Box score tells a pretty simple story. We out shot them from 2 and 3.
BUT go out rebounded by 10, 10! Had 3 more turnovers and 5 more fouls. Those 3 stats. So many extra shots and possessions for them.
If any of those 3 are even we win
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It was nice to be playing fun and totally stressful March games again.
Does a player from the runner up even ACC-T MVP (a la Carsen Edwards?) ? Thought Ugo had a shot at MVP the way he dominated his minutes in the tourneyā¦
And @tonyburnertt 's takeaway here is basically my takeaway, too. I donāt think we are on the level of a fully healthy Duke, but we are right there with a dinged up Duke, and thatās really freakin good.
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The goaltend?
They swatted out of bounds and we ended up hitting a three later in the possession so didnāt end up costing us. But was exemplary of the poor officiating.
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I saw a lot of chatter about 50-50 balls, and I know nobody wants to hear this from me, but Duke won more 50-50 balls because they are generally longer and more athletic than us.
A lot of us are āJV football coachā-pilled, and want to attribute that stuff to effort, but eh, I donāt know. Why are you listening to your JV football coach? We all know now that guy was all hepped on some sort of illegal PED, right?
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Some of those plays were just unfortunate bounces. The one that started a Duke fastbreak, ugh.
Last nightās loss may have bought us a ticket to a place we could not have gone otherwise. Iāve heard something similar before somewhere.
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If you played JV football youāre doing it wrong.
Athleticism absolutely helps with 50-50 balls sometimes the other guy is just faster, jumps higher etc.
Overall it was a solid game and the boys fell short for a number of reasons. Thatās typically the case in any win or loss.
Personally it doesnāt change my perspective on what the team is capable of come next week. The Elite 8 is almost as much of a possibility as a first round exit.
Last night we saw the shot making and energy that make the team great, and we saw the sloppy ball hamdling, poor effort on the defensive glass and stagnent half court sets that can doom the team.
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Iād add that even without their two starters, Dukeās length, athleticism, maximum effort, and good coaching still made their defense elite last night and was directly responsible for several of our poor offensive possessions.
One other observation, De Ridder did not have his best game by any measure, but Duke was focused on taking him out of our offense. I thought we countered effectively by having our guards and Lewis drive into the lane more to take advantage of the space created by the focus on De Ridder. The downside, maybe, was that we had to go away from our high assist rate offense. I suppose you could argue that led to some additional disjointed play and some out of rhythm three point shots.
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and then they parked boozer at the top of the key and I dont think Ugo got another block after that.
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Getting Boozer out of the paint feels like a pretty big win schematically
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TDR also missed many of the baby hooks he typically makes. Some were contested but he just looked rushed and was sort of hoping when he tossed them up.
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Nice luxury to have a 6-9 250 pound 18 year old 5 star 4/5 who can bring the ball up and run the offense.
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He did (or got credit for one) ā with 22 seconds left. Ball barely grazed the rim. Very very close to a shot clock violation, but Boozer got the offensive board off the slight carom and game over.
A little more on that block, and itās going the other way, down 2 with 21 seconds to play.
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Yep. Thought we played a great game, right up to our potential. Did all the things we did well, couldnāt get past the things weāre not good at. Thatās a loss against Duke, but if we continue to play like this, itās a win against 99% of every other team.
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TDR suddenly came down with basketball amnesia. Dude forgot how to play basketball and should have been named player of the game. He was Pukes best player last night by far. We all know that if you are going to beat Duke, you have to absolutely beat them. There is no help coming from the Refs or from Duke as they typically will take advantage of all opportunities. This was UVAās game to win and they had their chances. Now I will say that I did like the fire that I saw in most of our players last night!! Havenāt seen it at that level all year. TDR was either absolutely overwhelmed or he literally had a different agenda last night than the rest of the team. I just find it hard to believe he was overwhelmed at 23 yrs of age with a previous pro career. If by some chance he returns to his former self, I think this team has a chance for a deep run in the big dance!
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Malik, for the tourney: 49 points, 2 turnovers.
I was wondering if Malik would āturn it onā for the postseason. Seems like that kind of guy. But was also worried that might lead to him trying to do too much.
Results are in, he was fantastic.
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TDR was poor. But the book on him seems to be to double in the paint and live with the kickout. Or let him turn it over.
He played poorly last night and made some selfish decisions.
We needed to pick on the little Boozer more than we did last night. It didnāt help that whistles were swallowed.
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Few teams will have the type of athletes to effectively double TDR and then also recover on the perimeter. Itās just hard for us to match up with Duke when they have 6-7 guys who are all long and fast.
Duke gambled that they could bring a late double on TDR and still recover or force turnovers. It worked. Would it work if TDR wasnāt on his third game in three days? I donāt know. But it worked last night.
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Odom didnāt challenge it. What was he saving that challenge for??? Dooks coaches have their IPad queued up what about us??
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im not sure you can challenge a missed goaltend. uva hit a 3 that possession anyway i think
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I donāt think De Ridder was overwhelmed by playing Duke last night. He was literally the only UVA player who had a decent game in a much tougher environment and against the full Duke squad in Durham. My take on him last night was that Duke schemed better for De Ridder this time around, and while others on our team adjusted well to what Duke was doing, De Ridder did not. You could similarly argue that Cameron Boozer was also overwhelmed by UVAās defensive scheme last night, particularly putting Onyenso on him, since he went 3 for 17 shooting. But he adjusted, somewhat, and did other stuff to help his team win. And Boozer, obviously, is a much better player, which helps a lot.
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