MBB: Villanova 77, Duke 54 (NCAA Tournament) Post-Game Thread

[FerryFor50]

You make several good points regarding Zoubs. In our offense Brian is nothing more than a screener, low post defender and once in a while high post passer. In our offense which alot of times is just players standing around watching one guy dribble the ball, it's hard to have an offensive flow. And on defense we have pressure the ball man to man. Zoubs cannot flourish in that scheme either if their big man comes out high. We were hurt many times this year with Kyle switching to a guard and our guard ending up guarding a big man down low. This led to foul trouble and easy baskets. I see many things that can be corrected before tip off next year. Some things by players and other things by our coaches. Go Duke!

I see Z improving more over the summer. He already is showing flashes.

[jv001]

I see Z improving more over the summer. He already is showing flashes.

It was great to see Brian play relatively healthy (broken nose) this year. It made a difference in his improvement. And as you say I look for more improvement this summer. If we see the same imporvement in Elliot and Nolan we could be much better next year. Go Duke!

[kexman]

We had a very good, but not a great year. We have discussed needing a point, a big, and a superstar. I would suggest that we also need 5 guys who are legit offensive threats. Not guys who can create their own shots, but 5 people that the defense actually have to guard. Coach K said that Villanova was playing 5 on 3 at times last night. Is that possible with the quality of players we recruit. I like that our players know their roles, but everyone must contribute on the offensive end.

Maybe Lance Thomas, Zoubek, and the rest of the bench should go play in a league without our main scoring threats so that they get used to the idea of trying to score. These guys were all highly recruited...they should at least require they be accounted for on the offensive end.

In their defense, we don't look for them at all on the offensive end.

[blueprofessor]

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/bob_ford/41962527.html

Good quotes and angle.
Best--Blueprof:)

[allenmurray]

I don't think this team has a lot of trust for Z, Lance or Dave on offense. Plus, those guys tend to give the ball up when they have it pretty quickly.

My impression was more that Z, Lance, and Dave don't have a lot of trust for Z, Lance, and Dave on offense.

[Duvall]

With all due respect, there is no way you're going to get me to believe that as a 2 seed we overachieved. No way in hell.

I don't think Duke had a terrible season, not in the least. Last night is where I had us getting knocked out in my bracket and I'm really not surprised with last night's result at all.

But don't sit here and say we overachieved. That's simply not true and it's a joke of an argument. In fact, it's almost an (albeit unintended) insult to the intelligence of anyone who knows the game and/or has followed this team all season.

I'm sorry, it just really irks me when people say that. You can't say we had a great season, won 30 games and an ACCT Championship like damn good teams do, then say we overachieved by making it to the Sweet 16 as a 2 seed. Why? Cuz we beat Texas? The 4th best team in a mediocre Big 12? Gimme a break.

You missed the point. The overachievement was winning 28 games in the regular season and an ACC championship, and earning a 2 seed.

[CDu]

My impression was more that Z, Lance, and Dave don't have a lot of trust for Z, Lance, and Dave on offense.

I think it's a bit of both. Those three clearly do not look to shot at all, despite getting opportunities. At the same time, the team does shy away from looking to those guys. If I had to guess, I'd say it's more the latter. McClure in particular passed up several shots, and Zoubek didn't really take a single shot (he had two tip-ins as his only field-goal attempts).

I wouldn't necessarily lump Thomas in with Zoubek and McClure though. He's made a concerted effort this year to get his shot in the post, including last night. He's just not a refined post scorer. And last night, foul trouble had a bit to do with his problems.

[Reddevil]

Villanova was the team that could make it a 5 on 3 game. Not many teams in the country can do that. A flawed team won an ACC Championship, 30 games, and made it to the sweet 16. Great job by the staff, and the players. Next year, Duke will have at least 5 scorers, and some added skill on the frontcourt. I really believe Miles will improve markedly over the summer. EW may explode. I would love to be a fly on the wall during K's end of season one on one sessions with each player where he evaluates them, and tells them what they need to work on for next season. Super job guys! I love this team. Thank you for the ride!

[NYDukie]

With all due respect, there is no way you're going to get me to believe that as a 2 seed we overachieved. No way.

I don't think Duke had a terrible season, not in the least. Last night is where I had us getting knocked out in my bracket and I'm really not surprised with last night's result at all.

But don't sit here and say we overachieved. That's simply not true and it's a joke of an argument. In fact, it's almost an (albeit unintended) insult to the intelligence of anyone who knows the game and/or has followed this team all season.

I'm sorry, it just really irks me when people say that. You can't say we had a great season, won 30 games and an ACCT Championship like darn good teams do, then say we overachieved by making it to the Sweet 16 as a 2 seed. Why? Cuz we beat Texas? The 4th best team in a mediocre Big 12? Gimme a break.

I have to basically agree, they didn't overachieve. When you come down to it, they are basically what they are, a #2 or #3 type of seed team. When you look at the #2s and #3s in the brackets, they are all pretty interchangeable. At the end of the day, this was a top 10 team, not a top 5 team and depending on matchups and breaks had a chance in the tourney to get to the Final 4. It just didn't happen for them.

[FerryFor50]

Villanova was the team that could make it a 5 on 3 game. Not many teams in the country can do that. A flawed team won an ACC Championship, 30 games, and made it to the sweet 16. Great job by the staff, and the players. Next year, Duke will have at least 5 scorers, and some added skill on the frontcourt. I really believe Miles will improve markedly over the summer. EW may explode. I would love to be a fly on the wall during K's end of season one on one sessions with each player where he evaluates them, and tells them what they need to work on for next season. Super job guys! I love this team. Thank you for the ride!

I don't get why more teams couldn't do it - it was always there as an option. Duke is always 2 guys short on offense at any given moment due to the personnel. Nova was just smart enough to realize, "hey, we don't have to guard everyone - just the three who can score."

Pretty elementary. Other teams have tried it, but they all weren't off at the same time like last night. Scheyer, G and Singler all were struggling.

[CDu]

We had a very good, but not a great year. We have discussed needing a point, a big, and a superstar. I would suggest that we also need 5 guys who are legit offensive threats. Not guys who can create their own shots, but 5 people that the defense actually have to guard. Coach K said that Villanova was playing 5 on 3 at times last night. Is that possible with the quality of players we recruit. I like that our players know their roles, but everyone must contribute on the offensive end.

This is a key. Coach K said Villanova was playing 5 on 3 at times, but it may be more accurate to say they were playing 5 on 3 almost all of the time, and 5 on 2 for a good bit of time. With Henderson and Smith in foul trouble, we often only had Scheyer and Singler as threats.

Next year, we're going to need Smith and Williams to improve their games (which should happen), and we're going to need at least one (if not 2-3) of Thomas, Zoubek, Plumlee, Plumlee, and Kelly to be credible offensive threats (again, I think this is reasonable). If that happens, perhaps we won't be as susceptible to teams overplaying our best offensive players.

[Duvall]

Next year, we're going to need Smith and Williams to improve their games (which should happen), and we're going to need at least one (if not 2-3) of Thomas, Zoubek, Plumlee, Plumlee, and Kelly to be credible offensive threats (again, I think this is reasonable).

That's expecting a lot from the two freshmen.

[Ian]

As Coach K said last night, Nova could do it because they can guard at all 5 positions.

The reason not all team can do this is because we set screens to force switches so that one of our 3 can catch a chance to exploit a mismatch.

But Nova had quickness to defend one on one at all 5 positions, which mean there was no mismatch to exploit. Not every team has the personnel to execute such a plan against us, Nova does and they executed it perfectly.

[miramar]

You know, I expected this sort of stuff to start coming out, and we'll probably see a lot of it in the next few days and especially at the start of next season.

I try not to get worked up over this stuff. And heck, the guy makes a point or two.

If I have a worry, though, it's that if the perception of Duke as a program on the decline gets legs, then it might start to hinder recruiting. I sense we aren't the "cool" program to this generation of players, many of whom grew up in the thick of Duke hatred.

Now, we obviously have advantages no other school can boast, and we're going to remain supremely competitive for the best players. But if folks start to believe we're really dropping a notch or two, it's gonna make it that much tougher to actually land the kids. Especially at a time when we need to reinforce our recruiting efforts, losing one or two big names here and there can have long term repercussions. I think we're seeing that now with the big man struggles.

This media thing has the potential to become a significant burden for Duke, I'm afraid. It's not going away, and it's going to be an obstacle to overcome for a long time.

I think the guy makes some points, especially about recruiting, but I think that has more to do with the past than with the future. If we look at the decline in Duke's NCAA fortunes the last few years, we can see how that's tied to recruiting. To simplify, let's look at the senior classes:

1) In 2006 JJ and Shelden lost in the Sweet 16, but in many ways two guys were carrying the whole team. That was a great recruiting class, but Shavlik left a year early after showing that he was a really good rebounder and defender, and Melchioni and Dockery lost their shot by the end of the year.

2) In 2007 there were no seniors, and Duke lost in the first round. Duke signed an extraordinary player in Luol Deng and an excellent player in Kris Humphreys, but we got all of one season from this recruiting class.

3) In 2008 we had one senior (DeMarcus Nelson) and a fourth-year junior (Dave McClure). McClure has always been a great role player and glue guy, but DeMarcus was the leading scorer in the history of California basketball. He was a great guy to have, but it turns out that he wasn't a great shooter. All in all, this would have been an outstanding class with Shaun Livingston, but he was another one who never showed up.

4) In 2009 we had the highest rated freshman class in the country, but Boyken and Boateng left early, McRoberts left after two interesting years, and in the end Paulus lost his starting job and Marty didn't get much playing time.

So after a very strong class of 2006, we have had thee straight years of classes that were thin, or with guys that didn't show up, or left early, or didn't work out as well as expected (even if they were still valuable members of the team). But that was then and this is now.

This year's junior class has a lot of talent, although we don't know if Gerald will be back. The sophomores are also very talented, and while it's too early to tell about the freshmen, Miles and Elliot have a lot of potential. The incoming freshman class has two McDonald's Americans, and the freshman class of 2010 looks very strong. Considering that these are the players that Coach K has recruited while he was the Olympic coach, I guess his outside responsibilities have not affected the program after all. There's no question that no big man has stepped up yet, but I think next year will be much better. There is no question that Nolan has to step up at PG, but he's shown a lot of improvement this year, so it's just a question of consistency.

Duke has obviously missed out on some key recruits. We would have been better with Patterson or Echenique, not to mention that it would have been great to have Kenny Boynton, but this team has turned the corner so reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated.

The talent is there and so is the coaching, so our success from now on will depend on retention. Let's not forget that Villanova started three seniors and two juniors.

[mr. synellinden]

At the end of the game, Coach K put Pocius and Czyz in for the last 90 seconds, but Plumlee did not get off the bench. Is he hurt, did he violate a team rule, is there something else going on? Because I am surprised first, that he had no playing time during the post-season, and second, that he didn't get in at the end of the game last night. What's up with that?

[tommy]

I just wonder when we're going to be able to stop saying this at the end of the year. Feels like we've been saying that forever.

We'll be able to stop saying it when we successfully recruit a complete team, or something close to it. This loss, as well as the ones ending the last couple of seasons, are simply and obviously the recruiting chickens coming home to roost. We just don't have the depth and diversity of talent needed to win a string of high pressure, neutral court games against hungry, top flight opposition.

Sure, we've gone after guys that would have meant having a more complete, well-rounded, versatile, and athletic team. We used to get those guys much more consistently, but just haven't gotten them in the last several years. Until and unless we start to get them again, our decline from our former status as a super-elite will not be arrested.

[Channing]

Did anyone see Taylor King on the Nova bench last night? I am sure he got a kick out of handing it to Duke. (i apologize if this mentioned elsewhere in the thread, I didnt see it when looking through)

[Classof06]

At the end of the game, Coach K put Pocius and Czyz in for the last 90 seconds, but Plumlee did not get off the bench. Is he hurt, did he violate a team rule, is there something else going on? Because I am surprised first, that he had no playing time during the post-season, and second, that he didn't get in at the end of the game last night. What's up with that?

Co-sign. I'm beginning to think there's something about Plumlee that we as fans don't know. I have been asking what's been going on with Plumlee all season long. And that is probably the thing I understand the least about this team as I look back on the season. I still find it hard to believe that Miles played as little as he did, especially when Zoubek (and the rest of the team) really hit a wall in the middle part of the year.

Krzyzewski took a chance and put Eliot Williams in the lineup and it paid dividends for this team. I have the feeling that if he would've given Plumlee a little more run, he would've been pleasantly surprised.

That being said, next season I expect both Plumlees, Ryan Kelly and Zoubek to finally provide the frontline Duke has sorely lacked the past few seasons.

[Duvall]

Co-sign. I'm beginning to think there's something about Plumlee that we as fans don't know. I have been asking what's been going on with Plumlee all season long. And that is probably the thing I understand the least about this team as I look back on the season. I still find it hard to believe that Miles played as little as he did, especially when Zoubek (and the rest of the team) really hit a wall in the middle part of the year.

If you need clarification, you might go back and watch some tape of Plumlee's actual game performances. I don't see why this is a mystery.

[CDu]

That's expecting a lot from the two freshmen.

I don't think that expecting (potentially) at least one of Plumlee and Kelly to be a credible offensive presence is expecting a lot. I didn't say they needed to be stars - just that we need two or three of the five guys we'll have in the post to be credible offensive players.

Maybe Zoubek takes advantage of his first healthy offseason at Duke and is able to take advantage of his size a bit next year. Maybe Miles Plumlee gets more comfortable with the college game and develops a bit of a post presence. And maybe one of the two freshmen is ready to contribute a bit offensively.

[mr. synellinden]

If you need clarification, you might go back and watch some tape of Plumlee's actual game performances. I don't see why this is a mystery.

Okay, then. But Olek and Marty got into the game last night in the last minute. Why didn't Plumlee?

[Classof06]

If you need clarification, you might go back and watch some tape of Plumlee's actual game performances. I don't see why this is a mystery.

That's a bogus argument; are you really going to judge him on how he played the 4 minutes he played every 3 games? That's just not fair, especially to a freshman. Five different times (including a 4-game stretch), Plumlee went two full games without even seeing the floor. You have to give the kid consistent minutes to get a full body of work before saying he has no business being on the floor.

Keep in mind, Eliot Williams didn't show anywhere near how good he could be until he got consistent minutes. That's when everyone began realize his talent.

Not to mention, when you have a 6-10 player on your bench and Zoubek was struggling heavily in the middle of the season, is it really that much of a risk to play the kid?

[A-Tex Devil]

I don't think that expecting (potentially) at least one of Plumlee and Kelly to be a credible offensive presence is expecting a lot. I didn't say they needed to be stars - just that we need two or three of the five guys we'll have in the post to be credible offensive players.

Maybe Zoubek takes advantage of his first healthy offseason at Duke and is able to take advantage of his size a bit next year. Maybe Miles Plumlee gets more comfortable with the college game and develops a bit of a post presence. And maybe one of the two freshmen is ready to contribute a bit offensively.

I hope you are right. I look at the growth of Cole Aldrich's game between his freshman and sophomore years at Kansas and shake my head a bit. But you are right about injuries. If he can go to big man camp and not have to rehab, perhaps he'll see some improvement in completing low post moves while playing against this better class of athelete. I think he is very capable on the defensive end already (when he avoids foul trouble), and Bob Gibbons doesn't usually miss the mark. Hopefully the game slows down for him some.

[CDu]

I hope you are right. I look at the growth of Cole Aldrich's game between his freshman and sophomore years at Kansas and shake my head a bit. But you are right about injuries. If he can go to big man camp and not have to rehab, perhaps he'll see some improvement in completing low post moves while playing against this better class of athelete. I think he is very capable on the defensive end already (when he avoids foul trouble), and Bob Gibbons doesn't usually miss the mark. Hopefully the game slows down for him some.

I think the biggest thing for Zoubek will be building lower-body strength and his footwork. The foot injuries kept him from being able to work on those two things, and I think that's where he's lacking. If he can build a strong base, maybe he can utilize his size and good touch. He's never going to be an athletic player. But if he can improve his leg strength and balance, he can make up for it.

And yes, now perhaps he can get some experience working on post moves.

[MulletMan]

Keep in mind, Eliot Williams didn't show anywhere near how good he could be until he got consistent minutes. That's when everyone began realize his talent.



Keep in mind that Elliot Williams didn't get consistent minutes in games until he bought into the idea that his ticket onto the court was becoming a lock-down defnder that sorely needed one. As has been the case with Duke for 30 years, you play D first, then you get PT. Go back and watch some game tape and watch Plumlee on the defensive end. You'll know why he didn't get more run.

[CDu]

Keep in mind that Elliot Williams didn't get consistent minutes in games until he bought into the idea that his ticket onto the court was becoming a lock-down defnder that sorely needed one.

This is certainly the party line on Williams's playing time. But the reality is that none of us has any idea for sure why he suddenly got playing time.

I do agree that Plumlee didn't look great out there when he did play, though.

[Duvall]

That's a bogus argument; are you really going to judge him on how he played the 4 minutes he played every 3 games?

What else is there on which to judge him? The only people that see him in practice didn't seem to be overly impressed by their additional exposure.

[Classof06]

Maybe Plumlee didn't exactly light it up (though he did play well against Georgetown). But once conference play started, he only got double-digit minutes twice: one was the blowout vs. Maryland and the other was when Clemson blew us out.

I'd like to give the kid 15 minutes in a game to see how he does before saying he has no business being on the floor. And for as bad as you guys say Plumlee played, there was a good chunk of the season when he was playing better than Zoubek.

The bottom line is that as thin as Duke was in the front line this past year and the way Zoubek played for the middle 60% of the season, Duke would've lost nothing by giving Plumlee more than just spot minutes in order to really see what he could do.

[Oriole Way]

Keep in mind that Elliot Williams didn't get consistent minutes in games until he bought into the idea that his ticket onto the court was becoming a lock-down defnder that sorely needed one. As has been the case with Duke for 30 years, you play D first, then you get PT. Go back and watch some game tape and watch Plumlee on the defensive end. You'll know why he didn't get more run.

As CDu just mentioned, we don't know for sure why Williams finally started getting minutes.

I think K finally realized he needed to give one of his more talented players minutes. Paulus and Smith were not getting the job done at PG, so he moved Scheyer into the position and started Elliot to see what would happen. Thankfully, it turned out to be a great move. But I don't really think Elliot suddenly got better at precisely that time. I think it was a move K should have made much earlier in the season, and we paid for not making it with losses.

[Classof06]

What else is there on which to judge him? The only people that see him in practice didn't seem to be overly impressed by their additional exposure.

Yeah, and you could've said the same about Eliot Williams 25 games into the season. Looks like what they're seeing in practice might not be the end-all, be all, huh?

Absolutely no reason it should've taken 75% of the season to realize Williams could contribute like that when we clearly lacked any type of explosiveness outside Henderson. You praise Krzyzewski for making the move; I'm asking why it didn't happen earlier. And the reason it took so long is because Krzyzewski didn't give him enough game minutes to begin with.

If McClure isn't sick for the St. John's game, does Williams even get that opportunity? Eliot didn't play a single minute in the two games leading up to the St. John's game.

[Duvall]

Yeah, and you could've said the same about Eliot Williams 25 games into the season. Looks like what they're seeing in practice might not be the end-all, be all, huh?

Absolutely no reason it should've taken 75% of the season to realize Williams could contribute like that when we clearly lacked any type of explosiveness outside Henderson. You praise Krzyzewski for making the move; I'm asking why it didn't happen earlier. And the reason it took so long is because Krzyzewski didn't give him enough game minutes to begin with.


I haven't praised Krzyzewski for inserting Williams into the starting lineup; frankly, I think that the move has been substantially overhyped. Duke's late season success was driven by a surge in 3-pt shooting, in particular Scheyer going from 35% to over 45% during that stretch.

But hey. If you would rather believe that a player that struggles in ten minutes a game can be magically transformed into a solid contributor by getting twenty minutes a game than the admittedly far-fetched notion that a freshman player might actually improve and be a better player in February than he was in December, be my guest.

[CDu]

I think K finally realized he needed to give one of his more talented players minutes. Paulus and Smith were not getting the job done at PG, so he moved Scheyer into the position and started Elliot to see what would happen. Thankfully, it turned out to be a great move. But I don't really think Elliot suddenly got better at precisely that time.

I agree with this. I think Coach K simply knew he had to take a chance, given that the team was flat and Paulus and Smith were struggling. I think the big move was putting Scheyer at PG. He went with Williams to try to energize the team, and it worked. I think the talk of Williams's evolution as a defender were simply platitudes to cover the desperation and justify going with Williams over the veterans.


I think it was a move K should have made much earlier in the season, and we paid for not making it with losses.

I'm not sure I wholeheartedly agree with this. Remember, up until the knee injury, Smith was looking fantastic at PG (not as a true PG, but as a combo guard defending at PG). And to that point, Paulus had been injured. Smith struggled to recover from injury, but Coach K gave him time. Paulus then had a nice game or two. Coach K made the move when it was clear that Smith wasn't going to simply bounce back and that Paulus wasn't the answer. Sooner would have been questionable - especially if it hadn't worked.

[Double DD]

Despite all the talk of the improved defence with Elliot Williams in the starting lineup, the numbers didn't back it up. It was the offense carrying most of the load down the stretch in quite a few tight games. And when the team shot poorly like it did against Villanova, there was really no chance. I'm not sure exactly what changed from January to February to change the top defensive team in the country to a mediocre one, but figuring that out will be the key to next season. I'm not sure if the pre-February team could have won this game anyways, with how off the team's shooting was, but it woud have been at least competitive.

[6th Man]

Despite all the talk of the improved defence with Elliot Williams in the starting lineup, the numbers didn't back it up. It was the offense carrying most of the load down the stretch in quite a few tight games. And when the team shot poorly like it did against Villanova, there was really no chance. I'm not sure exactly what changed from January to February to change the top defensive team in the country to a mediocre one, but figuring that out will be the key to next season. I'm not sure if the pre-February team could have won this game anyways, with how off the team's shooting was, but it woud have been at least competitive.

I think the defensive stats were worse at the end of the year partly due to the scheduling. You could argue we played some of the eaiser ACC foes in January. The back end of the schedule was mostly on the road and not in the friendly confines of Cameron Indoor. The schedule was more difficult and then throw tourney play on top of that and you are playing in higher quality games. Maybe playing some better teams on the road exposed Duke a little more and also hurt their confidence on the defensive end. I for one thought the end of the season was brutal with all the road games. I thought for what this team had, excluding Nova, had a remarkable end to the season.

Last night was Duke playing a similar team that just had quicker stronger athletes. I think Duke had to try to make a comeback in the second half and it just compounded the problems. I still wish in a game like that Duke would look to zone. Nova hit some 3's but usually scored on drives to the bucket.

[Ian]

Jay Wright said it himself, that the reason the margin of victory was so large was because "Duke plays to win". If we were just content to keep it close we probably could have kept it in the 10-12 range. But what's the point of that? We were trying to win which meant we keep shooting 3s and pressing them hard rather than sit back in a one. We gambled, had we hit the 3s and got the turnovers we would have came back, if it didn't work we'd get blown out.

Unfortunately it didn't work, but I'd rather do that than to be content and settle for a respectable loss.

[tendev]

Despite all the talk of the improved defence with Elliot Williams in the starting lineup, the numbers didn't back it up. It was the offense carrying most of the load down the stretch in quite a few tight games. And when the team shot poorly like it did against Villanova, there was really no chance. I'm not sure exactly what changed from January to February to change the top defensive team in the country to a mediocre one, but figuring that out will be the key to next season. I'm not sure if the pre-February team could have won this game anyways, with how off the team's shooting was, but it woud have been at least competitive.

The competition got better and we played on the road. The fact of the matter is that this team, while good, was always a Sweet 16 caliber team, and might have been a tad worse without Williams in the line up. Paulus seemed to lose his confidence in ball-handling situations and could not avoid nettlesome turnovers as the competition got better. I don't think he ever lost confidence in his shooting ability but we had plenty of three point shooters. Elliot just brought a different skill-set, energy and quickness that helped fill a void.

[tommy]

This post just actually made me feel a lot better because it reminded me of something. The 2000 team wasn't all that different from the 2001 team. They just needed another year to come together. The difference, of course, is that that team still had players from a final four team in 1999 in Battier and James, but this is nonetheless encouraging. Especially if G stays, next year could be our year.

You realize, though, that the 2001 team started 5 NBA players, right? Completely different level of talent there, with every position covered. Ain't like that anymore.

[TampaDuke]

Jay Wright said it himself, that the reason the margin of victory was so large was because "Duke plays to win". If we were just content to keep it close we probably could have kept it in the 10-12 range. But what's the point of that? We were trying to win which meant we keep shooting 3s and pressing them hard rather than sit back in a one. We gambled, had we hit the 3s and got the turnovers we would have came back, if it didn't work we'd get blown out.

Unfortunately it didn't work, but I'd rather do that than to be content and settle for a respectable loss.

While that might be true of the second half, I got the impression that, in the first half, the coaching staff was trying to keep it close and to wear out Nova. There was a lot of substitution and some of our key guys sat longer on the bench in the first half than I'd noticed in prior games late in the season. Additionally, on at least two stretches in the first half we had very little offense on the floor (having 2 of G, Singler or Scheyer on the bench at once). It looked to me like we were content to keep the margin close and save guys for the second half while hoping Nova got worn out. While it might have worked if we had started the second half strong, I just can't see any reason to ever have 2 of the three consistent scoring threats we have on the bench, especially in a tourney game.

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed the season and congratulate the team on the good job they did all year.

[Highlander]

You might be underselling Villanova a bit. I guess we'll see more on Saturday. Personally, I bet they beat Pitt.

Good point. Seeing Nova win the National Championship by beating all the #1 seeds laughing at our downfall would take some of the sting out of this one. It would mean we were just unlucky and caught them earlier than everyone else. Nova is certainly capable, and they looked a lot better than Pitt did last night. Plus they've already beaten Pitt this year.

[1999ballboy]

You realize, though, that the 2001 team started 5 NBA players, right? Completely different level of talent there, with every position covered. Ain't like that anymore.
Starting is an arbitrary designation by a single coach. We also had 5 TOTAL NBA players in 2001, not counting Dahntay Jones, who sat out that year. This year, we had... 5 total likely future NBA players. Just replace Smith for Thomas. NBA superstars, perhaps not, but we had an amazing level of talent in the 98-02 years unlikely to be equalled any time soon. Doesn't mean we can't win a championship with less. Greg Koubek wasn't an NBA player, and Brian Davis, Thomas Hill, and Antonio Lang didn't exactly have long or illustrious NBA careers.

[Double DD]

I think the defensive stats were worse at the end of the year partly due to the scheduling. You could argue we played some of the eaiser ACC foes in January. The back end of the schedule was mostly on the road and not in the friendly confines of Cameron Indoor. The schedule was more difficult and then throw tourney play on top of that and you are playing in higher quality games. Maybe playing some better teams on the road exposed Duke a little more and also hurt their confidence on the defensive end. I for one thought the end of the season was brutal with all the road games. I thought for what this team had, excluding Nova, had a remarkable end to the season.



The schedule definitely played into that, but the difference was way too dramatic to be just due to that. The numbers are below. No increase in schedule difficulty should cause Duke to become the 2nd worst defense in the ACC over the last half of the schedule.

Up to Feb 4th (Points per Possesion Allowed) - ACC games only
Duke 0.85
FSU 0.96
Georgia Tech 0.97
Clemson 0.98
Wake 0.99
UNC 1.00
Maryland 1.06
BC 1.07
Miami 1.09
Virginia Tech 1.10
Virginia 1.11
NC State 1.13

Post Feb 4th (Points per Posession Allowed) - ACC games only
FSU 1.00
UNC 1.02
Virginia 1.02
Clemson 1.03
Wake 1.03
Miami 1.04
Maryland 1.06
Virginia Tech 1.06
Georgia Tech 1.07
NC State 1.09
Duke 1.11
BC 1.16

[mr. synellinden]

The schedule definitely played into that, but the difference was way too dramatic to be just due to that. The numbers are below. No increase in schedule difficulty should cause Duke to become the 2nd worst defense in the ACC over the last half of the schedule.

Up to Feb 4th (Points per Possesion Allowed) - ACC games only
Duke 0.85
FSU 0.96
Georgia Tech 0.97
Clemson 0.98
Wake 0.99
UNC 1.00
Maryland 1.06
BC 1.07
Miami 1.09
Virginia Tech 1.10
Virginia 1.11
NC State 1.13

Post Feb 4th (Points per Posession Allowed) - ACC games only
FSU 1.00
UNC 1.02
Virginia 1.02
Clemson 1.03
Wake 1.03
Miami 1.04
Maryland 1.06
Virginia Tech 1.06
Georgia Tech 1.07
NC State 1.09
Duke 1.11
BC 1.16

Those stats are fascinating and confirm what we all could see in our play and in the shooting percentages in the boxscores. The explanation is what is a mystery. I think it is a direct correlation to Nolan Smith's play. I think he was the key to our defense early in the year.

[devildownunder]

I haven't praised Krzyzewski for inserting Williams into the starting lineup; frankly, I think that the move has been substantially overhyped. Duke's late season success was driven by a surge in 3-pt shooting, in particular Scheyer going from 35% to over 45% during that stretch.



Those improved 3pt shooting numbers didn't just happen for no reason. moving scheyer to the point and williams into the starting lineup -- and the subsequent tweaks to the offensive system got us a lot more open looks from deep in rhythm, thus we shot a higher percentage. K does deserve credit for that.

[devildownunder]

As Coach K said last night, Nova could do it because they can guard at all 5 positions.

The reason not all team can do this is because we set screens to force switches so that one of our 3 can catch a chance to exploit a mismatch.

But Nova had quickness to defend one on one at all 5 positions, which mean there was no mismatch to exploit. Not every team has the personnel to execute such a plan against us, Nova does and they executed it perfectly.

Well, not really. They played Jordan rules on G but they were able to do that because nobody else forced them not to do it.