I was refereeing volleyball last night and couldn't watch until this morning so not sure if this has already been mentioned but I think the Duke fans in the arena last night deserve a huge shout out. Around the 12 minute mark in the 2nd half the teams were trading buckets for a few possessions, Duke went up by 2 and the fans all stood up and went nuts. I believe we got several stops in a row after that and eventually built the lead up to double digits. Great job by the crowd there to pump some energy into a bunch of very tired legs.
MBB: ACC Champs! Duke 73, 'Ville 62 - Postgame Thread
- Thread starter -jk
- Start date
I am always surprised when opponents don't punish Duke for what Geisinger calls a zone on the weak side while we double the three-point shooter. I guess it is testament to the hard work that the weak side defenders put in to recover against the skip pass. It has to be exhausting.
Alan_Wilson
Member
Late to the party but that was the Tyrese we need. And man big Pat has been such a revelation.
Mike Petrik
Member
Agreed. Duke teams have never ever played soft, but we've also never been known to win by physical intimidation. We have certainly lost more games by being bullied than we ever won that way. This team is different. Can't be bullied by anyone. Probably are most physical team ever.Champions!!
I just want to add one small thing. The playbook had been: Beat Duke by being physical.
Try that this year: Get physical with Sion James. Get physical with Kon, Coop. Yeah, see how that works for you.
DrChainsaw
Member
There were stretches of the game that definitely reminded me of the mosh pits of my youth.
boligrafous
Member
It was interesting to hear Scheyer talk about Kaizen in the presser. The most common thing people mention about Kaizen is continuous improvement. But another main element is involving every employee in making incremental improvements. That sounds like what Kon is stressing. No, none of them were trying to replace Cooper or Maliq. Each was focused on doing what he could do to make the team better.
SkyBrickey
Member
Great stuff. Jon reminding us all that there's not just switching 1-5 and drop coverage. There is also doubling and trapping the ballhandler with our big man. This won us the game.
I rewatched the 2H and it's incredible watching both Khaman and Pat successfully trapping far from the basket and then sprinting all the way back to the lane to find the opposing big man. They both executed pretty much flawlessly. Louisville could just not figure out how to take advantage.
CameronBlue
Member
Going on memory alone but it seemed as if they trapped Edwards alone, clearly a skilled shooter but not a skilled ball handler—putting Edwards in an uncomfortable position of having to make decisions with the ball.
wilson
Member
This has long been one of my favorite parts of watching college basketball, and to me it's one of the great hallmarks of our excellent program. I love these stretches when you can see a young person improving as a player almost minute by minute.
Pat and Khaman in particular are now demonstrably better players than they were literally a week ago. Provided that we can get Cooper back at something resembling full strength, I really like our team's chances in the next few weeks. This is so much fun.
simplyluvin
Member
After rewatching the game, I saw two underrated things. Firstly, our team rebounding was solid in the second half. ManMan got his, but Kon was really excellent on the boards, and Mason helped to clean the glass as well. The lineup with one of our bigs, Mason, and our three perimeter guys was staunch on defense. As mentioned above, trapping the ball-handler with our big man was a disruptor, and I doubt we could have done that without seasoned guys like Sion and Mason to cover the back.
I also love how steady Sion is. He has been an absolute Godsend. I think I worried the most before the season who would be our primary ball-handler and lamented that the one missing piece might be a prototypical PG, but I love how Sion's ball-handling is just so stable and secure. In point of fact, our starting lineup has 4 good ball-handlers, and we have playmaking in other areas. Late in the game, as Sion was bringing it up and we were about to get a 10-second violation, I thought I saw Sion call a timeout with a second to spare. Might have been CJS who called it, but I thought I saw Sion make the motion too call TO as well. Veteran guards are so invaluable.
I also love how steady Sion is. He has been an absolute Godsend. I think I worried the most before the season who would be our primary ball-handler and lamented that the one missing piece might be a prototypical PG, but I love how Sion's ball-handling is just so stable and secure. In point of fact, our starting lineup has 4 good ball-handlers, and we have playmaking in other areas. Late in the game, as Sion was bringing it up and we were about to get a 10-second violation, I thought I saw Sion call a timeout with a second to spare. Might have been CJS who called it, but I thought I saw Sion make the motion too call TO as well. Veteran guards are so invaluable.
75Crazie
Member
Just one quibble from an otherwise excellent post (as usual, from you). I expect Florida will get at least equal billing with Duke, particularly given uncertainty about how Flagg will bounce back from his injury, and I think they deserve it. A Florida/Duke final game, with both teams at near strength, would be titanic.
I hope so because I'm sure their banner from 1970 is pretty lonely at this point hanging by itself. LOL!
Scheyer implemented the Kaizen philosophy in the pre-season for the team to focus on small, incremental improvements each day, and trust that it will eventually result in them accomplishing their larger goals. It's cool to hear the player still talk about it. It shows how they have embraced it.
Rich
Member
Wants to write something, bites tongue
Duke Blue Lemur
Member
The tournament shows the importance of giving Foster playing time during the season. His play, though not perfect, was invaluable to us winning. I thought he shined in the first half against Carolina, helping us to the large lead that we needed every bit of. His minutes last night were needed due to fouls and fatigue. He helped us be fresher at the end than the Cards. I hope he can continue to grow in confidence during the tournament and comes back next year as a veteran leader.
OMG, I was just watching Field of 68's video on the Duke/Louisville game, and this 30-second section at the end about one of Kon's interview answers is amazing.
[Kon] had an interview yesterday where somebody asked him about the pressure of taking free throws at the end of the game, and his answer was, "Yeah, you know, I'm confident, I make my free throws. I just told big Pat not to do something dumb while I shoot them like go and get a lane violation."
[Kon] had an interview yesterday where somebody asked him about the pressure of taking free throws at the end of the game, and his answer was, "Yeah, you know, I'm confident, I make my free throws. I just told big Pat not to do something dumb while I shoot them like go and get a lane violation."
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breakingglass
Member
Haven’t seen it mentioned, but Evans dropped two incredible passes into the paint that our bigs couldn’t corral. He keeps getting better in all phases.
Indoor66
Well-known member
That's the 2nd time for him. (And others.)
DoubleBlue
Member
I loved the great defense by Man Man where he went toe-to-toe with Edwards and blocked his shot:
wilson
Member
His footwork was exceptional on that possession. Seriously impressive for a player of his size and relative lack of basketball experience. If he can continue to develop a serviceable jumper, I think Khaman has really exciting NBA potential.