Duke and Purdue on ESPN 3......28-27 Duke

[jsloanjr]

Duke is up by 1 with 59 sec in the half..........Watch it on ESPN 3

 

[UConnCat]

Duke up 30-28 at halftime.

This is my first look at Duke. E Williams struggling to score (0-5); offense looks a little better but this year's team doesn't look to be as good defensively as last year's and I didn't think last year's team was as good as advertised. Maybe I'll change my mind in the 2nd half.

Amazing Purdue is in this game considering the abysmal play from its point guards. Brittany Rayburn (former UConn recruit) can shoot and her 3s are helping keep Purdue close.

 

[jsloanjr]

neither Duke or Purdue are closer than 25 points to UCONN, TAM or Baylor......

 

[triaddukefan]

neither Duke or Purdue are closer than 25 points to UCONN, TAM or Baylor......

We will find out about Purdue.... they play TAMU and ND next.

So if Duke is no closer then 25 to Baylor, TAMU, or UCONN.... then is ND not as good as advertised this year??

 

[pap49cba]

Duke now up by 10. Duke's bench is coming up big....

 

[tomcat]

Duke is certainly better than Purdue. Purdue is one of the kind of teams that UConn would do well to schedule home-and-home (to pick up on the theme of another thread). I don't see Duke as 25 less than UConn. Maybe 10-15 at this point, maybe less. They have some really good young talent.

 

[UConnCat]

Eliz Williams is a terrific rebounder. As for her shooting around the basket? Geno once described some of Tina's shots as a freshman as "throwing logs on a fire." It was like that, only worse. A few of her shots were even blocked. She can't shoot 2-17 very often. Lots of room for improvement on the offensive end. The physical tools are there.

Unlike last year when Duke's interior defense would part like the Red Sea when UConn drove the lane, Eliz Williams will be there waiting this year. She's not a great defender (yet) but she'll aggressively try to block shots.

But for Eliz Williams, and that's a big but esp on the boards, Duke didn't look much different than last year's team. Maybe it was a bad night and Purdue does tend to play some ugly games.

 

[alexrgct]

Duke is certainly better than Purdue. Purdue is one of the kind of teams that UConn would do well to schedule home-and-home (to pick up on the theme of another thread). I don't see Duke as 25 less than UConn. Maybe 10-15 at this point, maybe less. They have some really good young talent.

From an attendance standpoint, though, we played Purdue last year to a paltry crowd. In fact, it was that crowd that inspired Geno to make the comments that irked so many people.

 

[DaddyChoc]

all without Shelby

 

[Wbbfan1]

Watched parts of the Miami & Michigan State game on the Big 10 Network. I was impressed with Miami with their defense and individual talented players they have. They remind me of the North Carolina teams when Latta was there. They like to run and with their defense they get easy baskets on steals and turn overs. I definitely plan to watch the Duke & Miami games as they should be interesting.

 

[triaddukefan]

all without Shelby

And without Selby as well

 

[DaddyChoc]

And without Selby as well

shows you how much I care about Duke

 

[MilfordHusky]

Eliz Williams is a terrific rebounder. As for her shooting around the basket? Geno once described some of Tina's shots as a freshman as "throwing logs on a fire." It was like that, only worse. A few of her shots were even blocked. She can't shoot 2-17 very often. Lots of room for improvement on the offensive end. The physical tools are there.

Unlike last year when Duke's interior defense would part like the Red Sea when UConn drove the lane, Eliz Williams will be there waiting this year. She's not a great defender (yet) but she'll aggressively try to block shots.

But for Eliz Williams, and that's a big but esp on the boards, Duke didn't look much different than last year's team. Maybe it was a bad night and Purdue does tend to play some ugly games.

She is very good defensively--17 rebounds and 4 blocks. But on the offensive end, she shot 2-17 on FGs and 5-10 on FTs, with 5 TOs. Her offensive game is lagging behind. I'm still waiting for Duke to become a decent shooting team.

 

[alexrgct]

EW will get there. She was light years ahead of any post in her class.

But it just takes time getting used to the size and strength of other post players, and it especially takes time for the game to slow down for young players. In the interim, she will have good games and ugly games. This was definitely of the latter variety.

 

[wes33]

Coach P lets the offense go one on one, she may be allergic to screens.

 

[MilfordHusky]

EW will get there. She was light years ahead of any post in her class.

But it just takes time getting used to the size and strength of other post players, and it especially takes time for the game to slow down for young players. In the interim, she will have good games and ugly games. This was definitely of the latter variety.

I expected more, but I agree about just giving her more time. We are very fortunate with some of our frosh--KML is definitely ready for prime time, as was Maya.

 

[UConnCat]

The Duke staff is blessed to have a player like EW, but they also have a responsibility to help develop her game. It will be interesting to watch how it develops during the next 4 years. Krystal Thomas' offensive game showed no progression at all during her time at Duke. KT didn't have EW's physical tools, but I think most expected more from KT. (Maybe there were some physical issues I'm not familiar with.) As long as she stays healthy, there's no reason why EW shouldn't eventually play like Tina Charles did in her junior and senior years.

 

[alexrgct]

The Duke staff is blessed to have a player like EW, but they also have a responsibility to help develop her game. It will be interesting to watch how it develops during the next 4 years. Krystal Thomas' offensive game showed no progression at all during her time at Duke. KT didn't have EW's physical tools, but I think most expected more from KT. (Maybe there were some physical issues I'm not familiar with.) As long as she stays healthy, there's no reason why EW shouldn't eventually play like Tina Charles did in her junior and senior years.

Absolutely. A responsibility to her and to the fanbase. I know she's pre-med and has lofty professional aspirations that don't include basketball, but she is a super-elite prospect with all the tools to be a first-team AA player when all is said and done. As you alluded to, it certainly took Tina some time to put it all together, and that's with a developer of post players (CD) with an unassailable track record. We shall see.

 

[triaddukefan]

shows you how much I care about Duke

 

[DaddyChoc]

lol...

 

[triaddukefan]

neither Duke or Purdue are closer than 25 points to UCONN, TAM or Baylor......

Guess we can strike TAMU out of that conversation now

 

[doggydaddy]

Guess we can strike TAMU out of that conversation now

I have no idea why they were there in the first place.

 

[speedoo]

I have no idea why they were there in the first place.

Well, they did return a lot of players from a NC team.

However, they were exposed today at the two most important positions: point guard and center. At PG, it looks like they really have a problem. At center, Bone needs a lot of work to become an effective player, particularly on offense. Ironically, she was once thought of as Griner's near-equal by some "experts". Today, she is not in the same universe, based on what she showed against Purdue.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Well, they did return a lot of players from a NC team.

However, they were exposed today at the two most important positions: point guard and center. At PG, it looks like they really have a problem. At center, Bone needs a lot of work to become an effective player, particularly on offense. Ironically, she was once thought of as Griner's near-equal by some "experts". Today, she is not in the same universe, based on what she showed against Purdue.

She was.... in High School, thats why Geno wanted her!

 

[DaddyChoc]

I said it weeks ago... UConn is going to crush TAMU, they couldnt press Purdue so I know dang well they're not going to try against UConn.

maybe Blair was saving their legs for the UConn game