Duke vs Georgia State (11/15/19, 7 pm, ACCN) Pre-game & In-game Thread

[Bob Green]

Discuss the game here.

[AGDukesky]

This looks like a little bit of an improvement in competition compared to the last two games. I’ll be impressed with a win over 20 points.

[brevity]

I know very little about Georgia State, so my scouting report is only slightly better than saying nothing.

Georgia State won the Sun Belt and made the NCAA Tournament in 2018 (first round loss to Cincinnati) and 2019 (first round loss to Houston). What a difference a year makes. Followers of Halftime Trivia -- an exclusive feature of DBR Chat -- may recall that Devin Mitchell, a Georgia State senior last year, is Jordan Goldwire's cousin. His graduation is one of many changes to this team, which lost 4 double-digit scorers (including Mitchell) and coach Ron Hunter, who took his swivel chair to Tulane.



In his place is Rob Lanier, who was most recently an assistant coach under Rick Barnes at Texas and Tennessee, but has also had prior head coaching experience (Siena, 2001-2005) and ACC experience (Virginia assistant, 2005-2007). He also has a cousin you've heard of, NBA legend Bob Lanier.

The GSU roster returns one double-digit scorer from last season (junior guard Kane Williams) and only one other player with significant experience as a starter (redshirt senior guard Damon Wilson). While size doesn't tell the whole story, they have a lot of it: 5 players who are 6'8" or taller in the frontcourt, plus 4 backcourt or wing players who are 6'5" or 6'6".

Finally, one of those 6'5" guards is sophomore guard Jojo Toppin, which should be one of the better names we see this season.

[Bob Green]

Finally, one of those 6'5" guards is sophomore guard Jojo Toppin, which should be one of the better names we see this season.

Is his cousin Mr Mojo Risin? He played for UCLA.

[brevity]

Is his cousin Mr Mojo Risin? He played for UCLA.

Not sure. My sources tell me Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner, and he did take a trip from Arizona to California, so...

[ndkjr70]

This looks like a little bit of an improvement in competition compared to the last two games. I’ll be impressed with a win over 20 points.

Based on... what? They just lost to College of Charleston. Their tournament team from the last two seasons is largely graduated.

I expect the line to be close to -25.0, and I wouldn’t hesitate taking that.

[AGDukesky]

Based on... what? They just lost to College of Charleston. Their tournament team from the last two seasons is largely graduated.

I expect the line to be close to -25.0, and I wouldn’t hesitate taking that.

Sagarin rating and playing even on the road against an okay Charleston team

[Devilwin]

Evansville says hello. Let's not get too happy just yet..But I feel a win in the 18 to 23 point range.

[Bomar]

I am going to the game tomorrow. My Wife and Mom got me tickets in the Student Section for my 40th birthday. I can't wait! We'll drive up from Charlotte tomorrow, should be a fun day.

How early should I get to Cameron? I have already scouted my route to the Small / Large circuit garages. I would just like an idea of when I should arrive.

If GA State is a big team, I hope to see some great swarming defense from Tre and Goldwire!

[Music man55]

This looks like a little bit of an improvement in competition compared to the last two games. I’ll be impressed with a win over 20 points.

Agree. Ga. St. Appears to be quite capable of giving us alot more fight than our previous game. But with Tre leading the way with our defensive pressure, I expect Duke to generate quite a few turnovers again. One nice bonus would be some more three point shooting like Tuesday night. Hope Wendell Moore keeps gaining momentum every game, he might just end up being the X factor for this team in the long run. Go Duke!

[Neals384]

Here are some factoids pulled from box scores. GS is 1-1, but the win was 104-35 vs. Division X Brewston-Parker, so I'm only looking at the loss the Charleston and prior season numbers. Here are the 5 starters:

6'3" Junior Guard Kane Williams is the man. The man who shot 4 for 18 against Charleston, with a miss from 3 and two turnovers in the final 2 minutes as Georgia State let a close game get away. Last season he averaged 11 points on 50% shooting (40% from 3) and 3.5 assists.

5'9" Sophomore Guard Justin Roberts was leading scorer against Charleston: 22 points on 7 for 9 shooting, 3 assists and 2 steals.

6'9" 245 pd Freshman Joe Jones III is the man in the middle. Against Charleston he had 2 points, 4 boards, 2 blocks and just 1 foul in 22 minutes.

6'2" Junior Guard Corey Allen averaged 14 pts in 2 seasons with Detroit Mercy before sitting out last year. He had 9 pts and 5 turnovers against Charleston.

6'5" Senior Guard Damon Wilson had 4 pts, 3 boards, 2 assists and 4 turnovers before fouling out in just 16 minutes. ESPN shows no prior season stats, so I guess he's been hiding under a rock for 3 seasons.

Off the bench vs. Charleston:

6'4" Sophomore Guard Nelson Phillips had 5 points on (1-8 shooting) 6 boards, 3 turnovers in 24 minutes before fouling out in crunch time. Last season he averaged 5 points in 13 minutes.

6'8" junior forward Josh Linder had 19 points on 6-7 shooting and 12 boards in 23 minutes. He averaged just 4 minutes his first two seasons. Expect him to start vs. Duke.

6'6" Sophomore Forward Kavonte Ivory fouled out in 10 minutes.

6'10" Freshman Forward Jalen Thomas had 4 pts, 2 board and 2 steals in 11 minutes.

Overall, GS had 19 turnovers and 28 fouls vs. Charleston (3 end-of-game "intentional"). To stay on the court with Duke, they'll need to take care of the ball and watch their fouls. They'll need improved play from senior Wilson, fewer (or better) shots from Williams, plus continued strong play from Roberts and Linder.

[sagegrouse]

Should be mentioned that Georgia State was Lefty Driesell's last coaching position, 1997-2003. Best team was 29-5 in 2001 -- made it to the NCAA second round.

[uh_no]

This looks like a little bit of an improvement in competition compared to the last two games. I’ll be impressed with a win over 20 points.

given that we're projected to win by 25, and that this team is on the same level as csu, whom we beat by 34, I would not be.

[DukeFanSince1990]

They seem to have a Key & Peele character on their roster.

Capture.JPG

[Natty_B]

Sagarin rating and playing even on the road against an okay Charleston team

Kenpom has Georgia State at 165 and Colorado State at 147

[uh_no]

Kenpom has Georgia State at 165 and Colorado State at 147

while KP and sagarin don't mean too too much this early in the year, i don't see anything to make me think any of CSU, GaSt or charleston are particularly good teams such that we should be impressed by a 20 point win. Maybe we won't win by 20, who knows, but it won't mean much in either case.

[Bob Green]

Jim Sumner article on front page:

https://www.dukebasketballreport.com...indoor-stadium

Georgia State turns the ball over a lot so Duke will look to turn turnovers into transition points.

[jimsumner]

Jim Sumner article on front page:

https://www.dukebasketballreport.com...indoor-stadium

Georgia State turns the ball over a lot so Duke will look to turn turnovers into transition points.

That's Julian's.

[Bob Green]

That's Julian's.

Oops. Thanks for the correction.

[Billy Dat]

Finally, one of those 6'5" guards is sophomore guard Jojo Toppin, which should be one of the better names we see this season.

They seem to have a Key & Peele character on their roster...Jojo Toppin

I looked up Jojo Toppin thinking he might be related to some kids local to my area with the same unique last name...Obadiah "Obi" Toppin - projected 1st round 2020 NBA draftee balling out for Dayton and his younger brother Jacob Toppin, a freshman at Rhode Island. These Toppins are from Ossining, NY, the same hometown as Duke 2021 verbal commit AJ Griffin...and you'd think Ossining High School would be a powerhouse, but these days all of the local public school talent gets grabbed up by the local catholic high school powerhouses (Stepinac, Fordham Prep) or they head to prep school.

But I digress...Jojo Toppin does have a Duke connection, he played with Jordan Goldwire at Norcross High School in Georgia.

I am most interested to see what K does with line-ups and match-ups. At this point, I think only Tre, Cassius and Vernon are guaranteed starters for this game. K seems to be having a lot of fun bludgeoning teams with defense, and he sometimes goes to defense heavy line-ups (e.g. Tre, Cassius, Wendell, Jack, Javin) in an attempt to just demoralize the other team before he swaps in someone for a little scoring punch. When we blow these teams out, we don't really get much insight into how he might deploy this strategy in a closer game, but you can see him tinkering with it.