Duke Game Observations

[Jireh]

I have been on such a Kentucky Basketball high since I went to the press conference back in the spring. I've enjoyed actually liking our coach and being hopeful and excited about the program's future. So I was a bit worried that this game may burst that bubble.

Yeah, we looked good against some solid, but mid-major teams. Would Duke run circles around us? Would we be intimidated and outclassed? How good are we, anyway?

Turns out we're pretty darn good!

I'm semi-retired so I have some time to waste, so I have watched the game 4 or 5 times now. So much fun!

Some observations:

-Chandler will be a huge asset in time, but he was not ready for this game.

-I'm a little concerned about Jaxson Robinson. I don't know that he is quick enough to take anyone off the dribble. So is he a spot up shooter and transition guy? How would you rate his defense in the Duke game? I thought he did a pretty decent job in the second half.

-DO NOT run into a pick set by Amari Williams!

-Oweh is a baller! I think some were saying before the season that he may be our x-factor. His offense, defense, rebounding and general energy and fearless attitude will be huge going forward!

-Garrison has to be one of the best backup bigs in the country. He's pretty fearless too. In fact, everyone on the team seemed to be ready for the moment, other than Chandler and possibly Robinson.

-Almonor hit an early three, but then I don't remember seeing him much after that. He played 10 minutes, which seems about right. I'm curious about other's thoughts. Was it the plan all along to play him about 10 minutes? I'm a big Almonor fan so I'm just curious.

-40% from three against a top 5 team who's game plan was to limit threes is pretty good. Take away Kriisa's 30 foot attempt and the desperate heave at the end of the shot clock and the percentage climbs a bit more.

-The team defense in the second half was a beautiful thing to see. The idea that we were going to be a team who lives and dies by the three, and win simply by shooting more threes and outscoring you 110 to 94 is now dead. Our perceived best player had maybe the worst game he'll have this season, we hit only 10 threes, and still we were starting to pull away from the #6 team in the country by the end of the game. This team can play the finesse game, or get physical with you. This game was won with defense.

-Koby Brea hit 50% of his threes and his season percentage dropped 8 points.

-26 bench points compared to 6 for Duke. They have a really nice starting 5, but no bench. I like our bench - each person brings a unique ability and could easily be a starter.

 

[Skyguyb27]

I agree about Robinson he had some good defense and little things in the 2nd half. If the only have 5 strong players I don’t see them running the whole game. Even Puke was exhausted.

 

[TCurtis75]

I am not worried about Robinson. He showed last year repeatedly (most notably at Kansas) that he can play at this level. I think this was just a bad game. Also his defense was outstanding, Pope himself said today that Robinson only gave up 2 points while being the primary defender all game. That is an incredible stat.

 

[Jireh]

I am not worried about Robinson. He showed last year repeatedly (most notably at Kansas) that he can play at this level. I think this was just a bad game. Also his defense was outstanding, Pope himself said today that Robinson only gave up 2 points while being the primary defender all game. That is an incredible stat.

That is my hope!

 

[cats#1again]

I believe Robinson is like most other players on the team. A shooter. I'm not concerned that we don't really have guys that drive the ball much. If pope had wanted that, he would have gotten that.
It may sound crazy but I believe we are going to be similar to stop as a UConn team is. Every possession right in your face and hard to stop. UConn has had games that are close up until half way through the 2nd half and just wear teams out. It's a recipe for success. Spreading the court out and passing to 5 guys that can fill it up.

 

[BC_Wader]

I'll admit I was a bit worried in the first half as we weren't doing what we had been doing. We were standing around a tad and not moving without the ball as much as we had seen. The guys looked a bit nervous to me. A lot of them were licking their lips which signaled dry mouth to me. People do that when nerves come. But they settled in and the 2nd half was outstanding on the defensive end. We were in mid season form. We have the look of a team that will be very dangerous come March.

 

[cats#1again]

I'll admit I was a bit worried in the first half as we weren't doing what we had been doing. We were standing around a tad and not moving without the ball as much as we had seen. The guys looked a bit nervous to me. A lot of them were licking their lips which signaled dry mouth to me. People do that when nerves come. But they settled in and the 2nd half was outstanding on the defensive end. We were in mid season form. We have the look of a team that will be very dangerous come March.

If you go back and look at some of the key calls that got us behind in the first half it was trash. The foul on the 3 by Butler was all ball. Never touched the player. The one where Bilas said you have to give him room to land was garbage too.
In a tight game and fouls are racking up it's almost impossible not to slack off a little to keep from getting in worse foul trouble

 

[BC_Wader]

If you go back and look at some of the key calls that got us behind in the first half it was trash. The foul on the 3 by Butler was all ball. Never touched the player. The one where Bilas said you have to give him room to land was garbage too.
In a tight game and fouls are racking up it's almost impossible not to slack off a little to keep from getting in worse foul trouble

There were some duke calls in the game for sure. The most egregious was when Flagg slipped but no travel was called late in the 2nd half. Butler did the same in the 1st half and was called for travelling.

 

[CastleRubric]

Love posts like these / synopses type content

Thank you for posting and MAY ALL YOUR HITS - BE CRITS!!!

(Dungeons & Dragons reference obviously)

 

[Bluesnky]

I would like to note that from the beginning of the second half, we began stealing time by letting the ball roll to mid court on baseline out of bounds plays when the clock was not running. That may well have bought us the possessions we needed to win.

 

[HerrosHeroes]

I agree on Chandler and Williams is a force on both ends.
Oweh may be our best all around player.
Dude can do it all!!

 

[rick64]

 

[HerrosHeroes]

View embedded media

Why couldn’t “JWill” have taken the high road like Bilas?

 

[Greatestalltime]

If you go back and look at some of the key calls that got us behind in the first half it was trash. The foul on the 3 by Butler was all ball. Never touched the player. The one where Bilas said you have to give him room to land was garbage too.
In a tight game and fouls are racking up it's almost impossible not to slack off a little to keep from getting in worse foul trouble

Bilas said something stupid after the all ball block on the 3 too. Or maybe it was the color guy. Either way. All ball and no foul.

 

[Padsfs07]

-26 bench points compared to 6 for Duke. They have a really nice starting 5, but no bench. I like our bench - each person brings a unique ability and could easily be a starter.

They have a good, if not great, bench, but Scheyer didn't use it.

James, Gillis, Brown, and Sheffield were all solid portal transfers. Brown and Gillis should've gotten 20 minutes of play at least. Also, he didn't even play a high 4-star freshman in Darren Harris and a legit 5-star (McDs AA) freshman in Isaiah Evans. That's rather crazy.

He did a similar thing last year with Stewart and Power, which defeats the purpose of having 'depth' and will eventually lead to team chemistry issues as we all know full well.

 

[yoshukai]

I don’t believe Robinson will be a great “beat his man off the dribble “ guy because I don’t think he has a great/good handle. But he will always be a major (the major?) focal point for the opponents defense and that spreads the floor and opens it up for others.


I would like to see a better angle of Garrisons foul on the three . Looked to me like the guy came down on his foot . But was his foot in the shooters space or did the shooter put his leg out and sell the call . Couldn’t tell .

About all the Duke fans claim the Williams pick (quite possibly the turning point of the game) was a moving screen. I’d have to see some better replays . It was close .


I doubt we will lose the bench scoring stat very often all season. Maybe never .

 

[UKSanders]

I would like to note that from the beginning of the second half, we began stealing time by letting the ball roll to mid court on baseline out of bounds plays when the clock was not running. That may well have bought us the possessions we needed to win.

It wasn't just last game that Butler has done that. I've wondered if they do it b/c it also gives more time for the offense to run the sets to get a good shot...as opposed to getting the ball across midcourt with 15-20 secs to run the offense.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

Chandler will be a huge asset in time, but he was not ready for this game.

-I'm a little concerned about Jaxson Robinson. I don't know that he is quick enough to take anyone off the dribble. So is he a spot up shooter and transition guy? How would you rate his defense in the Duke game? I thought he did a pretty decent job in the second half.

Neither of these guys have the handle to create their own. Thats their issue.

Chandler needs to spend all off-season on his handle, because it isnt very good at all. Hes going to be barely playable vs top competition. He cant even create his own against weak competition.

 

[Bluesnky]

It wasn't just last game that Butler has done that. I've wondered if they do it b/c it also gives more time for the offense to run the sets to get a good shot...as opposed to getting the ball across midcourt with 15-20 secs to run the offense.

Maybe. But it could also be that from a statistical standpoint if you have either 1) the better team or 2) need to make up a deficit, then you would rather have more possessions than fewer.

That’s part of the problem with slow teams in the NCAA tournament. Fewer possessions means a greater chance of something anomalous happening.

 

[CastleRubric]

I would like to note that from the beginning of the second half, we began stealing time by letting the ball roll to mid court on baseline out of bounds plays when the clock was not running. That may well have bought us the possessions we needed to win.

Saw that!
Had no idea why they were doing that so early

But Bilas DID say that Coach P was almost "genius" with his use of analytical data ....maybe thats an example of Coach doing exactly what you said?

Adding a possession or two by letting the ball roll a few times in those situations?

 

[westerncat]

And this team is only going to get better as the season continues. Pope is a very good coach and I was one that was very happy when we got him.

 

[ccukuk]

Bilas said something stupid after the all ball block on the 3 too. Or maybe it was the color guy. Either way. All ball and no foul.

Bilas was the color guy so I would say you’re right, either way.

 

[UKSanders]

Maybe. But it could also be that from a statistical standpoint if you have either 1) the better team or 2) need to make up a deficit, then you would rather have more possessions than fewer.

That’s part of the problem with slow teams in the NCAA tournament. Fewer possessions means a greater chance of something anomalous happening.

I agree with you that it may have been why they were doing it against Duke, but my suggestion was why they may have been doing it in other games...at least it's the one explanation I could think of.

It seems like Pope wants a score/shot within 3 seconds of getting the ball, or once the defense is set, he wants the offense to be highly moving/methodical to create the best shot opportunity... if that happens within 5 seconds, great, but by getting the offense started with more time on the shot clock, the offense doesn't feel pressure of the shot clock.

 

[sambowieshin]

I would like to note that from the beginning of the second half, we began stealing time by letting the ball roll to mid court on baseline out of bounds plays when the clock was not running. That may well have bought us the possessions we needed to win.

Or given Duke the time to come down and hit a game winning shot had Flagg not turned it over. Hard to say on that kind of thing. It definitely worked in our favor this round.

 

[Bluesnky]

I agree with you that it may have been why they were doing it against Duke, but my suggestion was why they may have been doing it in other games...at least it's the one explanation I could think of.

It seems like Pope wants a score/shot within 3 seconds of getting the ball, or once the defense is set, he wants the offense to be highly moving/methodical to create the best shot opportunity... if that happens within 5 seconds, great, but by getting the offense started with more time on the shot clock, the offense doesn't feel pressure of the shot clock.

Yes, I like your suggestion too. But even in games where you have a big lead, you could play this way until the game is fully out of reach if you think more possessions makes winning more likely.

I’m not really sure why they are doing it in other games. But these are two possible reasons.

 

[Jireh]

Love posts like these / synopses type content

Thank you for posting and MAY ALL YOUR HITS - BE CRITS!!!

(Dungeons & Dragons reference obviously)

I don't get the reference, but thanks anyway!

 

[IL Wildcat]

I am not worried about Robinson. He showed last year repeatedly (most notably at Kansas) that he can play at this level. I think this was just a bad game. Also his defense was outstanding, Pope himself said today that Robinson only gave up 2 points while being the primary defender all game. That is an incredible stat.

I agree about Robinson. He had some good looks in the 2nd half and just missed them. That won't happen very often. If I had to guess, he put too much on himself coming into that game. He came off the bench last season and hasn't been a starter most of his career, so he looked like he felt pressure to score. And let's be honest, Duke had him scouted well and had guys in his face- usually 2 guys coming at him. He may face that same kind of pressure all season, but I don't think he's going to face a defense much better than that. I say he will be fine. Time will tell.

 

[Jireh]

I agree about Robinson. He had some good looks in the 2nd half and just missed them. That won't happen very often. If I had to guess, he put too much on himself coming into that game. He came off the bench last season and hasn't been a starter most of his career, so he looked like he felt pressure to score. And let's be honest, Duke had him scouted well and had guys in his face- usually 2 guys coming at him. He may face that same kind of pressure all season, but I don't think he's going to face a defense much better than that. I say he will be fine. Time will tell.

I agree with all of that.

 

[BlueSince92]

I would like to note that from the beginning of the second half, we began stealing time by letting the ball roll to mid court on baseline out of bounds plays when the clock was not running. That may well have bought us the possessions we needed to win.

I’ve watched teams do this occasionally for years—-my team even did it ourselves occasionally back in high school, and I’ve never thought to ask this about it:

Does the ten-second clock begin when the ball crosses the court boundary or when the game clock begins? If it’s not till when the game clock begins then it seems like you would always want to do this unless the opponent is in your face pressing you.