Duke defeated George Mason yesterday afternoon 69-53 in their most impressive 40 minute performance of the year since the Air Force game back on November 20th. One of the problems coming into the game was the turnovers. The Blue Devils only committed 11 turnovers yesterday as opposed to 20 turnovers in the Holy Cross game. Even though DeMarcus Nelson led the team with a career high 24 points, the man of the match to me was Jon Sheyer, who netted 18 points on 4 3-pointers. The great thing about Sheyer this game is that he not only hit 3's but he hit JJ 3's. What do I mean? For 4 years, JJ made a habit of hitting 3's to either stop big runs by the other team or hit 3's that would essentially kill the other teams spirit. Sheyer did that yesterday. When George Mason cut the score to 57-47 on an alley-oop dunk, Uncle Mo seemed to be turning toward the Patriots, they were pumped up and you could even hear their small section of fans in the building and then Sheyer hit a 3 that ended the run and essentially killed GMU spirit.
Even though he is taking some abuse from the announcers, Josh McRoberts continues to be the most versatile big man in the country by dishing out 9 assists and grabbing 9 rebounds to go along with his 7 points. But those stats don't portray how important he was to this game. I can remember countless times that he passed out of the double team to hit an open shooter or got the "hockey" assist yesterday. He was all over the place and although he's no Shelden, he has been terrific on the defensive end this year. I think all Blue Devil fans hope that with Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Brandon Wright, Darrell Arthur, Thaddeus Young, Spencer Hawes probably only being "one and done" players that McRoberts will choose to stay for his Junior year because he is truly special.
One crucial point Rick Majerus made yesterday is that there is something still physically wrong with Greg Paulus. He is clearly dragging that foot and that is hurting his explosiveness to the basket. Without that ability to penetrate and kick, he is a very modest player. I remember being at the Memphis/Duke game in the Preseason NIT last year and Paulus was amazing, in fact, in hindsight that was probably his best game at Duke and that was only his 4th or 5th game as a collegiate. He repeatedly penetrated the zone and created easy layups and dunks for McRoberts and Shelden. Ever since that game, it seems like Coach K is micromanaging him a little too much. A lot of NBA scouts have claimed that Duke players haven't succeeded at the next level because they are almost programmed like robots with the motion offense and it actually hurts their growth come time to make the next step to the NBA. Listen, no one is getting on my man K, he is the closest thing to Jesus this generation has ever seen but maybe he has the rope a little too tight around Paulus' neck.
Finally, my man SlimTim over at the Duke Blue Devil Blog posed an interesting question: Is Jon Sheyer, the freshman better than JJ the freshman? I would say yes and no. Yes, Sheyer is a much better ball handler than JJ was as a freshman or even for his entire career for that matter. He has a much higher point guard acumen than JJ had. No, JJ was a much better shooter as a freshman. I remember the ACC Championship when JJ was a freshman when NC State was up 15 points in the 2nd Half and JJ took the game over with his outside shooting. I will say this, Sheyer will have to be a star right away for this team to succeed not only in conference play but in March. Like I said earlier in the season and Majerus agrees with me, this guy has All-American written all over him when he becomes an upperclassman.
Overall, a very good win. The offense, although 69 points isn't exactly Loyola Marymount's offense of the early 90's, was much more efficient. And, let's not forget, since Duke had a working man's margin the whole game, K implored his team to take the air out of the ball, spread the floor, and kill clock so 69 could've been more like 80. Also, I won't go crazy over a win against George Mason because let's face it, without Jai Lewis in the middle and Tony "I punched Loren Stokes in the groin and essentially punched Hofstra's chances of getting into the NCAA Tourney in the groin as well" Skinn, this Patriot team is not the same. Still, I am very pleased with the effort and execution following a very sluggish effort against Holy Cross.
Next up is Kent State, another solid mid-major program from the MAC, 10 days from now (finals week). I haven't scouted them yet this season or looked at who they've beaten but I expect the same kind of effort against Kent State that I saw against Mason. Unless Antonio Gates puts that Kent State uniform back on, I see Duke winning with relative ease.
Prediction: Duke 67 Kent State 50
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