MBB: Duke 76, L'ville 65 Post Game Thread

[Indoor66]

There’s no such thing as a bad road win. There’s no such thing as a bad road win. There’s no such thing… my GOSH did those first 30 minutes feel like pulling teeth.

Ok, I feel better getting that out.

With that acknowledged, we probably took the best punch Louisville could throw, kept it within reach during that haymaker (as ugly as it was), and then took control without Coop. That’s huge for this team’s psyche moving forward.

Tyrese is looking for his own offense. Sion is attacking the basket more. Kon showed flashes of his ceiling. Maliq is a menace. All great signs.

But… we HAVE to figure out this slow start thing. At this point, I wonder if we need a Maliq for ManMan swap in the short term. This team needs ManMan to hit its ceiling but he’s clearly struggling right now, while Maliq, as mentioned, is playing top notch basketball. Let’s get ManMan his minutes against the opposition bench for a few games to get him recalibrated.

Despite the negatives, we should remember this is the type of game that we 100% would’ve lost the last two years. We just won it by double digits.

Let's get a lot more movement in the offense and quit pounding the ball.

 

[Atldukie79]

freshman Coop >>>> freshman Laettner

Probably so, but remember, the ACC was loaded with talented upper classmen. and Laettner had a senior Ferry on the team. Harder for a precocious freshman to stand out then.

 

[follyblue]

While I was losing my mind like most everyone else at the beginning of the game, in hindsight the most memorable part of the game was the second half when Duke dominated, even without Cooper after his fourth foul, which is saying something. Our defense deserves its number oned ranking. Sion and Brown are simply amazing. Hats off to John for finding the perfect transfers. If we can get a grip on these slow starts, this team is going to be fearsome. I see a team slowly creeping towards its potential. An away ACC win is always a good thing.

 

[TruBlu]

Sophomore Laettner > no Cooper 2nd season at Duke.

 

[tommy]

Without being too critical of Maluach, Maliq has shown that he deserves to start.

With right around 6 minutes to go Brown had an easy dunk off of a set play and then on the other end a terrific defensive sequence where he went straight up to defend a shot that rimmed off and he ended up with the rebound.

It looked like the type of play that Khaman would’ve gone for the block, taking himself out of the play completely and allowing an easy offensive rebound/put back.

Those are the type of plays that Maliq routinely makes, winning plays. (Remembering that he is several years older and with more basketball experience than Khaman)

I’ve been very impressed with him so far and can’t sing his praises enough. Just seems like a winner and the type of DUDE you want on your team.

Yeah Maliq is special. In fact, while it’s still early in his Duke tenure, from what I’ve seen so far, I think Maliq is the best defender we’ve had since the beginning of the K era. The only one in his class is Billy King. Grant Hill is close. We’ve had many other outstanding defensive players, but Maliq’s combination of athleticism, size, quick feet, quick hands, disruptiveness, and ability to guard all five positions are unmatched. Again, with the possible exception of Billy King.

 

[mr. synellinden]

Yeah Maliq is special. In fact, while it’s still early in his Duke tenure, from what I’ve seen so far, I think Maliq is the best defender we’ve had since the beginning of the K era. The only one in his class is Billy King. Grant Hill is close. We’ve had many other outstanding defensive players, but Maliq’s combination of athleticism, size, quick feet, quick hands, disruptiveness, and ability to guard all five positions are unmatched. Again, with the possible exception of Billy King.

Shane Battier says hello. But generally I agree with the idea that he’s among the best all around defenders we’ve ever had. I think Cooper will be in that class eventually.

 

[Bluedog]

Yeah Maliq is special. In fact, while it’s still early in his Duke tenure, from what I’ve seen so far, I think Maliq is the best defender we’ve had since the beginning of the K era. The only one in his class is Billy King. Grant Hill is close. We’ve had many other outstanding defensive players, but Maliq’s combination of athleticism, size, quick feet, quick hands, disruptiveness, and ability to guard all five positions are unmatched. Again, with the possible exception of Billy King.

No love for Battier? He was National DPOY three times! Not shabby....

Having said that, agreed that Maliq has been an absolute beast on the defensive end and love what he brings.

 

[trinity79]

They actually pointed out towards the end of the broadcast that we have won 6 of our last 7 ACC openers.

I'm only talking about ACC road openers, that is our first ACC road game of the season. You'll find that we lost in 2023 (Ga. Tech) , 2022 (Wake), and 2017 (Boston College). We might have won 6 of 7 including home games but that's not what I'm talking about.

 

[Alan_Wilson]

Without being too critical of Maluach, Maliq has shown that he deserves to start.

With right around 6 minutes to go Brown had an easy dunk off of a set play and then on the other end a terrific defensive sequence where he went straight up to defend a shot that rimmed off and he ended up with the rebound.

It looked like the type of play that Khaman would’ve gone for the block, taking himself out of the play completely and allowing an easy offensive rebound/put back.

Those are the type of plays that Maliq routinely makes, winning plays. (Remembering that he is several years older and with more basketball experience than Khaman)

I’ve been very impressed with him so far and can’t sing his praises enough. Just seems like a winner and the type of DUDE you want on your team.

My only concern about this is Maliq getting in early foul trouble if he starts, which this team cannot afford given how important he proves down the stretch. Thus him coming off the bench even if he ultimately plays more minutes than KM may be the way to go.

 

[SkyBrickey]

Kon with 32 assists and 9 turnovers on the season. That 3.55 a/t ratio would make him an honorary Jones brother.

Cooper has a 1.55 a/t ratio, Tyrese is at 1.58, Sion is at 1.70 and Caleb is at 1.89.

Kon almost always seems to make the right play with the ball. I'm surprised Jon is not encouraging him to drive the ball more. Maybe he is. Don't be shy K2!

 

[gep]

Kon with 32 assists and 9 turnovers on the season. That 3.55 a/t ratio would make him an honorary Jones brother.

Cooper has a 1.55 a/t ratio, Tyrese is at 1.58, Sion is at 1.70 and Caleb is at 1.89.

Kon almost always seems to make the right play with the ball. I'm surprised Jon is not encouraging him to drive the ball more. Maybe he is. Don't be shy K2!

Sometimes it seems like Scheyer sees a bit of himself in Kon. But maybe it’s just me

 

[roywhite]

Does Maluach ever control the opening tap? Doesn't seem like it. My recollection is that Lively was very successful in that initial play of the game.

And Maluach certainly has the length and jumping ability to win more frequently. Just seems like he is lacking a certain comfort level on the court. Probably related to his lesser level of basketball experience.

His improvement and better feel for the game would be a positive development for the team. Maybe better starts which would be nice.

 

[gumbomoop]

Flagg picked up his first foul way too early, 18:57 first half. Then no more first half, but 2d and 3d quickly, first 4 minutes of second half. Hope he can avoid those early fouls.

 

[SkyBrickey]

Does Maluach ever control the opening tap? Doesn't seem like it. My recollection is that Lively was very successful in that initial play of the game.

And Maluach certainly has the length and jumping ability to win more frequently. Just seems like he is lacking a certain comfort level on the court. Probably related to his lesser level of basketball experience.

His improvement and better feel for the game would be a positive development for the team.

Lively is a bit more of a fast twitch athlete. That shows on a jump ball which has a lot to do with reaction time. Speaking of, Maliq may be one of the fastest twitch athletes we've ever had. I bet he wins more than his share of jump balls.

 

[tommy]

No love for Battier? He was National DPOY three times! Not shabby....

Having said that, agreed that Maliq has been an absolute beast on the defensive end and love what he brings.

Of course, of course. My bad completely. Yes it’s Shane, Billy, and Maliq in the top tier for me. Of course it’s so hard to compare one year players to four year players.

 

[Nhoman4]

Duke just won a Q1 road game by double digits. And I don’t think Duke played that well. That’s how good this team is.

They overcame an unbelievable start for Louisville shooting the ball from 3. I believe the ESPN stat said they were 340th in the country in 3pt percentage coming into the game?

Then on the other hand, Duke struggled from 3 all night finishing the game at 26.7%. Then add on to that the fact that Cooper Flagg picked up his 4th foul with a little over 10 minutes left in the game. Then Duke follows that with a casual 18-2 run to put the game on ice.

Youre going to have ugly games throughout the season. A great team finds ways to win those games. This was an ugly game for Duke for 30 minutes and then they put it together in the last 10 with their best player on the bench for a good amount of it.

This Duke team is so good and so much fun to watch. It’s going to be a fun remainder of the season.

 

[cbarry]

Does Maluach ever control the opening tap? Doesn't seem like it. My recollection is that Lively was very successful in that initial play of the game.

And Maluach certainly has the length and jumping ability to win more frequently. Just seems like he is lacking a certain comfort level on the court. Probably related to his lesser level of basketball experience.

His improvement and better feel for the game would be a positive development for the team. Maybe better starts which would be nice.

I am baffled at his inability to win jump balls. If we have won ANY jump balls, it couldn’t be more than 1-2. Surprising for a guy who is at least 2-3” taller than his opponent.

 

[SkyBrickey]

Kon with 32 assists and 9 turnovers on the season. That 3.55 a/t ratio would make him an honorary Jones brother.

Cooper has a 1.55 a/t ratio, Tyrese is at 1.58, Sion is at 1.70 and Caleb is at 1.89.

Kon almost always seems to make the right play with the ball. I'm surprised Jon is not encouraging him to drive the ball more. Maybe he is. Don't be shy K2!

Just for fun I checked and Tyus had a 2.85 a/t ratio at Duke and Tre had a 2.11 a/t ratio at Duke.

It's not really an apples to apples comparison since Kon is not running the point, but it does highlight how fantastic he's been with the ball 9 games in.

 

[cbarry]

Duke just won a Q1 road game by double digits. And I don’t think Duke played that well. That’s how good this team is.

They overcame an unbelievable start for Louisville shooting the ball from 3. I believe the ESPN stat said they were 340th in the country in 3pt percentage coming into the game?

Then on the other hand, Duke struggled from 3 all night finishing the game at 26.7%. Then add on to that the fact that Cooper Flagg picked up his 4th foul with a little over 10 minutes left in the game. Then Duke follows that with a casual 18-2 run to put the game on ice.

Youre going to have ugly games throughout the season. A great team finds ways to win those games. This was an ugly game for Duke for 30 minutes and then they put it together in the last 10 with their best player on the bench for a good amount of it.

This Duke team is so good and so much fun to watch. It’s going to be a fun remainder of the season.

That was a grind it out, win ugly. But a win is a win. Still very much a work in progress. Hoping Darren and Patrick can get some burn against our next opponents, in what should be fairly easy games. It would be great to have even more depth to turn to.

 

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Flagg picked up his first foul way too early, 18:57 first half. Then no more first half, but 2d and 3d quickly, first 4 minutes of second half. Hope he can avoid those early fouls.

I think it was his third foul where he seemed to be really over-aggressively defending and was kind of slapping at the Louisville player, giving the refs no choice but to call a foul - I remember thinking at the start of the possession that he was going to get called for a foul before anything even really happened. Brown can kind of get away with some of that (though I worry about him with officials who are calling the game very tightly, though I think he is also better able to adjust to that). Cooper can't. And he can't waste silly fouls. He generally seems to have decent judgement on this, but tonight was not as good.