Duke Basketball Roundup

You know what time it is. The Duke Blue Devils take on the North Carolina Tar Heels Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and on Episode 484, you will get the biggest and best preview that you will find anywhere! Duke comes in fresh off a win against Wake Forest, but UNC enter fresh off a home loss last night to Pitt. Still, it won’t matter in the biggest rivalry in college basketball, as both these teams look to hit the ground running with a lot of energy. The preview starts with how UNC has done over the course of the season as well as the ACC. We discuss where they were at the start of the season - at the top - and how they crashed out of the top 25 to where they are now. We get into some of the key things that UNC shows on the eye test before we discuss some of the players that Duke fans should already know. Finally, we get into the metrics and some of the intangibles that Duke will need to bring to the table to win on Saturday. Donald will be in the building with 9,314 others, and Cameron will be in top form. Can Duke ride that intensity to a win over their archrivals? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Duke Basketball Report podcast is here with a breakdown of what worked and what didn't as the Wake Forest Demon Deacons visited Cameron Indoor. There was plenty to like, starting with Jeremy Roach's first half, Tyrese Proctor draining some threes, and Derek Lively blocking shots while barely standing on his tiptoes. But, there was also lots of concerning stuff including the anemic play of most of Duke's bench, Mark Mitchell's ongoing offensive struggles, and Duke's inability to control Wake star Tyree Appleby. Oh, and then there was the meaningless final 30 seconds of the game, when Duke had it all salted away, but allowed Wake to make the score misleadingly close. Believe it or not, those seconds could have an actual impact on how Duke is perceived by the NCAA Tournament selection committee. The DBR podcast has all the details... as well as some amusing conversations about what the computer algorithms are telling us to watch on TV and YouTube. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elko Ball is back! The 2023 Duke Football schedule was released last night, and Sam and Donald jump on early in the morning to discuss what it looks like on DBR Bites Episode 7. Duke’s got a pretty loaded schedule this year, with 9 opponents on the schedule having played in bowl games last season. It starts with a Labor Day matchup against Clemson, and the schedule doesn’t get any easier from there. Notre Dame comes to town on September 30th, and the back half of the schedule has two sets of back-to-back road trips. Duke travels to Florida State and Louisville, and they have a Thursday night game at home against Wake Forest 9 days before the big game down in Chapel Hill on Veterans Day. Sam and Donald discuss the ins and outs of this schedule and make their early picks for most important game of the season. Finally, Kyle Filipowski was named on the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 list last night. We briefly discuss this honor, which is full of upperclassmen. It’s a testament to the season that Flip has had thus far for Duke. We’ll be back tomorrow after the Wake Forest game to recap that. Don’t forget, send your best headlines to us at DBR Podcast at Gmail dot com! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last time the Duke Blue Devils played Wake Forest, it was a rough outing in what was the first bad loss of the season. Duke is hoping to avenge that loss when they welcome Wake Forest back to Cameron tomorrow night, and this DBR Bites Episode 6 is here to preview the matchup. Jason and Donald first give an update on the status of Dariq Whitehead’s injured leg. He’s not completely ruled out for tomorrow, so we discuss whether we think we’ll see the star freshman return to the court. We then get into what Wake has done since then, with a couple of tough losses and one pretty big win. Wake had some players have some big time performances a month ago in Winston-Salem, and Duke has to shut them down. Duke’s also been shooting a lot better lately, and those trends make this an intriguing battle. We will be back at some point after the game to provide a full recap. There’s another game later this week, but we focus for now on this big one right in front of us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, that was certainly a fun day at the office for the Duke Blue Devils as they curb-stomped Georgia Tech by a score of 86-43. DBR Podcast co-host Jason Evans was in attendance at the game to provide a lot of perspective on things he saw that were not available to folks who were watching on TV. Obviously, this is the kind of game where Jason, Sam, and Donald are going to see a lot to enjoy including stellar play from Derek Lively, Jeremy Roach, Tyreese Proctor, and... well... pretty much everyone who put on a Duke uniform on this day. The guys especially enjoyed the play of the big men controlling the middle and the stellar passing that repeatedly led to easy shots. Oh, and we had a Jaden Schutt sighting too as Duke's outside shooting specialist made an early game appearance and the podcast crew spoke to Jon Scheyer about his decision to move Schutt into the more regular rotation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

DBR Bites episode #5 has a little something for everyone as we give you quick hits on a number of interesting topics. We begin with the news that Dariq Whitehead isn't as badly hurt as feared and the podcast guys talk a bit about who may get more playing time while Whitehead is sidelined. After that, the podcast ventures into the big leagues as we honor the three Dukies just named as NBA All-Star game starters. It is news that sends us into the record books to try to find colleges that have produced as many elite basketball players as Duke has recently. From there, the podcast delves into the recent news that Mike Brey is stepping down at Notre Dame. We reflect on his career and talk about what could be causing so many coaching giants to call is quits recently. And we could not go without wishing the best to Bob Harris and his family following news that he is suffering from Alzheimer's. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Duke goes on the road to Atlanta this weekend and the DBR Podcast crew is here with a preview of what to expect against Georgia Tech. The Yellowjackets are a shadow of the team that won the ACC title a couple years ago but Duke is dealing with injuries and a lot of uncertainty coming off the loss to Virginia Tech. Plus, this Duke club has struggled mightily on the road this season. The podcast guys dive into some of the home/road splits to identify what Duke has done wrong away from the friendly confines of Cameron Indoor Stadium. After the break. the podcast dives into the McDonald's All-American game selections. Three Dukies made the cut and the pod guys discuss which one of them they are most eager to see in action. They also spend a little bit of time talking about one of the most famous recruits of all time, Lebron James Jr., and what his recruitment looks like. Oh, and one final note... at th request of many DBR Podcast listeners, co-host Jason Evans has agreed to a meet-up with fans of the pod prior to the Ga Tech game. But, you will just have to listen to this episode to hear where Jason will be. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, that was no fun. Virginia Tech, a team that has played poorly for the entire ACC season, suddenly found their mojo just in time for Duke to come to town. The Hokies went wild from long range and toppled Duke 78-75. The DBR podcast crew is here to break all of it down, starting to the controversial decision by the refs to say, "I didn't see nothing" when Kyle Filipowski got punched in the throat by Va Tech's MJ Collins. The final result overshadowed what was another stellar game from Flip, as he continues his double-double tear and shows that he can be a real threat from the perimeter as well. They podcast guys also spend some time lamenting the injury to Dariq Whitehead. Though we don't know the extent of the injury at this time, it sure looked bad and could not have come at a worse time as it looked like Whitehead was finally starting to become the player we know he can be. The podcast wraps up with a little bit of humor, as we discuss some of the games we will be attending in the next few weeks and the fun activities surrounding those events. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a narrow victory at home on Saturday against Miami, the Duke Blue Devils hit the road to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies tonight! Sam and Donald band together to give you a preview of the Hokies. The Hokies come with the ability to force teams into not moving the ball around, and their hope is to make shots and take you out of the game. We talk about what the Hokies have done well, despite their spiraling record, and where Duke may have a mismatch. This is a bit of a revenge game after the Hokies beat Duke in last season’s ACC Tournament final, but Duke will need to put together another good shooting game from beyond the arc if they want to win. Some of those players from that game are back, but Sam and Donald discuss how Duke can walk out of there with a win. We’ll be back very soon to recap tonight’s game. Go Duke! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is a medium-sized elephant in the room if you follow the news at SBNation and Vox Media, which is that the DBR Podcast might be undergoing some changes in the next month, but as of this publication, we know nothing more than to just keep plugging away with this program. Stay tuned! That said, this episode is focused on Duke's nailbiting victory against Miami at Cameron on Saturday, where Duke wins 68-66 in Jeremy Roach's return to the court from his toe injury. All three of us are floored by how smooth Roach looked on the court, and that's before we get to big plays by Dereck Lively II and Kyle Filipowski. Tyrese Proctor seems to be finding his shot, and Duke 's offense is starting to flow more as we get to the middle of ACC play. We're looking forward to seeing what fully operational Duke looks like this season, as Jaylen Blakes was limited by a nose injury and Mark Mitchell, Dariq Whitehead, and Ryan Young weren't up to their usual selves today. We will be back again before you know it, with a quick turnaround to a game in Blacksburg on Monday. Until then, stay in touch with us at dbrpodcast at gmail dot com! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices