Sunday, February 18, 2007

Duke - Ga Tech Preview

Since mehmattski has other obligations this weekend, I will be bringing you the Two-Second version of the Duke - Ga Tech Preview (1pm Eastern, CBS).
Keys to the game for Duke:
Rebounding - Boxing out and limiting second shots - Ga Tech does not have the best shooters, but they do have the athleticism to get the second shots and make them
Defensive Stinginess - no more easy layups for Ga Tech's superior athletes
Having a strong inside-out offensive game - Josh McRoberts had a breakout game against Boston College, and seems to be a much more confident and focused player as of late. If he starts strong offensively, Ga Tech may be forced to double him, which will allow him to use his superior vision and passing abilities to get open shots for Jon Scheyer, Demarcus Nelson, and Duke's other outside shooters. If they are able to convert the open 3-pointers, this game could get ugly for the Yellow Jackets.
No Stallball - if this is the case, Duke needs to keep the offense moving. This is not to say they should take shots early in the clock, but they should start a legitimate offensive set with 10 or 12 seconds on the clock so they have the opportunity to get themselves a high-percentage shot
Riding the emotion of the home crowd - Duke has lost two straight at home, and the fans are desperate for a win. If Duke can use this energy to get hot and allow the crowd to get in the heads of Georgia Tech's young players, this could easily turn into a blowout.

Having said all that, I envision Duke running out to an early lead and for once actually holding the margin behind the strong play of Josh McRoberts - who is finally beginning to realize some of his enormous potential - and the knock-down shooting of Jon Scheyer. Duke 73-58.

1 comment:

Matt said...

I'm leaving this comment from my Wii. That's pretty sweet. Also: our basketball team was better than theirs', so much better than their's.