MBB: Duke 68, Kansas 66 Post-Game Thread

[SouthernDukie]

Anyone else see Cassius Stanley‘s game and have flashbacks to Ricky Price?

Great opening win, with everyone already mentioning the obvious need for the O to be more cohesive and the D to continue being our strength.

[CDu]

I think this may be our best lineup, but I wouldn't expect it to start (which is totally fine!). I think JG may continue to start to set the tone, and I think Stanley works well off the bench. I wouldn't be surprised if we start Carey, Hurt, AOC, JG and Jones going forward, even if Stanley and White get more PT than AOC and JG.

I love the varied pieces that this team has. Who plays big minutes will vary based on our opponent and who is hot. I think that's a pretty darn encouraging scenario.

Maybe on the bolded part, although I would say that Goldwire was not effective defensively tonight. And he is a total no factor on offense. So unless he is really making things happen on defense, keeping him out there could prove problematic.

I would also expect Stanley to stay in the starting lineup, as he looked good in that role tonight and provides value on both ends of the floor.

[wavedukefan70s]

Should not have dropped acid before the tip, the colors of the broadcast screwed with me at randomly intermittently times.

Jack, Javin, and Tre got it done.

I kept thinking of violet beaureguard from willy wonka and the chocolate factory.was waiting for the oompa lumpa's to come get them.

[DavidBenAkiva]

One thing about the defensive effort that struck me: the sheer spread of the Kansas turnovers. It wasn't one or two guys throwing the ball around or a certain positional group struggling. It was everybody. No starter had less than 3 TOs. The two primary ballhandlers (Dotson and Agbaji, both potential All Big-12 guy) had 5 each. The bigs turned it over. The wings turned it over. And they turned it over in a gazillion ways. Just a masterclass in defensive pressure.

For those looking for reasons that Joey Baker didn't get minutes, that's my guess as to why. The one big strength of this team is the cohesive peskiness of the defense. I just don't know if K is going to risk compromising that for the shooting that Baker brings. Hopefully Baker will follow O'Connell's lead and improve enough defensively to carve out a role. But my guess is that he just hasn't done enough on that end of the court to earn minutes.

Every player for Kansas had at least 1 turnover except Christian Braun, and he had no points, no rebounds, no assists, and 2 fouls.

[simplyluvin]

We've seen prettier games, but I love this win. Jack was huge with clutch steals and rebound in the last few minutes. Cassius is a fun player to watch, and he kept us in the game in the second half.

I am worried about where we'll get buckets, especially in heated contests, but if we play D like this, we'll go far. Gonna date myself here, but we might be like the 1987 team which was a defensive stalwart with Amaker the lone senior. That team was offensively-challenged, but the D was memorable.

[SouthernDukie]

Maybe on the bolder part, although I I would say that Goldwire was not effective defensively tonight. And he is a total no factor on offense. So unless he is really making things happen on defense, keeping him out there could prove problematic.

Agreed. I was shocked when a Goldwire got burned not once, but twice on backdoors.

[TheOldBattleship]

Maybe on the bolder part, although I I would say that Goldwire was not effective defensively tonight. And he is a total no factor on offense. So unless he is really making things happen on defense, keeping him out there could prove problematic.

I would also expect Stanley to stay in the starting lineup, as he looked good in that role tonight and provides value on both ends of the floor.

I thought he was pretty good in just contributing to the general defensive pressure (backdoors aside, and a couple of those are always going to happen with the pressure), even if he wasn't the one coming up with the steals. That said, if AOC is going to be reasonably effective defensively (as he definitely was tonight), I'd be surprised if he doesn't take Goldwire's starting job, moving Goldwire into a more natural spot as the primary backup point who can also play beside Jones. He just offers so much more variety offensively, and the fact that he's bigger (or longer, at least) makes for some interesting matchup options.

And agreed: I'd be shocked if we see less of Stanley going forward. If anything, I'd guess that his role increases as the year goes on (I'm intrigued to see him being a bit more aggressive as a off-the-dribble creator on offense).

[Troublemaker]

While there’s certainly some “November basketball” producing those numbers,

It was mostly that, frankly. I'm celebrating the win as much as anyone and with alcohol, but I'm not one iota more optimistic about this team in March/April than I was before. (Keeping in mind that I was more optimistic about beating KU than most... for those that thought we would get rocked tonight, you probably *should* adjust expectations upwards).

Not even our Round of 64 opponent will turn it over 28 times like first-game-of-the-season Kansas did tonight. Our ball pressure and overall defensive ability will get us to overachieve early in the season against opponents that aren't cohesive yet.

Still, great win, and I'm happy. This win will raise us a seed line in March.

[jv001]

I thought he was pretty good in just contributing to the general defensive pressure (backdoors aside, and a couple of those are always going to happen with the pressure), even if he wasn't the one coming up with the steals. That said, if AOC is going to be reasonably effective defensively (as he definitely was tonight), I'd be surprised if he doesn't take Goldwire's starting job, moving Goldwire into a more natural spot as the primary backup point who can also play beside Jones. He just offers so much more variety offensively, and the fact that he's bigger (or longer, at least) makes for some interesting matchup options.

And agreed: I'd be shocked if we see less of Stanley going forward. If anything, I'd guess that his role increases as the year goes on (I'm intrigued to see him being a bit more aggressive as a off-the-dribble creator on offense).

Cassius has a good looking jumper and he get's up high on it. That's going to be hard to block. I was most impressed with his play tonight. On the negative side, I hope Javin get's stronger finishing at the rim. GoDuke!

[subzero02]

JACK FREAKING WHITE... that is all

[dukelion]

Anyone else see Cassius Stanley‘s game and have flashbacks to Ricky Price?

Great opening win, with everyone already mentioning the obvious need for the O to be more cohesive and the D to continue being our strength.

Sort of has some Cory Magette in his game.

[CoachJ10]

The bookies won this one. Aside from being impressed with them, I am starting the Cassius Stanley fan club. He’s going to be special. My biggest disappointment was no Joey Baker.

I’m with you on this...I think he will be our best perimeter scorer at this rate. Obviously his athleticism is ridic, but he also has a good handle and a soft touch.

With the myriad of lineup possibilities we will have this season...it wouldn't surprise me to see K run more sets and plays than we’ve ran the past couple years.

The defense will be really good when Vernon gets a little more experience under his belt.

Tre needed that jumper to fall...what a huge shot for us. The clutch fts were ... Tyus-like...

[Neals384]

Joey is obviously not ready for a big game like this. I'll be pikachu shocked if he doesn't see the floor against our next opponent. If he doesn't he is probably leaving...

Please no hints, suggestions or discussion of possible transfers on this board.

Should not have dropped acid before the tip, the colors of the broadcast screwed with me at randomly intermittently times.

Jack, Javin, and Tre got it done.

Was it a technical flaw that none of the producers noticed, or did someone actually think giving everyone blue skin from time-to-time was a good idea?

[mgtr]

I am obviously thrilled that I could not get a bet down against Duke, no matter the odds or the points. Duke should have won this game based on great overall play.

[El_Diablo]

LOVE beating Kansas after this recent run of losses. Every L we have suffered in this event is at their hands.

Kentucky beat us in 2015.

[TheOldBattleship]

Was it a technical flaw that none of the producers noticed, or did someone actually think giving everyone blue skin from time-to-time was a good idea?

My only thought was that they were they maybe filming MSG's big videoscreen and that messed with the color? Totally weird and hilarious decision regardless. Blue Bill Self was a lot to handle.

[Neals384]

Overall - team showed some great determination and hustle. Kansas' turnovers often seemed self-inflicted, but our pressure defense had a lot to do with it. Offense not in sync, especially early on. Overwhelmed during Jayhawks big run early 2nd half (call that timeout one possession earlier, K) but fought back hard. Amazing, gritty win!

Tre - MOTM. He still does it all - disrupting the opponents, super assists, made a few buckets and clutch free throws. Tre Pebbles deserves an upgrade to Tre Cobbles!

Jack - The legend is back! Nice defense, key steal in the final minute. Even a 3-pt bucket. (Yeah, there were a couple uglies, too.)

Javin - Much improved presence, especially on defense. 4 fouls but most were from energetic defense, not the out-of-position / off-balance fouls of yore.

Cassius - Wow! Great energy, hops and can shoot. Not everything he tried to do worked, especially in the early going, but he has great creativity that will be a huge asset to the team.

Matthew - Clearly he can shoot. Court and situational awareness needs work (play where Cassius made a nice pass over the top, but M didn't understand the opportunity; play where he dribbled into the corner, double-teamed. Just bounce it off a leg, dude!)

Vernon - Does so many thing well, including positively Plumleesque 3-pt shooting! Not as skilled under the basket as expected, but Kansas bigs had something to do with that. Needs killer instinct. (Can he dunk?)

AOC - Much more active and involved in the offense, but low efficiency. To hit his 3 pointers he simply must be mentally prepared to shoot before the ball gets to him. Nice stat line with 4 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals!

Wendell - Has some nice skills but maybe not as ready as the others. He did run the point at least one possession so it's nice to know that option is there if needed. He will be better than 1-6 shooting with 4 turns, but still looks like our 8th or 9th man.

Jordan - Didn't show much and probably doesn't start after this. Still love his defense although it wasn't much in evidence tonight. Disappointed to see him give up a back door cut or two.

[jimmymax]

My only thought was that they were they maybe filming MSG's big videoscreen and that messed with the color? Totally weird and hilarious decision regardless. Blue Bill Self was a lot to handle.

I figured it was because I was flipping over to Avatar during commercials.

[dukelion]

Basically think this was a case of our strengths matching up ideally with their weaknesses. Kansas basically has a scoring guard and nobody else to handle the ball.

But it was also interesting that for all our forced turnovers barely any led to run outs or easy baskets. Be very interested to see how we match up with a more ball secure team.

[jimmymax]

You're happy with UK possibly taking the ship?

Shouldn't we be playing the winner of UK / MSU?

In Memento fashion -- someone mentioned an acid trip -- winning the consolation game tonight presupposes that Duke have lost to KY or MSU this coming Thursday.