I felt they were a real thorn in our side last night. The lane on our offensive end seem to fill up with black as they collapse to the paint to rebound. Occasionally a white shirt would be on the edge but not often in a position to rebound until late in the game. They were good we were savvy.
Duke's paint defense
- Thread starter SmyrnaCatFan
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Their 7’2” guy was giving us fits, he was very impressive. Duke will be pretty damn good by end of year I hate to say
They will be very dangerous. Tbh, I don’t want to see them again.
That was one of the better defensive teams I have seen for Duke, and I think Duke has at least and elite 8 team is their coach stops making excuses and works on a few things.
I mean, last night felt like an E8/FF kind of game. Two teams slugging at each other.
I maintained that Maluach getting injured or cramping or whatever was a big catalyst for our comeback.
He was really tough inside.
He was really tough inside.
Yep he was the key to everything for them on D. With him in, we struggled. Thankfully we wore him down.
I agree he made it hard for UK however Pope made some adjustments that got us going to. Duke is good this year, they don’t look like their typical soft teams needing the whistle. I’ll would still bet on my team to win next time (if I did bet).
Absolutely. After tha Pope went with Carr inside at the 5 and ran action. It was refreshing to see a coach attentive and aware of the game and make adjustments mid-flow.
I mean, any athletic 7'2" guy is gonna be a handful for anyone.
I loved Carr taking it right into his chest for a pump fake and-1 in crunch time.
A real veteran move
A real veteran move
Also, it seemed every rebound when we were on offense, there were 4/5 Duke players in the paint and there were one or two of our folks. They crashed the board hard. We were able to grab some in the second half, after making some changes.
They were always going to be a good team with Flagg. That hasn't changed.
I would generally agree, but I've put too much hope in our prospects over the years whose general skillset was "athletic and tall" and been underwhelmed. Was hoping some of that disappointment would go Duke's way, but they appeared to get the real deal.