MBB: Duke at Syracuse (Sat, 2/23, 6pm ET, ESPN) Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

[Devil549]

There are ways to beat a zone:
1. Hit outside shots which spreads zone out
2. Penetrate the zone for good shots or kick outs to shooters when zone collapses
3. Hit offensive boards for put backs and kick outs
4. Play good pressure defense and turn the other team over.... best offense in the world is a layup/dunk after steal or rebound

[slower]

Old Jack could can threes, which would open up room for RJ's drives, and could defend and rebound like a beast.

All we need is Old Jack.

So we had Old Jack. Is that the same as Classic Jack? Do we now have Jack Light? Or Jack Zero?

[SavDukeGrad]

I cannot argue with your X and O analysis. That said, I'm not sure X/O will be the main factor.

Where is Duke's head after Zion's injury and the UNC blow out? Will K come up with more "key player out" magic with a few days to prepare? And where in the world are the heads of Boeheim and his players?

I think the Syracuse players’ emotions could go either way. But if I had to bet, I think it’s more likely that they will play inspired in support of their coach, a la Louisville after the Kevin Ware injury. They are a mature group.

I certainly hope we bring our A game and shoot well. Coach K always seems to excel in these situations. Let’s hope he has more magic like he did when he game-planned for the first UVA game when Tre was out. Go Duke!

[Dukehky]

I hope Duke wins, UVA loses, and Carolina loses.

[Furniture]

Could he play? The first highlight this year? Isn’t that strange?

https://mobile.twitter.com/DukeNBA/s...58223734394880

Also saw this on Twitter. “Right now. We are doing this”! Awesome....

https://mobile.twitter.com/BlueDevil...69624737775616

[Dukehky]

Could he play? The first highlight this year? Isn’t that strange?

https://mobile.twitter.com/DukeNBA/s...58223734394880

Also saw this on Twitter. “Right now. We are doing this”! Awesome...

https://mobile.twitter.com/BlueDevil...69624737775616

I really don't think they would burn his redshirt this late in the season when we've lost one game with a fully healthy team, and Zion is going to come back.

When Zion comes back, Joey would likely be relegated to at most, spot minutes. If he were ready to play, they wouldn't have red shirted him. I don't think this is one of those "break glass in case of emergency situations." It's not an emergency. I also have a hard time believing that he would be such an improvement over AOC or Goldwire that it justifies losing out on his 5th year...

[Furniture]

Is he officially red shirted though?

[uh_no]

Could he play? The first highlight this year? Isn’t that strange?

https://mobile.twitter.com/DukeNBA/s...58223734394880

Also saw this on Twitter. “Right now. We are doing this”! Awesome...

https://mobile.twitter.com/BlueDevil...69624737775616

remember when goldwire was going to start w/ Tre out because Zion and RJ told people to instagram follow him? Yeah this is like that

I'm of course more than happy to be wrong.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

I really don't think they would burn his redshirt this late in the season when we've lost one game with a fully healthy team, and Zion is going to come back.

When Zion comes back, Joey would likely be relegated to at most, spot minutes. If he were ready to play, they wouldn't have red shirted him. I don't think this is one of those "break glass in case of emergency situations." It's not an emergency. I also have a hard time believing that he would be such an improvement over AOC or Goldwire that it justifies losing out on his 5th year...

I agree with your analysis...but if by some miracle, coach K "breaks the glass" (great analogy by the way) - then there's one poster around here, I forget who, that has been slammed pretty rudely due to his support of lifting the redshirt now - who will able to dish out ample servings of crow.

[CDu]

Is he officially red shirted though?

He won’t be “officially” redshirted until after the season. But it seems pretty obvious that the plan is to redshirt him.

[Furniture]

He won’t be officially redshirted until after the season. But it seems pretty obvious that the plan is to redshirt him.

OK thanks. I didn’t know how that works...

https://www.fayobserver.com/sports/2...bench-presence

[ChicagoCrazy84]

Is he officially red shirted though?

Never officially redshirted until the end of the season. Until then, it's just a "plan." Never know, Zion, RJ, and Cam could all get hurt and just like that you'd need to insert him.

[UrinalCake]

Given the following three potential scenarios:

- Alex has a good shooting night
- Jack has a good shooting night
- Joey blows his red shirt, plays his first college game ever against one of the most complex defenses to crack in the country, and had a good shooting night

The third option is far less likely to happen than the other two. To say nothing of how unprepared Joey is on the defensive side of the court.

We have a hole to fill with Zion out, and our shooting has been poor. It’s natural to look for an answer, and we have a guy on the bench who has never missed a shot. But realistically, he’s not going to outperform the guys we have.

[Wahoo2000]

There are ways to beat a zone:
1. Hit outside shots which spreads zone out
2. Penetrate the zone for good shots or kick outs to shooters when zone collapses
3. Hit offensive boards for put backs and kick outs
4. Play good pressure defense and turn the other team over... best offense in the world is a layup/dunk after steal or rebound

If I'm K, I prob start out playing some pressure m2m half-court D, and hoping that Duke shoots jumpers well enough beat the 2-3 zone. If that doesn't happen, I think I go the "Louisville route" and play a really aggressive full court trap that collapses back into a zone to conserve energy when they DO make it past half court. You hope to get enough easy buckets off of turnovers to compensate for poor shooting vs the set defense of Cuse. You also hope guys can buy enough rest when you're in your halfcourt D, and walking it up/passing it around vs their set defense.

[Sluggo]

After seeing this team win games with great shooting (Virginia), with not so great shooting, win after being way down (Louisville), the Tre shoulder injury, Zion getting poked in the eye, the sneaker blow out, I can say with great certainty, I have no idea what to expect today. Sorry, I know that is not very helpful.

[-jk]

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Let's Go Duke!

-jk

[Wildling]

Please Lord, for the love of everything that is holy, we have to beat Syracuse tonight.

I don't think I can take another loss to my 2nd least favorite fan base. I almost despise the SU fan base as much as the cheats....almost....

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Please Lord, for the love of everything that is holy, we have to beat Syracuse tonight.

I don't think I can take another loss to my 2nd least favorite fan base. I almost despise the SU fan base as much as the cheats...almost...

How is that even possible when there are Kentucky and Maryland fans walking this earth?

[fuse]

Unreasonably nervous.

Let’s Go Duke!!

[Wildling]

How is that even possible when there are Kentucky and Maryland fans walking this earth?

I have very close friends from Syracuse. As soon as they joined the ACC, they've all decided Duke is their #1 rival. They are an insufferable fan base. They quickly replaced the Maryland fans as some of the most annoying fans to grace this planet.