The ACC went 4-0 last night and I'm left with 3 thoughts...
Do Mike Krzyzewski's ploys really work?
Duke was coming off of their first loss of the season last night as UNC Asheville came into town. The Blue Devils had talked all week about not meeting their "standards" in their loss against Michigan. When the game started, Coach K didn't meet a standard either. Typically coaches start their best players, but K felt it was time to get the bench some minutes. In his postgame press conference K said this...
“We felt that we needed to use the game to take a look at a lot of different kids and situations. We had 11 youngsters play double-digit minutes. I thought that was a good way of doing it, I thought we got better. There’s never a thing you do where a message is not intended. The message is that we have confidence in our bench. It’s to show confidence in the kids that we need. Maybe this was a little boost, so there are a lot of reasons for doing that.”
While the Duke players said all of the right things, there had to be some eyes rolling when Coach K announced the change. In a game against UNCA, it certainly didn't play a factor but I have hard time believing there wasn't a message sent to the 5 that started on the bench.
Whether I agree with the ploy or not, I do believe Coach K needs to get a player like Elliot Williams involved. The freshman finished witNC h 6 points and a game-high 8 rebounds in his time on the floor. Williams has the freakish athleticism that the Blue Devils could use on the floor a little more often.
NC State Should've Blown Out ECU
Why is a school like NC State playing in a close game against ECU? Sure the Wolfpack won, but as the game flow indicates it was back-and-forth throughout...
The NC State offensive efficiency (points per possession * 100) finished at 125 which is a nice solid number, but their defense allowed ECU to score at the same rate for most of the game. In the final few minutes, ECU's efficiency fell to around 100, but the Wolfpack simply didn't get as many stops as they should have.
It could be argued that NC State's defense would have been better with Courtney Fells in the lineup, but I would have questioned if you had seen his defense before.
Maybe the problem is Sidney Lowe, who seemed to think their 2nd half defense was acceptable. Perhaps they need to find some of Duke's standards and live up to them instead. Here's Lowe's postgame thoughts...
“I was proud of our guys being able to play without Courtney [Fells]. Trevor [Ferguson] and Simon [Harris] gave good energy throughout the game. Our guys stepped up in the second half and were able to come out and play good defense. Our guys played well and we’re continuing to get better. We have a ways to go, but I see progress.”
There Might Be Some Signs Of Life in UVA and Georgia Tech
UVA/Longwood Enhanced Box Score
GT/Georgia State Enhanced Box Score
Virginia came out last night and actually handled an opponent with some ease. Sure games like this are more meaningful when you take a loss, but UVA showed something tonight. Once again Sylven Landesberg excelled and is giving Dave Leitao a player to build his program around.
Georgia Tech beat Georgia State by 20 and once again saw Gani Lawal dominate with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Lawal still needs to improve from the free throw line but the 11-17 performance is an improvement.
The Yellow Jackets saw the return of Lewis Clinch who finished with 18 points, 4 assists, and 4 rebounds. Clinch started a little rusty with his shot but finished 6-13 from the floor and 4-8 from behind the arc.
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