DUKE 90

NORTH CAROLINA 86 OT

February 3, 2000

Ricky Price, Thou Art Avenged

  In yet another thriller for the 2000 Duke team, the Devils defeated UNC-CH 90-86 in overtime in Chapel Hill on 2/3/00.  Simple game to break down, really: Duke absolutely dominated the Heels for the first 25 or so minutes.  They were up 17 at the half and maintained it for the first five minutes.  Then,the Heels woke up and relentlessly attacked Duke's defense, cutting it up like very few teams have this year.  While they never took the lead, they did manage to tie it thanks to some clanked free throws by Duke and amazing shooting by the likes of Joseph Forte and Ed Cota.

  The first four minutes were fairly close as one could sense that both teams were a little nervous.  It's no accident that Duke's tri-captains (Carrawell, Battier & James) scored Duke's first 8 points.  After a 7-7 tie, Duke went on a 10-4 run led by 8 points from Battier.  Four came after a technical foul on UNC coach Bill Guthridge for arguing a call; 2 on free throws and two on a nice baseline jumper.  UNC responded by getting to within 17-15, but Duke went on an 11-0 run during a period where UNC simply fell apart.  Jason was absolutely dominating the Heels in this period, hitting a three and a jumper and finding Boozer and Dunleavy for dunks, the latter coming on a William steal.  After the Heels drew to within 10 at 30-22 with about four minutes left, Duke went on another big run.  This time, it was 11-2 as Duke suffocated UNC on defense, getting 5 points on turnovers.  Duke was up by an amazing 17 at halftime despite the fact that they were getting outrebounded. The Heels were in total disarray.

  Duke kept the pressure on in the second half, pushing the lead up to 19 as Carrawell scored 5 early points.  The Heels got the lead down to 15 a couple of times but Carrawell and Battier came up with shots that left Duke up 16 with twelve minutes left.  Still, the Heels had outscored Duke 15-14 in the half and were in a much better scoring rhythm.  It paid off when the Heels ripped off a 9-0 run, generated by driving to the basket and finding open shooters.  C'well put Duke up by 10 again by hitting a shot and getting fouled and then the teams traded baskets for a couple of minutes.  Down 62-52 with about seven minutes left, the Heels went on a mini 5-1 run to pull within 4 with four minutes left.  Duke seemed to have things under control again when Shane hit 3-4 foul shots to put Duke up by 7 with three minutes left, but the Heels went wild once again, hitting some big shots to come within 2 at 68-66.  Carrawell found James and hit a huge jumper of his own to put Duke up 72-68 with 41 seconds left.  UNC scored and then fouled Jason Williams with 24 seconds left.  Jason hit only 1 of 2, leaving the door open for the Heels.  With six seconds left, Joseph Forte hit a huge three that tied it up, and Carrawell missed a game-winning jumper.  James rebounded it, but a second after the clock had run out.  Overtime!

  UNC continued to show their tenacity in the extra period, but they were minus big Brendan Haywood in the middle, who had done a great job defensively on Boozer and cleaned up on the offensive boards.  Jason Williams had been drawn into a one-on-one battle in the second half with Cota, which hurt his play immensely because he was trying to hard to take all the big shots himself.  But he regrouped in the overtime, starting off the scoring on a daring drive, in much the same way he had started off overtime at Virginia with a three.  He then found Boozer down low after UNC had tied it at 75. Shane got some separation by hitting a three, and then Carrawell found Boozer open on the very next possession for a dunk to put Duke up 84-78.  With less than a minute left, Carrawell drove and got fouled by Joseph Forte, putting Duke up 87-80.  UNC would not go away.  They hit a three to cut the lead to four with 44 seconds left.  Boozer made 1-2 free throws, giving the Heels a little daylight.  Cota missed, but Battier fouled little-used scrub Orlando Melendez on a rebound.  Melendez made the first, missed  the second intentionally, and then UNC scored on the rebound.  Mike Dunleavy was able to hit 2 free throws to put away the game, as Forte missed a last, meaningless shot.

  This game showed that Duke has a lot of firepower in its top six, but that it can have a tough time against tough, physical determined foes over a forty minute span.  While Duke maintained a large lead in the first thirty minutes, it could have been even larger if they hadn't grown sloppy.  Duke clearly panicked for a few minutes as the Heels sacked the Duke defense.  Carolina played with a ferocity that I had only rarely seen this year, forcing Duke to make plays instead of passively hoping that Duke would make a mistake. But the leadership on the Duke squad was the real difference, as Battier and Carrawell walked the walk as well as talking the talk.  Their confidence in overtime spread to the frosh, as they willed themselves to the win. The bottom line is that Duke won for the second year in a row in Chapel Hill, something that hasn't happened since 1988-89.  Moreover, the win put Duke three games ahead of their nearest rivals, NC State and Virginia.    

 ** Negatives:

 1. Rebounding. You knew this was coming, didn't you?  The primary reason why UNC was able to make their comeback was their ability to score after getting an offensive board.  It got to the point where the Heels could put up any kind of crazy shot and simply get another attempt a foot away from the basket.  This doubly hurt Duke because it meant that Kris Lang, who is not a threat further than five feet away from the basket, was able to operate in the area where he's dominant.  Duke was able to put the Heels away when they controlled the boards in OT.

 2. Shot selection.  When Duke had a big lead, they tried to go for the throat a little too often rather than being patient and trying to draw a foul.  This meant taking a number of ill-advised three pointers.  It also meant a plethora of long rebounds available for the Heels, who were able to push it upcourt and score.  The Heels had much more trouble with Duke's half-court defense once they got set.

 3. Allowing penetration.  After holding Cota in check for awhile, Duke allowed him to cut through the lane at will.  He beautifully slashed right into the heart of the defense, either taking floaters or dishing to another slasher, Forte.  Duke simply didn't rotate quickly enough to account for them or shadow them hard enough.

 ** Positives:

 1. Ball pressure.  Duke's trademark on defense, overplaying the wing, was in full effect here.  There were a number of steals created by this pressure that led to easy baskets. 

 2. Mental toughness.  You have to love a team that blew a 19-point second half lead that came into the overtime KNOWING that they would win.  In fact, I propose that Duke simply cancel regulation for the rest of the year and challenge all of their opponents to winner-take-all, 5 minute games.  :-) Carrawell and Battier were not going to lose and this attitude pumped up their young players.

 3. Attacking the zone.  Duke did not simply settle for a long jumper (most of the time) but instead tried to attack the seams in the zone, where medium-range jumpers were available.  Without Haywood in the game, their zone was a joke just waiting for Carlos to romp through.  

 Player-by-Player Analysis:

 ** Boozer:  While Carlos virtuously attacked the basket in the first half, he did a bad job in warding off Haywood.  Instead of using the pump-fake, he simply put up a bunch of layups that were swatted away, or forced a bad shot.  It was a bit reminiscent of the Stanford game.  Carlos' defense was also average at best and it was exposed when UNC made their big run.  The Heels relentlessly attacked Duke's defense, getting by Williams and even Carrawell.  Boozer had to come out to meet the penetrator and got burned several times by being out of position.  That said, he did have a number of positive plays.  He finally got loose for his first points with thirteen minutes gone by, on a dunk from a Williams pass.  Williams found him again for an amazing basket where he got hit extremely hard on the arm and still was strong enough to flip it into the basket, getting the foul as well.  Even more impressive, he had his back to the basket and was trying to post up Haywood.  He noticed Battier right in front of him, and just tossed him a pass for a wide-open 7' jumper.  Haywood really controlled Boozer in the second half, blocking a couple of his shots and leaving him at 0-4 from the field. Carlos did hit 3-4 from the foul line, however.  Once the game got to overtime, Carlos went wild, scoring 7 of Duke's 17 points.  Williams, Battier and Carrawell found him wide open for dunks or layups, and with Haywood and  Capel out of the game, he was able to control the boards as well.  All in all, Boozer came up big in the end but showed that he's still having problems scoring on bigger players.  Perhaps it's time for Coach K to allow him to take a few more 5 to 10 foot jumpers.  He did take about a 17' footer when left wide open, but it's tough to tell how Coach K felt about that.  But I think having him face the basket from around 5' and shooting from the baseline might not be such a bad idea. 

** Battier: The Daddy of Duke had a dominant first half, burning Carolina again and again with his trusty baseline jumper.  He was one of the few Devils to have a dominant rebounding game (10) and his block on Cota in overtime was crucial.  His game is maddening to opposing coaches because he keeps everything very simple.  He hit three open baseline jumpers, two of them on drives.  He tipped in another basket, and hit an easy jumper in the lane.  He also was big on the boards the whole game, earning a double-double. Shane's numbers had been down a bit on the boards of late but it's clear that he's been working on it.  Shane also hit 7-9 foul shots, a typical performance from the leading foul shooter in the ACC at 84%.  Shane was much quieter in the second half, starting with a 15' jumper to open things up but only getting one more field goal in the half.  It was a big one, however, as he hit a three that temporarily stemmed a Heels comeback.  In the overtime, he had three huge, gutsy plays.  The first was a perfect pass to Boozer that put Duke up 3.  The second was hitting a three in the corner that put Duke up 4.  The last was a big-time block on a driving Cota that basically won the game for Duke.  Shane also found time to take a hard charge from an out-of-control Julius Peppers.  I simply could not have asked for any more.

 ** Carrawell: What Battier was to the first half, C'well was to the second and overtime periods.  Chris made his presence felt early in the game by feeding Nate for a three and backing in for a turnaround, a move that was clearly honed on the playgrounds.  But he was quiet for most of the rest of the half, only getting a bucket on a drive and hitting 2 foul shots when he got hacked after he went up with a rebound.  But he was everywhere in the second half.  He went for the throat when he sensed that Duke could open up a big lead.  He nailed a three and hit 2 free throws.  When UNC scored 4 straight, he answered with a tough driving layup.  When UNC went on a 9-0 run, he drove again, getting the basket and the foul.  He put Duke up 10 on a feed from Dunleavy.  Chris was shut out for close to six minutes however, although he did find James for a crucial basket.  But with Duke up 70-68 with 41 seconds left, he drove and hit a tough 15' jumper.  He missed a shot with time running down that would have won the game, but instead of getting down about it, he rallied the troops and pulled a few more tricks out of his bag.  He found Boozer open on an impressive pass, and then with Duke up 84-80, drove baseline, hit a banking jumper, and got fouled.  That put Duke up 7 with less than a minute to play, and was too much of a lead for UNC to overcome.  C-well has cemented his rep as one of the most clutch Duke players of all time.  What a living testament to hard work he is.  

  ** James:  Nate started the game off with a bang, hitting an open three.  He also helped keep Capel in check for most of the game, a matchup I was a bit worried about because of Capel's superior height.  He also had a steal on an overplay and got a coast-to-coast layup out of it.  Nate also proved to be Johnny-on-the-spot late in the game when Duke's lead had been cut to 2 and Carrawell was under extreme pressure.  With time running down on the shot clock and about a minute left in the game, C-well whipped a pass to the basket when he saw Nate was alert enough to cut.  Nate converted, keeping the Heels at bay once again.  A good game where Nate wasn't really asked to do more than defend.  Interesting stat: Nate leads the team in offensive rebounding. If it seems like Nate gets more tip-ins and hustle plays than some of the other players, it's because he does!  

  ** Williams: Kinda of a shaky night at times, even with some solid overall numbers.  His first half was excellent, featuring 3-5 shooting (2-3 from three), 4 assists and a couple of steals.  There were 2 disturbing trends: 0-2 from the foul line and 3 turnovers.  As is his wont, Jason's dominance came in a spurt.  It started with a nice pull-up for three, and then a shorter pull-up from 10' out.  That was a nice shot because he had no hesitation when he took it.  He also had a soft touch as he released it, something that isn't always there on his three-point flings.  Jason then found Carlos open for a layup, one of his few moments of penetration.  He then came up with a steal and fired it to Dunleavy downcourt, who slammed it home.  He then found Shane on the baseline for a jumper and a tough pass to Boozer who somehow powered his way up and tossed it in, getting the foul.  After a breather, he then got a steal and converted it into another tree--for himself, this time.  All told, when Duke was working with Jason being  quiet, the score was 17-15.  After he got going, it was 40-24. 

  But Jason either didn't take the Heels seriously enough in the second half, or the Sons of Somenex decided to go all out.  Either way, Jason made some incredibly dumb mistakes with the ball.  He tried to force the action too much in transition, going for the spectacular play rather than one which would work easier.  He was 1-6 in the half, with the one being a spectacular drive when Duke really needed a score, their lead trimmed to 4.  But he shot too many shots way too quickly.  He was obliterated by Cota, who  drive by him as if he wasn't there.  He missed a foul shot that would have put Duke up 4 with 30 seconds to play and which led to Forte's amazing shot. 

  Understandably down before overtime began, Carrawell shook him out of his funk with some encouraging words.  Jase responded with a daring, Hurley- esque drive which the Heels didn't quite know how to handle.  He then found Carlos loose underneath and got him a slam.   Jason did miss 2 more foul shots, but Duke was far enough ahead to afford the occasional mistake. Jason was outplayed overall by Cota, but was still able to get his.  This completes Jason's first tour of the ACC point guards, so now he'll hopefully  be able to apply what he's learned in their second meetings.  Jason is very close to playing good Duke defense for entire games, but must learn ways to slow down speedy guards.  He forced another five-second call, showing his commitment to ball pressure.     

  ** Dunleavy: Made two icewater-in-the-veins free throws that put the game away.  Also had the play of the game, a spectacular, Dr.J-esque layup where he dribbled toward the right side of the basket, made a quick move across the lane on the baseline and then laid it in with his back to the basket, all in one motion.  Mike's overall impact on the game was subtle.  In the first half, he scored on a drive over Haywood and on a transition feed from Williams.  He also played decent defense (mostly guarding Capel) and  grabbed a couple of boards.  In the second half, he missed everything but his amazing scoop shot but did set up C'well for a three and a layup.  In the OT session, he set up Shane for a huge three and calmly caught the  ball when it was inbounded before sinking his shots.  His features were positively Laettnerian, almost disinterested, as he took them--and they were absolute swishes.  A good overall game, but one hopes that Mike will finding his shooting touch soon.  Still, to hit 2 foul shots with seconds left to put away your arch-nemesis in your first encounter with them, well, it may be time to start calling him Icy Mike.  To paraphrase Digital  Underground, "We called him Icy Mike, 'cause he was cold on those Heels."

  ** Christensen:  Matt provided some positive minutes.  He came down with a strong rebound and played good defense.  He did get stuck with the ball once and committed a turnover. 

  ** Horvath:  Took one shot, which was an airball.  He did pick up an offensive rebound.

Post-Game Duke Quad Report: 

  I didn't have time to get home to watch the game after the Duke women's game, so I watched it in the Bryan Center.  That was fun, and you could sense that even when Duke was up 19 in the second half, everyone was nervous.  There was very little cheering or yelling,  because I think we all knew that UNC was playing terribly, and might wake up at any time.  There were moans and groans as the Heels made their inevitable comeback, and huge roars when Duke took control in overtime.  Several dorms donated benches and lots of branches that had fallen due to an accumulation of ice and snow were thrown in.  Best effect: throwing in stacks of Chronicles, as they ashed up spectacularly.  The crowd was drunken but under control. Security was pretty congenial; about the only thing they didn't allow was for students to get too close.  The team showed up at about 12:30 and were immediately mobbed.  Shane had an ear-to-ear grin as he high-fived half of West Campus.  The usual chants broke out, including "Go to hell Carolina, go to hell", "Who's your daddy? Battier!" and "Nate's a bad-ass".  A new one broke out, though: "Player of the year!" and everyone pointed at C-well, including Shane.  With music blaring, folks hanging out on windows and romping through the muddy quad, it was a great scene.  One senses that if the game hadn't been close, there might not have been a celebration this big.

 Next Game: 

  Saturday, February 5th vs Virginia in Cameron at 3:00pm.  This is a big game for Duke for a number of reasons.  First, it's less than 48 hours turnaround time from the emotional UNC win.  Any game following a victory over your archrival can be anticlimactic, but especially following a tight overtime win.  The team will be a bit tired and will have to guard against being flat to start the game.  Second, Virginia is one of two teams that are three games behind Duke.  A victory not only stretches that lead to four, it gives Duke the tiebreaker as well since they won the first matchup.  Third, Virginia really had Duke on the ropes up in Charlottesville and it took a remarkable effort to get back into it.  Duke's defense wasn't up to par, particularly on the point (Donald Hand), the post (Travis Watson, who seriously outplayed Boozer) and the wing (Roger Mason).  Duke will have to concentrate on cutting off Hand's penetration, keeping Watson off the boards & denying him the ball, and not allowing their perimeter players any open looks.  The Devils must get good games out of Boozer and Williams because I'm not sure Carrawell has enough energy to save the team if they get into big trouble.  Virginia has had some success in Cameron, winning in double-OT in 1995 and in 1993, less than 24 hours after Duke played Iowa.     

Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu