Duke Game Tempo

[jwp91]

I was quite surprised by the tempo of the Duke game.

I expected us to work for a game with a much slower tempo. It seemed to me (and to several other posters based on their posts) that a slower tempo favored the Hoyas. I wasn't sure we could hang with Duke if we played their game.

We played with a very fast tempo compared to what I have seen so far this year. We actually ran the ball a bit for the first time I have seen all year. And we didn't look bad doing it.

So was this an aberation? Were we just playing at Duke's preferred tempo? Were we taking advantage of a athetlicism mismatch? Or might we open things up a bit going forward?

I would like to see us continue to be opportunistic but disciplined in taking the ball upcourt. I like the way it played out on Saturday.

What do you think?

[MCIGuy]

The oportunity to run off of missed shots have been there all season. The Hoyas have decided to walk it up most times for some reason. Also the Hoyas took shots as soon as they got a good look rather than waiting for the fifth good look with only a few ticks left on the shotclock. That is also something the Hoyas could have been doing earlier. I don't know why all of a sudden they did these things against Duke but I hope they keep it up. The backdoor cuts unfortunately won't likely be as available in BE play. But think about how at first Belein's WVU teams were very methodical as well. Now, years later, you see them putting up 90 plus points against major competition and taking very quick shots. The Hoyas may get to that point as well.

[RockawayHoya]

mciguy said:

TAlso the Hoyas took shots as soon as they got a good look rather than waiting for the fifth good look with only a few ticks left on the shotclock. That is also something the Hoyas could have been doing earlier. I don't know why all of a sudden they did these things against Duke but I hope they keep it up.

About what I wanted to say verbatim.

[Deleted]

Agree with MCI. To build on what he said, consider the defense Dook played, as well. Tough, in-your-face man-to-man... almost to the point of overplaying on D, which allowed our boys to pick them apart with the back-door cuts.

[SFHoya99]

I think it is somewhat of an abberation.

Duke was penetrating to the hoop a lot with its guards -- leaving no one back to defend against the break. Add that DJ and Brandon were so much faster than the Duke defenders and it was a good time to break.

At the end of the game, there was a lot of fouling on both sides, and Duke pressed, leading to a lot of over the top scores. This added quite a few possessions I don't expect to see in a game with a different opposing coach.

Despite all that, I think there were only 72 or so possessions per team -- only ten more. Which is a lot, but not so much when I figure the pressing and fouling into it.

As for taking the first open shot...of course we did. It was layups all the first half!

There wasn't some magical clicking. We executed well, but when you have faster players and zero defenders in the lane, you've got a great backdoor opportunity.

Maybe we were more aggressive, but no one has given us those opportunities all year.