Cuse opens as 14.5 road dogs vs Duke.

[SUalldway]

unfortunately I think the current style of play is quite susceptible to "reffing influence"...as opposed to, say, a team that scores from a lot of 3pt shooting...

dribble drives can either be called closely or refs can let everything go...as we saw a huge difference in the 1st and 2nd half vs Pitt...and subsequent results.

plus Duke probably gets the best homecourt reffing of any team i've ever seen.

this spread scares me a bit...
but i think it is based on what happened in Maui...

and this is a different team.

havent watched Duke play but I predict a competitive game.

Sidenote: and its almost like they lifted the number straight from Kenpom: Duke is +23 and Su is +9 = 14 point differential

I would word "Duke probably gets the best homecourt reffing" quite differently, but, I'm trying to work on one of my New Year's resolutions.

 

[Cheriehoop]

It would be an ideal time for Bell and/or Taylor to get hot.

Hopefully we’ll also start including screens, some kickouts from penetration etc to help our shooters. We don’t seem to scheme to use our offense to free up the shooters unless the defense makes a mistake while passing around the perimeter. They seem to be a low option in our offense.

Duke also just got better getting Tyrese Proctor back in the lineup after an injury. It will make it even more difficult to out “athletic” Duke.

 

[blust2i3d4]

way I see it ARIZONA WON AT CAMERON AND THEY JUST GOT SMOKED BY STANFORD AND WE'RE A SPOT ABOVE STANFORD IN KENPOM

Basketball game is hard to predict. Forty minutes is short. Any team can get lucky in 40 minutes. NCAA should change it to 48 minutes.

 

[Goin' Deep]

Yeah...it's "fun" watching Duke play defense and the officiating.
A Duke player can hip check, belly bump (and flop like a carp), but as long as their arms are up
the ref swallows the whistle.

 

[realorange]

think it would take this along with a super strong performance from Mintz

Mintz will likely have his toughest game to date. Good team with good coaching will try to control his game.

 

[bballbeadle]

Hopefully we’ll also start including screens, some kickouts from penetration etc to help our shooters. We don’t seem to scheme to use our offense to free up the shooters unless the defense makes a mistake while passing around the perimeter. They seem to be a low option in our offense.

Duke also just got better getting Tyrese Proctor back in the lineup after an injury. It will make it even more difficult to out “athletic” Duke.

We can only hope he has a shaky first game back.

 

[Cheriehoop]

We can only hope he has a shaky first game back.

Unfortunately he actually played his first game after being out for 4 weeks on Sunday. He played 18 minutes, scored 9 points. Maybe his minutes will be limited.

 

[Sbucketball]

I’m probably blacking out but I don’t remember that big of a line against us before?

Four things working against us:
1. We are terrible guarding the 3 and Duke, like UVA will take advantage of that.
2. We are horrific shooting from 3 ourselves.
3. Our biggest strength on offense is the drive and foul line. The refs will just not allow that in a game at Duke.
4. Our second biggest strength is our aggressive and somewhat handsy defense. Again, the refs will not allow this.

I suspect Duke will hit 12+ 3s and that Judah will almost certainly foul out. I also predict Brown will be in almost instant foul trouble.

The last time we beat Duke we were 17-point underdogs at Cameron.

 

[Newhouser]

Every time we play in Cameron I think Roberson slam. We've had many crazy plays there - halfcourt shot by eli, the JB and Cj play, but the Roberson slam...oh my.

 

[Cusefan0307]

If we are going to make the tournament this should at least be a competitive game. This is not your typical Duke team. They lack high end talent. I'll be extremely disappointed if we cant keep it within 15, but then again we got waxed by UVA and they are not good.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

Just a strange feeling we end up pulling a win off tonight. Seems like we’re way overdue for a signature win. Also feels like we’re underrated and Duke is weaker/overrated this year. Recipe for an upset.

 

[OptimusOtto]

The last time we beat Duke we were 17-point underdogs at Cameron.

I put a "good will" moneyline bet on us at the time to try and spark the boys. It was something like $20 that turned into $450. That was a fun game

 

[CLMintz]

I’m probably blacking out but I don’t remember that big of a line against us before?

Four things working against us:
1. We are terrible guarding the 3 and Duke, like UVA will take advantage of that.
2. We are horrific shooting from 3 ourselves.
3. Our biggest strength on offense is the drive and foul line. The refs will just not allow that in a game at Duke.
4. Our second biggest strength is our aggressive and somewhat handsy defense. Again, the refs will not allow this.

I suspect Duke will hit 12+ 3s and that Judah will almost certainly foul out. I also predict Brown will be in almost instant foul trouble.

Oh yee of such little faith. I rebuke those comments! Cuse will play hard and play smart. Red will have them ready!

 

[FrancoPizza]

If we are going to make the tournament this should at least be a competitive game.

This.

And by competitive, meaning the outcome is still not decided with less than 4 minutes to go. None of this we were down 1 with 2 minutes to go in the first half and lose by 20, so it's ok crap.

 

[HakAttack]

I don’t bet on my teams but that’s easy money. Cuse will cover.

 

[Orangezoo]

I’m probably blacking out but I don’t remember that big of a line against us before?

Four things working against us:
1. We are terrible guarding the 3 and Duke, like UVA will take advantage of that.
2. We are horrific shooting from 3 ourselves.
3. Our biggest strength on offense is the drive and foul line. The refs will just not allow that in a game at Duke.
4. Our second biggest strength is our aggressive and somewhat handsy defense. Again, the refs will not allow this.

I suspect Duke will hit 12+ 3s and that Judah will almost certainly foul out. I also predict Brown will be in almost instant foul trouble.

We are giving up 30 pct shooting from 3 on the year fyi. That’s mediocre but compare that to giving up 34 pct last year. Our advanced metrics D is much better this year too all of that vs a much stronger schedule to date.

The recent emergence of Benny and Cope is probably equally if not more important than Judah. This could be a great game for JJ too given how Duke likes to play. Judah has to be patient and not try to be a hero.

One other thing to watch is Duke is very average on the boards too. That is a positive for us along with not having a traditional rim protector. Filipowski averages a couple per game but given our desire to attack the rim from multiple positions that’s an area hopefully we can exploit too.

Looking forward to it and seeing these guys exercise the UVA demon from earlier

 

[zjscuse]

Woke up and chose violence this morning on good ol Facebook.

 

[realorange]

If we are going to make the tournament this should at least be a competitive game. This is not your typical Duke team. They lack high end talent. I'll be extremely disappointed if we cant keep it within 15, but then again we got waxed by UVA and they are not good.

Seriously? Filipowski could have gone in the last NBA draft. He is the real deal. And Roach is above average.

 

[Orangezoo]

Seriously? Filipowski could have gone in the last NBA draft. He is the real deal. And Roach is above average.

Kyle has been slipping in quite a few mocks I thought? Very good player for sure but not sure just how good he is as a pro

 

[Cusefan0307]

Seriously? Filipowski could have gone in the last NBA draft. He is the real deal. And Roach is above average.

Yes, I am serious. They already lost to Georgia Tech. Outside of the season they missed the tourney I think this is their weakest team since before K went all in on one and dones.

There's a big difference between being selected 15-20 than having to deal with 3 lottery picks. Roach is solid, but Judah is better and he should outplay him if he wants to get drafted higher than he's projected.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Can we stop the pre-bytching about the refs?

 

[realorange]

Kyle has been slipping in quite a few mocks I thought? Very good player for sure but not sure just how good he is as a pro

I hear you, but I wonder if he's being asked to do too much. I get the feeling this Duke team isn't set yet.

 

[AlaskaSU]

No idea how we guard Flipowski (spelling?).

McLeod has no chance so I’m curious how long Red sticks with him. Brown is great but he’s giving up about 4 inches

I do suspect Red will try a few different things. If we can slow him down I think we have a great shot

Height difference means a bit less for taller people. A 4" difference among little people might be a 10% difference but only a 5% difference for the big and talls. Wishful thinking, I know.

 

[AlaskaSU]

It would be an ideal time for Bell and/or Taylor to get hot.

It would be an ideal time for Bell, Taylor and McLeod to not start.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Filipowski is going to get 20 and 10. It's about limiting Roach and the other guys. If Judah reaches tonight I hope Red pulls him immediately. We cannot be playing 4 on 5.