NW vs. Duke Game Thread

[hoopster]

Re: NW vs. Duke Game Thread

Hedging ball screens like Duke did is literally the last thing I would do if I were a D2 opponent playing NW. D2 teams stand no chance of corralling Pitts in that situation. When he gets outside of these hedges he has all options available. Shooters and athletes back cutting. NW ran great offense and got great shots last night. You can convince me Pitts's floaters were effected by Duke's length but the 20 open threes just didn't fall. I'd take those shots anytime

[MoHoops]

Re: NW vs. Duke Game Thread

If I have to pick my poison, I am going to make those other guys beat me.

[Augieholic]

Re: NW vs. Duke Game Thread

I prefer flop shot. Get saucy.

[NWHoops]

Re: NW vs. Duke Game Thread

Duke definitely held Pitts to 7. He regularly shoots the one handed floater from anywhere inside the arc. He's done it in the past regularly from the ft line. There's just no way to account for the energy expended on Duke athletes when playing defense as well as their length and athleticism. He had much better production against the second team as far as getting to the lane but there were still near 7 footers waiting for him every time. The one time he did break down the first team, coach k called a timeout immediately and lit into his guys. They focused everything on taking him away (rightly so). The difference is they had the athletes to do it. Other guys had plenty of open shots but weren't able to hit enough to keep it respectable.

As for hedging, I've seen teams try that and try to switch. They've really tried everything. If D2 teams try to use the same game plan as the #1 team in D1 then I have a feeling they may realize it's not as easy as just copying the game plan. More to do with the players executing it than the plan itself.

NW may not have a shooter as good as Schneider this year but they may have more shooters. Lost Schneider last year but Witthus steps into his role, Welty is back, redshirt freshman Hawkins showed a nice shot as well and lead the team in scoring against Duke.

Should be another fun season.

[MoHoops]

Re: NW vs. Duke Game Thread

They definitely have the weapons to repeat.

[MrAugustana]

Re: NW vs. Duke Game Thread

They definitely have the weapons to repeat.

Haven't you heard? Northern State is stealing the title this year. :)

[MoHoops]

[Alfred33]

Re: NW vs. Duke Game Thread

That was fun!... just seeing our Bearcats against Duke regardless of the outcome. That's a once in a lifetime experience for those young men, stepping on the court several guys they'll be watching in the NBA soon. As much as I've always hated Duke, it's pretty cool that they do that. As far as the game goes, I thought Northwest showed pretty well... I said prior to the game that I expected them to lose by 40 - that was based on the fact that I didn't think we'd have the horses to be able to stop them from doing what they wanted to do. We didn't. I have to say though, I was pleasantly surprised at how well Northwest controlled and moved the ball, and they got good shots on most of their possessions. Pitts was able to go wherever he wanted to... he's pretty amazing. At times, he made defenders look silly with his ball handling in this game just as he does on the D2 level, but I felt that he short-armed and rushed shots. I think that had everything to do with Duke's length. It appeared to me that a lot of the open 3's missed in the first half were attributed to rushing... Witthus looked like he was falling off his shot on his first 2 or 3, but he seemed to settle in and shot better as the game went along. Pitts had some great passes against those double teams and hedges at the top of the key too, but we just don't have the guys that can finish at the rim against the size and talent of Duke. Obviously, it's hard to get a real good takeaway from this game, but I think we have the pieces to make another run at it. I don't think shooting is going to be an issue for this team. Schneider was a great shooter, but I feel like Mosby is the guy that will be missed the most from last year's team... he just seemed to energize everyone (players and crowd) with his junkyard dog effort and played so much bigger than he was. Hopefully, someone will assume that roll. Should be another fun year.

[Taxman]

Re: NW vs. Duke Game Thread

Others can disagree, but I almost feel like there haven't been any calls. It's been a very simply called game, and I don't think there's been any officiating bias at all. It's just the natural disparity between the #1 D1 team in the country and the #1 D2 team in the country.

You were exactly correct there weren't any calls. I don't think in a regular season game there would have been this few of fouls called. However, I was really impressed with how both teams played under control for the most part even when making contact so they let most of the contact go. It was a man's game. NW answered the challenge the best they could.

[Taxman]

Re: NW vs. Duke Game Thread

Definitely length . . . height advantage. Duke's roster this year is packed with it. I always love the heart and ferocity of Bearcat game day, but I gotta tell you, I really was impressed how much the Duke players on the bench were really "into" the game . . . all game long. They love seeing success on the floor. And, as the game progressed, there was zero attitude with this Duke team that exhibited any kind of letdown with the lead they had late into the game. Especially on the bench. Loved their reactions. They had respect for this Bearcat team. Good for Duke. Would like to see them "hold onto" their #1 preseason ranking.

This is how Duke teams are every year. #TheBrotherhood

[Taxman]

Re: NW vs. Duke Game Thread

No MIAA team will be able to replicate what Duke was able to do. Pitts may not agree, but the size really affected his shot. You had 6'3" Duval attempting to keep Pitts from ever getting the ball to begin with and then an athletic 6'10'' dude hedging and then another athletic 6'10" dude at the rim. His floater did not look the same this game as I have seen in the past.

[Taxman]

Re: NW vs. Duke Game Thread

I thought this was weird too. I know his floater can be a killer (as an Augie fan, I've had to endure it almost as much these past 3 years as you MIAA fans), but some of those were from a distance that just seemed unnaturally difficult for a floater. If he were a bad shooter, it might make sense, but he's usually a very good shooter. I'm sure he must've felt in the moment that it was the right shot to shoot, but I was surprised to see him push so many of them from that far back.

Another great observation.

[Taxman]

Re: NW vs. Duke Game Thread

Hedging ball screens like Duke did is literally the last thing I would do if I were a D2 opponent playing NW. D2 teams stand no chance of corralling Pitts in that situation. When he gets outside of these hedges he has all options available. Shooters and athletes back cutting. NW ran great offense and got great shots last night. You can convince me Pitts's floaters were effected by Duke's length but the 20 open threes just didn't fall. I'd take those shots anytime

I agree. I thought NW played really well. Sometimes your shots go in and sometime they don't. I came away thinking this team is going to be really, really good. They ran good offense all night. There were some defensive leaks but Duke was overwhelming offensively.

Duke definitely held Pitts to 7. He regularly shoots the one handed floater from anywhere inside the arc. He's done it in the past regularly from the ft line. There's just no way to account for the energy expended on Duke athletes when playing defense as well as their length and athleticism. He had much better production against the second team as far as getting to the lane but there were still near 7 footers waiting for him every time. The one time he did break down the first team, coach k called a timeout immediately and lit into his guys. They focused everything on taking him away (rightly so). The difference is they had the athletes to do it. Other guys had plenty of open shots but weren't able to hit enough to keep it respectable.

As for hedging, I've seen teams try that and try to switch. They've really tried everything. If D2 teams try to use the same game plan as the #1 team in D1 then I have a feeling they may realize it's not as easy as just copying the game plan. More to do with the players executing it than the plan itself.

NW may not have a shooter as good as Schneider this year but they may have more shooters. Lost Schneider last year but Witthus steps into his role, Welty is back, redshirt freshman Hawkins showed a nice shot as well and lead the team in scoring against Duke.

Should be another fun season.

Yes he did. The hedge guy didn't do his job.

That was fun!... just seeing our Bearcats against Duke regardless of the outcome. That's a once in a lifetime experience for those young men, stepping on the court several guys they'll be watching in the NBA soon. As much as I've always hated Duke, it's pretty cool that they do that. As far as the game goes, I thought Northwest showed pretty well... I said prior to the game that I expected them to lose by 40 - that was based on the fact that I didn't think we'd have the horses to be able to stop them from doing what they wanted to do. We didn't. I have to say though, I was pleasantly surprised at how well Northwest controlled and moved the ball, and they got good shots on most of their possessions. Pitts was able to go wherever he wanted to... he's pretty amazing. At times, he made defenders look silly with his ball handling in this game just as he does on the D2 level, but I felt that he short-armed and rushed shots. I think that had everything to do with Duke's length. It appeared to me that a lot of the open 3's missed in the first half were attributed to rushing... Witthus looked like he was falling off his shot on his first 2 or 3, but he seemed to settle in and shot better as the game went along. Pitts had some great passes against those double teams and hedges at the top of the key too, but we just don't have the guys that can finish at the rim against the size and talent of Duke. Obviously, it's hard to get a real good takeaway from this game, but I think we have the pieces to make another run at it. I don't think shooting is going to be an issue for this team. Schneider was a great shooter, but I feel like Mosby is the guy that will be missed the most from last year's team... he just seemed to energize everyone (players and crowd) with his junkyard dog effort and played so much bigger than he was. Hopefully, someone will assume that roll. Should be another fun year.

I didn't feel like Pitts went wherever he wanted. Many times he went where Duke wanted. Pitts still had many moments of brilliance. Just couldn't get the ball through the hoop.

Mosby will be the one player they need to replace on the court. He was 6'5" but played like he was 6'9". A lot of shooters to help replace Schneider. Time will tell on the intangibles.

[simple as a $3 bill]

Re: NW vs. Duke Game Thread

Another great observation.

Taxman, if your going to come on these boards you need to learn one thing. We don't open the door by giving any Augie guy any little bit of praise. Once that starts, its watchout everyone, here we go. Its Augie this, Augie that, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[MrAugustana]

Re: NW vs. Duke Game Thread

Taxman, if your going to come on these boards you need to learn one thing. We don't open the door by giving any Augie guy any little bit of praise. Once that starts, its watchout everyone, here we go. Its Augie this, Augie that, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

It's sad how well we get to know each other on these boards. The moment I saw "simple as a $3 bill" as the most recent post on this thread, I thought, 100% guarantee he's criticizing Taxman for his (entirely accurate) praise of my game assessment.