[2017-18] FSU / at NC State / at Pitt / Wake / at Miami

[aiw]

Wore 'em out by letting them control most of the 2nd half. A good ole rope a dope.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

Coach K = Muhammad Ali

 

[aiw]

Javin in pics 2-4

 

[physicsfactor]

How the fuck does Duke win this? We just gave up a transition 3 to fall down by 8 in the second half, and Duval followed by airballing a layup.

Well for starters, K took his coat off...

IIRC that was the turning point in the 2006 ACCT vs Miami

 

[bdotling]

We stopped turning it over around the 11 minute mark. Turnovers were pretty much the only way Miami could score. Our set d was actually decent for once probably due to some of the adjustments Pants noted in the Pitt game.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

Down 13 at 7:20. This comeback had more unbelievable moments than Florida or Texas, IMO. Degree of difficulty in scoring on Miami, at Miami, was greater.

 

[aiw]

3 minutes and 16 to take the lead after being down 13. That's pretty good.

 

[aiw]

 

[rome8180]

Ball screen defense, people. I don't want to overstate it, but this is very, very, very, very, very, very encouraging. If it wasn't for our turnovers and terrible transition defense, we would have won easily.

 

[niveklaen]

I might buy in to the 'help' meme if we didnt make fewer than 50% at the ft line. We shot better from 3 than from the line. Intentional fouls were by far the most efficient defensive play that they had. (Note also that they had 0 players foul out and only 1 player get 4 fouls and we made only 1ft during the stretch where we turned a 13 pt deficit into an 8 pt lead. We couldnt score when they were getting called for fouls and as soon as the refs stopped calling fouls on them we became unstoppable scoring machine. maybe that was the true meaning of the post though - the refs helped us by refraining from calling fouls on Miami...

 

[bdotling]

Ball screen defense, people. I don't want to overstate it, but this is very, very, very, very, very, very encouraging. If it wasn't for our turnovers and terrible transition defense, we would have won easily.

Yup Pants nailed it last game and we all ignored him because Bolden

 

[Pantone287]

Ball screen defense, people. I don't want to overstate it, but this is very, very, very, very, very, very encouraging. If it wasn't for our turnovers and terrible transition defense, we would have won easily.

Yup Pants nailed it last game and we all ignored him because Bolden

lol irl

I've enjoyed these last two games more than I have any in the last several years. It's almost surreal. I always assumed this was just one of those things we'd bitch about until K retired, knowing full well it'd never change.

brb gonna go jerk off in the coaching thread.

 

[bdotling]

I’m rewatching and thought this game was over when Grayson shot a 3 that would have cut it to 5 but missed then Miami comes down hits a 3 and then Grayson drove and threw up a terrible layup attempt and Miami came down and dunked on us to go back up by 13.

Trent hit a quick 3, we get a stop and Bagley almost throws it away but that disarray allowed Trent to hit another 3. Also under the radar Trent boards so well in close game situation. Haven’t seen a player box out like him at Duke in a looong time

So crazy the swings.

Lol nobody boxed out Duval on either of his front end misses. Too much focus on squeezing Bagley and Carter.

Wendell only recorded 4 blocks on the game but he blocked/altered 7 in the last 8 minutes including that bullshit foul call he got for stopping that alley-oop

Wendell in the paint is the best version of Wendell. I hope he stays there on d going forward. He was Sheldon-esque down the stretch.

 

[torontoduke]

I’m rewatching and thought this game was over when Grayson shot a 3 that would have cut it to 5 but missed then Miami comes down hits a 3 and then Grayson drove and threw up a terrible layup attempt and Miami came down and dunked on us to go back up by 13.

Trent hit a quick 3, we get a stop and Bagley almost throws it away but that disarray allowed Trent to hit another 3. Also under the radar Trent boards so well in close game situation. Haven’t seen a player box out like him at Duke in a looong time

So crazy the swings.

Lol nobody boxed out Duval on either of his front end misses. Too much focus on squeezing Bagley and Carter.

Wendell only recorded 4 blocks on the game but he blocked/altered 7 in the last 8 minutes including that bullshit foul call he got for stopping that alley-oop

Wendell in the paint is the best version of Wendell. I hope he stays there on d going forward. He was Sheldon-esque down the stretch.

He is so damn strong - came in well-prepared to physically handle this level of competition.

 

[StopThePumpFakesShav]

Down 13 at 7:20. This comeback had more unbelievable moments than Florida or Texas, IMO. Degree of difficulty in scoring on Miami, at Miami, was greater.

Minimum win probability of 4.9% at the 8 minute mark. Third time this year that Duke won a game in which they've been under 5% WP, and those all came at 10 minutes left in the game or later.

Updating an earlier post, Wake broke the string of 7 consecutive times that Duke has fallen under 50 percent win probability against a top 100 opponent (at the time of the game) inside the 10 min mark. But this has now happened in all 5 games we've played this year against top 50 teams, all five of which were wins.

 

[CMon85]

Carter interviewing Trent on the plane is pretty great. Carter keeps inching the mic closer to Trents face until Trent yanks it out of his hands.

 

[Pantone287]

Somehow I didn't quite realize that from the 8-minute mark to the 30-second mark (when the game was over), we went on a 27-4 run. Down 66-53 to up 80-70. That is insane.

 

[DurhamSon]

When was the last time we lost to a team under .500 overall? Feels like losing @Wake would still be our most unacceptable loss in a while if it happened.

 

[Devilsforlife]

I remember saying in September that this season was put up or shut up time for K. I was willing to give him a pass for last year due to the injuries, although that was probably stupid in hindsight, but this year there are no excuses. The team is healthy and has, by any definition, a loaded roster. The #1 freshmen at C, PF, SG, and PG, and a senior pre-season All-American candidate, erstwhile national championship hero, all of whom are very athletic. What more does K need to produce a semi-competent defense?

The Duke basketball program feels broken on a number of levels. There's something inherently sad about a 70-year old legend whose coaching abilities are clearly declining making excuses like "We haven't practiced enough", "We aren't deep", and "Teams always get up for us" to try and explain why he is unable to produce a top-100 defense with the most talented roster in the country.

Even with all the talent we've had over the last few years, the head-scratching recruiting decisions are also frustrating. Bringing in players with toxic families like Derryck Thornton and Frank Jackson, not pursuing Dennis Smith, Duval over Trae Young, Jordan Tucker, etc. I'm not sure if it even matters given the defensive ineptitude, but it does point toward K putting in far less legwork with recruiting, as has long been rumored.

This is the first season I haven't felt emotionally invested in Duke basketball. Even last year, I was able to remain somewhat enthusiastic, until the embarrassing SC debacle in the 2nd round. Other than the MSU game, the wins have all felt hollow this year, while the losses only reaffirm the systemic problems around the program. Duke isn't fun to watch, aside from the odd Bagley play.

Sorry for the Yates-length post, just needed to vent a bit.

Nothing has changed in the month since I made this post, aside from the fact that I hate pretty much every player and the head coach more than I did then.