Duke’s defense

[Cheriehoop]

I had never seen a 4-1 zone defense like Duke played mostly in the 1st half. It really hurt us when Chukwu and Dolenzaj went out. It was Coach K’s answer against our penetration in the first half. Dolenzaj was great moving the ball, making decisions roaming the middle. They had to play more straight up with Dolenzaj and Chukwu in there. Bagley was the big difference.

 

[syrcuse]

I had never seen a 4-1 zone defense like Duke played mostly in the 1st half. It really hurt us when Chukwu and Dolenzaj went out. It was Coach K’s answer against our penetration in the first half. Dolenzaj was great moving the ball, making decisions roaming the middle. They had to play more straight up with Dolenzaj and Chukwu in there. Bagley was the big difference.

How about their real 1st heavy FULL court press coming out of OUR time out??? = Half court violation/turnover. Not bashing Coach B. but complimenting Coach K. I saw that as a double whammy. Stole our timeout and caused the turnover.

 

[Orangezoo]

Duke's defensive switches as noted and then their overall talent and athleticism made the difference. If they didn't have both bigs it would not have been enough. As much as it was frustrating we could not get over the hump, it was just as impressive we continued to answer them and not allow separation. It got us so close to having a final chance at the end to win it.

 

[BuffOrange]

The zone is a cool story but no idea how good they are. Russillo on his podcast mentioned last week both them & UNC are kinda frauds on that end. So far at least half that looks right. Not sure defending us as well or worse than ASU/TCU shows much. With what's left in this tournament they may just be able to outscore everyone though; or so I hope for bracket's sake.

 

[cspades99]

I think all the accolades above are earned by Duke, but even with all of that, the difference in this game, to me, was: missing 5 dunks/point blank shots (the Cuse M.O.) and the front of end of three 1-and-1's.

We had countless chances to take the game.

If OB becomes even a mediocre finisher next year, he could score 25+ a game.

 

[cspades99]

The zone is a cool story but no idea how good they are. Russillo on his podcast mentioned last week both them & UNC are kinda frauds on that end. So far at least half that looks right. Not sure defending us as well or worse than ASU/TCU shows much. With what's left in this tournament they may just be able to outscore everyone though; or so I hope for bracket's sake.

Everyone but KU. If Allen is dog doo doo again (or, as usual), Duke is going to be completely outclassed on Sunday.

 

[BuffOrange]

Everyone but KU. If Allen is dog doo doo again (or, as usual), Duke is going to be completely outclassed on Sunday.

Ya obv. if he keeps shooting like Oshae & Newman continues his 108% clip in games I've watched the last couple weeks it's going to be tough. Not really expecting that.

 

[SWC75]

turnovers...turnovers...

 

[CIL]

Duke has one player that made the difference. Great athlete.

 

[Toga]

Maybe the best part of Duke's defense was the - a bit more than soft - trapping defense while the opponent brings the ball up. This is a no-brainer addition to the zone. No-Brainer! Eats up 30 second shot clock. Wearying to the opponent's ballhandlers. Maybe you need a viable 3rd guard but maybe not. This is the exact thing we need to our defense.

 

[Cheriehoop]

They beat us from the foul line, we actually shot better than they did and they were particularly horrendous from the 3. Ouch 5 for 26 vs our 4 for 13 from three? Duke got their 3 point plays on free throws after made buckets , I can recall only one, maybe 2 foul calls on one of our made baskets. We shot only 61% from the free throw line but if we had only made just 2 more free throws we would have shot over 76% and still lost. It was the free throw discrepancy that killed us and missed offensive opportunities from turnovers, they shot 11 more free throws, some admittedly we committed at the end of the game. It was a very close game even looking at the box score but free throws and our turnovers were difference makers. Breaking the press is too dependent on our 2 guards.

Against Kansas the center game, Azibuike vs Bagley will be very interesting. Only Carter and Bagley impressed me and Allen was good handling the ball, passing it ahead, breaking our press.

 

[andyw715]

Maybe the best part of Duke's defense was the - a bit more than soft - trapping defense while the opponent brings the ball up. This is a no-brainer addition to the zone. No-Brainer! Eats up 30 second shot clock. Wearying to the opponent's ballhandlers. Maybe you need a viable 3rd guard but maybe not. This is the exact thing we need to our defense.

True but our best offense was the first half of the first half. They stopped the pressure and we stopped being creative on O

 

[Brooky03]

I had never seen a 4-1 zone defense like Duke played mostly in the 1st half. It really hurt us when Chukwu and Dolenzaj went out. It was Coach K’s answer against our penetration in the first half. Dolenzaj was great moving the ball, making decisions roaming the middle. They had to play more straight up with Dolenzaj and Chukwu in there. Bagley was the big difference.

I've seen it before, but only when we've run it.