Duke Basketball

Despite Present Turmoil, Capel Remains Duke’s Best Future Option

... nothing to say, just that no one had anything to ask. It was almost as if he had suddenly become irrelevant. That was certainly the uninformed consensus of the online cognoscenti, which started floating Mike Brey’s name as a more likely successor to Krzyzewski after Duke lost at home to N. C. State for the first time in 22 years Monday, an 84-82 loss to the same team that lost by 51 at North Carolina. If not Brey, then Steve Wojciechowski. Or Chris Collins. And so on. The reality for Duke is that Capel remains the best man for the (eventual) job when Krzyzewski decides to step aside, regardless of his 3-3 record in relief, including last year’s win at Georgia Tech. The problems Duke had Monday night – inattention to defense and offensive impatience – all plagued this Duke team long before Krzyzewski went under the knife, including the loss at Virginia Tech. That Capel hasn’t been able to fix them in his five games in charge this season is less an indictment of him than it is the team he and Krzyzewski have assembled, with its all-too-obvious flaws and not-very-hidden chemistry issues. The talent is there, ...

You Don’t Have To Look Hard To See What Duke’s Issues Are

... indeed the perimeter in general is very solid. Then again, the only interior defender with meaningful experience is Amile Jefferson who is - you guessed it - injured. After him it’s Chase Jeter, who has a lot of potential and who is certainly improved but who is also - you guessed it - slowed by an injury. After that it’s all freshmen big men all of whom - you guessed it - have been injured. It’s no more complicated than that. Take a look at the Jefferson chart on the article linked above. He has a huge impact. For a lot of Duke fans the idea that Duke might struggle is a novelty. For those who were around in 1979, much less the early ‘70’s - or ‘80’s - it’s been a while but the concept isn’t new or anything. The good news is that it’s likely to end more quickly than it did back then. And Coach K is ...

Louisville Upends Duke; No. 1 Baylor And No. 2 Kansas Escape With Wins

... minutes to play. Texas played without leading scorer Tevin Mack, who was suspended indefinitely this week for an unspecified violation of team rules. at No. 12 Butler 83, No. 15 Xavier 78: Freshman Kamar Baldwin scored each of his 21 points in the second half, and the Bulldogs took down another Top 25 team. Butler (15-3, 4-2 Big East) improved to 5-1 against ranked opponents this season. Baldwin put up his highest point total yet for Butler and Andrew Chrabascz added 16. The Bulldogs closed it out by making their last 10 free throws and extended their Hinkle Fieldhouse winning streak to 13, including 10 this season. Edmond Sumner had 22 points and J. P. Macura finished with 16 for Xavier (13-4, 3-2), which has lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. No. 19 Virginia 77, at Clemson 73: London Perrantes scored a season-high 25 ...

West Virginia, Gonzaga, Duke

... application is always dangerous. But the Blue Devils just lost to an NC State team that Illinois beat by 14 points. At Cameron Indoor. What? They've suffered four losses in the ACC, a league with a top tier that's beginning to leave Duke behind. So let's stop the hype train until Duke provides a reason to restart it. Should you believe it? Yes. The Bruins lost two games this season. Let's examine both. In the team's Pac-12 opener, Dillon Brooks hit a Dillon Brooks game winner to stop the Bruins. Then, last week, UCLA prepped for Arizona until. wait a minute, that's. that's Allonzo Trier's music! That's Allonzo Trier's music! Listen, the emotionally charged Arizona team that rumbled through Pauley Pavilion less than 24 hours after the Wildcats announced Trier had regained his eligibility would have dismissed any team in the country. The bottom line is that a ridiculous game winner on the road and a roster Steve Alford could not have anticipated contributed to UCLA's two losses. This is still a team with Pac-12 title hopes and Final Four aspirations. This is still the No. 1 offense on Ken __link__. Yes, its sub-100 defense (125 th on Ken __link__) ...

No. 9 Florida State Overwhelms Duke Men's Basketball Inside With Jefferson Sidelined

... the Blue Devils were able to spread the floor, Duke paid dearly on the glass and was outrebounded 38-30 by the relentless Seminoles (16-1, 4-0), who racked up 56 points in the paint. “We just tried to fight them. We knew they had a relatively big lineup and that they would crash the glass hard, so we just made an emphasis on trying to box out and all five of us trying to help rebounding,” senior Matt Jones said. “They played with a lot of energy tonight and that ultimately got us.”. By Carolyn Chang / The Chronicle. Graduate student Amile Jefferson missed Duke's first road game against a top-10 opponent with a bone bruise on his right foot. Florida State was led by the backcourt duo of Dwayne Bacon and Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who combined for 34 points and facilitated the Seminole offense during the game-changing run. Rathan-Mayes—who was tripped by Allen when the teams met a year ago—proved to be a tough cover for ...

Acc Roundup

... into 100 percent is freedom on offense. Well, anybody could buy into that. That’s not a hard thing to buy into. That’s just human nature. Of course I would like to have freedom on offense. I haven’t gotten them to buy into the way we have to play defensively. I haven’t gotten them to buy into the way we need to communicate, the way we need to support each other, the way we have to fight when adversity hits. I haven’t been able to get them to do a number of other things yet the way they have to be done with what we have, with the makeup of our team in this league. That part has been a little frustrating.”. And if that’s not enough, then blame your predecessor. “I think what I probably overestimated would be the value of that experience and how it would pertain to leadership and how it would pertain to bringing other guys along. The successful programs I’ve been in and the teams I’ve had and the programs I’ve had, the older guys helped coach the younger guys because they had been through it. That doesn’t happen too much [here] right now. “The idea in any program is the older guys — especially if they’re the better ones, which they ...

A Primer On All Things Duke Basketball Heading Into The Grind Of The Acc Season

... it would be. As it stands, the Blue Devils are not in Jerry Palm's top 10 tourney resumes. The Grayson Allen files. Allen's conduct has been the biggest headline of Duke's season. The "hated Duke player" was a worn-out label applied liberally to Allen until he became a repeat offender of common decency on the basketball court. Before the tripping incidents there was always allegations of NBA -style flopping or traveling during his dramatic drives to the hoop. That kind of hate comes with being a high-scoring firecracker on one of the country's biggest national draws in terms of interest. But the third tripping incident in less than 30 games made Allen's conduct a lightning rod for the media. Of all the things to discuss regarding this Duke basketball team - Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum's health and development, Mike Krzyzewski's absence and what it might mean for Duke, whether this team will ever get Amile Jefferson back to double-double games and meaningful minutes - it was Allen's conduct that has ...

Cougars Will Send Former Player With Terminal Cancer To Duke-unc Game

... 4-year-old Marley and 3-year-old Fletcher. After originally being diagnosed with cancer in 2013 and then declared cancer-free in 2014, she learned the disease had returned two years ago and was diagnosed as metastatic, or Stage IV, breast cancer, and had spread to other organs in her body. "It can be treated and they will prolong my life as long as they can, but they won't be able to cure it," she said. "My goal now is to live my life to the fullest while I'm still here.". Day started a blog at __link__ to detail her journey, which is where BYU officials learned of her ordeal, saw her bucket list, and went to work on the Duke tickets. Coincidentally, Melanie Pearson few up in Southern California but became a Duke fan after watching the Blue Devils upset UNLV 79-77 in the 1991 national semifinals. Her future husband grew up in Las Vegas and was a huge UNLV fan, but developed a dislike for Duke after that ...

Coming To Grips With Duke’s Grayson Allen

... to disgust to concern for his mental health. Bobby Cremins immediately conjures undesirable consequences, flashing back to the 1970 ACC tournament and the devastating effect an opponent’s unintentional act had on a South Carolina squad with national championship aspirations. Frank Mc Guire’s ’70 Gamecocks were the first ACC squad ever ranked No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press poll. Led by repeat conference player of the year John Roche, they went undefeated during the league regular season. “They were a big, bad team,” recalls Al Heartley, a guard on the N. C. State squad that beat USC in double overtime in the ACC tournament final. Gifted, physical and arrogant, South Carolina and Roche, its playmaker and leader, were about as popular as, oh, players who trip opponents. “Everybody hated us,” says Cremins, Roche’s backcourt mate. “Sometimes we taunted people, which ...

Duke's Cause For Concern Is Grayson Allen's Play, Not Antics

... help defender and force him to commit, leading to a perfect kick-out 3-pointer. 3. Opponents are attacking Allen's individual and Duke's team defense — both of which aren't great. The Blue Devils aren't scaring anyone when they slap the floor this season. Duke is 104 th in the NCAA in field-goal percentage defense (41.9 percent) and has given up an average of 76.6 points per game in ACC play. MORE: Is Duke or UNC greatest college basketball program since 2000. Duke's help-side and pick-and-roll defense has been lacking, and while Allen is far from the only culprit, he certainly isn't helping. On this pick-and-roll against Miami, Allen's rotation is nonexistent, leading to an easy bucket. Against Florida State, Allen helps on penetration after Luke Kennard gets caught on the back of a screener, but Allen completely loses sight of his own man. Instead of chopping his feet on the closeout, he lunges at the shot fake and puts himself in a poor position. The possession ends in a foul. As mentioned above, ...