Yep, we're dead in the water without Grayson playing relatively well.
Hopefully that ankle will get a little better before Splatterurday. Hope we're the ones doing the splattering!
OFC
***DUKE VS FLORIDA STATE OFFICIAL GAMEDAY THREAD***
- Thread starter krzyzewskiville
- Start date
Yep, we're dead in the water without Grayson playing relatively well.
Hopefully that ankle will get a little better before Splatterurday. Hope we're the ones doing the splattering!
OFC
I think we can win with or without Grayson Saturday. Sure everyone needs to step up and fill the void that a player like Grayson leaves behind when unavailable, but we have the horses. Our defense would be better.
Not trying to diminish what Grayson does, he's a world class player, but we also have a ton of talent on this roster as well.
Not trying to diminish what Grayson does, he's a world class player, but we also have a ton of talent on this roster as well.
I would probably be in the group who feels there is no way we beat UNcheat without Grayson but the emergence of Frank could sway me. Grayson hurt kills us because he really gets up for the Heels. But then again, I like the way Frank looked last night. He spreads things out a bit more really. And Grays on even healthy doesn't have that first burst of speed that gets Frank to the rim. We can still do this, tall order but still doable .
I have mixed feelings about last night's game. Of course it was nice to send Matt and Amile out with a W on senior night, and at times we did look great. For the game though, we did not play our "A" game.
However, the fact that we can't put teams away very well could contribute to the death of this team. FSU, at times didn't even look like they were playing hard, and we still let them hang around.
We had 1 blowout win in all of conference play, the GT game. Don't get me wrong, the ACC is outstanding and very balanced, but remember the 2015 team: up 50 on Senior night, was up 50 against a very very good ND team, sure there were others as well....
However, the fact that we can't put teams away very well could contribute to the death of this team. FSU, at times didn't even look like they were playing hard, and we still let them hang around.
We had 1 blowout win in all of conference play, the GT game. Don't get me wrong, the ACC is outstanding and very balanced, but remember the 2015 team: up 50 on Senior night, was up 50 against a very very good ND team, sure there were others as well....
I feel like last night was a "blowout" we win by 5 but we're clearly in control all night IMO. Also we can beat UNV without Grayson if Frank is like he was yesterday
I've had mixed feelings for this team since Jan. I feel the reason that we don't blow teams out and have lost quite a few games is this is not one of Dukes vintage teams. Duke has some really good players but as a team it just hasn't meshed well and a big part of that is the lack of a PG and dealing with all the injuries and missed games by our big guys that might could have offset not having a PG if they had the chance to play the first 1/3rd of the season and grow before we hit the meat of our schedule. I hope I am dead wrong but I just don't feel we have the makeup to make a big run in the tournaments this year. But we can speculate forever. One thing for sure is if a team knocks off Duke in the dance they will have to play a very good and hard game to take it from them. I believe they will go in with both guns blasting.
I can't imagine Duke touches its ceiling without a healthy, quality Allen. Duke has beaten quality opponents with minimal production from Allen - last night, 6 points against Florida, 5 points @ UVA, etc. - but they can't weather multiple tournament games without his production.
I felt the same way. I did not feel like it was in doubt at any point.
I definitely understand the dislike of the stall ball, but I've never minded it. The only thing that is ever impacted is the amount by which we win. I can't think of a time where we did stall ball in a tight game and ended up losing. It's ugly and can be stressful, but it seems to get the job done, at least in my opinion.
I also thought it was perfect for last night. The lead started to dwindle when Free Shoes started running and our guys seemed to want to run in response. I thought it was good to implement it last night.
I felt our guys hit a wall at about 7 minutes left last night. They had no choice but to slow the game down. I think that's why there were so many uncontested layups in the last 5 minutes. Our guys were gassed. I give them credit for holding on but if Kennard doesn't hit that 3 i'm not sure they would have.
Stall ball for Duke has too many times done nothing but make a game that was not in doubt become one where you move to the edge of your seat and get antsy. Keep foot on throttle until last 2 minutes.
I get that, but my point is more that I can't think of a time when it has cost us a game. If we were doing stall ball and it cost us 2-3 wins this season, I'd sing a different tune. It does create stress, haha, but I don't believe it has ever really cost us a game.
Wouldn't blame the loss completely on stall ball, but believe it factored in for our NC State loss. By the time that game got close again, we were completely out of rhythm, due to stall ball.
Still.....don't mind our 4 corners offense and believe it has contributed to less losses than playing uptempo for 40 minutes would.
We could win a 1st and maybe 2nd game in in the ACCT without Grayson but not a championship. As far as the NCAAT we will need our scorers to be hot and I mean really hot to take us to the final 4. Its possible, we've all seen it happen before.
