Its been 4 months...I have to admit I pretty much forgot this was here....
Maybe I got too comfortable? Reigning National Champs. Kyrie Irving running the point. Blowing out K-State, controlling Michigan State and in the process also blowing almost everyone else out. Ranked #1 in the country...still.
Well that comfort level was disrupted tonight after Duke fell 66-61 to Florida State. Kyrie wasn't running the point, Duke didn't blow them out, Duke didn't control FSU, and will no longer be ranked #1 on Monday. Lets go over what I think led to the loss and what Duke needs to do in my mind to get better from this loss.
1. Relying on 3 too much
- I am a fan of the 3 pt shot probably more than most but this has been an achilles heal of Duke's for the past....well a real long time. Tonight Duke started 0-10 on threes, and instead of adjusting and trying to establish an inside game or attacking the rim with the perimeter players, they continued jacking up contested threes. Kyrie Irving for the foreseeable future isn't walking through that door to drive and kick and create his own scoring on the inside and help open up lanes for others on the inside. Irving opened things up for players like Mason Plumlee who is in the depths of his biggest slump since coming to Durham last year. Without Irving, the Plumlees will have to start creating some of their own offense inside and take some of the pressure off of Duke's three point shooting.
2. Plumlees need to step up
- Both Mason and Miles have immeasurable talent. Its undeniable. Yet both have still underachieved for the majority of their respective careers at Duke. For Duke to repeat as National Champions, the Plumlees will have to find their games like Brian Zoubek found his game last year midway through the season.
3. Coach K needs to prove he is the best coach in the world
- Has he already done enough to prove himself? Yes...yes he has. Tonight though, Coach K never seemed to adjust his team's offensive attack. The 3 point shot just kept going up and the inside game continued to be ignored even though it was obvious to everyone that it wasn't working. Coach K obviously knows what he is doing, and I am not claiming to know more than him but tonight I am not sure if he was going with the theory of "we got good shooters, keep shooting they'll start falling". To some extent that worked, they did start falling for Singler but not enough to get over the hump late in the game. As stated in the #1 point, Duke needs inside points to open up their unmatched perimeter game, Coach K needs to make this adjustment in practice but also catch it mid-game and make the in game adjustments.
Duke is ok, they will bounce back and probably still not fall out of the top 5 the rest of the regular season. Florida State though played tonight like many tournament games are played. Very intense, tough defensive game and if Duke doesn't respond in the right way and adjust to this type of game they will lose in the tournament. The posts need a leader, Smith and Singler have the leadership taken care of on the perimeter, a Plumlee, Kelly or Hairston need to step into the leadership role of the posts like Zoubek last year to make the most talented team in the country, which they are right now, also the most well rounded, which they are not right now.
Keep those heads up Duke fans! The road the to National Championship still goes through Durham, but the undefeated season talk will be put on ice until next year.
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