I'm making the trip to the game Friday. Anyone else going?
I'm making the trip to the game Friday. Anyone else going?
We'll be there. PM me.Quote:
Originally Posted by TeacherTom
I'll be there. Can't wait.
I can’t be there. I’ll wait. (Stupid work requirements)
As good of a place as any to post a preview! (I'll kindly ask the mods to change the thread title to include time/date/clever pun optional.)
Our Blue Devils head home to play the Colorado State Rams fresh off their 11-point win at home over 300+ ranked Denver. CSU is not terrible, finishing last season as KP #180, but they're not great and they lost ~33% of their scoring after graduating senior guard JD Paige (15.6 ppg) and losing redshirt junior guard Anthony Masinton-Bonner (11.2 ppg) to transfer to Missouri State. Lucky for them, they do return their leading scorer, senior big man Nico Carvacho. CSU is led by head coach Niko Medved, a former assistant of 7 years there before a 1-year stint as the head coach at Drake and then 3 years at Furman. Medved is in his second year as the head coach at CSU.
Guards:
Outside of Carvacho, the Rams will rely on 6'4", redshirt senior guard Kris Martin who stuffed the stat sheet against Denver with 18 pts, 5 boards, 2 asts, 2 steals, and a block with only 1 turnover in 35 minutes. He'll get as much time as he can handle against us. Martin is not a particularly strong 3pt shooter going 1-6 in the opener and shooting 33% last season on 109 attempts. Martin played two seasons at Oral Roberts before transferring to CSU.
Next to Martin in the backcourt will likely be 5'10" sophomore Kendle Moore who didn't do much against Denver (6 pts, 3 asts, and a steal) but played 31 minutes. Last season, Martin and Moore combined for 17.8 ppg and 6 rpg with a 1.48 A:T - not exactly mind-blowing stuff, but expect a higher usage and focus on them as the #2 and #3 scorers are gone from last year. Neither is a particular long range threat, shooting 33% and 32% from deep, respectively.
Rounding out CSU's starting 3-guard backcourt against Denver was 6'0" freshman Isaiah Stevens who scored 7 pts and grabbed 2 boards in 27 minutes. He was 1-3 from deep. I'm not going to look up his "ranking", high school stats, social security number, etc as I suspect there's not much to see here.
The wildcard here is 6'0" redshirt senior Hyron Edwards who announced his decision to transfer from CSU only to reneg and return. As far as I can tell, Hyron committed to Texas Tech back in 2016 but doesn't appear to have matriculated as he had a standout year at Trinity Valley Community College and played his first full D-1 collegiate season with CSU last year, averaging 6.8ppg, 2.8rpg, 2.5apg in more than 20mpg (but only 1 start). Edwards did not start against Denver, but he had a decent line with 10 and 3 assists in 22 mins while hitting his lone 3 attempt (although he shot 29% from 3 last year).
These 4 guards will be effectively the entire CSU backcourt. They played 115 minutes against Denver (120 mins available across 3 positions).
Forwards/Wings:
The main man here is 6'6" sophomore forward Adam Thistlewood who started 25 games last year as a freshman and averaged 8.6/2.9/1.0 in 29mpg. Thistlewood is the best returning 3pt shooter on the team at 38.7% last season. He went 2-4 against Denver and scored all 15 of his points with threes and free throws (9-10). He didn't even attempt a shot inside the arc. You might say that's novel in a 1-game sample, but he shot almost 70% of his 200+ field goal attempts last year from 3pt range. Basically want to stick with Thistlewood on the arc at all times.
Backing up Thistlewood appears to be 6'5" freshman David Roddy who played 14 minutes against Denver and put up 4 and 6 but 0-2 from deep. Similar to the other freshman Stevens, I'm not going to dig in here.
Big Men:
And at last, for those of you reading intently, we get to the crux of the matter. 6'11", 245# redshirt senior center Nico "Macho" Carvacho [my nickname] out of Frisco, TX. Nico started all 32 games for the Rams last year, averaging 16.1, 12.9, and 2.1 with an A:T of 1.00. He isn't a particular defensive force or rim protector with only 19 steals and 21 blocks last year. But he is their clear best offensive player and team leader. Not convinced? Fine... Entering this season, Carvacho is already the all-time leader in rebounds in Colorado State history (950), and he is 2nd in Mountain West Conference history - again, with a full season to play. He also has the school record in double-doubles (35) and the conference record in league-only games (25). He enters 30th in CSU history in scoring (1,002). He added another to his total with 10 and 11 against Denver in 29 minutes. Last season, he was 1st team All Mountain West (media and coaches), All-MWC defensive team (coaches), and one of the ten finalists for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award.
Backing up Carvacho is...really no one. But I'll be respectful and note 6'9", 215# freshman Dischon Thomas out of Phoenix, AZ who logged 1 and 1 against Denver in 10 minutes. He did manage 4 fouls to help boost his statistical relevance. OK, I'll stop ragging.
Conclusion:
The Rams have a few pieces to keep your eye on, namely (1) a big, veteran, productive center, (2) one solid three point shooter, and (3) a stable of undersized but not prolific guards. But outside of Carvacho, there's nothing here that really screams major problems for our Devils. Carey will have to manage Carvacho, although for some reason I sense (fear?) Jack White factoring into that battle. Stanley/Moore/White will have to stick with Thistlewood. But other than those two tasks, it's hard to envision our defensive backcourt struggling with the undersized guards of CSU who can't shoot all that well and don't appear to be particularly adept scorers.
KenPom has us by 23. That sounds about right to me, although I'd maybe take Duke +23. Feels about right.
- Chillin
***I'd maybe take Duke -23. I am ashamed at my typo as one of the Board Degenerates...Quote:
Originally Posted by ChillinDuke
- Chillin
Like some of you, I am confused by the ACC Network.
Is this game televised or streamed?
According to my Directv listings, it is televised on ACCN.Quote:
Originally Posted by MartyClark
"Macho" Carvacho is great, even if ChillinDuke made it up.
games like this, the spread always seems to come down to some benchwarmer launching a three with seconds left.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChillinDuke
To be fair, you’d *probably* also take Duke +23 if you could get it. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by ChillinDuke
With Duke's stated intention to redshirt Savarino and Worthington, the finishing lineup of blowouts might consist of this not-too-shabby bunch:Quote:
Originally Posted by budwom
Buckmire - Moore - Baker - Robinson - DeLaurier
That's three guys that some of us thought could've been starters + JRob and Buckmire who anecdotally (and relying on faulty memory) seem to play well in garbage time.
This might not be built into Duke's point spreads early on.
/degeneracy
Or we're up by 30 and K starts clearing the bench with 5 minutes left.Quote:
Originally Posted by budwom
Wouldn’t be surprised to have a letdown game. Remember that last season after the Kentucky thumping we played Army at home, a terrible team, and the lead was single digits several minutes into the second half. With that said, the final margin will likely be 20+, but being able to come right back and play hard after an emotionally draining game is part of what the freshmen will have to learn.
I’m jealous of those who will be there! Looking forward to seeing continued improvement and what types of adjustments will be made.
Where I am, neither. F the ACCN. And Comcast. And UNC.Quote:
Originally Posted by MartyClark
Get a sling TV sub for $25/month and you get it. I forget if it's blue or orange, whichever has ESPN. Can stream on anything. Sometimes they have a pre-pay for 2 months, get a Roku deal.Quote:
Originally Posted by OldPhiKap
This was subtly announced in August. You have to pay $35 + tax ($37-38) to get ACCN on Orange Sports Extra.Quote:
Originally Posted by jwillfan
Clarification because they deserve a lot more Fs.Quote:
Originally Posted by OldPhiKap
Yep, which makes it a better deal IMO to go with YouTube TV for $50/month and get access to all channels including locals plus get unlimited DVR. In my case I went with Hulu Live, it's about the same cost but since I was already paying for regular Hulu, it works out to $39 more to get the live channels.Quote:
Originally Posted by duke2x
I don't see much of a letdown possibility here after that mess of a game against Kansas. Shoot, almost all of our players probably feel like they should've played better and will be itching to put a good offensive performance on the board. (i.e. It's a very different situation than coming off the blowout of Kentucky last season.) It's certainly possible for Duke to not play well, but I think it would be because of random variance and/or us not being that good. Or even CSU being better than expected. CSU is well-coached and has a very good big man that we can't double-team because they put 4 shooters on the floor. They have multiple guards that can handle.Quote:
Originally Posted by UrinalCake