This Team ...

[youngman42]

Drives me crazy. Every team has ups and downs. But, I've never seen a team that looks like one of the worst teams in D 1 for more than half a game, then out of nowhere win the game. Just amazing.

The real crux for this team is shooting, obviously. They make other mistakes, have defensive lapses, turnovers, etc. But, there was a point at which Duke was even (I think it may have been 52-52) and I they were still shooting under 30% from 3, and about the same from the FT line. If they started 3 of 10 from 3 instead of 1 of 10, and if they went 10-14, instead of 4-14 from the FT line, they are up 12 (and they never would have been down even close to double digits).

I don't know how they'll make a deep run if they have those bad shooting nights, but who knows. One can only hope they can come alive shooting.

Another uncanny element is how shooting woes and shooting streaks are contagious. Hopefully the contagion of making shots and making FTs will hit this team the next three weeks!

 

[timmuh1515]

This group plays exactly like you would expect a team full of extremely talented freshman would.

I really like Bagley but man is he a bad defender. Go back and watch the play Bilas relayed in the first half, or really any possession. In the zone there was no one on Marvin’s side but it was like he was told to stand there so he didn’t worry about the 2 offense guys around Carter. He did that all night, just not great awareness.

We won in large part because UNC couldn’t find someone to make easy shots in the paint. That and foul shots will likely bite use eventually.

 

[jwill133]

One thing is for sure..every time Cam Johnson shot a 3, I thought it was going in, that guy has a fantastic looking stroke. This team could have REALLY used a grad-transfer like that. One reason would be the experience factor, another reason being that if we can always have 3 shooters around Bagley/Carter, than we are unstoppable.

I wish we took more grad transfers, I'm sure there is a valid reason why K hasn't really done this yet though.

 

[Duke Blu]

Not really sure it’s so much about “buying in”. I think some young players have to learn how to be able to respond when you’re getting punched in the mouth. I have to imagine that most of these guys are more used to giving out the punishment as opposed to getting punished, and I think it’s more about finding OTHER ways to win if what you usually do best isn’t working that night.

 

[Mac9192]

Our lack of experience really bites us at times. Grayson has done a very solid job as a leader. He plays balls to the wall, and sometimes that way hurts us. It's those times that another experienced guy could come in and calm things down.
A good thing about this team is we have 4 bigs that rebound so well, and 2 of them know how to score.
We are who we are, but it's a talented bunch, so talented that everyone knows we can win it all. A lot better position than most teams.

 

[dukiejay]

We can be really, really good and really, really bad in just a matter of moments. It’s infuriating.

This team has a chance to do something special, but I struggle looking past all the moments of ineptitude to think they will. They don’t protect the ball and value possessions. They don’t always play with purpose. Free throws are a major concern. We struggle scoring out of sets. I want to be wrong, but I just think ultimately there might be too much working against them to win the whole thing or get to the Final Four. I hope like hell they prove me wrong.

 

[jwill133]

We should never again have Javin, Bagley, and Carter on the floor at the same time. It just doesn't work on offense. Though Duval can't shoot, he is still a much bigger offensive threat than Javin is. Duval can get into the lane, beat people up and down the floor, and is becoming a much better INTERIOR PASSER, he really struggled with this weeks back.

1 min left in the game and we're up 2 and need a defensive stop...that should be the only time we play Javin at the 3.

 

[RanDEVILman]

To the point about Bagley on defense. I see it every game too...but that's why I don't think it's him. That has to be how K is teaching the zone right? Look in the other side and Trent or Javin play it in a very similar way. The wings are lifted very high. This does leave Carter and Bolden in a lot of 2v1 situations, but I feel like that's what we are willing to give up. Beyond that it's working. I know Theo did some damage in the middle last night, but UNC also missed a few bunnies in there and their shooters did not get good looks in the second half. Really their only good looks all game were from the corners (not counting a few offensive rebounds). Could it be Bagley is doing his job?

 

[peterjurkinsquirtsroywilliams]

If Duke hits their FTs, this game is a huge blow out. It’s the little things that can make huge difference in a game. Hopefully, our guys will continue to improve and make a deep run in the tournament.

 

[Tross282003]

This group plays exactly like you would expect a team full of extremely talented freshman would.

I really like Bagley but man is he a bad defender. Go back and watch the play Bilas relayed in the first half, or really any possession. In the zone there was no one on Marvin’s side but it was like he was told to stand there so he didn’t worry about the 2 offense guys around Carter. He did that all night, just not great awareness.

We won in large part because UNC couldn’t find someone to make easy shots in the paint. That and foul shots will likely bite use eventually.

I highly doubt he played in a zone defense his whole life before coming to Duke and probably won’t play in zone after Duke.

Bagley and Duval won the game for us.

 

[FearTheBeard]

This team is missing one key element and it’s Luke Kennard. I’m not mad at him for going pro, but I can’t help but daydream about how good this team would be if we had his 3 point shooting ability.

 

[bmbritt]

Had a feeling that they were going to revert back to their early season style of play last night by going into halftime down by up to 12-14 points but would come back in 2nd half.

 

[jnastasi]

I feel like yesterday's game was indicative of how the season has gone. They can be flat out terrible and then the next minute they can be unstoppable. Hence why we can be done in the 2nd round or be cutting down the nets come tourney time. I Feel like we're playing like we're ready for a run though.

 

[dachampishere2]

This team is missing one key element and it’s Luke Kennard. I’m not mad at him for going pro, but I can’t help but daydream about how good this team would be if we had his 3 point shooting ability.

Grayson or Kennard had to go. We couldn't keep them both because Duval is here. He's the only point guard on the roster. Or Gary Trent would've been the odd man out

 

[dachampishere2]

Our lack of experience really bites us at times. Grayson has done a very solid job as a leader. He plays balls to the wall, and sometimes that way hurts us. It's those times that another experienced guy could come in and calm things down.
A good thing about this team is we have 4 bigs that rebound so well, and 2 of them know how to score.
We are who we are, but it's a talented bunch, so talented that everyone knows we can win it all. A lot better position than most teams.

Correction 3 know how to score. Bolden has been very efficient when he has had an opportunity to score in the post.

 

[dachampishere2]

"I'm not going to call any plays," Krzyzewski said he told his team. "If you hit, cut, everybody touch the ball, you see a play to make, you make the play. And get comfortable in the game. And they did that. You could see them do that."

I brought this up before but every time we have a big comeback this is what Coach K says. This tells you that he over-coaches at times. For stretches during a game he may need to just roll the ball out there and let them play. They will be more relaxed which will make them play better. Now I'm not saying he should let this happen all game but for about an 8 minute stretch in both halves we can just go Blacktop ball on the other team.

 

[BlueDaveil]

As much as I agree that this team COULD get upset early I think it’s going to take a much more Herculean effort than in years past from our opponents. Just missing 3’s like in some past years shouldn’t spell an L if we are taking good shots and feeding our bigs and avoiding a ton of turnovers. If you look at the stats in most of our losses so many things have to go wrong for us to lose because of the talent discrepancy. It’s frustrating to have 7 minute stretches where we don’t score but we are still losing those games by a point or two. We saw what happened last night when Bags got pissed and refused to lose. Also, and this is a bit early to say, if we happened to witness Duval’s ah ha moment last night then good luck to everyone else.

 

[dachampishere2]

As much as I agree that this team COULD get upset early I think it’s going to take a much more Herculean effort than in years past from our opponents. Just missing 3’s like in some past years shouldn’t spell an L if we are taking good shots and feeding our bigs and avoiding a ton of turnovers. If you look at the stats in most of our losses so many things have to go wrong for us to lose because of the talent discrepancy. It’s frustrating to have 7 minute stretches where we don’t score but we are still losing those games by a point or two. We saw what happened last night when Bags got pissed and refused to lose. Also, and this is a bit early to say, if we happened to witness Duval’s ah ha moment last night then good luck to everyone else.

Right the difference this year is that we can actually depend on the bigs to get us baskets consistently. Another problem we used to have is playing against athletic teams. We are the athletic team now.