MBB: Duke v. Maryland ACCT Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

[Kedsy]

Len says they are going with a small line up with 6'5 Dez Wells guarding Kelly.
http://www.heraldsun.com/sports/x145...ace-Duke-today

Interesting. Even more interesting on defense, depending on the 5th Maryland starter. Against Wake, the Maryland starters were Faust, Wells, Pe'Shon Howard, Len, and Padgett (who only played 6 minutes). If they start Layman for Padgett, then Ryan can guard him without too much trouble (with Rasheed/Tyler sliding over to take Wells). More likely it'll be Allen, though, which means Ryan would have to stick with Wells, which may present a bit of a challenge for Ryan against a much smaller, quicker player. If Ryan picks up a foul or two trying to check Wells, it could change the tenor of the game.

On the other hand, despite his preference for the perimeter, Ryan also knows how to post up a smaller player. Maryland may have to abandon its gameplan if Ryan can successfully go inside a couple times early.

[rsvman]

.... They cannot possibly turn it over as much this time as last time...

Not so fast, there. When it comes to turnovers, Maryland takes a "can do" attitude.

[Chris Randolph]

Is there anyway I could listen to the game via my Iphone? (for free)

[Chris Randolph]

Game prediction:

They go small in hopes of spreading us to attack inside (off the dribble or with Len in the post). Mason answers the call in a rematch game for himself.

First game of the tourney, they played last night. Expect them to start better but Duke will win by 13-16 point range. Sheed gets some mojo back on offense tonight

[slower]

Dear God, Digger Phelps is a moron. He's on ESPN now, talking about Curry as the PG who's "running the team."

[capitolhill]

He is tall... but he got out played by a pretty average Freshman last night.

They had pretty comparable lines:

Len:

21minutes, 4-6 (FG), 2-2(FT), 1-1(3pt), 1-5(OR-T), 4(A), 2(blocks), 0(steals), 0(turnover), 4(foul), 11(pts)


Thomas:
35minutes, 6-10 (FG), 2-3(FT), 0-0(3pt), 1-4(OR-T), 4(A), 1(block), 2(steals), 3(turnover), (fouls), 14(pts)


That's hardly out played. Len did his 11 pts in 21 minutes, while Thomas did it in 35. Thomas had 3 more points, but coupled with 3 turnovers.

[The Gordog]

Len says they are going with a small line up with 6'5 Dez Wells guarding Kelly.
http://www.heraldsun.com/sports/x145...ace-Duke-today

'Cause that worked so well for Carolina?

[The Gordog]

Is there anyway I could listen to the game via my Iphone? (for free)

The ACC.com has the games streaming.

[oldnavy]

They had pretty comparable lines:

Len:

21minutes, 4-6 (FG), 2-2(FT), 1-1(3pt), 1-5(OR-T), 4(A), 2(blocks), 0(steals), 0(turnover), 4(foul), 11(pts)


Thomas:
35minutes, 6-10 (FG), 2-3(FT), 0-0(3pt), 1-4(OR-T), 4(A), 1(block), 2(steals), 3(turnover), (fouls), 14(pts)


That's hardly out played. Len did his 11 pts in 21 minutes, while Thomas did it in 35. Thomas had 3 more points, but coupled with 3 turnovers.

For a NBA lottery pick... he got outplayed.

[Saratoga2]

Key questions for the Maryland game:

1. How will Mason do vs. Alex Len? This is the million-dollar match-up.

2. Will Kelly play well against the beefy Terps? Padgett(6-8, 235) usually starts, but Charles Mitchell (6-8, 260) and Shaquille Cleare (6-9, 265) will see plenty of action guarding both Ryan and Mason.

3. Can the Duke shooters get and make open shots against the big guards for the Terps. This was a problem in College Park; not so much in Durham.

3a. And will Rasheed be an effective offensive performer after four down games?

4. Can the fumbling Terps take care of the ball? TO's and easy run-outs will make Duke's task easier. No prediction here, but this will be a key performance indicator. (Do we use the acronym KPI in hoops?).

5. Who has the fire in the belly for this game? The Terps have the motivation, although they are sub-bubble at the moment. I expect Duke to be on a mission.

sagegrouse
'Go Duke!'

1. I think Mason will have difficulty against Len offensively. Mason doesn't have the mid range game and he is unlikely to get his shot off against Len. Defensively Mason can be pushed back and shot over by the bigger Len. I believe the remedy is for Mason to keep him from getting position near the basket and for one of our guards to prevent him from putting the ball on the floor while he pushes Mason back.

Mason has to be aggressive on defense and work for rebounds. Maryland does have a lot of size and bulk. It is just a difficult matchup for him.

2. Ryan is an X factor for us. Big enough to shoot over them and smart enough to get off midranged shots. Ryan's defense is solid and he should help with rebounding and blocking shots.

3. I believe our shooters can get open shots and lets hope we can make a good percentage of them. They did well enough at Maryland, only losing by a couple with Mason kind of ineffective. Maryland will give us an advantage in TO's, we just can't give the store away inside.

3a. Yes, Rasheed needs to come through and to be on the floor for a good part of the game. I expect Tyler to pick up fouls against the Maryland team.

4. Maryland will turn the ball over and we do need to take advantage of that. It is our main edge.

5. I'm not a subscriber to the fire in ones belly concept. Yes, the team has to play hard and smart.

[Kedsy]

They had pretty comparable lines:

I didn't see the game so I don't have an opinion on who outplayed whom. But if the guy's really a lottery talent, you'd optimally want him to stay out of foul trouble and play more than 21 minutes, especially when matched up against a 6'9" freshman who wasn't in the top 100 coming out of high school.

[Kedsy]

I think Mason will have difficulty against Len offensively. Mason doesn't have the mid range game and he is unlikely to get his shot off against Len. Defensively Mason can be pushed back and shot over by the bigger Len.

Mason ate Len alive when they tried to guard him one-on-one in Durham. Why do you think it will be different tomorrow?

Maryland does have a lot of size and bulk.

If Maryland plays a small lineup for any length of time (as they're supposedly planning) that should mitigate the size and bulk factor, at least up front. They still might have decent size on the perimeter, depending on how small they go.

[Bob Green]

Mason has to be aggressive on defense and work for rebounds. Maryland does have a lot of size and bulk. It is just a difficult matchup for him.

i'm not convinced this is true. While Len dominated the game in College Park, inside Cameron Mason had a line of 19 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. He handled the "difficult" matchup okay that night.

[oldnavy]

I didn't see the game so I don't have an opinion on who outplayed whom. But if the guy's really a lottery talent, you'd optimally want him to stay out of foul trouble and play more than 21 minutes, especially when matched up against a 6'9" freshman who wasn't in the top 100 coming out of high school.

I watched the game, and Len got outplayed by any "eye test" you care to use. The stat line is similar, however Len should have fouled out on a HORRIBLE call where he two hand shoved a Wake player and the Wake player got called for the foul (that would have been his 4th, and he would have fouled out on what was his 4th a few minutes later).

My point, like yours is that if you are comparing stat lines with a pretty average freshman, then you are probably NOT a true NBA lottery pick.

I know the game in Md, Len played about as well as he has all year. The game at Duke however, Len played pretty poorly. Here is the quote from the Chronicle - "Leading scorer Alex Len, who averages 13.5 points, finished with eight points and 10 rebounds for Maryland. But aside from an early reverse dunk over Plumlee that looked effortless, he was essentially a nonfactor against a Duke front line that was without injured 6-foot-11 forward Ryan Kelly for the fourth straight game".

I bolded the nonfactor section, because in the games I have seen Len play, he is mostly a nonfactor. It was laughable how the announcers kept bringing his name up last night. When he was on the bench, MD actually increased their lead.

JMM shut Len down in the UNC game in CH a week or so ago so that should tell anyone all you need to know about Len.

[capitolhill]

JMM shut Len down in the UNC game in CH a week or so ago so that should tell anyone all you need to know about Len.

I love how casual sports fans *always* know more than professional coaches and scouts who have spent their lives around the game, recruiting and developing players for a living.

You're right, and the NBA is wrong. Len stinks.

[mattman91]

My Charter service is out here in Hickory and will require a tech to come and fix the issue tomorrow morning, and until then I will be limited to only local channels.
The Duke game is on one of the ESPN family of networks, is it also gonna be available on local tv? I know the games yesterday and this afternoon were on wbtv, will the Duke game be on that channel as well? I hate streaming online and I would really hate to have to go to The Olde Hickory Taproom to watch it and leave with a hundred dollar bar tab...

[dukelifer]

Is there anyway I could listen to the game via my Iphone? (for free)

Yes- well almost free if you have Tunein radio- WCCG 104.5 carries the game. There may be others.

[oldnavy]

I love how casual sports fans *always* know more than professional coaches and scouts who have spent their lives around the game, recruiting and developing players for a living.

You're right, and the NBA is wrong. Len stinks.

Well, it's not like the NBA is always right.

-Darko Milicic
-Adam Morrison
-Joe Alexander
-Hasheem Thabeet
-Fran Vazquez
-Rafael Arauju

do I need to go on?

[capitolhill]

I watched the game, and Len got outplayed by any "eye test" you care to use.

Eye test?

That's meaningless.

Here's an eye test: look at the stat line with your "eyes".

A agree about the foul you refer to, though. I'm amazed he wasn't called for it.

For the record, MD fans are down on Len as well. Mostly because we think he could be doing so much more. From what I hear, he's incredibly homesick and can't wait to get his family over here.

[azzefkram]

I love how casual sports fans *always* know more than professional coaches and scouts who have spent their lives around the game, recruiting and developing players for a living.

You're right, and the NBA is wrong. Len stinks.

One word... Darko.

I could have at least a dozen others but that should suffice. I personally don't think Len stinks but someone stands a good chance of making a mistake drafting him in the lottery this year.