MBB: Duke 96, Maine 62 Post Game Thread
- Thread starter -jk
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Must be nice to have earned a few heat checks by your first college game.
It's always good to get that first win regardless of the opponent. Duke managed something interesting last night. They were dominant yet did not appear dominant for much of the game. Maybe it was the TOs, fouls, and Maine making a fair amount of contested shots in the first half. Speaking of fouls, I thought the game had a very weird whistle. Four plays stuck in my mind. Kon's foul on the sideline when he was pushed in the back by a Maine player. Cooper's last steal that was whistled a foul. Kon's rebound where the Maine player was literally on his back. Man Man's first foul where he was standing tall with arms upraised.
A lot of really good with a bit of stuff to work on.
A lot of really good with a bit of stuff to work on.
62% of statistics are made up on the spot.
There is a 50% chance it comes from the south-facing end of a northbound mule.
scottdude8
Moderator, front page and podcast contributor
Some thoughts I had that I neglected to post in-game/immediately post-game because of, well, life:
- I know some of Khaman's lapses may stand out (particularly the one really bad pass and turnover), but I thought he had some EXCELLENT moments defensively. There was one defensive possession just below the under-12 timeout in the first half where he played perfect drop coverage on a pick-and-roll, then recovered out to his man on the perimeter, then got back into the pain to alter the shot of a driving Maine player. It was Lively-esque. He's certainly not March Dereck Lively by any means, but I'd argue that he's in at a better spot in November than Lively was, which speaks to his tremendous ceiling.
- Having Maliq Brown is SUCH a luxury. This man would start at either the 4 or 5 for 75% of power conference teams and be a defensive menace. His passing instincts being such a plus was something I wasn't quite expecting, but if that is consistent and he keeps taking the corner 3 confidently, he'll still be a net-positive on the offensive end even if he's never a focal point.
- I was nervous after the two exhibitions that Jon was going to do a "line shift" style change where he brought in Brown, Gillis, and James simultaneously, so I was glad to see that was more staggered in our first real game. I still worry a bit about who will be the creator when those three guys are on the floor together, although my nerves were certainly assuaged by Sion's play. I also felt that Caleb became more aggressive offensively when he was playing alongside the trio of bench glue guys, as he should... whether Caleb can be the third creator (after Kon and Cooper) will be a key determinant of whether this team is resilient to an off night from our super freshmen or not.
- We again saw (just like against ASU) that this team can build a lead without making 3s, and then extend it to an insurmountable margin once the 3s start falling. That ability to play and score in multiple ways is going to pay big dividends over the course of a long season.
MChambers
Member
Yes, there was some strange officiating. The boxscore lists these three officials: A.J Desai, Ryan Sassano, JW Lucas. I don't know anything about them.
MChambers
Member
Seems low.
Great to see CDu's post-game stats again. Must mean the season is underway.
A couple of thoughts on his post. 1) % of 3s. might be our 2nd calling card after defense. 2) Our FT rate= our % of 3s probably had a lot to do with that. Not enough 2s?
Some other observations: 1) Brown is a better passer and rebounder than I thought. It seems we didn't miss a beat when he came in for Man-Man. 2) Sion- on his first 3 point attempt he basically shot an old fashion set shot. On is next 3 pointer, he got off his feet for a jump shot. That form looked much better. This guy is a dude. I would like to have him on my fantasy football team at running back. He brings a lot to the table. Caleb and Tyrese better stay on their game, or they will be watching from the bench than they would like. 3) At this point I'm not too concerned about not having a clear-cut point guard. Cooper is a fantastic passer and is really unselfish. On top of that, most of our guys are good passers and unselfish. 4) Kon is a way better all-around player than I expected. He doesn't look like he'll be a defender the other team will pick on. Well, unless during all the switching in Duke's man2man he ends up on a really quick guard. He's certainly not bashful about taking a quick 3 and with that shooting form I don't blame him. Yeh, Sky I'm on the K-island. As long as he doesn't shoot us out of a game when he's off.
Next play and GoDuke!
A couple of thoughts on his post. 1) % of 3s. might be our 2nd calling card after defense. 2) Our FT rate= our % of 3s probably had a lot to do with that. Not enough 2s?
Some other observations: 1) Brown is a better passer and rebounder than I thought. It seems we didn't miss a beat when he came in for Man-Man. 2) Sion- on his first 3 point attempt he basically shot an old fashion set shot. On is next 3 pointer, he got off his feet for a jump shot. That form looked much better. This guy is a dude. I would like to have him on my fantasy football team at running back. He brings a lot to the table. Caleb and Tyrese better stay on their game, or they will be watching from the bench than they would like. 3) At this point I'm not too concerned about not having a clear-cut point guard. Cooper is a fantastic passer and is really unselfish. On top of that, most of our guys are good passers and unselfish. 4) Kon is a way better all-around player than I expected. He doesn't look like he'll be a defender the other team will pick on. Well, unless during all the switching in Duke's man2man he ends up on a really quick guard. He's certainly not bashful about taking a quick 3 and with that shooting form I don't blame him. Yeh, Sky I'm on the K-island. As long as he doesn't shoot us out of a game when he's off.
Next play and GoDuke!
brevity
Member
According to my notes from last season, Desai officiated Duke's road loss at Wake Forest, while Sassano officiated Duke's home win against Dartmouth. Lucas did not work any Duke games last year.
Out of curiosity, I looked up Ron Groover, and he was assigned to SMU's game yesterday. Last season Duke was 2-6 in games he worked.
Groover sucks.
brevity
Member
Desai is on my Paparo/Hess/Groover watch list, but Groover was also at that Wake game. You always get rookies for Cupcake State that aren't ready for ACC play as well.
While last season's numbers were craptacular with Groover on the whistle, I think prior seasons were better.
With Kon being #6 on Jonathan Givony's draft board, I think we need to reconsider the idea that being a fan of his is like being on an island. Planet Knueppel seems more like it.
CasualObserver
Member
4 pages of good takes, and the Caleb Foster pace comment resonates most. Given the offensive talent and bench depth this year, why not hurry the ball up every time? RJ Davis makes a living doing this, even if he ends up backing up from his initial penetration. The old school leisurely bring-up seems like squandering our likely talent gap to create offense without going through an offensive set.
SavDukeGrad
Member
I remembered that Desai was an official that I was displeased with last year, but couldn’t remember which game. Thanks for the information. Still, he’s no Ron Groover.
So this is maybe a wild back of the envelope calculation, but if you take the number of shots (FGs+FTs) in our game and assume each takes one second then you get 158. Divide that by 2400 seconds in game and you get 6.6%. Assuming our pace was faster than usual, 6% would be close to a more normal game.
Or maybe that isn’t what he meant
A couple of box score observations:
-Cooper drew 8 fouls! He also went 6-6 from the line
-Darren Harris managed to get to the line for 5 FTs in less than 4 minutes, and he scored 6 points. Caveats about garbage time aside, that kid is a walking bucket
-Had it not been for Cooper's early exit due to the cramp, he and Kon would have been the only guys over 30 minutes. Brendan Marks of the Athletic quoted Gillis thusly, "“They’re going to be who we’re going to, and it’s up to them to be prepared every single day.”
-Cooper drew 8 fouls! He also went 6-6 from the line
-Darren Harris managed to get to the line for 5 FTs in less than 4 minutes, and he scored 6 points. Caveats about garbage time aside, that kid is a walking bucket
-Had it not been for Cooper's early exit due to the cramp, he and Kon would have been the only guys over 30 minutes. Brendan Marks of the Athletic quoted Gillis thusly, "“They’re going to be who we’re going to, and it’s up to them to be prepared every single day.”
