How much was our offense choosing to slow it down, versus Duke defense stepping it up and getting back? I'd credit the Duke D more than our choice of O.
I'm not too bothered by the loss. We proved we can win, we had several leads but just didn't hold them. Kids know they can outscore the top team in the country, and they know what they need to work on to win those games. I'd always rather win than lose, but this is a good loss in many ways (early in the season, neutral site, top team in the nation, etc). It won't hurt us, as much as it will help us going forward.
The subs, and managing rest for key players, is where I was scratching my head the most. I'm screaming at the tv as to WHY we have Stone and Gak on the court at the same time. Against other teams, we can manage. Not against Duke. Gak just seemed so lost out there even when asking for a pass that he doesn't catch when it is thrown to him. Just...I can't even. Seriously, he was on the court for 2 min and I told the kids he's going to foul out with virtually no impact on the game...too freaking lost on both ends of the court to be of use. I'd like to say it is youth, and that he can be coached up, but it hasn't happened yet (sophomore playing like a freshman). Stone puzzles me a bit, in that he was lost as a freshman last year, but appears to have been working a lot on getting the ball at the top of the key/arc and driving to the basket. Not something I'm used to a big man doing, but he's consistent, so I'll give him credit for growing. He is better than he was last year, but he's still got a ways to go.
3gor was mostly quiet, but I didn't have any issue with his game, really. Honestly, I got sick of Allen jumping in the air everytime Grayson caught the ball for a 3. At least 3gor recognized every catch was followed by a ball fake and step left for the shot - 3gor kept his ground, stepped to block the move/shot and didn't launch himself uselessly into the air to go flying by on defense. Yeah, his offense could have been better, but he never quit. None of them did, so there is that.
Throughout the tournament, I felt like our bench depth is what made the difference, that giving starters a break wouldn't drop the level of play too far. However, against a top team like Duke, any drop off is too much it seems. On the flipside of that, I was waiting for Bagley to get tired - I'm not sure they ever subbed him, did they?
And I liked how we went at them for the first 35 minutes, I was counting on their bigs to start fouling out. The slow down at the end cut into our attacking nature and we never reached that point. I felt we would have had a definitive edge as the fouls added up.