MBB: Duke 71, NC State 67 Post-Game Thread

[billy]

I particularly disliked the clear implication that State had so many fouls because of home cooking.

Perhaps the analyst could, maybe, analyze the game and not suggest conspiracy theories?

I had no idea, prior to tonight, that Antonelli is a State grad

[ChillinDuke]

Some already surprising negative posts. We were up 12 with under two minutes to play, that's when Proctor stepped to the line and bricked a front end.

If those free throws go in are we even talking about anything other than a great team performance?

And Joiner was 9-18 and 6-12 from three, on some very high difficulty attempts. He came in shooting 34.9% from deep. If he goes 4-12, is this a blowout?

We played great. In a pressure packed game.

Crowd was exceptional too.

- Chillin

[DukieInBrasil]

Our backcourt faced relentless pressure all game and came up big. Proctor handled most of the pressure, Roach helped more than usual and scored huge baskets and put big pressure on their defense. He was also very smart in attacking Burns. What a turnaround from the game in Raleigh.

Agree about our defense. We gave them nothing easy.

Big applause for Scheyer as he managed the rotation, especially in the second half. He was riding the starters plus Dariq for a long time but when the lead would hit 10, he'd get Young and Slim Jake out there to get some rest for the others and to protect Lively from getting more fouls. Both teams were gassed at the end, it was such a brutal fight.

We finally got some home cooking from the refs, I'll take it. The T on Smith early after the Proctor flop was lame, and I feel like it changed the game.

29 big minutes from Lively. He really made Burns work and the big fella got tired.

Flip kept fighting despite missing what felt like 10+ bunnies and got his double double.

Mitchell's late offensive board and drawn foul was a huge play.

Credit State, they are a tough squad.

Big time win for us. Undefeated at home is an awesome accomplishment.

9F 9F 9F!

I call BS on the bolded part. Smith two handed pushed Proctor and pushed him 2 other times, finally into Burns, and Proctor stepped on his foot, causing the fall.

[Billy Dat]

I agree with everything above except the bit about Proctor flopping. I think he was tripped by the other guy after the 3rd or 4th bump from Smith but he went down hard and was obviously pissed about it.

I was laughing because in grabbing his ankle I thought he was reverting to futbol flopping. Listen, I am glad it went our way, but I thought it was a very big early call that shook Smith for the rest of the game. That's on him for losing his cool, so whatever.

Speaking of ankles, I am glad Joiner wasn't hurt at the start with that freak ankle twist under the sideline board. We beat them with him having a monster game.

[Luke102452]

State pressed full court the entire game and Proctor handled it tremendously, plus his defense was magnificent. He is my player of the game.

[CDu]

Some already surprising negative posts. We were up 12 with under two minutes to play, that's when Proctor stepped to the line and bricked a front end.

If those free throws go in are we even talking about anything other than a great team performance?

And Joiner was 9-18 and 6-12 from three, on some very high difficulty attempts. He came in shooting 34.9% from deep. If he goes 4-12, is this a blowout?

We played great. In a pressure packed game.

Crowd was exceptional too.

- Chillin

Co-signed. And we did all of that despite having a totally brutal 3pt shooting night. The defense, the rebounding, the ballhandling under pressure were fantastic. It was a great win, and not really as close as the final score would suggest. And this despite not making our 3s at all.

[Ian]

Some already surprising negative posts. We were up 12 with under two minutes to play, that's when Proctor stepped to the line and bricked a front end.

If those free throws go in are we even talking about anything other than a great team performance?

And Joiner was 9-18 and 6-12 from three, on some very high difficulty attempts. He came in shooting 34.9% from deep. If he goes 4-12, is this a blowout?

We played great. In a pressure packed game.

Crowd was exceptional too.

- Chillin

My main issues is that after we scored to make it 59-47 with 8:39 left, to less than a minute left in the game, we went 8 minutes and scored 6 points, and it was 65-61. I think at least 4 of them were by Roach. We still have issue with these long scoring droughts and that is concerning. The defense was excellent tonight, as was the offensive rebounding, offensively Roach saved us from an awful night of shooting 3s.

[CDu]

I call BS on the bolded part. Smith two handed pushed Proctor and pushed him 2 other times, finally into Burns, and Proctor stepped on his foot, causing the fall.

Yeah it definitely wasn’t a flop. And it was a totally reasonable tech for the reason you mentioned: Smith repeatedly shoved Proctor.

[lotusland]

State made only 8-28 from 3 and Joiner made 6 of those. Most of those were tough guarded shots. That was outstanding defense by the Devils. I don’t understand all the angst about shooting. We were better in lane driving and rebounding which is why they fouled so much. They shot 9 more threes than we did. Why assume they’ll make more shots next time but we won’t? Our on-ball defense is real.

[du_bb1]

I don't want to play them in GSO

[DavidBenAkiva]

The only area where I can fault the performance is the poor shooting from 3, 2-19. If Duke shoots 6-19 or something like that, this game was a blowout. And yet they still won. That's the mark of a good team.

The turnover issue has dramatically improved.

I'm impressed with this team. They have really come together and are playing connected on both ends at the right time. There's still more they could do to improve. but I am loving the growth we've seen.

[lotusland]

I don't want to play them in GSO

I agree that State and Miami are the worst matchups for us but, if we can play either for the ACC Championship, I’ll be pleased for that opportunity and I think Duke’s defense is up to the challenge.

[ChillinDuke]

My main issues is that after we scored to make it 59-47 with 8:39 left, to less than a minute left in the game, we went 8 minutes and scored 6 points, and it was 65-61. I think at least 4 of them were by Roach. We still have issue with these long scoring droughts and that is concerning. The defense was excellent tonight, as was the offensive rebounding, offensively Roach saved us from an awful night of shooting 3s.

I hear you. But I guess my thinking is, droughts happen. Games are rarely just steady offense, it ebbs and flows. You have a spurt, you give it back. That's how basketball typically works.

I obviously don't like that we go through droughts, but all teams do. Maybe we do more than others, but we've also cleaned that up quite a bit I think.

- Chillin

[CasualObserver]

Yeah it definitely wasn’t a flop. And it was a totally reasonable tech for the reason you mentioned: Smith repeatedly shoved Proctor.

While the camera didn’t show the feet, I clearly saw Proctor’s body jerk somewhat before falling. He either stepped on his own foot from the push or the State guard tripped him while pushing him back.

And then the loose ball event…..you have 2 Duke guys on the floor….the State guard holds Whitehead down…after the whistle, mind you……then goes all upset at the mere fact Whitehead tries to get up. The State guard strikes me as a bit of a thug and a lot of a crybaby.

Antonelli needs to take lessons from Bilas on how to diss your Alma mater while wearing the headset.

Sure, Duke was clanking its 3 shots, but otherwise played a tough, impressive game.

[UrinalCake]

The announcers almost jinxed the mess out of this game, when we were up 12 with just under two minutes left the guy was like "NC State has lost their last two games to finish the season" and I was like noooooooo. The only really bad decision we made during that late flurry was Roach going for a layup instead of running clock, but he saw an opening and wanted to stay aggressive so I can't fault him for that. He redeemed himself with those huge free throws; had he missed the front end it would have been pretty nerve-wracking. Proctor hit two equally big ones too. Loved seeing the players exhorting the crowd, I feel like K would have never allowed that but the players were showing the love to the Crazies who were awesome again.

As soon as Proctor hit that final free throw to put us up 7 and cover the spread, I was absolutely certain that State was going to come down and hit a three. So a bad beat for the gamblers but a great win for the team.

[Dukehk]

Ugly but we pulled it off.

Almost undefeated at home?

[CDu]

Ugly but we pulled it off.

Almost undefeated at home?

No almost about it.

[Papa John]

Yeah it definitely wasn’t a flop. And it was a totally reasonable tech for the reason you mentioned: Smith repeatedly shoved Proctor.

I agree with BillyDat... Proctor embellished the contact to bring attention to it, but the contact wasn't really worthy of a T. Smith had been pushing Proctor on the other end of the floor with his forearm and continued to do it on our end prior to the inbound. But the contact didn't warrant a technical. It certainly wasn't an unintentional-celebratory-punch-to-the-throat type of contact. The refs should have pulled Smith aside along with Keatts and basically said, "knock it off!" Smith was clearly rattled after the technical, which was fine by me. He never got into rhythm tonight, and Proctor was living in his head rent-free. In the second half, during the loose ball scrum that Whitehead went to the floor for, Smith started mixing it up again, which caused Keatts to come all the way out onto the floor after the whistle, clearly to point out, "dude, you're already sitting on one T... what the heck are you doing? just walk away!"

[duke2x]

Antonelli needs to take lessons from Bilas on how to diss your Alma mater while wearing the headset.

I'm ready to propose a rule that you can't work games for schools where you played. It would not have been that hard for Antonelli to drive to UVA tonight and the UVA announcer (probably Alexander) to drive down here.

[kako]

I'm ready to propose a rule that you can't work games for schools where you played. It would not have been that hard for Antonelli to drive to UVA tonight and the UVA announcer (probably Alexander) to drive down here.

I'd like to see non-ex-ACC players only as announcers. I watch Dalen Cuff comment on ACCN and respect his opinion for being unbiased. Of course, this won't happen. But it would be great to get a guy like Robbie Hummel do an ACC game (I think he's pretty good on the Big 10 Network).

But I digress from the thread. So I'll bring up an old cheer: "If you can't go to college, go to State!" I kid, I kid. My dad taught at State, and one of my good friends from high school was a Fulbright Scholar there.

9F