MBB: Duke vs. Arizona (NCAAT, Thu 3/27, 9:39pm ET, CBS) Pregame and In-Game Thread

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gep said:
This is key...

That being said, I do worry about this game. Caleb Love... I didn't think we would see him again...
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Watched last night's game between Oregon and Zona. Caleb was "money" the last few minutes in the Zona win of a close game No surprise, and I am sure Scheyer is planning for him.
 
crote said:
The "bad matchup" question isn't just about the quality of the opponent, it's about how that opponent matches up with Duke. But Duke is an extremely complete team on both sides of the ball. It's not like Duke has an obvious Achilles heel like lack of interior size, or poor three point defense, or something similar that an opponent could exploit. What phase of the game is this Duke team mediocre or worse at? Duke is solid across the board, so most matchups will favor Duke.

I'd buy that any of the teams remaining could just be "better" than Duke for one game. There is enough ability for all 15 of them that a loss is reasonably within the delta of possible outcomes. But I don't think it would be because their personnel was uniquely primed to exploit an obvious Duke weakness.
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Agree. This team doesn’t have any flaws. Doesn’t mean we can’t be beaten of course but there’s no weakness coming into a game for an opponent to try to exploit.

“Bad matchup” is almost always just a lazy commentator’s way to “analyze” a game when the reality is simply the one team is just a better basketball team than the other.
 
To me, this is the last "should win" of the Tournament. I said on Selection Sunday that Alabama was the only team in this region that scares me. I still feel that way. Arizona is very good, but also several notches below the elite.

Defensively I like the matchup. Tyrese has proven to be a good cover for Love. Their lack of shooting is a big problem for them, which should make it easier to clog the paint. Our biggest weakness has been 3 point defense, and they shouldn't stress that weakness too much. We dominated them defensively in November. I expect a tougher battle this time, but I think we can guard them. We will have to rebound a lot better than we did Sunday, as Arizona is an excellent rebounding team.

Offensively, the first game was a slog. In November we had two settings: Cooper Iso and kick out 3s. Our offense has improved a ton since then. In particular, I think we'll hunt matchups. Dell'Orso has emerged as a nice shooter for them, but I don't think he can guard anybody on our team. We should be able to take advantage of Love as well. Their defense is tough on the inside, but somewhat vulnerable from 3.

I expect this to be a totally different game from November. Both offenses are vastly improved since then. I expect a fairly high scoring game. If we hit our 3s, we'll win.
 
Dr. Maturin said:
To me, this is the last "should win" of the Tournament. I said on Selection Sunday that Alabama was the only team in this region that scares me. I still feel that way. Arizona is very good, but also several notches below the elite.

Defensively I like the matchup. Tyrese has proven to be a good cover for Love. Their lack of shooting is a big problem for them, which should make it easier to clog the paint. Our biggest weakness has been 3 point defense, and they shouldn't stress that weakness too much. We dominated them defensively in November. I expect a tougher battle this time, but I think we can guard them. We will have to rebound a lot better than we did Sunday, as Arizona is an excellent rebounding team.

Offensively, the first game was a slog. In November we had two settings: Cooper Iso and kick out 3s. Our offense has improved a ton since then. In particular, I think we'll hunt matchups. Dell'Orso has emerged as a nice shooter for them, but I don't think he can guard anybody on our team. We should be able to take advantage of Love as well. Their defense is tough on the inside, but somewhat vulnerable from 3.

I expect this to be a totally different game from November. Both offenses are vastly improved since then. I expect a fairly high scoring game. If we hit our 3s, we'll win.
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The one thing that gives me pause is that Maliq played 24 min in the first matchup. He's a really valuable guy when you need to take out one star perimeter player like Love. But I'm sure Jon will have a good plan.
 
On one hand I trust this team’s talent and mentality so much that it makes me less nervous for this game itself.

On the other hand, this is a single elimination tournament and one bad night can send you home. And while this season has already been an enormous success based on what has already been accomplished, it would still be a disappointing finish to this season to bow out in the Sweet 16. Im choosing to just trust this team and try to make myself less nervous that way.

We generally think of one bad night sending Duke home; but a bad night can send Arizona home as well. I look for Tyrese Proctor to continue his hot run and also lock down Caleb defensively resulting in Caleb forcing shots and getting “bad Caleb”.

Duke wins in part by questionable shot selection from Love. Speaking it into existence!
 
Caleb Love vs. Duke with Tyrese Proctor:

1-3 record
15-50 FGs (28.0%)
4-27 3Ps (14.8%)
10-14 FTs (71.4%)
10.5 pts/gm
3.5 reb
3.5 ast
3.0 tov

Love is a wildcard in that he can go off in any single game. Hold him in check, and it becomes much easier to win.
 
crote said:
The "bad matchup" question isn't just about the quality of the opponent, it's about how that opponent matches up with Duke. But Duke is an extremely complete team on both sides of the ball. It's not like Duke has an obvious Achilles heel like lack of interior size, or poor three point defense, or something similar that an opponent could exploit. What phase of the game is this Duke team mediocre or worse at? Duke is solid across the board, so most matchups will favor Duke.

I'd buy that any of the teams remaining could just be "better" than Duke for one game. There is enough ability for all 15 of them that a loss is reasonably within the delta of possible outcomes. But I don't think it would be because their personnel was uniquely primed to exploit an obvious Duke weakness.
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I agree and I was bullish on this team heading into the tournament, telling anyone who would listen that this is the best Duke team I have seen in a long, long time. I will be shocked if we don't get to the Final Four. I will be more disappointed than most years if our season ends and we don't win the whole thing.

But... I do wish we could get a few more of the 50/50 rebounds. Just 3-4 more a game.
 
Worried about rebounding, as UA is an elite offensive rebounding team and very good inside on both ends. Our centers and Cooper will need to clean up the boards. They are so-so on the perimeter, so as many have said here, if we have a good shooting night from the arc and limit their open looks, we should be in good shape. Also would not be surprised if we played some zone.
 
dukelion said:
I suspect we'll see more of the same. Hard to see Arizona winning without a stellar game from Love but their supporting cast has been playing better as of late, in particular in shooting the 3 ball as Arizona is hitting at a 44% clip over the last 5 games.

But Love and the rest of their three guard line up will rarely see a defender shorter than 6'6" on Thursday night. Hopefully that makes a difference.
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And that shorter guy is 6'5". 😋😜😎
 
Can someone help an extremely grumpy old man and explain how on God's green Earth Duke as the second overall seed and top seed in their region benefits from what will be a 10 PM start time in their time zone?

I don't care if Arizona fans have to leave work early to watch their team on Thursday. If you don't want inconvenient start times, be better during the regular season.

As for the match-up, both teams are better than the first meeting but I think Duke is significantly better. I just hope Arizona gets the Mr. Hyde version of Caleb Love on Thursday.
 
azzefkram said:
Can someone help an extremely grumpy old man and explain how on God's green Earth Duke as the second overall seed and top seed in their region benefits from what will be a 10 PM start time in their time zone?

I don't care if Arizona fans have to leave work early to watch their team on Thursday. If you don't want inconvenient start times, be better during the regular season.

As for the match-up, both teams are better than the first meeting but I think Duke is significantly better. I just hope Arizona gets the Mr. Hyde version of Caleb Love on Thursday.
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I feel similarly, but I take solace in the fact that the late start time is much more impactful on grumpy old men (your words, myself included for certain) than it is on the players. 20 year old kids mostly don't care if a tip-off is at 1pm or 10:30pm, other than how it impacts the rest of their day.

For me, it will require naps, afternoon coffee, some rearranging of my Friday morning plans, etc. i suspect Flagg and Proctor are not likely to be as affected.
 
azzefkram said:
Can someone help an extremely grumpy old man and explain how on God's green Earth Duke as the second overall seed and top seed in their region benefits from what will be a 10 PM start time in their time zone?

I don't care if Arizona fans have to leave work early to watch their team on Thursday. If you don't want inconvenient start times, be better during the regular season.

As for the match-up, both teams are better than the first meeting but I think Duke is significantly better. I just hope Arizona gets the Mr. Hyde version of Caleb Love on Thursday.
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I'd say... Money.
Which tv lineup will generate the most total eyes and most total money?


Of course that's just a guess. Maybe money isn't really that important. 🤷‍♂️
 
Pghdukie said:
Duke wins as long as the game doesn't turn into a Tennessee wrestling match. Baylor's Omier tried but got into foul trouble.
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I know what you mean about a Tennessee wrestling match, but I don't worry about that as long as we get to wrestle also. This team is tough as nails and doesn't often get knocked back (sorry K) or punked. I guess I am more concerned about foul trouble and injury than anything. Both of those things have happened to Duke in the past. Foul trouble for Tyrese or Sion could hurt our defense. As good as Caleb has been playing, there's a drop off on defense when compared to Sion and Tyrese. The same can be said of Cooper (foul trouble) because he's our best defender when considering our switching on defense. One of the first things I look at prior to tipoff is, who are the refs. There are not many Linny Wirtz, George Paparrio type refs that want to be the star of the game left. The only ref that concerns me is Grover.

GoDuke!
 
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