Duke MBB v. Virginia post-game thread

[throatybeard]

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[dukestheheat]

we're looking GOOD and I love the daggers on intensity and defense in that second half.

also, demarcus was stellar and my boy nolan smith played well also.

dth.

[dukelifer]

So much to like tonight. For me, this game was highlighted by excellent passing by Paulus and others and the growing confidence of Nolan Smith. Duke also pressured the ball very well and forced some turnovers into easy baskets. The rebounding was excellent- very few second chance points by Virginia. The midrange and inside game looked much better tonight. Virginia is not very big so that helped- but still there were a lot better looks from the short range than in the last few games- and many more in the flow of the offense. Singler down low can be automatic with some good ball movement and passing. Duke only had that little stretch in the first half when they went cold. Nolan Smith had some really nice moments – passing, shooting, defending and driving and his spelling Paulus helps to keep Gregg fresh, limiting his mistakes late. When Smith starts playing like this on the road- Duke will be much better. Henderson was much more himself tonight- played very much under control throughout. King struggled with his shots in one stretch but he is more than just a shooter and makes contribution- he is a natural rebounder and sees the floor very well. Scheyer is still struggling with the wide open threes but he was very active and never really lets his misses get to him. All in all- a very nice way to start the ACC season- got to love those easy wins.

[dukestheheat]

dukelifer,

i agree with your comments on nolan smith needing to play well on the road; when he's in the game, we seem to move well. hopefully, the coaches are still on him to assert and attack, because it's totally clear that he can attack that basket and we are much better when he is attacking versus just tossing the ball around the key.

dth.

[captmojo]

Singler spent as much time horizontal as he did vertical. Great hustle! Smith was in on this act as well. May god help this team stay healthy.

The best things are still happening when Henderson is on the floor. His leaping abilities are more than making up for a lack of team height.

Singletary couldn't have had a lot to woof about tonight.

[Saratoga2]

So much to like tonight. For me, this game was highlighted by excellent passing by Paulus and others and the growing confidence of Nolan Smith. Duke also pressured the ball very well and forced some turnovers into easy baskets. The rebounding was excellent- very few second chance points by Virginia. The midrange and inside game looked much better tonight. Virginia is not very big so that helped- but still there were a lot better looks from the short range than in the last few games- and many more in the flow of the offense. Singler down low can be automatic with some good ball movement and passing. Duke only had that little stretch in the first half when they went cold. Nolan Smith had some really nice moments – passing, shooting, defending and driving and his spelling Paulus helps to keep Gregg fresh, limiting his mistakes late. When Smith starts playing like this on the road- Duke will be much better. Henderson was much more himself tonight- played very much under control throughout. King struggled with his shots in one stretch but he is more than just a shooter and makes contribution- he is a natural rebounder and sees the floor very well. Scheyer is still struggling with the wide open threes but he was very active and never really lets his misses get to him. All in all- a very nice way to start the ACC season- got to love those easy wins.

I could see it was a solid win from game tracker, but you get no real sense of the game that way. I noticed, that will the exception of DeMarcus and Greg, we rained threes but weren't hitting well. Were they zoning us or what?

[phaedrus]

i loved nolan in the second half. there was just no way he was ever going to walk the ball up the court, whether off a turnover, defensive rebound, or uva basket (until we went into stallball). i hope paulus can play that way too.

[msdukie]

BTW, all ACC Sunday Night Hoops games are also available on Fox College Sports (usually Atlantic) for those of you that suffer local blackouts. Just need to to order your digital cable's sports pak.

[dukelifer]

I could see it was a solid win from game tracker, but you get no real sense of the game that way. I noticed, that will the exception of DeMarcus and Greg, we rained threes but weren't hitting well. Were they zoning us or what?

They were playing man- and a bunch of threes trys were from King about 10 feet from the line and a number in transition and kickouts.

[JBDuke]

I could see it was a solid win from game tracker, but you get no real sense of the game that way. I noticed, that will the exception of DeMarcus and Greg, we rained threes but weren't hitting well. Were they zoning us or what?

We had a lot of penetration and kick-outs. I believe we ended up with 21 assists on 34 FGs...

[VaDukie]

I thought overall we looked good, but we did have our fair share of sloppy stretches. It seems like on a number of possessions we'd have 3 or 4 good passes and then settle for an average shot. The fact that we went 11-31 from 3 and still won by 22 is a pretty good sign.

[mapei]

I thought we played great, especially 1st half defensive intensity. The lapses were few and far between. Everybody contributed.

[mapei]

There was a lot of switching, so it usually started with Nelson on Singletary but didn't necessarily stay that way. We were very disruptive, but he's good enough that he got his points.

[Zeb]

We stayed aggressive and didn't give up our lead. Won the first half by 12, the second half by 10. That was a nice win by the devils.

Am I the only person who thinks King is more accurate when he's taking a bad shot? I'm rooting for him, but his game is weird. (I also thought the traveling call against him off the offensive board was bogus--replayed it at home and it looked like a single step.)

[billybreen]

Great game, coming off 2.5 games that didn't look quite so great. Nice way to start the ACC season.

[Dukefan4Life]

I think we played an all around good game, I would still like to see us rebound way better than we did tonight, plus we need a scorer in the post and who can defend in the post

[Bob Green]

I think we played an all around good game, I would still like to see us rebound way better than we did tonight, plus we need a scorer in the post and who can defend in the post

We outrebounded Virginia 35-34 so I'm not sure why you think we need to rebound "way better than we did tonight." We won the battle on the boards and beat our opponent by 22 points.

[whereinthehellami]

Duke looked good but I think it should be put in context with how bad Virginia is. UVA is in trouble. They did not respond well after being blown out by Xavier by 38 ten days ago. Leito might be losing this team. There was no team chemistry, toughness. In the second half Singletary started his own "And 1" team and Leito let him go. That sends a nice message to the team.

[gw67]

What’s not to like about last night - great team defense, sharing the ball, strong rebounding and productive offense. Some specific thoughts:
• Nelson and Smith made Singletary work for his points but more importantly was the excellent team defense on the other players and on Singletary when he either went around screens or beat his man.
• 21 assists may be one of the highest totals this year. The team was sharing the ball and the point guard play on offense was exceptional (17 points, 8 assists and only 2 TO’s).
• Nelson continues to play at a high level. He threw away a couple but he is looking to pass when covered on his drives and he is joining Scheyer as an excellent passer from the wing.
• The Devils outrebounded one of the best rebounding teams in the ACC. McClure, Thomas and Singler really fought on the boards. I really like the aggressiveness of Singler down low but I could see him becoming an unpopular player around the ACC for the extensive use of his elbows.
• Smith continues to remind me of Ewing during his freshmen year. He is an aggressive offensive player who can hit the jumper from outside as well as mid-range, take the ball to the hoop and he may be the best on the team at finishing on the fast break. He is also above average on defense. He is a good backup for Paulus at this time but he is also getting some minutes at the off guard which, IMO, appears to be his best position at this time.
• The outside shooting was OK (one more made shot and they would have been near 40&#37. The only negative that I can come up with from this game was the outside shooting of players other than Paulus and Nelson.
• Many have concluded that CIS is the best homecourt advantage in the country. This team plays with a confidence at home and I don’t expect to see them lose a home game this year.

Some additional thoughts. Who is going to score for Virginia next year and the Devils need to show that they can dominate the bad teams on the road.

gw67

[delfrio]

Am I the only person who thinks King is more accurate when he's taking a bad shot?

Yes. I think most of his misses were on bad shots. If he gets his feet set, he is money, but if not... I was also impressed by the general passing game, but sometimes it goes too far. More than once, I've seen Greg pass up a good shot for a cross-court pass.