MBB: Duke vs. Maryland (Jan 26, 2013) Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Put your pre-game and in-game thoughts here.

[ChillinDuke]

Put your pre-game and in-game thoughts here.

Oh my goodness, thank you. I needed something else to read / talk about. I'm so thankful for this thread.

Just. ... So. ... Thankful.

- Chillin

[FanFair]

Just sayin'. Next play - the mantra of anyone in sports!

[rthomas]

Just sayin'. Next play - the mantra of anyone in sports!

If only Boozer was still on our team.

[-bdbd]

Gota get this bad taste out of my mouth. I think the guys will feel that way too.

Wouldn't want to be Maryland coming into CIS after the Miami game.



P.S. I'm actually based in the DC area. After crowing about Duke's "thrashing" (his word) by Miami, the local TV sportscaster, who is a MD grad, was actually joking about this very point. Something along the lines of, "Well the good news is that Duke got beat, bad; but the BAD news is that the Terps have to go in there and play them in their next game... (shakes head smiling)

[CDu]

Maryland is big and physical. They have Len (7'1", 255), but they also throw a bunch of widebodies at us in Cleare (6'9", 265), Mitchell (6'8", 260), and Padgett (6'8", 235). Mason has had trouble against size and physicality this season, so watch for his matchup against the Maryland bigs, who will undoubtedly follow Miami's script and collapse in the paint rather than chase on the perimeter.

Maryland is also big and athletic on the perimeter. They play Howard (6'3", 190), Faust (6'6", 205), Wells (6'5", 215), and Allen (6'1", 190), Aronhalt (6'3", 205), and Layman (6'8", 205). And given their defensive strategy of size and physicality, I wouldn't be shocked if Curry finds the going tough as well. Hopefully, when he does get open, he hits the shots this time (unlike the Miami game).

In terms of defensive gameplan, Maryland will play very similarly to Miami. They are younger, though, and thus may be more susceptible to mistakes. And we'll be playing at home, so we'll likely get the benefit of a few more calls going our way than we did in Miami. But I wouldn't be shocked if we struggle offensively against Maryland in a similar (if to a lesser degree) than we did against Miami.

On the other end of the floor, however, it's an entirely different story. Maryland is, to put it nicely, putrid on offense. They have some decent young players, but nothing remotely similar to the arsenal of talent that Miami has offensively. We shouldn't struggle the same way we struggled against Miami on the defensive end.

I am pretty confident we'll win this game. Whether it is a struggle or a blowout depends on our shooting and the officiating.

[TruBlu]

It will be interesting to see the intensity of our team to start the game. I can't wait for tip-off, as a way to get rid of some pent up frustrations for me (and the team) following our last effort(?).

p.s. For those of you living in the I-85 corridor, please do everything you can to keep the roads from icing today . . . leave your windows open in your cars and home, with the heat turned up high. If you are driving, take a salt shaker, and sprinkle some out your car window as you drive on I-85. Thank you in advance.

[slower]

Wouldn't want to be Maryland coming into CIS after the Miami game.

Hopefully, many posters are correct and our guys will turn it around and play with pride and a bit of anger.

But it's kind of silly for people to keep saying that they "wouldn't want to be Maryland right now" or imply that Maryland (or any other team) is AFRAID to play Duke. That's just not the case.

As I said, hopefully our guys will turn it around. At the very least, EVEN IF they lose, it would be nice to see them play with an edge. I'd rather see a mad team than a complacent team.

[dyedwab]

Given that MD's physical profile in the backcourt has some similarities to Miami, I'm wondering if something I noticed in the late stage of the Miami game might become relevant.

It seemed to me that late in the game, well after any chance of a comeback was exhausted, but while we were still pressing and running the ball up the floor, it appeared to me that Rasheed became the primary ballhandler for a while. I'm not sure whether this was by design, or by accident, or whether it was desperation to get something, anything to work. But I think we had some limited success with it. I'm wondering if we might see a bit of Rasheed as ballhandler tomorrow.

Other than that, I just want us to beat them to loose balls and play hard defensively for 40 minutes. We do that, and, win or lose, I know we played Duke basketball.

[Steve68]

Hopefully, many posters are correct and our guys will turn it around and play with pride and a bit of anger.

But it's kind of silly for people to keep saying that they "wouldn't want to be Maryland right now" or imply that Maryland (or any other team) is AFRAID to play Duke. That's just not the case.

As I said, hopefully our guys will turn it around. At the very least, EVEN IF they lose, it would be nice to see them play with an edge. I'd rather see a mad team than a complacent team.

It's not silly in that it has little to do with Maryland - it has much more to do with Duke and its attitude toward the game. If Duke had beaten Miami, I could easlily have seen Duke take a lax attitude into the Maryland game. That is not going to happen now. Maryland wasn't going to enter the game afraid either way, but now Duke will not take the game for granted.

[slower]

It's not silly in that it has little to do with Maryland - it has much more to do with Duke and its attitude toward the game. If Duke had beaten Miami, I could easlily have seen Duke take a lax attitude into the Maryland game. That is not going to happen now. Maryland wasn't going to enter the game afraid either way, but now Duke will not take the game for granted.

Anything's possible. Maybe Maryland, after seeing what Miami just did, will be MORE confident. Look, we could blow them out. They could blow us out. All bets are off at this point. If some people want to maintain supreme confidence, that's great. In fact, I wish I could have that kind of attitude and act as if some kind of switch will be turned on for our guys whenever they need it. Of course it's POSSIBLE, and I dearly hope that it happens. But it is most assuredly NOT a sure thing.

BTW, do you think Duke took "a lax attitude" into the Miami game?

[capitolhill]

Given that MD's physical profile in the backcourt has some similarities to Miami...

The way to beat MD is to make sure that the back court doesn't get open looks. Of course, they haven't even been able to convert open looks since the VT game, but it's been getting marginally better since the UNC game. If the guards start hitting shots, it will be difficult, because you won't be able to double and triple team Len.

The Len-Mason matchup will be interesting. Last year, Mason owned it, but Len is a much different player this year with some legitimate post skills. I've been looking forward to it ever since Len put a clinic on Nerlens Noel in the season opener.

Look for Dez Wells to play more point as well...

[davekay1971]

Maryland delinde est

Duke should beat Maryland. We should beat them down and do it with a ferocity that is just ugly. Maryland plays very good defense and they rebound well. That's all well and good, and we need to respect that. But, if we focus on our own defense and rebounding, we can rebound with them, we can shut down their anemic offense, and we should be able to generate enough offense of our own to beat them down.

I'd start the game focusing on Mason Plumlee. Get the ball into Mason and see if he can generate some easy offense and get Len in some foul trouble. There's nothing I'd like better for Maryland's last ACC game in Cameron than to have Maryland fans blaming the refs because Len gets in early foul trouble. Strategically, that would help open up the outside for Curry and Sulaimon and, if we can limit Len's PT, help us out tremendously on the boards.

If Mason can't get established, that makes things more difficult, and it could be a real dogfight. But I have faith in Mason to get established, and faith in Cook finding ways to get the ball to him in position to score.

I can't wait for this game. I bet our team can't wait either.

[DukeHoo]

My roommate is a Maryland grad, so I've seen them play quite a bit during the season. Their entire team is very young, and they lack a true point guard. As a result, their guards can be turnover prone (by being forced into bad passes) and their offense can stall for long stretches of a game. Beyond Aronhalt, they also lack good shooters. Layman and Allen can get hot, but they are both very streaky. Some of the other players (Faust in particular) can be goaded into bad shots. Their defense is pretty good, and they are an excellent rebounding team. Mitchell, in particular, does a good job on the offensive boards and could potentially hurt us (since we lack a good defensive matchup for him). He has good hands, and a nice soft touch around the basket. Len could potentially give us problems, but he has been playing soft as of late. In ACC play, Len has a tendency to fade away from contact in the post (Mason has had this problem recently as well).

I think we can win this game if we hit our shots and don't get killed on the boards. Hopefully, Duke comes out and plays with fire.

[dukeofcalabash]

A couple of observations about the team:
1. First and foremost, the players do not yet have a strong leader. Someone has to take this position and everyone has to know it.
2. Second, Mason does have problems, but it's with his own team! Who is there to really help the guy when teams like Miami and Maryland thrown TONS of bodies at him? Too bad Marshall is not ready for this role.
3. It appeared to me that the Duke offense was trying to play differently. If that's the case then our best shooter (when he's hot) is a dead man walking! Curry cannot create shots, others have to create for him. This didn't happen against Miami and he looks totally stressed and out manned (which he was).
4. I know Coach K says he spends the time to get the starters ready to play, but the result is that there are no subs ready to step in and become a hero, ala Fred Liind '68 ( think).

[Bob Green]

Excellent pregame analysis from CDu. I agree wholeheartedly with a couple of his points:

Maryland is big and physical. They have Len (7'1", 255), but they also throw a bunch of widebodies at us in Cleare (6'9", 265), Mitchell (6'8", 260), and Padgett (6'8", 235). Mason has had trouble against size and physicality this season, so watch for his matchup against the Maryland bigs, who will undoubtedly follow Miami's script and collapse in the paint rather than chase on the perimeter.

As I posted prior to the Miami game, one key will be Mason finishing through physical contact. Mason must be efficient scoring the ball. He was 5-15 from the field against Miami so he must be much better against Maryland.

Maryland is also big and athletic on the perimeter. They play Howard (6'3", 190), Faust (6'6", 205), Wells (6'5", 215), and Allen (6'1", 190), Aronhalt (6'3", 205), and Layman (6'8", 205). And given their defensive strategy of size and physicality, I wouldn't be shocked if Curry finds the going tough as well. Hopefully, when he does get open, he hits the shots this time (unlike the Miami game).

It isn't just Curry who needs to hit shots, Cook and Thornton also need to make Maryland pay the price when they collapse in the paint. Cook was bothered by Larkin's speed and his struggles disrupted our whole offensive flow. As anyone who watched knows, we had zero flow. Cook needs to be back in control orchestrating the offense against Maryland.

We saw a solid defensive effort out of Murphy so I expect we will see more of him as a counter to Maryland's perimeter size.

On the other end of the floor, however, it's an entirely different story. Maryland is, to put it nicely, putrid on offense. They have some decent young players, but nothing remotely similar to the arsenal of talent that Miami has offensively. We shouldn't struggle the same way we struggled against Miami on the defensive end.

Our defense has a lot to prove not only against Maryland but over the next several games. We need to prove the Miami performance was a fluke.

I'd start the game focusing on Mason Plumlee. Get the ball into Mason and see if he can generate some easy offense and get Len in some foul trouble. There's nothing I'd like better for Maryland's last ACC game in Cameron than to have Maryland fans blaming the refs because Len gets in early foul trouble. Strategically, that would help open up the outside for Curry and Sulaimon and, if we can limit Len's PT, help us out tremendously on the boards.

Foul trouble is an intangible in every ball game, but you hit the nail on the head by pointing out the Twerping factor. Nothing would be finer than hearing Maryland fans twerp, twerp, twerp after this game.

I believe everyone has a bad taste in their mouth after the debacle in Coral Gables and I'm confident that includes the players and staff. It is time to start the healing process!

[superdave]

I'd start the game focusing on Mason Plumlee. Get the ball into Mason and see if he can generate some easy offense and get Len in some foul trouble. There's nothing I'd like better for Maryland's last ACC game in Cameron than to have Maryland fans blaming the refs because Len gets in early foul trouble. Strategically, that would help open up the outside for Curry and Sulaimon and, if we can limit Len's PT, help us out tremendously on the boards.

If Mason can't get established, that makes things more difficult, and it could be a real dogfight. But I have faith in Mason to get established, and faith in Cook finding ways to get the ball to him in position to score.

Len is a pretty good defensive player, tall enough to disrupt shots (1.9 blocks per), and could give us trouble on the offensive boards (averaging 3 offensive boards per game). I agree with Dave Kay that we should feed Mason and have Mason saddle Len with some early fouls. That's the best way to reduce Maryland's game plan. Then we can control the boards and just pound them.

Maryland is holding opponents to .296 on 3's for the season, and .351 on FGs. Not bad.

I think if you establish dominance inside early, the rest Maryland has to offer will melt away. Time for Mason to step up.

[Steve68]

Anything's possible. Maybe Maryland, after seeing what Miami just did, will be MORE confident. Look, we could blow them out. They could blow us out. All bets are off at this point. If some people want to maintain supreme confidence, that's great. In fact, I wish I could have that kind of attitude and act as if some kind of switch will be turned on for our guys whenever they need it. Of course it's POSSIBLE, and I dearly hope that it happens. But it is most assuredly NOT a sure thing.

BTW, do you think Duke took "a lax attitude" into the Miami game?

In a sense, yes, I do. They have been getting off to slow starts lately, and, as has been mentioned numerous times in other threads, they don't seem to match the intensity of the other team at the beginning of the game. I believe they thought they could beat anybody based on their talent level and past results (NC State not withstanding), so they didn't have to meet the other team's intensity level. I think they got knocked back during the big run in the first half and were not able to recover physically or mentally. They tightened-up and usually high percentage shots were just off target and became misses. It snow-balled and once reliable shots became fast break opportunities for Miami. Could it happen again? Of course it could, but I doubt that we will have another shooting night like that and, at least in the short run, I doubt that we will not be intense from the get go. I guess we will all find out together.

[bedeviled]

Featherston’s interesting front page article reviews the rather substantial changes K has made after big losses in the past, yet, for the most part, we keep rehashing the who-can-take-Ryan’s-place argument. Some of our other proposed game plans amount to “we need to play better,” and aren’t all that useful for tactics or fun mental exercises. Maybe we should go back to the less heralded speculations and imagine something more preposterous around the corner… Anyone have a crazy (but possible) scenario in mind?

I don’t know anything about Maryland. Would this be a good game to test out the Twin Towers landscape with Mason and Marshall in the blocks? I know Marshall isn’t ready, but both Miles and Mason played with two low post players before they were ready. I know twin towers limits Mason’s space, but so does Amile’s and Josh’s short range. Plus, Mason isn’t really sitting down in the low post anymore, is he? What if we moved Mason to the 4 – allow him to play a bit more face-up and play like those athletic thunder 4’s – encourage his prowess and develop that brutal mentality we are craving from him…isn’t that easier face-up than back-to-basket? To me, he still appears to prefer face-up play and seems to force himself to use back-to-basket (or side-to-basket) moves. I don’t think we lose much on the perimeter with this move. In fact, there would be further spacing on the perimeter…which Kedsy (I believe) has pointed out is needed by Quinn and Tyler for their shots…and Seth can get stacked double screens down low from the big guys. It does close up the driving lanes, but those lanes have been closed for a few games now, as we don’t have as much 3pt prowess as previous years. Besides, Quinn is pretty good about little dump-offs at the end of drives, and he would have 2 guys waiting for a pass/rebound. Rasheed hasn’t been finishing his drives lately, so not much lost there. Mason’s been playing the full game anyway, so we’re not really saving Marshall for breathers. IDK, it seems like a reasonable approach to me. Would this be a possibility against Maryland? Do they have a Kadji-type player who could pull a 4-Mason too far out or cause Mason to be foul-prone? Hopefully, with his past experience, Mason has understood the 4's role in help defense, so his changing positions would not have a steep learning curve for him...and we wouldn't really put him in jeopardy of fouling by taking charges because he and Marshall could both protect the rim with blocks instead...and he his play is more matador than charge-drawer anyway. On our offensive end, I would guess that a 4-Mason would be a bit more effective in drawing fouls against Maryland’s bigs. Upthread posts indicate that Maryland’s strength is rebounding. Well, let’s see how they do against Mason and Marshall together. Teams want to bang? Well, let’s bang! Maybe the combo would be even greater (um, MP-8….MP2 to the MP3^rd power!) than the sum of it’s parts (MP-5). And, it would be another arrow in the quiver for a quick game-disrupter once Ryan comes back.

The other large shake-up that I saw was dyedwab’s thought that Rasheed could become a primary ball-handler. This has previously been speculated, but it doesn’t seem like the right time to me, given our need to adequately fill the 3&4-type positions. But, I wouldn’t mind someone also fleshing this out more.

Any other crazy ideas that K might surprise us with?

[The Gordog]

Featherston’s interesting front page article reviews the rather substantial changes K has made after big losses in the past, yet, for the most part, we keep rehashing the who-can-take-Ryan’s-place argument. Some of our other proposed game plans amount to “we need to play better,” and aren’t all that useful for tactics or fun mental exercises. Maybe we should go back to the less heralded speculations and imagine something more preposterous around the corner… Anyone have a crazy (but possible) scenario in mind?

I don’t know anything about Maryland. Would this be a good game to test out the Twin Towers landscape with Mason and Marshall in the blocks? I know Marshall isn’t ready, but both Miles and Mason played with two low post players before they were ready. I know twin towers limits Mason’s space, but so does Amile’s and Josh’s short range. Plus, Mason isn’t really sitting down in the low post anymore, is he? What if we moved Mason to the 4 – allow him to play a bit more face-up and play like those athletic thunder 4’s – encourage his prowess and develop that brutal mentality we are craving from him…isn’t that easier face-up than back-to-basket? To me, he still appears to prefer face-up play and seems to force himself to use back-to-basket (or side-to-basket) moves. I don’t think we lose much on the perimeter with this move. In fact, there would be further spacing on the perimeter…which Kedsy (I believe) has pointed out is needed by Quinn and Tyler for their shots…and Seth can get stacked double screens down low from the big guys. It does close up the driving lanes, but those lanes have been closed for a few games now, as we don’t have as much 3pt prowess as previous years. Besides, Quinn is pretty good about little dump-offs at the end of drives, and he would have 2 guys waiting for a pass/rebound. Rasheed hasn’t been finishing his drives lately, so not much lost there. Mason’s been playing the full game anyway, so we’re not really saving Marshall for breathers. IDK, it seems like a reasonable approach to me. Would this be a possibility against Maryland? Do they have a Kadji-type player who could pull a 4-Mason too far out or cause Mason to be foul-prone? Hopefully, with his past experience, Mason has understood the 4's role in help defense, so his changing positions would not have a steep learning curve for him...and we wouldn't really put him in jeopardy of fouling by taking charges because he and Marshall could both protect the rim with blocks instead...and he his play is more matador than charge-drawer anyway. On our offensive end, I would guess that a 4-Mason would be a bit more effective in drawing fouls against Maryland’s bigs. Upthread posts indicate that Maryland’s strength is rebounding. Well, let’s see how they do against Mason and Marshall together. Teams want to bang? Well, let’s bang! Maybe the combo would be even greater (um, MP-8….MP2 to the MP3^rd power!) than the sum of it’s parts (MP-5). And, it would be another arrow in the quiver for a quick game-disrupter once Ryan comes back.

The other large shake-up that I saw was dyedwab’s thought that Rasheed could become a primary ball-handler. This has previously been speculated, but it doesn’t seem like the right time to me, given our need to adequately fill the 3&4-type positions. But, I wouldn’t mind someone also fleshing this out more.

Any other crazy ideas that K might surprise us with?

Go long:

PG- Cook
SG- Sulu
SF- Murphy
PF- Jefferson
C- MP2

You said "crazy"...