MOTM: Duke vs. Washington (Dec 10, 2011)

[JBDuke]

Who was Man of the Match in Duke's 86-80 win over Washington?

[ScreechTDX1847]

I chose Ryan. He started out cold but did a little of everything today to help get the win. Consistency wins games.

[dukebluelemur]

I chose Ryan. He started out cold but did a little of everything today to help get the win. Consistency wins games.

Kelly's probably as good a choice as any... no one really blew the doors off. Though after his disappearing act of late I'm not sure if consistency is the best argument in his favor.

[COYS]

Kelly's probably as good a choice as any... no one really blew the doors off. Though after his disappearing act of late I'm not sure if consistency is the best argument in his favor.

In defense of Ryan, he had 7 boards and played strong defense in the first half when he was missing all those shots. To be honest, I'm more encouraged by his rebounding and defense than his scoring. He's learning how to score when the defense actually keys in on him. However, for the team to reach its ceiling, Ryan's defensive rebounding needs to be at it's best. He answered the bell against a Husky team that is strong on the boards.

However, I went with Miles for MOTM. That might sound crazy, but I thought his defensive effort was superb. He snuffed out Husky drives right and left, made a few great hustle plays. He was opportunistic (if still a bit robotic) on offense and he hit his free throws. He was a big part of how easy it was to build our lead.

[MCFinARL]

I chose Andre because he really got the offense going in the first half with good shooting and good passing. Though he cooled off a little in the second half, he didn't take bad shots, and he was solid from the foul line late in the game. And I thought he had a solid effort on defense, if not perfect (no one on Duke looked perfect on defense late in the second half).

[jv001]

I voted for Andre because of his first half play. His scoring helped get us a big lead that we held until late in the 2nd half. That was a huge lift as Ryan was ice cold and Curry wasn't getting many open looks. Ryan gets some praise for a great 2nd half when Andre went cold. He had a good all around game. GoDuke!

[Saratoga2]

I went with Andre for the lift he gave the team in the first half and the generally solid game off the bench. Rivers, Miles and Kelly also were strong performers, with Austin's decision making a problem, Kelly's cold shooting a problem and Miles had a very good game but a shade behind the others.

[ArkieDukie]

This one was tough. Miles got my vote, but I could've just as easily voted for Andre. Rivers was good until he fouled out. RK had a good 2nd half after a not-so-good first half.

Miles had a very solid game off the bench. He was good on defense, altering a significant number of shots. He was also good on offense. He went 3/4 from the free throw line, if I rememeber correctly, which makes him the Plumlee of Choice for end of game situations. Excellent all-around effort by MP1.

[ScreechTDX1847]

Kelly's probably as good a choice as any... no one really blew the doors off. Though after his disappearing act of late I'm not sure if consistency is the best argument in his favor.

He has been consistent in other parts of the offense/defense than just scoring the ball. He always seems to fill up the stat sheet.

[DukieInBrasil]

he didn't take bad shots, and he was solid from the foul line late in the game. And I thought he had a solid effort on defense, if not perfect (no one on Duke looked perfect on defense late in the second half).

Actually, i thought quite the opposite during the game. He was launching 3s from the NBA line, and at one point nearly broke the iron on a 3 from 3 steps behind he NBA line. Those are bad shots, and they left him open b/c they are bad shots. There's no need for him to be spotting up from that deep.

[nmduke2001]

Andre made quite an impact with his scoring in the first half. In addition, I was impressed with his defense and especially his passing into the post. He seemed to be the only guard trying to get the ball into Mason when he had post position.

[jv001]

Andre made quite an impact with his scoring in the first half. In addition, I was impressed with his defense and especially his passing into the post. He seemed to be the only guard trying to get the ball into Mason when he had post position.

Andre was agressive to the point that he actually put the ball on the floor today. I like that. He was moving on defense and I don't remember him missing any assignments. He had a few rebounds and as you mentioned he passed the ball into the post. Very good game for Dre. GoDuke!

[MCFinARL]

Actually, i thought quite the opposite during the game. He was launching 3s from the NBA line, and at one point nearly broke the iron on a 3 from 3 steps behind he NBA line. Those are bad shots, and they left him open b/c they are bad shots. There's no need for him to be spotting up from that deep.

Well, you make a reasonable point--it may be just a difference in how we define a bad shot. I didn't see those as "bad" because Andre was open and he didn't take them at the beginning of the shot clock. But I'd be willing to concede those were perhaps not really "good" shots.

[Bob Green]

I could make a case for several players today. Miles Plumlee definitely deserves consideration for playing a very solid game on both ends of the court. The same goes for Ryan Kelly who was strong on the glass, a defensive presence and scored 16 points even though he struggled with his shot early. However, my vote goes to Andre Dawkins for his second consecutive strong performance coming off the bench. He was the offensive spark early, made 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch, played solid defense, and performed well helping to handle the ball late when Rivers and Curry were disqualified. As mentioned in the post game thread, he made several impressive entry passes to our big men. Dawkins is starting to mature into a complete player.

[tele]

Big game by the big guy in the Big apple, Miles got my vote.

[Duke71]

I voted for Andre because he has a "step up and do it on the big MSG stage" legacy thing going and once again delivered.

He didn't disappoint despite his nagging physical problems ( back spasms that could have easilly spilled over from the CSU game, but thankfully didn't. Heck, people were even speculating here whether red-shirting might be an option for him today instead of playing at all ).

Somebody said earlier that no one exactly knocked the doors down to justify an unarguable, lock-tight case for MOTM in this game from start to finish, but Dre comes as close as anybody on the Duke team for laying claim that MSG and he are on real "friendly terms" relationship wise.

[Bob Green]

(Heck, people were even speculating here whether red-shirting might be an option for him today instead of playing at all ).

Those comments were completely tongue-in-cheek. Nobody seriously stated Dawkins would be red-shirting.

[FellowTraveler]

Actually, i thought quite the opposite during the game. He was launching 3s from the NBA line, and at one point nearly broke the iron on a 3 from 3 steps behind he NBA line. Those are bad shots, and they left him open b/c they are bad shots. There's no need for him to be spotting up from that deep.

Andre Dawkins has NBA range. I encourage Duke's opponents to leave him open from that distance, his teammates to get him the ball when that happens, and him to take those shots without hesitation.

It's interesting to me that, as of this writing, 10 people have voted for Ryan and 0 for Mason. Ryan scored 16 points on 15 shots; Mason scored 12 on 8 shots. Mason had 1 more turnover and two fewer fouls. I thought Mason played better defense, and made better passes/fewer bad passes. Basically, it seemed to me that Mason played a better game than Ryan, by a comfortable margin. But Mason missed a lot of free throws, which just feels worse than missing a buch of FG attempts, and Ryan's horrible shooting came in the first half, after which he redeemed himself a bit, so it isn't as fresh in people's minds as Mason's missed FT.

[wilko]

I went with Miles.
Strong game for him. O and D! He was able to close out on FT's when it mattered and stayed on the court in crunch time.

[FellowTraveler]

Ryan scored 16 points on 15 shots; Mason scored 12 on 8 shots.

Just to self-correct a bit: Points per shot is typically a pretty solid measure of scoring efficiency, but Mason's atrocious FT shooting renders it a bit misleading w/r/t today's game. I still think Mason played the better game, and drawing fouls has utility even if you don't make the free throws. But my post over-stated the scoring efficiency case for Mason.