MOTM: Duke vs. Notre Dame (February 7, 2024)

[brevity]

Who was the Man of the Match in Duke's 71-53 win over Notre Dame? Poll is forthcoming.

Edited to add: Poll is now up. Here's the ESPN box score.

[FosterCoachK82]

Ugly game. Team effort. Double-double by MM wins MoM.

[chrishoke]

Sean's coming out party.

[weezie]

McCain is continuing to be the guy who's showing some spirit and grit out there
But the little girl who rang the bell at halftime after years of chemo is the legit MOTM.

[Phredd3]

Mark's hustle defense can get ignored, especially when he posts a double-double, but its a big reason we were able to shut them down pretty thoroughly. If Flip had been able to stay on the floor, it would have been him. He was much-maligned in the post-game thread, but he was essential while he was in there, and made us better on both ends. He just needs to control the dumb fouls. He knows better.

[arnie]

Mark's hustle defense can get ignored, especially when he posts a double-double, but its a big reason we were able to shut them down pretty thoroughly. If Flip had been able to stay on the floor, it would have been him. He was much-maligned in the post-game thread, but he was essential while he was in there, and made us better on both ends. He just needs to control the dumb fouls. He knows better.

Mark was everywhere on D. Didn’t necessarily shut down ND players, but seemed to interfere with their plays. And yes, he has more energy and quickness than most “bigs” I watch.

[CameronBornAndBred]

He (Flip) was much-maligned in the post-game thread, but he was essential while he was in there, and made us better on both ends.

He did? Because it was getting to the point for me to be happier when Ryan was in instead. I don't know how many times Flip missed shorties, unable to finish at the rim. I'd need both hands to tally up that number on my fingers. In fact, he had more turnovers than made buckets. Yes, he made an impression on defense, but he was close to being a liability on O last night.

[Phredd3]

He did? Because it was getting to the point for me to be happier when Ryan was in instead. I don't know how many times Flip missed shorties, unable to finish at the rim. I'd need both hands to tally up that number on my fingers. In fact, he had more turnovers than made buckets. Yes, he made an impression on defense, but he was close to being a liability on O last night.

Flip was 2-9 from the field, including a missed three, and he also had a running prayer after he got whacked on the head with no foul called, so you really didn't need two hands. If you want to count the uncalled foul, then OK, you needed one extra finger.

He also had three assists and nine rebounds, five on the offensive end. He'd have had more assists if we'd shot a normal percentage from deep. He had great passes leading to at least four wide open looks that clanked off the rim. Also, he had huge "gravity" - defenders flocked to him, leaving others open even when Flip didn't pass the ball directly to them. And he drew a ton of fouls that actually were called. He was definitely better than Ryan on the offensive end, while being a lot better than on the defensive end, too. That's not a slight to Ryan, by the way. Flip is just really, really good.

Would I have preferred it if he'd finished up some of those spin moves? Sure. But Flip was in way close to being an offensive liability last night.