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  1. #1

    MBB: Duke v Coppin St (Sat 11/28, 2:00 pm, ACCNX) Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

    Let's try this again, shall we?

    Duke looks to open its season on Saturday afternoon by facing Coppin State. The Eagles call Baltimore, Maryland their home and are coached by a familiar face, Baltimore native Juan Dixon. The former Terrapin and NBA player is entering his 4th season as a head coach and looks to build off of slow but steady progress. Dixon has won 5, 8, and then 11 games as head coach and finished 7-9 in the MEAC last season. His team is about the weakest opponent that Duke should face this season. Coppin State comes in at 332 in KenPom and 313 in T-Rank. They were an absolutely atrocious shooting team last season, hitting just 28.1% of their 3-point attempts and just 63.6% from the free throw line. They do not have much size, either, as they have one player that stands above 6'7" on their roster after 7'1" C Brendan Medley-Bacon transferred to VCU.

    We should see a pretty fast pace in this one. KenPom rates the Eagles a top 25 team in terms of tempo after ranking 12th-fastest last season. This should give the team a decent warmup before the Michigan State game on Tuesday night. I expect to see nearly everyone on Duke's roster get a few minutes in this one. Let's root for health for everyone involved. Go Duke!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    NC

    Scouting Report

    Note: I'm doing this scouting report hesitantly, as it may prove to be a waste of time based on what we've already seen happen this season. But, here goes.

    Coppin State is a program in transition. Juan Dixon has brought in 7 new faces (2 freshmen, 3 JuCo transfers, 2 regular transfers) to a team that was pretty bad last year (11-20 overal, 7-9 in the MEAC). They also lost their starting center (Medley-Bacon) to transfer to VCU and a few other key players to graduation. It's going to be a very different looking team this year.

    They will play small and fast, and will shoot a lot of 3s. They don't get many rebounds and they don't block shots, but they are not awful at forcing turnovers. It's likely to be a bad team again (that's life in the MEAC).

    C: They only have one on the roster in Kenan Sarvan (6'10", 225lb redshirt freshman from the Netherlands). It's unclear how much he'll play this year, as he was a redshirt last year. I suspect they'll go more forward heavy given their incoming group in the frontcourt (see below).

    Forwards: Anthony Tarke (6'6", 220lb grad transfer from UTEP/NJIT), Domantas Sakickas (6'7", 230lb JuCo transfer from Lithuania), and Bryce Hunt (6'7", 225lb junior JuCo transfer) are new to the lineup and are likely to make up the frontcourt for the Eagles. Tarke is athletic with a chiseled frame, and plays a high-energy game. He's not a great shooter (not abysmal for a forward, but not great), and is sort of in the Henry Coleman ilk. Bryce Hunt is a slightly bigger version of the same concept, but with less shooting skill. Sakickas is a little more of a shooter and less athletic than the other two, but he's still got the rugged build to bang inside.

    Wings: Koby Thomas (6'6", 190lb fifth-year senior after 2 years at RoMo) is the star of the team, a senior returning as their leading scorer last year. Thomas is a fantastic athlete whose skill set is playing catchup. He's dangerous in transition, plays above the rim, and is capable of picking up steals and blocks, but his shooting touch is quite raw. He's the type of player who feasts off mistakes and opportunity buckets rather than a polished scorer. Because of his length and athleticism, he could play some smallball 4 for them if needed. Chereef Knox (6'5", 210lb sophomore transfer from St Joe's) is not as athletic but more smooth and polished on the wing, with a little more of an outside shooting touch. Reggie James (6'4", 195lb sophomore) is athletic with a decent shooting touch coming off the bench. Redshirt freshman Isiah Gross (6'4", 210lb) Anthony Tarke's little brother Nendah Tarke (6'4", 190lb freshman) round out the group, but should probably play sparingly.

    Guards: Dejuan Clayton (6'2", 185lb 5th year senior) is the other star of the team. He's a downhill-type lead guard who forces turnovers, scores in transition, and handles the ball really well, but isn't much of a shooter. He's a veteran and one of the stars of the MEAC though, so our guards should be wary. Behind him is Dwaine Jones (6'5", 175lb freshman). Jones is a role-playing style PG, pass-first and defense-first.

    The team should be a bit more dynamic and versatile this year, and could give a guy like Hurt trouble with their physicality and athleticism. So that'll be a nice first test for our sophomore F/C. Clayton should be a nice test for Roach as well, given his experience and savvy. And the Thomas/Moore matchup could be fun as well.

    In all, it's a veteran opponent that plays a frenetic style, so that could be challenging for an opener. But in terms of talent, we're talking night and day between Duke and Coppin State, even with this not being as top-heavy a Duke team as we are used to seeing.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Vermont
    losing a starting center named Bacon has to hurt them, Cdu, right?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, D.C.

    Well

    Quote Originally Posted by budwom View Post
    losing a starting center named Bacon has to hurt them, Cdu, right?
    Not just Bacon, but Medley-Bacon. Eggs and bacon, scallops wrapped in bacon, onion and bacon tart, and so on.

  5. #5
    I think we should all prepare for Saturday's game to be canceled too...per twitter :

    Coppin State announces its men's basketball games today and tomorrow at the Marshall Memorial MTE have been cancelled because of COVID-19 issues with Tier 1 personnel. I am told the issues are with Coppin. @WMAR2News

  6. #6
    Son of a ....... I am a total wanker

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, D.C.

    Well

    Quote Originally Posted by TJ99 View Post
    I think we should all prepare for Saturday's game to be canceled too...per twitter :

    Coppin State announces its men's basketball games today and tomorrow at the Marshall Memorial MTE have been cancelled because of COVID-19 issues with Tier 1 personnel. I am told the issues are with Coppin. @WMAR2News
    On the bright side, it could mean we don't have to figure out how to stream the game to our televisions from some other device.

    Gonna be a weird season, if there is one. I'm fine with calling it off now, however.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by TJ99 View Post
    I think we should all prepare for Saturday's game to be canceled too...per twitter :

    Coppin State announces its men's basketball games today and tomorrow at the Marshall Memorial MTE have been cancelled because of COVID-19 issues with Tier 1 personnel. I am told the issues are with Coppin. @WMAR2News
    Can't they find some other team that needs a game? I NEED to watch some Duke hoops!

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by hallcity View Post
    Can't they find some other team that needs a game? I NEED to watch some Duke hoops!
    Maybe one of the high schools in Durham would like to scrimmage? Or maybe the Duke women's team?

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Durham
    Quote Originally Posted by hallcity View Post
    Can't they find some other team that needs a game? I NEED to watch some Duke hoops!
    the women played a great game earlier
    1200. DDMF.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by TJ99 View Post
    I think we should all prepare for Saturday's game to be canceled too...per twitter :

    Coppin State announces its men's basketball games today and tomorrow at the Marshall Memorial MTE have been cancelled because of COVID-19 issues with Tier 1 personnel. I am told the issues are with Coppin. @WMAR2News
    Great - a team of Freshman get to play their first game against MI State - Geez.
       

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    What is "Tier 1 personnel?"
    "This is the best of all possible worlds."
    Dr. Pangloss - Candide

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Hot'Lanta... home of the Falcons!
    Quote Originally Posted by DavidBenAkiva View Post
    Son of a .... I am a total wanker
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Colorado
    Quote Originally Posted by dukelifer View Post
    Great - a team of Freshman get to play their first game against MI State - Geez.
    Trial by fire for our young guys. Let's see what they got!

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Vermont
    every team is a salmon this season, swimming upstream.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Quote Originally Posted by chrishoke View Post
    What is "Tier 1 personnel?"
    Yeah, I was thinking like a Navy Seal at first, but, from an NCAA document on Covid:

    Tier 1: This is the highest exposure tier and consists of individuals for whom physical distancing and face coverings are not possible or effective during athletic training or competition. Examples of relevant individuals include student-athletes, coaches, athletic trainers and physical therapists, medical staff, equipment staff and officials.

    Quote Originally Posted by dukelifer View Post
    Great - a team of Freshman get to play their first game against MI State - Geez.
    Yup, not ideal. I know someone's going to bring up the 2018-19 team crushing Kentucky in its first game, but:

    (1) Crucially, that was also Kentucky's first game of the season, and they also relied heavily on freshmen. MSU will potentially have two games under its belt while Duke has none, and MSU will be much less reliant on freshmen in the first place

    (2) We had two top-5 picks in Zion and RJ.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Troublemaker View Post
    Yeah, I was thinking like a Navy Seal at first, but, from an NCAA document on Covid:

    Tier 1: This is the highest exposure tier and consists of individuals for whom physical distancing and face coverings are not possible or effective during athletic training or competition. Examples of relevant individuals include student-athletes, coaches, athletic trainers and physical therapists, medical staff, equipment staff and officials.



    Yup, not ideal. I know someone's going to bring up the 2018-19 team crushing Kentucky in its first game, but:

    (1) Crucially, that was also Kentucky's first game of the season, and they also relied heavily on freshmen. MSU will potentially have two games under its belt while Duke has none, and MSU will be much less reliant on freshmen in the first place

    (2) We had two top-5 picks in Zion and RJ.
    And the team played several games in Canada- albeit not at full strength
       

  18. #18
    So much for our cupcake non-conference schedule. Who knows... might end up with only MI State and Illinois... ironic. COVID does suck

  19. #19

    Exquisite metaphor

    Quote Originally Posted by budwom View Post
    every team is a salmon this season, swimming upstream.
    Budwom, i hope that your apt salmon metaphor isn’t completely accurate. Taking comfort in the knowledge that “no metaphor walks on all fours” [which seems to privilege quadrupeds], we know that salmon are swimming upstream to spawn [I hope that this does not automatically trigger I am a wanker] and if they are strong and determined enough to [don’t want to be a wanker] they die.
    In all seriousness, I find it intriguing that our society, including Duke, so strenuously strives to play a game, when there are life and death consequences. I mean I LOVE Duke basketball, but I certainly would not want one human being to suffer grievously or die from COVID, so that I could watch a college basketball game.
    “I love it. Coach, when we came here, we had a three-hour meeting about the core values. If you really represent the core values, it means diving on the floor, sacrificing your body for your teammates, no matter how much you’re up by or how much you’re down by, always playing hard.” -- Zion

  20. #20
    ECU needs a game. Just saying.

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