Tag Archives: Lance Thomas

It’s Blue Devils versus Blue Devils at the NC Pro Am

July 22, 2009 Mark Watson

Ryan Kelly had 16 points - Rick Crank Photography

Four Duke Blue Devils took to the floor in McDougald Gym on the campus of NC Central during the continuing NC Pro Am event. Interestingly, the Dukies went head to head, two each playing for WR Starkey and Team Duhon. Coming into the game Team Duhon was a the top of the standings led by Mason Plumlee and the sharp shooting Jon Scheyer.

On this night Team Starkey would claw their way to a 69-60 victory behind Lance Thomas and Ryan Kelly. Kelly paced his squad with team high 10 first half points showing a soft touch from the outside. Oddly, Ryan did not play for a good nine minutes in the second half despite his effectiveness. Kelly would end the game with 16 points and had a couple of dunks at the start of the game.

His teammate Lance Thomas tallied 8 points and as usual was active on the floor. Thomas even drained 1 of 2 three point shots, the first, a misss looking as if he was uncomfortable with the shot. Still, Thomas was putting more arch on the ball than I had seen during his career at Duke.

Mason Plumlee has had some good showings, but his shots were dropping off the rim early where he started 0-6 from the field. He came out in the second half and nailed a three point shot, finishing with 7 points. It is worth noting that he had some early foul problems as well.

Jon Scheyer hit four three point shots and missed maybe two shots the entire game. He scored a team high 18 points and had several open looks where teammates took the ball one on one. But that is the nature of the game in this event where all of the players want to shine.

Plumlee and Thomas go head to head in last nights action

The action continues this evening and admission is free, so stop in if you are in the area. All photos from this event are provided by Rick Crank Photography. Crank will continue to be a part of Blue Devil Nation and other ventures.

Wednesday, July 22

6 pm KG vs Lucky 7
7 pm WR Starkey vs Navy
8 pm God Bless My Success vs Team Duhon
9 pm Hendricks vs E-Net

Duke Basketball, Duke Basketball Recruiting News

NC Pro Am Report – Mason Plumlee tallies 17, Scheyer 16 to earn a victory

July 10, 2009 Mark Watson

Miles ready to dunk - copyright Rick Crank

Five Duke Blue Devils were in action this past Thursday evening during the North Carolina Pro Am event on the campus of North Carolina Central. Mason Plumlee and Jon Scheyer took the court first and the two Dukies teamed very well together. In fact, that teamwork is a big part of Team Duhon's 3-0 record.

Mason would finish the game with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 assists. Mason is impressive in that he has a good handle for a big man and can make the good pass. While the majority of his points came in the paint or dunks, Mason drained his only three point attempt.

The crowd came to their feet when Mason tried a windmill dunk where he extended his long arm, but a foul stopped the show. Still, Mason a good free throw shooter, drained both shots.

Meanwhile, Scheyer knocked down two threes early and wound up with 16 points on the evening helping his team win 68-58. Scheyer had three assists and several blown ones on my watch, but I could have missed a few.

Lance Thomas made his first appearance where he joined teammate Ryan Kelly and rival Ed Davis (UNC) to form a pretty good front line. Davis scored 21 points after hitting just 6 earlier in the week. He was aided by some Kelly passes. Speaking of Ryan, he would go on to score 12 points himself. Thomas added 12 points as their team won easily.

Jon Scheyer - c/r Rick Crank Photography - special to BDN

In the nightcap, Miles Plumlee had the unenviable task of holding down UNC's John Henson, Leslie McDonald and Justin Watts. His team was without Kyle Singler who attended the LeBron James Skills Academy.

Henson threw down three effortless dunks and has really quick hops. He rejected Miles one time, but there was payback. Henson is the real deal and ended up with 14 points making some showboat plays, but Plumlee got his licks in, once getting beat but recovering to make a nice block. To round out the play, he recovered the blocked ball, dribbled the length of the court and dished out an assist. One block was called goal tending as well and there was one of the worst charge calls I had ever seen on Miles.

Justin Watts lit up the nets for 21 points and McDonald added 12, but their team blew a 12 point lead and wound up losing 54-53. Plumlee hit two big free throws to put his team up a single digit with 1:33 left and they held on for an impressive win.

The action continues next Tuesday and admission to the event is free.

Duke Basketball

Getting to the Point (and the Post)!

May 22, 2009 Bob Green

scheyer-ii After Duke's Sweet 16 loss to Villanova, on March 27, Coach Krzyzweski was asked, "Does this in any way make you more eager to find a post player who can really score?" He answered, "And a point. And we feel -- it's not like we haven't tried to find them. A couple of them have gone to other schools right at the last second. We were like a three-headed monster on offense. And it carried us a long way, but it couldn't -- they played a lot of five against three tonight."

The Blue Devils may end up with a top rated point guard but it will not be from the Class of 2009. Eric Bledsoe and John Wall have signed with Kentucky, while Darius Smith decided to head East to Connecticut. Those three point guards all had Duke on their list, but the Blue Devils have most likely finished up their recruiting for this year and did not bring in a point guard to complement 6'11 Mason Plumlee and 6'9" Ryan Kelly two McDonald's All-Americans who will potentially provide Coach Krzyzewski considerable depth in the front court. The recruiting focus now shifts to 2010.

For this coming season, point guard duties will remain with Senior Jon Scheyer, a 6'5" wing guard, and Junior Nolan Smith, a 6'3" combo guard. While neither Scheyer nor Smith is a true point guard, both players bring point guard skills onto the court. When the two play together those skills combine to create a point guard who, while not spectacular, is certainly solid.

Jon Scheyer protects the basketball which results in a minimal number of turnovers. After Scheyer led Duke to the ACC Championship and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, Kyle Singler commented, "He makes plays for himself and others. That spot for us, when Jon has been there, has been huge for us." For the season, Scheyer recorded a 1.8:1 assists to turnover ratio, while averaging 14.9 points per game. Defensively, Scheyer is a tremendous off-the-ball defender who led Duke with 1.6 steals per game.

Nolan Smith's key skills are on-the-ball defense and the ability to finish at the rim. When he is healthy, Smith is a player who makes Duke a stronger team. Staying healthy has been a bit of a challenge for Smith over his first two seasons as a Blue Devil. He missed three games, late this past regular season, after suffering a concussion and bruised ribs in a game at Maryland. As a freshman, Smith was slowed down the stretch after hyper-extending his knee. With Duke being thin in the backcourt this coming season, it is imperative Smith avoid any significant injuries such as the concussion as well as the nagging little problems of his freshman year.

Last season, the three headed monster Coach Krzyzewski alluded to was: Kyle Singler, Gerald Henderson, and Jon Scheyer. The three combined to average 47.9 points per game which represents 72 percent of the team’s points. With Gerald Henderson gone to the NBA, Coach Krzyzewski will be looking for a couple of players to step up their consistency on offense. Nolan Smith, who averaged 8.4 points per game last season, is a likely candidate as is Elliot Williams, who averaged 4.2 points.

As a freshman, Williams came on strong, after being inserted into the starting line-up, averaging 7.3 points over the last 12 games. Williams brings exceptional athleticism onto the court and has the ability to play pressure defense. He needs to develop a consistent jump shot and must improve on his woeful free throw percentage, but Blue Devil fans should look for Williams to be a significant factor in the rotation from day one especially if he makes the type of freshman-to-sophomore improvements prevalent in the college game.

Coach Krzyzewski will only have three guards at his disposal next year so look for Kyle Singler to spend major minutes at small forward. Duke will have to play a larger line-up out of necessity and the competition for playing time should be fierce. Seniors Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek have started 62 and 21 games respectively during their first three seasons in Durham. They have the advantage of understanding Coach Krzyzewski’s defensive system and will be looking to have breakout senior seasons. Neither player has proven to be a consistent offensive option but both have their niche. Thomas is a versatile defender who is valuable in a fast tempo contest, while Zoubek is an extremely talented passer out of the high post. Zoubek made 82.8 percent of his free throw attempts as a junior.

Sophomore Miles Plumlee and freshmen Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly will be intent on taking away playing time from the two experienced seniors. Miles Plumlee looked lost on the court at times during his freshman season but also showed flashes of talent. He is mobile and should benefit from the standard freshman-to-sophomore improvement. His brother, Mason Plumlee is a player many analysts believe has the ability to make an immediate impact. Time will tell. Ryan Kelly is a wiry outside-in player with 3-point range. Kelly won the 3-point shooting contest at this year’s McDonald’s All-American game.

Out of those five frontcourt options, someone needs to step up and establish themselves as a consistent offensive threat. As Coach Krzyzewski stated in March, Duke played a lot of three on five last year and the lack of an interior offensive threat hurt the team. Zoubek and both the Plumlees have the size to be an impact post player what remains to be seen is if they can develop the game to get the job done. Thomas and Kelly are players who need to provide minutes at power forward so Singler can play on the wing. Sophomore Olek Czyz is a wild card and could compete for playing time at power forward due to his leaping ability and strength, or see duty on the wing due to the lack of backcourt players.

Singler, Scheyer, Smith, and Williams will be the core of next year’s rotation. The question is who will be players five, six, and seven? The answer will be interesting but Duke Fans will have to wait until next year and ACC games in January before knowing the answer. In the meantime, it is only late spring and a whole summer of starting line-up and minutes per game speculation lies in front of us not to mention summer pick-up game reports. I’ll see you all on the message boards!

Duke Basketball

Duke defeats Binghamton 86-62 to advance in the NCAA Tournament

March 20, 2009 Mark Watson

Krzyzewski praised the play of Lance Thomas

Duke had little trouble whipping up on undersized Binghamton to advance to the Saturday evening game with Texas. While the Blue Devils had their way over the course of the game, Binghamton played inspired basketball. The Bearcats kept it close by hitting 6 of 11 three pointers in the first half.

But the Duke defense tightened up in the second half, allowing a single three pointer and starting with a 17-2 run to send the pesky Bearcats reeling. Duke hit nine three pointers of their own and dominated the game from the charity stripe going 21 of 25.

It didn't hurt that the Blue Devils held a 38-20 edge on the boards, many of them on the offensive end. Duke had six double figure scorers on the night, led by Lance Thomas who went 5 of 5 from the field for 14 points.

"It just seemed like Lance had tremendous energy and our whole team fed off of it," stated Krzyzewski after his team notched him victory number 832.

Kyle Singler fell just short of a double-double with 10 points and 9 rebounds and had a team high 5 turnovers. Gerald Henderson chipped in with 13 points and 6 rebounds and Nolan Smith was pretty much a sixth starter off the bench with 13 points and 3 assists.

Jon Scheyer had a team high 15 points and Elliot Williams continued his ascent with 11 points. Scheyer and Williams had four assists each, making them the team leaders in that category.

"Elliot made a few really big time decisions, or good decisions in how we moved the ball, instead of taking a quick shot," said Krzyzewski of his freshman's play.

Duke will now head back to Durham and prepare for Texas, who won handily over Minnesota to advance. The Longhorns will bring a lot more size to the table than the Blue Devils' first opponent and will be led by A.J. Abrams who scored 26 points today.

The Blue Devils are now 29-6 overall for the season. Duke is now 87-29 in the NCAA Tournament which equals the highest winning percentage of any team. Duke now has 30 NCAA Tournament wins since 2000 and 290 wins in the decade which tops the list of all schools in that time period.

Box Score Link

Duke Basketball

Duke Basketball Injury Update

March 4, 2009 Mark Watson

Scheyer sprined his ankle against FSU - BDN Photo

Many of you are wondering about the injury situation at Duke. Here is the latest as of this afternoon. Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek. Thomas suffered a left ankle sprain in the first half of the game and is listed as day-to-day. Zoubek suffered a broken nose and is day-to-day. Jon Scheyer also suffered an ankle sprain in the second half on Tuesday and Nolan Smith’s status remains unchanged after sustaining a mild concussion on Feb. 25.

Duke Basketball

Duke rips Duquense 95-72 behind Lance Thomas’ career high effort

November 29, 2008 Mark Watson

[private]Duke finished off the month of November 7-0 with a convincing 95-72 victory over Duquesne. It was

Thomas takes aim after intentional foul. Copyright BDNP

perhaps Duke's best performance of the young season in that the team played balanced team ball. Look no further for evidence than the box score where they had 21 assists on 35 field goals.

With the exception of the last one eighth of the game where Duquense cut the lead down 16 points, it was a complete effort. "We're not trying to win by 30 or 40 points. We're trying to develop as a team," said Kryzyzewski.

That's been obvious to atuned Blue Devil fans, for there have been many line ups in the early going. Afterall, Coach doesn't want his team peaking in 2008, but in 2009 when you're eventually one and done.

One of the key reason Duke won it's 64th consecutive non conference game in Cameron was the play of Lance Thomas. This was a day when the junior would garner a career high 21 points with his hustling play. There were several occasions where he ignited the home crowd with three point plays or goading the opponent into an intentional foul.

“In our offense, a lot of opponents like to stop what we’re doing on the perimeter, and Lance just plays off what we’re doing. A lot of times, our bigs are going to be open, and with his ability to run and beat his man down the court, he was able to get a few open layups. He embraces that role; he knows that’s how he’s going to score, and he does that every night,” said Gerald Henderson.

Kyle Singler was as steady as always with a stat line of 17 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Singler has scored in double figures in all seven wins.

“I think Singler is playing great. I’m not sure there’s a kid playing in the country who loves to play more than that kid. He has so much fun playing, and he made a play at the start of the second half that was one of the

Zoubs breaks to basket after stealing the ball. BDNP

best plays I’ve seen in years. There was a scrum of a few rebounds, and all of a sudden he came in there with two hands, got the rebound and was fouled. It was a big-time play. You don’t see a play like that. And the kid loves to play. It’s such an honor to coach that kid,” said Coach K

Nolan Smith was the only other double figure scorer with 11 points, but one must consider that Duke had 46 points off the bench in a balanced offensive attack. Duke also continued it's nice shooting from the free throw stripe going 80%.

But the biggest difference was the Blue Devils defense, which suffocated the Duke's early in the contest which they never trailed. The Duke's managed just 39% from the field and most onf those connections came in the last ten minutes of the game.

There is little doubt that the staff has let the team know it's time to come together for December and beyond. While there will still be a learning curve with concerns to chemistry, the early onslaught of games prepared the team for some tough road games.

That first road game will be against a Purdue team which is known for their home court edge as evidenced by the few teams that are willing to travel there. Pardon the pun, but Purdue will be boiling after a close overtime loss to Oklahoma which sent them to 5-1.

Shortly after that Duke visits Ann Arbor to take on a Michigan team they've already faced once in the Coaches for Cancer Classic. In short, December will be yet another month where Krzyzewski will gauge his team. And if that month is as successful as November was, then Duke will be in good shape going into the meat of their ACC schedule.

“It’s a great week for us, to go to two established programs on their home courts," said Coach K.

He continued, "Purdue is, I think, the best in the Big Ten, and probably one of the five or six top teams in the country. You know their crowd will make a great setting for us. We have such an opportunity to grow. Michigan – the same thing, John [Beilein] has his team playing comfortable in their style, so I think it’s another great chance for us to grow. Again, when we play Xavier in December, I like the schedule we have because it’s very challenging. That’s how you become a good team, by playing games like that.”

[/private]