***DUKE VS TEXAS TECH OFFICIAL GAMEDAY THREAD***

[dukehokie]

I completely agree with that, a zebra that wins well over 1000 games doesn’t need to change his stripes. I don’t think we were tired in the slightest. And we know the players that would have played. Do you take Tre Jones out for Goldwire? Hell no, not tonight. I would like to see Bolden with more than 6 minutes, I think he’s earned it this year. But other than that I don’t have any real issues with the minutes tonight.

Tre looked a little tired just before the half. In hindsight, maybe Goldwire could have given him a couple of minutes, but it wasn’t necessary. This was a difficult matchup for Bolden, but he could’ve matched up with Odiase. Zion never really got called for a foul there though. 3 offensive fouls hurts badly.

Hopefully K has faith in Bolden against teams with a good big like Kansas.

 

[skysdad]

I don’t think that will change under K. He wants his best players to play. Unfortunately it cost us Zion tonight.

What I think can happen, is during ACC play, get some guys in the game during tough spots and maybe K will trust them for 5-6 minutes in a high profile battle. Which could be the difference of a few fouls for Zion or RJ.

Zion and RJ are ready marked men. I'm sure hof coach roy williams in both games will have the refs on the sideline bending their ears saying watch #1 and #5. They are grabbing, pushing and tripping my players. They've been doing it all night. This will come about the 18 minute mark in the 1st. half. That said I'm afraid the PTRF may be a little short for both games this year. Does anyone think if we set up a go fund me account can we get up enough cash to pull it off? Does anyone know about these funds and how to set one up? Once again please be discrete about this. Don't let this leave this board. OFC
.

 

[nets on nets on nets]

Cam deserves some credit for a few steals, playing great defense, hitting both his free throws at the end, and of course the dagger.

At half I thought he might check out.

 

[BNM79]

Great teams can win ugly! College basketball always has games that are officiated oddly. They say every year they want to promote offensive flow but those rules fly out the window by conference play.

 

[dukehokie]

Zion and RJ are ready marked men. I'm sure hof coach roy williams in both games will have the refs on the sideline bending their ears saying watch #1 and #5. They are grabbing, pushing and tripping my players. They've been doing it all night. This will come about the 18 minute mark in the 1st. half. That said I'm afraid the PTRF may be a little short for both games this year. Does anyone think if we set up a go fund me account can we get up enough cash to pull it off? Does anyone know about these funds and how to set one up? Once again please be discrete about this. Don't let this leave this board. OFC
.

Sky, there’s not enough money in Ft. Knox to sway the whine and cheese stripes.

 

[eastspartan]

Man I’m proud that took balls to win tonight. This team won’t quit at any point and these young guns are tough. Gotta give Jack White some love too this guy is something else.

 

[BlueDaveil]

TTU fan here, curious your thoughts as an elite team. Are we heading in the right direction? Will we have a seat at the table one day with all the big boy teams?

I was really impressed by them. Agree with the above that it reminded me of some old Duke teams with a lot of experience, effort, and some elite talent mixed in. I thought Duke missed some shots they should and could normally make but I definitely give TT’s defense credit for holding Duke in the 60s and cutting off our drives over and over again. I don’t think there are many teams that could have won that game against you guys.

 

[Ioliva]

Meh. You don’t have a team this good and as good as they are on offense if they don’t play team ball. They know their roles and they play them well. The assist numbers are down some against good teams, but not like they totally disappear. And the only reason you want to not count transition sharing is just to prove your point. That doesn’t fly, sorry not sorry. Transition is absolutely a part of this team and a good transition team is very much in sync.

Sorry not sorry? I’m criticizing the way the team plays half court basketball. Why would I count transition passing as passing in the half court setting? Sorry not sorry, but wrong. It’s obvious that duke struggles when duke can’t get transition points and can’t bully or out muscle teams in the half court setting. Duke had 11 assists tonight against tech, 12 against auburn and 9 against Gonzaga. Rj barret struggles and killed ball movement in each game. 9-25 , 7-20, 7-22 are his shooting stats. With a team as talented as we are, there’s no reason anyone should be taking 20 shots a game and signifies lack of movement. Ball movement in each game sucked. Look at tonight if you don’t believe me. 37/60 shots were taken by either jones or Barrett. Only 1 player other than jones had more than 1 assist. Obviously those are some of our best players, they’re going to take the most shots. But a bunch of those shots are either off 0-1 passes or created with no teamwork. It’s an area duke should improve going forward and is critical to our teams success

 

[gottagonow]

You know if we would have been hitting our 3 point shots in the 1st half it would have been a 20 point win and the crazy zebra fouls on Zion would never have happened. Our youthfullness showed for the first 30 minutes of the game and it’s just the way we have been playing. Every aspect of our play, both good and struggling at times seems to be
to be a condition we establish by our 3 point shooting. But talk about great FT shooting, wow. what a night that to appear.

 

[dukehokie]

Sorry not sorry? I’m criticizing the way the team plays half court basketball. Why would I count transition passing as passing in the half court setting? Sorry not sorry, but wrong. It’s obvious that duke struggles when duke can’t get transition points and can’t bully or out muscle teams in the half court setting. Duke had 11 assists tonight against tech, 12 against auburn and 9 against Gonzaga. Rj barret struggles and killed ball movement in each game. 9-25 , 7-20, 7-22 are his shooting stats. With a team as talented as we are, there’s no reason anyone should be taking 20 shots a game and signifies lack of movement. Ball movement in each game sucked. Look at tonight if you don’t believe me. 37/60 shots were taken by either jones or Barrett. Only 1 player other than jones had more than 1 assist. Obviously those are some of our best players, they’re going to take the most shots. But a bunch of those shots are either off 0-1 passes or created with no teamwork. It’s an area duke should improve going forward and is critical to our teams success

Because you’re choosing to single out a HUGE part of this offense. No the half court offense was not great tonight. Still shooting over 59% from 2 pt land. Take away the transition points and that percentage drops to a dismal 56%. I know...shocking right?!

Your argument is that this team does not share the ball well. Well you sir are WRONG. Show me some stats that show we don’t share the ball well this season. And “RJ drives into a crowd of 3 people” isn’t a stat. I’ll wait.

#sorrynotsorry

 

[Quavarius]

 

[SwatX1]

I honestly am not sure what year it was when we played defense this well....I believe it's been quite a while

 

[500HP_Devil]

Mom Christmas list change.

Take the PS4 and get me a Jack White Jersey

 

[dukehokie]

Sorry not sorry? I’m criticizing the way the team plays half court basketball. Why would I count transition passing as passing in the half court setting? Sorry not sorry, but wrong. It’s obvious that duke struggles when duke can’t get transition points and can’t bully or out muscle teams in the half court setting. Duke had 11 assists tonight against tech, 12 against auburn and 9 against Gonzaga. Rj barret struggles and killed ball movement in each game. 9-25 , 7-20, 7-22 are his shooting stats. With a team as talented as we are, there’s no reason anyone should be taking 20 shots a game and signifies lack of movement. Ball movement in each game sucked. Look at tonight if you don’t believe me. 37/60 shots were taken by either jones or Barrett. Only 1 player other than jones had more than 1 assist. Obviously those are some of our best players, they’re going to take the most shots. But a bunch of those shots are either off 0-1 passes or created with no teamwork. It’s an area duke should improve going forward and is critical to our teams success

Also riddle me this Batman, who do you want shooting more than RJ right now? His shooting sets up the rest of the offense. His True Shooting % is 56%, he gets to the line 1 time every 3 field goal attempts, he assists on 24% of his teammates field goals, all while his usage rate sits at 35%. Tell me again how he kills this team’s flow?

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

Here's what we had for supper. True southerners call it supper. Fried chicken, tater salad, baked beans and hushpuppies. Ice cold coke and some " nanner puddin" -in honor of hof coach roy williams getting to hang in chapel hill a while longer.
OFC

Believe me, I call it supper too, Sky! I just wanted the non-southerners to know what I was talking about. And that was a heckuva good supper you had too. I quit eating meat about 15 years ago, but 'tater' salad is one of my favorite dishes, and hushpuppies (especially if they're sweetened a little). And who doesn't like nanner puddin'? As grandpa would say (on Hee Haw), 'Yum Yum'.

OFC

 

[SwatX1]

Also riddle me this Batman, who do you want shooting more than RJ right now? His shooting sets up the rest of the offense. His True Shooting % is 56%, he gets to the line 1 time every 3 field goal attempts, he assists on 24% of his teammates field goals, all while his usage rate sits at 35%. Tell me again how he kills this team’s flow?

You're not taking into consideration that time that he didn't do it right when he was in that one game where he tried to do that thing....and it didn't work at all.

 

[dukehokie]

Sorry not sorry? I’m criticizing the way the team plays half court basketball. Why would I count transition passing as passing in the half court setting? Sorry not sorry, but wrong. It’s obvious that duke struggles when duke can’t get transition points and can’t bully or out muscle teams in the half court setting. Duke had 11 assists tonight against tech, 12 against auburn and 9 against Gonzaga. Rj barret struggles and killed ball movement in each game. 9-25 , 7-20, 7-22 are his shooting stats. With a team as talented as we are, there’s no reason anyone should be taking 20 shots a game and signifies lack of movement. Ball movement in each game sucked. Look at tonight if you don’t believe me. 37/60 shots were taken by either jones or Barrett. Only 1 player other than jones had more than 1 assist. Obviously those are some of our best players, they’re going to take the most shots. But a bunch of those shots are either off 0-1 passes or created with no teamwork. It’s an area duke should improve going forward and is critical to our teams success

And before you tell me how many assists we didn’t have (we had 11, only 1 less than SDSU and Auburn), as if that’s the only stat that illustrates teamwork, let’s hone in on one stat and look at how many threes we missed. The TEAM, not just RJ, was 3-20. Or 0-17 if you take away the three makes by Cam and Jack. All but two of those threes if you look at the game again were from a teammate’s pass. So if we shoot our average of 33%, then you add at least 3 more assists to the total. 14 looks, feels and sounds better than 11. But that’s just if you only use assists as a measure of teamwork.

 

[dukehokie]

You're not taking into consideration that time that he didn't do it right when he was in that one game where he tried to do that thing....and it didn't work at all.

Dammit. I forgot that one time. Forget it all then. Take his scholarship away. I bet we’d be a lot better. Definitely more high fives. Another teamwork stat.

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

Just thought I would mention this, since BluePhil has been dealing with an eye infection, who’s going to do the game ball poll? I realied during the game that we haven’t have had a game ball poll for the Princeton game yet. So that leaves us needing a game ball poll for both the Princeton game and the Texas Tech game.

Dukehokie did the Princeton ball poll earlier, Diehard. And the TT poll is up now also.

OFC

 

[DiehardDukeFan4Life]

Dukehokie did the Princeton ball poll earlier, Diehard. And the TT poll is up now also.

OFC

Yeah I somehow missed the poll for the Princeton game but I found it and voted

 

[dukehokie]

@ioliva I absolutely agree with you. The offense can be much better which is scary. But I also don’t think it’s as bad as you’re painting it.

 

[dukiejay]

I was just able to watch the game. Yikes! That outside shooting was damn scary....and not in a good way.

-Our defense is elite. It’s pretty refreshing having that confidence we’re capable to make stops.

-Tre Jones is a helluva player. If his shot can get more consistent, then he’s probably the best all-around point guard in the country.

-We’re a mediocre shooting team....at best. It was a worry of mine all summer. I’m afraid it’s a little worse than I feared. We have guys who are capable shooters and can carry us at times, but there isn’t a higher-volume 38 to 40 percent guy on this team.

-Both R.J. and Zion had a number of freshmen moments tonight. I’m not upset about them, but they’re frustrating, at the same time. Luckily, those same two guys made plays that take a lot of balls, too. (I wouldn’t be mad if Zion never shot a perimeter jumper again.)

-Jack White. BOOM!

-Did I mention our defense?

The Red Raiders are a good team. Culver is a potential lottery pick. It wasn’t pretty, but this is a really good win. Now we get to wait 16 days for the next game.

 

[SwatX1]

Now we get to wait 16 days for the next game.

This part is even worse than our perimeter shooting was tonight.

 

[DiehardDukeFan4Life]

I was just able to watch the game. Yikes! That outside shooting was damn scary....and not in a good way.

-Our defense is elite. It’s pretty refreshing having that confidence we’re capable to make stops.

-Tre Jones is a helluva player. If his shot can get more consistent, then he’s probably the best all-around point guard in the country.

-We’re a mediocre shooting team....at best. It was a worry of mine all summer. I’m afraid it’s a little worse than I feared. We have guys who are capable shooters and can carry us at times, but there isn’t a higher-volume 38 to 40 percent guy on this team.

-Both R.J. and Zion had a number of freshmen moments tonight. I’m not upset about them, but they’re frustrating, at the same time. Luckily, those same two guys made plays that take a lot of balls, too. (I wouldn’t be mad if Zion never shot a perimeter jumper again.)

-Jack White. BOOM!

-Did I mention our defense?

The Red Raiders are a good team. Culver is a potential lottery pick. It wasn’t pretty, but this is a really good win. Now we get to wait 16 days for the next game.

Our game against Princeton was on my birthday and ironically our next game is on my older sisters birthday. Unfortunately out of me, her, my younger sister and my dad, she’s the only one that’s a UNC fan.

 

[Showenuff]

Big win tonight. Big.

 

[SwatX1]

Big win tonight. Big.

To shoot the way we did, and still win by double digits by riding our defense was HUGE.

 

[SwatX1]

I don’t see it tonight but I hope you are correct. TT plays together on the defensive end and with Zion with 3 fouls someone else is going to have to score

Gotta keep the faith!!!

 

[dbav]

My biggest takeaway from last night was mental toughness. This is a younger team and could have given up after they failed to tie it up/take the lead a few times in the second half, and when Zion got in foul trouble. They didn't. They fought. They won. In my opinion, this was a very important win.

 

[QC Dukie]

Looking back through this thread at posts early in the game and then when the outcome was known is hilarious. Lots of jumping off and on the bandwagon.
Big win last night. Lots of adversity can only make us stronger. I can’t imagine us having a worse shooting night, yet we still win by double digits. Tre Jones is a freaking MAN on D.

 

[IPSYCHOSIS]

As bad as the refs were I got to give it to them they had consistency!! So can’t complain to much when you at least have that. We need to learn to drive and kick/ pull-up. Especially Zion. RJ more so passing out. Our half court offense has been a worry of mine since day 1. How about them FTs in crunch time though!! Stones is gradually becoming “that guy” and getting better! White is a monster. Split gameball! Hopefully the end of the game gets Cam who I thought was going to be “that guy” out of his slump.

 

[IPSYCHOSIS]

Looking back through this thread at posts early in the game and then when the outcome was known is hilarious. Lots of jumping off and on the bandwagon.
Big win last night. Lots of adversity can only make us stronger. I can’t imagine us having a worse shooting night, yet we still win by double digits. Tre Jones is a freaking MAN on D.

I was one last year....I’ve learned to breathe. This team is different and doesn’t have a Duval either lmao

 

[IPSYCHOSIS]

I really wanted the win bad when I saw Young in the stands....

 

[hallside]

Sitting here in the pro shop at work, still wondering how we pulled out that win. Not many teams can shoot 38% from the field including 3-20 from long range, turn the ball over 19 times, trail by 10 in the second half, and pull out a W against the #12 team in the nation.

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS.

 

[chov1125]

I know we all keep saying this but the scariest part of this team is how good we are at our worst. Last night might be the worst game we play all year. And beat the #12 team by double digits (although final score is a bit misleading).

We missed our first 14 3 pointers, 14. RJ and Cam are still both finding their comfort and place at this level and on this team. Yes RJ is a volume shooter, but we need him to take those shots. We don’t have another player like RJ on our team, one that can create his own shot consistently. I do like the Tatum comparison because Jay Tay was a volume shooter too that had to adjust to the college game and find confidence in his stroke. I don’t think RJ will ever shoot it like Jay Tay but I think you’ll see that type of improvement throughout the year.

Cam is fighting his own battle. He is fighting his shot and when he isn’t shooting he’s forcing drives which is also problematic. Cam needs a breakout game in the worst way, he just needs to see the ball go through the net a few times. I think once conference play starts up and he is getting frequent game reps they will start falling. I want to see him comfortable in his own skin and with his own role on this team. He doesn’t need to be RJ or Zion. We need a player with Cam’s skill set on this team, we really do.

Tre and Zion are playing out of their minds lately. And I don’t anticipate too much of a freshman roller coaster because their games are based very little on shooting the ball. Tre is a defensive force and sees the court with an unbelievable eye. Zion is Zion, his motor is relentless and his physical features makes the game look so easy. I expect these two to remain steady throughout the year.

With all that said I will circle back to my original point, which is it is scary how good we are at our worst. This team is only going to get better and once we get RJ and Cam firing on offense, it’s even scarier to think where we may be at come March. Love this team.

 

[Canadian Dukie]

A great defensive effort when our offence was stagnant to say the least.These kids are a joy to watch,they have no quit.

 

[Canadian Dukie]

Hats off to Texas Tech,they gave our kids a heck of a game

 

[retiredsoldier]

Looking back through this thread at posts early in the game and then when the outcome was known is hilarious. Lots of jumping off and on the bandwagon.
Big win last night. Lots of adversity can only make us stronger. I can’t imagine us having a worse shooting night, yet we still win by double digits. Tre Jones is a freaking MAN on D.

+1000! Man for a min, I had to refresh my computer, could of sworn somehow I ended up on RR. Some go with which way the wind is blowing. Maybe time to drop anchor and hang in there for a min lol.

 

[retiredsoldier]

I was one last year....I’ve learned to breathe. This team is different and doesn’t have a Duval either lmao

That last part is almost not true to a point. He switched jerseys and now says Barrett on the back. Blame game is the same.

 

[retiredsoldier]

I'm glad I can listen to what the GOAT had to say about Barrett last night as well as the team in a whole. If you haven't listened to it, as usual, a great listen on how he feels about this Duke team.

 

[Mpm277]

Because you’re choosing to single out a HUGE part of this offense. No the half court offense was not great tonight. Still shooting over 59% from 2 pt land. Take away the transition points and that percentage drops to a dismal 56%. I know...shocking right?!

Your argument is that this team does not share the ball well. Well you sir are WRONG. Show me some stats that show we don’t share the ball well this season. And “RJ drives into a crowd of 3 people” isn’t a stat. I’ll wait.

#sorrynotsorry

RJ is shooting 53% from 2pt land. I'd love to know how that divides between transition and half court play; I suspect his transition game is tremendously helping his overall shooting percentage. He isn't effecient from the three (numbers easily verify that) and, only judging by the eye test, isn't very efficient when driving in a half court set up.

Who would I prefer shooting more than him? Zion is at 72% compared to RJ's 53%. But I suspect the same is true for Zion in that his finishes in transition tremendously help his drives in the half court offense. Even in the half court, many of his points probably come from lobs and last night he couldn't drive without charging.

All that to say I mostly agree with you. I'm hard on RJ - only because I know he has it in him and I only expect him to improve - but it seems that we have an efficiency problem as a team in the half court offense. Right now, we have no one who reliably shoots the three. It doesn't seem to me that anyone is very reliable or consistent in creating their own shot either. But our ball movement IS good as is our players movement without the ball which I think allows us to get a lot of lobs and/or inside 2's.
------------------------------------

Right now Cam brings next to nothing on offense; I hope he breaks out of this funk soon. Having said that, he is playing extremely well on defense. I give him major credit for not getting down and out about his offensive struggles and allowing it to affect his game on defense. He came up big for us last night.

Tre is a warrior. RJ and Zion receive all the hype, but Tre deserves more recognition.

In that same vein, Jack White is all heart. His fundamentals are amazing and his motor is ridiculous.