MBB: Duke vs Miami (Sat, 1/21, 8:15pm ET, ESPN) Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

[Troublemaker]

Put your pre-game and in-game thoughts here.

[Troublemaker]

Miami being next on the schedule is interesting because they've probably been the best ACC program at ball-screen offense since Larranaga arrived. Larranaga has described ball-screen offense as part of their identity and foundation as a program, and they've certainly hurt Duke in the past with it.

Duke did not play ball-screens well against FSU and Lville, and now we are spending most of this bye week in preparation for a final exam of sorts against Miami, who will run ball-screens relentlessly. I'm excited to see how it plays out.

[duketaylor]

And now with the possibility of Amile and/or K returning it creates even more interest and intrigue. Let's get healthy and we can look back at some of our issues as nuisances rather than year-ending or year-changing issues. At least I'm hoping so.

[UrinalCake]

Feels like a must-win game. I realize the inherent danger in saying that, because if we lose then what do we do from there? But really, this season is at a turning point and if we want to have any hope of getting things headed in the right direction then we need to win this one.

Ball screen defense will definitely be key; just as important is getting our offense clicking again. I didn't come into this season expecting us to be elite defensively, but I did expect us to be unstoppable on offense. Moving the ball and finding easy ways to score will in turn help out our defense, not the other way around.

[gofurman]

Feels like a must-win game. I realize the inherent danger in saying that, because if we lose then what do we do from there? But really, this season is at a turning point and if we want to have any hope of getting things headed in the right direction then we need to win this one.

Ball screen defense will definitely be key; just as important is getting our offense clicking again. I didn't come into this season expecting us to be elite defensively, but I did expect us to be unstoppable on offense. Moving the ball and finding easy ways to score will in turn help out our defense, not the other way around.

Of the next three games - home Miami, home State and at wake I would put them in this order of ease: home v State, home v Miami, away at Wake. We haven't lost at home.. haven't won on the Road. Yes, our away games were vs top 15 teams but the ACC is just harsh on the road this year.

We have had a full week to prep for this game while Miami plays tonight. Thats a definite edge - esp w our weak azs Defense lately. Just what we need. A week to work on D. Might watch Miami to get a little perspective. From stats their main guy is Newton both scoring and assisting

Question -= what is the real difference in ball-screen O and pick and roll O? Is ball screen O just rubbing guys off and coming off screens like we do for shooters ? Vs a pick and roll w two specific guys - one who can choose to shoot or drive depending on the defender going under or over the screen? I ask because to my eyes we say we are bad at ball screen O but I saw things that looked like pick and roll from FSU and Louisville that just killed us..

[-jk]

Question -= what is the real difference in ball-screen O and pick and roll O? Is ball screen O just rubbing guys off and coming off screens like we do for shooters ? Vs a pick and roll w two specific guys - one who can choose to shoot or drive depending on the defender going under or over the screen? I ask because to my eyes we say we are bad at ball screen O but I saw things that looked like pick and roll from FSU and Louisville that just killed us..

With Miami (and UVa), mostly in moving screens v. set screens. And the refs get tired of calling them...

-jk

[Troublemaker]

Question -= what is the real difference in ball-screen O and pick and roll O? Is ball screen O just rubbing guys off and coming off screens like we do for shooters ? Vs a pick and roll w two specific guys - one who can choose to shoot or drive depending on the defender going under or over the screen? I ask because to my eyes we say we are bad at ball screen O but I saw things that looked like pick and roll from FSU and Louisville that just killed us..

Ball screen and pick-and-roll are pretty much used interchangeably. Technically, ball screen is the more general term, and pick-and-roll can be considered a subset of it because the pick-and-pop is also ball screen offense.

[CDu]

Question -= what is the real difference in ball-screen O and pick and roll O? Is ball screen O just rubbing guys off and coming off screens like we do for shooters ? Vs a pick and roll w two specific guys - one who can choose to shoot or drive depending on the defender going under or over the screen? I ask because to my eyes we say we are bad at ball screen O but I saw things that looked like pick and roll from FSU and Louisville that just killed us..

Pick and roll is a subset of ball screens. You can also pick and pop, run a rub screen, slip the screen. A ball screen offense is simply one that runs a lot of on-ball screens. As opposed to, say, the Princeton offense, which primarily runs off-ball screens.

We struggle with pretty much any ball screens. But pick and roll just emphasizes it because if you struggle there it results in layups and dunks. FSU hurt us with pick and roll with the ballhandler driving. I feel like some of Louisville's success was with the ballhandler staying on the perimeter.

[Spanarkel]

Pick and roll is a subset of ball screens. You can also pick and pop, run a rub screen, slip the screen. A ball screen offense is simply one that runs a lot of on-ball screens. As opposed to, say, the Princeton offense, which primarily runs off-ball screens.

We struggle with pretty much any ball screens. But pick and roll just emphasizes it because if you struggle there it results in layups and dunks. FSU hurt us with pick and roll with the ballhandler driving. I feel like some of Louisville's success was with the ballhandler staying on the perimeter.

Thanks for the explanation. Is a slipped screen de facto a moving screen? It seems like if you feign to screen but don't really set yourself/stay set, but yet are potentially interfering with the defenders, you could be "setting a moving screen."

[CDu]

Thanks for the explanation. Is a slipped screen de facto a moving screen? It seems like if you feign to screen but don't really set yourself/stay set, but yet are potentially interfering with the defenders, you could be "setting a moving screen."

No sweat.

A slipped screen is where you set up like you are going to set a screen on the perimeter, but just before the ballhandler arrives, you roll to the basket away from the ballhandler. So it wouldn't be a moving screen, because the point is specifically to not make contact or interfere with thballhandler's man. What you are trying to do with a slipped screen is to get the "screener's" man to commit to the hedge or switch, then cut to the basket unimpeded. You don't want to make contact for an actual screen because you don't want to alert the ballhandler's man that you are about to be unguarded going to the basket.

So in a way a slipped screen has some similarities to an off-ball back cut. Both are essentially ways of an off-ball player deceiving his own man to get a free run at the basket.

[Spanarkel]

No sweat.

A slipped screen is where you set up like you are going to set a screen on the perimeter, but just before the ballhandler arrives, you roll to the basket away from the ballhandler. So it wouldn't be a moving screen, because the point is specifically to not make contact or interfere with thballhandler's man. What you are trying to do with a slipped screen is to get the "screener's" man to commit to the hedge or switch, then cut to the basket unimpeded. You don't want to make contact for an actual screen because you don't want to alert the ballhandler's man that you are about to be unguarded going to the basket.

So in a way a slipped screen has some similarities to an off-ball back cut. Both are essentially ways of an off-ball player deceiving his own man to get a free run at the basket.

Thanks!

[Billy Dat]

I wasn't able to watch the Louisville game in real time and didn't get around to it until last night. Knowing the outcome, I was able to be a little more analytical and saw a bunch of reasons for optimism.

Grayson seems like the tripping maelstrom has hardened and focused him. I thought he played really well without sacrificing what makes him tic. That was a brutal atmosphere and he was more than game. It's easy to forget that pre-Elon, he was hurt most of the time. He looks right, which is big.

Harry is coming on, he looked springy at times, and I am noticing pretty solid progress with each game.

Not everyone can defend like Louisville, currently ranked KenPom #2 in D and had to go back to 2010 to find a time their defense was ranked less than 5th. That D was largely responsible for our offense looking spotty. Miami's D is really good, too, at KenPom 21, but we'll be home and I think we'll manage better.

Our defense, I can't see it getting worse. A week of practice has to have helped. Capel is still trying to nail down a rotation, I am optimistic.

I also feel like it's a must win game. We're home, we need to win the games in which we are favored, we are 0-3 on the road which makes home wins essential, etc.

[Olympic Fan]

It doesn't help that we have lost two in a row and four of the last six to Larranaga at Miami.

Next to Brey (1-5), he's been Coach K's biggesr bugaboo.

In contrast, he's won 8 of the last 10 from Bennett ... He's 11-4 in the last 15 with Roy Williams (16-11 overall) ... 3-2 v s. Boeheim in the ACC (4-3 overall) .. now 3-3 vs. Pitino (2-2 in the ACC).

[Rich]

It doesn't help that we have lost two in a row and four of the last six to Larranaga at Miami.

Next to Brey (1-5), he's been Coach K's biggest bugaboo.

In contrast, he's won 8 of the last 10 from Bennett ... He's 11-4 in the last 15 with Roy Williams (16-11 overall) ... 3-2 v s. Boeheim in the ACC (4-3 overall) .. now 3-3 vs. Pitino (2-2 in the ACC).

Here's rooting for Coach K to sit this one out?

[OldPhiKap]

It doesn't help that we have lost two in a row and four of the last six to Larranaga at Miami.

Next to Brey (1-5), he's been Coach K's biggesr bugaboo.

In contrast, he's won 8 of the last 10 from Bennett ... He's 11-4 in the last 15 with Roy Williams (16-11 overall) ... 3-2 v s. Boeheim in the ACC (4-3 overall) .. now 3-3 vs. Pitino (2-2 in the ACC).

Larranaga is a great coach who does not get the props he deserves at times. I think he's a much better coach than Roy for example and not surprised to see that streak.

Sample size against Boeheim and Pitino is kinda small but still impressive.

This is going to be a really tough game under the best of conditions.

[CDu]

In what amounts to more or less a must-win game for Duke (not literally of course, but a REALLY important game to win), we face the Hurricanes in Cameron. Here's what we are facing.

Miami is in some ways a bit like FSU this year in that they play fairly small aside from center, going almost exclusively with 4 wings. They are quite athletic, and they are aggressive. Having the game in Cameron will no doubt help - teams like that seem to get away with a lot more physicality at home than in Cameron. But like the 'Noles this year, the 'Canes have some perimeter skill to go along with that athleticism.

As for their squad:

At C, they rely on a 2.5-headed monster of Dewan Huell (6'11", 220lb freshman), Ebuka Izundo (6'10", 230lb sophomore), and a bit of time from Kamari Murphy (6'8", 220lb senior). Huell and Izundo get the majority of the center minutes, combining for 31 mpg, 11 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 1.7 bpg, and 4.6 fpg. Both are decent-to-good free throw shooters, and do get involved in the offense. In an absolute pinch, Rodney Miller (7'0", 260lb freshman) can step in for a few minutes. But he plays VERY sparingly.

At PF, Murphy is the main guy. He is kind of a poor-man's Amile Jefferson. He's more springy than Jefferson with a bit less craftiness, but they serve a lot of the same role in terms of leadership inside, rebounding, and defending. Murphy isn't a guy that they run plays for, but he makes an impact on the game just about every time out. When Murphy is out or when he is playing C, the 'Canes go with one of their bigger wings at PF: either Anthony Lawrence (6'7", 210lb sophomore) or Davon Reed (6'6", 220lb senior). Lawrence is a floor spacer and a good 3pt shooter. He is a really nice option as a stretch-4.

On the wings, Lawrence and Reed are the top two guys. Reed, in particular, is a load. He is a big, physical, athletic wing, but he's a strong shooter (38+% from 3 each of the last 3 years, 81+% from the line the last two years). Reed has a ton of talent; the issue for him has always been consistency. In previous years, you never knew what you'd get from him each night. This year, he's been fairly consistent. He takes a lot of shots, but he makes a lot of them. I'd expect Matt Jones to get the primary assignment on Reed. Along with Reed, the other starting wing is Bruce Brown (6'5", 190lb freshman, top-30 recruit). Brown is a terrific athlete and a tough, physical defender with a good outside shot and a knack for the boards (7.1 rpg in 30mpg). Those two guys are a handful.

Off the bench, the 'Canes roll with Lawrence, who as I mentioned is a terrific shooter. He's less dynamic than Reed, but still quite effective off the bench. The other guard is Vasiljevic (6'3", 200lb freshman from Australia), who is a catch-and-shoot 3pt guy almost exclusively (38.6%, 85% of his FGA are 3s).

At the point, Je'Quan Newton (6'2", 190lb junior) is the main guy. Newton was a terrific sixth man last year who would score in bunches off the bench. He's still a terrific scorer, but he's being asked to distribute more. Distributing his not his forte, as his 3.5 turnovers per game and 1.2:1 assist:turnover ratio would suggest. But he's really quick, strong, and a good leaper, and has no trouble getting into the lane. Newton isn't the greatest outside shooter in the world (31% from 3), but he focuses on getting into the paint. When he gets in the lane, he can do some damage.

The 'Canes are in some ways like us, too, in that they don't have a true PG. Newton is in theory that guy, but he's really an undersized SG who can dribble. But like us, they spread the ball around and will typically attack from the wings. Newton, Reed, and Brown are the three guys that have the ball in their hands the most, and not surprisingly they are the team's leading scorers. The rest of the players are primarily catch-and-shoot guys (Lawrence, Vasiljevic) or "energy guys" (their bigs) who get the scraps that their top 3 leave behind.

I won't say it will be an easy game. Miami has at times looked great on the road (72-46 win over Pitt) and at times looked bad on the road (blowout losses at Syracuse and Wake). So it's hard to say which team we'll get. But it's a very winnable game, and it is a game that I think we will win. The 'Canes are playing their third road game in 8 days (Pitt, Wake, now Duke) and is making their second road trip to NC in 3 days (they played at Wake Wednesday). Combine that with our week to prepare and I think we will get the win.

[Bob Green]

Here's what we are facing.

THANKS! Your previews of opponents are very informative. Unfortunately:

You must spread some Comments around before commenting on CDu again.

I'm sure someone around here will give me an assist.

[richardjackson199]

THANKS! Your previews of opponents are very informative. Unfortunately:



I'm sure someone around here will give me an assist.

Agreed and done.

[NYBri]

Agreed and done.

Done twice.

[CDu]

THANKS! Your previews of opponents are very informative. Unfortunately:

I'm sure someone around here will give me an assist.

Agreed and done.

Done twice.

Thanks for the kind words from each of you. Sporks not necessary. Just hearing/reading that these types of posts are worthwhile to at least some is plenty.