MBB: Duke 71, Xavier 64 Postgame Thread

[Reilly]

Thought Cory had a good line re: Hubert "contemplating the cosmos".

[heyman25]

I try not to listen to the announcers. Cory is Awful.I have been too lazy to switch to Duke radio.

[DoubleBlue]

I try not to listen to the announcers. Cory is Awful.I have been too lazy to switch to Duke radio.

I'd do that in a flash if the game action was synchronized. I just turn it down or mute at times.

[rsvman]

On the negative side, we would have has a much more comfortable win had we not had two different bigs foul two 3-point shooters who were both 85% free throw shooters. Gave away six points.

Other than that, was pretty pleased. Roach back to NCAA Tournament mode, which was good. Mitchell was solid.

[dukelifer]

This team is frustrating but they do compete and that is a good sign. There was an earlier discussion about Lively’s rebounding. I am not sure he is strong enough to be an elite rebounder or elite hanger-on to the ball. It was great to see Roach put the team on his back and then to see Mitchel heat up. Young is tough and very active. A nice win but Proctor with another poor game on O- 0 pts and 2 assists. That has to improve and quickly

[Kedsy]

Didn't see the game. I'm in a foreign country and my DVR screwed up. I'm not happy, but I do have the numbers, below.

OFFENSE

Possessions: 64.9 (slow, but not nearly as slow as the last two games)
oRtg: 1.10 (1.15 "adjusted," for what the adjustment is worth this time of year; good; equivalent of #8 offense in the land, again for what such ratings are worth in November)
eFG%: 54.6% (very good; a complete reversal from last game)
3pt%: 45.5% (excellent)
2pt%: 51.2% (decent)
%threes: 20.4% (low, but at least we made the shots we took)
FT rate: 35.2% (good)
OR%: 29.0% (poor; by far our worst OR performance of the season)
TO%: 17.0% (adequate)
a/to: 0.82:1 (low)
%assisted: 33.3% (also low)
fast break pts: 12 (16.9% of points; good. not great)

DEFENSE

dRtg: 0.99 (0.87 "adjusted," for what the adjustment is worth this time of year; equivalent of #5 defense in the country, again for what such ratings are worth in November)
eFG%: 45.2% (decent)
3pt%: 41.2% (poor)
2pt%: 37.1% (excellent)
%threes: 32.7% (basically in the sweet spot)
FT rate: 36.5% (poor, for the third time in four games)
DR%: 70.6% (would have been considered decent last season, but our 2nd-worst (and one of only two games below 79%) this season)
TO%: 23.1% (very good)
a/to: 0.6:1 (low)
%assisted: 45.0%
stl%: 13.9% (very good)
blk%: 11.4% (2pt shots) (good)
fast break pts: 9 (14.1% of points; not good)

Kind of the opposite of last game. We shot well, and got to the line, but were subpar at offensive rebounding and turnovers. On defense, we forced turnovers and smothered two-point shots but were mediocre at everything else. I wish I could have seen the game, but I'll take a top 10 performance on both sides of the ball and a neutral-venue win over a top 35 team any day of the week.

[heyman25]

Good news !!
Don't want to jinx but Iowa State is going to beat the Cheats. Posted too soon. 19.4 seconds is a lot of time. Darn They have to make free throws. Go Iowa State SWEET ending. EXCELLENT Caleb Grill a Star is born.

[SkyBrickey]

Next up. Drew Timme vs Ryan Young?

[cbarry]

All they have to do is assign the insufferable CA to call our games.

We get Shulman/Bilas on Sunday, 3:30 EST, ABC.

Ugh. Bilas makes me appreciate Cory Alexander

[duketaylor]

Vs. OSU: 16-60 from 2 and 5-29 from 3, 89 shots, score 54 points.
vs. Xavier: 27-54 from 2 and 5-11 from 3, 62 shots, score 71 points.
FTs about even. I thought we shot about as bad as possible versus OSU. Lucky to get the W and they're pretty good, IMO.
Attacking the basket was huge today and, I think, showed what Coach is looking for, which is more balance as our young guys get healthy and acclimated. I love what I see in this team. Game vs. Zags will be telling, then Ohio St next week.

[CDu]

Excellent bounce back games from Roach and Mitchell. Those two led the way, especially the captain. Defense again was stout, against a much better opponent. Offense made shots today.

Big game tomorrow!

[brlftz]

Worse: it was a headset camera - with no stabilization. ESPN producers are trying to drive me nuts. It's working.

-jk

Not sure what’s making me angrier - the “view from space” -cam, or the “I’m a ghost floating and zooming around the arena” -cam

[CameronDuke]

Excellent bounce back games from Roach and Mitchell. Those two led the way, especially the captain. Defense again was stout, against a much better opponent. Offense made shots today.

Big game tomorrow!

I think Duke plays again Sunday, CDu.

[UrinalCake]

Next up. Drew Timme vs Ryan Young?

If it's not Timme then it will be Zach Edey, the 7'4 monster for Purdue. Would love for Lively to step up.

[gep]

Ugh. Bilas makes me appreciate Cory Alexander

I had to think about that for a microsecond... but yea, Bilas is getting "tired"...

[DukieInBrasil]

Vs. OSU: 16-60 from 2 and 5-29 from 3, 89 shots, score 54 points.
vs. Xavier: 27-54 from 2 and 5-11 from 3, 62 shots, score 71 points.
FTs about even. I thought we shot about as bad as possible versus OSU. Lucky to get the W and they're pretty good, IMO.
Attacking the basket was huge today and, I think, showed what Coach is looking for, which is more balance as our young guys get healthy and acclimated. I love what I see in this team. Game vs. Zags will be telling, then Ohio St next week.

Your numbers are off. 29 of the 60 shots were 3s, not 20+69
Same for Xavier, 54 total shot not 62.
But, point taken. Duke shot better today.

[Dukehk]

None of these freshmen even look remotely ready to be 1 and done.

Maybe Flip.

Its going to be a long season unless they start improving dramatically.

[robed deity]

None of these freshmen even look remotely ready to be 1 and done.

Maybe Flip.

Its going to be a long season unless they start improving dramatically.

I mean, who knows what will happen, but really? They just controlled a game against a decent opponent on a neutral floor. They are defending very well. The offense is a work in progress, and yesterday was a grind, but this seems like a weird take.

[uh_no]

I mean, who knows what will happen, but really? They just controlled a game against a decent opponent on a neutral floor. They are defending very well. The offense is a work in progress, and yesterday was a grind, but this seems like a weird take.

This is not mutually exclusive to not being 1-and-done ready...doesn't seem like such a hot take given we have a loss already, and haven't blown the doors off the past 2 days.

[DukieInBrasil]

None of these freshmen even look remotely ready to be 1 and done.

Maybe Flip.

Its going to be a long season unless they start improving dramatically.

Proctor sure hasn't looked the part so far. Mitchell? Sometimes he looks like a OAD. He's playing better than Cam Reddish did, and not appreciably worse than RJ Barrett. Flip has been playing like maybe a high lottery pick, pure Jules energy. In Dariq's 4th game since returning from a 2+ month absence due to injury he played his best game so far, and looked ok. Lively also played his best, most active ball since returning from injury as well, although i will grant you that he did not play like a OAD ought to play.
I'd say it's a bit premature to say who looks like a OAD at the moment. Neither Tyus Jones nor Justise Winslow looked like they'd be OAD after 7 games. And you know what? They improved dramatically.