MBB: Duke at Pittsburgh Pregame and In-Game Thread (Monday 1900 EST, ESPN)

[hurleyfor3]

Duke's first trip to the Oakland Zoo! Yay! I think.

[Jarhead]

The radio broadcast team for the Panthers includes one of our people, Dick Groat. Even though he has been on the job at Pitt for several years, I can't help but wonder how he will be feeling Monday night. He is, very definitely, one of my favorite Duke basketball players ever. I can say the same thing for Duke baseball and his time in Major League Baseball. Has Duke ever played the Panthers?

[roywhite]

One Pittsburgh columnist, Ron Cook of the Post Gazette, thinks pretty highly of Pitt's chances to win the ACC in their first year.

Panthers are ACC favorites ... seriously

Pitt's toughest remaining games are at home, where it is 192-22 with 14 consecutive wins. Duke (3-2 in the ACC) is here Monday night in the game everyone has wanted to see since news broke that Pitt was switching conferences. Virginia (5-1) comes in on Super Bowl Sunday. The rematch with Syracuse is Feb. 12 and should be much-anticipated. Florida State (4-2) plays here Feb. 23.

I don't see any of 'em winning at Petersen Events Center.

The schedule clearly favors Pitt. Syracuse also has to play at Duke and at Virginia. Duke has to play a second game against Syracuse at Syracuse. Virginia has that game at Pitt.

The ACC, clearly in a down year, is there for Pitt to take.

[roywhite]

The radio broadcast team for the Panthers includes one of our people, Dick Groat. Even though he has been on the job at Pitt for several years, I can't help but wonder how he will be feeling Monday night. He is, very definitely, one of my favorite Duke basketball players ever. I can say the same thing for Duke baseball and his time in Major League Baseball. Has Duke ever played the Panthers?

According to the Duke media guide, the teams have played 12 times and the series is even at 6-6

Pittsburgh
Series tied 6-6
12/17/38 H L 37-51
2/3/41 H L 32-46
12/20/54 A W 90-68
12/20/55 A W 92-54
2/5/57 H W 90-72
12/21/57 (2OT) A L 84-87
1/31/59 H W 75-66
1/12/74 A L 46-62
12/27/74 N W 89-75
2/10/79 H L 69-71
1/26/80 A W 78-69
12/20/07 (OT) N L 64-65

[Atlanta Duke]

No surprise Pitt fans are excited about this one

Tickets had sold on the secondary market for an average of $249 by Thursday, according to SeatGeek, a ticket resale website. The game long has been a sellout.

Prices have dropped since the start of ACC play and might continue to fall, SeatGeek analyst Connor Gregoire said, but so far, this is the most- expensive average Pitt basketball ticket on the secondary market since the company began tracking prices in 2009. The previous high was the $146 average resale price for Villanova-Pitt at The Pete on March 5, 2011.


http://triblive.com/sports/college/p...e-game-average

FYI "The Pete" is the Peterson Events Center

[Troublemaker]

This is going to a fun shootout. A high-level college basketball game that casual fans should enjoy as well. I love Pitt's offense. They move and pass the ball so well; it's beautiful to watch, but unfortunately, we're the opponent now. I would expect to get beat by a few backdoors in this game, hopefully limited to a few.

Lamar Patterson is a stud. An ACC POY candidate and currently KenPom's #2 National POY candidate, he's a wing that does it all. Beautiful shot that he can shoot from very deep behind the line, and he can drive and finish and draw fouls, and he can pass so well, leading his team in assists. Great player. I'm guessing Rodney's going to match up with him. Would be a good time for Rodney to notch a head-to-head win against a star SF.

[throatybeard]

Duke's first trip to the Oakland Zoo! Yay! I think.

It hasn't been the same since they murdered all the trees.

Wait, my bad. That's Oakmont.

[BD80]

It hasn't been the same since they murdered all the trees.

Wait, my bad. That's Oakmont.

Talk about a great defense! There just is no way to take it right at the hole without paying the price.

I've been called for more than a few flagrants at that venue.

[dukelifer]

The radio broadcast team for the Panthers includes one of our people, Dick Groat. Even though he has been on the job at Pitt for several years, I can't help but wonder how he will be feeling Monday night. He is, very definitely, one of my favorite Duke basketball players ever. I can say the same thing for Duke baseball and his time in Major League Baseball. Has Duke ever played the Panthers?

Duke played them when DeJuan Blair was a freshman. He had 20 rebounds in that game. Duke had a decent lead and then lost it and then the game in overtime.

[MChambers]

I'd like Duke to get revenge for that very painful 1979 loss.

[Bob Green]

This game will be a real test for Coach Krzyzewski's new deeper rotation philosophy. Pitt is a talented squad so Coach could revert to his standard of playing the most talented players the most minutes possible. Hopefully, he stays the course with the deeper rotation as it truly is a strength and should pay dividends for us down the stretch run in March/April.

Duke will be attempting to equal their longest winning streak of the season at five games, a mark which has been achieved twice this season. This one should be a real barnburner!

[sagegrouse]

This game will be a real test for Coach Krzyzewski's new deeper rotation philosophy. Pitt is a talented squad so Coach could revert to his standard of playing the most talented players the most minutes possible. Hopefully, he stays the course with the deeper rotation as it truly is a strength and should pay dividends for us down the stretch run in March/April.

Duke will be attempting to equal their longest winning streak of the season at five games, a mark which has been achieved twice this season. This one should be a real barnburner!

Random thoughts -- just like normal.

Does anyone here think that Marshall has NOT earned a spot in the rotation, regardless of K's substitution policy? And BTW, even if he does nothing else in his career, he has a knockout highlight for his video at the hoops banquet his senior year. The catch-and-layup play is one of the prettiest I can remember at Duke.

The one place on earth I would NOT like to be is suited up for the FSU practice on Monday. Holy cow! A huge FSU team gives up 24 offensive rebounds to a shorter team and gets only one-half as many total rebounds. Kudos to Duke, but that shows a lack of effort by the Seminoles.

Matt Jones needs to step up to keep the two-platoon system alive. He had some poor offensive positions, where he played out of control; therefore, he got to watch a lot of the game from the bench.

"All Day Dre" scored 11 points in 11 minutes, losing a lot of playing time because of his lack of energy when FSU began to press -- and a Duke team that shot 30 percent needed his shooting touch. We will need his contribution Monday night and again on Saturday against Syracuse's zone defense.

I am impressed with Pitt but haven't studied them closely. I look for a tough game that will require a strong performance by the Devils.

[Furniture]

Random thoughts -- just like normal.

Does anyone here think that Marshall has NOT earned a spot in the rotation, regardless of K's substitution policy?

Personally i think that if K reverted to his traditional game play system and non platoon style, Marshall's and Josh's minutes should swap. MP3 has earned more than 10mins per game from now on. There is just too much upside for the team!

[NYBri]

Monday is going to test the team and the coach.

The team in that Pitt can score the basketball and we will need both the O and D to show up. 34% from the floor will not bring home a win every night.

The coach in that, as has been pointed out, he'll be tempted to resort to an 8 man rotation with a few less eating up most of the minutes.

But these are the games any successful team needs to win to be called champs.

[moonpie23]

Maryland gave pitt everything they could handle yesterday………they really gave them trouble on a few of the full court presses towards the end of the game……MD also got burned on a few of them….


this was a physical game….i hope it wore pitt down a bit…Duke will need it's A game…..

[Troublemaker]

I continue to not be worried that Coach K will revert. And actually, I'm not even that surprised with the current rotation. I kept saying this team would have "rotational mobility" whereby players outside the rotation could move into it. And I've also stated before that Matt Jones could be a starter and that MP3 could play 10-15 mpg. So, the past few games have been somewhat of a surprise (in that we're running 10 guys instead of 9 guys), but not shocking.

So, anyway, I seriously doubt Coach K will revert. And if he does, whatever he comes up with will also be successful. As I said elsewhere, his first priority is to win. If this rotation is what it takes to win, which seems to be the operating theory from the coaches, then this rotation will continue. In fact, Coach K should be a little bit insulted by all these concerns.

[Atlanta Duke]

Mark Turgeon was impressed by Pitt

“I've been doing this a long time, 26 years as a head coach or assistant,” Mark Turgeon, Maryland's rather high-strung coach, began his news conference Saturday night after Pitt coolly, confidently took apart his Terrapins, 83-79, at Comcast Center. “And Pitt is one of the best college basketball teams I've ever coached against.”

http://triblive.com/sports/dejankova...#axzz2rTRQJBPy

Ever?

[Furniture]

I continue to not be worried that Coach K will revert. And actually, I'm not even that surprised with the current rotation. I kept saying this team would have "rotational mobility" whereby players outside the rotation could move into it. And I've also stated before that Matt Jones could be a starter and that MP3 could play 10-15 mpg. So, the past few games have been somewhat of a surprise (in that we're running 10 guys instead of 9 guys), but not shocking.

So, anyway, I seriously doubt Coach K will revert. And if he does, whatever he comes up with will also be successful. As I said elsewhere, his first priority is to win. If this rotation is what it takes to win, which seems to be the operating theory from the coaches, then this rotation will continue. In fact, Coach K should be a little bit insulted by all these concerns.

I agree. I don't have as much experience as many here with K basketball but doesn't he normally have to lose to change something up?

[dukelifer]

Random thoughts -- just like normal.

Does anyone here think that Marshall has NOT earned a spot in the rotation, regardless of K's substitution policy? And BTW, even if he does nothing else in his career, he has a knockout highlight for his video at the hoops banquet his senior year. The catch-and-layup play is one of the prettiest I can remember at Duke.

The one place on earth I would NOT like to be is suited up for the FSU practice on Monday. Holy cow! A huge FSU team gives up 24 offensive rebounds to a shorter team and gets only one-half as many total rebounds. Kudos to Duke, but that shows a lack of effort by the Seminoles.

Matt Jones needs to step up to keep the two-platoon system alive. He had some poor offensive positions, where he played out of control; therefore, he got to watch a lot of the game from the bench.

"All Day Dre" scored 11 points in 11 minutes, losing a lot of playing time because of his lack of energy when FSU began to press -- and a Duke team that shot 30 percent needed his shooting touch. We will need his contribution Monday night and again on Saturday against Syracuse's zone defense.

I am impressed with Pitt but haven't studied them closely. I look for a tough game that will require a strong performance by the Devils.

I watched Pitt a couple of times. They are physical and understand their strengths. They will be a very tough test. They will get energy from their crowd. Duke will need to fight in this one or they will lose. Big test for sure. Need a big game from Sheed or Amile.

[roywhite]

Mostly sounds like the Pittsburgh sportswriters are going a bit overboard with Pitt's early success.

From the article that Atlanta Duke posted:

after Pitt coolly, confidently took apart his Terrapins, 83-79, at Comcast Center

A 4-pt victory is coolly, confidently, "taking apart" the opponents?

Pitt might not be the better team in March. Hey, they might not be the better team on Monday. But they've been better to date.

Well, that's debatable, based on Pitt's weak out-of-conference schedule and the way Duke has played the last three games. Maybe Pitt will hang a banner for a second place position in the league after 1/3 of a season?

OK, since no one else will say it: I can't wait... This is Coach K walking the Pete hardwood. This is Patterson, the ACC's best current player, against Parker, the one with the best potential. This is Pitt not only entering the ACC but also doing so with a peak. This, I'm betting, will be one of the best basketball environments our city has experienced.

Dixon's final two words regarding Duke might have been his most revealing: “We're ready.”

Better believe it.

Okay, be careful what you wish for, Pitt.