I'm so happy we beat the Blue Devils the way we did.
1. Young is quickly implementing what I've been asking for all season: a guard platoon. Cattoor and Radford in one, Bede and Cone in the other. They're the perfect duos. Cattoor is a deep-threat scoring guard and Radford isn't effective from the outside. Bede isn't a scoring threat but Cone is a walking bucket. Opponents have to worry about multiple assignments on defense, and their rotations are having a hard time adjusting when Young gets these platoons going. Expect Cattoor to get more and more minutes, especially with the way he's been playing. His defense has been stellar, too. We saw this against Duke. I think it's why Radford went off the way he did. He knows he's the scoring guard when he's with Bede, and feels freedom to be aggressive and not get pulled.
2. Duke's record isn't indicative of the talent they have. We need them to win lots of games this year (yes, I don't want to root for Duke, but for our sake, we need them to have success) and they will. But the fact still remains: we beat Duke. In our last 8 games against Duke, we're 4-4. We need to quit acting like they're in another atmosphere than us. When we beat them now, it's not a surprise. They're better than their record shows, but so are we--much more.
3. Cone's green light needs to keep growing. As long as he plays smart, I don't have an issue with any shots he takes. Fundamentalists and traditionalists don't like his shot selection, but that's literally what the guy practices. He's the best pure shooter we've had in a LONG time, maybe ever. Unrelated: I saw he got a 3.7 GPA for the semester. His dad was posting on Twitter how committed they are to academics, acknowledging that indeed the air goes out of the basketball eventually. I'm a huge Cone fan.

Going into Wake, I want to see us utilize some guys that don't get the spotlight. Wake is just not a good team. They're 3-5 and we should beat them by double figures. This would be the game to get N'Guessan and Ojiako some valuable learning experience. They both have high ceilings and I think they'll do well this game. I also want to see Maddox and Bam get time, too. Just think, in a few days, we will (most likely barring a high upset) be 11-2, with one loss being by a single possession to #16 Louisville.

I have VERY high hopes for us.

[Post edited by SkoHokies at 01/14/2021 2:22PM]