Leadership

[Mac9192]

In my opinion, this is the key for Duke to win the title. We have a leader in Allen, but someone else must step up. I don't think he can do it alone.
We all know the 15 title team had 1 senior, 1 junior, and 1 sophomore in the rotation that were all major contributors. Plus a fired up junior Plumlee that was energy in the small time he got. This team has only 1, and as much as I like Grayson, he gets a little loose on the court from time to time.
One of our other starters has to step up from a vocal standpoint. The only one I see doing any talking out there is Allen. I read where K held a practice not long ago and made the entire team yell.
The only one who may feel the role is Marvin. I think he needs to step it up from a leadership point. It's obvious his talent is there, but we need someone else to take the reigns and assist Grayson in that department.

I really don't care who it is, but someone needs to get on there fellow "brothers." Not just Grayson.
To me, that's the only thing holding this bunch back from being special.

 

[Alaskan_Assassin_21]

I think our problems go beyond just leadership. A leader can't completely guide another player thru a possession or game. Experience mostly comes from making personal mistakes & triumphs

I think our roster is simply poorly constructed. Bagley, Carter and Bolden is overkill. We need more outside shooters and especially ball handling guards. I would trade the best player in the nation this season (Bagley) for an elite ball handling 2-guard. But whatever that is for another time.

Speaking specifically about leadership - I think we particularly need a scoring leader late in games from the backcourt. Right now we only have 2: Trent and Grayson. Unfortunately so far Grayson has not illustrated much clutchness this season. I was very impressed by Trent carrying us offensively early in the 2nd Half tonight.

I think we will bully and physically assault some poor teams early in the NCAA Tournament. Later on we will need consistent free throw shooting and the occasional timely shot - clutchness - leader

 

[BlueDevilWildcat]

I'm sorry but it's a cop out to say this roster is poorly constructed. If what you mean is we don't have good PG play and Grayson often plays like a freshman, I'd agree. But that's not roster, that's talent.

 

[LouisiAaron]

I think our problems go beyond just leadership. A leader can't completely guide another player thru a possession or game. Experience mostly comes from making personal mistakes & triumphs

I think our roster is simply poorly constructed. Bagley, Carter and Bolden is overkill. We need more outside shooters and especially ball handling guards. I would trade the best player in the nation this season (Bagley) for an elite ball handling 2-guard. But whatever that is for another time.

Speaking specifically about leadership - I think we particularly need a scoring leader late in games from the backcourt. Right now we only have 2: Trent and Grayson. Unfortunately so far Grayson has not illustrated much clutchness this season. I was very impressed by Trent carrying us offensively early in the 2nd Half tonight.

I think we will bully and physically assault some poor teams early in the NCAA Tournament. Later on we will need consistent free throw shooting and the occasional timely shot - clutchness - leader

Listen to yourself. Take out the best player to put in a ball handling 2. Yea that makes plenty sense. Smh

 

[Alaskan_Assassin_21]

I'm sorry but it's a cop out to say this roster is poorly constructed. If what you mean is we don't have good PG play and Grayson often plays like a freshman, I'd agree. But that's not roster, that's talent.

I feel focusing on Duval's shortages is a dead horse. The season is almost over and his jump shot has not improved. I don't think Coach K had any other choice but to accept such talented players. It is a shame we don't have 1 more recruiting class in order to fill in the gaps that I see on the roster. Maybe my perspective is a dead horse.

Listen to yourself. Take out the best player to put in a ball handling 2. Yea that makes plenty sense. Smh

Bagley's production can be picked up by Carter, Bolden and Delaurier. We have an abundance of size this season. Probably our finest 1-2 post punch since Brand & Battier in 1999. And Battier was not even a prototypical post player either

2015: Cook & Jones
2010: Scheyer & Smith
2001: Jay & Duhon

Not to mention at-least one of those guards were having All American worthy seasons. I am not trying to take a shot at Bagley - hence I said an elite ball handling 2-guard. For better or worse the 2018 squad is an experiment. Rather not bash Duval.

 

[Arlene]

I’m just worried how long this flagrant hip check foul which seem to lead him into playing like Grayson in his JR season. Either a Duval or Allen has to play point and that both choked tonight. Not to mention Bagley got beat up by gaurds and small forwards most of the night. Only guys that played well were Carter and Trent with Bolden and AOC chipping in.

 

[Duke Bluu]

I still don’t know who I want to have the ball during a situation like yesterday. Before the year, hell or the last two years I would have said Grayson Allen but no I don’t want him dribbling the ball anynore in those situations. I’m disappointed in him.

 

[Bod1ne]

I still don’t know who I want to have the ball during a situation like yesterday. Before the year, he’ll for the last two years I would have said Grayson Allen but no I don’t want him dribbling the ball anynore in those situations. I’m disappointed in him.

I'd still go with GA in that situation. He erred in picking up his dribble, but I would trust him not to make that mistake again.

 

[Duke Bluu]

I'd still go with GA in that situation. He erred in picking up his dribble, but I would trust him not to make that mistake again.

It’s not just yesterday. It seems like the shot he gets in those situations is always difficult. He’s off balance. He has so much athletic ability but rarely creates just a little space to square up and rise up under control for a good shot. Breaking his man down off the dribble? Forget about it.

 

[HeLooks2MuchLikeDave]

The roster is anything but poorly constructed. That’s literally the last thing wrong with this team.

 

[GillJET]

I still don’t know who I want to have the ball during a situation like yesterday. Before the year, hell or the last two years I would have said Grayson Allen but no I don’t want him dribbling the ball anynore in those situations. I’m disappointed in him.

That was rough from Grayson, to say the least. I think Gary would have been the better option. Easy for me to say that now though.

 

[dukiejay]

This team just has a lot of gaps. I don’t think it’s one big thing. It’s a lot of little things.

Intensity. Focus. Valuing possessions. Free throws. Outside shooting. Leadership.

It’s 33 games into the season. It would take quite a bit to see all those come together at just the right time. I sure hope it does, but the pattern has been consistent all season.

 

[DukeDenver]

We are at our best when passing the ball crisply and shots are falling. We’ll need that 4 games in a row starting in the sweet 16.

 

[dukiejay]

We are at our best when passing the ball crisply and shots are falling. We’ll need that 4 games in a row starting in the sweet 16.

This team is hardly a lock to get through the first weekend. Erase the last three minutes of tonight’s game....it was as bad as any performance all year. Duke beats very few power conference teams last night. Very few.

 

[Mac9192]

We are at our best when passing the ball crisply and shots are falling. We’ll need that 4 games in a row starting in the sweet 16.

The lack of ball movement kills us. The Holes had 24 assists to our 13.

Now with all this talent, we have resorted to praying we get out of the first weekend.

 

[hart2chesson]

The lack of ball movement kills us. The Holes had 24 assists to our 13.

That was one of the most telling stats to me....OFC

 

[denverexpat]

That was one of the most telling stats to me....OFC

Duval was meant to be the true PG but hasnt turned out as expected. Allen isnt a true PG, he's a shooting guard. Guard play is essential to success. 2015 was the last team with a true PG...next year we get Tre Jones...is he a true PG? I hope so. The ingredients to win a National title is pretty much the same each year....pg play, inside presense and a good one on one slasher to bail you out when you need a bucket late in the clock. If you have those, especially PG play you can go along way. It pains me to watch other teams with excellent guards but lesser overall talent beat us in the tournament...but its happened a lot recently. We have to recruit guards who will be here for more than a year...to lead and drive the team. Our greatest teams had great guards who's names we all remember....I would love to see us go back to that formula. Build a team not a talented AAU squad.

 

[LouisiAaron]

Bagley's production can be picked up by Carter, Bolden and Delaurier. We have an abundance of size this season. Probably our finest 1-2 post punch since Brand & Battier in 1999. And Battier was not even a prototypical post player either

2015: Cook & Jones
2010: Scheyer & Smith
2001: Jay & Duhon

Not to mention at-least one of those guards were having All American worthy seasons. I am not trying to take a shot at Bagley - hence I said an elite ball handling 2-guard. For better or worse the 2018 squad is an experiment. Rather not bash Duval.[/QUOTE]

But if all people you would get rid of Bagley? Why not just replace Gary Trent with a elite ball handling wing? You don’t say get rid of your best player. He’s the one that bails you out and get high percentage shots

 

[HuffyJB]

This team is hardly a lock to get through the first weekend. Erase the last three minutes of tonight’s game....it was as bad as any performance all year. Duke beats very few power conference teams last night. Very few.

That is why I will be a nervous wreck in the opening weekend. This team could absolutely go the way of last year's and not make it out of the first weekend. Admitting that doesn't make anyone less of a fan, because we all sure as hell hope they play on. They have been very inconsistent and it probably isn't realistic to think they will magically flip some switch.

There are some luxuries Duke brings into the tournament that many teams would love to have, like the CPOY and the GOAT on the sidelines. I'll be as locked in and watching as intently as ever.

 

[Tross282003]

When Duval went out in the early first half (AOC) came in and UNC started nailing outside shots. The zone fell apart. Grayson and AOC can’t be on the floor at the same time for long stretches of time. It like Kennard and Allen playing together last year. Both poor defenders.

Javin can’t play the small forward position since he can’t dribble, pass or shot the ball. It puts too much pressure on the other four players on offense. UNC just packed it in and took away the outside shot from Allen and Trent jr and double teamed our big down low.

Allen is not a point guard he turns the ball over too much. K took the ball out of Duval’s hands several games ago and put it in Allen's hands which I think has been a mistake. Allen is not a point guard. It causing too many turnovers and scews with Duval’s confidence.

 

[DukeDenver]

When Duval went out in the early first half (AOC) came in and UNC started nailing outside shots. The zone fell apart. Grayson and AOC can’t be on the floor at the same time for long stretches of time. It like Kennard and Allen playing together last year. Both poor defenders.

Javin can’t play the small forward position since he can’t dribble, pass or shot the ball. It puts too much pressure on the other four players on offense. UNC just packed it in and took away the outside shot from Allen and Trent jr and double teamed our big down low.

Allen is not a point guard he turns the ball over too much. K took the ball out of Duval’s hands several games ago and put it in Allen's hands which I think has been a mistake. Allen is not a point guard. It causing too many turnovers and scews with Duval’s confidence.

You’re reacting to one game. Allen and Duval have each done well as a PG recently.

 

[LouisiAaron]

Y’all are so emotional. We played bad and lost by 5. Had a chance to go to overtime. It comes down to turnovers for us at this point. If we turn it over 12 or less then we win. More than 12 and it’s up in the air. Just like any team. It’s hard to win when you shot almost 20 less times than your opponent. Those long rebounds killed us as well. That’s what happens when teams shoot a lot of threes. Long rebounds occur and it’s right place at the right time

 

[crazyduke3]

Leadership isn't really the culprit to me I feel like the biggest one all year has been turnovers. When we lose games we should have won, it's because we had way too many turnovers. Last night, too many turnovers. It leads to bad offense for us, easy offense for them.

 

[BlueDaveil]

I fail to see why every time we lose a game- and always a close game- it is a problem with our will and effort and leadership. We had TWO of our most important players hurt last night going out there and trying to help the team as best they could and Gary basically refusing to lose toward the end. We played UNC- not St. John’s- with two of our key guys hobbled, turned the ball over too much, got outrebounded, had a momentum killing call against Grayson, and STILL almost won. Our defense has stayed consistent whether we have been scoring or not and good luck keeping us under 70 points if Duval and Carter are back near 100%.

Could we lose in the first weekend? Possibly. But I don’t think there is any 1 or 2 seed this year that has shown otherwise except maybe UVA, who basically just lost to Louisville for all intents and purposes.

 

[timo0402]

Y’all are so emotional. We played bad and lost by 5. Had a chance to go to overtime. It comes down to turnovers for us at this point. If we turn it over 12 or less then we win. More than 12 and it’s up in the air. Just like any team. It’s hard to win when you shot almost 20 less times than your opponent. Those long rebounds killed us as well. That’s what happens when teams shoot a lot of threes. Long rebounds occur and it’s right place at the right time

Then we should have been a phenomenal rebounding team the last 25 years because we’ve always shot a boatload of 3s.

Bottom line though is you are right. You cannot turn the ball over that much and an offensive rebound is close to being a turnover. 35-36 combined in one game of those two statistical areas you aren’t beating ANYONE. Yes we came back and only lost by 5. That didn’t make it any better because unc made a **** ton of mistakes too. I didn’t think unc was all that great to be honest, i think we did a great job of making them look really good. They could have blown us out of the building and at the 10 min mark i was just hoping it would be respectable.

We just flat out sucked. We were obviously hit when Duval went down, that cannot be understated . I was shocked when i saw them retaping him up and letting him give it a go. He clearly couldn’t play. Kudos to him for toughing it out. Carter being hurt is showing as well. Defensively both of those didn’t help, but neither are as costly as bags and Trent on the wings of the 2-3 zone. They are always out of position leaving carter to fend for himself. If carter has to play defense on the shooter, clearly he won’t get the rebound meaning someone one else has too. This is where unc crashes the glass on us leaving it an easy opportunity for them to gain another possession. It was the nail in the coffin at the one stretch where they got three in a row and burned 90 seconds off.

 

[LouisiAaron]

Leadership isn't really the culprit to me I feel like the biggest one all year has been turnovers. When we lose games we should have won, it's because we had way too many turnovers. Last night, too many turnovers. It leads to bad offense for us, easy offense for them.

A lot of LIVE BALL turnovers at that. That makes it worse because it leads to fastbreaks. Dead ball turnovers don't affect you as bad as live ball ones

 

[LouisiAaron]

Then we should have been a phenomenal rebounding team the last 25 years because we’ve always shot a boatload of 3s.

Bottom line though is you are right. You cannot turn the ball over that much and an offensive rebound is close to being a turnover. 35-36 combined in one game of those two statistical areas you aren’t beating ANYONE. Yes we came back and only lost by 5. That didn’t make it any better because unc made a **** ton of mistakes too. I didn’t think unc was all that great to be honest, i think we did a great job of making them look really good. They could have blown us out of the building and at the 10 min mark i was just hoping it would be respectable.

We just flat out sucked. We were obviously hit when Duval went down, that cannot be understated . I was shocked when i saw them retaping him up and letting him give it a go. He clearly couldn’t play. Kudos to him for toughing it out. Carter being hurt is showing as well. Defensively both of those didn’t help, but neither are as costly as bags and Trent on the wings of the 2-3 zone. They are always out of position leaving carter to fend for himself. If carter has to play defense on the shooter, clearly he won’t get the rebound meaning someone one else has too. This is where unc crashes the glass on us leaving it an easy opportunity for them to gain another possession. It was the nail in the coffin at the one stretch where they got three in a row and burned 90 seconds off.

On those long rebounds it's usually about someone being in the right place at the right time. A guy could randomly be running across the free throw line and the ball just so happen to bounce in his hands. It happens. Those rebounds they were getting at the end was more so of them being in the right place and not really lack of effort on our part.

Turnovers were the problem at the end of the day. A lot of unforced live ball turnovers. It is what it is though. I still think our defense played well. We held them to 39% and made them shoot a lot of two point jumpers which are low percentage shots that we can give up. I'm glad we faced a few teams that knew how to attack the middle. Now we have film on how they're doing it and can adjust to it. Carolina and Notre Dame had good game plans. Less than a point per possession is still really good defense to me

 

[timo0402]

On those long rebounds it's usually about someone being in the right place at the right time. A guy could randomly be running across the free throw line and the ball just so happen to bounce in his hands. It happens. Those rebounds they were getting at the end was more so of them being in the right place and not really lack of effort on our part.

Turnovers were the problem at the end of the day. A lot of unforced live ball turnovers. It is what it is though. I still think our defense played well. We held them to 39% and made them shoot a lot of two point jumpers which are low percentage shots that we can give up. I'm glad we faced a few teams that knew how to attack the middle. Now we have film on how they're doing it and can adjust to it. Carolina and Notre Dame had good game plans. Less than a point per possession is still really good defense to me

I don’t disagree for the most part with that. I will say that while yes long rebounds happen off of 3s and sometimes it’s just unlucky, they crashed the glass. We were out of position. We didn’t have the butts into the players that we were responsible for way too much and that was a much bigger factor (18) than a few unlucky breaks or bounces. Luck favors the prepared man- if you’re in the right spot I’ll take my chances with you getting that “50/50” ball. You’re right it wasn’t allll effort, a lot of it was poor basketball IQ.

I’m a little hesitant to say that ND and UNC gave us good film and will allow us to adjust. Those holes are always there- those two teams just have the right personnel to exploit them. We have to be better at stopping the ball from getting into the middle so easily.

 

[LouisiAaron]

I don’t disagree for the most part with that. I will say that while yes long rebounds happen off of 3s and sometimes it’s just unlucky, they crashed the glass. We were out of position. We didn’t have the butts into the players that we were responsible for way too much and that was a much bigger factor (18) than a few unlucky breaks or bounces. Luck favors the prepared man- if you’re in the right spot I’ll take my chances with you getting that “50/50” ball. You’re right it wasn’t allll effort, a lot of it was poor basketball IQ.

I’m a little hesitant to say that ND and UNC gave us good film and will allow us to adjust. Those holes are always there- those two teams just have the right personnel to exploit them. We have to be better at stopping the ball from getting into the middle so easily.

It's moreso our wing play in the zone. Those middle 3 play it great. Bagley and Trent don't seem to understand what they're doing. I don't understand why they don't rotate down when Carter goes up to guy in the middle. That comes from positioning in the zone. Why do we have 4 people above the free throw line at time in a zone? I always thought the wings were a little lower than that. The two guards up front should be on everything above that free throw line. That back side wing never rotates down because hes at the 3 point line next to the guard majority of the time. I'm not one to ever have liked zone defenses. It's working for us. I thought we would be able to play man but pack it in like we did back in 2010.

 

[timo0402]

It's moreso our wing play in the zone. Those middle 3 play it great. Bagley and Trent don't seem to understand what they're doing. I don't understand why they don't rotate down when Carter goes up to guy in the middle. That comes from positioning in the zone. Why do we have 4 people above the free throw line at time in a zone? I always thought the wings were a little lower than that. The two guards up front should be on everything above that free throw line. That back side wing never rotates down because hes at the 3 point line next to the guard majority of the time. I'm not one to ever have liked zone defenses. It's working for us. I thought we would be able to play man but pack it in like we did back in 2010.

I agree, said the same thing earlier somewhere. That’s one of the reasons we give up so many boards.

 

[crazyduke3]

This team is hardly a lock to get through the first weekend. Erase the last three minutes of tonight’s game....it was as bad as any performance all year. Duke beats very few power conference teams last night. Very few.

If last year taught us anything... after the ACCT championship, I'm sure we all thought we were locks for AT LEAST sweet 16... then...

 

[DBM0828]

The zone makes us lose imo. Cant continuously give up the middle of the zone, especially if the middle is already in the paint, and rely on one mad to guard two players in the paint... K needs to play man to man, at least 10 possessions in a game.

 

[timo0402]

The zone makes us lose imo. Cant continuously give up the middle of the zone, especially if the middle is already in the paint, and rely on one mad to guard two players in the paint... K needs to play man to man, at least 10 possessions in a game.

Classic

 

[topps coach]

I fail to see why every time we lose a game- and always a close game- it is a problem with our will and effort and leadership. We had TWO of our most important players hurt last night going out there and trying to help the team as best they could and Gary basically refusing to lose toward the end. We played UNC- not St. John’s- with two of our key guys hobbled, turned the ball over too much, got outrebounded, had a momentum killing call against Grayson, and STILL almost won. Our defense has stayed consistent whether we have been scoring or not and good luck keeping us under 70 points if Duval and Carter are back near 100%.

Could we lose in the first weekend? Possibly. But I don’t think there is any 1 or 2 seed this year that has shown otherwise except maybe UVA, who basically just lost to Louisville for all intents and purposes.

Great points maybe it is just me but Duval getting hurt was the key for our loss.Kudos for the effort but he just did not have the explosiveness that he normally does after the injury

 

[Bod1ne]

I fail to see why every time we lose a game- and always a close game- it is a problem with our will and effort and leadership. We had TWO of our most important players hurt last night going out there and trying to help the team as best they could and Gary basically refusing to lose toward the end. We played UNC- not St. John’s- with two of our key guys hobbled, turned the ball over too much, got outrebounded, had a momentum killing call against Grayson, and STILL almost won. Our defense has stayed consistent whether we have been scoring or not and good luck keeping us under 70 points if Duval and Carter are back near 100%.

Could we lose in the first weekend? Possibly. But I don’t think there is any 1 or 2 seed this year that has shown otherwise except maybe UVA, who basically just lost to Louisville for all intents and purposes.

I'm sorry, but this is comical. Duke has been outplayed the first 30 minutes, or more, of a lot of games this year, if not most.

Those of you that wish to keep doing the "well, this went wrong this time, and this went wrong this time, so they'll will be fine moving forward" can keep diluting yourselves, and Dukes problems all you wish. But the best predictor of the future is the past.

 

[BlueDevilWildcat]

I'm sorry, but this is comical. Duke has been outplayed the first 30 minutes, or more, of a lot of games this year, if not most.

Those of you that wish to keep doing the "well, this went wrong this time, and this went wrong this time, so they'll will be fine moving forward" can keep diluting yourselves, and Dukes problems all you wish. But the best predictor of the future is the past.

Agree, don't dilute yourself, be 100% you. Also agree that the "next play" folks are delusional. We have really dumb guards who play worst when we need them at their best.

Still, a Kenpom top 5 team nearly always makes the 2nd weekend and I actually think we will given how good our defense has become. UNC is a particularly bad matchup for us.

Still not convinced we're not a better team with only 1 of Carter & Bagley on the court. If nothing else we save a lot of turnovers by our guards not trying to force feed the post as much and the bigs trying to pass to each other, and for whatever reason, Grayson seems to play much better.

 

[DukeDenver]

Those of you that wish to keep doing the "well, this went wrong this time, and this went wrong this time, so they'll will be fine moving forward" can keep diluting yourselves, and Dukes problems all you wish. But the best predictor of the future is the past.

I prefer my current concentration.

 

[BlueDaveil]

I'm sorry, but this is comical. Duke has been outplayed the first 30 minutes, or more, of a lot of games this year, if not most.

Those of you that wish to keep doing the "well, this went wrong this time, and this went wrong this time, so they'll will be fine moving forward" can keep diluting yourselves, and Dukes problems all you wish. But the best predictor of the future is the past.

I’m not quite sure how us getting outplayed for 30 minutes of plenty of games has much to do with what I was saying. If you are saying that it is because of a lack of effort or will to win that’s obviously purely speculative from either of our positions.The fact that these guys never seem to give up, and haven’t all season, and seem to genuinely enjoy each other, leads me to believe that our bad halves have much less to do with laziness or selfishness and much more to do with our inexperience. I agree this isn’t something we will overcome out of nowhere and I’m sure we will see a scoring drought or two from us in the tournament. But using the past as a predictor, we have shown that we don’t really have to play an entire 40 minute game better than the other team to win, we just need to limit our turnovers to a respectable number and keep the possessions and field goal attempts somewhat close. This is a much larger margin of error than Duke teams past, like last year, where we had to put up a huge amount of points or hit lots of 3’s (which we know can be a fickle beast) every game to win.

Let’s look even more statistically into the past. No team has won a championship in the years since kenpom began being ranked outside the top 20 on offense and defense (except I believe that UCONN team that came out of nowhere). Obviously teams that make a run through the tournament can improve those numbers but right now there are a whopping 4 teams that fit that criteria: us, MSU, Villanova and Gonzaga. Duke and MSU are the only two in the top 10 of both categories. Clearly being a post-dominant team that relies on rebounding and losing to your rival down Tobacco Road 2/3 games and in the ACC tournament does not proclude a team from winning it all (sadly).

I also don’t think you can lump key injuries during an important top 10 rivalry game into the ‘this went wrong this game’ argument. If you think having Carter and Duval healthy for the full fourty minutes wouldn’t have made any difference in a game that came down to the last possession, I find that comical.

 

[SwatX1]

I'm sorry, but this is comical. Duke has been outplayed the first 30 minutes, or more, of a lot of games this year, if not most.

Those of you that wish to keep doing the "well, this went wrong this time, and this went wrong this time, so they'll will be fine moving forward" can keep diluting yourselves, and Dukes problems all you wish. But the best predictor of the future is the past.

So this year we are losing to USC and the heels are winning the tournament? Or do we use history farther back than that and Nova is winning it? Hey, maybe we are going all the way back to 2015????

 

[Swervin_Irvin_Duke]

Dont hit the panic button yet, we still got games left. Stop acting as if the season is over by limiting what this team can do. That is the beauty of this team, will we go sweet16 and get put out? elite 8? FF? All i know is we will be a contender next week, everything else will sort itself out. We just gotta murder whoever they put in front of us.