Yup, another game with a big lead for the other team which is asking a lot.. just stay within 8/10...
Not sure why you keep a zone on a guy like Champagnie?? At 28 points for him I told my son .. "watch 'is - pass, shot score by Champagnie" - thats EXACTLY what happened.. he was just smiling up and down the court. Sure he was shocked we would LET him have those shots w a zone and see a basket that big. WHY K WHY? I do get that our D stopper - Goldwire - is too short to cover Champagnie but maybe Moore M2M on him? At least for a little while???
The only answer I have is maybe K felt we couldn't stay in front of the 3 super guards - Toney / Johnson and Champagnie?? Maybe he felt they were too fast? But this team had just blown out Syracuse and just played vs a zone so they were REALLY well prepared to face that zone oof ours which is not as good as the 'Cuse Zone D since they run it all the time and are longer. Really don't get that - Pitt JUST played and beat the Cuse by TWENTY who are better prepared to run that defense.. that makes no sense. n o n e
All that said - good takeaways, HUGE game by JJ and Moore did a ton.. Hurt took too long to get involved unfortunately though he did eventually. Good to see JJ and Moore as we know Hurt will bring it most games.
Other takeaways - YET AGAIN the other team made way more free throws than we did. If you want to simplify a W v L - they made 24 FTs .. we attempted to 19! We HAVE To get to the FT line much more.. If we get to the line just 5 more times we probably win that game. And we need to learn to foul less - though there were a few calls I felt were tough on Duke where we basically got out of the way and they still gave a foul against us. But Pitt was 24-37 FTs.. Duke 11-19. With all we did right and wrong if we get to the line a few more times and hit a few more FTs we may win. 37 attempts vs 19!
Honestly its a decent showing that we went --- 38% shooting overall (BAD), 28% from 3 (BAD) and 57% FT shooting (BAD) and still almost beat a good team
Need to quit getting down 15 points to start the game and get to the FT line more.
Really nice comeback and spirited play overall after a lackluster opening, but I feel like I’ve seen variations on this game all season. Doing plenty to stay in the game, also doing just enough to let the game slip away. This was a very winnable game.
Jalen Johnson being as good as he was in the second half is encouraging for the rest of the season if he and Hurt can develop some chemistry. Right now our half court offense struggles so much with the inconsistent shooting and ability to key on Hurt like Pitt did. Johnson drawing double teams and finding open cutters and giving space for Hurt to post can make a big difference moving forward. Johnson’s ability to think and move several steps ahead of everyone else on the court just stands out.
I didn’t think the zone was as bad a decision as some are making it out to be, maybe questionable, but we erased their early lead, forced a fair number of questionable or bad passes from Pitt over the top of the zone, and combined with our pressure stayed in it for the most of the first half and second. However, we were way too soft on the boards to make the zone truly effective and once they found seams for Champagnie, it was definitely a struggle.
Sign of a young immature team: we take our first lead on Hurt’s three in the first half, immediately give up a three on the other end and then get totally flummoxed by Pitt’s zone look and let them build the lead back up quickly. Also, our aggression through most of the second half was encouraging, but after drawing fouls quickly on Pitt once Johnson got going (Pitt had 5 fouls to our 2 early in the second) we end up fouling too much and putting them in the bonus first.
Every time we threatened, we would undercut our own momentum because we couldn’t stop fouling once Pitt breached the top of the zone — back line defense was just too slow or too weak. Johnson fouling out was almost depressingly predictable given the numerous defensive errors and Pitt’s superior ball movement.
Rough game for Roach and Steward and thought Hurt was rattled by Pitt’s D for most of the game and seemed off his game until late in the second: lot of ball watching and passive challenges on defense. Baker was dreadful, that pass for the turnover and driving heads down into four defenders for another turnover felt so damaging happening when they did. Moore thankfully more than made up with his shooting and overall good play.
Hopefully the team stays healthy and develops more of a rhythm with the rest of the conference games coming fast and furious, barring any more COVID related postponements.
Game recap and main takeaways. It is a shame this spectacular performance from Jalen did not result in a W.
https://bluedevilstop.com/duke-falls...jalen-johnson/
Outside of Jalen Johnson, nobody should be even thinking of going pro.
This is probably one of the poorest Duke teams I've watched in the last 20 years. Yikes.
I love the effort, but they look lost on defence. Hopefully they keep improving.
In a total of 7 minutes of game play (20:00-18:00 in the first; 4:00 in the first to 19:00 in the second) Pitt outscored us 27-3. The other 33 minutes of the game we outscored them by 18. It didn’t necessarily feel like a game where we outplayed them for 3/4 of it, but those 7 minutes really, really hurt. Can’t afford to get blitzed like that at the beginning/ends of halves.
Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.
You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner
You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke
Coach Capel has learned a few things from Coach K:
His team consistently played harder
His team built a lead by closing out the 1st half strongly, and starting well in the 2nd half
His team made more free throws than his opponents' free throw attempts
Capel's team had better shot selection and better shooting % than his opponent
Statistically, this game was almost the exact same as last game. Obviously it's hard to compare a 3-2 zone in this one to the m2m vs. VaTech, but the results were similar.
OFFENSE
Possessions: 74.8 (our 3rd fastest game of the season, and our offense was not so hot in all three)
oRtg: 0.98 (1.07 adjusted; kind of blah, even adjusted, it's the equivalent of #81 in the country)
eFG%: 44.3% (yuck)
3pt%: 28.6% (lousy)
2pt%: 45.2% (blech)
%threes: 40.0% (again too high; our third straight game in which 40% or more of our shots were three-pointers; in those same three games, we shot 29.8% in aggregate from three, a pretty bad combination)
FT rate: 27.1% (not horrible but not good; the fact that this is our 3rd best FTR of the season is kinda embarrassing)
OR%: 30.6% (not good)
TO%: 14.7% (very good; 2nd best offensive TO% of the season)
a/to: 1.63:1
%assisted: 66.7% (highest %assisted of the season, probably due to Jalen Johnson)
fast break pts: 17 (23.3% of points; good)
DEFENSE
dRtg: 1.06 (1.01 adjusted; 6th straight unadjusted defense over 1.04; still poor adjusted, the equivalent of #154 in the nation)
eFG%: 52.8% (bad, for the 6th straight game)
3pt%: 35.0% (not terrible, but we need to get better)
2pt%: 53.1% (ugh; 6th straight game in which our opponents shot 50% or better from two)
%threes: 38.5% (they took a lot of threes and hit at a decent pace; not what you want)
FT rate: 71.1% (OMG; by far our worst FTR performance in a season in which we almost always put our opponents on the line too much)
DR%: 77.8% (excellent; 6th game this season (out of 9) with 75% DR% or better; 8th game 70% or better; this might be Coach K's best defensive rebounding team ever!)
TO%: 17.4% (not so hot; if we're going to give up so many easy shots, we have to turn them over more)
a/to: 1.62:1 (after 7 games in which our opponents failed to top 1:1 in this stat, we've now given up 1.6:1 in two straight)
%assisted: 87.5% (Pitt assisted on 21 of their 24 baskets; quite an achievement (for them))
stl%: 10.7% (adequate, not outstanding)
blk%: 9.6% (15.6% of 2pt shots) (good, again mostly due to Jalen Johnson)
fast break pts: 15 (19.0% of points; unfortunate)
Our D has been pretty bad for most of the season now (6 straight games out of 9). Our offense appeared to have turned a corner, but has slipped into a u-turn the past couple games. Maybe the resurgence of Jalen Johnson can save us, but we need to tighten up our defense and play some actual offense instead of jacking up so many threes.
No expectations for Duke. Johnson played well but fouling out unfortunate. We got no closers. Perhaps they will get better but think likely no NCAA tournament and a losing record. Hope I am wrong but we always start digging a hole that team can’t recover. Winnable game but no winning time playmaker or players.
disappointing for sure.
but I was glad to see Moore get some of his mojo back. hopefully he's been cured of the yips
JJ has stud potential once he gets his rhythm
Hurt reminds me a little of Single's quiet, stoic MO
did anyone else think that Pitt was playing defense more typical of Duke? aggressive, lots of help...
don't know how many TO we had, but a lot of them were just plain ugly
I think playing zone takes away what Goldwire does best and that's playing very good defense. It limits his steals and reduces our fast break points. I believe Coach K didn't think our small guards could handle their big perimeter players in man defense. I don't like the way Roach plays point guard. He makes too many turnovers and fails to get the ball to open shooters at the right time. DJ has really gone into a funk shooting the three pointer. If our guards play a average game, we win and if we play man2man I think we win. It was too easy for Pitt's best two players to find open holes in that sorry zone defense. I didn't think I'd ever say Coach K don't play a zone tonight but I did last night. There's been years we had the players to play a decent zone but I don't think this is the year. If Jalen can play like he did last night and our guards improve we might get on a run and win the ACCT and that might be the only way we play in the NCAAT.
Congratulations to Coach Capel for his win over his teacher and it looks like he out coached the GOAT.
GoDuke!
The team fought really hard to make it a game down the stretch after getting down big, so big props for that. On the other hand, I see a fair amount of optimism about what this team can be this year, and I just don't see it. I don't think we're a very good team, and I don't see the potential for us to develop into a very good team this season. I'm starting to feel a little apprehensive/pessimistic even about next season, although I haven't looked too deep into who our incoming recruits will be.
K presser transcript
https://goduke.com/documents/2021/1/...h_K_Quotes.pdf
Quote about needing all our guys to play well at the same time:
"Jalen had a magnificent game and he's just started to be with us. If he comes close to doing that every game, then that's something that we can count on every game. You're not necessarily going to get 24 and 16, and seven assists and no turnovers, but somebody who can create and manufacturer shots. He did well and Matt [Hurt] has got to play better. You know, he had a horrible first half. Then Wendell [Moore] played well, now he's got to play well again. For us to figure out a team, there has to be some level of consistency of performance by all the kids
so you can define roles."
Quote about how we have lacked a sense of the moment about WHEN we need to make big plays/execute big sequences:
"When you go up, you got to hit both of one-of-ones, not one of them. When you drive the ball off your foul, you gotta put that damn thing in every once in a while, so you don't you, you lose points. We’re 11-for-19 from the free throw line and in just some critical times."
Do you think Goldwire has a decrease in minutes moving forward or was last night an outlier?
Yes and Champagnie's constant woofing went unnoticed.
Hurt's ankle added to the disjointedness but Johnson was a delight. Baker has become a liability. He's looking totally confused. Wendell played like an ekg strip. Guards are interchangeably headshaking.
But, if they can beat the holes...
Nothing incites bodily violence quicker than a Duke fan turning in your direction and saying 'scoreboard.'
I wouldn’t be worried about next year. We have a couple of studs coming, with the possibility of 1-2 more studs. And if guys like Roach, Steward, and Moore return, we will be in great shape, combining more experience than usual with a star-studded freshman group.
As for this year, I disagree on the potential. We have now two guys capable of first-team All-ACC level, and a third playing on the fringe of third-team level. That alone should keep us competitive. What we lack is cohesion and decision-making, along with few good shooters. Hopefully Coach K can get Roach to stop shooting so many 3s (he seems to have gotten the ballhandling message to Moore) and we build the offense around Johnson and Hurt.
It isn’t likely to be a vintage Duke team for sure. And there is a very real chance we miss the dance. But I do think there is more talent here than you are giving credit for.
I think this was a blip, but he clearly wasn’t effective last night. Perhaps it was the zone neutering his skill set (basically on-ball defense). Louisville seems like a good target for a zone too, so if we go zone and he struggles again his minutes could get slashed again. Worth keeping an eye on.
I will say though that if Baker continues to play poorly it will be hard to keep Goldwire on the bench.