Ullis was unstoppable. Very impressed by Murray as well. Wish we had given ya'll a better game.
Congrats UK
- Thread starter Mark Gastineau
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Good game for you guys too, you're young, you'll get much better. But either way if you're anything like I was after 2012, the following season feels like you're playing with house money after a championship anyway.
Duke will improve as the year goes on. I think your team will have certain limitations unless they find a true PG but Duke will be solid. Thanks for the congratulatory post.
You are one of the good guys Mark. You guys have a lot of talent, but it seemed concerning (if I was a Duke fan) that nobody had any fight except Plumlee and Jefferson. Some (Allen and Ingram) struggled with their role, and that will get better with time. Good luck going forward.
Very disappointed with how Grayson Allen played. How the hell does he expect to drop in a finger roll layup over Skal and Lee? When he got tossed the first time, he should have adjusted his strategy.
I honestly don't even remember Ingram being in the game.
Feel badly for our veterans: Plumlee, Matt Jones, and Jefferson. They came ready to play. The young guys? Not so much. I suppose Thornton did provide a bit of a spark, but simply wasn't enough.
Both of our teams should get a lot better as the season goes along. But, ya'll are definitely more cohesive at this point, and it's all because of Ullis. In my mind, he validated everything ya'll have been saying about him all offseason, and honestly, I'll admit I didn't think that would be the case. I definitely misjudged him.
I honestly don't even remember Ingram being in the game.
Feel badly for our veterans: Plumlee, Matt Jones, and Jefferson. They came ready to play. The young guys? Not so much. I suppose Thornton did provide a bit of a spark, but simply wasn't enough.
Both of our teams should get a lot better as the season goes along. But, ya'll are definitely more cohesive at this point, and it's all because of Ullis. In my mind, he validated everything ya'll have been saying about him all offseason, and honestly, I'll admit I didn't think that would be the case. I definitely misjudged him.
Nice post and thank you. I didn't expect anything quite like this and wouldn't if we play again in March, which we may very well do.
Best of luck the rest of the way. Destroy Louisville
Best of luck the rest of the way. Destroy Louisville
Yea, from another Duke fan here.......you guys dominated tonight. This Duke team clearly has some growing up to do while UK's freshman looked good. I think our biggest problem is not having anyone who can really penetrate and create their own shot. Yes, Allen to a degree, but you saw what happened when he faces size and elite talent. Ulis, Brisocoe, and Murray on the other hand had their way and just wanted to stop by and tip my hat to you guys.
Hey thanks bro. But you guys are going to be a really good team. Nothing to be down about. By the end of the year Thornton will probably be starting and Kennard will be more confident and contributing off the bench and y'all will be one of the best teams in the country.
Hey thanks bro. But you guys are going to be a really good team. Nothing to be down about. By the end of the year Thornton will probably be starting and Kennard will be more confident and contributing off the bench and y'all will be one of the best teams in the country.
Nice post.
I trust we can depend on you to continue stepping all over Bobbi on the NC corruption thread. [cheers]
Duke will absolutely get better. Thornton needs to be the point guard, and Ingram needs to get used to the college game and learn how to assert himself. There are enough pieces there to be a legit top 10 team and FF contender.
What happened with Briscoe? Looked like he was injured at the end of the game.
Marcus Lee and Skal are going to be an absolute nightmare for teams this season.
Glad that Poythress was back out there being productive. Always nice to see a good kid like him get healthy and regain his form.
Marcus Lee and Skal are going to be an absolute nightmare for teams this season.
Glad that Poythress was back out there being productive. Always nice to see a good kid like him get healthy and regain his form.
No issues with you A-tall.-W. Brennan (Not that it matters what I think.) You're a good poster and was before this game. Good to see you post again after a game. Very telling... Be Good
Hey Mark G...you're a rival friend because you've often shown your class on this board. Take this as it's offered. Coach K will learn over time how to handle these elite frosh (when the elders are not dominant). Cal has paved the way and frankly, written the book. K is awesome but must learn valuable lessons that Cal has mastered.
K will ultimately succeed because well, he's K . Just somewhat bitter that Cal has been ridiculed for his O&D past while K has been lauded for his unique mastery of this recent basketball phenomena.
K will ultimately succeed because well, he's K . Just somewhat bitter that Cal has been ridiculed for his O&D past while K has been lauded for his unique mastery of this recent basketball phenomena.
Thanks Mark, classy post from a classy fan. And you guys will improve this season... It's only November.
Although, I do need to point out that nobody named Ullis plays for UK
Although, I do need to point out that nobody named Ullis plays for UK
this should have been a late December/early January game.
its great that UK was the better team last night but it does little to show what either team will be able to do in March.
I'm not a fan of these marquee matchups 2 or 3 games into the season for UK when we're putting freshman on the floor - sure its fun to watch a UCLA or Kansas dismantling from a UK fan stand point but everyone in America would rather watch those games later in the season.
its great that UK was the better team last night but it does little to show what either team will be able to do in March.
I'm not a fan of these marquee matchups 2 or 3 games into the season for UK when we're putting freshman on the floor - sure its fun to watch a UCLA or Kansas dismantling from a UK fan stand point but everyone in America would rather watch those games later in the season.
You guys have a great team...as we've found out, some elite HS recruits are more ready than others. Put Jones/Okafor on that team to replace Thornton/Ingram and it's a different story...gonna take Thornton, Ingram, and Kennard time to figure it out. As one announcer said - being the man vs. being a role player is totally different, Allen will have some adjustments too.
We have a ridiculous backcourt, probably better than anyone on this board would have predicted at this point. I still think we lose around 5 games this year but come March, if guys progress as they usually do, I like our chances.
At least you Duke fans won't have to worry about dropping in the rankings. In fact, history has shown that Duke typically moves up in the rankings after a loss to a top-10 team. And with KU losing last night, I'd not be surprised to see Duke move up to #4 or even #3 after the loss.
Take note in the ESPN headline making sure the world knew it was an "early-season" game, thus implying, yeah, Kentucky won and won pretty handily, but hey, it's early so it really doesn't mean squat. Now imagine if the table was turned and Duke won 74-63 - my gracious they'd never shut up about it, and you'd see no mention at all of this being an "early-season" match up.
I guess my point is - your team may or may not get any better, but they are always the media darling, so they will at least appear to be one of best teams in rankings and headlines.
Take note in the ESPN headline making sure the world knew it was an "early-season" game, thus implying, yeah, Kentucky won and won pretty handily, but hey, it's early so it really doesn't mean squat. Now imagine if the table was turned and Duke won 74-63 - my gracious they'd never shut up about it, and you'd see no mention at all of this being an "early-season" match up.
I guess my point is - your team may or may not get any better, but they are always the media darling, so they will at least appear to be one of best teams in rankings and headlines.
Thank you fellas. Very classy. Both of these teams will grow a lot over the next few months. I think Kentucky's freshmen were a little more college ready coming in, but who knows what will happen when March rolls around. Should we meet again, it will be two very different teams at that point.
its early but as a Duke fan I'd want more I don't know - effort/motivation whatever from Ingram
He had the potential to influence the game much more than we saw last night.
I understand why Allen didn't have a great game - its a different game when you aren't surprising anyone with your ability.
He had the potential to influence the game much more than we saw last night.
I understand why Allen didn't have a great game - its a different game when you aren't surprising anyone with your ability.
I have said this all along, it's one thing to say that it's easy to coach the OADs then to actually do it. Cal has had to rethink and retool every team that he has had here without the luxury of experienced upperclass men. K is now looking at this world from our side, great to have the talent but where did my leadership players go? And it only gets worst the more you recruit the OADs. In this respect Cal has mastered the process and is in a league of his own.
Ah, that's my bad.Although, I do need to point out that nobody named Ullis plays for UK
I disagree. Honestly, I felt like we were overranked to start the season. I always felt like we were more in the 10-12 range this early. We need to earn a top-5 ranking. Hopefully last night was an eye opener for everyone and Coach K gets our youngsters to live up to the hype they have received over the years.
I was a bit distracted during the game with an unexpected visit from an old classmate who was in town, but did I see Tyler Ulis dunk, or was that another guy?
Ulis came close on one of his scores but it was another guy. I was surprised at Ulis' elevation. i have heard he can dunk but haven't seen it....
Ulis can dunk but I will be surprised if he ever does it in a game. Would have to be wide open.
I could have sworn he dunked, and then one of the announcers made a Spud Webb comparison. Then again, I was several beers deep at that point for obvious reasons, ha.
I like a friendly board like this - Shows the class we should be exhibiting - unlike that UofL bunch.....with that said WOW - Briscoe played awesome D for a true Fresh......I'm telling ya this - if our rebounding gets better - it could be a Final Four with 3 of the same from last season - UK , Duke and Michigan State......as I believe Duke will get PG position figured out and be very good at the end...
I was somewhat surprised at how well we played, but also surprised at how much Duke struggled. Particularly with intensity. I know K is playing a lot of frosh, but don't know that I've ever seen a K team with such a lack of fire. Lack of a PG also doesn't help. I'm guessing that Duke has some cupcakes coming up, Thornton needs to get up to speed quickly.
Duke seemed to be shell shocked, and worn out at the end. When we had key players foul out with a lot of clock left I was afraid it would have an energizing effect on Duke, but it just never seemed to materialize. Granted, UK did seem to make some nice plays whenever the lead got down to 9 or so. I even thought K seemed a little subdued. It looked to be one of the easiest nights the ref's have ever had when calling a game where Duke struggles. LOL!
Can see why Cal wanted Ingram so bad. Although he was saddled by fouls for most of the game (I thought a few were kind of cheap), he did show some flashes of offensive skill. I wonder if his body may hold him back some and he ends up a 2 year player. When they showed the side by side pic of him gaining 30 lbs since being on campus, I'm not sure I could see much of a difference in the pictures. LOL!
Having said all that, it was an early game with a lot of hyped but unproven frosh. We've seen that many times since Cal has been here that it's hard to tell who is going to perform the first time under the big college game lights. Last night our guys answered the bell. Thornton and Ingram will improve thru the year with PT and experience, I suspect they'll be more productive in games to come.
Duke seemed to be shell shocked, and worn out at the end. When we had key players foul out with a lot of clock left I was afraid it would have an energizing effect on Duke, but it just never seemed to materialize. Granted, UK did seem to make some nice plays whenever the lead got down to 9 or so. I even thought K seemed a little subdued. It looked to be one of the easiest nights the ref's have ever had when calling a game where Duke struggles. LOL!
Can see why Cal wanted Ingram so bad. Although he was saddled by fouls for most of the game (I thought a few were kind of cheap), he did show some flashes of offensive skill. I wonder if his body may hold him back some and he ends up a 2 year player. When they showed the side by side pic of him gaining 30 lbs since being on campus, I'm not sure I could see much of a difference in the pictures. LOL!
Having said all that, it was an early game with a lot of hyped but unproven frosh. We've seen that many times since Cal has been here that it's hard to tell who is going to perform the first time under the big college game lights. Last night our guys answered the bell. Thornton and Ingram will improve thru the year with PT and experience, I suspect they'll be more productive in games to come.
Unlike that dumpster fire THR, you guys are certainly welcoming of visitors who are respectful and want to talk hoops. Not to mention, this board is insanely active, which is the primary reason I started posting here this offseason. You don't see this kind of traffic on other boards, and I always like getting a non-Duke perspective on things.
I certainly hope so!
That's why I stop by as well. Lot of discussion on this board about recruiting......I think Duke is probably a 10-15 team, but certainly not #5 at this point. Hopefully, we continue to improve and the upperclassman can hold down the fort until the freshmen figure some things out.
I assumed that K thought he would "get it going." I think what Duke needed to learn from the game was that Allen is probably not the guy to carry the team. It will be interesting to see how the team evolves over the course of a season. That is the beauty of playing young players....they develop.
For us, I would like to see Skal play good D but not foul so much.
Thanks for the compliments. IMO, Duke's season will rest primarily on the development of Thornton at the PG position. As of last night, nobody on your team can really create for others. Allen can create for himself, but doesn't really do much to free up other guys on the team aside from the occasional drive and kick. However, once he's driving he's usually going to the rim and not looking for anything else, especially if he's going right.
I was surprised by Ingram's struggles last night but not so much by Allen's. I guess I was perhaps a little surprised that Allen struggled as much as did, but everyone knew he wasn't going to score 20. As an outsider, I've always felt that Allen really forces things on offense. I know he had some great games in the NCAA tourney last year, and you guys won the championship so who am I to question anything, but I felt with the offensive weapons Duke had last season in Okafor, Cook, Winslow, and Jones, that Allen didn't need to be the one creating his own looks. He absolutely should have taken open shots or drives to the lane, but with the talent that was on the court offensively he just always struck me as trying too hard to get his own looks. That said, he was typically efficient and made tough looks so once again, who am I to question him.
Fast forward to this season and it looks like much of the same, but again he was making it work, particularly against the inferior competition in the first two games. However, when faced with a defense that is longer and more athletic than what he's used to seeing, he struggled to finish those looks and couldn't make an adjustment. The next step for his game is going to be expanding outside the "right handed drive to the rim" that is his primary move right now. He doesn't seem to be an exceptional shooter but he's capable, so in time I'm sure he'll add variety to his offense. As it is right now, driving left to right trying to get to the rim is the only thing a defense has to protect against. He's not the same player going left, he doesn't vary speeds, and he doesn't find other open men very often once he's driving. I understand he's not really a PG and that's why I say I think a lot of your season rides on the development of Thornton, but Allen will eventually need to expand outside the "one dimensional" game he has right now. Granted, last night was the only game I've seen from Duke this season, but from highlights I've seen and also thinking back to last year it seems like 80% of his points come from driving right and finishing with a dunk/layup.
I was surprised by Ingram's struggles last night but not so much by Allen's. I guess I was perhaps a little surprised that Allen struggled as much as did, but everyone knew he wasn't going to score 20. As an outsider, I've always felt that Allen really forces things on offense. I know he had some great games in the NCAA tourney last year, and you guys won the championship so who am I to question anything, but I felt with the offensive weapons Duke had last season in Okafor, Cook, Winslow, and Jones, that Allen didn't need to be the one creating his own looks. He absolutely should have taken open shots or drives to the lane, but with the talent that was on the court offensively he just always struck me as trying too hard to get his own looks. That said, he was typically efficient and made tough looks so once again, who am I to question him.
Fast forward to this season and it looks like much of the same, but again he was making it work, particularly against the inferior competition in the first two games. However, when faced with a defense that is longer and more athletic than what he's used to seeing, he struggled to finish those looks and couldn't make an adjustment. The next step for his game is going to be expanding outside the "right handed drive to the rim" that is his primary move right now. He doesn't seem to be an exceptional shooter but he's capable, so in time I'm sure he'll add variety to his offense. As it is right now, driving left to right trying to get to the rim is the only thing a defense has to protect against. He's not the same player going left, he doesn't vary speeds, and he doesn't find other open men very often once he's driving. I understand he's not really a PG and that's why I say I think a lot of your season rides on the development of Thornton, but Allen will eventually need to expand outside the "one dimensional" game he has right now. Granted, last night was the only game I've seen from Duke this season, but from highlights I've seen and also thinking back to last year it seems like 80% of his points come from driving right and finishing with a dunk/layup.