I rest my case! GREAT JOB Marty!

[imagepro]

I'f you don't know what I'm talking about, you haven't been reading DBR. I have said all year long that Marty is a player. I even said he could be a star. I was criticized, laughed at, called a troll and humiliated.

Tonight he HAD to play, and with limited playing time scores 14. Didn't miss a field goal, and was 2-2 from the line. Also if you didn't notice, he played great defense. Had it not been for GHs suspension, you all know he would not have had the opportunity to show what he is capable of.

Now, if you argue with me this time, you'd argue with a stop sign.

I say GREAT JOB Marty Pocious!

[trinitydevil]

Great game from Marty!! A career game for him at this point. AND, in the ACC tournament. He had to play tonight too. No question.

Makes you wonder if he could have filled in the rotation more. No, doesn't make you wonder. Pretty much soldifies he could have.

Marty has a scorers mentality. And the moves to get the points. If you are aggressvie to the basket you will get some turnovers.

Great game Marty.

[Highlander]

Second that. Marty gave us huge minutes off the bench and made some great shots. It was an all around great game for him. On offense, this was only the third time all year we've broken 80 points

Unfortunately we were unable to stop State in the second half, and that more than anything was the reason we lost. They were 14-18 at one point. In the Overtime, I think they scored on every single possession (15 points in 5 minutes). Atsur simply couldn't miss, and when he wasn't shooting he was slicing up our interior defense. Nelson and McClure were asked to guard guys who were a lot bigger than they were, and as a result, both fouled out.

Having Henderson certainly would have helped, as our defense just got absolutely shredded tonight.

[dukie8]

<Edit by Mods: Destructively Negative>

[imagepro]

Yea- it was "brilliant" wasn't it 8! Scores 8 in the first half, sits for the first 8 minutes of the 2nd. Scores instantly TWICE when he returned. Oh well, I'm stupid though....

[dukie8]

<Edited by Mods: Destructively Negative>

[Duke05]

I thought Marty played very impressive ball today. But with all due respect, imagepro, I'm not sure it's appropriate to gloat.

a) You've seen Marty play for less than two or three total hours over two years. The Duke coaching staff has watched Marty play for some two or three hundred hours this year alone.
b) This was one game. I'm not willing to conclude that the coaching staff has completely missed the boat on Marty based on one game against an opponent playing one particular defense that has not really seen any game tape of Marty.
c) Marty has been playing more in recent games. Granted, this was not anywhere near what he played tonight, but the coaching staff had definitely been showing him signs of confidence. Perhaps the coaches have developed him well.
d) I apologize if this wasn't an argument you were using, but several on the old board argued that players couldn't be ready to perform in big games without getting experience during the regular season. I think Marty's game tonight provides some evidence against that. (Again, as with your argument, this is only a sample size of one, so it doesn't prove much)
e) And actually, the real reason I'm posting is because we just suffered a very painful loss. And I'm a bit upset that you've taken this opportunity to gloat about winning an argument. I'll get over it -- and you're entitled to feeling vindicated. But right now, I don't feel so bad calling you out for it.

[imagepro]

I'm NOT gloating. I'm MAD. He should have been playing all year. Sorry you interpret my disappointment as GLOATING. But you are WAY off 05!

OK, your points are made, but MANY of us disagree with you. You ultimately may be right. But you can't do what Marty did tonight without a LOT of talent. Will you disagree with that? He used left hand TWICE. I may be wrong, but he sure showed a LOT of people something tonight. <Edited by Mods: No insulting other posters>

[mpj96]

Congratulations to Marty on a great game. Good luck to the team in the big dance.

[BlueDevilBaby]

Marty was great. Why did Coach K take him out after the three point play? Go with the hot hand.

[Jumbo]

Marty was great. Why did Coach K take him out after the three point play? Go with the hot hand.

He was going offense/defense there. He had four guards in when Marty scored; he pulled him after the FT for Lance to help guard NCSU's two bigs. Of course, that didn't work. But Marty was back in for offense at the next dead ball.

[nyesq83]

Pocius played well. I missed his early errors, got to the bar late. But after Marty's initial missteps he rocked. Don't forget that he had a great summer - scoring mightily in international play.

Paulus - when I think of how some Duke fans questioned his heart - ha!

Scheyer, McBob, DeMarcus - all looked tired at times - hitting fronts of rims et cetera.

McClure seems to have tucked his offense away somewhere. And we could have used his rebounding tonight.

Let's hope to survive and advance.

And don't beat the guys up too much.

Why didn't K put Zoubek in for 3-4 more minutes in the first half? Especially when we get a 5 or 6 point lead?

I don't care if the opposing team goes up 10 points, why o why can't K rest our guys more?????

Not being critical, I just want to know, because I am not so bball-savvy.

[Jumbo]

I ahte to say it Jumbo- but you are right. And I know who gave me 2 points! LOL

Huh? I'm right about what? Two points? Huh again?

[imagepro]

you're right about going offense/defense--- Geez man, you said it right above. I can't even agree with you? And you go huh? Whatever

[trinitydevil]

Marty was also recruited by Kansas, Utah, Texas, Arizona as well as Duke. And had official visits to Arizona and Kansas. K, Roy, Majerus, Lute, and Barnes probably know a player when they see one.

How many first round draft picks, conference championships, ncaa championships, and wins have they produced.

A former team captain told me personally he needs more playing time. I have witnesses. No denying that fact.

Marty wasn't an overlooked recruit.

Great game Marty. Congratulations!!

[fogey]

Marty's speed and quickness are UNMATCHED on this squad, and his aggressiveness is on a par with DeMarcus. He also has actual offensive skills- good shooting touch and coordinated moves on drives. As I posted after the UNC debacle, he could have helped then by providing an offensive lift and giving starters valuable minutes to catch a breath. His performance tonight was not a surprise.

[Fish80]

No argument here that Marty had a good offensive game, and we needed it. I'm pleased for Marty, but very bummed that we lost. Damn.

imagepro, i don't know what you think you have proved, but i do agree that Marty looked good on offense

Josh also looked good late in the second half. His jam was awesome! But alas, not enough.

DeMarcus also had a great game, all around.

"It's the defense, stupid." i'm not calling anyone stupid. i'm just mad.

[Duke05]

I'm NOT gloating. I'm MAD. He should have been playing all year. Sorry you interpret my disappointment as GLOATING. But you are WAY off 05!

OK, your points are made, but MANY of us disagree with you. You ultimately may be right. But you can't do what Marty did tonight without a LOT of talent. Will you disagree with that? He used left hand TWICE. I may be wrong, but he sure showed a LOT of people something tonight. Thank not? Just read the boards! GLOATING??? Please man.Whatever...

Probably shouldn't reply, since the loss is still messing with my head, but here goes:
a) I may be wrong, but I lurk here obsessively, and I don't think anyone thought Marty was untalented. So yes, I agree -- Marty is very talented. That doesn't mean he should have been playing all year. (More explicitly: all our scholarship players are quite talented, and that alone doesn't -- and shouldn't -- merit playing time.)
b) Since I didn't state my position, I think you're wrong in saying that many disagree with me; as an armchair coach, I've actually wanted Marty in a lot more than he has been. This is for several reasons: I don't know much about the intricacies of basketball; in particular, I really like watching flashy offensive plays; when he's been in games, he's looked good on both O and D to my untrained eyes. And yet he hasn't played. So I support the coaching staff because the conspiracy theory that they're holding him down seems a lot less plausible than the theory that I don't know as much as the coaches.
c) I can't ultimately be proven right; my position is that the coaches didn't mess up by not playing Marty up until this point. I expect Marty to contribute more and more as time goes on, and I sincerely hope that I'm not "proven right" by his return to the bench. I suspect (and hope), given Marty's gradually increasing minutes, that his rumored defensive problems are being resolved.
d) I'm sorry I thought you were gloating. But I reread your post, and I don't think I made an unreasonable assumption. (Feel free to reread it yourself.) It rubbed me the wrong way. This exchange still rubs me the wrong way, particularly since I've always liked Marty. Again, I'm not going to tell you you can't gloat or be mad or whatever it is your first post was, but I think you're flaunting a premature victory in an argument that, frankly, wasn't based on much evidence to begin with.

I'm sorry I sound like a Coach K apologist here. (I'm more than happy to rant and rave about the slowdown offense, since it just doesn't make mathematical sense to me in a lot of situations.) But I really don't think it makes sense to argue that Marty should have been playing more. Is it possible that your eye for effectiveness on a basketball court is so much better attuned than our coaches' that you can see what they can't in a hundredth of the time? Sure. I'll grant you that possibility. But don't pretend that it's so blatantly obvious that Marty should have been playing that only idiots and Coach K can't see it.

You know what happened today, right? We lost while we replaced Gerald Henderson's minutes with Marty Pocius's. Does that make Marty a worse player than Gerald? Of course not. It's just one game. But neither does this one performance mean he should have been taking minutes away earlier. And maybe -- just maybe -- our team was actually better at winning games with Marty off the floor.

[elvis14]

I was really happy to see Marty step up tonight. Like Imagepro, I'm of the opinion that Marty has been under used. My argument for that is that we have had players very fatigued at the end of games while Marty rides the pine. I wouldn't post a bunch of I told you so BS, I'm just really happy to see Marty get his chance and to rise to the occasion.

It's just a little something positive to take away from another frustrating loss.

[imagepro]

05 says-
"You know what happened today, right? We lost because we replaced Gerald Henderson's minutes with Marty Pocius's. Does that make Marty a worse player than Gerald? Of course not. It's just one game. But neither does this one performance mean he should have been taking minutes away earlier. And maybe -- just maybe -- our team was actually better at winning games with Marty off the floor."

I cannot believe what you just said. We lost because Marty was 4-4 from the field and 2-2 from the line? And "Maybe, just maybe--our team is better at winning games with marty off the floor". WOW.

I NEVER said Marty should replace GH. Never said that. I said he should play more, so Gh and others, can play more RESTED. UNC does it, Ohio State does it, MANY teams do it. I'm not smarter than Coach K. I just like Marty. And people always say, earn your playing time. Marty did tonight, and has on more than one occasion this season. I don't blast you because you think he shouldn't play. Why blast me because I think he should?

AS any fan around the country will tell you, depth is a problem for DUKE. My only point is that I think Marty should be playing more. I'm frustrated with the loss just as you are 05. You are not alone in your feelings. But you are attacking me AND Marty with the comments you make. YOU said right above, as I quoted, that we are better at winning games with Marty off the floor. That to me 05, is totally uncalled for. Especially from someone who says in another paragraph that you think he should be playing more. Well, which is it? Lose with him on the floor as YOU say, or play him more. Which DO you prefer?