Duke Thoughts...

[Louie and Bouie]

I am somewhat shocked that Taylor has looked so ineffective offensively. Having a tough time even getting his shot off.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Is Judah entering the portal?

I think he's going to go in the draft this year. If he averages roughly 20 points, 4 or 5 assists, a couple steals and shoots 38% from three (which he's pretty much doing right now ...), what else is there for him to prove? He's not going to get better than that. If he can't get drafted, he'll go G League, or 2 way contract, and then in a year or two, go play in Europe.

 

[orangepassion]

red's gotta recognize

Q was a huge liability all game



...

too many incomplete players on the roster (still)

same issue with JB's squads

this is at least a 2 year project

I think Q was far from our biggest problem this game. he made some bad plays, but also made a bunch of good plays and I believe even made a couple of three's. To me, the biggest problems is our starting Forwards. Taylor plays hard, but does nothing offensively against decent teams-He seems intimidated and even missed 2 of 3 free throws. Bell has a very low B-Ball IQ. Sometimes his shooting is good enough to make up for it, but hasn't been for awhile. I like Benny and Cope the most of our forwards, but neither provides the perimeter threat that Taylor and Bell are supposed to, but haven't in a while. Obviously, the turnovers were the killers, leading to 26 Duke points.

 

[two3zone]

I am somewhat shocked that Taylor has looked so ineffective offensively. Having a tough time even getting his shot off.

Would help if we ran plays, not defending Taylor’s poor play, but if it’s not on a fast break our offense just stalls. Whomever has the ball does a couple dribbles then drives three steps forward then brings it back then makes one more pass outside the three point line, then another drive, then who knows what happens. We don’t run plays.

 

[Franz69]

You can see the way this current roster plays, just eats away at Red's kishkes.

 

[M2MPrinciples]

There's a saying that sometimes you win and sometimes you learn. Tonight we learned what happens when your passing is completely out of whack and you lose track of sharpshooters (a lesson that should've been learned against UVA but apparently it didn't take). Yes, the talent discrepancy was a factor too but it wasn't the whole story. The second half felt like a classic late-stage Boeheim game.

 

[CuseTG2003]

One thing I don’t get is why we pass the ball to McLeod. It seems like there’s a concerted effort to get him touches early each half, and it never ends well. What are we trying to accomplish?

 

[ezbeezy214]

I think what they have to do is start Bell and Copeland at F, then substitute Benny and Taylor. Split up the shooters, so you at least have a rebounder out there who can get their own shot inside of 15 feet.

I mean I know where you’re going but I like Copeland as a bench change of pace. Def think Benny can go back to starting if only to help keep it simple, better rebounding.

 

[rrlbees]

This team needs to incorporate screening into the offense. We take too many difficult shots because we make things difficult.

 

[two3zone]

I think he's going to go in the draft this year. If he averages roughly 20 points, 4 or 5 assists, a couple steals and shoots 38% from three (which he's pretty much doing right now ...), what else is there for him to prove? He's not going to get better than that. If he can't get drafted, he'll go G League, or 2 way contract, and then in a year or two, go play in Europe.

All 20 point scorers aren’t created equal.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Still need shooters.

We have that kid coming in, Elijah Moore. He's supposed to be a very good shooter.

Plus the star forward, Donnie Freeman, has been looking more like one of our typical do-it-all forwards.

Taylor and Bell can still improve, with another year. Cuffe is eventually going to come good.

 

[ezbeezy214]

I am somewhat shocked that Taylor has looked so ineffective offensively. Having a tough time even getting his shot off.

No off ball screens

 

[CU44SE]

Flawed team, have no center. Have a great PF, but no one that can lock down the paint.

Brown played some great defense tonight, but couple times there was just nothing he could do. Flipkowski would just shoot it over him. It’s extremely hard to play center at 6’8” and his weight. He doesn’t have the weight to keep the centers out of the paint. And he doesn’t have the height to make up for his low weight to wipe the shot away if the center does get position. This is not a shot at Brown, it’s more so the limitations we have at center. Browns a fantastic player and is always giving his all.

I really like what Copeland can do. The problem is, when the ball isn’t in his hands, the defender cheats so far off him because he is not a good shooter. Every time he settles for a three it’s a win for the defense.

Taylor plays good defense, but Taylor and Bell are our ‘Shooters’ and they’re not very good ‘Shooters’. Taylor shooting 33% and Bell 35% and that’s after having 2 games inflating his percentage where he was unconscious. They don’t properly spread the floor and even when they do, it’s not like it’s an advantage for us when they are shooting.

Mintz gets to the line a ton and makes a lot of difficult shots. But when he is not cooking, like in the second half, we have no one else to take on the load. That was supposed to be Starling. And that’s just not working well.

We have 3 guards that dribble drive and need the ball in their hands. Mintz is a scorer, Copeland a passer, starling a lesser scorer. And we lack the shooting surrounding them. Then you put McLeod out there and you have nothing to keep the defense honest. You pack the lane and make us take outside shots, which we can’t do. We are constantly playing 2 on 5 on offense and rely so heavily on Mintz to play hero ball.

Still not sure of what to make of Cuffe. He has never popped off the screen to me and I have seen some really bad moments and plays from him. I think he gives us more than Bell, but not sure how much more.

Benny, flawed player but his athletic ability and our lack of big bodies makes him someone that needs more minutes. Take the minutes away from McLeod and add them to Benny.

Ultimately, we have 3 guys over 6’8” and currently, none of them are high level D1 Basketball players. Brown can’t play all 40 minutes. He can barely make it 35 minutes because he is constantly giving it his all. He plays so hard, always running up and down the court, he needs some breathers. And at this point. I think Benny is the best option to fill his minutes. Provides much better spacing on offense and I would argue his athletic ability allows him to do anything the other 3 centers May be able to do.

 

[FrancoPizza]

I am somewhat shocked that Taylor has looked so ineffective offensively. Having a tough time even getting his shot off.

He’s just too slow.

 

[NorSyr66]

Turnovers and lack of 3 point shooting. Bell leading a break is a turnover. 3 games in a row this has occurred. Teams have figured Judah out. He needs to adjust, but also our outside guys have to start hitting the 3. Bell has to hit the shots when he has them. Judahs space is being limited like in the UVA game. He needs help to open up space. Our defense after a missed shot is awful. Teams run on us crazy well. Troublesome if we can’t open up the floor with outside shooting.

...we can not afford to keep Bell on the floor long enough for him to make outside shots. He fumbles passes, can't dribble is an instant turnover waiting to happen and makes stupid fouls. Yes, maybe he can shoot but can we afford to have him out there while we wait for his shots to fall? Taylor just is not shooting. One point in the game and he had decent minutes. We need other answers to win games this year.

 

[two3zone]

We have that kid coming in, Elijah Moore. He's supposed to be a very good shooter.

Plus the star forward, Donnie Freeman, has been looking more like one of our typical do-it-all forwards.

Taylor and Bell can still improve, with another year. Cuffe is eventually going to come good.

You could say we’re bringing in the next Kyle Korver, and until he does something at this level I’m not going to believe it until I see it. I hate to be that cynical but I believe nothing at this point with these guys coming in. Outside of Judah and Brown on this team, every single one of these guys have been not close to what we thought they were coming in.

 

[Todoubled23]

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like we're switching too easily at times on the perimeter. It's not easy to fight through screens but still something I'd like to see.

 

[IthacaMatt]

All 20 point scorers aren’t created equal.

Yeah, that's fine, but after watching the last 15-20 years of guys going pro who weren't ready, this is what I'm expecting. He already did the try-out. This year he takes the next step in his career, whatever that may be.

This year is his team. Next year, with two borderline McDonald's AA's coming in, probably a portal center, and maybe even another shooting guard, maybe a couple guys get the talk. But I would be shocked if he's still here in 2024-25. He would be a cog, not "the star" like he is this year.

Starling and Cuffe will be looking to share the point in 24-25. Westry will be healthy again, which gives us a couple ballers between him and Copeland. Freeman will start, Moore might start at the 2G and move Copeland / Westry to SF. There are only so many balls to go around.

 

[ezbeezy214]

This team needs to incorporate screening into the offense. We take too many difficult shots because we make things difficult.

Very surprised there’s such a limited use of basic motion to start an offense. It’s either a quick set at the top to get mismatch or 4 out picks with everyone standing around.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like we're switching too easily at times on the perimeter. It's not easy to fight through screens but still something I'd like to see.

Yes, stranding Starling on Filipowski in the 2nd half was screaming out for a quick switch from one of the forwards (like Benny), but they let him get posted up a number of times.

 

[two3zone]

Yeah, that's fine, but after watching the last 15-20 years of guys going pro who weren't ready, this is what I'm expecting. He already did the try-out. This year he takes the next step in his career, whatever that may be.

This year is his team. Next year, with two borderline McDonald's AA's coming in, probably a portal center, and maybe even another shooting guard, maybe a couple guys get the talk. But I would be shocked if he's still here in 2024-25. He would be a cog, not "the star" like he is this year.

Starling and Cuffe will be looking to share the point in 24-25. Westry will be healthy again, which gives us a couple ballers between him and Copeland. Freeman will start, Moore might start at the 2G and move Copeland / Westry to SF. There are only so many balls to go around.

I don’t disagree that he won’t go, but I don’t think he’s much better than last year and if that’s the case then the case can be made that he’d probably make more in NIL money than he would going pro.

 

[SU91]

My thoughts are broader. They’re not about this game.

We used to be a power. We’re not anymore. Meanwhile, UConn is winning championships.

I hope Red can bring us back but it’s going to be hard in a conference built around UNC and Duke. We an ACC also ran. It’s sad, frustrating, and upsetting.

This team is fun, has shown glimpses, and can win some games. I will enjoy watching them play and hopefully do well.

I cannot wait for the day when we can rip Duke a new one. I hope it comes sooner than later. We’ve been getting slapped for too long.

 

[bballbeadle]

the team is FRAZZZLED. every.single Quad 1 game


vs quads 2-4 they are smooth killers out there


anyone decent????


its headless chicken-time

i really dont understand it

Duke took it to 11. That’s what happened.

 

[IthacaMatt]

A lot of good points here:

Yes, we have limited players, and the pieces don't quite fit. If one of our SFs was regularly hitting 2 or 3 threes a game, this is a much better team offensively. But one kid doesn't seem athletic enough, and we're not running screens for him.

The other doesn't move enough without the ball to find open spots. Bell "camps out" where he's comfortable, instead of looking for where the open space is.

The positive side is that Autry isn't playing his "chosen 5" for 36-38 minutes a game, like his predecessor insisted on doing. When Derrick Coleman is one of your guys, yes playing him tired for 38 minutes a game is still a better player than almost anyone else.

But when players have certain skills, but not the whole package, you give them a shot, and hope they catch fire, delivering what they do best. That's why he keeps starting the two shooters at forward, even though he probably ought to consider splitting them up, and pairing one with Benny and the other with Copeland. That would be better balance and our shooters would still be getting a run in the first half to see if they were "on" or not.

At least Autry is playing 9 guys a night, and they're all getting 15-32 minutes. Rotations are more predictable. Effort is getting better. They still have a lot to improve, but wow, we looked really dreadful at the beginning of the season, even in the exhibitions and first few openers before Maui.

We are much better now. Trending positive, lots of guys contributing. We need more offensive movement, more plays to get guys open shots.

 

[two3zone]

the team is FRAZZZLED. every.single Quad 1 game


vs quads 2-4 they are smooth killers out there


anyone decent????


its headless chicken-time

i really dont understand it

I’m curious to how many quad 1 wins we have the past few years, can’t be more than 2-3.