Gorecki and Odom were our only double digit scorers and Gorecki shot very poorly. I'm sure she feels a ton of pressure to score.
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Gorecki and Odom were our only double digit scorers and Gorecki shot very poorly. I'm sure she feels a ton of pressure to score.
It would be hard not to feel that kind of pressure, since we get very little in the way of offense out of the post position.Quote:
Originally Posted by chrishoke
Short term pain for long term gain. Too bad for the current players though.Quote:
Originally Posted by dukelifer
3-3 is the worst start for DWB since 1998, when we opened up the year 1-3.
(Those losses were to UConn, Virginia Tech, and Notre Dame. We ended up losing in the NCAA Championship to Purdue. That was our program's first Final Four.)
A very young team, with a challenging early schedule, one that still has some big bumps in the road over the next few weeks.
The key is whether Duke gets better as the season progresses. If McCallie and her staff do their jobs and Duke has recruited players who respond well to challenges, then Duke should get better and better, a productive 2019 season leading into a 2020 season when almost everyone of consequence returns, a top-15 recruiting class comes in and Kyra Lambert returns, as good as new.
That's the glass half-full view.
But there's a glass half-empty scenario, in which Duke stagnates and we get the kind of off-court issues we had back in 2016. Then some hard questions will need to be asked.
But that's a lot of bridges and a lot of ifs down the road.
Right now?
Several big issues but two stand out.
One is turnovers. Odom is playing the best basketball of her career in many respects. But Duke is asking her to handle the ball more and she had a seven-turnover game last week. Duke had a 29-turnover game. Duke has to reduce that to mid-teens to have a chance to beat good teams.
The second is post productivity. Duke has a lot of scholarships invested in post players without much to show for it.
Neither Sofia Roma nor Emily Schubert has shone ACC-level ability. Both have had significant injury issues and I'll be pleasantly surprised if either develops into a rotation player.
Uchenna Nwoke is a 6-6 freshman, a big-time project. She's too heavy to play up-tempo right now and she averaged 7.6 points per game last year in high school. So, we're not talking refined ball skills here.
Could be a factor down the road. But not this year.
Madison Treece shows some potential. But she's not playing much and clearly doesn't have McCallie's confidence.
That leaves 6-5 sophomore Jade Williams and 6-4 freshman Onome Akinbode-James.
Both have shown the ability to play well at this level. But both are prone to the kind of mistakes young players make; inconsistency, loss of focus, uncertainty about where they're supposed to be and what they're supposed to be doing when they get there.
Williams needs to grind better, Akinbode-James needs to assert herself more.
And the coaches need to show them how to get there.
The roadmap to a successful 2019 season, IMO, starts with getting Boykin back, getting significant improvement from Williams and Akinbode-James and controlling the turnovers.
Based strictly on her post-game comments, McCallie seems to be prioritizing the first item on your list, getting a point guard. That's understandable after a game where we committed 14 turnovers but had just six assists, but I personally think the post is much more important. We cannot be a good team when we get a total of eight points of scoring (15% of the total output) from the post in a game where we have a significant size advantage. That should have been a major edge for us in this game, and instead was a liability. We were even out-rebounded in the first half, something Onome changed almost single-handedly in the second half.Quote:
Originally Posted by jimsumner
If we can't improve that, we might even be better off playing with a four-guard set.
Great summary Jim, point guard and ball handlers-gotta haves, let Odom get back to the wing/post.
hope they are able to improve as the season unfolds-fingers crossed !
A good point guard makes her post players much more effective. Coach P appears to be focused on the right thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phredd3
Hopefully, we can do both.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kedsy
Excellent first half vs Wisconsin! With almost half of the 1st quarter played, Duke had scored only one point, were down by 7, and had turned it over tons of times. Looked like they were heading towards disaster.
Instead, the ladies did a beautiful job of regrouping, and with nice scoring selection, good defense, and strong rebounding, go into the locker room up by 11. Score 30-19, Blue Devils.
Keep it up!
Duke wins 60-53 in a game that was not as close as the score implies. They suffered a 9 point drought in the second, and then went on a tear to get an 18 point lead at one point.
This was a very solid and much needed win.
Yep, really nice win at 6-1 Wisconsin whose only loss was by one point to Arkansas. Progress.
Yep, my friends in my Duke Facebook thread were all joking this morning about how much we'd lose by and how we'd wind up 3-4, so this was a very pleasant surprise. Hopefully the start of something to build on - I'm not sure how good Wisconsin will wind up being, but a true road game against a power 5 team that results in what was a convincing victory is always impressive.
Boykin will be back on the court this Sunday. :D:DQuote:
Originally Posted by jimsumner
Also, I'm hoping the game that we saw from A-J is a foretelling of what's to come. She was the difference maker last night with her double-double.
That's great news. I sure hope she is ready to go.Quote:
Originally Posted by CameronBornAndBred
The announcers said she took part in the pre-game warmups last night, and mentioned several times that she will be playing on Sunday. I want to say that Marist should be an easy win, but they lost in their conference championship last year and are off to a 5-1 start this year, so they know how to compete.Quote:
Originally Posted by chrishoke
As long as Boykin is ready to go, getting her into the rotation now instead of later in the year is a great way to get the team acclimated.
Cross your fingers!
An eight point victory today over a 6-1 Marist team that led by one at half after sinking a desperation three pointer at the buzzer. Gorecki again shot terribly, 4-17. Odom led with 20. Her mid range jump shot is a thing of beauty. Unfortunately, Boykin did not play. We really need her.
In other good news, the heels lost at home to a Maine team we beat on the road. GTHC GTH!
Based on what I saw today it's going to be a long season. McCallie wants the offense to run through the post, which requires a post player(s) with good footwork, hands, and instincts. Today Williams made 5 baskets and committed 5 turnovers. She travels almost as much as she converts. Gorecki had a difficult day at 4-17. 17 shots to make 17 points is Allen Iversonesque. Most opposing coaches will take it. Odom had a good game, but didn't really assert herself until late. She has a really sweet mid-range jumper. Unfortunately she doesn't have much help. The effort was there, but the talent seems considerably below what we have come to expect. Lack of a true point guard really hurts. And whatever happened to Boykin playing today? I'm trying to be optimistic but finding it quite difficult.
Great question. She sure was being primed during our last game as going today. I don't want to see her on the court until she's ready though.Quote:
Originally Posted by buddy
I didn't see the game, but what happened with the Akinbode-James from the Wisconsin game? In that one, she gets a double-double, and today has 4 boards with 3 points. I see she only played 12 minutes, did she exit early?
Two early fouls put her on the bench for the rest of the half, and from viewpoint never got into any flow.Quote:
Originally Posted by CameronBornAndBred
Marist packed it in (no surprise there) and harassed Haley all game to put her off her game. She’s forcing things, because if Leaonna isn’t in the game (mentally) Haley’s the offense. Miela has promised, but missing time during the preseason means she’s a bit out of synch.
No disagreement about Jade. It’s as if she’d never played basketball before with some of her plays.
As we struggled to get ahead, we were talking about how little Faith adds on offense and is a role player forced into a bigger role. She then made three big plays in a row to pick up the team.
Not sure about Mikayla. She was in warmups, but never got off the bench. Other than about a minute from Sofia, the bench was Jade, Jayda and Rayah. We need the help, but it’s not really coming. It’s going to be a long season, unless MiKayla can shed the inevitable rust she’ll have and be a steady point guard. Since she appeared to be more an off guard, we’ll have to see.