***DUKE VS. LOUISVILLE POST-GAME THREAD***

[dukehokie]

That's a tough loss, because as ACC road games go, that was one of the more winnable on Duke's schedule. There was some definite fight and life in that game, but still no chemistry. This team can be good, but there has to be some more unselfish play on offense and defense.

But let's give Louisville some credit. They are a great defense and they scored with what was made available to them.

One question of many after this game is: what improvements did you see?

I'll mention one, I thought the use of the bench was good at times. I think some guys are building more trust. That will be necessary in March.

 

[sheyduke]

March? This will be needed next game. I won't cry if Javin takes anyone's spot coming off the bench first if he's playing hard like today.

Playing the bigs will help and give them more time on the court.

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

I though Grayson handled the pressure of being on the road well, considering all things. He was able to finally work in some of his offense while running the team...so that's a good progession imo. He did have a lot of turnovers, but Louisville is tough defensively.

OFC

 

[ncaa9636]

Why is no one talking about the slap to the head Grayson got. Grayson would have been tossed for it and it would of been headline news. I know he had the other guys arm but so did Elon player when Allen retaliated.

 

[dbav]

Great game by Louisville. Well played and congrats to them.

 

[VaBlueDevil33]

I think we need to get Grayson away from the PG duties...IMO we are better offensively with him playing off the ball

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

Why is no one talking about the slap to the head Grayson got. Grayson would have been tossed for it and it would of been headline news. I know he had the other guys arm but so did Elon player when Allen retaliated.

Well, 'Seth' mentioned it, and he seemed to think it was just fine...since it was Grayson Allen being popped.

OFC

 

[jnastasi]

Not in full panic mode yet strictly because this team still needs a few weeks to gel but they look really really bad right now. Top to bottom.

 

[Showenuff]

Meh, I can't stand up for Grayson anymore. He's only getting what he's asked for. He needs to quit concentrating on the other player and concentrate on playing the damn game. He's an incredibly talented, awesome player, but he's always got to be throwing in that little bit of extracurricular contact. Arm grab, shove, hip, or overblowing overreacting contact to him. Just stop. Play the damn game. He will continue to get slapped, poked, elbowed and kicked in the pileup as long as he keeps playing that way. I hate this. The kid could be hands down one of the best players of the year, but because of the BS, he won't even be considered. I'm still hoping he pulls through, but I don't predict it.
As for dukehokie asking if we saw any improvements, yes, Harry Giles. No , he's no superstar like he was before the injuries but he's on the upswing. You can see the light coming back. He's already getting better position in the paint now and his anticipation for the pass is there today. By the time we get K back, as long as Amile is back by then, Harry will be in full stride and things will look a lot different. I see a lot of folks throwing in the towel today. To early for that. Maybe it's time for us to be that lower seed that comes in and wreaks havoc for a change. It can happen.

 

[VaBlueDevil33]

Meh, I can't stand up for Grayson anymore. He's only getting what he's asked for. He needs to quit concentrating on the other player and concentrate on playing the damn game. He's an incredibly talented, awesome player, but he's always got to be throwing in that little bit of extracurricular contact. Arm grab, shove, hip, or overblowing overreacting contact to him. Just stop. Play the damn game. He will continue to get slapped, poked, elbowed and kicked in the pileup as long as he keeps playing that way. I hate this. The kid could be hands down one of the best players of the year, but because of the BS, he won't even be considered. I'm still hoping he pulls through, but I don't predict it.
As for dukehokie asking if we saw any improvements, yes, Harry Giles. No , he's no superstar like he was before the injuries but he's on the upswing. You can see the light coming back. He's already getting better position in the paint now and his anticipation for the pass is there today. By the time we get K back, as long as Amile is back by then, Harry will be in full stride and things will look a lot different. I see a lot of folks throwing in the towel today. To early for that. Maybe it's time for us to be that lower seed that comes in and wreaks havoc for a change. It can happen.

I couldn't agree more...but alot here seem to think Grayson is the victim...he brought all this on himself and people are now more than ever gonna try to bait him...and I don't blame them either

One of two things happens....he either man's up and plays ball as you said it he screws up again and at that point should be gone....it's on him now

 

[crazyduke3]

Turnovers and bad defense seem to be this teams undoing.

 

[Quavarius]

Why is no one talking about the slap to the head Grayson got. Grayson would have been tossed for it and it would of been headline news. I know he had the other guys arm but so did Elon player when Allen retaliated.

I'm asking the same Que

 

[Quavarius]

We missed way too many free throws and luckily a majority of our turnovers were dead ball turnovers. We correct those two and we win by 2-3.

I'm not throwing in the towel just yet.

 

[hart2chesson]

No one IMO should blame Grayson today....Kid played clean, hardnosed ball, took a terrible cheapshot to the face, and led us in scoring and had about 9 boards...Played his guts out, and scored three buckets and zipped a nifty in-bounds pass to Jones for lay-up....Tatum IMO has to learn to blend in w/Grayson and Luke, and this team needs Amile to have chance at serious run. I see Giles slowly coming around with an awareness of getting the ball on offense....Good sign...

OFC

 

[crazyduke3]

Can somebody tell me why on gods green earth that those uniforms are not our home uniforms? Those things were just gorgeous.

 

[germantondevil]

I believe the what it's going to take is a road schedule such as the one UNCheat plays. How on god green earth do they only play 2 ranked ACC road games. (Duke UVA) and Duke has two back to back in the Top 15 with several more ranked road games. How can that happen again this year as it did last year. Swofford must personally set both teams schedules

 

[Mpm277]

We're just not playing as a team. Tatum is looking to make a highlight play literally every time he touches the ball. One of the only times he passed the ball in the entire second half was when he passed out of a shot on a closeout. Not having Amile hurt us, and I think we maybe win this game if we had him on the floor. I actually liked the few minutes we saw of Bolden - at least from an effort standpoint.

 

[CRAZIE4LIFE]

I hate to say it but UNC is playing team ball, without a bunch of egos. Duke is a collective bunch of talent without a clue.

 

[Showenuff]

Yep! We gotta get to work or UNC gonna lay an asswhippin on us this year. Hope K and Amile hurry back.

 

[Showenuff]

Man, I'd rather drink a gallon of gasoline and piss on a campfire than endure the injuries and hardships we've had to deal with this season. But we're gonna get through it. This board is gonna have some battle hardened friendships when we come out on the other side, LOL!

 

[Baller224]

No one IMO should blame Grayson today....Kid played clean, hardnosed ball, took a terrible cheapshot to the face, and led us in scoring and had about 9 boards...Played his guts out, and scored three buckets and zipped a nifty in-bounds pass to Jones for lay-up....Tatum IMO has to learn to blend in w/Grayson and Luke, and this team needs Amile to have chance at serious run. I see Giles slowly coming around with an awareness of getting the ball on offense....Good sign...

OFC

Exactly. Everyone on that team other than Amile could use some of Allen's fire, drive, and passion. I had a coach that used to say "get a little a** hole about you," and I believe this team could use some of that. Duke overall is soft, Amile & Allen, however are two that are not.

 

[hart2chesson]

Exactly. Everyone on that team other than Amile could use some of Allen's fire, drive, and passion. I had a coach that used to say "get a little a** hole about you," and I believe this team could use some of that. Duke overall is soft, Amile & Allen, however are two that are not.

Amen Baller....Our one and dones, particularly Tyus and Winslow picked up on Cook's fire in '15!

OFC

 

[pisgah101]

Tatum is the most overrated player we've recruited.. it's time to ride the upperclassmen the rest of the way. Sit the supposed superstars and go with the team that almost. Beat Kansas, sick of this NBA try out garbage

 

[DukeDenver]

Exactly. Everyone on that team other than Amile could use some of Allen's fire, drive, and passion. I had a coach that used to say "get a little a** hole about you," and I believe this team could use some of that. Duke overall is soft, Amile & Allen, however are two that are not.

Luke isn't soft either, just looks that way because of his expression. He trucked Florida State's Issac near the end of the game and you could tell Luke played football.
Frank isn't soft either, just doubting himself too much. He's always been a lead guard, but to do so at this level, he'll need to develop some passing instincts.
Harry isn't soft, but he's playing scared of injury, which is totally expected and warranted.
Matt surely isn't soft, but he's not an answer to what's going on.
Tatum is a finesse player for sure. He's got fire, but he's no Justise. He's like a slightly more awake Ingram.
Our true centers do appear soft, but them becoming hard won't fix the ball movement and poorly rotating defense.
The team is injured and without the coach. The result: we can out talent lesser teams but we are a disorganized mess against real squads.

 

[DukeDenver]

There's one ingredient missing and it's not more cowbell, it's Tyus Stones.

 

[DukeRulesBasketball]

There's one ingredient missing and it's not more cowbell, it's Tyus Stones.

I miss Tyus so much, but I miss Quinn the most on that 14-15 Duke team. His leadership was infectious at times. He's just overall a great dude!

 

[Smythe13]

I hate to say it but UNC is playing team ball, without a bunch of egos. Duke is a collective bunch of talent without a clue.

How long have those unx players been together? 2-3. How many injuries have they had? One. How many freshman came in as starters? 0.

 

[Baller224]

Tatum is the most overrated player we've recruited.. it's time to ride the upperclassmen the rest of the way. Sit the supposed superstars and go with the team that almost. Beat Kansas, sick of this NBA try out garbage

I was livid when he threw a pass that ended up in a turnover, jogged down the court and let the guy have a wide open lay-up. There is no excuse for that.

 

[SWEc/o95]

I hate to say it but UNC is playing team ball, without a bunch of egos. Duke is a collective bunch of talent without a clue.

Yep it's amazing how a good PG can make others look.

 

[K-oach Q]

Why did we bench Frank Jackson?

We had one loss at the buzzer to Kansas...

I thought we where doing pretty good...

Should have intergrayed the freshmen into what we were developing as a team...instead we have been trying to integrate the team into the developing freshmen...wrong move IMO

 

[WI#1Dukie22]

Damn K, you've wrote the exact same things 100x.... You may be right, your atleast partially 100% correct in my opinion. Your not considering the fact that team had K, Amile and Grayson pretrip freak out. Nobody wants to talk about K or our biggest leader being gone. Tatum isn't the scape goat here, not close!!!! Things change, stuff happens for EVERY team. It's all about who handels adversity the best...... It's not to late for this team, can't say it enough..... We've got time.

 

[hart2chesson]

This team has a week to find itself before playing Miami at home. Focus should be on Team defense,rebounding and sharing the ball....I think one of our upperclassmen need to take Tatum aside and say we need you to play for Duke, not NBA scouts....

OFC

 

[pisgah101]

Damn K, you've wrote the exact same things 100x.... You may be right, your atleast partially 100% correct in my opinion. Your not considering the fact that team had K, Amile and Grayson pretrip freak out. Nobody wants to talk about K or our biggest leader being gone. Tatum isn't the scape goat here, not close!!!! Things change, stuff happens for EVERY team. It's all about who handels adversity the best...... It's not to late for this team, can't say it enough..... We've got time.

Tatum isn't the scapegoat he's the problem. You can't win when you have a guy who's head won't fit through the door driving again and again with no chance of scoring and throwing the ball away constantly

 

[denverexpat]

2015 the freshman class had a true PG and a true Big man and an athletic wing - this class has a Big man at 50%, a selfish OAD wing and a shooting guard...+ 1....the balance on paper looked the same as 2015 but in reality its totally different. I hope they find the chemistry that 2015 team found in the second half and buy into the tea concept - if they do, they can go all the way - if not, they may exit early in March

 

[DukeDenver]

Yep it's amazing how a good PG can make others look.

We've been hurting for one for two years. Had Thornton checked he's ego at the door and saught out advice from Coach Scheyer, we're all enjoying this team much more. That's always the risk recruiting guys with pro potential. Oh well, let's grind it out until we find a winning recipe. The zone D may improve and help once Amile is back. Tatum might develop some awareness and Giles may figure out how to score in the post. All of those things are probable.

 

[DukeDenver]

Tatum isn't the scapegoat he's the problem. You can't win when you have a guy who's head won't fit through the door driving again and again with no chance of scoring and throwing the ball away constantly

Justise and Okafor did this sometimes too. Tatum is not a selfish guy, he just hasn't left high school yet.

 

[Therightblue88]

Meh, I can't stand up for Grayson anymore. He's only getting what he's asked for. He needs to quit concentrating on the other player and concentrate on playing the damn game. He's an incredibly talented, awesome player, but he's always got to be throwing in that little bit of extracurricular contact. Arm grab, shove, hip, or overblowing overreacting contact to him. Just stop. Play the damn game. He will continue to get slapped, poked, elbowed and kicked in the pileup as long as he keeps playing that way. I hate this. The kid could be hands down one of the best players of the year, but because of the BS, he won't even be considered. I'm still hoping he pulls through, but I don't predict it.
As for dukehokie asking if we saw any improvements, yes, Harry Giles. No , he's no superstar like he was before the injuries but he's on the upswing. You can see the light coming back. He's already getting better position in the paint now and his anticipation for the pass is there today. By the time we get K back, as long as Amile is back by then, Harry will be in full stride and things will look a lot different. I see a lot of folks throwing in the towel today. To early for that. Maybe it's time for us to be that lower seed that comes in and wreaks havoc for a change. It can happen.

This is a joke. Grayson played his butt off today. If we had all of our players play with his and Jones's effort, they'd have won by 10 pts.

The elephant in the room is Tatum. I don't care what anyone else says, I've been watching basketball for a LONG time and I know selfishness when I see it. Right now, he'd fit in very well on the Knicks. Duke basketball does not exist so that Tatum can "get his shots". He's not playing a team game, he rarely hustles, and he shows little focus on defense. It's not getting better, it's just that sometimes his bad, selfish shots go in (the end of the first half). The team was playing better when he was out with 4 fouls (until Bolden came in). If he continues to try to mimic Carmelo Anthony, Duke better pray it does not get matched up with the 2017 version of Mercer.

 

[hart2chesson]

This is a joke. Grayson played his butt off today. If we had all of our players play with his and Jones's effort, they'd have won by 10 pts.

The elephant in the room is Tatum. I don't care what anyone else says, I've been watching basketball for a LONG time and I know selfishness when I see it. Right now, he'd fit in very well on the Knicks. Duke basketball does not exist so that Tatum can "get his shots". He's not playing a team game, he rarely hustles, and he shows little focus on defense. It's not getting better, it's just that sometimes his bad, selfish shots go in (the end of the first half). The team was playing better when he was out with 4 fouls (until Bolden came in). If he continues to try to mimic Carmelo Anthony, Duke better pray it does not get matched up with the 2017 version of Mercer.

Thank you....when your point guard leads team in points, rebounds, takes a shot to face diving for loose ball he's not the one to be blamed....Btw, Tatum was only starter today not to record a single assist...

OFC

 

[sheyduke]

Why did we bench Frank Jackson?

We had one loss at the buzzer to Kansas...

I thought we where doing pretty good...

Should have intergrayed the freshmen into what we were developing as a team...instead we have been trying to integrate the team into the developing freshmen...wrong move IMO

He got a foot injury I believe and was like Grayson playing hurt.

 

[gottagonow]

When we were winning after the beginning of the season, minus the KU loss everything was peachy keen. Everyone, fans and players and coaches alike were happy and excited except for the injuries. Sure, we were playing mostly cupcakes and we looked awesome so we bought into the lofty expectations. I will never, never base a season on recruiting again, especially on 5 star 18 year old kids. I will never, never let the experts and other fans influence my thinking again in the preseason and early season games. We should be playing much better as a team and with some sort of positive consistency but it sucks so far and since Grayson's blow up we've gone into a tailspin, both team and fans. We are going to get much better this season but i'll bet not as good as the experts thought. God I hope I am wrong because I really want to see my fellow Dukie's enjoy Duke basketball again without exception. Its just a matter of maturing and avoiding sloppy turnovers and learning to shoot the damn basketball.

My very best, or bestest friend ever, like Bubba was to Forrest Gump and who died suddenly in late September once told me to never get worked up over 18 year old kids playing basketball because you will eventually get your heart broken. It almost never fails & Damn he was right and Damn I miss Marshall Plumlee and Quinn Cook.