Duke Game Thread

[dtm1997]

OK, let me preface this by saying that I do not believe the refs lost us the game. We cut it to 1 five times and couldn't get over the hump...a couple of times it was just chucking the ball towards the backboard, but...

In general, I agree that refs are not biased...but not when you play at Duke. It doesn't have to do with real-time judgement of giving one team calls and not giving the other team calls...it just has to do with the way games are called when Duke plays vs. the way games are called when other teams play. Early in the game Marcus jumped near the basket and a guy collided with him hard in mid air to make him miss the shot, no foul called.

And then there's that press that they do on high ball screens to push your PG out to half court. They are the only team in the country that plays defense that aggressive, and have been for years. If we tried to play that style we'd foul three guys out...everyone would. But no Duke, because for some reason the fouls just don't get called. Rewatch some of the games over the years...you could probably call a foul on their guards on every other possession when they're in that aggressive defense, but for some reason the calls aren't made.

So, do the refs consciously go out and say, "I'm going to give Duke the calls tonight and not Tech." No, that'd be pretty difficult. However, they do go out with the mentality that they're going to call certain types of fouls and not other types of fouls.

Like that time Redick mugged Will Bynum and then Bynum got called for the foul.

To your point, there were multiple instances, that MGH incident for starters, that had enough going on for a foul to be called, when none was. Meanwhile, we got called for a few that equated to heavy breathing.

I agree, I challenge anyone to go back and watch games from the Travis Best era forward and you'll see dook getting some pretty beneficial officiating.

All that said, while I would say the refs made a few bad calls last night, as opposed to overall bad officiating, not winning that game was on us for not getting over the hump.

 

[alaguy]

If played fairly well tonite.If we played that well every game,we would have winning record in conference.
btw--on refs,we got a break when MGH got FTs on a close call at end.We lost our chance by throwing it away twice in last 2 mins.The refs had nothing to do with that.

btw-for crying time,ck out VT at syr--they were up 13 with 5.5 mins.Threw away TWICE in 20 seconds at end. ugh!

 

[Ggee87]

whatever Chris Bolden did today for pregame, please please please someone make sure he repeats it.....

he looked alot quicker tonight than usual. What's up with that?

 

[MidtownJacket]

I think the team is growing - I just wish we had more results to show for it. I am still not convinced it is time yet to move on from CBG yet

 

[GTJason]

Duke officiating argument is like the recruiting stars argument, it'll just go in a circle... sorry I brought it up

If this same team got to start the season from the beginning today they'd have done much better. We have some scoring ability now and the biggest growth has been from someone I had already turned my back on: Bolden. Is that the coach's fault for not preparing our guys? Probably a bit, but he doesn't deflect that blame. I feel bad for the guys who are playing teams way more talented than they are and holding their own but can't seem to find any luck.

I think replacing the head coach is an idea that deserves some thought, but it will also come with the caveat of a few more seasons of rebuilding. We're used to that so we can deal with it if it's going to lead to wins sometime this decade. We'd need a big name for a change to be worth it IMO

Personally if it were up to me I would keep CBG on, the APR and team GPA cannot be ignored and anyone who thinks GT will ignore that is in for a surprise. What I would do is mix up the assistant coaches. I'd hire a shooting specialist and pay him well (assistant coach's salary + whatever you are going to have to pay CBG's replacement if you went another direction and got an amazing coach.) This team is dynamite defensively, we just need some direction on offense and that starts with accurate shooting. I think Price would be a great hire for this kind of hybrid "Assistant Head Coach" position, not sure we could afford him. It would also appease some alumni who want him as the HC. If this doesn't work out, an overhaul is still an option

 

[Peacone36]

Wake is way more talented? BC is way more talented? USC Upstate?

CBG isnt the only guy graduating players. Wichita States APR is high. Louisiana Tech has improved since White has been there. Id rather rebuild with a chance to be successful than sit through 3 more years getting a trophy for trying really hard. 4 years has been wasted on this rebuild with a bad hire. Lets not waste more. A good coach will bring a good staff. When a company is floundering you dont fire the cashiers, you fire the manager.

 

[bke1984]

I'm not happy with the product either, but I don't think paying three coaches (Hewitt, Gregory, new coach) is a good idea right now. Let's at least get Hewitt off the payroll and see where we are when that happens. I think that's one more year, right?

 

[TechnicalPossum]

I'm not happy with the product either, but I don't think paying three coaches (Hewitt, Gregory, new coach) is a good idea right now. Let's at least get Hewitt off the payroll and see where we are when that happens. I think that's one more year, right?

How much more does BG have on his?

 

[Gibson]

OK, let me preface this by saying that I do not believe the refs lost us the game. We cut it to 1 five times and couldn't get over the hump...a couple of times it was just chucking the ball towards the backboard, but...

In general, I agree that refs are not biased...but not when you play at Duke. It doesn't have to do with real-time judgement of giving one team calls and not giving the other team calls...it just has to do with the way games are called when Duke plays vs. the way games are called when other teams play. Early in the game Marcus jumped near the basket and a guy collided with him hard in mid air to make him miss the shot, no foul called.

And then there's that press that they do on high ball screens to push your PG out to half court. They are the only team in the country that plays defense that aggressive, and have been for years. If we tried to play that style we'd foul three guys out...everyone would. But no Duke, because for some reason the fouls just don't get called. Rewatch some of the games over the years...you could probably call a foul on their guards on every other possession when they're in that aggressive defense, but for some reason the calls aren't made.

So, do the refs consciously go out and say, "I'm going to give Duke the calls tonight and not Tech." No, that'd be pretty difficult. However, they do go out with the mentality that they're going to call certain types of fouls and not other types of fouls.

Sorry, as a college official, we don't discuss what fouls we are and aren't going to enforce that night, that is the very last thing that is discussed in the locker room prior to game. As an official, who watched last night. I thought overall it was a consistently called game. That's all coaches want, just be consistent... if it's a charge on one end it better be on the other. Nothing jumped out at me that they didn't do or should've done. My only issue was they went to the monitor a time or two when they probably could have just trusted their judgement call on the floor, but as the monitor is there and we're allowed to go make sure it's right might as well.At one point in second half (I believe it was 9min to go) Tech was already in bonus and Duke was 2 or 3 fouls away. In order to beat Duke at Duke you can't commit live ball turn overs ( I counted 9 that lead to 19 Duke points), we lost by 6... You cut that number a lone in half, Tech wins. I love the resilience of this team as they really just don't have any quit in them. At the same time, I just want to choke the life out of them because at times they show you flashes of just how talented and how well they can play together. Then they go through 8 minute droughts where you wonder if they know they're at a basketball game...

Part of that is just 18-22 year old kids, part of that is coaching.

 

[GTRX7]

I'm not happy with the product either, but I don't think paying three coaches (Hewitt, Gregory, new coach) is a good idea right now. Let's at least get Hewitt off the payroll and see where we are when that happens. I think that's one more year, right?

At some point, you have to balance that with lost revenue from low interest/ticket sales.

I miss the "Thriller Dome!"

 

[McCamish Maniacs]

 

[Connell62]

Sorry, as a college official, we don't discuss what fouls we are and aren't going to enforce that night, that is the very last thing that is discussed in the locker room prior to game. As an official, who watched last night. I thought overall it was a consistently called game. That's all coaches want, just be consistent... if it's a charge on one end it better be on the other. Nothing jumped out at me that they didn't do or should've done. My only issue was they went to the monitor a time or two when they probably could have just trusted their judgement call on the floor, but as the monitor is there and we're allowed to go make sure it's right might as well.At one point in second half (I believe it was 9min to go) Tech was already in bonus and Duke was 2 or 3 fouls away. In order to beat Duke at Duke you can't commit live ball turn overs ( I counted 9 that lead to 19 Duke points), we lost by 6... You cut that number a lone in half, Tech wins. I love the resilience of this team as they really just don't have any quit in them. At the same time, I just want to choke the life out of them because at times they show you flashes of just how talented and how well they can play together. Then they go through 8 minute droughts where you wonder if they know they're at a basketball game...

Part of that is just 18-22 year old kids, part of that is coaching.

Nice post Gibson.. I was hoping that you would chime in from an officiating perspective. What did you think of the phantom charge call against MGH at the end of the NC State game..LOL?

In all seriousness, I think that you post was pretty much spot on. The turnovers killed us, and I think that it is an issue that has plagued us all year. Especially our bigs..

The other thing that I noticed in this game that has been an issue all year is missing bunnies.. Demarco had a good game, but he left at least 6-8 points out there.

Marcus missed a big basket on a coast-to-coast drive as well. Tighten those areas up, and our record is much better despite the mid-season shooting woes.

 

[Gibson]

Nice post Gibson.. I was hoping that you would chime in from an officiating perspective. What did you think of the phantom charge call against MGH at the end of the NC State game..LOL?

In all seriousness, I think that you post was pretty much spot on. The turnovers killed us, and I think that it is an issue that has plagued us all year. Especially our bigs..

The other thing that I noticed in this game that has been an issue all year is missing bunnies.. Demarco had a good game, but he left at least 6-8 points out there.

Marcus missed a big basket on a coast-to-coast drive as well. Tighten those areas up, and our record is much better despite the mid-season shooting woes.

I didn't see the NC State game, I was working then, unfortunately this time of year, I catch games in halves or on replays. I never went and watched the video of the game. I can say as an official though, if you are going to make that call at that point in the game, you're not going to blow the whistle unless your 1,000% because you're about to put yourself on the coaches weekly highlight reel to the league... and while we all think the NC mafia is out to screw the other schools in the conference the guys who work those games want games in the NCAA tournament and the NCAA reviews and evaluates every game on TV for all leagues...