Have the announcers said anything about Zion not being on the court. Now R. J. appears to be hurt. I'm getting depressed.

[Dukehk]

We have let them dunk on us about 10 times today. Really bad defending on the pick and roll.

They are just lobbing it up there off the pick and catching easy alley oops. Coach K needs to make the adjustments!

We really miss Zion in those situations. Javin is also half asleep most of the time on those plays and has no clue.

[House G]

Have the announcers said anything about Zion not being on the court. Now R. J. appears to be hurt. I'm getting depressed.

I’m not sure—I had to mute Vitale.

[rsvman]

We have to figure out a way to quit giving them easy alley-oops.

[ChicagoCrazy84]

Why in the world can’t we defend the pick and roll? They’re just abusing us right now with it.

[arnie]

We have let them dunk on us about 10 times today. Really bad defending on the pick and roll.

They are just lobbing it up there off the pick and catching easy alley oops. Coach K needs to make the adjustments!

We really miss Zion in those situations. Javin is also half asleep most of the time on those plays and has no clue.

Javins having a bad game. No bounds or points and D hasn’t been solid.

[WHOneedsSOX]

Lol that guy pushed Tre 3 times in a row like he was shedding a block in football.

White needs to cut those straps off his shoes. He's fixing them every 30 seconds.

[ChicagoCrazy84]

Another dunk off a rebound for them. It just won’t end.

[Dukehk]

I wish Bolden would learn how to box out! He is 7 foot and we are just letting guys into the lane for put back dunks!!!

Alarmingly poor game from our role players like Bolden, Javin and White. Really poor from all of them.

I don't like this reliance on Barrett and Reddish. We need the other guys to step up and hit some shots/grab some rebounds.

[ChicagoCrazy84]

Javins having a bad game. No bounds or points and D hasn’t been solid.

He got benched it seems like. I haven’t noticed him back out there unless I’m just missing him.

[Bluedog]

Rejected by the rim on a jam .... Must be a foul!

[DarkstarWahoo]

My Andy Rooney observation based on today’s ACC games: Midcourt logos have gotten a lot bigger.

[rsvman]

Did O'Connell really foul the shooter on that three? I didn't see it well, was temporarily distracted.

[scottdude8]

Can we close the “should we bench Cam” thread now?

[gocanes0506]

Did O'Connell really foul the shooter on that three? I didn't see it well, was temporarily distracted.

Look like a blow by but the shooter fell over. The ref wasn’t on the right side to see if there was any contact either but still made the call. K took him right out so he must have seen contact.

[Bluedog]

Yes the only positive of Zion going out is Cam has stepped up. Maybe will help us in the season in the end. (Looking for silver linings.)

[-jk]

Did O'Connell really foul the shooter on that three? I didn't see it well, was temporarily distracted.

Got some leg to leg contact.

-jk

[ChicagoCrazy84]

Your starting PG missing the front end of a 1/1 is one of my biggest pet peeves.

[DarkstarWahoo]

That’s an awful call.

[WHOneedsSOX]

What a bad play by reddish.

[ChicagoCrazy84]

You can’t get caught in the air on that. Garbage play by Reddish.

[mattyoung18]

Blown call by ref.

[WHOneedsSOX]

Just knew a missed free throw would lose them a game at some point. Although Barrett has been really good today from the line.

[mapleleafdevil]

That’s not a three. He was on the line.

[Bluedog]

Wow we'll get saved by review. Clear evidence they can't make a simple call. All right let's do this!

[WHOneedsSOX]

I'd run a play for Cam off a curl. Better catch and shoot player than Barrett.

Or bring in Zion for a lob dunk lol he doesn't need 2 eyes for that.

[kaufmjo]

How does he not put Zion in now

[Bluedog]

How does he not put Zion in now

Even as a decoy...hahaha. not gonna happen.

[WHOneedsSOX]

Cam Reddish baby. What a play call by Coach K.

[Bluedog]

Yes!!! Just don't foul in this 0.8 please.

[Dukehk]

OMG

AMAZING!!!!!!! What a play call by K

Huge shot from Cam. Who said he wasnt going to come good. What a game

[scottdude8]

Brilliant play call. Played exactly against what FSU was defending. There’s a reason Coach K coaches and Dickie V announces.

[JetpackJesus]

No, Dick, Reddish was the first option on that play. Great coaching!

[Indoor66]

Never a doubt

[wavedukefan70s]

All smiles

[robed deity]

How did they let Reddish get that open? Amazing.

[DoWorkDukie]

Wow! Love that it was cam