[2017-18] Louisville, Syracuse, at VT, UNC

[TyusStones5]

K's postgame presser was a pisser.

"I thought we played really tired tonight, it's been a long stretch for us."

"We have to hit free throws, its cost us a couple of games. You just have to hit them, those are winning plays."

"We almost had that offensive rebound off the missed free throw."

"Gary and Grayson combined to shoot 7-25 when the last game they were 12-24."

"We didn't bring the energy, our team played tired, you can tell on calls, we're asking for calls and stuff like that."

"These kids have played 30 games now and we've won a lot of them but we didn't play like we've been playing, acting like we normally act."

"We've been playing well but we didn't tonight. There is no fix this, fix that, the main thing to fix is to just get rejuvenated."

"It's a long season."

I didn't expect him to throw Duval under the bus like Roy would have but I'd love to know why Duval was even in the game at that point.

 

[surfpenguin]

Coach K wondering how to fix his tired team when he goes full Tom Thibodeau.

 

[TS9]

In my opinion, Duval was in the game because the staff is clinging to any lingering scraps of hope that Duval's light – assuming he has one – clicks on, and his YOLO-ball bullshit magically stops being awful. As much as it feels like a lost cause to most of us at this point, the fact of the matter remains that the "good" Duval, should he make a return, is a legitimate difference-maker for the offense. To my eyes, the staff is clearly attempting to walk a treacherous tightrope with Duval – they're simultaneously trying to mitigate the damage he causes while also keeping him involved enough that both he and the team take things in stride if and when he clicks into gear.

 

[surfpenguin]

In my opinion, Duval was in the game because the staff is clinging to any lingering scraps of hope that Duval's light – assuming he has one – clicks on, and his YOLO-ball bullshit magically stops being awful. As much as it feels like a lost cause to most of us at this point, the fact of the matter remains that the "good" Duval, should he make a return, is a legitimate difference-maker for the offense. To my eyes, the staff is clearly attempting to walk a treacherous tightrope with Duval – they're simultaneously trying to mitigate the damage he causes while also keeping him involved enough that both he and the team take things in stride if and when he clicks into gear.

Spot on. Hopefully the staff will realize he's a sunk cost before it's too late.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

Next game will be too late. This was Duval's last chance to reward the coaches for voluntarily and knowingly looking like idiots all season, before every single game becomes extremely meaningful to Duke's postseason chances. I don't blame the coaches for trying every possible solution with him; the #1 PG recruit in the country is worth the shot at turning into Rose, Wall, Fox, etc.

I can't believe they would keep going with it now, though, after 30 games in various lineups and with various roles in the offense. He cannot shoot or avoid bad decisions, and shows no signs of coming around consistently, no matter where they put him or tell him to do.

If his minutes and usage stay the same at UNC, then there's no way to excuse what the coaches are doing anymore. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt when the player is this poor and is failing this badly to live up to recruiting expectations, but if they keep going with him in the next game, it's on the coaches, and they'll be the ones throwing away the season.

 

[TS9]

Of our myriad failings last night, seems like Carter's 5 points (lowest total of the season) on a mere 5 FGAs (three of which were outside or just barely inside the paint) is being somewhat overlooked.

 

[Si6hts]

How our big men played so poorly with nobody to defend them blows my mind.

 

[physicsfactor]

Well get ready for it against UNC as well if our coaches can’t figure out how to get our bigs the ball in good spots.

 

[CMon85]

I still think Duval has to be our 5th starter. His defense and turnover capabilities in defense are huge. Bolden can't start because Carter can't be the wing in the zone, proven to be too slow. It can't be DeL because he provides absolutely zero offense. Duval can at least break down a defense.


In close games, I would love to see this:

Duval 25/Allen 15
Allen 22/AOC 10/Trent 8
Trent 27/Bagley 13
Bagley 22/Del 10/Carter 8
Carter 22/Bolden 18

Take Allen out 2-3x before tv timeouts to get a rest. Maybe that's why he made stupid decisions late, being exhausted. Same with Trent and Bagley, they seem to have better conditioning than Carter and can go for longer. Teams with smaller lineups give DeL more time. Bigger teams then throw out Bolden for more PT. AOC is too good of a shooter/scorer not to get 8-10mpg.

 

[Devilsforlife]

Whether the ACC regular season is deemed a success or not basically comes down to how we fare in the UNC game. If Duke loses, we'll finish 12-6 despite playing a baby shit soft conference schedule (6 games against the bottom 4 teams), have to suffer the embarrassment of finishing behind UNC in the conference standings yet again, while being swept by them for the first time since 2009, and potentially be shunted to the Wednesday ACCT game for the third year in a row. Beat UNC and we finish alone in second at 13-5, a result I'd have been content with in the preseason. Big game.

 

[TS9]

It's been awhile since I've felt as uptight about a UNC game as I do about this one. It really does feel like the entire season - past and future - hangs in the balance.

 

[CMon85]

I shockingly feel good about this one. Feel like we beat them handidly as long as Carter isn't a pussy like the first game.

 

[best4heisman]

Getting swept by UNC in a season where we have such a clear edge in terms of talent would be pretty fucking depressing.

 

[bdotling]

It's been awhile since I've felt as uptight about a UNC game as I do about this one. It really does feel like the entire season - past and future - hangs in the balance.

Yeah I feel like this game is a harbinger for the future. At least front a negative point of view. We lose we are done

 

[Devilsforlife]

It's been awhile since I've felt as uptight about a UNC game as I do about this one. It really does feel like the entire season - past and future - hangs in the balance.

Yeah I feel like this game is a harbinger for the future. At least front a negative point of view. We lose we are done

Dating back to 2004, the loser of the second Duke-UNC game has failed to advance past the Sweet 16. So yeah, may as well not bother watching the rest of the season if Duke falls on Saturday.

 

[aiw]

Imagine if we ran offense instead of trying 4 million alley oops when we had a comfortable lead last night. We win fairly easily.

 

[physicsfactor]

Dating back to 2004, the loser of the second Duke-UNC game has failed to advance past the Sweet 16. So yeah, may as well not bother watching the rest of the season if Duke falls on Saturday.

Back to 2000, right?

 

[TyusStones5]

I shockingly feel good about this one. Feel like we beat them handidly as long as Carter isn't a pussy like the first game.

We are going to ruin their chances at a Top 4 seed in the ACCT and make them play on Wednesday. Miami did everything but fold but alls well that ends well!

 

[physicsfactor]

If Duke loses to UNC and both Clemson and State win out, Duke will lose the 4-way tie and be the 5 seed playing on Wednesday. And just for shits and grins, UNC would win that 4-way tie and be the 2 seed.

If Duke beats UNC, there are some scenarios that drop UNC down to the 6 seed which would be fantastic.

*UNC falling to 6 would be funny, but I would prefer them at 5 to put them on the opposite side of the bracket.

 

[StopThePumpFakesShav]

Duke opened -7.5 against UNC.