MBB: Duke vs Virginia Tech Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

[Bob Green]

It is Senior Night for Mason Plumlee, Ryan Kelly and Seth Curry as Duke hosts VPI at 7 pm.

[millerecu]

Todd Zafirovski!

[Bob Green]

Duke opened as a 21 point favorite with the over/under set at 151 so Vegas is looking for a score in the neighborhood of 86-65.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Duke opened as a 21 point favorite with the over/under set at 151 so Vegas is looking for a score in the neighborhood of 86-65.

Wow, Vegas is really expecting a lot out of us. I would love for that to be true.

I expect an immense outpouring of emotion for all these guys. I'm really glad that Kelly will get his just due. I expect him to garner the greatest applause our of appreciation for his years of service and his astonishing performance against Miami. The Duke kids had better bring it in full for all these guys.

I will be looking for a pronounced effort on defense that shows the difference Kelly makes in freeing up Mason to go after blocks and rebounds. Also, I'd like to see more "inside/out" play, thanks to Kelly making VaTech play further out on the arc.

I'd love a big statement game in our last "tune up" before all the big boys come down the pipes. Let's start laying our claim for a top seed by reminding the rest of the ACC who intends to run the table in Greensboro.

Go Duke!

[mo.st.dukie]

Wow, Vegas is really expecting a lot out of us. I would love for that to be true.

We just beat them 2 weeks ago by 32 points in Blacksburg without Ryan Kelly. May not be that big of a margin this time but 21 sounds pretty fair.

[cptnflash]

Easy win, if this game was played 1000 times under the same set of circumstances in various parallel universes (universi?), I think we'd win all 1000. The outcome should never be in doubt, but something tells me we won't cover. And as I've said previously, I'll be ignoring this game completely from a "what does it mean for the future" standpoint. The main point of this game is to take a step back and appreciate the magnificent contributions to Duke basketball from our four seniors - Mason Plumlee, Ryan Kelly, Seth Curry, and Todd Zafirovsky. Well done, gentlemen. It has been a privilege to watch you play during the past four years, and each of you is a credit to the uniform you wear. We were lucky to have you.

Also, as a fan of college basketball, I'll be enjoying one last opportunity to watch Erick Green (I doubt I will watch the VT/Wake matchup on Sunday, and I don't expect the Hokies to still be alive when we join the ACC tournament next Friday). As I said in the previous pre-game thread, if Virginia Tech was a halfway decent team, Erick would be getting serious NPOY consideration, because his offensive numbers are ridiculous. Nearly 90% minutes, 30+% usage, and 120+ ORtg is truly rarified air, particularly when you're the only person on the team that is worth guarding. As a four-year senior who has gotten better every year he's been in college, Erick is another example of everything that is great about college basketball, just like our seniors. So once again, a hat tip to you, Erick Green, for a job well done.

[dukelifer]

Easy win, if this game was played 1000 times under the same set of circumstances in various parallel universes (universi?), I think we'd win all 1000. The outcome should never be in doubt, but something tells me we won't cover. And as I've said previously, I'll be ignoring this game completely from a "what does it mean for the future" standpoint. The main point of this game is to take a step back and appreciate the magnificent contributions to Duke basketball from our four seniors - Mason Plumlee, Ryan Kelly, Seth Curry, and Todd Zafirovsky. Well done, gentlemen. It has been a privilege to watch you play during the past four years, and each of you is a credit to the uniform you wear. We were lucky to have you.

Also, as a fan of college basketball, I'll be enjoying one last opportunity to watch Erick Green (I doubt I will watch the VT/Wake matchup on Sunday, and I don't expect the Hokies to still be alive when we join the ACC tournament next Friday). As I said in the previous pre-game thread, if Virginia Tech was a halfway decent team, Erick would be getting serious NPOY consideration, because his offensive numbers are ridiculous. Nearly 90% minutes, 30+% usage, and 120+ ORtg is truly rarified air, particularly when you're the only person on the team that is worth guarding. As a four-year senior who has gotten better every year he's been in college, Erick is another example of everything that is great about college basketball, just like our seniors. So once again, a hat tip to you, Erick Green, for a job well done.

This game could be closer than folks think. Tech is catching Duke after a big emotional win on a big emotional night for the seniors. Anything is possible. Cook needs to be a playmaker tonight and Rasheed needs to be aggressive . Duke should win but emotion can do strange things in a basketball game.

[roywhite]

This game could be closer than folks think. Tech is catching Duke after a big emotional win on a big emotional night for the seniors. Anything is possible. Cook needs to be a playmaker tonight and Rasheed needs to be aggressive . Duke should win but emotion can do strange things in a basketball game.

Yes, Senior Night and the big win over Miami makes for a mix of emotions, esp. for Ryan, Mason, and Seth.

Rather be playing VaTech than a more dangerous team like the Heels.

Jump out early and put this one away. Finish up Tuesday at a reasonable time, no travel, Weds. off, and get ready to go to Chapel Hill.

[Steve68]

Duke opened as a 21 point favorite with the over/under set at 151 so Vegas is looking for a score in the neighborhood of 86-65.

3rd game in 6 days - hard to believe they can cover a spread like that.

[UrinalCake]

We just beat them 2 weeks ago by 32 points in Blacksburg without Ryan Kelly. May not be that big of a margin this time but 21 sounds pretty fair.

We also shot 95% from three (or so it seemed) in that game, which we can't expect to happen again. I'm thinking more like a 15-point margin, but won't be at all surprised if it's closer.

[davekay1971]

Lots to see and enjoy in this game!

First of all, a chance to celebrate our seniors. Mason, Seth, and Ryan have all developed tremendously at Duke, and have all contributed significantly to this program. They have a chance over the next few weeks to win two championships, but, for tonight, we can simply appreciate everything they've done to date.

In terms of team development, it's the second game back with Ryan. All the emotional context of the rematch with Miami and Ryan's spectacular return are done, so now it's down to figuring out the best way to build as a team with him back in the lineup. Lots to do and not much time to do it!

I agree with an upthread post that one of the most important things is to refocus Quinn's role. He was asked to pick up scoring with Ryan out. We love his scoring, at times we've absolutely needed his scoring. But with Ryan back he can rebalance a little - still giving us scoring, but putting more emphasis on distributing as well. We saw Nolan struggle to get the right balance even in his senior year when Kyrie was point, then gone, then back. Small wonder that Quinn might have moved too far to the scoring side with Ryan out. But he's got tonight to try to get back to creating.

I'll also be interested to see how Mason reacts, whether he's more aggressive on defense since he doesn't have to leave in utter fear of the foul, and whether he gets better looks with Ryan stretching the court. There hasn't been much talk about Mason's role in limiting Reggie Johnson to 0 ponts...but I thought Mason looked a little more aggressive in defending Johnson. I'd like to see even more of that.

Finally, Seth and Sheed should get cleaner looks and more open driving lanes with Ryan back. Hopefully they can take advantage. I expect they will.

All in all, much to look forward to and watch for tonight!

[COYS]

I will be looking at how our defense adapts to having Ryan back. As both the nerd stats and the eye test have indicated, Duke is a far better defensive team with Ryan than without. We were in the top 10 of KenPom's defensive rankings before he got hurt (which, considering how poor Duke was defensively last season, was a big accomplishment). Since then, we've slipped quite a bit. Many on the board have complained about Rasheed, Quinn, and Seth allowing dribble penetration. While some of that is warranted, the Miami game was a prime example of the difference a big man can make by hedging correctly on ball screens. This has never been instinctual for Mason. There were a few times where Mason left way too much space between himself and the screener, allowing Larkin to go right down the middle. There were times when Mason didn't hedge at an angle that would cut off Larkin's path around him, giving our guard no time to recover. There were also times when Mason hedged well and cut off driving lanes. However, inconsistency was the name of the game for Mason.

Not so with Ryan. Ryan is MUCH better at hedging then Mason, Josh and Amile. He also takes some of the pressure off of Mason and the guards as he is a better help defender than Josh or Amile. Finally, he's a better one on one defender than any of our other forwards. There were stretches in the Miami game when our defense looked very, very good. Of course, there were also stretches when it looked particularly porous. The bottom line, however, is that Ryan was big boost to our D. Against a team with far fewer weapons than the talented Miami squad, I'd like to see our defense, now with arguably our best defender back in action, suffocate VaTech. If we can build on the bright spots of the Miami game when we were successfully hedging and recovering, the Hokies will have a hard time scoring. Absent dribble penetration, it's hard to crack the Duke defense. Our guys can stay glued to their defensive assignments, deny the passing lanes, and crowd the three point line. It will also make it easier to rebound if we aren't sending help defenders scrambling to cut off drives down the lane. We were looking like we could be an elite defensive team earlier in the year. Hopefully, now that Ryan is back, we can begin to move back in that direction.

[BigZ]

Will Todd start? Starting seniors on senior night is one thing Roy does that I like.

[Henderson]

I'll be really happy to see Todd get his start tonight with the fans standing and cheering genuinely in appreciation. Duke fans know that his contributions in practice have been huge. Damn, I'd love to see him score again.

Here's a nice profile of The Macedonian Master from earlier in the season: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/12/...r-walk-on.html

If he gets enough minutes, he could easily double his career scoring production, which I believe is 5 (2 against Delaware and 3 against Cornell).

[Olympic Fan]

While I certainly expect to Duke to win tonight, I wouldn't be surprised if it is a MUCH tougher game than the 32-point win in Blacksburg.

This should be a fairly tired Duke team, playing its third game in six days. Add in that this is a classic trap game -- sandwiched between the intense Virginia-Miami doubeheader and Saturday's rivalry game with UNC -- and I would not be surprised to see the Devils play at less than their best.

And give Virginia Tech some credit -- the Hokies might be at the bottom of the ACC standings, but they've already come to Tobacco Road and taken both UNC and NC State into overtime.

Kikie I said, I think Duke is a lot better team and will win, but I'd be surprisedif it isn't ugly.

[ChillinDuke]

This game could be closer than folks think. Tech is catching Duke after a big emotional win on a big emotional night for the seniors. Anything is possible. Cook needs to be a playmaker tonight and Rasheed needs to be aggressive . Duke should win but emotion can do strange things in a basketball game.

Not trying to pick on you, Lifer. But I'm pretty sure you voiced similar concerns re: Va Tech before our trip to Blacksburg. And it was a rout. This will be a rout as well.

The caveat "anything is possible" is as universal and omnipresent as the concept of gravity.

By any and all reasonable metrics, we should beat Va Tech handily - just as we did on their court. And I look forward to it wholeheartedly.

Go Duke!

- Chillin

[dukebsbll14]

I'll be really happy to see Todd get his start tonight with the fans standing and cheering genuinely in appreciation. Duke fans know that his contributions in practice have been huge. Damn, I'd love to see him score again.

Here's a nice profile of The Macedonian Master from earlier in the season: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/12/...r-walk-on.html

If he gets enough minutes, he could easily double his career scoring production, which I believe is 5 (2 against Delaware and 3 against Cornell).

I was in the building for his first points and it was awesome. I believe that Todd is going to graduate school at Duke and will be here for one more year.

[PallasAthena]

I've been to many senior nights, but can't remember what time they begin the senior recognition. A 7 PM game start means leaving Raleigh no later than 5:30. Traffic is insane. Will senior stuff be at 7 or earlier?

Thanks for your help.

GO DUKE!!!

Still floating about six inches off the ground after Saturday night.

[Henderson]

I believe that Todd is going to graduate school at Duke and will be here for one more year.

Hmm. Not sure about that. He's listed as a senior, and I believe this is his fourth year of eligibility, though he didn't play at all his first year.

Or did you just mean he'll be on campus next year?

[moonpie23]

i think they will be working on "attention to details" tonight....