MBB: Gonzaga 89, Duke 87 Post-Game Thread

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Lot of teachable moments from this game. Deep down, K is smiling inside. Better to get this loss in November than March.

39-1, baby! 39-1! LGD GTHc!

[simplyluvin]

Lost to a better team today, but love the fight. Better defense and more dribble penetration in the second half...I think that is going to be our game. Played young for about 32 minutes but picked it up. I also think Gonzaga got tired.

The teams the last two years also had a penchant for comebacks from big defecits, but this team has a better feel about it. Hoping our freshmen will learn to fight every play. Rebounding was also an issue, but tha was more of an effort thing.

[DoWorkDukie]

Tre can't shoot like Tyus could but man that guy has the balls his brother has. Would've liked to see him go 1 on 1 to tie the game at the end. He has a floater needed to score before Hachimura and Clark are able to block it.

Agreed- Tre has balls and we should run pick and rolls for him more. We need to execute pick and pops better.

[Old Dukie]

Hachimura was the difference...but this team has to play more zone to lessen the impact of guys like him. Duke looked lost and totally inadequate on defense. They showed heart...but little effort on D until the end.

[DoWorkDukie]

I don't know... Zion, Tre, and cam seen to understand how to pass.

Zion and Tre, sometimes Cam, tend to also take higher percentage shots overall.

[azzefkram]

Maybe I shouldn't have gotten that ill-advised tattoo.

Nice comeback. Sorta wished we created better opportunities at the end. I can't imagine driving 1 against 5 is a winning basketball formula. We looked young for much of the game. Gonzaga is a really good team.

[WHOneedsSOX]

I don't know... Zion, Tre, and cam seen to understand how to pass.

Well, some guys are ahead of the curve then. Barrett passes, he just didn't the final few possessions. Remember those early preseason games he was dumping it off to Zion a lot.

[ChillinDuke]

I thought Jack White played terrific defense when we needed it.

I thought Tre looked mostly great today.

I thought K needed to get Cam in offense for defense much earlier.

I thought the offense looked stagnant for a long time.

And I thought K was letting them see for themselves that they aren't unbeatable. Nay, there's a lot of tape to show guys that they looked pretty bad at various moments.

Time to grow.

- Chillin

[DoWorkDukie]

5 thoughts...

1. Duke showed major heart coming back. Freshmen will be freshmen sometimes, and they were today at times. But when they were down I was looking for the will to win. And they showed it. I never, ever count Duke out. Because quite often there are games like today when they seem lost, but then come back to have the last shot to win. They just didn't hit it today.

2. The team was never going to be undefeated. I'm fine with the loss. They should learn some things from this loss... like blocking out when the shot goes up and weak side help.

3. Barrett was already taking major grief in the in-game thread, but not from me. He's the team's best pure scorer on drives in traffic. He got fouled on his last two drives, neither of which were called. Could he have passed? Yeah, perhaps. But I'm also OK with him taking the shots.

4. Sucks to lose the Maui. We have never seen it happen. The Zags played great, shot well overall and are a team to watch in March. But I'd rather lose this than any conference game or game in March/April.

5. Jones played really well (IMO those that want to point out his missed dunk don't get it). If he could just learn to hit the 3 consistently, he will become the team's best player.

9F

Believe me, I love Barrett. We're not in the game without him. But when you're taking shots that are repeatedly getting blocked, then you should adjust your strategy. A blocked or highly contested shot has little chance of going in. I'm not okay with his shot selection.

The reality is that the boys didn't seem to adjust to the inability to score on the interior. Zion is the best finisher and he struggled.

RJ, with a full head of steam, is good. But when K puts him in ISO ball situations and the entire Zags defense is ready to help over, he's not as good at 1 on 4. IMO K has to put this team in better situations offensively, because as good as RJ is, he can shoot you out of a game.

[Saratoga2]

Exciting game and one in which our starting lineup had lots of trouble defending. Bolden was a little slow getting out and we didn't rotate in to help defense. I think we can expect that kind of thing with freshmen against an experienced and gifted team. Lots of teaching points. A missed layup when a dunk was attempted and probably other 2 point opportunities that we left on the floor with a 2 point loss, you have to wonder.

Tre did have a very good game as did Zion. Jack White did his normal thing and also was good. We made a heck of the try at the end and almost pulled it off. People here can be critical of a play here or there or a strategy that went bad but I celebrate what the kids accomplished and will continue to accomplish going forward. You can see Tre, Zion and Jack all improving. Barrett is a great talent but we have to find the best way to use him. DeLaurier also played well so a lot to be proud of. Onto the next game.

We did lack much presence from the 3 point line. Somehow we will need more from that facet of the game. Who will provide it? Cam, Jack and Alex are shooters, anyone else?

[uh_no]

Zion and Tre, sometimes Cam, tend to also take higher percentage shots overall.

RJ bararett has a lower O-rating than delaurier. he needs to develop a conscience, and fast. It's a lot on a freshman, but he's wayyyy to good to be that inefficient.

[Ian]

You always want to win but honestly this is probably one of those losses that helps us be better in March. The guys now know they aren't invincible, the hype will die down a bit and they can focus on getting better.

[scottdude8]

With about 5 minutes to go in the game my wife (who, as a side note, has become a much more invested Duke fan after seeing the team play on the Canada tour!) looked at me and said, "It'd probably help this team in the long run to lose this game, wouldn't it?" I partially agreed, but given the program's historical success both in Maui and pre-season tourneys as a whole I said I'd rather us lose a different game than this one. While I still feel that way (and obviously would prefer a world where we never lose, haha), I agree with those who say this game is going to be a very teachable moment for this team.

The fact that we played objectively poorly in the first half, and Gonzaga shot the lights out, and we were still only down 8 at half shows that even in an "off day" we're going to be in almost any game we play. The heart we showed coming back from double digits down multiple times is extremely encouraging. The improved defensive effort the spurred the comeback was also a good sign, as it's something I'm sure the coaching staff can build on going forward ("this is how you need to play for 40 minutes!").

I was a little frustrated by the tendency for us to settle for one-on-ones or contested jumpers down the stretch, but that's a seemingly unavoidable side effect of youth. I think with coaching, and with this as an example to point to, that will start happening less and less as the season progresses. R.J. was the major problem in that regard today, but again, 6 games into a young season that's not a problem that's crippling. If it's still happening come ACC Tourney time then we'll have reason to worry.

All that, and R.J. still definitely got fouled on the last play. If we can take one of the top teams in the country down to the wire in an early season game where we clearly weren't playing our best, there's only room to improve from there. Today sucks, but as my wife said, we may be better in the long run for it.

[porkpa]

R J is a great talent. He will learn. I think he is too used to carrying the load or a big part of it by himself like on Team Canada. He will learn that he has a great supporting cast. Sooner, rather than later, he will take advantage of it.

[ncexnyc]

Somewhere in the world somebody is listening to R.E.M.'s, "The End of the World as we Know It."

Lighten up folks we got to watch a great game and there will be many more to come.

[UrinalCake]

I was also baffled by the decision to keep Cam out of the game for so long. He was the only guy who could hit a three. I get that he had four fouls but if you don’t play him then he might as well have five fouls.

As a couple other people pointed out, Barrett’s performance was reminiscent of Tatum vs. NC State. I guess it’s good that this is happening in November rather than January, there’s plenty of time for him to learn to read the defense and recognize when the opportunities aren’t there.

We obviously have the talent level to compete for a title. Most of the issues in today’s game are fixable.

[DoWorkDukie]

RJ is shooting 42% from the field, 32% from 3, and 65% from the FT line. With 2 other lottery picks on his team.

The coaches need to put him in better situations, and he needs to get more efficient for us to beat a good team like Gonzaga. Plenty of season ahead, but I don't see how anyone could defend his hero ball on the last 5 possessions. Just pass it, once.

[KandG]

Just an ideal "teaching moment" game. Inexperience oozing from the young guys from the opening tip, from the way they got carved up defending the multiple screen rolls that Gonzaga threw at them, to all the offensive rebounds given up leading to easy points, to the unimaginative end game offense and really rough endgame isolations (someone let Zion touch the ball in the final minute please).

Not really going to single anyone out, just about every Duke player made bonehead mistakes or failed to communicate at one point or another, but the good thing is almost everyone managed to redeem themselves when we made the run to get back in the game. Everyone will get better from this experience, and they better, because other teams will follow the Gonzaga blueprint.

Only thing that worries me is how little outside shooting we have when Cam isn't playing -- Jack is more of a standstill shooter who can be chased off the line by athletic defenders, and obviously RJ and Zion just don't shoot reliably outside of 10-15 feet. Maybe their shooting will develop over time, the way Winslow's did. But Tre and Cam need to be more of a factor from deep over the course of the season.

Loved Tre Jones fueling our comeback and making one big shot after another. And Javin as a small ball center in the second half was a major boost -- even managed to avoid most of the silly fouls he tends to pick up in scrums, and make free throws (!).

Credit to Gonzaga, just an intelligent, well-coached team. Reminded me a little of Notre Dame in 2015 being our kryptonite. But I think we have the talent and chemistry needed to be a lot better if we take the right lessons from that good an opponent. Felt like K didn't do certain obvious things (offense-defense subs to get Cam in for more offensive possessions down the stretch, allowing so many isolations, no situational use of the zone) because he wanted to see how the kids would handle themselves with minimal intervention.

Next play. Can't wait to see how they come out for the next game after simmering on this one over the holiday weekend.

[Pghdukie]

My thought was Reddish was of no value on defense at all. Foul trouble is one thing, but I thought K sat him down because of no hustle. When your down double digits - where was he ?

[wavedukefan70s]

We are young didnt play good defense. But unlike other Duke freshman teams we seem to have the ability to play it.by January we will be a good defensive team no worries. We are hanging with the best in the country as we are this team has nothing but upside.im still excited. We can win a championship this year.no doubt.