MBB: Duke v Auburn (Tue Nov 20, 8 pm, ESPN) Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

[arnie]

The backcourt is quite good. Jared Harper is a 5'1" dynamo. He had one of the best in-game dunks of the year (non-Zion category) late in the game today. He can really shoot the ball, too. He's made 48% of his 25 3-pt attempts so far this year. Senior shooting guard Bryce Brown is another shooter, as is most of the team. Tre Jones will have his hands full containing Harper. After the job he did on Devin Waton of San Diego St., the young Jones appears up to the task. Reddish and Barrett, when matched up with Brown, will have a significant size.

Harper must have 50” or better vertical. Two inches shorter than Mugsy Bogues and a great in-game dunk😀

[DavidBenAkiva]

Harper must have 50” or better vertical. Two inches shorter than Mugsy Bogues and a great in-game dunk��

He's so short, he made a quotation mark look like a 1. Anyway, here is the dunk in question:

[Troublemaker]

I'm very interested in seeing what the line will be. In terms of the quality of the teams, I would think it would be about Duke-3.5 or so, but I suspect there will be a good bit of "everyone is in love with Duke" bias that makes the line more like Duke -6.5

The line is still not out yet as of the time of this post. I think it'll be Duke -8.5. The kenpom line is 6 and then you add a Duke tax to it, as you mentioned.

If it is closer to 8 or 10, the sharps in Vegas will see a real opportunity to make some cash.

Hey, I'm sharp (see the standings of the degenerate picking contest :-), and there's no way I'm touching Auburn in this one. The situational factors matter as much as the quality of teams, and the fact is that Auburn expended much more energy than Duke to win yesterday. The Tigers are also not necessarily all that confident right now, having been taken to overtime by a team that they saw on film get whooped at home by Wisconsin.

It's Duke or no play tonight in the degenerate contest. For me at least.

[Troublemaker]

He's so short, he made a quotation mark look like a 1. Anyway, here is the dunk in question:

This play exemplifies the reason I've been looking forward to this matchup; Auburn is the best test for Duke's defense thus far. They spread you out as in that play (sometimes putting 5 shooters on the floor) and play pick-n-roll, and they have that quick athletic point guard that has given us (and most teams, to be fair) problems in the past. Can this Duke team guard spread PNR run by a high quality opposing PG? Other Duke teams have struggled with that.

It'll be interesting to see how we play Harper. Marques will probably hedge, and then it becomes whether we can rotate behind him well enough to cover both roller and shooters. Javin, Zion, and Jack will most likely just switch on to Harper, and then can they hold up 1-on-1? Vrank probably doesn't play in this game.

[Utley]

Totally psyched for this game but my Thanksgiving logistics have me traveling by car during it. Anyone know how to listen/stream the game. I tried to search but couldn’t find anything.

[jv001]

Totally psyched for this game but my Thanksgiving logistics have me traveling by car during it. Anyone know how to listen/stream the game. I tried to search but couldn’t find anything.

Do you have Sirus/XM radio, if so, it will be on the ACC Network(I think). GoDuke!

[OldPhiKap]

Do you have Sirus/XM radio, if so, it will be on the ACC Network(I think). GoDuke!

Yesterday's game was on XM 194 for car radio -- a different channel for web streaming. So I am sure today's is on as well.

[Troublemaker]

Totally psyched for this game but my Thanksgiving logistics have me traveling by car during it. Anyone know how to listen/stream the game. I tried to search but couldn’t find anything.

Here's the TuneIn link so you can listen on your phone, too: https://tunein.com/radio/Blue-Devil-...Duke)-s230308/

May have to download a TuneIn app -- not sure

[JasonEvans]

I'm very interested in seeing what the line will be. In terms of the quality of the teams, I would think it would be about Duke-3.5 or so, but I suspect there will be a good bit of "everyone is in love with Duke" bias that makes the line more like Duke -6.5. If it is closer to 8 or 10, the sharps in Vegas will see a real opportunity to make some cash.

Wow, the Duke effect is in full force and then some! The line has opened at 10.5. That's a massive line for a pair of top-10 teams playing on a neutral floor. The O/U is a massive 162.

By comparison, Gonzaga is a 9.5 point pick over a very mediocre Arizona team. Duke is a bigger favorite over Auburn than Gonzaga is over Arizona... that's insane!

[Troublemaker]

It'll be interesting to see how we play Harper. Marques will probably hedge, and then it becomes whether we can rotate behind him well enough to cover both roller and shooters. Javin, Zion, and Jack will most likely just switch on to Harper, and then can they hold up 1-on-1? Vrank probably doesn't play in this game.

Oh, forgot to mention. We should have Tre and our other perimeter players force Harper to one side (to Harper's left since he's a righty), which simplifies rotations. On defensive rotations, particularly on ball screens, your responsibilities are different depending on whether you're ballside or weakside, so if the man guarding the ballhandler forces him in one direction, it predetermines what roles the help defenders are in and thus simplifies and reduces thinking. That's why I'm a fan of icing in general, and all side PNRs should be iced.

On the other end of the court, Duke is one of the best ballhandling and driving teams in the country, and so theoretically we're a nightmare matchup for Auburn's pressure defense. The test for Duke should be on the defensive side of the court.

[jv001]

Wow, the Duke effect is in full force and then some! The line has opened at 10.5. That's a massive line for a pair of top-10 teams playing on a neutral floor. The O/U is a massive 162.

By comparison, Gonzaga is a 9.5 point pick over a very mediocre Arizona team. Duke is a bigger favorite over Auburn than Gonzaga is over Arizona... that's insane!

Wow is right. 86-76 Duke sound about right? GoDuke!

[uh_no]

All due respect to our esteemed posters and to KenPom...Auburn? I don't think so.

don't undersell the value of an upperclassmen laden team.

[cato]

Here's the TuneIn link so you can listen on your phone, too: https://tunein.com/radio/Blue-Devil-...Duke)-s230308/

May have to download a TuneIn app -- not sure

I use the TuneIn app and stream from my phone to the car

[Billy Dat]

Oh, forgot to mention. We should have Tre and our other perimeter players force Harper to one side (to Harper's left since he's a righty), which simplifies rotations. On defensive rotations, particularly on ball screens, your responsibilities are different depending on whether you're ballside or weakside, so if the man guarding the ballhandler forces him in one direction, it predetermines what roles the help defenders are in and thus simplifies and reduces thinking. That's why I'm a fan of icing in general, and all side PNRs should be iced.

On the other end of the court, Duke is one of the best ballhandling and driving teams in the country, and so theoretically we're a nightmare matchup for Auburn's pressure defense. The test for Duke should be on the defensive side of the court.

In the "Earn Everything" ESPN series about the team, K and the Coaches are seen talking about Cam's tendency to leave the corner 3 man when the attacking ballhandler beats the first line of defense. They don't want him to ever leave that shooter, instead relying on help from the weak side. Cam says he was coached a completely different approach in his pre-Duke teams so it's been a hard habit to break. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out tonight.

don't undersell the value of an upperclassmen laden team.

I'd add to this, the "Duke gets everyone's best game" theory should be on steroids this year. I am sure these Auburn dudes want to show the world that they can hang with these freshmen studs. Considering that every Duke game is being watched by tons of pro scouts, it's an amazing platform for any opponent. I am sure everyone wants to run off the court yelling, "We shook up the world!" ala El Amin in St Pete in April 99.

[53n206]

Why do we have so many references to '99? I was on vacation in Cabo and it made for a very unpleasant evening. Let's have this the last reference to'99.

[cato]

It looks like Duke is the first game tonight. Anyone know if the tip will be at 5:00 Pacific, or will it actually be a bit later?

[DavidBenAkiva]

Why do we have so many references to '99? I was on vacation in Cabo and it made for a very unpleasant evening. Let's have this the last reference to'99.

Small world, I think I was also in Cabo for vacation in '99. We watched the Women lose on Sunday and said "Oh well, I guess we'll only get to celebrate one National Championship this year." Oops.

[Troublemaker]

It looks like Duke is the first game tonight. Anyone know if the tip will be at 5:00 Pacific, or will it actually be a bit later?

My guess is closer to 5:00 Pacific because the schedulemakers actually gave a 3 hour buffer between the scheduled tip of the previous game and the scheduled tip of the Duke game.

[Troublemaker]

On the other end of the court, Duke is one of the best ballhandling and driving teams in the country, and so theoretically we're a nightmare matchup for Auburn's pressure defense. The test for Duke should be on the defensive side of the court.

More on Duke's O vs Auburn's D. Auburn ball pressures, but unlike how Duke has generally played it the past two decades, Auburn will liberally help off 3-pt shooters behind the ball pressure to disrupt drivers. (Auburn's defense generally allows very high 3PA% against). Many of Auburn's steals come not from the original ball-pressurer but from wings digging in on the driver to strip him. We have to be strong with the ball, recognize the help, and kick the ball to the open 3-pt shooter. Likewise, we have to avoid charges taken from wing defenders (another source of turnovers) and kick the ball to open shooters. Finally, Auburn has a bevy of shotblockers at the rim. You can think of it like a third and final line of defense. 1. Ball pressure, 2. Wing dig, 3. Shotblocker. Our drivers have to use good footwork and go into the shotblocker to create space for our rim finishes.

Thankfully, I think our guys can do all of the things I mentioned. Auburn's a good defense that will disrupt a lot of good teams with their scheme. But they're going against one of the best ball-handling, driving, and passing teams in the country in Duke.

[Billy Dat]

Why do we have so many references to '99? I was on vacation in Cabo and it made for a very unpleasant evening. Let's have this the last reference to'99.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9S41Kplsbs

I'll never put on a lifejacket again.