MBB: Duke vs Texas in Charlotte (Tuesday 11/4, 8:45pm ET, ESPN) Pregame & In-Game Thread

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Billy Dat said:
I think it's good to expose yourself to a little chalk talk, depending on your appetite for it, to get an idea of just how much offense and defense have evolved and how much these players are asked to understand.

Sean Miller's track record on the court speaks for itself. He was an annual "best coach to have never made the Final Four" despite many appearances in the Elite Eight so you know he has the chops. Reading Geisinger's preview tells me that if he can stick at Texas and start getting Power 5 talent, he'll be again knocking at that Final Four door.

I say all that because my primary takeaway is that he doesn't have the talent to match his schemes. On offense, as MChambers alluded to, it sounds like Miller's team's are happy to take mid range jump shots when the opposing center plays in drop coverage, as he points out we have typically done with Pat. Our defense is typically happy to give up mid-range jumpers, but Jon also talks a lot about protecting the paint. So, if they are setting ball screens in the foul line extended area in action that involves our center, and our center drops below the level of that screen, are we going to be giving up a bunch of mid range jumpers near the foul line? I'd guess we'll try to force those actions higher up the floor, so that those players are coming off screens closer to the top of the key and, if they want to take that mid-range shot, it'll be from 18-20 feet rather than 12-15. At the same time, Jon will want the perimeter guys to stay home on 3 point shooters meaning that whomever is involved in those screening actions will have to be disciplined. They don't sound like they have a lot of shooting talent.

But they do seem to have size. I am really curious to see if Cam continues to own people, because he's going to be getting tons of attention and, I assume, lots of double teams. Like Scheyer, it sounds like Miller (and every other good coach) is trying to force low quality midrange shots. Our teams tend to be really tough to guard because Jon loves bigs that can initiate the spread, 5-out offense where everyone is on the perimeter. Most big are not like Man Man where they can stay in front of guys on the perimeter, nor can most pass the way our guys can pass. Spread out and let Cam Boozer operate and you're either giving up shots at the rim off his drives or he's spraying passes to open 3 point shooters wherever the help is coming from. Our other bigs aren't quite as adept at driving, but they are really good passers. The write-up talked about the potential for Miller to have a good defense based on his players, but that's not his calling card.

So, I'd conclude that on offense we can't let Dailyn Swain cause chaos and on defense, we have to concede the midrange but 5 feet further out than they would like.
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I really liked Maliq last year with the ball in his hands at the top of the key. He makes good decisions with the ball and is a sneaky good passer to cutters. How many times did he find Sion on a back door? And if the opposing big falls asleep, Maliq can get by him and to the rim in one dribble. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Maliq and Cam play together.
 
Maybe it was already been mentioned in here, but I find it interesting that Texas played both its exhibition games "behind closed doors."

Obviously, playing in Charlotte helps to begin with, but it seems like Duke should also benefit from having already played two games in a full arena. Texas hosted SMU in its practice facility and then played TCU in an empty arena.

Playing two games that were dry runs for the real thing in every way possible seems the smarter move to me.
 
BrummieDevil said:
Maybe it was already been mentioned in here, but I find it interesting that Texas played both its exhibition games "behind closed doors."

Obviously, playing in Charlotte helps to begin with, but it seems like Duke should also benefit from having already played two games in a full arena. Texas hosted SMU in its practice facility and then played TCU in an empty arena.

Playing two games that were dry runs for the real thing in every way possible seems the smarter move to me.
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On the flip side, Texas has film on Duke while Duke has less to scout
 
BrummieDevil said:
Maybe it was already been mentioned in here, but I find it interesting that Texas played both its exhibition games "behind closed doors."

Obviously, playing in Charlotte helps to begin with, but it seems like Duke should also benefit from having already played two games in a full arena. Texas hosted SMU in its practice facility and then played TCU in an empty arena.

Playing two games that were dry runs for the real thing in every way possible seems the smarter move to me.
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I don't know - Charlotte's always been a unc town.

-jk
 
ClemmonsDevil said:
Duke's starting an all-Charlotte backcourt.
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While Charlotte is starting an all-Duke backcourt. (Not really, position-wise, but Sion James and Kon Knueppel were both starters in their last game, against the Utah Jazz.)


Speaking of Duke's all-Charlotte backcourt:

mbb20251104.jpg
(source)

Pretty slick sneaking James, Knueppel, and Mason Plumlee in the image, though I think Plumlee's jersey number for the Hornets is now 22 instead of 24.

1. Announcers: Day 2 of men's basketball season and the ESPN Press Room page is still empty. Someone please tell the geniuses in Bristol that the shutdowns (government and WNBA) do not apply to them. The game notes -- linked below -- show a loaded booth for the Dick Vitale Invitational: Dave O'Brien (Syracuse grad; bio), Jay Bilas (Duke basketball; bio), Dick Vitale (Seton Hall grad; website), and Kris Budden (Missouri grad; bio).


Not to mention Curt Gowdy, Jim Palmer, Tim McCarver, Mel Allen, Dick Enberg, and Dr. Joyce Brothers.

2. Previews and Game Notes: Here are the GoDuke preview and PDF game notes, and Texas' preview and PDF game notes. That last one lists possible game starters for the Longhorns: 6-1 senior guard Jordan Pope, 6-3 senior guard Chendall Weaver, 6-5 grad guard Tramon Mark, 6-8 junior wing Dailyn Swain, and 7-0 sophomore center Matas Vokietaitis.

3. Follow the Game: Here's a reminder that the game tips off at 8:45pm ET on ESPN, to watch on TV or stream. If you can't do that for any reason, you can still listen to the game on the Blue Devil Sports Network or the Longhorn Radio Network. According to the Texas game notes -- linked above -- the game will also be on ESPN Radio, which can be streamed or playable on Sirius XM. Finally, StatBroadcast has the live stats.

So when the "I complain on DBR but I don't read DBR" crowd pops up a few minutes before tip-off and demands answers to the questions I've already answered here, please refer them to this post, or at least the first post in the thread that has the basics, which they should have checked when they opened this thread in the first place. This is the nicest way to answer those questions; my preferred approach would involve blunt violence.

www.espn.com

Texas vs. #6 Duke 11/4/25 - Stream the Game Live - Watch ESPN

Stream the NCAA Men's Basketball Game Texas vs. #6 Duke live from ESPN on Watch ESPN. Live stream on Tuesday, November 4, 2025.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

4. Podcast Previews: I've posted a couple of these upthread, but here are two more from Locked on Blue Devils (Brendan Marks of The Athletic is the guest) and Mainely Hoops (since everyone in that state became a Duke basketball expert sometime in the past year).


 
"Texas basketball and Sean Miller are both chasing a breakthrough — is this finally the year?" ($)
by CJ Moore
www.nytimes.com

Texas basketball and Sean Miller are both chasing a breakthrough — is this finally the year?

Sean Miller and Texas are both hungry to break through. Can they reach the Final Four and a national championship
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

X and O snippet from the article
"When Miller got the Xavier job, he implemented Gonzaga’s pick-and-roll continuity offense. The Musketeers finished with the second-best adjusted offensive efficiency of any team Miller had coached. His teams at Xavier also played faster and increased the efficiency in pick-and-roll and also increased the usage and efficiency of post-ups."

Fun fact from the article:

Sean Miller film debut, "The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh"
 
I bring great news. Ron Groover will not be doing the game tonight. FSU is the only ACC school that puts its referees in the pregame notes, and he's in Tally tonight. Someone said something like "[Wankerizer deleted], Ron Groover" in Clemson on Saturday when the refs made a correct but game-determining DPI call in honor of Cooper slipping on the floor in February.

FSU link: https://seminoles.com/documents/2025/11/3/Alcorn_State_Note_Package.pdf
 
GAME DAY!!!!!! SEASON DAY!!!!!!!

-Will we see Freak Brown?
-I love the graphic featuring Charlotte locals Caleb and Slim. I expect them both to play with verve.
-Will Cam Boozer continue his torrid play? His Arizona counterpart Koa Peat, threw down quite a gauntlet last night. Considering that Peat was a Boozer recruiting alternative for Duke makes the two of them interesting to track.
-Will Nik start?
-Will Duke have a better start?
-Will Big Pat avoid first half foul trouble?
-Will Duke flex its talent advantage?

Can't wait.
 
In today’s Washington Post sports there is a feature article about Cameron and Cayden coming to Duke. Article written by Ben Golliver with pictures of the twins.
 
My big questions coming into game 1:
  1. How good will our defense be? There's potential with our size and quickness but our interior D in exhibition looked like a work in progress.
  2. What kind of players will Dame and Nik be? If either can approximate what Kon did last year at least in terms of shooting/scoring, I think we'll all be ecstatic.
  3. Do we have enough ball-handling besides Caleb, and who will be the facilitator? Looked like Cam was occasionally bringing the ball up against the Vols. I assume the offense will go through Cam tonight.
I think Slim will be All-ACC when all's said and done. I think Pat could play into a late first rounder as well.
 
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