MBB: Duke 104, Evansville 40 post game thread

[Bob Green]

Discuss the game here...

[-jk]

Nice effort. It moved us up to 4 in KenPom...

(Of course, they were hobbled, which KenPom doesn't acknowledge. But I'll take it!)

-jk

[ipatent]

The team was obviously motivated by the long layoff stewing after a loss. Not much to criticize about the effort or the results. Wish we could save some of those threes from these blowouts for ACC play. The bench players did well for themselves. Goldwire with 7 assists and 3 steals. JRob can play.

[UrinalCake]

Quality of opponent was obviously very poor, but still it was nice to see us shoot well after the long layoff. It was obvious that the team had been working on defense and that the message had gotten through that they need to play hard on that end on every possession. This trickled down to the bench guys. I liked that we weren't switching on every screen but would have our guard go around/through it or immediately switch back.

If Carter can consistently hit an outside shot then that will really open things up inside. He won't hit multiple threes every game, but even being a threat to take 15-foot jumpers will prevent the D from packing it in. Bagley was quiet but we didn't need him to do much in this one. Loved seeing us share the ball too, a very high percentage of field goals were assisted.

[Bob Green]

It is worth noting Trevon Duval with eight assists against one turnover. IMO he is underappreciated by some folks.

[OldPhiKap]

Missed the first half. Glad to see that the team did not lose focus in the second half or slip because the bench was in.

Lots of good efforts for the part I saw.

[ipatent]

It is worth noting Trevon Duval with eight assists against one turnover. IMO he is underappreciated by some folks.

Agreed. Only five turnovers for the team as a whole impressive as well.

[mr. synellinden]

I posted this in the in-game thread:

Carter/Bagley 10-11 FTs

The other team's personnel is irrelevant to this stat.

If they can shoot in the 75% range (or higher) for the rest of the season, it will make us even harder to beat.

[BandAlum83]

It is worth noting Trevon Duval with eight assists against one turnover. IMO he is underappreciated by some folks.

His half court pass to O'Connell after the Bolden block was a thing of beauty!

[SkyBrickey]

I think Carter can make 35-40% of those wide-open 3s. Will really open things up for Bagley down low in the high-low game if true.

Nice to see all the 3-balls dropping tonight. Need that confidence going into ACC play.

[jipops]

The only thing I really gathered from this game was that Carter's side burns are killer.

The quality of opponent was very poor and they were missing their 3 best players. It was nice too see us stay alert on D and actually force turnovers, but we won't see an offense even remotely as bad as what our guys were up against tonight.

I probably should gives some props to Bolden for his play on D. Hope he continues to move his feet like that.

[uh_no]

I think Carter can make 35-40% of those wide-open 3s. Will really open things up for Bagley down low in the high-low game if true.

Nice to see all the 3-balls dropping tonight. Need that confidence going into ACC play.

I think the star wars holiday christmas special is a good flick...but that doesn't make it true

His .500 looks good, right now, but I doubt it stays anywhere near that on the year. His FT% hints at a far inferior number...but we shall see! I'd be ecstatic with even 30%.

fun fact: the only shooter on the team worse than duvall is jack white

good thing he was dropping dimes like a slot machine.

[Kedsy]

Obviously rusty after the long layoff. Hopefully we'll be sharper next time out.

Bagley was quiet but we didn't need him to do much in this one.

18 points (on 75% shooting; along with 83% FT shooting and 50% 3pt shooting), 7 rebounds, 4 assists against 0 turnovers, and 2 blocks. If that's "quiet," I'll take it.

Loved seeing us share the ball too, a very high percentage of field goals were assisted.

Yeah 82.1% of our baskets were assisted. Our A/to ratio was 6.4 to 1. Our turnover percentage was a ridiculously low 7.7%. That, combined with our 74.6% eFG%, allowed us to score 1.60 points per possession.

His FT% hints at a far inferior number...

Well, he shot 5 for 5 from the line tonight, too.

[Ballboy1998]

Random question, but the guys all had new protrusions under their jerseys on their middle upper back areas (about where their names are): Does anyone know what those were? I would assume some kind of padding (though that would be oddly placed) or part of an advanced metrics tracking rig. Whatever it is, it's new.

[WHOneedsSOX]

Duke played really well. Great effort. Moved the ball well which is sometimes hard to do against a poor opponent since 1on1 scoring is easy. But this was a very poor opponent. Didn't they start their 3 string point guard? Would like to see Duke against a team with guards that can penetrate well before I say their defense is fixed. Of course I don't expect it to be great overnight but like I said, this was a poor opponent and not a good way to measure their defense.

[Ultrarunner]

Duke played really well. Great effort. Moved the ball well which is sometimes hard to do against a poor opponent since 1on1 scoring is easy. But this was a very poor opponent. Didn't they start their 3 string point guard? Would like to see Duke against a team with guards that can penetrate well before I say their defense is fixed. Of course I don't expect it to be great overnight but like I said, this was a poor opponent and not a good way to measure their defense.

The defense is not fixed. It is, however, improved. Just important was the effort level was much better on that end.

[UrinalCake]

Carter/Bagley 10-11 FTs

The other team's personnel is irrelevant to this stat.

Well only kind of... it’s a lot harder to hit free throws at the end of a close game on the road, when you are fatigued and under pressure, versus knocking them down in your home gym when you’re up 30. But I do think that Bagley’s free throws have been trending upwards ever since the Texas game.

[Troublemaker]

The only thing I really gathered from this game was that Carter's side burns are killer.

The quality of opponent was very poor and they were missing their 3 best players. It was nice too see us stay alert on D and actually force turnovers, but we won't see an offense even remotely as bad as what our guys were up against tonight.

Yeah, but we were favored by ~30 and won by ~60. We've also sometimes struggled in these post-finals games, so no need to downplay it too much. This was a great performance and hopefully we follow it up with a great performance against FSU.

I was struck by how we pressured the ball and denied the wings aggressively for 40 minutes. Many of our fans think we play like tonight all the time, but we've actually dialed back the pressure fairly often this season and last (and it hasn't helped). Today we really committed to a classic Duke style of defense for 40 minutes, and it was nice to see all the turnovers forced. (Now let's see what happens against FSU.) I've never really been bothered by how we pressure the point guard up high; it has a lot of benefits to go with its drawbacks. Things like not allowing the opponent to run its normal offense.

[uh_no]

before the game, devildeac said "i think duke will go on a 27-3 run or something"

well, we all know the score was stuck on 30-15 for some time...after which duke one-upped devildeac's prediction with a 28-3 run!

I think even more impressive was the fact that it was 7-5...and then duke outscored evansville by 42.

I don't care who you are, that's an impressive showing. Really happy with carter's effort today. even though the boards numbers weren't that high (21 turnovers and not many duke missed shots didn't help there), I really thought he put forward a strong effort and was far more engaged than he had been against BC and in the couple games before that. Best stat? 0 fouls.

Other shoutouts: 13 steals. many of them were great hustle plays
Duvall: 8-1. this kid is a darn good PG

Okay. enough with the cupcakes. lets bring on the ACC season (which I am also excited for because fewer people can't find their seat. Protip: you are not in row "1," you're in row "I")

Edit: efficiency was 157.1-57.6 JUST missing the rare century delta

[WHOneedsSOX]

The defense is not fixed. It is, however, improved. Just important was the effort level was much better on that end.

Yup, I agree. Guys were making an effort to get into help position. Pressure on the ball was really good although they didn't have any guards who could dribble well.