The good and the bad of that crazy second half against BC

[CDu]

The second half of yesterday's game offered both reasons for optimism and reasons for concern moving forward. So in the same nature as the "Autopsy of a Loss" and "Anatomy of a Win" posts from the last two seasons, I'm going to break down each possession of the second half. Offensive possessions are labeled "O#", and Defensive possessions are labeled "D#". Let's see how it all unfolded.

O1: We start off the second half the same way we ran the first half: Out of a floppy set, Young sets a post screen for Whitehead to cut to the perimeter, and then immediately posts. Proctor passes to Whitehead who then immediately feeds the post. Whitehead then cuts across the paint and sets a downscreen for Filipowski, who curls around the screen. Young feeds Filipowski in front of the rim, and Flip goes up strong. Unfortunately, BC's PG Zackery makes a spectacular defensive play, blocking Flip's layup out of bounds. Great play design and execution, but an excellent individual defensive effort foils the play. On the baseline inbounds, Young receives it in traffic, hands it off to Whitehead at the 3pt line. Whitehead dribbles a couple of times and takes a lightly-contested 3. It goes in. Not the best out of bounds play, but we'll take the positive result. Especially after a great play was foiled by great defense. Score: 40-33.
D1: After working the ball around the perimeter to little effect, they finally get a screen they like, and they feed Aligbe in the post against Proctor. Proctor holds his ground, but Aligbe rises over him to take a 12 footer. Filipowski helps down and blocks the shot from behind, and Young gets the rebound. Solid defense and excellent help defense from Flip here. 40-33.
O2: Young outlets to Mitchell for a fast break attempt. BC gets two men back, but Mitchell drives in anyway and draws the shooting foul. He makes both. 42-33.
D2: Proctor has a miscommunication and doesn't pick up his man as BC passes the ball around the perimeter, and thus BC finds a wide open Ashton-Langford for 3. Fortunately, he misses. Mitchell hustles for the rebound. [Editor's note: this is one thing I definitely noticed. We hustled for loose balls MUCH better against BC than we did against NC State]. 42-33.
O3: Back to the half court offense, and this time Filipowski feeds Young in the post. Young works his way into the lane, then kicks out to a wide open Proctor. Proctor shot the 3 well today (40%), but this one didn't fall. Fortunately, Filipowski got the rebound and the dunk. Excellent offense leads to a good look that misses, but once again we convert on the second chance opportunity. 44-33.
D3: Ashton-Langford drives around a screen and into the lane, then dishes to his brother Langford in the corner. Langford drills the open corner 3. Mitchell was caught in a tough spot, thinking he needed to help on the drive. But his help defense (probably unnecessary) led to the opening. 44-36.
O4: Whitehead elects to bring the ball upcourt uncontested. But as soon as he crossed half-court, he made three mistakes. First, he picked up his dribble one step across half-court. Then, when trying to give the handoff to Proctor, he didn't make himself big, allowing the defender to make the pass unsafe. Then, he threw a panicked cross court pass to Mitchell, who was heavily defended. Result: the pass went straight out of bounds. Just a wasted possession here by Whitehead. 44-36.
D4: After working the ball into the post to... Post, BC kicked it out to the other side of the floor, then swung a pass to the corner. Bickerstaff drove before the defense could rotate, and got to the rim. Unfortunately, he must have blown a tire, because he missed the layup. Young rebounds. Whew! 44-36.
O5: In semi-transition, Whitehead passes to Proctor in the middle of the floor, who steps into a top-of-the-key 3 as the defense is getting set. This time, Proctor makes. 47-36.
D5: Duke's defense maintains its integrity this time, and BC is forced to aimlessly work the ball around the perimeter. The result is a Langford 3, which misses. Whitehead rebounds. 47-36.
O6: This time Duke tries a new half-court wrinkle: feeding the post to Filipowski instead of Young. Filipowski gets too aggressive though, and lowers the shoulder as he backs down Bickerstaff. Charge. Good idea, just gotta improve the execution. 47-36.
D6: A bit of a freshman breakdown. BC runs the floppy set, then feeds Post in the post. Mitchell comes to double-team, but it's half-hearted. Post kicks to Bickerstaff at the top of the key. Then both Mitchell and Filipowski (the weakside defender) both go to Bickerstaff, leaving a clear baseline cut for Langford. Bickertstaff feeds Langford for the easy layup. This one is mostly on Filipowski. 47-38.
O7: Here we run another wrinkle, this time in the horns set. Young sets a high screen for Proctor, who fumbles his dribble. On the weak side, Filipowski cuts to the rim behind the defense. Proctor recovers his dribble just in time to make the pass to Filipowski. Timing is truly perfect as Flip catches and finishes the layup just before the defender fouls him. 3-point play. 50-38.
D7: BC runs the same play. This time Mitchell doubles hard, then recovers back across the court to Bickerstaff. in the far corner. Bickerstaff drives, but Mitchell blocks his path. Bickerstaff tries to shoot over him, but Mitchell blocks the shot. Bickerstaff recovers the ball, BC then passes it around and Zackery takes a 15-foot floater. He misses, and Filipowski chases down the rebound. 50-38.
O8: Back to running things through Young, this time at the top of the key from the horns set. Young does a dribble handoff to Whitehead, then rolls to the rim. Whitehead feeds him, but the defense collapses on Young underneath the rim. Young has his choice of open players at the 3pt line, and chooses the return pass to Whitehead. Whitehead unfortunately misses the open 3. Good offense all around, just a bad result. 50-38.
D8: Post takes a kickout, 22 footer for 3. Fortunately it rims out. Neither good nor bad defense. You live with that shot if it goes. Thankfully it didn't. 50-38.
O9: Horns set, this time Duke runs a double screen for Proctor, with Filipowski diving to the rim after his screen. Proctor decides to split the double screen, which I think was a mistake. This allows Ashton-Langford gets his hand on the ball, but the loose ball goes right to the cutting Flip. He hits the layup. 52-38.

Aaaaaand, that pretty much wraps up the good . We showed a few more wrinkles than I thought in that first 5 minutes of the second half. The result was building a 14-point lead, outscoring BC 15-5 over 5:20. The "Young as point center" out of the floppy set worked great. But even the horns set produced a few nice plays. And the defense did its job.

Now to the less fun part.

D9: BC runs a 5-out set. The floor spacing is palpable here. Unfortunately, Young and Whitehead have a brief miscommunication on a Post screen, and both players go to defend Zackery. This leaves Post briefly uncovered for a roll to the rim, and Zackery feeds him for a quick layup before Young could get back in position. I'm going to put this one on Young. He had a great game on offense and a solid game on defense, but this momentary lapse was costly. 52-40.

Young comes out for a breather after almost 6 minutes of action.

O10: Not a great start. Lively hands to Proctor, who decides to take a head-on 3. He misses, BC rebounds. 52-40.
D10: In semi-transition, Post sets a high ball screen for Ashton-Langford. Langford drives, and Lively doesn't do a good job of help defense. Ashton-Langford gets to the rim and draws the foul on Lively (though honestly this was a ticky-tack call), making the layup, and 1. Not a great defensive possession by Lively, and really this is an area where he should dominate. 52-43.
O11: BC switches to a 1-3-1 zone, which clearly confuses Duke. The ball gets to Lively on the baseline, and Filipowski rolls to the rim. Here I'd like to see Lively lob to Flip for the layup or pass it to the wing to Whitehead. But instead, he tries to skip pass to the top of the key. This is the worst option, as the 1-3-1 specifically has a defender at the top of the key. Not surprisingly, BC picks it and gets a fast break.
D11: Fortunately, Duke recovers, and Lively blocks the second-chance layup attempt. He also recovers the rebound. Unfortunately, he brings the ball down, and Zackery ties him up. BC maintains possession. BC then gets a drive and dish to the wing for a Post 3, which he makes. This is one is on Grandison, who should have switched out to Post and allowed Lively to stay in the lane and guard his man in the paint. 52-46.
O12: BC tweaks their zone a bit here, with a 1-3-1 look that morphed into a 2-3. Duke is flummoxed again, and Grandison tries to do one of the things you don't do against a zone: beat it off the dribble. Not surprisingly, it doesn't work and he fumbles it out of bounds. 52-46.
D12: Solid defensive possession here, as BC works the ball to Post on the 3pt wing. Post feeds a cutting Ashton-Langford, but Duke's help defense is solid and he misses the layup. Duke gets the rebound. 52-46.
O13: Oh so close to a good possession against the 1-3-1 this time, as Blakes throws it over the defense to Mitchell on the baseline. Mitchell drives, but takes one too many dribbles and commits the charge. I would have liked to see him take the floater or lob to Lively there. Alas... 52-46.

Young and Proctor back in for good with 11:40 to go, Lively and Whitehead out.

D13: Post just pulls an early-season Filipowski and straight-line drives on Flip from the 3pt line for a layup. 52-48.
O14: BC goes back to man. After a post feed to Flip gets knocked out of bounds, Flip receives the in-bounds on the wing, feeds the entry to Young in the post, who works his way to a reverse layup. It's crazy how crafty and savvy Young is, to make his offense work with a 6-inch vertical. 54-48. This would unfortunately be our last field goal for a WHILE.
D14: BC feeds a cutting Zackery on the block, who finishes over/through Blakes for a layup. BC is playing 5-out pretty much exclusively with Post in the game, which allows for a ton of cutting opportunities and stretches the defense. This was not bad defense by Blakes, but not good enough to stop the stout Zackery inside. 54-50.
O15: Horns set, Duke gives to Young, who hands off to Proctor. The defense collapses to Young as he rolls to the rim, and Proctor takes an open 15 footer. Good offense, unfortunately the shot doesn't fall and BC rebounds. 54-50.
D15: Grandison lets Zackery get by him. Filipowski hesitates in no-man's land between stopping the ball and recovering to his man, leaving the easy pass for a layup. Combo effort here by Grandison and Flip. 54-52.
O16: Flip tries to drive from the wing on Post, but doesn't beat his man. Ends up taking an 8-footer in the lane, and misses. BC rebounds. This was an effective strategy for Flip early in the season. But it hasn't worked lately. And it didn't work here. 54-52.
D16: Mouse in the house situation as McGlockton is posting Blakes. But he gets too antsy and commits the charge. 54-52.
O17: Young gets a little to spicy for his own good, and tries a Flip move driving from the 3pt line. He also misses, BC rebounds. Not the way to score there, Ryan. You know better. 54-52.
D17: This miss proves especially problematic, as Proctor had cut to the rim. But Whitehead is caught napping in the corner, and Mitchell drifted into the lane, leaving only Blakes back on defense. BC recognizes and gets a 2-on-1 break. They finish it. Tie game. Freshmen mistakes there, unfortunately. 54-54.
O18: Whitehead drives the length of the floor, into Post. Fortunately, the refs are generous and give Post the blocking foul on what could easily (and probably should have) been called a charge. Whitehead calmly hits both free throws. 56-54.
D18: You want to go zone on us? Fine, we'll go zone on YOU! Duke plays a 2-3 zone. It works, as BC can't find the basket despite two offensive rebounds. Finally, Flip blocks a Post reverse layup and Duke gets the board. 56-54.
O19: A really nice slip-screen and lob entry between Whitehead and Young. Granted, it didn't fool BC, as Young had to make the catch in traffic. But Young is crafty, and despite being in a 1-on-3 in the post he somehow gets an angle and draws the foul. He makes both. 58-54.
D19: 2-3 zone again, this time it leads to a corner 3 attempt by Aligbe. He misses, Duke rebounds. 58-54. An opportunity to build a lead!!!
O20: Unfortunately, Whitehead tries to back his man down from the 3pt line, and commits the charge. 58-54.
D20: Still zone, BC splits it and feeds McGLockton in the post. But Mitchell roofs him and recovers the loose ball. 58-54.
O21: Proctor tries to feed Young in the post, but this time Young isn't able to hold position and Bickerstaff comes over the top for a steal of the entry pass. 58-54.
D21: 2-3 zone again, Ashton-Langford takes and misses a 3, Bickerstaff knocks it out of bounds. Defense is holding. 58-54.
O22: Whitehead takes a top of the key 3, misses badly. But the long rebound comes to Flip. The ball works to Young, who drops a high-low pass to Flip. Flip tries to back down Ashton-Langford, but can't get the angle. He jumps to pass, and actually finds Young. But the pass is too hard to catch, and Young tips it out. 58-54.
D22: 2-3 zone, working again. Aligbe gets it at the FT line with 5 seconds left. Unfortunately, Young gets sloppy here and fouls him. Aligbe hits 1 of 2. 58-55.
O23: BC back to the 1-3-1 zone, surprising Duke. Whitehead takes a contested wing 3, misses, BC rebounds. Not a great possession. 58-55.
D23: 2-3 zone, Zackery misses a 3. Duke rebounds. Defense has been stout, but the offense has faded.
O24: BC back to man, Mitchell drives baseline from the wing. Not a great possession, but he manages to draw the foul. He hits 1 of 2. 59-55 under 4 minutes to go.
D24: 2-3 zone again, Post gets it behind the basket, takes a tough turnaround layup in traffic, misses. Duke gets the rebound. If we could just score points! 59-55.
O25: But Young is clearly gassed (and has been for the last few minutes). Duke feeds Flip in the post. He tries an 8-footer, but misses. BC rebounds. 59-55.
D25: 2-3 zone. This time BC has the answer. Post gets the ball on the block, feeds Aligbe at the FT line. He hits. 59-57.
O26: Mitchell drives from the wing, misses the floater in traffic. Young gets the offensive rebound and kicks out to Whitehead. Whitehead passes to Proctor who takes a driving floater. He also misses, but tips it back up. This ALSO misses, but Mitchell gets the rebound and is fouled. Not great offense, but great effort from some guys with tired legs. Mitchell hits both FTs. 61-57. 2:20 to go.
D26: 2-3 zone again. BC clearly has the antidote. They get it to Zackery at the FT line, and he somehow knifes to the rim for a layup. 61-59.
O27: Flip drives from the top of the key into traffic. He muscles in a layup. Not a great possession, but a great result. Finally a FG again! 63-59. 1:39 to go. Get a stop here, and the game is in great shape...
D27: Unfortunately, against the 2-3 zone, Aligbe gets another corner 3 look. This time he does not miss. BC has alligator blood! 63-62. Buckle up.
O28: BC has a miscommunication on defense, as Zackery thinks they should be in a 1-3-1 zone but Langford does not. The result gives Whithead a driving lane. He takes a floater from 12 feet, misses. BC rebounds. 63-62. About 1 minute left.
D28: But Langford and Ashton-Langford have a miscommunication on a Langford pass, and Filipowski reads it. Flip gets a big steal... 63-62.

Everyone knows the rest of the story, and it isn't a pretty finish. But we somehow managed to hang on for the win. No need to rehash the brain farts of those final few possessions. Ultimately, we managed to hang on.

In summary, there was some stuff to take away from the game as a positive from this second half, but also some stuff that is a concern. Running the offense through Young appears to be a solid plan A. He offers enough versatility in the role that I think we could make it work for 40-50% of the team's possessions. If they can find a second and third set from which to work so that he doesn't wear down like he did in the second half, the offense might get to be in good shape. I also liked that the team did respond to the lack of effort/intensity that they showed in the State game. No, that response didn't result in a resounding win, but it shows the team is coachable. And even though the starters were no doubt gassed after marathoning the second half, they still were hustling to the end. The Devils made a bunch of hustle plays in this one. And once again, the team hit its free throws. This would have been a loss in previous seasons, because we would have given away 4-6 points at the line. But this team hits its free throws, and they made 89.5% yesterday. Getting another solid scoring night from Whitehead is a great sign moving forward too, as it potentially gives another weapon to play off Young. Especially with Roach hobbled, any extra offense we can get is a plus. And while Proctor didn't hit his 2pt shots, I thought he played much better overall than in the past few games.

There is still a lot of work to do, and the turnovers are concerning. But there was progress. And hopefully we see more progress (and another win) in our next outing.

[Saratoga2]

The second half of yesterday's game offered both reasons for optimism and reasons for concern moving forward. So in the same nature as the "Autopsy of a Loss" and "Anatomy of a Win" posts from the last two seasons, I'm going to break down each possession of the second half. Offensive possessions are labeled "O#", and Defensive possessions are labeled "D#". Let's see how it all unfolded.

O1: We start off the second half the same way we ran the first half: Out of a floppy set, Young sets a post screen for Whitehead to cut to the perimeter, and then immediately posts. Proctor passes to Whitehead who then immediately feeds the post. Whitehead then cuts across the paint and sets a downscreen for Filipowski, who curls around the screen. Young feeds Filipowski in front of the rim, and Flip goes up strong. Unfortunately, BC's PG Zackery makes a spectacular defensive play, blocking Flip's layup out of bounds. Great play design and execution, but an excellent individual defensive effort foils the play. On the baseline inbounds, Young receives it in traffic, hands it off to Whitehead at the 3pt line. Whitehead dribbles a couple of times and takes a lightly-contested 3. It goes in. Not the best out of bounds play, but we'll take the positive result. Especially after a great play was foiled by great defense. Score: 40-33.
D1: After working the ball around the perimeter to little effect, they finally get a screen they like, and they feed Aligbe in the post against Proctor. Proctor holds his ground, but Aligbe rises over him to take a 12 footer. Filipowski helps down and blocks the shot from behind, and Young gets the rebound. Solid defense and excellent help defense from Flip here. 40-33.
O2: Young outlets to Mitchell for a fast break attempt. BC gets two men back, but Mitchell drives in anyway and draws the shooting foul. He makes both. 42-33.
D2: Proctor has a miscommunication and doesn't pick up his man as BC passes the ball around the perimeter, and thus BC finds a wide open Ashton-Langford for 3. Fortunately, he misses. Mitchell hustles for the rebound. [Editor's note: this is one thing I definitely noticed. We hustled for loose balls MUCH better against BC than we did against NC State]. 42-33.
O3: Back to the half court offense, and this time Filipowski feeds Young in the post. Young works his way into the lane, then kicks out to a wide open Proctor. Proctor shot the 3 well today (40%), but this one didn't fall. Fortunately, Filipowski got the rebound and the dunk. Excellent offense leads to a good look that misses, but once again we convert on the second chance opportunity. 44-33.
D3: Ashton-Langford drives around a screen and into the lane, then dishes to his brother Langford in the corner. Langford drills the open corner 3. Mitchell was caught in a tough spot, thinking he needed to help on the drive. But his help defense (probably unnecessary) led to the opening. 44-36.
O4: Whitehead elects to bring the ball upcourt uncontested. But as soon as he crossed half-court, he made three mistakes. First, he picked up his dribble one step across half-court. Then, when trying to give the handoff to Proctor, he didn't make himself big, allowing the defender to make the pass unsafe. Then, he threw a panicked cross court pass to Mitchell, who was heavily defended. Result: the pass went straight out of bounds. Just a wasted possession here by Whitehead. 44-36.
D4: After working the ball into the post to... Post, BC kicked it out to the other side of the floor, then swung a pass to the corner. Bickerstaff drove before the defense could rotate, and got to the rim. Unfortunately, he must have blown a tire, because he missed the layup. Young rebounds. Whew! 44-36.
O5: In semi-transition, Whitehead passes to Proctor in the middle of the floor, who steps into a top-of-the-key 3 as the defense is getting set. This time, Proctor makes. 47-36.
D5: Duke's defense maintains its integrity this time, and BC is forced to aimlessly work the ball around the perimeter. The result is a Langford 3, which misses. Whitehead rebounds. 47-36.
O6: This time Duke tries a new half-court wrinkle: feeding the post to Filipowski instead of Young. Filipowski gets too aggressive though, and lowers the shoulder as he backs down Bickerstaff. Charge. Good idea, just gotta improve the execution. 47-36.
D6: A bit of a freshman breakdown. BC runs the floppy set, then feeds Post in the post. Mitchell comes to double-team, but it's half-hearted. Post kicks to Bickerstaff at the top of the key. Then both Mitchell and Filipowski (the weakside defender) both go to Bickerstaff, leaving a clear baseline cut for Langford. Bickertstaff feeds Langford for the easy layup. This one is mostly on Filipowski. 47-38.
O7: Here we run another wrinkle, this time in the horns set. Young sets a high screen for Proctor, who fumbles his dribble. On the weak side, Filipowski cuts to the rim behind the defense. Proctor recovers his dribble just in time to make the pass to Filipowski. Timing is truly perfect as Flip catches and finishes the layup just before the defender fouls him. 3-point play. 50-38.
D7: BC runs the same play. This time Mitchell doubles hard, then recovers back across the court to Bickerstaff. in the far corner. Bickerstaff drives, but Mitchell blocks his path. Bickerstaff tries to shoot over him, but Mitchell blocks the shot. Bickerstaff recovers the ball, BC then passes it around and Zackery takes a 15-foot floater. He misses, and Filipowski chases down the rebound. 50-38.
O8: Back to running things through Young, this time at the top of the key from the horns set. Young does a dribble handoff to Whitehead, then rolls to the rim. Whitehead feeds him, but the defense collapses on Young underneath the rim. Young has his choice of open players at the 3pt line, and chooses the return pass to Whitehead. Whitehead unfortunately misses the open 3. Good offense all around, just a bad result. 50-38.
D8: Post takes a kickout, 22 footer for 3. Fortunately it rims out. Neither good nor bad defense. You live with that shot if it goes. Thankfully it didn't. 50-38.
O9: Horns set, this time Duke runs a double screen for Proctor, with Filipowski diving to the rim after his screen. Proctor decides to split the double screen, which I think was a mistake. This allows Ashton-Langford gets his hand on the ball, but the loose ball goes right to the cutting Flip. He hits the layup. 52-38.

Aaaaaand, that pretty much wraps up the good . We showed a few more wrinkles than I thought in that first 5 minutes of the second half. The result was building a 14-point lead, outscoring BC 15-5 over 5:20. The "Young as point center" out of the floppy set worked great. But even the horns set produced a few nice plays. And the defense did its job.

Now to the less fun part.

D9: BC runs a 5-out set. The floor spacing is palpable here. Unfortunately, Young and Whitehead have a brief miscommunication on a Post screen, and both players go to defend Zackery. This leaves Post briefly uncovered for a roll to the rim, and Zackery feeds him for a quick layup before Young could get back in position. I'm going to put this one on Young. He had a great game on offense and a solid game on defense, but this momentary lapse was costly. 52-40.

Young comes out for a breather after almost 6 minutes of action.

O10: Not a great start. Lively hands to Proctor, who decides to take a head-on 3. He misses, BC rebounds. 52-40.
D10: In semi-transition, Post sets a high ball screen for Ashton-Langford. Langford drives, and Lively doesn't do a good job of help defense. Ashton-Langford gets to the rim and draws the foul on Lively (though honestly this was a ticky-tack call), making the layup, and 1. Not a great defensive possession by Lively, and really this is an area where he should dominate. 52-43.
O11: BC switches to a 1-3-1 zone, which clearly confuses Duke. The ball gets to Lively on the baseline, and Filipowski rolls to the rim. Here I'd like to see Lively lob to Flip for the layup or pass it to the wing to Whitehead. But instead, he tries to skip pass to the top of the key. This is the worst option, as the 1-3-1 specifically has a defender at the top of the key. Not surprisingly, BC picks it and gets a fast break.
D11: Fortunately, Duke recovers, and Lively blocks the second-chance layup attempt. He also recovers the rebound. Unfortunately, he brings the ball down, and Zackery ties him up. BC maintains possession. BC then gets a drive and dish to the wing for a Post 3, which he makes. This is one is on Grandison, who should have switched out to Post and allowed Lively to stay in the lane and guard his man in the paint. 52-46.
O12: BC tweaks their zone a bit here, with a 1-3-1 look that morphed into a 2-3. Duke is flummoxed again, and Grandison tries to do one of the things you don't do against a zone: beat it off the dribble. Not surprisingly, it doesn't work and he fumbles it out of bounds. 52-46.
D12: Solid defensive possession here, as BC works the ball to Post on the 3pt wing. Post feeds a cutting Ashton-Langford, but Duke's help defense is solid and he misses the layup. Duke gets the rebound. 52-46.
O13: Oh so close to a good possession against the 1-3-1 this time, as Blakes throws it over the defense to Mitchell on the baseline. Mitchell drives, but takes one too many dribbles and commits the charge. I would have liked to see him take the floater or lob to Lively there. Alas... 52-46.

Young and Proctor back in for good with 11:40 to go, Lively and Whitehead out.

D13: Post just pulls an early-season Filipowski and straight-line drives on Flip from the 3pt line for a layup. 52-48.
O14: BC goes back to man. After a post feed to Flip gets knocked out of bounds, Flip receives the in-bounds on the wing, feeds the entry to Young in the post, who works his way to a reverse layup. It's crazy how crafty and savvy Young is, to make his offense work with a 6-inch vertical. 54-48. This would unfortunately be our last field goal for a WHILE.
D14: BC feeds a cutting Zackery on the block, who finishes over/through Blakes for a layup. BC is playing 5-out pretty much exclusively with Post in the game, which allows for a ton of cutting opportunities and stretches the defense. This was not bad defense by Blakes, but not good enough to stop the stout Zackery inside. 54-50.
O15: Horns set, Duke gives to Young, who hands off to Proctor. The defense collapses to Young as he rolls to the rim, and Proctor takes an open 15 footer. Good offense, unfortunately the shot doesn't fall and BC rebounds. 54-50.
D15: Grandison lets Zackery get by him. Filipowski hesitates in no-man's land between stopping the ball and recovering to his man, leaving the easy pass for a layup. Combo effort here by Grandison and Flip. 54-52.
O16: Flip tries to drive from the wing on Post, but doesn't beat his man. Ends up taking an 8-footer in the lane, and misses. BC rebounds. This was an effective strategy for Flip early in the season. But it hasn't worked lately. And it didn't work here. 54-52.
D16: Mouse in the house situation as McGlockton is posting Blakes. But he gets too antsy and commits the charge. 54-52.
O17: Young gets a little to spicy for his own good, and tries a Flip move driving from the 3pt line. He also misses, BC rebounds. Not the way to score there, Ryan. You know better. 54-52.
D17: This miss proves especially problematic, as Proctor had cut to the rim. But Whitehead is caught napping in the corner, and Mitchell drifted into the lane, leaving only Blakes back on defense. BC recognizes and gets a 2-on-1 break. They finish it. Tie game. Freshmen mistakes there, unfortunately. 54-54.
O18: Whitehead drives the length of the floor, into Post. Fortunately, the refs are generous and give Post the blocking foul on what could easily (and probably should have) been called a charge. Whitehead calmly hits both free throws. 56-54.
D18: You want to go zone on us? Fine, we'll go zone on YOU! Duke plays a 2-3 zone. It works, as BC can't find the basket despite two offensive rebounds. Finally, Flip blocks a Post reverse layup and Duke gets the board. 56-54.
O19: A really nice slip-screen and lob entry between Whitehead and Young. Granted, it didn't fool BC, as Young had to make the catch in traffic. But Young is crafty, and despite being in a 1-on-3 in the post he somehow gets an angle and draws the foul. He makes both. 58-54.
D19: 2-3 zone again, this time it leads to a corner 3 attempt by Aligbe. He misses, Duke rebounds. 58-54. An opportunity to build a lead!!!
O20: Unfortunately, Whitehead tries to back his man down from the 3pt line, and commits the charge. 58-54.
D20: Still zone, BC splits it and feeds McGLockton in the post. But Mitchell roofs him and recovers the loose ball. 58-54.
O21: Proctor tries to feed Young in the post, but this time Young isn't able to hold position and Bickerstaff comes over the top for a steal of the entry pass. 58-54.
D21: 2-3 zone again, Ashton-Langford takes and misses a 3, Bickerstaff knocks it out of bounds. Defense is holding. 58-54.
O22: Whitehead takes a top of the key 3, misses badly. But the long rebound comes to Flip. The ball works to Young, who drops a high-low pass to Flip. Flip tries to back down Ashton-Langford, but can't get the angle. He jumps to pass, and actually finds Young. But the pass is too hard to catch, and Young tips it out. 58-54.
D22: 2-3 zone, working again. Aligbe gets it at the FT line with 5 seconds left. Unfortunately, Young gets sloppy here and fouls him. Aligbe hits 1 of 2. 58-55.
O23: BC back to the 1-3-1 zone, surprising Duke. Whitehead takes a contested wing 3, misses, BC rebounds. Not a great possession. 58-55.
D23: 2-3 zone, Zackery misses a 3. Duke rebounds. Defense has been stout, but the offense has faded.
O24: BC back to man, Mitchell drives baseline from the wing. Not a great possession, but he manages to draw the foul. He hits 1 of 2. 59-55 under 4 minutes to go.
D24: 2-3 zone again, Post gets it behind the basket, takes a tough turnaround layup in traffic, misses. Duke gets the rebound. If we could just score points! 59-55.
O25: But Young is clearly gassed (and has been for the last few minutes). Duke feeds Flip in the post. He tries an 8-footer, but misses. BC rebounds. 59-55.
D25: 2-3 zone. This time BC has the answer. Post gets the ball on the block, feeds Aligbe at the FT line. He hits. 59-57.
O26: Mitchell drives from the wing, misses the floater in traffic. Young gets the offensive rebound and kicks out to Whitehead. Whitehead passes to Proctor who takes a driving floater. He also misses, but tips it back up. This ALSO misses, but Mitchell gets the rebound and is fouled. Not great offense, but great effort from some guys with tired legs. Mitchell hits both FTs. 61-57. 2:20 to go.
D26: 2-3 zone again. BC clearly has the antidote. They get it to Zackery at the FT line, and he somehow knifes to the rim for a layup. 61-59.
O27: Flip drives from the top of the key into traffic. He muscles in a layup. Not a great possession, but a great result. Finally a FG again! 63-59. 1:39 to go. Get a stop here, and the game is in great shape...
D27: Unfortunately, against the 2-3 zone, Aligbe gets another corner 3 look. This time he does not miss. BC has alligator blood! 63-62. Buckle up.
O28: BC has a miscommunication on defense, as Zackery thinks they should be in a 1-3-1 zone but Langford does not. The result gives Whithead a driving lane. He takes a floater from 12 feet, misses. BC rebounds. 63-62. About 1 minute left.
D28: But Langford and Ashton-Langford have a miscommunication on a Langford pass, and Filipowski reads it. Flip gets a big steal... 63-62.

Everyone knows the rest of the story, and it isn't a pretty finish. But we somehow managed to hang on for the win. No need to rehash the brain farts of those final few possessions. Ultimately, we managed to hang on.

In summary, there was some stuff to take away from the game as a positive from this second half, but also some stuff that is a concern. Running the offense through Young appears to be a solid plan A. He offers enough versatility in the role that I think we could make it work for 40-50% of the team's possessions. If they can find a second and third set from which to work so that he doesn't wear down like he did in the second half, the offense might get to be in good shape. I also liked that the team did respond to the lack of effort/intensity that they showed in the State game. No, that response didn't result in a resounding win, but it shows the team is coachable. And even though the starters were no doubt gassed after marathoning the second half, they still were hustling to the end. The Devils made a bunch of hustle plays in this one. And once again, the team hit its free throws. This would have been a loss in previous seasons, because we would have given away 4-6 points at the line. But this team hits its free throws, and they made 89.5% yesterday. Getting another solid scoring night from Whitehead is a great sign moving forward too, as it potentially gives another weapon to play off Young. Especially with Roach hobbled, any extra offense we can get is a plus. And while Proctor didn't hit his 2pt shots, I thought he played much better overall than in the past few games.

There is still a lot of work to do, and the turnovers are concerning. But there was progress. And hopefully we see more progress (and another win) in our next outing.

I admire the work you put in to provide the 2nd half breakdown. We need to be able to provide respites for our key players and that means using Lively and Grandison, neither5 of which is playing at a high level and should not be in the game at the same time. Blakes can at least contribute defense and maturity. With Roach sidelined temporarily, it looks like an 8 man rotation with 5 or 6 carrying the main minutes.

[CameronDuke]

Must spread sporks. CDu, that’s some impressive analysis. Kudos. Love reading your stuff.

[Dr. Maturin]

You sometimes hear about football offenses scripting the first ~15 or so plays of a game. Sometimes you can tell when a team goes off script, for better or worse.

It felt like we had a solid gameplan at the start of both halves. We had some nice stretches on offense - we scored on our first two possessions of the game, then had runs where we scored on 6 of 8, then 5 of 7 possessions in the first half. In the second half, we scored on 5 of our first 7 trips. There were some nice sets run and the team shared the ball well.

Unfortunately, our "off script" offense just hasn't been very good.

[moonpie23]

"You must spread some Comments around before commenting on CDu again." (spreading comments)


excellent review...

9 1/2 mins without a score...

i forgot how long it took them to score at PNC...

[Phredd3]

O21: Proctor tries to feed Young in the post, but this time Young isn't able to hold position and Bickerstaff comes over the top for a steal of the entry pass. 58-54.

This one I especially remember, because Young had established great position and I was screaming at the TV for Proctor to feed him. Proctor was looking there, but was tentative about the throw, and the pass came about a half-second too late. If Proctor makes that read right away and has the confidence to throw the pass early, that's a one-on-one in the post, Young v. Bickerstaff, and I like Young's chances to score or find an open man when the double-team comes. That's emblematic of some of Proctor's problems so far this season, IMO. He has skills, but he seems to lack the assertive play that comes with confidence.

[duke2x]

i forgot how long it took them to score at PNC...

7:36. The game was over at that point (15-0).

[gumbomoop]

This one I especially remember, because Young had established great position and I was screaming at the TV for Proctor to feed him. Proctor was looking there, but was tentative about the throw, and the pass came about a half-second too late. If Proctor makes that read right away and has the confidence to throw the pass early, that's a one-on-one in the post, Young v. Bickerstaff, and I like Young's chances to score or find an open man when the double-team comes.

This is a good example of why I think far too many college players cannot, or cannot consistently, make what should be a routine entry pass from the wing. Proctor, Roach, and Blakes are all sort of hit-and-miss, confidence-and-timing-wise.

And this ...

... what a perfect post entry pass Whitehead made when Young slipped that screen. Whitehead is extraordinary at the post entry pass. Lost art.

... is a good example of why I think Whitehead can execute such passes.

Lots of talk about playing through Young when he’s on the floor. I’m for that, adding, though, that I’d prefer to think of it as frequently playing through the Whitehead-Young axis (?). For that matter, I’d guess a Whitehead-Filipowski axis holds promise, too, as it puts Filipowski closer to the basket, mostly eliminating his drives that start a little too far out. Filipowski does have smooth moves and deft touch around the basket. Whitehead, more consistently than others, imo, can get him the ball in a good spot.

[Phredd3]

Many, many people have talked about Filipowski starting closer to the basket. But unfortunately, that's just not possible while playing through Young every possession. There's a reason almost nobody plays a double-low-post look: There's just not enough room. Flip dribbles way too much in traffic, I agree, but he also basically never plays at the five (a few outlier moments to the contrary). He's either going to have to get better at shooting from outside, or he's going to have to get better with court awareness and knowing when can or cannot dribble drive and/or spin. Things he could do routinely in high school are not possible against faster double-teaming college opponents, and he needs to adjust. I think it's a freshman thing, and that he'll learn.

But the upshot is that we really can't have Flip starting much lower, unless Ryan comes to the high post, and I think that's basically inverting their most effective positions. It might be possible to do that a few times per game, but it really can't be part of the basic look, IMO.

[dlmzzz]

Many, many people have talked about Filipowski starting closer to the basket. But unfortunately, that's just not possible while playing through Young every possession. There's a reason almost nobody plays a double-low-post look: There's just not enough room. Flip dribbles way too much in traffic, I agree, but he also basically never plays at the five (a few outlier moments to the contrary). He's either going to have to get better at shooting from outside, or he's going to have to get better with court awareness and knowing when can or cannot dribble drive and/or spin. Things he could do routinely in high school are not possible against faster double-teaming college opponents, and he needs to adjust. I think it's a freshman thing, and that he'll learn.

But the upshot is that we really can't have Flip starting much lower, unless Ryan comes to the high post, and I think that's basically inverting their most effective positions. It might be possible to do that a few times per game, but it really can't be part of the basic look, IMO.

Well, CDu mentioned that Young was gassed at the end of the game. I think 25 minutes is probably the maximum amount of time Young can be effective. That gives 15 minutes where Flip could be used in that situation.

The other challenge with this is that it nearly eliminates the time when Lively could be on the floor. I don't think it makes sense to pair Lively and Young, as both of them need to be near the basket on offense. I assume there's not enough room to make that work. And if we use Flip down low during the time when Young is out, Lively doesn't fit into that scheme either.

[Phredd3]

Well, CDu mentioned that Young was gassed at the end of the game. I think 25 minutes is probably the maximum amount of time Young can be effective. That gives 15 minutes where Flip could be used in that situation.

The other challenge with this is that it nearly eliminates the time when Lively could be on the floor. I don't think it makes sense to pair Lively and Young, as both of them need to be near the basket on offense. I assume there's not enough room to make that work. And if we use Flip down low during the time when Young is out, Lively doesn't fit into that scheme either.

Which is why I mentioned that Flip basically never plays at the five. If we decide to do that, one or both of the other two will have to reduce minutes. Before the season started, I thought we might be able to play with a double post set, Young at the low and Lively at the high, but since the shot Lively was advertised to have doesn't seem to have come to college along with Lively, that doesn't really work, either.

[jv001]

From what I've seen none of our guards are efficient in making the entry pass to Young down low. Proctor has looked good when penetrating and making a pass to open players, but even at 6'5" he's failed to get the ball to an open Young many times. Maybe it's a case of lack of confidence. Blakes and Roach are not good at it either. I think Whithead would be player that might excel at this.

GoDuke!

[CDu]

From what I've seen none of our guards are efficient in making the entry pass to Young down low. Proctor has looked good when penetrating and making a pass to open players, but even at 6'5" he's failed to get the ball to an open Young many times. Maybe it's a case of lack of confidence. Blakes and Roach are not good at it either. I think Whithead would be player that might excel at this.

GoDuke!

The team actually did a good job of feeding the post in this game, thanks in no small part to Young making himself an easy target. There were only a couple of possessions I saw where we struggled to feed the post, and that was once Young was gassed.