I couldn’t catch the game live, so I just watched the full replay on the site. These are my thoughts during the game, without any editing or re-watching of any plays. In-game comments/analysis are about as much emotion as I’ll ever show. Still not very much, haha.
Duke vs. Central Missouri Mules
11/8/14 Ryan Craig/Chris Spattola
-Start of game
-Okafor forces first shot and misses
-1st 3 offensive possessions, inside to Okafor. Smart
-Okafor needs to make free throws. Duke’s had a major problem with free throws last couple years. He will live there, even more if he can’t make them
-Matt Jones/Tyus Jones (2)/Winslow settling for 3’s. Gotta be aggressive to then get confidence and open up outside game. Slash and attack rim!!
-Duke needed to get the offense rolling to get a bucket. Tyus takes it upon himself to attack and score.
-When a team that slashes as well as Duke settles for 3’s, it makes it easy on the opponent. Teams will scout this and play constant zone against Duke if they continue to settle.
-Amile tries to create for himself. Not his game.
-Under 16 minute time out. Duke 5, Central Missouri 9
-After the 1st team constantly settles for 3’s, 2nd team comes in and Sheed immediately drives in and draws the foul
-Semi follows with an aggressive attack of the rim
-Plum3, with a tap, gets Duke 2nd chance.
-Grayson drives in and stripped, but still like the fact that everyone on 2nd team is attacking
-Semi settles for a 3.
-2nd Grayson Allen drive, 2nd attack of the rim, drawing the foul
-Chris Spattola says Coach K compared Grayson to JJ Redick. What?????!!!!! That comparison makes no sense.
-Sheed attacks and feeds to Plum3, who draws a foul
-LOVE the 2nd team’s energy
-Plum3 coming out and blocking a jumper
-Sheed creates, kicks to Quinn Cook, who like I said, is a great spot up shooter. That is the one thing I have full confidence in Quinn Cook to do.
-Under 12 minute time out. Duke 14, Central Missouri 13
-K keeps Sheed and Cook in with Okafor, Amile & Winslow
-First touch for Winslow after coming back in is a slash. SMART.
-Okafor doubled, Winslow cuts in, Okafor finds him with an on the $ pass.
-Winslow, now with a ton of energy, takes a charge near the 3 pt line
-Just like 1st game after halftime, K takes Sheed out soon, replacing him with Tyus.
-First touch by Tyus after coming back in, he attack the basket and creates for Amile
-2nd team obviously inspired by 1st team, now constantly attacking the basket.
-Tyus Jones is doing a tremendous job of moving his feet on defense. Much better than I expected he’d be
-Tyus attacks again, feeding Okafor and leading to an and-1 jam.
-Winslow tried a post up turnaround jumper, but awkwardly tried to shoot with his left hand when turning right. Nope.
-Under 8 minute time out. Duke 23, Central Missouri 13
-Winslow getting another deflection. He’s always finding a way to disrupt on defense.
-Matt Jones misses another 3. Wide open, and ugly, Ugly shot. He’s an average shooter. First game was an anomaly.
-And not 10 seconds later, Sheed comes in. So basically Matt Jones is going to stay in if he makes all his shots. Otherwise Sheed will play.
-Winslow with another attack of the rim, drawing the foul.
-Free throw shooting is TERRIBLE!
-Sean Obi rocking the flannel shirt game
-Winslow attacks AGAIN, misses at the rim but Plum3 cleans it up. Constant hustle from Plum3. Now has a better instinct for the game and where to be.
-Winslow with an offensive rebound off Sheed outside miss. Wrecking havoc as usual.
-Sheed needs to attack the rim while playing with more of the starters. Should be better spacing, so he needs to take advantage.
-Plum3 cleaning up the glass like a monster
-Tyus makes an open 3, which is fine considering how he’s been attacking. Opened up his offensive game.
-Duke can’t be as aggressive on defense when Quinn plays. If they take chances, it’ll leave him stranded.
-Under 4 minute time out. Duke 31, Central Missouri 18
-Good finish by Cook on the transition. I’ve always liked his when in transition. It’s half court offense in which he struggles.
-And then he immediately makes me look bad by blowing a layup on another easy transition opportunity.
-Okafor with a great block, leading to a 5 on 4 on the other end. Wide open 3 for Cook, but he’s still hanging his head from blowing the layup and barely hits rim. Keep your head up, Quinn!
-Seeing the replay of Okafor block, Quinn got burned by his man, by Okafor was waiting for it. That didn’t exist at Duke last year. When somebody got past a Duke player on the perimeter, it was a done deal. They would score last year.
-Another clanked 3 for Cook. There’s a reason you’re so open, bud.
-Okafor’s free throws aren’t as flat tonight. Better touch.
-Matt Jones combining with Quinn Cook on offensive puts a ton of pressure on the other 3 (Tyus, Winslow & Okafor) to take charge.
-And Winslow immediately drives for an And-1. Hung in the air after being fouled and still able to finish. FREAK.
-Sheed comes in and airballs a 3. He’s not playing smart. Should be attacking nonstop. Now taken out for Grayson.
-Okafor gets it to Winslow just before the half. Winslow attacks and scores as buzzer sounds. Man, this kid…
HALFTIME. Duke 40, Central Missouri 22
-First shot of 2nd half is a Winslow long 2. Why??Keep up the aggression.
-Okafor not going up strong with his shot. Has been blocked at least twice tonight. Shouldn’t happen.
-Tyus anticipates a pass, knocks it into backcourt, get it and finishes himself. He’s a player.
-Okafor block, leads to fast break finish by Matt Jones.
-Great defense leading to easy transition opportunities.
-Transition opportunities few and far between the last 2 years. Lacked the athletes they have this year.
-Matt Jones taking ballhandler a step inside halfcourt. Called for a foul, but still impressive. That’s a guy who trusts his footwork. Will allow Duke to extend the pressure.
-Tyus whips a pass inside to Okafor, leading to foul. Tyus has vision most would dream for.
-Defender finds a way to get past Winslow, finds Okafor waiting. Ball not surprisingly moves back outside. Yep.
-I’d like to see Grayson get some more PT soon.
-A ton of athletic PG’s in the ACC, so this game doesn’t say too much, but very, very impressed with the footwork of Tyus. Keeping his man in front all game.
-Jahlil rushing himself when getting the ball on the block. Take your time, man.
-Tyus fast break pass to Justise for a highlight dunk.
-Justise might have a couple highlights this year, haha.
-Under 16 time out. Duke 48, Central Missouri 22
-2nd team comes in, Cook immediately misses seeing Grayson on a perfect cut. Boo.
-Sheed slashes and draws a foul. Good for him. Don’t settle.
-Wow! Quinn with a spin, couple dribbles and pull up mid-range jumper for 2. That was unexpected!
-Central Missouri had a break, Sheed stops it, but rest of his team is walking down, so offensive rebound allowed. Lazy transition defense by the 4 besides Sheed.
-Sheed settles for another 3. Tough to understand why he’s doing this.
-Now Sheed posts and dishes to Semi for a 3. Much better by Sheed.
-Grayson with an offensive rebound. He’s a shot of energy when he comes into the game.
-Under 12 minute time out. Duke 52, Central Missouri 28
-Cook settles for a 3. Gonna be an annoying theme.
-Sheed hits a 3, but it’s a play designed for get him the shot. I’m more than ok with that.
-ISO drive and finish for an And-1 for Cook on the most awkward looking finish I’ve seen in a long time, haha. I’ll still take it!
-Semi hasn’t touched the ball in forever.
-Cook gets another transition finish. I’ll say it again. Very comfortable with him in open floor.
-Sheed to Grayson for an alley oop. A bit mishandled by Allen, but still worked.
-Tyus ahead to Justise for transition dunk, seemingly the 50th dunk of the night for Winslow.
-Winslow knocks ball out to give Duke 2nd chance. Same thing as the dunks for him. Seems like he’s done this 50 times tonight.
-How is Matt Jones always open by 20 feet?? Good lord.
-Under 8 minute time out. Duke 67, Central Missouri 35
-Nolan Smith shown on the screen. I think he’s growing his hair out. I have mixed opinions on this. Actually, whatever. Screw my opinion. Do you, Nolan!
-Winslow knocks another ball out for a 2nd opportunity on offense.
-Matt Jones scores some ability off the dribble! Unexpected. Get an And-1. Interested to see if this is only happening because of the opposing talent, or whether he can beat high-level athletic guys off the dribble during the season.
-Justise Winslow matching up against Justin Anderson when Duke plays Virginia…yeesh. That’s gonna be a war! Both guys are crazy athletes.
-Amile with an offensive rebound. Such a huge talent/athleticism difference. I like Duke’s hustle, but have to take with a little grain of salt.
-Just like usual, I won’t mention Amile’s specific plays much during the game, but his impact is way bigger than any individual play or statistic can show.
-Jahlil starts to rush down low. Then gathers himself, hits the righty baby hook. Good to see him calm down and judge the situation. No need to go too quickly.
-Next possession, Okafor takes his time again and hits a cutting Tyus. 2 fantastic possessions by Okafor.
-K calls a play for Allen to curl around and shoot a jumper from the elbow. He faded a bit on the shot. He’s better when moving towards the basket at this point in his young career.
-The play is getting sloppy. Not sure if anything happening at this point means a damn.
-Under 4 minute time out. Duke 81, Central Missouri 41
-My boy Pags wants some playing time. Give my boy Pags some playing time!!!!
-No PT for Pags.
-Grayson hits a 3 from the corner. Good balance on the shot. Not fading at all. Went straight up.
-Grayson hits a 3 from the other corner. Again, great balance.
-Come on, Ryan Craig. Grayson has a chip on his shoulder? Stop.
-Into the game, Sean Kelly (Ryan’s bro) and……….PAGS!!!!!!!!!
-I’m rooting for an alley oop to Pags. He might bring the entire rim down.
-Pags gets it stripped and turns it over. #Boom
-Game. Duke 87, Central Missouri 47.
-Duke needs to learn a lesson from this. DON’T SETTLE FOR 3’S EARLY ON. SET THE TONE! ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK!
