Duke is 11-0 with a full roster this year

[DanTheDukeFan1982]

Actually we are 10-1 with the lone loss at UVA, but I’m counting that as a win (it was.)

This team is a headache, the turnovers and the 5 minute scoreless stretches drive me insane. However, the 2 most important things in tournament play are defense and guard play. I trust our defense, especially with Lively in. Guard play looks terrible 1 game and great the next, we need consistency.

If Whitehead continues to come off the bench, that is a huge weapon. He can score 15 in a game off the bench and win us a tough game. We really need a win tomorrow, call me crazy but with UNC’s continued struggles, it’s not out of the question for us to win all 5 remaining games.

 

[sheyduke]

Dan , I agree with everything except I believe it’s time for Whitehead to start. I think a line up of Proctor, Roach, Whitehead, Flip and Lively is Dukes strongest starting line up and all except Lively can score from multiple spots .
With this lineup Duke has Rim protection, rebounding , defensive switching and shooters on the floor to stretch the opposing defense .
Mitchell coming off the bench at the four with Young at the Five is a good frontcourt rotation and while the offense might stagnate the defense with Blakes and Grandison will be good enough to give breathers to the starters . This also takes some of the pressure off Mitchell and allows him to play more loose .

 

[DanTheDukeFan1982]

Dan , I agree with everything except I believe it’s time for Whitehead to start. I think a line up of Proctor, Roach, Whitehead, Flip and Lively is Dukes strongest starting line up and all except Lively can score from multiple spots .
With this lineup Duke has Rim protection, rebounding , defensive switching and shooters on the floor to stretch the opposing defense .
Mitchell coming off the bench at the four with Young at the Five is a good frontcourt rotation and while the offense might stagnate the defense with Blakes and Grandison will be good enough to give breathers to the starters . This also takes some of the pressure off Mitchell and allows him to play more loose .

I too agree with starting Whitehead over Mitchell. It seems like Jon absolutely loves Mitchell and continues to start him and play him too much IMO. Mitchell is our best defender, but kills our offensive spacing.

However Whitehead off the bench is a weapon that most other teams don’t have. Some of the lineups Jon plays should be questioned more. Blakes and Mitchell should never be on the floor together. Same with Young Flip for defensive purposes.

 

[Liftee]

I agree that when Blakes, Mitchell and Lively are on the court together, it might be our best defensive team but we're looking for a 0-0 tie with that group. It's painful to watch.

I trust Jon (he's smarter and knows the team better) and there must be a reason he's starting Mitchell. Might be Mitchell's defense is really important to him. But Mitchell's failure to finish on his drives is really hurting us.

 

[sheyduke]

I think he starts Mitchell out of necessity. He’s pretty much the only other player that has remained healthy and can defend multiple positions . IMO, as Whitehead remains healthy we see Mitchell’s scoring increase do to multiple options on the defensive end .

 

[jamsession3]

Dan , I agree with everything except I believe it’s time for Whitehead to start. I think a line up of Proctor, Roach, Whitehead, Flip and Lively is Dukes strongest starting line up and all except Lively can score from multiple spots .
With this lineup Duke has Rim protection, rebounding , defensive switching and shooters on the floor to stretch the opposing defense .
Mitchell coming off the bench at the four with Young at the Five is a good frontcourt rotation and while the offense might stagnate the defense with Blakes and Grandison will be good enough to give breathers to the starters . This also takes some of the pressure off Mitchell and allows him to play more loose .

This would be an excellent lineup, when health and chemistry are established.

 

[christophero]

It depends on how well Whitehead plays. Mitchell is a good defender but I agree he creates spacing issues as he is more of a natural 4. If Whitehead comes in and gets hot you can leave him in. They both seem to score in spurts. Flip has not been a good 3 point shooter as he was expected to be, which is part of the issue.

 

[NCDomer1]

Start Whitehead and Lively no more three point shooting this year

 

[jamsession3]

It depends on how well Whitehead plays. Mitchell is a good defender but I agree he creates spacing issues as he is more of a natural 4. If Whitehead comes in and gets hot you can leave him in. They both seem to score in spurts. Flip has not been a good 3 point shooter as he was expected to be, which is part of the issue.

3pt shooting is necessary in today's game, but if we can just hit the mid - range and attack the basket with aggression, we may be able to make it up.

 

[sheyduke]

3pt shooting is necessary in today's game, but if we can just hit the mid - range and attack the basket with aggression, we may be able to make it up.

This. Even in the last game you seen Flip make the nice pass in the post to Lively but his offensive instinct wasn’t to go straight up which caused the tie up. Catch the ball and go straight up . It’s either two points or a foul.

I don’t mind the shooting as long as that’s not all they are doing . To often this young team falls in love with the outside shot .

 

[christophero]

Is it just me or does Mitchell seem to get most of his points when he is playing the 4? I am too lazy to do the research.

 

[Devilinside]

3pt shooting is necessary in today's game, but if we can just hit the mid - range and attack the basket with aggression, we may be able to make it up.

3-point baskets, not shooting, is what is necessary. When you are shooting less than 30% as a team, the role of 3-point shooting should become less important because, as we have found out game after game, missed 3-pointers often prevent the defense from getting set or lead to runouts. In addition, a very poor 3-point shooting team will find itself facing packed-in defenses. I am not knowledgeable enough to suggest an alternate strategy to what Jon is using now, but hopefully something will change. I am holding my breath.🥺

OFC

 

[christophero]

Weren't we at full strength against Purdue? I know Roach hurt his toe near the end of the game. Syracuse will probably pack in the zone and make us take 3s.

 

[sheyduke]

Mitchell is at his best as an athletic four. Chris you are correct at that. When he gets that bull dog mentality going, the kid flips the switch and balls .

 

[christophero]

Shey said I was right I am going to print this out and post it on my fridge.

 

[sheyduke]

Shey said I was right I am going to print this out and post it on my fridge.

Lol, I have my good days but we both agree Mitchell is a baller.

 

[christophero]

Watching the 2015 Heartbreak to mountaintop special. We really did seem to catch lightning in a bottle that year. We had a senior Cook. We had Matt Jones and Plumlee and Jefferson as upperclassman. Winslow; wow he is so far ahead of Whitehead. He just had ridiculous athleticism. Tyus seems way ahead of Proctor. Okafor was a load, he would have scored at will on Lively. We do have Flip and Mitchell; but that team seemed to be on another level with talent and experience. They also seemed to show more fire. We talk about guys not being ready but Winslow and Okafor had NBA written all over them. Shame Winslow has had so many injuries.

 

[Fourteen44]

Whatever @koachq says, I’m good with!

 

[sheyduke]

Whatever @koachq says, I’m good with!

Lol

 

[skysdad]

So what, cheater u is 3,174 -0 when their games are fairly officiated. Now that's impressive. 😊 OFC

 

[christophero]

Would love to sweep them. But they will be out for revenge.

 

[bleediteveryday30]

Watching the 2015 Heartbreak to mountaintop special. We really did seem to catch lightning in a bottle that year. We had a senior Cook. We had Matt Jones and Plumlee and Jefferson as upperclassman. Winslow; wow he is so far ahead of Whitehead. He just had ridiculous athleticism. Tyus seems way ahead of Proctor. Okafor was a load, he would have scored at will on Lively. We do have Flip and Mitchell; but that team seemed to be on another level with talent and experience. They also seemed to show more fire. We talk about guys not being ready, but Winslow and Okafor had NBA written all over them. Shame Winslow has had so many injuries.

That's a great video, Chris! I've watched it countless times!

 

[christophero]

I wasn't trying to put down our current team. Just that that team was truly elite.

 

[Topps Coach54]

Imo we need Whitehead to get as much time as possible in the remaining games of the season He is our best shooter and we vitally need him for the tournament.If he plays close to his potential we will cause problems,especially since there is no dominant team in College Basketball this year

 

[christophero]

Latest Atlantic mock draft has none of our guys in the top 20. Whitehead Flip and Lively all 20-30.

 

[ConorONeill]

Weren't we at full strength against Purdue? I know Roach hurt his toe near the end of the game. Syracuse will probably pack in the zone and make us take 3s.

So: Yes, Duke was at full strength against Purdue. Jeremy got hurt at the end of the first half and played most of the second half.

Duke was also at full strength for the 24-point loss at N.C. State. Roach sat out the next 3 games ... but he played at State.

I'm not sure where that stat has come from but it's wrong.

 

[DanTheDukeFan1982]

So: Yes, Duke was at full strength against Purdue. Jeremy got hurt at the end of the first half and played most of the second half.

Duke was also at full strength for the 24-point loss at N.C. State. Roach sat out the next 3 games ... but he played at State.

I'm not sure where that stat has come from but it's wrong.

This is where the stat came from. A lot of other accounts posted it too. Maybe it’s assuming our guys are healthy and not playing at 75% like Roach, Whitehead, and Lively were. Either way..sorry.

 

[ConorONeill]

View embedded media

This is where the stat came from. A lot of other accounts posted it too. Maybe it’s assuming our guys are healthy and not playing at 75% like Roach, Whitehead, and Lively were. Either way..sorry.

No worries, not trying to be a dick about it and sorry if it came off that way.

Not singling out Adam or anyone else out who's cited that stat -- it's just annoyed me that it's gained so much traction. They're getting it from Duke's game notes, and it's phrased "Duke has not lost in regulation with its full complement of scholarship players available (10-1); but is 8-7 in games where players were injured in-game or did not play due to injury or illness."

So like ... Roach was injured against Purdue but played 37 minutes. I can't remember anybody getting injured at N.C. State.

I don't know, maybe I'm being too much of a cynic; just seems like a misleading stat.

 

[jamsession3]

3-point baskets, not shooting, is what is necessary. When you are shooting less than 30% as a team, the role of 3-point shooting should become less important because, as we have found out game after game, missed 3-pointers often prevent the defense from getting set or lead to runouts. In addition, a very poor 3-point shooting team will find itself facing packed-in defenses. I am not knowledgeable enough to suggest an alternate strategy to what Jon is using now, but hopefully something will change. I am holding my breath.🥺

OFC

This is why I said get the midrange or old fashion 2pt and a free throw.

This team must rebound, make free throws and play aggressive defense to make up for the deficit.

 

[jamsession3]

I wasn't trying to put down our current team. Just that that team was truly elite.

They will be elite, as a team, if the core returns.

 

[NCDomer1]

did you notice the turnovers went away as a factor