UConn vs Duke (Elite 8) | Page 3 | The Boneyard

UConn vs Duke (Elite 8)

uh-no said:
i'd say the game plan would be to let boozer get his, and run the rest off the line. have to crash the boards for that strat though.
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I get where you're coming from but I think Duke has too much talent for that strategy. It's not like the Edey Purdue team where he was their only real weapon and everyone else fed off of his double teams. Just look at what Evans did to St Johns last night. If we let Boozer feast all it takes is one other guy stepping up and we could be in trouble.

I rarely agree with the ESPN scout but their article this morning noted in both of Duke's losses Boozer has had 4 turnovers. They listed that as a key to us winning, and I'm inclined to agree. If we can harass Boozer and make him turn it over, we can disrupt their whole offense for stretches. They're good enough they will likely make multiple runs throughout the game, so we need to capitalize during the periods when their offense sputters. The more we can frustrate Boozer, the more likely said periods are to occur.

Completely agree we need to rebound well. Can't let them grab offensive boards the way MSU was. Duke kills teams that allow them 2nd chance points. We also need our shooters to shoot. 40% plus from deep in this one and I really like our chances if we do all of the above as well.
 
HooperScooper said:
And then they said that UConn relies so heavily on Reed and Karaban. I hate to tell them that Duke relies more heavily on 1 player. If the Huskies can slow down Boozer I like our chances.
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I could not agree more. Heck, St. John's relies on Zuby and Hopkins just as much as UConn does Reed and Karaban, and Pearl picked them to go to the Final Four. It's really a funny listen when you think about. And your point on Boozer is so spot on, as it's he and Evans that have to play well. Don't get me wrong, Duke can certainly win this game and is an early 4 1/2 point favorite, but I think it's more the way they dismissed UConn, how good they are defensively, and how tremendous they are in executing in close games that had me so surprised. Mashburn admittedly hasn't liked UConn all year referring to them as Sweet 16 level team at best, so he needs to keep up appearances and pick against UConn. This is likely a game of Foster, Cayden Boozer, and Khamenia v. Ball, Mullins, and Demary. It will be the secondary guys behind the big 2 or each team that will decide it.
 
BugsyCT said:
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Prior to the start of the tournament my take was that once we got out of the Big East, the holding and grabbing would be less severe without 3 big east refs on the floor. I think that is holding true. Thats why i also had Illinois in the f4, along with us.

Now my concern will be on the officials giving Duke the advantage on calls while we are on D.

I know we have had big east refs in our tournament games, but the big east needs to address how games are called during league play.
 
noelle said:
cam boozer has had trouble with length and strength, there's no reason to let him have his. tarris will show him something about nba strength.

also some of you need to realize tarris is pretty agile defending the post. strength and agility are not his issues
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if pat ngongba were still out, i would agree with you. but karaban certainly will not guard pat.
 
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Scrutineer said:
Why do the experts talk so glowingly about Foster? His stats are underwhelming. Admittedly I haven't watched more than a few minutes of a couple of their games, so is he just the "glue guy"?
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I don’t watch Duke bc I can’t stand watching them win, but if it weren’t for Foster, they lose to SJU. PG Boozer was a disaster against the SJU pressure D
 
Stinger92860 said:
Prior to the start of the tournament my take was that once we got out of the Big East, the holding and grabbing would be less severe without 3 big east refs on the floor. I think that is holding true. Thats why i also had Illinois in the f4, along with us.

Now my concern will be on the officials giving Duke the advantage on calls while we are on D.

I know we have had big east refs in our tournament games, but the big east needs to address how games are called during league play.
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You always have to assume Duke will get the calls but over the years I don't remember too many games or (really any) where we got housed by the refs. I'm sure some boneyarders remember some egregious tournament calls/games but I don't really ever remember being shook down by the refs this time of year
 
Chilly out this morning
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uh-no said:
if pat ngongba were still out, i would agree with you. but karaban certainly will not guard pat.
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Ngongba is clearly still not 100%. 3 and 2 over 17 minutes.

If Foster's foot was as bad as they were saying, I'm guessing he's probably shot his wad in the St. John's game. He's going to be feeling it today and tomorrow.

If Demary were 100%, I'd be feeling very good about this matchup given Duke's injuries and current NCAA performance. Even with him at 70%, I feel like all the pressure's on Duke. We have a chance. And that's a tribute to our player's guttiness and our coaches for this to be true given one of our best players—and our point guard—not being healthy.
 
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Some people rely far too heavily on “what should happen on paper.” We have four straight years of evidence telling us that all of that goes out the window with these Hurley teams in the tournament. That includes 2024, Purdue was widely considered the favorite, not us.

Timme, Buie, Sears, Omier, Shannon, Domask, Fears 1, Fears 2, Edey, Smith, TKR, Clayton, Condon, the list goes on. Players that were going to spell our doom.

You can’t simulate UConn in practice on short notice. Boozer will not be chasing AK for a 40 minute sprint. Actually, I hope he tries.

And for what it’s worth, people have been predicting Alex Karaban will be “eaten alive” by some big name on another team for 4 years now, and it rarely comes to fruition. I will put my faith in one of the (quietly) greatest Huskies of all time and watch this one play out because I think it’s going to be much more of a game than some appear to think.
 
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You can’t make every shot but we can’t miss as many point blank 2 footers against Duke. Someone pointed out the Boozer is going to go to the rim and pump fake 6 times and get foul calls. How to defend that? In their last 3 tourney games Sienna, TCU and St. John’s they made 5,7 and 5 threes or 17 for 61 equaling 27%. So they are scoring their points inside and at the line. They had 65 to 24 advantage in FTs? Game plan?
 
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