Duke MBB vs. Wisconsin Post-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Post your post-game thoughts here.

[Karl Beem]

It's good to be the King.
:)

[godukecom]

WOW
that is all I have to say

and i like bob harris on Markie's dunk:
"Over the head, tomahawk, jibity jam, WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT"

[Duvall]

We really gotta come up with a new name for this ACC-Big Ten event.

[BDevilU]

Isn't it about time for a made-for-TV ACC-SEC Challenge?

[JBDuke]

We really gotta come up with a new name for this ACC-Big Ten event.

Well, "SMACKDOWN" would be appropriate, but I think it's already taken...

[throatybeard]

We really gotta come up with a new name for this ACC-Big Ten event.

ACC Smackdown.

ACC Tuesday Night Raw.

ACC Paint your Wagon.

[RelativeWays]

The Annual ACC Big Ten Non-Challenge

[77devil]

WOW
that is all I have to say

and i like bob harris on Markie's dunk:
"Over the head, tomahawk, jibity jam, WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT"

Terrific defensive intesity in the first half. Our quickness overwhelmed their size.

If only I could listen to Bob Harris instead of the oblivious Dicky V and his partner. Only Dick Vitale can talk incessiantly for nearly two minutes without acknowledging or realizing that a technical foul has been called.

[dukelifer]

Wow. I did not expect that easy a win by Duke. I thought Wisconsin's size would give Duke trouble- but Duke's quickness and ability to shoot the three was the difference. It was a team effort for sure. Paulus had a great game- handling and shooting. Scheyer did all the dirty work tonight- 9 rebounds- hit some throws and handled the ball well under pressure. Nelson does scoreless in the first half and then explodes in the second half. King again did his thing- his shooting helped to break it open. He is a weapon. Singler played a strong game. He can and will do more but you have to like how he lets the game come to him. Henderson needs to watch Singler and try to make the simple play first- he tries too hard to do the spectacular when it is not needed. Smith played better tonight- he is close to breaking out. The D was great tonight and the team is really playing well together- very, very unselfish basketball. This team is fun to watch.

[diesel]

Didn't Jon Scheyer dominate on defense tonight? And isn't that what Blue Devil bball is all about? At least 9 rebounds! Forget his scoring. This must be one of if not his best game at Duke.

[phaedrus]

It's always nice to lay the smackdown on the gf's alma mater. And the best part is we get to do it again next year.

[jzp5079]

"I don't mean to sound to harsh, but I think you guys are giving your team very little credit. I really do not expect this game to be that close, sure they are big, but how many times have they played in Durham? The fact is this team of ours is miles ahead of the team we had last year at this time. I am not positive but Wisconsin is not ranked are they? I mean I know anything can happen, but the most likely thing to happen tonight is Duke winning. I think we jump out early and they never get back into it."

Hope no one really thought they had a steal with a -9 spread...

[mapei]

I thought going to stall-ball at around 8 to go or whatever was the absolute right decision. We were getting tired, and Wisconsin was scoring every trip down the floor there for a bit. It worked great, disrupting the Badgers' rhythm and increasing the time pressure on them, which led to some forced shots and turnovers, and to rebuilding the big lead.

Very odd officiating tonight on the block-charge calls, both ways. They might as well have flipped a coin.

Duke is really exciting to watch. Great game plan by K.

[OZ]

dukelifer:Wow. I did not expect that easy a win by Duke. I thought Wisconsin's size would give Duke trouble- but Duke's quickness and ability to shoot the three was the difference. It was a team effort for sure.




A part of this team is a coach who had a great plan and it worked!
What a game. The crowd was great. I still have that wonderful "Cameron" tinnitus... I love it!

[wisteria]

wow wow wow

We absolutely dominated a good Wisconsin team! To maintain a 20 piont lead for most of the game! I am so damn proud.

Taylor King can hit a 3 from the Chapel! Everytime I yelled at TV, "no way!", and his shot would drop touching nothing but net. Unreal!

I love the leadership that Markie has shown so far this year. He was terrific on defense in the first half, and when the other players' shots weren't falling in the second half, he was just determined to drive and score. Great job.

And Scheyer with 9 rebounds! The one play where he just slashed into the paint full of UW players and snatched the rebound in a flash...wow...I was like, "what? where the hell did he come from?"

And Paulus always shines in big games, doesn't he? just like last year's MSG game...I am looking forward to this year's NY trip already.

I love our team. There's no better way to put it.

[Troublemaker]

That was a much easier win than I expected. Duke spread out Wisconsin and the Badgers were helpless to guard our drive-and-kick game, and the stats reflect this by way of our advantage in 3-pointers and free throws. Wiscy will end up being a tournament team and upper division Big 10 team, so this win will look even better at the end of the season. We were just a bad matchup for them tonight. It was almost kinda like a Big 10 football team like Michigan going against a spread offense like Oregon. Wiscy can't operate in space and they need to go up against more traditional, pack-it-inside offenses to have success. As for Duke, we played so well, it's hard to single out any one area. This team, and King and Paulus in particular, will have games in Cameron where they just shoot opponents out of the game. Their soft shots combined with Cameron's soft rims create a cool destined-to-go-in funnelling effect when the ball touches rim. Some of King's shots looked like he was rolling a skeeball over the cup, they were so soft. It's just beautiful to watch him shoot.

[RelativeWays]

I just realized that Lance didn't get too involved, which is a little surprising since he's played well the previous two games.

[BoC]

If only I could listen to Bob Harris instead of the oblivious Dicky V and his partner. Only Dick Vitale can talk incessiantly for nearly two minutes without acknowledging or realizing that a technical foul has been called.

I know a lot of people have a problem with the delay when watching a game with the radio on, but I got used to it a while ago. Train yourself to think of the shot/block/whatever you heard described 6 seconds earlier as a super instant-replay when you see it happen.

(Clemson just won, by the way)

I haven't listened to the TV broadcast in forever, in any sport.

[mapei]

It was more like 12-15 seconds of delay for me tonight watching on DirecTV and listening on XM. Sometimes they would be more than a whole possession out of sync.

[BlueDevilBaby]

Wow! I did not expect such an easy win by our Blue Devils, but Paulis is a different player with a health foot, so is Henderson without asthma. Sheyer is johnny on the spot, and I love King! Oh, by the way, I won a soda from my boss, a Wisconsin alum. Cameron is too tough. And kudos to the Cameron crazies for being classy.

[wilson]

I think we should just rename it the ACC-Big Televen "Challenge".

[wisteria]

Wow! I did not expect such an easy win by our Blue Devils, but Paulis is a different player with a health foot, so is Henderson without asthma. Sheyer is johnny on the spot, and I love King! Oh, by the way, I won a soda from my boss, a Wisconsin alum. Cameron is too tough. And kudos to the Cameron crazies for being classy.

:D I am sure somebody is going to correct your spelling of our players' names.

[Bluedog]

King, Paulus, and Scheyer all were great tonight. Really nice to see us keep up with Wisconsin on the boards, having just a 42-40 disadvantage, and that's mostly because they missed more shots.

I'm also a fan of the AP Recap talking about Cameron and the Crazies:

"The Blue Devils capped a decisive 19-7 first-half run with a spectacular 15-second sequence that had the volume at the always-noisy arena at its loudest decibel level all season."

"...to give the Blue Devils their first double-figure lead of the game at 25-14, sending the Cameron Crazies into earsplitting delirium."

Earsplitting delirium?!? ha! I love it!

[mehmattski]

Dear Big Te(leve)n:

Thanks for playing. Perhaps you should stick to football. Drive home safely.

Love,

mehmattski

PS: Looks like the fear that Duke couldn't handle a taller team was misplaced. We nearly out-rebounded (Duke 40, UW 42) a team four inches taller than each of our 2, 3, 4, and 5 guys. Scheyer (9 boards) and Nelson (7) were insane.

PPS: It's good to be back in Cameron. The Henderson block-Paulus trey-nelson steal-paulus trey sequence in the first half got the place really rocking.

[wisteria]

PPS: It's good to be back in Cameron. The Henderson block-Paulus trey-nelson steal-paulus trey sequence in the first half got the place really rocking.


If only Henderson made that dunk! Cameron would probably have collapsed or exploded.

[BoC]

It was more like 12-15 seconds of delay for me tonight watching on DirecTV and listening on XM. Sometimes they would be more than a whole possession out of sync.

Okay, 15 seconds is a bit much; at that point I think I'd just switch off the TV and listen to Bob. Luckily for me, I was at the game tonight. :)

[DBFAN]

I am glad that I said Duke would score 81 tonight, I was only off by one right, I cant remember did we score more than 82. I was a little off on Wisc score, I knew we would have a big lead, I just thought in garbage time Wisc would salvage some points. But not to bad on my part.

[dukeENG2003]

Great game, dominating performance, and the way we rebounded was SPECTACULAR. Even if we hadn't been lights out from 3, I think that would have been the difference for us. I wish we could keep the defensive intensity up all game, but it was sort of understandable. I would have like to see us go to the zone earlier, but all around, a great performance.

Cameron was GOOD tonight, loudest its been this year by FAR. It really made me smile, and you could tell the team was feeding off the energy.

[DBFAN]

I hope we bring the same intensity against Davidson, it could be a trap game for us, but I really believe this team feels like they have something to prove every game, and it is great.

[wisteria]

By the way, is Kyle trying to channel a Shane Battier in taking charges? Not that I have any problems with this. But he does seem to be knocked onto floor A LOT of times... I just hope that he takes care of himself, just don't get injured or anything.

Edit: I'm talking about his general game, not particularly tonight.

[dukeENG2003]

One last thought. . .

WHY was #22 not ejected after that blatant push of Singler? It was totally bush-league, IMO. WAY after the play, RIGHT in front of the ref, and really could have caused an injury to Singler, who had already been bloodied on a HARD foul, and also the victim of a flagrant foul earlier. I was about 30 feet away from it, and was AMAZED that he wasn't ejected.

[LetItBD08]

Cameron was GOOD tonight, loudest its been this year by FAR. It really made me smile, and you could tell the team was feeding off the energy.

I think a lot of the students really appreciated Taylor King's salute to the Cameron Crazies after the buzzer sounded as well.

[loran16]

What was interesting about tonight is that (from my point in the student section) it was clear that Demarc and Gerald didnt have their best games, ESPECIALLY in the first half.
Moreover, Lance regressed to last year's edition (0 Points, 1 Rebound, 1 Steal, 2 Turnovers).

Instead, Paulus and King took charge, Singler played decently (but not his greatest), Scheyer took charge on the boards and we managed to win without a sweat. It's good to see we can win with different players and in many different ways.

Of Note: An interesting bit was the Nolan Smith part where he seemed to lose his head, but the team bounced back and never lost focus.

[wisteria]

I think a lot of the students really appreciated Taylor King's salute to the Cameron Crazies after the buzzer sounded as well.

hmm? I didn't see it on TV. What was the salute?

[wisteria]

Of Note: An interesting bit was the Nolan Smith part where he seemed to lose his head, but the team bounced back and never lost focus.

What exactly was going on during that 4-consecutive-fouls-called-on-Duke stretch? I was so afraid that we'll lose the momentom... Kudos to the players and coaches for great focus.

[blazindw]

I think a lot of the students really appreciated Taylor King's salute to the Cameron Crazies after the buzzer sounded as well.

I love King's enthusiasm. He's really turning out to be a key player for us so far this year.


If only Henderson made that dunk! Cameron would probably have collapsed or exploded.

Oh man, if that dunk had went down, I think every TV across America that showed the game would have exploded!

[LetItBD08]

hmm? I didn't see it on TV. What was the salute?

Wasn't really a salute as much as it was a nice little acknowledgment at the end. Buzzer sounds, team gathers around for handshakes, Taylor takes a second or two to give us a little wave, it seemed rather genuine. It's really great how he makes it so obvious that he appreciates the crowd...kind of like that other boisterous lefty a couple of years back.

[Jumbo]

That was a much easier win than I expected. Duke spread out Wisconsin and the Badgers were helpless to guard our drive-and-kick game, and the stats reflect this by way of our advantage in 3-pointers and free throws. Wiscy will end up being a tournament team and upper division Big 10 team, so this win will look even better at the end of the season. We were just a bad matchup for them tonight. It was almost kinda like a Big 10 football team like Michigan going against a spread offense like Oregon. Wiscy can't operate in space and they need to go up against more traditional, pack-it-inside offenses to have success. As for Duke, we played so well, it's hard to single out any one area. This team, and King and Paulus in particular, will have games in Cameron where they just shoot opponents out of the game. Their soft shots combined with Cameron's soft rims create a cool destined-to-go-in funnelling effect when the ball touches rim. Some of King's shots looked like he was rolling a skeeball over the cup, they were so soft. It's just beautiful to watch him shoot.

Here's the funny thing -- Duke could have scored way more points. Duke only shot 42.6% from the field. Virtually every three hoisted was wide open. That's why I don't buy some of what you've been saying about Duke shooting well because the game was at home. Duke shot well from beyond the arc because the looks were ridiculously clean. If the team gets that many open looks from deep against anyone, anywhere, it will have a good day.

[j.j. jones]

:D I am sure somebody is going to correct your spelling of our players' names.

Yeah, probably someone will. I thought about it for a good 7 or 8 minutes as I paced wistfully back and forth in the tranquil street outside. Then returned indoors and got a pad and pen and listed all the pros and cons, pensively weighing everything. Finally decided that it ain't me, Babe. No. No. No. It ain't me, Babe. It ain't me you're looking for, Babe.

An enjoyable game for Duke fans. A balanced attack with 5 players in double-digit scoring. Great D. And let's not overlook the FTs! 19 for 23? 82%! And what a pleasant surprise Taylor King has been off the bench. It appears that all 3 of the frosh are impact players, ready to contribute in a big way, right away. Al McGuire's famous quip regarding "the best thing about freshmen" appears to be inconsequential, at least at this early stage of the season.

Good game by Greg. Very interesting to learn that Jerry Tarkanian speaks quite highly of him.

[Jumbo]

Moreover, Lance regressed to last year's edition (0 Points, 1 Rebound, 1 Steal, 2 Turnovers).

Your trashing of Thomas is getting a little old. Give it up.

[loran16]

What exactly was going on during that 4-consecutive-fouls-called-on-Duke stretch? I was so afraid that we'll lose the momentom... Kudos to the players and coaches for great focus.

Smith committed a defensive foul, then got called for a charge and then before the play could resume had a little talk/shove with a badger, committing another foul (and honestly somehow avoiding a T....im not sure how).

BTW, http://www.uwbadgers.com/blogs/default.aspx?postid=334
has an amusing blog of the game from the Wisconsin Assistant Director of Athletic Communications.

EDIT: @Jumbo, Let me restate that comment then.....While i still think of Lance as not our best big man option, he HAS improved this year (whereas last year there were multiple 0 point multiple foul games in a row.) I was saying that his performance today seemed like a regression to his last year form.

[badgerfan]

One last thought. . .

WHY was #22 not ejected after that blatant push of Singler? It was totally bush-league, IMO. WAY after the play, RIGHT in front of the ref, and really could have caused an injury to Singler, who had already been bloodied on a HARD foul, and also the victim of a flagrant foul earlier. I was about 30 feet away from it, and was AMAZED that he wasn't ejected.

It was a "don't touch me" shove, not a "I want to kick your ^$%^$%^$%" shove. If Landry wasn't laying on the ground, he would've never come close to falling and wouldn't have been anything at all. It wasn't a hard foul the way I think you mean. Stiemsma was going for a clean block and his elbow hit Singler in the face. And the flagrant straight up wasn't a flagrant. He made 2 separate swipes at the ball and got body instead. That was really obvious on the replay, maybe not live action.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

What exactly was going on during that 4-consecutive-fouls-called-on-Duke stretch? I was so afraid that we'll lose the momentom... Kudos to the players and coaches for great focus.

The refs had their collective heads stuck up their own butts and whistled phantom fouls on us just to make it fair. They were horrible calls, each and every one of them.

[loran16]

It was a "don't touch me" shove, not a "I want to kick your ^$%^$%^$%" shove. If Landry wasn't laying on the ground, he would've never come close to falling and wouldn't have been anything at all. It wasn't a hard foul the way I think you mean. Stiemsma was going for a clean block and his elbow hit Singler in the face. And the flagrant straight up wasn't a flagrant. He made 2 separate swipes at the ball and got body instead. That was really obvious on the replay, maybe not live action.

Which one were you talking about? There were 3 interesting foul plays:

The first where singler gets bloody: This was a clean foul that was called correctly (no tech or intentional needed).

The second where singler gets pushed down after Singler had committed a foul: This was a T for the unnecessary unprovoked physical contact after the play was over

The Intentional foul when singler had a breakaway:
It was CLEAR in this case that the player had no chance at slapping the ball away and it seemed like a clear attempt to hit the player and not the ball. Seemed correct to me.

These 3 plays seemed fine to me, though nolan smith mightve deserved a T in the first half.

[Jumbo]

It was a "don't touch me" shove, not a "I want to kick your ^$%^$%^$%" shove. If Landry wasn't laying on the ground, he would've never come close to falling and wouldn't have been anything at all. It wasn't a hard foul the way I think you mean. Stiemsma was going for a clean block and his elbow hit Singler in the face. And the flagrant straight up wasn't a flagrant. He made 2 separate swipes at the ball and got body instead. That was really obvious on the replay, maybe not live action.

I agree with you on everything except the breakaway foul. It was pretty clearly intentional. That said, I would have just called the continuation, as I thought Singler had started the act of shooting when he got fouled. Just go with the and-one and keep playing.
The shove warranted the T it received, but clearly was not an intent to injure.

[Jumbo]

The refs had their collective heads stuck up their own butts and whistled phantom fouls on us just to make it fair. They were horrible calls, each and every one of them.

Ozzie, I think you've had a few too many Bud Lights tonight.

[snowdenscold]

Here's the funny thing -- Duke could have scored way more points. Duke only shot 42.6% from the field.

I thought almost bordered on comical how many layups we missed (and how we missed them) at various points. I know there are always some you'll make you don't expect to and vice-versa, but I just recall us missing a fair amount that I otherwise would have expected to go in.

[Troublemaker]

Here's the funny thing -- Duke could have scored way more points. Duke only shot 42.6% from the field. Virtually every three hoisted was wide open. That's why I don't buy some of what you've been saying about Duke shooting well because the game was at home. Duke shot well from beyond the arc because the looks were ridiculously clean. If the team gets that many open looks from deep against anyone, anywhere, it will have a good day.

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that Duke can't have a great shooting day on the road or that we shot well ONLY because we were at home. We clearly have great shooters and the shots in this game were very open. But, as you know, teams shoot better at home than on the road, and I wanted to caution people (perhaps needlessly) from thinking the shooting's always going to be like that. My thing right now is that I'd hate to see the fan perception of the Duke team go from underrating the team to overrating it in just a matter of a few games.

[Methodistman]

First game I've attended since I was in grad school at Duke in '97, and I took my whole family (wife, sons 8 & 9). I LOVE out intensity. Forget the crap you see in the stats about the 2nd half - the game was over - they knew it, we knew it, call it scratch. I was truly impressed with how everyone handled the weird 1st half foul blitz - pardon me for not knowing the name, but the one ref with the receding hair line seriously had an attitude that even my eight year old son could detect (and he should know!).

I've got to say this, and I'll try to start a new thread just to give them props, but we say right beside the band, and they were amazing! They were incredibly courteous to me and my family, and their enthusiasm was truly contagious. If any of the members of the band read this, please know how positively you contributed to the whole night!

Lastly, I'm just got to say how proud I am of my sons, who came up with the idea for a sign (that probably wasn't ever shown on TV) and we made up in the parking lot: "Hey Santa! We've been good DEVILS!" Just thought that was kinda cool.

[bbar7502]

Kyle didn't even seem to realize he was bleeding when he got up at first, I imagine he told the ref, " Oh I'm bleeding? Thats ok I got more blood" :D

[dukemomLA]

Wow! As I've stated before,I LOVE this team. I LOVE this team. Such great chemistry! No one cares who starts or subs. No one cares who scores or assists or rebounds. Even more so than the 'o1 team which won the NC.

Can we do that this year? Probably not. (but I'd love to be proven wrong). But us Devil Fans are into a GREAT ride this season. We will lose Markie (a senior), but....I'm hoping that Gerald H. and Kyle S. as intelligent student/athletes are having so much fun that they will keep-on-keeping-on for at least one more year...and beyond.

Again, I LOVE THIS TEAM. Special in every way. YIKES, such fun.

This game against Wisconsin (a ranked team) with 3 players close to 7' was Awesome!! A great learning experience for our team -- and one met with aplomb and domination. Damn, I LOVE this team -- the true meaning of TEAM with a Coach K FIST.

[wilson]

The game has been dissected pretty well by now, and I remain highly pleased with what I've seen thus far this season. But for me, another huge positive last night was that Dick(brain) Vitale was less bad than usual. He, um, actually talked about the game (!) for most of the evening, and offered some insightful comments. His most egregious lapse (though he doesn't shoulder the blame all alone) was the utter failure to explain the second-half technical foul..I still don't really know what happened there.

[dukeENG2003]

It was a "don't touch me" shove, not a "I want to kick your ^$%^$%^$%" shove. If Landry wasn't laying on the ground, he would've never come close to falling and wouldn't have been anything at all. It wasn't a hard foul the way I think you mean. Stiemsma was going for a clean block and his elbow hit Singler in the face. And the flagrant straight up wasn't a flagrant. He made 2 separate swipes at the ball and got body instead. That was really obvious on the replay, maybe not live action.

The flagrant was the right call, IMO. I know there is no "clear path" call in college, but thats really what it was. There was absolutely no chance the Wisonsin player could have made a good play on the ball from the position he was in. Perhaps the push (and the flagrant) just seemed more dramatic b/c it was right in front of me, and it is true that the player down behind him made it worse.

I guess I'm still just bitter about the way the Henderson elbow call was handled, cuz this certainly seemed more "combative" than G's elbow to me. . .:confused:

[weezie]

I'm just got to say how proud I am of my sons, who came up with the idea for a sign (that probably wasn't ever shown on TV) and we made up in the parking lot: "Hey Santa! We've been good DEVILS!" Just thought that was kinda cool.


It's brilliant! Watch out, the Crazies might steal it for the next game.

[weezie]

Ozzie, I think you've had a few too many Bud Lights tonight.


Dude.

[dkbaseball]

Looks like Barry Alvarez left early. He shows up in the first DBR picture, but not the others.

Could be wrong, but I can't remember a Bo Ryan team at Wisconsin being really blown out before this. They were seriously out-manned by the Heels in the '05 regional final, but stayed right with them in a running game. But that spread offense of Duke's is just not something they're prepared to deal with, if Duke is going to hit the threes. I'm sticking by my prediction that this is going to be a very good Wisconsin team, probably Big Ten champion, but Ryan needs some time at the drawing board. I thought he should have tried to run with Duke, since they clearly weren't going to slow Duke down any.

[Indoor66]

Okay, 15 seconds is a bit much; at that point I think I'd just switch off the TV and listen to Bob. Luckily for me, I was at the game tonight. :)

Use Tivo to play the game late on the screen.

[Patrick Yates]

First off, great night for the Devils. I thought they all played to varying degrees of well. The only questionable performances were Lance and Zoubek, and I would put them at mediocre, not bad. Zoubek had a greater variation, with some really solid plays and some bad plays (virtually all of which involve mishandling the ball). He will improve. Lance was asked to do a hard job, of guarding guys much bigger than him. Most of his mistakes were of the trying too hard variety, as opposed to last year's where am I supposed to be variety. I can live with Z and LT's performances last night.

That said, was anyone else really disappointed with Wisconsin? I really hoped we would see a quality oponent last night, one that would show our guys a quality inside presence. I had hoped that Wisconsin would be a good approximation of NCSU and Clemson, our two main rivals in conference this year (behind UNC). Instead, we saw a team whose big guys are not that good. No ACC team would put forth that poor an effort or that poor a game plan.

They were OK on offense, especially in the 2nd half when they really attacked us on the interior, but their success may have been a result of Duke slacking off, slightly, as the owners of a big lead.

But their D was just excerable. Many times, their bigs did not rotate over to help on D. And they continued to lay off our guys at the 3 line. I mean, I'm sorry, but you have to dedicate a guy to King at all times, and you better know where Paulus and Scheyer are on the perimeter. Nelson, Henderson, and Singler are more dangerous cause they can shoot and drive. They never made any effort to D up on the perimeter.

I am thrilled with how we played, but Clemson, NCSU, and other ACC foes are jsut flat out better than Wisconsin. Unless they feast on a traditionally weak Big-10, Wisconsin may not make the NCAAs. Their bigs seemed disinterested, and the guards were eh. They seemed more engaged on O, but their defensive effort was horrible. K would've had a coronary. I have never seen a Duke team give as little an effort on D as did Wisconsin tonight.

I hope we have a lot of nights like that, but other teams will put forth a better effort.

Patrick Yates

[JasonEvans]

PY,

I don't think it was a lack of effort on the part of Wisconsin, I think it was simply that they did not have the team quickness and footspeed to keep up with us. They could not D us because we were just muuuuch faster than them. You can teach a lot of things, but you can't teach speed. Duke is just a really fast team.

And I see no reason that we will not present similar problems to a lot of our opponents. Teams are going to be forced to go small against us because there are almost no big men in the land who can D up Singler and King on the perimeter. We have enough rebounding out of our "guards" that we can afford to go small and force the other teams to react to us. I cannot state how significant it is that we force other teams to play OUR WAY. If Wisconsin was not disciplined enough to force their type of game onto us then I doubt anyone will be. The team who dictates the type of game it is almost always ends up being the winning team.

Now, there are a few teams who can play our game and keep up with us. Certainly Memphis and probably UCLA can. I am thinking Carolina will be able to do it with Denny Green at PF. Three might be one or two more, but that is it. This Duke club is, to me, clearly a strong Final Four contender... and I was not sure we were a few weeks ago.

--Jason "goodness, these kids are fun to watch play!!" Evans

[ArnieMc]

1. After the hard foul on Singler, Stiemsma, their starting center, left the game and never came back. Props to Bo Ryan.

2. The officiating was really bad - both ways. There seemed to be more make-up and "I'll show you" calls than legitimate calls, and they flat-out (plumb?) missed a bunch of those.

3. Anytime the ball goes to Henderson or King, they shoot it. If they're hot, that's great; if they're not, it isn't.

[Indoor66]

1. After the hard foul on Singler, Stiemsma, their starting center, left the game and never came back. Props to Bo Ryan.

2. The officiating was really bad - both ways. There seemed to be more make-up and "I'll show you" calls than legitimate calls, and they flat-out (plumb?) missed a bunch of those.

3. Anytime the ball goes to Henderson or King, they shoot it. If they're hot, that's great; if they're not, it isn't.

Henderson needs to look for pass a little more often. He tends to try things that aren't there. A little like a younger Markie. King, IMO, can shoot anytime.

[jjasper0729]

Henderson looked like he was having difficulty for some reason handling the ball in the lane. In the earlier games, this didn't look like an issue. In Maui, he was driving and extending over the defense (he and Demarcus in that one game). I have thought all year that Henderson would be our mid-range guy.. get the ball on the perimeter, dribble drive into the pull up area and hit the jumper. It was the 5th game in 9 days. Maybe he was just pooped.

[TillyGalore]

I know a lot of people have a problem with the delay when watching a game with the radio on, but I got used to it a while ago. Train yourself to think of the shot/block/whatever you heard described 6 seconds earlier as a super instant-replay when you see it happen.

(Clemson just won, by the way)

I haven't listened to the TV broadcast in forever, in any sport.


Okay, 15 seconds is a bit much; at that point I think I'd just switch off the TV and listen to Bob. Luckily for me, I was at the game tonight. :)

Last night was the first time I turned the volume on the TV down and turned on the radio. I loved it and will do that for the rest of my life. Even with the 10-15 second delay I enjoyed it so much more than listening to Dickie V or any other ESPN announcer.

There is nothing left for me to say that hasn't already been said. I LOVE watching this team. They are un-be-lie-va-ble. This season is going to rock and I am so psyched to witness it.

I was wrong I have to comment on something even though someone else has already posted about it. I too was disgusted that the Wisconsin player who pushed Kyle didn't get thrown out. His push was intentional, Gerald Henderson's interaction with Tyler Hansblahblah was NOT!

The ref'ing stunk to high heaven last night. At one point I wondered if there this was a 5 on 8 game, i.e. 5 Dukies vs. 8 Badgers.

[Saratoga2]

Which one were you talking about? There were 3 interesting foul plays:

The first where singler gets bloody: This was a clean foul that was called correctly (no tech or intentional needed).

The second where singler gets pushed down after Singler had committed a foul: This was a T for the unnecessary unprovoked physical contact after the play was over

The Intentional foul when singler had a breakaway:
It was CLEAR in this case that the player had no chance at slapping the ball away and it seemed like a clear attempt to hit the player and not the ball. Seemed correct to me.

These 3 plays seemed fine to me, though nolan smith mightve deserved a T in the first half.

I thought when Singler tried to take a charge along the sideline that he got there in time but was called for blocking. Right after that, Smith went to the basket and around the defender with a shot off the glass and got called for an offensive foul. We got no replays but my impression was the refs got both of those calls wrong.

[Bluedog]

Random digression: the Bouncing Bulldogs jump ropers performed at halftime?! Can't believe I missed that one! They should have them for every home game....seriously, the most entertaining halftime show ever! much better than a harris teeter free throw contest...

[BoC]

Use Tivo to play the game late on the screen.

Believe me, I would love to have a Tivo (or a MythTV setup). However, that isn't feasible right now, monetarily speaking. I don't even have a cell phone. My laptop is a cheapie I purchased on eBay; it functions but a hinge is broken and wont close, but it does what I need it to do.

I'm one of those rare individuals who is behind the technology curve, but am slowly catching up.

As long as I have a functioning radio for game time, I'm good.

[Saratoga2]

I thought DeMarcus had a great game defensively and after a first half of trying to figure out how to deal with the height of Wisconsin, he found the right formula. He is playing with maturity these days and looking for what is given by the defense instead of forcing it. Great athlete.

Lets never hear that Scheyer's defense is suspect. He had another excellent defensive game and has a real gift for knowing where the ball will be. Great game for him and if he finds his shooting stroke, he can get even better.

I love King's shooting touch but wonder if his shot selection makes a lot of sense. It's hard to argue with the result and he was active on defense again. He is exceeding my expectations at this point in the season.

Zoubek is inconsistent with his ability to catch the ball, but when he was in, he seemed to intimidate the Wisconsin big men. If you reran the shots they took from the inside against him, you would see they were not close to scoring. His ability to alter shots might be his best quality at this point in his development.

Nolan Smith is adapting to the college game and has shown really athletic moves to the basket. His best move was called as a foul on him but was really a superlative effort.

Now on to Davidson

[diesel]

Nobody else seems to have remarked on this, so I’m wondering if anyone else is as heartened as I am with what I think is a significant improvement in our game this year—in free throw shooting. The team averaged 83% last night against Wisconsin, with Jon Scheyer being perfect at 6 for 6 (wow !), Greg Paulus also perfect at 2 for 2. And there wasn’t much falloff from there, with Gerald Henderson being 5 for 6, and Demarcus Nelson and Kyle Singler being 3 for 4.

I hate to think what last year’s free-throw shooting performance was: usually I didn’t like to watch.

Is this postulated (but probably correct) improvement in FT performance in part a reflection of psychological factors, such as team confidence?

[jjasper0729]

I believe it's practice. Demarcus had an issue with his woeful foul shooting last year and worked on it over the summer. So did Thomas. Singler, King, Paulus, Scheyer are all shooters so they should have a decent stroke at the line.

That being said, we're still prone to bad nights at the stripe.

NCCU: 27-32 (84.4%)
NMSU: 13-19 (68.4%)
Princ: 10-15 (66.7%)
Ill: 21-29 (72.4%)
Marq: 19-27 (70.4%)
EKU: 15-26 (57.7%)
Wis: 19-23 (82.6%)

the EKU game is probably an abberation (sp?) because of the quick turnaround from the flight from Hawaii. I'd be happier if we were consistently in the 70s at least (the 60s scare me).

[loran16]

Also note that we played a different game today then we do normally.

Normally Demarc, henderson and singler slash and drive to the basket, picking up fouls along the way. Or we kick it out to a big guy (lance or zou for example) inside who gets fouled.

With Demarc being one of those 3 slashers, he often is at the line 6-10 times during games, and often the two big guys get 2-4 free throws a piece...which is where you see us be the worst at the line.

But this game, it was a long range game, and thus paulus, scheyer and singler were at the line , all 3 of whom are good shooters.

[pamtar]

I think a lot of the students really appreciated Taylor King's salute to the Cameron Crazies after the buzzer sounded as well.

To me King Tayor (I like it dammit!) has the fire. He's the kid that's pumped even when we're up by 20 against a cupcake. I'm trying to think of the last player who was like that. He got super happy even in the most mediocre of situations - sometimes a little too over-excited and K had to calm him down once or twice.

OK, now its eating me. Who was that!?!

[jimsumner]

Random comments.

Ryan was very complimentary of Duke's depth after the game.

Ryan also said that they couldn't simulate Duke's athleticism in practice and maintained that Nelson and Henderson's ability to disrupt Wisconsin's offense was the key to the game. He felt that Duke forced the game into a tempo that was too fast for his team.

He also thought that Duke was very smart to schedule a game in the interval between getting back from Hawaii and playing in the Challenge. He wondered how many minutes King would have played against his team if he hadn't had a chance to play so well Sunday.

K was visibly pleased, with Duke's D, rebounding, pretty much everything. And why wouldn't he be? He mentioned how tired Duke was, playing its fifth game in nine days amidst lots of travel. They get today off.

K called timeout early in the second half because he sensed a lack of energy and thought fatigue might be setting in. He was pleased with the response.

K was very antimated when discussing the delay game. Several comments along the lines of "I've been doing this awhile" or "I know what I'm doing." He also noted the effectiveness of the delay.

Marty didn't dress out but he didn't have any kind of protective device on his foot and he seemed to be moving without any sign of a hobble.

The highlight of the game for me. Late in the first half, Henderson was sitting in front of the scorer's table, waiting to go in. King hit one of those what-is-he-thinking-3s. Henderson starts pounding the floor with his hands, with the look of an eight-year-old on Christmas morning who has just realized that Santa did bring him that bicycle he wanted.

Pure, unadulterated joy. This team really seems to like each other, seems to like playing with each other.

[diesel]

Thanks for the info on FTs, jjasper0729 and loran16: statistics and analysis are always a good remedy for cockiness!

I still wince, however, when I think of last year’s FT performance and I’m glad Demarcus has put some effort into this part of his game. It seems to have paid off.

[TillyGalore]

I just realized no one has mentioned Greg's version of Wojo with his pounding of the floor. Has Greg done this before? Think we'll see it again?

I love Jim's description of Gerald's reaction to King Taylor's trey. That's the kind of tid bit we won't get anywhere else. Thank you Jim for sharing.

[phaedrus]

Some members of the media didn't get the "Duke is on decline" memo:

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/column/sports/259135

[jjasper0729]

To me King Tayor (I like it dammit!) has the fire. He's the kid that's pumped even when we're up by 20 against a cupcake. I'm trying to think of the last player who was like that. He got super happy even in the most mediocre of situations - sometimes a little too over-excited and K had to calm him down once or twice.

OK, now its eating me. Who was that!?!

sounds like Matt Christensen (The monster in the cage)

another good thing to see was when Demarcus had that monster jam, Scheyer (and I THINK King) were waiting to sub in and they were nuts like they were in the crowd.

always a good thing to see

[VaDukie]

Random digression: the Bouncing Bulldogs jump ropers performed at halftime?! Can't believe I missed that one! They should have them for every home game....seriously, the most entertaining halftime show ever! much better than a harris teeter free throw contest...

I remember the first time they performed, or at least what I think was the first time. At first, we were all thinking 'are you kidding me? jumproping?"

Needless to say by the end we were blown away. Each year more and more people get excited as they understand that these kids are incredible athletes, and some of their tricks are mind-blowing. At every TV timeout I was talking up my buddy about how good they are, and even then they exceeded his expectations times 10.

I'd love to save them for only big games though, namely one against those boys town the road.

[Charles Wicker]

Greetings community; Duke should be good this year. I like Taylor King, the boy seems tough. He is a shooter; I don't think he ever sees a shot that doesn't look like a good one. Someone must have given him 3 green lights!!!
Paulus is shooting well. I like his game more than ever, despite his challenges. I look forward to Smith working more on his penetration to the basket and being a scorer; off the dribble!!

Dawkins will probably assist him in that area; by the way, I never really noticed him get up off the bench and talk to a player like he did to Smith on one occasion last night. That was interesting. Maybe he's Johnn'ys assignment? But I look for more penetration off the dribble from Smith, as I believe that will be a huge asset for the team when the real show starts.

We will be good this year and Coach should like this team. We have lots of weapons that can be used at different times against different teams. This will be fun to watch.

Peace

[Patrick Yates]

I think an above poster mentioned that Henderson and King need to work on passing the ball better. Nelson, who passed well last night, also falls into this catagory.

Nelson is the least onerous offender of this. His main problem is that once he drives, he tends to duck his head and go up, regardless of the D. He is better this year, but still seems to have a point of no return, at which he will shoot. Collapsing on him late might be effective. But, he is passing much better in other situations.

King. This won't be a problem. On nights where he is hitting, he will play a lot, and be encouraged to hoist it, a lot. Like all great shooters, he may be prone to fits of streakiness. This year, he might not bring enough to the table to warrant massive PT if the shots aren't falling. I think that K will manage this very well, feeding King once we know he is on, and playing him sparingly when he establishes that the shots aren't falling (which is what I think happed in Maui). Although he has looked good on drives, that has come against foot-slow, marginally athletic defenders. Against more athletic bigs, King becomes more one dimensional, at least this year. I think King will learn to pass better as time goes on.

Henderson. Here is perhaps the only flaw in his game. He has tended towards the ball hoggish in the last couple of games. It is not that he dominates the ball, just that once he gets it he tends to go up. Part of this is his athleticism. There are virtually no defenders that he will face that can stop him. Nelson is held back by his size, and King by his athleticism (to the extent they are at all held back), but Hendo has near ideal size and ideal athleticism for the wing. It must be hard to regulate your shots when you, they, and everybody else, KNOWS that you can get off a good shot if you so desire. Fortunately, Hendo does enough besides shoot that we can deal with slight hoggish tendancies (its not like he is OJ Mayo after all). His D and rebounding, and the overall threat he represents, compensate for a game that needs to learn to pass off the drive better.

Overal, none of these guys are a problem. In a tight game, maybe, but no worries so far. I just think that passing does not come naturally to any of the three and they are making a conscious effort to pass, but it is not natural like it is for Scheyer, Singler and Paulus. It will come, at least with Hendo (probably) and King (definitely).

Patrick Yates

[VaDukie]

I may be one of the few who is not bothered by Henderson's aggressiveness. I think with time he'll get better at hitting guys for open shots. He's our best one on one player and we need to have him ready to score in the halfcourt when we can't run a team.

This team is so balanced that it's hard to justify singling one guy out for being the most important, but for me that guy is Henderson. This is not to say he's our most talented or best player, but he can elevate his game to a level I don't see anyone else being capable of.

[jimsumner]

"Dawkins will probably assist him in that area; by the way, I never really noticed him get up off the bench and talk to a player like he did to Smith on one occasion last night. That was interesting. Maybe he's Johnn'ys assignment?"

For those who don't know. JD and Nolan's late father Derek Smith were NBA teammates and JD and his family have remained close to the Smith family over the years. So JD and Nolan have more than the typical coach-player relationship.

[wilson]

To me King Tayor (I like it dammit!) has the fire. He's the kid that's pumped even when we're up by 20 against a cupcake. I'm trying to think of the last player who was like that. He got super happy even in the most mediocre of situations - sometimes a little too over-excited and K had to calm him down once or twice.

OK, now its eating me. Who was that!?!

Matt Christensen certainly fit that bill at times.

[Clipsfan]

The flagrant was the right call, IMO. I know there is no "clear path" call in college, but thats really what it was. There was absolutely no chance the Wisonsin player could have made a good play on the ball from the position he was in. Perhaps the push (and the flagrant) just seemed more dramatic b/c it was right in front of me, and it is true that the player down behind him made it worse.

I guess I'm still just bitter about the way the Henderson elbow call was handled, cuz this certainly seemed more "combative" than G's elbow to me. . .:confused:

It wasn't a flagrant foul, it was an intentional foul. There is a clear difference in the force applied. There was no intent to hurt, just an attempt to foul without making a play at the ball.

[Clipsfan]

I thought that the comments on the fouls in the front page article are slightly disingenuous:

"As the game went on and their frustration grew, they began to play like a stereotypical Big Ten team - body slams and bone-rattling picks, an intentional foul on a breakaway layup by Singler, and then a technical for a nasty slam to the floor which ended up in an ugly wound (if you don’t believe us look here to see blood coming off of Kyle Singler’s swollen cheek in three different directions)."

I thought that Wisconsin did get frustrated and did make a couple hard fouls, but my issues are:

1) the foul on the breakaway was an intentional foul, but there did not appear to be any intent to hurt

2) there was no technical on the foul which bloodied Singler

3) I didn't see all the body slams and bone-rattling picks mentioned, although they may have been there

The tone of the above paragraph attempts to set an ill-will to the game through misrepresentations which I did not see (and I do tend to look for instances where I think that other players are out to hurt us, BC comes to mind).

[mapei]

Something that I haven't seen mentioned is that, IIRC, Lance played 13 minutes and Zoub only 7. That means that, for half the game, we weren't just small but very small. Worked like a charm, obviously.

[tbyers11]

Not much to say that hasn't already been said. Very impressive win against a solid team.

Just thought that this picture of Henderson STUFFING Leuer's shot needs to been seen by everyone

http://www.madison.com/images/articles/tct/2007/11/28/57597.jpg

Photo credit: Gerry Broome/AP

Gerald's head was halfway up the net, wow!

[Clipsfan]

Not much to say that hasn't already been said. Very impressive win against a solid team.

Just thought that this picture of Henderson STUFFING Leuer's shot needs to been seen by everyone

http://www.madison.com/images/articles/tct/2007/11/28/57597.jpg

Photo credit: Gerry Broome/AP

Gerald's head was halfway up the net, wow!

I was just thinking that...I can barely touch the net with my hands, he has his face all in it.

[jjasper0729]

if i'm not mistaken, that was one of the top plays on SportsCenter last night. Ranked higher than the dunk by Demarcus

[365Duke]

While at the game I thought that the cut came from the foul, no question. But when I got home watched the game again(like always) it seemed like he did get hit in the head area, but he also bounced his face/head on the floor pretty hard in the same spot he was cut.I may be wrong, but it sure looks that way to me. Does not matter, he came straight to the bench and tried to get up 2 or 3 times before the trainer was ready for him to. He just loves to play and it shows.

[Jeffrey]

The highlight of the game for me. Late in the first half, Henderson was sitting in front of the scorer's table, waiting to go in. King hit one of those what-is-he-thinking-3s. Henderson starts pounding the floor with his hands, with the look of an eight-year-old on Christmas morning who has just realized that Santa did bring him that bicycle he wanted.

Pure, unadulterated joy. This team really seems to like each other, seems to like playing with each other.

Hi,

IMO, that's the #1 key to success! Thanks for the info., Jim.

Before this game, I thought our team was very good. I now believe they are much better than that. My main concern was playing a really good team w/ many talented bigs. N.C. State may not be half as difficult for us as I had thought. Jon has the nose, Gerald has the hops, and DeMarcus has the tough determination for boards.

Best regards,
Jeffrey

[Classof06]

if i'm not mistaken, that was one of the top plays on SportsCenter last night. Ranked higher than the dunk by Demarcus

I don't know how, but at least the SportsCenter I watched didn't even have Demarcus' dunk in the top 10!!! That dunk was vicious. Again, this team is attacking the rim in a way they wouldn't have dreamed of last year. Like Scheyer said, it's all about confidence; this year's team simply has more of it.

Last night was the breaking point where I'm now fully comfortable calling us a hands-down top 10 team. We're good. While I knew we'd be a good team, I didn't expect this level of play until about December/January. Being young, we will drop some games along the way that we shouldn't, but that's just the nature of this sport. Regardless, I'm extremely proud of this team.

[ikiru36]

Hi,

IMO, that's the #1 key to success! Thanks for the info., Jim.

Before this game, I thought our team was very good. I now believe they are much better than that. My main concern was playing a really good team w/ many talented bigs. N.C. State may not be half as difficult for us as I had thought. Jon has the nose, Gerald has the hops, and DeMarcus has the tough determination for boards.

Best regards,
Jeffrey

Generally agreed, though while the Badgers have a lot of size, even talented size, their style is not especially to bang inside. State has other problems such as chemistry and, in particular, to find someone approaching a consistent backcourt leader not named Evtimov, but they have big men who are talented, like to run, and can bang inside. Just saying that I think Illinois was probably a more relevant test of our ability to handle inside size and depth, and we still have yet more aggressive and skilled inside oriented frontcourts to face on our upcoming schedule.

All that aside, I'm thrilled with what we've displayed thusfar and look forward to the continued development this year. The pride and passion they're displaying is awesome and a joy to behold.

Go Duke!!!!!!!!!! Go Devils!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GTHCGTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jeffrey]

Generally agreed, though while the Badgers have a lot of size, even talented size, their style is not especially to bang inside. State has other problems such as chemistry and, in particular, to find someone approaching a consistent backcourt leader not named Evtimov, but they have big men who are talented, like to run, and can bang inside. Just saying that I think Illinois was probably a more relevant test of our ability to handle inside size and depth, and we still have yet more aggressive and skilled inside oriented frontcourts to face on our upcoming schedule.

Hi,

I agree with what you're saying. A team w/ quicker & more athletic bigs (such as the Illini & State) will be more of a problem than the Badgers were last night. The point I wanted to make (and should have been more clear) was that our smaller line-up has more gifted rebounders than I thought (Jon, Gerald, and DeMarcus). When we play State w/ their rather weak 3 pt. shooters, we'll be able to double down on Hickson & Costner and probably get more boards than I thought if Jon, Gerald, and DeMarcus continue to board like they did last night. Jon is showing instincts for boards that I did not realize he had. He just has a nose for the ball. Gerald's hops are even more impressive now that we are finally seeing him play healthy. And DeMarcus is becoming tougher, and tougher, and tougher. Maybe I am getting carried away. Aren't the Badgers a legit top 25 team w/ many bigs? Didn't we basically match them on the boards?

Best regards,
Jeffrey

[sandinmyshoes]

DBR used the term impressive to describe the win over Illinois. I begged to digger. But this win. This was impressive. It may have been against an overrated team. It may have been in Cameron instead of a neutral site. But it was a gutting.

[dukestheheat]

let me just take the chance to toss out an 'i don't like carolina' and then insert my favorite Latin phrase that describes the hated Holes:

Carolina delenda est.

(read: Carolina is DEAD).

dth.

[ikiru36]

Hi,

I agree with what you're saying. A team w/ quicker & more athletic bigs (such as the Illini & State) will be more of a problem than the Badgers were last night. The point I wanted to make (and should have been more clear) was that our smaller line-up has more gifted rebounders than I thought (Jon, Gerald, and DeMarcus). When we play State w/ their rather weak 3 pt. shooters, we'll be able to double down on Hickson & Costner and probably get more boards than I thought if Jon, Gerald, and DeMarcus continue to board like they did last night. Jon is showing instincts for boards that I did not realize he had. He just has a nose for the ball. Gerald's hops are even more impressive now that we are finally seeing him play healthy. And DeMarcus is becoming tougher, and tougher, and tougher. Maybe I am getting carried away. Aren't the Badgers a legit top 25 team w/ many bigs? Didn't we basically match them on the boards?

Best regards,
Jeffrey

Jeffrey,

I absolutely agree that the Wisconsin win, in the degree and fashion we accomplished it, was very meaningful. Despite our relative lack of height/bulk, we have some excellent rebounding wings which can partly make up for this while simultaneously allowing us to push the tempo and/or create mismatches with all sorts of line-ups we'll face this year. The Badgers are indeed a Top 25 caliber team, reasonably veteran, with size and skill. (I just wanted to very mildly temper an understandable inclination to feel/hope that this game means we aren't prone to being taken advantage of by a team with a strong inside game.) Nevertheless, this was a great win!!!!

Go Duke!!!!!!!!!!! Go Devils!!!!!!!!!!!!! GTHCGTH!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lord Ash]

http://wisconsin.scout.com/2/706425.html

Very complimentary article from their front page.

[Bluedog]

Somebody posted this earlier, but I thought it merits repeating the link since it fits well with this thread. Brian Lucas, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications of Wisconsin, had a live blog during the game and also was extremely complimentary of Cameron and the fans:

http://www.uwbadgers.com/blogs/default.aspx?postid=334

[throatybeard]

let me just take the chance to toss out an 'i don't like carolina' and then insert my favorite Latin phrase that describes the hated Holes:

Carolina delenda est.

(read: Carolina is DEAD).

dth.

No.

That's the passive periphrastic.

It means "Carolina ought to be destroyed."

[MChambers]

Nice review by an apparently unbiased observer:

http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=55

[SilkyJ]

good read. cheers.

[merry]

Use Tivo to play the game late on the screen.

That's what I do, but I thought the previous posters were saying their radio is ahead of their TV, not behind. I had that problem with AM radio always being ahead, but my XM is always WAY behind so it's possible to sych with the Tivo.