Doubling on Okafor was not a good strategy

[CuseFaninVT]

I would much rather have allowed Rak to play him one on one than give up a billion open looks behind the three line. They destroyed our zone tonight methodically.

And Okafor needs some help retrieving his tent stakes from the lane please.

 

[orangefan13]

It didn't make a difference either way imo. he is one of the top 2 best centers in the country easily. I have never seen rak worried all year but was both times against okafor pregame and all game.

Makes me think we could use some 7 foot centers when you see someone like that.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

It didn't make a difference either way imo. he is one of the top 2 best centers in the country easily.

Maybe, but I would rather give up 2 than 3 every possession.

 

[Jack Hall]

I would much rather have allowed Rak to play him one on one than give up a billion open looks behind the three line. They destroyed our zone tonight methodically.

And Okafor needs some help retrieving his tent stakes from the lane please.

Think about Raks D during our FF run and his D now 2 yrs later. Its like night and day. But its not his fault, he cant afford to foul out so has to play passive

 

[tptcuse]

It didn't make a difference either way imo. he is one of the top 2 best centers in the country easily. I have never seen rak worried all year but was both times against okafor pregame and all game.

Makes me think we could use some 7 foot centers when you see someone like that.

Oh no. Please don't remind me of our last 7 foot center!

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Think about Raks D during our FF run and his D now 2 yrs later. Its like night and day. But its not his fault, he cant afford to foul out so has to play passive

I'd prefer his passive defense giving up 2 as opposed to seeing our guards running all over the place missing threes. That's a no win situation for everyone.

 

[Cheriehoop]

I would much rather have allowed Rak to play him one on one than give up a billion open looks behind the three line. They destroyed our zone tonight methodically.

And Okafor needs some help retrieving his tent stakes from the lane please.

Funny you mention that - I also noticed that Okafor camps out in the lane too. It was really obvious in the 1st half.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Funny you mention that - I also noticed that Okafor camps out in the lane too. It was really obvious in the 1st half.

I don't want to be the guy who complains about the refs, but that was ridiculous. And the tip in by BJ should have been allowed. I hate playing at Duke.

 

[Cheriehoop]

I don't want to be the guy who complains about the refs, but that was ridiculous. And the tip in by BJ should have been allowed. I hate playing at Duke.

The refs certainly didn't mean the difference between a win-loss but Duke certainly doesn't need help particularly when we're adept at hurting ourselves enough. The team just seemed out of synch this entire game - Duke executed and we didn't.

 

[dasher]

I would much rather have allowed Rak to play him one on one than give up a billion open looks behind the three line. They destroyed our zone tonight methodically.

And Okafor needs some help retrieving his tent stakes from the lane please.

No. Rak would have fouled out playing that kid head to head. For us to be in the game, they had to miss open 3's.

 

[Ghost]

I would much rather have allowed Rak to play him one on one than give up a billion open looks behind the three line. They destroyed our zone tonight methodically.

And Okafor needs some help retrieving his tent stakes from the lane please.

lol...I wasn't exactly doing a countdown, but he did have one insanely long stay in the lane that had me laughing. Thought he looked to be camping in the first half a lot - but, like I said, only once where I flat out laughed (which means you're hitting 8 seconds or so).

 

[Forza Azzurri]

I would much rather have allowed Rak to play him one on one than give up a billion open looks behind the three line. They destroyed our zone tonight methodically.

And Okafor needs some help retrieving his tent stakes from the lane please.

You are on a roll.

First, out of the 8 players who saw the court last night, you single out Roberson for criticism and now you don't want to double one of the best post players in the country.

Ok.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

You are on a roll.

First, out of the 8 players who saw the court last night, you single out Roberson for criticism and now you don't want to double one of the best post players in the country.

Ok.

I singled out Roberson because I see potential in him and because the list of things to complain about with our other players last night was far too long. I wanted Roberson to box out better. That's all. Oh, and get rid of the spin move. I like Roberson more than any other player on our squad right now.

But to end the game, giving up 3 pointer after 3 pointer put the game way, way out of reach. That's all I was saying.

 

[SUMBA]

I would much rather have allowed Rak to play him one on one than give up a billion open looks behind the three line. They destroyed our zone tonight methodically.

And Okafor needs some help retrieving his tent stakes from the lane please.

Okafor would have dropped 35 on us and Rak would have fouled out in the first half. At times we tripled Okafor and still couldn't stop him. The secret to stopping Okafor is making him set up farther out than he likes. If he gets both feet in the paint he is unstoppable. The problem with trying to get him to set up farther out is that he is 6 11 and 270 lbs. To size and strength add great footwork and balance and one can see why NBA scouts are drooling over the kid. I don't think there is a player in the college game today who can handle him straight up.

The difference in the game was that their non post players stepped up and ours didn't. I am not being negative, that is simply an objective comment. Duke overplayed the passing lanes into the post and dared our guys to shoot and we shot 30.6% for the game. On the other hand Winslow, who I think is vastly overlooked as a player, lit us up. It is a clear choice of pick your poison: Okafor in the paint or Winslow on the perimeter. As impressed as I am with Winslow, I would rather have him shoot from outside than Okafor down low.

On our end, Duke was willing to give Roberson free reign on offense. He got his points but Duke assumed he couldn't beat us by himself. Roberson scored 9 points and grabbed 4 boards in the first five minutes. Then Duke cheated a bit more his way and he scored 7 more points and grabbed 5 rebounds.

The point is, a team has to do what gives them the best chance to win. Letting Rak go up against Okafor one on one does not give us the best chance to win. I could be wrong but I think Okafor has a game similar to Olajuwon's.

 

[Bayside44]

We've had threads about best QB, best hoop team to play in the Dome...in a couple of years when it's best hoop player (after Jordan and The Dream) the youngsters here will say Okafor. The kid has a massive frame and the footwork of a dancer and just incredible touch. Seeing him relatively up close, wow.

Better have a team shoot 22 footers than 3 footers from that dude.

 

[longislandcuse]

I can't get on Rak too much. If you allow position to Okafor it's game over and with the zone being played how it is right now, Rak doesn't stand much of a chance to body up Okafor when he's worried about anchoring the zone for everyone else.

 

[OttoMets]

Okafor would have dropped 35 on us and Rak would have fouled out in the first half. At times we tripled Okafor and still couldn't stop him. The secret to stopping Okafor is making him set up farther out than he likes. If he gets both feet in the paint he is unstoppable. The problem with trying to get him to set up farther out is that he is 6 11 and 270 lbs. To size and strength add great footwork and balance and one can see why NBA scouts are drooling over the kid. I don't think there is a player in the college game today who can handle him straight up.

The difference in the game was that their non post players stepped up and ours didn't. I am not being negative, that is simply an objective comment. Duke overplayed the passing lanes into the post and dared our guys to shoot and we shot 30.6% for the game. On the other hand Winslow, who I think is vastly overlooked as a player, lit us up. It is a clear choice of pick your poison: Okafor in the paint or Winslow on the perimeter. As impressed as I am with Winslow, I would rather have him shoot from outside than Okafor down low.

On our end, Duke was willing to give Roberson free reign on offense. He got his points but Duke assumed he couldn't beat us by himself. Roberson scored 9 points and grabbed 4 boards in the first five minutes. Then Duke cheated a bit more his way and he scored 7 more points and grabbed 5 rebounds.

The point is, a team has to do what gives them the best chance to win. Letting Rak go up against Okafor one on one does not give us the best chance to win. I could be wrong but I think Okafor has a game similar to Olajuwon's.

Good post.

I thought Boeheim coached a good game last night. The defensive strategy was a bit of a gamble and our players just played badly. Duke's guys (unlike Notre Dame's) moved the ball and made their shots. It happens.

 

[CuseTG2003]

I singled out Roberson because I see potential in him and because the list of things to complain about with our other players last night was far too long. I wanted Roberson to box out better. That's all. Oh, and get rid of the spin move. I like Roberson more than any other player on our squad right now.

But to end the game, giving up 3 pointer after 3 pointer put the game way, way out of reach. That's all I was saying.

I'm not going to go back and look at the numbers, but it seems like we've had trouble boxing out and rebounding in the zone for years. I think it's a fundamental flaw. It's easy to say "find somebody in your area/zone and put a body on them", but I think that's exponentially easier when you play man, focus on one opposing player as opposed to an area, and always know who you need to box out.

Roberson played his butt off yesterday, but he got killed on the defensive boards. I don't think it's his fault however. Duke and Winslow in particular were crashing the boards hard. Who do you box out when you have multiple opposing players in your area/zone? The zone just seems very susceptible to standing around and hoping the ball bounces your way.

 

[realorange]

Just watching Okafor take the ball down court by himself and finish, was amazing. His qualities as a big man center rival many forwards.

 

[realorange]

I'm not going to go back and look at the numbers, but it seems like we've had trouble boxing out and rebounding in the zone for years. I think it's a fundamental flaw. It's easy to say "find somebody in your area/zone and put a body on them", but I think that's exponentially easier when you play man, focus on one opposing player as opposed to an area, and always know who you need to box out.

Roberson played his butt yesterday, but he got killed on the defensive boards. I don't think it's his fault however. Duke and Winslow in particular were crashing the boards hard. Who do you box out when you have multiple opposing players in your area/zone? The zone just seems very susceptible to standing around and hoping the ball bounces your way.

People talk about BJ's slight frame, but nobody seems to notice that Roberson is not exactly on his way to being Karl Malone. He got moved out simply because he is not yet strong enough to battle the big boys other than by his quickness.

 

[CuseTG2003]

People talk about BJ's slight frame, but nobody seems to notice that Roberson is not exactly on his way to being Karl Malone. He got moved out simply because he is not yet strong enough to battle the big boys other than by his quickness.

That's a really good point. Roberson's got a great motor and nose for the ball, but that only gets you so far when you're playing against the big boys. He's an undersized PF who's a great rebounder despite being at a physical disadvantage.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

I singled out Roberson because I see potential in him and because the list of things to complain about with our other players last night was far too long. I wanted Roberson to box out better. That's all. Oh, and get rid of the spin move. I like Roberson more than any other player on our squad right now.

But to end the game, giving up 3 pointer after 3 pointer put the game way, way out of reach. That's all I was saying.

Agreed on both re: Roberson.

Part of the problem with Okafor is that he got position wherever he wanted. Rak did not do a good job pushing him out.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Agreed on both re: Roberson.

Part of the problem with Okafor is that he got position wherever he wanted. Rak did not do a good job pushing him out.

Rak's a power forward playing center and Okafor is definitely a center. Rak was probably hesitant to bang too hard fearing he'd get cheap fouls trying to push Ok out.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Okafor would have dropped 35 on us and Rak would have fouled out in the first half. At times we tripled Okafor and still couldn't stop him. The secret to stopping Okafor is making him set up farther out than he likes. If he gets both feet in the paint he is unstoppable. The problem with trying to get him to set up farther out is that he is 6 11 and 270 lbs. To size and strength add great footwork and balance and one can see why NBA scouts are drooling over the kid. I don't think there is a player in the college game today who can handle him straight up.

The difference in the game was that their non post players stepped up and ours didn't. I am not being negative, that is simply an objective comment. Duke overplayed the passing lanes into the post and dared our guys to shoot and we shot 30.6% for the game. On the other hand Winslow, who I think is vastly overlooked as a player, lit us up. It is a clear choice of pick your poison: Okafor in the paint or Winslow on the perimeter. As impressed as I am with Winslow, I would rather have him shoot from outside than Okafor down low.

On our end, Duke was willing to give Roberson free reign on offense. He got his points but Duke assumed he couldn't beat us by himself. Roberson scored 9 points and grabbed 4 boards in the first five minutes. Then Duke cheated a bit more his way and he scored 7 more points and grabbed 5 rebounds.

The point is, a team has to do what gives them the best chance to win. Letting Rak go up against Okafor one on one does not give us the best chance to win. I could be wrong but I think Okafor has a game similar to Olajuwon's.

You're probably right on all accounts here. I guess my disappoint was that we didn't react to Duke's change in tactic hitting open 3 point shooters in the second half. Seemed like had our guys stayed home a bit more they might have been able to challenge some of those shots.