MBB: Duke 77, UCF 76 Post-Game Thread (Rd of 32)

[JBDuke]

Put your post-game thoughts here.

[WHOneedsSOX]

Oh my goodness. How did they survive that?? Oh my goodness. I feel bad for ucf. They deserved that one.

[robed deity]

Never a doubt.

[Chard]

Worst officiating I have ever seen. Kudos to UCF though. They rose to the challenge.

[dukefanSD]

I need a strong drink

[MChambers]

Good thing I had CPR training today! Wow, what are great showing by UCF.

Is this the bad game Jimmie V always you had to win?

[CDu]

Survive and advance. Last year, we got the wrong end of the ball rattling out. This year, it came back to our favor. Gotta be better next week.

[WHOneedsSOX]

I fear the ugly offense going forward. Every team is going to play a triangle and two on defense now.

[ratamero]

That was the worst. That was the best. We're winning this whole thing.

[uh_no]

our defense on unguarded putbacks at the buzzer is best in the nation. where's that in your 4 factors, kenpom?

[AustinDevil]

Disagree with CBS that the Barrett put-back is the Play of the Game. It was Zion driving on Tacko and drawing his fifth, without which there’s zero chance of any Duke put-back.

[J4Kop99]

Don't know what else to say other than very fitting that it was Zion+RJ on that last score to win it for us

Poor Johnny Dawkins. What a game and what a finish

Surive and advance

[Chard]

That was the worst. That was the best. We're winning this whole thing.

It takes those kind of games, doesn't it?

[scottdude8]

Survive. Advance. Lose a year off your life from heart palpitations.

I was nervous about this game because gimmicky teams (weird defenses, super 3 point shooters, a 7-foot-6 giant) tend to pull off big upsets. They did everything but. Wow.

[El_Diablo]

Karma for last year’s rim out.

[Acymetric]

Disagree with CBS that the Barrett put-back is the Play of the Game. It was Zion driving on Tacko and drawing his fifth, without which there’s zero chance of any Duke put-back.

I'll offer a third opinion: it was Cam's 3 to bring us within 1.

[sweetchiba51]

Can we get Aubrey Dawkins in a Duke uniform please?! He looked just like his dad out there. What a performance.

[Dukehk]

This team does not know how to give up and definitely doesn’t know when it’s beaten.

What can you say at this point. Other than that we seem destined to go further.

Survive and advance.

[gray]

That was the very definition of survive and advance. Whew!

[WHOneedsSOX]

Survive. Advance. Lose a year off your life from heart palpitations.

I was nervous about this game because gimmicky teams (weird defenses, super 3 point shooters, a 7-foot-6 giant) tend to pull off big upsets. They did everything but. Wow.

And Dawkins couldn't miss. Somehow missed his two easiest shots all night (the failed alleyoop).

[robed deity]

RJ Barrett, great put back, but please block out.

[WakeDevil]

Barrett pushed the UCF player on the rebound and got away with it. Maybe that one will cancel Carlos Boozer.

[Dukehk]

I'll offer a third opinion: it was Cam's 3 to bring us within 1.

Cam with a big 3 again.

Zion with huge plays and of course Barrett the winning bucket.

Honestly at this point I think it’s destiny. We somehow survived a massive scare against a team that couldn’t shoot the ball any hotter or better.

[DukieInBrasil]

we...won? we won! it's hard to believe but we did.
We overcame a very tough night to overcome from our PG.
We didn't have a good plan for how to defend Dawkins. We didn't attack Fall effectively, but give the guy credit, he did what he is known to do.
Will this game wake this team up? Or was the presence of Tacko Fall in the middle a unique confoundment to what Duke normally does well? Whatever it was, UCF had an answer for everything Duke did, and Duke had just enough answers to eke out a win.
Survived, advanced.

[TKG]

Lucky. Lucky. Lucky.

[MartyClark]

I need a strong drink

I need DevilDeac. I think I had a few coronary events during this game.

[duke4ever19]

Lucky. Lucky. Lucky.

I should be so lucky. Lucky, lucky, lucky.

[kako]

5 thoughts:

1. I needed a mnaddog debrillator. That ball hung on the rim for 5 minutes before it dropped off. Survive and advance never seemed so fitting.

2. I was saying that UCF could take this team if Duke didn't take the game seriously. Duke never looked bad, but they never looked dominant. UCF took it to Duke all game long, especially Dawkins. it would have been fitting if that ball had dropped. Hopefully Duke comes off the tip charging from now on.

3. Zion kept us in the game, but RJ won it. Fall being out was key on that play.

4. Reddish's late 3 was also key. He kind of disappeared in the 2nd half, but that shot was huge.

5. FTs, FTs, FTs. The team was doing so well, then the law of averages happened. It's such an Achilles' Heel.

9F

[ChrisP]

I...am not sure how I feel right now. Relieved? Bad for UCF? Angry at those AWFUL refs? Angry at Duke for almost letting those AWFUL refs steal this from us?

Folks we got very, very lucky today. UCF had two very good shots at the end. Survive & advance, I guess?

[fuse]

Just incredibly thankful we get at least one more game with this special group. Whew!!!!

Let’s Go Duke!!!!

[follyblue]

Hard to believe we won. Need some clean shorts.

[curtis325]

Two down.

Just win baby.

UCF was great. Dawkins should have been on Duke. Amazing that they could not seem to miss until the last two shots.

[ratamero]

Not worried about playing like this against better teams (no offence to UCF). This team rises to the occasion against better opponents - it's been like that for the whole season. What sets this team apart is what we saw today once more: they refuse to lose. I think we're going all the way.

[kako]

Barrett pushed the UCF player on the rebound and got away with it. Maybe that one will cancel Carlos Boozer.

Yeah, the refs swallowed their whistles there. And Zion also could have been called on his final drive. But that's how the game works. We won, next play.

9F

[BandAlum83]

Barrett pushed the UCF player on the rebound and got away with it. Maybe that one will cancel Carlos Boozer.

And Javin got away with a hook and hold. When the refs were at the monitor I thought they were reviewing that.

[flyingdutchdevil]

1. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

2. I wish it wasn't Sunday, cus I would pour myself a massive glass of scotch. Screw it, I'm pouring it.

3. Aubrey Dawkins is what happens when you don't give a kid a scholarship from his dream school.

4. Zion is amazing.

5. Aubrey is the MOTM for both his productivity and how that ball rolled in and out. Tre - for the love of God, STOP shooting threes. You are arguably the worst 3pt PG in Duke history. I'd take Duval's 3pt shot over yours at this point.

6. You always need one bad game. This was it.

7. Sans the fouling, Reddish played really good.

8. We have zero depth.

[WHOneedsSOX]

5 thoughts:

1. I needed a mnaddog debrillator. That ball hung on the rim for 5 minutes before it dropped off. Survive and advance never seemed so fitting.

2. I was saying that UCF could take this team if Duke didn't take the game seriously. Duke never looked bad, but they never looked dominant. UCF took it to Duke all game long, especially Dawkins. it would have been fitting if that ball had dropped. Hopefully Duke comes off the tip charging from now on.

3. Zion kept us in the game, but RJ won it. Fall being out was key on that play.

4. Reddish's late 3 was also key. He kind of disappeared in the 2nd half, but that shot was huge.

5. FTs, FTs, FTs. The team was doing so well, then the law of averages happened. It's such an Achilles' Heel.

9F

I was preparing to change the channel as that ball hung up there. Thought for sure it was going to drop at the buzzer.

[burnspbesq]

Crazy.

[subzero02]

That was the worst. That was the best. We're winning this whole thing.

That was our Tyus Edney game...

[Furniture]

Survive and advance. Last year, we got the wrong end of the ball rattling out. This year, it came back to our favor. Gotta be better next week.

Exactly what I thought. Great win. Tough match up for Duke. A team that shot lights out and a freak center even Zion had difficulty with.

[scottdude8]

And Dawkins couldn't miss. Somehow missed his two easiest shots all night (the failed alleyoop).

Exactly. If you had to design a team to beat us it’d have a guy who couldn’t miss a jumper all game and a giant in the middle to make us shoot threes. That was UCF. We survived. Wow.

[slower]

What can you say at this point. Other than that we seem destined to go further.

There are plenty of other things to say, many of them not so positive. Anybody who thinks this team is "Destined to win it all" is just nuts. Sorry, I'm just in a worse mood than usual. We're the #1 overall seed, for crap's sake. UNC would have run us off the floor.

[GGLC]

Those refs, holy crap.

Not that we should have let it be close enough for the refs to matter, but wow. That is some awful officiating. From Cam's fourth to Tacko's non-fourth to the shot clock violation that wasn't, and on and on.

Wow.

[subzero02]

I was preparing to change the channel as that ball hung up there. Thought for sure it was going to drop at the buzzer.

I'm pretty sure that Grayson wished that ball out of the hoop.

[Furniture]

Disagree with CBS that the Barrett put-back is the Play of the Game. It was Zion driving on Tacko and drawing his fifth, without which there’s zero chance of any Duke put-back.

Cams 3 was BIG too...

[Bill]

Disagree with CBS that the Barrett put-back is the Play of the Game. It was Zion driving on Tacko and drawing his fifth, without which there’s zero chance of any Duke put-back.

Except for the fact that Zion should have been called for a charge, it was a great play.

[BlueDevil16]

Why didn’t Duke offer Dawkins? His outside shooting could be a nice add to this team. Was he not that good in high school and just played out of his mind today?

[Emerrick]

Hated to see UCF lose.

Thank God we won! I had two heart attacks and apparently I’m sleeping outside tonight - if anything to just cool off. Survive and advance. And yes, can we get Dawkins in Duke jersey? Please. He was MOTM.

[WHOneedsSOX]

Exactly. If you had to design a team to beat us it’d have a guy who couldn’t miss a jumper all game and a giant in the middle to make us shoot threes. That was UCF. We survived. Wow.

Right when Duke went up 8 mid 2nd half I thought, finally Dawkins cooled off, and then he goes and makes 2 in a row. Amazing game by him.

[turnandburn55]

When Zion hit the shot and drew the foul, my PTSD from 2002 Duke-Indiana kicked in.

When he missed the free throw, I nearly collapsed

When RJ Barrett got the rebound, I blacked out

[House G]

Lucky that Zion wasn’t called for a charge and RJ wasn’t called for a push in the back, but made up for the non call(s) on Tacko. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. We have LeBron on our team and, although he had a monster game, he wasn’t getting enough touches.

[left_hook_lacey]

Barrett pushed the UCF player on the rebound and got away with it. Maybe that one will cancel Carlos Boozer.

This. We were so lucky like, nine or ten times in the last 60 seconds or so. You can't make this stuff up. Survive and advance. I feel bad for UFC, almost.

[kAzE]

HOLY S%#$

Raise your hand if you thought it was over when we were down 4 with 45 seconds to go? :(

Cam's huge clutch 3, zion's and-1, RJ's putback, getting the final stop with no fouls, and that last tip in rimming out.

All of those things had to happen for us to win this game.

[burnspbesq]

Lost track of Tacko’s foul count after eight ... or was it nine?

[subzero02]

Except for the fact that Zion should have been called for a charge, it was a great play.

wasn't Tacko in the restricted area?

[MartyClark]

There are plenty of other things to say, many of them not so positive. Anybody who thinks this team is "Destined to win it all" is just nuts. Sorry, I'm just in a worse mood than usual. We're the #1 overall seed, for crap's sake. UNC would have run us off the floor.

Yup.

[scottdude8]

Why didn’t Duke offer Dawkins? His outside shooting could be a nice add to this team. Was he not that good in high school and just played out of his mind today?

Michigan’s Beilein was one of the ONLY coaches to offer Dawkins, and he was a very late offer/commit at that. Beilein always finds those diamonds in the rough. Blame him.

[ice-9]

UCF deserved to have won this one. They played amazing.

People here like to say it’s one thing to hear about Zion, it’s another to play him. Well same goes for Tacko. You read 7’6 and then you watch the game and it’s like, wow! This guy is for real! This was a game of runs and I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of those runs depended on whether Tacko was sitting or playing.

UCF ended up being a bad match-up for us. Tacko might be the only guy in college basketball who can shut us down in the paint, and this game came down to whether we could make outside shots. For other teams, they could try that in theory and we would score in the paint anyway; with UCF they made that a reality.

We made just enough outside shots to eke out the win.

And oh yeah, this was one of THE WORST officiated games I’ve watched in a long time. So many egregious blown calls that turned the game.

[fgb]

Oh my goodness. How did they survive that?? Oh my goodness. I feel bad for ucf. They deserved that one.

no. they played great, way above their mean... but their center was given a5+ foul handicap.

we deserved that win. full stop.

[flyingdutchdevil]

wasn't Tacko in the restricted area?

Yes. But the OP is talking about the initial guy guarding Zion who had great position.

Reffing suspect on both sides. But we got that call!

[burnspbesq]

Michigan’s Beilein was one of the ONLY coaches to offer Dawkins, and he was a very late offer/commit at that. Beilein always finds those diamonds in the rough. Blame him.

He was considered a mid-major prospect. Was considered headed to Dayton before Michigan offerred.

[WHOneedsSOX]

UCF deserved to have won this one. They played amazing.

People here like to say it’s one thing to watch Zion, it’s another to have played him. Well same goes for Tacko. You read 7’6 and then you play the game and it’s like, wow! This was a game of runs and I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of those runs depended on whether Tacko was sitting or playing.

UCF ended up being a bad match-up for us. Tacko might be the only guy in college basketball to shut us down in the paint, and this game came down to whether we could make outside shots. For other teams, they could try that in theory and we would score in the paint anyway; with UCF they made that a reality.

We made just enough outside shots to eke out the win.

And oh yeah, this was one of THE WORST officiated games I’ve watched in a long time. So many egregious blown calls that turned the game.

What a great call by Dawkins to put Tacko on Jones. Completely confused and shut down duke's offense and they got back into the game. Thank goodness Jones and Goldwire were able to pull a couple 3s out of no where.

[Saratoga2]

It takes those kind of games, doesn't it?

Very tough to play a team with such a dominant inside presence and such a fantastic talent in Aubry Dawkins. UCF also had more than just those two and would give anyone in the tournament big trouble. I did think there were 3 calls against us that were game changers. Cam's block of an Aubry shot was called a foul. That was clearly shown in replay to be a clean block. Three points and a foul on Cam. Zion driving into Fall and getting absolutely mugged and it was called a block. Shooting fouls and the 4th on Fall early. Then the shot that never hit the rim that wound up being a put back by Fall instead of a turnover. We won, so maybe it was poetic justice for the missed calls.

Zion was magnificent again to night and RJ had a good game. Don't like our guards taking so many 3's but that is what the defense was giving us. At least they hit a few.

Lot of good has to be said about Javin's game. No one played harder tonight and he made a major impact on the game results.

We have to survive games like this to move ahead. Congratulations to all the kids for never giving in. A lot of our teams in the past would have lost this game.

[Ian]

BTW, that ball didn't hit the rim, and it was obvious that it didn't, gutless refs didn't have the courage to make the right call.

[TruBlu]

There are plenty of other things to say, many of them not so positive. Anybody who thinks this team is "Destined to win it all" is just nuts. Sorry, I'm just in a worse mood than usual. We're the #1 overall seed, for crap's sake. UNC would have run us off the floor.

I understand and share some of your frustrations . My hope is that this close call (probably should have been a loss) is the wake up call that propels us to play harder, smarter, and for 40 minutes. No more slow starts, please.

[WHOneedsSOX]

My mom asked if Tacko was any good or just tall. Well, you don't need to be good, or skilled rather, when you can dunk the ball without even jumping.

[MChambers]

Why didn’t Duke offer Dawkins? His outside shooting could be a nice add to this team. Was he not that good in high school and just played out of his mind today?

At yesterday’s presser, K said that Duke thought Aubrey would go to Stanford. They were surprised when he didn’t — made it sound like Stanford wouldn’t admit him.

[subzero02]

Yes. But the OP is talking about the initial guy guarding Zion who had great position.

Reffing suspect on both sides. But we got that call!

no flop, no foul ;)

[GGLC]

BTW, that ball didn't hit the rim, and it was obvious that it didn't, gutless refs didn't have the courage to make the right call.

Well said.

[kako]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4QjA2arnUs

Post game live now.

9F

[ice-9]

Except for the fact that Zion should have been called for a charge, it was a great play.

They were flopping though. Zion’s third (?) foul was crap, the UCF defender was barely touched and he fell over like he was hit by a hurricane.

[uh_no]

BTW, that ball didn't hit the rim, and it was obvious that it didn't, gutless refs didn't have the courage to make the right call.

c'mon man. it was questionable. after they initially ruled it hit the rim, there was no conclusive view that showed it didn't. I don't THINk it did, but it has to be conclusive.

There are bigger things to complain about, either from missed calls or our atrocious defensive play.

[Steven43]

Worst officiating I have ever seen. Kudos to UCF though. They rose to the challenge.

I agree the officiating was absolutely horrendous today, but no game will ever be as poorly officiated as was the Duke versus UConn Final Four game in 2004.

[Dub]

There are plenty of other things to say, many of them not so positive. Anybody who thinks this team is "Destined to win it all" is just nuts. Sorry, I'm just in a worse mood than usual. We're the #1 overall seed, for crap's sake. UNC would have run us off the floor.

Yea because UNC has a 7’6 giant? I find it hard to come up with any conclusion other than we survived and advanced against a very game team. Wish it was prettier but we made plays when it counted. On to VT or Liberty...

[devildeac]

Worst officiating I have ever seen. Kudos to UCF though. They rose to the challenge.

You must have missed the 2004 semi-final game in the FF when we played uconvicts. This one was close.

[MartyClark]

c'mon man. it was questionable. after they initially ruled it hit the rim, there was no conclusive view that showed it didn't. I don't THINk it did, but it has to be conclusive.

There are bigger things to complain about, either from missed calls or our atrocious defensive play.

Don't mean to nit pick, but it was not questionable on replay. Ball never hit the rim, if it did the rotation of the ball would have changed. Bad replay call.

[Steven43]

c'mon man. it was questionable. after they initially ruled it hit the rim, there was no conclusive view that showed it didn't. I don't THINk it did, but it has to be conclusive.

There are bigger things to complain about, either from missed calls or our atrocious defensive play.

It was conclusive. The replays showed that it did not hit the rim. They blew that call badly. No excuses.

[devildeac]

I need a strong drink

Only one?

[fgb]

Reffing suspect on both sides. But we got that call!

wow. completely disagree.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I will accept lucky at this point. Sheesh.

Love K's emotions at the end.

[devildeac]

Disagree with CBS that the Barrett put-back is the Play of the Game. It was Zion driving on Tacko and drawing his fifth, without which there’s zero chance of any Duke put-back.

Surprised the refs called that one after blatantly ignoring several others.

[MChambers]

What a great call by Dawkins to put Tacko on Jones. Completely confused and shut down duke's offense and they got back into the game. Thank goodness Jones and Goldwire were able to pull a couple 3s out of no where.

I didn’t understand why Jones didn’t drive on Fall, especially from the wing or corner. Fall doesn’t move well, so you might draw a foul, or, when you get past him, either do a reverse layup or find a teammate cutting down the lane.

[dukelion]

There are plenty of other things to say, many of them not so positive. Anybody who thinks this team is "Destined to win it all" is just nuts. Sorry, I'm just in a worse mood than usual. We're the #1 overall seed, for crap's sake. UNC would have run us off the floor.

This

I'm sick of people saying...."well we played bad and still won" like it's foreshadowing great things to come.

This team has high highs and low lows......that lack of consistency almost got us tonight......sadly just a matter of time until it does.

[devildeac]

I need DevilDeac. I think I had a few coronary events during this game.

Try this. I've tasted every beer in the last 20 minutes from the last 3 years of that thread:

https://forums.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?3840-Ymm-Beer

[WHOneedsSOX]

I didn’t understand why Jones didn’t drive on Fall, especially from the wing or corner. Fall doesn’t move well, so you might draw a foul, or, when you get past him, either do a reverse layup or find a teammate cutting down the lane.

Yeah I was thinking the same. Have Jones drive and have Zion or RJ follow him to the basket.

[bbosbbos]

This is unbelievable. UCF's O was amazing. I thought we gonna go home today. But we were lucky.

[Ian]

Don't mean to nit pick, but it was not questionable on replay. Ball never hit the rim, if it did the rotation of the ball would have changed. Bad replay call.

Exactly, no changes in rotation until it hit the backboard, it was obvious.

[porkpa]

I hate to say this but without Zion we are just a decent basketball team.

[Acymetric]

Coach K getting choked up talking about Johnny in the post game almost got ME choked up! Still a huge bummer we had to play them, I would have loved to pull for them if they were in a different bracket.

[WHOneedsSOX]

This is unbelievable. UCF's O was amazing. I thought we gonna go home today. But we were lucky.

How fitting would it have been if Dawkins knocked Duke out?

[53n206]

Grayson's shot rolled around more.

[flyingdutchdevil]

What a great call by Dawkins to put Tacko on Jones. Completely confused and shut down duke's offense and they got back into the game. Thank goodness Jones and Goldwire were able to pull a couple 3s out of no where.

Tre and Goldiwre were a combined 2-11. And every single 3 was wide-open. Those two are not good outside shooters in the slightest. For how smart Tre is, he has to realize there are better shots available.

[uh_no]

This

I'm sick of people saying..."well we played bad and still won" like it's foreshadowing great things to come.

This team has high highs and low lows...that lack of consistency almost got us tonight...sadly just a matter of time until it does.

Tre needs to be far more discriminating when he calls his own number. I'm glad he's being more aggressive....but he does NOT need to be taking 8 threes a game, and he sure as heck does not need to be taking as many shots as RJ. That was the thing that upset me the mos ton offense...unlike pretty much all year, he wasn't consistently doing what the offense needed to work, and actively doing the wrong thing.

[Kdogg]

I'm glad we won but can't help feeling bad for UCF, and the Dawkins. Aubrey is his father's son. It was surreal watching him the first five minutes of the game. It was like why's Johnny there?

[weezie]

These refs were easily duped.
How many fouls spawned by ucf falling backwards into Duke defenders?

Dreadful!

AND I do not give a single, solitary WANKER what anybody thinks about criticizing the refs. They were awful. Adios, jackbutts.

[bbosbbos]

Tre and Goldiwre were a combined 2-11. And every single 3 was wide-open. Those two are not good outside shooters in the slightest. For how smart Tre is, he has to realize there are better shots available.

I do not want to be negative. But but but Tre has to come back to enhance his shooting.

[weezie]

Anybody else think Duke players didn't take ucf seriously? A bit overconfident?

Hope this scare resonates and they pay strict attention to K from here on out.

[uh_no]

Dreadful!

AND I do not give a single, solitary WANKER what anybody thinks about criticizing the refs. They were awful. Adios, jackbutts.

and we wonder why nobody qualified has interest in reffing basketball games.....

[WHOneedsSOX]

I do not want to be negative. But but but Tre has to come back to enhance his shooting.

I agree. Tyus is an average backup player in the nba and he can shoot. Tre's defense won't get him far in the nba.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Tre needs to be far more discriminating when he calls his own number. I'm glad he's being more aggressive...but he does NOT need to be taking 8 threes a game, and he sure as heck does not need to be taking as many shots as RJ. That was the thing that upset me the mos ton offense...unlike pretty much all year, he wasn't consistently doing what the offense needed to work, and actively doing the wrong thing.

Agreed, but UCF/Dawkins WANTED Jones, Goldwire, and, to a lesser extent, Javin to shoot as much as possible from outside (in Javin's case, any shot outside of two feet. Fortunately, he only shot once!).

if you want to beat Duke, the formula has to revolve around guarding closely/double-teaming Zion, RJ, and Cam and letting Tre/Goldwire/Javin/Marques try to beat you. Fortunately, it didn't work this time.

Tre and Goldwire really need to stop with the 3s. Fortunately, Zion, RJ, and Cam were killing it from 3. But I thought Tre's 3s brought UCF back into the game.

[DangerDevil]

I didn’t understand why Jones didn’t drive on Fall, especially from the wing or corner. Fall doesn’t move well, so you might draw a foul, or, when you get past him, either do a reverse layup or find a teammate cutting down the lane.

Or even a kick out to a better shooter.

[bedeviled]

NCAA posted the last 7 minutes to YouTube: Duke vs. UCF: Watch the final 7 minutes of this thrilling finish in NCAA tournament (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOAmx8qs66s)

[gocanes0506]

Lost track of Tacko’s foul count after eight ... or was it nine?

About like the big guy for Cuse when cuse won in OT at Cameron.

[gocanes0506]

Every time I see the replay, I expect to see Dawkins’ tip in to go in.

Refs were absolutely garbage

[WHOneedsSOX]

Anybody else think Duke players didn't take ucf seriously? A bit overconfident?

Hope this scare resonates and they pay strict attention to K from here on out.

I don't think so. I think the first 10 minutes or so they just couldn't figure out what to do with Tacko. You look at the basket and see a 7'6 guy with a 8'+ wingspan and you don't know what to do. He goes out, Duke makes a big run. Second half, just lazy Duke basketball combined with Tacko dominating inside. Then Dawkins puts Tacko on Tre and Duke "wasted" 5-6 possessions in a row of Jones and Goldwire missing 3's which let UCF come back and take the lead.

[84Duke]

And Javin got away with a hook and hold. When the refs were at the monitor I thought they were reviewing that.

Yeah, they can’t review that.

[DangerDevil]

Don't mean to nit pick, but it was not questionable on replay. Ball never hit the rim, if it did the rotation of the ball would have changed. Bad replay call.

Not only that did a ref(s) actual signal for the shot clock to be reset when the play was live?

The shot clock did not reset and actually expired, the refs simply didn’t call the play dead.

So even if they didn’t think there was conclusive evidence to over rule the call, what was the actual call during live action:

That the shot hit the rim or that the refs missed the shot clock violation?

[Waynemanor]

So happy we won! So sad for Johnnie and Aubrey. I am drained, as must be the team. Recover, and give em hell, Duke!

[WHOneedsSOX]

Yeah, they can’t review that.

I think they can, can't they? Hook and hold is an intentional foul now.

[roywhite]

He was considered a mid-major prospect. Was considered headed to Dayton before Michigan offerred.

Great game by Aubrey. Should point out he'll be 24 in May. Late bloomer, plus a transfer and a year off for injury.

Nobody feels sorry for Duke, with all the young talent, but there are some benefits in having older players.

[ChicagoCrazy84]

That was unreal. I was literally hyperventilating even after the putback rolled off the rim. I’m gonna have a few stiff drinks and enjoy the rest of the games.

Looking forward, is anyone else slightly concerned if were only going to go with Goldwire/Jones and no AOC? Not to Alex would be a difference maker but these 2 can’t shoot and teams are going to continue to do the same thing. Pack in the defense and dare them to shoot. It’s getting really tiresome.

[wsb3]

Survive and advance. Last year, we got the wrong end of the ball rattling out. This year, it came back to our favor. Gotta be better next week.

My first thoughts after that tip fell off.

[dukelion]

Tre and Goldiwre were a combined 2-11. And every single 3 was wide-open. Those two are not good outside shooters in the slightest. For how smart Tre is, he has to realize there are better shots available.

They're like warm up threes....which I've seen Tre make a bunch in a row......sooooooo frustrating.

[subzero02]

www.ncaa.com has the final five minutes of the game available as a replay if you want to give your heart another jolt...


https://www.ncaa.com/video/basketball-men/2019-03-24/mbk-301-ucf-duke-final-five


Cam's 3 was the game changer

[dukelion]

That was unreal. I was literally hyperventilating even after the putback rolled off the rim. I’m gonna have a few stiff drinks and enjoy the rest of the games.

Looking forward, is anyone else slightly concerned if were only going to go with Goldwire/Jones and no AOC? Not to Alex would be a difference maker but these 2 can’t shoot and teams are going to continue to do the same thing. Pack in the defense and dare them to shoot. It’s getting really tiresome.

Agree...AOC has to get at least a few mins in a game like that.

[kAzE]

Tre and Goldiwre were a combined 2-11. And every single 3 was wide-open. Those two are not good outside shooters in the slightest. For how smart Tre is, he has to realize there are better shots available.

I sort of agree and disagree at the same time. They stopped guarding Tre at all. Zion and RJ were getting triple teamed in the paint because of it.

Tre HAD to hit one to get them to at least shade in his direction, so I don't fault him for continuing to shoot them. But some of the ones early in the shot clock may have been poor decisions.

[BigZ]

Can Tre never shoot a three again.

[wsb3]

I'll offer a third opinion: it was Cam's 3 to bring us within 1.

Agreed and thankful UCF botched that two on one break before Cam's 3. They would have been up 6 and been able to set their D.

[dukelifer]

Not sure why K did not get AOC in there. Lots of open shots were available- Tre is just not reliable from out there. Need guards to hit shots but this is Duke’s team and the kids fight.

[Skydog]

We got screwed hard on the officiating.
Our players showed great heart, especially at the end - Cam's 3, Zion's drive and RJ putback brought us back from the dead.
UCF showed just as much heart and Dawkins son especially. We are very lucky his tip-in didn't fall.
Poor bench use - Bolden and AOC should have been given more (some) playing time.
Jones shooting a lot of 3's plays right into our opponents hands. He needs to stop it.
Zion is a once in a generation athlete. And a winner.
Whew.....

[WVDUKEFAN]

3. Aubrey Dawkins is what happens when you don't give a kid a scholarship from his dream school

8. We have zero depth.

He wanted to come to Duke? What were we thinking?

I don’t understand why we didn’t play O’Connell. He would have killed them from 3.

[gocanes0506]

The play of the game was the botched alley oop by UCF. They make that, the game is over.

[DukieInBrasil]

I agree. Tyus is an average backup player in the nba and he can shoot. Tre's defense won't get him far in the nba.

No, Tyus is an amazingly efficient PG in the NBA. He may not be dominant, but he has by far the best a/to ratio in the league, and has the ball in his hands a lot.

[ChicagoCrazy84]

Can Tre never shoot a three again.

How can he not? Teams are literally giving him shots.

[DoWorkDukie]

Where was O'Connell or Baker? I thought it was incredibly.....interesting.....to try to ride Goldwire against a zone team. He did hit one, but his damage to the spacing was impactful on other possessions.

FWIW Tre also had similarly damaging spacing. To have a PG in 2019 that is that poor of an outside shooter is a real concern for this team's title threats. The level of which his looks were wide open was ridiculous. I think Duval may have been a better shooter, though I'll take Tre.

I just think you HAVE to put shooting around Tre, and we really don't have it. Can't believe we escaped.

[dukelion]

These refs were easily duped.
How many fouls spawned by ucf falling backwards into Duke defenders?

Dreadful!

AND I do not give a single, solitary WANKER what anybody thinks about criticizing the refs. They were awful. Adios, jackbutts.

Jeff Goodman on twitter saying how both RJ and Zion got away with offensive fouls on their last buckets.....smh.

[arnie]

Anybody else think Duke players didn't take ucf seriously? A bit overconfident?

Hope this scare resonates and they pay strict attention to K from here on out.

I thought our early success at hitting 3s duped us a bit. Think we should have driven at Tacko early and often to foul
him out quicker. But, we won despite one of those incredible games from a solid, but not all star, player.

[flyingdutchdevil]

I sort of agree and disagree at the same time. They stopped guarding Tre at all. Zion and RJ were getting triple teamed in the paint because of it.

Tre HAD to hit one to get them to at least shade in his direction, so I don't fault him for continuing to shoot them. But some of the ones early in the shot clock may have been poor decisions.

Understood. But that eats right into the UCF game plan, which worked perfectly.

What shocks me is how OPEN those 3s were. Not a defender within 12 feet of Tre or Goldwire.

I wish Tre would adopt a Ben Simmons mentality: doesn't matter how open you are, do not shoot a 3.

And as for the triple teaming? Why not drive closer into the key and hit a midrange? Tre is soooooo good at that. And if they collapse on Tre? Hopefully one of our studs moves/rotates and has a 1-on-1 opportunity.

[TKG]

At one point our lineup had Jav, Tre and Gwire on the floor together. Puts a lot of pressure on RJ and Z offensively.

[DangerDevil]

Jeff Goodman on twitter saying how both RJ and Zion got away with offensive fouls on their last buckets....smh.

You could easily argue that he is correct, you can’t however easily argue that those were the two most egregious missed calls of the game.

[Dukehky]

Jeff Goodman on twitter saying how both RJ and Zion got away with offensive fouls on their last buckets....smh.

Imagine watching that game and thinking that Duke got the friendly whistle...

[WHOneedsSOX]

I thought our early success at hitting 3s duped us a bit. Think we should have driven at Tacko early and often to foul
him out quicker. But, we won despite one of those incredible games from a solid, but not all star, player.

I don't know if anyone can drive at Tacko and draw fouls except for Zion. But he was trying and they weren't calling it. He got away with at least 2 that should've been called.

[DoWorkDukie]

At one point our lineup had Jav, Tre and Gwire on the floor together. Puts a lot of pressure on RJ and Z offensively.

IMO you just can't play that lineup when Dawkins is shooting out of his mind and Fall can dunk without jumping. Why not play O Connell or Baker- not like we're stopping them on the other end.

We just needed someone to hit the shot. I thought K got thoroughly outcoached today, we had no counters

[LSanders]

1. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

2. I wish it wasn't Sunday, cus I would pour myself a massive glass of scotch. Screw it, I'm pouring it.

3. Aubrey Dawkins is what happens when you don't give a kid a scholarship from his dream school.

4. Zion is amazing.

5. Aubrey is the MOTM for both his productivity and how that ball rolled in and out. Tre - for the love of God, STOP shooting threes. You are arguably the worst 3pt PG in Duke history. I'd take Duval's 3pt shot over yours at this point.

6. You always need one bad game. This was it.

7. Sans the fouling, Reddish played really good.

8. We have zero depth.


Was Duke really his dream school even with his dad as a coach?

If so, whiffing on him is worse than missing out on Steph Curry.

[kmspeaks]

Kind of sad/mystified why K had no counter to UCF putting Fall on Tre. I understand AOC is not as good defensively and Jack is unavailable but don't you at least try to do something different than have Tre and Jordan shoot 3's? I don't have over 1100 wins so I don't know what the answer is but it would have been nice to see some sort of change for a couple possessions.



and we wonder why nobody qualified has interest in reffing basketball games....

Players and coaches get criticized but there's still plenty of people lining up for those positions. College basketball has an officiating problem if what I've seen this weekend is truly the best of the best. Refs aren't typically (2004 UConn game aside) biased, but they have been pretty bad in this tournament.

[DoWorkDukie]

You could easily argue that he is correct, you can’t however easily argue that those were the two most egregious missed calls of the game.

Yeah- the zion offensive foul was a bit of a stretch. Though for consistency, they called him on less of a foul a minute prior. I thought it was a makeup no whistle.

[flyingdutchdevil]

IMO you just can't play that lineup when Dawkins is shooting out of his mind and Fall can dunk without jumping. Why not play O Connell or Baker- not like we're stopping them on the other end.

We just needed someone to hit the shot. I thought K got thoroughly outcoached today, we had no counters

Because O'Connell and Baker are really bad defenders right now. And UCF would have murdered that line-up.

An issue Duke has had all year is we have too many one-sided players (AOC, Baker on O, Javin, White, Goldwire, Tre on D). But we have the best player in the world so it helps to make up for it.

[fgb]

Great game by Aubrey. Should point out he'll be 24 in May.

so weird that that is okay...Dawkins, Cam Johnson at UNC. remember Danny Wuerffel, the qb from Florida a few years ago? he was like 40 or something. I mean, at some point doesn't it become absurd? a lot of maturing happens between agree 20 and 25, physically and mentally, that if think would create huge advantages on the court/field. I keep thinking about Billy Madison... again, absurdist, but, come on.

[devilnfla]

c'mon man. it was questionable. after they initially ruled it hit the rim, there was no conclusive view that showed it didn't. I don't THINk it did, but it has to be conclusive.

There are bigger things to complain about, either from missed calls or our atrocious defensive play.

We had several great defensive plays that were ruined by poor officiating. For example, Cams block on the 3pt shooter, Zions block under the basket, that I thought was originally called a jump ball. Both of those turned into free throws for UCF.

[Trey21]

Survive and advance. Since we scrapped away with a W, and there's a lot to take away from this game.

1) We won a close do or die game. Literally one point. This is a wake up call. They should understand the stakes now if they didn't before.

2) We won against a unique physical talent. Tacko is something, not sure if he is a great pro basketball player in terms of pure skill, but he can feel his presence in the college game and its almost as unique as Zion's. Our force of nature has more skill and played smarter and it contributed to the W.

3) We won an emotional game. Not only is there the Mentor vs the disciple, but then there's the Aubrey Dawkins factor. The kid literally grew up around and in Duke, his father basically was the seed that ignited Duke's modern dominance, there's no way he didn't grow up with dreams of wearing Duke blue at some point in his life. Credit to him for stepping up to the moment and having the game of his life. Kid laid it all out there, it was something special. Pure stroke and quick trigger. Teams play up for Duke always, this is March now, and this game was a bar fight slog that leaves you feeling like you just broke up with somebody.

4) RJ, Cam, and Zion all had huge moments down the stretch. I thought Cam's three off the fumble alley-opp that would have given UCF a 6 point lead that cut the deficit to 1 was the play of the game, even more than the other two that I'm about to mention. Zion played smart and strong down the stretch, that bucket and foul at the end is something really only like 15 people in the world could have done. RJ's always been a strong rebounder, couldn't care less about a "push off" glad the refs did something right and swallow there dam whistles for once. Yeah, I get there was a ton of no calls, but you get my point.

On to the next. Learn from this fellas, we have the talent. Defense needs to tighten up, and offense needs to feature Zion more out of the mid post. Been doing it a lot with RJ this year, but compared to RJ's craftiness I think I'd prefer Zion's bazooka-like ability to get to the hoop from the free throw line.

Another random notes:

-Zion seemed to slip and fumble the ball a lot in this game.
-Zion has such a soft touch. Keep on shooting that three if they leave you open.
-Cam has such a pretty in rhythm within the fast break catch and shoot ability. Dude has had a streaky season, but has a knack for making plays when we need it.
-Javin's improved strength this year has been incredible. Fouled a lot today, but made a lot of plays that surely would have been a foul in previous years.
-Tre, great on ball pressure on defense, just improve on that shot cause that was brutal for a stretch. Push the pace!
-Goldwire keep playing within your role. Nice to see the confidence growing.
-RJ, You've been the spark that's consistently preserved us through the season. To reach the Championship Duke really needs you to step it up on D as we enter this final stretch.

[TKG]

Does anyone know how to access the post game press conference other than GoDuke?

[devilnfla]

It was conclusive. The replays showed that it did not hit the rim. They blew that call badly. No excuses.

Agreed!

[MartyClark]

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Thank goodness Duke won. I don't think we deserved the win.

[fisheyes]

Phew!

I'm too old for this.

This game reminded me of the first round game in Charlotte 1978 against URI. We squeaked by in that one all the way to the final game! Now let's win that last game this time!!!

It's funny how critical people are of these 18-22 year olds playing in front of millions of eyes. Remember, none of us could do what they do. Cut 'em some slack. Enjoy the ride.

The refs? That's a different story ;)

Go Duke!!!

[fathippo]

He wanted to come to Duke? What were we thinking?

I don’t understand why we didn’t play O’Connell. He would have killed them from 3.

Coach K said that Aubrey should and thought he would play for his dad so Duke did not recruit him. Sounded like Stanford admissions would not accept him.

[DoWorkDukie]

Kind of sad/mystified why K had no counter to UCF putting Fall on Tre. I understand AOC is not as good defensively and Jack is unavailable but don't you at least try to do something different than have Tre and Jordan shoot 3's? I don't have over 1100 wins so I don't know what the answer is but it would have been nice to see some sort of change for a couple possessions.




Players and coaches get criticized but there's still plenty of people lining up for those positions. College basketball has an officiating problem if what I've seen this weekend is truly the best of the best. Refs aren't typically (2004 UConn game aside) biased, but they have been pretty bad in this tournament.

i agree

[Kdogg]

Does anyone know how to access the post game press conference other than GoDuke?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4QjA2arnUs

Post game live now.

9F

This was posted earlier in the thread.

[uh_no]

Players and coaches get criticized but there's still plenty of people lining up for those positions. College basketball has an officiating problem if what I've seen this weekend is truly the best of the best. Refs aren't typically (2004 UConn game aside) biased, but they have been pretty bad in this tournament.

nobody is yelling "adios jackbutts" at players and coaches coming through the ranks (at least not home fans, and usually not away). refs get shade from everyone game in and game out.

I get disagreeing with calls (and sometimes even agree!), but there is no reason to hurl that kind of garbage. It can be done with the same level of discourse that we expect of everything else here.

[BigZ]

Lol the haters are actually saying Zion charged on that bucket lol

[uh_no]

We had several great defensive plays that were ruined by poor officiating. For example, Cams block on the 3pt shooter, Zions block under the basket, that I thought was originally called a jump ball. Both of those turned into free throws for UCF.

agree with cam. didn't think zion's was a jump ball. i thought tacko's non-foul on zion when K went nuts was the most egregious.

zion also did get away with a huge charge at the end. Not that it evens anything out.

[AGDukesky]

Yeah- the zion offensive foul was a bit of a stretch. Though for consistency, they called him on less of a foul a minute prior. I thought it was a makeup no whistle.

That was a total flop and should never be called a foul. However I agree refs often call phantom offensive fouls that bad...

[lotusland]

IMO you just can't play that lineup when Dawkins is shooting out of his mind and Fall can dunk without jumping. Why not play O Connell or Baker- not like we're stopping them on the other end.

We just needed someone to hit the shot. I thought K got thoroughly outcoached today, we had no counters

AOC is bad at defense. He plays very weak. I thinks he’ll be stronger next year. Maybe he would have hit some threes against the zone but JGold snd Tre did pressure their ball handlers. They turned then over and caused them to call timeout twice. Anyway Duke scored 77 so not a bad output on offense against UCF. Most importantly it was one more point than UCF scored.

[ice-9]

This

I'm sick of people saying..."well we played bad and still won" like it's foreshadowing great things to come.

This team has high highs and low lows...that lack of consistency almost got us tonight...sadly just a matter of time until it does.

I beg to differ. UCF played an amazing game. It’s not always about us. We played well enough.

[Dub]

I’m clearly in the minority here but I think Tre absolutely has to shoot those WIDE open 3s. He needs to hit more of them but those were practice 3s. Driving and taking a contested jumper just doesn’t seem like the smart play IMO.

Would like to see more AOC just to spread the defense out more but K knows better than me. Tacko made Zion look small. I’ll gladly take the one point win. On to the next one...

[fathippo]

Does anyone know how to access the post game press conference other than GoDuke?

Here is a replay of the post game press conference.

https://www.facebook.com/NCAAMarchMadness/videos/364439684282795/

[Billy Dat]

The end of this game felt like the basketball gods were just messing with both teams. UCF could not miss, nor could A.Dawkins, until he and they missed the biggest shots of the game. Duke couldn’t catch a break, until we were gifted several at the key moments. We literally survived.

As for Tre’s 3s, I have to assume the coaches are telling him to shoot. He was taking those shots right in front of our bench.

Crazy game, feels surreal to have won it. For this team to lose in The 2nd round would have been an epic disaster. We live to play another day.

[devilnfla]

agree with cam. didn't think zion's was a jump ball. i thought tacko's non-foul on zion when K went nuts was the most egregious.

zion also did get away with a huge charge at the end. Not that it evens anything out.

That was not a charge. That was a flop, just like the other one they called on Zion.

[ns7]

Guys, that was our lowest FTR game on offense ALL YEAR. Think about it: what your eyes saw about the officiating was certainly accurate.

And how about the team? After the no call on the shot clock violation, the team shook it off (and all they other bad calls) and had a comeback we'll never forget. Pretty much the definition of "next play."

[ice-9]

Tre needs to be far more discriminating when he calls his own number. I'm glad he's being more aggressive...but he does NOT need to be taking 8 threes a game, and he sure as heck does not need to be taking as many shots as RJ. That was the thing that upset me the mos ton offense...unlike pretty much all year, he wasn't consistently doing what the offense needed to work, and actively doing the wrong thing.

Many of them were wide open jumpers. What did you expect him to do?? If he doesn’t take those we are playing 4 on 5.

Incidentally this is why I don’t think he’s ready for the NBA. Difficult to be a PG who can’t shoot.

[Steven43]

There are plenty of other things to say, many of them not so positive. Anybody who thinks this team is "Destined to win it all" is just nuts. Sorry, I'm just in a worse mood than usual. We're the #1 overall seed, for crap's sake. UNC would have run us off the floor.

Completely disagree. UNC had every opportunity to “run us off the floor” in the ACC tournament. They didn’t. Why would the next game with them — if there is a next game — be any different?

[CDu]

Many of them were wide open jumpers. What did you expect him to do?? If he doesn’t take those we are playing 4 on 5.

Incidentally this is why I don’t think he’s ready for the NBA. Difficult to be a PG who can’t shoot.

I think you have to “drive” in that circumstance. Dribble comfortably up until Fall commits. Then blow by him or pass Zion underneath.

[devilnfla]

so weird that that is okay...Dawkins, Cam Johnson at UNC. remember Danny Wuerffel, the qb from Florida a few years ago? he was like 40 or something.

LOL, I think you're thinking of FSUs Chris Weinke. He was 28 or 29 as a Senior.

[ns7]

Many of them were wide open jumpers. What did you expect him to do?? If he doesn’t take those we are playing 4 on 5.

Incidentally this is why I don’t think he’s ready for the NBA. Difficult to be a PG who can’t shoot.

I think his jumper is going to come. He shoots too well from the FT line to not develop a consistent jumper. I also agree that college could be better for him to develop it.

I think he's going to be a star in the NBA once he does get a good jump shot.

[84Duke]

Because O'Connell and Baker are really bad defenders right now. And UCF would have murdered that line-up.

An issue Duke has had all year is we have too many one-sided players (AOC, Baker on O, Javin, White, Goldwire, Tre on D). But we have the best player in the world so it helps to make up for it.

Joey Baker is one-sided on offense? He has scored 3 points this year. Small sample size, of course, but instant offense needs to come in the game and score, well, instantly. If you can’t play D, you better come in looking to shoot and then hit your shots. Baker hasn’t shown that ability yet, and unless the opponent is Syracuse, Alex O’Connell is not such a good bet either. Believe me - I wish they were. That is a missing piece for this team.

[TNTDevil]

Good thing I had CPR training today! Wow, what are great showing by UCF.

Is this the bad game Jimmie V always you had to win?
ANNOUNCER: Yes.

[uh_no]

I think you have to “drive” in that circumstance. Dribble comfortably up until Fall commits. Then blow by him or pass Zion underneath.

bingo. He's open at mid-court every time up the floor, but that doesn't mean he should be taking that shot. You take shots because they are valuable in driving the efficiency of the offense, either directly or indirectly. It wouldn't make sense for Tre to jack it from the center circle, and because he is a poor shot, it doesn't make sense for him to jack it from three. It obviously wasn't a direct positive, and given nobody ever came out to guard it, it wasn't an indirect positive....so at that point, you're just throwing away opportunities.

[JNort]

I fear the ugly offense going forward. Every team is going to play a triangle and two on defense now.

Doesn't bother me until they roll out a 7'6" center. Without Tacko today we blew them out. I think we outscored them by near 20 with him on the bench today.

[WVDUKEFAN]

Lol the haters are actually saying Zion charged on that bucket lol

I’m not a hater, but it could have been called either way.

[TNTDevil]

Disagree with CBS that the Barrett put-back is the Play of the Game. It was Zion driving on Tacko and drawing his fifth, without which there’s zero chance of any Duke put-back.
"You must spread some comments..."

Great point.

[MChambers]

They're like warm up threes...which I've seen Tre make a bunch in a row...sooooooo frustrating.

It’s an easier shot off the pass, especially from the lane. Would have liked to see RJ or Zion catch the ball in front of Tacko and then find Tre.

[ns7]

Also, everyone is talking about our offense. Our offense was great. The problem was that UCF shot 50% from 3, 57% eFG, and had a ridiculously high FTR. We almost lost that one on defense.

AOC or Baker don't improve our defense. Neither does Bolden. We rolled out our best six on defense to try to slow them down.

[MChambers]

I think you have to “drive” in that circumstance. Dribble comfortably up until Fall commits. Then blow by him or pass Zion underneath.

Or hope Tacko commits a foul on the drive.

[slower]

Completely disagree. UNC had every opportunity to “run us off the floor” in the ACC tournament. They didn’t. Why would the next game with them — if there is a next game — be any different?

Everybody has an opinion. But, yeah, I was talking about TODAY. Obviously, my post was written in the heat of emotion/anger. This team just has too wide of a range of possible outcomes for my taste.

[ChicagoCrazy84]

IMO you just can't play that lineup when Dawkins is shooting out of his mind and Fall can dunk without jumping. Why not play O Connell or Baker- not like we're stopping them on the other end.

We just needed someone to hit the shot. I thought K got thoroughly outcoached today, we had no counters

I don’t know if he got outcoached. They just did a good job of exploiting our weaknesses and offensively they made plays.

[downtowndevil]

Agreed!

I wonder if they’ll be a move to offsite replays. Seems like most - and all Duke fans natch:) - with a normal hd tv could clearly see the ball didn’t hit the rim. The refs at the game though are crowded around a desktop monitor circa 2002.

[dukelifer]

www.ncaa.com has the final five minutes of the game available as a replay if you want to give your heart another jolt...


https://www.ncaa.com/video/basketball-men/2019-03-24/mbk-301-ucf-duke-final-five


Cam's 3 was the game changer

In his last three shots- Aubrey missed the wide open dunk that would have sealed it- a two that went in and out and then the tip. Amazing given all the shots he hit throughout the game.

[nmduke2001]

Zion had a case of the butter fingers. It seemed like he fumbled the ball 10 or more times.

Despite a poor game by our guys and a wonderful game and game plan by the Dawkins boys, we won. 2 down, 4 to go.

[JNort]

Lucky that Zion wasn’t called for a charge and RJ wasn’t called for a push in the back, but made up for the non call(s) on Tacko. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. We have LeBron on our team and, although he had a monster game, he wasn’t getting enough touches.

You might need to watch again.

Tacko had his left foot inside the arc and he didn't keep his arms up. He brought them down as Zion went up, hence the foul call.

RJ didn't even get close to pushing off. I saw the UCF player complain in real time so I watched the slow mode replay and he never pushed. I also just now went and looked at the ESPN highlights which show a different angle and once again he never pushes in the slightest nor does the defender even look pushed.

[CoachJ10]

A.) Those refs are criminals and should be in jail for that felony officiating.

B.) Cam, Javin, RJ and Zion all made plays in the last minute for us to win. I will remember those for a long time.

C.) My wife is a Dr. and is glad she did not have to resuscitate me after that minor heart attack.

[JNort]

I’m not a hater, but it could have been called either way.

Don't see how. He was inside the restricted zone and didn't keep his arms up.

[InSpades]

Shocked that we pressed and played zone. It seems super weird to go to that defense after barely playing it all season.

We let 2 guys go 19 of 28 from the field. The rest of their team was 7 of 26. We needed a way to stop those 2 and we never seemed to find it.

Zion seemed a bit off today... he fumbled the ball a lot. It seemed like Tacko really caused issues for him around the rim (which I guess is pretty natural).

Cam finally had a better performance and it was much needed.

Bolden was basically useless. He seems to accept switches when he should be doing everything to avoid accepting switches. Even if he can cover the guy he gets switched on... it doesn't mean the guy who switched can cover his new man. It also puts us in a rebounding disadvantage.

Overall we just need to play better. Not going to get into the refs, that's not my thing.

The plays down the stretch by Zion and RJ were huge... survive and advance and play a lot better on Friday.

[subzero02]

so weird that that is okay...Dawkins, Cam Johnson at UNC. remember Danny Wuerffel, the qb from Florida a few years ago? he was like 40 or something.


LOL, I think you're thinking of FSUs Chris Weinke. He was 28 or 29 as a Senior.

Both won national titles and Heisman Trophies. However Weinke, who was born in 1972, won the Heisman in 2000 which is 4 years later than Danny(born 1974) won his(1996 Heisman winner).

[devildeac]

You might need to watch again.

Tacko had his left foot inside the arc and he didn't keep his arms up. He brought them down as Zion went up, hence the foul call.

RJ didn't even get close to pushing off. I saw the UCF player complain in real time so I watched the slow mode replay and he never pushed. I also just now went and looked at the ESPN highlights which show a different angle and once again he never pushes in the slightest nor does the defender even look pushed.

You should tweet that to Goodman and also mention some of the other horrendous calls/no calls that were made. We won. I'm still conscious and approaching happy again.

[Kdogg]

Many of them were wide open jumpers. What did you expect him to do?? If he doesn’t take those we are playing 4 on 5.

Incidentally this is why I don’t think he’s ready for the NBA. Difficult to be a PG who can’t shoot.

Rajon Rondo says hi.

[ns7]

Don't see how. He was inside the restricted zone and didn't keep his arms up.

I think he's talking about the guard who flopped.

[ice-9]

bingo. He's open at mid-court every time up the floor, but that doesn't mean he should be taking that shot. You take shots because they are valuable in driving the efficiency of the offense, either directly or indirectly. It wouldn't make sense for Tre to jack it from the center circle, and because he is a poor shot, it doesn't make sense for him to jack it from three. It obviously wasn't a direct positive, and given nobody ever came out to guard it, it wasn't an indirect positive...so at that point, you're just throwing away opportunities.

Are you seriously comparing passing up an open college 3 pointer to a half court heave? Uh...no!

[robed deity]

agree with cam. didn't think zion's was a jump ball. i thought tacko's non-foul on zion when K went nuts was the most egregious.

zion also did get away with a huge charge at the end. Not that it evens anything out.

That was not a charge. Taylor went down easily.

[DangerDevil]

You might need to watch again.

Tacko had his left foot inside the arc and he didn't keep his arms up. He brought them down as Zion went up, hence the foul call.

RJ didn't even get close to pushing off. I saw the UCF player complain in real time so I watched the slow mode replay and he never pushed. I also just now went and looked at the ESPN highlights which show a different angle and once again he never pushes in the slightest nor does the defender even look pushed.

The charge on Zion could have been called when he started the drive and there was contact with a different defender not Tacko. Not saying it was a charge but with the way offensive fouls have been called it could have been another.

[AtlDuke72]

We got screwed hard on the officiating.
Our players showed great heart, especially at the end - Cam's 3, Zion's drive and RJ putback brought us back from the dead.
UCF showed just as much heart and Dawkins son especially. We are very lucky his tip-in didn't fall.
Poor bench use - Bolden and AOC should have been given more (some) playing time.
Jones shooting a lot of 3's plays right into our opponents hands. He needs to stop it.
Zion is a once in a generation athlete. And a winner.
Whew....

The referees could easily have called a charge on Zion on his final drive. Barrett definitely pushed off on the rebound. I don’t agree that Duke got the short end of the officiating.

[subzero02]

Shocked that we pressed and played zone. It seems super weird to go to that defense after barely playing it all season.

We let 2 guys go 19 of 28 from the field. The rest of their team was 7 of 26. We needed a way to stop those 2 and we never seemed to find it.

Zion seemed a bit off today... he fumbled the ball a lot. It seemed like Tacko really caused issues for him around the rim (which I guess is pretty natural).

Cam finally had a better performance and it was much needed.

Bolden was basically useless. He seems to accept switches when he should be doing everything to avoid accepting switches. Even if he can cover the guy he gets switched on... it doesn't mean the guy who switched can cover his new man. It also puts us in a rebounding disadvantage.

Overall we just need to play better. Not going to get into the refs, that's not my thing.

The plays down the stretch by Zion and RJ were huge... survive and advance and play a lot better on Friday.


Zion's handle was extremely shaky today. His rhythm seemed to be off when he was dribbling in the open court on more than one occasion. He also had the ball poked away a few times in the first half while trying to operate in halfcourt sets.

[ns7]

Shocked that we pressed and played zone. It seems super weird to go to that defense after barely playing it all season.

We let 2 guys go 19 of 28 from the field. The rest of their team was 7 of 26. We needed a way to stop those 2 and we never seemed to find it.


Yes, we couldn't stop them, and K was trying everything to see if something would work. The press helped for a bit but then UCF adjusted by making open 3s after breaking the press.

[Kedsy]

ADVANCED STATS

Possessions: 67.6 (Faster than UCF is used to (ranked 311th in adjusted tempo), but it didn't seem to bother them)

OFFENSE

oRtg: 1.14 (adjusted, that's 1.23, which is good)
eFG%: 52.2% (okay, but not good)
3pt%: 40.0% (second straight 40+% performance, which is amazing for this team)
2pt%: 47.6% (not good, but the Tacko man seemed to make a difference here)
%threes: 37.3% (a little high, but since we shot well, not really complaint-worthy)
FT rate: 17.9% (terrible, but (a) we may have been afraid to challenge Tacko; and (b) there seemed possibly to be more fouls committed on drives than called)
OR%: 32.5% (not great, but not bad considering)
TO%: 11.8% (we've been taking care of the ball really well so far this tournament)
a/to: 1.88:1
%assisted: 50.0%
fast break pts: 2 (2.6% of our points; second straight pathetic performance)


DEFENSE

dRtg: 1.12 (adjusted that's 1.05, pretty terrible)
eFG%: 56.5% (also terrible)
3pt%: 50.0% (what's worse than terrible?)
2pt%: 47.2% (pretty good, especially considering that 9 of their 17 two-point field goals were dunks)
%threes: 33.3%
FT rate: 37.7% (poor)
DR%: 76.7% (outstanding, considering who was standing under their basket for much of the game; second straight great DR performance)
TO%: 16.3% (meh)
a/to: 1.45:1
%assisted: 61.5%
fast break pts: 2 (2.6% of their points; second straight great performance here)
block%: 5.6%; 8.3% of 2-point shots (uncharacteristically low for this team)
steal%: 11.8% (not bad)


Offense was good. Defense was pretty awful, but I guess just good enough.

[uh_no]

Are you seriously comparing passing up an open college 3 pointer to a half court heave? Uh...no!

in that they are shots that tre probably shouldn't take with much regularity regardless of how open they are? yes.

the point is that there exist shots such that it doesn't make sense to take them regardless of how open they are. Half court heaves are clearly in that class. In Tre's case, wide open three pointers aren't too too far off. There has to be some limit. What if he shot less than 20%? should he stop taking them? 15? 10%? Surely at the absurd 0% it would be equivalent to a half court heave. So what is the limit? Dunno.

I don't have a hard cutoff as to when it doesn't make sense for tre to take that shot regardless of openness, but I have to imagine it's north of the 10% he's shot in the tournament. I doubt he's actually a 10% shooter, but he's not good enough at it to justify taking it 8 times.

[ice-9]

Rajon Rondo says hi.

Not really playing much these days though.

[AlaskanAssassin]

After rewatching the last play, I noticed how RJ just stood there after the initial layup which allowed Dawkins to go for a putback. Everyone has got to block out and go for a rebound at that point. Hope it was pointed out to him afterwards.

Whew! Sweated a gallon that’s for sure!

[CDu]

You might need to watch again.

Tacko had his left foot inside the arc and he didn't keep his arms up. He brought them down as Zion went up, hence the foul call.

RJ didn't even get close to pushing off. I saw the UCF player complain in real time so I watched the slow mode replay and he never pushed. I also just now went and looked at the ESPN highlights which show a different angle and once again he never pushes in the slightest nor does the defender even look pushed.

He was talking about on the drive with Taylor guarding, not on the shot where Fall fouled.

[lmb]

My stomach still hasn't settled itself. My hands aren't shaking anymore though😬

The entire game I kept thinking how this was the worst possible match-up for Duke. A giant down low, guards hitting shots that were generally well defended, a coach that knows our coach inside and out.

If they had lost it wouldn't have been for lack of effort or because they played poorly. The defense was spectacular at times. Barrett, Cam, and Tyus hit difficult mid-range shots and Zion was great. Yes, Tyus should have worked the ball around more on a couple of possessions instead of launching quick threes.

I think you just chalk this one up to two teams playing great and the ball bounced Duke's way this time.

I just don't see VaTech or Liberty posing a similar challenge

[Kdogg]

Not really playing much these days though.

13 years in the league.
All star
All defensive team
All NBA team

Rondo can’t shoot but he shows a player can make other contributions. Tre’s smart, has good court vision and an excellent defender. There’s a place for give in the next level. Maybe not next year though.

[Chard]

c'mon man. it was questionable. after they initially ruled it hit the rim, there was no conclusive view that showed it didn't. I don't THINk it did, but it has to be conclusive.

There are bigger things to complain about, either from missed calls or our atrocious defensive play.

I disagree. It was clear as day that it didn't touch the rim.

[weezie]

My stomach still hasn't settled itself. My hands aren't shaking anymore though😬...

Amen brother.

[ice-9]

in that they are shots that tre probably shouldn't take with much regularity regardless of how open they are? yes.

the point is that there exist shots such that it doesn't make sense to take them regardless of how open they are. Half court heaves are clearly in that class. In Tre's case, wide open three pointers aren't too too far off. There has to be some limit. What if he shot less than 20%? should he stop taking them? 15? 10%? Surely at the absurd 0% it would be equivalent to a half court heave. So what is the limit? Dunno.

I don't have a hard cutoff as to when it doesn't make sense for tre to take that shot regardless of openness, but I have to imagine it's north of the 10% he's shot in the tournament. I doubt he's actually a 10% shooter, but he's not good enough at it to justify taking it 8 times.

Obviously I understood your point, just found the comparison ridiculous. A better one might be to take one or two dribbles in and take the long 2.

Of course that’s also considered statistically the worst shot in basketball (unless you continue to include half court heaves as possibilities), but maybe for Tre it would have been more efficient in terms of probability-expected points.

[TNTDevil]

Very tough to play a team with such a dominant inside presence and such a fantastic talent in Aubry Dawkins. UCF also had more than just those two and would give anyone in the tournament big trouble. I did think there were 3 calls against us that were game changers. Cam's block of an Aubry shot was called a foul. That was clearly shown in replay to be a clean block. Three points and a foul on Cam. Zion driving into Fall and getting absolutely mugged and it was called a block. Shooting fouls and the 4th on Fall early. Then the shot that never hit the rim that wound up being a put back by Fall instead of a turnover. We won, so maybe it was poetic justice for the missed calls.

Zion was magnificent again to night and RJ had a good game. Don't like our guards taking so many 3's but that is what the defense was giving us. At least they hit a few.

Lot of good has to be said about Javin's game. No one played harder tonight and he made a major impact on the game results.

We have to survive games like this to move ahead. Congratulations to all the kids for never giving in. A lot of our teams in the past would have lost this game.
Something to be said for experience.

Dontchaknow.

[MrPoon]

The end of this game felt like the basketball gods were just messing with both teams. UCF could not miss, nor could A.Dawkins, until he and they missed the biggest shots of the game. Duke couldn’t catch a break, until we were gifted several at the key moments. We literally survived.

As for Tre’s 3s, I have to assume the coaches are telling him to shoot. He was taking those shots right in front of our bench.

Crazy game, feels surreal to have won it. For this team to lose in The 2nd round would have been an epic disaster. We live to play another day.

This is what I think is missing from most of the posts so far. Duke has coaches too and they clearly are telling these guys to shoot open shots. I disagree and screamed it many times this season but that seems to be the plan. What is surprising to me is how there really was no plan “B” other than dump to Zion.
More than less threes from Tre, I’d love him to help create more opportunities as the PG. But we seem stuck if the drives by Z or RJ don’t work. It’s clearly the offensive Duke’s employing this year but it seems to get stuck at times.

[uh_no]

Obviously I understood your point, just found the comparison ridiculous. A better one might be to take one or two dribbles in and take the long 2.

Of course that’s also considered statistically the worst shot in basketball (unless you continue to include half court heaves as possibilities), but maybe for Tre it would have been more efficient in terms of probability-expected points.

i think for tre it is better...i forget the site that has the numbers....

[House G]

After rewatching the last play, I noticed how RJ just stood there after the initial layup which allowed Dawkins to go for a putback. Everyone has got to block out and go for a rebound at that point. Hope it was pointed out to him afterwards.

Whew! Sweated a gallon that’s for sure!

I don’t think freshmen at Duke are taught how to block out—I’m not kidding. Outside of Jack White, no one does it well or consistently. Last year’s team was equally poor at it. All they have to do is watch tape of Virginia. I mean, it just isn’t that difficult.

[ice-9]

13 years in the league.
All star
All defensive team
All NBA team

Rondo can’t shoot but he shows a player can make other contributions. Tre’s smart, has good court vision and an excellent defender. There’s a place for give in the next level. Maybe not next year though.

I meant not much room for a PG who can’t shoot *today*. Similarly, Tacko would have been drafted high several decades ago when height was prized, but not today.

[TNTDevil]

Don't mean to nit pick, but it was not questionable on replay. Ball never hit the rim, if it did the rotation of the ball would have changed. Bad replay call.The over-arching theme of Duke Athletics...if it comes down to a replay, chances are very good we're gonna get screwed.

Sharpie.

[lmb]

Amen brother.

Sister😄

[CDu]

i think for tre it is better...i forget the site that has the numbers...

It is about even. Tre shoots 36.1% on 2pt jumpers and 24.5% on 3s.

The correct play is to dribble in, under control with head up, until you get Fall to commit to defending you. He can’t change directions quickly. If you can get him leaning outward, the defense starts to break down.

[MrPoon]

Seth Davis with really good post game comments after the V Tech game. Said he felt sure it was a shot clock violation and really commended K for how he motivated this young team, especially Z at the end of the game.

[FerryFor50]

Didn’t see a lot of love out there for Javin, but I think he played outstanding - especially considering how much of a height disadvantage he had. He came down with some tough rebounds, some steals, got Duke a few 2nd possessions, abd had a killer put back dunk.

He was a needed difference maker inside.

Cam was having a great game, but got hosed on two calls - the foul on the three and the foul where Taylor jumped backwards into Cam on a drive. Not having his defense- and offense - was huge. UCF made their run around the time he went put with his 4th foul.

I’ll echo those who think AOC should have seen some minutes. It’s not like the Goldwire/Jones combo was killing it on defense. And UCF was able to sag off on both Tre and Jordan during their run and pack it in even more. AOC could have helped spread the floor. And, to a certain extent, they really could have used Jack White’s energy, rebounding and threat of an outside shot.

Count me in the camp of people who think Tre *should* be taking that wide open three. (We’re a small camp)

Teams are going to continue to sag off, so he has to at least be a threat to shoot it. I think he should take a dribble and shoot in rhythm though.

I also would have put Vrank in when UCF made a run and gone “hack a Tacko” on a few possessions.

The refs were pretty terrible, if only for that awful missed call on Tacko when he obviously fouled Zion. Getting Tacko his 4th there would have been big, IMO.

https://twitter.com/jakeweingarten/status/1109954402276786176?s=21

[uh_no]

It is about even. Tre shoots 36.1% on 2pt jumpers and 24.5% on 3s.

The correct play is to dribble in, under control with head up, until you get Fall to commit to defending you. He can’t change directions quickly. If you can get him leaning outward, the defense starts to break down.

i also think time on the shot clock is important. taking that jumper with 5 or 6 seconds left on the clock is a much better shot than with 20s on the clock, since there's significantly less chance you'll have time to take advantage of any defensive breakdown.

[ice-9]

It is about even. Tre shoots 36.1% on 2pt jumpers and 24.5% on 3s.

The correct play is to dribble in, under control with head up, until you get Fall to commit to defending you. He can’t change directions quickly. If you can get him leaning outward, the defense starts to break down.

Is that percentage for all 2s or long 2s?

Also don’t underestimate an 8 foot wingspan on defense. Tacko doesn’t need to get close to guard a 6’2 jump shot.

[CDu]

Didn’t see a lot of love out there for Javin, but I think he played outstanding - especially considering how much of a height disadvantage he had. He came down with some tough rebounds, some steals, got Duke a few 2nd possessions, abd had a killer put back dunk.

He was a needed difference maker inside.

Cam was having a great game, but got hosed on two calls - the foul on the three and the foul where Taylor jumped backwards into Cam on a drive. Not having his defense- and offense - was huge. UCF made their run around the time he went put with his 4th foul.

I’ll echo those who think AOC should have seen some minutes. It’s not like the Goldwire/Jones combo was killing it on defense. And UCF was able to sag off on both Tre and Jordan during their run and pack it in even more. AOC could have helped spread the floor. And, to a certain extent, they really could have used Jack White’s energy, rebounding and threat of an outside shot.

Count me in the camp of people who think Tre *should* be taking that wide open three. (We’re a small camp)

Teams are going to continue to sag off, so he has to at least be a threat to shoot it. I think he should take a dribble and shoot in rhythm though.

I also would have put Vrank in when UCF made a run and gone “hack a Tacko” on a few possessions.

The refs were pretty terrible, if only for that awful missed call on Tacko when he obviously fouled Zion. Getting Tacko his 4th there would have been big, IMO.

https://twitter.com/jakeweingarten/status/1109954402276786176?s=21

Minor quibble, but Taylor didn’t jump backwards. He just made a hard pull-up and Cam kept moving forward into him. That is an easy, and correct, foul call. The foul on the three was an awful call though.

[FerryFor50]

Is that percentage for all 2s or long 2s?

Also don’t underestimate an 8 foot wingspan on defense. Tacko doesn’t need to get close to guard a 6’2 jump shot.

Yep. As soon as Tre would dribble in, Tacko would have started playing defense.

Also, if we played by NBA rules (where 7’6” guys can’t just park under the basket) Fall would have had a tougher time.

[JetpackJesus]

I disagree. It was clear as day that it didn't touch the rim.

Yes. The overhead shows the ball didn't touch. The replay the broadcast said the officials relied on shows that the ball's rotation did not change at all until it hit the backboard.

Maybe the refs can't factor junior high-level physics into their reviews?

[CDu]

Is that percentage for all 2s or long 2s?

Also don’t underestimate an 8 foot wingspan on defense. Tacko doesn’t need to get close to guard a 6’2 jump shot.

I would imagine that he is worse on long 2s. And he didn’t need to get Fall close. He just needed to get him moving in a direction away from the basket. I didn’t want Jones shooting any jumpers against Fall. I wanted Jones to use some ballhandling savvy to get Fall in motion. Then drive or pass.

[BigZ]

The Zion missed foul shot and put back by RJ was God repaying Duke for 2002 vs Indiana

The rim out by UCF was God rewarding Duke for Allen’s rim out last year

[FerryFor50]

Minor quibble, but Taylor didn’t jump backwards. He just made a hard pull-up and Cam kept moving forward into him. That is an easy, and correct, foul call. The foul on the three was an awful call though.

Looked like he jumped backwards to me. Cam was pretty much standing straight up.

[DoWorkDukie]

Something to be said for experience.

Dontchaknow.

Loved Javin's intensity. Wish he could have made those FT's tho

[JetpackJesus]

Yep. As soon as Tre would dribble in, Tacko would have started playing defense.

Also, if we played by NBA rules (where 7’6” guys can’t just park under the basket) Fall would have had a tougher time.
I thought many times during this game that I wish defensive 3 seconds existed in college. That would end Boeheim's career, but he's had a good run.

[CDu]

Looked like he jumped backwards to me. Cam was pretty much standing straight up.

Yeah, no. Cam was moving forward. Taylor went straight up and let Reddish’s momentum do him in.

[gocanes0506]

The Zion missed foul shot and put back by RJ was God repaying Duke for 2002 vs Indiana

The rim out by UCF was God rewarding Duke for Allen’s rim out last year

If so, both have been reedemed in one game. Kind of sad we needed both in a second round game.

[ice-9]

I would imagine that he is worse on long 2s. And he didn’t need to get Fall close. He just needed to get him moving in a direction away from the basket. I didn’t want Jones shooting any jumpers against Fall. I wanted Jones to use some ballhandling savvy to get Fall in motion. Then drive or pass.

If he never shoots though would anyone fall for it? I gotta say it was a brilliant coaching move on Dawkins part.

[CDu]

I thought many times during this game that I wish defensive 3 seconds existed in college. That would end Boeheim's career, but he's had a good run.

I think defensive 3 seconds is an awful rule. There should be no such thing as illegal defense (aside from fouls). Don’t like a defense? Make shots or make better passes/drives to beat that defense..

[FerryFor50]

If so, both have been reedemed in one game. Kind of sad we needed both in a second round game.

Wendell Carter redeemed as well.

[fgb]

Was Duke really his dream school even with his dad as a coach?

If so, whiffing on him is worse than missing out on Steph Curry.

really? Curry is one of the best 3 or 4 players in the world. Dawkins is an NBA journeyman, at best. he had the game of his life tonight, would have been a day in the life for Curry.

[DoWorkDukie]

If he never shoots though would anyone fall for it? I gotta say it was a brilliant coaching move on Dawkins part.

i gotta be honest i feel like dawkins had the upper hand coaching-wise on K today

[FerryFor50]

really? Curry is one of the best 3 or 4 players in the world. Dawkins is an NBA journeyman, at best. he had the game of his life tonight, would have been a day in the life for Curry.

He nearly Bootsy Thorntoned Duke.

[CDu]

If he never shoots though would anyone fall for it? I gotta say it was a brilliant coaching move on Dawkins part.

You have to at least try. I imagine Fall would bite eventually. Or someone would panic. Not defending someone as they are moving closer and closer to the basket is not a natural feeling. Keep going to the basket until Fall commits. If he waits until you get in layup range, then fake the shot and dribble or Euro step around him and go to the other side of the basket.

Basically, you just can’t let Fall camp out in the paint. You have to make him move. Shooting jump shots allows him to stay comfortable.

[JetpackJesus]

I think defensive 3 seconds is an awful rule. There should be no such thing as illegal defense (aside from fouls). Don’t like a defense? Make shots or make better passes/drives to beat that defense..

I should clarify that I'm not advocating for it. I just wished it were a rule in college tonight because UCF would've been blown off the court.

[Dukehk]

Anybody a little bit mad at the committee for "rewarding" the overall number 1 seed with these types of matchups?

ucf was almost the perfect storm, with their former ties to duke and having a 7-6 monster in the post as well as having someone with the surname Dawkins drop 30+ on us in a career night.

Now we have to face a VT team which is back at full health and looking more like a 2 or 3 seed. Oh did I mention they beat us in our only matchup of the year?

[CDu]

i gotta be honest i feel like dawkins had the upper hand coaching-wise on K today

I agree. I thought putting Barrett on Dawkins backfired. Barrett is our worst on-ball defender. Dawkins punished him. I would have put Barrett on Allen.

I also think that we should have considered fouling Fall any time he was near the ball once they hit the bonus. Make them choose whether to score 0.3-0.4 points per possession or take Fall out. Maybe Coach didn’t want to embarrass the kid or his former player.

[simplyluvin]

Give UCF credit, but we played poorly in the second half. Thank God for Zion and RJ. Clutch 3 at the end by Cam. Need to get this out of our system, because we were doggone lucky to win.

Also, we may have shown everyone how to beat us...don’t guard Tre or JGold at the three and pack it in to reduce interior space. Shooting 2 for 11 combined from 3 by our guards isn’t going to cut it these next four games, but I will take 40% from 3 overall.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Anybody a little bit mad at the committee for "rewarding" the overall number 1 seed with these types of matchups?

ucf was almost the perfect storm, with their former ties to duke and having a 7-6 monster in the post as well as having someone with the surname Dawkins drop 30+ on us in a career night.

Now we have to face a VT team which is back at full health and looking more like a 2 or 3 seed. Oh did I mention they beat us in our only matchup of the year?

Nope. Not at all. UCF had the resume of 8/9 seed. UCF is 36 in kenpom, which would translate into a 9 seed.

And as for VT? They are a low 3/high 4 seed. They are seeded correctly.

[arnie]

Give UCF credit, but we played poorly in the second half. Thank God for Zion and RJ. Clutch 3 at the end by Cam. Need to get this out of our system, because we were doggone lucky to win.

Also, we may have shown everyone how to beat us...don’t guard Tre or JGold at the three and pack it in to reduce interior space. Shooting 2 for 11 combined from 3 by our guards isn’t going to cut it these next four games, but I will take 40% from 3 overall.

If Tre and JGold aren’t forcing TOS and creating multiple fast break opportunities, you’re right; they become a bigtime offensive liability. Tough call and when to use this combo, it sure worked against Louisville.

[robed deity]

I agree. I thought putting Barrett on Dawkins backfired. Barrett is our worst on-ball defender. Dawkins punished him. I would have put Barrett on Allen.

I also think that we should have considered fouling Fall any time he was near the ball once they hit the bonus. Make them choose whether to score 0.3-0.4 points per possession or take Fall out. Maybe Coach didn’t want to embarrass the kid or his former player.

I know K has a great record against former assistants/players, but it just seems like Duke doesn't play great in these matchups.

[CDu]

Give UCF credit, but we played poorly in the second half. Thank God for Zion and RJ. Clutch 3 at the end by Cam. Need to get this out of our system, because we were doggone lucky to win.

Also, we may have shown everyone how to beat us...don’t guard Tre or JGold at the three and pack it in to reduce interior space. Shooting 2 for 11 combined from 3 by our guards isn’t going to cut it these next four games, but I will take 40% from 3 overall.

I would counter that (a) it didn’t work and (b) nobody else has a 7’6” guy to contest in the paint. Everyone tries to pack it in on us, but Zion plays over everyone else.

[InSpades]

One option if they are not going to cover Tre is to just have him screen for someone (RJ or Cam). Either a dribble hand off screen or just a regular old screen. Now instead of Tre being open at the top of the key... it is RJ or Cam. Just another way to punish them for not covering a guy... of course if Tre could just hit the open 3 that would work too!

[budwom]

I'd rather be lucky than good.
Some bad calls notwithstanding, it may have been our luckiest tourney victory under K....

[Potato]

Nope. Not at all. UCF had the resume of 8/9 seed. UCF is 36 in kenpom, which would translate into a 9 seed.

And as for VT? They are a low 3/high 4 seed. They are seeded correctly.

I'm just at the point where I'm not even getting worked up about stuff like this anymore. Duke has more talent than any team in the country. UCF probably played as well as they possibly could have tonight, Duke got lucky as hell to win. But regardless of how well Duke played, Duke losing would have been embarrassing. VT I agree is a tough matchup, but Duke is better. If Duke loses I'll most likely only be upset with Duke, not because of matchups of anything like that. Duke can beat anyone, just go out and do it. No excuses.

[fgb]

The Zion missed foul shot and put back by RJ was God repaying Duke for 2002 vs Indiana

The rim out by UCF was God rewarding Duke for Allen’s rim out last year

no, it was repayment for the extra 10 fouls tacko was allowed in this game. we're still owed for those other two. and for 2004

[dukelion]

I agree. I thought putting Barrett on Dawkins backfired. Barrett is our worst on-ball defender. Dawkins punished him. I would have put Barrett on Allen.

I also think that we should have considered fouling Fall any time he was near the ball once they hit the bonus. Make them choose whether to score 0.3-0.4 points per possession or take Fall out. Maybe Coach didn’t want to embarrass the kid or his former player.

Completely agree.

Also feel like going zone was curious especially with Goldwire as it takes away from his on ball pressure. Would've like to see AOC in there for a few mins if they insisted on playing zone.

[CoachJ10]

I agree. I thought putting Barrett on Dawkins backfired. Barrett is our worst on-ball defender. Dawkins punished him. I would have put Barrett on Allen.

I also think that we should have considered fouling Fall any time he was near the ball once they hit the bonus. Make them choose whether to score 0.3-0.4 points per possession or take Fall out. Maybe Coach didn’t want to embarrass the kid or his former player.

I think its the latter. K respects the game too much.

[simplyluvin]

I would counter that (a) it didn’t work and (b) nobody else has a 7’6” guy to contest in the paint. Everyone tries to pack it in on us, but Zion plays over everyone else.

I actually agree with your counter argument, but for fun, I’ll counter your counter by saying the above defense combined with a great night shooting 3s by our opponent is a recipe for disaster. Again, we were lucky tonight but in the postseason we take the win. If this were a regular season game, this may have been one of those “feels like a loss” wins.

[fgb]

I also think that we should have considered fouling Fall any time he was near the ball once they hit the bonus. Make them choose whether to score 0.3-0.4 points per possession or take Fall out. Maybe Coach didn’t want to embarrass the kid or his former player.

I wondered about this... we had vrank and Justin on the bench, 10 fouls just sitting there to spend on a player who barely shoots over 30% from the line. was it about not embarassing him? if so, really? who cares? could our staff have possibly valued his pride over our own surviving and advancing?

it seems preposterous. but that's 10 possessions that we could have pretty much erased. why wouldn't we? I don't get it.

[arydolphin]

Schedule for Friday night, games on CBS:
7:09 PM: LSU-Michigan State
9:39 PM: Va Tech-Duke

[CDu]

I actually agree with your counter argument, but for fun, I’ll counter your counter by saying the above defense combined with a great night shooting 3s by our opponent is a recipe for disaster. Again, we were lucky tonight but in the postseason we take the win. If this were a regular season game, this may have been one of those “feels like a loss” wins.

Sure, hitting 3s saved us. But, leaving us wide open invites guys like Reddish, Barrett, and Zion (all capable 3pt shooters) to make them. Like what happened at UVa.

And again, other teams aren’t going to be as effective at stopping us inside, even if they clog the lane.

The reason it almost worked is because Fall was able to smother/alter enough attempts inside. If they play that same strategy without Fall, Zion goes for 40 and we win comfortably.

[wavedukefan70s]

Wow Dawkins. I thought ucf got away with a lot of physicality.we were not afforded the same luxury.
Maybe it was because they were attacking more than we did.
Duke did not look good tonight.we looked young intimidated and lost at times.as my son said:we needed to toughen up and make plays .

Can we find a three point threat on our bench.i hope we can.we have to play better.or dc will be our last weekend.heres to a better next week.calling jack white.calling jack white.

[simplyluvin]

I wondered about this... we had vrank and Justin on the bench, 10 fouls just sitting there to spend on a player who barely shoots over 30% from the line. was it about not embarassing him? if so, really? who cares? could our staff have possibly valued his pride over our own surviving and advancing?

it seems preposterous. but that's 10 possessions that we could have pretty much erased. why wouldn't we? I don't get it.

The hack-a-tacko method crossed my mind as well. The only explanation for not doing this is Coach might have said that that isn’t Duke basketball.