DUKE 85

GEORGIA TECH 65

February 12, 2000

  Another Day At The Office

   Duke rebounded from a home loss by dominating Georgia Tech 84-65 on February 12th at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.  It was a game that Duke seized control of six minutes in, with a combination of 3-point marksmanship and hard work getting to the foul line.  Duke never went on a devastating run that made the game an utter blowout, but instead had smaller streaks that kept Tech at arm's length.  A 7-0 run gave Duke an early 10 point lead, another 7-0 run right after that extended the lead to 15.  A 9-0 run gave Duke a 37-18 lead late in the first half that cushioned the blow of a Tech run right after that.  Perhaps most importantly, Duke went up 14 at the end of the half thanks to a 4-0 run that shifted the game's momentum, especially since the last basket was a drive by Dunleavy that nearly defied the laws of Newtonian physics.  The lead was in the high teens for the early part of the second half until Duke broke off a 7-0 run that extended the lead to 26 and pretty much broke the Jackets' spirit.  The lead got as large as 27 before Tech made it somewhat more respectable at the end.

  The key word in Duke's win was commitment.  There was a greater commitment to defense and to team play, and the overall balance shown in scoring reflects this.  Part of the problem in the Maryland loss was that some players panicked and tried to do too much on their own instead of calmly trying to set up other teammates.  At the same time, a mature team understands that it's important not to get too high after a win or too low after a loss.  No special emotional effort was needed for Georgia Tech other than Duke's usual commitment to playing passionate defense and efficient offense, with an emphasis on having fun.  Duke did a fine job in fighting through screens and overplaying the wing, took care of handling the ball and unselfishly set up others.  Most encouraging was the reaction of the young players on the team, who played under control but with great enthusiasm.

  The first few minutes of the game were a back-and-forth battle, where Duke challenged tiny point guard TJ Vines to score, and he was able to at first. Three consecutive 3's put Duke in control at 14-8, and some hard work off the boards and on drives made the score 18-8 with fourteen minutes left. While Moore and Fein had some success against Duke, big guns Collier & Jones were held in check, with Duke doing an excellent job in denying the entry pass.  There was a nice balance to Duke's attack, with 6 different players scoring on 6 different possessions at one point.  Duke also responded well to whatever runs Tech mounted.  After the Jackets cut into a 25-10 lead with 2 consecutive threes, Battier stopped that run with a three point play of his own.  Duke was able to convert on offensive rebounds and get easy baskets from steals, easing the pressure on the halfcourt game.   

  Tech mounted their only serious run late in the first half with a 9-1 burst that got them within 10.  Duke closed out the half with 2 consecutive scores, and there was a sense among all involved that the game was over.  After Duke started the second half with a three, the Jackets made one last try and cut the lead to 13.  After a Duke miss, Carrawell got a big tip/slam on a rebound, a play that energized Duke and began an 8-3 run that put Duke up 18.  Duke wore out Tech with its efficiency, eschewing long attempts and going for drives or post-ups instead.  That set things up for some fast break action, with Williams finding Dunleavy for a spectacular drive.  With a 24 point lead with only ten minutes left, Duke simply went about its business, only allowing three 3's by Tech with two of them coming in the last two minutes.  The Jackets only connected on one in the first half, a Collier bomb.  Duke slowed down its offense in the last few minutes to milk the clock, getting a couple of nice baskets late in their possessions.  The reserves came on for the last three minutes and kept up the energy level.

  All-in-all, another nice solid win for Duke, one that doesn't recall the rampages of last year's squad but instead displayed a consistent level of effort throughout the game, as Duke slowly built on their lead and never went through any periods where they looked tired or sloppy.  More than anything else, this was important after four consecutive games where Duke suffered significant second half lapses. 

     ** Negatives:

 1. Foul shooting.  Everyone was a bit off today.  Boozer shot better from the field (4-7) than from the line (4-8)!  Not a huge concern, but it's important to sink one-and-one attempts.

 2. Rebounding.  This basically prevented the game from being a total rout, as Tech was able to get quite a few rebound baskets.  But considering that they often got as many as three or four on one possession and still couldn't convert, the rebounding margin (37-26) is not as significant as it would first seem.

 ** Positives:

 1. Valuing the ball.  Duke had only 1 turnover in the first half and just 7 for the game.  While Tech didn't exert much defensive pressure, the Devils passed crisply and didn't do anything dumb like making impossible passes into the post, making unnecessary dribbles in the paint, or throwing it out of bounds.  While Maryland played great defense against Duke, the Devils aided their cause by taking too many risks.

 2. Ball pressure.  Duke scored over 30 points off Tech turnovers, including a number of well-run transition plays.  Vines and Akins were forced to make quick decisions and frequently made the wrong ones.  Both had trouble getting the ball inside, with their top postmen getting a mere 11 combined field goal attempts. 

 3. Shot selection.  Duke made a commitment to getting the ball inside even when Boozer was initially having trouble dealing with Jones, a move that paid off.  At the same time, their attempts at the three point line, particularly early in the game, gave Duke enough of a lead to feel comfortable early and simply play their regular game.  This Duke team will never succeed if it depends too much on the three, and its bread-and-butter shot should be the mid-range jumper.   

 Player-by-Player Analysis:

 ** Boozer:  Carlos struggled at first, perhaps suffering some hangover from his performance in the Maryland game, but more likely worried about Alvin Jones' human flyswatter act.  What was odd was Boozer's struggles from the free throw line, where he is usually automatic.  He missed 3 of his first 4, but recovered in the second half to hit 3 of 4.  I was glad that Duke chose to challenge Jones, because it resulted in eventual foul trouble for him.   Early on, Boozer was looking to pass out of the post, resulting in a couple of threes for Williams.  But he missed his first three free throw attempts, and looked distracted on the foul line.  After Williams set him up for a nice turnaround jumper in the lane, Carlos became more active, hitting his first foul shot and later rebounding in a miss.  He was very efficient in the second half, getting a basket in transition and a dunk on a perfect pass from C'well.  He also stretched Duke's lead from 19 to 21 by hitting three straight foul shots.  This was not a dominant performance by Carlos, but it was solid and especially important for helping him regain his confidence against a huge frontcourt.

 ** Battier:  Shane had the flu, which may have affected his shooting a little, but it certainly did little to detract from his defensive effort.  Assigned to contain Collier, he held him to 5 first half points and turned him into a general non-factor.  Shane did most of his hard work in the first half, where he stuffed the stat sheet along with collaring Collier.  He took the Jackets off the dribble twice, drawing a foul along with the basket the second time.  Both moves came after Tech scores.  He also found Carrawell for his first points of the game.  Shane continued a 7-0 run with a three that put Duke up by 17.  In addition to successfully shadowing Collier, he also came up with a couple of steals in lane.  The only way in which his game seemed to suffer was in the rebounding category, where he had only 1.  For those interested in such things, Shane is only 24 points away from the 1000 mark. 

 ** Carrawell: Chris had talked about fatigue and how his many ACC minutes were taking a toll, and Coach K has taken steps to remedy this.  He got frequent rest periods in the first half, and generally laid low, concentrating on defense and not hunting his shot quite as much.  It paid off, because he went on a second half rampage, hitting 4 of 8 at the most opportune times, and also had an impressive 6 boards.  His rebounding is the one part of the game that noticeably tails off when he's tired, so it was nice to see him in his old Chris Carom-well persona.  He was quiet throughout much of the first half, hitting only 2 of 6 attempts.  His 5 points came in the last nine minutes of the half, which was nice considering that Duke was already up 12 when he finally started hitting.  The first came on a tough jumper that he buried at a stop, the second came on an easy transition basket.  Chris exploded in the second half and Duke was wise enough to get him the ball as much as possible. It began with a tipslam, continued with a baseline drive for a 5' jumper and another rebound basket, and ended with a three that put Duke up by 19.  He got 6 of his boards in the second half, which helped end any ideas of a comeback that Tech might have been dreaming about.  He also had a spectacular, no-look dish to Boozer for a dunk, showing that Duke was still going to be aggressive offensively in the last ten minutes.  He got to rest in the last four minutes, but it was those strategic moments of rest in the first half that were the key to his fine performance.

 ** James: One of the reasons why C'well was able to relax in the first half was because of Nate James' dynamic play.  More than just a role player or defensive specialist, Nate Dogg surprised Tech with his aggressive offensive play.  It was especially important because Tech did a good job of hanging around in the opening minutes.  He started by pulling up for a tough 18' jumper and then later a three.  In his most impressive play, he and Dunleavy hounded Tech into a turnover.  Nate ran the court, drove to the basket, and then used a pretty spin move to avoid the charge, got the basket and the foul. It was an energizing move that put Duke up by 15.  He continued to swing the momentum Duke's way when he opened the second half with a three.  He got to the line a couple of more times, and also had a few assists, including a nice thread-the-needle job to a cutting Williams.  He did have a couple of careless turnovers in the second half, but Duke was quite comfortably ahead at the time.  The more that Nate steps up, the less pressure there is on Carrawell and Battier. 

 ** Williams: Jason did a nice job hounding the Tech guards into mistakes, and minimized his own errors.  He spent the first half as a three point marksman and the second as a playmaker, scorching Tech in transition. He scored Duke's first points on a three and swished another a minute later to again put Duke ahead.  His third came in the middle of a 7-0 run that stretched Duke's lead from 8 to 15.  He had a dominant floor game in the second half, getting his four assists in the first nine minutes.  The first was a simple targeting of an open James for three, but he had a couple of awesome transition passes to Boozer and Dunleavy that fired up the team. He also disrupted Tech's offense, getting three steals, one of which led to an emphatic slam.  He missed another layup off a steal, but he said that he bounced it off the backboard to a trailing Carrawell, who did indeed rebound it for the layup.  He finished up his destruction of the Tech point guard duo of Vines and Akins with a nice cut for a layup.  This was another solid, mature performance by Jason where he dominated his opponents at both ends.   

 ** Dunleavy: Mike's dad was in attendance, and Junior put on a show for his old man.  Mike did a little bit of everything today.  While he usually subs for James, today he took on some of C'well's roles.  He had his usual offensive rebound for a basket, some nice assists, and one of the most spectacular drives I've ever seen.  With the clock running down in the first half, he took a pass from Williams, froze Fein with a fake, spun around Moore, and then went up and under Jones for a layup.  He looked like a ballet dancer out there with his spins and nimble footwork.  Mike was very aggressive on offense, again taking some pressure off the other players.  His only other make in the first half was a three, but he mostly took good shots.  He also had a couple of assists in a row: one to Battier for three and another where his steal led to a C'well bucket in transition.  He continued to show his ability to run the court with a lightning-quick strike on a pass from Williams, and salted the game away with a drive and the foul.  Like James, Dunleavy will need to step up his offensive performance on a regular basis to make Duke a truly balanced, consistent team.

 ** Christensen: Matt gave Duke ten excellent minutes, where he made some active contributions instead of merely serving as filler.  In particular, he really helped out on the offensive boards, a place where Duke needs all the help it can get.  Matt also displayed an improved touch from the foul line, another crucial factor considering the opportunities he's received.  With Boozer ineffective at first, Matt came on and went to the basket aggressively. He got fouled on one attempt, nailing both shots to put Duke up 10 early. He later came in and got a tip-in basket that put the Devils up 14.  With Boozer playing better in the second half, Matt didn't play as much, but he grabbed another board and got another free throw.  If he could consistently play 10-12 minutes in every game, that would be a huge boost for Duke, especially if he's aggressive on offense and can pick up some rebounds.  

 ** Horvath:  Nick actually got a minute or 2 in the first half to protect Christensen, who had piled up 3 fouls.  He missed a three but later got an offensive rebound for a bucket in the second half.

 ** Sanders:  Casey came in and played pretty good defense at the end, when Tech still had most of their starters in.  He also hit a nice 15' jumper in the lane, showing that he's been working on a number of aspects of his game. Hopefully, he and Horvath will be able to get stronger over the summer and help lengthen Duke's rotation next year.

 ** Buckner: Andre had 2 nice assists: one to Dunleavy on a drive and one to Sanders for a jumper.

 Next Game:

  Duke plays FSU in Cameron on February 16th at 9:00pm.  The game will be televised by ESPN.  The Seminoles have never beaten Duke in Cameron before, and probably don't have the talent or depth to do it this time,  either.  But the 'noles played Duke much tougher than anyone expected last year in Cameron, with Damous Anderson going wild, and actually led Duke at the half in Tallahassee.  Furthermore, Coach K said some rather disturbing things about the Duke crowd for the Maryland game, even going as far as to say that Duke played better on the road!  Unfortunately, this game is set up for a repeat of last week's scenario: 9:00pm weekday game, midterms are coming up, and a game that everyone expects Duke to win.  Hopefully, the sixth man will be shocked back into supporting the team.  Despite the hoopla over a decline in the Cameron crowds, this was really the first bad crowd all year. With four home games left, let's see how they react.  There are a number of tents up around Cameron now, so hopefully we'll see a bit more enthusiasm. On to the game itself: Duke must concentrate on two things: stopping Ron Hale and limiting Delvon Arrington.  Hale has never had any success against Chris Carrawell, but he must certainly be hungry for revenge.  It's imperative that C'well concentrates on stopping him.  Arrington killed Williams in the first half of their first meeting, but Jase buckled down and shut him out in the second half.  This time, he has to take him out of the game by limiting his penetration and making sure he doesn't get any open shots.  He doesn't have to do an all-out defensive blitz, just stay in front of him. Battier will have his hands full with Damous Anderson, who has traditionally always played well against Duke, and Boozer must contend with David Anderson's shot blocking.  The Seminoles are disciplined and tough and could go to the NIT with a winning overall record, and a victory over Duke would certainly help their pedigree.

 Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu