MBB: Duke 60, VPI 56 ACCT Post-Game Thread

[gofurman]

- good win

- lots a' minutes played by 4 players.. all 40 for Rivers geez that's harsh

- hope the 'boot' on Ryan isnt a big thing.

[uh_no]

- good win

- lots a' minutes played by 4 players.. all 40 for Rivers geez that's harsh

- hope the 'boot' on Ryan isnt a big thing.

we better hope for a friday game next week...and hopefully a game we don't have to exert too much in...or else that second round (god willing) will be mighty tough.

[CDu]

As much as the officials were not calling the charge in our game, they're calling it like crazy in the nightcap. Some of these are just ridiculous.

[CDu]

- good win

- lots a' minutes played by 4 players.. all 40 for Rivers geez that's harsh

- hope the 'boot' on Ryan isnt a big thing.

I could have sworn Rivers came out at least briefly. Can't say for sure, but I thought I remember a stretch in which he came out. Regardless, he sure played a lot.

[Troublemaker]

Another poor shooting game from Austin. That's 4 in a row and now I'm heavily leaning towards "he's hit a freshman wall." Hopefully Austin can find a way to re-energize before the NCAAs. At this point, I care much more about that and also Ryan's foot being okay than winning this conference or getting a 1 seed. Much health to our guys.

[CDu]

Another poor shooting game from Austin. That's 4 in a row and now I'm heavily leaning towards "he's hit a freshman wall." Hopefully Austin can find a way to re-energize before the NCAAs. At this point, I care much more about that and also Ryan's foot being okay than winning this conference or getting a 1 seed. Much health to our guys.

Not sure I buy the "freshman wall" thing. Rivers sure didn't look fatigued out there at all. He's a streaky shooter that takes some ill-advised shots. He didn't hit shots tonight, but nothing about his play tonight suggested to me that he has run out of gas.

[1 24 90]

we better hope for a friday game next week...and hopefully a game we don't have to exert too much in...or else that second round (god willing) will be mighty tough.

Greensboro is a Friday/Sunday region so that's good news.

[Kedsy]

The D carried the team tonight.

There were a few lapses, but I agree our D seemed to play much better than usual tonight. It was good to see.

Dawkins missed his shots, unfortunately, but he looked like he was in the game, defended fine, got a few boards, just missed some good shots.

I liked every shot Andre took. They just didn't go in. It happens sometimes. He was active on defense, ran the floor, and rebounded pretty well. He did not move around a lot in our half court sets, though. I'd like him to try harder to hunt his shot.

I think that Miles and Hairston are both better rebounders (by rebound rate). I think we missed Kelly offensively for sure, though.

Ryan's offensive rebound percentage is 8.1%, and Josh's is 11.9% (not including tonight), so Josh had rebounded better on offense. But Ryan's defensive rebound percentage is 15.3% and Josh's is 8.7%. Ryan is a significantly better defensive rebounder than Josh.

No one has mentioned Austin winning that foot race for the and-1, the play that essentially sealed the game. That was really exciting.

The play of the day. We just wanted it more than they did.

The Curry lob to Mason was also big and stemmed the run they were making.

Seth made several rather nifty assists. Best passing we've seen from him in awhile.

Kelly is pretty good feeding Mason in the post, but our guards aren't.

Actually, Andre has been pretty good at feeding the post, too. But he didn't get enough touches to do it tonight.

I could have sworn Rivers came out at least briefly. Can't say for sure, but I thought I remember a stretch in which he came out. Regardless, he sure played a lot.

He did come out at the end of the first half. But it was for less than a minute so he got credited for 40 minutes played.

[Kedsy]

After all the debate about how we were going to play, it was interesting to see how it played out. For the most part, CDu was right and we more or less did what we'd done all year. Although we did play Andre at PF for a 6 minute stretch in the first half. It didn't work out so well score-wise (they outscored us by one point in the six minutes -- our 2 point lead shrunk to a 1 point lead), but if Andre's shots had gone down, the four-guard look might have been successful.

Tyler's 3 for 13 brings his season 3-point average down to 35.7% -- 28% since January 15. I noted his makes were all when he received the ball in the corner in rhythm. Every other three-pointer he tried missed, and many missed badly. He played well and hard on defense; that steal from behind after Austin turned it over was one of the plays of the game. But personally, I hope he keeps it down to three or so 3-point attempts per game.

[Dukeface88]

After all the debate about how we were going to play, it was interesting to see how it played out. For the most part, CDu was right and we more or less did what we'd done all year. Although we did play Andre at PF for a 6 minute stretch in the first half. It didn't work out so well score-wise (they outscored us by one point in the six minutes -- our 2 point lead shrunk to a 1 point lead), but if Andre's shots had gone down, the four-guard look might have been successful.

Tyler's 3 for 13 brings his season 3-point average down to 35.7% -- 28% since January 15. I noted his makes were all when he received the ball in the corner in rhythm. Every other three-pointer he tried missed, and many missed badly. He played well and hard on defense; that steal from behind after Austin turned it over was one of the plays of the game. But personally, I hope he keeps it down to three or so 3-point attempts per game.

I agree that Tyler should not be shooting that many 3's, but I can't really blame him tonight. VPI was leaving him wide open, and it isn't like anyone else was knocking them down. Plus, some of those were with single digits on the shot clock - he really shouldn't be getting the ball in that position to begin with.

[COYS]

There's nothing to gripe about from me with this game. In 2010 we had three similar ACC Tourney wins on the way to the ACC crown and, of course, the national title. Personally, I was impressed with our defense. It was probably our best defensive game all season when the competition is considered. Survive and advance.

[greybeard]

Seth the Angry came up with a very god defensive game plan that was well executed. Somehow, Rivers and Curry were really pinched coming off high screens, more effectively than is usual. When the ball went inside, there were three defenders present. That had to be confusing to Mason and Miles, who were all but dared to shoot from say 10-12 feet--they seemed to have nothing else.

I've said it before, this offense does not seem to be designed for inside scoring by the bigs. Making entry passes coming off a high screen, several steps outside the three line, well, let's just say that getting it to Mason or Miles in a good spot with good timing is extremely problematic. You can't expect aneffective entry passes in that circumstance. Tyler was left alone behind the three line. He didn't need to stay there after a catch. Dribbling under control inside the line to a high percentage shooting spot (preferrably a bank shot) was an option. If an inside player begins to close, passing angles open up with Duke's bigs not plying a man down. If no challenge is made, Tyler shoots a high percentage shot, not a three when he was not hitting. I think that the only re4aswon that Tyler stayed behind the three line and shot when open was because he was instructed to. I'm in no position to second guess that call.

Given VT's defense, I think that this was a good win for Duke, especially without Ryan. I was really, really impressed with Harrison. He seemed to be the only guy on either team to show his joy at being out there. I think that he'll do much better with foul trouble in the next game. I think that this was the first game he has played in which his foul count was an issue--in other games, if he could not stop em, he had fouls to use. I think that he'll play with the mindset of a crucial big in a three man rotation from here on out.

Finally, it's time I think to "let the big dog eat." If teams are going to play Rivers and Curry so tough, and it seems certain that they will, Dawkins needs to get it going and his teammates need to do what they must to make that happen. They need to be Dawkins' Harry, to let Dawkins' know that they have his back, that, come what may, "we in [this battle]t shall be remembered--we few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother."

Will it work? Who knows, but seems like a plan to me. And, Miles, do remember to smile and relax; Harry did, they all did, and look how it turned out for them.

Have a great game!

[Johnny Chill]

There were a few lapses, but I agree our D seemed to play much better than usual tonight. It was good to see.



I liked every shot Andre took. They just didn't go in. It happens sometimes. He was active on defense, ran the floor, and rebounded pretty well. He did not move around a lot in our half court sets, though. I'd like him to try harder to hunt his shot.



Ryan's offensive rebound percentage is 8.1%, and Josh's is 11.9% (not including tonight), so Josh had rebounded better on offense. But Ryan's defensive rebound percentage is 15.3% and Josh's is 8.7%. Ryan is a significantly better defensive rebounder than Josh.



The play of the day. We just wanted it more than they did.



Seth made several rather nifty assists. Best passing we've seen from him in awhile.



Actually, Andre has been pretty good at feeding the post, too. But he didn't get enough touches to do it tonight.



He did come out at the end of the first half. But it was for less than a minute so he got credited for 40 minutes played.

The play of the game was Hairston's 1 man fast break.

[Kfanarmy]

I thought we should have gone to Mason more on the block.--.

at least a couple of times, Mason was the recipient of entry passes that got by him...one of which was a near perfect pass from AR; Mason looked like he was trying to grab it with a couple of bricks...I think he left 6 points on the court by not getting ahold of the ball...a win is a win however.

[Starter]

I'm surprised Thornton only hit three of his 13 threes. He's a pretty good shooter, and I'd have to think that left totally open for the majority of a game, he'd make you pay. I'd think a better team, if they employed this strategy and Thornton shot like this, would beat Duke. But that's contingent on Thornton shooting like this, which I can't imagine would happen often. And I don't think -- I'd hope, anyway -- that a better opponent wouldn't bother with this and would play it straight up. (Thornton didn't have more than 6 shots in any other game this year.) It was still sound strategy for Virginia Tech, who was outclassed; every shot that doesn't go to Curry, Rivers or a Plumlee, you take it. I'm actually glad this game plan was implemented at this point and time and by this opponent, since it presumably gives Duke something to think about in case someone else tries this.

I've been hard on Thornton this year, by the way -- not necessarily the player himself, but the amount our team has used him. And I still think, for example, that Quinn Cook should be playing more than three minutes in games at this point in time, for a variety of reasons. But I can't say enough about Thornton's effort level in this game, and his tendency to be in the right place at the right time was never more evident. I loved his chasedown steal. I think this was the best I've seen him defensively, and he definitely set a strong tone with his hustle.

[Greg_Newton]

The play of the game was Hairston's 1 man fast break.

The Euro Hop!

I'm amazed by how much Thornton has improved over the course of the year. Among other things, he's become our best passer by far. At least ten times tonight, I did the old "Thornnnton!" while kind-of-chuckling thing... he's just always "the guy" doing "that thing".

I'm not really concerned by the shooting, as long as it doesn't get into his head. By my count, he only took one bad shot; just got to keep shooting those and have faith they'll start dropping in.

[NYC Duke Fan]

Another poor shooting game from Austin. That's 4 in a row and now I'm heavily leaning towards "he's hit a freshman wall." Hopefully Austin can find a way to re-energize before the NCAAs. At this point, I care much more about that and also Ryan's foot being okay than winning this conference or getting a 1 seed. Much health to our guys.

Even if we win the tournament in my opinion we will not get a 1 seed. I think that no matter UNC has locked it up. If by some ridiculous moment, the committee did do it, we would be the weakest number 1 seed in recent years.

I have posted previously that I think that Coach K has done a fabulous job this year, but this is not a championship team by any stretch of the imagination. As I have said, do not be surprised if Duke does not get out of the first weekend of the Tournament.

[Devilsfan]

If Thorton hits just two or three more of the WIDE open shots we could have rested a few more players, IMO. Also what's up with Mason's "look Mom no hands" act? It looked like Seth stole a page out of ol roy's play book where he picks a player and says let's let him beat us with his outside shooting. In ol roy's case it was Ryan. Seth picked Thorton. It almost (3-13) worked. Glad it didn't. Go Devils.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Even if we win the tournament in my opinion we will not get a 1 seed. I think that no matter UNC has locked it up. If by some ridiculous moment, the committee did do it, we would be the weakest number 1 seed in recent years.

I have posted previously that I think that Coach K has done a fabulous job this year, but this is not a championship team by any stretch of the imagination. As I have said, do not be surprised if Duke does not get out of the first weekend of the Tournament.

I addressed this on the other thread, but I don't know why you see Duke/UNC as either or. Especially with Kansas losing to Baylor. If Duke wins out this weekend and UNC either loses today or Sunday, what do you base the idea that UNC has it "locked up?" Nearly identical resumes and a head-to-head split (or 2-1 for Duke if they win v. UNC tomorrow).

I'm not sure why you are spreading your despair across so many threads on this board. It's survive and advance season! A win is a win. I saw a lot to like last night including a gritty, defending, rebounding team I hadn't seen in AGES and a nice emergence by Hairston.

GO DUKE!

[Papa John]

I have posted previously that I think that Coach K has done a fabulous job this year, but this is not a championship team by any stretch of the imagination. As I have said, do not be surprised if Duke does not get out of the first weekend of the Tournament.

And don't be surprised if they make it to the final weekend either... This season, moreso than many in recent memory, appears to be a crapshoot (aside from Kentucky). Don't fall to one of the classic blunders of history:

1. Never make definitive predictions about the NCAA tournament,
2. Never get involved in a land war in southeast Asia,
3. Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!