I guess the only thing that tops that level of sadness is creating multiple accounts so you can get a reply....from yourself.
Duke Class is
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I agree we lost that game on defense. But, I think the shift in strategy was made not just b/c Wililams was absolutely lighting us up; but because Kyle Singler had gotten himself in foul trouble trying to defend him one-on-one. Kyle was really the only person on our entire roster who had anywhere near the size and quickness to defend Williams. Once we had to reassign Singler to a different man to protect against fouls, that meant we needed to give help to the bigs who we tasked with defending him / protect Kyle against any further fouls if he got caught on him -- since neither of the Plumlees nor Ryan had the quickness to stay in front of him.
Also, while everyone focuses on the impact Kyrie had on Nolan offensively, I think where he really costed us was on the defensive end. Kyrie regularly got beat off the dribble that second half and the team's help defense was a mess because I think Kyrie (not unsurprisingly) was a bit lost on his team defense responsibilities -- e.g., where he needs to send a driver to make sure he has help; rotations; etc. I think the combination of Kyle's foul trouble, Kyrie just not being in good enough shape to stay in front of his man, + general inexperience playing team defense led to the layup line you're referencing. Once Kyle got into foul trouble + Kyrie was forced into playing heavy minutes because of Nolan's struggles, I think our fate was pretty much sealed. I'm not sure there was any real strategy to paper over those issues other than a zone -- which, at the time, we did not play. While you can certainly criticize K for not having implemented a zone defense with a roster that had a lot more size / length than quickness, I don't think K really made any obvious strategic errors in that second half within the constraints of how we played that year.
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Apparently this person does have some sort of issue with me.
Sorry for the clutter. This person is persistent.
Very good post. For as good as Kyrie was offensively for us (and he was our best scorer even when he wasn't in great shape) he was very bad defensively. Partially due to injury, but even if he had stayed healthy all season, at best he would have been a slightly below-average defender.
I think a main reason that game turned into a lay-up line was our perimeter defenders. Nolan was a good defender no doubt, but he didn't play great defense in that game, maybe his offensive woes got into his head. Kyrie, Curry, and Dawkins were never good defenders, as all 3 would get beat off the dribble consistently. And when they did get beat off the dribble, I don't think Mason & Miles were "fully developed" yet in order to be NBA-caliber rim protectors.
I've compared the internet to fire.
Use it properly and it cooks your food and heats your house.
Use it improperly and it burns stuff down.
Some folks seem awfully intent on burning stuff down.
And Aah555, good post.
Use it properly and it cooks your food and heats your house.
Use it improperly and it burns stuff down.
Some folks seem awfully intent on burning stuff down.
And Aah555, good post.
Hope this hasn't been posted yet. Nice vid put together by Brian Horace aka @Dukeblogger...
http://www.dukeblogger.com/requested-new-hype-video-duke-basketball-2016-edition/
http://www.dukeblogger.com/requested-new-hype-video-duke-basketball-2016-edition/
First off congrats on bolden. You guys have a great class. On paper it looks like a fab 5 on steroids but I'll throw in my 2 cents
1. Giles- great player no doubt, but how will his knees hold up going all out? Plus he will be playing Atleast 32 mins a game. That will take a toll on any player
2. Jackson- another great player but can he be a true pg after being primarily a sg his whole career, it will be tough for him to adjust
3. Bolden- go get for you guys but don't expect him to come in and dominate. He's Atleast a 2 yr guy. It would be the same had he gone to uk. It will take him time to adjust but I can see him having some decent games for you guys.
Tatum- let's be honest very good player, but the only thing he can pass is a STD. If you throw it to him you won't get it back unless you steal it yourself. If he can learn to play for the team and not himself you will be good.
Good luck to you guys this year. I'm not sold on duke or uk being the two favorites to win it all. I think after last year anything can happen. Let's just agree it's funny to watch Kansas and North Carolina flame out lol
1. Giles- great player no doubt, but how will his knees hold up going all out? Plus he will be playing Atleast 32 mins a game. That will take a toll on any player
2. Jackson- another great player but can he be a true pg after being primarily a sg his whole career, it will be tough for him to adjust
3. Bolden- go get for you guys but don't expect him to come in and dominate. He's Atleast a 2 yr guy. It would be the same had he gone to uk. It will take him time to adjust but I can see him having some decent games for you guys.
Tatum- let's be honest very good player, but the only thing he can pass is a STD. If you throw it to him you won't get it back unless you steal it yourself. If he can learn to play for the team and not himself you will be good.
Good luck to you guys this year. I'm not sold on duke or uk being the two favorites to win it all. I think after last year anything can happen. Let's just agree it's funny to watch Kansas and North Carolina flame out lol
ok i will play along....
1. Why is it assumed that Giles will be playing "Atleast" 32 minutes per game next year? Unlike this year we will have tremendous depth at the 4-5 position next year with Giles, Jefferson, Bolden and Jeter all serviceable options.
2. I don't think he needs to be a true pg next year because I don't think Duke will require one to be successful. If you look back at years where we had guys like Scheyer play point we still found a lot of success. The great thing about Coach K and what separates him from other great college coaches is his ability to adapt to his roster. He doesn't force a system if the roster doesn't match up accordingly. You will see Jackson run some point but you will also see guys like Grayson or even Matty bringing the ball up from time to time. I have complete confidence we can find a way to get by without a true pg.
3. I would actually agree with this. I don't expect Bolden to be lighting it up this year and he doesn't have to either. If you see above, we have plenty of depth at the 4/5. Unlike forcing Jeter into games last year when he wasn't fully ready we don't have to do that with Bolden this year. We can bring him along at a much more reasonable pace and if he develops quicker than expected he will be rewarded with more minutes. Don't see a problem here.
4. I am assuming that you watched a good amount of games that Jayson played in last year, games that weren't all star games. Because if you are basing your opinion off watching a high school all-star game I lose a lot of respect for your other opinions because that is ridiculous. I have no worries about Jayson's ability to create for others next year and he will be surrounded by a ton of talent which takes the pressure off of him that he has had to carry around for quite some time. If the only thing we need to worry about is Jayson being, in your opinion, a ball hog, we are in pretty solid shape.
5. For future reference, when you travel over to a team's home board, you will be much more well received if your opinion of each player isn't X player is good but.... We aren't idiots, you can't soften the blow of each criticism by including such a bare *** "good" as a general qualifier.
Indeed. The rest was "I have a taste for sour grapes and God forbid I could just say congrats like a normal person ".
I guess when he dismissed Cal's advances early, they forgot who Jayson Tatum was. He was actually being recruited as a point forward/point guard very early in his recruitment. Obviously things changed, but the dude knows how to throw the rock. He'll be just fine in Duke's system.
It is really grinding their gears that K is wearing their asses out on the recruiting trail. Did anyone from our board go over to RR and assess their class??
OFC
OFC
Sure I get what you're saying, I like to add comedy to my posts, but you and I both know Giles is your best player without question when healthy. You think he would of went to duke to play less than 32 mins a game? If he's healthy he play play Atleast that. There's also a lot of pressure on jackson. Yes I know you have Allen but this is a totally different team. He can't take 50 shots like he's done in the past he has to distribute just as a pg should
Well Grayson took 14 shots a game, so I think we're good there. He also averaged 3.5 assists on a team that basically asked him and Brandon to isolate and attack/create for themselves. Now with a core group of players that have lottery talent- JT, Harry and Frank, along with Luke a year older, a post presence in Bolden and a healthy Amile, I think the ppg go down and the assists hang around that 3.5-4.5 range. So you're right it is a totally different team. I also dont see Frank having anymore pressure than he would have if DT was here- reason being he just has to play his game, he doesnt have to do anything else.
Who is putting a lot of stock into anything? Did anyone claim to have the national championship locked up already? Did anyone go out and get 40-0 tattoos, no those are the acts of your fanbase. We have a core of solid talent returning and a ton of incoming talent from a loaded class and we are excited for the upcoming year. Again dude you sound like sour grapes about something
Hang on, a Kentucky fan is saying we are putting a lot of stock into unknowns? How come every year Kentucky fans get on the 40-0 train with the freshman they bring in? I agree in the wait and see how this team gels, but a Kentucky fan should be the last person to tell us we are putting a lot of stock into unknowns.
Sorry about that chov, I pretty much just stated what you posted in mine above. Need to learn to read each post and not be too happy on the trigger finger when I see a post.
That was 1 year not every yr, btw when you win 38 straight or go 40-0 against the teams we did I'll be the first one to congratulate you
say what you want about our conference but a&m, Arkansas, a few others were ranked when we played them. Our occ. included Kansas, Texas, Louisville, and of course unc. In the tourney we took out West Virginia and of course one more. This will refresh your memory:
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=400587947
I know you guys won it all by beating the Badgers and then won it all and rightfully so, but don't say we didn't play anyone. Had we played you instead of Wisconsin the scaniro would of been different. No excuses for losing but any team that wins 38 straight in college is something we may never see again from a major conference team.
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=400587947
I know you guys won it all by beating the Badgers and then won it all and rightfully so, but don't say we didn't play anyone. Had we played you instead of Wisconsin the scaniro would of been different. No excuses for losing but any team that wins 38 straight in college is something we may never see again from a major conference team.
Dude, we really arent waiting around hoping for congratulations from you. We're okay, really. We're also not going to sit around and argue how weak the SEC has been. You already know that. You didn't get Bolden. He's not still contemplating UK. Move along.
I didn't say we would win for sure but I guarantee you it would of been a bigger game than that of the badgers
2015 National Champions. We got it done. You couldn't. We were the best team. You weren't. Racking up wins against inferior competition doesn't win titles.
OFC