Duke/NC State last night thoughts

[mauconnfan]

It actually was a fun game to watch for so many reasons, but 2 pretty good teams who don't really ever have a true 5. When NC State made their best runs they were playing Abu as their big man but he goes and gets rebounds like a man, still miss that type body in our line up. But they played with 3 guards a ton in beating Duke, one of them being Dennis Smith which was a "wow" guy last night. But Duke also plays a lot of 6'-6 8" guys when they are impacting the game. My point is no one blocked shots and they seemed to play pretty good basketball most often (until the end, both coaches should be ashamed of themselves. Gottfried had no right winning that game they couldn't get in bounds up 6 or less the last 2 minutes, putrid he's awful and won despite thanks to Smith and Rowan. Anyway we have the bodies if healthy to play the same next year and you can win without the true 5, you can. Just a positive thought.

 

[Stainmaster]

I was very impressed with Rowan's demeanor and dexterity during that final stretch. Upperclassman-level.

 

[upstater]

About Abu, he grew into that body. When UConn was recruiting him, there was a lot of talk here about how thin he was, though he had broad shoulders. Hoping Carlton is exactly like that.

 

[champs99and04]

Thing is, N.C. State hasn't really been good this season. Gottfried seems to have them trapped - he's a truly mediocre coach, if I'm being generous, but he manages to bottle the talent on his roster every so often that you can't get rid of him. He took them to the sweet sixteen as an 11 seed back in 2012 and then knocked off top-seeded Villanova - with mostly the same players that won the title a year later - to get there again in 2015. This has the feel of you're classic "last four in" team that is like 8-10 in the ACC and somehow still playing in the second weekend.

As for Duke, they have a bit of a conundrum on their hands - Allen has regressed in a near Purvis-like fashion. It is unclear whether the injuries or tripping theatrics have anything to do with it, but he's hurt them at times. Rarely do you see a dichotomy in roster balance as stark as this one - between the veterans (Allen, Jones, Jefferson, and Kennard, though he's only a sophomore) and freshman (Jackson, Bolden, Tatum, and Giles), they essentially have two different teams, and they appeared to be playing better in November and December before they started to integrate the hurt players into the lineup.

Kennard has been bandied about as a national player of the year candidate, and he was benched by Capel against Miami (and came off the bench again last night). Losing minutes to a player like Tatum, who is more talented but not as good, can't sit well with him. Meanwhile, they're still easing Giles back in. He's playing only about 12 minutes a game but producing at a monster per minute rate. Jackson has been pretty good all year. Bolden is raw right now but has a lot of upside and will have to take minutes from Jefferson, who I like a lot, if he's going to play. Somebody is going to be unhappy.

Another loss or two and the Capel/Hopkins jokes will be made, definitely by me.

 

[mauconnfan]

Thing is, N.C. State hasn't really been good this season. Gottfried seems to have them trapped - he's a truly mediocre coach, if I'm being generous, but he manages to bottle the talent on his roster every so often that you can't get rid of him. He took them to the sweet sixteen as an 11 seed back in 2012 and then knocked off top-seeded Villanova - with mostly the same players that won the title a year later - to get there again in 2015. This has the feel of you're classic "last four in" team that is like 8-10 in the ACC and somehow still playing in the second weekend.

As for Duke, they have a bit of a conundrum on their hands - Allen has regressed in a near Purvis-like fashion. It is unclear whether the injuries or tripping theatrics have anything to do with it, but he's hurt them at times. Rarely do you see a dichotomy in roster balance as stark as this one - between the veterans (Allen, Jones, Jefferson, and Kennard, though he's only a sophomore) and freshman (Jackson, Bolden, Tatum, and Giles), they essentially have two different teams, and they appeared to be playing better in November and December before they started to integrate the hurt players into the lineup.

Kennard has been bandied about as a national player of the year candidate, and he was benched by Capel against Miami (and came off the bench again last night). Losing minutes to a player like Tatum, who is more talented but not as good, can't sit well with him. Meanwhile, they're still easing Giles back in. He's playing only about 12 minutes a game but producing at a monster per minute rate. Jackson has been pretty good all year. Bolden is raw right now but has a lot of upside and will have to take minutes from Jefferson, who I like a lot, if he's going to play. Somebody is going to be unhappy.

Another loss or two and the Capel/Hopkins jokes will be made, definitely by me.

Meant to ask how is Jeter doing at Duke, where the heck is this kid? Did he leave? Another fine coaching job of a McD's AA by the Duke staff and K.

 

[intlzncster]

Meant to ask how is Jeter doing at Duke, where the heck is this kid? Did he leave? Another fine coaching job of a McD's AA by the Duke staff and K.

To be fair, when you have so many McD AAs, somebodies gotta sit.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Thing is, N.C. State hasn't really been good this season. Gottfried seems to have them trapped - he's a truly mediocre coach, if I'm being generous, but he manages to bottle the talent on his roster every so often that you can't get rid of him. He took them to the sweet sixteen as an 11 seed back in 2012 and then knocked off top-seeded Villanova - with mostly the same players that won the title a year later - to get there again in 2015. This has the feel of you're classic "last four in" team that is like 8-10 in the ACC and somehow still playing in the second weekend.

As for Duke, they have a bit of a conundrum on their hands - Allen has regressed in a near Purvis-like fashion. It is unclear whether the injuries or tripping theatrics have anything to do with it, but he's hurt them at times. Rarely do you see a dichotomy in roster balance as stark as this one - between the veterans (Allen, Jones, Jefferson, and Kennard, though he's only a sophomore) and freshman (Jackson, Bolden, Tatum, and Giles), they essentially have two different teams, and they appeared to be playing better in November and December before they started to integrate the hurt players into the lineup.

Kennard has been bandied about as a national player of the year candidate, and he was benched by Capel against Miami (and came off the bench again last night). Losing minutes to a player like Tatum, who is more talented but not as good, can't sit well with him. Meanwhile, they're still easing Giles back in. He's playing only about 12 minutes a game but producing at a monster per minute rate. Jackson has been pretty good all year. Bolden is raw right now but has a lot of upside and will have to take minutes from Jefferson, who I like a lot, if he's going to play. Somebody is going to be unhappy.

Another loss or two and the Capel/Hopkins jokes will be made, definitely by me.

what's the rest of their schedule like until K comes back?

 

[Matrim55]

what's the rest of their schedule like until K comes back?

Easy home games, tough road games. They'll win enough to make the tourney, but I wouldn't be shocked if it was as a 8 or 9 seed.

Which, relative to expectations, is pretty amusing. No-Longer-Way-Too-Early Top 25 in college hoops

 

[whaler11]

Meant to ask how is Jeter doing at Duke, where the heck is this kid? Did he leave? Another fine coaching job of a McD's AA by the Duke staff and K.

He was out injured for the state game.

 

[jibsey]

Thing is, N.C. State hasn't really been good this season. Gottfried seems to have them trapped - he's a truly mediocre coach, if I'm being generous, but he manages to bottle the talent on his roster every so often that you can't get rid of him. He took them to the sweet sixteen as an 11 seed back in 2012 and then knocked off top-seeded Villanova - with mostly the same players that won the title a year later - to get there again in 2015. This has the feel of you're classic "last four in" team that is like 8-10 in the ACC and somehow still playing in the second weekend.

As for Duke, they have a bit of a conundrum on their hands - Allen has regressed in a near Purvis-like fashion. It is unclear whether the injuries or tripping theatrics have anything to do with it, but he's hurt them at times. Rarely do you see a dichotomy in roster balance as stark as this one - between the veterans (Allen, Jones, Jefferson, and Kennard, though he's only a sophomore) and freshman (Jackson, Bolden, Tatum, and Giles), they essentially have two different teams, and they appeared to be playing better in November and December before they started to integrate the hurt players into the lineup.

Kennard has been bandied about as a national player of the year candidate, and he was benched by Capel against Miami (and came off the bench again last night). Losing minutes to a player like Tatum, who is more talented but not as good, can't sit well with him. Meanwhile, they're still easing Giles back in. He's playing only about 12 minutes a game but producing at a monster per minute rate. Jackson has been pretty good all year. Bolden is raw right now but has a lot of upside and will have to take minutes from Jefferson, who I like a lot, if he's going to play. Somebody is going to be unhappy.

Another loss or two and the Capel/Hopkins jokes will be made, definitely by me.

He went 1-9 from 3 last night, but Allen for Purvis is a trade in a heartbeat. He is way more talented than Rodney overall and also is a good 3 point shooter.

 

[uconnell]

He went 1-9 from 3 last night, but Allen for Purvis is a trade in a heartbeat. He is way more talented than Rodney overall and also is a good 3 point shooter.

Uuuh NO

 

[Mr. French]

Uuuh NO

Uhmmm yes... If we're just talking as players, not people, Rodney isn't nearly as good as Allen, even with his recent struggles.

I think he definitely is messed up mentally and psychologically since the most recent tripping/etc.

 

[uconnell]

Uhmmm yes... If we're just talking as players, not people, Rodney isn't nearly as good as Allen, even with his recent struggles.

I think he definitely is messed up mentally and psychologically since the most recent tripping/etc.

I was talking about the whole person and iagreeith your last sentence.