MBB: GTech @ Duke (Tue 1/26 @ 9:00 PM on ESPN) Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

[jv001]

Agreed, and I think Joey's in the same boat. I was happy that against Louisville, Joey decided that he was going to be a 3-pt shooter again. Even though he only hit 1 of 4, at least he had 0 turnovers. Trying to be Mr. All-Around Game was causing Joey to have a laughably high turnover rate. Hopefully Lville was the start of him getting back to being himself. We want him to shoot threes, not drive.

I agree about Joey not doing too much offensively. He can be a contributor on defense and spot up shooting. He was +7 in plus-minus last game and that agreed with my eye test. He had zero turnovers and looked good in the zone defense. Speaking of the plus minus; Moore -11, JJ -9, Roach -9 and Brakefield -5. Roach in 26 minutes didn't score and only had 2 assists- 2 turnovers. Brakefield had 2 points in 5 minutes but once again played terrible defense. Wendell played good defense but his shot selection wasn't particularly good.
As for this game, we need someone to create some offense. I hope to see some plays for JJ and Hurt to play off each other. From CDu's writeup, it looks like GT is good at turning teams over and that's one of our biggest weaknesses. Therefore I don't want to see some of our guys driving the ball into a crowd. Run some set plays.

[CDu]

Agreed, and I think Joey's in the same boat. I was happy that against Louisville, Joey decided that he was going to be a 3-pt shooter again. Even though he only hit 1 of 4, at least he had 0 turnovers. Trying to be Mr. All-Around Game was causing Joey to have a laughably high turnover rate. Hopefully Lville was the start of him getting back to being himself. We want him to shoot threes, not drive.

Yes. Baker has one ACC-level skill on offense: shooting. He needs to be prowling the 3 point line off-ball seeking catch-and-shoot opportunities. Every dribble and every pass he makes need to be safe, non-threatening ones. Focus on what you do well: hunt the 3. I don't want him jacking up contested/rushed 3s, but he needs to be focused on finding open spots on the floor and preparing to catch and shoot exclusively.

It's weird. We have a guard (Roach) who is good off the dribble and awful at 3pt shooting but takes a bunch of 3s, and we have a wing (Baker) who is awful off the dribble and good at 3pt shooting but has tended to drive. Both of those players need to switch their mindset and focus on what they do best.

Roach needs to be constantly looking to probe the defense for a driving opportunity, and eschew any thoughts of 3pt shots. Similar to Baker's 3s, Roach doesn't need to force the drive, but his mindset needs to be downhill offense only.

Also, whenever Johnson has the ball, Roach needs to be eyeballing cutting opportunities. Steward and Goldwire have a few times done this with success; Roach needs to add that to the arsenal. In a similar vein, Baker needs to be locating spots for catch-and-shoot opportunities whenever Johnson has the ball. Moore has done really well in this regard playing off Johnson. Baker (who is a better shooter than Moore) should be doing the same.

[DavidBenAkiva]

I disagree with the last sentence. Driving is what caused the turnovers for Moore. He simply isn’t great off the dribble. The reduction in turnovers coincided with his reduction in offensive playmaking role.

I think Moore needs to be very selective with his ballhandling and shooting. He needs to be an off-ball player who finds open spots in the defense to catch-and-shoot or catch-and-finish.

Hopefully at some point in his career he gets strong enough with the dribble to be an initiator on offense. But he just isn’t there right now.

That's a good point. Moore and others need to do a better job of finding opportunities to move towards the rim off the ball.

I will note that some of his playmaking has shown up with action going towards the rim. There was a couple sequences against Pitt where Moore cut to the rim, found Johnson who found Moore open for a 3. More of that, please.

[gumbomoop]

Hopefully at some point in his career he [Moore] gets strong enough with the dribble to be an initiator on offense. But he just isn’t there right now.

I think Joey's in the same boat... Trying to be Mr. All-Around Game was causing Joey to have a laughably high turnover rate. Hopefully Lville was the start of him getting back to being himself. We want him to shoot threes, not drive.

These two players exemplify the crucial importance for perimeter players of skilled dribbling. Good handle increases number of shots in rhythm.

Moore and Baker, with entirely different skill sets, are noticeably limited because of mediocre handles. Baker is reduced — in Troublemaker’s all-too-accurate characterization — “to being himself,” a stand-still shooter, period. And Moore, who is not a big threat from outside but who would seem to have the power and smoothness to be an effective attacker moving toward the basket, pull-up shooter, and initiator for others — as CDu says — “just isn’t there right now.”

It baffles me when players do not appear to have worked diligently from season to season on dribbling, handle.

[CDu]

These two players exemplify the crucial importance for perimeter players of skilled dribbling. Good handle increases number of shots in rhythm.

Moore and Baker, with entirely different skill sets, are noticeably limited because of mediocre handles. Baker is reduced — in Troublemaker’s all-too-accurate characterization — “to being himself,” a stand-still shooter, period. And Moore, who is not a big threat from outside but who would seem to have the power and smoothness to be an effective attacker moving toward the basket, pull-up shooter, and initiator for others — as CDu says — “just isn’t there right now.”

It baffles me when players do not appear to have worked diligently from season to season on dribbling, handle.

Yeah, good ballhandling is perhaps the single most important skill in basketball. Yes, shooting is close as well. But if you aren't a competent ballhandler, it really restricts your value as an offensive player. For a wing, it restricts you to a catch and shoot or wide-open drive opportunity only. For as great a shooter as Steph Curry is, what has unlocked his superstardom was the ability to break down defenders. It is the main reason Kyrie Irving is such an offensive force (he isn't a superlative shooter or explosive athlete; he gets it done thanks to perhaps the best dribbling skill in the NBA). It's what took Redick from being a pretty good college player to a NPoY candidate. And so on. Everybody should be working on their handle. Everybody.

In the case of Moore, I'm a bit more understanding of his lack of progress in this area given the pandemic. It's hard to create D-1 level defense against the dribble without games/scrimmage/high-level practice. Unlike getting bigger/stronger or quicker/more explosive, game skills are hard to improve when the pandemic restricts your access to team play. Hopefully this summer will allow for more development of Moore's game skills.

[BlueDevilStop]

Think Duke gets back in the win column tonight. If they can prevent Georgia Tech from getting hot from beyond the arc, I like Duke's chances.

[Spanarkel]

Tech is not deep, but they are VERY experienced. They play 7, of which 6 are juniors or seniors and the other is a sophomore. They have virtually no size, and really they ride their starters as long as possible.

Defensively, Pastner uses a lot of junk defense. Most notably he goes 1-3-1 a decent amount. That leads to turnovers (they force a lot of them), but it also leads to a high shooting percentage. Basically, aside from forcing TOs, they do nothing well defensively other than not foul. Unfortunately, that plays to two of our big weaknesses offensively.

On offense, they are perimeter-oriented. They handle the ball extremely well, and shoot it really well. They play a pretty slow pace, and work to get good shots.

Centers: Moses Wright (6’9”, 235lb senior from Raleigh) is the center. Wright has really improved in his 4 years. He now has shooting range legitimately to 3pt range. He doesn’t create his own shot much. In the post, his go-to is a jump hook. Everything else is a catch-and-shoot/finish. Defensively, he is rangy and athletic. They ask him to play 35+ mpg, so he works hard to stay out of foul trouble. If he is out, Rodney Howard (6’10”, 240lb soph) or Saba Gigiberia (7’1”, 250lb frosh from Georgia - the country) are emergency options. But neither is good.

Forwards: Jordan Usher (6’7”, 215lb senior) is the starting forward. He is a high-energy player with good strength and athleticism who has expanded his range to the 3pt line. In a pinch, he can even play a de facto center. Like Wright, Usher is a rangy and athletic defender who picks up steals and some blocks. He is sort of the player we want Wendell Moore to be. Off the bench is Khalid Moore (6’7”, 200lb junior). Moore is built like Cam Reddish, and he is a versatile defender. Offensively, he is limited by poor shooting touch and limited handle. So he tends to be more of an energy guy than anything else. Nobody else is relevant at forward.

Wings: Bubba Parham (5’10”, 160lb senior transfer from VMI) is the starting wing. Parham is super quick but really small. He is a bit like a smaller, quicker version of DJ Steward. More of a volume scorer than a shooter, but he is quite capable of making 3s and is not shy about taking them. He also rebounds and blocks shots surprisingly decent for his size. Off the bench, Kyle Sturdivant (6’2”, 195lb soph transfer from USC). Sturdivant is a combo guard with decent FT touch who hasn’t quite found his sea legs at the major college level. He plays 10-15 mpg as minutes filler for the starters.

Guards: The engine of the team is their two-headed PG combo. Jose Alvarado (6’0”, 180lb senior) is the captain and team leader. He is a bit of a cross between Carlik Jones and sophomore Tre Jones. An NYC PG, he has an incredible feel for the game and undying confidence. He is also extremely tough, and can get under opponents’ skin. But along with a high bball IQ, he has developed into a great shooter with an outside shot at the 50/40/90 club. He is also the biggest threat to Goldwire for ACC steals leader. The dude can ball. Not to be outdone is Michael DeVoe (6’5”, 195lb junior). DeVoe is kind of like Tech’s version of David Johnson from Louisville. A terrific ballhandler and passer with size who can also rebound and score from inside or out. These two guys are really really good and will give any team fits.

This won’t be easy. The Jackets are experienced and very good offensively. But if we can avoid turnovers, they can be scored on. Let’s hope we improve upon last game. We really need this win.

Enjoyed the excellent review, but Bubba Parham has only blocked one shot in his GT career(maybe he did at VMI).

[CDu]

Enjoyed the excellent review, but Bubba Parham has only blocked one shot in his GT career(maybe he did at VMI).

Yep, that seemed unlikely when I was researching it. I was off by a row on the blocks: those were Khalid Moore's. Parham is a good rebounder for his size, but not a shotblocker.

[DukieInBrasil]

Think Duke gets back in the win column tonight. If they can prevent Georgia Tech from getting hot from beyond the arc, I like Duke's chances.

Well, the one thing that Duke has done this year is allow pretty much everyone to shoot better from 3 than their season average. That's not a good harbinger...

[Kedsy]

FWIW, there are encouraging signs that Wendell is playing better overall and has potentially resolved his turnover problems.

Here's a fun fact: for the season, Wendell Moore has the 3rd-best turnover rate on the team, with 15.5% (behind Hurt (8.3%) and Brakefield (9.1%)). In conference games, Wendell is also 3rd-best, at 12.8% (behind Hurt (10.3%) and Goldwire (10.2%)).

[CDu]

Here's a fun fact: for the season, Wendell Moore has the 3rd-best turnover rate on the team, with 15.5% (behind Hurt (8.3%) and Brakefield (9.1%)). In conference games, Wendell is also 3rd-best, at 12.8% (behind Hurt (10.3%) and Goldwire (10.2%)).

As it should be: by cutting back on his dribbling and becoming more of a catch-and-shoot guy, he's dramatically cut down on his turnover opportunities.

The guys with the highest turnover rates should be the guys initiating the offense and making the most incisive drives and passes. Ideally they aren't terribly wild, but those are the guys who should be highest in turnover rate.

That Baker has a higher turnover rate than Moore is especially obnoxious, as Baker should dribble even less than Moore and make simpler passes as well.

[Troublemaker]

I agree about Joey not doing too much offensively. He can be a contributor on defense and spot up shooting. He was +7 in plus-minus last game and that agreed with my eye test. He had zero turnovers and looked good in the zone defense. Speaking of the plus minus; Moore -11, JJ -9, Roach -9 and Brakefield -5. Roach in 26 minutes didn't score and only had 2 assists- 2 turnovers. Brakefield had 2 points in 5 minutes but once again played terrible defense. Wendell played good defense but his shot selection wasn't particularly good.
As for this game, we need someone to create some offense. I hope to see some plays for JJ and Hurt to play off each other. From CDu's writeup, it looks like GT is good at turning teams over and that's one of our biggest weaknesses. Therefore I don't want to see some of our guys driving the ball into a crowd. Run some set plays.

Where are you getting these plus-minus numbers, jv001? Thanks!

[Music man55]

I really still believe that this young Duke team will continue to improve. Now how rapid that improvement comes is the $10,000 question. As even coach K said, having Hurt and Johnson playing at a high level together is going to be very important. The biggest thing that really concerns me about Ga.Tech tonight is that they are a very old team with a dynamic backcourt leader like Alvarado. Watching them play, the way they play off of Alvarado, is going to be a problem for Duke I think. I hope we can get him in foul trouble early and limit his ability to control the jacket offense. Like I said, I think we are going to improve, but doing it against a veteran squad that is playing really well right now is going to be a tall order. Praying for a bluedevil win tonight!

[jv001]

Where are you getting these plus-minus numbers, jv001? Thanks!

Go-Duke.com(box score-pdf) had them for our last game. I had not seen them before on their site.

GoDuke!

[jv001]

I really still believe that this young Duke team will continue to improve. Now how rapid that improvement comes is the $10,000 question. As even coach K said, having Hurt and Johnson playing at a high level together is going to be very important. The biggest thing that really concerns me about Ga.Tech tonight is that they are a very old team with a dynamic backcourt leader like Alvarado. Watching them play, the way they play off of Alvarado, is going to be a problem for Duke I think. I hope we can get him in foul trouble early and limit his ability to control the jacket offense. Like I said, I think we are going to improve, but doing it against a veteran squad that is playing really well right now is going to be a tall order. Praying for a bluedevil win tonight!

Alvarado seems to play with a lot of confidence against Duke. But he won't have the Crazies to play to tonight. The kid can ball.

GoDuke!

[Rickshaw]

Go-Duke.com(box score-pdf) had them for our last game. I had not seen them before on their site.

GoDuke!

Good luck guys....they / we really need a ‘Hey , we can actually win a game ‘..

[heyman25]

I really still believe that this young Duke team will continue to improve. Now how rapid that improvement comes is the $10,000 question. As even coach K said, having Hurt and Johnson playing at a high level together is going to be very important. The biggest thing that really concerns me about Ga.Tech tonight is that they are a very old team with a dynamic backcourt leader like Alvarado. Watching them play, the way they play off of Alvarado, is going to be a problem for Duke I think. I hope we can get him in foul trouble early and limit his ability to control the jacket offense. Like I said, I think we are going to improve, but doing it against a veteran squad that is playing really well right now is going to be a tall order. Praying for a bluedevil win tonight!

Luka Doncic is young,but he plays good basketball. This team needs to execute on the court. They need to play as a team.

[chrishoke]

No way our guards can handle Alvarado. He will have his way. We better score a bunch.

[SouthernDukie]

I have only one thing to say - Go Duke!!!

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