Duke cruised in its opener vs Princeton 97-60, while the score was lopsided the first half really had the Devils scratching their heads a bit. It took a late first half run to get the halftime lead against Princeton to 14 points. That was despite Princeton turning the ball over 17 times.
Duke was out o sync as expected, there are definitely going to be growing pains but flashes of what this team could and should be were all over the place. This should be the best shooting team in America on any given night. There were times when this team could do no wrong, but a good sign is that there is room for improvement. Particularly on the defensive end. Much better communication is needed. On the offensive end, rebounding is definitely an issue, the Plumlees, as athletic as they are did not pull down the rebounding numbers that this team is going to need going forward.
Mason finished the game with 4 rebounds and Miles only 2. These numbers will have to improve if Duke is going to be a great team. On the offensive end both Plumlees seemed a step slow, Mason particularly seemed to have lead in his shoes, not sure if he is over thinking things or what.
Not to be over critical in game one but there will have to be more from the bigs Duke.
The great news is Kyrie Irving is ready, scoring 17 points in this first official game. He also tossed in 9 dimes and 4 rebounds, to only 1 turnover. Irving can get his shot whenever he wants, but knows when to dish and when to take. He is going to be amazing to watch.
We’ve seen these kinds of numbers from Kyle and Nolan who had 16 and 22 respectively. Great games by both despite some early turnovers by Smith. He showed he can score anywhere on the court, and the efficiency and shot selection for these two are amazing.
The worry I had was that there would not be enough shots to go around but when you are making a lot more than you are missing then you have reserves with double figure scoring, folks there are enough basketballs to go around, this team when its clicking on all cylinders is fast, efficient and dangerous. 53.8% from 3 point range, making 11 of 12 from the line. As we said before Princeton is no slouch and Duke in the second half made them look like one.
- Energetic Duke is crazy good in basketball opener
- #1 Duke routs Princeton 97-60 in Opener
- Irving Impressive in First Regular Season Start
- Blue Devils push nonconference winning streak at Cameron to 78 games
- It’s official: Duke’s now go, go go!
- Duke crushes Princeton in season opener
- Explaining why Duke students wore viking helmets on Sunday
- Kyrie Irving Dazzles in Duke Debut
| Princeton Tigers | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Kareem Maddox, F | 31 | 1-5 | 0-2 | 4-6 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 6 |
| Ian Hummer, F | 33 | 5-11 | 0-0 | 4-8 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 14 |
| Brendan Connolly, C | 18 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Dan Mavraides, G | 33 | 6-8 | 4-5 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 16 |
| Douglas Davis, G | 22 | 2-7 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Bobby Foley, G | 1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| John Comfort, F | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Patrick Saunders, F | 8 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Jimmy Sherburne, G | 3 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Will Barrett, F | 4 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Mack Darrow, F | 22 | 3-5 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| T.J. Bray, G | 19 | 2-4 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| Chris Clement, G | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Daniel Edwards, F | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ben Hazel, G-F | 3 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | |
| 23-50 | 6-16 | 8-19 | 7 | 26 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 27 | 15 | 60 | ||
| 46.0% | 37.5% | 42.1% | ||||||||||
| Duke Blue Devils | ||||||||||||
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Kyle Singler, F | 26 | 7-10 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 16 |
| Miles Plumlee, F | 17 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Nolan Smith, G | 30 | 10-15 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 22 |
| Mason Plumlee, F | 20 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Kyrie Irving, G | 25 | 4-10 | 3-6 | 6-6 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Seth Curry, G | 24 | 4-10 | 3-5 | 3-3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 14 |
| Andre Dawkins, G | 22 | 5-9 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| Ryan Kelly, F | 14 | 1-3 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Tyler Thornton, G | 9 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Josh Hairston, F | 13 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| TOTALS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | |
| 36-65 | 14-26 | 11-12 | 7 | 27 | 26 | 10 | 5 | 14 | 17 | 97 | ||
| 55.4% | 53.8% | 91.7% | ||||||||||
more a little later…
