Duke gets upset by N.C. State

Posted On: January 20, 2010 By: Cliff Comments: (more)

Life in the ACC Conference sure isn’t easy. All it takes is looking at the scores from last night as both Duke and North Carolina lost to tobacco road voes N.C. State and Wake Forest. One thing is for certain, this Duke team needs to come out with high intensity every game or else they are going to have games like they did on Wednesday night against State where they lost 88-74. It all starts on the defensive end…

Duke has now lost six of their last eight conference games on the road. Ouch, that has got to change!

The Wolfpack snapped a three-game losing streak against the Blue Devils, as they shot 58.2 percent from the field. Duke just couldn’t seem to slow down Tracy Smith (24 points) and Dennis Horner (20 points). Someone has got to step up on the defensive side of the ball and also play tough defense without fouling.

Kyle Singler was the leading scorer for Duke as he finished with 22 points. Jon Scheyer was closely behind with 21 points on the night.

It’s back to the drawing board for the Blue Devils and I can only expect to see a couple of tough practices before they travel to Clemson for another conference game on Saturday night.

Category: Duke Basketball, Duke Basketball Game Notes

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2 Responses to “Duke gets upset by N.C. State”

Stan Williams Says:
January 20th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
I agree with the above assessment of last night’s game. I also don’t buy what I read in this morning’s Raleigh News and Observer that Duke was obviously tired after Sunday’s physical battle with Wake Forest. Isn’t it odd that the Deacons didn’t look fatigued against the Tar Heels. I readily agree that Duke lacked energy and intensity last night but fatigue should not have been a factor. If this team is suffering from an acute case of lethary, then perhaps there is a problem with conditioning. Of course, I would prefer to think that the best antidote for whatever is ailing the team is to give both Dawkins and Kelly more playing time. This would allow the regulars a chance to rest a bit more,and it would give these two freshmen valuable experience.It also would mean that the entire team would have more energy going into the NCAA tournament, which has been a recurring problem for quite a while. How are Dawkins and Kelly ever going to acquire real ACC game experience–or improve as players–if Coach K keeps them on the bench?

I love Duke, Duke Basketball and am an ardent supporter and admirer of Coach K. While I’m usually not one to question Coach K’s decision-making, I have nevertheless been troubled for the past several years by what appears to be a pattern of NOT giving much-needed playing time to players with real talent. Give them qaulity minutes. Though unstantiated, I continue to hear that Kelly needs to muscle up. Well, I’ve seen him bang inside with other players and he’s done just fine. There are many players in the league and around the country who aren’t muscled who seem to be performing well on the court.If Kelly were playing for any other ACC team, I am certain that he would be getting quality minutes. Heck, he might even be starting.

Let’s hope that Saturday night’s performance in Littlejohn Coliseum is proof that the team is back to where it needs to be–that is, playing real Duke basketball.

Go DUKE!!!
Paul Says:
January 23rd, 2010 at 7:53 pm
Speaking of bad performances, I came across this site was blown away by the article on Duke.

http://stuffblackpeopledontlike.blogspot.com/2010/01/56-duke-basketball.html

Take heart, we crushed Clemson last night.