MBB: Duke vs. Carolina (ACCT), 3/10 7 pm ESPN Pre-Game & In-Game Thread

[jv001]

The best strategy against Hicks IMO is get him in foul trouble and get him out of the game. The problem is that Roy will hide Hicks on Matt Jones defensively, and we really need Matt in the game to guard Justin Jackson. It might be worth it to sit Matt some early, even if it means JJ gets going, in order to put pressure on Hicks defensively and get him out of the game.

Coach K has not played Matt heavy minutes in the last few games and I believe it's for the very reason you mentioned. He's just a non-factor on offense and opponent's coaches have noticed it giving Matt an open shot. His defender can play help defense on one of our 4 scorers. Matt could well be a key to winning this game. He should be rested and he'll have some open looks. He needs to hit them early to get uncheat out of that ploy. That give our other guys a chance to drive the ball and hopefully get Hicks in foul trouble. It doesn't necessarily mean it will be Jayson that Hicks will be guarding because of the switches the cheats will be in. This should be a real good ballgame and we shouldn't think less because it's Duke vs. Uncheat. GoDuke!

[ChillinDuke]

For those of you that are more experienced in ACCT mechanics, what is the best way to strategize on tickets? (I posted a similar post in the Ticket Exchange forum)

I'm watching Stubhub more or less in real-time. Prices have fallen since immediately after our win yesterday. Some tell me that prices fall off a cliff just before game time. Similarly, work colleagues tell me that the Old Big East Tournament (~5 years ago) they used to walk straight up to the door and buy them at the ticket office. Not sure how much to believe either of these tales.

The dynamic of multiple fanbases buying and selling after each win/loss makes for quite a bit of noise. And now Duke-UNC has probably amplified that. Any ideas from you veterans on how people tend to transact in this environment? Or it's stubhub and then luck of the draw?

[Happy to take this back to the Ticket Exchange forum, but there's minimal activity there so wanted to heighten the importance in order to maximize Duke turnout.]

- Chillin

[Matches]

Coach K has not played Matt heavy minutes in the last few games and I believe it's for the very reason you mentioned. He's just a non-factor on offense and opponent's coaches have noticed it giving Matt an open shot. His defender can play help defense on one of our 4 scorers. Matt could well be a key to winning this game. He should be rested and he'll have some open looks. He needs to hit them early to get uncheat out of that ploy. That give our other guys a chance to drive the ball and hopefully get Hicks in foul trouble. It doesn't necessarily mean it will be Jayson that Hicks will be guarding because of the switches the cheats will be in. This should be a real good ballgame and we shouldn't think less because it's Duke vs. Uncheat. GoDuke!

I think the book has gotten out on Matt to some extent - make him drive. Even with pretty good spacing, he's not getting the open looks he used to from distance. Matt is a very good catch and shoot 3pt shooter but not so much if he's on the move.

But yea, him knocking down a couple early would be huge. His defense against JJ in both games was superb so it would be nice to have him out there a lot tonight.

[TKG]

Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

Thanks, Andy.

Red.

[budwom]

Yeah, UNC actually plays well against zone. They're able to find their big men along the baseline for layups and lob dunks. Plus, the offensive rebounding, and the fact that Berry and Jackson have very deep range and really stretch out the zone, making it difficult to play.

This isn't to say Duke shouldn't give it a shot if m2m isn't working, but thank you for not being knee-jerk about the zone. Duke will almost certainly start out playing m2m, and I hope we don't switch a guard onto Hicks as often as we did in Chapel Hill. I'm also not a big fan of doubling the post, which has burnt us too often in recent games. Front their big men, or play from behind and see if they can finish over the top enough to make us do something else, especially when the young bigs with size are in the game.

Yup, using a zone at times could be fruitful, as good as unc generally plays against one...

[rsvman]

I'm not the coach but if I were, my strategy would be to slow the game down as much as humanly possible. I would make the cheaters play a minimum of 25 seconds of D on our every possession unless I had a slam or a layup.
This accomplishes two things. First, it allows our guys to stay fresher.second, it frustrates the heck out of them, because it takes then out of their game. Remember what UVa did to them last week?

That's what I would try to do.

Barring that, I, too, expect a hard fought, back and forth game until about the last 7 or 8 minutes, at which time the cheaters pull away and we lose by double digits. Fatigue from consecutive games catches up to young people, too. There are some physiologic realities in play, like limited glycogen stores, for example. Even if you are young and athletic, you still need to make ATP.

[BandAlum83]

It looks like odds makers have uncheat favored by 3.5 to 4 points, based on which bookie you look at. I know someone will post the odds on the betting thread later today. If we're not worn down by the 10 minute mark in the 2nd half, we win. If we're worn down, then it could be a bad day. The losses to State and Cuse put us in this spot. So, Next Play. GoDuke!

Not sure I follow. The losses to state and cuse put us in what spot?

[OldPhiKap]

Not sure I follow. The losses to state and cuse put us in what spot?

I assume (s)he means that we would have gotten a double-bye but for those losses.

Given the year, I'm frankly glad we did as well as we did. And even happier that the team seems to be coming together in March.

Let's Go Duke!!! 9F!!

[jv001]

I'm not the coach but if I were, my strategy would be to slow the game down as much as humanly possible. I would make the cheaters play a minimum of 25 seconds of D on our every possession unless I had a slam or a layup.
This accomplishes two things. First, it allows our guys to stay fresher.second, it frustrates the heck out of them, because it takes then out of their game. Remember what UVa did to them last week?

That's what I would try to do.

Barring that, I, too, expect a hard fought, back and forth game until about the last 7 or 8 minutes, at which time the cheaters pull away and we lose by double digits. Fatigue from consecutive games catches up to young people, too. There are some physiologic realities in play, like limited glycogen stores, for example. Even if you are young and athletic, you still need to make ATP.

Good points. There are so many ways to try and negate what other teams do well. The only bad thing about running the clock down is that we haven't been really successful at creating offense with only 5-10 seconds on the shot clock. We have turned the ball over or have been forced to take a bad shot. The results many times have been face break baskets going the other way. I think using most of the shot clock can be useful at the end of the half or end of game situations. Maybe use 15 to 20 seconds might be better but I want the ball in Luke's or Jayson's hands when we use this strategy. That leaves Frank and Grayson open for kick out 3s. GoDuke!

[jv001]

Not sure I follow. The losses to state and cuse put us in what spot?

Playing an extra game that the cheats didn't have to play. GoDuke!

[BandAlum83]

It happened in Atlanta thrice: the 1989 and 2001 ACC tourney finals. And again in 1929.

1929? How could I not know that?


Why were these two teams playing in Atlanta in 1929?

[coldriver10]

I was at the last Duke vs CHeats game in the ACCT in 2011, played at Greensboro.

Being the championship game, no other fans were really present and I'd say it was roughly 60/40 CHeats over Duke.

Greensboro has always had a fairly large contingent of local Duke fans in the area...

Now Charlotte??? Yeah, that's Chapel Hill West.

I remember that 2011 game feeling closer to 70/30 or 75/25 UNC/Duke. Which made a great game and result even more satisfying

[ChrisDevil]

For those of you that are more experienced in ACCT mechanics, what is the best way to strategize on tickets? (I posted a similar post in the Ticket Exchange forum)

I'm watching Stubhub more or less in real-time. Prices have fallen since immediately after our win yesterday. Some tell me that prices fall off a cliff just before game time. Similarly, work colleagues tell me that the Old Big East Tournament (~5 years ago) they used to walk straight up to the door and buy them at the ticket office. Not sure how much to believe either of these tales.

The dynamic of multiple fanbases buying and selling after each win/loss makes for quite a bit of noise. And now Duke-UNC has probably amplified that. Any ideas from you veterans on how people tend to transact in this environment? Or it's stubhub and then luck of the draw?

[Happy to take this back to the Ticket Exchange forum, but there's minimal activity there so wanted to heighten the importance in order to maximize Duke turnout.]

- Chillin

FYI, traditionally in NYC as soon as the banking/ wall st day ends, prime tickets tend to fall off of a cliff because the ticket brokers that sell to corporate clients have lost their audience. They control a huge % of the prime inventory. It is expense account buyers that drive the prices to these crazy levels. Have seen it for almost every pro playoff game in the NY area for years. That being said, this is DUKE/UNC and demand will be crazy.

[BandAlum83]

Good points. There are so many ways to try and negate what other teams do well. The only bad thing about running the clock down is that we haven't been really successful at creating offense with only 5-10 seconds on the shot clock. We have turned the ball over or have been forced to take a bad shot. The results many times have been face break baskets going the other way. I think using most of the shot clock can be useful at the end of the half or end of game situations. Maybe use 15 to 20 seconds might be better but I want the ball in Luke's or Jayson's hands when we use this strategy. That leaves Frank and Grayson open for kick out 3s. GoDuke!

I thought the last face break we'd given up was Marshall Plumlee.

But I guess maybe you're right, and this year's kids just won't play with masks.

[MrPoon]

I think the most interesting decision K will have in this game is Matt Jones (short of unexpected foul trouble or something of the sort). Jones has made Jackson look like a nice ACC player but not the POY and everything he has gotten has taken effort. It seems to me Jackson is an emotional player who can get frustrated by bad calls or a poor game, which Jones can cause.

However, I felt the best line up yesterday was with Frank, Grayson, Luke and Tatum. Some of that had to do with the unique flow of the game, some of that had to do with the effectiveness of the surprise zone. I don't expect a lot of zone today. Louisville couldn't miss inside but wasn't hitting the outside shot well at all. The zone wasn't very good and Justin Jackson and Berry (maybe even Pinson) are good enough to hit the outside shot when open. Our version of the zone seems to just give away the corners and I don't have the stats for it but my memory of Pison is he likes the corner three.

Lastly, GA's ankle is an interesting story. That was all the talk against Clemson and then it was all healed in the next game. That doesn't make sense to me. My guess is that it still is an issue but maybe not to the extent believed by his poor play against Clemson. K said he needed to find a rhythm to his game while missing practice. That makes sense but if the ankle is still sore, I wonder if it will tighten up after playing so hard yesterday.

[jv001]

I thought the last face break we'd given up was Marshall Plumlee.

But I guess maybe you're right, and this year's kids just won't play with masks.

Good catch but not quite spork worthy. I've done worse, just ask my wife. GoDuke!

[BandAlum83]

Good catch but not quite spork worthy. I've done worse, just ask my wife. GoDuke!

Not spork worthy, indeed.

This one was T-Ball.

[jv001]

I think the most interesting decision K will have in this game is Matt Jones (short of unexpected foul trouble or something of the sort). Jones has made Jackson look like a nice ACC player but not the POY and everything he has gotten has taken effort. It seems to me Jackson is an emotional player who can get frustrated by bad calls or a poor game, which Jones can cause.

However, I felt the best line up yesterday was with Frank, Grayson, Luke and Tatum. Some of that had to do with the unique flow of the game, some of that had to do with the effectiveness of the surprise zone. I don't expect a lot of zone today. Louisville couldn't miss inside but wasn't hitting the outside shot well at all. The zone wasn't very good and Justin Jackson and Berry (maybe even Pinson) are good enough to hit the outside shot when open. Our version of the zone seems to just give away the corners and I don't have the stats for it but my memory of Pison is he likes the corner three.

Lastly, GA's ankle is an interesting story. That was all the talk against Clemson and then it was all healed in the next game. That doesn't make sense to me. My guess is that it still is an issue but maybe not to the extent believed by his poor play against Clemson. K said he needed to find a rhythm to his game while missing practice. That makes sense but if the ankle is still sore, I wonder if it will tighten up after playing so hard yesterday.

Those 4 plus Amile give us offense from all 5 players that are in the game. I thought Harry played pretty well yesterday and gave Amile some needed rest. GoDuke!

[Indoor66]

1929? How could I not know that?


Why were these two teams playing in Atlanta in 1929?

It must have been that Helm's Bread Tournament we forgot about.

[CDu]

Not sure I follow. The losses to state and cuse put us in what spot?

I assume (s)he means that we would have gotten a double-bye but for those losses.

Given the year, I'm frankly glad we did as well as we did. And even happier that the team seems to be coming together in March.

Let's Go Duke!!! 9F!!

On top of that, had we not lost those games, we wouldn't be facing UNC on Friday as we'd be the 2 seed.