a lousy ending

[devildownunder]

Well, we saw it all in this one, didn't we? Everything that was good and bad about this team came to light, as is usually the case when the games become really important.

We'll break down what went wrong here on the board ad nauseum but for now:

Congratulations, guys on working hard and growing this year. Thank you for all of your efforts and thanks especially to Greg Paulus, who has had the longest and most difficult ride of all and has improved a great deal along the way.

Looking forward to 2007-08 and, once again, Let's go Duke!

[escobar]

I agree, bring on 2007/08. Team chemistry will improve during the summer, this team was very young. A full summer of pickup will hopefully improve that, and the coaching staff I am sure will be working hard.

The guys played their best, especially Greg. Very gutsy and tough...

[SMO]

Build a double-digit lead, go on a drought, turn the ball over, miss some free throws, lose by 1-2. I'm not sure what will change that from this year to next, but hopefully maturity and experience will do it. We had plenty of opportunities to win this one and just didn't capitalize. I hope these guys come back next year ready to play mistake-free.

[Methodistman]

I guess the good thing is now for the next few weeks I'll be able to get caught up on everything I've got save on DVR . . .

[smittendevil]

Ugh - another gut-wrencher.

The season is finally over. Too many highs and lows for me and seeing us lose like this again was just too much.

Excellent performance from Josh and Greg, but just not enough then, huh? Sigh. Same ol' story, I guess.

Bring on 07-08!

[jjasper0729]

maybe over the summer they'll practice free throws and get the muscle memory in place.

[mapei]

Can they also get quicker, please?

[arnie]

I don't see how next year can be dramatically better - no quickness at guard will be a killer until we start recruiting better players at that position. We should improve, but likely with baby steps until we bring in a true point guard that can penetrate and punish teams that try to press. Guard defense must improve!!

[efudd]

Women play on Sunday ... next play!

[jjasper0729]

assuming the freshman can pick up the defense fast enough, Nolan Smith should be pretty good (a-la G)

[dukeisawesome]

We're not gonna get quicker obviously, but the weight room could help a lot of the guys.

[dukeENG2003]

I don't see how next year can be dramatically better - no quickness at guard will be a killer until we start recruiting better players at that position. We should improve, but likely with baby steps until we bring in a true point guard that can penetrate and punish teams that try to press. Guard defense must improve!!

STOP it, Greg Paulus gave one of the guttiest performances from a Duke PG since J-Wil against Indiana. STOP it, hell of a game from Paulus, if you want to criticize someone, criticize our most senior player, Markie, for disappearing and missing clutch shots, but you CANNOT criticize Greg Paulus's performance, he played like an absolute warrior

[KandG]

I actually enjoyed the fight the team put up in this game and the State game, even though all the flaws of the later part of the season reared their head...the turnovers, the mental lapses, inability to get stops late in close games. I'm proud of the team, even though I wasn't surprised at how it all played out.

Sadly, this season feels like the way 1995 would have played out if K had been coaching...better results, but still something missing in the chemistry of the team despite a fair amount of talent. I wasn't disappointed with our last first round exit (in 1996) because that group wasn't as talented as this group. But this loss (and this season) hurts.

Sad, but hoping for much better next year.

[duke24/7]

it seemed like paulus in the final minutes was the only one who really WANTED IT, no way should he be given a rough time, i'll take him over lawson any day because of his guts and desire

[arnie]

You are entitled to your opinions regarding Paulus versus the point guard at UNC - but so am I. As a defender and penetrator, Carolina's point guard is far superior to Paulus. Sure Paulus tries hard, but he should be playing spot duty at both guard positions, not our primary scoring option. Also, his defense against quick guards is dismal. That will not likely improve.

[barjwr]

whatever happened to the josh mcroberts that was making all the amazing assists during the nonconference season and early in the acc slate? worse overall team movement/standing and watching, waiting for him to make a play?

[tux]

Not a direct response to you, but my thoughts:

I think Paulus will be fine. He improved the most from the beginning of the year until tonight. Duke asked a lot of him this year, and I think he did a good job.

In my opinion, our freshmen just faded a bit; it was a very tough year, and most freshmen lose their legs at some point --- more games, more pressure, etc. Duke just wore down. I think this was most true of Jon, who really struggled the last half of the year. As Paulus picked up his offense, Jon faded. For Greg to be effective, Duke needs a shooter on the wing. Nelson had his strengths (and he'll get hot from outside occasionally) but we can't count on him to be a consistent outside threat.

McRoberts showed his versatility, but needs to get stronger to take advantage of his athleticism inside. He was weak with the ball several times tonight late in the game.

A tough season for Duke, no doubt.

[YmoBeThere]

STOP it, Greg Paulus gave one of the guttiest performances from a Duke PG since J-Wil against Indiana. STOP it, hell fo a game from Paulus, if you want to criticize someone, criticize our most senior player, Markie, for disappearing and missing clutch shots, but you CANNOT criticize Greg Paulus's performance, he plakyed like an absolute warrior

Free throw shooting did us in and Greg didn't do well on that count. Just a couple would have been the difference. Greg has shown great improvement over the course of the season. It would be great if he were a better athlete, but that can't really be changed. I think his effort in this game is without question.

[YmoBeThere]

whatever happened to the josh mcroberts that was making all the amazing assists during the nonconference season and early in the acc slate? worse overall team movement/standing and watching, waiting for him to make a play?

When the only option at the end of games was JJ?

[cbarry]

I sure hope these guys do NOTHING EXCEPT SHOOT FREE THROWS all summer! This is so fundamental, there is no reason we should miss 12 free throws in 1 game. Same with turnovers. You would have thought we never faced the press before. Geez.