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N E X T!

Lil' Hurley

All American
Mar 3, 2010
1,438
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They can't all be pretty, especially on the road. I did not think we would be 25-3 after 28 games with the road wins we have. We have three freshman making a huge contribution for this team, and no matter how good they are, a team with that dynamic is not going to get up the same for every game.

My only comment after games like this is...N E X T!!!
 
Last thought: even veteran teams have stinkers on the road. VA Tech shot the friggen lights out. But our kids fought, scrapped, and won.

Play of the game: the high-low from Oak to Winslow. That's why K is the GOAT.
 
My only comment is can we actually play some semblance of defense for two games in a row please? I'd say something about the free throws, but we are just gonna have to live with that situation till next year.
 
Hey, Duke isn't 18-9. losing 5 of 7. We gotta an ugly win and still can be a 1 seed with a 25-3 record. I'm not happy with tonight, but look 8 miles away. Could be a whole lot worse.

This time of year is all about getting wins. Even squeaking one from at terrible team. Again, we could be looking a 7 seed in our future like a certain team down the road.
 
We ABSOLUTELY have gotta defend the dribble better, tonight is a PRIME example of how not so good teams beat teams like us in the dance!!!

I was harping zone, and I still think it helped, but they torched that as well.

I would like to see us as a primary zone team but still mixing it up plenty. I really think that is an effective strategy no matter who you are..... I can think of a long list of games that's caused us headaches. We are who we are at this point, but tonight scared me a bit. Win or lose or even if we win by 20 and they missed all the open looks i think I would be a bit concerned with the defensive effort. I can't sugar coat it...... It was bad!!!!

I would love to hear from the guys that know the game better then me, how do others effectively defend the high screen and roll??? As simple as packing it in? Seems to be a no brainer to me
 
I'll take an ugly win over any kind of a loss any day of the week and twice on Sunday. I'll take 6 of the ugliest wins you'll ever see in the NCAA tourney. Just keep on winnin', baby! And, uh. yeah...NEXT!

OFC
 
Originally posted by WI#1Dukie22:
We ABSOLUTELY have gotta defend the dribble better, tonight is a PRIME example of how not so good teams beat teams like us in the dance!!!

I was harping zone, and I still think it helped, but they torched that as well.

I would like to see us as a primary zone team but still mixing it up plenty. I really think that is an effective strategy no matter who you are..... I can think of a long list of games that's caused us headaches. We are who we are at this point, but tonight scared me a bit. Win or lose or even if we win by 20 and they missed all the open looks i think I would be a bit concerned with the defensive effort. I can't sugar coat it...... It was bad!!!!

I would love to hear from the guys that know the game better then me, how do others effectively defend the high screen and roll??? As simple as packing it in? Seems to be a no brainer to me
In the games we played well, we defended much better-so I know we are capable. For the high screen, the guard can fight through and the big can hedge, the guard can run under the screen, or you can switch (not with Oak, but maybe with Amile). I love Oak, but I think he has a long way to go on D. Marshall hedges much better IMO, but he seems to have trouble recovering--and like all Plumlees, he is great at picking up fouls outside the three point line.
 
Don't get me wrong, I'm all about the NEXT. I knew it would be a battle and a win is a win. I could careless what the talking heads have to say BUT.......
I'm usually pretty rah rah, especially after any win but once a while some things don't feel so good.

I really thought this team was done getting abused, I'm a bit taken back tonight.

Another gutsy effort tho for sure, I don't want that to be lost by any means.
 
Even Kentucky has had several close games this year. It just happens. We'll bounce back next game.
 
My desire for a young team like this, at this junction in the season, is to show some new growth. We've been winning these tough road games on the road since wisky, nothing new. I wanna see these players grow as defenders, become comfortable in these roles and become better at guarding their positions. I feel when that growth is evident, the prospects of a deep tournament run are real. That's all. I don't want to have to constantly win shoot-outs.
 
I'm not claiming to know basketball better than anyone... but everyone attacks Okafor in pick and roll. Really the only way to guard that is to take him out. Sometime after the Miami game they made the switch to force the ball away from the pick and have Okafor just try to herd the ball handler against the sideline. That has worked okay... Oak still is a liability there. the zone def helps some. The biggest issue tonight was VT making a high percentage of 3s.
 
Originally posted by crazyduke3:
My desire for a young team like this, at this junction in the season, is to show some new growth. We've been winning these tough road games on the road since wisky, nothing new. I wanna see these players grow as defenders, become comfortable in these roles and become better at guarding their positions. I feel when that growth is evident, the prospects of a deep tournament run are real. That's all. I don't want to have to constantly win shoot-outs.
The first thing to go is the defense when the team's intensity is not up. I can remember that even from back when I played (high school ball). The team was just not up for it tonight. It probably didn't help that we got up early because we just didn't have the right look on our faces. It's another learning experience, and at least we won while the lesson got taught. N E X T.
 
This teams biggest strength is their mental toughness to keep fighting and never quit. It's the reason we have the wins we have because we haven't really torched to many teams, at least not on the road. They've had a bunch of tough games where they've had find a way to win, that's valuable.

That said, they have shown some weaknesses that could be costly.
 
The real question is whether we are still a one seed in Lunardi's bracket.

Jeez ESPN, shut the f* up about Lunardi and his bracket.
 
Have they ever promoted the bracketology angle this much in seasons past? I mean, I know it was a big part of the coverage....but do we really need to hear from Lunardi during games about it?

Just seems espn is going a little more overboard with it this season.
 
This game doesn't bother me. We showed we can scrap our way to a win without playing our best ball on someone else's court who brought their A game. Before the game I said I was worried we would be a little sluggish and emotionally drained (from the UNC game and all the energy we used up against Clemson). And it showed. I thought we were on cruise control the whole time. I also said it would be nice if Quinn and Tyus didn't have to play 39 minutes again.

They each played 45. Is it really that hard to give one of them even a 90 second blow and let Grayson or Matt man the 2 guard spot for a minute? I'm not worried about burning out in March (at least not with Quinn), but they just don't have their legs towards the end of games.
 
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