Page 2 of 6 FirstFirst 1234 ... LastLast
Results 21 to 40 of 107
  1. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by DavidBenAkiva View Post
    I keep expecting DJ Steward to have a big brake out game, scoring 25-30 points. I didn't expect Casey Morsell to be as good of a defender against Steward as he was last night. Still, Steward found his spots late and nailed a couple of key shots to help the team win.

    .
    If Steward can hit efficiently from the 3 it would give us that extra facet that would stress the Syracuse zone. He has shown that ability but somewhat inconsistently.
    Last edited by -jk; 02-22-2021 at 07:33 AM. Reason: clarity

  2. #22
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Mount Kisco, NY
    Quote Originally Posted by Kedsy View Post
    The Saturday/Monday two-day turnaround in the ACC seems to have been started in 2014 (or at least, we didn't have any such games on our schedule in 2013, 2012, or 2011, and I didn't check before that). Tomorrow's game against Syracuse will be the 20th two-day turnaround we've played in that time period (including one Sunday/Tuesday pair and one Tuesday/Thursday).

    FWIW, our record in the 2nd game has been 11-8 (57.9%), which is significantly worse than both our overall record in the period (210-61, 77.5%) and our conference record in the period (100-42, 70.4%). Our record when there is no plane trip involved (such as this game) is 3-4. The only such game we've played this season was the bad Monday night loss to Miami.

    Something to think about, anyway.
    The turnaround has been my primary concern, especially because the Saturday game was late and K usually gives the team the day off after a game. Add that to the issue of facing the Syracuse zone, and the records you report, the outlook is ominous.

    But, that's why they play the games and this is the position we find ourselves in so we play the hand we are dealt.

    As others have said, this is clearly a must win.

    It is usually a safe bet to feel like the Duke offense will take care of itself. Whenever we play Syracuse, so much talk focuses on facing their vaunted zone, and deservedly so. For this game, I am going to focus on our defense and say that if we take care of business on that end of the court, we will win. Since the Notre Dame horror show, it has been headed in the right direction.

    It is a really different experience watching this team have must wins for larger stakes than toggling between a 1-2 or 3 seed. After the Miami-Holes-Irish losing streak, I watched the next two games with a general curiosity if we could get wins against bottom dwelling conference teams. I watch the Virginia game hoping for a NCAA lifeline. Now that we have it, suddenly the usual Duke watching game pressure has returned...and I am here for it baby!!!

    LET"s GO!!!!!!!!!

  3. #23
    I watched a replay of the UVA game yesterday and expected to see Williams getting exposed on ball screens but I didn’t see it. I’m not sure why he didn’t play much after starting other than how well Brake played. It’ll be interesting to see the minutes distribution at center in this one.
       

  4. #24
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Vermont
    I've heard Coach K say that the team sometimes gets tired, and I've also heard him say college kids don't get tired, so I'm going with the latter on this one...especially since Syracuse is travelling...

  5. #25
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Arlington, VA
    Quote Originally Posted by Kedsy View Post
    The Saturday/Monday two-day turnaround in the ACC seems to have been started in 2014 (or at least, we didn't have any such games on our schedule in 2013, 2012, or 2011, and I didn't check before that). Tomorrow's game against Syracuse will be the 20th two-day turnaround we've played in that time period (including one Sunday/Tuesday pair and one Tuesday/Thursday).

    FWIW, our record in the 2nd game has been 11-8 (57.9%), which is significantly worse than both our overall record in the period (210-61, 77.5%) and our conference record in the period (100-42, 70.4%). Our record when there is no plane trip involved (such as this game) is 3-4. The only such game we've played this season was the bad Monday night loss to Miami.

    Something to think about, anyway.
    Huh. Seems odd that we would have a worse record in the games without a plane trip (I assume you mean without a Duke plane trip, as I imagine Syracuse will not be coming all the way down to Durham by bus) than in those with a plane trip. Were those games, randomly, more difficult matchups against tough teams? Did being at home tempt Duke players to party more and or focus less between the Saturday and Monday games (possibly less of a concern during the pandemic when there is little or no partying to be had)?

    I would be interested to know if you have a theory.

  6. #26
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    WA State
    Two points I find encouraging for tonight:
    1. The first comment from Matt Hurt after the UVA game was focused on Syracuse.
    2. We have played a 3-2 zone a lot this year - and had scout teams attacking it. We have some familiarity with lanes for attacking the 'Cuse zone.

    I think that relying on our recent hot streak from 3 (and Hurt's otherworldly shooting of late) is a mistake. We need another scorer inside the three-point line and solid cutters. Williams, Brakefield, and Moore will audition for the soft spot in the middle of the zone. I think Williams gets substantial minutes as he has shown good passing ability. If he can consistently hit that free throw line shot, he's going to be a huge asset. Brakefield can hit the shot and drive but I haven't seen much from him passing. Wendall won't have to dribble which is a help. The cutters have to hit the lay-ups. We've had a lot of points left on the floor this year right under the rim.

    On defense, I'm expecting 3/4 court pressing early with Moore and Goldwire sharing duty on Buddy.

  7. #27
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    New Bern, NC unless it's a home football game then I'm grilling on Devil's Alley
    Quote Originally Posted by Kedsy View Post
    The Saturday/Monday two-day turnaround in the ACC seems to have been started in 2014 (or at least, we didn't have any such games on our schedule in 2013, 2012, or 2011, and I didn't check before that). Tomorrow's game against Syracuse will be the 20th two-day turnaround we've played in that time period (including one Sunday/Tuesday pair and one Tuesday/Thursday).

    FWIW, our record in the 2nd game has been 11-8 (57.9%), which is significantly worse than both our overall record in the period (210-61, 77.5%) and our conference record in the period (100-42, 70.4%). Our record when there is no plane trip involved (such as this game) is 3-4. The only such game we've played this season was the bad Monday night loss to Miami.

    Something to think about, anyway.
    I know it would be a pain to go back and track those games, but I wonder how many of those losses were two day turnarounds for both teams, and how many of those were on the road. That would be another factor. For example, tonight is also a 2 day for 'Cuse, too, and they have to travel. This will be Duke's second home game, so while the time between contests is the same for both, the Orange have had to deal with planes and hotels in that short time span.
    Without looking back, it's only an assumption, but I would think that would be to our advantage.

    Edit...I see that MCFinARL touched on this too.
    Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."

  8. #28
    This quick turnaround against the ‘Cuse makes me just a little nervous, but I think our guys are up to the task. Big question is how will we attack the free throw area of the zone. Will it be Moore, Williams or Brake? Does Joey Baker get hot and hit threes? Can Hurt keep up his great three pt. % against the Orange? If we can contain Boehiem and company from knocking down alot of threes, I feel pretty good about tonight’s game. Like a lot of posters have mentioned, we really need this win to keep our tourney hopes alive. Let’s go get this win Bluedevils!!!
       

  9. #29
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Oregon
    Quote Originally Posted by jv001 View Post
    Had Jay muted Saturday and I'll have Corey muted tonight. They are non-essential.

    GoDuke!
    In the past I want to hear the crazies so no mute for home games. No crazies this season, sadly. Mute button getting a workout.

  10. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by MCFinARL View Post
    Huh. Seems odd that we would have a worse record in the games without a plane trip (I assume you mean without a Duke plane trip, as I imagine Syracuse will not be coming all the way down to Durham by bus) than in those with a plane trip. Were those games, randomly, more difficult matchups against tough teams? Did being at home tempt Duke players to party more and or focus less between the Saturday and Monday games (possibly less of a concern during the pandemic when there is little or no partying to be had)?

    I would be interested to know if you have a theory.
    Quote Originally Posted by CameronBornAndBred View Post
    I know it would be a pain to go back and track those games, but I wonder how many of those losses were two day turnarounds for both teams, and how many of those were on the road. That would be another factor. For example, tonight is also a 2 day for 'Cuse, too, and they have to travel. This will be Duke's second home game, so while the time between contests is the same for both, the Orange have had to deal with planes and hotels in that short time span.
    Without looking back, it's only an assumption, but I would think that would be to our advantage.

    Edit...I see that MCFinARL touched on this too.
    OK, first of all, I misspoke. The "no plane trip" record is 3-3, not 3-4, which of course is still worse than the plane trip record (8-5). I suspect it's just random variation due to low sample, but the three losses in the "no plane trip" list were to NC State (KenPom #109) in 2017, to Syracuse (KP #27) in 2016, and to Miami (KP #41) in 2015. So, not particularly difficult as ACC opponents go.

    For travel purposes in the home/road splits, I'm lumping bus trips to Raleigh or Chapel Hill into home games:

    Road game two days after home game (incl one bus trip): 4 wins, 3 losses

    Home game (incl one bus trip) two days after road game: 3 wins, 2 loss

    Road game two days after road game: 1 win, 0 losses

    Home game two days after home game (incl two bus trips): 3 wins, 3 losses

    I don't really see a pattern here, other than the two-day turnaround. As far as how many of these opponents also had a two-day turnaround, I know that Miami in 2015 (referenced above) had a three-day turnaround but a long plane trip (and Duke's Sun/Tues two-day turnaround came after a bus trip to Raleigh), and that in 2014 Duke lost @UNC two days after a road game (Tu/Th) but the Heels had a three-day turnaround (but also a long plane trip after their previous game @FSU). Beyond that, I'm too lazy to look it up but the way the ACC schedules I suspect almost all the opponents had Saturday games before the Monday matchups. Whether they had afternoon vs. evening games on Saturday is even further beyond my desire to look up.

  11. #31
    Quote Originally Posted by Music man55 View Post
    This quick turnaround against the ‘Cuse makes me just a little nervous, but I think our guys are up to the task. Big question is how will we attack the free throw area of the zone. Will it be Moore, Williams or Brake?
    Yes, yes, and yes! and probably some Hurt
    Quote Originally Posted by Music man55 View Post
    Does Joey Baker get hot and hit threes?
    Yes!
    Quote Originally Posted by Music man55 View Post
    Can Hurt keep up his great three pt. % against the Orange?
    Yes!
    Quote Originally Posted by Music man55 View Post
    If we can contain Boehiem and company from knocking down alot of threes, I feel pretty good about tonight’s game. Like a lot of posters have mentioned, we really need this win to keep our tourney hopes alive. Let’s go get this win Bluedevils!!!
    Yes!

  12. #32
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    New Jersey
    Quote Originally Posted by Kedsy View Post
    OK, first of all, I misspoke. The "no plane trip" record is 3-3, not 3-4, which of course is still worse than the plane trip record (8-5). I suspect it's just random variation due to low sample, but the three losses in the "no plane trip" list were to NC State (KenPom #109) in 2017, to Syracuse (KP #27) in 2016, and to Miami (KP #41) in 2015. So, not particularly difficult as ACC opponents go.

    For travel purposes in the home/road splits, I'm lumping bus trips to Raleigh or Chapel Hill into home games:

    Road game two days after home game (incl one bus trip): 4 wins, 3 losses

    Home game (incl one bus trip) two days after road game: 3 wins, 2 loss

    Road game two days after road game: 1 win, 0 losses

    Home game two days after home game (incl two bus trips): 3 wins, 3 losses

    I don't really see a pattern here, other than the two-day turnaround. As far as how many of these opponents also had a two-day turnaround, I know that Miami in 2015 (referenced above) had a three-day turnaround but a long plane trip (and Duke's Sun/Tues two-day turnaround came after a bus trip to Raleigh), and that in 2014 Duke lost @UNC two days after a road game (Tu/Th) but the Heels had a three-day turnaround (but also a long plane trip after their previous game @FSU). Beyond that, I'm too lazy to look it up but the way the ACC schedules I suspect almost all the opponents had Saturday games before the Monday matchups. Whether they had afternoon vs. evening games on Saturday is even further beyond my desire to look up.
    Kedsy, I for one never thought we'd reach your limit to find information, but the fact that we've reached this point for you to finally give up and self-identify as "lazy" is unfathomable. The stats work you put in on this Board is beyond belief.
    Rich
    "Failure is Not a Destination"
    Coach K on the Dan Patrick Show, December 22, 2016

  13. #33
    Quote Originally Posted by jv001 View Post
    Had Jay muted Saturday and I'll have Corey muted tonight. They are non-essential.

    GoDuke!
    While watching the UVA game on demand from ESPN Sat night on the west coast the playback froze at halftime and the second half wouldn’t play. All the other on demand games would. I suspect a UVA grad at ESPN had something to do with that . Fortunately the Spanish broadcast worked so I saw the rest of the game. The volume was low, but the tone and rhythm came through (I don’t speak Spanish). Did hear about Moore’s cabeza after running into Huff’s shoulder, and a reference to Hurts heuvos...
       

  14. #34
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Santa Clara, CA
    3 thoughts:

    1. Both Hurt and Brakefield stated that they were looking forward to Syracuse in the UVA postgame presser. I'm sure K focused them in the locker room prior to that. Hopefully they will do so. I recall similar words being spoken after the Clemson game, and we know what happened next... I believe the key to the game is Duke keeping its intensity up, particularly on defense. I think the Cuse will force Duke into more turnovers than I would like to see. But if Duke's D shuts down the Orange, Duke's offense should score enough to win. Stay sharp, Devils.

    2. The game is ripe for Baker to have an O'Connell-like Syracuse moment. Of course, I don't care if it's him or Roach or Steward or Brakefield - somebody hit six 3's, please. But my money's on Hurt blowing up that zone. Swing it to him wherever he has a size advantage over the nearest defender. When someone's on a hot streak, keep feeding him. Fear the beard.

    3. Ugh, Alexander???? Yes, changing him out for Bonner would be great. But let me also send a shout out for Huckaby again. He called a fine game versus Wake.

    9F
    I will never talk about That Game. GTHC.

  15. #35
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    St. Louis
    Quote Originally Posted by throatybeard View Post
    I'll take him over refs Jay refs Bilas refs refs refs.
    Not me. Alexander is an insufferable egotist, and the depth of his idiocy almost matches the ego.

  16. #36
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Texas
    Quote Originally Posted by kako View Post
    3. Ugh, Alexander???? Yes, changing him out for Bonner would be great. But let me also send a shout out for Huckaby again. He called a fine game versus Wake.
    I also appreciated the announcing by Malcolm Huckaby for the Wake Forest game. He was accurate, concise and knowledgable from start to finish. A real student of the game, not a glory seeker.
    Many announcers don't do their homework and they extrapolate off of single plays into ridiculous generalizations about players and teams. A casual observer wouldn't notice, but if you know your team, its obvious.

  17. #37
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Hot'Lanta... home of the Falcons!
    One of the sportstalk radio stations in New York had me on as a guest this morning to talk Duke v Syracuse.

    Hope I did a good job of explaining why this Duke team has turned it around recently: https://soundcloud.com/thescore1260/...-boy-green2-22
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  18. #38
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Hillsborough,nc
    Quote Originally Posted by bluedev_92 View Post
    Completely agree.
    To my wondering mind....the reason mr. Alexander feels his personnel revelations are more important than the game ( which he is paid to cover ) fall in the category of ignorance vs apathy....( seems like a smart guy of good character )....don’t think he lives in either camp , but as an announcer , he skirts both.

  19. #39
    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    One of the sportstalk radio stations in New York had me on as a guest this morning to talk Duke v Syracuse.

    Hope I did a good job of explaining why this Duke team has turned it around recently: https://soundcloud.com/thescore1260/...-boy-green2-22
    Great job.

  20. #40
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Norfolk, VA
    Short article on the front page on how Mark Williams might be deployed against the Orange zone:

    https://www.dukebasketballreport.com...-mark-williams
    Bob Green

Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 102
    Last Post: 02-20-2021, 10:02 PM
  2. Replies: 191
    Last Post: 03-29-2015, 07:08 PM
  3. Replies: 131
    Last Post: 03-22-2015, 04:50 PM
  4. Replies: 87
    Last Post: 03-12-2015, 08:48 PM
  5. Replies: 50
    Last Post: 11-21-2014, 11:17 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •