Duke-UK Postmortem: Report from the Georgia Dome

Fun stuff

• Crowd was probably ½ to 2/3 Kentucky fans.
• Kentucky had its band, mascot and cheerleaders. None of those for Duke. Band and crowd made it like a home game for them. Don’t know why Duke had no one there. KU and MSU had mascots and cheerleaders (not sure about bands).
• I talked to one of the "I really hate Laettner" t-shirt guys in the beer line. He was bemoaning the fact that he’s starting to like Laettner, hearing him frequently on sportstalk radio.
• The uselessness of the frequent UK crowd chants of "Go Big Blue" seemed lost on them. Even Tar Holes know better.
• An NCSU friend of mine texted me before the game thanking Duke in advance for getting the Pack into the AP top 5.
• Is Kentucky’s Wiltjer just a pudgy Scott Padgett? My boy Jon was talking about the UK bigs combo of Kid-n-Play and Fat Padgett.

Game notes

• • Aside from bigs fouling out, I think there was some good, tough defense played (outside of getting torched on the pick and roll, which is UK’s only offensive play right now).
  • Mason looked awkward and clumsy down low at times, but he was pretty successful at both distributing and scoring from the post.
  • Curry’s in-game correction – going from putting up scared shots to using the pump fake to get the shot-blockers up in the air – epitomized the difference in the experience of the two teams.
  • Sulaimon looks to be a good slasher to the basket, but needs to hone his finishing skills. Looking forward to watching him develop. Jump shot appears to already be there.