MBB: Duke 69, Virginia 65 -- Post-Game Thread

[FerryFor50]

Parker and his teammates need to get him in positions where he can use his talents. He can drive. Get him the ball at the elbow and let him he work. He can post. Spread the offense and get him the ball on the block. He can roll off the pick. Keep drilling it in our guards to look for him on that instead of pounding the ball.

True, but a lot of it falls on Parker. He tends to get lazy on offense and takes bad jumpers.

[gus]

Without the weight of lofty expectations, basketball is fun to watch. It wasn't the prettiest game, and the collapse at the end was tough to watch, but Sheed's shot bouncing in off that that soft rim, and Jefferson fighting for that loose ball (and somehow, implausibly, making that second free throw) -- that's fun to watch.

[vick]

I do want to respond to something from the in-game thread complaining about Plumlee being on the bench during the last few minutes. He is a lifetime 0 for 15 on free throws. It would be coaching malpractice to put a player in the situation where he is, if Tony Bennett isn't a complete fool (and he isn't), going to be hacked and put on the line. No sensible coach is ever going to play someone who can't hit a free throw as the other team is trying to come back, because it's silly to do so.

[GGLC]

Also, Rasheed didn't give up that three-point play to Anderson on the offensive rebound. He didn't even touch him.

[FerryFor50]

I do want to respond to something from the in-game thread complaining about Plumlee being on the bench during the last few minutes. He is a lifetime 0 for 15 on free throws. It would be coaching malpractice to put a player in the situation where he is, if Tony Bennett isn't a complete fool (and he isn't), going to be hacked and put on the line. No sensible coach is ever going to play someone who can't hit a free throw as the other team is trying to come back, because it's silly to do so.

Also, notice that Bennett didn't keep his poor FT shooter (Mitchell) on the court in the same situation.

[rsvman]

Could be my imagination, but it seems like we swelled the lead when the B team was in and shrunk the lead when the A team was in.

Somehow I knew, and predicted at halftime, that K would stop or at least slow down the A/B substitution pattern in the second half ( he always shortens rotations down the stretch of anything--whether it's a season or a game doesn't seem to matter).

I thought the original idea was great and wish he would've stuck to it. The B team FTW!

[GGLC]

Jabari had one really nice play where he found a streaking Amile for an easy layup.

He needs to do that about eight times a game.

[jipops]

Parker is a freshman going through a slump. Nothing more. It's all mental. He'll be totally fine.

[MCFinARL]

A win is a win, but I don't feel the least bit encouraged. Sorry, when we play that badly down the stretch at home, I shutter to think about March.

You feel how you feel--but I actually am somewhat encouraged. Not nearly as much as i would be if the game had ended with 4 minutes to play, but still somewhat encouraged. The team was fighting hard out there tonight. I thought the two lineups added some energy, and the starters didn't seem to run out of gas quite as early in the second half. Rasheed is back, at least for the time being. Some bench players contributed meaningful minutes without the sky falling. When things did go south, they held on and fixed it.

Obviously still a long, long way to go, though.

[RoyalBlue08]

Parker and his teammates need to get him in positions where he can use his talents. He can drive. Get him the ball at the elbow and let him he work. He can post. Spread the offense and get him the ball on the block. He can roll off the pick. Keep drilling it in our guards to look for him on that instead of pounding the ball.

Parker can do all these things against one defender. But he either is not good at recognizing double and triple teams or thinks he can beat them anyway and ends up forcing a lot of very poor shots (admittedly some go in). The next step for him is clearly to recognize the defense quickly and move the ball to the open man. I hope he figures this out while still at Duke.

[ChicagoCrazy84]

Why is it that Jabari Parker STILL looks tired and dis-interested? Is it the usual freshman funk??

BUT I'm going to try not to dwell on the negatives, it was a big win.

[miramar]

I still don't know how Rasheed's three dropped (after an air ball no less) or Amile's second FT for that matter, but I'll take it.

Amile got the offensive rebound on Rodney's miss and also made the assist to Rasheed, then on the defensive defensive end tipped the ball away and got the rebound before making the two FTs. Outstanding finish for #21.

But letting UVa outscore Duke 13-1 is disconcerting.

[CoachJ10]

True, but a lot of it falls on Parker. He tends to get lazy on offense and takes bad jumpers.

True. And I am sure the Coaching staff will hound him on that. But...it is also incumbent on his teammates to work to get him the ball so that he's not only getting the ball 25 feet from the hoop. Quin pounds the ball too much. And we never look for the roller on the pick and roll. Our guards need to start dribbling with a purpose (ie driving to the hoop to point pressure on the defense) as well as keeping their eyes aware on the pick and roll.

[NashvilleDevil]

Why is it that Jabari Parker STILL looks tired and dis-interested? Is it the usual freshman funk??

BUT I'm going to try not to dwell on the negatives, it was a big win.

He was extremely enthusiastic at the end of the game when Amile came out. I think he's frustrated that he can't find his offense right now.

[cato]

Without the weight of lofty expectations, basketball is fun to watch. It wasn't the prettiest game, and the collapse at the end was tough to watch, but Sheed's shot bouncing in off that that soft rim, and Jefferson fighting for that loose ball (and somehow, implausibly, making that second free throw) -- that's fun to watch.

Well said. This was a wonderful win, as the celebration on the Duke bench showed. Amile -- so strong.

Expectations can be a difficult thing. Any W from here on out is a good thing. I've adjusted my feelings accordingly.

[duke09hms]

I do want to respond to something from the in-game thread complaining about Plumlee being on the bench during the last few minutes. He is a lifetime 0 for 15 on free throws. It would be coaching malpractice to put a player in the situation where he is, if Tony Bennett isn't a complete fool (and he isn't), going to be hacked and put on the line. No sensible coach is ever going to play someone who can't hit a free throw as the other team is trying to come back, because it's silly to do so.

Hmm I guess that's true. Maybe if he was in toward the start of their comeback before the +13 lead got down to -1 though. Might have helped.

[MCFinARL]

Could be my imagination, but it seems like we swelled the lead when the B team was in and shrunk the lead when the A team was in.

Somehow I knew, and predicted at halftime, that K would stop or at least slow down the A/B substitution pattern in the second half ( he always shortens rotations down the stretch of anything--whether it's a season or a game doesn't seem to matter).

I thought the original idea was great and wish he would've stuck to it. The B team FTW!

That is what it looked like to me, too--thinking the plus/minus for the B team would be better than that for the A team. Would be interesting to know how the game would have played out if he had stuck with the two-team approach.

[OldSchool]

This Duke team is like the NY Knicks of the ACC. At times they almost insist on taking the shots with the highest degree of difficulty. Guys, they don't give extra points on the scoreboard for making harder shots.

[gcashwell]

Plumlee was awesome. I hope he starts making FT's so he can play at the end of games. If K could have kept rotating like he did earlier, duke wins easily.

Both teams played excellent tonight.

Plumlee and Dawkins had the best +/- by a wide margin.

[CoachJ10]

Also, notice that Bennett didn't keep his poor FT shooter (Mitchell) on the court in the same situation.

Mitchell passed the ball quickly at the end, to create that turnover exactly because he didn't want to get fouled. Not sure why he was the guy UVA inbounded to.