rome8180
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dgoore97 said:
With reference to the bolded,I feel like a lot of that was simply Irving as a one-man fast break. Not the same as all those beautiful leakouts and outlet passes.
As for Sulaimon's fatigue, he seems to be in ridiculous physical shape. And mentally, he seems rock steady. I'm just not worried about him. If anything, I expect him to improve as he learns to finish at the rim better.
dukedavidson13
Role Player
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NOD said:
Let's go Davidson tonight! Seriously tough matchup for us, so anything less than a 15 pt loss has to be seen as a positive for McKillop.
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Poor Quinn Cook.
No one told him that VCU's vaunted "Havoc" defense was supposed to turn him into a whimpering puppy.
No one told him that Louisville's experienced back court was supposed to reduce him to the mistake prone freshman we saw last season.
Nope, everyone just decided to let Cook figure it out for himself. So the much-improved and often maligned sophomore played his game like only he can. An instinctive and intuitive ball-handler, Cook often found himself facing some of the better on-ball defender's in the country and used his increasingly-effective spin move to create space, beat defenders into space, and open up his teammates for free points.
Last season, Cook showed flashes of this brilliance but rarely anything more than that. We all saw the future in him against Colorado State but unfortunately that was merely a lightning strike. This year, the flashy point guard has been able to string together consistent ability to lead the offense. In fact, only his awareness on ball screens and recovery seems to be severely lacking.
That's not to say the Battle 4 Atlantis MOP has no room to improve, he obviously needs to work on his rotation defense, positional awareness against traps, and other finer details. Still, the key traits Duke needs from him to go far; dribble penetration, outstanding facilitating, consistent shooting, and leadership, are all vastly improved.
Poor Quinn Cook, only scratching the surface of his potential.
As for the rest of the team, its hard not to be over-confident about this group going forward. The balance displayed in that ballroom showed (captain obvious alert!) Duke isn't relying on just a couple players to score the ball.
Now, there were times against the Ville that Coach K was forced to trot out small ball lineups of Jefferson, Hairston, Thornton, Cook, and Sulaimon (In some cases, Murphy was subbed in for Sulaimon). These lineups basically served to steal minutes as Duke was unable to score effectively in the half-court set. Surprisingly, while this lineup was in, Duke actually only surrendered 4 points to the Cardinals.
This highlights the known importance of Ryan Kelly to the team as not only a scorer but a spacer. Everyone knew Duke wasn't about to run that offense through Jefferson or Hairston. So Pitino knew that any scoring had to come from Sulaimon penetrations or open jumpers from all the guards. In order for Duke to add that extra dimension to their team, and frankly relieve some pressure off the senior bigs, they need one of Hairston or Jefferson to become even somewhat reliable as a scorer in the post.
I, personally, have more faith in Jefferson in that regard as he's a more efficient scorer around the rim. What would be an ideal scenario? Jefferson adds strength over the season, becomes a reliable scorer in spurts, Hairston perfects that 13 foot jumper of his, they all become nasty in ball denial and help take Duke past a variety of offensive and defensive schemes.
The fact that Louisville was missing their defensive center, Gorgui Dieng, is important. Dieng wouldn't have been much of an impact on the offensive end as I'm iffy on how his limited offensive skills would work against Mason Plumlee and Dikembe...I mean Ryan Kelly. Defensively, I was expecting Dieng to alter a lot of dribble penetration but frankly, Duke made most of their points off of fast breaks and jump shots with about 15% coming from drives in the half-court. I, for one, look forward to playing what I believe is the second best team in the country again.
No one told him that VCU's vaunted "Havoc" defense was supposed to turn him into a whimpering puppy.
No one told him that Louisville's experienced back court was supposed to reduce him to the mistake prone freshman we saw last season.
Nope, everyone just decided to let Cook figure it out for himself. So the much-improved and often maligned sophomore played his game like only he can. An instinctive and intuitive ball-handler, Cook often found himself facing some of the better on-ball defender's in the country and used his increasingly-effective spin move to create space, beat defenders into space, and open up his teammates for free points.
Last season, Cook showed flashes of this brilliance but rarely anything more than that. We all saw the future in him against Colorado State but unfortunately that was merely a lightning strike. This year, the flashy point guard has been able to string together consistent ability to lead the offense. In fact, only his awareness on ball screens and recovery seems to be severely lacking.
That's not to say the Battle 4 Atlantis MOP has no room to improve, he obviously needs to work on his rotation defense, positional awareness against traps, and other finer details. Still, the key traits Duke needs from him to go far; dribble penetration, outstanding facilitating, consistent shooting, and leadership, are all vastly improved.
Poor Quinn Cook, only scratching the surface of his potential.
As for the rest of the team, its hard not to be over-confident about this group going forward. The balance displayed in that ballroom showed (captain obvious alert!) Duke isn't relying on just a couple players to score the ball.
Now, there were times against the Ville that Coach K was forced to trot out small ball lineups of Jefferson, Hairston, Thornton, Cook, and Sulaimon (In some cases, Murphy was subbed in for Sulaimon). These lineups basically served to steal minutes as Duke was unable to score effectively in the half-court set. Surprisingly, while this lineup was in, Duke actually only surrendered 4 points to the Cardinals.
This highlights the known importance of Ryan Kelly to the team as not only a scorer but a spacer. Everyone knew Duke wasn't about to run that offense through Jefferson or Hairston. So Pitino knew that any scoring had to come from Sulaimon penetrations or open jumpers from all the guards. In order for Duke to add that extra dimension to their team, and frankly relieve some pressure off the senior bigs, they need one of Hairston or Jefferson to become even somewhat reliable as a scorer in the post.
I, personally, have more faith in Jefferson in that regard as he's a more efficient scorer around the rim. What would be an ideal scenario? Jefferson adds strength over the season, becomes a reliable scorer in spurts, Hairston perfects that 13 foot jumper of his, they all become nasty in ball denial and help take Duke past a variety of offensive and defensive schemes.
The fact that Louisville was missing their defensive center, Gorgui Dieng, is important. Dieng wouldn't have been much of an impact on the offensive end as I'm iffy on how his limited offensive skills would work against Mason Plumlee and Dikembe...I mean Ryan Kelly. Defensively, I was expecting Dieng to alter a lot of dribble penetration but frankly, Duke made most of their points off of fast breaks and jump shots with about 15% coming from drives in the half-court. I, for one, look forward to playing what I believe is the second best team in the country again.
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burymeNCameron
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Nice write-up Topher, I enjoyed reading that.