2018-19 Duke Women's BB

[CamrnCrz1974]

ESPN's Mechelle Voepel weighs in regarding the WBB programs at Duke and UNC (as part of a post about what is happening with the Lady Vols and embattled Tennessee WBB Coach Holly Warlick):

https://twitter.com/MechelleV/status...39619431596032

[killerleft]

All interesting speculation, much of it irrelevant to Coach P and Duke, but speculation is not needed when the player in question literally says that her transfer from Duke is "all about my player development."

Which, if you accept that Azura is infallible, is all you need to know, I guess. I saw much improvement from her during her time at Duke. Maybe she taught herself. Maybe Geno taught her so much she didn't need another year of his tutelage.

[jimsumner]

Azura?

She was under-valued coming out of high school due to some injuries that kept her out of some big competitions.


She got better under McCallie.


She got better under Geno.

She's probably getting better in the WNBA.


RE: tonight's game against Wake Forest, I am told that Penna and Sharp will be out with injuries. Their two best players. Both have been out awhile but there was some thought that either or both could return tonight.

[-jk]

Azura?

She was under-valued coming out of high school due to some injuries that kept her out of some big competitions.


She got better under McCallie.


She got better under Geno.

She's probably getting better in the WNBA.


RE: tonight's game against Wake Forest, I am told that Penna and Sharp will be out with injuries. Their two best players. Both have been out awhile but there was some thought that either or both could return tonight.

So an almost level playing field (court)?

[uh_no]

good run to take it up to 10.

[loran16]

Well we won't be going winless in the ACC! The offense still looks lost quite often tho.

EDIT: Great example of this in the final minute. Duke gets a rebound and the rebounder darts down for a potential transition opportunity then pulls up (no need for that in a blowout with that time left), and makes a nice pass to a player a little inside the FT line...who rather than looking toward the hoop to make an easy shot or get in close, passes it near-immediately AGAIN to a player just inside the 3 point arc, who hoists up an immediate long-range 2 (which misses).

Why the hell was that shot ever taken? And how could they think that was a good idea? Just befuddling offensive coaching.

[Dukehky]

Buyouts are crazy.

[burnspbesq]

Well we won't be going winless in the ACC! The offense still looks lost quite often tho.

EDIT: Great example of this in the final minute. Duke gets a rebound and the rebounder darts down for a potential transition opportunity then pulls up (no need for that in a blowout with that time left), and makes a nice pass to a player a little inside the FT line...who rather than looking toward the hoop to make an easy shot or get in close, passes it near-immediately AGAIN to a player just inside the 3 point arc, who hoists up an immediate long-range 2 (which misses).

Why the hell was that shot ever taken? And how could they think that was a good idea? Just befuddling offensive coaching.

Oh, come on, now.

Did you not notice that that was Schubert, the last player at the end of the bench, and that her teammates were looking to get shots for her on both of the last two possessions?

[uh_no]

Oh, come on, now.

Did you not notice that that was Schubert, the last player at the end of the bench, and that her teammates were looking to get shots for her on both of the last two possessions?

It was definitely not a good example of the point he was going to make.

I'm happy the ladies got a win.

After cuse (which would be a huge upset win could we pull it off), 5 chances to pick up wins.

[loran16]

Oh, come on, now.

Did you not notice that that was Schubert, the last player at the end of the bench, and that her teammates were looking to get shots for her on both of the last two possessions?

Okay, fair on this one. I had the game on mute. My bad. I'll take the win for now then. Maybe we can steal the next one.

[Kedsy]

Some good stuff from Jayda and Onome (as well as Leonna, Haley, and Miela). Honestly, I think if Kyra and Mikayla come back healthy, Duke could be pretty good next season.

This season, it is what it is. Hopefully tonight's win will start us on a hot streak (though as someone else noted, beating Syracuse would be a major upset).

[jimsumner]

Some good stuff from Jayda and Onome (as well as Leonna, Haley, and Miela). Honestly, I think if Kyra and Mikayla come back healthy, Duke could be pretty good next season.

This season, it is what it is. Hopefully tonight's win will start us on a hot streak (though as someone else noted, beating Syracuse would be a major upset).

Syracuse may not be as unbeatable as they seemed to be earlier in the season. They got toasted pretty good at home last night by Miami. In fact, Miami had more trouble beating Duke on the road than they did beating Syracuse on the road.

[Kedsy]

Syracuse may not be as unbeatable as they seemed to be earlier in the season. They got toasted pretty good at home last night by Miami. In fact, Miami had more trouble beating Duke on the road than they did beating Syracuse on the road.

They still press the whole game, right? If so, that’ll be hard for a team without a PG.

[jimsumner]

They still press the whole game, right? If so, that’ll be hard for a team without a PG.

They do. I asked McCallie about this last night. Here is her response.

"That will be a great test for us; it will be a different tempo game. There’s a lot of quick shots and up and down in that game. I would like us to be more effective on the press break or when we are pressed. I want us to tear it apart. I want a bit more of get the ball to the block and high post. I haven’t looked ahead. I know Syracuse from last year and the year before. They’re mostly all back and they have a foreign player. I’ll get to that tonight. I’d really like to see us, obviously, rebound the ball so much better. I’d love to see us do that and I’d love to see us really attack pressure in a way of good ball fakes and really just take the wind out of any kind of press and not giving it much ability to be effective. I’m guessing if those things occur on Sunday, we’ll be in good shape."


Gorecki's response.

"They are going to press us. That’s fine. We have different ball-handlers that can dribble the ball. We just need to pass through the defense and move the ball quickly."

But yes, Syracuse's press had disrupted better Duke teams than this.

[uh_no]

I know Syracuse from last year and the year before. They’re mostly all back and they have a foreign player.

uhhhh...wut?

[jimsumner]

uhhhh...wut?

You have to read it in context. She hasn't had a chance to look at game film from this season but she recalls playing them from last season.

[CamrnCrz1974]

Some good stuff from Jayda and Onome (as well as Leonna, Haley, and Miela). Honestly, I think if Kyra and Mikayla come back healthy, Duke could be pretty good next season.

I agree. A starting lineup featuring Lambert, Boykin, Haley, and Leoanna could be really, really good.

But the post will still be a mystery, as Jade Williams is still wildly inconsistent and Onome Akinbode-James has not yet demonstrated she can be a primary post scoring option.

This season, it is what it is.

Leaonna Odom was a consensus top ten player and a McDonald's All-American. Jade Williams was a consensus top 20 player and a McDonald's All-American. Haley Gorecki was Gatorade POY for Illinois (Mikayla Boykin was Gatorade POY for North Carolina). Miela Goodchild is considered one of the top young prospects in Australia and made Australia's U16, U17, and U18 national teams (and was the leading scorer for Australia's U18 team that won the bronze medal at the 2018 FIBA U18 Women's Asian Championship)

That is a lot of talent, in terms of high school accolades/recruiting. Even with the injuries (Duke was 3-5 in games that Boykin played), Duke does not seem to be playing up to the level of this talent described above -- or at least to what might be expected.

With that being said, Duke will be favored to win or should likely win 7-8 of the remaining 10 regular season conference games. 7 of the 10 games are against UNC, Pitt, BC, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest: combined, these teams are 6-30 in the ACC. The eighth game is against Clemson, who has done really so far, but still has the meat of the schedule remaining. Notre Dame and Syracuse are not games in which Duke will be favored.

If Duke can somehow win 7-8 of these games, the record will be 16-12/17-11. With two wins the ACC Tournament, there could be an outside shot (albeit unlikely) for an NCAA Tournament berth. Still, that would certainly salvage the season and turn it into a much more positive one.

[uh_no]

You have to read it in context. She hasn't had a chance to look at game film from this season but she recalls playing them from last season.

it's just a very odd statement...not that they're tall, not that they ran, or rebounded or played zone or something...but that they're all black with a foreigner...just a really really odd thing to say.

edit: I can't read.

[CameronBornAndBred]

it's just a very odd statement...not that they're tall, not that they ran, or rebounded or played zone or something...but that they're all black with a foreigner...just a really really odd thing to say.

Jim said they are all BACK. Not black.

[uh_no]

Jim said they are all BACK. Not black.

who has two thumbs and can't read:

uh_no!

okay. that makes far more sense. lol.