crazietalk.net

Here's a good look by JH at tomorrow. He gives Ken Pom's prediction, but keeps his own a secret...

http://crazietalk.net/?p=310

We are going to have to defend the perimeter in this game. I wonder how Majerus intends to defend Duke? They are too small to play effective M2M against us and zone is a recipe for disaster if we are hot. One item I will be keeping an eye on this morning is how much time Curry sees at the point and how effective he is at the position. I hope Dawkins has another good game. I'm not expecting eight 3-pointers and 28 points, but I do believe it is necessary for him to establish consistency so a 15-18 point game from Dawkins would make me smile.

Bob Green wrote:We are going to have to defend the perimeter in this game. I wonder how Majerus intends to defend Duke? They are too small to play effective M2M against us and zone is a recipe for disaster if we are hot. One item I will be keeping an eye on this morning is how much time Curry sees at the point and how effective he is at the position. I hope Dawkins has another good game. I'm not expecting eight 3-pointers and 28 points, but I do believe it is necessary for him to establish consistency so a 15-18 point game from Dawkins would make me smile.

It will be bacon, eggs and Duke basketball for your breafast, Bob?

Agreed on the Dre consistency. I'm sure it wasn't a fluke, but we do need to see a few solid games in a row from him.
How many shots of Kyries cast will we see today? I predict at least 5.

Bob Green wrote:We are going to have to defend the perimeter in this game. I wonder how Majerus intends to defend Duke? They are too small to play effective M2M against us and zone is a recipe for disaster if we are hot. One item I will be keeping an eye on this morning is how much time Curry sees at the point and how effective he is at the position. I hope Dawkins has another good game. I'm not expecting eight 3-pointers and 28 points, but I do believe it is necessary for him to establish consistency so a 15-18 point game from Dawkins would make me smile.

I am.

CameronBornAndBred wrote: It will be bacon, eggs and Duke basketball for your breafast, Bob?

Absolutely. This morning is a good day to be on the West Coast and not in Japan. Tip-off is at 2 am Sunday morning in Yokosuka.

Nolan led this team today.
Josh played really well. Well enough to get my vote for Bedeviler.
(I'm not a 'Poll Starter)

Their website photos don't do these Bilikens justice. There were some celebrity look-alikes on the floor in those St. Louis unis.
I can't remember all their numbers but...
1) There was a 'Biff' from Back to the Future
2) Abraham Lincoln ;)
3) Jackie Moon
and last, but not least
4) One dude out there looked like Napoleon Dynamite without his glasses. "Gah!"

Plus they had a guy named Rob Lowe...not quite the look-a-like...

I agree with your praise of Josh. He definitely took advantage of his added minutes. I love his hustle and positive energy.

Overall this was a great game getting everyone some minutes. Nolan took over when needed, and the defense allowed such a cushion that multiple lineups were used. Hopefully the free throw woes were do to impending exams on the players' minds; you would think they would have their more challenging classes in the fall.

I am surprised that no one mentioned the fact that Rick Majerus tried to eat K during the handshakes after the game .

devildeac wrote:I am surprised that no one mentioned the fact that Rick Majerus tried to eat K during the handshakes after the game .

I mentioned that on our Facebook page.

I liked what I saw today from the defense all day, from the offense only in part of it. I thought both Hairston and Thornton made the most of minutes given to them. I wish Tyler had gone in earlier, but Collins said after the game that the coaches were impressed by what they saw. I would love to see him get the start and move Nolan back to his position. Don't know if the coaches would be willing to try that but I'm crossing my fingers. What will keep them from doing it more than anything I think is the stepped up play by Miles, who is doing a great job with his start. If they do go for it, I bet it would be the first time in history that two different freshmen started point.

In addition, the 'bigs' (the MPs) are playing well but just a tad reckless, what with some needless reaching for the ball when they have no angle. This is producing some bad foul calls on them. Kelly is a fine shot-blocker and it looks like he could become even better. With continued great play from Josh, it looks like there could be just as much to be excited about from down low as there is from the perimeter.

CameronBornAndBred wrote:Here's a good look by JH at tomorrow. He gives Ken Pom's prediction, but keeps his own a secret...

http://crazietalk.net/?p=310

Damn, forgot to add mine. It was 81-58. Didn't give us enough credit on either end today.

After the first 4 minutes, I thought there was no way in hell we would get to 70, much less 80.

I really liked what I saw yesterday. K put his usual "best 5" out there to start the game but was very liberal in his substitution pattern. MP2 and 'Dre did not have good games but I think they will be teachable moments for them. Nolan ran the point and played the 2G. Shoot, IIRC, at one time K had Nolan, TT and Seth out there with Kyle and Miles or Ryan. TT and Seth both got to run the sets on multiple occasions (with very nice A:TO ratios) in addition to Josh playing well for >10 minutes and all 3 of them played meaningful minutes, not just the last 3-4 well after the game had been decided. Yea, we missed a few too many FT, Nolan had a couple extra TO, we coulda had a few more boards and they did beat us off the dribble a bit too much, but most of what I saw was very promising for the remainder of the season, with or without Kyrie. Our D in the 1st half was suffocating.

"Nine fouls, eight points."

You don't hear that very often, do you? We didn't shoot well at the outset and our FT's could have been better, but our defense was top of the line.

lawgrad91 wrote:"Nine fouls, eight points."

You don't hear that very often, do you? We didn't shoot well at the outset and our FT's could have been better, but our defense was top of the line.

Now THAT was classic.