Duke MBB vs. New Mexico St Post-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Post your post-game thoughts here...

[sandinmyshoes]

Impressive defense in the first half. Second half was a little disappointing.

[Exiled_Devil]

I'm not sure, but I think I saw last year's team out there for a while - we just seem to shut down on offense at times. At least I felt okay about it - I knew this years squad could put up a dozen points in 2 mintues of play.

Defense was great, and Paulus shined - did he get a double-double?

Exiled

[Clipsfan]

I'm not sure, but I think I saw last year's team out there for a while - we just seem to shut down on offense at times. At least I felt okay about it - I knew this years squad could put up a dozen points in 2 mintues of play.

Defense was great, and Paulus shined - did he get a double-double?

Exiled

I don't know whether he did, but he set up the rest of the team (and especially Singler) for a bunch of open shots that didn't go down. Those shots will fall on other nights, most likely.

The offense looked a little stagnate in the second half, we definitely do better when we run. It's hard when there is no real offensive threat down low to start an inside-out game, but we have enough slashers and shooters that we'll be more than fine against most opponents.

I don't have replay here, so didn't really see his fouls, but were Singler's fouls as touch as they seemed?

[captmojo]

Scheyer's offense/Paulus' defense. Acceptable free throw average, could have been better. Good team defense. Zoubek did an excellent job underneath. Good beat. Easy to dance to. Intensity of play was in waiver a time or two. Coach caught it and corrections were made.

Next victim please.

[JasonEvans]

Not only did Paulus not have a double-double, I don't think he made double digits in point sor rebounds. Still, he had a fabulous game and really controlled things when he was out there.

Considering he is the best player on the team, Singler had an off night, though I could see a lot of those shots going down on other nights. I am fine with him "saving it" for better opponents.

Taylor King really has no conscience. He is exciting to watch but he is gonna miss a ton of shots this season ;) I was impressed with his physique. He looks very solid and plays bigger on D than a 6-6 guy.

Scheyer was fabulous. He is so under control out there. Many of his points came late and that hids the fact that this was a very balanced attack by Duke.

I was a little upset to see Henderson disappear so much in the 2nd half. Then again, I think everyone let up a bit because we just did not need to assert ourselves that much to win this game.

Oh, and the pressure D is stunning. NMSt seemed to really struggle to get into an offensive rhythm. Any time we wanted, it seemed we could get a turnover or at least a bad shot from them. For a tem with this kind of offensive firepower to also play tough D... well it is fun to watch.

--Jason "I really liked Thomas' energy too and felt Zoubek played well on D-- I think we are in ok, not good but at least ok, shape in the post" Evans

[mapei]

This was my first opportunity to see this team, and I thought they were way exciting for most of the first half. Very entertaining pace, exciting. The second half seemed disappointing by comparison - lots and lots of missed shots.

Paulus is my MOTM, with Scheyer a close second.

On the TV, and seeing them for the first time, it was really hard telling all the white blond guys with crewcuts apart from each other.

Edit after seeing Jason's post: I also should have mentioned Thomas, very nice game. King looked terrific for two shots early, then disappeared.

[wilson]

I'm not sure, but I think I saw last year's team out there for a while - we just seem to shut down on offense at times. At least I felt okay about it - I knew this years squad could put up a dozen points in 2 mintues of play.

Defense was great, and Paulus shined - did he get a double-double?

Exiled

Agreed all around. Paulus is definitely a better player than he was last year, due to, I think, a combination of factors. First, he is clearly more complete physically right now. I also think, however, that he felt the pressure a lot last year (especially early) and let that get the best of him sometimes. His basketball IQ also seems to be higher. He's "playing within himself," to use a somewhat hackneyed phrase. Lastly, I think that a renewed sense of vigor and commitment shows. The announcers talked about how he didn't go home at all this past summer, and I think that kind of leadership and investment will pay serious dividends.

Other positives:

-Scheyer really put up a nice offensive game, especially considering that he came off the bench. While a couple more games like that will presumably get him back into the starting lineup, it's nice to know there's that kind of offensive potential going six deep (if not more). It also demonstrates a level of investment and a team-first attitude on his part.
-Also, I thought, a solid effort from DeMarcus. He didn't score a ton, but took things when they were there, shot for solid percentage, and had a very good overall stat line.
-As has already been mentioned, the defense was very good.
-The ESPN team was also very good...a nice mix of direct commentary, interesting backstory/side stories, and insightful interpretation and predictions
-Multiple screen shots of Abby;)

Negatives:
-Kyle Singler didn't look too good. I understand that he's young and thus can't be counted on for world-beating performances every night, but if he is truly our best player as lots of people have said, those kinds of off nights are bound to hurt eventually, especially on the road and once the ACC slate sets in.
-Second half (actually the only part I got to see) was fairly sloppy, especially the last 10-12 minutes. I think part of that is due to the fact that we still have a pretty young team (which, geez...only accentuates how absurdly young we were last year). Also, it's early...but I'd like for those kinks to be worked out in as short order as possible.
-Not much from Zoubek either. I am not sure how much we can expect from him this season. I'm not dumping on him, I just think he's still a rather limited player.
-My ex-girlfriend (who went to Duke) saw fit to call me in the middle of the game. WTF?!?!

[throatybeard]

-My ex-girlfriend (who went to Duke) saw fit to call me in the middle of the game. WTF?!?!

Dames...

[mgtr]

When it counted, Paulus was there. I think his performance tonight should overcome a lot of negative comments on this board. Ditto for Scheyer. He made some important baskets, and was able to hit 3s at the end, when presumably everybody was tired. Henderson had some great plays, Nelson hit some good shots, missed a few gimmes. Singler, Smith, Thomas, and King all disappointing, in my view. Zoubek had a few good moments, making allowances for his recovery.

[grossbus]

"My ex-girlfriend (who went to Duke) saw fit to call me in the middle of the game. WTF?!?!"

could be why she is your ex???



how many times did paulus turn his back to the defender on the dribble (commented on by several this season and preseason)? answer, none.

[Lord Ash]

Not many fouls from Zoubs, which was nice. Scheyer was real solid, I honestly think he will be an NBA player someday, he is just such a player. Henderson can score. King just shoots and shoots; while I believe he will make most of them, when he misses he really misses. Singler and Smith didn't get much going in the points catagory, but I am not worried, they will both be fine. I laughed a bit when the commentator mentioned that on one of Nelson's 3s that it came off a bit flat because he was too close to the line... I know we always say this, but that slow down ball at the end with a young team that is being trained to run and run and run is just a real deflating experience. I enjoyed that time out where they just kept it on K and Greg the whole time, nice to watch the body language there. We missed some gimmes, intensity waivered a bit in the second, and the turnovers killed me, but...

And welcome back Greg Paulus! Nice to see you again! I really love his grit.

[jipops]

Interesting that the offense started to stall around the time Singler picked up his 4th foul. I kind of got the feeling this took away the momentum and the offense started to look lost.

Still, not bad for a November game. Still scored over 80pts with the offense being almost non-existent for most of the 2nd half. Frontcourt D had some problems except when Z was in there. He gave us some very nice minutes, looks like he's starting to turn the corner a bit. Sure would be nice to get McClure back in there.

Brilliant game by Paulus, really looks to be handling the ball better and his D was great.

Scheyer had a beautiful block to disrupt a fast break. His shot wasn't always on but played his usual excellent game.

For all you Taylor King adorers out there- yeah the kid made some 3's, but did anyone else notice how awful things looked once he put the ball on the floor? Both shots he took off the dribble clanked. The kid is going to be a nice player but he has quite a bit to work on. Won't take long for the scouting report to come out to just face him up.

[4Luck]

I'm definitely proud of the game Greg put together tonight, good to see him playing well. Scheyer had a great game too, he was feeling it!

[wisteria]

While the first half was terrific and really exciting to watch, the second half reminded me of last year. The sloppiness was obviously due to the 30-point lead early on, but it could cost us heavily in the future. Good thing was that we could really shut them down immediately after we turned up our game.

Great great game by some of the older guys, especially Paulus (shining! I LOVE the hustle), Schyer (it's good to see his shots falling beautifully), and Nelson. Thomas has improved tremendously and Zoubek played very solid defense. I noticed that we went to zone again when Zoubek was on court. Later in the game, NMSU were getting a ton of baskets inside, but my guess is it would not have been that bad if Zoubek were there.

Taylor King's 3-point shootings were SICK! Great range with lightening-fast release. He's going to be fun to watch.

Singler struggled with foul trouble early on. Disappeared most of the time, but I will give him a couple more games :)

Overall, good game. We put them away early on, and managed to finish. With such a sloppy second-half, 86 points was pretty decent.

[mapei]

-The ESPN team was also very good...a nice mix of direct commentary, interesting backstory/side stories, and insightful interpretation and predictions


I agree - they were great. I especially liked the color guy (Dykes?). And, in case anyone missed it, they were an espn team who spent practically the entire game fawning over coach K. There might have been a bias tonight, but it didn't go in the direction that some people are asserting.

[Oriole Way]

Agreed all around. Paulus is definitely a better player than he was last year, due to, I think, a combination of factors. First, he is clearly more complete physically right now. I also think, however, that he felt the pressure a lot last year (especially early) and let that get the best of him sometimes. His basketball IQ also seems to be higher. He's "playing within himself," to use a somewhat hackneyed phrase. Lastly, I think that a renewed sense of vigor and commitment shows. The announcers talked about how he didn't go home at all this past summer, and I think that kind of leadership and investment will pay serious dividends.

Other positives:

-Scheyer really put up a nice offensive game, especially considering that he came off the bench. While a couple more games like that will presumably get him back into the starting lineup, it's nice to know there's that kind of offensive potential going six deep (if not more). It also demonstrates a level of investment and a team-first attitude on his part.
-Also, I thought, a solid effort from DeMarcus. He didn't score a ton, but took things when they were there, shot for solid percentage, and had a very good overall stat line.
-As has already been mentioned, the defense was very good.
-The ESPN team was also very good...a nice mix of direct commentary, interesting backstory/side stories, and insightful interpretation and predictions
-Multiple screen shots of Abby;)

Negatives:
-Kyle Singler didn't look too good. I understand that he's young and thus can't be counted on for world-beating performances every night, but if he is truly our best player as lots of people have said, those kinds of off nights are bound to hurt eventually, especially on the road and once the ACC slate sets in.
-Second half (actually the only part I got to see) was fairly sloppy, especially the last 10-12 minutes. I think part of that is due to the fact that we still have a pretty young team (which, geez...only accentuates how absurdly young we were last year). Also, it's early...but I'd like for those kinks to be worked out in as short order as possible.
-Not much from Zoubek either. I am not sure how much we can expect from him this season. I'm not dumping on him, I just think he's still a rather limited player.
-My ex-girlfriend (who went to Duke) saw fit to call me in the middle of the game. WTF?!?!

I have to disagree slightly - I was rather encouraged by Zoubek's play and thought he was a bright spot, especially considering he's still rounding into game shape.

He was excellent on defense tonight. He altered several shots and held his ground without fouling. He rebounded with authority. And he didn't turn the ball over like a machine on offense. Granted, he saw very few touches, but his one basket tonight was gravy.

[dkbaseball]

For all you Taylor King adorers out there- yeah the kid made some 3's, but did anyone else notice how awful things looked once he put the ball on the floor? Both shots he took off the dribble clanked. The kid is going to be a nice player but he has quite a bit to work on. Won't take long for the scouting report to come out to just face him up.

Not really. I did notice how those long arms got him a couple of extra rebounds.

[jipops]

Negatives:
-Kyle Singler didn't look too good. I understand that he's young and thus can't be counted on for world-beating performances every night, but if he is truly our best player as lots of people have said, those kinds of off nights are bound to hurt eventually, especially on the road and once the ACC slate sets in.
-Second half (actually the only part I got to see) was fairly sloppy, especially the last 10-12 minutes. I think part of that is due to the fact that we still have a pretty young team (which, geez...only accentuates how absurdly young we were last year). Also, it's early...but I'd like for those kinks to be worked out in as short order as possible.
-Not much from Zoubek either. I am not sure how much we can expect from him this season. I'm not dumping on him, I just think he's still a rather limited player.
-My ex-girlfriend (who went to Duke) saw fit to call me in the middle of the game. WTF?!?!

-Singler looked pretty good to me actually. It's extremely rare to see a freshman use his body to shield a defender as Singler does. Since his outside shot wasn't going down, I thought he did a great job going to the post. Pretty impressive that he played with 4 fouls most of the 2nd half and never fouled out. Also, get this - he's a freshman!
-It's November, we still scored waaay more than would have at any point last season.
-Zoubek showed a lot tonight. Everytime NewMex tried to post on him it either resulted in a turnover or missed shot and board. He's got a lot of potential to be a nice weapon for us. Instead of making a bunch of assumptions it may be best to wait and see what he becomes once he completely gets back into shape.

[wisteria]

I agree - they were great. I especially liked the color guy (Dykes?). And, in case anyone missed it, they were an espn team who spent practically the entire game fawning over coach K. There might have been a bias tonight, but it didn't go in the direction that some people are asserting.

It was kind of weird when the camera was FOCUSing closely on Abby. Not that I don't want to see Abby doing her job, but hey, the game was going on!

[FreezingDevil]

My favorite part of the game, with the exception of Marty's dunk, was 7 minutes into the 2nd Half. We were playing pretty poorly and Coach K decided to sub all 5 players out, Roy Williams-esque. It might have been a sign of poor play, but it was also a sign of tremendous depth. We never could have done that last year! :)

[captmojo]

The announcers were OK but I'm very tired of having to hear every single one make an unwelcome Carolina reference during the game. I don't mean reading the onscreen promo. I suspect that most Duke fan game viewers aren't interested in hearing the word tarheel, while trying to watch the Devils. I suppose that goes for the gander too. I really don't care. Oh hell. While I'm at it, I don't really care who they play next or when/where.

I once had a girl I met at the beach call me at 2AM while asnooze with the First Mate. She called to tell me she had found Jesus. I really didn't know he was lost. Let me tell ya. You ain't lived till you have to dance through an explaination about that. Especially at that time of day.

[wilson]

-Singler looked pretty good to me actually. It's extremely rare to see a freshman use his body to shield a defender as Singler does. Since his outside shot wasn't going down, I thought he did a great job going to the post. Pretty impressive that he played with 4 fouls most of the 2nd half and never fouled out. Also, get this - he's a freshman!
-It's November, we still scored waaay more than would have at any point last season.
-Zoubek showed a lot tonight. Everytime NewMex tried to post on him it either resulted in a turnover or missed shot and board. He's got a lot of potential to be a nice weapon for us. Instead of making a bunch of assumptions it may be best to wait and see what he becomes once he completely gets back into shape.

Good points all. Zoubek, to be fair, did a good bit of that "doesn't show up in the box score" sort of stuff, which as we all know, K loves. As for Singler, I think outsized expectations in part colored my viewing of his game. This was the first time I've really seen him play, so I definitely was hoping for a lot from him. I don't think he played poorly, but I also think it's pretty clear that his reputation wasn't built on games like tonight's. Also, he was in foul trouble for most of the portion of the game I was able to see...clearly another factor.

[wilson]

I once had a girl I met at the beach call me at 2AM while asnooze with the First Mate. She called to tell me she had found Jesus. I really didn't know he was lost. Let me tell ya. You ain't lived till you have to dance through an explaination about that. Especially at that time of day.

And you answered the phone...why?

[mgtr]

I agree -- what a move. Not only does it tell your starters that "look, we have five guys ready to play if you cannot," but it must be sort of scary for the other team when a whole new bunch comes at you. As you say, we would have had to include the manager and trainer on the floor to do that last year -- and McClure isn't even back yet. Heady stuff!

[captmojo]

And you answered the phone...why?
This was back in the days before caller ID.

[Waynne]

Paulus, Scheyer, and Nelson all looked good; it was the best game Greg has played in a while, I think he had 8 assists. Scheyer led the team in scoring and played his usual high-level all round game, and Nelson was a beast on defense and had a couple of nice threes. Veteran players make a big difference. I think we are going to have big trouble against teams with strong inside play.

I wonder why we played four corners offense the last half of the second half? We looked like last year's team when we did that- there was very little offensive production. Except for the breakdown where we had 3 straight turnovers in the second half, I thought we looked a lot better playing uptempo.

[wilson]

This was back in the days before caller ID.

Ahhh yes. You have to understand, I haven't talked on a phone with a cord (except at work or something) in at least 12 years, and I have never owned one...I don't think I'll have a land line until I have children. That honestly didn't even occur to me.

[captmojo]

God, I'm old.

[nobodyatall]

A couple guys who played well but are going to get criticized anyways.

Zoubek - 11 min, 2 pts, 1-3 fg, 5 boards, 2 blocks
Singler - 23 min, 10 pts, 3-7 fg, 0-3 3pt, 4-5 ft, 5 boards, 2 blocks

First Zoubek. He did exactly what Duke needs from him: be an interior presence and rebound. Against teams with strong bigmen, hes going to be more important. He doesnt need to score to be effective.

For Singler, its hard to score when you dont have opportunities. Almost half his FG attempts were 3s, which is far higher than they should be. He needs to get more chances to create around the rim. For large stretches Duke seemed allergic to the post entry pass. Even without the offense though he played good help defense, created turnovers, got a decent number of rebounds, rotated the ball to the open man on offense and did other little things, like sealing off shotblockers so they couldnt contest drives from the guards. The fouls were a problem though, and he was much less active after the 4th.

[NovaScotian]

"My ex-girlfriend (who went to Duke) saw fit to call me in the middle of the game. WTF?!?!"

could be why she is your ex???



how many times did paulus turn his back to the defender on the dribble (commented on by several this season and preseason)? answer, none.

what game were you watching? i counted at least three.

[SMO]

A couple guys who played well but are going to get criticized anyways.

Zoubek - 11 min, 2 pts, 1-3 fg, 5 boards, 2 blocks
Singler - 23 min, 10 pts, 3-7 fg, 0-3 3pt, 4-5 ft, 5 boards, 2 blocks

First Zoubek. He did exactly what Duke needs from him: be an interior presence and rebound. Against teams with strong bigmen, hes going to be more important. He doesnt need to score to be effective.

For Singler, its hard to score when you dont have opportunities. Almost half his FG attempts were 3s, which is far higher than they should be. He needs to get more chances to create around the rim. For large stretches Duke seemed allergic to the post entry pass. Even without the offense though he played good help defense, created turnovers, got a decent number of rebounds, rotated the ball to the open man on offense and did other little things, like sealing off shotblockers so they couldnt contest drives from the guards. The fouls were a problem though, and he was much less active after the 4th.

Zoubs was better than I expected coming off the injury. It still looks like he shuffles down the court so maybe the foot is still an issue, or maybe that's how a 7'2" guy runs. Either way, he was solid on D in the post and looked more comfortable than last year.

Singler's 4th foul was a joke and I think he had a decent game, just not what you might expect after all the build-up on this board. He'll be good.

[nobodyatall]

what game were you watching? i counted at least three.

Duke also routinely started the offense with a high screen for the guard. I cant say how much of that was necessary, or just a part of the offense.

[dukie8]

I agree -- what a move. Not only does it tell your starters that "look, we have five guys ready to play if you cannot," but it must be sort of scary for the other team when a whole new bunch comes at you. As you say, we would have had to include the manager and trainer on the floor to do that last year -- and McClure isn't even back yet. Heady stuff!

the last time i saw k do that was against kentucky in nj in 2001. the 5 subs played well and it definitely woke the starters up to go on to win a very exciting game.

[nobodyatall]

Singler's 4th foul was a joke and I think he had a decent game, just not what you might expect after all the build-up on this board. He'll be good.

Everytime he got the ball in the post he either scored or was fouled. He just almost never got the ball in the post. Tonight was a guard dominated offense (and when your other big men are King (3pt shooter), Zoubek (turnover in the post), and Thomas (limited offensively) you can understand why. Singler is a smart player who plays within the offense, which means that he really didn't get a lot of chances to create his own shot.

And I agree the 4th foul was a joke, and limited his productivity off the ball as he played less aggressively.

[dukelifer]

It is true that Singler had an off night- but most of the shots were in the flow of the game and most looked good on the release. He will hit most of these in the future. The guards could have set him up down low better- he can score a lot on the blocks. He reminded me a little bit like Boozer in the way he could turn and score with a little soft shot. Scheyer played an excellent game- his points were quiet but in the second half when no one was really scoring- he came through- a bit like last year. I also wondered what happened to Henderson. He took a ton of shots early and then seemed to lose focus. He is still a puzzlement. Paulus was under control throughout. Smith and King had their moments but they played more like Freshman today. Still- while not a thing of beauty- this was a good test and Duke learned more about themselves tonight than in the previous few games. They should have a good week of practice before heading out to Hawaii.

[captmojo]

I was glad to see Coach leave him in with 4. What a teacher.

[grossbus]

"what game were you watching? i counted at least three."

maybe late in the game when we were running the clock. none in the first 30 min.

[DU82]

My favorite part of the game, with the exception of Marty's dunk, was 7 minutes into the 2nd Half. We were playing pretty poorly and Coach K decided to sub all 5 players out, Roy Williams-esque. It might have been a sign of poor play, but it was also a sign of tremendous depth. We never could have done that last year! :)

If I remember correctly, the only time a 5 for 5 swap happened was when the starters went back into the game together.

Roy Williams-esque? Geez, coaches have been doing that forever. Coach K did it before Roy was a head coach, and St. Dean had his "blue team" for ages before that.

[yancem]

What's up with ESPN's box score? According to them Duke had 0 assists for the game!

[wilson]

What's up with ESPN's box score? According to them Duke had 0 assists for the game!

Certain stats (the minutes breakdown, for example) often take a little while to make it into the box score. ESPN now shows us with 18 total assists, led by GP with 8.

[RelativeWays]

I'm the worst Duke fan in the world. I literally forgot about the game until the very end. Its like my mind still thinks its a bit too soon for college BB or something. How do I atone?

[wilson]

How do I atone?

Burn down the dean dome.

[jimsumner]

FWIW, Duke scored 80 or more points exactly three times last year, with a high of 86 against Columbia. So tonight, with mediocre foul shooting and a half-dozen missed lay-ups, equaled Duke's high score from last season.

[cajundevil74]

I was harsh on Zoubek after the NCCU game, but tonight, against people closer to his size, he did very well. Jimmy Dykes even used Zoubek's good foot work as a teaching point during the telecast (who woulda thunk it?). Hopefully he can get in shape because he could be a defensive presence we sorely need.

Marty Pocious needs more time.

Paulus had a very good game.

Demarcus still forces the issue too often - I guess after 3 years that will not change.

I never felt confident in Nolan Smith's handles. He seems to dribble pretty high. He reminds me of Duhon.

Good game overall in the first nationally televised game. I'm sure there were some jitters.

[RelativeWays]

I'd like to go to more games but being neither a student, alumni or iron duke means paying some outrageous price to a ticket broker or trying my luck with the scalpers around Cameron.

Also, 10 pt isn't terrible for an off night. If I remember, there was some question on whether Duke would be able to run on NMS since they were bigger and tended to play at a slower pace. Seems like Duke was almost able to run them out but faltered some in the 2nd half.

[DBFAN]

I was thinking and hoping that the reason Duke may have played so much half court, may be due to the fact that our next game is against Princeton. At least I am hoping that is the reason. I also concur that not to worry about Singler, I saw him on Friday and he is just a monster player. I really think that Duke was working on a lot of things tonight because they knew that they could run NMSU out of the building if they wanted, with that being said, I think we can just forget about that stuff and just keep running. I was wondering if anyone noticed the comment the announcer made at the end saying he did not know if Duke was a #10 team or not................Now can anyone in here honestly tell me 10 teams that are better than Duke, that comment made me so angry, after praising the team all night and then when Duke slows it down, they star being negative about the team, and sooooooooo positive about that team down the road. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!

[Exiled_Devil]

I agree - they were great. I especially liked the color guy (Dykes?). And, in case anyone missed it, they were an espn team who spent practically the entire game fawning over coach K. There might have been a bias tonight, but it didn't go in the direction that some people are asserting.

I think that this had something to do with the new philosophy of Coach K regarding access of media - the broadcast team mentioned visiting practices, talking to K in his office, being on the phone with Collins, and more. I expect more of the same as the season proceeds.

Exiled

[micah75]

how many times did paulus turn his back to the defender on the dribble (commented on by several this season and preseason)? answer, none.

I was watching that as well. He faced the basket with his dribble. Almost dared his defender to try and pick him, and it seemed that a couple of times when his man made that attempt, Greg was fouled. He seemed to be in control. As Dykes was pointing out, he's a perimeter-oriented PG, not a penetrator. And he's certainly quite effective on the fast break, whether it's dishing out assists or making tough layups. And lots of hustle plays that don't show up in the stat sheet.

That was about the quietest 86 points I've seen scored in a long time. The 2nd half almost turned into "ugly ball" for a stretch there. Will be delightful to see what the team can do when they're clicking on all cylinders.

[mapei]

I never felt confident in Nolan Smith's handles. He seems to dribble pretty high. He reminds me of Duhon.

If he reminds you of Chris, you should feel very confident indeed. Chris's assists-to-turnover ratio was outstanding at better than 2:1 (819:355), a ratio better than guys named Williams, Avery, Dawkins, and even slightly better than someone named Hurley who used to play for Duke (though not quite as good as Tommy A).

[feldspar]

FWIW, Duke scored 80 or more points exactly three times last year, with a high of 86 against Columbia. So tonight, with mediocre foul shooting and a half-dozen missed lay-ups, equaled Duke's high score from last season.

Excellent context stat, Jim.

Paulus looked great tonight. He's got a fire that I often didn't see last year. As the commentators noted, he's shaping into one of the best offensive point guards Duke has had in a long, long time. And he has a measure of that tenacity that Wojo had, which we really need.

Scheyer looked pretty good, but the flurry of his scoring came in garbage time. My vote for MOTM goes to Greg.

[mapei]

Paulus also looked much quicker than I remember in the past. Great to see.

[bbar7502]

something that really got me excited about paulus was the between the legs pass to king on the fast break and king got fouled on the finish which he missed but it got me pumped none the less. to me that whole game is an indication of how paulus will be different this year. he was able to keep his man in front of him and had some great steals. you can just tell that he is in better shape and over his injury. i think that the team even though they looked sloppy at times still shows great promise. even with some stagnant offense they still put up 86 even with all of those missed shots (where a lot of them were really good looks). can't wait to follow this team this year...

[HeelHater]

I continue to wonder why Marty can't get more PT?? That kid is instant offence!!!!!! I can't help but think that his PT will pick up!!

[Olympic Fan]

For all you Taylor King adorers out there- yeah the kid made some 3's, but did anyone else notice how awful things looked once he put the ball on the floor? Both shots he took off the dribble clanked. The kid is going to be a nice player but he has quite a bit to work on. Won't take long for the scouting report to come out to just face him up.

I sometimes wonder what people who post on this board are looking at.

"how awful things looked once he put the ball on the floor"???

Well, I saw King twice fake his man at the three-point line, driving past him and shoot a pullup 10-12 footer. Yeah, he missed both but "clanked"?? -- both were dead-on, just hit back rim. I've seen him a dozen times in AAU ball take and make that shot with regularity. If scouting reports really do suggest to let him take that shot, King's going to do a lot of damage. And we still haven't seen much of him with the ball in the post -- he has a nice hook and a turnaround jumper when posting smaller opponents.

As for the rest of his handling, what was so awful? He didn't have a turnover, yet he helped several times against NMS pressure, advancing the ball smoothly. After getting two assists in the opener, he didn't get any this time, but he made several passes that should have been assists (one that Zoubs missed, then put back).

As for his 3s -- his first one was 25-plus feet ... and his second was with a man right in his face. Later, he picked up a ball that Nelson nearly lost in the lane when it was kicked outside and to beat the shot clock, fired from well over 30-plus feet ... and it just spun out.

As for Duke's 86 points -- it's nice that on a night when some posters are complaining about a slowdown, that Duke should match last season's high point total (the 86 against Columbia in the opener was one of just three times last year's team topped 80).

The most interesting part of the game tonight was NMS's starting lineup. They have this huge frontline, but they were afraid to go with their normal lineup against Duke. Instead, they benched their 7-1 center (who was a stiff, anyway) and started their 6-7 wing guard, Hawkins, at power forward -- along with three guards. They rarely played two big men together -- and never their two biggest players, Iti and Passos.

Think about that ...

[HeelHater]

I agree O Fan I like what I see so far!!!!! 86 on an off night Hmmmm this could be fun!!!

[Jumbo]

First of all, since most of us got to see Duke for the first time this season, why don't we take a moment and enjoy the fact that Duke hoops is back. The season goes so fast, after all, that we should savor the return of something we all love, with so much to look forward to.

After we're done with that, let's revel in a good victory, shall we? Duke was in complete control the entire game, played an entertaining brand of basketball and showed a lot of potential. I'm psyched.

The best thing is that this team can get so much better. Duke missed a ton of easy shots -- both inside and out. A number of guys (notably Singler) were short on their jumpers. Yet Duke still put up 86 points.

I was thrilled with the defense. Scheyer will get noticed for his scoring, but many of those points came late. He made his real impact right away on D. As I posted in another thread, he entered with the score tied at 6-6. When he left, Duke led 25-8. I found myself laughing at the misguided posters who have claimed he's not a good defender -- he was superior against NMSU. His on-ball D was excellent, and his off-ball D was even better. He was a step ahead of the offense, knowing when to help. He got his hands on a ton of passes, forced a bunch of turnovers (even though he was only credited with two steals), forced a great trap in the corner that led to a steal for Henderson and an easy dunk, and even blocked a shot.

(Interesting aside about his offense. Scheyer seemed to pass up a lot of open shots. Midway through the game, he used a great pump fake and a dribble to reach the foul line, wide open. But as he pulled up, he seemed to spot a cutter, and ended up throwing the ball out of bounds. Clearly, he should have shot the ball. The camera cut to the bench, where you could clearly see Coach K turn to an assistant and say, "I told him to shoot the f-ing ball." Then you see the following quote from Scheyer after the game: “A couple of times I thought I saw guys open, but I had wide open shots and those are shots I have to shoot because the rest of my teammates are expecting me to shoot those. So when I don’t shoot them – the two times I didn’t, they were turnovers. So I need to shoot those from now on.” Message got through, I guess. ;) )

Paulus also was obviously a huge bright spot. He did indeed look more nimble. His D was better and he handled the ball with more ease. If he can play like that all year, Duke will be in good shape. My only (minor) quibble is that sometimes he over-dribbled and didn't recognize when guys were open quick enough. But the same could be said for many of Duke's players, particularly Smith and Nelson.

Singler's going to be fine. Even in what for him will be a bad game, he showed great flashed. In particular, I loved the way he posted and sealed in the second half. Duke will be able to get him the ball on the block for easy baskets.

There's no need to go through every other individual player, but I love the team's commitment to running, I love the pressure D, I love rotation that's developing, and I love the thought that McClure might add something when he gets healthy, too. This is going to be a fun season -- on to Maui!

[dukemomLA]

Not enough mention on this thread about Marty. He's got game!! And drive, and intensity. Give him more PT!!!

Let's give Marty some love! He was under-used last year, and as a injury-free player right now, let's see what he can do. He's better than his use so far at Duke.

I am somewhat upset that Coach K isn't using Marty to his potential.

[Jumbo]

Not enough mention on this thread about Marty. He's got game!! And drive, and intensity. Give him more PT!!!

Let's give Marty some love! He was under-used last year, and as a injury-free player right now, let's see what he can do. He's better than his use so far at Duke.

I am somewhat upset that Coach K isn't using Marty to his potential.

Whose minutes do you want to cut? You've got 200 to go around -- make your choice, then.

[mgtr]

Whose minutes do you want to cut? You've got 200 to go around -- make your choice, then.

This is the key point. With ten, soon to be 11, healthy players, time has to be split. And in the position that Pocius plays, we are pretty well loaded. But, while I know it isn't true, it feels as if Marty has gotten more quality minutes this year than last.

[Saratoga2]

Not only did Paulus not have a double-double, I don't think he made double digits in point sor rebounds. Still, he had a fabulous game and really controlled things when he was out there.

Considering he is the best player on the team, Singler had an off night, though I could see a lot of those shots going down on other nights. I am fine with him "saving it" for better opponents.

Taylor King really has no conscience. He is exciting to watch but he is gonna miss a ton of shots this season ;) I was impressed with his physique. He looks very solid and plays bigger on D than a 6-6 guy.

Scheyer was fabulous. He is so under control out there. Many of his points came late and that hids the fact that this was a very balanced attack by Duke.

I was a little upset to see Henderson disappear so much in the 2nd half. Then again, I think everyone let up a bit because we just did not need to assert ourselves that much to win this game.

Oh, and the pressure D is stunning. NMSt seemed to really struggle to get into an offensive rhythm. Any time we wanted, it seemed we could get a turnover or at least a bad shot from them. For a tem with this kind of offensive firepower to also play tough D... well it is fun to watch.

--Jason "I really liked Thomas' energy too and felt Zoubek played well on D-- I think we are in ok, not good but at least ok, shape in the post" Evans

This wass the first game that I have seen this season so it is my whole view of the team. The good part was that several people have made improvements.

I thought Nelson showed he has worked on his free throw shooting and his outside shot had more arch to it. Those are things he must have spent some time on. He has issues driving the baseline and his entry pass is not a strong point.

Paulus looked very good with the ball. He does tend to slow things down and maybe that isn't a bad thing, but the team definitely went into a scoring drought in the second half until Scheyer decided he should take some shots.

NM found ways to exploit us defensively in the second half. They don't have the best guards but got some penetration and got the ball to their big players or out to the corners, where we had no defender even near their shooters. This may be the way teams aattack Duke going forward. Other teams will have better guards and have some decent inside players and will not turn the ball over as much so games will be very competitive.

Scheyer looked good. He really has a hesitancy to shoot and he needs to overcome that. It was a problem last year and you could see vestiges of it last night. He threw the ball away rather than shoot while he was open from the top of the key.

Singler looks good. He missed some shots and he will be up against it inside playing against bigger people this year. There will be a learning experience for him and the team and he will have to find what works best. He definitely finishes well around the basket.

Zoubek looked good defensively. He can help neutralize our size disavantage while he plays. i just wish he would dunk the ball when inside. He has the size and he needs to realize no one can stop him from dunking.

Pocius looked good as well and should get some additional playing time.

Smith had difficulities running the team and we really bogged down with him trying. He has a lot going for him so he too needs to learn how to deal with the more difficult competition.

Thomas played well at times and at times he reverted to picking up silly fouls. He needs to get over the latter if he is to get the minutes that we need from him.

King is aa shooter and is a viable backup to Singler inside. I noticed one case where he was blown by on defense so his speed defending a quick player outside is a little suspect.

All in all, this being the first competitive game of the year, they did well. Their pressure defense worked well in the first half until NM adjusted to it, then it worked fairly well. Looking at games around the league, many teams struggled with inferior opponents and that is to be expected early in the year. Coach K has a week to work with the team so we can expect continuing improvement of individual players and of team tactics. Good start.

[walras]

Was at the game, and have a question. In the second half, near the end, Smith was dribbling near half court, and was fouled (or not). He went to the line to shoot, and the refs went strange and ended up giving Duke the ball to inbound with 7 seconds left on the shot clock. Was this explained on TV or radio? Thanks.

[gw67]

My impressions watching the Devils for the first time this year:

• Team defense was very good and Paulus was excellent at the point of the defense.
• Team rebounding effort was outstanding. There is no one close to S. Williams on this team and a team effort on the boards is needed. The effort was there tonight.
• Paulus played a good all around game and Scheyer’s offense kept the game from getting closer at the end.
• The freshmen played like freshmen. Although his shots weren’t falling, there were several things to like about Singler’s game. He competes on the boards, plays decent defense and he handles the ball like a guard. King showed some range and Smith had a nice pass on a fast break but neither stood out.
• The combination of Thomas and Zoubek played OK. They competed against the NMSt big men. The strengths of the team are the perimeter players so these youngsters will be expected to play defense and rebound. They should be able to do that well against most teams.
• Nelson played a strong all around game and Henderson was hot early. It appears to me that both players still struggle with their ballhandling.

As a long time fan, the game was enjoyable to watch and the uptempo offense and strong deny defense reminded me of some of Coach K’s better teams. The best attribute of this team is that several players can put the ball in the basket. Some players were missing their shots last night so Nelson, Scheyer, Pocius and Paulus stepped up. I expect that it will be a different group each game.

gw67

[captmojo]

Was at the game, and have a question. In the second half, near the end, Smith was dribbling near half court, and was fouled (or not). He went to the line to shoot, and the refs went strange and ended up giving Duke the ball to inbound with 7 seconds left on the shot clock. Was this explained on TV or radio? Thanks.

They called a double foul so the arrow took effect. Might have gotten ugly to all in the stands if NMS had the arrow. This was not very well expressed by the officials or the TV announcers.

[DU82]

Was at the game, and have a question. In the second half, near the end, Smith was dribbling near half court, and was fouled (or not). He went to the line to shoot, and the refs went strange and ended up giving Duke the ball to inbound with 7 seconds left on the shot clock. Was this explained on TV or radio? Thanks.

Karl Hess happened.

In a couple of series close together, there was an out-of-bounds call that originally went Duke's way. NMS complained, and the official who originally made the call asked the official closest to the play for his call. He seemed to say he didn't know, so HEss, on hte opposite side of the court was asked. HE immediately came over and overruled the first official. Perhaps he was correct on the call (I didn't think he had the angle for it) but my question is why not come in immediately if that's what you saw. I thought don't wait until after you're asked.

Well, ol' Karl must be a mindreader because on the play in question, the original call was a block on NMS. Hess immediately rushed over to "discuss" it with the first ref, and it was clear he wanted to call a push-off on Paulus (not Smith at that time, if we're talking about the same play.) The third official didn't have a clear view (or was watching some other part of the play) so instead of making a decision, they took the easy way out and called a double foul. Which is absolutely wrong unless the rules have changed. One play, it has to be either one or the other, since double fouls are two simultaneous plays/calls (ie foul on the shooter, and a foul underneath getting position for a rebound at the same time), not two different opinions on the same single play.

I'm sure that the fact that both overrules went against Duke was just incidental.

(Julio's brother and I were seated in the endzone for the 87 ACC tournament, right behind Fred Bearkat (sp?) and we were able to see his notes on the officating. After a similar call, Fred wrote in his comments "Block/Charge. TERRIBLE!!!!) Wake/State, Muggsy was the one called for the charge, which changed his play during the three OT game.)

[feldspar]

They called a double foul so the arrow took effect. Might have gotten ugly to all in the stands if NMS had the arrow. This was not very well expressed by the officials or the TV announcers.

Minor quibble from a rules nerd, but we got the ball because we had it when the double foul was called, not because of the arrow.

[LetItBD08]

I noticed there wasn't a shot clock reset during that double foul. It seems like with any foul there should be one. Was that the correct call? Does anyone have the official rules on double fouls?

Regardless, didn't matter too much. I think Scheyer drained a 3 from the corner that possession.

[feldspar]

I noticed there wasn't a shot clock reset during that double foul. It seems like with any foul there should be one. Was that the correct call? Does anyone have the official rules on double fouls?


Rule 4-53 states that Point of Interruption is used if a double foul occurs. In other words, whichever team had the ball when the double foul occured, that team will take the ball out of bounds nearest the spot where it was when the double foul occurs.

Rule 2-11-6 outlines when the shot clock should be reset. It includes: a single personal foul, technical foul, held ball, violation, intentional kick and inadvertent whistle. Double foul is not included.

[LetItBD08]

Thanks a lot feldspar!

[Bob Green]

The bench played 78 minutes and produced 37 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 turnovers, and 4 steals. That's a point per 2.1 minutes played.

The starters played 122 minutes and produced 49 points, 20 rebounds, 14 assists, 11 turnovers, and 7 steals. That's a point per 2.48 minutes played.

Looking at points per minute played:


Mins Pts PPM
Singler 23 10 2.30
Thomas 20 5 4.00
Paulus 26 9 2.89
Henderson 25 11 2.27
Nelson 28 14 2.00
Smith 16 2 8.00
Pocius 7 4 1.75
King 17 7 2.43
Scheyer 27 22 1.23
Zoubek 11 2 5.50
Total 200 86 2.33

IMO, points off the bench are very important and I'm optimistic about the way the season is starting. We will know more after Maui as the level of competition increases. The bench production against a good NMSU team is a definite positive.

[mgtr]

Bob Green-
It looks to me that your calculations on points per minute are backwards, and really show minutes per point. If it was truly points per minute, then a high number would be good. However, the highest number is Thomas with an eight, yet he only scored two points. I think we need the reciprocal of your numbers to get points per minute.

[Bob Green]

Bob Green-
It looks to me that your calculations on points per minute are backwards, and really show minutes per point. If it was truly points per minute, then a high number would be good. However, the highest number is Thomas with an eight, yet he only scored two points. I think we need the reciprocal of your numbers to get points per minute.

Yeah, I blew that one. My table definitely shows minutes per point. My post demonstrates that I am math challenged and, therefore, why I was a Social Science major.

[bluedev_92]

. Midway through the game, he used a great pump fake and a dribble to reach the foul line, wide open. But as he pulled up, he seemed to spot a cutter, and ended up throwing the ball out of bounds. Clearly, he should have shot the ball. The camera cut to the bench, where you could clearly see Coach K turn to an assistant and say, "I told him to shoot the f-ing ball." Then you see the following quote from Scheyer after the game: “A couple of times I thought I saw guys open, but I had wide open shots and those are shots I have to shoot because the rest of my teammates are expecting me to shoot those.

Funny you should mention the pan to Coack K on the Sheyer pass. I just got done yelling at the TV, using about the same exact words when they went to K & he said the same thing. Absent being too unselfish sometimes, I love Sheyer's game...

[captmojo]

Rule 4-53 states that Point of Interruption is used if a double foul occurs. In other words, whichever team had the ball when the double foul occured, that team will take the ball out of bounds nearest the spot where it was when the double foul occurs.

Rule 2-11-6 outlines when the shot clock should be reset. It includes: a single personal foul, technical foul, held ball, violation, intentional kick and inadvertent whistle. Double foul is not included.

I do bow to your prowess and rules knowledge.

[JasonEvans]

Marty Pocious needs more time.


I respond to this statement with the following question--

At whose expense?

Given that Marty plays the same general position as Scheyer, Henderson, and Nelson who should see their minutes reduced so Marty can play more?

Oh, and I would just add that while I love the energy and creativity Marty brings on offense, I urge you to take note of how often Duke goes to a zone on D when he comes in. He is trying but he simply is not even close to the other wings we have when it comes to playing D. He is getting better but he is not in their league yet.

--Jason "Marty is averaging 9.5 mins/game so far and I think that general range is fine for now" Evans

[Jeffrey]

I respond to this statement with the following question--

At whose expense?

--Jason "Marty is averaging 9.5 mins/game so far and I think that general range is fine for now" Evans

Hi,

I respond to this question with the following statement:

What a great problem to have!

This team is deep and David is just going to add to the depth. We are going to be able to run other teams ragged.

Best regards,
Jeffrey

[Jumbo]

I love Sheyer's game...

I love Scheyer's game even more! ;)

[throatybeard]

I love Scheyer's game even more! ;)

He's not as good as Jim Sumner.

[Indoor66]

A YouTube Highrlight:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_Wg4nqVUB4