***DUKE VS MIAMI OFFICIAL GAMEDAY THREAD***

[DukeDenver]

If you find yourself posting on DI only after losses, and those posts tend to be critical of the coaching or players (then add nothing after wins or in down periods), you may want to think about your motivations for being here. I should've taken my own advice and used the 'ignore' button. I will do so in the future.

 

[Showenuff]

You're one of the good guys DD.

 

[SoCal Dukie]

My apologies for any disfunction I may have caused. I root hard for these kids, win or lose and I'm sorry for the name calling and any other inappropriate behavior. Particularly toward @SoCal Dukie

No worries man! Apologies here too. I was frustrated as well, and being behind a cpu only makes it near impossible to read exactly how the other person is trying to portray their thoughts on that topic...

 

[SoCal Dukie]

To those who wanted more PT for the bigs, what does K need to do now? You got what you wanted and we got owned in the paint and there was no ball movement. The fact is, K knows his team better than all of us. Know-it-alls are annoying. Don't be that poaster.

Completely disagree here, both from a viewing standpoint, and a statistical standpoint.
Duke outrebounded Miami, had the same amount of blocks, and was even with paint points throughout most of the game. Duke’s inability to look inside, having no one that could penetrate, and settle for passing around the perimeter, was their downfall offensively. That doesn’t fall on the bigs, IMO.

Bolden was rejected offensively at a couple of junctures, but considering thie lack of PT he’s gotten, he handled himself quite well. Over a 40mpg period, he would have averaged out to 11.5 rebounds and 8.5 blocks, although limited in points. I will take that for a kid riding the pine all year.

 

[DukeDenver]

Completely disagree here, both from a viewing standpoint, and a statistical standpoint.
Duke outrebounded Miami, had the same amount of blocks, and was even with paint points throughout most of the game. Duke’s inability to look inside, having no one that could penetrate, and settle for passing around the perimeter, was their downfall offensively. That doesn’t fall on the bigs, IMO.

Bolden was rejected offensively at a couple of junctures, but considering thie lack of PT he’s gotten, he handled himself quite well. Over a 40mpg period, he would have averaged out to 11.5 rebounds and 8.5 blocks, although limited in points. I will take that for a kid riding the pine all year.

I agree we could be putting our bigs in better positions in general, but only Amile and Harry show any post scoring potential, and both are playing at 70%. Bolden could never play extended minutes this year because of his fouling/minute and lack of endurance. He runs well for about 3 minutes, then he starts slowing. His hands are suspect and he lacks strength. His future is bright, but he needs to mature physically and mentally, and I'm not sure PT will get him there any faster. That's a matter of opinion of course.

I'm not suggesting we lost because we played the bigs more. I was trying to say there is no magic lineup that Coach K is somehow ignoring. He plays the 5 guys that he thinks work best with one another on both ends. We lost because we were out of sync all night. Injuries and mixed up lineups have taken some of the wind out of our sails. I think we could win with lots of different lineups, but all 5 guys need to be on the same page and healthy.

 

[SoCal Dukie]

I agree we could be putting our bigs in better positions in general, but only Amile and Harry show any post scoring potential, and both are playing at 70%. Bolden could never play extended minutes this year because of his fouling/minute and lack of endurance. He runs well for about 3 minutes, then he starts slowing. His hands are suspect and he lacks strength. His future is bright, but he needs to mature physically and mentally, and I'm not sure PT will get him there any faster. That's a matter of opinion of course.

I'm not suggesting we lost because we played the bigs more. I was trying to say there is no magic lineup that Coach K is somehow ignoring. He plays the 5 guys that he thinks work best with one another on both ends. We lost because we were out of sync all night. Injuries and mixed up lineups have taken some of the wind out of our sails. I think we could win with lots of different lineups, but all 5 guys need to be on the same page and healthy.

Good points, thanks for clarifying. Now I understand what you are saying. I am not at the other end of the spectrum too; I feel if they continue to rotate those 3 bigs (Amile, Giles, then Bolden - getting the lesser of the minutes), even when Grayson comes back, they have a better shot of getting further and having a better success rate. My other concern, though, is not having a true breakdown-the-D point guard. Maybe Frank should run the point? If that happens, though, it makes Duke small again. It’s almost like Duke would be better off this year if they could play 6 on the court at a time.

 

[DukeDenver]

Good points, thanks for clarifying. Now I understand what you are saying. I am not at the other end of the spectrum too; I feel if they continue to rotate those 3 bigs (Amile, Giles, then Bolden - getting the lesser of the minutes), even when Grayson comes back, they have a better shot of getting further and having a better success rate. My other concern, though, is not having a true breakdown-the-D point guard. Maybe Frank should run the point? If that happens, though, it makes Duke small again. It’s almost like Duke would be better off this year if they could play 6 on the court at a time.

Maybe let Frank ride in Vrank's back pocket and no one will notice.