DUKE 109

VIRGINIA 100 (OT)

January 5, 2000

Ed. Note - Rob was sick with a bad cold and unable to file the following game report until now.  However, the depth of Rob's analysis makes up for any tardiness.

Overtime: 10 possessions, 20 points!

Duke beat Virginia 109-100 in overtime in University Hall on January 5th. It was a wild shootout between Duke and UVa in raucous U-Hall. Wait a second. Associating "wild shootout" with "UVa"? "U-Hall" and "raucous"? Believe it, folks, these young Cavs are loaded with firepower and came very close to putting Duke away. I think the real difference was late-game experience. Duke's 2 overtime games this year clued them in on what they had to do to succeed in overtime, whereas Virginia seemed tentative. Virginia relied a great deal on emotion, which is important for all great teams, but they tended to let down a bit after big runs when they saw that Duke wasn't going to fold. To their credit, they eventually picked themselves back up, but their lack of experience in big games hurt them.

After Duke crushed Virginia three times last year, it was clear that the Hoos were looking for respect. They hadn't played all that well thus far, losing to inferior foes like South Carolina, but that was partly a function of integrating the veterans with the talented young players, and teaching all of them how to play Gillen-style defense. The Duke game was Virginia's real coming-out party, and Duke just barely managed to spoil it.

The game started off at a furious pace, with both teams attacking the basket and flying off in transition. When the smoke cleared after the first four minutes, it seemed like business as usual since Duke had a 14-7 lead. Battier and James teamed up for 10 points. Things seesawed a bit over the next few minutes, but Duke again came out on top with a 21-12 lead as Dunleavy made his presence felt with alert transition play. This time, however, Virginia came back and stayed in it, taking a 24-23 lead with 8 minutes left. Donald Hand was starting to assert himself and Travis Watson was making some noise on the offensive boards. A frosh guard named Roger Mason, who up to that point had had trouble on offense, also started to go off on Duke.

The Devils fought back and carved out a 33-28 lead, again with Dunleavy scoring 4 points. It looked like Duke would go into the half with a nice lead, but things broke down after Duke went up 43-37 with two minutes left. Prior to that, Matt Christensen had made a difference with a flying rebound dunk and some solid rebounds. But Duke got sloppy and the Hoos forged a 43-43 halftime tie.

After trading baskets the first couple of minutes, Virginia got their first substantial lead of the game at 52-47. James brought the team back with a scoop shot and full court dunk to tie it up. Duke stayed within the 2-5 point deficit range until Virginia really turned it up by dominating Duke on the offensive boards, with Travis Watson flying in for some monster dunks. They took a 65-56 lead with twelve minutes left. Once again, Dunleavy stepped up, scoring in transition, finding Boozer for a dunk and hitting a tip-in to bring Duke to within 1 at 65-64. Virginia had looked a bit surprised when this happened, but they regrouped and blasted Duke with a 9-0 run to break out to their biggest lead at 74-64. Unfortunately for Virginia, there were still seven minutes left.

Veterans Carrawell and James stepped up here, teaming up for Duke's next 9 points to pull the Devils within 5 at 78-73. Threes by Williams and Dunleavy made it a 1 point game, and Duke finally retook the lead at 81-80 on a Williams steal and layup. Then a classic battle took place, as Hand scored to put UVa back on top 82-81. James scored on a C'well feed to make it 83-82 Duke with less than three minutes remaining, and Battier gave Duke an 85-82 margin with two minutes left on a spectacular drive and slam. Duke led 86-84 when Mason hit a huge three with less than a minute left to put UVa up by 1. Dunleavy drove and got fouled, sinking 2 foul shots to put Duke up 1 at 88-87. UVa's Chris Williams then travelled on a drive and Dunleavy hit 1 foul shot to give Duke an 89-87 lead. Hand scored on a drive to send it into overtime after Williams missed an awkward three at the buzzer.

Virginia scored 11 points in the OT, which isn't bad until you realize that Duke scored on every single possession to score an amazing 20 points in five minutes. The Devils turned up their intensity level another few notches while Virginia looked stunned. Even Battier fouling out didn't matter because Duke simply carved up the Cav defense with drives, short jumpers, an aggressive three to start the session, and made 7-8 foul shots down the stretch. Duke wisely made sure not to foul when UVa eschewed the three point shot in the OT but also tried to take as much time as possible off the clock.

Both teams are very young. Gillen barely used his most experienced players Willie Dersh and Colin Ducharme for a similar reason that K didn't use his big men that much--this was a track meet. The problem was that Gillen found himself forced to burn a lot of timeouts early on to settle his team after Duke went on a run. As a result, he didn't have any timeouts to play with down the stretch or when Duke was aggressively narrowing UVa's lead. I think the young Cavs didn't think Duke could come back from a 10 point deficit after they had expended so much energy coming back from a 9 point deficit, but there you go.

Any road win in the ACC is a good thing no matter how you get it, but Duke's defense had some problems exposed by Virginia. Williams will have to learn how to play aggressively without getting into foul trouble, as well as learning how to deal with players who are as quick or quicker than he is. The great thing about Jason is that he wants to win and wants to improve, and will do anything to achieve both goals. The same goes for Carlos Boozer, who is far more intense than initially advertised. When his defense catches up to his offense, he will be all-league material. Regardless, it's nice to have a learning experience that isn't a loss, and that also happens to be in a tough place to play.

** Negatives:

1. Inside game. Pretty much non-existent. Sure, Boozer had ten boards, but he never got in position for good shots and he was outplayed by Travis Watson. Duke had to rely on penetration and jumpers to score.

2. Defending penetration. Ouch. Jason Williams was torched repeatedly by Donald Hand, partially because of his foul trouble. Chris Williams was unstoppable on the baseline, again partially because of foul trouble. But Duke simply wasn't moving their feet quickly enough to cut off penetration, and Virginia took advantage.

3. Turnovers. This was awful in the first half, but then calmed down a bit. A number of the turnovers led directly to scores in transition.

** Positives:

1. Foul shooting. Particularly in the second half, Duke did a great job of attacking the basket, with Carrawell going 6-6 from the line. Dunleavy hit some pressure-packed shots towards the end. 80% is an excellent percentage for a team in a foreign gym.

2. Transition offense. Devastating at times, as Williams threw some lightning-quick passes down court and Dunleavy took advantage of sloppy transition defense to score easily on drives.

3. Bench. Only two players got any significant playing time (Dunleavy & Christensen), but Mike was one of the game's most important players and Matt played 6 crucial minutes and put up some solid numbers. Considering Virginia's depth, it was important that someone step up.

Player-by-Player Analysis:

** Boozer: Carlos looked a bit lost on offense with the flurry of drives and jumpers going on all around him. While he had an early transition dunk, he also put up a wild shot and lost the ball a couple of times. Worse, he looked very confused on defense and did a bad job blocking out Travis Watson, although he did manage to draw a charge. Despite all this, he fought back in the second half and did a good job on the boards, grabbing 5 of his 10 in a game where Duke desperately needed them. K said that Boozer played so little because of UVa's speed. The Hoos did indeed play a full-throttle transition game as much as possible, which meant that Dunleavy was more valuable, but I think Carlos also just didn't know quite how to react to what was going on. It's understandable-- he's a freshman. Given that, he did a good job when Battier fouled out, grabbing a board and scoring on a Carrawell feed in OT. Not a great game by any means, but he did find a way to eventually contribute.

** Battier: In the first half, Shane was dominant. He hit a couple of long threes (one after a miss), a 15', drove and drew fouls, rebounded, blocked three shots and drew two fouls. His 13 points and great defense were a big factor in Duke being tied at the half. In the second half, his shot left him, going only 2-7, but it was important that he take those shots. He also had a huge play when he took the UVa D off the dribble for an explosive drive and jam. He had another dunk in OT before he fouled out trying to defend Chris Williams, but he played amazingly well throughout. He had to deal with Williams, Watson and switching over to guard players the Duke backcourt lost. In his spare time, he set some nice picks that helped players get open on drives. All this and only 1 turnover.

** Carrawell: The Captain is brilliant once again, all game long. In the first half, he demonstrated good shot selection by faking a three and driving in to can a 14' jumper. He also hit a three and got a rebound dunk in the first half. His second half was even better, with 6-6 on foul shots. After UVa went up 74-64 with seven minutes left, C'well demonstrated his leadership by drawing a foul and sinking 2, and then hitting a hook to bring Duke within 6. He also blocked 3 shots and set up James for a go-ahead basket. In the OT, he contined to step up, scoring on a drive to put Duke up 6 with three minutes left, and hitting a jumper & dishing to Boozer to give Duke an insurmountable 105-96 lead with a minute left. He played with grit and brains the entire day. Coach K said that his sideline comments were "very motivational" as he told the team that they weren't going to lose, that they had been in this situation before, and to follow his lead. They did, and they won. Chris is going to be very hard to keep off the first team when All-ACC balloting comes around. He's one of the top scorers in the league and one of the better rebounders. He has great stats in blocks and steals and his intangibles are off the map. If Duke wins the league, there's no question that he'll be there.

** James: Great Nate had an excellent afternoon. He hit a three from the corner early in the game to put Duke up, and then scored on a remarkable jumper in the lane with three guys guarding him. He really dominated early in the second half, putting in a rebound off a C'well miss, hitting a nice scoop shot and drawing the foul, and converting a transition dunk. He also loomed large in Duke's comeback, hitting a three to cut UVa's lead in half, coming up with a big steal and pass to Battier, and hitting a basket that put Duke up 83-82, one of 5 lead changes down the stretch. His turnovers were balanced out by his steals, and his defense was decent, even if Roger Mason got open a few too many times. Still, on a day that was all about offensive firepower, Nate showed that he can put up points with anyone.

** Williams: Jason was kicking butt in transition early on, dishing to Boozer and also finding Battier for a three. But he was struggling mightily with his offense, missing several easy layups on daring drives, and it started to affect his overall game. He missed 6 of his first 7 shots, and his misses helped fuel UVa's fast break. He was also beaten badly by Donald Hand, forcing a switch to Carrawell. His turnover problems ceased in the second half, but his shooting didn't pick up much, only going 2-9. U-Hall is indeed the Place Where Shooting Percentages Go To Die. However, one of those 9 attempts was a huge three pointer with less than four minutes left that brought Duke to within 1 point at 80-79 and the lead itself on a steal and layup. Jason truly redeemed himself in the overtime, where he started off by sticking a three, hit a foul shot to put Duke up by six, and then scored on a spectacular drive to put Duke up by 8 with two minutes left. The fact that he was able to make adjustments and regain his confidence in the course of the game was truly remarkable. U-Hall is a tough place for a freshman to deal with, and while he struggled with his decision-making and was hampered by foul trouble (which negated his preferred, physical style of defense), he still came on to make plays in tight situations. Definitely a growing-up game for Jason.

** Christensen: 6 action-packed minutes. 6 points and 6 rebounds, with his biggest impact coming towards the end of the first half. He flew in for a rebound dunk that was his most impressive play of the year, and also sank 2 free throws that put Duke up 6. In the second half, he got fouled after getting a rebound and sank 2 foul shots that brought Duke to within 1. Also had a block and made no errors. I think the only reason why we didn't see more of him was that the Hoos' quickness was making mincemeat of Duke's defense, and K thought the best way to combat it was with a smaller, quicker team.

** Dunleavy: I am not as big a Mike Dunleavy fan as some Duke writers. While he's a heady player, there are times when he stands around too much on defense, and his thin frame and slow footspeed are often liabilities. However, I stand ready to give him full credit for an amazing game. He had to play big minutes to sub for an ineffective Boozer and later a fouled-out Battier, and had to handle a lot of ballhandling to help out JWilliams. No problem. In the first half, he put Duke up 7 with a transition drive and layup, and then a steal + dunk. Late in the half, he got a nice pass from Williams for a layup and then stuck a floater. Right after that, he dished to Battier for a jumper. He tends to have 2 or 3 nice plays in a row than disappears for a bit. He had an even bigger impact in the second half, particularly when Duke was rallying from a 9 point deficit. He scored off a Williams feed, dished to Boozer for a dunk, and then tipped in a Williams miss to bring Duke to within 65-64. He was instrumental down the stretch of regulation, hitting a huge three to bring Duke to within 78-76 with 4:23 left, and hit 2 FT to put Duke ahead 88-87 with seconds left. He missed a foul shot that would have put Duke up 3, but that ended up being unimportant. Throw in 9 rebounds, a block, a couple of steals and only 1 turnover, and you have the best performance of his young career. Mike D's best attribute is his unflappability--he never looks panicked or even very excited. He needs to be this aggressive in every game.

** Sanders: Played for barely a minute, had no impact.

** Horvath: Just came in for a minute, put up a wild shot that didn't come close to dropping.

Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu