Tag Archives: Miles Plumlee

Second half spurt helps Duke roll past Boston College 79-59

Nol;an Smith throws one down during Duke's 20 point win over Boston College - Lance King Photo
Nol;an Smith throws one down during Duke's 20 point win over Boston College - Lance King Photo

Durham, N.C. - On a night when Duke 14-2, 2-1 in the ACC] hit a single three point shot one would think they may have lost the game, but that was far from the case in 79-59 win over Boston College.

After the two teams played an almost identical first half in statistics and score, Duke outscored the visiting Eagles 15-2 to start the half.

The Blue Devils defense simply held the Eagles in check and if it were not for Krzyzewski clearing his bench, they would have scored a lot less than the 24 points they put up.

Nolan Smith led the way for Duke with a team high 24 points [tied his career high] to go with his 4 assists.  Smith made several key buckets to keep runs alive on a night when Scheyer was off by his standards.

"Beginning of the second half, we started with defense.  We were able to execute the play that we drew up at halftime.  Miles got a dunk right off the bat that keyed our defense," said Smith after the win.

Scheyer still ended the contest with 12 points, but he was just 1 of 6 from the three point stripe.  But considering he had Duke's only three, the Blue Devils won the old fashioned way on two point buckets.

The aforementioned Miles Plumlee played his best half of the season and he ended the game with 12 points total, ten in the first half.  After his 5 of 6 shooting from the field, he leads the team in field goal percentage.

When asked of his thunderous dunk to open the half, Plumlee said, "I felt great after the shot.  I know I can make those plays all the time and I can make other plays that I haven't made yet.  I just need to keep doing it in practice and it will show up in games for me.

Singler had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds and interestingly, he got it going after his fourth foul which was a technical.

The game was heated at times and the refs let the two teams play for most of the game and there is a bit of a chippy history between the two teams.

Flying under the radar were Brian Zoubeks 11 rebounds to go with his 6 points.

Duke benefited from points off defense outscoring Boston College 15-4 on the fast break and held a 17-10 edge on points off turnovers.  The royal blue also outrebounded the Eagles by a 40-27 margin.

Duke will next take on Wake Forest at 8:00 on Sunday evening.

Stay tuned for the Blue Devil Nation Locker Room Report where you will hear from Scheyer, Singler, Smith and Miles Plumlee.

Link to Official Box Score

Join BDN Premium for behind the scenes coverage.

Five Questions for Duke Basketball Heading into 2010

Scheyer Singler ThomasIt is New Years Day and Duke fans are asking, “How far can this team go in 2010?” Thus far Duke has looked like a solid team capable of competing to win the ACC regular season and defending the ACC Championship they won in Atlanta last March. Advancing deep into the NCAA Tournament is a realistic possibility.

The ACC regular season is set to start as Duke (11-1) hosts Clemson (12-2) on Sunday evening in a 7:45 pm contest. Duke is simultaneously a very experienced team and a young team still developing. Five upper classmen on the roster have a combined 280 starts, while three freshmen and a sophomore are all playing significant minutes in the rotation. How these two opposite elements meld is an important factor to how good the Blue Devils can become.

So the jury is still out on how good Duke can be in 2010. There are many questions remaining to be answered before it is known whether this squad can become the 11th Mike Krzyzewski coached Duke team to compete in the Final Four. The five questions discussed below are a good start for analyzing the 2009-10 Blue Devils’ chances of advancing to Indianapolis.

How dominant can S Cubed be during the ACC season?

Kyle Singler started the season as a legitimate candidate to earn All America honors. Jon Scheyer has been playing like an ACC Player-of-the-Year Candidate. And Nolan Smith appears to have made the performance jump everyone expected him to make last season. These three players, S Cubed, form the core of the 2009-10 Duke Blue Devils and in order for the Blue Devils to win the ACC and develop into a legitimate Final Four contender all three must bring their strengths onto the court.

Singler, at 6’8”, is a match-up nightmare at small forward for most teams. He is bigger and more athletic than the typical small forward in the college game. Singler has the ability to place the team on his back and carry them. His 28 points in the loss to Wisconsin is a good example even though the end result came up short. In 2010, the requirement to step-up and carry Duke to victory is going to present itself to Singler more than once and the Blue Devils will need him to respond in order to achieve their potential.

Scheyer values the basketball. With an assists to turnover ratio of 5.5, and an 18.6 points per game scoring average, he is a tremendous asset at point guard. After Scheyer scored 36 points against his team, Gardner-Webb Head Coach Rick Scruggs stated, “He was unbelievable. Anybody that says there’s any weakness is out of their minds. He shot it, he controlled the game, he doesn’t turn the ball over. He does everything you could ask of him at his position.”

Smith is the player Duke will rely upon to contain an opponent’s speedy guard. Smith is currently the team’s second leading scorer at 18 points per game so he is obviously an important offensive player. However, defense is where Duke needs Smith to standout. Limiting dribble penetration, pressuring the ball, and creating perimeter turnovers that lead to transition opportunities will be key to Duke winning big in 2010.

Singler, Scheyer, and Smith are the core of this year’s Duke Blue Devils and all three must be consistent throughout the season in order for Duke to achieve their maximum potential. In most games, Duke will be okay as long as two of the three show up with their “A” game, but against the crème de la crème all three will need to be clicking.

How good is the defense?

Duke held Gonzaga to 41 points on December 19th. Gonzaga entered the game as the #15 ranked team in the nation averaging 79 points per game. Back on November 27th, Duke held #13 Connecticut to a season low 59 points. In the other nine games they’ve played, Connecticut has averaged 75 points. Were these performances an aberration or is Duke capable of consistently shutting down Top 25 offenses?

Duke is a big, physical team inside. Gonzaga Coach Mark Few stated, “Their physical play bothered us as far as finishing shots around the rim.” Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun stated, “Duke physically handled us.” Duke is averaging 5.7 blocked shots per game with sophomore Miles Plumlee leading the way with 1.3 blocks per game.

Versatility is another defensive characteristic this season. Senior forward Lance Thomas has the ability to defend every position and Coach Krzyzewski relies upon him to tackle the tough assignments. Coach Krzyzewski’s comments after the Gonzaga game included, “Lance played a great game today. The kid Harris, I think he is a really good player, and Lance did a great job on him.”

Through the first 12 games of the season, Duke has a +8.5 rebounding advantage. Basketball is a game where every possession is important and this Duke team denies opponents second chance points by aggressively controlling the boards.

Can Brian Zoubek continue to be a legitimate center during the ACC season?

Zoubek has been playing very solid basketball over Duke’s first 12 games. He is a rebounding machine averaging 7.7 rebounds per game in only 16.7 minutes of playing time. That equates to 18.4 rebounds per 40 minutes of playing time. With the start of the ACC season, the level of competition is going to increase and Zoubek must step up his game and continue to dominate the glass when on the court.

Duke is deep in the frontcourt with four players 6’10” or taller but three of the four are underclassmen. Senior Zoubek must be play up to the level of his experience and be a steady influence upon young big men Miles and Mason Plumlee. If Duke is to develop into a team capable of advancing to Indianapolis, Zoubek must remain solid as the competition stiffens because the Blue Devils need his leadership.

Coach Krzyzewski recently commented, when discussing the defense, “The kid who really hasn’t gotten much attention for us, is Zoubek. Brian has had a hell of a year so far.” Blue Devil fans desire to hear the coach make similar statements after big ACC conference games.

Can the bench players remain viable options?

All nine scholarship players, on Duke’s roster are averaging double digit minutes of playing time. The issue is Duke has only nine scholarship players so all nine must continue to improve and perform as the season advances. This Duke team is vulnerable to injury and can be hurt by a single player suffering a lapse of confidence. Duke needs all nine players contributing in order to ensure maximum team performance from now until late March.

How high is Andre Dawkins’ ceiling as a freshman?

We already talked about the bench players, but this question is a bit different. Duke needs an explosive fourth offensive option against top notch opponents. Is Andre Dawkins the guy? Or has Dawkins already played the best games of his freshman season? Once again, this is about tougher competition. Dawkins has shined in early season games averaging 9.8 points with double digit performances in five games including 11 points against Connecticut and 12 against Wisconsin with a season high of 20 points against Radford. The question is will Dawkins continue to be a consistent scorer in games against Clemson, Maryland, Florida State, North Carolina, and into the post season?

Duke is known for being a prolific 3-point shooting team and Dawkins is a guy who has the ability to stretch defenses past their comfort zone. Combining big, physical inside play with accurate outside shooting is a lethal formula so Duke needs Dawkins knocking down 3-pointers in 2010 like he did over the first 12 games of the schedule.

The 2009-10 Duke Blue Devils can become a legitimate Final Four contender with continued development as a team, and if the ball bounces their way a couple of times in key situations that are sure to arise. The factor promoting the most optimism in Durham this season is that this Duke team appears to be a squad, which will be much stronger and talented in March than in it was during November and December, and that is very bad news for the teams seeded in the same regional as Duke come March.

Duke too much for Charlotte in their 101-59 NIT second round win

Nolan Smith - BDN Photo
Nolan Smith - BDN Photo

Durham, N.C. - The Duke Blue Devils rolled past the visiting Charlotte 49ers by a score of 101-59 in the second round of the NIT.  In the process, the Blue Devils climbed to 3-0 on the young season.

The Blue Devils delivered a quick knockout blow in the first half where they took a 30 point lead into the locker room.  There were many bright spots for Duke on a night of career high stats for many players.

Smith's return was just the spark the offense needed.  Smith was the games high scorer with 24 points [a career high] and he tied Scheyer with 5 assists to go with 5 boards and 2 steals.

"Nolan is going to get involved.  We don't have to set anything up for him because he's an outstanding player," said Krzyzewski.

I've been anxious to get back out there.  I was ready to make plays.  I wanted to play well and feed off Kyle and Jon.  They've been playing great basketball and they were looking for me," said Smith

Jon Scheyer chipped in with 20 points and Kyle Singler ended the game with 17.

Duke was also able to use their height as Miles Plumlee had dual career highs of  15 points and 11 rebounds [10 defensive] for his first double-double.

Krzyzewski said of Miles, "He can really run the court and likes to dunk and we like him to dunk [smiling and turning to Scheyer and Singler who nod yes].  His defense was good and his rebounding was good.  With the amount of minutes he played last year, he's still like a freshman."

Brian Zoubek fell one point short of a double-double finishing with 9 points and he tied a career with 13 rebounds.

As good as the offense was, it was the Devils defense which pleased Coach Krzyzewski after the game.  Duke held Charlotte to 33.9% from the field.

The Blue Devils turned in 29 points off turnovers as well and outscored their opponent 42-22 in the paint.  The Blue Devils will now face the winner of the Arizona State- TCU game in New York on Wednesday November 25th.

Duke is now 22-2 all time in NIT play.  Duke extended their NCAA leading home winning streak versus non conference opponents to 71 games.  Duke had an amazing 21 assists with six players recording two or more.

BDN Fast Break – Miles Plumlee talks of his performance against Findlay

Miles goes up against Mason in a recent practice
Miles goes up against Mason in a recent practice

Miles Plumlee fell just short of a double-double last evening, but he still played a key role in Duke's easy exhibition win over Findlay.  Today, BDN introduces "Fast Break," which is a basketball version of our "Quick Hitter's," in football.  The aforementioned are brief audio clips lasting no longer than four minutes.

Just press play -