Next Play: Duke Responds Well After Losses
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The Devil Wolf takes a look at how Duke has played the game after a loss. Hint: back to back losses are not very common.
Next play. It’s a phrase that has become such a huge part of Duke Basketball culture that it’s transcended its intended meaning for players put mistakes behind them immediately and maintain a ‘strong face’ (as Coach K likes to say) and has become something we all use in our everyday lives. Duke loses a game? Next play. Your kid gets sick on the new carpet? Next play. Your wife cancels the NHL All-Star Game on the DVR so she can record MTV’s Teen Mom 2? Okay, fine. Next play.
The Latest on Shabazz Muhammad
He’s a 6’6 SF residing out of “Sin City” Las Vegas, NV. He is one of, if not THE best player in the 2012 class. A relentless scorer with an even tremendous work ethic. He is…. Shabazz Muhammad.
Being recruited by the country’s best teams from our own Duke Blue Devils, to our arch-rival North Carolina Tar Heels, to the NCAA’s own NBA developmental school in the Kentucky Wildcats, he has a full arsenal of skill at his disposal that all coaches dream of one day coaching on their respective rosters.
Inside The Numbers of Duke-BC
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Duke won the game 84-68, extending the nation’s leading home winning streak to 31 games and their record on the season to 19-1. Let’s go inside the numbers.
- Duke’s offensive efficiency was 130. The team’s average is 119.1
- Ryan Kelly is human. After making 18 shots in a row the previous 4 games, he missed three to finish 6-9.
- Nolan Smith continues to put up tons of points. With 28, he has gone over 20 ten times this season.
- Nolan also had an 8-1 AST/TO Ratio.
- Seth Curry scored his Duke career high (NOT CAREER HIGH ACC NETWORK) with 20 points.
- With Seth going over 20 points, he becomes the 7th Duke player to do so this year. Can you say balance?
- Mason Plumlee now has 5 games in a row with double figures rebounds after gathering 12 tonight.
- This is Ryan Kelly’s 4th game in a row with a block. He tied his career high with 4.
- By scoring 14 points, Kyle Singler is now at 2,124 for his career. He’s 12 behind Mark Alarie and 21 behind Danny Ferry. When he passes Ferry, he’ll be in the Top 5 All-Time Career Scorers in Duke Basketball History.
Airball — John Henson at the Free Throw Line
I like John Henson. As a Duke fan, I especially like him when he shoots free throws. If you thought his 43.8% FT shooting was bad last year, his 36.8% FT shooting this year should alarm you. Here he is in all of his glory during UNC’s best win of the season over Kentucky at home.
Rasheed Sulaimon Junior Season Avgs.
Checking in with 2012 5* SG Rasheed Sulaimon, he is having a fabulous junior season for Strake Jesuit as he is currently averaging as of January 26th, 23.1 ppg (48% FG, 34% 3FG, 79% FT), 5.6 rpg, 2.9 apg, and 2.4 spg.
Strake Jesuit is currently 20-3 on the season.
All-Access Can Be Good, Bad, and Ugly on Tobacco Road
This site has had it’s share of guest columnists who, for one reason or another, didn’t stick around. Hopefully, The Devil Wolf will. Below is his commentary on how the Tobacco Road basketball schools are handling the ever-changing and ever-more accessible media landscape today.
Duke has made a strong effort to break down the barriers between players and fans with initiatives such as www.dukeblueplanet.com, specials like ESPN’s “All-Access”, and the decision to give their blessing for players to use social networking to connect with their admirers. The move has worked wonders for Duke, giving the program a chance to tell their own story and get their own message out instead of allowing bias and perception to shape Duke’s place in the college basketball world.
Players like Nolan Smith, Kyrie Irving, Andre Dawkins, Tyler Thornton and Josh Hairston have not only grown their stature within Blue Devil Nation, but have also cemented their place as “acceptable Dukies” among the haters as well. Following Duke’s home win against Virginia earlier this month, Nolan Smith spoke to the voice of the Blue Devils, Bob Harris, about his hundreds of “@ mentions” and his status as a “trending topic” following his thundering second-half dunk that sparked the Devils to a comeback victory. Bob Harris responded with a confused laugh at the time, but Bob himself has since joined the Twitterverse using the name of @bluedevilsvoice as well. Read more
Duke-BC Q&A With BC Interruption
Note: This game is on The ACC Network. If you’re not sure where to get it on TV in your area, check this link to find out more information.
Brian Favat over at BCInterruption runs a great site. If you haven’t already checked it out, check out my version of this Q&A over there. Before the Duke-Boston College game, we did a question and answer session with him. Check it out, you might just learn something.
BC has a very efficient offense, actually 5th in the nation according to kenpom.com. Donahue had a very efficient offense at Cornell last year as well. How has he had such a dramatic effect on your offense in such a short period of time?
- In the offseason, Donahue asked all the players to shoot 100 three pointers a day and report back on their progress. Or so the story goes. Biko Paris, especially, spent a lot of work on his perimeter shooting in the offseason, and the progress he’s made year-over-year has been phenomenal. Paris was a 27 percent three-point shooter a year ago. This year, he’s shooting over 40 percent from beyond the arc too. Jackson has made a lot of strides on his perimeter shooting as well. Last year he was a 29.1 percent shooter from three. This year, he’s shooting over 45 percent. Donahue’s offensive system opens up the Eagles offense quite a bit, and is a stark departure from the tight Flex offenses under Skinner. Donahue’s system opens up a lot more open looks from three, and shooters like Paris and Jackson have thrived under the new system. What’s most remarkable about the improved offensive efficiency is that the Eagles are doing this while giving not one, but two walk-ons significant playing time. Danny Rubin was the team’s early season surprise, performing well as a three-point specialist in non-conference play. His production and minutes, however, have decreased significantly during ACC play. John Cahill has also seen some PT, but he has had a more limited role in the Eagles’ offensive production.
Has Biko Paris recovered from the flu? How much did his absence hurt against that vaunted Florida State defense? Read more
Is Andre Dawkins Being Underutilized?
On Christmas Eve, I did a piece on how versatile and efficient Andre Dawkins was playing. At the time, the Duke sophomore was 2nd in the country in KenPom.com’s Offensive Rating at 144.6. He was also shooting 53.6% from beyond the arc. Outstanding numbers for a guy who only played 477 minutes last year. For reference, Andre has played 477 minutes so far this year.
Since then, he has averaged 26.4 MPG, shot 27-55 for a 49% FG percentage, and shot 12-37 for a 32% 3-Pt FG percentage. Not bad, huh? The problem is, while Andre has been averaging a good amount of minutes, he’s not being used in very many possessions. As you can see below, Andre is hovering below 15% of all Duke’s possessions.
But, if Andre is playing 25.6 MPG of late, why is he only participating in less than 15% of the team’s possessions? One reason could be that he is a spot up shooter and likes to stay on the perimeter. Andre doesn’t really receive the ball on the blocks and although he is working on his floater and has attacked the rim a lot better this year, you can find him standing around waiting for a pass more often than posting his guy up. Read more
Ryan Kelly Wants To Swish On You
The Duke Blue Devils are the only Division 1 team in the country to have as many as six players score over 20 points a game. They are also the only Division 1 team to have three players score over 30 points in a game. I can’t be sure of this last stat (67% of stats are made up on the spot anyways), but I believe that Ryan Kelly is the only player to go perfect from the field in two straight games as well (eliminate those guys who only shot once or twice.)
Over the last two games, the 6’11″ sophomore from Raleigh has been putting up some impressive numbers. 10-10 FG, 6-6 3 Pointers, 5-6 FT, 31 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks, 1 foul, and 2 turnovers. It’s pretty amazing what he’s been able to accomplish with such a small amount of shots. Read more
Austin Rivers Scores 101 in Three Games
The Duke Blue Devils have one heck of a prospect coming in next year in combo guard Austin Rivers. He’s been lighting up the high school world to the tune of 30.2 ppg, shooting 53% from the field and 37% from 3, w/ 6.1 rpg, and 2.0 apg. Watch highlights of his last 3 games below from BallIsLife.com
