Duke 87, Cal 52 Post Game thread

[-jk]

The defense is a wonder. The offense is coming. Nice to see some guys hit 3s.

-jk

[uh_no]

The defense is a wonder. The offense is coming. Nice to see some guys hit 3s.

-jk

beat down. carey is so quiet...i was shocked when they said he had 19 already. Love it. Much cleaner than last week. Don't necessarily think cal is particularly legit, though. Lets get out with a W tomorrow.

[BandAlum83]

Vernon Carey = 2nd coming of Marvin Bagley!?

[proelitedota]

Vernon Carey back to pre-injury form.

[ncexnyc]

The only question I have about this team is, which one of the bombers is going to step-up on a consistent basis? Will it be Hurt, Alex, or Joey?

[UrinalCake]

Really satisfying win. Started with the defense, which kept us in it through that slow start where we couldn’t hit anything. The shots finally started falling but the defense stayed constant. We didn’t get a ton of steals but totally disrupted Cal’s offense and made them take tough shots all night. Carey was the man but Moore has a really solid game too. Jones and Stanley did what we’ve come to expect. Hurt was having a pretty rough game but did get some buckets in garbage time.

This may be a weird comment but I think the body language of this team is really methodical. There’s not a lot of hooting and flexing after a big play, nor is there whining after a bad call. Guys just move on to the next play, which really reflects the blue collar attitude of the team.

[TheOldBattleship]

Whew, Vernon Carey. That was really something. His touch (from all over the court, too) is just incredibly soft for a guy that strong. All those numbers in only 23 min (and a +31)? Yeesh. Fantastic defensively tonight, too. Moving well, and getting his hands up quickly to alter shots. Great to see the big guy seeing just how good he can be.

Strong all-around nights from Tre and Moore, as well, in particular. And really cool to see RJ, Bagley, and Giles there taking in the action (and getting super into AOC's dunk). On to Georgetown, who looked really tough earlier. Looking forward to that game.

[roywhite]

Vernon Carey = 2nd coming of Marvin Bagley!?

Or maybe a mixture of Bagley and Wendell Carter? Better defender than Bagley; more explosive than Carter. Carey is quick and strong; jumps well and his second jump is quick (Bagley's second or third jumps were other-worldly quick).

Carey plays hard but maintains an even temperament; we can see his game growing and his confidence growing. Good stuff.

**per Scott Van Pelt, Carey is the first player under Coach K to get at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in less than 30 minutes playing time. 31 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 blocks in 22 minutes.

[mo.st.dukie]

This may be a weird comment but I think the body language of this team is really methodical. There’s not a lot of hooting and flexing after a big play, nor is there whining after a bad call. Guys just move on to the next play, which really reflects the blue collar attitude of the team.

Well said, it's a no-frills, no-nonsense kind of team (I mean, they aren't robotic either, they'll show emotion from time to time) that doesn't have the glitz and glamour but just goes out there and gets work done. Even though Cal isn't very good I still feel like some of the recent Duke teams would have let them hang around that 18-23 point range all 2nd half. This team kept playing solid basketball even when up big which shows some maturity.

Vernon's shooting form looks really natural and the arc he gets on the shot is nice to watch. Certainly one of the best shooting bigs we've had this decade along with Carter Jr.

[Kedsy]

Don't get me wrong, Cal is not a good team, but a really strong performance on both sides of the ball.

OFFENSE

Possessions: 65.7 (glacial for this Duke team, but Cal is a very slow-paced team)
oRtg: 1.32 (considering we had 6 points at the first commercial timeout, this is pretty impressive)
eFG%: 49.2% (not great)
3pt%: 37.0% (very good, for this Duke team)
2pt%: 44.7% (not so good)
%threes: 41.5% (super-high, but we hit the shots, so...)
FT rate: 47.7% (very strong; best game getting to the line for the second straight game)
OR%: 53.5% (whoa; after three pathetic OR games to start the season, we're over 50% for the second straight game)
TO%: 13.7% (good)
a/to: 1.78:1 (fine)
%assisted: 59.3% (also fine)
fast break pts: 5 (5.7% of points; not good, but we didn't get a lot of steals and Cal plays a very deliberate game)

DEFENSE

dRtg: 0.79 (fifth straight game (out of 5) at 0.85 or lower)
eFG%: 40.4% (nice)
3pt%: 40.0% (not good; third game out of five with opponents shooting 40% or better from three)
2pt%: 35.7% (very good; only team to shoot better than 42% on twos against us has been Kansas)
%threes: 19.2% (fab; in three games our opponents have taken 20% or fewer of their shots from three, and in a fourth game less than 30%; that's pretty extraordinary)
FT rate: 26.9% (pretty good, especially considering how bad we were at this in our first three games)
DR%: 77.1% (another extraordinary thing: in four of our five games we've gathered 77% or more of available defensive rebounds; for a Duke team under Coach K, that's amazing)
TO%: 22.8% (our worst TO% of the season for the second straight game, but still pretty good)
a/to: 0.6:1 (our opponents have been under 0.72:1 in all five games this season)
%assisted: 47.3% (okay)
stl%: 7.6% (meh; lowest of the season for the second straight game)
blk%: 11.5% (14.3% of 2pt shots) (good)
fast break pts: 7 (13.5% of points; best of the season so far but, again, Cal is a very slow team)


If we want to be churlish, there are a few minor things to complain about, but in general a very strong performance on both sides of the ball against a bottom-barrel high-major team.

[Kedsy]

Or maybe a mixture of Bagley and Wendell Carter?

I think he's what Wendell Carter would have been if Bagley hadn't decided to come to Duke at the last minute.

[duke4ever19]

I think he's what Wendell Carter would have been if Bagley hadn't decided to come to Duke at the last minute.

Oooh now that's an interesting thought. After tonight, I can't say I disagree.

I hope these performances become something we should expect of Vernon vs. ACC competition.

[subzero02]

I think he's what Wendell Carter would have been if Bagley hadn't decided to come to Duke at the last minute.

I think Carter had a more physically assertive post game than Vernon but both have great patience and feel when backing down their defender. If Vernon continues this level of play, we will see how he deals with constant double teams. I assume that K will increase the rate at which we operate our half court offense from the inside out, so consistent outside shooting will become a more essential need. This will likely translate into more PT for White, Baker, and AOC and less PT for Javin and Goldwire. It's only one game but it appeared that Vernon found his chi( borrowing from an old battier quote after he bombarded the terps with 3's as a sophomore). He played with tremendous confidence and I see no reason why he can't continue to build on this great performance.

[dukelifer]

A very impressive performance after a slow start on O. Of course, Carey was amazing. Most impressive was his rebounding- he was going after the ball on D an O. I really like what Stanley brings to the team- he plays D attentively and is crafty on O and has a good enough shot to keep his defender guessing. Tre’s shot is getting more confident and that is a very good sign. Kudos to Jack White. He is a clean cut Rodman - understands the physics of positioning. Moore and Hurt are figuring it out- one is strong but cannot shoot- one can shoot but is not strong but both have very high ceilings. Duke is playing D very well - and everyone is engaged as K is playing a lot of guys. The team has work to do but they are showing a lot.

[Devilwin]

Nice game last night. Team is coming along nicely. They may back pedal a bit from time to time, but the improvement is obvious.:cool:

[Troublemaker]

Vernon is my 3rd-favorite Duke big of the past 25 years behind only Zion and Elton, and he's been a very pleasant surprise to me so far this season. (I'm going to for now stop short of just straight up declaring that he's the 3rd-best Duke big of the past 25 years, but I'm getting closer -- let's see how he performs against Georgetown's monsters inside).

What I love about Vernon in no particular order -- Vernon is a much better defender than high school stats / scouting reports / measurements suggested. Despite not being long, he reacts quickly enough to get his hands on balls (blocks, steals). Vernon is a much better rebounder than high school stats suggested, and in general, I love his great, soft hands and how secure the ball appears to be when his mitts are on it. I of course love his soft touch around the rim and how he carves out space using his body. I love that he has faceup-and-drive game (which was apparently how he played in high school until Coach Nate James taught him how to play back-to-basket). I love that Duke has seemingly done a wonderful job developing him. I love that he has worked so hard on his body and can now beat everyone down the floor in transition to catch a halfcourt alley-oop pass from Tre for a dunk (like he did against Ga St). I love that he is not a black hole when we feed him the ball inside; his head stays up looking for double-teams and passing lanes to open teammates, and he seems to have passing chops. There just aren't many weaknesses here.

[Saratoga2]

Some general thoughts:

1. We struggled on offense against the zone at first and we are likely to see a lot of that going forward.
2. Carey is a beast and too much for Cal. He is establishing himself as a lottery pick.
3. The defense played hard and limited Cal who tended to hit a few threes when we subbed out oour top defenders.
4. When the game got out of hand coach K rested his key starters to be ready for tonight, otherwise Carey would have had 40.

Offense:

With our defe3nse being a strong point, the main interest was who would step up on offense. Carey and Jones had already established their cred and clearly two we can rely on. Moore started over other possibles so he must have shown enough in practice to gain that distinction. Stanley had shown flashes on offense and continued in that respect, especially getting to the line and hitting his foul shots but also hitting a couple of shots.

As the game wore on, we got some indication that Baker can hit the three, Alex also hit a shot and had an impressive dunk while Hurt took a long while to get started but also hit a couplle of shots. Moore is a rugged kid who is likkely to improve and add more offense as he gains experience.

We won't have the athletic advantage tonight so our defense needs to continue to play at a high level while our offensive contributors have to show up consistently. Looking forward to the game.

[TKG]

Side Note: given the back-to-back games, it’s nice that no one logged heavy minutes against Cal.

[SkyBrickey]

I asked the question after seeing him the first time at CTC and I’ll ask it again now. Is Vernon Elton Brand with a jump shot? He’s not quite as long or bouncy as Wendell Carter. But he’s stronger with better inside footwork and maybe softer hands. Reminds me most of Elton Brand. And agreed. He’s a much better defender and rebounder than advertised.

Moore’s best game. Great to see him coming on.

Someone made the point that this team won by 35 while other Duke teams would have let off and won by 18-20. That’s the grinding full court pressure and our depth. Matthew Hurt is in at garbage time with fresh legs doing his thing.

I really love this team and where it has a chance to go. Glad we had the Zion and RJ show but don’t miss it.

[wavedukefan70s]

I asked the question after seeing him the first time at CTC and I’ll ask it again now. Is Vernon Elton Brand with a jump shot? He’s not quite as long or bouncy as Wendell Carter. But he’s stronger with better inside footwork and maybe softer hands. Reminds me most of Elton Brand. And agreed. He’s a much better defender and rebounder than advertised.

Moore’s best game. Great to see him coming on.

Someone made the point that this team won by 35 while other Duke teams would have let off and won by 18-20. That’s the grinding full court pressure and our depth. Matthew Hurt is in at garbage time with fresh legs doing his thing.

I really love this team and where it has a chance to go. Glad we had the Zion and RJ show but don’t miss it.

Im way behind on basketball(football playoffs ironically we are playing a former duke assistant tonight) .i like the play by this team.they dont cruise.
As you have stated.

[weezie]

Especially enjoyed the Duke Cheer Squad of RJ, Bagley, and Giles.

Enthusiastic and loud.

[budwom]

Carey is proving to be a fair amount more agile and skilled in the paint than his recruiting profile (by many) made him out to be...

[MChambers]

I asked the question after seeing him the first time at CTC and I’ll ask it again now. Is Vernon Elton Brand with a jump shot? He’s not quite as long or bouncy as Wendell Carter. But he’s stronger with better inside footwork and maybe softer hands. Reminds me most of Elton Brand. And agreed. He’s a much better defender and rebounder than advertised.

Maybe, but Elton was so quick for a big man. I don't see Vernon as that quick.

[jv001]

It appeared Dan Dakich had been told to reign in his dislike for Duke last night. He was actually giving Duke high praise, from the players to the coaching staff. He kept going on and on about how good Wendell would be by years end. For the first time listening to him, I can say he did an ok job. However he did say he thought Coach K's grandson should be in the game and take a shot the first time he touched the ball. I thought he was redshirting.

As for the game, once again our defense was outstanding. I loved the way our guys contested every pass and every shot. It helped to have an active shot blocker down low in Mr. Carey. About Vernon, this was one of the best games I've seen from a Duke big guy. Inside and outside Vernon was a force. Tre with 8 assists and zero turnovers was great but so was his defense. Tonight will be very different against a big G-Town team that seems to be able to get in the lane. Hoping we can stay out of foul trouble.

GoDuke!

[Nrrrrvous]

Moore’s best game. Great to see him coming on.



That wrap-around pass to Carey for the slam was beautiful!

[Billy Dat]

Like Tre having a breakout offensive game against Georgia State, Vernon's big breakout is proof that we have at least a couple of guys who can carry (get it) us on the offensive end. Per K:

“He’s the focal point of our offense right now,” Krzyzewski said. “He's making passes, he can put the ball on the floor. He's playing through contact, has a good touch.”

What an epic all around game for the big fella.

I was very surprised at Wendell getting the start, as others have said, he really must have been showing out in practice. I thought he played well after a shaky start, the whole team had a rough first 10 minutes as K furiously subbed guys in around Tre and Vernon looking for something to click. It was the first time all 4 freshmen started with Tre.

The defense was excellent overall, but I did think we got lucky at the beginning when we botched a bunch of switches and Cal just wasn't able to recognize it and hit guys who were wide open either on the perimeter or rolling to the hoop. Hurt was the culprit a bunch of times, and he seems like he's struggling. With Vernon's emergence, he doesn't really seem like he knows where to be. In the early part of the year, including exhibitions, it seemed like he would be the guy operating out of the high post but that whole space is now Careyland so he is still looking for an offensive identity. I am curious to see how the staff adjusts to Carey's emergence vis-a-vis Hurt's role.

Wendell started where I thought Jack would start and that was probably the right move. Jack is a rugged defender, rebounder and shot blocker and his only offense is a feet set, kick out 3. I really don't want him shooting anything else unless it's a put back. Cassius is just tough, and I love the work he and Jack do crashing the boards, and Hurt was pretty active on the offensive glass, too.

AOC looked lost. His yam was monstrous, but when the game was tight, so was he. You figure Javin is firmly established as Vernon's back-up and his PT will purely depend on Vernon's foul trouble. That leaves AOC and Baker fighting for 8th man minutes, unless one of them can make a case for Jack or Hurt to sit.

Good win, Cal is not good, but they were one of the country's best 3 point shooting teams coming in and, per Kedsy's stats, we really limited their looks and conversion.

It's also nice to see that 3 point % creeping up, especially for Tre.

It's always great to see Duke at MSG. K has a photo permanently displayed on the outside of the stadium, on the 31st street side nearly the player's entrance, right next to pics of Garden heroes Brian Leetch, Clyde Frazier, etc. I snapped this post-game on my way to my car.

9967

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Love that we ripped an unbeaten team badly.

Love that our defense is really becoming something...

Love 10 players over 10 minutes, no one over 25 minutes.

Hate hate hate the greys.....its like it's not really Duke somehow.....

[UrinalCake]

One of the announcers brought up Karl Anthony Towns as a comp for Carey. I’d never thought of that, but it’s not bad. I think Towns was more raw during his season in college, but in terms of versatile bigs who can go inside and out it does make sense.

One of my favorite plays of the night was when Stanley had the ball on the wing and fed it to Carey in the post. Carey kicked it right back out, and Stanley immediately fed it to him again and he hit a short hook shot. Such great unselfishness by both players. Feeding the post has never been something that Duke teams are particularly good at. The problem then exacerbates because when the bigs do get the ball in the post, they are reluctant to pass the ball out even if the shot isn’t there because they feel like they won’t get it back. So seeing those two share the ball like that was awesome.

[CameronBlue]

Love that we ripped an unbeaten team badly.

Love that our defense is really becoming something...

Love 10 players over 10 minutes, no one over 25 minutes.

Hate hate hate the greys...its like it's not really Duke somehow...

looked like they were pre-stained with sweat. My wife commented that the team looked like they had been rummaging around in a dumpster. kept turning up the brightness on my TV. Perhaps the worst unis Duke has tossed out there.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

looked like they were pre-stained with sweat. My wife commented that the team looked like they had been rummaging around in a dumpster. kept turning up the brightness on my TV. Perhaps the worst unis Duke has tossed out there.

Giving them the benefit of the doubt...they probably look okay up close...but on TV they are horrible....you're right, they just look dirty dingy on TV. The blue does not pop. The gold piping is just a distraction somehow...you can't really see it on TV, but you know something is out of kilter.

[DukieInBrasil]

Wendell started where I thought Jack would start and that was probably the right move. Jack is a rugged defender, rebounder and shot blocker and his only offense is a feet set, kick out 3. I really don't want him shooting anything else unless it's a put back. Cassius is just tough, and I love the work he and Jack do crashing the boards, and Hurt was pretty active on the offensive glass, too.

AOC looked lost. His yam was monstrous, but when the game was tight, so was he. You figure Javin is firmly established as Vernon's back-up and his PT will purely depend on Vernon's foul trouble. That leaves AOC and Baker fighting for 8th man minutes, unless one of them can make a case for Jack or Hurt to sit.
]

good observations in general, just wanted to focus on these 2. Jack's 3pt shooting has been somewhat erratic so far this year, but i remain hopeful that he settles in and can hit 1 or 2 per game. If he ends up shooting about 33%, then his utility on the court expands greatly b/c he's a ferocious rebounder and solid defender. There was a sequence in the 1st half where Jack tried a spinning semi sorta hook shot (?) in the lane that he either lost the handle on or otherwise was just a terrible shot and never looked like it had a chance to go in. Not sure what the issue was, but it was just fugly. Hope to never see that again. Oboards, down-low dump offs or kick-out 3s, those are things Jack can do on offense.

I'm not a coach so i don't know how to approach AOC's situation, but it seems like he could benefit from running around more thru screens to get open 3s. Maybe he's not good at anything but set catch n shoot situations, and Oboard dunks. Regardless, nobody seems to have unlocked a way to use him effectively on offense.

[ChillinDuke]

I'm buying in to this team more and more each game. For a lot of reasons, not least of which is the balance.

A game like that from Carey removes any doubt of what he's capable of. And that's immediately more than I expected entering this season. Tre already had one of those, but I expected that entering this season. Cassius has shown flashes and consistently so, if not putting together a fully complete game (although Colorado St was a good one). Wendell has underwhelmed but is noticeably improving - and improving in the Jayson Tatum way, not the Cam Reddish way - the ball isn't sticking as much, he's not pounding it into the floor, and his decision making is becoming zippier - I'm going to keep watching this. AOC is fading but his aggressiveness is notable - would anyone be shocked to see 20 from him one of these days? You may not count on it, but that's the beauty. Jack is the consummate glue guy. Joey is hitting some shots, which is important in his push for playing time. And I haven't even touched on Matthew Hurt who is fading at the moment, but who would count him out going forward? The only negative I have thus far is Javin - who is surprisingly not clicking.

This doesn't feel like a team that can be shut down by focusing on one or two guys. And that's very exciting.

- Chillin

[golfinesquire]

I'm buying in to this team more and more each game. For a lot of reasons, not least of which is the balance.

A game like that from Carey removes any doubt of what he's capable of. And that's immediately more than I expected entering this season. Tre already had one of those, but I expected that entering this season. Cassius has shown flashes and consistently so, if not putting together a fully complete game (although Colorado St was a good one). Wendell has underwhelmed but is noticeably improving - and improving in the Jayson Tatum way, not the Cam Reddish way - the ball isn't sticking as much, he's not pounding it into the floor, and his decision making is becoming zippier - I'm going to keep watching this. AOC is fading but his aggressiveness is notable - would anyone be shocked to see 20 from him one of these days? You may not count on it, but that's the beauty. Jack is the consummate glue guy. Joey is hitting some shots, which is important in his push for playing time. And I haven't even touched on Matthew Hurt who is fading at the moment, but who would count him out going forward? The only negative I have thus far is Javin - who is surprisingly not clicking.

This doesn't feel like a team that can be shut down by focusing on one or two guys. And that's very exciting.

- Chillin

I loved the way Carey played last night too but I am tempering my enthusiasm. Cal was badly overmatched and this is so early in the season that teams are not game-planning or don't have the necessary data to game plan their opponents well. One thing that I am really impressed with is how intelligent Carey is. He is picking up a post offense and reading what the defense has to give him better than most freshman and he is doing the same on defense. Now if only AOC could get his head screwed on right.

[Indoor66]

I just watched the game and don't understand the complaints about Dakitch. His comments were on point, relevant and well said. What else do you want?

[golfinesquire]

I just watched the game and don't understand the complaints about Dakitch. His comments were on point, relevant and well said. What else do you want?

I can't remember which one of them kept saying "old school Duke team" but after the fifteenth time I heard that, I was ready to hit the mute button.

[SouthernDukie]

I just watched the game and don't understand the complaints about Dakitch. His comments were on point, relevant and well said. What else do you want?

I agree. He was fine last night. No complaints from me. Not sure but what I'd rather here that version of Dakitch last night over Bilas or Elmore or any one of many other commentators out there today.

[Music man55]

Agree with the comment about Dakitch. Couldn't believe he was actually saying positive things about Duke. Anyway, great game from Carey. He is better at this stage of the season than I thought he might be. Keep it going big guy! Wendell played his best game so far and overall the defense is really clicking right now. Hope we can take down the Hoyas' tonight. Go Blue devils!

[jwillfan]

One of my favorite plays of the night was when Stanley had the ball on the wing and fed it to Carey in the post. Carey kicked it right back out, and Stanley immediately fed it to him again and he hit a short hook shot. Such great unselfishness by both players. Feeding the post has never been something that Duke teams are particularly good at. The problem then exacerbates because when the bigs do get the ball in the post, they are reluctant to pass the ball out even if the shot isn’t there because they feel like they won’t get it back. So seeing those two share the ball like that was awesome.

This play? https://twitter.com/i/status/1197859062345547776

[kAzE]

I think he's what Wendell Carter would have been if Bagley hadn't decided to come to Duke at the last minute.

I'm not ready to go there just yet. I think Vernon is more skilled offensively. He has better touch with his jump shot, and on his post hooks/fades (although almost exclusively with his left hand), but Wendell was a better post defender and help defender than Vernon has been thus far. He was also I think a better overall athlete. This is not a knock on Vernon. Vernon was excellent on defense this game, but I think we are selling Wendell short. True, the 2017-18 Duke team was not a great defensive team (at first), but I think that had much more to do with Marvin Bagley than Wendell Carter.

Wendell was really, really good at going straight up with two hands to contest shots in the paint without fouling. Maybe the best Duke freshman big I've ever seen at contesting shots without fouling. And yet, somehow he still fouled out of that Kansas game because of some extremely questionable calls. Sigh.

[robed deity]

This play? https://twitter.com/i/status/1197859062345547776

Haha hilarious. Saw this on Ben Swain's Twitter. Excellent follow, btw.

[jaytoc]

Virtually the first thing out of Dakich's mouth when the action began last night was a comment, following a Cal player's foray into the paint, "In Cameron that would have been called a push-off." The play-by-play guy, don't recall his name, responded sarcastically with something like "Oh, really? (You're starting this drumbeat so early?). I couldn't tell if it was genuine exasperation in the guy's voice, or simply kidding around with Dakich, but after that incident Dakich controlled himself, and even was quite compimentary.

[Kedsy]

The only negative I have thus far is Javin - who is surprisingly not clicking.

Javin has inexplicably shot very poorly so far this season, but his other stats so far show reason for optimism. With the caveat that we've only played five games and four of our opponents were lousy teams, Javin's rebounding rates (15.0% OR%, best on the team; 24.8% DR%; 15.2 rebs per 40) are all the best of his career. His assist% (8.4%) is a career high and more than twice as high as last season, his steal% (2.2%) and block% (4.2%) are not his best but are pretty good, and his usage rate (21.0%) is a career high and more than twice as high as last season.

This is a guy who had a 75% eFG% last season. It would be surprising if he doesn't start putting the ball in the basket at some point soon. At that point, if he can keep up the improvements in his peripheral stats, he'll have a very strong statistical profile. If at some point he can learn how to stop getting called for fouls, he could be in line for a Zoubekian transformation (and lest anybody thinks it's impossible for him to stop getting called for fouls, Brian Zoubek himself had a similar fouling profile at this exact stage of his career).

So I'm not as down on Javin as many others around here.

[kAzE]

It seems clear at this point that our offense runs through the post. I know this is already been said ad nauseum, but it really is an old-school team, in many ways. I don't have the stats in front of me, but it did seem like our best offensive possessions occurred when we were able to successfully get the ball to Vernon Carey or Matthew Hurt in the post. Didn't matter if it was high or low, once they got the ball inside, good things happened. We just don't have the ball handlers/playmakers on this team to be an up-tempo run and gun style of offense, but we can still be very effective because we have two guys who can create offense from the post.

The Javin DeLaurier/Jack White lineup needs to go away. Oh my God, when both Hurt and Carey were out of the game, our offense was brutal. BRUTAL. It's like we still try to run the offense through the post, but it's Javin making the decisions, and he's just not a good offensive player. This is something I hope we do less and less as the year progresses. Vernon/Hurt, Vernon/Jack, and Javin/Hurt seemed to be the most effective combos up front. Hurt had a tough go of it with no points in the first half, but was able to get going later in the 2nd half when he became the focal point of the offense with Carey on the bench. I think at least one of those guys needs to be in the game at all times. Or, if not, possibly try Wendell Moore at the 4. Just no more Javin/Jack, please.

[J4Kop99]

Vernon Carey, ladies and gentlemen! What a night for him. I don't pay close enough attention to these guys before they get to college but I was a little nervous that Carey would not be ready based on what some people were saying.

What Carey showed last night was extremely impressive... granted it was against a not-so-good Cal team, but still. He had great touch and body control. I like the Bagley-Carter combo comp.

He should be fresh for tonight too.

[TheOldBattleship]

1. We struggled on offense against the zone at first and we are likely to see a lot of that going forward.

Great point here, and totally agree. Big question for me with this is who our "flash to the high post and make plays in traffic from the soft spot in the zone" guy is this year. We've been lucky to have a string of guys who are just outrageously good working from this area and killing zones, from Zion/RJ to Justise Winslow to Ingram to Rodney Hood (leaving a few notable guys out). We don't really have an obvious guy this year. I'd guess it should be either Hurt or Moore, but I can't say I'm as confident in either of those two in that position as I was about any of the group just named. Should be a very interesting development as we move forward.

[fathippo]

Obviously Cal was overmatched, but still an impressive game by Duke. Carey's stat line was ridiculous for 23 minutes. He played a really smart game; not really any cheap fouls. This may seem minor but I love the arc on his free throws. Too many big men have a flat shot. He will have the opportunity to score a lot of points at the foul line so hopefully yesterday was a good indicator of his ft shooting ability for this season.

I was taken aback by Dakich complimenting Duke so much. But I do agree that Moore has the capability to be a major factor for this team. I know it has looked like he has forced things at times this season, but I think that may just be adjusting to the college game. I like his aggressiveness, I think he needs to realize he can't always solely rely of his athleticism when he drives. He has the size and strength to be an excellent perimeter defender and rebounder. His drop pass to Carey after the baseline spin move was a thing of beauty.

Unfortunately, DeLaurier and White still look uncomfortable trying to score on the offensive end and having them on the court at the same time may be an issue against good teams. After last season I am anxious to to see good things from the upperclass group: AOC, DeLaurier, White, Goldwire.

As usual, Tre did what he needed to do for the team in this game. Great defense and I love to see him knock down a couple 3's along with Stanley. It was good to see Hurt score some before he was taken out of the game. He is too talented not to score; he should get shots from 3 or the elbow against a zone with Carey under the basket.

[kako]

5 thoughts...

1. Carey was a monster. Is he a poor man's Zion? Maybe, but considering Zion was idiomatically Jeff Bezos, maybe Carey is (just) Mark Zuckerberg.

2. See #1. It deserves 2 thoughts. Welcome to the lottery discussion, Vernon.

3. Respectable 3 point game, especially considering AOC's 0-4 (though he made up for it with that dunk).

4. Dan Dakich is still an idiot.

5. I always love pounding Cal. But it will never make up for 1993.

9F

[bluenorth]

Dakich seems to be spending a great deal of his time living in the past. While stories about by-gone eras can be entertaining, I'd prefer more insights about the current teams and the game that's in progress. Dakich may not have prepared for the Duke-Cal game as well as he should have. But maybe he improved later in the game - by which time I had turned off the sound.

[budwom]

great game to watch for all the reasons enumerated, but Cal is a really, really bad team. Tonight should be a sterner test.

[SavDukeGrad]

Virtually the first thing out of Dakich's mouth when the action began last night was a comment, following a Cal player's foray into the paint, "In Cameron that would have been called a push-off." The play-by-play guy, don't recall his name, responded sarcastically with something like "Oh, really? (You're starting this drumbeat so early?). I couldn't tell if it was genuine exasperation in the guy's voice, or simply kidding around with Dakich, but after that incident Dakich controlled himself, and even was quite compimentary.

I missed the beginning of the game, so I didn’t hear this. And I too thought Dakich was fine last night, and was pleasantly surprised at how complimentary of Duke he was.

But I have not forgotten how he harped on Bagley, and called him selfish and said he was all about himself, when he did Duke’s game at Va Tech 2 years ago. I thought that was totally out of line, and he was criticized heavily on this board for his comments. I think there was a thread about it.

Similarly, he was not complimentary of Jason Tatum the year before, when he did Duke’s game at Notre Dame that year. Although his comments about Tatum did not seem nearly as personal as his comments about Bagley iirc.

And I have always heard that he has been critical of Coach K whenever he has had the opportunity.

But I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and see how he is tonight if he’s on the call. Maybe he has seen the light. :)

[delfrio]

Vernon is my 3rd-favorite Duke big of the past 25 years behind only Zion and Elton, and he's been a very pleasant surprise to me so far this season. (I'm going to for now stop short of just straight up declaring that he's the 3rd-best Duke big of the past 25 years, but I'm getting closer -- let's see how he performs against Georgetown's monsters inside).

No love for the Landlord?

[DukieInKansas]

Virtually the first thing out of Dakich's mouth when the action began last night was a comment, following a Cal player's foray into the paint, "In Cameron that would have been called a push-off." The play-by-play guy, don't recall his name, responded sarcastically with something like "Oh, really? (You're starting this drumbeat so early?). I couldn't tell if it was genuine exasperation in the guy's voice, or simply kidding around with Dakich, but after that incident Dakich controlled himself, and even was quite compimentary.

I heard it as "Already?". Dakich seemed to lay off that type of comment after that.

[wsb3]

Moore’s best game. Great to see him coming on.

I agree.. Moore after looking a little lost to begin the season is getting comfortable. He can contribute in many ways. Big upside..

[DukieInKansas]

Or maybe a mixture of Bagley and Wendell Carter? Better defender than Bagley; more explosive than Carter. Carey is quick and strong; jumps well and his second jump is quick (Bagley's second or third jumps were other-worldly quick).

Carey plays hard but maintains an even temperament; we can see his game growing and his confidence growing. Good stuff.

**per Scott Van Pelt, Carey is the first player under Coach K to get at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in less than 30 minutes playing time. 31 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 blocks in 22 minutes.

He also had better stats that the Cal starting 5 combined - except for steals and assists.