MBB: Duke 71, Clemson 77: Post-game thread

[g111m1c]

You thought the woman mopping oil onto the court was really mopping up sweat?

Those microfiber mops aren’t really absorptive. The floor wipers at Cameron use terry cloth towels because they work. Getting down on one’s hands and knees also helps one see whether or not they’ve actually dried up the spot.

The Clemson mopper lady appeared to give just cursory, obligatory pushes of the microfiber mop. She looked almost bothered to have to do anything at all.

 

[FerryFor50]

I remember Cooper shooting and missing a lot of 8-10 footers. I don't remember him attacking the rim much at all. He would drive right. They'd wall him off. And he would pull up.

According to the play by play in Yahoo, he missed 4 layups in the 2nd half - just one mid range jumper. All of which I recall him getting bumped the whole way.

 

[TywinBlue]

No MOTM yet ?

 

[SkyBrickey]

According to the play by play in Yahoo, he missed 4 layups in the 2nd half - just one mid range jumper. All of which I recall him getting bumped the whole way.

My YTTV recording glitched and I can't go look and verify, but that's a generous definition of a "layup" when he is driving right and shooting 6-8 feet away from the rim... I have no doubt he was bumped on those drives. But that's not what I would call attacking the rim.

 

[Sluggo]

i had a problem with the lack of fouls called on clemson that were obvious. Game was aggravating.

This ^^^
We got hosed on a lot of 50/50 balls/calls. The ball was given to Clemson or a foul was called on us. They would foul us on rebounds, no call, and come away with the ball. Extra possessions make a big difference. A few missed foul calls when we were shooting as well. Even Dickie V. saw Kon fouled on a three attempt but no call.

 

[gaap]

I remember Cooper shooting and missing a lot of 8-10 footers. I don't remember him attacking the rim much at all. He would drive right. They'd wall him off. And he would pull up.

7 shots at the rim per Torvik. Only 4 from midrange.

 

[azzefkram]

I think yall are shorting what Clemson did. This wasn’t luck. Play that game 10 times in Littlejohn and Duke loses 5 or 6.

Let’s see. Stats. Clemson HORRIBLE at FT line. They went 13 - 22. From the FT line. If they shoot 16 - 22 on FTs we aren’t in this game in last two minutes. Game over. They let us stay in game. We shot freakin 50% from 3 !!! FIFTY PERCENT. AND LOST. That concerns me.
Sure Clemson shot over 50%. They were shooting one on one layups by Schiefflen and Lakhin. How did 5his happen time and again? I guess we stayed on there shooters leaving their big a one on one easy matchup inside the lane. Can’t do that versus a quality big. Other teams will copy this. 4 out. One in versus Cooper or whomever. Layup city. I was astounded at their D but that’s what Brownell does. D is how they beat UK. brownell gets a ton out of “top 200 talent”. Good for the ACC. I hope we see them in the ACC tourney

They shot 12-18 on mid range 2s. Clemson is a good mid range shooting team but they aren't that good. They made 3 more 2s than their season average. They shot worse at the rim.

As for their D, it is a lot easier to defend when you are allowed to bump and grab cutters with impunity.

I do think that Duke switching 1-5 hurt more than it helped this game.

 

[SkyBrickey]

7 shots at the rim per Torvik. Only 4 from midrange.

I remember Proctor and Sion missing shots at the rim. I remember Cooper missing several 6-8 footers from the right side. Maybe Torvik is labeling these at the rim? Or maybe I'm old and just don't remember Cooper's missed layups. I felt like he settled tonight. And I felt like Kon settled in the 2H after attacking the rim in the 1H.

 

[FastBreak]

Some lingering questions after this game… do we have a weakness guarding big front court guys (can Khaman defend them? Can we guard the perimeter and win the rebounding battle at the same time? Have we gotten too used to beating weak ACC teams and thus inflating our sense of how good the team is?

No question we made this game close on our unusually good three point shooting, a couple of which were prayers that went in. This game was not really as close as it looked.

 

[sagegrouse]

Some lingering questions after this game… do we have a weakness guarding big front court guys (can Khaman defend them? Can we guard the perimeter and win the rebounding battle at the same time? Have we gotten too used to beating weak ACC teams and thus inflating our sense of how good the team is?

No question we made this game close on our unusually good three point shooting, a couple of which were prayers that went in. This game was not really as close as it looked.

Our made three pointers shouldn't count?

 

[heyman25]

Scheyer needs to get the team’s attention to gang rebounding from the outcome of the Clemson game. Duke’s front court is not getting positioned for success in rebounds. Proctor was the most consistent player in the game. I hope Gillis returns because he is a glue guy in games like this. Clemson is likely an elite 8 team. I hope this game gets Duke to be prepared for games like this. Officiating was very one sided but that is the ACC these days

 

[SkyBrickey]

Clemson is #29 in KenPom behind 8 SEC teams. Clemson could well go on a tourney run, but their resume lines up more like an R32 game than an E8 game.

 

[DBKilby]

Scheyer needs to get the team’s attention to gang rebounding from the outcome of the Clemson game. Duke’s front court is not getting positioned for success in rebounds. Proctor was the most consistent player in the game. I hope Gillis returns because he is a glue guy in games like this. Clemson is likely an elite 8 team. I hope this game gets Duke to be prepared for games like this. Officiating was very one sided but that is the ACC these days

I would be surprised if they are higher than a 7 seed. I think they are 1 and done if they can't get to a 6 seed.

 

[bigperm13]

Bush league trash with the wet floor. Officiating was more disgusting than a cancerous lung. Kudos to Clemson for barely winning in spite of everything going their way. Conference, shmonference I hope every other team in the ACC loses all their remaining games forever. Duke as the only bid from the conference is fine with me. Whatever, Cal on Wednesday.

 

[mkirsh]

Honestly not terribly upset with this loss. Duke played hard but was just a bit off and it led to too many breaks that went Clemson’s way - loose balls, deflections, tip out rebounds, etc just inches out of reach for Duke players. Cooper looked tired in the first half, getting beat for pull up jumpers on D and not explosive attacking the rim on O. He should have roasted Scheffin. Made up for it late with gutsy effort though. I fee Maluach is the one who got the really bad end of the whistle. He’s was pushed and shoved and hacked all day when rebounding (offense and defense) but was not allowed to play the same way. Great games by both Tyrese and Kon - their shooting was the story of the first half.

 

[KandG]

My father is going through a major fight with cancer currently, so seeing Dickie V back with the broadcasting team to cover this game definitely put a lump in my throat.

I am with the folks who are not bothered by the nature of this loss. Actually thought we controlled this game all the way through the beginning of the second half when we were still up 43-35, even though there were warning signs (Flagg continuing to look a bit off until the final flurry of points, our inability to finish inside).

Clemson stayed within striking distance in the first half, but our defense really limited their shot quality and they just made some tough shots.

In the second half though, Lakhin and Schieffelin controlled the game and I thought we looked overmatched inside, which has been exceedingly rare all season. It's fair to complain about the inconsistency of the officiating, but Clemson earned their comeback and I honestly felt we were fortunate to get back into it thanks to a missed dunk and missed FTs on their part, along with two very tough contested threes from Tyrese and Coop. But I loved the fight we showed to come back and possibly steal one at the end.

I know Coach Scheyer referred to Cooper possibly hitting a wall at this point in the season, and I hope (and expect) that he gets past this little funk and goes up to another level for the remainder of the regular season. Likewise for Maluach, who struggled a lot tonight.

Small nits:

- did not really like the late game possession with Sion going for the drive into heavy traffic without Cooper at least getting a touch to make the defense react
- also did not think it was smart for Tyrese to pass up the three and go for the quick two with no timeouts and us down 4 -- yes the game might have been close to over, but that drive killed the game for good (and was blocked by Hunter anyway)
- keeping Cooper in the game for the very last possession down 6 and risking a stampede by the students storming the court was baffling. Scheyer should have known better after previous court stormings and kept the starters off the floor and as close to the locker room as was permissible.

 

[goFurman]

Our made three pointers shouldn't count?

Sure. But you KNOW if Clemson hit some of those threes that we hit (T Proctor Hail Mary shot end of clock) we would say “eh, they won by luck, that’s not sustainable”. Have to call it both ways. In some ways we were lucky to be in this thing. I am a little concerned as Clemson is probably a 7 seed type team or so

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

If Clemson and Duke end up tied at the end of the season does Clemson finish ahead since they own the h2h win?

 

[PackMan97]

You had to lose sooner or later, at least it rant the cheats.

9f

 

[brevity]

Clemson 77, Duke 71 (recap, box score, highlights, condensed game, full replay, presser)

Duke men's basketball fell, 77-71, at Clemson on Saturday evening. Tyrese Proctor scored a season-high 23 points in the effort and Cooper Flagg put the Blue Devils ahead late, but Duke (20-3, 12-1 ACC) saw its winning streak snapped at 16 games.

Flagg and Khaman Maluach paced the team on the glass, with five caroms each, while Sion James dished a team-high five assists.

Proctor's 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including a 4-of-8 showing from beyond the arc, are one off his career high. Kon Knueppel also connected on four makes from deep, finishing with 14 total points.

Here are the ESPN highlights.

On Facebook, Duke MBB posted Jon Scheyer's press conference after the loss. (If it doesn't appear embedded below, there's a version on YouTube courtesy of The Clemson Insider.) GoDuke has the quotes.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=958103409746226

The Clemson Insider also provided postgame comments from their head coach Brad Brownell and players Chase Hunter and Viktor Lakhin.

Coach Brownell: "I have a lot of respect for Jon [Scheyer] and what he's doing at Duke. That's not an easy spot; he took over, obviously, for Coach K, who's on the Mount Rushmore of college basketball. He's got them playing at an extremely high level, and they're doing everything at a high level. That's not easy to do in this time of college basketball.

But tonight's about our guys, mustering up uh the spirit and energy after a tough loss [to Georgia Tech in 3OT] and really just doing what we needed to do to give ourselves a chance to win, and then making the plays that you have to make. Hard, tough environment. Tough game. That was awesome. I can't thank our fans enough..."

No MOTM yet ?

I don't know if it's a tradition, but in recent years DBR has not put up a MOTM poll for losses. In this season, I didn't do polls for the Kentucky and Kansas games either.