Smith Unstoppable in Win Over UAB

RANDOM RANTS:

– It’s nice to see Nolan driving to the paint like he is. A few weeks ago, I discussed his lack of aggressiveness. Clearly as he gets more comfortable with his role, the more comfortable he gets taking it inside.

While he’s not the quickest cat in the alley, he’s just so smart and recognizes opportunities. He is so good at spotting defensive breakdowns. When I’m watching on TV, I’m almost shocked by how open the lane is for him. He looks like a quarterback in practice wearing one of those red covers on their jersey indicating they can’t be touched.

One thing I’ve noticed is how Nolan always keeps his head up. You’d think this would be driving 101, but you’d be surprised how many players dip those shoulders. That’s how you get out of control. That’s how you take bad shots.

Also, unlike Jon Scheyer last year, who craved contact inside, Nolan doesn’t. He looks for openings and angles for his shot. He gets fouled, don’t get me wrong, but last year Scheyer went for contact, then hoped the shot went in. Nolan is trying to score. If he gets fouled in the process, so be it.

– Where is Kyle Singler’s stroke? After starting the game hitting four of his first five shots, he actually missed 12 of his final 13. He just looked off, especially in the second half when everything, and I mean everything, was short (including one air ball). Every miss seem to hit the front of the rim. On the season he’s made six less shots than Nolan Smith, but he’s taken 13 more attempts.

Now I’m not about to start a “Kyle is tired” bandwagon. It’s way too early in the season to start that chatter. However, Singler tends to have his worst shooting nights in the games where he is asked to play more power forward. Tonight, he had little choice with Miles in foul trouble. This is why it is so important that the brother Plumlees and Ryan Kelly are productive down low.

– Maybe it’s just me, but I want to see Andre Dawkins and Seth Curry shoot the ball more. I don’t care which one starts. I sort of see them as one player. Combined they should be scoring over 20 per game. I still feel like they’re just being opportunistic shooters. Duke needs more.

Remember how successful J.J. Redick was coming off those double screens on the baseline? We need more of that. We need the team as a whole helping these two find some open looks. They are both so lethal. They can’t just stand on the three-point line.

Tonight when they moved, they scored. The pair combined for 13 on five of seven shooting. There is no reason why this Duke team doesn’t run 8-10 plays per game to get these guys some shots. They’re too good to only be taking a combine seven shots in a game.

I love Ty Thornton’s pass first, pass second, pass last mentality. The kid just doesn’t care about scoring. In only six minutes of action, he got three assists. Over the last four games, he’s played just 42 total minutes, but he has 11 assists to only one turnover.

The fact with Thornton is this, he may never be a full-time starter for Duke. He’s not going to start this year. Next year, he has Quinn Cook and Seth Curry to think about (assuming Irving goes pro). Both of those guys should be back in 2012.  Duke’s already recruiting some of the top point guards in the 2012 class, so who knows what kind of competition will be there.

– Going back to Kyle Singler and his missed shots, last week I mentioned that as a team, Duke struggles to get offensive boards when Singler misses. Against Miami, he missed 10 shots and none were rebounded. In fact, no Singler miss had been rebounded the previous two games. Tonight though, five of his misses were rebounded by Duke. A lot better.

– Random Number: Singler and Smith took 60-percent of Duke’s shots and made 52-percent of their made baskets.

– Props to Aaron Johnson of UAB. That was a nice fake out on the bench. The Blazers point guard fouled out pretty early. The Cameron Crazier began to do their thing as Johnson stood through a timeout. When the TO ended, he begin to sit down, but faked it, before finally sitting down. Johnson had a huge smile on his face. Yeah, losing sucks, but it’s good to see a young man enjoy what’s happening around him.

FINAL DEEP THOUGHTS:
Now the fun begins. Seventeen of Duke’s last 19 games will be against ACC foes. No longer will announcers talk about teams being intimated in Cameron. No more long home stands. To end January, Duke will play four of five on the road. Hell, even their two remaining non-conference foes will be tough match ups (on the road at St. John’s and at home against Temple, a team that is looking like a Sweet 16 type of team).

Also, we should learn any day now the fate of Kyrie Irving and that big pain in the ass tow of his. Will he play again (at the end of the season) or will he need surgery (which will shut him down for the year)? Durham waits.