Slow Watching The Second Half Of The Duke-Ohio State Game

Normally we slow watch the first half first but in this case we thought we’d watch the second half of the Duke-Ohio State game first. And what did we learn?

Well, even late, it was a winnable game - but Duke wasn’t going to win it. What we missed, and usually check, is that Ohio State has nine seniors.

Essentially, an experienced team just punched a young team in the mouth. It’s a good lesson. Duke may end up thanking Ohio State for it later.

• 19:15: Sometimes things just happen but think Keels has heard about his passive reach-in here? On the bright side, after the inbounds he makes a superb pass to Williams for an easy basket. Only two dribbles and a basket.
• 18:46: Key elbows Williams but no foul.
• 18:09: Williams has made immense progress but here, again, his relative lack of strength is a problem. Even so, he got the block.
• 18:05: Keels does a great job switching here but loses his man while trying to get around the screener. Maybe Banchero should have stepped in?
• 17:36: This is seriously great: without looking, Moore knows exactly where Banchero will be - and he’s behind him. Brilliant court awareness. Unfortunately he missed the open three. Ohio State hits their three to cut it to 10.
• 17:07: Jeremy Roach has an underappreciated game in the lane.
• 16:51: Momentary confusion on defense by Moore and Roach.
• 16:46: When we saw this live we thought maybe a charge. But it was a block. Roach was moving his feet.
• 16:30: We never think much about stuff like this but Roach was trying to fight through a screen after hitting the floor hard. Can’t be easy. Down to a nine point lead.
• 16:21: Williams is alone inside and immediately surrounded by three defenders. Liddell clobbers him as he goes up.
• 16:14: Keels applies some pressure that results in a turnover.
• 15:51: Banchero is pretty clearly intimidated on this shot and pays the price. Watch his legs. Reminds us of Chet Holmgren when he gets pushed around.
• 15:26: It’s Roach shooting and running away from two guys, not us, but why shoot left handed? Keels ends up with the ball in the backcourt. Unlike Gonzaga, he doesn’t feel the need to charge the basket every time. Good call on the pass but Banchero misses another three.
• 14:52: John is already out of position to stop this drive.
• 14:38: Keels puts his head down and drives. Doesn’t look up to see Banchero and Roach both wide open. Turnover.
• 14:22: A lot of the finer points of officiating escape us but if you come down and land on a shooter, isn’t that a foul? Moore hit the floor hard here.
• 14:03: Banchero inside against 6-6 Ahrens who fouls.
• 13:56: Moore misses and Williams picks up his third foul. He needs to be careful about his reactions.
• 13:16: This is not a bad shot by Banchero but there’s no one anywhere close to rebounding it.
• 13:03: Williams is leery about picking up his fourth. Banchero comes to help but it’s too late.
• 12:44: This is the second time that an OSU player has literally landed on a Duke player after a block. Ohio State then cuts the lead to 53-47.
• 12:19: Williams can’t muscle Key. Watch his legs.
• 11:56: Key can muscle Williams though. He missed but is gaining confidence.
• 11:41: The patented Banchero spin. But OSU is ready for it. Again, watch the legs. He drew the foul but Key worried him.
• 11:31: No one ever really guarded Ahrens on this play. No one.
• 11:10: Banchero to Williams: You can’t hit what you can’t catch. Nice play puts Duke back up 10.
• 10:39: Russell calls for the ball while Key still has his back to him. But Key is triple-teamed and no one sees Russell get open for the three.
• 10:09: Williams picks up #4. Bad habit: reaching over other people for boards. He’s smart, he’ll figure this out. Major turning point.
• 9:48: Banchero almost loses the dribble, unforced.
• 9:32: Basketball happens fast and we’ve never played at this level. But Keels had Liddell committed. And John was wide open. Roach shot but Banchero was much more open.
• 9:02: This is not a Joey Baker shot and certainly not at this point.
• 8:38: Duke is seriously worried about threes - Baker was already beat.
• 8:25: Key is in everybody’s head at this point. And soft is a four letter word for Mike Krzyzewski.
• 8:15: Nice pressure by Keels.
• 7:53: Banchero draws a foul on Key but it’s not like he went up hard here. It looked like a worried shot. 7:50 left and Duke is up 59-50.
• 7:38: From right here, it’s clear that Key is going to the basket and no one will stop him. But there’s an excellent chance John will foul. Why? Because he got caught outside and is likely to overcompensate. Which he did.
• 7:20: Keels hits a timely three to extend the lead to 11.
• 6:55: Maybe something has changed but they used to teach cutting off the baseline. To be fair, if Williams was in this shot probably would not have happened.
• 6:42: Ohio State’s physicality took Duke by surprise. But this was a basket Banchero could have made. And probably should have.
• 6:28: We love Theo John as a Blue Devil but he had four fouls here. And this was right in front of the ref. You know? Duke’s up 62-55 with 6:26 left.
• 6:20: A costly walk by Keels.
• 6:08: Partly this is Williams in foul trouble and maybe partly Key being more powerful. He misses the shot but the die is cast.
• 6:02: Duke has started to back down to OSU but not Moore, not on this drive.
• 5:57: Look how Young defends Williams with an elbow in the ribs. Duke is just not prepared for this kind of defense.
• 5:55: Moore drives and gets fouled but again, the physical defense takes a toll. Key back in. 63-55.
• 5:37: Key has Williams isolated down low with four fouls. Easy money.
• 5:20: Junior Moore seems to be the only Blue Devil who knows how to handle this defense.
• 5:04: Several fouls have been called when arms are touched but landing on players or spinning them around in circles? Nah. Key inside. 65-59.
• 4:33: Keels drives and gets fouled. Moore missed one foul shot a few minutes ago and now Keels misses one. 66-59.
• 3:54: Keels drives, misses, and Williams just barely misses the rebound.
• 3:34: Ohio State is great - truly great - at setting picks at the top of the key - and then using them. Watch Wheeler get an easy bucket. This has worked over and over in this game.
• 3:20: 66-61: Duke calls timeout.
• 3:02: Despite the timeout, Duke doesn’t really get a good shot, with Keels putting up a long three as the clock runs down.
• 2:37: Russell is calling for the ball. Moore comes after him in the corner but Russell nails it. 66-64.
• 2:09: Only Banchero is inside the three point line and he’s not all that far in either. He bowls over Russell in an unforced error. We’ve seen this a lot actually and not just from Duke. There’s a whole court to use.
• 1:53: Banchero knocks the ball loose but Baker doesn’t realize it in time. Russell ends up driving and drawing a foul on Moore. 66-65.
• 1:25: Keels didn’t HAVE to take this shot but he did and if it went down, it’s great. But it didn’t. Points for clutch instinct though.
• 1:02: Moore fouls Liddell. Liddell puts OSU up 67-66.
• 48.9: Banchero drives and misses, then Williams gets the board and tries again but he’s off-balance and misses. Ideally you’d like to see a guy who is 7-0 go toward the basket or at least straight up. Still a winnable game but Duke isn’t playing tough enough to do that.
• 25.3: Wheeler is pushing Roach, in the chest, right in front of the ret. Are we missing something?
• 17.8: Key hits one high in the lane over Moore - an excellent defender. Great shot. 69-66.
• 6.6: Banchero attempts a three while Keels calls for the ball back. Griffin would be heading into the lane. Keels stands. Roach fouls with 3.0 left. Russell hits both.