Game Thread [2023-24] at North Carolina

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

Saturday, February 3, 6:30pm ET, ESPN
Dean E. Smith Center

Duke tries to do the impossible: beat the most dominant UNC team of all time in their house.

 

[krsmith16]

Did u really just sully this board with a pic of King fucking Rice?!?!

 

[krsmith16]

Easily the most despicable unc player ever.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

Guessing UNC -6.5 spread.

 

[rhfarmer]

Seems low to me.

 

[Devilsforlife]

Rabbit hole of old Duke/UNC vids have reminded me next year's game will be the next leap year game in Chapel Hill, which a) Duke always wins this century, and b) Often has very weird and memorable endings

2000: Duke wins 90-86 (OT) - WTF happened here, why did a highly ranked Duke team get taken to the limits against an unranked UNC team? Also blew a 19 point lead

2004: Duke wins 83-81 - Duhon coast to coast!

2008: Duke wins 89-78 - The Paulus game. With no Lawson, only reason we didn't lose seven in a row in the rivalry

2012: Duke wins 85-84 - The first in a series of absolute thefts. Rivers shot caps off a game we had no business winning

2016: Duke wins 74-73 - Thornton blocks Berry and we secure absolute theft 2.0 against a team much better than us

2020: Duke wins 98-96 (OT) - How did we end up in a position where the worst UNC team in 20 years took us to the brink? But hey, the best FT miss ever by Tre, followed by two buzzer beaters

------

History tells us Proctor will come up big

 

[Devilsforlife]

Remembered this post. Duke wins Saturday.

 

[rome8180]

Not a weird or memorable ending, but we destroyed them there in 2022 as well.

 

[StopThePumpFakesShav]

The defensive game plan should be pretty straightforward. You’re putting Proctor on Davis all game. The other guards won’t really have physical disadvantages against their guards except you prob don’t want much Roach on Ryan.

Mitchell will get Ingram. Worried a bit about Flip foul trouble against Bacon.

 

[physicsfactor]

I guess you have McCain on Ryan because McCain trying to stay in front of Cadeau seems like a very bad idea. He could do it as long as it’s stressed to play well off Cadeau and go under any ball screens.

 

[torontoduke]

Try McCain on Cormac; if that falls apart, maybe Foster on him?

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

Interesting team on paper. Harrison Ingram is an obvious regression candidate on 3s. It must be extremely rare for someone who shoots poorly from the line over multiple seasons, including the current season, and who shoots poorly from 3 in all past seasons, to be a true 40%+ 3pt shooter. On the other hand, Cormac Ryan probably isn’t a true 30% 3pt shooter. These two are body swapped on 3s this season.

Jalen Washington’s numbers are very worrisome. He has 2-3 more seasons at UNC after this one to continue being an All-America caliber big in whatever minutes he’s given. UNC would’ve probably been better if Bacot had left.

I’d go Box and 1 on RJ Davis in an ideal world where Duke’s coaching staff is willing to take a chance on a gimmicky defense, with McCain tabbed as the 1 to do the chasing, like a bad CB being masked by filtering his WR into his good safeties in coverage. I don’t think we live in that world, but we can likely count on Bill Self, Danny Hurley and several SEC coaches to try it if they’re up against UNC in the Tournament. Elliot Cadeau frankly is a bad player on paper, with poor shooting; there’s a chasm between Davis and every other guard on UNC.

 

[dukebluedevils05]

Trying to decide if I want to watch them tonight to get an idea of what it is they do well and what areas we might be able to exploit. But I hate watching them as much as I hate watching us.

 

[Rollins]

Trying to decide if I want to watch them tonight to get an idea of what it is they do well and what areas we might be able to exploit. But I hate watching them as much as I hate watching us.

the main strength on strength category is our 3 point shooting % vs. their vaunted 3 point defense and defensive rebounding rate.

duke is great at not turning it over, they don't generate steals.

 

[dukebluedevils05]

It seems to me, just based on the little I have watched, what I’ve read, and looking at the numbers, that Ingram has been a huge difference maker for them. Seems like he’s really triggered some things from a position of versatility. I do think Mark is a great matchup there.

Losing Love’s toxicity certainly helps, too.

 

[StopThePumpFakesShav]

Yeah it looks like his 3pt shooting has fallen back down the the low/mid 30s for Jan, but he has become a terrific rebounder.

I still think Hubert stinks as a coach but not sure anyone did a better job than them at reshaping their roster this year.

 

[Devilsforlife]

3 pt defense luck aside, I still don’t understand how they’ve been this good. Davis is obviously a stud and Bacot is what he is, but beyond them, the roster really doesn’t impress much on paper.

 

[aiw]

They've got verve

 

[physicsfactor]

3 pt defense luck aside, I still don’t understand how they’ve been this good. Davis is obviously a stud and Bacot is what he is, but beyond them, the roster really doesn’t impress much on paper.

Offensively, they don’t turn it over; they rebound well; and they get to the line and make free throws.

Defensively, they don’t force turnovers, but apparently they’re the greatest at contested shots without ever fouling. And they rebound.

It’s almost like it helps to have a bunch of old guys in college basketball.

 

[torontoduke]

They've got verve

Everyone talking about the verve

Verve is the word