Duke 77, Tech 81 Post Game Thread

[Hartford Dukie]

K Press Conference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjLCcFrkVEA

1. Early on, K calls out the perimeter/guards for their play the last two games.

2. And he compliments Georgia Tech for "creating a great environment - they have a band, cheerleaders, some fans - it helps, it really helps." K made no apology about this last point. Check it out.

[rhynelander]

One small silver lining for me was Hurt's leadership on the bench after he fouled out. At first he was stunned, and I don't blame him, both his 4th!! and 5th foul seemed questionable to me. But before long he was a good cheerleader and also hyped up Baker and Williams after positive plays resulting in time outs/dead balls. He also went right over and seemed to console/offer advice to Williams after one of his fouls towards the end of OT that resulted in a time out. Great to see Hurt really coming into his own, hate the heartbreaking finishes though

[Ultrarunner]

This loss is a little tougher to swallow. These kids are working hard and coming up just thiiiiiiis much short. I feel bad for the freshmen guards - they want to make things happen but they don't have the tools yet. When the three ball isn't dropping, they have a tough time as does Brakefield. I think they've hit the freshmen wall much later than normal - it's just that screwed up a season.

Great game by Williams despite the missed FTs. His passing is pretty advanced notwithstanding the turnover.

Wendall Moore tried to take over after Hurt got bounced but it's a little tough when there's no help. Good all round game. He's really improved over the course of the season.

Ticky tack fouls took Hurt out of the game. Grrrr. Not his best but a return to earth was overdue. Hoping he blows up again on Saturday.

Nice to see Joey get some burn and make some plays.

I looked up some of the ages of the GT players. Alvarado and Wright are both a year older than our oldest player, Goldwire. It really was men against boys. Looking forward to these kids growing up in the Duke uniform.

On to the Cheats. 9F all the way.

[uh_no]

K Press Conference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjLCcFrkVEA

1. Early on, K calls out the perimeter/guards for their play the last two games.

2. And he compliments Georgia Tech for "creating a great environment - they have a band, cheerleaders, some fans - it helps, it really helps." K made no apology about this last point. Check it out.

not sure if he was talking frankly or calling out duke for being so conservative, but he's not going to win that battle with the university...and i think they would call his bluff on leaving for the lakers this time around...

[roywhite]

The best thing about Freshman is that they become sophomores - except when they don’t. I have seen Brakefield play well and play poorly. He is going to be a good player.

I don't see it -- doesn't seem to do anything really well; he shoots from distance but doesn't hit a good percentage, doesn't look good from the FT line (less than 50% this year) doesn't handle real well, not a great passer, has size but doesn't get a lot of rebounds or move well on defense. What skill does he have to build on and make himself a good ACC player?

I'd be happy to be wrong. I see more potential certainly for Steward and also for Roach.

[Edouble]

[John Candy voice] 'member that one time when Stewart and Roach were both making threes? Yeah... that was awesome! [/John Candy voice]

I think you mean Chris Farley.

[Bay Area Duke Fan]

Duke played really good defense (0.85 ppp) in the first half, not so good thereafter, for an overall decent defensive performance. Our offense was consistently mediocre throughout the game, due in large part (similar to Louisville game) to our poor three-point shooting.


Who'd have thought this year's team would "live or die by the three"? Our offense is top 5 if we hit our threes and top 100 when we don't. Two straight overtime games against top 50 opponents is sort of impressive, but it wasn't what we needed at this point in the season.

What's impressive about losing?

[Hartford Dukie]

not sure if he was talking frankly or calling out duke for being so conservative, but he's not going to win that battle with the university...and i think they would call his bluff on leaving for the lakers this time around...

Listen to his tone - no sarcasm. He was talking frankly.

[Kedsy]

Steward is pulling a Jack White on us...

Unfortunately correct.

Come on, guys. That's nowhere close to correct. Jack White had a 14-game stretch in which he shot 1 for 32 from three. He was a guy who took 74% of his shots from beyond the arc but went 12 games in a row in which he didn't hit a three. DJ Steward has had two rough games (2 for 11 from three) after making 18 of 43 from three (41.9%) in his previous nine games.

All I can say is I wish I shared your confidence. But I just don’t see it. Not impossible, but no way would I put it at 40%. I’d say no better than a 15% chance of winning.

Except CDu's estimate comes from a statistical basis and is supported by experts like Pomeroy and Torvik. I hesitate to say where I suspect your estimate comes from.

That team was better.

They were in a far tougher league and continually came up just short against four top ten/twelve teams, and beat a really good 8-8 Tech two out of three. A handful of shots fall differently and they're in the same position as the 1996 team. This team is experiencing the same sorts of losses to 2021 Miami, 2021 Notre Dame, and some 2021 bubble teams instead of Tim Duncan, Randolph Childress, Stackhouse, Wallace, Joe Smith, et alia.

The 1995 team may have been better in a vacuum (not considering the overall talent level in college basketball); it certainly had more experience. And while that team did lose close to a lot of good teams, it also lost to several bad teams, including a 17-point shellacking by a 4-12 NC State team. Overall, the 1995 team went 2-14 in ACC play. It's really hard to say this year's team is performing worse, by any objective measure.

[Kedsy]

What's impressive about losing?

I guess nothing if all you care about is win/loss records. But do you honestly think all losses are created equal? If a team lost by 20 to a directional team, is that the same as losing by 1 in OT to a top-shelf team? I say taking #45 and #30 (KenPom ranks) to OT in consecutive games is somewhat impressive. It would have been more impressive if both games were 1 point wins, but only marginally so.

[DukeTrinity11]

I guess nothing if all you care about is win/loss records. But do you honestly think all losses are created equal? If a team lost by 20 to a directional team, is that the same as losing by 1 in OT to a top-shelf team? I say taking #45 and #30 (KenPom ranks) to OT in consecutive games is somewhat impressive. It would have been more impressive if both games were 1 point wins, but only marginally so.

This loss hurt so much but the improvement we've seen from Patrick Williams is incredible.

Let crush UNC and win the ACCT.

None of these teams are unbeatable, we just need to execute.

[kako]

5 thoughts...

1. In regulation, I thought it was over. Then Duke came back, with a look to win the game. Then in OT, I thought it was over. Then talk about silly mistakes - Usher makes not one but two turnovers in the last 10 seconds, and Steward almost pulls a JWill. Then they even had a last gasp with Tape at the line. Obviously, he didn't practice his Trey-Jones-make-the-first-and-miss-the-second technique much. It seriously takes practice to learn how to miss a FT, which Tape seems to not have done... But ultimately, depression sets in. This one is rough. Unless the wheels fall off the other teams in the last-4-in/first four-out-scenarios, it's unlikely Duke gets an at-large bid unless they at least get to the ACC Final. And even then, it might not be enough.

2. Moore looked so good in the 1st half. That's the guy we want to see, even if he doesn't score as much. Fill up that stat sheet, player! The best stat? 40 minutes, only 1 turnover.

3. This board is pounding on many of the freshman. Yes, they didn't play nearly to their potentials. But I understand that any shooter can get streaky, so I give Steward a pass from freshman criticism - great Duke upperclassman shooters (Dawkins, Scheyer, etc.) have all gone through slumps. It just sucks it's now for Steward. Roach, though, I just haven't seen it much from him this year. And his turnovers today were ugly. I'm assuming that Trevor Keels doesn't choose Duke, so Roach has a lot of work to do over the summer (though if Keels commits, I could see Roach transferring). Of course, this leaves the door open for JGold to stay another year (can you imagine if he could get respectable from 3?)... Something is wrong when Brakefield takes as many shots as Hurt. I don't want to get down on the guy. He went to the right spot, and he's hit 3s before. And I think he can grow into a valuable glue-guy in the Jefferson/James mold. But he shouldn't be shooting as much as Hurt. I really want to see a pro-style iso offense sometimes for Hurt. At this point, I trust Hurt shooting anytime, anywhere, more than anyone else anytime, anywhere... except maybe for Williams, all alone, under the basket.

4. Christian Laettner should call Williams. After Laettner doinked his FTs late against Arizona his freshman year, he never missed another critical FT. Other than that, Williams played pretty well. But I think he needs to work on his defensive footwork. It's often messed up, but he makes up for it (sometimes) with those Reed Richards arms of his. This summer the guy should watch tape of the Big Fundamental, Mr. Tim Duncan, over and over.

5. I know the dream of a NCAA berth is hanging by a thread now. But that doesn't friggin' matter, because Duke plays Carolina next. My attitude for that game is to simply knock them out of NCAA contention. If they lose to Syracuse, Duke and choke in the first round of the ACC tourney, they could find themselves on the bubble themselves. Schadenfreude always works for me when it comes to Duke being out and Carolina still being in.

9F

[dukelifer]

This loss hurt so much but the improvement we've seen from Patrick Williams is incredible.

Let crush UNC and win the ACCT.

None of these teams are unbeatable, we just need to execute.

Yes Patrick has not only improved but is finally getting the recognition of Duke fans everywhere

[CDu]

This loss hurt so much but the improvement we've seen from Patrick Williams is incredible.

Let crush UNC and win the ACCT.

None of these teams are unbeatable, we just need to execute.

Would love to have Patrick Williams on this team...

[freshmanjs]

[John Candy voice] 'member that one time when Stewart and Roach were both making threes? Yeah... that was awesome! [/John Candy voice]

Chris Farley?

[mkirsh]

What’s really crazy is that this team is literally 2 buckets from having won 6 in a row and having everyone saying “watch out for Duke, they are peaking at the right time!” This team has been snakebit in close games.

I agree with the general consensus that guard play was rough the last two games, which is really hard to overcome. I also think last night the team let it’s offensive struggles seep into its defensive focus, which can happen with young teams.

Only one thing left to do - beat Carolina on Saturday!

[weezie]

... All normal Freshman wear down. Steward will get better and this game shows that he needs to stay at Duke.

Amen. A million free throws this summer and passing drills till sunset. Every single game this season he's been nailed by telegraphing his passes. I love him but...

[DukieInBrasil]

oh well. once again doing all the little things to lose, but close. Missing FTs, dribbling the paint off the court before jacking up hopeless 3s, poor court vision, missing connections on passes, not boxing out for rebounds, not getting the ball to our best offensive option and instead insisting on using marginal offensive players as primary options. Not playing to our strengths, in K's words "soft".
Minus winning the ACCT this team will not make the NCAAT. Next year, though!!!

[CDu]

Amen. A million free throws this summer and passing drills till sunset. Every single game this season he's been nailed by telegraphing his passes. I love him but...

Steward is shooting 82% from the FT line this season. I don't know that FTs are high on his list of needs.

Roach (67.6%), on the other hand...

[ChillinDuke]

You can argue around the edges why and to what degree. But I don't think there's any question that DJ and Roach didn't show up against Louisville and barely any more present against GT. They were the scapegoats for these losses, unfortunately.

That's not an indictment of them. It's just a pretty obvious fact. And also a huge bummer.

- Chillin