MBB: Duke 81, Pitt 54 Post-Game Thread

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Jack White was solid,but only getting 2 points for all those minutes is not good. Hopefully those guys will look at the film and get better. They are all competitive players, but were unproductive. Jack is very good on defense and rebounding. O'Connell was sloppy and missed open looks. Goldwire was competent. This was DeLaurier's 1st game back. We need Bolden back to shake off his rust. Starting 5 were better. Carter and Trent were the best today.

He’s been really off his game since visiting whichever barber stole his powers. Someone send him some Miracle-Gro!

[dukelifer]

He’s been really off his game since visiting whichever barber stole his powers. Someone send him some Miracle-Gro!

A rookie mistake - need to track the effect of the haircut on Freshman performance. We have seen the bad haircut before.

[DukieInBrasil]

Glad Duke came out strong, never really let Pitt think they could win after about 5 minutes. Starters all looked good.
During the in-game thread i bemoaned the lack of bench scoring, and 1-11 ain't good. However, the bench did contribute in good ways: 11 rebs, 5 asts, and 3 blocked shots, to go with just the 2 points.
As mentioned earlier, all we need from our bench is for it to be serviceable, and vs Pitt it was that.

Vrank scored the only 2 bench points, but i'm gonna have to say that my tenure of driving the Vrankmobile might be over. The kid plays hard and is everything we as fans can ask of a Duke player, but i just don't think that even as a Sr that he's going to provide much more than mop-up minutes. He doesn't really get off the ground so his rebounding is limited to what comes right to him, and he doesn't really block shots. He's not a good passer and when he (inexplicably) gets the ball way out past the rim he often has trouble finding someone to pass it to. And he's not that gifted of a shooter, although he made the one shot yesterday, he doesn't generate good separation in the lane to get off clean looks. I guess i've noticed these things before, but something about his play in the Pitt game really crystallized those aspects of his game. During his 1st 2 seasons i was hoping that we'd get a breakout solid-if-not-spectacular Jr and/or Sr campaign from him. I just don't see that happening anymore. Now that we landed Zion Williamson? Vrank will be lucky if he gets on the floor any more than he does this year. Don't get me wrong, i am glad he is at Duke, and i'm sure he's a good teammate and embodies what it means to be a Duke Blue Devil. Go Vrank!

[Bull City Proud]

Glad Duke came out strong, never really let Pitt think they could win after about 5 minutes. Starters all looked good.
During the in-game thread i bemoaned the lack of bench scoring, and 1-11 ain't good. However, the bench did contribute in good ways: 11 rebs, 5 asts, and 3 blocked shots, to go with just the 2 points.
As mentioned earlier, all we need from our bench is for it to be serviceable, and vs Pitt it was that.

Vrank scored the only 2 bench points, but i'm gonna have to say that my tenure of driving the Vrankmobile might be over. The kid plays hard and is everything we as fans can ask of a Duke player, but i just don't think that even as a Sr that he's going to provide much more than mop-up minutes. He doesn't really get off the ground so his rebounding is limited to what comes right to him, and he doesn't really block shots. He's not a good passer and when he (inexplicably) gets the ball way out past the rim he often has trouble finding someone to pass it to. And he's not that gifted of a shooter, although he made the one shot yesterday, he doesn't generate good separation in the lane to get off clean looks. I guess i've noticed these things before, but something about his play in the Pitt game really crystallized those aspects of his game. During his 1st 2 seasons i was hoping that we'd get a breakout solid-if-not-spectacular Jr and/or Sr campaign from him. I just don't see that happening anymore. Now that we landed Zion Williamson? Vrank will be lucky if he gets on the floor any more than he does this year. Don't get me wrong, i am glad he is at Duke, and i'm sure he's a good teammate and embodies what it means to be a Duke Blue Devil. Go Vrank!

Vrank good kid,but we never should have taken him.

[OldPhiKap]

Vrank good kid,but we never should have taken him.

Disagree strongly, and note that K praised his efforts in one of the post-game press conferences recently.

[Bob Green]

Disagree strongly, and note that K praised his efforts in one of the post-game press conferences recently.

Exactly! Vrank is a solid representative of the program. I'm very happy he is at Duke.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Vrank good kid,but we never should have taken him.

Hi there new fella. Do you have any one sentence critiques of our non-OAD players that you like? Or just more throwaway slams of Bolden and Vrank?

Since you are new here, I will let you know - we aren't big on slandering our own guys.

Vrank has filled an important role off the bench, and may get substantially more minutes next year. He has shown flashes of solid athleticism and definitely has value to the team.

Not everyone on a team can start.

Welcome to the forums, and go Duke!

[DukeDevilDeb]

A rookie mistake - need to track the effect of the haircut on Freshman performance. We have seen the bad haircut before.

A bit like Samson after Delilah shaved his head. The reverse of Grant Hill in the 1991 National Championship game which was the worst do ever!

[AtlDuke72]

Glad Duke came out strong, never really let Pitt think they could win after about 5 minutes. Starters all looked good.
During the in-game thread i bemoaned the lack of bench scoring, and 1-11 ain't good. However, the bench did contribute in good ways: 11 rebs, 5 asts, and 3 blocked shots, to go with just the 2 points.
As mentioned earlier, all we need from our bench is for it to be serviceable, and vs Pitt it was that.

Vrank scored the only 2 bench points, but i'm gonna have to say that my tenure of driving the Vrankmobile might be over. The kid plays hard and is everything we as fans can ask of a Duke player, but i just don't think that even as a Sr that he's going to provide much more than mop-up minutes. He doesn't really get off the ground so his rebounding is limited to what comes right to him, and he doesn't really block shots. He's not a good passer and when he (inexplicably) gets the ball way out past the rim he often has trouble finding someone to pass it to. And he's not that gifted of a shooter, although he made the one shot yesterday, he doesn't generate good separation in the lane to get off clean looks. I guess i've noticed these things before, but something about his play in the Pitt game really crystallized those aspects of his game. During his 1st 2 seasons i was hoping that we'd get a breakout solid-if-not-spectacular Jr and/or Sr campaign from him. I just don't see that happening anymore. Now that we landed Zion Williamson? Vrank will be lucky if he gets on the floor any more than he does this year. Don't get me wrong, i am glad he is at Duke, and i'm sure he's a good teammate and embodies what it means to be a Duke Blue Devil. Go Vrank!

Was it really necessary to write at length trashing Vrank?

[ncexnyc]

Glad to see the bench minutes are expanding beyond garbage time, I hope this trend continues.

I wouldn't worry about bench production all that much, because if the amount of playing time continues to stay consistent for these kids, then Coach K. will learn to make better use of each player's specific talents. Right now it seems he inserts two or three of the bench players at a time and it's tough for each of them to find their niche within the flow of the game. A believe as the season progresses we'll see a more refined use of the bench that will yield better results.

Nice to have a solid win that didn't cause me to go ballistic while watching the game, hopefully that's a trend that continues as well as bench usage.

And OMG I was in total shock watching Zion's press conference. We've come a long, long way from the infamous Skype fiasco.

[azzefkram]

I thought the starters looked solid. Wendell is playing really well on both sides of the ball. It was nice to see Grayson's shot reappear. Gary looks locked in. Marvin was Marvin. Tre was really good on the defensive end.

The drop-off from the starters is stark. I think our defensive performance took a significant hit when the subs were in. This is the first game where I really noticed how the physicality impacted AOC. He had several balls just ripped away from him. Javin gets a pass as he's probably shaking off some rust and not quite at 100%. Jack looked good.

The team did what it needed to do and they stayed healthy while doing it. Wake should be a tougher test.

[accfanfrom1970]

My wife and I fill the bleachers at 5-6 games a year. We live for and love the minutes from guys like Vrank and Jack White. They are an essential part of the program and always play hard. Many thought the same as the poster above about Marshall, he proved the critics wrong, and I believe Vrank will too.

[Kedsy]

Many thought the same as the poster above about Marshall, he proved the critics wrong, and I believe Vrank will too.

Marshall Plumlee was significantly more athletic than Antonio Vrankovic. He was also significantly higher rated, coming out of high school (#61 vs. #240+). He also played a lot more as a sophomore (7.3 mpg for Marshall vs. 2.7 mpg for Antonio) and a junior (9.6 mpg for Marshall vs. 3.1 for Antonio so far -- that number will likely be lower by season's end).

I like watching the subs play too, and I like Antonio as a player; from afar he seems like a great young man. And I'm not sure what you would consider "prov[ing] the critics wrong," but he is nowhere near the same Duke career path as Marshall Plumlee. Realistically, absent a major injury to one of the players ahead of him, he has very little chance to be a regular rotation player for Duke next season, and virtually no chance to play 30+ mpg like Marshall did his senior season.

[DukieInBrasil]

Was it really necessary to write at length trashing Vrank?

you think that's trashing? I was critiquing what i see in his game. If we are not allowed to make dispassionate observations about players, then what is the point of this place?

[jimsumner]

Vrankovic is a valuable practice player and a valuable presence on the team. Duke never recruited him with the expectation that he would ever be a starter. I think the folks who insist on comparing his career arc to people like Brian Zoubek or Marshall Plumlee are unrealistically inflating expectations among portions of the fan base and thus unintentionally doing him a disservice.

I've consistently stated that his ceiling was someone like Matt Christensen, who was able to carve out a limited but productive role late in his career.

All programs need players who will work off their derrieres in practice with no guarantee of PT but will play hard and unselfishly when called on, regardless of the circumstances.

[AtlDuke72]

you think that's trashing? I was critiquing what i see in his game. If we are not allowed to make dispassionate observations about players, then what is the point of this place?

Is there anybody else at the end of the bench that you can share your dispassionate observations about ?

[dukelifer]

Vrankovic is a valuable practice player and a valuable presence on the team. Duke never recruited him with the expectation that he would ever be a starter. I think the folks who insist on comparing his career arc to people like Brian Zoubek or Marshall Plumlee are unrealistically inflating expectations among portions of the fan base and thus unintentionally doing him a disservice.

I've consistently stated that his ceiling was someone like Matt Christensen, who was able to carve out a limited but productive role late in his career.

All programs need players who will work off their derrieres in practice with no guarantee of PT but will play hard and unselfishly when called on, regardless of the circumstances.

And Vrank will play in Europe and probably have a decent career. He is playing against future NBA players everyday. I am sure he is having a great time at Duke and is getting better. We may see it this year or next.

[kAzE]

The drop-off from the starters is stark. I think our defensive performance took a significant hit when the subs were in. This is the first game where I really noticed how the physicality impacted AOC. He had several balls just ripped away from him. Javin gets a pass as he's probably shaking off some rust and not quite at 100%. Jack looked good.

The team did what it needed to do and they stayed healthy while doing it. Wake should be a tougher test.

Even I (#1 Jack White fan) am a bit surprised at how far along Jack has come. Obviously, this was against one of the worst teams in the ACC, but he didn’t look out of place at all. He looks strong and is extremely tenacious on the glass, especially the offensive glass, where he’s had a few kick out assists to Grayson for 3s in recent games. The guy plays hard and knows his role. I hope to see continued improvement from him. He will be competing for back up forward minutes next year.

[DukieInBrasil]

Even I (#1 Jack White fan) am a bit surprised at how far along Jack has come. Obviously, this was against one of the worst teams in the ACC, but he didn’t look out of place at all. He looks strong and is extremely tenacious on the glass, especially the offensive glass, where he’s had a few kick out assists to Grayson for 3s in recent games. The guy plays hard and knows his role. I hope to see continued improvement from him. He will be competing for back up forward minutes next year.

I am kinda bummed that Jack hasn't been able to get a 3 to drop this year so far, after his prodigious 50% mark last year
But i agree, he has looked pretty good on the court and his rebounding has been a bonus.
I'm sure that he's expecting to be a reserve player next year, but hopefully he's content to play when needed on a team looking for back-to-back titles!!!