Williams has looked pretty good. Hurt is a no-show so far. Steward shooting well.
Love how Alvarado thinks it is ok to switch his pivot foot. Lol
My lord, we have nobody that can finish at the rim on the break. It's weird having a Duke roster with one person that can actually finish hard at the rim. Just wow.
Nice to finish the half strong!
Good half overall. Steward heating up from 3 and 12 points overall. Williams looks more assertive. 33-25 good guys!
Roach playing pretty poorly so far, again. I would like to see something besides missed threes from him.
Really solid finish to the first half. Some unexpected sources of life, and an emergence for one of our young freshmen.
Mark Williams was a real factor in the first half, causing a bit of disruption defensively but more importantly getting several easy buckets with his length inside. His minutes have been critical given the foul trouble.
Goldwire has played his best game of the season so far. Really poised and effective. Also critical thus far.
Steward was terrific, playing his high school game really well. Nice to see the 3 falling for him, but what really got me excited was his confidence off the dribble. That is the key to his game.
Foul trouble again a problem, as Johnson got two quick ones. Thankfully, we didn't get TOO much foul trouble, but 3 guys have 2 fouls. Hopefully we can survive the first 5+ minutes without any of them getting their 3rd. Roach should manage to do so as he'll be on the bench to start the half. But Moore and Johnson need to be careful.
Having an 8 point lead despite no made FG for Hurt, Johnson, Roach, and Moore? Yeah, I'll take it.
Will we know what to do with a lead at the half? Uncharted territory.
The Good
- Shot making from a DJ Steward and the offense generally seemed to flow better when he was on the floor. He did a good job drawing some fouls - a weakness of this team lately.
- Couple good post touches for MW and he made an impact as a rim protector and general shot changer on defense
The Bad
- Still giving up an awful lot of open 3s
- Foul trouble again!
- Roach having another tough game - hitting the sideline on a bounce pass, ick
The Ugly
- Can we ban all Goldwires from attempting fast break layups? JG actually played well but you’d hope your lone senior would think to pull the ball out in that situation and go for the last shot.
OK, I read that completely opposite.
I just don't think that Coach K has the time and focus this year to dig us out of this hole like he would most years. I think personal growth is our hope -- that a couple guys really gain some confidence and awareness to win the ACC Tourney.
I have seen lots of Duke teams play poorly and then overcome it. I will keep the faith.
If we can get this version of Mark Williams for prolonged periods down the stretch, we can throw a completely different look at teams off the bench. That gives us a lot of intriguing options. A lot of what if’s there, but I like what I’m seeing.
Scott Rich on the front page
Trinity BS 2012; University of Michigan PhD 2018
Duke Chronicle, Sports Online Editor: 2010-2012
K-Ville Blue Tenting 2009-2012
Unofficial Brian Zoubek Biographer
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