MBB: Duke vs. Army (11/8, 6pm ET, ACCN) Pre-game and In-game Thread

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Billy Dat

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I am sure brevity will augment this sparse intro with some of his usual panache in due time, I just felt like we needed a game thread since we are about 48 hours from tip.

It looks like Army is about at the same level as Maine, ranked somewhere in the mid 200s. KenPom has us as a 27 point favorite.

I am curious about the following:
-Will we see another dominant defensive performance against an overmatched opponent?
-We will continue to play at 70+ possessions/game?
-We will continue to shoot greater than 40% of our shots from 3?
-How will the "who is Duke's PG?" storyline evolve? Will we continue to see most of the playmaking running through Cooper and Kon with our guards being primarily responsible for pushing off of makes and misses and spotting up for 3s with the occasional drive mixed in?
-Can we cut down on our turnovers?
-Will Cooper Flagg, who is #5 on KenPom's POY list after 1 game, continue to fill the stat sheet on both ends?
-Will Three the Kneuppel continue to be our dominant offensive force?
-Will Coop and Triple Kneuppel be the only guys who play 30 mpg?
-Will Army, whose tallest starter is 6'8", provide us with any opportunities to block more shots?
-How will Jon continue to tweak the rotation? Assuming the starters are the same, and the Uncles are the first 3 subs, will he keep Proctor or Foster on the floor with them? Who is the first starter to sub back in? We used 10 different line-ups against Maine.
 
In T-rank, Army is significantly worse than Maine. 322 vs. 223.

Also, Army is very small. No one over 6'8". Army is expected to be a low tempo team, but I'm betting they get sped up.
 
After a strong win against Maine to open their season, the #7 Duke Blue Devils host the Army Black Knights for a Friday evening game at 6pm ET, airing on the ACC Network (streaming link, listen, live stats).

Army was picked to finish 7th out of 10 teams in the Patriot League preseason poll, and is currently ranked #322 by Bart Torvik. His T-Page lists the following ten projected contributors:

PlayerYrHtPRPG!Min%OrtgUsagePpgRPGAPG
Josh ScovensSo6-41.883992614.852.2
Ryan CurrySo6-01.8791032311.93.43.6
TJ SmallSr6-21.4711042010.63.31.4
Blake BarkerSr6-21.566108199.43.21.5
AJ AllenspachSr6-80.86398207.55.71.1
Isaiah CaldwellSr6-40.650109134.52.41.3
Kendall HaileySo6-3-03296152.421.3
Jaden EllisJr6-00.226100182.60.41.2
Dylan BennerFr6-7-01892171.50.40.1
Kevin McCarthyFr6-3-01192170.60.60.5

I've noticed a limitation with these contributor lists that applied to Maine and now applies to Army: Torvik doesn't include players who were injured last season. In Monday's game against Maine, Keelan Steele started at center and had a pretty good game before fouling out: 11 points (5-6 FG, 1-1 FT). I never mentioned him in my preview.

This time it's 5-10 guard Jalen Rucker, who had 12 points and 6 rebounds in Army's 67-59 win at home against Albany (recap, box score). Rucker, who started 84 of 86 games in his three previous seasons and was named to the All-Patriot first team in 2022-2023, rejoined the starting lineup, which also included Scovens, Curry, Barker, and Allenspach. Meanwhile, TJ Small, projected above as the third leading scorer, does not appear to be playing for Army this season.

As the season goes on and we get more game data, I'll improve at laying out starters and rotations for our opponents. For now I'll stick with Torvik's table minus Small and plus Rucker, because Army somehow has 24 players on their roster, and I am not prepared to sift through all that.

I looked for any kind of Media Day preseason coverage for the Patriot League, like maybe a series of articles or interviews, but all I found was some notes from David Griggs of Hoops HD: "It is so hard to win at Army. For any student to be accepted into the school they have to prove themselves to be far more exceptional than most of the rest of us, and they are limited when it comes who they can even recruit. I have nothing but respect for anyone who plays on this team. They won just 10 games a year ago, and with three starters back and Jalen Rucker (who was a proven scorer two years ago) rejoining the team, hopefully they can manage a few more wins this year."

Kevin Kuwik is in his 2nd season as head coach of the Black Knights, and if last season were any indication, this is a low-scoring team (360th nationally, according to Basketball Reference). They are above the national average in blocking shots, avoiding turnovers, and attempting and making threes, but below average in every other team category.
 
MChambers said:
In T-rank, Army is significantly worse than Maine. 322 vs. 223.

Also, Army is very small. No one over 6'8". Army is expected to be a low tempo team, but I'm betting they get sped up.
Click to expand...
Average Army height is 6’ 3.3”
Our shortest rotation player is 6’ 5”.

Black knights will be hoisting lots of distant threes.
 
If Army can play a pesky perimeter defense, maybe throw a zone defense up at us, maybe press us, it could still be a useful outing.
 
I think Maine will end up better than their pre-season ranking. They had 2 tough old guards and a pretty decent big. I expect a larger blowout vs Army tomorrow.
 
dw4duke said:
I think Maine will end up better than their pre-season ranking. They had 2 tough old guards and a pretty decent big. I expect a larger blowout vs Army tomorrow.
Click to expand...
i think the arrival of the 3pt shooting specialist (Mantis, 2-4 3FGs vs Duke) might be just the sort of addition they needed to take a step up from last year's iteration. Overall, Maine shot poorly from 3 vs Duke (3-14), but if they can get Mantis good looks from 3 throughout the season, i'm sure they'll improve on that mark.
 
Billy Dat said:
I am curious about the following:
...
-How will the "who is Duke's PG?" storyline evolve? Will we continue to see most of the playmaking running through Cooper and Kon with our guards being primarily responsible for pushing off of makes and misses and spotting up for 3s with the occasional drive mixed in?
Click to expand...
Can we call this the "Caleb Foster as Duke's PG" storyline?

Chris Spatola, who is close to the program, mentioned during the Maine game that CFos is Duke's point guard this season. I am pretty sure Caleb is our point guard.
 
During Nam, we had an Army guy who requested and got a transfer to the Navy. It was approved, and he joined my division on my guided missile destroyer. He lasted for part of a 6 month cruise through some rough seas, and began requesting a transfer back to the Army.

I do have great respect for the Army, and pull for them except for when they play us or Navy.
 
My appreciation for our US Military Veterans will be foremost this weekend — so go Army (Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard & …. Space Force?) — though I will be rooting Duke plays lights out — both teams are winners for deeper reasons. I will also appreciate hopefully seeing Coach K at the game (?), and I’ll be thankful I don’t have to get disrupted by dumb regional and national election ads or get cold campaign text messages. Go Duke! and those who serve but mostly those who have served.
 
So serious question: is anybody interested in watching the Cheats vs Kansas game, and if so, what is your plan? I’m thinking tape the Duke game, watch the first half, then watch the Kansas game, then finish the Duke game. I know most everyone is likely to watch the second half of the Kansas game after we’re done, but I feel like Cheats-Kansas is going to be the better game, and by better I mean a Kansas thrashing of the baby blue babies from down the road. (As an aside, it’s very hard to root for Kansas, but tonight I’ll make an exception.) Anyway, i’d be interested in all y’all‘s thoughts on this matter
Go Duke! 9f!
 
kidA said:
So serious question: is anybody interested in watching the Cheats vs Kansas game, and if so, what is your plan? I’m thinking tape the Duke game, watch the first half, then watch the Kansas game, then finish the Duke game. I know most everyone is likely to watch the second half of the Kansas game after we’re done, but I feel like Cheats-Kansas is going to be the better game, and by better I mean a Kansas thrashing of the baby blue babies from down the road. (As an aside, it’s very hard to root for Kansas, but tonight I’ll make an exception.) Anyway, i’d be interested in all y’all‘s thoughts on this matter
Go Duke! 9f!
Click to expand...
I don’t watch Carolina unless they play us or NC State.
 
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