Man of the Match vs. Albany

[Jumbo]

Who was the Man of the Match vs. Albany?

[rthomas]

After 10 games, I think it's time to add "Team" to MOTM. There has not been a true MOTM for most games. And I like it that way.

[mgtr]

I agree with the votes so far -- it is clearly Nelson with Scheyer and Zoubek not too far behind. I was impressed, however, with the agressiveness of King Taylor.

[weezie]

Zoubek just takes so much abuse for being the biggest guy out there. The refs compete to call fouls fastest on him.
Sure would like to see some more of that hook shot, a touch closer to the basket.

[OldPhiKap]

I love the fact that we tried to feature Zoubek in the second half. All of the folks who harp that "K doesn't play depth" or "K ignores big men" should take note. We pounded it in to Z, and he did a very admirable job.

I hope that experience carries forward as we progress. We gots us some bigguns comin' up.

[Bob Green]

I voted for DeMarcus Nelson who played intense defense and demonstrated a very nice 3-point stroke in the game. Jon Scheyer played a tremendous all around game and Nolan Smith is really looking good on both ends of the court. He is able to apply solid on-the-ball defense and the offense plays more uptempo when he is on the court. Finally, Zoubek showed some offensive moves in the second half when we obviously were looking for him inside. That little jump hook could develop into a powerful offensive weapon.

[whereinthehellami]

Nelson had a really nice game and stat line. 23 PTs, 6 RBs, 3 As, 2 STs, and 1 BL.

[j.j. jones]

For me, it was basically a tossup between Nelson and Scheyer. The clincher I suppose, was Nelson clanking 4 straight FTs. Probably not fair, being that other than that, he played a superb game, but then so did Jon.

[ice-9]

Being out here in Asia, I had one eye on the game and the other eye on the computer doing work, so my judgment may be off. I did, however, vote for Greg Paulus.

In a game where scoring is plentiful, I thought the MOTM was the guy who made the key baskets and controlled the game. GP was that guy. When Albany was making a mini-run and got to within ten (we missed 5 field goal shots in a row and 2 free throws over a span of 3 minutes), GP drained a deep three that took away Albany's momentum and calmed his team down. Duke went on a run after that to stretch the lead to 20+ and by that time it didn't matter who scored, because it was raining points in CIS. GP also had 3 assists, 0 turnovers, and 1 steal to go along with his 4-5 shooting performance (including 3-3 on 3-pointers).

Nelson and Scheyer were no doubt the goliaths in this game, but I thought GP was the leader.

[j.j. jones]

Nelson and Scheyer were no doubt the goliaths in this game, but I thought GP was the leader.

I appreciated how he pushed the ball up the court... hard, even in non-fastbreak opportunities. Then he'd quickly pass the ball... hard, not only to make sure his teammates got touches but ensuring that the fast-paced tempo was maintained throughout.

[4decadedukie]

Truly a team win, but our Captain was a dominant influence in performance and in leadership.

[trinity92]

In a game where scoring is plentiful, I thought the MOTM was the guy who made the key baskets and controlled the game. GP was that guy. When Albany was making a mini-run and got to within ten (we missed 5 field goal shots in a row and 2 free throws over a span of 3 minutes), GP drained a deep three that took away Albany's momentum and calmed his team down. Duke went on a run after that to stretch the lead to 20+ and by that time it didn't matter who scored, because it was raining points in CIS.

Actually, it was Nolan Smith who righted the ship. There was a timeout right after GP's three and Nolan replaced him after the TO-- that lineup (Smith, Henderson, Scheyer, King, Singler) turned the game and got us back on track.

[Classof06]

For me, it's Demarcus. He came right out with the guns smoking, hitting 3s to really nudge the little snowball and let it grow off momentum. His shooting was superb and so was his defense. Simply put, he's playing like he's the captain.

I'm so proud of the way Nelson has played this year. He's a great kid and he's stuck with it through all the injuries, etc. You can tell he really took last season harder than anyone else, not surprising when you consider he was and is the oldest and most experienced...

[SilkyJ]

I love the fact that we tried to feature Zoubek in the second half. All of the folks who harp that "K doesn't play depth" or "K ignores big men" should take note. We pounded it in to Z, and he did a very admirable job.

I don't think featuring zoubek in the 2nd half when we were up 25-30pts the entire time really counts as playing depth or ignoring big men.

Coach K clearly knows that zoubek could be become an important player for us this year and in the next 2 years, and you can't teach 7'1 so he wants to develop him. All I'm saying is that you can't use this game as an indicator for anything because it was such a ridiculously lopsided win...I mean j diddy got 5 minutes or someting...


Being out here in Asia, I had one eye on the game and the other eye on the computer doing work, so my judgment may be off. I did, however, vote for Greg Paulus.

In a game where scoring is plentiful, I thought the MOTM was the guy who made the key baskets and controlled the game. GP was that guy. When Albany was making a mini-run and got to within ten (we missed 5 field goal shots in a row and 2 free throws over a span of 3 minutes), GP drained a deep three that took away Albany's momentum and calmed his team down. Duke went on a run after that to stretch the lead to 20+ and by that time it didn't matter who scored, because it was raining points in CIS. GP also had 3 assists, 0 turnovers, and 1 steal to go along with his 4-5 shooting performance (including 3-3 on 3-pointers).

Nelson and Scheyer were no doubt the goliaths in this game, but I thought GP was the leader.

Really interesting point, and I kind of agree. Overall, I like greg's play this year a lot more than last year and his defense is definitely better. I am happy with his turnovers at this point...but I would like to see more dimes...

[j.j. jones]

Overall, I like greg's play this year a lot more than last year and his defense is definitely better. I am happy with his turnovers at this point...but I would like to see more dimes...

Just took a glance at the stats after 10 games and was surprised to see Greg leading the team in Steals at 1.7 per (Markie is second with 1.3) and a torrid 50% from behind the arc. WRT Assists, he's averaging 3.9 in only 25.9 mpg. I suppose there's room for improvement as far as dimes go, but let us consider that the team is already averaging 89.1 ppg, which isn't exactly what one would call sluggish.

[captmojo]

After 10 games, I think it's time to add "Team" to MOTM. There has not been a true MOTM for most games. And I like it that way.

I went for the Captain of the team. That said, I've gotta go along with the above sentiment. The only way I feel this can be done in this format.

[SilkyJ]

WRT Assists, he's averaging 3.9 in only 25.9 mpg. I suppose there's room for improvement as far as dimes go, but let us consider that the team is already averaging 89.1 ppg, which isn't exactly what one would call sluggish.

I agree, but you would think with the team averaging 90ppg and with so many good scorers/shooters on the floor that luck if nothing else would elevate greg's apg.

I've commented on this before, but I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that once we get into a half-court set, greg sets up the play and then effectively becomes a SG most of the time b/c he ends up giving the ball to demarc or gerald so that they can try and penetrate. This isn't a bad thing since they are great penetrators/finishers and Gerald has a SICK pull-up and this is not greg's area of expertise. Nonetheless an elite PG needs to make more plays for his teammates...then again, if it ain't broke...

[gep]

I've commented on this before, but I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that once we get into a half-court set, greg sets up the play and then effectively becomes a SG most of the time b/c he ends up giving the ball to demarc or gerald so that they can try and penetrate. This isn't a bad thing since they are great penetrators/finishers and Gerald has a SICK pull-up and this is not greg's area of expertise. Nonetheless an elite PG needs to make more plays for his teammates...then again, if it ain't broke...

and... this may just be one of the "making plays for his teammates"... giving it to DeMarcus or Gerald in positions where they can penetrate, then move to the open area for a kick-out if the penetration gets cut-off... (as I've mentioned in other threads... this from a tech-novice fan).

[j.j. jones]

Nonetheless an elite PG needs to make more plays for his teammates...then again, if it ain't broke...

Which raises the question... is anyone on the team actually putting up eye-popping, elite-type of numbers? With the deep rotation and balanced minutes and scoring, the team as a whole is elite. Yet the top 3 scorers are averaging 13, 13 and 12.8 respectively. Individually, those aren't "elite" numbers. Perhaps this deserves its own thread, but all I'm sayin is that let's give Greg his props. He's shown remarkable improvement thus far. I'm sure there's room for improvement, but the same could be said for all the players, not just Greg.

[Indoor66]

Which raises the question... is anyone on the team actually putting up eye-popping, elite-type of numbers? With the deep rotation and balanced minutes and scoring, the team as a whole is elite. Yet the top 3 scorers are averaging 13, 13 and 12.8 respectively. Individually, those aren't "elite" numbers. Perhaps this deserves its own thread, but all I'm sayin is that let's give Greg his props. He's shown remarkable improvement thus far. I'm sure there's room for improvement, but the same could be said for all the players, not just Greg.

I am amazed at the thrust of this discussion (not aimed at you, j.j.). What is the complaint? We have won 10 games by substantial margins, have 9 gus playing 10+ minutes per game, none more than 28 or so, have had 7 or 8 different leading scorers, have 7 or 8 guys averaging more than 10 ppg and I hear complaining about stats? If you play lots of good players that stats flatten out for all of them. If you want out players to lead the league in statistics, don't complain when we have 2 or 3 guys playing 34-35 mpg and a rotation of 6. What does it take for some of you to be satisfied?

[j.j. jones]

I am amazed at the thrust of this discussion (not aimed at you, j.j.). What is the complaint? We have won 10 games by substantial margins, have 9 gus playing 10+ minutes per game, none more than 28 or so, have had 7 or 8 different leading scorers, have 7 or 8 guys averaging more than 10 ppg and I hear complaining about stats? If you play lots of good players that stats flatten out for all of them. If you want out players to lead the league in statistics, don't complain when we have 2 or 3 guys playing 34-35 mpg and a rotation of 6. What does it take for some of you to be satisfied?

Thanks, Indoor. I couldn't have said it better.

[OldPhiKap]

I don't think featuring zoubek in the 2nd half when we were up 25-30pts the entire time really counts as playing depth or ignoring big men.

Coach K clearly knows that zoubek could be become an important player for us this year and in the next 2 years, and you can't teach 7'1 so he wants to develop him. All I'm saying is that you can't use this game as an indicator for anything because it was such a ridiculously lopsided win...I mean j diddy got 5 minutes or someting...

I agree to a point. But, we also could have practiced our stall ball (i.e. clock management game) and ignored trying to develop Zoubek. There will come some games when we need Brian to step up big, and any chance we get to try and establish that is a great thing for him and the team. We may see that in play tomorrow.