Official Duke Postgame Thread
- Thread starter Havs
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This game is more disappointing to me than most of the embarrassing losses by Coach Mac's squad.....The way we fought back from down 9-0 was encouraging but after that.....was the most pitiful performance i've seen...I saw no attempt to rebound...Brackins was about as aggressive as a box of kittens...We were getting driven around on like the Indiana turnpike....This ship is starting to take on water fast...and i know we played the 5th team in the nation....but if this was a statement game, we need to come out with the proverbial "guns a blazing" mentality next time out...which could be in the next 3 weeks with KU and Texas coming to town...
Just what I was thinking. The rest of our team is not intimidating at all. That makes me sad.
I think they did come out in both halves with guns blazing (aka- too pumped up), and they were much better when they settled down a bit.
Honestly, I think this Duke squad's potential is of the Sweetsixteen/Elight Eight. We don't possess the horses for a NCAA Title run this year. Next year we'll be loaded and get back to playing Duke basketball in the NCAA Tourny but unfortunely for us, UNC will too.
Yeah, I saw this too and the forced fist bump between DG & Dendy (the 2 players with the lowest basketball IQs on the team...and that's saying somehting on this team. I thought the funniest part was DG was yelling at Dendy when DG was the one who threw it straight to the defender for a lay-up the other way! I know some of you are in love with DG and think he's great and I'll admit he does have some talent, but he is not a good point guard and we will be lucky to be an average team with him running the show. Colvin needs to get more minutes on the floor. His vision when driving to the basket is much better than DG's...heck, I wouldn't even mind if both DG and Colvin are on the court at the same time like they were tonight, but playing Colvin less than 10 minutes a game is idiotic!
Without knowing the play, it would be hard to say if DG screwed up, or if Dendy was supposed to do something different.
Our scholar athletes represented the Universty well tonight.
Yes, we fell a few points short, but we played with enthusiasm and
our decorum was exempliary.
Yes, we fell a few points short, but we played with enthusiasm and
our decorum was exempliary.
I can't believe the hatred on here towards DG. I thought he probably had the best game of anyone on our team tonight. Did he make some poor passes, yes. But Duke is a VERY good defensive team and DG was getting no help at all. But DG was scoring well in the first half and was our only player that could blow past his defender all night.... at will.
Other observations....
Brackins: very bad game in front of a lot of pro scouts. Not good for him at all. His stock is dropping. I just don't see the Craig Brackins that put up 40 on Kansas anymore. That guy is gone.
Gilstrap: a very, very raw talent that needs at LEAST another year if he wants to play in the NBA IMO. He needs a LOT of polishing on his game. He's very erratic and out of control most of the time. Also makes poor decisions passing the ball. Has a lot of trouble finishing his drives to the basket.
Colvin: Shows signs that he can be very good for us down the road, but in no way is better than DG right now... NO WAY. Like I said, he will be a very good one in time. He also is out of control way too often IMO.
Staiger: Once again, nowhere to be found tonight. We could have used about 5 three's from him tonight... it would have been a big lift. He's bad on defense, and is only willing to launch three's on offense. Perfect European player if you ask me.
Ham: Good game tonight. He tries his hardest, and I will never fault him for that.
Overall... once again we had NO rebounding whatsoever, and too many turnovers. That was the ballgame plain and simple. I hope our guys learn from this game what a REAL defensive effort looks like. Charles Boozer commented this week just how hard Coach K works his players because he witnessed it himself watching his older brother practice at Duke. He made it sound like it was a LOT harder than our team works in practice IMO. I think he's right, and it showed on the court tonight. Duke is much more precise, smart, and active on both ends of the court. That's on GMac IMO. I'm not sure how hard our guys can be working on defense and rebounding in practice because it sure doesn't improve on the court.
Other observations....
Brackins: very bad game in front of a lot of pro scouts. Not good for him at all. His stock is dropping. I just don't see the Craig Brackins that put up 40 on Kansas anymore. That guy is gone.
Gilstrap: a very, very raw talent that needs at LEAST another year if he wants to play in the NBA IMO. He needs a LOT of polishing on his game. He's very erratic and out of control most of the time. Also makes poor decisions passing the ball. Has a lot of trouble finishing his drives to the basket.
Colvin: Shows signs that he can be very good for us down the road, but in no way is better than DG right now... NO WAY. Like I said, he will be a very good one in time. He also is out of control way too often IMO.
Staiger: Once again, nowhere to be found tonight. We could have used about 5 three's from him tonight... it would have been a big lift. He's bad on defense, and is only willing to launch three's on offense. Perfect European player if you ask me.
Ham: Good game tonight. He tries his hardest, and I will never fault him for that.
Overall... once again we had NO rebounding whatsoever, and too many turnovers. That was the ballgame plain and simple. I hope our guys learn from this game what a REAL defensive effort looks like. Charles Boozer commented this week just how hard Coach K works his players because he witnessed it himself watching his older brother practice at Duke. He made it sound like it was a LOT harder than our team works in practice IMO. I think he's right, and it showed on the court tonight. Duke is much more precise, smart, and active on both ends of the court. That's on GMac IMO. I'm not sure how hard our guys can be working on defense and rebounding in practice because it sure doesn't improve on the court.
Uh, did you see our squad? Even as a Dukie I must admit, we definetly are FAR from intimidating. Hell our best player looks like he could beat you worse in a game of chess than in basketball. I love the kid though, he's our best guard since JJ Redick.
When i meant guns a blazing...i meant come out on a mission and firing, maintain the tempo of the game....
ISU has an average basketball team, that's just a fact. I do have hope that since Dendy, Gilstrap, SC and Colvin are seeing the court for the first time this year that by mid-season we'll start to see some real team b-ball.
I mean the difference between the two teams on the floor tonight was glaring. I don't think Duke has superior athletes to ISU, but they are much smarter basketball players, much more desciplined basketball players and play a surperior TEAM game.
I think all the good stuff I mentioned about Duke is a direct reflection of their quality of coaching. Mac D just isn't getting the best out of his players and as much as it pains me to say this, I don't think he ever will. I hope at the end of the season I have to eat this post, but my gut is telling me otherwise.
I'm so frustrated. Somethings gotta give.
I mean the difference between the two teams on the floor tonight was glaring. I don't think Duke has superior athletes to ISU, but they are much smarter basketball players, much more desciplined basketball players and play a surperior TEAM game.
I think all the good stuff I mentioned about Duke is a direct reflection of their quality of coaching. Mac D just isn't getting the best out of his players and as much as it pains me to say this, I don't think he ever will. I hope at the end of the season I have to eat this post, but my gut is telling me otherwise.
I'm so frustrated. Somethings gotta give.
Brackins may be a stand up guy, but he folded like a freshman womens tennis player... he was forcing shots all night, never let the game come to him, didn't rebound, didn't work to get open... he just leaned on mason plumlee for a while and cried when he didn't get the ball... when he did the get the ball... he forced up AWFUL shots... this team will go as Craig Brackins goes, and there is a reason we weren't competitive tonight... Craig Brackins
