Blue Devils get to 10 ACC wins by beating BC 75-50
For the 5th straight season, Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke Blue Devils have won 10 games in the ACC. Riding 18 points from Seth Curry on 4-8 shooting, Duke overpowered Boston College on both the scoreboard and the glass, grabbing 45 rebounds to BC’s 21. While rebounding margin is a fairly useless stat, Offensive Rebounding Percentage is one of the “Four Factors” to winning a basketball game. Looking at the graph below, that margin is ridiculously high in Duke’s favor (40% – 6%).
Seth Curry has been on a hot streak lately and this game’s performance did not veer off course. For the season, Curry puts up an efficient 1.42 points per shot (the ACC leader is Wake’s CJ Harris at 1.62). By using only 8 shots to score 18 points, the Duke combo guard scored 2.25 points for every shot he took. His 7-7 mark at the free throw line helped this number be so high. Once again, Miles Plumlee was a beast on the boards, grabbing 10 including a monster putback on Austin Rivers’ missed three-pointer just before the first half buzzer. Highlights and box score are below.
Duke shows testicular fortitude in comeback against NC State
After last Wednesday morning’s shootaround before the UNC game, Coach Jeff Capel did the shuffling dance performed by “Major League” character Pedro Cerrano to show that he had, to quote the movie, marbles. Since the finals of the Maui Classic when Tyler Thornton stuck one in the Jayhawks’ eye, that night was the first time the Blue Devils’ team showed they had them.
Tonight was the second time. Down 20 points in the second half and after being dominated nearly the entire game, Austin Rivers dropped another big shot with 2:25 left in the game to give Duke its first lead.
I was at the game and that was one of the loudest and most exciting ten basketball minutes I’ve ever been a part of in Cameron Indoor. Anybody who still doubts that the old girl has heart, come to one of the two remaining games (February 25th vs Virginia Tech or March 3rd vs UNC) and say it with a straight face.
How Similar Are Miles Plumlee and Brian Zoubek’s Senior Seasons?
There is much chatter about Miles Plumlee pulling a “Deja Zoub” after his ridiculous 22 rebound showcase against Maryland on Saturday. The performance was so outstanding that Plumlee set the record for most rebounds at Duke in the Coach K era.
You may remember that Brian Zoubek had his breakout game of the year just two years ago today against those same Maryland Terrapins when he scored 16 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. The comparisons seemed to jump off the page at just about any Duke fan who has been paying attention for the last two years.
That Zoubek game is looked at as the spark that led to Duke’s somewhat improbable 2010 National Championship run, and for good reason. Despite having only three guards on the roster, the bulk of the scoring for the ’10 team was done by guards Nolan Smith (17.4 PPG) and Jon Scheyer (18.2 PPG) and forward Kyle Singler (17.7) . There was little to no production from the inside (Zoubek 5.6 PPG, Lance Thomas 4.8 PPG, Mi Plumlee 5.15 PPG, Ma Plumlee 3.7 PPG) offensively so the Blue Devils were seen as a team too heavily reliant on perimeter scoring.
What Zoubek did (and to a lesser degree Thomas and the Plumlees) was to grab an insane amount of offensive boards (40.6% of all available misses) and give Duke multiple chances to score on each trip down the floor.
While Mason Plumlee is scoring at a much higher rate than 2010 him or any of his other interior teammates from that season and Ryan Kelly is a dangerous shooting weapon, they are only the 103rd best rebounding team in Divison 1. By contrast, the 2010 version of the Blue Devils was the 15th best.
What has Duke fans so excited about the possibility of this being Miles Plumlee’s breakout game is that this team does rely quite a bit on the outside shot (31% of their field goals made are from beyond the arc) so any boost to that average rebounding number would give Duke more shots to add points to make up for their subpar defense. This becomes even more key when you realize that Duke is the 13th best eFG% (Effective Field Goal Percentage is 1.5 times 3-point shooting plus 2-point shooting to give more weight to the more valuable shot) team in the country at 54.9%.
So, is this all just wishful thinking or are Miles Plumlee and Brian Zoubek similar enough to turn the Blue Devils’ fortunes on the boards around? Let’s look at a Statsheet.com comparison for some answers. For a player to be similar to another, their lines on the radar chart below should be somewhat close. I’ll let you decide if Zoubek and Miles Plumlee’s senior seasons are similar.
Duke 73 Maryland 55 Highlights
There were questions for the Duke Blue Devils coming off an incredibly emotional win over North Carolina just three days ago. After a tedious start, the Blue Devils flexed their muscles and pulled away for an 18-point win. After two home ACC losses in a row, this game was important for Duke’s confidence and standings in the conference.
Miles Plumlee had a Zoubekian performance, collecting 22 rebounds (9 offensive) and scoring 13 points. If you remember, Brian Zoubek’s breakout game that sparked the 2010 national championship run came against Maryland at home in their every other year February matchup in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Brian’s statline for that game included 16 points and 17 rebounds.
With his 22 rebounds, Miles Plumlee set the record during the Coach K era, beating Elton Brand’s 21 that he put up against Fresno State on November 27, 1998.
Highlights from GoDuke.com
And from ESPN.com
Austin Rivers buries North Carolina, Duke wins 85-84
By Chad Lykins — – The 233rd meeting between Duke and North Carolina may have quite possibly gone down as one of the best games between the two rival schools. Duke freshman Austin Rivers buried a buzzer-beating three-point shot that gave Duke their 20th win of the season, 85-84 over North Carolina (20-4, 7-2). Rivers scored a career high 29 points (Duke freshman record vs. UNC) while hitting six three-pointers in Duke-UNC debut, his sixth as Duke (20-4, 7-2) trailed by 2 in the final seconds of the game. The game winning three capped off a furious rally by Duke, who trailed by 10 points with less than three minutes left in regulation. Duke only led once in the 2nd half, coming with 0.00 on the clock.
“Obviously this is my favorite win I’ve ever had in my entire life,” Rivers said. “And it’s because we were down the whole game. The whole game, we were down. They just kept it on us — 10-point lead, 10-point lead. And then there was 3 minutes left and probably everybody thought we were going to lose, and we just kept fighting. To get a W, it’s amazing.”
With father, Doc Rivers, in the stands, Austin Rivers made good on his words before the game, that he was GOING to make an impact tonight. Rivers shot will live on in the lore of this fierce rivalry.
As expected, Duke relied on the three-point shot as they attempted 36 for the game, hitting 14. The improbable rally with about two minutes remaining in the game, will be talked about for as long as they play these games. Trailing 72-82, Duke went on a 10-2 run, closing the gap to an 82-84 game with 14 seconds to play. In that stretch, Tyler Thornton made his only three in 6 attempts, while Seth Curry made his fourth. Three of UNC’s final four possessions were turnover, turnover, 1-2 from the line. Then in a bizzare sequence, Ryan Kelly attempted a three as Duke trailed 80-83 that was turning out to fall well short of the basket, but North Carolina senior Tyler Zeller accidentally batted the ball into the Duke basket on a rebound attempt to bring the Blue Devils within a point with 14.2 seconds left after trailing all second half. The basket was ruled a three, but referee’s reviewed the play and changed it to a two point basket for Duke. After the strange tip-in, Zeller was fouled, but went 1-2 from the line, giving Duke a chance. That chance, proved successful, as Rivers sealed the game shut with his game-winning three over, you guessed it, Zeller.
North Carolina led by as many as 13 with 15:06 to play in the second half. At the same point in the first half Duke held its largest lead, by eight, but the Tar Heels controlled the rest of the half and led 43-40 at halftime.
“We fought like crazy to stay close,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “And then in the last couple of minutes, we got hot.”
Krzyzewski described it as a “storybook” ending and said, “for me, that’s one of the best ones” in the history of the rivalry. Moments earlier, Williams had sat in the same chair, with tears welling in his eyes, trying to explain something he couldn’t.
“This one hurts,” North Carolina head coach Roy Williams said.
“Well there’s no question the first thing you have to is congratulate Duke. Congratulate Austin on a big-time game, and a big-time shot he made there at the end. We had some opportunities. The last three or four minutes, we had two turnovers and two or three missed free throws and they scored twice on seconds shots, and we didn’t secure the rebound.”
Williams was also quoted saying “If you start swallowing and wallowing and [have] sorrow for yourself and feeling frickin’ sorry for yourself, you ought to just go home. My team better by God come back and decide they’re going to be better. We lost a game that we could have won. If we don’t learn something from that and come back and be more determined, I’ve got the wrong group.”
Zeller had a spectacular first half with 19 first half points, but cooled in the second scoring only 4 to finish with 23 points for the game. He also grabbed 11 rebounds. Harrison Barnes, who was playing on an injured ankle that was bothering him leading up to the game against Duke, led UNC in scoring with 25 points, with 19 of those coming in the second half.
For Duke, Ryan Kelly and Seth Curry each scored 15 points a piece. The Blue Devils shot 44% from the field, including 39% from three on the night as tonight’s victory makes it 16 consecutive seasons with at least 20 wins.
Below is a multimedia recap from the game, including the game winner, photos, the voice of the Duke Blue Devils, Bob Harris’ radio call, and game highlights from the ACC Network. Enjoy! Read more
Duke Puts Up 22 Assists in Big Win Over Western Michigan
By Ray Horn — After a long layoff, you might expect a bit of rust for the Duke Blue Devils. The Western Michigan Broncos scored the first basket of the game and that would be the only time they led all game. A 40 point victory over the MAC West favorite is very impressive, especially considering the eleven days between games and holiday break. The first thing that jumped out to me from this game was the faster pace. I have been clamoring for the Devils to get out and run more and that is exactly what they did. 16 fast break points was a season high. The quicker pace freed up shooters and opened the offensive glass. Absolutely loved the quicker pace on offense. Look for the quicker pace to be a trademark for this team going forward. Another thing I noticed and loved was the aggressiveness coming off screens. In recent games, Austin Rivers had been the only player that was consistently coming off screens looking to create a shot for himself or a teammate. Andre Dawkins, and especially Seth Curry, had been coming off screens too slow and not looking to make a play towards the basket. Against Western Michigan Curry was magnificent coming off of both ball screens and off-ball screens. Dawkins didn’t get nearly as many opportunities, but he too looked a little more aggressive.
With this team’s size and athleticism in the frontcourt, they should almost always outrebound the opposition. The Blue Devils out rebounded the Broncos by 22, which points to the bigs playing more aggressively and focusing on cleaning the glass. Miles Plumlee especially was an animal on the backboard, which is what I had been hoping to see from him this season. Focusing on rebounding, protecting the rim and finishing anything close to the rim should be Miles’ gameplan every night and when he does this is the type of game you get from him. Sharing the basketball is vital to any team’s success, something I haven’t really seen as strength of this team so far this season. The extra pass was made against Western Michigan and it added up to 110 points and 22 assists, easily a season high for both. The chief distributor was clearly Quinn Cook. Cook totaled 8 assists to go along with 16 points in only 23 minutes of play. I’ve liked Quinn’s game so far this season, but felt he wasn’t ready for steady minutes. After his performance against Western Michigan I have changed my mind. Quinn looked extremely comfortable running the offense, penetrating and knowing when to either pass or shoot. He looked especially good in transition. I think we may be looking at our number one point guard for the rest of the season. Read more
No “D” in uke Against Buckeyes
Embarrassed, overmatched, overrated; just some of the words associated with Duke’s performance against the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Buckeyes came out of the gates focused and full of energy, jumping out to a 11-0 lead. Duke came back to cut it to a one point game at 19-18, but Ohio State finished the half on a 28-11 run. It was definitely a disappointing outcome for the Blue Devils and a lot of potential issues were exposed. Duke message boards are blowing up and posters are calling for new lineups and strategy changes. While I am not saying Duke fans shouldn’t be concerned with the team’s performance, they do however need to sit back and look at the benefits that came from this game.
The biggest issue with Duke’s performance against Ohio State was the play on the defensive side of the ball. Ohio State shot a blistering 59.3% from the field, and 57.1 % from the three point line, to go along with 18 assists to 10 turnovers. How exactly did Ohio State score all 85 of their points and at such a high efficiency? Ohio State was pretty much flawless in transition. They didn’t run much, but when they did they were highly successful. The Buckeyes were also flawless in converting 4 of their 7 offensive rebounds for baskets right at the rim. Dribble drive defense has been widely scrutinized, but it wasn’t much of a factor against the Buckeyes. That’s not to say this is now a strength of the defense now, but more so an effect ofOhioStatenot really having any drivers to the basket. Without a doubt the number one issue to me with the team defense is defending the ball screen. Seth Curry, Andre Dawkins and Ryan Kelly just aren’t very good when involved in ball screen defense. OhioStatekept putting Curry and Kelly in screening action and they just couldn’t guard it. Seth lays into the screen, getting stuck, making him to slow to recover. Kelly’s biggest issue is his lateral quickness. The big key here is having a good point guard and a stretch four man that can shoot like Deshaun Thomas. Kelly had success with guarding the likes of Thomas Robinson and Draymond Green because they don’t have the perimeter shooting ability or the quickness to go off the dribble. Reviewing the tape the Duke defense wasn’t as bad as the numbers would say. Now I am not saying the defense was good, but anytime Duke made a mistake Ohio State made them pay. Read more
Duke Puts Away Davidson Wildcats After Close First Half
It wasn’t the fact that Duke was trailing Davidson at the half that really irked Coach K; rather it was the way the Blue Devils were playing. You’ll always hear analysts and coaches say that one of the best traits of a Duke team was that you always get their best shot; they always play as hard as possible. That first half against Davidson wasn’t their best and you could tell Coach K wasn’t happy about it. The Blue Devils came out of the locker room a lot earlier than usual at halftime. I can’t say for certain, but I doubt there was any basketball strategy discussed in the locker room. It’s my belief that Coach K gave his players a few choice words and told them to decide whether or not they wanted to play hard enough to win in the second and that was it. The message was received loud and clear. Duke outscored Davidson 38-17 inthe first 13 and a half minutes of the second half. The final 6 minutes saw some stall ball which closed the gap to a 13 point margin to finish the game. I think we saw a team that was ready to get on that plane and head for Maui and took this game for granted. The lesson of “no win is guaranteed and everything is earned” was learned by this still-growing squad.
I felt that the Duke offense was pretty much unstoppable in both halves. The reason more points were scored in the second was a direct effect of the Blue Devils’ defense. For the game Duke shot 54% and got to the line 30 times. The defense was way too slow in the first half, leaving wide open shooters. Stopping dribble penetration still seems to be a big issue and I think it just comes down to this team creating a defensive mindset. Andre Dawkins, Seth Curry and Austin Rivers have the ability to keep teams out of the lane but it doesn’t always seem to be their first thought. A perfect example was in the second half when a Davidson player reversed the ball and you could see Andre wasn’t even in a defensive stance when he picked him up and got blown by. The Plumlees and Ryan Kelly are doing everything they can to erase those mistakes by standing tall and protecting the rim. Perimeter defense must tighten up and become the main priority if this team is to take the next step and compete for a championship.
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Duke Beats Michigan State for their 3rd Win, Coach K’s 903rd
The ending may have gotten a little sloppy, but nevertheless Duke defeated the Michigan State Spartans. This win gave Mike Krzyzewski his record breaking 903rd career victory. The Blue Devils seemed to be getting out toughed in the first half, but really turned it up in the second half. I felt that Michigan State was more physical in the first half, a little bit quicker to loose balls and their defense was stronger. Overall, I felt this was another step in the right direction. I felt like the team grew as a whole and their was some real bright spots and some great learning opportunities. Offensively the patience and ball movement was terrific. The post was struggling to get points, but the ball was still getting thrown down there. I loved how Curry and Dawkins were being run off screens. On the defensive side of the ball I just loved how the toughness and physical play picked up. Ryan Kelly was terrific in guarding Draymond Green and Mason Plumlee was spectacular in protecting the rim. Also loved the pressure and digging down by the guards, forcing 21 turnovers. It’s important not look at the final margin as an indicator of just how well the Blue Devils played. This was a solid all around game that will help build the team in the future. I think right now a lot of the national pundits are selling this team short and are ragging on the point guard play and perimeter defense. I think they are legitimate concerns, but if one actually watches the game and plays close attention they will see these areas are improving rapidly. I think a lot of these guys buy into the kool aid of Austin Rivers not being a team player or defensive player and so on and just run with it without watching and forming their own conclusions. I am telling you that these areas are improving and by the time the season ends this team will be right there with a great chance to get to the Final Four. Read more
Career Night For Andre Dawkins
While all of the attention will rightly be put on Coach K’s career benchmark, Andre Dawkins put together the finest game of his Duke Basketball career on the biggest stage. Krzyzewski has been deflecting praise directed towards him for become the Men’s Division 1 most winningest basketball coach with 903 all week and it didn’t stop after the game.
While Dawkins didn’t best his career high of 28 points put up against Butler last season, he was responsible for 35.1% of his team’s points last night against the Michigan State Spartans. After scoring six and four points against Belmont and Presbyterian respectively, Dawkins erupted for 26 points in his third game shooting 6-10 from 3-point range and 8-15 overall. He single-handedly kept the Blue Devils in the game during the first half when no other Duke player scored in double figures. Dawkins also set a season high and tied a career high with 4 steals in the game.
The small forward position is one of Duke’s deepest with freshmen Alex Murphy and Michael Gbinije fighting for playing time behind Dawkins (and if Duke goes to a three-guard lineup Austin Rivers as well.) While Murphy has been out with a concussion suffered in practice, Dawkins has been playing well enough to keep his starting spot all year. If he gets going, it will make Duke’s offense that make much more potent and difficult to guard.
