Duke Advances by Albany 73-61

It wasn’t a thing of beauty but Duke does take care of business in the first round (I’ll always call this the first round), getting by Albany 73-61. If you are thinking this game was a little too close for comfort I would agree with you, then again it’s all about survive and advance, and with whats happened recently with Duke in tournament games, let’s enjoy this win.

Duke got what it expected from Seth Curry and Mason Plumlee. Plumlee owned the paint scoring 23 points off of 9 of 11 shooting. Curry was everywhere for Duke offensively scoring 26 and hitting every conceivable type of shot, from floaters to lay-ups to 3 point bombs.

What Duke did not get was consistent scoring from anyone else, Ryan Kelly pitched in with 8 but Duke will need more from the senior forward in the next game. Duke also got 7 from Rasheed Sulaimon who seems to have some moments but never quite got it completely going in this game. Quinn Cook was amazing with the ball dishing out 11 assists and only 1 turnover for the Devils but only scoring 4 points.

Where Duke seemed to be vulnerable is the same areas it has been all year. Defensively it wasn’t a stellar game by any means. Duke allowed Albany to shoot 9 for 15 on 3 point shots, while only managing 4 for 11. Duke also did not defend the paint well either. Allowing too many takes to the lane. Duke also found themselves in foul trouble. While no one fouled out Mason ended the game with 3 fouls and Kelly with 4. Mason missed some much-needed minutes on the bench with foul trouble as did Ryan Kelly. For a team with very little depth Duke will need to play smarter and shore up these defensive deficiencies going forward, but hey…we are in round 2!!!

WHAT I WISH WOULD HAPPEN:

Offensively I wish for Duke to get some shots for Ryan Kelly close to the basket, would love to see his game of inside then out once he finds a good rhythm. Would love to see more drives to the basket by Quinn Cook and Rasheed Sulaimon.

I would love to see a much stouter defensive effort. Stopping penetration is going to be key for Duke, otherwise its going to have to come down to shoot outs and with Seth Curry having a hard time playing games without a lot of rest, and Kelly still working his way back into game shape, a shootout is not what Duke is going to want at this point.

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