MBB: Duke 67, Virginia 49 Post-Game Thread

[Jumbo]

Let the dialogue commence.

[SCMatt33]

That was for everyone who complains about end of game minutes and not letting off the gas,

[jjasper0729]

i thought we were pretty steady throughout the game. big minutes contributions from everyone. uva was able to get on a couple of mini-runs, but we were able to shut those down and keep the lead in double digits after the first 10 minutes of the game.

[superdave]

I was glad to see long minutes for the bench tonight. That's a fun way to handle a road game during the home stretch.

Mason had a few nice drives this fine evening.

[chrisheery]

Felt like a practice against worse competition. Glad Mason got to see some shots go in during game action. Miles just can't seem to get over the hump. Sucks that Nolan and Zoubek's stats take a hit I guess. But, they show up when it matters.

[BlueintheFace]

I predict that this will be one of the shortest post-game threads of the season... ~3-4 pages maybe.

Nice to see Jon start hitting on those drives and not just hitting the threes after the last few games.

Nolan had a rough go of it, but Jon and Kyle look March-ready

[superdave]

Did anyone notice that UVA started tightening up and jumping into Duke's perimeter ball handoffs? I thought that was a nice coaching adjustment by Bennett and really threw us off. As Nova showed last year, if you disrupt our perimeter passing/handoffs, you can throw off our timing and rhythm.

Interesting and a little scary.

[Jumbo]

Felt like a practice against worse competition. Glad Mason got to see some shots go in during game action. Miles just can't seem to get over the hump. Sucks that Nolan and Zoubek's stats take a hit I guess. But, they show up when it matters.

Our efficiency stats are also going to take a hit based on the performance of the all-reserve lineup in the last 4 minutes. And I don't think Coach K is going to be particularly nice to them in practice.

That said, this felt like an old-fashioned, mature, Duke blowout against an undermanned team. A lot to like in this game.

[loldevilz]

Good game against a mediocre team on the road. Thought the bench played well. Nolan needs to keep his head up and stop being a ball hog. I hope that's what Coach K was telling him when he took him out. I thought we saw some very effective lineups that weren't the starting 5. Zoubs-Mason-Singler-Dawkins-Scheyer were absolutely dominant for a 5 minute stretch in the second half. Zoubs and Thomas weren't spectacular today...I hope they get their mojo back for Maryland.

[Jumbo]

Did anyone notice that UVA started tightening up and jumping into Duke's perimeter ball handoffs? I thought that was a nice coaching adjustment by Bennett and really threw us off. As Nova showed last year, if you disrupt our perimeter passing/handoffs, you can throw off our timing and rhythm.

Interesting and a little scary.

But I thought we countered extremely well and ran some great motion offense in the last few minutes the starters were in.

[CameronDuke]

Good walk through for the biggest game of our season so far on Wednesday at Maryland. I like that our starters (mainly Singler, Scheyer, and Smith) got lots of rest tonight. Good road win, though UVA is pitiful, especially without Landesburg.

I will say that I was wrong about this team after the Carolina game. They can shoot better than I thought and can win on the road. Like I said, Maryland in College Park will be our biggest game of the season so far. I am eager to see how we perform in the Comcast Center.

Let's Go Duke.

[Saratoga2]

The game became a lot easier with Landesberg sitting it out with an injury. Virginia does play a decent defense, so it was more like a good scrimmage than a game we were likely to lose.

It was a workmanlike job for us with Singler and Scheyer getting the stats, but a lot of players getting minutes. Mason made some interesting offensive moves and Dawkins got into the scoring column.

Virginia has some good interior players who could develop in the future. Duke's interior defense wasn't that strong tonight, but it could just have been the sheer number of combinations coach K was using.

Good game for our bench to get some PY.

[dukebluelemur]

Zebras went back to whistling Z if he looked at the ball... I think refs actually letting him play the last few games has been by far the biggest factor in his recent effectiveness... Ticks me off a bit, seeing him get called so inconsistently... think where we would be if he'd been able to actually play a year or so ago.

[mgtr]

I was happy to see Mason stay in the game for quite a while and collect no fouls, and to see Dawkins hit a couple of shots. Of course, there were things that were not so good, as have been pointed out already.

[strawbs]

it was great to see the ball go through the hoop a couple times for andre. The first three looked great, i wasn't surprised he missed the 2nd because it looked rushed and off balance. I was really surprised the 2 he made went it, because that really looked forced. I wish his last 3 attempt would have dropped though, he had a great open look, and i think that could have really helped his confidence

[Newton_14]

Did I dream it or did Duke not win "The ACC Title" last year. Bonner is normally sharper than that. And he even made it worse by clarifying it, saying that Duke had not gone more than 2 years without winning either the Reg Season or ACC tourney title but Jon's class had neither yet?? Petty I guess but jeez give us credit when we actually win a championship..

Nice to have a game where we lead comfortably throughout. That was greatly needed. The freshman got some burn, Andre hits a 3, and Mason played really well with some nice post moves and finishes. Great to see. Miles has been handed the Zoubs karma that requires a foul call if he looks at or breathes near anyone. I thought Miles played better tonight and got jobbed on at least 3 of the foul calls. The other half of that Zoubs karma is on Jon who can't buy a foul call on drives anymore. Other than that I thought the refs were outstanding tonight!

Great game by Jon and Kyle, and good team defense throughout. But starting Wednesday the stakes get higher game by game. Time to step on the gas and get it done!

Go Duke!

[gwwilburn]

Last weekend, if I was given the choice as to which of the next two games would be reminiscent of the Penn game, I would have chosen Thursday's contest. That being said, Tulsa is pretty decent (in KenPom's top 100) and UVa is awful without Landesberg. Glad we have three major scoring threats instead of just one.
On another note, nice game from Mason and Andre. Zoubs was solid but not spectacular, and Lance did what he always does. Nolan concerns me a bit, but Jon and Kyle were able to pick it up. Also, to be a negative Nancy, what was with Miles picking up four (if not five) fouls in the second half? Not a good sign. But I was impressed, on the whole.

[gwwilburn]

By the way, what a nice month February has been. 8-0!!!!! Hopefully March and April will be even better!

[jv001]

Jon and Kyle with excellent games. Nolan a very bad shooting night. Good to see the bench get some minutes. Andre and Mason played well but Ryan got lost on defense a few times. Caused some foul trouble on Miles. Good game to get ready for the twerps. Go Duke!

[Andre Buckner Fan]

We needed an easy game so the starters could rest and the bench could practice.

Landesberg not playing was really helpful. We still would have won, I think, but Jon, Kyle and Nolan would have all played 39-40.