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!