- Joined
- Oct 7, 2012
- Messages
- 6,236
Ohio State Post Game Reaction
I used to have a small stone basketball with an inscription on the base of it that read: “There is nothing less important than the score at halftime.”
As a kid, I agreed with this, convincing myself of all those fantastical sports cliches like “It ain’t over til it’s over.” or anything about fat ladies singing. I regarded this marble sphere as a motivational tactic to convince myself to never give up until you are beaten. This kind of inspiration led me and the orange team to a 6-0 record in the U11 division (Suck it, Purple!)
However, as last night’s game against Ohio State showed, my blind eye to the halftime score was a trick of the youth in me. If I had been cleverer, like the all-time winningest coach in college basketball history, I might have understood that the halftime score can be the best stimulant to a team.
Watching Duke plod along in the first half without any idea how to crack the shell of the Buckeye defense was almost insufferable. Trip after trip, possession after possession, Duke was denied entry passes, denied drives, denied open shots, denied offensive rebounds, and denied hope that they could score. The Blue Devils looked either timid or fatigued and their aggression was only rewarded at the free throw line where they netted 10 of 12 to account for nearly half of their 23 points.
From 14:38 to 4:12 in the first half, Duke couldn’t get a bucket even if they came in a Spotify email telling you that your friend Maggie added Imagine Dragons to her playlist. The best offense Duke had was the rare dump down to Plumlee which led to a drawn foul. This ten minute draught between made field goals was due in part to incredible defense by the Buckeyes but also, to me, seemed like hesitation and over thinking. Every time Duke attacked and was denied, Quinn Cook reset the offense. This happened at least twice per shot clock set on almost every possession of that stretch.
Duke wasn’t pulling the trigger and it showed as Duke was doubled up in field goals attempted at one point during that bucket famine. This was due in large part to the offensive boards that the Buckeyes were crashing like cars at the IIHS. A typical sequence in that game went like this:
9:13 Seth Curry missed Jumper.
9:13 Amir Williams Defensive Rebound.
8:58 LaQuinton Ross missed Three Point Jumper.
8:58 Amir Williams Offensive Rebound.
8:53 Shannon Scott missed Three Point Jumper.
8:53 Mason Plumlee Defensive Rebound.
8:26 Foul on LaQuinton Ross
8:26 Ryan Kelly made Free Throw.
8:26 Ryan Kelly made Free Throw.
8:11 Aaron Craft missed Jumper.
8:11 Aaron Craft Offensive Rebound.
8:07 Lenzelle Smith, Jr. missed Three Point Jumper.
8:07 LaQuinton Ross Offensive Rebound.
8:02 LaQuinton Ross missed Jumper.
8:02 Mason Plumlee Block.
8:02 Shannon Scott Offensive Rebound.
One shot attempt, two made free throws, and one rebound from Duke. Five shot attempts, five rebounds, four offensive for Ohio State. As Duke learned in 2010, when you are presented with consistent second and third chances, the more effective the offense becomes. It’s the biggest indicator as to why Duke finally took that big step forward when Brian Zoubek turned into a rebounding mountain.
So, Duke went into recess down eight. Undoubtedly getting an ass-chewing for their lazy play and tentativeness that built that deficit. There was probably some play diagramming by K, clapping and face-contorting by Cook, and squirrel-pondering by Rodney Hood. Whatever happened in there, the Duke that came out brought focus and aggression back to the game. They also brought out Rasheed Sulaimon.
The freshman was a non-factor for the first half, playing strong on ball defense but brought nothing offensively. After the break, Sulaimon started to attack the rim and suddenly realized he was a 41% shooter from outside and that he had a green light.
Repeatedly, as Duke would chip away at the lead, OSU would go down and get another bucket. The eight point lead remained until the 15:00 mark where Sulaimon put it into fifth gear. Rasheed scored 11 of the next 21 points for the Blue Devils, inspiring the play of his brethren. Along with him, Duke’s best defender (yeah, I said it) Ryan Kelly found his excellent mid-range game again and by the 6:00 mark, the game was tied at 53.
It wasn’t your typical Duke 10-2 run but the circumstances in the game leave it nonetheless impressive. Consider this: Duke scored just 12 points in the last 13 minutes of the first half on 2-11 shooting. In the second half, from the 16:00 mark to the 6:00 mark, (when Duke tied the game at 53) Duke shot 11-15 for 26 points.
The fire and heart in this team is evident and spearheaded by the emotional leader of the team, Quinn Cook. The 1 guard was fantastic against arguably the best on-ball defender in the country finishing with just 3 turnovers (only one forced by Craft) to his 8 assists. Craft did “hold” Cook to 3-10 shooting but that’s including two wide open missed threes and two missed layups altered by Evan Ravenel and Deshaun Thomas.
On a side note, I texted a buddy of mine about Cook last night and told him, I feel more comfortable with Cook as our lead guard than I have with anyone since Jason Williams. Kyrie basically doesn’t count because I’m 87% sure I dreamed his playing time at Duke and I love Duhon but his production regressed as the lead ball-handler when Williams left.
Now, Ohio State very much proved that Duke isn’t invincible by any means and has a very serious flaw. The fact that the Buckeyes were able to get 16 offensive boards is a huge red flag. Duke often left Plumlee to fend for himself for rebounds (after all, he grabbed HALF of Duke’s team boards in the game, 32.7% on the season) and when Plumlee wasn’t outnumbered 3 to 1 fighting for rebounds, he was getting properly boxed out and sealed.
This needs to be fixed and a lot of hopes are being pinned on Marshall Plumlee as a remedy for this flaw. I’m not sure he’s a definite fix but if he’s not, Duke will need to get more out of the team in boxing out and crashing the defensive glass (at the expense of transition defense, though) to help Mason out. Otherwise, it is a very vulnerable weakness in an otherwise imposing title contender.
I used to have a small stone basketball with an inscription on the base of it that read: “There is nothing less important than the score at halftime.”
As a kid, I agreed with this, convincing myself of all those fantastical sports cliches like “It ain’t over til it’s over.” or anything about fat ladies singing. I regarded this marble sphere as a motivational tactic to convince myself to never give up until you are beaten. This kind of inspiration led me and the orange team to a 6-0 record in the U11 division (Suck it, Purple!)
However, as last night’s game against Ohio State showed, my blind eye to the halftime score was a trick of the youth in me. If I had been cleverer, like the all-time winningest coach in college basketball history, I might have understood that the halftime score can be the best stimulant to a team.
Watching Duke plod along in the first half without any idea how to crack the shell of the Buckeye defense was almost insufferable. Trip after trip, possession after possession, Duke was denied entry passes, denied drives, denied open shots, denied offensive rebounds, and denied hope that they could score. The Blue Devils looked either timid or fatigued and their aggression was only rewarded at the free throw line where they netted 10 of 12 to account for nearly half of their 23 points.
From 14:38 to 4:12 in the first half, Duke couldn’t get a bucket even if they came in a Spotify email telling you that your friend Maggie added Imagine Dragons to her playlist. The best offense Duke had was the rare dump down to Plumlee which led to a drawn foul. This ten minute draught between made field goals was due in part to incredible defense by the Buckeyes but also, to me, seemed like hesitation and over thinking. Every time Duke attacked and was denied, Quinn Cook reset the offense. This happened at least twice per shot clock set on almost every possession of that stretch.
Duke wasn’t pulling the trigger and it showed as Duke was doubled up in field goals attempted at one point during that bucket famine. This was due in large part to the offensive boards that the Buckeyes were crashing like cars at the IIHS. A typical sequence in that game went like this:
9:13 Seth Curry missed Jumper.
9:13 Amir Williams Defensive Rebound.
8:58 LaQuinton Ross missed Three Point Jumper.
8:58 Amir Williams Offensive Rebound.
8:53 Shannon Scott missed Three Point Jumper.
8:53 Mason Plumlee Defensive Rebound.
8:26 Foul on LaQuinton Ross
8:26 Ryan Kelly made Free Throw.
8:26 Ryan Kelly made Free Throw.
8:11 Aaron Craft missed Jumper.
8:11 Aaron Craft Offensive Rebound.
8:07 Lenzelle Smith, Jr. missed Three Point Jumper.
8:07 LaQuinton Ross Offensive Rebound.
8:02 LaQuinton Ross missed Jumper.
8:02 Mason Plumlee Block.
8:02 Shannon Scott Offensive Rebound.
One shot attempt, two made free throws, and one rebound from Duke. Five shot attempts, five rebounds, four offensive for Ohio State. As Duke learned in 2010, when you are presented with consistent second and third chances, the more effective the offense becomes. It’s the biggest indicator as to why Duke finally took that big step forward when Brian Zoubek turned into a rebounding mountain.
So, Duke went into recess down eight. Undoubtedly getting an ass-chewing for their lazy play and tentativeness that built that deficit. There was probably some play diagramming by K, clapping and face-contorting by Cook, and squirrel-pondering by Rodney Hood. Whatever happened in there, the Duke that came out brought focus and aggression back to the game. They also brought out Rasheed Sulaimon.
The freshman was a non-factor for the first half, playing strong on ball defense but brought nothing offensively. After the break, Sulaimon started to attack the rim and suddenly realized he was a 41% shooter from outside and that he had a green light.
Repeatedly, as Duke would chip away at the lead, OSU would go down and get another bucket. The eight point lead remained until the 15:00 mark where Sulaimon put it into fifth gear. Rasheed scored 11 of the next 21 points for the Blue Devils, inspiring the play of his brethren. Along with him, Duke’s best defender (yeah, I said it) Ryan Kelly found his excellent mid-range game again and by the 6:00 mark, the game was tied at 53.
It wasn’t your typical Duke 10-2 run but the circumstances in the game leave it nonetheless impressive. Consider this: Duke scored just 12 points in the last 13 minutes of the first half on 2-11 shooting. In the second half, from the 16:00 mark to the 6:00 mark, (when Duke tied the game at 53) Duke shot 11-15 for 26 points.
The fire and heart in this team is evident and spearheaded by the emotional leader of the team, Quinn Cook. The 1 guard was fantastic against arguably the best on-ball defender in the country finishing with just 3 turnovers (only one forced by Craft) to his 8 assists. Craft did “hold” Cook to 3-10 shooting but that’s including two wide open missed threes and two missed layups altered by Evan Ravenel and Deshaun Thomas.
On a side note, I texted a buddy of mine about Cook last night and told him, I feel more comfortable with Cook as our lead guard than I have with anyone since Jason Williams. Kyrie basically doesn’t count because I’m 87% sure I dreamed his playing time at Duke and I love Duhon but his production regressed as the lead ball-handler when Williams left.
Now, Ohio State very much proved that Duke isn’t invincible by any means and has a very serious flaw. The fact that the Buckeyes were able to get 16 offensive boards is a huge red flag. Duke often left Plumlee to fend for himself for rebounds (after all, he grabbed HALF of Duke’s team boards in the game, 32.7% on the season) and when Plumlee wasn’t outnumbered 3 to 1 fighting for rebounds, he was getting properly boxed out and sealed.
This needs to be fixed and a lot of hopes are being pinned on Marshall Plumlee as a remedy for this flaw. I’m not sure he’s a definite fix but if he’s not, Duke will need to get more out of the team in boxing out and crashing the defensive glass (at the expense of transition defense, though) to help Mason out. Otherwise, it is a very vulnerable weakness in an otherwise imposing title contender.
