GT vs. Syracuse - Saturday, 6pm ET ESPN2

[okiemon]

We all need to keep in mind though, that at Duke "indefinitely" means "for precisely one game"...

Or until they're down by more than 10 points in a game.

 

[RamblinRed]

Duke also did exactly what you shouldn't do against a zone. As the game went on and Syracuse packed in more, Duke simply retreated to taking threes and they couldn't hit the broad size of a barn last night (21% from three). You have to make the zone move and then find the creases to get inside.
Duke is not a particularly good three point shooting team - 31% and Reddish is their best shooter (alongside O'Connell).

 

[AE 87]

And I assume by "gave Cuse D all the advantage they needed", you really mean that losing Reddish and Jones helped close some of the gap in Duke's advantage. Duke was "limited" to the #1 and #2 NBA draft picks, along with another 5*, a 4* and a team captain as their best five... at home.

This. I just have to shake my head when people talk about how Duke had to give so many extra minutes to Alex. He would get 30 minutes every game for almost every other team, even in the ACC.

When you combine him with Williamson, Barrett and Bolden, it's just crazy that there are any legs to the missing Jones and Reddish story-line.

If you need 4 NBA first rounders to beat an unranked team, then there is something wrong with your coaching, imo.

 

[orientalnc]

This. I just have to shake my head when people talk about how Duke had to give so many extra minutes to Alex. He would get 30 minutes every game for almost every other team, even in the ACC.

When you combine him with Williamson, Barrett and Bolden, it's just crazy that there are any legs to the missing Jones and Reddish story-line.

If you need 4 NBA first rounders to beat an unranked team, then there is something wrong with your coaching, imo.

I agree.

 

[wreckrod]

I think that linkage was implicit in his rant. Boeheim just jumped from A to C without stating the B i.e., "why". His point was we have a really good defense/zone and it affected a top 10 team. I totally agree.

Fair enough, and yeah - you don't hold everyone way under their scoring average because of luck. I don't think we have the horses to run with Duke or UVA, but everyone else better show up to play.

I admittedly haven't watched every game, but we seem to be running more of our zone with some man occasionally mixed in to change it up. Previously it seems like I'd see every kind of defense at some point in every game: match up zone, classic 2-3, 1-3-1, man, whatever.

 

[lv20gt]

Duke also did exactly what you shouldn't do against a zone. As the game went on and Syracuse packed in more, Duke simply retreated to taking threes and they couldn't hit the broad size of a barn last night (21% from three). You have to make the zone move and then find the creases to get inside.
Duke is not a particularly good three point shooting team - 31% and Reddish is their best shooter (alongside O'Connell).

I had the same thought about cuse when we were playing them. We did good on our rotations and close outs to make driving hard but I still felt like cuse was often quick to settle for a 3, usually not great looks off of good movement either.

This. I just have to shake my head when people talk about how Duke had to give so many extra minutes to Alex. He would get 30 minutes every game for almost every other team, even in the ACC.

When you combine him with Williamson, Barrett and Bolden, it's just crazy that there are any legs to the missing Jones and Reddish story-line.

If you need 4 NBA first rounders to beat an unranked team, then there is something wrong with your coaching, imo.

Not that I like to defend duke but regardless of talent level there is an adjustment for any player suddenly asked to take up a significant amount of responsibilities. Also, no matter the talent level, losing great players hurt. Just because Golden State is stacked doesn't mean losing Curry didn't hurt them. Also they clearly had enough talent to win. That doesn't mean losing those players wasn't an issue. Also, I wouldn't argue that Reddish was that big of a loss. I do think Jones was a big loss though. He is pretty much their only PG.