MBB: Duke 87, Michigan State 75 Post-Game Thread

[SkyBrickey]

A lot of guys had huge games last night to pull off a tremendous win, but I'm most struck by how high the ceiling is for Vernon Carey and therefore the team. He is sealing off defenders, securing every entry pass and then making very smart decisions - usually a quick, strong move to the rim, but he's also kicking it out when he feels pressure moving in. He doesn't seem rushed at all - very poised for a freshman.

It seems like he's getting better and better. And more importantly, the team is gaining confidence in him and recognizing how effective the offense is when the ball goes in to the big guy. It seemed like a lot of sets last night we were willing to make the 4-5 perimeter passes until he could seal and we could get an angle for an entry pass later in the shot clock. Our offense just felt more patient and we were getting good shots on more possessions vs desperate drives to the rim. And as teams are forced to bring a second or third defender to try to slow him down, Hurt/Jones/Baker/Stanley will find themselves with good looks from 3.

It's just one game but it's hard not to be very bullish on this team. I look forward to seeing how we play against our next small, quick, high-pressure opponent. Can we take care of the ball and stop the dribble penetration?

[rsvman]

Great game.

1) Did anybody besides me notice how ferociously Matthew Hurt was boxing out?!? I mean, he looked like he had been at practices with Coach Izzo since he was a toddler. Not just a body but also both arms wrapped around the player to keep them from going around him. The kind of stuff Michigan State has been doing to us forever. I was impressed.

2) I told you Javin would play well. He LOVES to kick some Spartan butt.

3) To the poster who said we could have used a lot more Baker last year, I just want to say that we have no way of knowing if that is true or not, because we don't really know how much Joey's game has matured over the past 9-12 months. Only the coaching staff and his teammates know for sure. I sense that his defense is MUCH better this year than it was last year. He can still get blown by in iso situations, but his positioning and hustle appear to be much improved. He could always shoot, but shooting isn't all there is to the game of basketball.


Anyway, a great, great game and very satisfying. Alll-in-all, I'd rather we had beaten them in the Elite Eight and lost last night, but since I don't have a time machine, I'll take what I can get.

[DavidBenAkiva]

A lot of guys had huge games last night to pull off a tremendous win, but I'm most struck by how high the ceiling is for Vernon Carey and therefore the team. He is sealing off defenders, securing every entry pass and then making very smart decisions - usually a quick, strong move to the rim, but he's also kicking it out when he feels pressure moving in. He doesn't seem rushed at all - very poised for a freshman.

It seems like he's getting better and better. And more importantly, the team is gaining confidence in him and recognizing how effective the offense is when the ball goes in to the big guy. It seemed like a lot of sets last night we were willing to make the 4-5 perimeter passes until he could seal and we could get an angle for an entry pass later in the shot clock. Our offense just felt more patient and we were getting good shots on more possessions vs desperate drives to the rim. And as teams are forced to bring a second or third defender to try to slow him down, Hurt/Jones/Baker/Stanley will find themselves with good looks from 3.

It's just one game but it's hard not to be very bullish on this team. I look forward to seeing how we play against our next small, quick, high-pressure opponent. Can we take care of the ball and stop the dribble penetration?

Carey should have no problems scoring the basket against VA Tech on Friday night. Their starting frontcourt consists of a 6'7" redshirt freshman SF and a 6'6" junior "PF" that is more of a SF. And off the bench, they play a skinny 6'10" freshman and then all guards. There is no frontcourt. Carey should be able to seal and jam it home every trip down the court. Now, will he be able to guard anyone?

[CameronDuke]

Since the 1996-97 Season...

Duke has played 39 Non-Confernce Road games (that counts Davidson on 01/03/2013 in Charlotte).
The Blue Devils have a record of 28-11 in those games.

Eight of those games have been in the Big Ten / ACC Challenge (6-2).

Nine more have been at MSG against St. John's (6-3).

Fifteen others have been at NBA arenas often used for the NCAA Tournament or ACC Tournament (12-3).

Only seven games have been On-Campus "True" Road games (4-3):

• Feb-23-1997 at #17 UCLA - L (69-73)
• Nov-16-1997 at UR Army W (78-45)
• Dec-13-1997 at UR Michigan L (73-81)
• Dec-11-1999 at UR Michigan W (104-97)
• Dec-08-2001 at UR Michigan W (104-83)
• Jan-24-2002 at UR Boston College W (88-78)
• Feb-19-2009 at UR Michigan L (73-81)

So, no On-Campus "True" Non-Conference Road games scheduled outside of the Big Ten /ACC Challenge in 11 seasons.
And that 2009 game at Ann Arbor has been the only one scheduled in 18 seasons.

I understand the strategy of playing at MSG and other NBA arenas in Charlotte, Chicago, Philadelphia, Portland and Washington DC in order to prepare for March Tourney games in those type of venues. However, I think scheduling more On-Campus Non-Conference Road games could help better prepare Duke to face ACC Teams on the road. Some recent years have been tough for Duke on the road in the ACC: 2002-03 (3-5), 2004-05 (4-4), 2006-07 (4-4), 2008-09 (4-4), 2012-13 (5-4), 2013-14 (4-5), 2015-16 (5-4), 2016-17 (3-6) and 2017-18 (5-4).

Now, I would imagine that schools such as UCLA in the Steve Lavin days are not too keen on visiting Cameron.
This would make scheduling Home-and-Home with a lot Non-Conference opponents all that much more difficult.
That may be a big reason Duke has not played a whole lot of "True" Road Games in recent years.

Interesting. 3 national titles, 5 final fours, 12 ACC Championships since the 96-97 season. Probably more than most teams that play more “true, scheduled, on-campus” road games! Something’s working for Duke!

[Papa John]

There are those who think the new decade starts this season...

-jk

Do these same folks think there was a year 0?

[sagegrouse]

Last year's team was a two-man show. This year we have balance, and got contributions from all over. Tre and Carey were the stars, but multiple guys stepped up at different times in the game and the defensive energy just fed off of each other. Loved seeing Javin get back to being the player we need him to be - solid positional defense, rebounding, finishing at the rim, and nothing more. Great game plan to have the second defender stay attached to Winston on the PNR's, he was never able to get going. Tre completely dominated everyone's national player of the year. Fantastic effort and we even have room to improve.

I think that's the key for this year -- getting serious contributions from players other than Tre, Vernon and Jack White in his dependable Swiss-Army-knife role. That's not enough to win competitive games. Last night, Hurt, Baker and DeLaurier were outstanding, as was Jordan Goldwire in his way. And I expect Wendell and Alex will have much better games.

[AZLA]

The Joey Baker Game?

The Javin DeLaurier Game?

No, the Tre Jones Game! Absolutely a monster on both ends who really, *really* wanted this game and felt the pain of that Elite Eight loss. And how about that left handed up and under layup driving to his *right* against three MSU defenders...that's something I never saw from Tyus.

Actually started to think this was the best possible version of the team when we were up 19, then I remembered that Moore was a non-factor, AOC was ineffective, and Stanley wasn't even playing. So we can get better.

Not going to get carried away because this was a particularly favorable matchup against a struggling team that made some odd or straight-out bad decisions when defending us. But we forced the action all game (save for the very start of the second half), played great D, and ran it down their throats off of nearly every turnover. Great, great win, and seeing Joey drain dribble pull-ups and Hurt effortlessly making catch and shoot threes made me feel much better about the offensive potential of this group.

(just saw the postgame interview with Tre: he didn't even go with the "just another win" platitudes common to a game this early in the season. Admitted he came in with a chip on his shoulder and that this game felt personal after what happened in the tournament. Love the candor.)

Let’s hope that chip on his shoulder is there all season. Tre’s performance was outstanding. I actually see him growing more formidable each game. Meaning he hasn’t peaked.

[sagegrouse]

(Whispers) could Carey be developing into the best big man at Duke this decade?

Quick aside: did any of you catch the chart on screen during the Duke-Miami football game extolling Miami's fabulous NFL draft in 2004? It included a record six Hurricanes: Sean Taylor, Kellen Winslow II, and, and Vernon Carey at number 19. Neither of the announcers made the connection.

[mkirsh]

Since the 1996-97 Season...

Duke has played 39 Non-Confernce Road games (that counts Davidson on 01/03/2013 in Charlotte).
The Blue Devils have a record of 28-11 in those games.

Eight of those games have been in the Big Ten / ACC Challenge (6-2).

Nine more have been at MSG against St. John's (6-3).

Fifteen others have been at NBA arenas often used for the NCAA Tournament or ACC Tournament (12-3).

Only seven games have been On-Campus "True" Road games (4-3):

• Feb-23-1997 at #17 UCLA - L (69-73)
• Nov-16-1997 at UR Army W (78-45)
• Dec-13-1997 at UR Michigan L (73-81)
• Dec-11-1999 at UR Michigan W (104-97)
• Dec-08-2001 at UR Michigan W (104-83)
• Jan-24-2002 at UR Boston College W (88-78)
• Feb-19-2009 at UR Michigan L (73-81)

So, no On-Campus "True" Non-Conference Road games scheduled outside of the Big Ten /ACC Challenge in 11 seasons.
And that 2009 game at Ann Arbor has been the only one scheduled in 18 seasons.

I understand the strategy of playing at MSG and other NBA arenas in Charlotte, Chicago, Philadelphia, Portland and Washington DC in order to prepare for March Tourney games in those type of venues. However, I think scheduling more On-Campus Non-Conference Road games could help better prepare Duke to face ACC Teams on the road. Some recent years have been tough for Duke on the road in the ACC: 2002-03 (3-5), 2004-05 (4-4), 2006-07 (4-4), 2008-09 (4-4), 2012-13 (5-4), 2013-14 (4-5), 2015-16 (5-4), 2016-17 (3-6) and 2017-18 (5-4).

Now, I would imagine that schools such as UCLA in the Steve Lavin days are not too keen on visiting Cameron.
This would make scheduling Home-and-Home with a lot Non-Conference opponents all that much more difficult.
That may be a big reason Duke has not played a whole lot of "True" Road Games in recent years.

This is really interesting - thanks for going through and compiling

I think there are 2 main points here:

1) Duke does not independently SCHEDULE many "true" on campus road games. Back in the day (and I picked 1990 to be "the day") Duke used to play ~4 true road games a season. In 1990 we played @Northwestern, @Michigan, @Davidson, and @William and Mary (can you imagine that today?); in 91 we played @Georgetown, @Harvard, @Oklahoma, @Citadel (another one that is hard to imagine), and @Arizona. In the mid 90's that schedule whittled some, but as you mention we used to have home-and-home series with UCLA, Michigan, St Johns, Georgetown, etc (note St John's and Georgetown are road games, but they happen to play their home games in NBA arenas), but even that is no longer part of the regular schedule. I think there are 3 reasons for this: 1) there isn't room in the schedule now vs the 80s/early 90s with the addition of the Champions Classic, proliferation of early season tournaments, ACC-BIG Challenge, and expanded conference schedule; 2) Duke (and other programs) have tended to prefer to play as many non-conference games as possible in neutral/NCAA arenas vs on-campus sites which we didn't do in the 80s/early 90s; and 3) I would speculate that Duke used to do this for recruiting exposure, but with the expansion of TV/media coverage Duke is a national brand and doesn't need to travel to drum up local interest.

2) Duke still does PLAY at least one true non-conference road game each year, but basically uses the ACC-BIG challenge to serve this purpose. Back in the first 4 years of the ACC-BIG Challenge Duke played those games at neutral cites (ie vs Illinois in the United Center in 2001), but since then they have played in hostile road atmospheres, like Breslin last night, the Kohl center, Assembly Hall, Mackey, and whatever Ohio State is calling it's building these days. And up until this year, Duke did have recent home-and-home partners (St. John's and Georgetown) but they happen to play their home games in NBA arenas - some may not call those "true" road games, but IMO they are still hostile spots (I was at the snow-out Gtown disaster in 2015 - that was rough). However, this game was a casualty of the expanded conference schedule this year.

[Billy Dat]

One of the most satisfying wins I've seen.

There is nothing more glorious then a Duke team that rises to the occasion in a game that you don't really expect. Without hurting myself by thinking too hard about it, two games that come to mind are Louisville in 2015 when we went zone and blew them out on the road and the Ryan Kelly comeback "I still got it" game against Miami in 2013. Satisfying is the right word.

Total domination..Total.

We should play in the Breslin Center every time we play Sparty.

Surprising lack of fight from Sparty.

Especially on Dray Night, so sorry to spoil that for him. When Allison Williams was interviewing him in the first half, I thought he missed an opportunity to be very on-brand by saying something like, "I am excited about tonight but not really happy about the way these guys are competing right now!"

No, the Tre Jones Game! Absolutely a monster on both ends who really, *really* wanted this game and felt the pain of that Elite Eight loss. And how about that left handed up and under layup driving to his *right* against three MSU defenders...that's something I never saw from Tyus.

I am actually shocked K didn't use the V word during his presser...VERVE. Tre was All American Tre tonight. When he sets the tone like that, we are so much better.

Javin with 10 points, 6 rebounds and...wait for it...1 foul.

He was great from the get go. A fantastic performance. I loved the play where he was trailing the break, Tre turned around, waved his arm for him to run through, and then hit him with a textbook lob. It was that kind of night.

Not going to get carried away because this was a particularly favorable matchup against a struggling team that made some odd or straight-out bad decisions when defending us.

Yeah, I thought their inability to make anyone other than Carey beat them was so surprising. I guess the scouting report was to play a 6'8" guy behind him. But, their D was just weak all the way around, for the most part.

Terrific defense on Winston, both team (as we all expected, we blitzed him at every opportunity on the perimeter and in p&r, but the shot-blocking around the rim REALLY bothered him) and individual from Jones (Tre clearly took that loss last year personally). Offensively, great individual performances from Jones and Carey, and just an unbelievably good gameplan from K to get Carey in great positions to catch and finish down low. They just had no answer for Vernon defensively, especially since Tillman was their only offensive weapon other than Winston and they couldn't afford for Carey to just bully him into foul trouble (instead, he bullied literally everyone else over 6'6" into foul trouble, which was hilarious at times). But that game is the model for this team going forward. We're not always going to have such obvious individual matchup advantages, but we need to be willing to play this kind of game: one where we muck everything up on D, play fast when we can, and then execute a straightforward gameplan on offense. And if Tre starts hitting threes off the dribble like he did today...

The team scheme on Winston was great. Everything you say about Carey is true.

Kedsy, "I think it's just a good matchup for him. In fact, I'll go further and say I think big, not-so-quick teams are good matchups for this year's Duke team. Small, quick teams, not so much. How well we do in the NCAA tournament might just depend on our bracket path."

Interesting hypothesis and definitely worth tracking, anyone hip to the next few teams on our schedule that match this description?

Some K quotes via:
https://goduke.com/documents/2019/12...h_K_Quotes.pdf

On the veterans playing a big part in the game…
It is a good point and Joey has just worked every day. He comes to work everyday and every time he is put in the game, he's done well. In our last game against Winthrop, they are very good, they could be an NCAA team. Joey (Baker) and Jordan Goldwire were the difference and Jack (White) has been just solid. I think he had a couple blocks and three steals, and he had a big three, so everyone contributed. We needed to; they are a very deep team. The foul trouble that we had, especially in the first half, kind of can mess you up a little bit and they hit us with that run right away and I thought our kids really did a great job after the timeout of regaining poise and get control of the game.

I chose this one because it highlights the contributions of Baker, Jordan and Jack. Baker fits that "irrational confidence" offensive player stereotype to a T, and we need that confidence, even if it leads to bad shots. He's got a bit of that Grayson rabid-dog in him. I may have thrown dirt on Jordan too early because I didn't realize that Tre would burn out if we didn't buy him time off the ball and off the lead defender role. I think the staff thought Wendell was going to assume that mantle...so maybe Jordan is really the insurance for when Wendell is in early foul trouble or doesn't have "it". Jack White blocked shots and rebounds in traffic are his signature moves.

K On what he saw from his team defensively…
We had blocked shots and got some turnovers. We didn't go into the game thinking we're going to block as many shots or get the steals. Our guys were really tough in making an extra play. Like you were beaten, the team was beaten, but then we weren't. We had probably about eight plays like that where there could've been scores for them and our kids just made that extra play. That was superb. That's not coaching; that's what I mean, the competitiveness that they had. They got beat and then they still recovered, which saved the game for us. Saved the game for us, no question.

K On his message to the team before big games like this…
I just tell them, if you want to sing your song, you want to sing it in front of a big audience. You not only come into our program, but you're coming to Michigan State's program wanting to play in these type of environments. I didn't know how our kids would respond. You can want and then all of a sudden you get and it can go sideways, but tonight, they wanted, they got and they responded. Cool thing; I'm proud of them for doing that.

I thought these were two great quotes and summed up a lot about the game.

Enjoy it folks, that one was really sweet.

[FerryFor50]

Really solid game all around for the most part. Very important bounce back win after the mind boggling loss at home to SFA and struggling against Winthrop, not to mention being down a man. Was also happy to see Duke win on the night Draymond got his jersey retired.

I mentioned this in the in-game thread, but I think that freshmen at Duke might buy into the Duke hype a bit more than upperclassmen and might tend to play to their opponent's level. That's why you see lazy, sloppy play against the SFAs and Winthrops, but really sharp play against the Kansases and Mich States of the world. Hopefully the SFA loss and Winthrop struggle were wake up calls not to take nights or plays off and they build on this.

I was really surprised to see Duke drop from 1 to 10 in the polls, especially considering Kansas (who Duke beat) was #2 and Kentucky (who lost at home to a similarly bad team) was ranked higher. I know rankings don't mean a ton this time of year, but it was still kind of irritating. I knew this year's team would not be like last year's team because they lacked a Zion or RJ - a guy who they could just hand the ball to and get a guaranteed bucket. But, we're starting to see some guys who can be relied on for offense - Vernon Carey, Tre Jones (!), and most recently, Joey Baker.

Carey has been solid all year, but he seemed to play with a lot more emotion last night than I've seen out of him this year. I wonder if the MSU angle was driving him - especially the boos from the fans. I hope he's not one of those guys who needs some external influence to play his hardest, but he was playing very hard last night. I'm glad he was just cramping up at the end and it wasn't another muscle injury.

As for Tre, I really didn't know what to expect from him this year on offense. Last year, he could simply pick his spots and get some good looks because of the attention being paid to Zion and RJ. He could focus mostly on defense and passing to the stars. This year, he has to be more of an offensive focal point and he's had mixed results. He's not overly quick or strong, so he relies on craftiness to drive. But the biggest question mark was going to be his jumper. Last night, he was 2-5 from 3 and has been a passable 34% from 3 on the year. I'll take that.

While Carey and Vernon were both very good, I think this game was won by unsung heroes.

Joey Baker shot VERY well, but is still an adventure on defense. I recall one sequence where he banked in a 3, then on the other end, he overplayed on a perimeter player who predictably blew by Baker and picked up a foul on Vernon Carey, who was left on an island trying to guard two players. Baker plays with a TON of effort, but it's very out of control at times and leaves him and his teammates in vulnerable positions. He needs to channel that energy better. I think AOC should take note at how Baker plays on offense - always looking to shoot rather than looking to make the "right" play. AOC tends to be more passive on offense than he should. I think he should be hunting for his shot and making things happen more. I'd love to see both of them contributing to the scoring effort.

Javin came to PLAY. I don't know what happened, but this is what Javin we need to see all season. Catching pick and roll passes cleanly. Finishing strong with dunks and not blowing layups. Blocking shots. Disrupting passes. Playing with controlled energy. I mean, I can't think of many plays where I was thinking GET HIM OUT OF THERE. Instead, I was wondering in the 2nd half WHY ISN'T JAVIN PLAYING MORE??

Goldwire also had one of his best games - he helped take the load off Tre by playing solid defense on Winston for some of the 2nd half. He also made some great plays passing, stealing and even hit a contested layup! But really, the tandem defense on Winston was the key - JGold and Tre held Winston in check until the game was well decided and he scored some points in the waning minutes. Winston finished 4-14 shooting, with 12 points. At least 2 of those makes came with about 3-4 minutes left, if I recall. Definitely a better showing defensively on him than last season in the NCAAs.

And Jack was Jack again - hard nosed defense, blocked shots, timely steals and tough rebounds. He'll make some bad plays now and then and won't give you a ton of scoring, but he just seems to make winning plays most of the time.

Now, if we can just get Stanley healthy, Wendell Moore back to early season form, AOC some confidence and put some weight on Matt Hurt, we'll be all set!

[Jeffrey]

Many DBR posters may change their opinion about a boy quicker than a teenage girl. And, it’s only early December.

[flyingdutchdevil]

I'd put the "Bad" in there, but there really wasn't that much bad. There was ugly, however.

The Great:
-Tre is playing like a modern NBA PG, which is refreshing. That means he's looking to score first, pass second. And when you look to score first and know how to pass, it leads to a ton more assists. I like this new Tre. It makes too much sense for this team.
-Carey is unstoppable on offense when he's in position. I thought MSU's plan was solid but poorly executed. If you double team Carey, commit to the double and make it really hard for him. He clearly murdered MSU nearly every time he had the ball. I don't think this team should play "inside-out" but it's definitely an option for plenty of possessions.
-What the hell happened to Javin? That hasn't Javin on the floor. Javin is a poor shooter with foul problems. What we saw was a rim-rolling big who played solid defense and understood his role on the team. Can Javin sustain this? That's the ultimate question.
-Joey Baker has now had two great games. He is a very, very one-dimensional player. But that one-dimension is really good on this team. He reminds me a lot of Andre Dawkins: excellent shooter and...that's about it. But that's okay. We need players like that. Keep it up Joey!

The Good
-Jack White had a very, very good Jack White game. Blocks, steals, solid D, and made 1 three! That, to me, is the perfect Jack White game. He is basically the complete opposite of Joey Baker: all the intangibles, none of the scoring. And that's okay too! We will play these players situationally, and that gives us great optionality.
-We hit 73% of our FTs, which is 5%+ above our season average. Love it
-Even better, we hit 40%+ of our 3s, which is amazing given this was supposed to be our Achilles heal. I think we're more of a 35% 3pt shooting team, but I'll take that when we have Carey performing the way he's performing.

The Ugly
-AOC is now back to sophomore AOC. AOC in the first ~3 games of the season was incredible. Clearly a developed player. Now it looks like he's regressed.
-Wendall Moore feels like the "odd man out" in the core rotation. AOC/Goldwire/Baker, IMO, aren't part of the core rotation. By that, I mean players who are going to play 10+ per game regardless of the opponent or the score. Moore just doesn't add much on the offensive end right now and gets stuck on screens way too much on defense. I'm pretty surprised by this, given how I thought Moore would be the most impactful freshman. Clearly, I was wrong.

[Edouble]

Who is on that list? Bagley?

Best big at Duke this decade is clearly either Okafor or Bagley. Their individual hardware is almost identical.

Jahlil was the first freshman to win ACC POY and of course ACC Freshman of the Year.

He was consensus 1st Team All American (Sporting News, USBWA, NABC, AP), runner up for NPOY, and the 3rd pick in the NBA Draft.

Bagley was also ACC POY and Freshman of the year and a Consensus 1st Team All American. Second pick in the draft.

Both guys also won the Pete Newell Big Man Award.

I tend to favor Okafor as our best big man, as he brought home that natty, going through Frank Kaminsky, the only player to finish ahead of him in the NPOY voting, in order to do so.

[Edouble]

Many DBR posters may change their opinion about a boy quicker than a teenage girl. And, it’s only early December.

DBR posts I have read this year:

"There is no way we beat Kansas."

"There is no way we beat Michigan State."

Can't wait to read "There is no way we beat Louisville" around the second week of January.

[DukieInBrasil]

5 thoughts...



3. Carey continues to show his ability. He's starting to remind me of Sheldon Williams a bit. He may even be more athletic, and he has the outside shot. Though Carey is not nearly as good as Williams was defensively (at least not yet).

9F

But not enough to spell his name right. For the record, it's Shelden Williams, and he is now an assistant coach in the G-league.

Schedule had me in bed after halftime...up very early today. On Javin, i lavished well earned praise on him on the live in DBR game chat as did others., and i'll do it here again: he was fantastic on both ends the entire time. I will also add he has been terrible this year until now. No contradiction. What he did last night is what a senior with his size and speed should do every game. And if he does that game in and game out, that raises the bar on what this team can accomplish.

I agree with this take. Javin has been terrible this year, until the last couple of games in which he has made 7 strait FGs. Last night was clearly his best game of the year, and if he can approach that level of play on a regular basis, Duke's chances improve a lot. A highly effective role player, one who embraces his role and executes it perfectly, is a huge benefit to any team at any level.

Overall, i was mega-surprised that Duke was able to go and take the party out of Sparty so thoroughly. So many superlatives to use for so many different players, but mostly i think Javin's play was a microcosm of the whole team: almost everyone played their role exquisitely. Jack got boards, blocked shots and hit a 3: perfect. J-Gold played tough D, spelled Tre for a bit off-ball, made some passes and made an opportunistic bucket: perfect. J-Bake hit shots with insane efficiency and did a couple of other little things: perfect. Javin, as described already: perfect. Hurt hit a couple of 3s, spaced the offense, played decent defense: perfect. Carey played like a beast. Tre played like a slightly smaller beast. I was very impressed by Duke's play.

[fuse]

Who is on that list? Bagley?

Okafor
Bagley
Carter

Apologies if I am missing someone who should be included in the conversation.

[CDu]

That was fun! Always great when your All-American candidate PG thoroughly outplays their All-American candidate PG. Tre Jones put his stamp all over this game, and it was glorious. Let's bubble-wrap this kid, because this team belongs to him and will go only as far as he can take them. Please stay healthy!!!

There's almost no point in heaping the superlatives on Jones, because that could go on all day and then some. But almost equally as important is the continued emergence of Carey. The guy is just an absolute force inside. He's a great pairing with Jones, as the two just have a terrific synergy to create easy buckets. But man has Carey figured out how to use his body to create easy buckets inside. There aren't many guys in the country who are going to be able to guard him on the blocks. The one question is defensive discipline. If he can stay on the floor, he's a game changer for us. What a stud!

I was thrilled with his backup as well. DeLaurier has had an awful start to the season, but man did he bring it last night. 19 minutes, 10 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, no turnovers, no misses, and just 1 foul. At'll do, Javin. At'll do. Hopefully this helps build some confidence. I don't expect DeLaurier to play this well consistently, but if he can give solid minutes whenever Carey is out, that will be sufficient.

Jack White continues to do Jack White things. He even got some buckets last night, which is a bonus. He is never gonna get cheated on effort.

Goldwire had one of his best games too. He's historically been a weakness in the halfcourt defense, and a weakness overall on offense. He still wasn't good offensively, but his defensive play was good both in transition and in the halfcourt last night. He didn't do a great job against Winston, but he was able to steal some minutes of rest with Jones playing off the ball, and that was I'm sure a big lift for Jones. I'm hopeful that when Stanley returns we'll have a few options to allow Jones to take an on-court breather on defense now and again like last night.

Joey Baker continues his Joey Baker-ness. Makes jumpers, doesn't do much else. Would really like to see more from him in other areas of the court. Can't expect him to hit 50+% from 3 for the season. But when he's hitting shots, you can live with the lack of value everywhere else. He's probably going to be a feast or famine player for a while, dependent on whether he is making or missing. But his biggest value is standing on the perimeter and drawing a defender away from Carey.

Can kind of ditto what I said about Baker for Hurt, though Hurt does provide more scoring versatility, a bit more rebounding, and a bit better defensive footwork. But right now, Hurt's biggest value is like Baker's: standing on the perimeter to draw a defender away from Carey.

About the only negative of the night was that Moore really struggled. After a really impressive showing in the tourney against Cal and Georgetown, he has had some real duds since. 0 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, and 5 fouls in his last 29 minutes of action. I'm wondering if part of that is that Coach K has reined in Moore's offensive aggressiveness after his very turnover prone start. Moore has the ability to add value as a rebounder and versatile defender, so hopefully he figures it out as the season progresses.

I don't know how good MSU will end up being this year, but it certainly could be a nice Q1 road win on the resume. That would help offset the brutal SFA loss.

Really happy with the way the team went at it last night. Hopefully they can build off of that and go into the break with a positive feeling beating Va Tech.

[fuse]

Best big at Duke this decade is clearly either Okafor or Bagley. Their individual hardware is almost identical.

Jahlil was the first freshman to win ACC POY and of course ACC Freshman of the Year.

He was consensus 1st Team All American (Sporting News, USBWA, NABC, AP), runner up for NPOY, and the 3rd pick in the NBA Draft.

Bagley was also ACC POY and Freshman of the year and a Consensus 1st Team All American. Second pick in the draft.

Both guys also won the Pete Newell Big Man Award.

I tend to favor Okafor as our best big man, as he brought home that natty, going through Frank Kaminsky, the only player to finish ahead of him in the NPOY voting, in order to do so.

Can’t argue with results. What has triggered the thought for me is Okafor and Bagley being considered defensive liabilities.

Carey may not rack up the hardware; my admittedly poor memory think Carey is a more complete player and may compare best to Carter.

[wsb3]

Big game. Not exactly close, but decided by just 12 points. Javin played 19 minutes and had one foul. Where's HereBeforeCoachK?

Going on memory but that one foul seem to be in his first minute or two of action, which if true, makes the one foul even more remarkable to me.