MBB: Duke 77, Va Tech 63 Post-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Put your post-game thoughts here.

[scottdude8]

Under-the-radar takeaway from this one: if there was any remaining doubt, Joey Baker has officially been “freed”. The fact that K had faith in him to keep him on the court for long stretches even when he wasn’t shooting says volumes about how far he’s come. He’ll never be a defensive stalwart but he’s definitely passable on that end and he hustles hard even when he’s outmatched. This is the development a lot of us wanted to see this year as a potential to push this team to the next level.

Obviously not the biggest takeaway, but something that could pay big dividends down the line.

Also, Jack White just makes winning plays. Period.

[robed deity]

Great contributions from everyone. Really good Goldwire game. It's a good matchup for him, and his athleticism and physicality were huge.

[Bluedevil114]

Put your post-game thoughts here.

What a very satisfying week versus the last week. Team definitely got better. Go Duke.

[Bob Green]

Excellent conference road win!

The team really stepped up in the 2nd half.

[proelitedota]

The key to a good game from AOC is to play him when we're up 12 late.

[UrinalCake]

Great win, we obviously can't take wins like this for granted even if VT is unranked. Got knocked back early as VT had much more energy playing at home and being rested, but we responded really well. Keeping Carey on the bench was the right move against this unique lineup. Was really impressed how when he got back in the game it would have been natural for him to want to force up a shot after sitting for so long, but he instead made a great play and passed it out to Hurt for an open three.

The team moved the ball really well, didn't panic when they got down and finally was able to play their game in the second half. The small lineup allowed us to switch everything and generate the turnovers that we thrive on. Really satisfying win. As I said in the in-game chat, we've beaten a big physical team and a small great shooting team within a span of four days. Really nice to have that versatility and depth.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Great win tonight! Nice change of strategy going small. He is, after all, the GOAT! LGD GTHc!

[ChrisP]

After allowing 41 pts in the first, we held them to roughly 1/2 that in the 2nd stanza. Nice! And big props to AOC not to get discouraged - I felt his back to back hoops (a 3 followed by a sweet pull up for 2) really took any belief in a comeback out of VT's collective minds. Really interesting game and lineups. This K guy seems like a pretty good coach.

[CDu]

Excellent conference road win!

The team really stepped up in the 2nd half.

Nailed it, Bob. Two really nice, satisfying wins. Lots to like in the team’s performance this week.

[follyblue]

Huge to win in Blacksburg with not a lot from Carey. Nice team win.

[bbosbbos]

Great win tonight! Nice change of strategy going small. He is, after all, the GOAT! LGD GTHc!

Ozzie, could not agree more. This is the reason why he is the GOAT.

[CDu]

After allowing 41 pts in the first, we held them to roughly 1/2 that in the 2nd stanza. Nice! And big props to AOC not to get discouraged - I felt his back to back hoops (a 3 followed by a sweet pull up for 2) really took any belief in a comeback out of VT's collective minds. Really interesting game and lineups. This K guy seems like a pretty good coach.

We just held a top-40 offense to under 1 point per possession. On their home court. On basically no rest. With one of our key starters limited physically. Let that sink in, folks.

[Saratoga2]

It appears that our small team is better than their small team. Good to rest Hurt and Carey against that lineup and use our smaller quick guys. Moore had a nice game tonight. Really nice week for the guys. Should move us back up in the standings, maybe even to the top 5.

[TheOldBattleship]

As others have said, this was a fantastic game from K. From going to the press to get the guys going defensively to being willing to experiment with some different lineups, to leaning on guys when they were exploiting matchups, to keeping us calm when they were hitting tough shots at an unsustainable rate, this was an absolute masterclass from Coach.

[gep]

Couldn’t watch the game... only boxscore. Looking for comments on Stanley. Not play much? Hope he is not hurt again...

[devilnfla]

35 bench points, wow! Might be the best performance from our bench in years.

[phaedrus]

We just held a top-40 offense to under 1 point per possession. On their home court. On basically no rest. With one of our key starters limited physically. Let that sink in, folks.

No rest? Didn’t we last play Tuesday (albeit late)? Maybe I’m missing something.

[Saratoga2]

No rest? Didn’t we last play Tuesday (albeit late)? Maybe I’m missing something.

Got in at 4am, exams, flew on Thursday. Low rest. Low prep\aration.

[TheOldBattleship]

Couldn’t watch the game... only boxscore. Looking for comments on Stanley. Not play much? Hope he is not hurt again...

He was clearly rusty. Didn't feel fully comfortable pushing it on the drive. Looked pretty solid defensively. Definitely no reinjury issues, as far as I could tell. This just felt like a tough matchup for him to try to ease his way back into action. Totally understandable, of course, especially since this was apparently just his second day of being able to do full-contact basketball work. Good to see him out there, and looking forward to seeing him back to himself soon.