Great site here and I have enjoyed reading it so far. Here are my thoughts on the game Thursday. Should be an intense battle. With Big Baby and Thomas down low, look for Duke to use the same game plan that they have all year against quality big men, i.e. Killingsworth, Hansbrough, E.Williams, Craig Smith, Aldridge, etc. Coach K's philosophy is that we will let Big Baby and Thomas get theirs and not double down on them. You should expect big games from those two -- I could see Big Baby easily dropping 25+. BUT, to counter letting the bigs have their way down low, Duke will really try and shut down the perimeter and not allow any uncontested shots and dribble penetration. Big Baby and Thomas may get 55 points but Duke will make sure to shut down the rest of the team. This has actually been an effective strategy for Duke this season. A lot of people make a big deal about Big Baby, and rightfully so, but the key for LSU is Thomas. Duke has struggled all year against athletic big men. I am not sure if LSU is ready for the type of player that JJ is. I have watched every UK game this year and there is simply nobody in the SEC that runs constantly and uses screens like JJ. But, Brady has a week to put a plan together. Duke needs to be worried about Shelden getting into foul trouble. If he has to sit early, it will be open season down low for LSU becasue we have ZERO depth at the 4 and 5 spot. The reason that I like Dukes chances: (1) JJ has found his stroke over the last few weeks (2) Shelden, like BB, is always consistent, (3) somehow over the last 3 weeks our two freshman started playing great and looked like veterans. The reason I like LSU chances: (1) no pressure to win, (2) solid play in the low post, (3) crowd will be with LSU -- trust me, TU and WVU will be rooting against Duke, (4) LSU has alot of momentum. Should be a great game!
Nice post, Devils2001. I'm a Tiger fan living in Durham and admire Duke & K, the program that's been built and the whole Cameron mystique. Of course, that is, except for Thursday. :geauxtige With Duke's utter lack of post depth, playing BB & TT smart but not too aggressively would seem like the wise choice. Depending on how the refs call it, Williams might be able to play more aggressively and get lots blocks against Davis. Shutting down LSU's perimeter game essentially means shutting down Darrell Mitchell, which I assume won't be too hard for Dockery. You mentioned Duke's freshmen having stepped it up recently, and LSU's frosh will certainly have to do the same. Thomas is an obvious key and his energy and flair can give LSU a big lift, but our 3, Tasmin Mitchell, is every bit as important IMO. He's one of those young players who is mature beyond his class and does a lot of little things that don't necessarily show up in the box score, but we need to get contributions from him in that regard too. If we're a 2 man team with Davis & D. Mitchell LSU is toast. If Thomas and T. Mitchell are threats it will be a good game. I'm sort of assuming that Garrett Temple won't have enough brain cells and legs left over from guarding JJ to rise above his usual 5-6 points on offense. If Temple can bother JJ, handle the ball and play some point effectively that's about all I'd ask.
I agree. When guarding JJ, you cant expect the defender to also have a good game on offense. Its a trade off but a very valuable trade off if he can contain JJ to 20 or less on Thursday.
The good news for us with that scenario is that Temple is not relied on as a scoring. He's been used primarily to defend the opposing team's best guard. He's done quite well too. So well that I would not say well "for a freshman". Welcome to the forum by the way. Stick around after the game, win or lose. We enjoy rival fans on here and many participate on this forum regularly. Even fans of teams that we rarely play.
What team is ready for that type of player!? :hihi: Temple has done quite well for this year, and he's very athletic & long which gives him a good ability to disrupt JJ's shots. The real question for me is how well he adapts to the small things JJ does. I don't think he's ever had to deal with the kind of complexities he'll see Thursday... Hopefully Temple can have a good game, and if we contain JJ I really like our chances. Another not often talked about key will be Voogd, hopefully his nerves have calmed and he'll be better able to move the ball down the court and not turn the ball over so much.
I guess it is obvious, but if JJ has a good game I think we've lost. I am truly worried about that because we've won our first two games in part because our opponents have missed long range shots, not because we've stopped them from shooting them. Of course, that could have been part of the strategy, but I just see us having trouble stopping JJ. If we can slow JJ down I really like our chances; I expect solid games out of TT, Big Baby, and Taz. Big Baby and TT can handle the Landlord defensively together, but Davis might have trouble generating points against a big man who can jump. When Davis doesn't have TT to back him up down low I look for (Sheldon Williams?) to make the lion's share of his points, but we should own the rebound category. I also think we continue the trend of shooting more freethrows than our opponent. D Mitch may be keyed on but I think he'll find a way to make a difference. I expect out of Temple, Rolle, Lazare, and Voogd exactly what we've gotten to date. That is good except in the case of Voogd, who is star-gazing in the spotlight. I don't see him getting over the butterflies, but it would sure help if he could. I like Brady putting Voogd in NOT at PG; let some one else bring it up the court and Voogd can make some snappy passes in half-court mode.
