MBB: Duke 88, William & Mary 67 Post-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Put your post-game thoughts here.

[DBFAN]

Cory Alexander is getting close Len Elmore territory

[TKG]

Listless.

[OldPhiKap]

Cory Alexander is getting close Len Elmore territory

I though Cory did a good job, and usually does.

I'll say what I seem to say every game. Amile is a man. Points as the only big man, rebounds, leadership.

Matt with a very strong game as well.

Other than that, this is a tired team deserving of a break.

Glad to see Tatum in uniform with warm-up jacket off most of the game, even if not in.

[NashvilleDevil]

Cory Alexander is getting close Len Elmore territory

Mute button has been my friend for the last decade when watching Duke. Commentators add zero to my enjoyment or knowledge of the game.

[Tripping William]

A workmanlike win. Nothing spectacular; nothing glaringly terrible.

[MChambers]

I though Cory did a good job, and usually does.

I'll say what I seem to say every game. Amile is a man. Points as the only big man, rebounds, leadership.

Matt with a very strong game as well.

Other than that, this is a tired team deserving of a break.

Glad to see Tatum in uniform with warm-up jacket off most of the game, even if not in.

My ESPN app reported that Tatum assisted on a basket in the second half. I was momentarily excited.

[duke4ever19]

I though Cory did a good job, and usually does.

I'll say what I seem to say every game. Amile is a man. Points as the only big man, rebounds, leadership.

Matt with a very strong game as well.

Other than that, this is a tired team deserving of a break.

Glad to see Tatum in uniform with warm-up jacket off most of the game, even if not in.

Alexander put up a good fight, but alas, my mute button was ultimately victorious.

[tbyers11]

I though Cory did a good job, and usually does.

I'll say what I seem to say every game. Amile is a man. Points as the only big man, rebounds, leadership.

Matt with a very strong game as well.

Other than that, this is a tired team deserving of a break.

Glad to see Tatum in uniform with warm-up jacket off most of the game, even if not in.

Gotta disagree on Cory Alexander. He repeatedly tried to stir the pot b/c his boys (did you know he coached Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum in HS) are alpha dogs and aren't going to take a back seat to anybody therefore there will be chemistry issues when they return. It is one thing to suggest it as a possibility but to repeatedly state it as a near-certainty before finally backing off and saying it wouldn't necessarily happen the third time he brought it up was annoying. His example of 1994 UNC forgot to mention that Wallace, Steakhouse, and McInnis while supremely talented were a mixture of immature, me-first head cases. Where was the more recent example of 2015 Duke? Quinn and Tyus got along pretty well.

The Ohio State/Michigan football debate as filler didn't bother me too much ( I'm used to Vitale) but he looked uninformed next to his colleague on that subject as well.

Arguing a point to be contrarian with 100% near-certainty is sadly a staple of modern sports dialogue, but repeating it ad nauseum IMO shows a lack of preparation or an axe to grind.

----------
Back to the game. We are still a tired, hurting team. Kennard was money in the first half. Grayson showed some old man type moves (due to his injury-related lack of athleticism) after a slow start. Amile was very solid again. I thought Vrank and Javin both had a couple of good minutes in the first half. I liked to see that.

Our biggest problem to me was transition D. We were downright awful on several occasions. Hopefully as we get more, fresher bodies and more practice time we can improve in that area

[DukieInBrasil]

Super happy to see that Grayson was able to play a solid game. Hopefully his toe issue is fading away. Kennard didn't shoot so well today, but he & Grayson each had 6 assists and 2 turns, which is solid guard play. Add in 8 boards for Luke and that's quite a game.
Amile, 3 strait 2x doubles. Playin' like a man.
Javin is this year's Chase Jeter from last year. He just needs the game to slow down for him, which has apparently happened for Chase. Chase is looking like he'll be a solid reserve for when the 3 Fr. come back.
Vrank the Tank keeps turning in good performances when given the chance.

[DBFAN]

So K said in post game, that Giles was closest to being ready. Not sure if that is a good thing or not

[Kjeffrey]

Gotta disagree on Cory Alexander. He repeatedly tried to stir the pot b/c his boys (did you know he coached Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum in HS) are alpha dogs and aren't going to take a back seat to anybody therefore there will be chemistry issues when they return. It is one thing to suggest it as a possibility but to repeatedly state it as a near-certainty before finally backing off and saying it wouldn't necessarily happen the third time he brought it up was annoying. His example of 1994 UNC forgot to mention that Wallace, Steakhouse, and McInnis while supremely talented were a mixture of immature, me-first head cases. Where was the more recent example of 2015 Duke? Quinn and Tyus got along pretty well.

The Ohio State/Michigan football debate as filler didn't bother me too much ( I'm used to Vitale) but he looked uninformed next to his colleague on that subject as well.

Arguing a point to be contrarian with 100% near-certainty is sadly a staple of modern sports dialogue, but repeating it ad nauseum IMO shows a lack of preparation or an axe to grind.

----------
Back to the game. We are still a tired, hurting team. Kennard was money in the first half. Grayson showed some old man type moves (due to his injury-related lack of athleticism) after a slow start. Amile was very solid again. I thought Vrank and Javin both had a couple of good minutes in the first half. I liked to see that.

Our biggest problem to me was transition D. We were downright awful on several occasions. Hopefully as we get more, fresher bodies and more practice time we can improve in that area

I completely agree with you as it certainly seemed like Cory Alexander has a problem with Duke. While the game was close he talked about how tired Duke was, how Grayson is not himself and more (including the Carolina comment). Then when Duke pulled away he constantly talked about the chemistry issues that will come when the injured players return. Saying any of that once would have been fine but he more than beat a dead horse.

[gurufrisbee]

I love muting the TV. Years ago I realized that I gained almost nothing positive from hearing them and generally spent a lot of time being annoyed at how much they were factually wrong about what was happening and annoyingly inaccurate about their opinions.

I did find myself slightly curious when they bothered to show Cory's Ideal Line Up and neither Amile nor Luke - whom most people would probably say have been our two best players this season so far - were in it.

[subzero02]

So K said in post game, that Giles was closest to being ready. Not sure if that is a good thing or not

Wow, that is not what most have been saying/predicting. Since Giles has been a participant in warmups, I can put a positive spin on this news... maybe. I think most were expecting to see Tatum play first. If he did encounter a setback in his return to practice, hopefully he'll recover from it soon.

GTHC,GTH... badgers

[WillJ]

I like Cory Alexander, though he's usually more focused than he was tonight. But it's tough when it's a blowout, so I'd give him some slack.
His analysis of Harry Giles was interesting to me - I knew he was good, but I had never hear anyone knowledgeable say "better than Chris Webber" good.

[tbyers11]

So K said in post game, that Giles was closest to being ready. Not sure if that is a good thing or not

Agree on the uncertainty. If it means Harry plays Saturday and Tatum and Bolden play against Michigan St I'm fine with that.

However, it is more likely than Harry is right about in the timeline (first week of Dec) that has been projected since shortly after his arthroscopic procedure and that Tatum and Bolden are still more indefinite.

[devildeac]

My ESPN app reported that Tatum assisted on a basket in the second half. I was momentarily excited.

My 10-12 second early radio feed had Bolden ready to check in at the scorer's table but I got Bob Harris'ed again.

[DBFAN]

Agree on the uncertainty. If it means Harry plays Saturday and Tatum and Bolden play against Michigan St I'm fine with that.

However, it is more likely than Harry is right about in the timeline (first week of Dec) that has been projected since shortly after his arthroscopic procedure and that Tatum and Bolden are still more indefinite.

Unfortunately I have to agree with you. Just don't really understand how K can say last week that he was looking to next week for Tatum and Bolden. Of course I do need to acknowledge that K said The order of them being ready was Giles Bolden Tatum. At some point it would be nice if they would just be honest and say hey it's gonna be another month or at least be definitive on what the injuries were, instead of the lower leg injury and foot injury. I get that he also has to protect their Career concerns, but I've grown weary of this way of handling it.

[Duke76]

Super happy to see that Grayson was able to play a solid game. Hopefully his toe issue is fading away. Kennard didn't shoot so well today, but he & Grayson each had 6 assists and 2 turns, which is solid guard play. Add in 8 boards for Luke and that's quite a game.
Amile, 3 strait 2x doubles. Playin' like a man.
Javin is this year's Chase Jeter from last year. He just needs the game to slow down for him, which has apparently happened for Chase. Chase is looking like he'll be a solid reserve for when the 3 Fr. come back.
Vrank the Tank keeps turning in good performances when given the chance.

need to look at Grayson's jump shot prior to toe injury and last year to now...he is shooting essentially a set shot getting very little lift and a result completely different balance, rhythm, connection with his shot...tough adjustment to make, don't know how his toe or whatever the injury is, heals while he is playing

as far as the freshmen 3..it sure would be nice to have a little more info on the injuries, Tatum and Bolden especially, Giles is gonna be back before them is a real puzzle as I just assumed Tatum and Bolden had minor leg injuries. if they are in warm ups for last 2 games how serious can the injuries be at this point

[DBFAN]

need to look at Grayson's jump shot prior to toe injury and last year to now...he is shooting essentially a set shot getting very little lift and a result completely different balance, rhythm, connection with his shot...tough adjustment to make, don't know how his toe or whatever the injury is, heals while he is playing

as far as the freshmen 3..it sure would be nice to have a little more info on the injuries, Tatum and Bolden especially, Giles is gonna be back before them is a real puzzle as I just assumed Tatum and Bolden had minor leg injuries. if they are in warm ups for last 2 games how serious can the injuries be at this point

I agree but I think there is some uncertainty as to whether Tatum actually warmed up. Giles and Bolden did and Tatum was out there in uniform as well, but not sure if he actually did anything physical