MBB: Duke79, Wake 68 Post-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Put your post-game thoughts here.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Offensive rebounding was good. Disappointed we didn't get to the line more. Hurt was fantastic.

Starting to see how this team could become very good - IF Moore can find his rhythm, Hurt is playing well, we get Jalen back, the backcourt can apply pressure... things could look bright moving forward.

[Clocktower]

I think it’s Hurt’s and Goldwire’s team these days, but Steward is coming on in a big way. Love those two scrambling put-back buckets along with his all around game.

[DukieInBrasil]

Career high from Hurt with 26!!!! and he did a little bit of everything else, too.
DJ Steward really starting to assert himself on offense, at least from 2pt land.
Roach again playing well in the PG role.
But can we give it up for J-Gold?!?!?! 14 pts, 5 asts, 0 turns, 5 rebs, and 3 steals!!!!! He's become a wonderful player to watch.

2 guys who didn't score much or shoot well, but who both did a little bit of everything else, literally with at least 1 stat in each category: Wendell Moore and Jaemyn Brakefied. Those sorts of contributions are a big part of winning basketball.
Joey also showed some verve, driving to the basket and scoring, and perhaps an ill-advised pass in the paint. He pumped faked on the 3 both times to drive, so...maybe that's his game now?

[Billy Dat]

With about 10 to go, right about when Dan Bonner said that whichever team goes on a spurt is going to win we started to take it up a notch. The offensive boards were huge during that stretch as we got a bunch of second chance points and it fueled our defense. We steadily pushed it from 3-5-7-9-13 and mostly stopped fouling and got several steals. K jumping off the bench after the Goldwire lay-up after 2 offensive boards was classic.

Hurt was a scoring stud despite the foul trouble. He was better on the defensive end in the last 10 minutes but wasn't great on that end up to that point. I guess that's true of the whole squad, but I especially thought that Roach's defense on Williamson was key in that last quarter. Goldwire's defense was awesome the whole way. DJ also competed hard on that end. Despite Wendell's offensive regression, his last quarter defense and rebounding were very big. Hurt-Wendell and the 3 guards were the closers once again.

Hopefully Jalen comes back soon as we need some more size. Brake hasn't played well these past 2 games. Also, Mark Williams must be doing something good in practice to be getting these starts but they aren't letting him play through his jitters.

Solid win which started very meh and continued to be so until that last 10. Let's keep building.

[SavDukeGrad]

Hurt and the offensive rebounding were outstanding. DJ Steward was very good as well - love his aggressiveness.

Goldwire was his usual steady self; Roach too for the most part. Our defensive intensity was much better in the 2nd half, especially the last 8 minutes.

Unfortunately, Moore reverted to his pre BC self. I hope he can continue to improve.

But too many turnovers in the first half. And we can’t send an opposing team to the line that many times and expect to win very often.

Interestingly, I remember that was where Wake excelled last year - getting to the free throw line. Even though that was a team with a different coach and mostly different players.

[Stray Gator]

The main reason this game stayed so close for so long was because Wake was, until the final 10 minutes, hitting shots at a percentage well above their normal rate in every category. If I'm reading the play-by-play correctly, they hit their first three-point shot in the second half, but then proceeded to miss their next eight attempts to finish the game at only 30%. I believe that regression to the norm for Wake on offense was the primary factor that ultimately turned the game in Duke's favor.

[simplyluvin]

This team has a chance to be good, but let's see how we do on the road against better opponents. Need to play with defensive intensity the whole - or most of - 40 minutes, but I liked what we did in the second half. Hurt is becoming a real star, and Steward and Roach payed well today. JGold has developed in to a steady, solid, if unspectacular veteran player who plays with constant energy.

Wendell is still a work-in-progress, but we saw a glimpse last game of what he's capable of.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

This team has a chance to be good, but let's see how we do on the road against better opponents. Need to play with defensive intensity the whole - or most of - 40 minutes, but I liked what we did in the second half. Hurt is becoming a real star, and Steward and Roach payed well today. JGold has developed in to a steady, solid, if unspectacular veteran player who plays with constant energy.

Wendell is still a work-in-progress, but we saw a glimpse last game of what he's capable of.

I feel like our team has a pretty slim margin for error. We can't take anyone lightly this year. We can't play half a game and win against good teams. But, if we get our rhythm we could do good things.

Assuming we get to play more than two games a month.

[BlueDevilStop]

Game recap.

Five observations.

Player of the game.

https://bluedevilstop.com/strong-second-half-guides-duke-to-victory-over-wake-forest/

[BlueDevilStop]

I think it’s Hurt’s and Goldwire’s team these days, but Steward is coming on in a big way. Love those two scrambling put-back buckets along with his all around game.

Steward has been impressive. He contributes in a number of different ways and has been doing an excellent job on the glass. Really like what I am seeing out of the back court trio of Steward, Roach, and Goldwire.

[SavDukeGrad]

When we ratcheted up the defensive intensity mid way through the 2nd half, I thought Goldwire and Roach took it up a notch. They prevented Williamson’s penetration down the stretch, which had been killing us.

[chrishoke]

3-0 in the ACC feels like fools gold.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

3-0 in the ACC feels like fools gold.

Acceptable

[FerryFor50]

This team has a chance to be good, but let's see how we do on the road against better opponents. Need to play with defensive intensity the whole - or most of - 40 minutes, but I liked what we did in the second half. Hurt is becoming a real star, and Steward and Roach payed well today. JGold has developed in to a steady, solid, if unspectacular veteran player who plays with constant energy.

Wendell is still a work-in-progress, but we saw a glimpse last game of what he's capable of.

I don’t think “road games” have the same impact this year. It’s basically just different colors, lighting and a bit of travel. No crowds to worry about.

[FerryFor50]

Defense in the first half was not great. Some of that was communication. Some was missed rotations. And the rest had to do with sloppy ball handling leading to runouts.

2nd half, it looked like they may have found a combination that works - zone press and the falling back to regular switching man to man. Helps that Wake started to cool off from 3.

Hurt is really talented on offense, and the team needs to continue to play through him even when Jalen returns. But it’s good that they are figuring things out now. Jalen coming back will boost the defense, rebounding and size.

[Kedsy]

Once again, thanks to Comcast and the ACC network, I was unable to see the game. I did notice from the box score that only six of our players got 8+ minutes, which is something considering at the beginning of the season a lot of people around here were talking about how deep we were. It's a good thing the schedule has been kind to us so far since our three ACC wins are by 10, 1, and 9 points over Pomeroy's #89, #100, and #121 teams, the latter two games at home. Finally, I saw that Jaemyn Brakefield went scoreless for the 2nd straight game (17.5 mpg in those two games) but he partially made up for that by getting 5 steals combined in those two games, which is kind of amazing since in the previous five games he'd been all offense and no defense, with a total of one steal.

The pace of this game was very slow (64.9 possessions). But our offensive efficiency was our best of the season, barely ahead of our other game that was really slow (Notre Dame). Check out this small table comparing our pace in our seven games vs. our unadjusted offensive efficiency:



Pace Unadj oRtg
62.3 1.20
64.9 1.22
69.3 1.10
73.5 1.13
75.0 0.91
76.4 1.06
77.6 0.89


Maybe we should try to play slow every game, eh?

But at least we're undefeated in league play. Now to the stats:

OFFENSE

Possessions: 64.9 (very slow; see above)
oRtg: 1.22 (1.23 adjusted; best oRtg of the season; our top three offensive performances have come in our past three games)
eFG%: 58.2% (very strong)
3pt%: 33.3% (barely adequate)
2pt%: 64.7.9% (outstanding; 2nd best of the season)
%threes: 44.3% (way too high)
FT rate: 16.4% (very poor; our 4th game out of 7 with a FT rate under 17%)
OR%: 46.9% (great; best OR% of the season, beating our previous best in our previous game, and only our 3rd game at 35% or above)
TO%: 21.6% (lousy)
a/to: 1.21:1
%assisted: 54.8%
fast break pts: 12 (15.2% of points; not great, but OK considering how slow this game was generally)

DEFENSE

dRtg: 1.05 (1.02 adjusted; yuck, that's four straight clunkers on defense)
eFG%: 52.1% (related to the above, our 4th straight bad performance here)
3pt%: 30.0% (not bad, but without seeing the game I wonder if this was partially luck)
2pt%: 57.0% (terrible; worst of the season)
%threes: 41.7% (considering the above two percentages, this number is why I think we may have gotten lucky on D)
FT rate: 43.8% (a foul performance, so to speak)
DR%: 71.4% (thankfully back over 70%, as we have been in every game except our previous game against BC)
TO%: 23.1% (our saving grace on defense; 6th straight game over 19% and 4th game out of five over 23%)
a/to: 0.53:1 (lowest opposing a/to of the season; every opponent we've faced has been at or below 1:1)
%assisted: 36.4%
stl%: 15.4% (strong)
blk%: 8.3% (14.3% of 2pt shots) (not bad, for this team)
fast break pts: 5 (7.3% of points; good)


We're 16th in the country in unadjusted steals%, and thank goodness because we haven't done much else right on defense the past four games (well, we're above average at defensive rebounding, except against BC). Our overall offense, especially our offensive rebounding, seems to be coming around, though we still turn it over too much and don't get to the line enough. A work in progress, although we do seem to be potentially heading for a six-man rotation.

[wsb3]

I don’t think “road games” have the same impact this year. It’s basically just different colors, lighting and a bit of travel. No crowds to worry about.

Totally agree. Espeicially at Cameron..I was thinking when we came back vs BC how loud it would have been.I don't think it is a 1 point win with the crowd energy..

[uh_no]

eh.

Some good, some bad. unfortunately we haven't really built on the ND performance, and this game was exactly in line with how we were expected to perform. we dropped in KP. Wake is not a good team.

KP has us as a first weekend tournament team, and that seems to match the eye test.

Obviously time to get better, and I'm not saying "it's over" or anything, but I think where we are, and what we have, my hopes are not especially high.

IMO our sights should be set on hanging an ACC banner, and whatever happens in the tournament, happens.

I know a lot of people are sold on johnson as a silver bullet. I'm longing for his return, as well, and think we will be at worst more flexible, I don't think he is really the missing the piece that would put us over the top.

[chrishoke]

Coach K's press conference, great as usual, but I particularly appreciated his comments on the events of this week - we are so fortunate that he is our coach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX8HQ_gNq6E

[dukelifer]

Hurt continues to be a very effective scorer and rebounder. He playing a bit like Danny Ferry. I really enjoy watching Steward- he is quick, dynamic and can score in many ways. He just needs more experience and muscle. Moore has to stop dribbling in traffic. He is just not good yet. The turnovers by the whole team is really a problem right now. Duke might have won by 20 today if those are reduced. I thought Goldwire was key today- hit some big shots and was disruptive on D. The team has many weaknesses but they are scrappy and play hard. I will take that. Not sure how they will do against good teams but every game is a growing experience. They were not able to play in 6 or more games to become a better team. They are a major work in progress.

[Kedsy]

So I went a little deeper into the box score to break down our defense in this game.

PACE: Wake's adjusted pace is 69.2 (tied for #190 in the nation, according to KP). Against us, the pace was even slower (64.9). Our adjusted pace for the season is also 69.2 (tied for #190), so the slower pace is just the way this game happened to go.

THREES: For the season before this game, Wake took 42.8% of their shots from three. Against us, they took 41.7% of their shots from three, essentially the same as usual. For the season before today, they made 34.5% from three, against us only 30.0%. Close (the difference of one missed shot), thanks to the fact that they missed their last eight three-point shots in the game.

LAYUPS: For the season before this game, Wake took 36.0% of their shots around the rim. Against us, they took 33.3% of their shots around the rim, around the same (one fewer layup than usual). For the season before today, they made 62.1% of their shots around the rim, against us only 50% (about two fewer than they would usually make), so our interior defense might have forced them into some uncomfortable close shots.

TWO-POINT SHOTS (but NOT layups): For the season before this game, Wake took 21.2% of their shots from two-point range but not around the rim. Against us, 25% of their shots were such shots (basically one more shot from there than usual). For the season before today, they made 51.8% of their shots (which is really good; we only make 36.5% of our two-point jumpers). Against us, they made 66.7% of their two-point jumpers (about two more than they normally would), which either means they had a fluky good day from there or we didn't challenge those shots sufficiently.

FREE THROWS: Wake Forest gets to the line a lot. For the season before this game, their free throw rate was 38.3%. Against us their free throw rate was 43.8%, about two-and-a-half more free throws than they usually get. They had been hitting 73.3% those FTs but against us they shot 85.7% from the line.

TURNOVERS: Wake is somewhat careless with the ball (#286 in the nation in turnover%). Against us, they turned the ball over on 23.1% of their possessions, about one turnover more than they usually would.


Looking at these numbers, it would seem we basically let Wake Forest run the offense they want to run (or at least the offense they usually run). We hindered them around the rim, but failed to hinder their midrange shots by the exact same amount. They scored 3 fewer points on threes than usual and turned the ball over once more than normal, but made up for that by hitting 4.5 more free throws than you'd expect. So it all essentially washes out. We neither hindered nor helped the #112 offense in the country do pretty much exactly what it's been doing on average all season.

[kako]

5 thoughts...

1. Hurt, Steward and JGold had great games today. Hurt made plays both inside and out. I liked the one stretch where he fought inside for the ball, kept at it and converted. It probably happened more than once.
2. Moore didn't have a good game on O, but nice work on the boards. He still needs to work on his handle.
3. Overall, Duke won this game on the boards. Wake just didn't seem to fight for the ball as much as they needed to, so Duke took advantage.
4. I was impressed by Wake's Whitt. Pretty impressive for a kid who was in high school 1 month ago. Sure, the TO # looks bad, but still impressive overall.
5. 3-0 in the ACC is nothing to sneeze at this year (especially this year). On to the next game.

Extra - I just switched over to YouTube TV. I watched the recording of the game. It told me the recording was 2:33:00 long, so I thought, "Dang, overtime???". As we know, the game finished in regulation. I'm cool with YouTube TV making sure the whole game was recorded, but it did make me wonder all though the 2nd half if Duke would cough up the lead.

9F

[uh_no]

5. 3-0 in the ACC is nothing to sneeze at this year (especially this year). On to the next game.


I'm not sure what exactly you mean here. We've beaten 3 weak teams, ACC or no. There's a reason KP dropped us out of the top 20 after today's game. We're playing mediocre basketball against mediocre teams. Now, that may be enough in the ACC this year, given the lack of teams that are factoring in to the national conversation, but I don't think relative success against such teams should be construed to mean that WE are necessarily an excellent team....because right now, we're not. We have a long way to go if we have aspirations of a deep run in march.

[4Gen]

I like Steward so much. I'm not talking about his game, which I like a lot too.

[UrinalCake]

Hurt reminds me so much of Kyle Singler in how he scores from all over. He's not elite at any one particular thing, nor is he overly big or athletic, but he's a matchup nightmare in how he can score from inside, outside, and everywhere in between. The turnaround fadeaway is his go-to move but he's learning how to read his defender and take what is given to him.

Roach and Steward are playing like freshmen - we see glimpses of outstanding play but both are inconsistent and make freshmen mistakes. Still, you see the potential. Brakefield has come back down to earth after his amazing start but still makes hustle plays and is always involved on both sides of the ball.

I thought our defensive system overall is working well. We are able to pressure the ball, generate turnovers and disrupt our opponent's offense, while not overpursuing leading to wide open looks. The team is coming together, they just all need more reps. They've still only played seven games together. In a normal season that would have happened by around Thanksgiving, and we certainly wouldn't expect the team to be a finished product by then. I hate to say it but I think the cancellation at FSU may have been a blessing in disguise. I don't think the team was ready to face a ranked team on the road immediately after the break, we needed these two games against weak opponents to find our rhythm again.

[kako]

I'm not sure what exactly you mean here. We've beaten 3 weak teams, ACC or no. There's a reason KP dropped us out of the top 20 after today's game. We're playing mediocre basketball against mediocre teams. Now, that may be enough in the ACC this year, given the lack of teams that are factoring in to the national conversation, but I don't think relative success against such teams should be construed to mean that WE are necessarily an excellent team...because right now, we're not. We have a long way to go if we have aspirations of a deep run in march.

Who said Duke is an excellent team? I didn't. I stated that 3-0 is 3-0, and that's a good record no matter how you look at it. Are there things to work on? Yes. And even if we beat VaTech, Duke isn't an excellent team. But I'd rather be 3-0 than not. Would you?

9F

[uh_no]

Who said Duke is an excellent team? I didn't. I stated that 3-0 is 3-0, and that's a good record no matter how you look at it. Are there things to work on? Yes. And even if we beat VaTech, Duke isn't an excellent team. But I'd rather be 3-0 than not. Would you?

9F

I'm happy we're 3-0, but I'd rather be 2-1 and be playing better basketball overall. It turns out how you play is a far better predictor of your team's future success than your record.

[Bay Area Duke Fan]

Hurt reminds me so much of Kyle Singler in how he scores from all over. He's not elite at any one particular thing, nor is he overly big or athletic, but he's a matchup nightmare in how he can score from inside, outside, and everywhere in between. The turnaround fadeaway is his go-to move but he's learning how to read his defender and take what is given to him.

I don't see it. Singler was so much better. He was relentless and played with an intensity that Hurt doesn't approach. Singler was one of the best Duke players whose jersey/number hasn't been retired. I hope Hurt can improve to that level, but it's doubtful he can do that while he's playing for Duke.

[sagegrouse]

I don't see it. Singler was so much better. He was relentless and played with an intensity that Hurt doesn't approach. Singler was one of the best Duke players whose jersey/number hasn't been retired. I hope Hurt can improve to that level, but it's doubtful he can do that while he's playing for Duke.

Singler was a warrior and in HS a heckuva football player. I remember when Singler got totally flattened by an elbow from Wake's big lug of a center, Charles McFarland. He sprung to his feet in about a tenth of a second -- so fast that the refs didn't even call the obvious flagrant foul. "Take an eight count, Kyle!"

[uh_no]

I don't see it. Singler was so much better. He was relentless and played with an intensity that Hurt doesn't approach. Singler was one of the best Duke players whose jersey/number hasn't been retired. I hope Hurt can improve to that level, but it's doubtful he can do that while he's playing for Duke.

given we have far less data, the numbers don't back this up at all. Looking at Kyles last two years, and the data we have on hurt from this year:

Singler averaged about 23.9% usage and ~113 ORtg. Hurt's usage is in the same ballpark at 23.1, but his ORtg is significantly higher at 128. Hurt's a better 3 point shooter, 43% to 36%, turns the ball over significantly less, blocks more shots, steals at about the same rate, and shoots about 10-15 percentage points higher from 2. Further, Hurt is a significantly better rebounder.

The only place that Kyle really rivals Hurt is assists, fouls called/drawn, and free throw percentage.

So If you truly believe singler was "so much better," I'd love to see what exactly you think he does so much better, as for all his intensity, he doesn't seem to actually rival Hurt in actual output on the floor.


I agree that there is value to 3 years of contributions, and that you can't rate Hurt's overall accomplishments to singler...but you're extremely dismissive of Hurt's play here...which has been stupendous, especially without the quality of players opposite him like Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer.


None of this is to demean Singler's play or career, but simply to point out how well Hurt is playing to rival and at least so far in this short season, better his output.

[rsvman]

given we have far less data, the numbers don't back this up at all. Looking at Kyles last two years, and the data we have on hurt from this year:

Singler averaged about 23.9% usage and ~113 ORtg. Hurt's usage is in the same ballpark at 23.1, but his ORtg is significantly higher at 128. Hurt's a better 3 point shooter, 43% to 36%, turns the ball over significantly less, blocks more shots, steals at about the same rate, and shoots about 10-15 percentage points higher from 2. Further, Hurt is a significantly better rebounder.

The only place that Kyle really rivals Hurt is assists, fouls called/drawn, and free throw percentage.

So If you truly believe singler was "so much better," I'd love to see what exactly you think he does so much better, as for all his intensity, he doesn't seem to actually rival Hurt in actual output on the floor.

Kedsy, is that you?

[uh_no]

Kedsy, is that you?

Hahaha kedsy-light, if you will :D

[Dukehk]

Matthew Hurt. Step up to the no.1 option sir.

Wendell Moore. You need another 2 years here.

[roywhite]

Love watching Steward play and progress -- great quickness, versatile, good basketball instincts.

Trying to find a good comp from the Coach K era at Duke.
Almost hate to mention this one, but with his slender build, quickness, and combo guard talents, there is a bit of Johnny Dawkins. Maybe I should temper that -- a "poor man's" Johnny Dawkins.
Or perhaps more like one of his coaches -- Nolan Smith?

[Dukehk]

Only criticism of Hurt is his defence. Its pretty bad. In fact its borderline disastrous.

He can't move his feet quick enough and keeps getting blown by on the perimeter.

Thankfully, his offense and rebounding make up for some of those deficiencies.

As a team though, we're not a good defensive unit.

Goldwire, Roach and Steward are improving though. However the interior shotblocking and paint clogging is almost non existent at this point. Opponents know they can get pretty much any shot against us in the paint.

We need to see more improvement.

[jv001]

Some good things, some not so good and some just bad.

Hurt had 26 pts on 10/15 and 4/7(3s), 6 boards, 2 assists and 3 TOs
DJ had 21 pts on 8/15 and 1/7(3s), 6 boards, 2 assists and 1 TO
Roach had 12 pts on 5/11 and 2/7(3s), 2 boards, 4 assists and 2 TOs
Goldy had 14 pts on 6/10 and 2/3(3s), 5 boards, 5 assists and 0 TOs
Moore had 4 pts on 1/7 and 0/2(3s), 8 boards, 2 assists and 4 TOs

Brakefield played 17 minutes with 0 points, 3 boards, 3 steals and 2 assists and 1 TO
Baker played 7 minutes and had 2 points on 1/1
Williams started but only played 4 minutes, didn't score and had 3 TOs.
Box score showed Coleman with 0+ minutes? I think he took a charge and then came out of the game.

We had 3 player with 3 steals: Hurt, Goldy and Brakefield.
Steward had 2 blocked shots.

When Johnson returns, Steward regains his 3 point shot and Wendell plays like he should we will be a very good team.

GoDuke!

[MChambers]

I don't see it. Singler was so much better. He was relentless and played with an intensity that Hurt doesn't approach. Singler was one of the best Duke players whose jersey/number hasn't been retired. I hope Hurt can improve to that level, but it's doubtful he can do that while he's playing for Duke.

The OP was talking about Hurt's offense, not his total game. No question Singler was a much better player, especially on defense, but offensively they have some similarities.

[Saratoga2]

Having Jalen back gives this team additional size and athleticism. He probably will need time to get a feel for the speed and intensity of the game, but he should make the team fully competitive with the better teams. Hoping for his return soon.

[budwom]

I'm happy we're 3-0, but I'd rather be 2-1 and be playing better basketball overall. It turns out how you play is a far better predictor of your team's future success than your record.

Too early for me to tell how good this team is, or could be, but it's true that none of the three league teams we've beaten has won a league game yet.

[BlueDevilStop]

Three straight road games coming up.

@VT
@Pitt
@Louisville

This stretch will be a good test for this team.

[BlueDevilStop]

Love watching Steward play and progress -- great quickness, versatile, good basketball instincts.

Trying to find a good comp from the Coach K era at Duke.
Almost hate to mention this one, but with his slender build, quickness, and combo guard talents, there is a bit of Johnny Dawkins. Maybe I should temper that -- a "poor man's" Johnny Dawkins.
Or perhaps more like one of his coaches -- Nolan Smith?

Steward's instincts have been incredibly impressive to watch. He has such a great feel for the game in general. Routinely cuts at the most opportune times and has a great feel for putting himself in position to grab rebounds.

[jv001]

Steward's instincts have been incredibly impressive to watch. He has such a great feel for the game in general. Routinely cuts at the most opportune times and has a great feel for putting himself in position to grab rebounds.

I agree about his instincts and he doesn't look like the typical freshman trying to learn the Duke man2man. The way he goes after rebounds you'd think he's 6'8" not 6'2". I wonder what his vertical measurements are? You can tell he loves the game because of that smile. I'm hoping he starts hitting the 3 because right now he's in a slump.

GoDuke!

[azzefkram]

Good

Duke won (always excellent)
Matt
JGold
DJ
Rebounding

OK

Jeremy (a bit too sloppy with the ball)
Defense (numbers weren't great but Wake made a boatload of tough/low percentage shots)
Brakefield (active if not entirely effective on D)

Bad

Return of Bad Wendell
Mark (can see glimpses of potential but doesn't seem ready yet)
Joey (for a shooter he never seems ready to shoot the ball)


I am somewhat surprised by the lack of shooters on Duke. I mean, aside from Matt, who can Duke expect to make a shot. DJ came in with the reputation but he seems more of volume scorer than a shooter at this point. Joey never seems ready to shoot so can you be a shooter if you don't shoot the ball? Duke missed an awful lot of wide-open shots yesterday. Fortunately they rebounded the heck out of the ball so it didn't hurt them. I makes me wonder if Duke should run more sets/plays that free players up to go to the rim. Might help with the free throw rate as well.

[-jk]

There are two things I've been watching, both requiring communication, and both improving (albeit with a lot of room for still more growth): passing on offense and switching on defense.

Let's keep building on them!

-jk

[Music man55]

Good win over a scrappy Wake team. We will see this week a better gauge of the team with 3 road games against some tougher competition. Somebody mentioned up-thread and I agree, why is Joey Baker afraid to pull the trigger on his three pt. shot? Have the coaches talked to him about it? Just wondering.

[jv001]

Good win over a scrappy Wake team. We will see this week a better gauge of the team with 3 road games against some tougher competition. Somebody mentioned up-thread and I agree, why is Joey Baker afraid to pull the trigger on his three pt. shot? Have the coaches talked to him about it? Just wondering.

I think opponents know Baker can shoot the 3 and they close out on him rather quickly. They had rather he put the ball on the floor and drive. Just a guess.

[CDu]

Good win over a scrappy Wake team. We will see this week a better gauge of the team with 3 road games against some tougher competition. Somebody mentioned up-thread and I agree, why is Joey Baker afraid to pull the trigger on his three pt. shot? Have the coaches talked to him about it? Just wondering.


I think opponents know Baker can shoot the 3 and they close out on him rather quickly. They had rather he put the ball on the floor and drive. Just a guess.

Yeah, and he doesn't have a quick release. So that makes it harder for him to get his shot off unless wide open.

As for the game, I wouldn't make too much of it. We were obviously very rusty, and it showed. That being said, we'll obviously need to play much better against Va Tech if we want to win. They are a big step up in quality from Notre Dame, BC, and Wake.

Hurt and Steward played the best, obviously. They both appear to be college-level studs. Hurt for his shooting ability all over the floor, and Steward for his feel for the game in hunting down plays. I'm not sure if either is well-suited for the next level (Steward has the best chance if he can develop as a PG), but man are they turning into impact players at the college level. Hurt has a real shot at ACC Player of the Year, and Steward needs to be in the discussion for ACC Freshman of the Year.

Goldwire continues to be a revelation. His development over 4 years has been spectacular. Easily one of the biggest risers in Duke history in terms of performance relative to recruiting cache. It's just a great story. He's such a good defender, and his offense has become good enough to keep him on the floor. It's really fun watching him pressure the ball.

Roach was the other really solid performer. He has somewhat quietly settled in as a 12+ ppg and 4 assist per game guy over the last 4 games. So while he hasn't emerged to the degree that Steward has, he does appear to be rounding into form. The turnovers are a bit concerning (9 in the last 3 games), so there is still work to do. But he's making progress.

The mixed-bag performer for me was Wendell Moore. He did unfortunately revert back to bad habits (turnovers, poor shots). But he contributed a lot in other ways, including 8 rebounds and generally solid defense. It does appear that the team has shifted him back to spending more time at PF, which is good. Hopefully he can figure out the right balance to his offensive game (less dribble).

Somewhat similarly, Brakefield had a dud of any offensive game, but a really effective defensive game. He had 3 steals, a block, and a tie-up in his 17 minutes. But the offense was nonexistent as he showed his limitations when the 3-ball isn't falling.

Baker played sparingly, and I suspect that he'll settle into a 5-10 mpg type of role once Johnson returns. He just is too limited at this stage, unfortunately.

Williams looked lost out there, and honestly aside from the opening tip I'm not sure he's ready for ACC play this year. I suspect his minutes will go away when Johnson returns.

It does seem like the squad is starting to find its identity, with Brakefield and Moore coming off the bench behind Hurt, Johnson, and the 3 guards. Then we'll see Baker probably getting 5-10 mpg as the last man in the 7.5-man rotation. Tape, Williams, and Coleman will play as needed due to foul trouble, but probably will combine for no more than 5-10 mpg.

Hopefully Johnson can return somewhat soon. He'd be a real boost to this lineup, taking the pressure off of Brakefield and Moore.

[Nrrrrvous]

It does seem like the squad is starting to find its identity, with Brakefield and Moore coming off the bench behind Hurt, Johnson, and the 3 guards. Then we'll see Baker probably getting 5-10 mpg as the last man in the 7.5-man rotation. Tape, Williams, and Coleman will play as needed due to foul trouble, but probably will combine for no more than 5-10 mpg.



I totally agree with this. I think we are seeing K's 7.5 man rotation developing. I can see the 5 starters you mentioned going for ~30mpg, Moore and Brakefield getting ~20-25mpg, Baker with ~5-10mpg. The two biggest question marks for me -

Does Jalen have limited minutes due to foul issues? (My point being that K may want to give him 30mpg but may not be able to)

Does Moore regress back to the point where K can't even give him the 20-25? (Against ND he only played 9 minutes, Brakefield's minutes went up to 25 and Baker hit 15.)