Duke men’s basketball with an ugly win vs Louisville

Judy was boring. Hello. Then Judy discovered ChumbaCasino.com.

It's my little escape. Now Judy's the life of the party. Oh baby, mama's bringing home the bacon.

Whoa, take it easy Judy. The Chumba life is for everybody. So go to ChumbaCasino.com and play over a hundred casino style games. Join today and play for free for your chance to redeem some serious prizes.

ChumbaCasino.com. No purchase necessary. We're prohibited by law. 18 plus terms and conditions apply.

See website for details. Fred Friedlander, Saturday road, ACC columnist, not a Norwegian, not naturally strong, just like me, not naturally strong, not a candidate for a world's strongest man competition. But he joins us to talk a little hoops here on the Adam Gold Show. Sorry you missed a, you missed all the fun with Morgan Hensburg. Um, Duke last night, good, bad. Uh, we had all of it.

I think, uh, it got hairier than it needed to probably for John Shires liking, uh, what are your overall thoughts coming out of that? Well, first of all, let me say that I am a proud graduate of the real Carolina, the real USC, the one that kicked the crap out of Kentucky last night. They did good for them. As far as Duke is concerned, I listen, they did what they had to do. You can't go to Louisville and lose, uh, because that's a resume killer.

So they did that. Um, we'll see how, how Jeremy Roach is because I think he's totally, he is the absolute integral part of that, that, that they are not going to be as good as they can be if Jeremy Roach is not, uh, you know, a hundred percent and playing it is at his best. Um, listen, it's a team that is really kind of fundamentally flawed and that is, they just don't have an inside presence. You know, if, if Derek Lively was on this team defensively, yeah, they would be, you know, one of the top contenders to win a national championship. And now I think how far they end up going in March is going to depend entirely on match-ups. And, you know, I, they just, they just don't have that, that verve inside to, to use a K term, uh, Mark Mitchell being back definitely helps. Um, I think last night was good.

I don't know that it was encouraging, uh, but they did what they had to do. I, um, um, I want to see what they do against a better team on the road before I start making judgments as to where they are right now. Fred Friedlander joining us, ACC columnist Saturday road.

Hey, here's the thing about it. Uh, go at the beginning of the season. I thought their most important player was going to be tired. Not Kyle Philipowski is the best player, the most important player, but the player that could have put them into a different stratosphere was Tyrese Proctor. And we haven't seen great Tyrese Proctor. And then as the season has worn on the way Jeremy Roach has really been able to settle them and keep them either in games or in front of games, I thought the way Roach had been playing, he kind of stepped in front. There was at least the encouraging sign that Proctor was great offensively last night. Like I almost don't even want it to be about the three ball, but it was good to see him knock those down.

But I think it's the other stuff. And the more assertiveness don't defer, be the floor leader and then let Roach play off of you. I mean, obviously it's hard to say that we got that last night because Roach didn't play that much. No, the Tyrese Proctor that ended last season was just the one that everybody expected.

Yeah. And he has not been, now he's shown some flashes of it. The second half of the Georgia Tech game, the first half, especially last night, but it just hasn't really happened. And maybe it's because McCain and Foster have come in and everybody's roles have kind of changed and he hasn't figured it out or, or I'm not sure what's going on. But for Duke to really be effective, you're right. They need Tyrese Proctor to be Tyrese Proctor from last year and him and Roach working together is essential. And again, we don't know what Roach's situation is going to be moving forward here in the next few weeks.

Yeah. It looked like a different injury. It looked like an ankle as opposed to a knee.

That's encouraging. But when you're watching a Duke game and you see Jeremy Roach limping around, you go, Oh my gosh, it's still, you know, he's still got issues, but hopefully, you know, they'll, uh, they'll be able to get through it, but yeah, they need, they need Mitchell healthy, they need Roach healthy, and they need Proctor to return to being Tyrese Proctor. It's cool to see Sean Stewart play effectively last night. He does give them a little bit, uh, another dimension. Uh, before I get to the state game tonight, Carolina who played, uh, Monday night against wake forest.

Uh, and I keep saying this, I'm going to make this a thing as much as I can. I love the fact we know what their DNA is, is a program. It's all about beautiful offense and they score the ball. Like, like almost nobody has in the history of the game, but this team is based on defense and that combination puts them in a different place in the game.

What do you see from them? Well, I see Hubert Davis growing as a coach right before our eyes. Um, you know, he's learned to use his bench.

Uh, you know, he saw that that whole switching defensive thing wasn't working and, and abandoned it. And look what they've done over the last nine games. Uh, they haven't given up more than 70 points in any one of those games. And like you said, they can score with the best of them. 70 was to Louisville. Yeah.

A game that allowed them to go to sleep. Yeah, exactly. But I mean, all of Roy Williams is best teams, including the ones that won championships would always be able to put the ball in the basket, but the ones that really went deep into March were the ones that, that learned to defend and locked down, especially as the season went on late in the year.

This one's happening a lot earlier. And that to me is the, is the con uh, beyond the fact that he's using his depth and they've got some mental toughness that they didn't have last year, uh, Harrison Ingram and, and Cormac Ryan have given this team, uh, an edge that last year's team didn't have, uh, Elliot Cadeau is, is, is, is a facilitator who is keeping everybody happy. They just have a chemistry, but it's the defensive element of this team that really makes me believe they've got a shot of winning the whole thing.

Oh, there's, there is no doubt that this team has a chance because it's it to me, they're not reliant on Armando Baker. I mean, Kyle Philipowski or RJ Davis, they are the ACC player of the year. And the more North Carolina wins, the more it, you can lean to RJ. The thing about it is too, and what really makes Carolina dangerous is that RJ doesn't need to score 36 for them to win.

If you want to take your chances and shut him down, fine. Cormac will throw in some threes and you know, when they play Duke, I would expect that Baycotts going to have a big game because they're going to, they're not going to have anybody to defend him down low. Uh, you know, they've got so many options.

Harrison, you know, Ingram can make threes. He could, he could back guys in, uh, they've got so many options offensively that, you know, it doesn't matter. You choose your poison with those guys. Yeah, they're, they're awfully good. And because of the way they defend, I mean, I, I just think they're all super fun to watch as well. Uh, if, if, if Cormac Ryan played in a different shade of blue, would he be the most hated player in the league?

I love it without, without question. I love watching Cormac Ryan play, but it would, it's interesting if the, uh, if he was playing somewhere else, how the narrative would have changed. Um, NC state has shown us a pretty high end at times, and they've also shown us, unfortunately a low end at times. I don't think their, uh, their best, uh, their best moment was this past weekend at home to Virginia tech.

That's not a team that should score 84 on a team I think is potentially as good as NC state. Uh, what is, how do they get more consistent with the lucky landslides? You can get lucky just about anywhere. This is your captain speaking. We've got clear runway and the weather's fine, but we're just going to circle up here a while and get lucky.

No, no, nothing like that. It's just these cash prizes add up quick. So I suggest you sit back, keep your tray table upright and start getting lucky. Play for free at lucky landslides.com. Are you feeling lucky?

No purchase necessary void where prohibited by law 18 plus terms and conditions apply see website for details. Well, I think it starts on the defensive end because when they have been at their best, I mean, they'll get a score. They've got some guys who can put the ball in the basket, but when they're at their best and we're thinking the second half against, um, uh, against, uh, wake forest, we're thinking that whole game against Virginia, they lock people down and when they get intense and they play that full court defense and they just pressure the ball and make you start your offense, like almost to the half court line, uh, they make it real difficult to score.

Uh, that's what they have to do. And tonight in particular in Charlottesville, uh, given the way Virginia plays that pack line defense, DJ burns is not going to be effective inside. They're not going to be able to score inside consistently. They're going to have to knock down some threes. And that's the other thing when they've been really good, they've shot well, but when they haven't shot well, they have just been dreadful. Uh, the Carolina game, uh, the, the, the wake forest came, uh, the first half of Virginia tech.

Uh, they gotta, they've got to get more consistent shooting the ball from the perimeter because, uh, uh, on nights that the defense isn't there, you better be able to put the ball in the basket. And tonight's one of those. And this week is a really pivotal week for the Wolfpack because they start out five and one really great first time since what David Thompson and all. And, but if they go on the road and lose to Virginia tonight and lose to Syracuse on Saturday, all of a sudden now they're what five and a five. And that start is gone or five and four or whatever, five and four math.

And now you're back in the pack. And now with no really good wins, you're, we're watching the net and, and you're, you're in desperation mode now. So I think that they have to win at least one of these games and tonight's a quad one game. So tonight would be the one, but in a perfect world, they need to win two of these games, uh, B seven and two. And now that you're set up for a really good run in the second half of the ACC schedule.

Yeah. And yeah, unfortunately, and I know you focus on this as well, because I follow Brett Friedlander at on Twitter at be freed ACC. Every mock bracket right now has just three ACC teams in it.

All of them. We've got Carolina, we've got Duke and we've got Clemson and that's it. And I think we all think and know that there are more good teams than those than just those three.

But because we are beholden on metrics like the net, then it's easy for the criminal. There's just not enough good teams because how do you get, how do you get, you know, how does your resume get built? Quad one wins. They're not a lot of quad one opportunities, unfortunately, especially on your home court.

You've only got a couple that you can get on the road as well. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. At some point, the ACC either has to crack that code like other leagues have, because they've got pretty good non-conference results, right?

They've got a bunch of good non-conference wins, but for some reason, they haven't figured out the math of the of the net. All right, I'm going to let you go here at be freed ACC. The first of all, congratulations to the state of North Carolina.

We can all wager on March 11th. I know you tweeted about that. You have RJ Davis at the front runner for ACC player of the year, which I mean, I'm not going to argue. He's been absolutely amazing, but you didn't go to the real SC or the real Carolina, but that's all right.

I appreciate you weighing in on that side of the ledger. Brett Friedlander, I appreciate your time, man. All right, Adam, take care, man. We'll talk to you soon. Brett Friedlander here, Saturday Road, ACC columnist.

Love talking to him. Judy was boring. Hello. Then Judy discovered Jumbagaccino.com.

It's my little escape. Now Judy's the life of the party. Oh, baby. Mama's bringing home the bacon.

Whoa, take it easy, Judy. The Chumba life is for everybody. So go to Chumbacaccino.com and play over 100 casino style games. Join today and play for free for your chance to redeem some serious prizes. Chumbacaccino.com. No purchase necessary for prohibited by law. 18 plus terms and conditions apply. See website for details.