Yes. Yes it was as insanely loud as you can imagine. I promised in the Degenerate thread that we would be loud as hell, that Duke would cover -12.5, and we delivered.
And I don't think it had anything to do with Zion. Yes the crowd got loud when he walked in at the end of a time-out in the 2nd half.
But this was just one of those moments we've seen a million times in Cameron. The team was making great plays on both ends of the floor. Every time the team made a play, the crowd got louder and took it to another level. The team fed off the crowd and then took their play to another level. The crowd was so loud my ears were ringing, and it was pure joy. And we were cheering for what the team was doing. So much fun!
I'll also say that right before the first half started, our team went into the locker room. A Notre Dame trainer came over to the basket by the pep band with TJ Gibbs and was feeding him shots. Gibbs shot about 30 threes from all around the arc. He made around 29 out of 30 with a very quick release. I was a little scared. But Goldwire completely shut him down. I love Goldwire and Tre's game!
Great crowd tonight! The Upper Crusties did their part and that's when Camron really rocks.
Love, Ima
PS But about that Anthem. Hmmmm.
Duke's 5th 30-point ACC win is a regular season record (at least during Coach K's tenure; the announcers said all-time, but I haven't independently verified that). The 1999 team had six 30-point ACC wins, but two of those wins came during the ACC tournament.
OFFENSE
Possessions: 75.5 (good pace; pretty fast considering Notre Dame is generally a slow-paced team)
oRtg: 1.25 (1.28 adjusted; excellent)
eFG%: 63.8% (also excellent)
3pt%: 45.5% (at the risk of repeating myself, excellent)
2pt%: 61.7% (dare I say, excellent?)
%threes: 31.9% (this is probably a sweet spot, although when everyone except one (Wendell Moore) who played 10+ minutes hits a three, including Javin DeLaurier and Vernon Carey, we can probably take as many as we want)
FT rate: 10.1% (lowest FTR of the season, but since Notre Dame leads the country in this stat, I guess it can be excused)
OR%: 20.7% (this is pretty bad)
TO%: 11.9% (great; 2nd best TO performance of the season)
a/to: 2.11:1 (outstanding)
%assisted: 48.7%
fast break pts: 24 (25.5% of points; 2nd most fb points of the season)
DEFENSE
dRtg: 0.80 (hate to overuse a word, but our adjusted dRtg of 0.71 is excellent; defense may be coming around)
eFG%: 40.5% (good)
3pt%: 23.8% (also good)
2pt%: 42.9% (also also good)
%threes: 33.3% (a little higher than our usual, but Notre Dame usually takes a ton of threes (27th most in the nation), so this is pretty good)
FT rate: 19.0% (good, although Notre Dame ranks 329th in the country in this stat, so not as good as it might have been against another team)
DR%: 82.9% (outstanding; 2nd best DR% of the season)
TO%: 18.5% (ordinarily I'd say meh to this, but considering Notre Dame has the fewest turnovers in the country, this is really, really good)
a/to: 1:1 (again surprisingly good, considering Notre Dame leads the nation in this stat, too)
%assisted: 60.9%
stl%: 14.6% (good, led by Alex O'Connell's four steals)
blk%: 9.5% (14.3% of 2pt shots) (not spectacular, but pretty good)
fast break pts: 7 (11.7% of points; pretty good)
Not much to say about this, except great offense coupled with great defense. Or, I guess, just plain excellent.
Word on the street for Cassius is that it’s a mildly scratched cornea and he should be back by the next game. But you didn’t hear that from me.
Jimmie Hendrix it was notPS But about that Anthem. Hmmmm.
Last edited by -jk; 02-16-2020 at 11:14 AM. Reason: fix quote tag
Overall, this was Duke's 8th 30-point win of the season so far. That makes this year's team tied for 5th most 30+ wins in the Coach K era.
Here's the top 10:
* - so farCode:year 30+ pt wins NCAAT 1999 15 2 1998 14 8 2001 12 1 2002 9 16 2019 8 8 2020 8* ?? 2010 7 1 1991 7 1 1989 7 4 1993 7 32
As you can see from this admittedly low-sample table, being able to blow teams out tends to bode well in the NCAA tournament.
AOC’s best game in the uniform. Great to see him hitting shots and playing some off the ball D. Carey really is something special in the post.
Quinn Cook was sitting next to Zion for at least part of the second half, but I don’t recall any mention of his presence by the announcers. Did I miss it, or did they?.
I'm not even sure we should have expected a blowout. According to Pomeroy, Notre Dame is better than Clemson, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, UNC, Georgia State, Pitt, SF Austin, Winthrop, and BC, all of which we failed to blow out (except BC: one blowout, one not).
The 1992 team tended to play down to the competition. Only five 30+ point wins, and only eleven 20+ point wins (this year's team so far has ten of those). Even in the NCAA tournament, that team only won two of their six games by more than 13 points (the opening game against Campbell, and the national championship game, and Michigan was winning that latter game at halftime).
'92 tended to take their wins and move on, if I remember. Team had a lot of experience, and Final Four caliber experience. 1999 destroyed people. That team was something to watch.
Great second half. I know accidents will happen, but how in the hell did a manager poke Cassius in the eye.
Nice to see former Duke greats in the crowd. Danny Ferry hardly got a mention.Gene Banks,Tyus Jones, Quinn Cook, and Zion Williamson.Was Kevin Strickland there too?
I am amazed Bucky Waters never seems to age and is always at the games as well as Will Avery.
Given Duke’s assumed success over the years, it seems that Coach K is often overlooked for post-season coaching awards. Yet another elite performance by him and his guys vs. The Irish yesterday. Will this be a year Coach K finally again receives serious consideration as ACC COY? What he has accomplished thus far this year (along with his players and assistants) amazes me.
Here you go
Yes, if Duke wins the outright regular season title, Coach K will probably receive his first ACC COY since 2000.
What helps is that no team has had that surprising a season (in a good way*) so far. Leonard Hamilton could be Coach K's toughest competition?
* Hypothetically, if Worst Coach of the Year were awarded, who would win? :-)