Monday, January 7, 2013

Duke Basketball vs. Wake Forest: 80-62

This one wasn't even close really.  Wake Forest did stick around for part of the 1st half (8 minutes into the first quarter they were within 5).  But you could tell that they were out-matched.

Ryan Kelly and Seth Curry were hitting the 3s.  You can't really criticize their play; however, Kelly did foul out after playing only 18 minutes.  Considering that the game wasn't really close, I suppose one could argue that Kelly should have played with better control.

Mason Plumlee was invisible during the first half.  I think this is a concern.  It isn't like Duke will always be hot from the outside.  It did look like he played passive in the first half.  In the second half, he started to demand the ball more.  I think it is important for Duke to have a good all around game:  inside and outside shooting.

For awhile there, Coach K tossed in the reserves:  Marshall Plumlee, Jefferson and Murphy.  They went in with Duke up 25 and about 11 minutes to play.  I was a bit surprised by this move.  It seemed a little early for Coach K to put in his reserves.  On the other hand, it was good to get those guys some playing time as hopefully at least 2 of them become part of the regular rotation (though perhaps playing only around 8 minutes a game). 

Final note:  it was interesting to see all the team bonding activities going on -- pushing and shoving.  At one point, I was thinking, is it possible that someone could actually get hurt -- not ready for the push and end up on the floor?   Hopefully, this all indicates that this team is prepared to win and lose together.

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