Remember Nolan Richardson’s “ 40 Minutes of Hell” teams?

Liftee

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Mar 6, 2011
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Funny, I thought the same thing. Except that when Coach K inevitably shortens the lineup, and Duke plays teams with better guards, I don't think we'll see the full court press all the time any more. It's fun to watch though, isn't it?
 

LetsGoDuke83

All-Conference
Feb 21, 2019
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Can you imagine if the 2017 team played d like this? I know its the ultimate "what if" but man that would have been something.
 

Quavarius

Heisman
Aug 12, 2009
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Funny, I thought the same thing. Except that when Coach K inevitably shortens the lineup, and Duke plays teams with better guards, I don't think we'll see the full court press all the time any more. It's fun to watch though, isn't it?

I think this will be the year he doesn’t do that. As he’s stated, there aren’t a huge amount separation among players like years past. Had those past teams not suffer in-season injuries, no one would question K’s tactic, which is very risky. This season, there aren’t multiple monsters who will eat up huge chunks of minutes.
 
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christophero

Heisman
May 2, 2017
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we're not just playing hard, we're playing smart. I really like this team. Reminds me of the Singler days.
 

Liftee

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It seems to me that one of the things that distinguishes a final four team is they always play very very hard, all the time. This really pays off when the game slows down and shooting percentages fall as well. I think that bodes well for this team.
 
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jamsession3

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Dec 4, 2005
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Defense will hide some of our offense deficiencies. Stanley, Moore, Jordan, Tre and Jack are tough. It's exciting to see basketball players play aggressive defense. Long overdue!
 

christophero

Heisman
May 2, 2017
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Jack and Javin, for their offensive limitations, are very physical, tough players. And Tre and Goldwire are great on the ball defenders. And Moore and Stanley are nice athletic wings.
 
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nets on nets on nets

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Jun 4, 2015
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Tre and Jordan are the leaders of our defense. When they are together, it is madness on the ball. We have not had 2 tenacious on ball defenders like this since...A long long time?
In addition, our wings are MUCH better defenders than I would have anticipated. Cassius and Moore are already making reads and plays that freshman normally don't make. Plus, they have the bodies and athleticism to be ELITE ELITE wing defenders.
Even Alex has made strides, he is no longer a weak link, he is making reads, getting steals, and playing with much more confidence on that end.

I guess if I had to nitpick, I think good teams are gonna attack Hurt at every single opportunity. Good teams should be able to at least get the ball up the floor against Tre (teams right now can't even do that), and then once in the half court, will attack Hurt.
Vernon has been slightly better than I would have thought, he fouls way too much though. And I also worry about the good teams attacking him.

Jack and Javin are great defenders, and I guess they could nulllify the Hurt/Carey defensive issues. Problem is Jack and Javin aren't in the same stratosphere offensively as Hurt/Carey.
 
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timo0402

Heisman
Feb 24, 2009
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I think this will be the year he doesn’t do that. As he’s stated, there aren’t a huge amount separation among players like years past. Had those past teams not suffer in-season injuries, no one would question K’s tactic, which is very risky. This season, there aren’t multiple monsters who will eat up huge chunks of minutes.
Q to take it a step further, i could still see K slim it down to 8-9, but unlike in past years, you can’t blame not giving everyone an opportunity to make that top 8-9.
 
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