MBB: Duke v. Alabama Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

[pfrduke]

I think it's time to start talking about the next game already. This will be a very tough test, as Alabama's strengths so far this season hit on areas of weakness for Duke. Trevor Releford is having a heck of a start to his senior season, shooting 70% from 2, 50% from 3, and hitting all 11 of his free throws. His one weakness is a significant propensity to turn the ball over, something Duke will have to exploit. Cook/Sulaimon/Thornton will have their hands full with both him and backcourt mate Retin Obasohan, who's also shooting over 60% from 2. Despite not being particularly tall, Alabama kills the offensive glass. They've scooped up 42.7% of their own misses. The guards' penetration ability and the offensive board work have helped propel Alabama to a very strong interior shooting performance. Alabama's biggest weaknesses are turnovers and outside shooting. It will be interesting to see whether Duke's defense tries to exploit the former or the latter - if they go for the former and don't succeed, we could see Releford and Obasohan run layup drills all game (which, yuck).

Alabama's defense is ok - their primary strength so far is avoiding putting the opponent on the free throw line (although in their one loss, the Sooners did get 25 trips to the stripe), followed closely by defending the 3 and forcing steals. Duke can have a size advantage, particularly if we start Hood-Parker-Jefferson across the front-line, as Alabama's starters in the 3 and 4 spots run 6'5" and 6'6". Hood and Parker have already shown strong post games and they should be able to take advantage of the couple inches they'll have on their primary defenders to do some work inside early.

[roywhite]

Alabama is 3-1 with a loss to Oklahoma, a win over Texas Tech, and then 2 early round NIT wins.

Alabama's ESPN page

Their most impressive stat is a FG% of 52.4, 12th best in the country.

[MChambers]

Don't we owe Anthony Grant one? Wasn't he the coach of VCU in 2008? Or am I confused once again?

[Matches]

Duke can have a size advantage, particularly if we start Hood-Parker-Jefferson across the front-line, as Alabama's starters in the 3 and 4 spots run 6'5" and 6'6". Hood and Parker have already shown strong post games and they should be able to take advantage of the couple inches they'll have on their primary defenders to do some work inside early.

I'll be very surprised if we don't see a lineup change of some sort for this game.

[Ggallagher]

Don't we owe Anthony Grant one? Wasn't he the coach of VCU in 2008? Or am I confused once again?

Yep, that's the guy. He coached there through the 2009 season.

[brlftz]

I expect a starting lineup of Andre Buckner, Patrick Davidson, the Big Johnson, Jay Heaps, and Nate James.

[Matches]

I expect a starting lineup of Andre Buckner, Patrick Davidson, the Big Johnson, Jay Heaps, and Nate James.

Eh, I think that gimmick may have run its course. I would not be surprised to see any of the following lineups though:

Cook, TT, Sheed, Hood, Parker
Cook, TT, Hood, Parker, Hairston
Cook, Sheed, Hood, Parker, Hairston
Cook, TT, Hood, Parker, Amile

K identified lack of communication as our key problem on D, so it stands to reason that if he makes a change, it'll be to guys who he sees as good communicators.

[pfrduke]

I'll be very surprised if we don't see a lineup change of some sort for this game.

I agree, although thought it might come from the guard spot. Regardless, for as long as we aren't playing 3 guards, at least one or both of Hood and Parker will have a couple inches on their primary defender.

[OldPhiKap]

I agree, although thought it might come from the guard spot. Regardless, for as long as we aren't playing 3 guards, at least one or both of Hood and Parker will have a couple inches on their primary defender.

I think K will start whoever does not have a broken nose from the post-game practice.

[Reilly]

I think K will start whoever does not have a broken nose from the post-game practice.

... or whoever gets up from their supine position and out the locker room first after he took their chairs away

[brlftz]

i expect that it will be whichever 5 guys are showing the most heart and best communication in practice, regardless of anything else. i also expect that they will all be starting at square 1 and will have to earn minutes anew.

[Newton_14]

I think it's time to start talking about the next game already. This will be a very tough test, as Alabama's strengths so far this season hit on areas of weakness for Duke. Trevor Releford is having a heck of a start to his senior season, shooting 70% from 2, 50% from 3, and hitting all 11 of his free throws. His one weakness is a significant propensity to turn the ball over, something Duke will have to exploit. Cook/Sulaimon/Thornton will have their hands full with both him and backcourt mate Retin Obasohan, who's also shooting over 60% from 2. Despite not being particularly tall, Alabama kills the offensive glass. They've scooped up 42.7% of their own misses. The guards' penetration ability and the offensive board work have helped propel Alabama to a very strong interior shooting performance. Alabama's biggest weaknesses are turnovers and outside shooting. It will be interesting to see whether Duke's defense tries to exploit the former or the latter - if they go for the former and don't succeed, we could see Releford and Obasohan run layup drills all game (which, yuck).

Alabama's defense is ok - their primary strength so far is avoiding putting the opponent on the free throw line (although in their one loss, the Sooners did get 25 trips to the stripe), followed closely by defending the 3 and forcing steals. Duke can have a size advantage, particularly if we start Hood-Parker-Jefferson across the front-line, as Alabama's starters in the 3 and 4 spots run 6'5" and 6'6". Hood and Parker have already shown strong post games and they should be able to take advantage of the couple inches they'll have on their primary defenders to do some work inside early.

Great preview. Thanks Paul. Do you happen to know if Alabama has run any zone defense in any of their games? As bad as our defense is, we are still outstanding on offense. We are destroying man to man defenses to the point that two opponents that really don't like to play zone (ECU/Vermont) played zone almost the entire game after falling behind early. I did feel we attacked Vermont's zone much better than we did the ECU zone (thus the 91 point outburst), but it could be that Vermont just did not play it as welll as ECU did. I am interested to see if Bama will follow the script and play a lot of zone.

I am also anxious to see if our guys play every possession like their collective lives depened on the outcome. The other thing is forcing turnovers. It has been mentioned numerous times now that we expend a ton of energy pressing full court man to man, and even though on the surface it looks good as we are sticking with the opponent like glue in the backcourt, we are not forcing turnovers. We are making them burn time off the shotclock but not enough, as teams are still having enough time to carve up our halfcourt defense.

It will cure a lot of ills and anxiety to play good enough defense to come out of these next two games with cut down nets and a trophy in hand.

[CDu]

Would not be at all surprised to see a starting 5 of Cook, Thornton, Hood, Parker, Hairston, with the idea being that Thornton and Hairston are our most experienced players and thus the most familiar with the defensive principles Coach K espouses.

I do think that group will do better with assignment basketball, as only Parker would be new to the concepts.

Of course, that group would be a bit more of an offensive liability, as only 3 guys can create offense. But maybe relying entirely on Cook/Hood/Parker offensively isn't such a bad thing?

[roywhite]

Would not be at all surprised to see a starting 5 of Cook, Thornton, Hood, Parker, Hairston, with the idea being that Thornton and Hairston are our most experienced players and thus the most familiar with the defensive principles Coach K espouses.

I do think that group will do better with assignment basketball, as only Parker would be new to the concepts.

Of course, that group would be a bit more of an offensive liability, as only 3 guys can create offense. But maybe relying entirely on Cook/Hood/Parker offensively isn't such a bad thing?

Well, certainly can't discount the possibility of lineup changes after the Vermont game. But, man, I hope additional reliance on Thornton and Hairston is not the direction Coach K decides to go. They just haven't got the job done so far this year, both are very prone to fouls, and as seniors don't have the excuses of other players who are new to court time. I'm hoping for leadership from other than the senior class, most likely from Quinn Cook and Rodney Hood, as both vocal leaders, and example-setters on the court.

[CajunDevil]

I want a lineup of Cook, Hood, Jabari, Amile and Plumlee. Let's go big, play off a little - a la 2010, get rebounds and protect the rim. Heck, we aren't creating turnovers by going small... why not?

[Bob Green]

The more the opponent plays zone, the more I want to see Andre Dawkins on the court. He scored 16 points in 20 minutes against Vermont, although 13 came in the 1st half as Dawkins missed several corner jumpers down the stretch when Coach K was subbing Dawkins/Thornton on offense/defense. He was 5/6 on free throws and committed only one turnover.

I agree the starting line-up will see a shake up and I'll not be surprised to see Dawkins inserted as a starter.

[flyingdutchdevil]

The more the opponent plays zone, the more I want to see Andre Dawkins on the court. He scored 16 points in 20 minutes against Vermont, although 13 came in the 1st half as Dawkins missed several corner jumpers down the stretch when Coach K was subbing Dawkins/Thornton on offense/defense. He was 5/6 on free throws and committed only one turnover.

I agree the starting line-up will see a shake up and I'll not be surprised to see Dawkins inserted as a starter.

If Coach K is going to shake up the line up (which I think he will to prove a point), it will be because of defense. For that reason, I'd be shocked if Andre started against Bama. His O was amazing, but his D was still Andre. His positioning has still terrible (although, in his defense, so has everyone else's).

[Bob Green]

If Coach K is going to shake up the line up (which I think he will to prove a point), it will be because of defense.

Coach K is unpredictable so I am not certain you are correct. From my vantage point, on the couch in front of the TV, Dawkins played better than Sulaimon and Thornton. If he followed up with a strong practice, he might have earned the start.

[mgtr]

I want a lineup of Cook, Hood, Jabari, Amile and Plumlee. Let's go big, play off a little - a la 2010, get rebounds and protect the rim. Heck, we aren't creating turnovers by going small... why not?

I like your thinking here, but what about Ojeleye instead of Plumlee? As the year goes on, we will have to find a way to utilize these guys. Of course, we haven't seen either in practice.

[Kedsy]

If Coach K is going to shake up the line up (which I think he will to prove a point), it will be because of defense. For that reason, I'd be shocked if Andre started against Bama. His O was amazing, but his D was still Andre. His positioning has still terrible (although, in his defense, so has everyone else's).

From my second watching of the game, Andre's play on ball screens (one of our two biggest defensive issues in the game) was actually pretty good. He, Tyler, and Josh were all pretty good, at least compared to Jabari, Rodney, and Quinn. Which makes sense because Andre, Tyler, and Josh are all seniors.

Andre did lose his man for a couple backdoor cuts, but overall his positioning wasn't bad at all.