DUKE 93

CLEMSON 59

January 29, 2000

  Buckner....No Buckner!

   The Duke Blue Devils were rust-free as they whipped Clemson 93-59 on January 29th.  Coming off a week's rest, Duke very efficiently dominated the Tigers defensively, getting more than a third of their points off turnovers.  The final score is in fact a bit deceptive--the Devils led 58-16 at the half and held Clemson's top scorer Will Solomon scoreless.  While the Tigers came out with a lot more energy in the second half and actually cut into the lead, the truth is that Duke stopped pressing and gave its deep bench some extensive playing time.  Clemson spent most of the game in a 2-3 zone that limited Duke's opportunities inside.  Duke shot a number of open threes, but also tried to pull up for some medium-range jumpers as well.

  Clemson won the tip and scored on a nice shot from 7-foot center Adam Allenspach.  It was the Tigers' only lead of the day.  Furthermore, Allenspach (administrator of the elbow last year that knocked Trajan Langdon silly and made him get several stitches) tripped and hurt his hip early in the half and did not return.  Duke zipped out to a 13-4 lead four minutes into the game thanks to Battier and Williams.  They combined for 11 points and a couple of assists.  Williams continued to carve up the hapless Tigers with three consecutive assists and then 5 points of his own in a row.  Duke was up 22-6 with just eight minutes gone by.  Duke was keeping the Tigers off the boards, and even when Clemson got an offensive rebound, the Devils kept coming on defense until they got the ball back.  Jason continued to dominate Clemson with his own 7-2 run.  The Tigers showed their usual thuggish stripes when little-used frosh Tomas Nagys tried to get his own version of a three pointer: a three point takedown with a scissorhold on Williams, who was trying to get a loose ball.  An intentional foul was called and it was obvious the Clemson was extremely frustrated.  The only way Clemson was scoring at all was at the foul line, as Will Solomon had trouble even getting the ball. 

  After the takedown, Carrawell chimed in with 5 points.  The game officially got out of hand with back-to-back threes by Horvath and Dunleavy that put Duke up 46-14.  After the bruising Tigers sent Duke to the line for 7  more points, Mike Dunleavy hit a 40-foot bomb that gave Duke an astonishing 58-16 halftime lead.  That play was the ultimate in demoralization, especially since Clemson couldn't even hit 1 three pointer in the half.  It was as perfect a half as I've ever seen Duke play, really.  Efficient on offense, aggressive on defense, chasing after loose balls, energized by the crowd, and letting the opponent know that they have absolutely no chance to win.

  Clemson came out fired up in the second half as Duke called off the press in short order.  After only getting 6 first half attempts, Solomon took 13 in the second half and also managed to get to the foul line.  Walk-on Walker Holt also hit a couple of shots and exploited his free throw opportunities. Even though the Tigers outscored the Devils 43-35 for the half, the margin was still well over 30.  In fact, Duke almost would have won the game even if they hadn't scored a single second half point! 

  Duke still led by over 40 points, 81-35, with about ten minutes left.  This  is when Coach K first started to clear the bench a little, with Sanders,  Horvath, Christensen and Buckner all getting big minutes.  Williams continued to dominate, this time getting some showy drives to the basket.  Boozer played a couple of good minutes but then sat most of the half in order to give the other post players some minutes.  The Tigers outscored Duke 24-12 to close out the game with most of their starters still in.  The Tigers were able to "lift" their field goal percentage to 34% for the game after a 25% first half.  The Devils shot 52% for the game. 

  All-in-all, a very good performance against a team that Duke should have beaten easily.  The Devils did not take them lightly at all and looked glad to have someone to play after a week off and some cabin fever on campus with the snowstorm on Tuesday.  The starters for the most part looked sharp and  still got plenty of rest.  The bench got some time in an actual ACC game and provided plenty of hustle.  Duke now gets several more days of rest until next Thursday's big tussle with UNC.     

 ** Negatives:

 1. Rebounding.  Exactly even on the defensive boards (23-up), Clemson was able to cut into Duke's lead with a dominant 19-7 edge on the offensive glass.  The problem was exacerbated by Duke taking so many long jumpers, creating long rebounds for the Tigers. 

 2. Foul shooting.  16-26 is not horrible, but it is a bit low for this team. The bench went 8-14, so it's probably not a big deal.

 3. Overreliance on perimeter shots.  Clemson went zone and lured the Devils into taking a bunch of quick threes.  A number of them went in, but one could sense that Duke was falling into what the Tigers wanted them to do. When the shots weren't falling in the second half, Clemson took advantage.

 ** Positives:

 1. Ballhawking.  Duke terrorized Clemson point guard Ed Scott, forcing him into 7 turnovers.  There was a period where Clemson couldn't even make it out of their own backcourt because of Duke's pressure.  Williams, C'well, Battier and James all disrupted Clemson's defense in the first half by attacking the ball.

 2. Transition offense.  When Duke got a turnover, they immediately went for the throat.  Jason & Nate were particularly aggressive on breaks as Duke outscored the Tigers in points off turnovers 36-4. 

 3. Defensive intimidation.  Duke was extremely tough down low, blocking a number of shots and forcing bad shots just by the mere presence of players like Battier.  In the first half, it got to the point where no one on the  Tigers wanted to shoot except Solomon, and he was utterly blanketed by Carrawell.  Clemson tried to fight back by becoming very physical, but this didn't have much of an effect on a very tough Duke team.

 Player-by-Player Analysis:

 ** Boozer:  Carlos was hit by early foul trouble and ended up sitting most of the afternoon to allow the bench players to get some time in.  He looked a little bit wild out there at times, but did have a couple of good moments in the second half.  The first came on a tough post-up that resulted in a nice bank-in.  The second was a good relocation pass to Battier for a three. Christensen's aggressive play probably helped keep Carlos on the bench. I don't think Carlos was aggressive enough in the first half, and this is something to work on when other teams go zone on Duke.  Carlos is a big part of Duke's attack and being able to take him out with a simple zone will not do.

 ** Battier:  Absolutely dominated the early part of the game.  Drove right past the Clemson players and got fouled on Duke's first offensive possession, getting the basket as well.  After finding Williams open for a three, he drove in for a 12' jumper.  Williams then hit him with a pass that resulted in his first three of the game.  Score: Shane 8, Clemson 4.  Shane took his usual charge, although it came after a shot was declared good first.  Battier did a fine job of looking for the open shooter as part of attacking Clemson's zone, locating Horvath for two jumpers and Dunleavy for a third.  In the  second half, he kept the pressure on Clemson with a couple of three point bombs but took most of the half off.

 ** Carrawell:  First and foremost, Chris shut down Solomon in the first half. Solomon did end up with 19, but Shyatt helped pad his stats by keeping him in against the Duke walk-ons and deep bench.  It took Solomon 19 attempts to get his 19 points, a definite victory for Duke.  Chris was in full-out offensive mode as well, scoring on rebounds, threes and drives.  His first basket came on a rebound put-back.  Williams found him for a three and on a break before he ripped another three.  He did all of his scoring on drives in the second half, with his last score stopping a 7-0 Clemson run.  Throw in the usual C'well stats like 4 boards, a steal and a block, and you've got the usual day at the office.  He did get to take the day off in terms of passing since Williams was so solid.

 ** James: While on a stat sheet the ugly 1-8 shooting performance jumps out at you, it doesn't reflect the work that Nate did on the boards, on defense, and with pure hustle.  James was the one Devil who put forth maximum effort on controlling the boards, and he got a lot of tough ones.  He spent a lot of time guarding Solomon and he never let him get by him once, nor did he allow him an open shot.  More and more, Nate is becoming the team's emotional leader, scrambling for a loose ball or exhorting the crowd.  He forced a five- second turnover and was pumping his fist afterwards, exciting everyone.  His big offensive highlight was a fantastic steal and dunk, flying in with one hand. In the second half, he had another steal along the sideline, but the ball slipped out of his hand.  He chased it down halfway across the court and didn't quite get it, but his hustle was appreciated by everyone.  The only problem came when he started getting very hesitant with the ball, conscious of his misses.  This actually resulted in a turnover when he passed it in  to Shane down low, who then wanted to pass it back out to give Nate an open shot, but he had already moved on and Shane ended up throwing it out of  bounds.     

 ** Williams:  A fantastic game, dominating both on offense and defense. Utterly whipped Ed Scott in their matchup, holding the Clemson frosh to 0 points, 1 assist and helped force his 7 turnovers.  Jason was smooth and confident on offense.  After an early pass to Battier for a three and a  three of his own on a relocation pass from Shane, Jason completely took  over the game from the fourteen minute mark to the eight minute mark.  It  started with a pass to Battier down low, continued with passes out to C'well  and Horvath for long jumpers, and ended with Jason ripping a pull-up 15'  jumper, pulling up for a three with two men converging on him, and hitting a  long 2.  He also later found C'well on a perfect transition pass.  Before his rampage, the score was 15-6.  Afterwards, it was 29-10.  This may have been  his best game in terms of putting pressure on the ball without fouling or  trying too hard to get a steal.  Jason brought a little bit of showtime out  in the second half.  He realized that he could drive on Clemson since they had backed off on their zone a bit, so he scored on a couple of daring  drives.  The second featured a full-speed run down the floor, weaving in around 3 Clemson players, and finished with a show-you-the-ball fake and then a sweeping layup.  Jason is definitely on a roll, and he'll need to maintain his high level of performance when he meets up with Ed Cota.   

 ** Dunleavy:  A pretty spectacular performance, shooting 5 of 5 and playing good defense throughout.  His big highlight was his 40' jumper to beat the first half buzzer.  With just seconds left in the half, he ran it past  halfcourt and really leaned into the shot, banking it in.  But he was very smooth throughout most of the first half.  He set up C-well for a three, ran the break and got rewarded with a pass from Williams, showed nice form on a much shorter three attempt, and had a big block down low.  He hit another three in the second half and grabbed a rebound, but not much else.  Mike D's ability to effortlessly switch from perimeter to post has made him very valuable as a reserve.  At this point, he's actually a better post defender than on the outside, mostly because of quickness.  But offensively, he plays like a guard.  His first step is surprisingly quick and he can definitely finish.  His shooting percentage is also slowly improving.   

 ** Christensen:  Matt was unusually confident on the offensive end, and did not back down from the Clemson big boys on the defensive end.  Though his stats were modest (6 pts, 2 rebounds, 3 blocks), it was his overal demeanor that I found pleasing.  Gone was the tentative player who was haunted by some poor early-season performances.  Instead, we got a player who attacked the basket and wouldn't let anyone near it on defense without addressing him first. In the first half, he had a nice pass to Dunleavy for a layup as he was under heavy defensive pressure.  In the second half, he scored when he got the ball in the lane, put it on the floor and powered it up there.  One featured him banking it in softly.  There was one defensive possession where he erased 2 Clemson shots, and it came in the time when Duke was really putting Clemson away.  One should note that Matt is pretty much the official 7th man at this point, coming into the game with Dunleavy at the 16:43 mark of the first half. Now, Matt's no savior or anything but I'm now comfortable with him getting five minutes a game in big-time competition.  His defense has really improved, as has his decision-making.  He's not ready to truly crack the rotation, but he can definitely contribute at times.

 ** Horvath:  Nick was very aggressive on offense, shooting basically whenever he was open.  He hit a Brian Davis-style foot on the line jumper in the first half and then later hit a three, beautifully catching and shooting it in one motion.  He didn't play quite as well in the second half, missing all three of his shots.  He seemed to rush things a bit more.  He did pick up a couple of rebounds and did a decent job of battling down low.  Against UNC's tall timber, he may be called upon to play a couple of minutes.  I like his confidence shooting the ball.  He knows that if he's in the game, it's his job to take open shots.

 ** Sanders:  Casey didn't have much to do on offense because of Clemson's zone, although he did get the ball and went up aggressively, getting fouled and hitting both shots.  He also had a block and is playing a little more physically.  Embarrassing moment: airballing a free throw on a one-and-one.   

 ** Buckner: Got into the game in the first half, grabbing an offensive rebound.  He later skied for 2 more, showing impressive leaping ability for his short stature.  He also played some hustling defense, coming up with one steal. 

 ** Simpson:  Scored on a nice twisting layup and missed a three.

** Caldbeck:  Took one jumper and dribbled the ball out to end the game.

** Borman:  Got in at the very last minute but didn't do anything at all.

** Cameron Craziness:  

  With nasty weather forecast for Saturday evening and a lot of ice still on the ground, there was some question as to how full Cameron would be.  The place in fact was jam-packed.  The student section burst to near-overflowing, and the upstairs section was very well-attended, with more people showing up than at some of the early exhibition games. Better still, the crowd was in good voice and the students were in good form. One poster read: "Duke's streak: 30  Clemson's streak: 1", a reference to Clemson's recent win over NCSU.  The best group was a group of students sitting in the first row on the media side with ski caps, dog bones in hand, one with a "Beware of dog" sign around his neck.  They held up a poster explaining their identity: "Nate's Dogg Pound", with the "D" being a gothic Duke D.  They barked and waved their dog bones whenver Nate did something good.  The message on the back of the sign read something like: "Hey Clemson, go suck a bone."  It was great to see Nate get his own cheering section and he seemed to be pumped up the whole game. 

  Other Cameron standards heard: "Shane is winning", when Battier was outscoring the Tigers, "Shane's still winning" when he still had more points than the hapless Tigers a few minutes later; "Oh no, not Solomon" when Will re-entered the game late in the first half, still looking for his first points; "Buckner....No Buckner" as the fans first pointed to Duke's bench and then to Clemson's, a reference to Andre's older brother Greg, a former Tiger star; "Happy Gilmore" broke out for Chuck Gilmore, followed up by "not so Happy!" "More than triple" when Duke went up 31-10; and "start the snowplow" at the end.  The Duke fans sat down en masse for the Clemson intros, a calculated move, and then bounced up as one when the Duke players were introduced. The Crazies also gave Solomon a mock cheer when he actually scored his first points.  A solid performance by the fans, especially in a game where the outcome was never in doubt.

  The Clemson players seemed both rattled and amused by the Duke fans at various times.  One Clemson player gave the Duke fans the finger after he committed a foul, and new frosh thug Tomas Nagys mocked the Crazies with a hand gesture and then played the old Evers Burns "fake-sit" game.   

 ** Next Game:

 February 3rd at North Carolina.  The Heels have won two in a row to go to 4-3 in the league and they'd love to even their record as a home underdog.  UNC has traditionally feasted on such opportunities when ranked lower than Duke.  Another concern is how the frosh will react to a Dean Dome crowd that always breaks out of its slumber for the Devils.   Battier and his class were intimidated; if the same thing happens to Williams, Dunleavy and Boozer, then Duke's in trouble.  The matchup will be one of Duke's quickness vs. UNC's size.  Battier and Lang are an intriguing pair, especially if Kris is actually healthy.  Capel/Carrawell is also interesting, with Jason having a big height advantage over Chris.  The Cota/Williams matchup is an important one, since Cota will try to penetrate on Williams as much as possible.  Jason will have many opportunities to score and will have to take them.  James/Forte is a contrast between strength and quickness, with James holding the edge in the former and Forte in the latter.  Forte is by far UNC's most explosive scorer and a good defender.  He and Cota actually make up one of the quickest backcourts Duke will see all year; it's UNC's frontcourt that is slow and lumbering.  My matchup of the game is Boozer (and friends) vs Haywood.  Carlos has the mobility to go around Haywood, but he'll have to work extra hard to defend him down low.  A big part of this will be in preventing him from getting the ball in the first place. I expect to see a lot of zone from UNC, possibly a 3-2 to keep tabs on Battier and/or James.  It will be important for Duke not to settle for a quick three, but to set up players with skip passes and screens.  It will also be crucial for some kind of inside presence to be established, meaning that Boozer will have to hunt his shot whenever possible.  Both teams play short benches.  Max Owens and Dunleavy both pack scoring punch, though Dunleavy does more of the little things.  Christensen and Peppers both provide some size.  Getting any significant contribution from players not in the top six will be a major  bonus.  I expect a tight game that will come down to how well Duke can turn UNC over and who can get to the foul line the most.    

Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu