Duke 87, Cal 52 Post Game thread

[jaytoc]

Virtually the first thing out of Dakich's mouth when the action began last night was a comment, following a Cal player's foray into the paint, "In Cameron that would have been called a push-off." The play-by-play guy, don't recall his name, responded sarcastically with something like "Oh, really? (You're starting this drumbeat so early?). I couldn't tell if it was genuine exasperation in the guy's voice, or simply kidding around with Dakich, but after that incident Dakich controlled himself, and even was quite compimentary.

[Kedsy]

The only negative I have thus far is Javin - who is surprisingly not clicking.

Javin has inexplicably shot very poorly so far this season, but his other stats so far show reason for optimism. With the caveat that we've only played five games and four of our opponents were lousy teams, Javin's rebounding rates (15.0% OR%, best on the team; 24.8% DR%; 15.2 rebs per 40) are all the best of his career. His assist% (8.4%) is a career high and more than twice as high as last season, his steal% (2.2%) and block% (4.2%) are not his best but are pretty good, and his usage rate (21.0%) is a career high and more than twice as high as last season.

This is a guy who had a 75% eFG% last season. It would be surprising if he doesn't start putting the ball in the basket at some point soon. At that point, if he can keep up the improvements in his peripheral stats, he'll have a very strong statistical profile. If at some point he can learn how to stop getting called for fouls, he could be in line for a Zoubekian transformation (and lest anybody thinks it's impossible for him to stop getting called for fouls, Brian Zoubek himself had a similar fouling profile at this exact stage of his career).

So I'm not as down on Javin as many others around here.

[kAzE]

It seems clear at this point that our offense runs through the post. I know this is already been said ad nauseum, but it really is an old-school team, in many ways. I don't have the stats in front of me, but it did seem like our best offensive possessions occurred when we were able to successfully get the ball to Vernon Carey or Matthew Hurt in the post. Didn't matter if it was high or low, once they got the ball inside, good things happened. We just don't have the ball handlers/playmakers on this team to be an up-tempo run and gun style of offense, but we can still be very effective because we have two guys who can create offense from the post.

The Javin DeLaurier/Jack White lineup needs to go away. Oh my God, when both Hurt and Carey were out of the game, our offense was brutal. BRUTAL. It's like we still try to run the offense through the post, but it's Javin making the decisions, and he's just not a good offensive player. This is something I hope we do less and less as the year progresses. Vernon/Hurt, Vernon/Jack, and Javin/Hurt seemed to be the most effective combos up front. Hurt had a tough go of it with no points in the first half, but was able to get going later in the 2nd half when he became the focal point of the offense with Carey on the bench. I think at least one of those guys needs to be in the game at all times. Or, if not, possibly try Wendell Moore at the 4. Just no more Javin/Jack, please.

[J4Kop99]

Vernon Carey, ladies and gentlemen! What a night for him. I don't pay close enough attention to these guys before they get to college but I was a little nervous that Carey would not be ready based on what some people were saying.

What Carey showed last night was extremely impressive... granted it was against a not-so-good Cal team, but still. He had great touch and body control. I like the Bagley-Carter combo comp.

He should be fresh for tonight too.

[TheOldBattleship]

1. We struggled on offense against the zone at first and we are likely to see a lot of that going forward.

Great point here, and totally agree. Big question for me with this is who our "flash to the high post and make plays in traffic from the soft spot in the zone" guy is this year. We've been lucky to have a string of guys who are just outrageously good working from this area and killing zones, from Zion/RJ to Justise Winslow to Ingram to Rodney Hood (leaving a few notable guys out). We don't really have an obvious guy this year. I'd guess it should be either Hurt or Moore, but I can't say I'm as confident in either of those two in that position as I was about any of the group just named. Should be a very interesting development as we move forward.

[fathippo]

Obviously Cal was overmatched, but still an impressive game by Duke. Carey's stat line was ridiculous for 23 minutes. He played a really smart game; not really any cheap fouls. This may seem minor but I love the arc on his free throws. Too many big men have a flat shot. He will have the opportunity to score a lot of points at the foul line so hopefully yesterday was a good indicator of his ft shooting ability for this season.

I was taken aback by Dakich complimenting Duke so much. But I do agree that Moore has the capability to be a major factor for this team. I know it has looked like he has forced things at times this season, but I think that may just be adjusting to the college game. I like his aggressiveness, I think he needs to realize he can't always solely rely of his athleticism when he drives. He has the size and strength to be an excellent perimeter defender and rebounder. His drop pass to Carey after the baseline spin move was a thing of beauty.

Unfortunately, DeLaurier and White still look uncomfortable trying to score on the offensive end and having them on the court at the same time may be an issue against good teams. After last season I am anxious to to see good things from the upperclass group: AOC, DeLaurier, White, Goldwire.

As usual, Tre did what he needed to do for the team in this game. Great defense and I love to see him knock down a couple 3's along with Stanley. It was good to see Hurt score some before he was taken out of the game. He is too talented not to score; he should get shots from 3 or the elbow against a zone with Carey under the basket.

[kako]

5 thoughts...

1. Carey was a monster. Is he a poor man's Zion? Maybe, but considering Zion was idiomatically Jeff Bezos, maybe Carey is (just) Mark Zuckerberg.

2. See #1. It deserves 2 thoughts. Welcome to the lottery discussion, Vernon.

3. Respectable 3 point game, especially considering AOC's 0-4 (though he made up for it with that dunk).

4. Dan Dakich is still an idiot.

5. I always love pounding Cal. But it will never make up for 1993.

9F

[bluenorth]

Dakich seems to be spending a great deal of his time living in the past. While stories about by-gone eras can be entertaining, I'd prefer more insights about the current teams and the game that's in progress. Dakich may not have prepared for the Duke-Cal game as well as he should have. But maybe he improved later in the game - by which time I had turned off the sound.

[budwom]

great game to watch for all the reasons enumerated, but Cal is a really, really bad team. Tonight should be a sterner test.

[SavDukeGrad]

Virtually the first thing out of Dakich's mouth when the action began last night was a comment, following a Cal player's foray into the paint, "In Cameron that would have been called a push-off." The play-by-play guy, don't recall his name, responded sarcastically with something like "Oh, really? (You're starting this drumbeat so early?). I couldn't tell if it was genuine exasperation in the guy's voice, or simply kidding around with Dakich, but after that incident Dakich controlled himself, and even was quite compimentary.

I missed the beginning of the game, so I didn’t hear this. And I too thought Dakich was fine last night, and was pleasantly surprised at how complimentary of Duke he was.

But I have not forgotten how he harped on Bagley, and called him selfish and said he was all about himself, when he did Duke’s game at Va Tech 2 years ago. I thought that was totally out of line, and he was criticized heavily on this board for his comments. I think there was a thread about it.

Similarly, he was not complimentary of Jason Tatum the year before, when he did Duke’s game at Notre Dame that year. Although his comments about Tatum did not seem nearly as personal as his comments about Bagley iirc.

And I have always heard that he has been critical of Coach K whenever he has had the opportunity.

But I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and see how he is tonight if he’s on the call. Maybe he has seen the light.

[delfrio]

Vernon is my 3rd-favorite Duke big of the past 25 years behind only Zion and Elton, and he's been a very pleasant surprise to me so far this season. (I'm going to for now stop short of just straight up declaring that he's the 3rd-best Duke big of the past 25 years, but I'm getting closer -- let's see how he performs against Georgetown's monsters inside).

No love for the Landlord?

[DukieInKansas]

Virtually the first thing out of Dakich's mouth when the action began last night was a comment, following a Cal player's foray into the paint, "In Cameron that would have been called a push-off." The play-by-play guy, don't recall his name, responded sarcastically with something like "Oh, really? (You're starting this drumbeat so early?). I couldn't tell if it was genuine exasperation in the guy's voice, or simply kidding around with Dakich, but after that incident Dakich controlled himself, and even was quite compimentary.

I heard it as "Already?". Dakich seemed to lay off that type of comment after that.

[wsb3]

Moore’s best game. Great to see him coming on.

I agree.. Moore after looking a little lost to begin the season is getting comfortable. He can contribute in many ways. Big upside..

[DukieInKansas]

Or maybe a mixture of Bagley and Wendell Carter? Better defender than Bagley; more explosive than Carter. Carey is quick and strong; jumps well and his second jump is quick (Bagley's second or third jumps were other-worldly quick).

Carey plays hard but maintains an even temperament; we can see his game growing and his confidence growing. Good stuff.

**per Scott Van Pelt, Carey is the first player under Coach K to get at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in less than 30 minutes playing time. 31 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 blocks in 22 minutes.

He also had better stats that the Cal starting 5 combined - except for steals and assists.