Originally Posted by
hustleplays
Like many of us, I came to love Duke b-ball for a number of reasons, including its signature tough defense. Then, alas, came the OAD years. Almost too painful to recall...from a defense point of view. I am still working at overcoming my PTSD from the 2015 Miami game in Cameron when they shredded our M2M. One of their guards said after the game, it's easy to beat Duke, just draw them out and blow past them. K added zone to our defense and that helped. But I missed the good ol days.
I need Kedsy and others to either to confirm or refute, but my non-data-supported view is that we have had decent but not great defensive teams since then. Until this year. This year's team plays tough D, nearly always M2M. Again, if the overall stats don't confirm, I will recalibrate what I think my eyeballs are seeing: Tenacious on-ball defense, good lateral quickness, smart switching and good help. This team seems to really want to play good D, and they do [again, eyeball perspective].
My question is: Why do they seem to be more committed to playing tough D this year than before? I have heard that it's because of Tre, but that doesn't seem to fully account.
I would greatly appreciate any insights. Jim Sumner, do you have some inside skinny?
Well, we have four experienced upper classmen plus an outstanding sophomore in Tre and added four talented freshmen, who seem committed to playing defense. Plus an asset in Joey Baker. As a result, we will wear out lesser teams with fewer ACC-caliber players.
Kindly,
Sage
'And the biggest reason of all is that K is finally listening to us and playing ten players -- about time!'
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013