***DUKE VS CLEMSON OFFICIAL GAMEDAY THREAD***

[jnastasi]

Same style, same results...every year. Loaded with talent but lacking in team fundamentals.

Welcome to modern day basketball. American kids just don’t learn how to play the game. It’s all based on athleticism and shooting 3s. Big reason why international kids are dominating the NBA.

with that said, good win. I still believe in this team. The potential is there.

 

[JimboSlice00]

Frustrating game, but I'll take a W. On a positive note, thrilled to see Paolo get that ball on the block and seal the game.

 

[timritterus]

We didn't play great but gotta give Clemson some credit, they had a great game plan and played incredibly hard. Keeping Mark out on the perimeter changes our defense so much, and he not great out near the 3 point line. They did a great job keeping him out there.

Offensively, we have to be better. We only ended up with 2 more TOs than them, but they were getting steals and a ton of run outs. It seemed like we hardly got any transition points, and then they did a nice job forcing our guards away from the middle for a lot of the game. I appreciate what Clemson did, they deserve a lot of credit, but we didn't do a good job adjusting tonight. That said, I'll take the win.

 

[acc hoops]

Where are the usual Baker bashers? Not many better 8th man teammates than Baker.
‘Give him credit for accepting his role on the team.

 

[christophero]

The media is all over the Clemson only shot one FT stat.

 

[timritterus]

The refs were fine. Neither team fouled much. Clemson shot 26 threes. I didn't feel like there were many missed calls in this game, and I'm not being a homer.

 

[topps coach]

Mark Williams is really talented. Unfortunately for this Duke team, he has less muscle mass than I realized. His center of gravity is too high to be elite. He's fast . He has big hands . He's coordinated. He's 7'1". If he finds the right trainer, and commits himself, he could be David Robinson. But that doesn't help this team

Think he will be three years from now when he grows into his body

 

[christophero]

Good news..we finally won a close game.
Bad news...it was Clemson at home.
We have work to do, but we survived. Play better or we will take a loss each of the next few weeks. Some tough road games ahead.

 

[The_Only_Blue]

We didn't play great but gotta give Clemson some credit, they had a great game plan and played incredibly hard. Keeping Mark out on the perimeter changes our defense so much, and he not great out near the 3 point line. They did a great job keeping him out there.

Offensively, we have to be better. We only ended up with 2 more TOs than them, but they were getting steals and a ton of run outs. It seemed like we hardly got any transition points, and then they did a nice job forcing our guards away from the middle for a lot of the game. I appreciate what Clemson did, they deserve a lot of credit, but we didn't do a good job adjusting tonight. That said, I'll take the win.

I wonder if this was one of those games that if we had Keels, we would have played small with Paolo being the 5? Don't know how much of a difference it would have made.!

 

[mhjoie]

Welcome to modern day basketball. American kids just don’t learn how to play the game. It’s all based on athleticism and shooting 3s. Big reason why international kids are dominating the NBA.

with that said, good win. I still believe in this team. The potential is there.

International kids are dominating the NBA??? Who are you referring to?

 

[timritterus]

I wonder if this was one of those games that if we had Keels, we would have played small with Paolo being the 5? Don't know how much of a difference it would have made.!

Yep. And I thought we missed Keels overall in this one. He would've been able to help with some of the ball handling and definitely would've helped on the defensive end. Not to mention your point of him allowing us to throw a lineup out there where a big man couldn't be as easily exposed. Good call

 

[KDSTONE]

The refs were fine. Neither team fouled much. Clemson shot 26 threes. I didn't feel like there were many missed calls in this game, and I'm not being a homer.

Like you said they shot a ton of threes and our 3-5 guys more athletic than theirs. Didn’t see many missed calls but haters gonna hate Wonder if they’ll be singing the same tune when Jon’s coach. I predict yes

 

[Fourteen44]

Where are the usual Baker bashers? Not many better 8th man teammates than Baker.
‘Give him credit for accepting his role on the team.

Baker “basher” here. Glad he’s accepted the 8th man role because he simply hasn’t developed much at Duke aside from his pump fake and drive now. Defensively? Yikes. Tough to watch. I see why he played tonight though as AJ struggled.

A blessing in disguise with Keels out is that maybe Roach is gaining more confidence. He has the tools to break defenders down and collapse a D, but hasn’t put it all together yet.

 

[timritterus]

Roach has been really good lately. He just really needs to improve his shooting because at his size I don't think he'll ever consistently finish when he drives the ball. But he has really handled the ball well and been a great facilitator the last few games.

 

[hart2chesson]

Roach has been really good lately. He just really needs to improve his shooting because at his size I don't think he'll ever consistently finish when he drives the ball. But he has really handled the ball well and been a great facilitator the last few games.

Hope he continues his good play when Keels returns. OFC

 

[jnastasi]

International kids are dominating the NBA??? Who are you referring to?

Giannis and Joker who have won the past 2 mvps. Luka is probably the best young player. Rudy Gobert might be the best defensive player in the league. Joel Embid, another mvp candidate.

 

[Duke1783]

So apparently Brad Brownell wasn’t happy with the officiating. What does he expect? His team chucked threes all night so of course they weren’t going to the line!

 

[AlanInNJ]

I'm gonna focus on the positives. We won a tight game in the final minute by running a play for the best player on the floor. Having lost a couple games in the final minute I think this was good experience. We turned the ball over less in the second half. We are tied at the top of the ACC. Keels will be back soon. I agree we could have used him last night. Clemson played very well last night. They really locked down on AJ, virtually taking him out of he game. Let's Go Duke!

 

[timo0402]

Jeremy Roach has 28 assists to just 3 to in his last 4 games. That is impressive.

 

[JimboSlice00]

Jeremy Roach has 28 assists to just 3 to in his last 4 games. That is impressive.

His progression has been really great to see. I of course want to see him do well this year, for this team, but I REALLY hope he sticks around for the young squad next year.

 

[Liftee]

I realize I see things Duke's way, but Clemson was really impeding Paolo and Wendell, among others, from driving to the basket with their bodies and there were no calls. So the refs could have blown the whistle all night but chose to let them play. This is the way the refs call games in the NCAA tournament so our players may as well get used to it. So Brownell really can't complain too much.

 

[Mac9192]

The home team will shoot more free throws, sometimes it is one sided though. Clemson only shot 1, Duke shot 13. The night before, Virginia Tech shot 11, the holes shot 26.

It’s not fair, but it is the way it is.

 

[denverexpat]

Watched the game again - Thought Jones added a different wrinkle and would have been nice to see more minutes when we were struggling. Seems like a decent shooter and works on defense. I hope he sees some more time

 

[christophero]

Theo could be injured. At full strength he is better than Jones but it is possible Bates Jones can give us more right now. He looked good last night. You know what you are going to get with him.

 

[sheyduke]

Theo is an old school big man period. He’s had knee injuries so his lateral quickness isn’t up to par but he’s a load down low. Jones is intriguing because his shot looked good he got inside for two . I don’t think it warrants ten a game but five is very realistic to spell Paolo and Mark. To me Blake’s plays like a true freshman . However if Duke can get some minutes out of those two I think the defensive pressure can be tighter.

 

[hart2chesson]

So apparently Brad Brownell wasn’t happy with the officiating. What does he expect? His team chucked threes all night so of course they weren’t going to the line!

Valid point. I didn't really mind Brownell's disappointment over the ratio of fouls whistled after the game. I thought His bitterness really showed when he unnecessarily added "Its been that way here before." No doubt his frustration over the past string of consecutive L's at Duke. Sorry Brad, Not sorry. OFC