Taking on DOOK



  • First big test of the season. I was hoping our speed would negate their size advantage, but their game last night leads me to believe we’re facing quite an elite team. They scored 40 points off turnovers against SC Upstate, turning them over 23 times. They had 15 steals, and 7 blocks. They really spread the court, and have really talented guys that can take folks one on one. Roach drives into the defense, and whips out passes to shooters on the perimeter who bury the shot. Mitchell is simply a beast driving to the basket. I see why we wanted him so bad. Fillipowski is a high bb iq guy, and has quick hands for a big. He had two steals where he took the ball away, drove the length of the court, and dunked. We’re going to have our hands full:



  • I’ve never seen a team’s roster list 5 centers. Duke has 4 centers who are 7 feet or taller and the shorty is one of 2 starting centers, senior Ryan Young at 6’10". In the first 2 games, centers Young and 7’ Freshman Filipowski both average 12 pts. Quite the test for our Jayhawks.



  • Pretty sure the powers that be wanted to make sure Duke would still be relevant after coach k so made sure this first year roster is absolutely loaded with talent. We will have our hands full for sure but I’m hoping we are slightly better defensively and athletically than a team with”upstate” in their name. Other than Mitchell I don’t think I saw too much where they were overwhelmingly athletic for our boys. And the best thing about bill self defense is nobody is ever defending on an island. Help is always near and ready.



  • @stoptheflop KUs 5s appear short to me. We’ll see how they handle a footer. Need this test.



  • Just because only Duke can, wouldn’t you put all the centers in a game at one time: 7’, 7’, 7’1", 7’1" & 6’10". Play zone defense and put the four best shooters outside the arc on offense. It sure would get fans talking.



  • As a test, this is more of a pop quiz than the final exam. We’re still finding out who we are, and what we’re about. Overall, I think we’re ahead of last year at the same time, but I think Dook looks like they’ve been practicing everyday for 6 months. Our bigs might have the biggest challenge they’ll see all year, which is a good thing. If they succeed, then great. If not, they know what they have to work on going forward. Dook might be the only team in the country with the athletes that can keep up with our team speed. Both teams try to turn over their opponent, so it’s going to be interesting to see who wins the turnover battle. This game is far more interesting than Sparty/Sucky, imo.



  • @stoptheflop said in Taking on DOOK:

    Just because only Duke can, wouldn’t you put all the centers in a game at one time: 7’, 7’, 7’1", 7’1" & 6’10". Play zone defense and put the four best shooters outside the arc on offense. It sure would get fans talking.

    I’ll note that. I’ll put that in my Perry Ellis at the 3 file.



  • @Jethro Duke to me is no doubt a top 5 team in the country. They’d smoke UK and the Zags right now.

    Great test early on can our speed negate their size? Can our defense travel and we turn over guys more athletic than us?

    We have to shoot it well because we will not get many easy baskets at the rim.



  • @kuballin10 said in Taking on DOOK:

    @Jethro Duke to me is no doubt a top 5 team in the country. They’d smoke UK and the Zags right now.

    Great test early on can our speed negate their size? Can our defense travel and we turn over guys more athletic than us?

    We have to shoot it well because we will not get many easy baskets at the rim.

    I think you are really underrating full strength UK. Not sure when we will see that to be fair though.



  • @kuballin10 said in Taking on DOOK:

    @Jethro Duke to me is no doubt a top 5 team in the country. They’d smoke UK and the Zags right now.

    Great test early on can our speed negate their size? Can our defense travel and we turn over guys more athletic than us?

    We have to shoot it well because we will not get many easy baskets at the rim.

    Tucky is the 2nd best team in the country, behind UNC. IMO.



  • @Jethro wasn’t UNC losing to saint Mary’s school for the blind at half time? No juggernaut this year if they’re the best! If UNC is the best college team I like our chances!!!



  • @BShark I watched about 15 minutes of them the other night. Cason is a stud and I get being without Oscar and not sure if Ware played but I wasn’t impressed.

    To me Duke full strength is better than UK. Any team with Wheeler playing decent minutes I’m not afraid of.



  • @Jethro @dylans I agree Unc has been down their first two games and not just early.

    Unc had a hot run but Davis running point doesn’t scare me. UNC has the pieces and got hot for the second half of the year so rightfully number 1 but I don’t see anything that says they are just outright dominant



  • I’m sure Duke and UK have several players who go on to the NBA… they always look so good on paper. That’s why the game is played… to actually see who wins. If we keep our wits about us and continue developing all year (without many injuries) we should be right there in March… and hopefully April!



  • @drgnslayr “continuing without injuries” - a crucial ingredient for success.



  • Personally, I don’t think this Duke team is that good without Whitehead right now. Last year’s Duke team would beat them by 25+. But it’s a new year and anything can happen I suppose.

    I’m hopeful our vets especially Jalen, Kev & Juan will carry the rest of the team. Duke is so reliant on freshman this year. Perhaps Lively becomes a version of Banchero & they are able to anchor around that, but I don’t see nearly the hype for him as there was with Banchero.

    It will be interesting to see who steps up on the big stage. I know Jalen is going to and I hope the rest of the team rallies around that



  • @BeddieKU23 said in Taking on DOOK:

    Personally, I don’t think this Duke team is that good without Whitehead right now. Last year’s Duke team would beat them by 25+. But it’s a new year and anything can happen I suppose.

    I’m hopeful our vets especially Jalen, Kev & Juan will carry the rest of the team. Duke is so reliant on freshman this year. Perhaps Lively becomes a version of Banchero & they are able to anchor around that, but I don’t see nearly the hype for him as there was with Banchero.

    It will be interesting to see who steps up on the big stage. I know Jalen is going to and I hope the rest of the team rallies around that

    i reading also too that Lively has been side lined or possibly limited and is just now getting back into 5 on 5 - -so we will see how that goes, I guess they been playing pretty good defense too but with all that height going to take a huge effort from us to offset that – -hoping for the best



  • @BeddieKU23 said in Taking on DOOK:

    Personally, I don’t think this Duke team is that good without Whitehead right now. Last year’s Duke team would beat them by 25+. But it’s a new year and anything can happen I suppose.

    I’m hopeful our vets especially Jalen, Kev & Juan will carry the rest of the team. Duke is so reliant on freshman this year. Perhaps Lively becomes a version of Banchero & they are able to anchor around that, but I don’t see nearly the hype for him as there was with Banchero.

    It will be interesting to see who steps up on the big stage. I know Jalen is going to and I hope the rest of the team rallies around that

    I hope you’re right. I think we’ll be the fastest team in college bb, for us to win we have to push tempo. If we can run on them, I think we’ll win w/o a sweat. If it’s a half court game, it’s going to be a nail biter, imo.



  • @jayballer67

    Yeah Lively played 14 minutes in their last game, missed the opener. They played two bad teams, same as KU.



  • @Jethro

    We’ll see, I’m not diminishing that it’s Duke and they have talented players. They are playing big right now because they don’t have Whitehead to plug in the starting lineup. It’s a significant piece missing so they are adjusting right now. Roach is their only guard playing well since he’s a vet, their other prized guard has been downright awful in their 2 games so far.

    We’re minus Self for this matchup so Duke is extremely lucky there & perhaps that’s something we need to take a bit more serious than we have. Norm has done a great job so far, but this is a whole different level of game. Kind of even since this is Scheyer’s first without Daddy to take care of him.

    If this game is played right, KU shouldn’t have to worry about their size as much as Duke has to worry about KU’s firepower in the backcourt/wing. I think we hold a significant advantage on the perimeter in this game & that should ultimately lead to a KU victory.

    Agree that if we can push the tempo where we like it that would be ideal. I do wonder how our half-court offense will look against good teams (hence why I was surprised how cohesive this group has looked in warmup games) since we have so many guys stepping into bigger roles.

    This emphasis on pushing tempo that started last year has been a very pleasant improvement over previous years. We used to say Billy Eugene was stuck in his ways, but the guy keeps finding ways to say hold my beer.



  • @BeddieKU23 said in Taking on DOOK:

    @Jethro

    We’ll see, I’m not diminishing that it’s Duke and they have talented players. They are playing big right now because they don’t have Whitehead to plug in the starting lineup. It’s a significant piece missing so they are adjusting right now. Roach is their only guard playing well since he’s a vet, their other prized guard has been downright awful in their 2 games so far.

    We’re minus Self for this matchup so Duke is extremely lucky there & perhaps that’s something we need to take a bit more serious than we have. Norm has done a great job so far, but this is a whole different level of game. Kind of even since this is Scheyer’s first without Daddy to take care of him.

    If this game is played right, KU shouldn’t have to worry about their size as much as Duke has to worry about KU’s firepower in the backcourt/wing. I think we hold a significant advantage on the perimeter in this game & that should ultimately lead to a KU victory.

    Agree that if we can push the tempo where we like it that would be ideal. I do wonder how our half-court offense will look against good teams (hence why I was surprised how cohesive this group has looked in warmup games) since we have so many guys stepping into bigger roles.

    This emphasis on pushing tempo that started last year has been a very pleasant improvement over previous year. We used to say Billy Eugene was stuck in his ways but the guy keeps finding ways to say hold my beer.

    DAM - -what brand of BEER LOL



  • @jayballer67 said in Taking on DOOK:

    @BeddieKU23 said in Taking on DOOK:

    @Jethro

    We’ll see, I’m not diminishing that it’s Duke and they have talented players. They are playing big right now because they don’t have Whitehead to plug in the starting lineup. It’s a significant piece missing so they are adjusting right now. Roach is their only guard playing well since he’s a vet, their other prized guard has been downright awful in their 2 games so far.

    We’re minus Self for this matchup so Duke is extremely lucky there & perhaps that’s something we need to take a bit more serious than we have. Norm has done a great job so far, but this is a whole different level of game. Kind of even since this is Scheyer’s first without Daddy to take care of him.

    If this game is played right, KU shouldn’t have to worry about their size as much as Duke has to worry about KU’s firepower in the backcourt/wing. I think we hold a significant advantage on the perimeter in this game & that should ultimately lead to a KU victory.

    Agree that if we can push the tempo where we like it that would be ideal. I do wonder how our half-court offense will look against good teams (hence why I was surprised how cohesive this group has looked in warmup games) since we have so many guys stepping into bigger roles.

    This emphasis on pushing tempo that started last year has been a very pleasant improvement over previous year. We used to say Billy Eugene was stuck in his ways but the guy keeps finding ways to say hold my beer.

    DAM - -what brand of BEER LOL

    Certainly not the cheap kind!



  • @BeddieKU23 said in Taking on DOOK:

    @Jethro

    We’ll see, I’m not diminishing that it’s Duke and they have talented players. They are playing big right now because they don’t have Whitehead to plug in the starting lineup. It’s a significant piece missing so they are adjusting right now. Roach is their only guard playing well since he’s a vet, their other prized guard has been downright awful in their 2 games so far.

    We’re minus Self for this matchup so Duke is extremely lucky there & perhaps that’s something we need to take a bit more serious than we have. Norm has done a great job so far, but this is a whole different level of game. Kind of even since this is Scheyer’s first without Daddy to take care of him.

    If this game is played right, KU shouldn’t have to worry about their size as much as Duke has to worry about KU’s firepower in the backcourt/wing. I think we hold a significant advantage on the perimeter in this game & that should ultimately lead to a KU victory.

    Agree that if we can push the tempo where we like it that would be ideal. I do wonder how our half-court offense will look against good teams (hence why I was surprised how cohesive this group has looked in warmup games) since we have so many guys stepping into bigger roles.

    This emphasis on pushing tempo that started last year has been a very pleasant improvement over previous years. We used to say Billy Eugene was stuck in his ways, but the guy keeps finding ways to say hold my beer.

    I’m giving Dook every benefit of the doubt. We’re 4-2 in our last 6 against them. We are 11-1 in our last 12 games against the ACC. We have a huge experience advantage that should show up front and center tomorrow night. We’re a faster better defensive team, and I think we win by 5-7 points. Like all ranked teams we play, it will be a challenge.





  • I expect a great game and I think we pull away at the end with depth and speed and win by around 7. A few things I’m curious about that will set the tone for the season…

    1. I don’t want Wilson to force trying being the top scoring option in this game or any other unless teams have him covered by some unskilled defensive matador. But I HOPE he’ll get 20+ in the flow tomorrow night unless Duke tries to throttle him. He should be wise enough to get a bunch of assists if they shut him down.

    2. This will be a great game to find out if Gradey can maintain his composure under the hot spotlights (I think he’ll thrive)

    3. Best big man for the season will emerge from this game (not without future flaws and f-ups, but a good showing against Duke will forgive a lot of future sins).

    4. Crunch time free throws

    Bring it on!!



  • Free throws could be a concern if the game is close, given we’ve only hit 52% so far.



  • @tundrahok said in Taking on DOOK:

    Free throws could be a concern if the game is close, given we’ve only hit 52% so far.

    Great point, they have been horrid so far there.



  • We’re now 1.5 point underdogs. All the gambling money is coming in on Dook.



  • @Jethro

    Lots of unhappy gamblers right around 11:30pm eastern time tonight I’m predicting



  • @BeddieKU23 said in Taking on DOOK:

    @Jethro

    Lots of unhappy gamblers right around 11:30pm eastern time tonight I’m predicting

    86-79 is my prediction- KU wins!



  • @DanR said in Taking on DOOK:

    I expect a great game and I think we pull away at the end with depth and speed and win by around 7. A few things I’m curious about that will set the tone for the season…

    1. I don’t want Wilson to force trying being the top scoring option in this game or any other unless teams have him covered by some unskilled defensive matador. But I HOPE he’ll get 20+ in the flow tomorrow night unless Duke tries to throttle him. He should be wise enough to get a bunch of assists if they shut him down.

    2. This will be a great game to find out if Gradey can maintain his composure under the hot spotlights (I think he’ll thrive)

    3. Best big man for the season will emerge from this game (not without future flaws and f-ups, but a good showing against Duke will forgive a lot of future sins).

    4. Crunch time free throws

    Bring it on!!

    I hope Dook tries to run with us. If they do, we could blow it open.



  • @DanR Spot on!


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