MBB: Duke vs SC State (Tues, Dec 14 8pm ET ACCN) Pre-game and In-game Thread

[CDu]

After a frustrating loss and a similarly frustrating long absence for exams, Duke returns to action tomorrow night against SC State. This is a brutally bad SC State team on both ends of the floor. They are ranked outside the top-300 in both offense and defense. The only thing they do well is get fouled, which plays to our "we don't foul anybody" strength. They shoot the 3 poorly, the 2 exceptionally poorly, FTs poorly. They don't offensive rebound well, and the get their shots blocked a reasonably high total. They play fast though, which again plays to what we like to do. Defensively, they don't do anything well, and the rebound and foul extremely poorly.

Normally I'd do a full breakdown of the opponent. But in this game, for this one it's really all about Duke. How will the team respond to the loss and the time off? How will the freshmen look after their exam week? It's a nice opportunity to shake off the rust against a vastly inferior opponent. I do expect there to be some rust, and as such the game may at times feel a bit frustrating. But it's a game we should win comfortably.

Discuss.

[TheOldBattleship]

Normally I'd do a full breakdown of the opponent. But in this game, for this one it's really all about Duke. How will the team respond to the loss and the time off? How will the freshmen look after their exam week? It's a nice opportunity to shake off the rust against a vastly inferior opponent. I do expect there to be some rust, and as such the game may at times feel a bit frustrating. But it's a game we should win comfortably.

Discuss.

Even with the time off, totally agreed that this one should be relatively straightforward. Always hard to 100% count on that after a long layoff with a very young team, but between K, the experienced guys (notably Moore), and general blue-collar "defend and grind" approach of this team, I feel very little doubt about where our level of play will be after the first 5-10 minutes of this one.

The thing that I'm very interested in seeing is how springy our legs are, how our general conditioning looks, and whether any of the guys (especially Paolo) run into any of the cramping issues that have plagued us so far. It was totally reasonable for the team to run down a bit towards the end of the Ohio St game, and for the execution (especially on offense) to suffer for it. The question of how the team handles similarly intense travel/short-rest games going forward is the most pressing one for me: when fully healthy and fit, we can obviously play with/beat any team in the country, but will we have the legs to do so throughout the ACC tourney and the Big Dance? We're certainly not going to get an answer to that question tomorrow, but I'd love to see everybody still looking fresh by the end of the game, that's for sure!

[DavidBenAkiva]

Don't have much to write about the opponent. The wife and I welcomed a brand new Dukie. I am hoping to watch the game with him between feedings and diaper changes. We are hoping to nod off in the second half without missing any of the important parts of the game. Let's Go Duke!

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[Phredd3]

Don't have much to write about the opponent. The wife and I welcomed a brand new Dukie. I am hoping to watch the game with him between feedings and diaper changes. We are hoping to nod off in the second half without missing any of the important parts of the game. Let's Go Duke!

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Congratulations!!! You're going to be doing a lot of that nodding off thing. I hope the second half provides the perfect time for you to begin.

[dukelifer]

Even with the time off, totally agreed that this one should be relatively straightforward. Always hard to 100% count on that after a long layoff with a very young team, but between K, the experienced guys (notably Moore), and general blue-collar "defend and grind" approach of this team, I feel very little doubt about where our level of play will be after the first 5-10 minutes of this one.

The thing that I'm very interested in seeing is how springy our legs are, how our general conditioning looks, and whether any of the guys (especially Paolo) run into any of the cramping issues that have plagued us so far. It was totally reasonable for the team to run down a bit towards the end of the Ohio St game, and for the execution (especially on offense) to suffer for it. The question of how the team handles similarly intense travel/short-rest games going forward is the most pressing one for me: when fully healthy and fit, we can obviously play with/beat any team in the country, but will we have the legs to do so throughout the ACC tourney and the Big Dance? We're certainly not going to get an answer to that question tomorrow, but I'd love to see everybody still looking fresh by the end of the game, that's for sure!

Paolo will need to manage this cramping issue- two big games and he was unable to be available for parts of it due to cramping. The first attempt of using high electrolyte fluids during the OSU game was not a big success- his poorest game of the season.

[budwom]

good job DBA!

[DU82]

good job DBA!

And GREAT job, Mrs DBA!

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Don't have much to write about the opponent. The wife and I welcomed a brand new Dukie. I am hoping to watch the game with him between feedings and diaper changes. We are hoping to nod off in the second half without missing any of the important parts of the game. Let's Go Duke!

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Congratulations! Enjoy him.

[Saratoga2]

Even with the time off, totally agreed that this one should be relatively straightforward. Always hard to 100% count on that after a long layoff with a very young team, but between K, the experienced guys (notably Moore), and general blue-collar "defend and grind" approach of this team, I feel very little doubt about where our level of play will be after the first 5-10 minutes of this one.

The thing that I'm very interested in seeing is how springy our legs are, how our general conditioning looks, and whether any of the guys (especially Paolo) run into any of the cramping issues that have plagued us so far. It was totally reasonable for the team to run down a bit towards the end of the Ohio St game, and for the execution (especially on offense) to suffer for it. The question of how the team handles similarly intense travel/short-rest games going forward is the most pressing one for me: when fully healthy and fit, we can obviously play with/beat any team in the country, but will we have the legs to do so throughout the ACC tourney and the Big Dance? We're certainly not going to get an answer to that question tomorrow, but I'd love to see everybody still looking fresh by the end of the game, that's for sure!

While SC State may be a relatively poor team, during the last period, some seriously good teams played. Baylor has a terrifically effective and active defense. Arizona was also very impressive. The question would be "What does Duke need to improve on to competitive at that level"? One thing to look for is any improvement in our 3 point shooting. I am hoping the guys have been seriously applied to improve their shooting during the exam period.

[accfanfrom1970]

I’m expecting a blow out, and every walk-on to score.

Especially since I’ll be there

[Nrrrrvous]

I’m expecting a blow out, and every walk-on to score.

Especially since I’ll be there

My last game at Cameron (I'll be there tomorrow night with accfanfrom1970) was a 124 - 67 drubbing of St. Francis. Even Buckmire scored!

[Nugget]

Don't have much to write about the opponent. The wife and I welcomed a brand new Dukie. I am hoping to watch the game with him between feedings and diaper changes. We are hoping to nod off in the second half without missing any of the important parts of the game. Let's Go Duke!

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Congrats, DBA! Welcome to the new addition to the Duke family (and DBR community) -- some joyous holiday news.

[CameronDuke]

Duke is currently -35.

Is that the record for biggest spread in a game for which Duke has been favored?

If not, what’s the record. This has to be on the short list of biggest favorite ever for Duke …

[Steven43]

I’m expecting a blow out, and every walk-on to score.

Especially since I’ll be there

Savarino eligible to play?

[MChambers]

I’m hoping to see an improved AJ. His progress is very important for this team.

[rsvman]

I’m hoping to see an improved AJ. His progress is very important for this team.

He should get a lot of PT. On the other hand, if he does well, I don't know how much it will say about how he will do against better competition.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Not to veer too much off topic, but we have home games on Dec. 14, 16, 18 and 22, then at Clemson on Dec. 29. Usually we have a longer break so the team can get some time away. The window is pretty tight this year - for guys who live further away (Paolo is the primary one of the regulars - Hubbard (LA) and Borden (Turkey) are the others), there isn't much time to get home. Is Coach K giving them time off?

[uh_no]

Not to veer too much off topic, but we have home games on Dec. 14, 16, 18 and 22, then at Clemson on Dec. 29. Usually we have a longer break so the team can get some time away. The window is pretty tight this year - for guys who live further away (Paolo is the primary one of the regulars - Hubbard (LA) and Borden (Turkey) are the others), there isn't much time to get home. Is Coach K giving them time off?

we just had 2 weeks off between OSU and tomorrow, and a week over christmas. That seems pretty standard at least in terms of total break time for tgiving, exams, and christmas if not MORE than usual.

[CDu]

we just had 2 weeks off between OSU and tomorrow, and a week over christmas. That seems pretty standard.

I think the poster was asking about time to go home. So the two weeks off at exam time doesn't seem terribly relevant.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

we just had 2 weeks off between OSU and tomorrow, and a week over christmas. That seems pretty standard at least in terms of total break time for tgiving, exams, and christmas if not MORE than usual.

The exams break was longer than usual but they can't go away for that. The Xmas break is shorter than usual. In 2018-2019 we were off from Dec. 8-18 for exams, played on the 18th and 20th (20th was in NYC), then were off until Jan. 5. In 2019-2020, we were off form Dec. 6-19 for exams then from 19-28 for XMas. 2017-2018 we were off Dec. 9-20 for exams then Dec. 20-30 for XMas.