Talking Points: Second-round knockout
Seth Curry (30) drives past a defender during the North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Duke Blue Devils NCAA basketball game, Saturday, March 9, 2013 in Chapel Hill, NC.
Mar 10, 2013
1. Seth Curry scored 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting and essentially had North Carolina playing catch-up the entire first half all by himself.
"[Curry] just toyed with us," said Roy Williams. "He stepped back, he goes through, he could see open shots. He was in complete control on the offensive end and we were a step slow staying in front of him."
2. Not that teams can't recover from inauspicious starts, it's just that Duke's thoroughly aggressive play never allowed the Tar Heels to do anything other than react.
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Curry's brilliant start obscured the Blue Devils collectively shooting 69 percent in the opening half. Quinn Cook and Tyler Thornton knocked down crowd hushing three-pointers. Mason Plumlee chipped in eight points and helped Duke pull down 61 percnet of North Carolina's missed shots.
The advanced statistics of the first half are even more eye-opening, with Duke effectively shooting 78.8% from the field and running an offensive efficiency of 128.0.
3. When Curry cooled off, Plumlee heated up. The senior had a 10-point burst after halftime and wrapped up the night with 23 points on 10-for-15 shooting and 13 rebounds.
Through a combination of adjusting for the perimeter shooters and Ryan Kelly taking away the opportunity to double-team, Plumlee thrived at the expense of James Michael McAdoo.
4. North Carolina was 1-of-14 from beyond the arc and didn't make that three-pointer until P.J. Hairston knocked one down with 5:04 left in the game. While the Tar Heels took their share of rushed shots in responding to Duke's opening barrage, credit has to go to the Blue Devils for pressuring the perimeter the entire night.
The Tar Heels actually had 13 more shot attempts than Duke, but wound up only hitting 34 percent for game.
Duke's commitment to making everything difficult for the Tar Heels allowed them to survive a field goal drought of their own that lasted for nearly seven minutes in the second half.
5. After the game, Williams did not want the loss to define what North Carolina had accomplished since the initial meeting with Duke in Durham. The Heels won't play again until 9:30 p.m. on the Friday of the ACC Tournament, which certainly provides them time to forget what happened on Saturday and give guys like McAdoo some time to rest.
Obviously North Carolina would have rather won the game but getting waxed can be a liberating experience. Burn the film, look at the improvement over the last three weeks and have confidence everything will click again in Greensboro. Who knows, maybe the Heels will get the rubber match against Duke on Saturday?
As for the NCAA Tournament, the ceiling for this team is probably the Sweet Sixteen. It's cliché, but everything rides on the match-ups. North Carolina can deal with bigger squads, provided their interiors are offensively challenged like Georgia Tech and Maryland.
Most Recent Comments
RE: Talking Points: Second-round knockout
- Posted by jgunn- Posted by eichn001- Posted by jgunn- Posted by ACC22
Really good points jgunn. That game is over. It's very important that the heels moved on. I recall a game where Duke made an amazing comeback against Maryland. Maryland let that carry over. The heels must put it behind them.
I remember that! I think it is called the "miracle minute" where Duke was down by 10 points, and found a way to beat Maryland, and the Terps never recovered from that loss. As a fan, this game was easier to take than "The Shot". That one was a bitter pill. The Heels evened the score, but this year, they weren't able to. Feel bad for the seniors, especially Strick, but the best "revenge" is to play well in the ACCT and NCAAT and send Strick out on a good note.
Actually, Maryland did recover- kind of. That was Duke's 2000-2001 championship season with Jay (then Jason) Williams scoring a ridiculous amount of points in the miracle minute. This was a road game during the regular season.
To get to the championship THAT SAME SEASON Duke faced Maryland in the Final Four. Thus, Maryland clearly recovered enough to make the Final Four (and won the championship the next season). However, they had an even worse gagging episode in the Final Four game against Duke- they were winning by about 25 in the first half and blew the lead.
As a Duke fan during the years of "Not Our Rivals" chants, these games were verrrrry sweet.
Hey, thanks for refreshing my memory. I thought that last minute loss to Duke crushed Maryland, but if they made it to the FF, you're right - they DID recover. That was the same time frame when Carolina was tanking, and I think Maryland took the place of Carolina as Duke's rival.
No prob. Those games against Maryland are pleasant memories for me. The Duke-UNC rivalry was pitiful those years- from 98-99 season to 2001-02 season, UNC only beat Duke once. Oddly enough, UNC's one win in the time was at Cameron, due to a mental mistake by Shane Battier, of all people, fouling Brandon Haywood 17 feet from the basket trying to steal the inbounds pass with almost no time left.
Glad to have UNC-Duke rivalry back strong. Maybe one of these decades NC St8 will join us. Or maybe they should just follow Maryland to the Big 10 and leave the ACC to the schools that can ball.
Posted Mar 10, 10:01 p.m.
Rank: Sports Legend Posts: 1493
Joined: Jun, 2011
Location: Apex, NC
RE: Talking Points: Second-round knockout
UNC got "Hammered" by Duke! A great game by Coach K and the boys!- Posted by NCSU84
Fack fan happier about d00k's win than d00k fans.
RE: Talking Points: Second-round knockout
Your right it wasn't the defense Carolina wasn't playing against themselves last night! it was only five players on the floor the entire night. give me a break typical looser status you got pounded deal with it. Whatever happened to kelly or no kelly duke will loose? Excuses Excuses the carowina tradition. Sweep- Posted by ugottabkiddinmeSeriously!?...dude it had nothing to do with coaching and all to do with Curry just being in a zone and the Heels having an off night shooting...and don't give me that is was the defense...the Heels just missed open shots as well as lay ups..it happens! I said it before the game when you rely on the jump shot some nights you look unstoppable and others like you couldn't even beat State..lol i had to go there....you should know this! Dook has been this way for 10 years until this year ironicallyIn the coaching world when big games are on the line..Roy just got a "How to"...!- Posted by Big Mike
Posted Mar 10, 7:48 p.m.
Rank: Sports Legend Posts: 19544
Joined: Dec, 2006
Location: Raleigh, NC
RE: Talking Points: Second-round knockout
- Posted by ugottabkiddinmeSeriously!?...dude it had nothing to do with coaching and all to do with Curry just being in a zone and the Heels having an off night shooting...and don't give me that is was the defense...the Heels just missed open shots as well as lay ups..it happens! I said it before the game when you rely on the jump shot some nights you look unstoppable and others like you couldn't even beat State..lol i had to go there....you should know this! Dook has been this way for 10 years until this year ironicallyIn the coaching world when big games are on the line..Roy just got a "How to"...!- Posted by Big Mike
I agree. The game had NOTHING to do with coaching. Roy called a T/O very early into the game to refocus the guys, and it didn't work. I don't think any amount of coaching would have helped. It was one of "those" games. You're right about the irony of the jump shot too.
Posted Mar 10, 7:46 p.m.
Rank: Sports Legend Posts: 19544
Joined: Dec, 2006
Location: Raleigh, NC
RE: Talking Points: Second-round knockout
- Posted by eichn001- Posted by jgunn- Posted by ACC22I hoped this would be more of a game, but it was basically a clinic put on by Duke. I hope the Heels can put this loss behind them and concentrate on the ACCT and NCAAT.- Posted by jgunn
Really good points jgunn. That game is over. It's very important that the heels moved on. I recall a game where Duke made an amazing comeback against Maryland. Maryland let that carry over. The heels must put it behind them.
I remember that! I think it is called the "miracle minute" where Duke was down by 10 points, and found a way to beat Maryland, and the Terps never recovered from that loss. As a fan, this game was easier to take than "The Shot". That one was a bitter pill. The Heels evened the score, but this year, they weren't able to. Feel bad for the seniors, especially Strick, but the best "revenge" is to play well in the ACCT and NCAAT and send Strick out on a good note.
Actually, Maryland did recover- kind of. That was Duke's 2000-2001 championship season with Jay (then Jason) Williams scoring a ridiculous amount of points in the miracle minute. This was a road game during the regular season.
To get to the championship THAT SAME SEASON Duke faced Maryland in the Final Four. Thus, Maryland clearly recovered enough to make the Final Four (and won the championship the next season). However, they had an even worse gagging episode in the Final Four game against Duke- they were winning by about 25 in the first half and blew the lead.
As a Duke fan during the years of "Not Our Rivals" chants, these games were verrrrry sweet.
Hey, thanks for refreshing my memory. I thought that last minute loss to Duke crushed Maryland, but if they made it to the FF, you're right - they DID recover. That was the same time frame when Carolina was tanking, and I think Maryland took the place of Carolina as Duke's rival.
