Big Games: Week 5

[Bigboote]

Tough evening for the top ten. UNC goes down, too, and UVA notches another victory. Great night pf hoops.

 

[JellyBean]

If I am Coach Lawson; I would not want my team even ranked (I know they do not have a choice in the matter). Keep using the disrespect as fuel for motivation. Duke smacked the heck out of NC State. It was close and then Celeste Taylor took over. Congrats, Duke and Coach Lawson.

 

[visitingcock]

@triaddukefan

Don’t hurt yourself partying tonight.

Duke beats State and UNC loses. Perfect night for triad

Btw look at RPI. You jumped us!

 

[triaddukefan]

The revenge tour continues.....TAMU, Toledo, Oregon State, Northwestern, FGCU, UVA, and now State. Louisville comes to town on Sunday... we owe them as well.

@triaddukefan

Don’t hurt yourself partying tonight.

Duke beats State and UNC loses. Perfect night for triad

Btw look at RPI. You jumped us!

Usually I enjoy a Tarheel loss more than a Duke win, but tonight is different. I ain't mad though

 

[Bone Dog]

My sister is a Duke alum, but then went to UNC law school. I guess that just cancels it all out.

 

[darrell]

Today’s games lived up to the billing!

 

[nwhoopfan]

Utah wins at Washington St., but looks like the Cougs were without Leger-Walker, so it doesn't count. Was fairly close even without her.

My Huskies have now lost 2 out of 3 since their nice win against Washington St. I'm gonna start referring to Coach Langley as Wynn version 2.0 real soon if they don't start to show me something. It's been about another year and a half of the same ol' thing as before.

 

[nwhoopfan]

LA schools go on the road and each get a win in Oregon. USC over Oregon St. and UCLA over Oregon. Looks like Rayah Marshall had a huge game.

 

[triaddukefan]

In their first ever Colonial game, My Aggies of NC A&T defeat Husky Nan's Elon Phoenix 67-50. The two schools are separated by 15 miles??? Hopefully this will be a start of a good conference rivalry.

In a battle of the Big South Heavyweights..... The Running Bulldogs of Gardner Webb defeat High Point (My panthers) 67-61. The once powerful Panthers slip to 3-9 on the season.

 

[triaddukefan]

Duke starting 2023 like we ended 2022....

There you go Louisville... Happy New Year

 

[triaddukefan]

 

[Kaizen]

Illinois upsets #12 Iowa 90 - 86.

 

[Kaizen]

And Oregon State beats #10 UCLA 77 - 72.

 

[maple]

I’m at the Syracuse/NC State game. State is leading at the half, but just barely, 34-26. Syracuse is very scrappy; they play high tempo and aggressive. It’s throwing State off. If Syracuse hit more of their open looks they could be leading.

 

[visitingcock]

Illinois upsets #12 Iowa 90 - 86.

13-2 Illinois “upsets” 11-4 Iowa. Okay, but it’s more proof of how much rankings matter after tip-off.

 

[triaddukefan]

@LETTERL How is your blood pressure?

 

[Bone Dog]

And Oregon State beats #10 UCLA 77 - 72.

But but but... UCLA had injuries...

 

[LETTERL]

@LETTERL How is your blood pressure?

Better now. Not so good about 10 minutes ago.

NC State is not playing well right now. They really need Diamond Johnson back soon...but this team has other issues.

 

[triaddukefan]

Better now. Not so good about 10 minutes ago.

NC State is not playing well right now. They really need Diamond Johnson back soon...but this team has other issues.

I just looked at the rest of your January's schedule...

 

[Bigboote]

View attachment 82596

I gotta hand it to Kara -- She's doing a great job of tailoring her system to her team. A year ago I wouldn't have thought that Duke would be an elite defensive team this year.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

13-2 Illinois “upsets” 11-4 Iowa. Okay, but it’s more proof of how much rankings matter after tip-off.

Bluder needs to be told that there are other more efficient and high-percentage strategies to winning a close game than by a Clarke LOGO THREE. And that Illini team was surprisingly solid and well-coached.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Bluder needs to be told that there are other more efficient and high-percentage strategies to winning a close game than by a Clarke LOGO THREE. And that Illini team was surprisingly solid and well-coached.

Will be hard for Iowa to go far unless they fix the defense. My biggest concern with them coming into this season and it appears it’s no where close to getting addressed. Sure Iowa has some great players and can score a lot of points but they have other areas holding them back

That offense can erupt and take someone out no doubt. But it’s not going to be sustainable in a NCAAT type setting probably

 

[Bigboote]

Will be hard for Iowa to go far unless they fix the defense. My biggest concern with them coming into this season and it appears it’s no where close to getting addressed. Sure Iowa has some great players and can score a lot of points but they have other areas holding them back

That offense can erupt and take someone out no doubt. But it’s not going to be sustainable in a NCAAT type setting probably

I'm absolutely with you on this. In the preseason, Bluder said they'd realized that to get to the next level, they'd need to fix the defense. So they'd been laser-focused on defense in the preseason.

I guess maybe they stopped working on the defense as soon as the season began, or they just never got it? Their defense is #113 by Massey now.

 

[SECbbfan24]

I'm absolutely with you on this. In the preseason, Bluder said they'd realized that to get to the next level, they'd need to fix the defense. So they'd been laser-focused on defense in the preseason.

I guess maybe they stopped working on the defense as soon as the season began, or they just never got it? Their defense is #113 by Massey now.

Too Iowa's credit they have at least challenged themselves with a challenging schedule, with notable teams such as UCONN, Iowa St, NC St, etc so I imagine the stats will be not as good as many others with a weaker schedule but there are still too many games still where the defense is no where to be found, even against lesser opponents.

They still have 2 months to improve it but difficult to have much confidence that they will improve given what we have seen so far and this is exactly how they were last year.

All the talk all offseason was about Iowa winning the Big 10, but Ohio St and Indiana have looked way better although both currently have some pretty major injuries they are dealing with. Heck, Maryland has impressed me more and look at how much they lost from last season. Michigan looks dang good as well. Iowa will need to elevate their game shortly because the Big 10 is brutal this year. Lots of very good teams.

 

[maple]

I’m at the Syracuse/NC State game. State is leading at the half, but just barely, 34-26. Syracuse is very scrappy; they play high tempo and aggressive. It’s throwing State off. If Syracuse hit more of their open looks they could be leading.

Following up, some hours since the game ended. Syracuse did grab the lead at one point, 49-40. And then they went ice cold (despite numerous good looks) and could not defend as NC State chipped away. Still, a 55-54 final score …

Syracuse should feel good after this game, thinking if they can clean up and get better shots, they can be a tough out against most opponents. Syracuse fights very hard for rebounds, but they seem fairly stagnant on offense. (That’s based on the two in person games I’ve seen this year; next one is when ND comes to visit.)

The NC State players looked frustrated and rattled all game. Wes was not at all happy with their playing. They should feel good about grinding out a win, but they are very vulnerable to an upset.

Both teams looked very fatigued by the end.

There were less NC State fans at the game than I expected. Maybe because of the holiday?

ETA: Some very questionable officiating on both sides. I saw the same when Syracuse played Wake Forest at the Dome.