Watched that Utah St game yesterday trying to get an idea of what Oral Roberts is capable of and gotta say…Utah St was just making every 3. Almost unlucky for Oral Roberts but also think Utah St will be a dangerous out on their end.
Good luck Thurs
Tell me about Oral Roberts
- Thread starter Quavarius
- Start date
Good luck Thurs
> Jay Bilas on ESPN.com
No. 5 DUKE vs. No. 12 ORAL ROBERTS
Why Duke can win: Rebounding, defense, elite size. Duke is a very young team that has been getting better and healthier over time. Jon Scheyer has guided this team to the best record of any first year head coach in Duke history, and he is now coaching the team he expected at the start of the season. The two most reliable and consistent players have been freshman Kyle Filipowski and veteran Jeremy Roach, both of whom have carried a significant scoring and rebounding load all season. A key for Duke has been the recent availability of shot blocker Dereck Lively II and bucket getting wing Dariq Whitehead. Lively is a shot-blocker and shot changer, and he is an active lob threat. The biggest key has been the emergence of freshman point guard Tyrese Proctor, who took over duties with the ball, and allows Roach to play off the ball and serve as more of a scoring and attacking guard. Proctor is an outstanding defender, as is Roach and Mark Mitchell. Duke blocks shots and gets second shots, but the Blue Devils do not force turnovers, sporting just a -1.1 turnover margin, 14th in the ACC. This is a gap protection and rim protection team that does not create a margin with offense or turnover generation.
Why Duke can lose: Perimeter shooting, youth, turnover margin. Duke gets second chance points, but does not generate easy baskets off of its defense. And, with an unbeaten home record of 16-0, the youth of Duke has shown up on the road. Duke is just 7-8 away from Cameron Indoor Stadium, with losses to Kansas, Purdue, Wake Forest, NC State, Clemson, Virginia Tech, and Miami...a few of those by 19 points or more. The Blue Devils are an inconsistent shooting team, hitting only 32% from behind the arc, 13th in the ACC and in the bottom third of Division I. But, Duke's offensive explosion in the ACC tournament was truly impressive. Proctor's improvement, Whitehead's development, and more spread floor spacing have made Duke harder to guard. Duke's defense has carried the team all season, and it will have to carry the team in the NCAA tournament.
Best win: Best then No. 17 Miami (68-66).
Worst loss: Blown out at NC State (84-60, they didn't score in the first 7.5 minutes and never made it close despite being a 5-point favorite).
Standout player: 7'0" Freshman Center Kyle Filipowski (3 double doubles to open his collegiate career and hasn't slowed since. 5-star prospect that was the No. 4 recruit).
Rebounding: The list of teams that are better on the offensive glass than the Blue Devils is a short one, with a 38% offensive rebound rate, 6th in the nation.
High scoring game: Kyle Filipowski led this team in scoring in 12 of their first 21 games, (dropped 29 at Virginia Tech on January 23) but Jeremy Roach has been the catalyst over the past month. Those two average over 35% of Duke's points this season.
Nugget: Duke has 0 NCAA tournament wins -- ever -- when seeded 6 or worse. They are 0-2 in such spots (losing in the first round as a 6-seed in 2007 and as an 8-seed in 1996).
How Oral Roberts can win: Turnover margin, 3-point shooting, high tempo offense, experience, fearlessness. Remember when Oral Roberts beat Ohio State in the NCAA tournament behind Max Abmas and current Texas Tech star Kevin Obanor? Well, this version of ORU is a better team. The Golden Eagles...(I miss the Titans...The Golden Eagles mascot was hatched from a paper mache egg and his name, "Eli," is an acronym for "education, life skills, integrity." Wait, wouldn't that be "Elsi?" But, I digress...anyway, the Golden Eagles have the nation's longest win streak and can really score, averaging 84 points per game, third in the nation. Behind Abmas, now a senior that has scored over 2,500 career points, ORU hits 11 3-point field goals per game, second in the nation, and ORU is sixth in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio. Abmas has put up 22 points per game, with a high of 36, and has hit over 114 3-point field goals and 147 free throws. Abmas is a flamethrower that also leads ORU in assists. Connor Vanover, a transfer from Cal and Arkansas, is a skilled big man that has hit 97 career 3-point field goals, 45 of them this year. Vanover averages 13 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks, while Issac McBride, a transfer from Vanderbilt, adds 12 points per game and has hit 60 3-point field goals at a 41% clip. This is a low turnover team that has a star in Abmas that can carry the team.
How Oral Roberts can lose: Defense, rebounding. While ORU can really score, it is not a lockdown defensive team and can give up open looks from deep. But, in the NCAA tournament, this team can be another darling. Just don't be surprised. ORU has only four losses: Houston by 38, Saint Mary's by 8, Utah State by 10, and New Mexico by 7.
Best win: February 25 at South Dakota State (69-65, impressive win despite a 2-10 FG day from Max Abmas). Worst loss: No bad losses, but did lose to Houston by 38 points on November 14.
Standout player: Senior guard Max Abmas (top-10 scorer in each of the past 3 seasons, career best FT% this season, over 36% from 3 in all 4 of his collegiate seasons)
Efficiency: A top-20 team in both turnovers committed per game and assist-to-turnover rate.
High scoring game: Abmas is the first and second option on this offense, but 7-5 Senior Connor Vanover (transfer from Arkansas) double-doubled in both the Summit semis and finals.
Nugget: Their top-3 scorers all shot over 80% from the FT line. Flaw: Despite the height of Vanover, this team was outrebounded for the season.
Winner: Duke. Rebounding will be the difference. Duke is young, which is an issue, but they are bigger and better protecting the rim.
Upset Chance: One Glass Slipper. Abmas has been there before. Duke's young guys haven't.
No. 5 DUKE vs. No. 12 ORAL ROBERTS
Why Duke can win: Rebounding, defense, elite size. Duke is a very young team that has been getting better and healthier over time. Jon Scheyer has guided this team to the best record of any first year head coach in Duke history, and he is now coaching the team he expected at the start of the season. The two most reliable and consistent players have been freshman Kyle Filipowski and veteran Jeremy Roach, both of whom have carried a significant scoring and rebounding load all season. A key for Duke has been the recent availability of shot blocker Dereck Lively II and bucket getting wing Dariq Whitehead. Lively is a shot-blocker and shot changer, and he is an active lob threat. The biggest key has been the emergence of freshman point guard Tyrese Proctor, who took over duties with the ball, and allows Roach to play off the ball and serve as more of a scoring and attacking guard. Proctor is an outstanding defender, as is Roach and Mark Mitchell. Duke blocks shots and gets second shots, but the Blue Devils do not force turnovers, sporting just a -1.1 turnover margin, 14th in the ACC. This is a gap protection and rim protection team that does not create a margin with offense or turnover generation.
Why Duke can lose: Perimeter shooting, youth, turnover margin. Duke gets second chance points, but does not generate easy baskets off of its defense. And, with an unbeaten home record of 16-0, the youth of Duke has shown up on the road. Duke is just 7-8 away from Cameron Indoor Stadium, with losses to Kansas, Purdue, Wake Forest, NC State, Clemson, Virginia Tech, and Miami...a few of those by 19 points or more. The Blue Devils are an inconsistent shooting team, hitting only 32% from behind the arc, 13th in the ACC and in the bottom third of Division I. But, Duke's offensive explosion in the ACC tournament was truly impressive. Proctor's improvement, Whitehead's development, and more spread floor spacing have made Duke harder to guard. Duke's defense has carried the team all season, and it will have to carry the team in the NCAA tournament.
Best win: Best then No. 17 Miami (68-66).
Worst loss: Blown out at NC State (84-60, they didn't score in the first 7.5 minutes and never made it close despite being a 5-point favorite).
Standout player: 7'0" Freshman Center Kyle Filipowski (3 double doubles to open his collegiate career and hasn't slowed since. 5-star prospect that was the No. 4 recruit).
Rebounding: The list of teams that are better on the offensive glass than the Blue Devils is a short one, with a 38% offensive rebound rate, 6th in the nation.
High scoring game: Kyle Filipowski led this team in scoring in 12 of their first 21 games, (dropped 29 at Virginia Tech on January 23) but Jeremy Roach has been the catalyst over the past month. Those two average over 35% of Duke's points this season.
Nugget: Duke has 0 NCAA tournament wins -- ever -- when seeded 6 or worse. They are 0-2 in such spots (losing in the first round as a 6-seed in 2007 and as an 8-seed in 1996).
How Oral Roberts can win: Turnover margin, 3-point shooting, high tempo offense, experience, fearlessness. Remember when Oral Roberts beat Ohio State in the NCAA tournament behind Max Abmas and current Texas Tech star Kevin Obanor? Well, this version of ORU is a better team. The Golden Eagles...(I miss the Titans...The Golden Eagles mascot was hatched from a paper mache egg and his name, "Eli," is an acronym for "education, life skills, integrity." Wait, wouldn't that be "Elsi?" But, I digress...anyway, the Golden Eagles have the nation's longest win streak and can really score, averaging 84 points per game, third in the nation. Behind Abmas, now a senior that has scored over 2,500 career points, ORU hits 11 3-point field goals per game, second in the nation, and ORU is sixth in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio. Abmas has put up 22 points per game, with a high of 36, and has hit over 114 3-point field goals and 147 free throws. Abmas is a flamethrower that also leads ORU in assists. Connor Vanover, a transfer from Cal and Arkansas, is a skilled big man that has hit 97 career 3-point field goals, 45 of them this year. Vanover averages 13 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks, while Issac McBride, a transfer from Vanderbilt, adds 12 points per game and has hit 60 3-point field goals at a 41% clip. This is a low turnover team that has a star in Abmas that can carry the team.
How Oral Roberts can lose: Defense, rebounding. While ORU can really score, it is not a lockdown defensive team and can give up open looks from deep. But, in the NCAA tournament, this team can be another darling. Just don't be surprised. ORU has only four losses: Houston by 38, Saint Mary's by 8, Utah State by 10, and New Mexico by 7.
Best win: February 25 at South Dakota State (69-65, impressive win despite a 2-10 FG day from Max Abmas). Worst loss: No bad losses, but did lose to Houston by 38 points on November 14.
Standout player: Senior guard Max Abmas (top-10 scorer in each of the past 3 seasons, career best FT% this season, over 36% from 3 in all 4 of his collegiate seasons)
Efficiency: A top-20 team in both turnovers committed per game and assist-to-turnover rate.
High scoring game: Abmas is the first and second option on this offense, but 7-5 Senior Connor Vanover (transfer from Arkansas) double-doubled in both the Summit semis and finals.
Nugget: Their top-3 scorers all shot over 80% from the FT line. Flaw: Despite the height of Vanover, this team was outrebounded for the season.
Winner: Duke. Rebounding will be the difference. Duke is young, which is an issue, but they are bigger and better protecting the rim.
Upset Chance: One Glass Slipper. Abmas has been there before. Duke's young guys haven't.
Duke only allows opponents to shoot 30.4% from 3 for the season which is 20th best in the nation.
I think the fact that OR made the Sweet 16 in 2021 should allow the coaches to get our players attention pretty quick. This isn’t some random mid-major that we can take lightly. So, even though I would much rather not face OR in the first round, this could actually be beneficial to Duke.
Duke may have nerves early but I think we'll settle down and our defense will be something ORU hasn't seen except for Houston (where the lost by 38).
I read their Kenpom ranking is somewhere near NC State and Miami. So while we should win, we need to take them seriously. They are also the highest rated of the 12 seeds. I've also seen us favored by 3 or 4 on Kenpom. That seems odd, but we are not a 1 playing a 16 either.
Vegas has us as a 6.5 point favorite. So yes, we shouldn’t expect a 20-30 point blowout.
Their KenPom profiles are similar to Pitt and Miami—elite on offense and horrendous on defense. Duke has been successful against those profiles recently.
A few points:
-I think the whole road record thing at this stage is not something you can read anything into as Duke just won the ACC Tournament playing three games, just won in Chapel Hill this month, was robbed in the game at Virginia, lost one game on the road without Dereck Lively and Dariq Whitehead and lost another away game without Jeremy Roach. Two other losses away from Cameron were to two teams that both have # 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
-I think Duke needs a good start in the ball game with this being many of the players first NCAA Tournament. The O Roberts players have experienced some wins in this tournament.
-Of the last seven games that O Roberts played, six of those teams had the word "Dakota" in their name. That's North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota, South Dakota State.
-I think the whole road record thing at this stage is not something you can read anything into as Duke just won the ACC Tournament playing three games, just won in Chapel Hill this month, was robbed in the game at Virginia, lost one game on the road without Dereck Lively and Dariq Whitehead and lost another away game without Jeremy Roach. Two other losses away from Cameron were to two teams that both have # 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
-I think Duke needs a good start in the ball game with this being many of the players first NCAA Tournament. The O Roberts players have experienced some wins in this tournament.
-Of the last seven games that O Roberts played, six of those teams had the word "Dakota" in their name. That's North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota, South Dakota State.
I also think getting out to a lead in the game will be crucial. We did that all 3 games in the ACC tournament, which was a crazy turnaround because the first half of the season I feel like we always had 2 points at the first TV timeout.
Greetings from the ORU Prayer Tower in God's Country (Tulsa, Oklahoma). I have just emerged from a 7 hour prayer vigil conversing with the Lord. He told me to call all you dirty little devils to repentance or suffer the furious vengance of His chosen team...THE ORAL ROBERTS UNIVERSITY! Lo, if you fail to turn from your devilish ways, Prophet Abmas and the Disciples shall rain down a torrent of 3-pointers until all that remains are a heap of blue ashes.
Behold, you have been warned. Repent for the Kingdom of the Golden Eagle is at hand!
Behold, you have been warned. Repent for the Kingdom of the Golden Eagle is at hand!
Even if you’re truly trying to troll, that’s pretty creative.
I will assume you are being sarcastic and not a complete moron.
I understand that Duke isn't known for its' academic prowess, but your assumption is spot on, sir. 🤓
Dude...we're just happy to have a neutral court game against you guys and personally I'd be tickled pink to cover the 6.5 points.
Dude...we're just happy to have a neutral court game against you guys and personally I'd be tickled pink to cover the 6.5 points.
I wish ORU no luck. Let luck be on the Duke side.
Good article from Wiseman.
https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/article273083880.html
https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/article273083880.html
Kudos Tulsa. You made me smile. Good luck tomorrow.
Let’s go Duke! Weak academic prowess and all!
Let’s go Duke! Weak academic prowess and all!
I must say, when I first saw our match up, I anticipated coming here and seeing a lot of folks full of themselves and looking down their noses. But, I was completely wrong! I've really enjoyed reading your board and my preconceived notions of Duke fans was totally off base. Will definitley be pulling for Duke if we are on the losing end tonight.
Thank you for the kind words, but we are just a bunch of no nothing, scrubs over here at DI. If you really want to see the true, knowledgeable, and gifted Duke fans, you need to step over to the Brotherhood forum.
Wait until you meet KoachQ or @Dattier - that may change your view pretty quickly
Or go to dukebasketballreport - full of the most “educated” people in the world. Just a warning…..you have to wear a mask while you type there. They’re convinced you can catch covid online.
Appreciate all the info oral Roberts fans have come here and given, but this isn’t North Dakota st or st Thomas minnesota they are playing. Big difference in acc vs summit.
Duke's bigs are so impressive! ORU was going to hit alot of 3s in order to stay in it. Unfortunately for ORU not doing that tonight. Probably would have much rather have played any other 5 seed!
What does Vegas know 👀
Well I think we would have much rather anyone else in the ACC!
one of the worst matchups ORU could have gotten in the tourney in Duke.Thank yall so much for the courtesy and great Basketball talk and wishing Duke best of luck rest of tourney! I have Duke in my final 4 in my bracket! be rooting for the Blue Devils!
be rooting for the Blue Devils!Congrats on making the tourney. You are always welcome here. You seem to be developing quite a good program.Thank yall so much for the courtesy and great Basketball talk and wishing Duke best of luck rest of tourney! I have Duke in my final 4 in my bracket!
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ORU had a good year but met a Duke team that is playing well with a strong bench. Unlike the cheats ORU was a class team.
Barkley just told Kenny Smith let me talk your teams not in it. Lol
Man, if all opposing fans were like you life would be better. All class. Good luck in the future. Mills has a great program there in ORU. Not a team, but a program. I will echo everyone else here in saying you're always welcome here.Thank yall so much for the courtesy and great Basketball talk and wishing Duke best of luck rest of tourney! I have Duke in my final 4 in my bracket!
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