Duke 77, Tech 81 Post Game Thread

[MrPoon]

One tear in the eye emoji.

Feel bad for the boys, a lot of bad bounces the last two games has to leave these kids gutted, it does me.
Never felt effort was a problem in either game.
Asking young men to do things they’ve never done before.
I still really like what they became even it if falls short.

[BigZ]

Season over. Only thing left is to beat UNC and knock them out to

[Billy Dat]

We've been very fortunate over the years, and this year we have not gotten or earned the breaks we usually seem to get.

Two straight "must wins", two OT losses...it hurts.

Speaking of Hurt...I applaud the guys who rallied once he fouled out and got us to OT with a clean look at a shot to win the game. DJ also had a decent look to tie it at the end of the OT. Twas not to be. The zone befuddled them just enough to give us a chance. Bravo to Joey for those late 6 points that almost delivered us to victory.

It was a pitched battle, not played at a high level but hotly contested. When it mattered, Tech was tougher and, specifically Moses Wright just killed us down the stretch. We did a decent job on him early, but he won the day.

Tough night for our freshmen guards. Tough night for our All Conference scoring machine. Wendell good early, Williams good late.

On to Carolina and hopefully we pull the upset.

[uh_no]

One tear in the eye emoji.

Feel bad for the boys, a lot of bad bounces the last two games has to leave these kids gutted, it does me.
Never felt effort was a problem in either game.
Asking young men to do things they’ve never done before.
I still really like what they became even it if falls short.

effort hasn't really been a problem all year. we have enough comebacks as evidence of that. (at least among the current members of the team)

[throatybeard]

Of all the Duke2021 games, that was the Duke2021est.

Unless it was Notre Dame.

[Hartford Dukie]

Guard play again - main reason for at least the last two losses. And one of Hurt's fouls (#3) was because DJ turned the ball over. We need some help next year there.

[djp10]

I honestly feel bad for tapé for embarrassing himself.

[heyman25]

Steward is pulling a Jack White on us...

Hope Keels wants to come to Duke. Any grad transfer guards available. Roach and Stward better work their buts off in the off season.

[S_West30]

One of the worst things about watching this team is that they are just good enough to compete with just about any team they face, but inevitably they lose control of the game, make careless turnovers, or go into impressively bad offensive droughts that lose them the game. It's maddening to see the same thing happen time after time.

Sidenote - we really need Roach and Steward to grow tremendously before next season to get back to status quo. We've been so spoiled by Tyus and Tre (and even Duval to an extent) that we haven't had routine guard starters hit the wall this hard in recent history. Hopefully they can learn and get better from the experience.

Next play.

[SouthernDukie]

Steward is pulling a Jack White on us...

Unfortunately correct. It’s ACC Tournament Championship or bust as far as getting an invite to the Big Dance. I don’t hold out much hope for a win in Chapel Hell. But it would be nice. And it would keep us from finishing .500 for the season.

[MrPoon]

There was a game several years ago where a halftime heave ended up being the difference, was it the St John’s game? Florida State, feel like it was a maroon-ish team.
Anyway, where that shot flipped the game, that halftime heave tonight gave me flashbacks to that shot, if that doesn’t go... well you can all do math.

[VA_BDevil]

the hoop gods must be very, very angry

[Hartford Dukie]

Hope Keels wants to come to Duke. Any grad transfer guards available. Roach and Stward better work their buts off in the off season.

Amen - if he is watching these games he has to know there is playing time available.

[jipops]

DJ is having a normal freshman season as a talented, capable guard. Unfortunately the low points are happening now. I’m willing to cut the kid some slack. He’ll be a force in future days.

[Saratoga2]

Poor shooting from the guards is killing us.

Poor guard play has lost the last two games. Too bad as you know they try hard. That washes up any realistic hope of going to the tourney.

[Billy Dat]

I honestly feel bad for tapé for embarrassing himself.

Yeah, you have to know that the ball must hit the rim, but I do credit him on those late possessions for understanding we needed a 3 and, when he got the rebounds, he kicked it out twice. That was good knowledge of time/score/situation. The missed FT off the top of the backboard was not.

[acdevil]

One of the worst things about watching this team is that they are just good enough to compete with just about any team they face, but inevitably they lose control of the game, make careless turnovers, or go into impressively bad offensive droughts that lose them the game. It's maddening to see the same thing happen time after time.

Sidenote - we really need Roach and Steward to grow tremendously before next season to get back to status quo. We've been so spoiled by Tyus and Tre (and even Duval to an extent) that we haven't had routine guard starters hit the wall this hard in recent history. Hopefully they can learn and get better from the experience.

Next play.

This is nothing compared to 94-95.

[Dukehky]

There was a game several years ago where a halftime heave ended up being the difference, was it the St John’s game? Florida State, feel like it was a maroon-ish team.
Anyway, where that shot flipped the game, that halftime heave tonight gave me flashbacks to that shot, if that doesn’t go... well you can all do math.

Syracuse 3/4 court shot when Tre went out in 2019, and the worst of them was 2011 sweet sixteen game against Arizona. Derek Williams got himself picked number 2 because of that shot.

[CDu]

Unfortunately correct. It’s ACC Tournament Championship or bust as far as getting an invite to the Big Dance. I don’t hold out much hope for a win in Chapel Hell. But it would be nice. And it would keep us from finishing .500 for the season.

I am not sure I understand this sentiment. Georgia Tech is better than UNC this year, and we had a very real shot at beating them. UNC lost to Marquette at home. We can absolutely beat UNC.

Would we be favored. Nope. But we have a 40+% chance I would guess.

[UrinalCake]

There was a game several years ago where a halftime heave ended up being the difference, was it the St John’s game? Florida State, feel like it was a maroon-ish team.
Anyway, where that shot flipped the game, that halftime heave tonight gave me flashbacks to that shot, if that doesn’t go... well you can all do math.

You might be thinking of Syracuse. The half court shot in this one hurt, but didn’t feel like the turning point of the game to me.