DUKE 92

N.C. ST. 88 OT

January 19, 2000

Heartstopper!

  Charles Barkley, back when he was playing for the Phoenix Suns, once said of the Houston Rockets championship teams, "They won't die.  You have to kill them."  Tonight in Cameron Indoor Stadium, I was privileged to watch two teams that had to be killed to lose.  In the end, Duke was able to apply the knockout punch, winning 92-88 in overtime on the 19th, but not before a bizarre variety of twists and turns, mental errors, great defensive plays and a relentless will to win by both teams.  This game had enough strange occurrences for a dozen league contests.

  State was on a bit of a roll, having destroyed Wake by 20 to go 3-1 in the ACC.  Their only league loss was at UNC in a game where they were leading by eight in the first half before the Heels put on a brilliant exhibition of basketball.  The Pack showed that they were for real by using a superior bench and relentless effort on the offensive boards to combat the power of Carlos Boozer and tenacity of Chris Carrawell.  The best aspect of the game is that while both teams made a number of mind-boggling mental errors, they also quickly came back to make positive, hustling plays.  The game featured 12 ties and 15 lead changes.

  There was some pre-game talk about State wanting to prove that they were the best defensive team in the league and that Duke was very beatable.  With a pumped-up crowd, Duke tore into State, ripping off an 8-0 lead with Williams dissecting and Carrawell finishing.  That forced an immediate timeout and calmed the Pack down, as they cut the lead to 4.  The Devils' offense  continued to click, as Williams found Chris for another dunk and Battier drove and pulled up for a 12' jumper.  K then substituted in Christensen for Boozer and Dunleavy for James.  This combo helped State get back on track, as they were able to draw a number of fouls.  They finally knotted the game at 14 with twelve minutes left.  State started to really warm up from the perimeter and were using excellent picks and great ball movement to set up wide-open threes.  They went on a 10-3 run (with only a James garbage basket being scored from the floor by Duke) and looked to be in control.

  As has often been said this year, "Duke fought back."  Boozer hit a jumper, Williams found Dunleavy for a three and Boozer for a dunk and Duke was right back in it.  The two teams battled back and forth the rest of the half, with Boozer hitting 6 foul shots.  State's work on the boards helped them and Ron Kelley's hooks were tough to stop.  Finally, Duke held the ball and Williams hit the go-ahead score at the half.

  The early moments of the second half were sloppy, as Duke built and then quickly lost a 4 point lead.  Nate James stepped up and scored 5 points on a strong drive and tip-in, putting Duke up 4 at 54-50.  The Devils were starting to hurt State a ot with the interior game and Boozer's incredible agility, taking a 61-55 lead with under ten minutes to go.  Now it was State's turn, as they attacked a weary-looking Duke club and went up 5 at 68-63, thanks to a Miller three. 

  Battier was mentally strong, and found Boozer underneath and then called his own number.  Still, Duke couldn't quite get over the hump, and going 3-6 on the foul line during a critical stretch didn't help matters any.   Nursing a 2 point lead with the ball, Justin Gainey had a blatant palm  called right in front of the refs.  While it is unusual for this to be  called in today's game, it is illegal and a point of emphasis this year for this's years refs.  Carrawell came through and hit a foul shot to put Duke behind by 1, and then Boozer came up with a huge rebound that led to Carrawell's go-ahead basket. 

  NC State called a time-out after they crossed the timeline with about 20 seconds left.   In running the play, Pack point Justin Gainey slipped, and instinctively called a timeout to prevent the travel.  Problem was, he didn't have any!  Great Webber's ghost!  Shane hit both tech shots to go up three, and then Dunleavy hit two more foul shots after a reach-in. Just nine seconds remained, but State zoomed up the court and got the layup. Williams turned over the inbounds play, and Battier found Gainey as he was technically in the act of shooting.  Battier just wanted to foul him to make sure he didn't get an open three, but the refs decided his arm was in motion, so he'd get foul shots.  Gainey hit the first but missed the second.  Down 2, he knew that he would have to miss the third in the hopes that someone would rebound his miss with only .8 seconds left in the game.

  He did miss, Marshall Williams slipped in for the puback, and it was on to overtime.  State had lost Grundy and Thornton to fouls, while Duke had Williams, Boozer and James with four fouls.  State had spent a lot of  emotion to get there, but Duke was in a bit of shock at letting a sure victory slip out of their grasp.  After 2 Duke misses and a State score, the Devils took over.  C-well started it with a drive and then Battier drew another charge.  Battier went straight to Boozer since Thornton wasn't around to slow him down anymore.  Boozer then had a huge, gutsy block on Kelley that Jason rebounded.  Battier found him for a dunk.  Dunleavy then came up with a spectacular block of a three and got the rebound.  Shane found Carlos on a long "baseball pass" play but Boozer fumbled the ball out of bounds. Given new life, State hit a three to cut the lead to 2.  Boozer struck again with the shot clock running down and another nice feed from Battier.  The Pack were running out of time, and Duke was making all of their free throws, with captains Carrawell and James hitting the last 4.

  The game was extremely well-played.  Tough and physical without being dirty.  Intense defense but with lots of big shots made.  Youthful errors but also youthful enthusiasm.  A game to savor for both sides, in hopes that the return match in Raleight can be as exciting.  The cold hard fact of it is that Duke is now 5-0 and has won 14 straight.  They are 2 games ahead of everyone in the league right now.  It's simply amazing that Duke is in this position once again, but the hard work of the upperclassmen and the willingness to learn of the frosh has helped Duke make their own luck.

 ** Negatives:

 1. Valuing the ball.  State caused a turnover or two by trapping, but Duke threw way too many passes that were simply careless.  Boozer let a perfect lead pass from Battier slip out of his fingers, and also lost a loose ball out of bounds because he was trying to dunk it before he had secured it. Williams cost his team dearly when he lost the ball off his knee towards the very end of the game. 

 2. Blocking out.  State pummelled Duke on the offensive boards, especially early in the game.  An offensive board allowed State to tie the game and send it into overtime.  Duke did rally a bit in the second half with some key boards, and did well in the overtime.

 3. Outside shooting.  2-14 from three? Ouch!  To State's credit, Duke got almost no open looks.  Duke should be commended for winning even without this vital aspect of their game working.  The '97 team would almost certainly have lost with these numbers.    

 ** Positives:

 1. Mental toughness.  Duke never got down on itself after a bad play.  Turnover? No problem, I'll just make a good defensive play.  Airball? No problem, I'll just work hard to get an offensive rebound.  Blow a sure-fire win by  allowing 5 points in nine seconds?  We'll get 'em in overtime.  Need some game-clinching foul shots?  No sweat.  This team is a reflection on its leader Carrawell, who may not be the prettiest player, but who is by far the toughest in the league.

 2. Interior offense.  Battier was brilliant at finding Boozer and Carrawell down low.  State had no answer for Boozer.  The Devils did a great job in finding new ways to score when their jumpers weren't working.  State has one of the toughest defensive front lines in the league, so this was an exceptional accomplishment.

 3. Shot-blocking.  While Duke was hurt by Kelley's hooks and pull-up jumpers in the post by Inge & Thornton, the Devils were able to counter with a  number of blocks, none bigger than Dunleavy's rejection of a three in  overtime.

 Player-by-player Analysis:

  ** Boozer:  In certain respects, an up-and-down game for Carlos.  The "up" came in the form of absolutely dominance around the basket.  He not only powerdunked a few here and there, he also went under the basket to reverse it, stopped and took a 2' jumper, hit 8-10 foul shots and tortured the tough but short State front line.  The "down" came in the form of being out of defensive position at times, allowing Kelley and Thornton to get too many good shots, and not hustling after loose balls.  K actually yanked him after Dunleavy lost a ball and Carlos just stood there looking at it instead of jumping after it.  He also let a couple of balls slip through his hands Newton-like, but he more than made up for it.  Despite playing 37 minutes, he looked incredibly fresh in the OT and just took it to the weary and battered State post players.  His foul trouble hurt, but he learned how and when to be physical.  He absolutely stuffed a Kelley layup attempt, which prove to be a real momentum swing.  He had 4 for the game, absolutely  snuffing out any strong moves to the hoop State made and forcing them to hit hooks and jumpers.  Carlos' talent and potential is frightening, and he's just barely begun to scratch both. 

 ** Battier:  A really weird game for Shane.  He played his usual solid defense and drew a charge.  He blocked 5 shots and pulled down 4 rebounds. His first half offense was OK, taking 6 shots and making 3.  But his offense completely disappeared in the second half.  While he was doing things like driving in for layups and dunks as well as hitting 12' jumpers in the first half, he only took 3 three point attempts in the second.  His only other attempt was an ugly-looking runner that he put up after nearly losing the ball.  Despite all this, Shane was a huge part of the victory.  The  reason was that he was making brilliant pass after brilliant pass in the lane.  His first came on a lob from the high post into Carrawell.  He found Boozer moments into the second half and later found Dunleavy on a three. Shane then simply fed the ball into Boozer every time, with Carlos not disappointing.  In the overtime, he got assists on all four of Duke's baskets, three of which were to Boozer.  Even when he wasn't scoring himself, he found ways to get Duke easy baskets.  Shane also sank a number of clutch free throws and helped fight off State's big men.     

 ** Carrawell: Chris was on his way to Eddie House-like numbers early in the game before State switched Wilkins onto him.  Carrawell had done his damage, scoring 17 in the half.  Early on, he was simply finishing plays begun with great passes, dunking easily.  But he drove again and again into the heart of the State defense, drawing fouls.  He actually missed 5 out of 17 foul shots, surprising considering how hot he's been of late.  Chris was scoring despite the fact that his jumper was a bit off, by going hard to the basket every time.  It should be noted that C'well played every minute of the game, which may explain some of his second half mental errors and leaving shots short.  He simply lost his dribble a few times, and also took too many steps a couple of times.  But he played his best basketball with the game on the line.  Shane found him to put Duke within 1 at 70-69.  He hit a couple of foul shots to bring Duke to within 74-73.  Then he took matters into his own hands with 21 seconds left, scoring on a beautiful drive and scoop shot.   He was even better in OT, picking up a loose ball for a layup nad hitting  3-4 foul shots, including 2 with 6 seconds left that put Duke up by 4. He finished with a career-high 30 on 9-16 shooting.  It's no exaggeration to say that the Captain rescued his team with his play, and it wasn't even his best shooting performance.  Defensively, he kept Grundy at bay with a  4-12 shooting night.       

 ** James: James had perhaps my favorite performance of the night, because it not only typified the team in general, it typified the season as well. He began with a burst of defense, with an impressive steal and dunk that put Duke up 8-0.  He later grabbed a rebound of a bad Williams miss under the basket and laid it in, johnny on the spot.  His second half began with two embarrassing turnovers and an ugly jumper that hurt the rim.  But this kid never, ever quits and never stops trying to help his team.  He started with 2 foul shots that tied the game, then tipped in a miss to give Duke a 3 point lead.  On the next play for Duke, he drove to the basket and got fouled, with the bucket good.  Sitting out much of the second half with  foul trouble and K preferring to go with a better ballhandler in Dunleavy, Nate nonetheless came into the overtime with seconds left.  He accepted the inbounds, got fouled, and hit both shots to put Duke up 4 and seal the win with just seconds left.  Nate wasn't the star of this game, but he made some big plays and a number of little plays, and deserves credit as much as anyone.

 ** Williams: Jason started off the game kicking ass and taking names.  He began with a steal on State's first possession and a bullet pass to C'well for an easy dunk.  He then carved up State with another easy layup pass to Chris and again found him in transition for another dunk.  He dished behind him to Dunleavy for a three and also found Boozer after he penetrated all the way to the basket for an easy dunk.  To top it off, he held the ball as the half ran down and hit a short runner to put Duke up 42-40.  The second half was not quite as kind.  While he did score a basket in transition, his jumper was off, including an airball three attempt at a time when Duke had   a narrow lead and was trying to nurse it.  Another three just rimmed out on him.  He lost his dribble a couple of times, something attributable in part to fatigue.  He played 40 minutes and had to deal with State's army of quick point guards.  His most crucial error was somewhat freakish; with State down three with 8 seconds left, he turned the ball over on an inbounds play.   He didn't let it get to him in the overtime, as he played fierce defense and came up with two boards.  Not his greatest game, but he played credible defense (he forced Gainey into a palming call with his intense pressure, and also forced Gainey into taking the phantom timeout) and distributed well. 

 ** Dunleavy: Mike improved as the game went on.  Duke needed him to step up to match State's bench, and he really didn't provide that in the first half. He did have a three that cut State's lead to 3 and a pass to Carrawell for an easy bucket, but he also had a couple of turnovers.  In the second half, he hit another three that pushed Duke's lead to 5, but he did much more than that.  He stepped up on the defensive end, getting a big steal and hitting the boards much harder.  He hit 2 huge foul shots towards the end of regulation that proved to be rather important when State came back in such an improbable manner.  He had a fantastic block of a three point attempt that he managed to deflect off a State player in overtime that eventually helped Duke stretch out its lead.  His ballhandling proved crucial in overtime. A good, but not great performance for Mike.

 ** Christensen: Entered the game five minutes in and promptly was whistled for two fouls.  Didn't come in again.

 ** Sanders: Came into the game when Boozer failed to hustle on a loose ball. Took a charge in kind of a strange way--State was trying to throw up an alley oop, but Casey was planted in the paint and the State player end up plowing into him, ass-first.  Hey, whatever works.

 ** Horvath: Came in towards the end of the first half as a potential shooter, but passed up a shot.

 Cameron Craziness:  When Duke was up 6-0 thanks to C'well, chants of "C'well's winning" broke out.  Lots of "Our House! Our House!" chants, especially in the second half.  Of course, the time-honored "If you can't go to college, go to State" broke out a few times, later amended to "If you can't go to State, be a ref" after a particularly bad call.  Another sign read, "Hey State, McDonald's is now hiring!"  Four students painted their chests, although not in the familiar "D-U-K-E".  Instead, one had a pitchfork tine facing west, and the other three had sections of its handle.  There was the usual assortment of unclassifiable weirdness, like two young ladies dressed in what looked like ballerina outfits.  The crowd was reasonably loud the whole way, although they didn't have the same frantic energy as in the DePaul game.  But for the last couple of minutes and the OT, everyone was standing, everyone was  screaming and everyone was jumping up and down.  There was a palpable sense of frustration as the OT began, but that ended when C'well scored.  A funny scene: when Duke went up 5 with 10 seconds left, the whole row of sportswriters vacated the premises as the Duke students planned to storm the floor.  After the amazing turn of events, the writers returned and then left again when Duke was up 4 with just five seconds left.  They've been stomped before, so they know better!

 Next Game: Saturday the 22nd at Wake Forest.  Wake has just been whipped on the road twice in a row by State and Maryland, after upsetting UNC.  The Deacs are the deepest team in the league and play a patient, rough-and-tumble style.  Dave Odom is one of the few coaches in the country with a winning record against Coach K, though Duke has won the last five and three in a row in Lawrence Joel Coliseum.  Wake will be desperate for a win and in friendly confines.  Robert o'Kelley rarely has three bad games in a row and I sense that this talented guard may go off on Duke if the Devils aren't careful. Forward Darius Songaila is tough and a good scorer.  The Deacs play great interior defense with Rafael Vidaurreta and Josh Shoemaker and have some athleticism on the wing with Niki Arinze and Josh Howard.  Wake is also known for their sticky defense.  To win, Duke must pound it inside early and often. If Wake goes zone, Carrawell & Battier will have to hit 15' jumpers, but Williams will have to find some seams.  After the emotion of this win and the overall level of fatigue on the team, they may be in for a letdown.  Duke will have to be very crisp to win.      

Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu