MBB: Duke 72, KU 75 Post-game Thread

Interesting substitution pattern tonight.

Khaman and Maliq shared the 40m at the 5

But then Gillis ended up playing backup minutes as follows: 2min at the 4 backing up Flagg, 3min at the 3 backing up K2, and 10min at the 2 backing up Foster.

Jon clearly made an effort to get more minutes for Gillis tonight. Gillis played 15. James played 20. Foster played 15.

Good move?
 
Dukehk said:
He probably needs at least another year or two to even get to Roaches level.

Hopefully he sticks with us.
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Maybe upperclassman Roach, but as a sophomore Jeremy put up nearly identical numbers (8.6 pts, 3.2 ast) as he did as a freshman and only because he started shooting better late in the season. He reached mid-February averaging 7.4 points and with shooting splits of 40/30/71. By that point, he had yet to have a double figure scoring game against a power conference opponent while average 6.4 points against them.

Long story short, it's early. Hopefully Caleb kicks it into gear soon and consistently.
 
heyman25 said:
That is a possibility. He has excellent form but 3/19 in 3 big games is a worry. Shooters got to shoot but not a good stat in close games.
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He was 1-for-16 against UK & KU, but 3-for-6 with a couple late daggers at Arizona. He could've shot poorly in the two off games, hit another 3 at some point mid-game, and everyone wouldn't be concerned because Duke barely won instead of barely lost.

Had he shot a lot and poorly in all three I'd get the concern he's not ready to be relied on to shoot so much and carry such an offensive burden, but he's an excellent shooter and he did come through in one of the big games.

Even Steph Curry craps out 1-for-13 shooting nights and nobody makes four out of every 10 3-pointers they attempt. Kon will be fine. And it's not like Luke was out there on cold nights as a frosh putting up eight assists like Kon just did. The guy can play.
 
Wow. Nothing surprising in this thread, but wow.

We have a young team that has barely played together. We were a few inches from taking the #1 team to overtime. We have tough players all over the floor and we are only going to get better over the next four months.

Anyone want to place a pie bet on whether Duke is a 1 or 2 seed? Or are you still just feeling cranky until the sun comes up?

One pie that pays to me if Duke is not one of the first eight teams in the bracket. Open for 24 hours.
 
Before I read the prior postings I would like to start on a positive note.

Duke played perhaps the best team in the country on a neutrral court to a nail biter which we could have won. Kansas is physical, experienced, athletic, quick and is very well coached. They definately knocked us back but we were scrappy and even took the lead on a couple of occasions before failing to finish in the end.

I thought Maliq had an incredible game getting his hands on countless balls and being disruptive despite the refs hitting him with unfair foul calls.

Our defense was solid and active. Kansas shot well even though we were often in their grill. They were extremely good from the foul linewhile we continnue to give up too many points there.

Clearly we could have done better. Kon just could not hit a 3 although he had several open opportunitites. He did adopt the role of playmaker and did that well.

Cooper fell into the same traps of trying to dribble through double teams and using the spin move against a good interior defense as he did against Kentucky. He has the ball in his hands a lot so needs to learn to recognize the defense and pass off, while others need to make themselves available and by doing so make the defense pay.

Jon has a job to do as the deficiencies against top caliber teams can be reduced. We are right there among the best teams but need to correct our mistakes faster than other teams correct theirs.
 
scottdude8 said:
I know that this thread is going to get ugly, fast. I’m mad too. I literally dropped to my knees when Kon’s shot rimmed out.

But I can’t help but be encouraged by this team’s toughness and resilience. I saw a lot of good adjustments in the second half, up until the last 30 seconds (which I imagine most of this thread will dissect). While the Dickinson call went our way, a LOT of others went against us… and I doubt Kon goes 0-8 from 3 again in his life.

This stings like heck right now, but I feel better about this young team right now than I have a lot of other young Duke teams that have had more wins in the non-conference. If these guys learn and use this as fuel, we’re gonna be fine.

Doesn’t mean this doesn’t suck.
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agree. I still love this team.

reminds me of the Tenn. game in the NCAA 2 years ago. better to have a game like this early in the season

that being said, what a bunch of dirty MFers
 
I've learned to make peace with the randomness of shooting and close games. It makes moments like this easier.

Like UK, it was mostly good process until late. We didn't execute in the final minute, but we otherwise played winning basketball. Hate to lose close games but it happens.

Credit to Kansas. They had not looked the part of their #1 ranking until last night. They came out ON FIRE and shot really well all game. Jon got his defense right, and we turned them into jump shooters. Unfortunately, they hit them. If KU can shoot like that regularly, they might become the best team in the country. Also, their D on Flagg was really good. Cooper won't face many matchups like KJ Adams this year.

From a process perspective, I'm pleased with where we are. In 3 big games, we've got one comprehensive win and 2 games that were decided in the final seconds. All the numbers suggest we're looking the part of a title contender. With even modest improvement this team can hit every one of its goals.

From a results perspective, it hurts. With just a couple of different bounces, we could have been 6-0 and in great position for a 1 seed. Now we're behind in that regard, but there's a lot of season to go. Also, look around. Houston, UConn, and UNC already have already lost twice. You play a tough schedule and you're going to take losses. Last year UNC went 1-3 against top 40 teams OOC and still ended up as a 1 seed. Ultimately were better off scheduling these tough games.
 
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