Duke vs. Louisville (Sun 12/8, 6pm ET, ACCN) Pregame and In-Game Thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
tommy said:
This is a game where I want to see something out of Coach Scheyer. Look, we have a better team than Louisville. We are simply more talented, stronger, and deeper. But we can lose this game if we do not come prepared to play from the tip. We are coming off a physically draining and emotional win over Auburn. We are now going to play our first conference road game. This game is going to be about being emotionally prepared. No allowing them to run out to an early10 point lead. That can easily lead to us struggling to come back, and it being a slog the rest of the way. I want to see Coach Shire and the staff have this team emotionally ready to jump on these guys and get the convincing win that we should get against a team of this caliber, even on the road. No excuses.
Click to expand...
the slow starts are infuriating, and an indicator of an unprepared team. It has been a hallmark of Jon's tenure, especially this year.
 
SkyBrickey said:
Just to round out the per 40 comparison between Lively (full season) and Man Man (8 games).

Lively: 10.1 pts, 4.7 blks
Man: 16.7 pts, 2.2 blks

I do think Khaman's blocks really undersell his rim protection. He is so dramatically imposing inside that I think players avoid shooting the ball anywhere near him - or launch it so high that it has little chance of going in. I see it happen multiple times in game after game.
Click to expand...
I agree but Dereck had that effect as well. Khaman will get there. I expect his block rate to be in 9-10% range by the time the ACC tournament rolls around.
 
azzefkram said:
Dereck was 12.3% Oboards, 17.8% Dboards, and 12.8% blocks. Khaman is 11.6%, 16.4%, and 6.3%. I am not worried about Khaman, but I would like him to be better on the defensive boards and especially with blocks. He's had a rough few games with blocks and rebounds. For a little perspective, Khaman has a lower defensive rebounding rate than Sion and, in a hooray for small sample sizes, Spencer.
Click to expand...
Ok, true. But if you ran Lively's first 8 games vs Man's first 8 games, Man would look much better.

All our freshman bigs get better as the season goes on. I think it's a safe bet that Khaman will too.
 
DavidBenAkiva said:
I feel bad for Louisville with their depth so depleted by injury. They have suffered through just about as bad of a decline as a once-great program has experienced. The variety of scandals has almost been impressive, too. Now that they have hope again, this season is off to an uneven start. At least they have light at the end of the tunnel.

Duke should be in good shape if they can limit their own turnovers and rebound those missed 3s. This is a game where Duke should be able to suffocate the Cardinals and get easy baskets on deflected passes. I am a little concerned about an emotional letdown after the Auburn victory. On the other hand, Duke has already won its first true road game of the year. This could be the difference between Duke sweating out seeding and placement on Selection Sunday or just another in a long winning streak. I hope it is the latter.
Click to expand...

They seem to have made a good hire in Kelsey from CofC. I have a connection at Charleston and they still pull for him. While at CofC he took them to the ncaa and they were strong … and in ncaa went second round only to lose a very close one to San Diego State who went on to the FF and National Title game. SDSU closest game may have been CofC prior to FF. Heck some of the better players at Louisville are direct Charleston transfers! Reyna Smith etc. Give Kelsey a year or two. Probably one of better ACC hires

Unfortunately this year they have lost several to injury. A few preseason AND their leading rebounder. Good for Duke. Bad for the Louisville under Kelsey - who I now pull for with him at helm

Kenny Payne had 12-*wins in TWO YEARS. Kelsey already has 5. Despite injuries I expect him to exceed the 12 wins in his first year … they aren’t great but did beat WVU. A good win
 
Last edited:
The one thing that Louisville has done really well this season is force turnovers, 13th in turnover rate according to Torvik. Duke has been fairly good at limiting turnovers. Let's hope Duke can do that tomorrow night.

Louisville has shot very poorly from outside, making only 27.3% for the season.
 
SkyBrickey said:
Ok, true. But if you ran Lively's first 8 games vs Man's first 8 games, Man would look much better.

All our freshman bigs get better as the season goes on. I think it's a safe bet that Khaman will too.
Click to expand...
I am not worried about Khaman at all. Maybe he's hitting the freshman wall early. As DBK mentioned, Dereck started the season with an injury.

As for all our freshman bigs getting better, Jeter and Bolden would like a word.
 
Agree with other posters about Hepburn. He’s the straw that stirs L’ville’s drink. If they let him have his way and he penetrates and is a pest, this road game can get dicey! We need to take control and keep the foot on the gas pedal. They have no one who matches up with Cooper! Our guards are.bigger and longer. Dropping this conf. opener would not be an encouraging way to start! Let’s go Duke!
 
brevity said:
PROBABLE STARTERS

6-2 senior guard Chucky Hepburn (15.1 pts, 3.1 reb, 4.5 ast, 3.5 stl)
6-2 senior guard Reyne Smith (12.5 pts, 3.1 reb, 0.5 ast)
6-6 fifth-year wing Terrence Edwards (10.8 pts, 3.4 reb, 2.4 ast)
6-6 fifth-year guard J'Vonne Hadley (9.8 pts, 7.5 reb, 1.5 ast)
6-11 sixth-year forward Noah Waterman (6.8 pts, 4.3 reb, 0.5 ast)
Click to expand...
Excellent preview, thanks

For the semi casual fan, could you add the players numbers?

I've wanted to request this from ESPN for years so that I can understand who is who in the box score. They finally seem to have received my telepathic message and changed from position to player number - Yeah!!

starters
Khaman Maluach#9
Cooper Flagg#2
Kon Knueppel#7
Tyrese Proctor#5
Sion James#14
bench
Maliq Brown#6
Mason Gillis#18
Isaiah Evans#3
Caleb Foster#1
 
kcduke75 said:
Excellent preview, thanks

For the semi casual fan, could you add the players numbers?
Click to expand...

That’s a good idea. It could come in handy for the next game, against Incarnate Word. I don’t know any of those guys.

Other suggestions are welcome, especially with the tale of the tape.

I know that @blazindw and @JasonEvans use a bunch of stats in their game preview podcasts that I don’t, which is fine. Variety and spices.

(Generally, I only include stats that I can access for free, and that I can understand, or at least explain.)
 
DukieInBrasil said:
the slow starts are infuriating, and an indicator of an unprepared team. It has been a hallmark of Jon's tenure, especially this year.
Click to expand...
Auburn came out firing from the tipoff and, after a missed Broome layup, proceeded to hit 5 consecutive shots, including 3 for 3 beyond the arc -- two of which were launched by Kelly from at least 6 feet beyond the line, making them virtually indefensible. In the meantime, Duke missed a couple of three-pointers and a couple of heavily contested layups. I don't know to what extent the coaches can fairly be faulted for that disparity during the first four minutes. Sometimes teams come out hot and sometimes teams come out cold, even for the best of coaches.

To me, the most important element is how the coach and the team respond to early adversity. Because what ultimately matters is the score after 40 minutes, not after the first 4. While the slow starts are certainly frustrating -- I'm sure for the players and coaches even more than for the fans -- I've been impressed and encouraged by the resilience of this team to recover and overcome those early deficits. Against Kentucky and Kansas, the problem was their inability to maintain a lead once they got it and then close out the game strong. If the coaches can help the players improve on that end of the game, I'm less concerned about them getting off to a fast start. When the time comes to compete for the right to cut down nets, teams that excel in the second half usually come out on top.
 
Stray Gator said:
Auburn came out firing from the tipoff and, after a missed Broome layup, proceeded to hit 5 consecutive shots, including 3 for 3 beyond the arc -- two of which were launched by Kelly from at least 6 feet beyond the line, making them virtually indefensible. In the meantime, Duke missed a couple of three-pointers and a couple of heavily contested layups. I don't know to what extent the coaches can fairly be faulted for that disparity during the first four minutes. Sometimes teams come out hot and sometimes teams come out cold, even for the best of coaches.

To me, the most important element is how the coach and the team respond to early adversity. Because what ultimately matters is the score after 40 minutes, not after the first 4. While the slow starts are certainly frustrating -- I'm sure for the players and coaches even more than for the fans -- I've been impressed and encouraged by the resilience of this team to recover and overcome those early deficits. Against Kentucky and Kansas, the problem was their inability to maintain a lead once they got it and then close out the game strong. If the coaches can help the players improve on that end of the game, I'm less concerned about them getting off to a fast start. When the time comes to compete for the right to cut down nets, teams that excel in the second half usually come out on top.
Click to expand...
I agree completely with this. I think the coaches are very good at preparing. I'm sure they're looking at the slow starts and analyzing why they have occurred and if there is anything the team needs to do differently. But the team certainly has bounced back from early deficits, which is very encouraging.
 
MChambers said:
I agree completely with this. I think the coaches are very good at preparing. I'm sure they're looking at the slow starts and analyzing why they have occurred and if there is anything the team needs to do differently. But the team certainly has bounced back from early deficits, which is very encouraging.
Click to expand...
To state the obvious, there is a mental and a physical side of game prep, and the coaches have plenty of approaches and angles. It probably varies with each team and takes some experimentation and changes over time. There may also be a viewpoint that it all evens out in 40 minutes, so the start may not be paramount. Just my 2 cents.
 
DoubleBlue said:
To state the obvious, there is a mental and a physical side of game prep, and the coaches have plenty of approaches and angles. It probably varies with each team and takes some experimentation and changes over time. There may also be a viewpoint that it all evens out in 40 minutes, so the start may not be paramount. Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...
K certainly had a bunch of games with slow starts over the years!

-jk
 
Mark Williams did not come into his own f
Or really play that much until the 3/4 mark of his freshman year. He was sitting on the bench in January and he became dominant in the ACC tournament that year before the season ended because of Covid.!
 
In case anyone needs to be reminded about how tough and close conference games tend to be in the ACC, just take a look at the scoreboard to see how the early Saturday games are going down the stretch -- all three are currently one-possession games, including Clemson (8-1) at Miami (3-5) with just over 2 minutes left.
 
Stray Gator said:
In case anyone needs to be reminded about how tough and close conference games tend to be in the ACC, just take a look at the scoreboard to see how the early Saturday games are going down the stretch -- all three are currently one-possession games, including Clemson (8-1) at Miami (3-5) with just over 2 minutes left.
Click to expand...
Duke has little margin for error after the performance the ACC put on in OOC. This concerns me about the conference schedule.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top