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  1. #61
    Quote Originally Posted by Kedsy View Post
    I agree with this, but only to an extent. A lot of times, you make more shots because your offense is more crisp and fluid.

    Last night we played good offense and got a lot of wide open looks. And we hit them, which doesn't always happen but it happens a lot more when the looks are that open. In Duke's case, especially without Ryan Kelly, we don't shoot as well when the looks aren't as good. I'm not talking about taking a shot with a guy draped all over you, but how open you are can be seen on a continuum. If you're open but the defender is close enough to make you think about whether you'll get the shot off or not, it's a lot harder to hit it. The games where we've shot poorly have almost all been in situations where our shots looked to me to be either not so open, or open but not wide open.
    There are not a lot of things that Ol Roy says that I agree with, but I do agree with him that the game is easier when the shots are falling...

    In our games when the shots are not falling as often as we would like, it seems like they are sooo... close to going in (some of Mason's shots excluded . ) Seth has had several shots this year that looked like they went at least half way down and popped out. It truly is a game of inches.

  2. #62
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    20 Minutes From The Heaven That Is Cameron Indoor
    Great game by the good guys. Energy level by the entire team was off the charts better than the Maryland game. Mason looked like Mason again. Actually thought we should have went to him more than we did, but the perimeter guys were playing so well, we really did not need to. I agree with other posters that shooting well cures a lot of ills. Talent disparity aside last night was the antithesis of the Miami game. All of our perimeter shots were falling, all of the Hokies were missing. End result was 20-30 point margin throughout the game.

    Despite the Hokies ineptness on offense, I thought our team defense was really good last night. It seemed like every single Duke player was hitting every defensive assignment perfectly on time with hedging, flashing, digging down, switching, rotating, help and recover, etc. It is beautiful to watch when a Duke team performs those assignments well collectively. Agree with CDu in that one of the few bad defensive misses was Josh switching onto Green at the top of the key in the first half. Josh does do that far too often. Josh actually had flashed out to stop Green while Tyler was fighting through the screen, and Tyler recovered quickly and was literally standing right behind Josh, so Josh should have released Green back to Tyler and recovered back to the Tech big. I love the enthusiasm, but that is one thing Josh needs to reign in with his defense. He played a really great game otherwise though..

    It was one of our best defensive games of the year and not because of VaTech being a bad team. Loved seeing Mason show he can defend well w/o fouling. It's a good sign moving forward if he can limit the amount of times he has to dial it back early in games. Especially with Ryan on the verge of being back. Speaking of Ryan did you guys catch the stats chart they through up last night that showed the big fall off in team defense since losing Ryan? I thought that was telling. Ryan can really help this team defensively when he gets back.

    Seth is just amazing, and I did not even care about the T. He looked much fresher last night too. I agree with K in that he might be leading the nation in scoring were he fully healthy and practicing every day. Good play by all the reserves other than MP3 who has to find a way to harness the energy and hype when he gets in there. The lefty layup that did not stay down was his best offensive move of the season. The game just needs to slow down a lot for him. He has talent, and will figure it out, but it is going to take time. Tyler looked more like his old self last night as well and is continuing to knock down the 3 at a high rate. Ran the offense really well also.

    I am really excited about the future of Duke basketball and the future of Amile and Alex. The think I love about Amile is the kid knows how to play basketball at a high level. That's a gift that can't be taught. He is only limited right now by 3 things. 1. Lack of Bulk/Strength, 2. Lack of an outside shot, 3. Learning to defend one on one in the paint to challenge a shot w/o bringing his arm downs and getting the foul called. Unlike MP3, the game just needs to slow down just a wee bit for Amile. He is almost there with that part. Regarding his shot, one thing I noticed watching him at Summer League and watching him shoot free throws in Duke games this season, he is not a bad set shot shooter at all. Form is reasonably good, and he has a soft touch. He just can't shoot a lick when he has to shoot a jump shot quickly with a defender closing, or if he tries to shoot off the dribble. Kind of bizarre. Hopefully that will improve over time. But man does the kid know how to play the game, and how to score effectively in the paint. Going to be one of the really good Duke players. Murphy is not far behind him, but his main issue is confidence, and focus. The tools are there. He had a couple of great stints guarding Leslie in the State game, and the aforementioned play last night guarding Green. The kid is versatile defensively and is a scorer. Also very athletic. Hanging in the air on that drive last night and making it all the way to the other side of the rim from where he took off was damn impressive. With those two, Rasheed, Quinn, Rodney Hood, Jabari, Matt Jones, Semi, etc, it will be athlete city in Durham NC!

    Which segways to my final thoughts on last night. I loved loved loved the full court pressing last night. Even though it was the soft version, I loved seeing it. Duke defense historically is in your face, intimidating, and meant to cause fear, disruption, and turnovers. Hope to see more of that this year, and by next year, I think K goes full throttle on very aggressive defense in many variations that will include some full court pressing mixed in.

    Great win, and great vibes with Kelly. Let's see if they can follow it up with another great performance against BC this weekend. Go Duke!

  3. #63
    Quote Originally Posted by Udaman View Post
    For the life of me I cannot understand why Plumlee played 36 minutes last night and Curry played 32. ... Huge Duke and Coach K fan, but his maddening propensity to play his starters into the ground during the season to the point that they have nothing left in March...well, it drives me nuts.
    I remember a few years ago that in the post-game interview(?) someone asked about leaving the starters in till a couple of minutes left with a "huge" lead. IIRC, Coach K's response was that if you don't understand why he left the starters in, you don't understand college basketball. I took that to mean that "anything can happen in a short time".

    Quote Originally Posted by kmspeaks View Post
    When you're beating a team the way Duke was last night a couple extra minutes aren't a grueling task that saps energy, they're FUN. Mason got 5 days to clear his head, re-focus, and re-energize. I don't think some extra minutes in a blowout are going to hurt him come March.
    It might actually be helpful... gives him a very positive feeling...

    Quote Originally Posted by rocketeli View Post
    BTW I was ROFL (see I speak the internet) over posters complaining about too many whistles last night. Why do you think we won so easily? VoTech came out with their usual thug ball--their center puts a gratuitous hit on Mason TWEET! They grab, tug and trip Seth cutting through the lane TWEET! It completely took them out of their game. They had no idea how to play clean defense and it showed.
    I thought that the whistles were frequent. But as you mention, I think this kept the game "clean". VaTech couldn't adjust, Duke did.

    Quote Originally Posted by jv001 View Post
    And I pretty much agree with everything you said about Quinn's play. Quinn has said that Coach K has asked him to look for his shot more and I think he's been having a problem with that aspect of his game and being able to distribute the ball like he did earlier in the season. But I believe part of the problem is Ryans absence. What Quinn does really well is get after the opposing point guard. I would like for him to stay out of foul trouble but that comes with being aggressive. We really need him against the better teams we face. GoDuke!
    One thing I notice (maybe only me) but Quinn seems, at times, to dribble all over the court, then as time runs down, tries to get to the rim. Seems like quicker passes from/to him is better? [there... a negative post?]

    Quote Originally Posted by Newton_14 View Post
    It was one of our best defensive games of the year and not because of VaTech being a bad team. Loved seeing Mason show he can defend well w/o fouling. It's a good sign moving forward if he can limit the amount of times he has to dial it back early in games. Especially with Ryan on the verge of being back. Speaking of Ryan did you guys catch the stats chart they through up last night that showed the big fall off in team defense since losing Ryan? I thought that was telling. Ryan can really help this team defensively when he gets back.
    I noticed this too in the first half. Seems like Mason wasn't worried about fouls, but just focused on playing good defense. Very effective.

    GO DUKE!!!!!

  4. #64
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Lewisville, NC
    I re-watched the game vs the Hokies last evening and observed many of the same things that Newton points out above.

    Our opponent was not terrible; they were not hitting 3's certainly, but it was a treat to watch Erick Green score 20+ points against very good defense, and Barksdale for VaTech had a very good performance. Mainly, VaTech was outplayed and out-shot by a very good Duke team playing at a high level.

    Not only was our team defense very good, as Newton talks about, our team offense was very good. Every player on the floor contributed on offense; the movement was good, the ball handling was superb with a minimum of turnovers, and this happened with Quinn Cook having reduced minutes due to foul trouble. Coach K is likely to show this game as an example of how well a motion offense can work; constant movement on the perimeter and use of ball screens, excellent use of dribble hand-offs, plays run for the hot shooter Seth Curry, good passes to the post, good spacing, just really good execution overall.

    The role players were superb. Josh had another double-figure scoring game, that included a tip, a really nice move for a lay-up and a jump shot. So long as he is in the flow and open, I don't mind seeing him take an occasional jump shot (ideally 12-15 feet rather than 17-18 feet). Tyler Thornton did a fine job of ball handling, running the offense in the absence of Quinn, and now has a trademark shot in the 3 from the corner. Amile and Alex look much more aware on defense and on the floor in general. I wouldn't call Rasheed a role player, but he certainly played his role well; he hit outside shots, he drove well, he defended well including generating turnovers, and his shot selection was very good. Mason was very active on the defensive end as noted by others and continues to hit his foul shots. And Seth is playing at a really high level now; he reminds me of vintage Redick play.

    Really a fine performance by Duke and a pleasure to watch.

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