Utah

[GTHC_ GTH!]

Utah is up next. We finally got thru to the Sweet 16. When the bracket came out, I looked at Utah as a possible tough match up for Duke. I wanted to play Georgetown instead. They have a stud in Delon Wright at PG. That Poetl (sp?) is a good big. We struggle with teams with real good PG play.

This game should be played a pretty quick pace. Normally, I would say that is playing to Duke's strength. But, when we have played teams that run this year, I don't think we play defense very well. ND comes to mind. State did it to us once. VT even ran up and down on us. Carolina took us to the brink playing fast.

Duke is great at running and playing offense. But, I think they are better when the game is slowed just a bit. They play better defense and use the defense to start fast breaks, which Duke is the best in the country at. What's interesting is that this Utah game is going to be a lot like playing Gonzaga. Both games, should Duke advance, will be running and gunning. Just hope that we don't tire and can keep the defensive pressure up like against SDSU.

Duke should beat Utah. But I am a bit nervous about it. Thoughts?

 

[The Right Blue]

Very nervous, but what can you do? They'll either win or lose. Utah is a good team with a potential lottery pick in Poetle. The coach is also really good, and obviously Wright is one of the best players in the country. Having said that, I think Duke wins by 4-6 pts.

 

[dbav]

I strongly believe we beat Utah. The only concern I have is that Utah is an excellent FT shooting team. If the game gets called very close, then I think that can be an issue.

 

[dadecodevil]

Utah has not seen talent like they will see Friday night. It's about us, not them. Okafor will be a matchup nightmare, so will Justice. If our guys play their game and we don't have a letdown, I like us moving on.

 

[DukeDenver]

We are one beat faster than Utah. I do think they'll score a bit on us because their bigs can make great decisions and will abuse Jah's lack of awareness on that end, but I don't see their defense stopping us at all if we continue the great passing and shooting. After all, SDST was statistically a top 5 defense, and we torched them at times with skillful ball movement.

I agree with dbav about the FT shooting being a concern in the last 5 minutes, but we should hopefully have a lead and at least three timeouts to work with.

 

[LastWaltz]

They have played Arizona and Kansas..they have seen talent. I would like to see Justise on Wright if possible

 

[The Right Blue]

Originally posted by LastWaltz:
They have played Arizona and Kansas..they have seen talent. I would like to see Justise on Wright if possible

That's the key to me. Winslow and Matt Jones have to be able to disrupt the things that Wright does. Quite simply, he does everything for them. He's the head of the snake. If you cut off the head, its a double-digit win.

 

[JCColsCane]

Very simple, if we talk on defense, switch, and help, Duke will win. We have been very hot shooting, and that worries me a bit, just hope we are not due to go cold!
Utah is a very good team, but not Final Four caliber. Duke is.
Go Duke!!


JC-OFC

 

[jibip]

We're in the sweet 16, there are no easy games. Utah is a very good team. We can certainly beat them if we play to our strengths. But Utah is an exceptional shooting team (FT's, and 3ptrs). Delon Wright is outstanding and will have a considerable size advantage over either Cook or Jones.

I can't wait for the game, should be fantastic - just wish it was on earlier.

 

[dukiejay]

I've only saw Utah a few times all season. First and foremost they're very well coached. But so are we. I agree with others that if we continue the focus and talk on defense, coupled with executing our offense then it would be a very tall order for Utah to take one for us.

Right now, I'd say Duke 83-76.

 

[pisgah101]

Ehh wasn't impressed with Utah in either of there tourney games. And they haven't really played good the past few weeks. And SDSU beat them earlier in the season when they we're suppose to be real good. Kansas isn't a good team I don't care if they played them and SDSU lost to Zona by 2 so I'm not worried about that either. We play our game we win by a good bit. Nobody in our bracket "scares" me like teams we've seen before

 

[dukiejay]

Originally posted by pisgah101:
Ehh wasn't impressed with Utah in either of there tourney games. And they haven't really played good the past few weeks. And SDSU beat them earlier in the season when they we're suppose to be real good. Kansas isn't a good team I don't care if they played them and SDSU lost to Zona by 2 so I'm not worried about that either. We play our game we win by a good bit. Nobody in our bracket "scares" me like teams we've seen before

The common opponents thing doesn't really work though. You could find some crazy stuff if we went solely by that. After all, we got blown out at home by a very mediocre Miami.

I'm not telling you that you should worry, but Utah is a very good team. If we don't play well we're going home Friday night.

 

[The Right Blue]

Originally posted by JCColsCane:

Very simple, if we talk on defense, switch, and help, Duke will win. We have been very hot shooting, and that worries me a bit, just hope we are not due to go cold!
Utah is a very good team, but not Final Four caliber. Duke is.
Go Duke!!


JC-OFC

I wouldn't say that. They've had a good two games shooting, but they were horrible in the ND game. Hopefully that was their last ice-cold shooting night. Just need 4 more good one's and it will be hard for this team to lose.

 

[The Dude#]

Originally posted by LastWaltz:
They have played Arizona and Kansas..they have seen talent. I would like to see Justise on Wright if possible

agree on first point; the PAC 12 is loaded with talent and Utah acquitted themselves quite well this season. They have good size, good shooters and an excellent coach. Still, I think Duke is just better. If Duke doesn't shoot well, they could be in trouble, but they seem to be playing really well at the right time. I would caution against Justise on Wright, because he has had a tendency to play with his hands at times. Would suck to see him get 2 quick ones; Duke needs him on the floor and engaged. He is the X factor.

 

[DukeSky85]

I think Duke will win this one. If we can slow down Wright I think we will be ok. If we need any extra help to ease our minds I live about 30 mins from the U of U. I can see what I can do

 

[HuffyJB]

Who guards Keith Van Horn?

 

[dukiejay]

Originally posted by HuffyJB:
Who guards Keith Van Horn?

He's a matchup nightmare. But I think Jah should be able to handle Michael Doleac in the post. As long as we contain Andre Miller from getting into the lane I think we'll be ok.

 

[DukeSky85]

Im more worried about Andrew Bogut honestly...

 

[andrewute1]

Greetings Duke fans,

Needless to say I am very pumped about this match up Friday. I have wanted Utah to play Duke for as long as I can remember. This will be a very hyped game with 3 potential lottery picks in Poeltl, Okafor, and D Wright, and Coach K vs the new Coach K. Congrats on a good season so far, and hoping for a great game right down to the end!

GO UTES!!

 

[GTHC_ GTH!]

Originally posted by andrewute1:
Greetings Duke fans,

Needless to say I am very pumped about this match up Friday. I have wanted Utah to play Duke for as long as I can remember. This will be a very hyped game with 3 potential lottery picks in Poeltl, Okafor, and D Wright, and Coach K vs the new Coach K. Congrats on a good season so far, and hoping for a great game right down to the end!

GO UTES!!

You to have forgotten Justise Winslow. He is a lottery pick. You may want to worry more about him to be honest.

 

[dukiejay]

Originally posted by andrewute1:
Greetings Duke fans,

Needless to say I am very pumped about this match up Friday. I have wanted Utah to play Duke for as long as I can remember. This will be a very hyped game with 3 potential lottery picks in Poeltl, Okafor, and D Wright, and Coach K vs the new Coach K. Congrats on a good season so far, and hoping for a great game right down to the end!

GO UTES!!

Welcome. Lots of talent on display for this game. Add in Winslow and Tyus Jones and we're probably looking at five first-round picks with three having the potential to go lottery.

It should be fun. I don't care if it's by one point or 30....I just want to move on. Good luck.

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

Another team with excellent height, except for the pg. They're deep...10 guys play at least 12.5 mpg. I wouldn't call them a good shooting team, I would say they are 'elite' for a college team...at least from 3 point range. They shoot 40% from 3 as a team! Two starters are at 44% & 45% from behind the arc. And they have a ton of guys that can shoot it. 8 Utes are shooting 36% or higher from 3 land. And they shoot a lot of them...only made 6 less than Duke for the season (I don't think that counts the last game). The games we've lost have been by teams that have torched us with the 3, so we must be ready and focused on defense.
Utah also plays pretty good defense holding teams to 38% shooting...compared to our 42%.
Duke is better, but we'll have to play a good game to beat these guys. This one won't be easy imo.

OFC

 

[pisgah101]

Common opponent doesn't always work jay but it's jus a point of reference that we can look at. That by no means is a guarantee we will win but it's nice to see we handled a team that they were beaten by.

 

[skysdad]

Originally posted by dukiejay:

Originally posted by HuffyJB:
Who guards Keith Van Horn?

He's a matchup nightmare. But I think Jah should be able to handle Michael Doleac in the post. As long as we contain Andre Miller from getting into the lane I think we'll be ok.

What about Alex Smith and Scott Mitchell? With Mitchell losing all that weight he could be a problem. OFC

 

[HuffyJB]

Majerus will come up with a game plan and have his guys ready.





- RIP. He was a terrific coach and a great personality. I loved when he called games. I still remember the "Pocius's calves" incident.
This post was edited on 3/23 12:54 PM by HuffyJB

 

[dukiejay]

Majerus was great. I loved him too. And it was never offense (pronounced ahh-fense), it was Oooo-fense.

RIP, Rick.

 

[The Dude#]

^Yes, Majerus was one of the best. O-fense, indeed! Loved that Andre Miller team that made a run to the finals.

Favorite Majerus studio moment: after a tournament game, the talking heads were all speculating on what coaches say to teams after a tough loss or a tough win, and furthermore what the coaches do to the turn the page and get ready for what is next. Majerus simply said, I always did the same thing, whether we win or lose, I just go and eat my *** off.

 

[barkingpumpkin]

Originally posted by dukiejay:

Originally posted by HuffyJB:
Who guards Keith Van Horn?

He's a matchup nightmare. But I think Jah should be able to handle Michael Doleac in the post. As long as we contain Andre Miller from getting into the lane I think we'll be ok.

Man, these are bringing back some great tournament memories --- Miller was incredible in that tournament. It's too bad they couldn't get past Kentucky in the final.

Hopefully we beat them on Friday, but respect for the Utes, who played an integral role in my love for the tourney.

 

[dukiejay]

Yep....it was that Miller-led team that ended the Heels run in the Final Four that season. They just had no gas left in the tank two nights later against UK.

 

[crazyduke3]

I picked utah to go to the FF in my bracket. I think they will be harder to beat than the zags.


Though I picked Utah, I think we will win. But they are gonna be something fierce. The NCAAT is something tough. Go duke!

 

[chov1125]

1. Jones or Winslow need to be on Wright from whistle to whistle. He is what makes that team go and if we shut him down we should be in very good shape.

2. Big Jah needs to have another night. I haven't seen enough of Poetl to know his strengths and weaknesses, but I have a feeling they may not double and may let Poetl have his shot against Jah. If that's the case it is going to be imperative that Jah be successful and force them to double to open up the rest of our offense per usual. Defensively, I think this is going to be a good test for Jah. We have gotten on Jah for a greater part of the year for his weaknesses, but I have to be honest I think he played solid defense against Sd St. He didn't block a ton of shots but he put himself in good position to be disruptive going straight up and creating tough shots for Sd. St. He needs to do that again and force them to either make tough shots or get hot from outside. He also needs to keep Poetl off the glass and be strong with every board so Utah isn't getting multiple shots per possession. Justise has been a beast on the boards of late, but Utah has a big athletic center who should be crashing and that will be Jah's responsibility.

3. I think Utah is a solid, but not great team. Delon Wright is their playmaker, but he isn't going to keep me up at night like a smaller quicker guard may. I think Wright becomes more dangerous if the game remains close and the minutes start to dwindle...IMO the only thing that will keep Duke from winning this game will be Duke. I am seeing a frustrating habit emerge as we get out to big leads and take our foot off the gas. Robert Morris and Sd St. weren't skilled enough offensively to make us really pay, but somewhere along the line an opponent will. We have at most 4 games left this year and these kids are mostly 18-19 years old. There is no excuse for not giving maximum effort for the entire 40 minutes and playing with a killer instinct rather than resting on leads. I trust K to put together a solid game plan and it will be up to our guys to execute said plan. If we play focused and hungry I see this being a 10-15 point victory that isn't as close as the final score will show. If we don't execute and we aren't hungry for 40 minutes, we will find ourselves in a dogfight and Utah is a dangerous team to be in a dogfight with.

 

[JCColsCane]

Originally posted by The Right Blue:

Originally posted by JCColsCane:

Very simple, if we talk on defense, switch, and help, Duke will win. We have been very hot shooting, and that worries me a bit, just hope we are not due to go cold!
Utah is a very good team, but not Final Four caliber. Duke is.
Go Duke!!


JC-OFC

I wouldn't say that. They've had a good two games shooting, but they were horrible in the ND game. Hopefully that was their last ice-cold shooting night. Just need 4 more good one's and it will be hard for this team to lose.

I was talking about our 2 games in the NCAA Tourney, the regular season and ACCT are over. You just basically repeated what I was saying about shooting, that I hope that we do not go cold.
Go Duke!!


JC-OFC

 

[DukeSky85]

Wearing my Duke sweatshirt at work today and getting a lot of glares, had to go down to our warehouse and some guy says "Youre going to get beat on Friday"......I love it

 

[MTMMTM]

As long as Mike Gminski and Gene Banks don't get rolling my Utes have a chance!

As good as Jerry Pimm was for Utah I have often wondered how the program would have fared had Bill Foster stayed here longer.

 

[madrussian]

9:45 (eastern) start. do not like that. its late for our boys.

 

[DukeSky85]

Which actually turns into after 10:00, maybe even later depending on that Zaga, UCLA game

 

[pisgah101]

That is a late start but I just feel like we are destined to win. I really feel it this year this team is gunna show up BIG

 

[crazyduke3]

Yeah that is kinda a late start.... bleh. Deal with it.

 

[skysdad]

Well it could be worse. It could be on Thursday night and you guys that have to go to work would be dragging. Saturday morning sleep in. OFC

 

[dukehokie]

The question, how is Utah going to deal with Duke.

Jahlil Okafor, unstoppable big one on oneJustise Winslow, LeBron lite. Does everything, more athletic than youTwo PG's who do not turn the ball over and can score at will from the outsideHigh caliber offensive reboundingTrue identity on the bench from the role players
We hear so much about how Duke can't handle this and that from certain teams, but let's not forget, this is a team that lost only 4 games, had the best road wins I've seen from a Duke team in ages, and has a real identity each game that doesn't necessarily incorporate "shoot and hope you don't miss".

Duke beats the Utes and will be in similar fashion to the first two games.