So many thoughts and opinions around the game. Don't know if anyone cares about all of them lol. So I'll stick to just some super salient ones.
- Overall, the result doesn't matter to me. I was very encouraged by what I saw. I think offensively, we have the pieces we need to be elite. You didn't see it coalesce today. But I saw enough to know based on what I know about our offense, and Rick Barnes as a coach, that this offense has the highest ceiling we've seen since Grant/Admiral.
-The substitutions and playing time were super weird. It was an exhibition after all. I don't think it means anything. Wouldn't read into it.
- Duke played like they scouted us. We didn't appear to do the same best I could tell. I think the we just approached this game differently than Duke. I believe this because Duke did things like doubling the ball early as we got into our offense. And on the other side, they looked really crisp and practiced with blender, which is our one defensive weakness and always has been under Barnes (blender is where you get a defense on it's heels after a double/help/rotation and keep making quick passes to expose that rotation until you get an open three). Duke did this a TON and did it really effectively. It's hard for me to fathom that such a new team would be so crisp at this naturally. I think they game planned for it.
On the other side, we seemed to approach the game as a series of situational opportunities. I could wax poetic on it all night about why I think that and what I saw.
-I think we are all correct to be very excited about this team. Look, our two best players shot 10/39 and we lost by 6 to a pre-season #6 team. Basketball isn't about individual games. It's about average performance over time. And I am willing to go on record that this looks to be far under what our average will look like.
I liked what I saw. First, Duke is really good. Second, Boozer is crazy good.
I wouldn't worry about the Boswell minutes. It's a Barnes scrimmage.
Things that I liked that jumped out to me:
1. Are we sure Brown is a freshman? Good lord!
2. Front court depth: we have 5 (five!) Solid front court guys. No they won't all have great statlines, but none are "we really just have to survive this" minutes. I don't think we've ever had that under Barnes.
3. I know they out rebounded us by the end but that was all 2nd half (we had the edge at half) this is going to be a good rebounding team. Potentially very good.
4. I doubt Amemt & Gillespie shoot 25% many games this year (or ever). Ament was making adjustments by the end. He'll get there. We used Gillespie off ball and his shooting % went way up on that action.
5. I liked Gillespie's speed of decisions. He is overall quicker than I expected physically. But I especially liked his decision-making speed. The ball doesn't die in his hands
6. Inside passing...oh man. There were some juicy inside big-to-big passes. Don't threaten me with a good time.
7. I liked what I saw in Burg. Competent backup PG. Solid defender. Not afraid to get in there and scrap.
8. Our size and athleticism can hang with anyone. The announcers kept talking about Duke's size, but we are right there too. Many teams we face will not have enough height to guard us.
9. We had an effective PnR. That hasn't always been the case. It's nice to see.
Bottom line is I'm MORE excited about this team after tonight, regardless of that end score.
