MBB: Duke 78, Georgia Tech 70 Postgame Thread

What a great feeling to win a game in which the other team is on fire from three and we go ice cold. Credit to the defense. We are fortunate the Ngongba got the minutes he did during Brown's earlier injury. He looks more confident. He is going to be absolutely critical if we don't get Brown back.
 
Glad we won, as I think it locked in a one seed. It may sound crazy, but a loss there plus uncertainty around our star's health status could have jeopardized it depending on what happens in other tournaments.

My guess is Coop will be back to test it out against the 16, then give it a fuller go against the 8-9. Hoping for full strength by the second weekend, lord willing.
 
Metrics

Once again, the metrics are pretty low on the list of concerns. But regardless, here they are.

The quality of depth was on display tonight. Our 3rd-string center stepped up, and we overcome a massive deficit without the likely NPoY (at worst runner-up) and our best overall defender in Brown. Thankfully, there is a ton of talent on the roster, and that talent came through under duress.

OFFENSE:
Possessions: 67.4 (a middling pace)
oRtg: 115.7 (119.7 adjusted; would be #20 nationally)
eFG%: 49.2% (bad)
3pt%: 23.3% (awful)
2pt%: 62.5% (excellent)
%threes: 48.4% (high)
FT rate: 30.6% (not great, but good for us; inflated by the end-game though)
OR%: 33.3% (decent)
TO%: 11.9% (outstanding, especially after the first ~10 minutes)
a/to: 1.8 (solid)
fast break pts: 22 (excellent)

DEFENSE:
dRtg: 103.8 (106.4 adjusted; would be #171 in the country)
eFG%: 52.5% (bad)
3pt%: 44.4% (poor)
2pt%: 41.2% (excellent)
%threes: 44.3% (a little high)
FT rate: 13.1% (fabulous)
DR%: 75.0% (very good)
TO%: 16.3% (okay)
a/to: 1.3 (meh)
stl%: 10.4% (okay)
blk%: 20.6% (2pt shots) (outstanding)
fast break pts: 9 (decent)

So we lost the shooting game, but won the other 3 of the four factors. Basically, the reason this game wasn't a blowout was because we couldn't hit 3s, and they were hot from 3. That's the danger in a single-game elimination tournament. But glad we were able to overcome the 15 point edge on 3s that Tech had and still win by multiple possessions.

Now, we wait and hope. Fingers crossed that Flagg is able to come back by next week. It's probably asking too much to see him tomorrow or (if we're so lucky) Saturday. But it seems like we dodged a major bullet there.

As for Brown, who knows? It's not optimal if he's out for extended time. But if not, it's an opportunity for guys like Ngongba and Gillis to step up.
 
AngolaDevil said:
Glad we won, as I think it locked in a one seed. It may sound crazy, but a loss there plus uncertainty around our star's health status could have jeopardized it depending on what happens in other tournaments.

My guess is Coop will be back to test it out against the 16, then give it a fuller go against the 8-9. Hoping for full strength by the second weekend, lord willing.
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Was thinking the same thing. There's precedent for the committee knocking a team down in the bracket if a star gets injured (Kenyon Martin anyone?). Showing we can win without the guys probably minimizes the chance of that affecting things.
 
Zeb said:
I can't imagine Coop's ankle will be 100% before Saturday. And if it's not, seems crazy to play him at all until the NCAAs. Team can get tuned up against the 16 seed.
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Sounds like Scheyer is confirming that, said any swelling tomorrow will likely make him a non-factor. I’m fine with him resting the next week even though I’m sure Coop would love to try coming back this weekend if there were any chance he could.

Maliq remains the bigger issue, Jon didn’t sound too optimistic on that front.
 
Some game stats for our guys.

Kon 28 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and just 1 turnover. 9+ plus-minus
Man-Man 14 points, 9 rebounds. 5+plus-minus
Isaiah 14 points, 2 rebounds. +8 plus-minus
Tyrese 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 turnover, +13 plus-minus
Sion 7 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 0 turnovers. +6 plus-minus
Patrick 7 points, 2 rebounds. +10 plus-minus
Mason 0 points, 4 rebounds. +11 plus-minus

Not so good plus minus
Cooper -7
Maliq -8
Caleb -7

GoDuke and Wake beat the Cheats.
 
Assuming Coop can go in the NCAAs, this game was an amazing demonstration that there is a ton of talent, smarts and toughness on this team.

Kon is an incredible player. What a combination of smarts, skill, pace, timing and sense of the moment. He made Man Man look like an All American. He also had an amazing immediate post game quote on ESPN when asked if Cooper's cheers on the bench had a positive impact on the team he said something like, "I don't know, I don't think I was on the bench in the second half."

Khaman gets his flowers, too. Even though Kon spoon fed him on offense, and he often looks like a newborn fawn when he catches the ball, his defense was extremely important today - but not as important as his finishing around the rim, spoon-fed or not.

For those saying that Rese and Sion were quiet, I beg you to look beyond scoring. Their defense was stout, they played big minutes, and both had absolutely huge buckets in big spots. Gillis, too...not scoring but being an essential part of this win doing everything else.

Showtime Slim was just that. "THIS IS MY CITY!!!!"

Kind of like Kon, Big Pat is never rushed. I feel like he can develop into a huge scoring threat for us, and his block at the rim when we went zone was absolutely huge. He had a few buckets that started the comeback.

Again, assuming Coop can go next week, let's see what we can do here in Charlotte. We absolutely have enough to win this tournament.
 
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scottdude8 said:
Was thinking the same thing. There's precedent for the committee knocking a team down in the bracket if a star gets injured (Kenyon Martin anyone?). Showing we can win without the guys probably minimizes the chance of that affecting things.
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The precedent is only when it's very clear the player can't return. Ex. compound fracture with visible bone. It's very credible with an ankle turn if Jon says Cooper will return for the NCAAs.
 
KandG said:
Sounds like Scheyer is confirming that, said any swelling tomorrow will likely make him a non-factor. I’m fine with him resting the next week even though I’m sure Coop would love to try coming back this weekend if there were any chance he could.

Maliq remains the bigger issue, Jon didn’t sound too optimistic on that front.
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If I'm Jon I say Cooper is day to day. Even if he's out for the year. Don't give Bubba any reason to drop us down to a 2 or 3 seed.

GoDuke!
 
I missed most of the game on TV, so I missed Coop's injury. Let's hope (obviously) that he's OK and almost 100% for the tournament. I realize this may be a contentious take but I've thought for years, if not decades, that the ACC should do away with the ACC tournament at the end of the season. Just call the regular season champion the "ACC champion" and don't make the players (and coaches and everyone else) have to focus on playing more games before the tournament starts. I realize, in the old days, when there were only 32 teams in the NCAA tournament, and only one team from the ACC made the tournament, the ACC tournament made more sense and gave an underdog team the chance to make the Big Dance. But, in more recent times, with 64 teams and, in most years, multiple teams from the ACC making the big tournament, I feel the ACC tournament has become almost an afterthought and you risk players getting injured (a la Coop) or tired out or distracted before the "real" tournament starts. I'd rather see the players have a week off, let them rest up, recover from any nagging injuries, maybe catch up on some academics and prepare for the NCAA tournament. Again, I'm sure there are many who would disagree with me but I think it would be a wise move.
 
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