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Message: [QUOTE="Lax Mouse, post: 5733794, member: 8158"] Just rewatched the highlights of the ACC championship game last year. Few things stood out: Cuse was on fire early on offense due in large part to crisp ball movement. They were spinning the rock and Duke simply could not keep up. However, Cuse got a bit too loose with it and had some typical showboaty/forced looks and shots that prevented them from building what could've been an even larger lead. Lots of good looks early that missed the net. Went low a lot and Jameison was eating those up, though some of the shots low fell late in the game. Hard to tell on the highlights but either Duke made adjustments or Cuse stepped off the gas because most of their later goals were individual efforts. Many dodges on cage and winning 1v1 matchups. It's good to have the dodging in your back pocket but this team more likely reaches its ceiling through disciplined team offense. Not many teams that can keep up with Cuse's firepower if they play unselfish and smart. But against a John Danowski team, you truly have to be disciplined. Smart passes, smart shot selection and placement, value the possessions and take calculated chances. If the Orange offense plays composed, I like them a lot against this defense. Jameison wasn't exactly lighting it up in cage - Cuse made it a pretty easy game for him. On the other end of the field, as noted a lot of Duke's key personnel has turned over. Very clear though that the Blue Devil's game plan was to attack the short stick matchups and it worked very well for them. Most Duke goals seemed to follow a short stick getting beat or being out of position. That group has improved this year, and with Johnston moving to attack, that negates his advantage against the ssdms (although I'm sure they'll work to switch the matchups). Hard to know how this new look Duke offense will do against a defense like Syracuse (they did okay vs Denver last week). I'd generally try to not gift the Blue Devil's free offense - make them earn a slide. This feels like a game that, if we get the best version of the Orange, they should be able to take by a few goals. But that best version has been elusive this year. [/QUOTE]

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