Azubuike24;1554995 wrote:Alex Murphy transferring to Florida. Little brother of Erik, former Gator. Youngest brother, Tomas, may end up a Gator and is said to be a pretty elite, possibly 5-star prospect. He's only 15, class of 2017.

Murph couldn't cut it at Duke. Hopefully he has better luck at FLA

While I'd like to see Murphy succeed, there is usually a reason why kids not happy with playing time transfer out of schools like Duke or Kentucky. The competition level is crazy and the degree of skill needed to secure prime rotation time often just not there for some players.

Some kids ultimately realize they are playing at a school a step above their level of talent and decide to transfer to a more comfortable fit at a smaller program where there is a greater chance of success (i.e. Olek Czyz leaving Duke for Nevada). Others still believe they are good enough and transfer to another elite program (Michael Gbinije leaving Duke for Syracuse) and, while their minutes may increase slightly, it's rare that they ever blossom into the star they think they are. Gbinije is averaging about 15 minutes a game and barely 3 points for the Orange this year.

In Murphy's case, there were just better players ahead of him at his position. He obviously liked what he saw at Florida better, but make no mistake about it, Florida will continue to recruit elite talent and if any of them are superior to Murphy, they'll play over him there too. Nature of the beast.

Duke dominated UCLA in the second half tonight, outscoring the Bruins 43 to 26 in the second 20 minutes. The Bruins are the 3rd highest scoring team in the country at 89 points per, and the Blue Devils absolutely shut them down. Great performance. Parker, Jefferson and Hood really battled inside and worked to control the glass.

Jabari Parker's line: 23, 10 and 5. Kid gets more well-rounded by the day.

Impressive showing by Duke.

Have now played Kansas, Arizona, Michigan, and UCLA. I believe those 4 games have given Duke everything they wanted from them to prepare for March.

Sulaimon is back in the rotation, which is huge for Duke. He will be critical in ACC play and tournament. Was glad to see him get back in the flow of things.

Duke was pretty damn good defensively for the most part. UCLA came in averaging 89ppg and shooting 54% from the field. The Bruins scored 60 points and shot 40%.

Andre Dawkins got the starting nod for the first time this season Saturday, and he finished the game with 20 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals and 0 TO's. He also hit on 6-of-10 three-point attempts. He's averaging just under 27 points a game per 40 minutes, making Dawkins one of the most efficient players in college basketball this season with an average of just 12 minutes of playing time a game.

Despite averaging more than 10 minutes less action per game as either a sophomore or junior, Dawkins is notching career highs in points (9.1) and three-point percentage (25-of-52) and having the best season so far of his career, also displaying marked improvement defensively. With Rasheed Sulaimon playing like a ghost, Dawkins' revival has been vital.

Sulaimon has actually been playing a lot better the past 2 games which is a great thing for Duke.

It's definitely a good thing. It gives Duke two legitimate, starter-quality scoring options off the bench.

Andre Dawkins. Oh my.

4 triples for Dawk in the first half today. That's 10 triples for Andre in the last game and a half. For a kid averaging 12 minutes a game, that's pretty damn efficient. He's definitely earned the extra minutes he's receiving lately.

In 19 minutes off the bench, Andre Dawkins scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. He also had 2 rebounds and 1 block (on a great close out to the corner to swat a three-point attempt). Andre's defense this year and overall awareness of positioning on that side of the floor has really impressed me.

There are some other really good shooters nationally -- Jeff Elorriaga of Boise State, Ethan Wragge of Creighton and Neils Giffey of UConn come to mind -- but I don't believe there is any better than Dawkins. He's phenomenal. The best at Duke since Redick, and his stroke might be even more pure.

Well, ND abused Duke on the boards and in the paint yesterday. Dare we say Duke needs to throw Plumlee in there and find a way to play with his limited skills but basic rim protection?

I've been calling for this for weeks. Plumlee needs to play and should have been playing by now in order to prepare him for the ACC. It's preposterous that, with Duke's glaring weakness inside, a true 7-footer is languishing away on the bench.

All Duke needs of Plumlee is rebounding, shot altering and the ability to create second-chance points off those rebounds and loose balls inside. In the limited time he has been afforded, he's done a decent job of those things. He's got the tools to become another Brian Zoubek. He just needs to be thrown into the fire.

To that point, Marshall turned a couple of offensive rebounds against Elon into beautiful kick-outs to Duke shooters on the perimeter, much in the same way Zoubek used to excel. One of them was a miss by Andre Dawkins and not sure about the other, but that's besides the point. Marshall, while still raw as an offensive player himself, understands his role and already gets that his job is to get rebounds and set other people up (unless he has a wide-open lay up or put back dunk). With more experience, he could turn into an invaluable asset in that capacity.

He just needs to be given the chance.

Duke hasn't struggled to develop bigs? They've struggled to bring in bigs the last few years. Both Plumlees have played well in the NBA given their talents and before them Zoubek was oft injured and after missing out on Monroe to Gtown and Humphries they kind of didn't bring anyone in.

Not properly developing Marshall Plumlee this season is on K. It's bullshit and anyone who follows the program should be able to see it. In about 15 minutes against Elon, he had 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal and 1 assist (on a great Zoubek-like kickout for a three). He needs to play at least half the game, every game. Not 15 minutes one game, then 4 the next.

The kid will never be able to fully come into his own facing that type of instability. Giving a kid 1 minute to "show us what you got" each game and then yanking him after the first mistake is foolish.

Duke has struggled to get bigs as long as there has been a basketball program in Durham.

The same issues persisted in the 50's when Case was getting the best talent to sign with the Wolfpack. State continued to get the best big men in the state all through the 70's until Dean Smith emerged at Carolina and began to corner the market. As a result of Carolina's ability to bring in quality post men Duke was forced to counter and brought in their first true dominant center in Mike Gminski. Duke became a national program in the 80's and did so in large part because of its guard oriented offense. Even when Duke was going to the final four every year in the 80's and early 90's their big man was a three point shooting swing man in Danny Ferry or Christian Laettner. Duke has never been a viable program for elite big men, so to say Duke hasn't developed them insinuates that they have brought them in.

Duke hasn't had very many to the basket big men in the history of their program. Off the top of my head I think of Cherokee Parks, Erik Meek, Greg Newton, Elton Brand, Carlos Boozer, Casey Sanders, Shelden Williams, Brian Zoubek, a couple more. Miles Mason Plumlee are closer in athletic abiity to Josh McRoberts than Brian Zoubek so Coach K played to their strengths. You can say Coach K hasn't developed them, but I am of the mind to say he simply hasn't brought them in or even recruited them. Jahil Okafor is the first back to the basket big man to choose Duke since Shelden Williams did in the early 2000's.

Feel free to disagree

Rodney Hood with back-to-back 27-point games for the Blue Devils. He's 10-of-17 from beyond the arc in that stretch.

One of the best lefty shooters in college basketball since Salim Stoudamire at Arizona. So impressed with the way he has pulled Duke onto his back during Jabari Parker's swoon of late. He almost single-handedly beat Notre Dame, as the rest of the Blue Devils were mostly missing in action.

Coach K is pretty particular about which transfers he accepts, but when he does, they tend to turn out damn good.

Devils take on FSU Saturday then at the Peterson Center in Pittsburgh then Carrier Dome vs. Syracuse that Saturday.

Tough 3 game stretch in conference play coming up. This is where Duke can solidify a resume for a top two seed in the NCAA's with quality road wins, or give just cause for a 3-4 seed in a loaded bracket.

Played well in the first half....I'm gonna play some Wii and avoid most of the second half.....can't get greedy

Came back....up 19, now down to 11

FSU is going to hurt someone

Got scary there for a second, but, overall, Duke did a great job today of coming up with the crucial stops anytime the Seminoles whittled the lead to near single digits. Earlier in the year Duke simply couldn't hold onto that type of a lead (see the Clemson and Notre Dame games), as, when faced with any adversity whatsoever, the defense simply got tense and collapsed. Not today.

Marshall Plumlee with a hell of a game. Kid had 7 points and 7 boards in about 10 minutes, and served as a force inside defensively with his size preventing easy plays in the post. This is what I've been waiting for all year. Glad to see K finally extend more trust to him. Marshall did a particularly wonderful job of caroming loose balls inside and setting up Duke's shooters for second-chance perimeter looks. He's a hard-working player who understands his role. Like him a lot.

Very nice and convincing road win....looking like a top 10 team right now.....Syracuse will tell us more

Duke can't make an outside shot and having trouble getting in but are being patient....hanging close but need to hit a few outside shots.