Something to think about....

[dukiejay]

Great win today. Great TEAM win, that is.

But what mood does this board have if Cam doesn’t make that three?

Instead of talking about Cam breaking out, the guys hanging together, RJ showing the kind of moxie he hasn’t all year, and celebrating like giddy teenagers, etc....are we instead talking about no weak side defense, how we’ve seen this show in past season’s, how we don’t make free throws or how K was out coached? I think most of us know the answer.

Just remember....this team is really, really good whether Cam’s shot today goes in or not. Winning in the ACC is tough. Winning on the road in the ACC is rigorous. Enjoy the season!

 

[SwatX1]

Completely get your point here, but for me, today, I think I would have chalked this one up to no Zion.....but had Zion played the second half, and we lost, yeah, you're spot on

 

[dukiejay]

Completely get your point here, but for me, today, I think I would have chalked this one up to no Zion.....but had Zion played the second half, and we lost, yeah, you're spot on

I’m not saying everyone, but go back and read the game thread the last five minutes of the game. It was coming. The seeds were already being planted.

 

[timo0402]

Well we kind of played with house money when Zion was out. But the biggest issues to me were the defensive glass. Bolden and Jav were very weak today- Jav especially. Can’t have that from your upperclassmen. How many times can you let someone dunk on you before you get your *** into them? I also thought Alex played very soft in his minutes. Outside of that, despite some questionable calls i thought we did pretty well and showed some serious grit. If we had lost by 1, i would have said, we hung in there and have a lot of things to improve. Nothing changes except we DID WIN. But we have a lot to clean up....it’s a lot more fun to do that after a win.

 

[dukiejay]

Our three main upperclassmen - Jav, Ques and Jack - all had below average games. Jack just seemed off today....whether it was out of position, short on his jumpers and just aloof, in general. Almost like he was maybe sick.

 

[SwatX1]

I’m not saying everyone, but go back and read the game thread the last five minutes of the game. It was coming. The seeds were already being planted.

Oh I'm with ya ......100%

 

[Neners]

I think I would've been stuck trying to figure out when poking someone in the eye stopped being a foul. I'm still open to that discussion, actually.

 

[SwatX1]

Our three main upperclassmen - Jav, Ques and Jack - all had below average games. Jack just seemed off today....whether it was out of position, short on his jumpers and just aloof, in general. Almost like he was maybe sick.

Yeah, he didn't look like his normal aggressive self at all.....and didn't seem to want the ball at all either

 

[SwatX1]

I think I would've been stuck trying to figure out when poking someone in the eye stopped being a foul. I'm still open to that discussion, actually.

I would have thought with a player writhing in pain, they would have stopped play? Called a foul, reviewed it, something??

 

[RanDEVILman]

I was not that upset with Duke prior to the shot. They made lots of big shots. The one complaint I have is dumb fouls on 3pt shooters. But the second one was a weak call by the ref. The refs were probably about even overall, but they called it very inconsistent, allowing some guys (Zion) to get hammered and calling every bump and touch for others. Again some of this went both ways. But the looser called 1st was beneficial to the Noles probably

 

[Neners]

I would have thought with a player writhing in pain, they would have stopped play? Called a foul, reviewed it, something??

Can they review it if a call wasn't initially made? I didn't think they could but I might be wrong on that. That entire sequence pissed me off.

 

[SwatX1]

Can they review it if a call wasn't initially made? I didn't think they could but I might be wrong on that. That entire sequence pissed me off.

I think you're right there, but it seems like the game wouldn't just continue with him going down that hard and fast.

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

Great win today. Great TEAM win, that is.

But what mood does this board have if Cam doesn’t make that three?

Instead of talking about Cam breaking out, the guys hanging together, RJ showing the kind of moxie he hasn’t all year, and celebrating like giddy teenagers, etc....are we instead talking about no weak side defense, how we’ve seen this show in past season’s, how we don’t make free throws or how K was out coached? I think most of us know the answer.

Just remember....this team is really, really good whether Cam’s shot today goes in or not. Winning in the ACC is tough. Winning on the road in the ACC is rigorous. Enjoy the season!

As usual, I would be disappointed with a loss, but if anyone on here knows me at all they would know that I would still feel pretty dang good about Duke. I'm surprised that some posters thought this would be a relatively easy win...wasn't ever going to happen. Almost everything went against Duke, after Zion went out, and yet they fought and found a way to stay in striking distance. I'm proud of them for winning, but I would still be proud of them even if Cam's shot hadn't splattered the nets.

EDIT: Yeah, I had a brain fart here. As far as the mood of the board, I'm sure it would have been a little foul. It's easy to get caught up in the hype, and believe Duke is not only going to win, but do it easily. That just doesn't happens. But Zion going out would probably have eased some of the bitterness.
I'm just glad we didn't have to find out the mood!

OFC

 

[Mac9192]

Agree with Timo. Bolden had 5 rebounds, DeLaurier had 0. To put that in perspective, Zion had 8. Bolden showed a little more fight the last few minutes, but he seems to be one of those kids that the fans want him to be meaner than he wants to be. I thought with Zion out Alex would do better than he did. Totally understand him only playing 6 minutes. He missed an opportunity to show what he could do.
It says a lot about the talent on this team, that through all the negatives, we had a chance to win at the end.
The other 3 freshmen were sensational.

 

[SwatX1]

I always try not to give up until there simply isn't enough time left, but if you told me starting the second half that Zion is done for the night, I don't like our chances at all.....great win and gutsy fight by our guys

 

[timo0402]

Our three main upperclassmen - Jav, Ques and Jack - all had below average games. Jack just seemed off today....whether it was out of position, short on his jumpers and just aloof, in general. Almost like he was maybe sick.

Thought the same thing with Jack, thought maybe he was under the weather. Wasn’t his normal self.

 

[IPSYCHOSIS]

I would have said we didn’t have Zion the 2nd half had we lost...in a feeling better for myself excuse sort of way though. Plenty to work on.

 

[TheDude1]

Was JUST thinking this.

If he misses it, you know what we are thinking?

Cam might have been so close to breaking out of that funk, he scored a bunch... but that out of bounds play at the end, where he lost the ball... it’s more of the same.

Thankfully that’s not what we are saying!. GREAT win, without Zion and Jack playing badly and a tough opponent.

 

[IPSYCHOSIS]

As usual, I would be disappointed with a loss, but if anyone on here knows me at all they would know that I would still feel pretty dang good about Duke. I'm surprised that some posters thought this would be a relatively easy win...wasn't ever going to happen. Almost everything went against Duke, after Zion went out, and yet they fought and found a way to stay in striking distance. I'm proud of them for winning, but I would still be proud of them even if Cam's shot hadn't splattered the nets.

OFC

I didn’t think everything would go against Duke and Zion wouldn’t play the 2nd half either. They also didn’t show any of that passing in the paint and rebounding against UVA. Hell they couldn’t throw a FT in the ocean against them. I eat crow for being over confident

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

I didn’t think everything would go against Duke and Zion wouldn’t play the 2nd half either. They also didn’t show any of that passing in the paint and rebounding against UVA. Hell they couldn’t throw a FT in the ocean against them. I eat crow for being over confident

I'm sure that crow doesn't taste too bad, IPSY, 'cause we still won!

OFC

 

[skysdad]

Great win today. Great TEAM win, that is.

But what mood does this board have if Cam doesn’t make that three?

Instead of talking about Cam breaking out, the guys hanging together, RJ showing the kind of moxie he hasn’t all year, and celebrating like giddy teenagers, etc....are we instead talking about no weak side defense, how we’ve seen this show in past season’s, how we don’t make free throws or how K was out coached? I think most of us know the answer.

Just remember....this team is really, really good whether Cam’s shot today goes in or not. Winning in the ACC is tough. Winning on the road in the ACC is rigorous. Enjoy the season!

I agree with every post you have made on this thread.
OFC

 

[dukehokie]

Losing to the #13 team in the nation in their gym should never be an indictment. It would have been, but it shouldn’t be that way.

Yes this team has flaws. Yes this team lacks...”things.” What they do have, is a chemistry, fight and execution that allows their flaws to be masked much better than your average team. We saw that today.

No Zion, no rebounding, minimal assists and this team still was in the game. If you want to compare, look how bad UNC was AT HOME when things didn’t go their way. Talent is one thing, fight and will are totally different.

We’ve had talented teams under K. We’ve had teams that fought under K. But we’ve had 5 that put both of those together when it really counted.

There’s nothing, not a missed three or free throw or rebound that has me feeling like there’s not a great chance of seeing 6 teams do it.

 

[hart2chesson]

Thought the same thing with Jack, thought maybe he was under the weather. Wasn’t his normal self.

Jack hasnt shot the ball well in either game this week whereas earlier he was showing signs of being a real outside threat. I think he'll pick it back up though. Winning a game like that has a way of curing some ills..

OFC

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

Losing to the #13 team in the nation in their gym should never be an indictment. It would have been, but it shouldn’t be that way.

Yes this team has flaws. Yes this team lacks...”things.” What they do have, is a chemistry, fight and execution that allows their flaws to be masked much better than your average team. We saw that today.

No Zion, no rebounding, minimal assists and this team still was in the game. If you want to compare, look how bad UNC was AT HOME when things didn’t go their way. Talent is one thing, fight and will are totally different.

We’ve had talented teams under K. We’ve had teams that fought under K. But we’ve had 5 that put both of those together when it really counted.

There’s nothing, not a missed three or free throw or rebound that has me feeling like there’s not a great chance of seeing 6 teams do it.

Great post, 'hokie. We never know what may happen down the road, but this team makes you believe they are special. The loss wouldn't have changed any of this, but the experience of pulling out the win can only enhance their belief in each other...and that is most comforting.

OFC

 

[Jnood]

I only caught the last 10 minutes, and thought they performed admirably down the stretch, fought hard through swings in momentum, and gave themselves an opportunity to win it. That being said, I was sick to my stomach when I thought it was off Duke, and wasn’t mad, but kind of disappointed that they squandered a few opportunities to stretch out the lead when they made big plays and found themselves behind with 15 seconds left. Then, it couldn’t of turned out more perfectly!

 

[SoCal_Dukie3]

Oh I’m guilty: I called for tempered expectations on D. I stand by it. It’s good, but FSU hammered them on offensive board today.

They won though, and showed serious stones.

 

[madrussian]

Great points there J.

I will sum it up by saying there was a lot of unDuke like play - fouling 3 point shooters, turnovers on easy layups, allowing too many easy dunks... but the kids hung in there and found a way to be in the game at the end and that gave them a chance.

And hey, K showed he can still draw up a play that can win a game! The old dog has a few tricks left!

I was really un-impressed with Javins play. He disappeared in a game where he needed to show up - especially with Zion out. I thought Bolden played well - especially at the end of the game and he got a couple huge blocks - and twice he was called for a foul and i thought he caught all ball.

My opinion is that I think Bolden gives us a better chance to win against a bigger more physical team like FSU or UVa. I would like to see what he would do with more minutes.