ClemmonsDevil
Member
Jay Will absolutely gushed about Duke last night, and for good reason. At one point early in the 2nd half, he said that Duke was having the night offensively that Syracuse was hoping for...and Duke was up 21. Up until that point Duke was playing okay offensively, but not great. Defensively Duke was playing superbly though, and Syracuse just couldn't score. Then Duke went on a scary offensive run to put the game away.
And that's what this team does at their best. Play GREAT defense. If the offense never clicks, Duke is beating conference teams by 8-15 points. If the offense does click, Duke is destroying teams.
There was a point in the second half last night where Duke just got into the "flow state" offensively and there was just nothing Syracuse could do about it.
I thought Proctor played really well last night. He had the worst night offensively on the Duke team. He was only 5 for 11. And he also made 4 threes. Everyone else shot 50% or better. And Proctor was cooking last night. If he has that kind of night then I think Duke is almost impossible to defend. And he had the worst night on the team .
Defensively Duke is two different teams. One with Maluach and one with Brown. Both of which are incredibly hard to score against. Hearing Seth Greenberg talk about how insanely difficult it is to score against Duke is correct. I love watching this team defend. I would argue Brown is the best interior defender I've ever seen. That guy is an absolute freak. I don't know how stuff is funded from a sports perspective but there's nothing I want more than for him to become the keeper on the US Men's National Soccer Team. Because I don't see how anyone could score if he was a goalkeeper in soccer. And I don't even follow the men's national team. I'm only obliquely aware they exist, although I am a huge fan of the Women's National Soccer team. And then James, Flagg and Proctor are great defenders. And that doesn't even get and Kon and Gillis who are either really good on-ball defenders, or really good help side/team defenders.
Defensively I would say this is the best team Duke has had since the 2010 champs. That team really throttled people and made them inefficient. If the 2010 team scored efficiently, you were going to lose to them. In today's game, you're always subject to a team getting hot and making shots. Like that Arizona team in 2011. Sometimes, you just get lit up and that's always a fear in a high variance, single elimination tournament. But if this Duke squad can play defense at this level and can play well enough offensively in the NCAA tournament for six games I love the team's chances.
And that's what this team does at their best. Play GREAT defense. If the offense never clicks, Duke is beating conference teams by 8-15 points. If the offense does click, Duke is destroying teams.
There was a point in the second half last night where Duke just got into the "flow state" offensively and there was just nothing Syracuse could do about it.
I thought Proctor played really well last night. He had the worst night offensively on the Duke team. He was only 5 for 11. And he also made 4 threes. Everyone else shot 50% or better. And Proctor was cooking last night. If he has that kind of night then I think Duke is almost impossible to defend. And he had the worst night on the team .
Defensively Duke is two different teams. One with Maluach and one with Brown. Both of which are incredibly hard to score against. Hearing Seth Greenberg talk about how insanely difficult it is to score against Duke is correct. I love watching this team defend. I would argue Brown is the best interior defender I've ever seen. That guy is an absolute freak. I don't know how stuff is funded from a sports perspective but there's nothing I want more than for him to become the keeper on the US Men's National Soccer Team. Because I don't see how anyone could score if he was a goalkeeper in soccer. And I don't even follow the men's national team. I'm only obliquely aware they exist, although I am a huge fan of the Women's National Soccer team. And then James, Flagg and Proctor are great defenders. And that doesn't even get and Kon and Gillis who are either really good on-ball defenders, or really good help side/team defenders.
Defensively I would say this is the best team Duke has had since the 2010 champs. That team really throttled people and made them inefficient. If the 2010 team scored efficiently, you were going to lose to them. In today's game, you're always subject to a team getting hot and making shots. Like that Arizona team in 2011. Sometimes, you just get lit up and that's always a fear in a high variance, single elimination tournament. But if this Duke squad can play defense at this level and can play well enough offensively in the NCAA tournament for six games I love the team's chances.
