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I'm really interested in the thoughts of the (few) Duke posters (that still come by this board) on the game against Wake tonight.

Here are mine, arranged by positives and negatives:

Positives:
- This team does not give up, after being down by 11 pts on in the middle of the 2nd half, they fought their way back and made it very, very close
- Singler is awesome, 22 pts, 12 rebounds against one of the tallest teams in Div. 1,.... he never gives up
- Henderson is awesome, he came alive in the 2nd, and at times no one could stop him from scoring once he made his move
- We're only a Scheyer, Paulus, or Smith away from being an elite team this season. And by that, I mean just one more consistent scorer away from vastly improving our offensive side of the game
- Duke out rebounded Wake tonight, that's a huge deal! For years, Duke just hasn't been able to consistently rebound the ball. But this squad goes after it, every ball, every time!
- Wake is a great shot blocking team, great. But Duke isn't too shabby, and that was shown on several drives by the Wake guards.
- It's really great to have another really good FT shooter, Nolan Smith
- I believe this team can really improve as the season goes along, they haven't peaked yet. Even though Wake won tonight, I think Duke has more potential this season than Wake does.

Negatives:
- Zoubek and Thomas just aren't able to compete against above average front lines
- Duke shot approx. 29% from the field in the 1st half, taking and missing too many threes, which is a lesson that should have been learned against Michigan
- The defense didn't force the amount of turnovers most expected, and then on the ones that were forced didn't score off them very often
- Everyone knew what the last play was going to be... maybe not who was going to take the ball inside, but everyone knew it was going inside and Duke had no answer on that last play
- Singler played 38 minutes... too much time, but more importantly he had to play center for a bulk of the 2nd half
- Elliot Williams isn't as far along as I had hoped he would be
- Nolan Smith doesn't "create" offensively for a point guard

All in all, I believe Duke is poised to have a really good season, barring any injuries to the key players.

Congratulations to Wake, they played better and deserved the win. Now we'll see you again in Durham!!!

Spot on post.

2 thoughts:

- I like that K is going to the bench. Hopefully this will help us avoid our past problem of "end of season fatigue, no one on the bench knows what to do in a game, early exit from the ncaas."

- being married to a deac is no fun.

Ah well.

I thought it was a bit of a sloppy game but that was probably due to the terrific defenses. Our inside game is still our achilees heel and Wake has some serious players down low. Singler and Henderson continue to be our only real scoring threats. I really love how well McClure played on the defensive end.

I thought it was a bit of a sloppy game but that was probably due to the terrific defenses. Our inside game is still our achilles heel and Wake has some serious players down low. Singler and Henderson continue to be our only real scoring threats. I really love how well McClure played on the defensive end.

Held Teague to I believe 11 points and 2 assists? Also outrebounded Wake? Wow! Great comeback. Wake is for real.

Quote:Singler and Henderson continue to be our only real scoring threats

Ya think? They had a stat late in the 2nd half that said Hindo and Singler had 27 points combined. The rest of the team - FIVE! Ugg!

But Duke's defense was solid and anyone who watch the game knew they had no business being that close as the visitors. The fact that it came down to the last second was awesome........and that's when the defense let us down. To lose like that is unacceptable.

I agree that certain players didn't step up, but, then again outside of the guys I mentioned above, who did? Where was Scheyer? Where was Paulus? How about Smith? The big boys need to play in the paint but our shooters need to drop the trey. Duke was 4 for 22 from behind the arch. Live by the three, die by the three.