Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Duke vs Davidson

Duke vs Davidson

You can call this one the Curry Bowl as Seth Curry faces his brother's old team for the second time. Personally, I like watching two great coaches go up against each other. Both teams run a lot of sets, play a lot of players, and have a balanced offensive attack. Coach K obviously has more talent at his disposal, but McKillop always does great with what he has.

McKillop does have one solid prospect in De'Mon Brooks. He's the prototype for face up college power forwards these days - possessing very good athleticism, a strong frame, and good ability off the bounce. Him and the rest of Davidson threw off Mason Plumlee's game with their physicality. The brought sneaky double teams on the weakside and forced Duke's big men to make quick decisions - something Plumlee struggled with. Plumlee finished with 6 turnovers and only 10 points on the night.

Ryan Kelly did a much better job dealing with Davidson's aggressive defense. He fought back in the post, played under control, and used their aggressiveness against them. Kelly has a series of ball fakes he uses and a very good feel in the post. He takes his time and is able to get a decent look at the basket whenever he gets a touch. He makes good decisions with the ball and plays good man to man defense as well. You feel comfortable when he has the ball - more comfortable than you'd feel about Mason Plumlee to be honest.

De'Mon Brooks dealt with Duke's height by forcing them to play in space and attacking them off the dribble. He knows how to finish inside, taking the ball right at the chest of bigger defenders. Brooks has good touch with either hand near the rim and stays under control. He also does a nice job utilizing pump fakes as well as a spin move when facing up off the dribble. He thrives as a undersized power forward. Defensively, he is disciplined, strong, and uses his above average length well. He is well coached on that end of the floor and is a very good help defender.

On the perimeter, Duke's guards defended very well tonight - namely Quinn Cook, Rasheed Sulaimon, and Tyler Thornton. Cook has been solid all season since gaining his confidence against Kentucky and stood out tonight. He did a good job getting in the paint and finishing with floaters or kicking it back out on the perimeter.

As for Sulaimon, he filled up the box score with seven rebounds and 6 made free throws. He was only 1-6 from the floor though, despite his aggressive play. He looked to push the ball in transition off of rebounds and did his best work their. In the halfcourt though, he struggled getting all the way to the rim. He has a solid first step, but lacks explosiveness after that. He has to dribble way too much on his way to the rim - at times he will put the ball on the floor for 5 dribbles - the best drivers get to the rim with 2. When you get Sulaimon dancing with the ball on his way to the hoop, turnovers and bad shots are the two most likely outcomes. Sulaimon needs to go back to uses his jumpshot to set up his drives instead of the other way around. He is a good all-around player, but shouldn't feature himself as a pure slasher.

No comments:

Post a Comment