Knocked out the first 2 wins on the 3 game “road trip”. Defense has played very well and we are fully healthy with a few days to rest and prep for the big rivalry showdown. We all know how these games go. Being the better team or hot team or having the better match ups just does not matter. It will be a fight and I expect both teams to be ready for war. Below are what excites me for duke in this game and what concerns me
EXCITED
We are healthy, clicking on defense, and have a few days to rest. Two solid road wins, regardless of shooting woes, should have confidence high for our guys
We match up well on paper. I expect Trevor and Wendell to take on Love, Roach to match up on the shooters, AJ on Leaky, and the obvious 4/5 match ups. Paolo has a great match up in terms of skill and athleticism. He “should” dominate
This is not a traditional post/rebound dominating UNC team. Bacot is really the only traditional post player. We have gotten better on the boards the last few games and we should be able to do well in this one as well
CONCERNS
Any road game comes with road crowds and a road whistle. Fouls in the front court could be the biggest thing to effect the game negatively for duke. What Manek lacks in skill/athleticism versus Paolo, he is experienced and a smart player. Paolo can’t get goated into dumb fouls. And Bacot will try to bully. Mark and Theo have to be smart. Go for blocks when you have the position but just play straight up when they do. Your fouls are often way more valuable than the 2 points you fouled over.
Caleb love played out of his mind against duke last year. It’s personal for him as he wanted to be a blue devil. But I don’t expect roach to draw the assignment and our best should keep him in check. We will see
The way they played against NcSU was one of those insane catch fire games. We will see if it carries over to their game tonight. If they click tonight, confidence will be soaring heading into the Duke game. It’s a double edge sword shooting that way, but definitely is something that can keep them rolling with confidence. Sometimes confidence is half the battle
We are the only chance for a true quality win for them. They are truly on the bubble just because of the name on the jersey, but a win against duke would be huge for then
Interested in hearing everyone else thoughts. My prediction:
DUKE 81
UNC 72
EXCITED
We are healthy, clicking on defense, and have a few days to rest. Two solid road wins, regardless of shooting woes, should have confidence high for our guys
We match up well on paper. I expect Trevor and Wendell to take on Love, Roach to match up on the shooters, AJ on Leaky, and the obvious 4/5 match ups. Paolo has a great match up in terms of skill and athleticism. He “should” dominate
This is not a traditional post/rebound dominating UNC team. Bacot is really the only traditional post player. We have gotten better on the boards the last few games and we should be able to do well in this one as well
CONCERNS
Any road game comes with road crowds and a road whistle. Fouls in the front court could be the biggest thing to effect the game negatively for duke. What Manek lacks in skill/athleticism versus Paolo, he is experienced and a smart player. Paolo can’t get goated into dumb fouls. And Bacot will try to bully. Mark and Theo have to be smart. Go for blocks when you have the position but just play straight up when they do. Your fouls are often way more valuable than the 2 points you fouled over.
Caleb love played out of his mind against duke last year. It’s personal for him as he wanted to be a blue devil. But I don’t expect roach to draw the assignment and our best should keep him in check. We will see
The way they played against NcSU was one of those insane catch fire games. We will see if it carries over to their game tonight. If they click tonight, confidence will be soaring heading into the Duke game. It’s a double edge sword shooting that way, but definitely is something that can keep them rolling with confidence. Sometimes confidence is half the battle
We are the only chance for a true quality win for them. They are truly on the bubble just because of the name on the jersey, but a win against duke would be huge for then
Interested in hearing everyone else thoughts. My prediction:
DUKE 81
UNC 72
