From: trradrx@canctr.mc.duke.edu (R.CLOUGH)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.college
Subject: Duke Neuters the Terriers, 106-62
Date: 3 Jan 93 23:50:33 GMT
Reply-To: trradrx@canctr.mc.duke.edu
Organization: Duke U. Med. Ctr., Durham, NC


  Duke defeated the Boston U Terriers on Wednesday the 30th, 106-62, in a game
that wasn't really that close.  This Boston team had many of the same players
that gave Duke a hard time last year, coming within ten points of Duke, but
they were in complete disarray throughout the game.  
  BU only scored 16 pts in the first half, had 24 turnovers, shot 25%,
and trailed by 39.  Many of the turnovers were on unforced errors.  They looked
nervous the entire first half, and were clearly intimidated by their 
surroundings.  The Duke bench saw considerable playing time throughout the
first and second halves, and played most of the last 15 minutes of the game.
Erik Meek led all scorers with 21 pts on 8-11 shooting, and also had 11 
rebounds.  Many of these points came in the last ten minutes, at a juncture
where Duke had trouble scoring.  A time-out was called, and the ball went in
to Meek, over and over again.  
  As a result of all the bench practice, the starters had modest numbers.  
T.Hill had 16 pts (all in the first half, prompting the crowd to cheer: 
"Thomas has 16, Boston has 16!"), G.Hill 17, Hurley 10 and Parks 11.  Tony
Lang did not play due to a fracture under his eye; the full extent of the
injury will be evaluated next week.  He probably won't play against Oklahoma.
Marty Clark started in his place, and was there mostly to play defense in the
first half (2 steals). He started to light it up in the second (all 12
pts came in the second half, and he was 2-2 from threeland).
  The crowd was fairly large, but mostly non-student (all on break).  Three
BU players fouled out, and two pulled an Evers Burns: they faked sitting down
to get the crowd to yell "See ya!" a moment early.  Unfortunately for BU, it
was their best fake all night.  Two (including Rick Rosu-Myles, an all-name
runner-up) had shaved heads, inspiring the crowd to yell "No hair, five fouls."
One other note: BU featured my All-Self Descriptive star David "I had 8
pts and 10 boards, which isn't bad for a" Stiff.

  Player by player:

%%Hurley: Had 8 assists, to move into 9th place all time.  He should move into
7th place after Monday's game.  Despite below average shooting, he was still
in total control on both ends of the floor.  The further Duke got ahead, the
weirder his passes became.  But G.Hill and T.Hill caught most of them, and BU
was too slow to track him down.  He's shooting 47% from threeland this year.

%%G.Hill: 17 pts, 5 rebounds, 5 assists.  As he takes more foul shots this year,
his percentage has started to go down--it's now at 64%.  This needs to improve.
But he had his usual array of dunks, finger rolls, steals, etc.  Had a 
breakaway dunk to beat the first half buzzer.

%%T.Hill: Good game, shot well.  Hill is almost more of a small forward than
an off guard these days: he averages 5 boards a game but only has 4 assists
through 8 games!  Many of his baskets have come in the paint.  Both he and
G.Hill still have a slight tendency to charge.

%%Parks: Unimpressive.  Had some OK numbers, but doesn't take over games the
way he's capable of doing.  Other than his blocks (which aren't all that 
numerous this year), he's a mediocre defender.  But he's a great athlete and
has a soft touch; he just needs to work as hard as his partner Meek.

%%Clark: His first career start, and I think he understood his role in the game.
He was to set picks, go after rebounds, and play defense.  In the second half,
he and Meek were to be the primary offensive options.  He didn't disappoint.

%%Meek: All his hard work paid off in this game.  In the first half, he had
7 pts and 3 boards.  Usually an effective defensive substitute for Parks, his
offense really kept things going inside for Duke.  He also had a couple of 
steals in the first; it seemed clear that he had been working on his catching
skills.  In the second half, he worked hard to get free the whole time, and
scored repeatedly.  He even did well at the foul line (5-7).  Two bits of
caution: even though BU had some size, their big men were in foul trouble for
much of the second half, and so didn't work very hard on defense.  Second, 
Meek needs to be a bit more aggressive when shooting.  He tries to lay it in
too much when he should really dunk it, and he doesn't have the touch to make
a lot of those shots.  Still, Meek should have a lot of work ahead, trying to
shut down Sharrone Wright and Malcolm Mackey next week.

%%Blakeney: Terrible at running the offense.  He did have 8 pts and 7 rebounds,
though.  He's athletic and a pretty good defender, but he's a tweener.  Too
small to really play forward, but doesn't have the skills to play guard.  

%%Collins: The worst game of his short career.  Given the opportunity to run
the team in the second half, he blew it.  The offense was stagnant for about
four minutes while he ran it (into the ground).  Plus, he took all sorts of
wild and ill-advised shots, going 2-10 from the game.  His dad was there
(five rows ahead of me), so maybe that made him nervous.  But his emotionalism
made him play worse after every mistake he made.  On the bright side, he
did have some success getting the ball to Meek in the second half.  I want
to see him succeed, because he wants to play well so badly; it'll just take
some time.

%%Moore: T-Mo had a pretty good game, getting four pts and four boards.  He's
very active on the offensive boards, nabbing a missed Collins three under
the basket for a dunk.  Still a bit of a project, but a worthwhile one.

%%Brown: Brown must score! And he does! He shot a free throw, and the crowd
went wild.  (We need more players.....)

 I'm missing the boxscore for this one til Wednesday or so.  If you really want
it then, let me know.  
  Next up for Duke is Oklahoma, in Cameron.  Bryant Sallier, Jeff Webster and
Angelo Hamilton (Tony Lang's cousin) lead a fast-paced offense.  Should be
a good game; Duke had better start practicing on defending the perimeter now...
	Robert Clough, DUMC (though still not speaking for them)
"I've been your dog ever since I've been your man."--Son House