Quotes & Notes - November 22
vs. Kansas, vs. Delaware, vs. Bellarmine
Quotes
“There’s no question that’s the best form of learning. Just being in these moments, there’s no way to simulate it. That doesn’t mean I’m happy or I’m enjoying this loss by any means. You have to hate it and learn from it, grow from it. But playing in the Champions Classic every year, of course you want to come away winning, but you probably learn more when you lose. Even if we won that game, we would’ve won not being at our best with the way we took care of the ball and some of the plays we can make and do a better job of. But absolutely playing in this makes you better as a team and as a program.”
- Coach Scheyer on learning from the Kansas game
“I am really proud of the effort that we had tonight, I thought it was a great response. Delaware really tested us. We knew they had two really good players in [Jameer] Nelson, and in [Jyare] Davis, and the job we did on them, I thought it was terrific overall. They really tested us: six-point game at half. I just loved our defense, our energy, and our effort that we came out with in the second half…”
- Coach Scheyer on the Delaware game
“...We have to get our rest and treatments and all that and then really lock in on Oregon State and go from there and prepare the way we did for this game. It goes quick. We know it's going to be three high-level games, no matter what the outcome is. I'm excited and I just want to go for it. I think we learned a lot in the Kansas game; we can't go into it tentative or unsure, we need to go after it and then see what happens.”
- Coach Scheyer on preparing for the Phil Knight Legacy
Stats
Assists/Made Field Goals (FGM):
Duke assisted on 8 of 24 field goals made (33.3%), Kansas assisted on 21 of 31 made field goals (67.7%).
Duke assisted on 18 of 34 FGM (52.9%), Delaware assisted on 9 of 21 FGM (42.9%).
Duke assisted on 18 of 25 FGM (72%), Bellarmine assisted on 12 of 23 FGM (52.2%).
This stat really showed up in the Kansas game. Kansas’ higher assist percentage translates to more open looks, which led to a better shooting percentage overall. For example, all three of Gradey Dick’s baskets down the stretch were assisted on - an open 3 and two backdoor cuts leading to shots at the rim. 33.3% doesn’t mean Duke was playing selfish or anything like that, just that Kansas was making it difficult to find open guys. I like how Duke responded in sharing the ball, especially against Bellarmine.
Points Off Turnovers:
Duke had 12 points off turnovers compared to 19 Kansas (-7).
Duke had 14 points off turnovers compared to 11 for Delaware (+3).
Duke had 13 points off turnovers compared to 10 for Bellarmine (+3).
“Line” Points:
Duke had 22 points from the lines compared to 13 for Kansas (+9).
Duke had 36 points from the lines compared to 26 for Delaware (+10)
Duke had 52 points from the lines compared to 23 for Bellarmine (+29).
I want to add points per shot (PPS) to this category on both three-pointers and free throws, providing an added measure of efficiency. I will include the first two games in the season averages below, even though I didn’t mention them last week.
Duke scored 0.43 points per shot on 3’s and 0.81 points per shot on free throws. Kansas scored 0.47 pps on 3’s and 0.57 pps on free throws.
Duke scored 1.29 PPS on 3’s and 0.86 PPS on free throws. Delaware scored 0.68 pps on 3’s and 0.65 pps on free throws.
Duke scored 1.20 PPS on 3’s and 0.91PPS on free throws. Bellarmine scored 1.06 pps on 3’s and 0.83 pps on free throws.
Season Averages per Game - through 5 games
Notes
Regarding early season tournaments like the Phil Knight Legacy, I’ll echo what I said about the Champions Classic but even more so. I love these events and as Coach Scheyer mentioned above, Duke will get to play 3 high-level games regardless of the outcome. Specific to the format of the Phil Knight this year, I love that it’s Thursday, Friday, Sunday. It simulates the turnarounds of both the ACC and NCAA Tournaments. Obviously, playing every day in the conference tournament but then the every other day rhythm of the NCAA’s. Being able to prepare on a quick turnaround is a skill that takes practice, for both players and coaches. Duke will have some Saturday/Monday turnarounds later in the ACC schedule but this will be the first opportunity to play multiple games in a short time period.
One stat category I haven’t talked about yet is rebounding, but I love Duke on the glass so far this season. Here are the numbers going into last night's game, courtesy of @DukeMBBStats. Duke was +12 against Bellarmine, moving the total to +89 thus far for the season.
Happy Thanksgiving, Go Duke!
Sources