Duke vs. UVA Post-Game Thread

[Bob Green]

Place your game comments here.

[DoubleDuke Dad]

It looks like Henderson is back in form!

[mehmattski]

From SMO in the pre-game thread:


I'll be satisfied with nothing short of the following:

1. A 30+ point win... 16 points, never more than 20.
2. Less than 8 Duke turnovers..... 12 turnovers
3. At least 50% of our points in the paint... 17 of 33 made field goals were either layups or dunks, plus a hook-shot by Singler, means 36 of 86 points (41.8%)
4. 15+ minutes from Taylor King regardless of how he plays... one minute in the first half, two minutes at the end of the game
5. 10+ minutes from Zoubek (please note, Brian must "look like a basketball player" during these minutes for them to count).... 16 minutes, he looked pretty solid to me.
6. A double double from Kyle Singler... 15 points, 7 rebounds
7. Zero turnovers from Gregg (sic) Paulus... Just the one errant pass in the first half
8. At least 3 nice mid-range jumpers from Henderson... One, at 15:39 of the 2nd half
9. Fewer than 15 points from Singletary... 18 points, 6 in the last 8 minutes after Duke had pulled away.
10. No inappropriate cheers from the UVA fans... not that I heard.
11. 18+ minutes from Nolan Smith... Only 9 minutes and Scheyer ran the point for a few possessions.
12. 2+ points from David McClure.... No points in five minutes.
13. 100% FT shooting from Demarcus Nelson.... 2 for 5
14. No less than 8pts and 5 boards from Lance Thomas.... 1 point, 1 rebound
15. 2 nice drives and at least 2 threes from Jon Scheyer, along with at least 50% shooting from the floor.... Only had the two sweet rebound baskets, shot 3 of 5 from the floor.
16. Someone exhibiting substantial "toughness" (e.g. stitches, taking a hard foul, sticking up for teammates).... Does the foul on LT count?
17. At least a little zone to mix them up!.... Substantial periods of zone in both halves!!
18. No stall-ball!... Slowed down the offense with ~7 minutes to go, but didn't "stall" (hold the ball near midcourt for 20+ seconds) until 4 minutes left and an 81-64 lead.

Close on a number of them, but gotta grade strictly: just 4 of 18 goals met. I guess that means this game was a terrible performance that might as well count as a loss...

[DUKEinFW]

The team I believe is progressing nicely the past few games and will be ready for the 'holes come Sat! I really like our position as an underdog at least in terms of the rankings coming into this stretch in March. Lets hope for a long stretch ending in April on a monday.

[mgtr]

I guess the point of the above is a) we don't have to be perfect, and b) we have a lot of weapons, some of which will be loaded in each game.

[DUKEinFW]

It looks like Henderson is back in form!

He looks more under control then ever. The shot is definatly back! With Brian giving more minutes we, I think, will have the chance to continue to improve. Which is more than many teams can claim at this point in the season

[pamtar]

Duke basketball is officially back!!

I feel sorry for the holes. Let the 3 day heart attack begin!!!

LGD!! GTHC,GHH!

[Saratoga2]

Place your game comments here.

Duke has balance scoring and continues to have low turnovers with Henderson, Nelson, Paulus, Scheyer and Singler. Paulus has especially picked up his game the last two weeks and Henderson is back in form.
Our top 5 got reasonable support from Thomas, Zoubek and Smith. Too bad Zoubek picked up 2 quick fouls. Until that time, I thought he created problems for Virginia inside and rebounded fairly well.

This was a must win and the team responded. Our inside defense continues to be weak though and may be an issue against Hansbrough, with Lawson feeding him.

If someone had predicted early on that we would be 26 and 3 at this stage of the season I would have thought they were being wildly optimistic.

[DUKEinFW]

Duke basketball is officially back!!

I feel sorry for the holes. Let the 3 day heart attack begin!!!

LGD!! GTHC,GHH!

A win on Sat and we have to be a lock for a #1 seed in the NCAA's

[OZZIE4DUKE]

If someone had predicted early on that we would be 26 and 3 at this stage of the season I would have thought they were being wildly optimistic.

I resemble that remark!

[YmoBeThere]

We are playing a lot of zone and Zoubek got double digit minutes. This must have been the perfect game....

I keed, I keed ;)

[dukelifer]

Duke played very well tonight- businesslike and poised for most of the game. They limited mistakes early and managed a very good opening 10 minutes by Singletary and the Hoos. But Duke took control because they mixed in the zone (maybe testing it for UNC?) and got UVa out of their groove. Duke almost gave UVa life in the middle of the second half after going up 19- but Virginia was dead tired at the end of the game. 3 games in 5 days with 2 on the road will wear out any team. Duke took care of business and it will be a big game on Saturday- it doesn't get any better than this. UNC will try to play the underdog role- but make no mistake- Duke will be the hunter and should respond accordingly.

[diesel]

As has been remarked by me and others, we appear to be in better condition than most of our opponents. I thought this was particularly evident tonight: Mikalauskas in particular looked pitiful for much of the game and even Singletary was breathing hard early in the game. A the end, Virginia did try a full court press to counter stall ball. But I doubt if they could have kept it up for more than a possession or two.

Of course, the fact that Virginia had played 3 games in 5 days might have contributed to their physical effort tonight!

[dukestheheat]

He looks more under control then ever. The shot is definatly back! With Brian giving more minutes we, I think, will have the chance to continue to improve. Which is more than many teams can claim at this point in the season

in the way he's attacking the basket off the dribble and off of the alley-oop. he really did disappear that with wrist injury after we beat the holes, but he's back and we need all the cylinders pumping saturday night. that is going to b some game!

dth.

[pamtar]

I resemble that remark!

What did you pick? 27-2? We should bump that thread and "Anyone else think we could be 'really' good this year."

[OZZIE4DUKE]

What did you pick? 27-2? We should bump that thread and "Anyone else think we could be 'really' good this year."

Most likely 29-0, then after Pitt, 28-1 at this point.

Let's see. We're 26-3 now. We have 10 games left.

36-3!

[DoubleDuke Dad]

From SMO in the pre-game thread:


1. A 30+ point win... 16 points, never more than 20.
2. Less than 8 Duke turnovers..... 12 turnovers
3. At least 50% of our points in the paint... 17 of 33 made field goals were either layups or dunks, plus a hook-shot by Singler, means 36 of 86 points (41.8%)
4. 15+ minutes from Taylor King regardless of how he plays... one minute in the first half, two minutes at the end of the game
5. 10+ minutes from Zoubek (please note, Brian must "look like a basketball player" during these minutes for them to count).... 16 minutes, he looked pretty solid to me.
6. A double double from Kyle Singler... 15 points, 7 rebounds
7. Zero turnovers from Gregg (sic) Paulus... Just the one errant pass in the first half
8. At least 3 nice mid-range jumpers from Henderson... One, at 15:39 of the 2nd half
9. Fewer than 15 points from Singletary... 18 points, 6 in the last 8 minutes after Duke had pulled away.
10. No inappropriate cheers from the UVA fans... not that I heard.
11. 18+ minutes from Nolan Smith... Only 9 minutes and Scheyer ran the point for a few possessions.
12. 2+ points from David McClure.... No points in five minutes.
13. 100% FT shooting from Demarcus Nelson.... 2 for 5
14. No less than 8pts and 5 boards from Lance Thomas.... 1 point, 1 rebound
15. 2 nice drives and at least 2 threes from Jon Scheyer, along with at least 50% shooting from the floor.... Only had the two sweet rebound baskets, shot 3 of 5 from the floor.
16. Someone exhibiting substantial "toughness" (e.g. stitches, taking a hard foul, sticking up for teammates).... Does the foul on LT count?
17. At least a little zone to mix them up!.... Substantial periods of zone in both halves!!
18. No stall-ball!... Slowed down the offense with ~7 minutes to go, but didn't "stall" (hold the ball near midcourt for 20+ seconds) until 4 minutes left and an 81-64 lead.

Close on a number of them, but gotta grade strictly: just 4 of 18 goals met. I guess that means this game was a terrible performance that might as well count as a loss...
Mehmattski,

I am glad that I don't get my performance review at work from you!

[pamtar]

Most likely 29-0, then after Pitt, 28-1 at this point.

Let's see. We're 26-3 now. We have 10 games left.

36-3!

Thats what I like to hear!!

[jipops]

There have been past comments on this board that Scheyer can be weak on D. The job he did on Singletary on some defensive sequences should change that opinion if it hasn't been changed already. Scheyer moves his feet and uses his length as well as anyone.

I absolutely loved our ball movement tonight. Calling orange obviously opened the game up for us. As has already been pointed out in another thread, not so sure that will work out the same against other foes, namely the pale shade of blue our guys play this weekend.

[DukeDevilDeb]

There have been past comments on this board that Scheyer can be weak on D. The job he did on Singletary on some defensive sequences should change that opinion if it hasn't been changed already. Scheyer moves his feet and uses his length as well as anyone.

I absolutely loved our ball movement tonight. Calling orange obviously opened the game up for us. As has already been pointed out in another thread, not so sure that will work out the same against other foes, namely the pale shade of blue our guys play this weekend.

Over this season, Scheyer has established himself as a good and highly motivated defender. More than anyone else (except maybe Gerald), Scheyer has worked and worked and we saw evidence of that tonight in his defense of Sean Singletary. But Jon has played great defense for a while... and with it, I think we have a great chance Saturday and after.

Go, Ozzie. I LOVE how you think!

[Section 8]

Yes, pwnt.

We are looking like we did in the first half of the season (post-Pitt), pushing the ball and being aggressive, getting open shots with the extra pass. Sweet. Tarholes beware!

9F

[greybeard]

The one thing that I've been troubled by is the seeming absence of easy scoring opportunities inside off a penetrating pass. What most normal basketball people (I wear that as a badge of courage) would call a post-up game. It seems to me that the few times Duke has struggled this year has been when teams came up with inventive ways to keep the attackers from getting all the way to the rim while covering the three-ball kick outs.

I saw that game tonight. Singler had several easy baskets off feeds from others; not dishes off of drives, penetration with the pass. What was MOST encouraging to me was Lance's delivery of at least one of those passes. The interior passing game between the two has heretofore gone the other way. Kyle sneaking a bounce pass through a crack in the defense as Lance rolled to the basket and caught it in stride. Not tonight. Tonight Lance got it to Singler who had his guy killed underneath. Not an easy feed. Held it high and used his hands. Nobody was prepared to react and he gave them nothing preliminary to signal what was coming.

I do not think that this was happenstance. I think that this is growth due to deliberate exploration between the two in practice. I think that Duke, even as we watch what we would now call its "regular" offense is evolving and its players are growing. The team is becoming more diverse when most would be content to sit on the strength of what is truly a remarkable offensive array that the wing-dribble-attack initiation produces. Now, you stop that by having the littles stay at home and try to guard three players (Lance, Singler, and the penetrator) with two and Duke can have the two bigs play two-man ball. Awesome.

Seeing players developing during the course of a season marked by so much growth to begin with makes this a special season.

A word about Scheyer: who he reminds me of is a mixing between two greats, Clyde and Pistol. When he dribbles on the exterior or is near the basket (that shot off the rebound I have never seen before; I have seen guys shoot back to the basket from that position many, many times; have done it myself hundreds (when I was a much younger man), but never with the delivery and type spin Scheyer put on it. Pure Pistol, as is often the case when he is dribbling high near his hip, looking the defender dead in the eye, near half court. Pure Pistol. But, then there is the economy, the humility, the focus, of Clyde.

No, Scheyer does not have the skills of either, at least not yet, and Clyde was perhaps the best in the NBA for at least several years, but if you saw those guys play, and then you watch Scheyer, I think you'll see some of it.

What a display of basketball!

[billybreen]

Has it been discussed yet what happened to Paulus' face?

[Duvall]

Has it been discussed yet what happened to Paulus' face?

I assume it was the elbow from Gonzalez in the State game.

[devildeac]

I resemble that remark!

I thought you predicted 29-0 at this time...

[Jumbo]

Has it been discussed yet what happened to Paulus' face?

Patrick Davidson stopped by to visit...

(It was the Gonzalez elbow.)

[aro24]

Got my first visit to JPJ tonight.....a first rate venue.
Loved the ball movement tonight....slashing to the lane and the quick diagonal kick out to the corner resulted in a lot of open 3's. Singler had a hard time getting them to go down tonight, but I admired that he kept shooting them....
Overall the ball movement and the extra pass opened up a lot of good looks tonight. I hadn't seen that much over the past few games...
Good win.....now on to Saturday.
GTHC GTH !

ARo24

[duketaylor]

I also visited JPJ tonight, an awesome venue. Family in tow and had a blast for $120 and a sweet victory. Just got back. We were upstairs; it was quiet for the most part until UVA made the 2nd half run, then it got quiet again and plenty fled. Really enjoyed a solid Duke win (I've been to C'ville for a few Duke losses, not good) and the upcoming showdown. Burn, baby, burn!!;)

[UncleBill]

What I really love about this team, and it was in form tonight, are the small almost intangibles that don't show up on a stat sheet or highlight reel. They don't save a ball from going out of bounds, they pass it to the open man as the ball is going out of bounds. If they can't grab a rebound, they tip it to the open man for a clean shot. They really are gelled well a lot of the time, just KNOWING where the open man will be (except for the Paulus perfect pass to where he THOUGHT Nelson was going to be). It is something I see on other teams every so often, but something I see a lot with these guys.

UVa left a lot of rolls open on the pick and roll, and Duke could have taken advantage of that several times, but didn't seem to be looking for it. So obviously they still have a little work to do, but for a team that I thought was going to be REALLY good NEXT year, wow, I am pleasantly surprised.

[feldspar]

My wife asked me earlier why I was so uptight about tonight's game. I told her it was because for me to be confident about Saturday's game against Carolina, I needed to see the "old" Duke team against Virginia. I needed to see the Duke from the first half of the season: great pressure defense, trapping, good ball movement, balanced scoring, forcing turnovers, pushing the ball. Not the timid Duke I've been seeing over the past couple of weeks: no fluidity on offense, poor communication, lack of fire, etc.



I'm confident about Saturday.

Solid, solid, solid win. What I liked most about this game was the versatility we showed on defense. The zone worked magically because it was executed almost flawlessly. I also loved the tenacity I saw in the rebounding department. We went after EVERY rebound like we knew we already owned it.

Bring it on, Carolina. I'm not afraid of you, this team's not afraid of you, these players aren't afraid of you. We're not intimidated by your ranking. We're not intimidated by the fact that you're "healthy." We're sending you right where you belong on Saturday and taking back what belongs to us: The ACC.

GO TO HELL CAROLINA! GO TO HELL!!!

[Jumbo]

Feldspar, I think we saw a better Duke team on offense. I mentioned this in another thread, but I can't repeat it often enough: The way Gerald Henderson has suddenly emerged as a passer is incredible. After playing with his head down for much of the season, he is now seeing the floor and making plays for others. All three of Duke's wings can now slash, draw and dish and sure enough, Henderson, Scheyer and Nelson each finished with four assists.

Duke scored 86 points despite going to the spread offense with about 9 minutes left. Duke scored 86 points despite Kyle Singler's shooting 8-for-21, including 2-for-9 from 3-point range. Duke scored 86 points despite going 8-14 from the FT line.

I'm really encouraged by Gerald's improvement, especially in light of a signficant injury. I'm also encouraged by the fact that Singler is going to the basket more, and that Duke is giving him the ball in the post more often. The only thing that worries me on offense right now is Singler's 3-point shot; he is just 3-for-19 from downtown in his last three games and 9-for-37 over his last six. Kyle is missing wide-open looks, and Duke's offense has so many options that it's almost impossible for defenses to prevent Singler's open threes, especially when he is covered by a bigger, slower player. That shot will be there all season, and he'll have to knock it down for Duke to beat really good teams.

[feldspar]

Feldspar, I think we saw a better Duke team on offense.

Agreed. I'm just so freakin' pumped, I couldn't get it all out.

I WISH IT WAS SATURDAY ALREADY :eek:

[dukemomLA]

Except for the first 15 minutes, it was an exciting game to watch (for us Duke fans). Still have to ache for Sean S. A fabulous, amazing player -- shall we ALL pray that he'll do great in the NBA.

Can't wait for Sat. (....I'd love to know the movie B.O. totals in N.C. for Saturday night). GHTC GTH. Saturday can't come soon enough.

I LOVE the balanced scoring on this team -- and as said, all those intangibles that don't show up on the stat sheet. Kudos to Zoub. He continues to offer valuable minutes, and grows each game as a force to be reckoned with.

Get King Taylor back on track with the confidence he should have....and there's no end in sight.

[Bob Green]

I just finished watching the first half on tape, which I missed due to being on the waterfront working on a ship, and I was really impressed with how Brian Zoubek was into the flow of the offense. He made some really good passes. I see it as a significant event that Zoubek is playing well. He is coming on strong at the perfect time of the season.

I echo Jumbo's comments about Henderson as well as everyone's comments on ball movement, balanced scoring, pressure defense, etc...

Bring on Carolina as we are ready!

[SMO]

From SMO in the pre-game thread:


1. A 30+ point win... 16 points, never more than 20.
2. Less than 8 Duke turnovers..... 12 turnovers
3. At least 50% of our points in the paint... 17 of 33 made field goals were either layups or dunks, plus a hook-shot by Singler, means 36 of 86 points (41.8%)
4. 15+ minutes from Taylor King regardless of how he plays... one minute in the first half, two minutes at the end of the game
5. 10+ minutes from Zoubek (please note, Brian must "look like a basketball player" during these minutes for them to count).... 16 minutes, he looked pretty solid to me.
6. A double double from Kyle Singler... 15 points, 7 rebounds
7. Zero turnovers from Gregg (sic) Paulus... Just the one errant pass in the first half
8. At least 3 nice mid-range jumpers from Henderson... One, at 15:39 of the 2nd half
9. Fewer than 15 points from Singletary... 18 points, 6 in the last 8 minutes after Duke had pulled away.
10. No inappropriate cheers from the UVA fans... not that I heard.
11. 18+ minutes from Nolan Smith... Only 9 minutes and Scheyer ran the point for a few possessions.
12. 2+ points from David McClure.... No points in five minutes.
13. 100% FT shooting from Demarcus Nelson.... 2 for 5
14. No less than 8pts and 5 boards from Lance Thomas.... 1 point, 1 rebound
15. 2 nice drives and at least 2 threes from Jon Scheyer, along with at least 50% shooting from the floor.... Only had the two sweet rebound baskets, shot 3 of 5 from the floor.
16. Someone exhibiting substantial "toughness" (e.g. stitches, taking a hard foul, sticking up for teammates).... Does the foul on LT count?
17. At least a little zone to mix them up!.... Substantial periods of zone in both halves!!
18. No stall-ball!... Slowed down the offense with ~7 minutes to go, but didn't "stall" (hold the ball near midcourt for 20+ seconds) until 4 minutes left and an 81-64 lead.

Close on a number of them, but gotta grade strictly: just 4 of 18 goals met. I guess that means this game was a terrible performance that might as well count as a loss...

My thoughts exactly...couldn't even bear to watch!:p

I hope everyone realizes this list was written with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

[whereinthehellami]

1st 8 ACC games
Duke averaged 86.6 Pts/gm while their opponents averaged 71.6 Pts/gm. That is a difference of 15 pts/gm in Duke's favor.

Last 6 ACC games
Duke averaged 82.2 Pts/gm while their opponents averaged 78.5 Pts/gm. That is a difference of 3.7 pts/gm in Duke's favor.

Since the midpoint of the ACC season Duke has scored 4.2 less points a game while their opponents have scored 6.9 more points a game. That comes out to about an 11 pt/gm swing against Duke. While the offense and defense are related, they have had some issues on both side of the ball. Can they turn things around before the tourney? Good question. They are a tough team but it is a bad time of the year to not be playing at the peak of your game.

The above post was from another thread that was closed. I thought it was interesting that the score (86-70) pretty much matched the amazing numbers Duke averaged thru the first 8 ACC games (87-72). Good to see.

[mlk]

those are high standards
From SMO in the pre-game thread:


1. A 30+ point win... 16 points, never more than 20.
2. Less than 8 Duke turnovers..... 12 turnovers
3. At least 50% of our points in the paint... 17 of 33 made field goals were either layups or dunks, plus a hook-shot by Singler, means 36 of 86 points (41.8%)
4. 15+ minutes from Taylor King regardless of how he plays... one minute in the first half, two minutes at the end of the game
5. 10+ minutes from Zoubek (please note, Brian must "look like a basketball player" during these minutes for them to count).... 16 minutes, he looked pretty solid to me.
6. A double double from Kyle Singler... 15 points, 7 rebounds
7. Zero turnovers from Gregg (sic) Paulus... Just the one errant pass in the first half
8. At least 3 nice mid-range jumpers from Henderson... One, at 15:39 of the 2nd half
9. Fewer than 15 points from Singletary... 18 points, 6 in the last 8 minutes after Duke had pulled away.
10. No inappropriate cheers from the UVA fans... not that I heard.
11. 18+ minutes from Nolan Smith... Only 9 minutes and Scheyer ran the point for a few possessions.
12. 2+ points from David McClure.... No points in five minutes.
13. 100% FT shooting from Demarcus Nelson.... 2 for 5
14. No less than 8pts and 5 boards from Lance Thomas.... 1 point, 1 rebound
15. 2 nice drives and at least 2 threes from Jon Scheyer, along with at least 50% shooting from the floor.... Only had the two sweet rebound baskets, shot 3 of 5 from the floor.
16. Someone exhibiting substantial "toughness" (e.g. stitches, taking a hard foul, sticking up for teammates).... Does the foul on LT count?
17. At least a little zone to mix them up!.... Substantial periods of zone in both halves!!
18. No stall-ball!... Slowed down the offense with ~7 minutes to go, but didn't "stall" (hold the ball near midcourt for 20+ seconds) until 4 minutes left and an 81-64 lead.

Close on a number of them, but gotta grade strictly: just 4 of 18 goals met. I guess that means this game was a terrible performance that might as well count as a loss...

[bigj4194]

Agreed. I'm just so freakin' pumped, I couldn't get it all out.

I WISH IT WAS SATURDAY ALREADY :eek:

As UVA is now out of the picture...I feel it is time (not that it isn't always) to start the wonderful cheering of GO TO HELL carolina GO TO HELL!!!



The UVA game impressed me to see us finally shooting well again, though if you look at Singler's numbers, he was 8-21 including 2-9 from 3s...A good night in terms of points, but does that seem slightly abnormal to anyone else? G had the second highest amount of shots taken and he took 13.

Glad to see us hitting our shots again.

One last thought, ZOOOOOOUBEK actually impressed me last night...while he wasn't that productive his defense looked good, now we just need him to produce on the offensive side of the court!

9F9F9F9F9F9F9F

[twisterduke81]

We made it there last night with the kids. When Paulus went to the sideline, an extremely obnoxious UVa fan close by starting shouting "What's the matter Slumpy, You need a nap-going to the coach to help you." Never heard the Slumpy remark before. My ten year old-future Cameron Crazie turned around and told her he was bleeding and doing what the ref told him to do.
There was an exquisite beauty in watching our three-point shots go in last night.

[Classof06]

I think this was the exact kind of game Duke needed going into not only the Carolina game but the ACC and NCAA tournaments. There were 3 things that stood out to me and also have me very encouraged:

1. The re-emergence of Gerald: Duke was at its best during our 12-game win streak b/w Pitt and Wake when Gerald was at his best. Besides the turnovers, it was clear that Gerald was the missing link in those 2 losses. When Gerald is on, Duke is a much more dangerous team because of the respect the opposition has to have for his athleticism.

2. Our balance is back: This is related to Gerald's point in that last night, I saw the kind of scoring balance that we exhibited in the middle of the year with 5 players in double figures. When Duke is balanced like this, I believe they can beat anyone in America.

3. Zooooouuuuuubek: This kid is coming along. I can't say enough about how proud I am of Brian. He looked like a player out there last night and this also helps Duke in so many different ways. I said if he can give Duke 10-15 minutes a game, that would be huge; he played 13 solid minutes last night. If he can do that come March, this team has a much better chance to win it all. I would never dream of equating Brian to Ty Lawson, but having Zoubek Saturday night will undoubtedly help Duke relative to the last time we played Carolina. If nothing else, it makes Hansbrough's job just a tiny bit tougher and gives Duke help on the boards that they will desperately need.

This season flew by but here comes the funnest part, folks...

[DoubleDuke Dad]

Without looking it up, who do you think is currently the best 3 point shooter percentagewise on the Duke team?

[Jfrosh]

I thought it was one of our best games offensively. So many of our parts were just clicking. Of course it helps when you hit your shots, but has been mentioned before, the extra pass was consistenly made for easy buckets.
The man to man defense was disappointing. As is a recurring theme we just could not stop the dribble penetration. At the start of the game it seemed Singletary would go off for 35 points. I am proud of Coach for switching to the zone. In past years we likely would have lost that game with the inability to stop them from scoring.

[whereinthehellami]

Without looking it up, who do you think is currently the best 3 point shooter percentagewise on the Duke team?

Look at the number of shots attempted by said person though. This person is much more selective. The person in second place (my guess) has attmepted around twice as many threes while still putting up an amazing percentage.

[DoubleDuke Dad]

Look at the number of shots attempted by said person though. This person is much more selective. The person in second place (my guess) has attmepted around twice as many threes while still putting up an amazing percentage.
whereinthehellami,

I was not trying to make any larger point. I just thought it was interesting that he is shooting such a high percentage. Clearly, that makes him a much more effective player.

[2535Miles]

There are too many posters I agree with to name individually in this thread. All around this was a great game for us and, for the most part, I was really impressed with defensive execution. A few things:

1. It seems like Duke gives up too many easy drives to the basket. I haven't been able to sit down and watch the game again and get times (darn work) but there were moments when UVA seemed to get easy cuts to the basket. They didn't seem like aggressive slasher moves, or the results of mismatches. Instead it seemed like Duke just sat back on let them have the basket. I hope we can correct this before Saturday. Anyone else seeing this?

2. I'm really impressed with Zoubek's progression in the last few games, especially his court awareness when he's in the post. While he may not give Duke the typical big man presence down low, I've seen him make some really great passes to teammates that drive the lane once he gets the ball. If he can get Psycho-T's attention, perhaps Hendo or Nelson can get an easy layup/dunk.

3. Welcome back Hendo!!!

4. I can't wait for Saturday!!!

GTHC GTH!!!

[should_be_working]

Anyone notice coach K yelling at Greg last night? Its been a while since I've seen K go after a player like that. Looked as if he did so with a slew of curse words as well, which was obviously caught on camera. It surprised me to see such anger from K at a stretch where we were playing quite well. Still not sure what Greg did to deserve the bashing.

Anyway, great game. We looked like we were back to old form knocking down 3s and playing a little better defense. The only thing i would have liked to see was king get some more minutes and knock down some shots - getting him on target could be a huge advantage. I didn't like how long the starters stayed in at the end though, i thought they could have come out earlier and got some more rest.

[rsvman]

Without looking it up, who do you think is currently the best 3 point shooter percentagewise on the Duke team?

I'm going to guess Nolan Smith or DeMarcus Nelson. Second would probably be Paulus.

[OldPhiKap]

Anyone notice coach K yelling at Greg last night? Its been a while since I've seen K go after a player like that. Looked as if he did so with a slew of curse words as well, which was obviously caught on camera. It surprised me to see such anger from K at a stretch where we were playing quite well. Still not sure what Greg did to deserve the bashing.

I saw that, too, and thought it was funny that Dan Patrick was saying "Coach Krzyzewski must be happy with what he sees" as they went to the commercial (we had a rebound on the defensive end and a basket on the offensive end). I time-slipped the game and did not see any obvious defensive lapse or offensive mistake by GP during that exchange. But K took a quick time out in an odd place, so he obviously saw or heard something that was not to his liking.

I'm glad you brought this up b/c it was a curious event and I had kind of forgotten about it. Wonder what was said and what the issue was.

[DoubleDuke Dad]

I'm going to guess Nolan Smith or DeMarcus Nelson. Second would probably be Paulus.
It is DeMarcus. His shooting percentage is .442. Paulus is second on the team at .430. However he has taken almost twice as many 3s as DeMarcus. By the way, Nolan Smith has really raised his shooting percentage lately. Not too long ago he was at around .250. He is now shooting .388. Of course he has not taken many 3s.

[MonitorMom]

this year Coach K does most of his yelling when we are winning. When the chips are down he appears to be detached until the guys can figure out the game plan, then he'll get back involved.

[dukechem]

I was at the game last night and was very impressed with JPJA. Even from up in the nosebleed section (Row X), I felt I could see the action very well (except when people were coming and going in front of me during the game.)

I did feel that the arena, although not the atmosphere, was very professional-like. The amount of advertising was almost oppressive. The scoreboard seemed like it constantly had some ad playing. The display under the upperdeck also had frequent ads, and there were many advertising gimmicks during timeouts and at half-time. There was even a bank logo on the floor. I know, someone has to pay the bills, but I feel that it detracts from the college game to have so much commercialism on display.

The use of the scoreboard to get the crowd to stand up or make noise also seems more like what is done at professional games.

I don't go to games very often, so all this is probably standard operating procedure these days, especially in the new mega-arenas. It's just not the college atmosphere I remember from the 60s.

[pfrduke]

Anyone notice coach K yelling at Greg last night? Its been a while since I've seen K go after a player like that. Looked as if he did so with a slew of curse words as well, which was obviously caught on camera. It surprised me to see such anger from K at a stretch where we were playing quite well. Still not sure what Greg did to deserve the bashing.

I'm not sure it was 100% directed at Paulus. My layman's lipreading of Coach K looked like "what the f-bomb are we doing on defense!?!?" Paulus just happened to be (in)conveniently right in front of him. Just my two cents on it.

[should_be_working]

I'm not sure it was 100% directed at Paulus. My layman's lipreading of Coach K looked like "what the f-bomb are we doing on defense!?!?" Paulus just happened to be (in)conveniently right in front of him. Just my two cents on it.

Yeah i haven't heard/seen K drop the f-bomb before. Either I've just missed it, or he was really upset. I've never been to a game so I'm not familiar with his words of choice

[DangerDevil]

Yeah i haven't heard/seen K drop the f-bomb before. Either I've just missed it, or he was really upset. I've never been to a game so I'm not familiar with his words of choice

You've just missed it. Especially during timeouts, Coach K can get pretty intense and isn't afraid to let the guys know what he is thinking. One of my favorite spots to sit in Cameron was behind the Duke bench and watch Coach K throughout the game, definitely able to see/hear things that the camera didn't catch.

[pfrduke]

Yeah i haven't heard/seen K drop the f-bomb before. Either I've just missed it, or he was really upset. I've never been to a game so I'm not familiar with his words of choice

Coach K's sideline language is pretty notorious. I think he's decent with the refs, but with the team, he's pretty much a sailor out there. Ditto for practice.

[Chitowndevil]

This is kind of a random thought, wasn't sure where to post it. But while we're on the subject of coaching, check out this quote from Dave Leitao after the game:

"I thought coming in that when you play not a good, but an excellent, team that you have to play virtually possession for possession and mistake free."

Contrast that with, if you saw it, the pregame speech Dino Gaudio gave to his players that was televised during the Duke/Wake game. As I remember it, he said "we don't have to play perfect, because they're not going to play perfect. What we need to do is play hard, and play together."

Quite a contrast between a guy I think may well win ACC COY and a guy I think will be out of a job in another year or two.

[summerwind03]

Yeah i haven't heard/seen K drop the f-bomb before. Either I've just missed it, or he was really upset. I've never been to a game so I'm not familiar with his words of choice

Ha ha ha ha ha!! You really need to work on your lip-reading skills!! He definitely curses like a sailor. Hope you get to a game to see it in person.

[ugadevil]

This is kind of a random thought, wasn't sure where to post it. But while we're on the subject of coaching, check out this quote from Dave Leitao after the game:

"I thought coming in that when you play not a good, but an excellent, team that you have to play virtually possession for possession and mistake free."

Contrast that with, if you saw it, the pregame speech Dino Gaudio gave to his players that was televised during the Duke/Wake game. As I remember it, he said "we don't have to play perfect, because they're not going to play perfect. What we need to do is play hard, and play together."

Quite a contrast between a guy I think may well win ACC COY and a guy I think will be out of a job in another year or two.

It definitely is an interesting perspective that both coaches seems to take towards playing Duke. For Gaudio, it seems like it would give his players confidence by sending the message that his players have enough talent/skill to beat Duke without worrying about making mistakes. For Leitao, it's like he's sending the message that his players aren't good enough to make mistakes but still be able to play with Duke.

[DukieInBrasil]

This was the type of win that we were rolling up pretty regularly during the 1st half of the ACC, double digits but not a blow-out even though we were in control the whole 2nd half. What was also reminiscent of that by-gone era was the exceptional balance of scoring, rebounding and assisting.

The Gerald might be a better player now that he has hurt his wrist (his FT and 3pt shooting have both improved since then) since he is passing better and his rebounding is as good as ever. Maybe he's realizing he doesn't have to score a lot to be an efficient player, which has had the reciprocal effect of helping him score more points.

I really like what I'm seeing from Paulus lately. He may not be a superior athlete in quickness but he is a superior athlete in skill and competitive fire. He's been pretty steady this year, but he too saw a dip in his production for a few games but is playing pretty close to his peak productivity now as he has regained his 3ball stroke.

Scheyer continues to play great-if-at-times-understated basketball, double-digit pts, couple of rebs, a steal and a 4/1 a/to. Scheyer is such a good ball handler now that Nolan can fit into the offense at more of his natural spot, 2G. Speaking of which, the upsurge in Smith's 3pt shooting has been awesome, he is now equal with King in 3pt%. Does anyone remember thinking earlier "hey, I bet Nolan will shoot the 3ball as well as King"?

The Captain had a very nice game, scoring 16 pts on 10 shots despite a 2-5 FT night. Not quite as good as the 19 pts on 7 shots from the State game, but hey. As noted previously, The Captain seems to have a big game followed by a quiet game. It seems lately though that the "up" games (19 vNCSU) are just slightly less up than previously but the "down" games (16 vUVA) are much better, guess that's another way of saying that DN is getting more consistent. The more reliable The Captain, the better Duke is as a team.

The new Devils we're seeing now have something they didn't have before, some interior presence. It is still a very modest presence, but Z's triumphant return has totally proven me wrong. I thought he would come back completely ineffective and do pretty much nothing else of note this year. One double-double and several strait games of efficient ball have made Z a valuable part of our 10-man rotation, you read that right, K is using a 10-man rotation, though King and McClure seldom get very much PT. Alongside Z, LT has begun playing better ball too, rebounding consistently even if the scoring is erratic. These 2 however, shot 1-4 FTs, frikin' poor.
Singler may be the only player to be slumping, despite leading the team in rebounding and scoring 18. His scoring and rebounding have been fine, even above his average, but his FG% is in steady and serious decline.

[kydevil]

By the way, Nolan Smith has really raised his shooting percentage lately. Not too long ago he was at around .250. He is now shooting .388. Of course he has not taken many 3s.

It seems like Nolan shoots better than that, he's always knocking down a big "3"