"Will Dick Vitale Please Shutup!" : Thoughts on Wake Beating Duke Tonight, 70-68
1) Dick Vitale saying that a slumping Jon Scheyer of Duke was "due" for a good game gives a non-player like myself hope: maybe I'M due for a big game, too! Should Coach K need an unproductive white shooting guard with a long streak of unproductivity, I'm available. Hey Dick, when someone is not really all that good to begin with, they aren't "DUE." They just aren't real good. God, what he does not know about the game of basketball is a lot. The former coach and professional irritant has been living off a few good seasons at the University of Detroit for thirty years now. As for his time with the Pistons, well: We Celtics fans say, "Thanks again for Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, and even ML Carr!" It has been said many times, many ways, but I think that the time has come for this guy to go. His passion for the game is without question. He just is not very good at his job. (And to make a point, clearly I am being too hard on JAGG [Just another good guy] Scheyer.)
2) I have spotted what looks to be a weakness in Wake's game: They lack a quality shooter besides Jeff Teague, as Wake went just 2 of 10 from three point range tonight. Duke put up 22 threes (making only 4), as this is a huge part of their offense, but Wake simply does not rely on the perimeter game (outside of their game breaking point guard Teague). It would seem to make sense for opponents to slow the game down and play a 1-3-1 zone or maybe even box-and-1 on Wake and Teague. Williams at the two guard is not an effective outside shooter, and no one on the bench appears capable of knocking it down from the perimeter. Aminu is the only other shooter, but it appears as if the young man's range does not extend out to twenty feet yet (given time and a shooting coach to correct his release, which features too much wrist, Aminu's shot should be fine). Backup point guard Smith is effective when pushing the ball but not when the game is slowed to halfcourt situations.
3) Wake is all about tempo: The faster the game, the better they play. Though Wake was outscored in the second half tonight by Duke 40-37, they held a decent sized lead and were more than happy to run with the Blue Devils. The Demon Deacons turned the ball over only 11 times tonight, a terrific number considering that 138 points were scored total. The team's number one priority should always be getting the defensive rebound and pushing the uptempo game. Wake will not lose again if they continue to score 70 points or more each time out. The only way to beat the Deacons is to hold the score in the low 60s at minimum.
4) Wake can beat the opposition in so many ways, as seen on the game winning out of bounds play in which Johnson scored on a layup. The Dukies were more concerned about defending a jump shot with less than three seconds on the clock and overreacted to ball fakes by the inbounder. Johnson cut to an undefended hoop and scored over the much smaller Nolan Smith. It is hard to defend against five men at the college level when all can score. Wake is an elite team in that they can beat you in so many ways, reminiscent of the great Houston "Phi Slamma Jamma" teams of the early 1980s. Wake has their star in Teague but there are always a number of other options. Freshman small forward Aminu is a terrific second option. Pick your poison as to who would be number three: there are several Wake players who didn't even get into the game who would be starting on most other BCS teams in the country. They are deep and talented and they seem to remain hungry.
5) The Nolan Smith experiment should be considered a failure to this point, and Greg Paulus should be reinstalled at the point by Coach K. Smith is clearly a better athlete and more talented than Paulus, but he contributed very little tonight, with six points on just 1-5 shooting from the field. Count me among the many who felt the quickness and scoring expected to be contributed by Smith would help make Duke a better team than last year's tourney flameouts. This has not happened, and Paulus three point shooting would be most welcome. Paulus did see 17 minutes of action tonight, but Coach K needs to bump up his minutes and sit Smith.
6) As I have mentioned before, I do not see Duke getting out of the first weekend of the tournament. Big men Lance Thomas and Greg Zoubek have been complete busts in their careers in Durham. Nothing I have seen to date gives me hope that they will become sizable contributors. Without an inside game, Duke relies ENTIRELY on outside shooting, with a few fast break points and easy buckets from steals. That is no formula for success come tournament time.
7) Without their 20-24 (83%) performance from the line, Duke would have been out of the game early. Though the game winning basket was not scored until less than a second was left on the clock, Wake was much the better team tonight. Coach Gaudio's squad appears to have regained their frontrunner status in the ACC and in the nation.
8) With all my criticism of Duke, the play of Gerald Henderson has been a revelation this season and he may be deserving of All America status. Watching a high school game four years ago featuring Henderson and his then teammate Wayne Ellington, I felt that Henderson had the better prospects for long term growth as compared to his more hyped friend. That has born out, as Ellington is simply a standstill shooter with a slow release (There are a lot of those guys around). But Henderson is playing like a potential lottery pick. He shoots the ball with form and range, handles and passes the ball well for a two guard, and has athletic ability to burn. Expect him to have a long and productive career at the next level, while Ellington is the next Aaron Afflalo.
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Other musings...
A) Gary Williams appears to be the latest victim of "Massimino-itus", the mysterious malady afflicting first time NCAA champions who fall in love with themselves after winning the title and come to believe in subsequent years that they are incapable of making a mistake. Williams has been feuding lately with officials in his athletic department about this and that. Bottom line: Maryland has done next to nothing since their title in 2002. I do not expect the talented Williams to survive this latest episode of hubris. He was one of my favorite in the long line of talented coaches at Boston College when I was a kid, but lately the man has become completely full of himself. It's time to go, Gary. Rollie is waiting for you somewhere on a golf course in Florida.
B) Speaking of Massimino-itus, Jim Boeheim may have some work to do up at Syracuse just to get his team an at-large big to the NCAAs should their slide continue. The Cuse lost to Providence tonight, 100-94, making them 17-5 overall. With three losses in a row and four losses in five, Cuse is staring at a seven game losing streak, what with WV, Villanova, UConn and the Georgetown rematch coming up. While I had high hopes for this team, one can't ignore the recent stretch of bad play and lack of execution by the Orange. After a 17-1 start, they may struggle simply to make the tournament. Did I overrate their talent? Is Coach Boeheim simply tired and ready to retire? Not sure of either answer, though I have always had a soft spot in my heart for this school's basketball program.
C) Not to worry, Pitt and Big East fans: Pittsburgh's loss tonight to a solid Villanova team does not affect their chances for a number one seed. Nova is good, especially at home, and Pitt has five winnable games before their date with UConn on Big Monday 2/16/09. They will be fine.
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Enjoy "30 Rock" tomorrow night, sports fans!
2) I have spotted what looks to be a weakness in Wake's game: They lack a quality shooter besides Jeff Teague, as Wake went just 2 of 10 from three point range tonight. Duke put up 22 threes (making only 4), as this is a huge part of their offense, but Wake simply does not rely on the perimeter game (outside of their game breaking point guard Teague). It would seem to make sense for opponents to slow the game down and play a 1-3-1 zone or maybe even box-and-1 on Wake and Teague. Williams at the two guard is not an effective outside shooter, and no one on the bench appears capable of knocking it down from the perimeter. Aminu is the only other shooter, but it appears as if the young man's range does not extend out to twenty feet yet (given time and a shooting coach to correct his release, which features too much wrist, Aminu's shot should be fine). Backup point guard Smith is effective when pushing the ball but not when the game is slowed to halfcourt situations.
3) Wake is all about tempo: The faster the game, the better they play. Though Wake was outscored in the second half tonight by Duke 40-37, they held a decent sized lead and were more than happy to run with the Blue Devils. The Demon Deacons turned the ball over only 11 times tonight, a terrific number considering that 138 points were scored total. The team's number one priority should always be getting the defensive rebound and pushing the uptempo game. Wake will not lose again if they continue to score 70 points or more each time out. The only way to beat the Deacons is to hold the score in the low 60s at minimum.
4) Wake can beat the opposition in so many ways, as seen on the game winning out of bounds play in which Johnson scored on a layup. The Dukies were more concerned about defending a jump shot with less than three seconds on the clock and overreacted to ball fakes by the inbounder. Johnson cut to an undefended hoop and scored over the much smaller Nolan Smith. It is hard to defend against five men at the college level when all can score. Wake is an elite team in that they can beat you in so many ways, reminiscent of the great Houston "Phi Slamma Jamma" teams of the early 1980s. Wake has their star in Teague but there are always a number of other options. Freshman small forward Aminu is a terrific second option. Pick your poison as to who would be number three: there are several Wake players who didn't even get into the game who would be starting on most other BCS teams in the country. They are deep and talented and they seem to remain hungry.
5) The Nolan Smith experiment should be considered a failure to this point, and Greg Paulus should be reinstalled at the point by Coach K. Smith is clearly a better athlete and more talented than Paulus, but he contributed very little tonight, with six points on just 1-5 shooting from the field. Count me among the many who felt the quickness and scoring expected to be contributed by Smith would help make Duke a better team than last year's tourney flameouts. This has not happened, and Paulus three point shooting would be most welcome. Paulus did see 17 minutes of action tonight, but Coach K needs to bump up his minutes and sit Smith.
6) As I have mentioned before, I do not see Duke getting out of the first weekend of the tournament. Big men Lance Thomas and Greg Zoubek have been complete busts in their careers in Durham. Nothing I have seen to date gives me hope that they will become sizable contributors. Without an inside game, Duke relies ENTIRELY on outside shooting, with a few fast break points and easy buckets from steals. That is no formula for success come tournament time.
7) Without their 20-24 (83%) performance from the line, Duke would have been out of the game early. Though the game winning basket was not scored until less than a second was left on the clock, Wake was much the better team tonight. Coach Gaudio's squad appears to have regained their frontrunner status in the ACC and in the nation.
8) With all my criticism of Duke, the play of Gerald Henderson has been a revelation this season and he may be deserving of All America status. Watching a high school game four years ago featuring Henderson and his then teammate Wayne Ellington, I felt that Henderson had the better prospects for long term growth as compared to his more hyped friend. That has born out, as Ellington is simply a standstill shooter with a slow release (There are a lot of those guys around). But Henderson is playing like a potential lottery pick. He shoots the ball with form and range, handles and passes the ball well for a two guard, and has athletic ability to burn. Expect him to have a long and productive career at the next level, while Ellington is the next Aaron Afflalo.
----------------
Other musings...
A) Gary Williams appears to be the latest victim of "Massimino-itus", the mysterious malady afflicting first time NCAA champions who fall in love with themselves after winning the title and come to believe in subsequent years that they are incapable of making a mistake. Williams has been feuding lately with officials in his athletic department about this and that. Bottom line: Maryland has done next to nothing since their title in 2002. I do not expect the talented Williams to survive this latest episode of hubris. He was one of my favorite in the long line of talented coaches at Boston College when I was a kid, but lately the man has become completely full of himself. It's time to go, Gary. Rollie is waiting for you somewhere on a golf course in Florida.
B) Speaking of Massimino-itus, Jim Boeheim may have some work to do up at Syracuse just to get his team an at-large big to the NCAAs should their slide continue. The Cuse lost to Providence tonight, 100-94, making them 17-5 overall. With three losses in a row and four losses in five, Cuse is staring at a seven game losing streak, what with WV, Villanova, UConn and the Georgetown rematch coming up. While I had high hopes for this team, one can't ignore the recent stretch of bad play and lack of execution by the Orange. After a 17-1 start, they may struggle simply to make the tournament. Did I overrate their talent? Is Coach Boeheim simply tired and ready to retire? Not sure of either answer, though I have always had a soft spot in my heart for this school's basketball program.
C) Not to worry, Pitt and Big East fans: Pittsburgh's loss tonight to a solid Villanova team does not affect their chances for a number one seed. Nova is good, especially at home, and Pitt has five winnable games before their date with UConn on Big Monday 2/16/09. They will be fine.
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Enjoy "30 Rock" tomorrow night, sports fans!
posted by joe sweeney at 12:25 AM
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