Monthly Archives: November 2010

Duke Basketball

BDN Post Game Report – Duke dominates Miami [OH] 79-45 (Coach K Audio)

The Duke Blue Devils leaned on their staple man to man defense in a convincing 79-45 win over out-manned Miami of Ohio on Tuesday evening.  Duke held their opponent to 33% shooting and scored 17 points off of forced turnovers on their way to their second win of the young season.  Here are some of my thoughts on the contest.

Cameron was still rocking

I can be a little tough on the Cameron Crazies in that I have seen four decades of their exploits, but this season they've been outstanding.  So much so, that I decided to lead with this.  Coach Krzyzewski just stepped away from the podium and he had nice things to say about them as well.  So, major props to the crazies from BDN for my ears are still ringing and I'm not kidding one bit when I say that.

Incredible Defense & Rebounding

Duke absolutely suffocated the Miami offense holding them to 45 points.  It was literally hard for Miami to find any open looks save a couple of backdoors.  Krzyzewski has to be happy with his defense in the early season but he was quick to point out that Duke would play heavyweights next week and that will be a much better barrometer of where his defense is on the young season.  Miami sent one offensive player to the board and sent the other four players back on defense to stop Duke breaks but that allowed  the Blue Devils to dominate the glass to the tune of 48-22.

Seth Curry was smooth as silk

I wanted to reserve judgement on Seth Curry until I watched him play in real games.  I wondered and possibly even doubted his ability to score at a higher level than his days at Liberty.  I am sold now.  When Curry is hot get out of the way, for if you foul him he'll drain free throws to the tune of 6 of 6.  Curry ended the game as Duke's leading scorer with 17 and he was 3 of 4 from the three in shots that barely moved the net.  Imagine for a second, a scorer like this coming off the bench all season long.

Poor Colgate, they'll see a lot of Irving

Duke's standout freshman Kyrie Irving was saddled with early foul trouble and played a mere seven minutes in the first half.  He had a nice flurry in the second half and ended the game with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 13 points but I got the impression from his look that he wanted more and he'll get a lot more when Colgate rolls in on Friday, that I promise.  He may be humble, but he is hungry like a bear.

Ryan Kelly gets the start

Duke elected to start Ryan Kelly in place of Miles Plumlee and he answered with 7 points and 3 rebounds.  Krzyzewski said he wanted to use some different combinations and that's what tonight's game was all about.  As I said in the pre season, Duke will have several players start as the season progresses.

The first meeting with Miami but a former Red Hawk had Duke ties and beat the Heels

That was a mouthful, huh?  This was the first time the two schools met on the basketball court, but back in the 70's Duke had a kid named Dave Elmer that transferred to Miami.  Well, after sitting out a year, he went into Carmichael Auditorium at UNC and led his team to an upset win over the Tar Heels coached by Dean Smith.  Just an aside ..

Double-Double for Mason Plumlee

Sophomore Mason Plumlee was manly grabbing 14 rebounds to go with 10 points this evening.  It was clear from the start that Mason wanted anything that came off the boards.  And those dunks!  I'd have nightmares if somebody threw one of those down on me.  Krzyzeswki said he thinks Plumlee is capable of those numbers all season long.  His 14 boards were a career high as well.

And to wrap up the post game report, here are Coach K's comments after the game in their entirety -

Just press play -

Duke Basketball

The cutting room floor – Nolan Smith and Kyrie Iriving audio

BDN Photo

Duke takes on Miami of Ohio tonight in their second game of the young season and all indicators point towards another easy win.  The Blue Devils depth will prove to be too much for the visitors and look for the Blue Devils to drop 100 or better points as they keep running.  Here are some post game comments from Nolan Smith and Kyrie Irving to hold you over.  And we will, of course, be on hand for tonight's action, so visit us again.

Just press play -

Nolan Smith

Kyrie Irving -

Duke Basketball

Duke vs Miami of Ohio Game Notes

Seth Curry - Rick Crank for BDN

Game 2 • O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic 
[1 AP / 1 Coaches] Duke (1-0)  vs. Miami [Ohio] (1-0)
Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010 • 7:30 p.m.
 

The Opening TipDuke faces Miami [Ohio] on Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Both teams are 1-0 on the season with Duke owning a 97-60 win over Princeton on Sunday, Nov. 14 and Miami [Ohio] topping Towson, 60-57, on Nov. 12. The game will be televised on ESPNU with Mike Patrick (play-by-play) and Len Elmore (analyst) calling the action.
Duke-Miami [Ohio] SeriesTuesday’s game marks the first meeting between the two schools.
 
Duke vs. The MACDuke is 6-1 all-time against teams currently in the Mid-American Conference. The Blue Devils have won four straight against MAC schools.
 
O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE ClassicDuke is now 4-1 in the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic after topping Princeton, 97-60, on Sunday. The Blue Devils went 3-1 in 2006, losing to Marquette in the championship game, 73-62. The Blue Devils also play Marquette on Nov. 22 in Kansas City, Mo., followed by a game on Nov. 23 against either Kansas State or Gonzaga.
Numbers Game
l The Blue Devils opened the season ranked No. 1 in the AP poll for the seventh time in school history. Duke has been ranked No. 1 in the AP poll in an NCAA-best 15 different season under Coach K.
l Including Tuesday's game, Duke has played more games (192) when ranked No. 1 in the AP poll than as an unranked team (141) under Coach K.l Duke has only lost two home games in the past three seasons, posting a record of 49-2 in Cameron Indoor Stadium during that span. The Blue Devils currently have a 20-game win streak at home.
l The Blue Devils have won an NCAA-best 78 consecutive non-conference home games. The last home loss against a non-conference opponent for the Blue Devils was on Feb. 26, 2000 against St. John’s, 83-82.
l Duke has won 23 consecutive games in November, dating back to a 73-62 loss to Marquette in the championship game of the 2006 CBE Classic. The Blue Devils are 103-10 all-time in the month of November under Coach K.
l Duke's backcourt players combined for 68 points, 19 assists and 11 three-point field goals in the win over Princeton. The starting guard tandem of Nolan Smith and Kyrie Irving delivered 39 points and 15 assists.
l The Blue Devils recorded an assist on 72.2 percent of their made field goals (26-of-36) in the season opener against Princeton. Duke had 13 assists on 16 first half field goals. l Duke has won 32 consecutive games against teams outside the traditional power conferences (Big Ten, Big East, SEC, ACC, PAC 10, Big 12). Virginia Commonwealth’s 79-77 win over Duke in the 2007 NCAA Tournament was the Blue Devils’ last loss to a team from a non-power conference.
l Senior Nolan Smith leads the ACC with 11 straight double-figure scoring games. He has scored 10 or more points in 25 of the last 26 games for the Blue Devils.
l Nolan Smith (22), Kyrie Irving (17) and Kyle Singler (16) combined for 55 points in the season opener. Jon Scheyer, Singler and Smith comprised the highest-scoring trio in the NCAA a year ago at 53.3 points per game.
l Duke’s 97 points scored on Sunday were the most points allowed by Princeton since a 103-76 loss to North Carolina on Dec. 31, 1968.l All 10 Blue Devils that played on Sunday scored at least one basket with five players reaching double-figures in scoring for Duke.
l Duke’s reserves outscored the Princeton bench 35-16 in the season opener. Sophomore guards Seth Curry and Andre Dawkins paced the bench scoring attack with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
l The Blue Devils took four charges on Sunday against Princeton. Ryan Kelly, Miles Plumlee, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith each took a charge in Duke’s win over the Tigers.
l Senior Kyle Singler has made at least one three-point field goal in 67 of the last 77 games for the Blue Devils. He was 2-of-3 on Sunday and now has an ACC-high (among active players) 207 three-pointers.
l The Blue Devils forced 27 Princeton turnovers in the season opener, which marks the first time that Duke has forced over 25 or more turnovers in a game since Jan. 14, 2009 when they forced 28 against Georgia Tech. The Blue Devils scored 36 points off the turnovers on Sunday and had a +24 points edge that category.

Duke Basketball, Duke Football

Monday Musings – Duke Basketball and Football tidbits

Here's another Monday Musings Cheeleader of the Week pic!

Welcome to another edition of Monday Musings Blue Devil Nation!  Duke Athletics had another full weekend slate and we'll take a look back and ahead on the latest edition of Watzone's Monday Musings.

Enter Goliath!

In the pre season Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski joked about during the annual ACC Media Day about how Duke became known as Goliath in media circles once they entered the championship game against Butler, a team that rolled their way to the final.  Everywhere you turn Duke is getting cover boy status with magazines to go along with the outstanding ESPNU Special.  And then Duke has been named the favorite to win another national title, yet we all know that the teams generally picked for that spot rarely are there in the end.  Anyway you look at it, Duke is Goliath this season or the 800 pound gorilla in the room for they will be painted as such so there is little any of us can do about it.

A pretty good start to the season for the Duke Men

Duke was hardly clicking on all cylinders against Princeton, yet they still won convincingly via the three point shot and their staple defense.  Duke had a long time to prepare for Princeton, more time than anyone else might receive the rest of the way.   It'll be interesting to see how Duke plays Miami of Ohio after having less prep time.  But back to last evening, Duke looked every bit the part of the aforementioned label Goliath.  It's got to be scary for opponents to realize they might shut one or even two players down on this seasons team, but Duke has too many offensive weapons and somebody will almost certainly pick up the slack.

The Duke Women are rocking too

Duke has an interesting mix of youth and experience on the basketball court this season and they should be a top ten main stay all year long.  I was really impressed by the play of young freshman guard Chloe Wells the other night and she'll take to the court against Southern Cal this evening.  Duke handled BYU in the opener by dominating the paint and tonight is another good early season test, so turn out in Cameron if you are in the area.  The Duke Women, like the Duke Men have been rocking the recruiting front as well, but we'll talk of that later in the week.

Devils oh-so close on the football field

Duke lost a heart breaker to Boston College as a pass was batted down as Duke was knocking on the door in what would have been a rousing win.  Despite the loss, Duke continues to show improvement in many areas and the team will show up in Atlanta and in my opinion give Georgia Tech all they want.  A look up and down the roster shows how many players Duke will return for next year and they are playing to get better in closing out a season where they fell just short in three ACC games.  For the record had they won those tight contest, Duke would have been 6-4.

Two Devils will push for All ACC honors

When it comes time to vote for All ACC teams, the media will realistically consider Duke placekicker Will Snyderwine and wideout Conner Vernon for first team.  Snyderwine is as accurate a kicker as Duke has had in a good while and he made second team last season.  Vernon leads the ACC in most receiving categories.  And go ahead and pencil Kelby Brown on some freshman All American teams.  And note that all of these player return next season.  The Blue Devils lose six starters but have replacements with experience coming back and some pretty decent redshirts to add to the mix.

Sean Renfree

Renfree didn't put the ball in the end zone but he had another solid game going 35 of 49 for 285 yards.  His experiences this season will shape and mold his character even more and he will never give up as seen by this quote, "Nobody's going to put his head down.  We have two games left against two very good teams.  We're going to prepare as we have all season long."

And the Viking ship was set to sea

Students wore Viking Helmets in tribute to Drew Everson who had a fall to his death on campus recently.  Drew was a popular fellow amongst his peers and the head line monitor and he was given a Viking salute last evening.  He would have been proud of the Cameron Crazies efforts which were praised by Krzyzewski in his post game press conference.