MBB: Duke 81, Coppin State 71 Post Game Thread

[Bob Green]

Discuss the season opener here.

[rsvman]

Not going to win many games turning the ball over 22 times.

[WHOneedsSOX]

We'll just say that was first game jitters. Cut the turnovers down in half and that's a 20+ point win. Saw a lot of good things today. Let's see how they improve game to game.

[Billy Dat]

Johnson is a real one, Steward is a bucket, I am sticking with the positives. So fun to see Duke play again!!!

[simplyluvin]

Quick thoughts, but tempering the concern after just one game:
1. Too many turnovers. Maybe freshman jitters, but those skip pass TOs were ridiculous.
2. Need our veterans to play smart and not foul.
3. Jalen Johnson is really good.
4. DJ is not going to have his way like today against bigger and faster foes, but he has game.

[Native]

Positives: Jalen Johnson is the prototype Duke wing—a do-it-all guy. DJ Steward showed energy, strong shooting ability, and a willingness to play aggressive man defense. Hurt emerged as being more aggressive in looking for his shot.

Negatives: upperclassmen do not appear to have improved all that much in the offseason. Need to see a lot more from Goldwire, Moore, and Baker. 22 turnovers is something we need to fix, and fast.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Uh, since this is our first game since beating UNC in the regular season finale, can we say "survive and advance?"

Lots to improve on before MSU.

[uh_no]

thank god that's over.

* second half start
* turnovers
* johnson and steward promising
* despite the mantra that the upperclassmen were awful, hurt and moore played decently. I mean, not exceptional, but serviceable.
* baker and goldwire were mega disappointments. 5 ast, 5 TO, 5 PF, 4 TP

if we play anything like that next week, we will get obliterated.

[cbarry]

Ugh, just ugh. Yes, we won, but that was NOT the way to start a season.

Jaylen & DJ came to play. Most everyone else, not so much.

I don’t even mind Jaylen’s 7 TOs since he put up 19 & 19 in his college debut!

[Dukehk]

JJ and DJ are one and done.

Moore and Hurt aren't getting drafted. Moore because he doesn't have a perimeter shot. Hurt because his defence is still bad.

Goldwire and Baker were terrible. Need to step it up big time otherwise I can see them buried on the bench.

22 TOs and mostly from Goldwire, Baker and Moore. Some of them soul crushingly bad, like straight out of a timeout.

I would like to see more of Mark Williams, Brakefield and Coleman. They look like players. More so than Baker, Goldwire and Moore.

We need to improve our defence. We need to hit more 3's. Otherwise its going to be a long season outside the top 10.

Still, its great to see two superstars in the making with DJ and JJ. Now can Hurt and Moore step up to be the 3rd and 4th options?

[Phoenix22]

Love having Duke Basketball back!

But just so damn sad seeing Cameron like that.

[Mrduke21]

Where was Tapé

[kako]

5 thoughts:

1. Losing an opener to Coppin State would have been embarrassing. I was thinking that they might make a run, and they were looking good until Steward hit that 3. No SFA this time.
2. Is Johnson really this good? 19/19/5/4???? It’s very early… but be still, my heart. Steward also impressed me.
3. 22 turnovers? Many of them totally unforced. And it looks like Johnson had 7 of them. OK, maybe I’m coming back down to earth.
4. What, no Tape? Injury?
5. Hurt looked better, but I can’t say he took a huge step forward yet. Again, it’s early.

9F

[uh_no]

Moore and Hurt aren't getting drafted. Moore because he doesn't have a perimeter shot. Hurt because his defence is still bad.
That's a bit of a statement after a single very poorly played team game. Moore played alright once he got his legs under him, and has much better numbers if he doesn't get in foul trouble. It may turn out he still isn't good enough to go, but those two didn't have awful games. Hurt was a couple boards from a double double.



22 TOs and mostly from Goldwire, Baker and Moore. uhhhh johnson had almost as many as the 3 of them combined....

[jipops]

I do recall Tre Jones having a poor start to the season last year. So I’m going to reserve judgement on Moore’s lack of impact.

Based on the scrimmage videos it seemed apparent that Steward has some real skills. He did not disappoint.

Hurt was pretty much what I thought and realistically hoped he would be. He was a positive overall.

Jalen is the obvious stud of the group.

I am kicking myself for thinking Baker would get double digit minutes this season. The game is still just way too fast for him. I don’t think he is a player for this level.

Nobody should be surprised that K went with 4 guards and a big to close out the game. Sure, Hurt got his 4th with over 5 minutes left but K was going to go that way regardless.

[YmoBeThere]

Negatives: upperclassmen do not appear to have improved all that much in the offseason. Need to see a lot more from Goldwire, Moore, and Baker.

I do wonder if this was a typical off-season for the now upperclassmen? This one year decision may turn in to a two year decision.

[dukelifer]

5 thoughts:

1. Losing an opener to Coppin State would have been embarrassing. I was thinking that they might make a run, and they were looking good until Steward hit that 3. No SFA this time.
2. Is Johnson really this good? 19/19/5/4???? It’s very early… but be still, my heart. Steward also impressed me.
3. 22 turnovers? Many of them totally unforced. And it looks like Johnson had 7 of them. OK, maybe I’m coming back down to earth.
4. What, no Tape? Injury?
5. Hurt looked better, but I can’t say he took a huge step forward yet. Again, it’s early.

9F
Tape- yes what happened there? I thought Duke did not do much to get easy buckets- either by forcing turnovers and breaking or getting it to players down low. Hard to win without that. Turnovers may reduce with more playing time, but that was the main reason CS stayed in this. A pretty uneven performance overall. Steward played well throughout. He has a lot of offensive skills.

[nmduke2001]

Based on the scrimmage footage and one game, Jalen looks to be the real deal. He, DJ and Roach will be fun to watch. Wish we could have seen more of Williams and any of Tape. Goldwire starting as a Duke PG has always been a scary thought. Moore and especially Joey always seem a little over their heads. Hurt is so slow. He really looks like he’s in slow motion.

It should be a fun season.

[SkyBrickey]

I'm not going to read too much into one sloppily played game other than Jalen Johnson is a great talent.

Unlike a lot of our amazing talented OADs, Johnson is already a great passer and does not appear to force shots. He should be a lot of fun to watch this year and, once he cuts down on the turnovers, should make everyone around him a better player.

I'm sure the focus now will be on taking care of the ball. Plenty of work to do before Michigan State. This is a young team that I expect will improve a great deal as the season goes along.

[scottdude8]

Writing up my detailed thoughts for my first piece since March... no matter what, it's great to have Duke basketball back!

The long story short:
—Jalen Johnson is going to dictate our ceiling this season.
—Jordan Goldwire plays better off the ball than on it, which means this team at its best likely needs either Roach or Steward to step up and compliment him as a ball handler.
—No Tape, and minimal Mark Williams, could be a function of the competition, or it could be indicative of K committing to a small ball approach. I wouldn't rule on that until after we play Illinois, a team with true bruisers in the paint.
—We shouldn't read too much into anything... after all, this was essentially the equivalent of our first preseason game under normal circumstances.

[uh_no]

I'm not going to read too much into one sloppily played game other than Jalen Johnson is a great talent.

Unlike a lot of our amazing talented OADs, Johnson is already a great passer and does not appear to force shots. He should be a lot of fun to watch this year and, once he cuts down on the turnovers, should make everyone around him a better player.

I'm sure the focus now will be on taking care of the ball. Plenty of work to do before Michigan State. This is a young team that I expect will improve a great deal as the season goes along.

it'll be interesting to see how the rotation evolves. with how they played TODAY, there are not more than 5 players who deserve to be on the floor (williams, brakeman, and coleman the jury is still out). I don't think they're all as bad as they played today. hopefully just some first game jitters in what must be a weird environment for them too.

[bullettoothtony]

I didn't get to see any of it... how did Roach look?

[uh_no]

I didn't get to see any of it... how did Roach look?

mediocre....but not enough to judge anyone on.

That said, it wasn't hard to look better than goldwire or baker today. I wouldn't be surprised if steward and roach were starting over goldwire and baker on tuesday...

[JasonEvans]

No Tape, and minimal Mark Williams, could be a function of the competition, or it could be indicative of K committing to a small ball approach. I wouldn't rule on that until after we play Illinois, a team with true bruisers in the paint.

In the post-game presser, K talked about Coppin St. playing 5 guards much of the time, which just made it hard to find chances to play big men.

DJ and Jalen were #1 and #2 in scoring and #2 and #1 in rebounding. DJ is just one of those guys who seems to have a nose for the ball. Special kid. Meanwhile, Jalen Johnson's 1-handed, twisting rebound tap-in might have been the most absurdly athletic thing I have seen from a Duke player since Zion blocked DeAndre Hunter's shot at UVA.

-Jason "if you want to hear more of what K had to say about the game, tune in to the podcast tomorrow ;) " Evans

[scottdude8]

We need to re-contextualize this game not as the season opener, but as this squad's first competitive game of the year... in a normal season that would be the exhibition opener or the first game of a foreign trip. In that context, Duke has had at least 14 turnovers in its first competitive game going back to 2016. And all those games were (obviously) against inferior competition from either DII or Canada.

Yes, 20+ turnovers is never good, but it's also not a major outlier when viewed against exhibition openers over the past 4 seasons. We should all breathe when it comes to that.

[scottdude8]

mediocre...but not enough to judge anyone on.

That said, it wasn't hard to look better than goldwire or baker today. I wouldn't be surprised if steward and roach were starting over goldwire and baker on tuesday...

I'd put my money on a Goldwire/Steward backcourt. I don't think K will pull the plug on Goldwire that quickly, especially considering he looked much better when he was able to play off the ball offensively. We think of him as a PG but forget he's really been more of a 2 guard alongside Tre the past two years, only playing the point in brief spurts to spell Tre. I think our best lineup come season's end will undoubtedly have Goldwire in it, but alongside either Roach or Steward depending on who K can trust as a primary ballhandler.

[MChambers]

I'd put my money on a Goldwire/Steward backcourt. I don't think K will pull the plug on Goldwire that quickly, especially considering he looked much better when he was able to play off the ball offensively. We think of him as a PG but forget he's really been more of a 2 guard alongside Tre the past two years, only playing the point in brief spurts to spell Tre. I think our best lineup come season's end will undoubtedly have Goldwire in it, but alongside either Roach or Steward depending on who K can trust as a primary ballhandler.

I love what Goldwire has done in his career. Seems like a great kid and total team player. But if he's playing starter minutes at the end of the season, I'll be surprised (and disappointed). I think Roach and Steward are both far more talented.

[revmel53]

I love what Goldwire has done in his career. Seems like a great kid and total team player. But if he's playing starter minutes at the end of the season, I'll be surprised (and disappointed). I think Roach and Steward are both far more talented.

Goldwire is a great kid. But everything today was telegraphed. And it wasn't just he... It was everyone on the pass out...

[DavidBenAkiva]

We need to re-contextualize this game not as the season opener, but as this squad's first competitive game of the year... in a normal season that would be the exhibition opener or the first game of a foreign trip. In that context, Duke has had at least 14 turnovers in its first competitive game going back to 2016. And all those games were (obviously) against inferior competition from either DII or Canada.

Yes, 20+ turnovers is never good, but it's also not a major outlier when viewed against exhibition openers over the past 4 seasons. We should all breathe when it comes to that.

This is a great point. Coppin State was playing with 5 guards, which might have contributed to some of the bad decisions just a touch.

For what it's worth, Michigan State was one of the worst teams at generating turnovers last season. They ranked 331st in the nation. Their primary guards, Rocket Watts and Foster Loyer, are not going to force bad decisions on defense or poke the ball away. Their best offensive weapon, Marquette transfer Joey Hauser, has not proven himself to be a defensive force. Allowing 22 turnovers isn't going to cut it most nights. But it's far too soon to know if this performance was just a blip or something more troubling.

[uh_no]

I'd put my money on a Goldwire/Steward backcourt. I don't think K will pull the plug on Goldwire that quickly, especially considering he looked much better when he was able to play off the ball offensively. We think of him as a PG but forget he's really been more of a 2 guard alongside Tre the past two years, only playing the point in brief spurts to spell Tre. I think our best lineup come season's end will undoubtedly have Goldwire in it, but alongside either Roach or Steward depending on who K can trust as a primary ballhandler.

I like goldwire, and it's not that he's a net negative or anything, but his ability is limited. As a 2 guard, he's a pretty good shooter (which didn't show today), but you'd still like 40+ out of your SG, IMO. Outside of that, though, he doesn't have a whole lot to offer. His defense is a bit, i don't know how to put it, boom or bust. His value lies a lot in picking pockets and passing lanes, which is valuable, but outside of that, he often has trouble 1-1.....so does give up layups. Much of that is due to his aggressively looking for the TO....So whether that is a net negative or positive, I don't know.

So he's serviceable, but limited, and as someone else said, if he's playing starters minutes at the end of the year, it will mean one of roach or steward had some severe issues which prevented them from getting those minutes.

I'd peg him at <20 on the year, and 10-12 in major games absent injury/foul trouble.

[Kedsy]

Who had Tapé, Williams, Coleman, and Brakefield combining for 9 minutes in the opener against Pomeroy's #332 team? Anyone who did has already won the minutes contest.

Interestingly enough, if you could somehow eliminate turnovers from the conversation (on BOTH sides of the ball), Duke performed reasonably well in this game.

OFFENSE

Possessions: 76.4 (very fast; we'll have to see (a) whether that's our regular speed; and (b) whether it's too fast for this team)
oRtg: 1.06 (it's too early for an adjusted pace, but I'll just note that this was against Pomeroy's #263 ranked defense and say this is a mediocre-to-bad number)
eFG%: 60.2% (very good)
3pt%: 33.3% (not good but not terrible, I suppose)
2pt%: 67.6% (excellent)
%threes: 42.2% (too high)
FT rate: 15.6% (pathetic)
OR%: 42.4% (good)
TO%: 28.8% (gawd-awful)
a/to: 0.91:1 (ugh)
%assisted: 58.8% (strong)
fast break pts: 15 (18.5% of points; acceptable)

DEFENSE

dRtg: 0.93 (again, too early for an adjusted result; as a raw number this isn't bad, but against Pomeroy's #342 offense in the country, not good either)
eFG%: 40.0% (very good)
3pt%: 28.6% (good)
2pt%: 37.1% (extremely good)
%threes: 50.0% (yikes, this is a big number)
FT rate: 30.0% (not good)
DR%: 75.0% (very good)
TO%: 10.5% (gawd-awful)
a/to: 0.88:1 (for a team that didn't turn it over, this is odd)
%assisted: 30.4% (strong for the defense)
stl%: 7.9% (mediocre)
blk%: 10.0% (20.0% of 2pt shots) (very, very strong)
fast break pts: 18 (25.3% of points; pretty lousy, but presumably due to our many turnovers)


The good: We shot well and held them to very poor shooting; we rebounded well.

The bad: We fouled too much and forced them to foul way too little. Hopefully this is due to first game jitters and will improve. It's something to keep an eye on, at any rate.

The horrendously, super, astonishingly awful bad: if our offensive turnover rate is ever this high again this season OR our defensive turnover rate is ever this low again this season, we'll probably lose the game. If both happen in the same game (as they did in this game), we'll have a hard time beating a top 150 team.

I'd note that our high turnover rate may at least in part be due to the fast pace. Though I'd also note that the fast pace didn't cause Coppin to cough it up so much.

In the end, the fact that we won by double-figures in a game where BOTH our offensive and defensive turnovers were this bad, may or may not say something good about the team.

[kshepinthehouse]

I love what Goldwire has done in his career. Seems like a great kid and total team player. But if he's playing starter minutes at the end of the season, I'll be surprised (and disappointed). I think Roach and Steward are both far more talented.

I agree. I think our ceiling is much higher with Goldwire playing a supporting role or injecting life into the defense off the bench to the tune of about 15 mins a game.

[TeacherTom]

Unable to see it live, I appreciate the comments during and after the game. Hopefully,Tuesday, I’ll be able to watch the game.

[Crisker]

Positives:

-- Jalen Johnson is the real deal.
-- DJ Steward has great game and could explode this season.

Middling:

-- Hurt was more confident and physical but has work to do.
-- Moore was tight and not good the first half but got better in the second.
-- Goldwire is Goldwire, which is to say he does some good things but I hope he's not the starter for very long.

Flashes:

-- Brakefield is intriguing. I want to see more.
-- Roach has a much higher ceiling than Goldwire.

Bad:

-- Baker. I've seen enough.
-- Turnovers

[Kedsy]

22 TOs and mostly from Goldwire, Baker and Moore.

Goldwire, Baker, and Moore combined for 8 turnovers in 65 minutes.

Johnson and Roach combined for 10 turnovers in 64 minutes.

So I'm going to say you incorrectly used the word "mostly."

Also, the rest of the team (5 players) combined for 4 turnovers in 71 minutes.



Bad:

-- Baker. I've seen enough.


I didn't really see the game (just saw a condensed 10 minute version of the game), so I couldn't see Joey on defense, but I think some people may be being too hard on him.

Sure, he missed all three threes he took, but we know he's a good shooter. The knock on him last season was he did nothing other than shoot, but in just 15 minutes in this game he had four rebounds, an assist, and a nice fake-and-slash for a layup. So I haven't seen "enough" yet.

[jv001]

Goldwire: 2 pts, 4 assists, 3 Turn overs, 2 points in 24 minutes
Roach: 6 pts, 4 assists, 3 Turn overs, 6 points in 29 minutes
Total from point guards 8 points, 8 assists and 6 turnovers in 53 minutes

Baker: 2 points, 4 rebounds 1 assist 2 turnovers in 15 minutes

Hurt: 12 points, 7 rebounds, 29 minutes
Wendell: 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 turnovers in 26 minutes

Jalen: 19 points(8-8), 19 rebounds, 5 assists, 7 turnovers in 35 minutes
DJ: 24 points(10-18), 2 assists, 1 turnover, 1 block, 1 steal in 33 minutes

Brakefield=4 minutes, Williams 4 minutes and Coleman 1 minute.

Players that are suppose to have the ball in their hands a lot: Goldwire, Roach, Jalen and Wendell had 16 of Duke's 22 turnovers. Need some work fast.

GoDuke!

[mo.st.dukie]

Writing up my detailed thoughts for my first piece since March... no matter what, it's great to have Duke basketball back!

The long story short:
—Jalen Johnson is going to dictate our ceiling this season.
—Jordan Goldwire plays better off the ball than on it, which means this team at its best likely needs either Roach or Steward to step up and compliment him as a ball handler.
—No Tape, and minimal Mark Williams, could be a function of the competition, or it could be indicative of K committing to a small ball approach. I wouldn't rule on that until after we play Illinois, a team with true bruisers in the paint.
—We shouldn't read too much into anything... after all, this was essentially the equivalent of our first preseason game under normal circumstances.

I disagree that Johnson is going to dictate our ceiling. He will be consistently our top player but our ceiling will be dictated by the backcourt trio of Roach, Steward, and Goldwire. We have seen time and time again how great backcourt play can completely change the dynamic of a team and is most important in post-season play. If the backcourt develops into not just a good backcourt but a lethal one (Steward already looks lethal) then Duke's ceiling shoots way up. If the backcourt stays the same as today or gets worse, the ceiling drops. Narrowing it down further, I would say Roach is the key guy in terms of Duke's ceiling, his development could be the difference between a Sweet 16 and a Final Four.

[DukieInBrasil]

I watched most of the second half, and i'm glad that DJ Steward plays for Duke. There were plenty of things we did poorly, like passing, but there's plenty of talent on the team.
I was disappointed by the sub-par play of the returning players. Moore and Hurt actually ended up with decent stats, but Moore made some pretty poor choices for shot selection, but was aces around the rim, while Hurt (as mentioned by others) just looked slow.
Jalen's game was a revelation, he was a very active rebounder and showed great body control. Steward really impressed me, scoring from all over.

[DukieTiger]

Goldwire, Baker, and Moore combined for 8 turnovers in 65 minutes.

Johnson and Roach combined for 10 turnovers in 64 minutes.

So I'm going to say you incorrectly used the word "mostly."

Also, the rest of the team (5 players) combined for 4 turnovers in 71 minutes.



I didn't really see the game (just saw a condensed 10 minute version of the game), so I couldn't see Joey on defense, but I think some people may be being too hard on him.

Sure, he missed all three threes he took, but we know he's a good shooter. The knock on him last season was he did nothing other than shoot, but in just 15 minutes in this game he had four rebounds, an assist, and a nice fake-and-slash for a layup. So I haven't seen "enough" yet.

The rest of us couldn’t see Joey on defense either, don’t worry. ;)

My take for the rest of the upperclassmen is that Moore and Hurt were pressing a bit and might make the “best
player” discussion more competitive next time out.

[Crisker]

The rest of us couldn’t see Joey on defense either, don’t worry. ;)

My take for the rest of the upperclassmen is that Moore and Hurt were pressing a bit and might make the “best player” discussion more competitive next time out.The latter is a solid take, whereas the former is spork worthy.

I don't know if there is a reliable way to gauge plus/minus when Joey is in the game, but I'm guessing this statistic would not be as kind to him as are those cited by Kedsy.

[GGLC]

Joey was very, very bad on defense.

[bullettoothtony]

In the post-game presser, K talked about Coppin St. playing 5 guards much of the time, which just made it hard to find chances to play big men.

DJ and Jalen were #1 and #2 in scoring and #2 and #1 in rebounding. DJ is just one of those guys who seems to have a nose for the ball. Special kid. Meanwhile, Jalen Johnson's 1-handed, twisting rebound tap-in might have been the most absurdly athletic thing I have seen from a Duke player since Zion blocked DeAndre Hunter's shot at UVA.

-Jason "if you want to hear more of what K had to say about the game, tune in to the podcast tomorrow ;) " Evans



My response/question to that would've been why do we let other teams dictate who we play?

[stickdog]

4. DJ is not going to have his way like today against bigger and faster foes, but he has game.

I think DJ will have his way with NBA players before too long. I expect DJ to prove his doubters wrong, as Seth Curry did. It's not as if DJ hasn't been scoring against bigger and stronger players his whole life.

[InSpades]

Jalen Johnson giving me serous Jayson Tatum vibes out there. Not exactly the same type of player (Tatum never had 19 rebounds) but both solid all around players. Tatum just seemed like he was ready for the next level from the 1st time he stepped on the floor. Jalen looked like the best player on the floor by a large margin.

[MChambers]

My response/question to that would've been why do we let other teams dictate who we play?

And I think you would have been told that playing more bigs who could not defend guards would not be a winning strategy. It’s not like Tape’, Williams, or Coleman are going to produce lots of offense down low, so if they can’t defend against a five guard lineup, it doesn’t make sense to play them.

[stickdog]

Goldwire is a great kid. But everything today was telegraphed. And it wasn't just he... It was everyone on the pass out...

Yes. On far too many possession, it looked as if each player was attempting a pass in an offense he had just watched in an instructional video for the first time.

[jimmymax]

Lots of time to tighten up the loose screws but the quickest fix to the worst thing I saw today would be for Matthew Hurt to be reintroduced to his razor.

[DukeFanNotNBAFan]

Only one game, but I truly wonder what they practice during the week. Standing around on offense, waiting to take a three or go one-on-one off the dribble. On defense, I’m not sure I noticed one player box out with his arms. After watching teams like Gonzaga and Villanova, I’m still left wondering what the heck these guys practice during the week. It’s really bad basketball.

[lotusland]

How do you watch ACCX replays? I don’t see any replays available on the ESPN App.

[dukelifer]

Only one game, but I truly wonder what they practice during the week. Standing around on offense, waiting to take a three or go one-on-one off the dribble. On defense, I’m not sure I noticed one player box out with his arms. After watching teams like Gonzaga and Villanova, I’m still left wondering what the heck these guys practice during the week. It’s really bad basketball.

Watching Michigan State now. That is going to be a very different style for this young team. They play excellent D and are big and strong at all positions. Killing Notre Dame right now.

[chrishoke]

How do you watch ACCX replays? I don’t see any replays available on the ESPN App.

It's there now

[cbarry]

How do you watch ACCX replays? I don’t see any replays available on the ESPN App.
Trust me— you DON’T want to watch a replay of today’s game.
It was one of the worst overall performances by a Duke team.
It was really ugly basketball.
As the saying goes... “Next play”

[luvdahops]

Watching Michigan State now. That is going to be a very different style for this young team. They play excellent D and are big and strong at all positions. Killing Notre Dame right now.

No doubt. I suspect we’ll see more of our bigs against Sparty, out of necessity.

[dukelion]

My first post in months....let's see if I remember how to do this:)

Jalen Johnson...oh my. Sort of resembles a Jabari Parker and Jason Tatum hybrid. Had questions if he could play the 4 this year...now I got answers.

DJ Steward...oh my. Reminds me of Nolan Smith as a senior. A true combo guard who looks like our best perimeter scorer.

Wendel Moore...not bad. But with his skill set and strength dude needs to get to the line. Goose egg against Coppin St. in that category is a bit disappointing.

Mathew Hurt...not bad. Looks thicker and I've previously advocated for him at the 5 so I guess I got my wish. But like Moore, would've like to see even more aggression and points in the paint from him against an undersized team. One trip to the stripe isn't gonna cut it.

Those seem to be our top four guys and can see all of them leading us in scoring at some point this year....pretty good arsenal going forward.

I'll hold my water on everybody else and let the season unfold a bit before making any projections. It was disappointing not to see any of the other bigs get a run (Tape’, Williams, Coleman) since it seems obvious to me that we'll need them as soon as Tuesday night against Mich St.

And I'm not gonna get too concerned with the turnovers until it becomes a pattern. We seem to have lot of decent ball handlers so I'm just gonna chalk it up to game one weirdness.

And I thought the D was decent. Coppin St. got most of their points off long threes, transition (due to our turnovers) and at the line. I did't really notice them blowing by us in the half court which is a decent sign for a young team.

Tuesday night should be much more revealing.

[uh_no]

Tuesday night should be much more revealing.

i hope it is not.

[UrinalCake]

Very sloppy game, which is to be expected given the team’s youth and lack of time playing together. Johnson is the real deal, which is great to see after a relatively quiet offseason during which some of us were reading into the coaches’ comments and speculating that maybe he would struggle. He carried us in the first half as Steward carried us in the second.

I thought Hurt looked improved on D and more confident on O. Playing the 5 does seem like the best position for him in college. Moore and Goldwire looked about the same as last year. I’m sure Moore will have games that he has more of an impact, he was kind of quiet in this one. Brakefield was solid in his few minutes, I was surprised K put him in when Coppin St cut the lead to 6 late in the game. He made some plays though. Coleman looks huge and like Brakefield brings plenty of energy.

Overall we saw some glimpses of our potential amidst a poorly executed game. On offense the ball stuck a lot, which I attribute to guys not having played together much. I also thought we would run a lot more than we did. Don’t want to draw too many conclusions though. I remember last year we struggled in our exhibition games and then went on to beat a really good Kansas team in the opener.

[scottdude8]

Reminder: this was this teams first game against competition this season. We should not be comparing it to the typical regular season opener. We should be comparing it to exhibition openers. This year is not business as usual.

Carry on.

[lotusland]

It's there now

I don’t see any replays on the ESPN App only live games and highlights

[accfanfrom1970]

How many had Coach K cutting the rotation to 7 in game #1 ?

[uh_no]

How many had Coach K cutting the rotation to 7 in game #1 ?

it didn't make sense to play more bigs against a team playing 5 guards. I expect we'll see more williams and maybe tape’ tuesday. outside shot of brakefield and coleman.

[mo.st.dukie]

We shot 53% from the field, held them to 32% (28% from 3), had 50 rebounds to their 31, and put up 20 assists and 7 blocks which is all really good. It truly did come down to the killer turnovers and free throws (sent them to the line too much and we didn't get there hardly at all). We'll see but I think those are fixable issues. We have really good talent they just need time to develop and build chemistry as a team.

[uh_no]

We shot 53% from the field, held them to 32% (28% from 3), had 50 rebounds to their 31, and put up 20 assists and 7 blocks which is all really good. It truly did come down to the killer turnovers and free throws (sent them to the line too much and we didn't get there hardly at all). We'll see but I think those are fixable issues. We have really good talent they just need time to develop and build chemistry as a team.

we had 19 more rebounds, 11 fewer FTA, and STILL had 6 fewer FGA than they.

[Steven43]

Trust me— you DON’T want to watch a replay of today’s game.
It was one of the worst overall performances by a Duke team.
It was really ugly basketball.

I could be wildly off-base, but it sounds as if you didn’t particularly enjoy the performance of the Blue Devils tonight. If I’m misreading what you were trying to convey please correct me.

[dukelifer]

I could be wildly off-base, but it sounds as if you didn’t particularly enjoy the performance of the Blue Devils tonight. If I’m misreading what you were trying to convey please correct me.

The unforced turnovers and the lack of a floor leader significantly reduced my confidence in this team against a real opponent. Hard to win without a strong point guard and Goldwire did not play well enough yesterday. The jump in competition on Tuesday will be huge. All the youngsters have talent but they are not capable of leading yet.

[rsvman]

The unforced turnovers and the lack of a floor leader significantly reduced my confidence in this team against a real opponent. Hard to win without a strong point guard and Goldwire did not play well enough yesterday. The jump in competition on Tuesday will be huge. All the youngsters have talent but they are not capable of leading yet.

I wouldn't write them off just yet. In the past we have seen young teams rise to the level of their competition. It will depend on matchups, to a certain extent.
I am always hesitant to dismiss a Coach K team early in the season against strong opponents. We have seen them, time and time again, play pretty well and often win these early games even when it appeared that they would be overmatched.

[cbarry]

The unforced turnovers and the lack of a floor leader significantly reduced my confidence in this team against a real opponent. Hard to win without a strong point guard and Goldwire did not play well enough yesterday. The jump in competition on Tuesday will be huge. All the youngsters have talent but they are not capable of leading yet.
Agree! This is a bad harbinger of things to come. We should have won by 30 against Coppin St.
there needs to be MAJOR changes in the way this team plays. We were not a top 25 team yesterday.

I’d like to see Roach on point, and Goldwire off the ball. Goldwire is not good as primary ball handler.

I’d like to see more of the bigs (Coleman, Williams, Tapé). Let’s not let the other team dictate our lineup. Since Coppin St was a smaller team, instead of thinking their smalls could exploit our bigs, how about think our bigs could dominate inside on offense?

Hurt needs to play inside the 3 point line and only OCCASIONALLY shoot the 3. He thinks he is a guard, but is far to slow to play that position.

Baker needs to look for other shots besides a 3. Last year, he showed he is more than just a shooter.

Moore needs to handle the ball as little as possible! Ans he needs to finish strong. He had a very soft layup blocked yesterday.

More DJ, more Johnson!

[Stray Gator]

Those who declare that Duke should have played more bigs rather than going small to match up with Coppin State's lineup might want to consider the possibility that Coach K anticipated the turnover problems our relatively unfamiliar players would encounter going against more experienced guards, and decided to put our best ballhandlers on the floor. Unless our bigs are more reliable ballhandlers than our players who were on the floor, it's not difficult to imagine how many more turnovers our team could have suffered, and how that might have altered the outcome of the game. The benefit of experience playing together should not be underestimated.

[UrinalCake]

I’d like to see more of the bigs (Coleman, Williams, Tapé). Let’s not let the other team dictate our lineup. Since Coppin St was a smaller team, instead of thinking their smalls could exploit our bigs, how about think our bigs could dominate inside on offense?

Agree with this. It doesn’t make any sense that a 300+ KenPom team would be dictating our style of play. I get that it’s easier to force a team to go small than the other way around, but are we really that incapable of playing our bigs? Williams’s first and only points were a wide open alley oop that the entire Coppin State bench saw coming from a mile away, yet they could not defend it. Can we not run some plays to take advantage of his massive height and athleticism advantage, then force Coppin State to adjust?

This game felt a lot like the SFA game from last season - get a big lead, fail to put them away, they hang around and hit some threes to cut the lead. Fortunately we hit some big shots in closing time to prevent the comeback. I honestly have no idea what to expect Tuesday, we could step up and pull out a win as we’ve done so often in the Champions Classic, or we could get blown out by 30. Neither would surprise me.

[lotusland]

Judging from Duke’s rebounding advantage and Coppin State’s FG% and 3 point %, defense was not the issue. Turnovers were the issue so playing a bigger lineup probably wouldn’t have helped.

[Music man55]

For the first game, Johnson and Steward looked ready for prime time. I don’t read much into Goldwire,Moore,Hurt or Bakers’ performance in the first game, especially in a season like this one. I’m sure coach K will address the turnovers. Gonna be more interesting to see how they perform against Mich.St. Tuesday. Looking forward to it!

[DavidBenAkiva]

I don't know why all of you are so upset. For the past couple of years, there's been so much lamenting about how Duke peaked in November. Well, that was the only game in November and it sure as heck didn't look like Duke reached its potential.

There was a lot to learn from that game. I look forward to seeing how the team responds when they play MSU on Tuesday night. The turnover thing isn't a problem unless it happens again. Overall, I thought the halfcourt offense an halfcourt defense looked pretty solid. The turnover thing is fixable. Consistent defensive effort early in the season is an encouraging sign. I remain optimistic.

[CDu]

We were quite sloppy, but for a team's first game, with tons of new faces and against a team that plays small and fast and aggressive, I don't think it was THAT bad. Yes, we should have won by more. It's not the first time that has happened. Pretty much every year we have a few stinkers, and we still won by double digits.

I agree with Coach K's decision to go smaller. Coppin State is a veteran team with strong guard/wing play. We needed ballhandlers and quickness. They didn't beat us inside, and our problems on offense were not due to lack of size. If anything, we could have gone even smaller and probably been better off.

It was a pretty solid day for the key freshmen:
- Johnson looked amazing. He turned it over too much, but considering how much he had the ball and how aggressive he was playing, I'm okay with that in game 1. He appears to be a stud, and hopefully he was underrated coming in due to COVID messing up his senior year. He had an impact at all levels of the game. He's going to be a headache for opposition all season.
- Steward had a great matchup in this game and he took full advantage. He showed all the attributes expected of him coming in, and was a terrific scoring threat. Showed the shooting touch and the shiftiness off the dribble. The question for him will be if he can handle the physicality of ACC play, but obviously a fantastic start for his career. I would expect him to start against MSU.
- Roach also looked solid as well. He wasn't quite as effective in getting to the rim as I had hoped, but he did create a few nice wide open looks for Steward with probing drives. The free throw shooting will need to improve though, but hopefully that was nerves. I would not be at all surprised if both Steward and Roach start against MSU.
- Brakefield showed some positives in his second-half minutes, including some nice switchability on defense. If he can establish himself consistently, we are even that much more versatile as a team.

I was less impressed with the returning players:
- Goldwire's role was expanded, but he didn't look quite up to the challenge. I suspect it will be Roach and Steward doing the playmaking from here on out. Goldwire was a menace in open-court defense, but it appears that his offensive game is still lagging. I do like him as a partner to Roach and/or Steward in an off-ball role though.
- Moore showed a lot of what he showed last year: lots of potential as a playmaking wing, but still a little out of control at times. His shooting looked better, though, which is a good sign.
- Hurt looked a lot like last year. Good shooter with craftiness in scoring inside the 3pt line, but a bit heavy-footed and still not that physical. He's going to be asked to play a lot more at C this year as he's clearly the second-best (or lower) option at PF on the team. Hopefully he'll be up to the challenge. Offensively, he creates so much space with his shooting ability. That will be huge for guys like Roach and Johnson and Steward and Moore, so it may be a matter of does his floor spacing value offset any weakness defensively. I suspect it will, and clearly Coach K thinks so too.
- It was a bad matchup for Baker, who just didn't look like he had the athleticism to stay on the floor. He feels like he'll be a specialist on this team, when his 3 is falling he'll be playable but otherwise may struggle for minutes.

I was a bit surprised to see so little of our bench bigs, although the matchup dictated it. CSU was small and fast and played very spread out, which effectively neutered our bigs. Williams was not impactful other than a backdoor alleyoop: literally no other stats in his 4 minutes. Was surprised to see no run at all for Tape, and seeing very little of Coleman in what should have been a solid matchup for him was a surprise as well given his preseason hype. But we won't have to wait long to see whether this was strictly a matchups thing or not, as MSU may offer an opportunity to see a bit more of the bigs. I don't think those guys are going to play a TON of minutes regardless, but I would have guessed more than 9 combined minutes from our bench bigs.

No, it wasn't a thing of beauty. But I saw enough of what I wanted to see to feel good about the direction the team is going. Hopefully the MSU game will provide our returning players a chance show themselves improved as well. And, it was a double-digit win, so I'll take that.

[YmoBeThere]

For a second there, I forgot where I was.

[sagegrouse]

You know, was there some method in Coach K's madness in limiting the appearances and minutes of our three big men -- Williams, Tape', and Coleman? Michigan State has no idea what to expect from our three new inside players.

[hustleplays]

Agree with this. It doesn’t make any sense that a 300+ KenPom team would be dictating our style of play. I get that it’s easier to force a team to go small than the other way around, but are we really that incapable of playing our bigs? Williams’s first and only points were a wide open alley oop that the entire Coppin State bench saw coming from a mile away, yet they could not defend it. Can we not run some plays to take advantage of his massive height and athleticism advantage, then force Coppin State to adjust?

This game felt a lot like the SFA game from last season - get a big lead, fail to put them away, they hang around and hit some threes to cut the lead. Fortunately we hit some big shots in closing time to prevent the comeback. I honestly have no idea what to expect Tuesday, we could step up and pull out a win as we’ve done so often in the Champions Classic, or we could get blown out by 30. Neither would surprise me.

While I for sure don't know whether K should have used The Bigs, I would point out that we could have used a, ugh, here it goes [I'm a wanker for saying this] zone defense occasionally. On O, we had few drives to the basket and seemed to have trouble getting it inside, in any effective way. Tall, athletic bigs would have helped, IMO.

[gam7]

The main highlight for me was that a Duke basketball game was played after the longest stretch without a Duke basketball game during my lifetime. If you didn’t expect this game to remind you of a really bad finals/winter break game, I respectfully submit that your expectations were unrealistic. Tuesday should be fun. Those cardboard cutouts better be lining up around now.

[uh_no]

You know, was there some method in Coach K's madness in limiting the appearances and minutes of our three big men -- Williams, Tapé, and Coleman? Michigan State has no idea what to expect from our three new inside players.

seems kind of a lost cause given all the "uncut" videos of practice that have been posted :D :D

[Troublemaker]

People, stop saying that Coppin St played 5 guards (and yes, I know Coach K said it as well, but that doesn't excuse messing up basic facts [even if our coach did it, too]). 6'10" 225-lb Kenan Sarvan (you'll remember him as the big white guy) played 34 minutes. Sarvan's a stretch-5. He jacked 9 threes and only made 1 (an ugly bank-in that might've been Coppin St's first score of the game, can't quite remember). If we had played our big men more, it's possible/likely Sarvan would've made more threes.

[stickdog]

Jalen's 15 defensive rebounds were the most by any Duke player since at least 2009-10: http://cbbref.com/tiny/F8mZQ

[Billy Dat]

In the post-game presser, K talked about Coppin St. playing 5 guards much of the time, which just made it hard to find chances to play big men. Meanwhile, Jalen Johnson's 1-handed, twisting rebound tap-in might have been the most absurdly athletic thing I have seen from a Duke player since Zion blocked DeAndre Hunter's shot at UVA.

Huge cosign on the Johnson play, I yelled out loud.

As for the K presser, here's a link to it:
https://www.wralsportsfan.com/krzyzewski-we-really-put-ourselves-in-a-position-they-put-us-in-that-position-also-where-there-was-immense-amount-of-game-pressu/19405778/

This is going to be a weird season, and I think the key to Duke fan sanity will be to try and just roll with the punches. Nothing has happened as usual, shorter preseason, no exhibition games, fewer practices, fewer opportunities for the team to work together, etc. This is a young team that really needed all of the above, so I don't expect us to look good. K talked a lot about the atmosphere, or lack of it in Cameron. That is huge for us. Our vaunted home court advantage does not exist. Now, I think it will actually help us on the road because the fans won't help propel our opponents but it is really going to hurt us at home. I am glad we have K, the master motivator and pusher of emotional buttons, because we will need every bit of his sorcery this year. But, if you watch the presser, particularly the last few minutes when he talks about the lack of fans in Cameron, you can tell he's befuddled. He is also reacting to it, and also having a presser to faces on zoom as opposed to in the room with him. Everything is different, we must remember that. It's Bizarro world this season.



- Johnson looked amazing. He turned it over too much, but considering how much he had the ball and how aggressive he was playing, I'm okay with that in game 1. He appears to be a stud, and hopefully he was underrated coming in due to COVID messing up his senior year. He had an impact at all levels of the game. He's going to be a headache for opposition all season.
- Brakefield showed some positives in his second-half minutes, including some nice switchability on defense. If he can establish himself consistently, we are even that much more versatile as a team.

More Johnson Point Forward! More more more! His defensive rebounding and shot blocking were awesome. He had 4 blocks!

K called out Brakefield in the presser, too. He did so briefly, but he name checked him.

[CDu]

People, stop saying that Coppin St played 5 guards (and yes, I know Coach K said it as well, but that doesn't excuse messing up basic facts [even if our coach did it, too]). 6'10" 225-lb Kenan Sarvan (you'll remember him as the big white guy) played 34 minutes. Sarvan's a stretch-5. He jacked 9 threes and only made 1 (an ugly bank-in that might've been Coppin St's first score of the game, can't quite remember). If we had played our big men more, it's possible/likely Sarvan would've made more threes.

Not only that, but they played several midsized guys who are not guards either (Anthony Tarke, Thomas, Knox).

They definitely played small, but they rarely played 4 guards together, let alone 5.

[CoachJ10]

I personally like going up against these older teams to start the season (their starters were like 20, 22, 23 etc.). It’s a good punch in the face of physicality and maturity that young teams need to be baptized with.

Also, it would have been nice to realize that some of their guys were left handed and adjusted...

DJ’s enthusiasm is going to be contagious. That kid was having fun out there.

[Troublemaker]

Not only that, but they played several midsized guys who are not guards either (Anthony Tarke, Thomas, Knox).

They definitely played small, but they rarely played 4 guards together, let alone 5.

Yup, their five guys who played the most minutes (also their starting lineup) were:

6'10" 225-lb Sarvan
6'6" 220-lb Tarke
6'6" 190-lb Thomas
6'4" 190-lb Tarke (yes, two Tarkes)
6'2" 185-lb Clayton

All in all, the height and weight of that lineup would fit in just fine in the high major conferences. We weren't playing some sort of extreme smallball team. Moreover, I thought on some of our turnovers, we were bothered by their length in the passing lanes, although I'd agree with Coach K that they were still bad passes / unforced turnovers.

[ClemmonsDevil]

I typically wait until I hear K's postgame press conference before I read the comments about the game. I am seldom surprised at K's reaction to a game, win or lose. My family had the added benefit of chatting with him after games in the mid to late 80s (in the locker room quite a bit) when the program was rising and much more accessible and I feel like I have a fairly good handle on what his take will be. Theme today: turnovers were freshman/inexperienced turnovers, it is exceedingly difficult for you teams to supply their own energy (I suspect this will be a thing all year...more upsets) because crowds matter. Home and away. Unless he has a transcendent big, he is going to play small teams who spread you out with a small lineup.

[907bluedevils]

Not sure if Goldwire is a good enough shooter to play off the ball on O.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Not sure if Goldwire is a good enough shooter to play off the ball on O.

He's played off the ball for the last 3 years.

Goldwire's calling card is defense first, defense second, and defense third. That's why he starts and that's why he'll play.

[uh_no]

He's played off the ball for the last 3 years.

Goldwire's calling card is defense first, defense second, and defense third. That's why he starts and that's why he'll play.

which can be boiled down even more to "generate turnovers first, second...hundreth" That's by far the most effective part of his defense.

[Phredd3]

He's played off the ball for the last 3 years.

Goldwire's calling card is defense first, defense second, and defense third. That's why he starts and that's why he'll play.


which can be boiled down even more to "generate turnovers first, second...hundreth" That's by far the most effective part of his defense.

And in this vein, I think he has benefited from being the second-best guard defender on the team. Playing as the off-ball defender (yes, I know you were using "off-ball" as an offensive position designation, but it applies to his defensive role, as well) a substantial percentage of the time meant he could often be picking on guards whose handle was just a little less solid. Of course, he played good stretches as the primary on-ball defender, as well, but I'm not sure we can expect multitudes of generated TOs. I think he will still be effective, don't get me wrong, but I would temper the expectations just a bit. He's still Jordan, not Tre.