Quotes & Notes - December 7
vs. Ohio State, vs. Boston College, vs. Iowa
Quotes and Notes is my wrap-up of the most recent games of the Duke season, including postgame quotes, stats, and other thoughts.
Quotes
“It was just really coming down to my teammates finding me, and I’m just grateful for that. I know that my teammates are going to put me in the best position, and I’m going to put them in the best position. It was my game to do well, and I just know that the next game, it could be someone else. And the next game, it might be me. I’m just grateful for winning.”
- Derek Lively after the Ohio State game
“It is great, and it's one of the things we've talked about. We can come in waves and our first group started out: I thought we were okay. Then I thought, when we subbed, we got some more energy. That makes the guys, when they're coming back in, have more energy. We have a lot of different lineups. It's one of the things we have to continue to figure out: who plays well together. Ultimately, when you’re out there, is your group winning? We really value what we're doing; the ability to score in different ways. We had nine guys score tonight. You're not going to have that all the time, but with this group, I wouldn't be surprised if that happens many more times the rest of the year.”
- Coach Scheyer on the team’s depth after the Boston College game
“It’s exciting. Because for this young of a group, and a young team in terms of having that experience playing together, that’s what it comes down to in March. You need to get stops. I think our offense will continue to develop through the course of the season. We’ve had not much practice time so there’s some possessions where giving away the ball, whether it be a tough shot we take or turnovers tonight were pretty good, but that’s something that I’m really looking forward to – the practice time, building our offense. But our defense is the base of who we are. To me, when I found out that I was going to be the head coach at Duke, the two things I always connect to Duke Basketball is playing defense and sharing the ball. And we’ll continue to emphasize that. But just proud of our effort. Proud of the buy-in our guys have had, and I think we still have a lot of room to grow.”
- Coach Scheyer on Duke’s defense and offense after the Iowa game
Stats
vs. Ohio State
Duke assisted on 16 of 25 FGM (64%), Ohio State assisted on 6 of 26 FGM (23.1%).
Duke had 20 points off turnovers compared to 19 for Ohio State (+1).
Duke had 41 points from the lines compared to 26 for Ohio State (+15).
Duke scored 1.15 PPS on 3’s and 0.87 PPS on free throws. Ohio State scored 0.69 PPS on 3’s and 0.77 PPS on free throws.
vs. Boston College
Duke assisted on 19 of 28 FGM (67.9%), Boston College assisted on 7 of 24 FGM (29.2%).
Duke had 14 points off turnovers compared to 9 for Boston College (+5).
Duke had 35 points from the lines compared to 21 for Boston College (+14).
Duke scored 1.14 PPS on 3’s and 0.85 PPS on free throws. Boston College scored 0.68 PPS on 3’s and 0.67 PPS on free throws.
vs. Iowa
Duke assisted on 13 of 28 FGM (46.4%), Iowa assisted on 11 of 25 FGM (44%).
Duke had 8 points off turnovers compared to 6 for Iowa (+2).
Duke had 32 points from the lines compared to 18 for Iowa (+14).
Duke scored 1.05 PPS on 3’s and 0.79 PPS on free throws. Iowa scored 0.56 PPS on 3’s and 0.60 PPS on free throws.
For these three games, line points really stand out to me - Duke averaged 36 points per game from the 3-point + free throw line and the Blue Devils outscored their opponents by 14 points per game in this category. Duke was efficient from 3 as well, getting better than 1 point per shot in each of the three games. One reason for this is good ball movement - Duke has shown the ability to share the ball well at times and this leads to good looks from 3 with hands and feet ready for the shooter. Hopefully Duke can continue to improve their consistency on offense and concentrate on getting quality shots each trip.
Season Averages per Game*
Notes
I love Derek Lively’s quote above from the Ohio State game. I’ve heard a similar message from other Duke players over the years, as well as from other players and coaches throughout the game of basketball, but that’s as good and succinct as I’ve ever heard the mentality of team basketball summed up.
I don’t like saying goodbye to the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. While it will be fun to see new match-ups next year when ESPN rolls out the ACC/SEC Challenge, I liked having a Big Ten opponent on the non-conference schedule each year. Not saying this won’t be the case with the SEC but playing a Big Ten team almost always provides an opponent with a tough and physical style of play, which I think is great to experience early in the season. As I mentioned last week, the ACC/Big Ten Challenge has been a great event over the years, with some classics on my list of games to re-watch, and it doesn’t hurt that Duke finished with a 20-4 record overall (10-0 in Cameron).
I love having Dick Vitale back broadcasting games. After a couple of years of not working much, he was on the call for both the Ohio State and Iowa games and I thought he was terrific. Because of his enthusiastic delivery, I think Dickie V is actually underrated for his basketball X and O analysis but it is his enthusiasm that I love most. ”…I want to stay here all night!”
Thanks for reading, Go Duke!
Sources