Wake Forest

DUKE 82
WAKER FOREST 73

Nate James: 3 Ball In the Corner Pocket

Duke defeated Wake Forest 82-73 in the ACC semis on March 11th. It was a very physical game that Wake actually controlled in the first half with an aggressive, slashing offense. Wake's frontcourt really hammered Duke, with role players like Rafael Vidaurreta sinking some jumpers, playing rugged defense, and controlling the boards. While Duke was not burning up the nets from three in the first half, shooting only 4 of 12, they were really having troubles from short range, where players like Williams and Carrawell missed short jumper after short jumper. Duke was eventually saved by improved offensive rebounding and the play of its starting backcourt in the second half. The fact that Duke also did a good job on Wake's dangerous but erratic perimeter players helped as well, as did a big lift off the bench from mono recovery poster boy Mike Dunleavy.

The game started with a Williams drive but quickly went Wake's way as they took a 6-2 lead. Duke was ice-cold early on but managed to pull within 1 at 8-7 on a Battier three. This fired up Wake even more, as Howard slashed for a bucket and Vidaurreta scored his surprising fourth point of the game. Carrawell fed the ball to Boozer as Duke tried to keep their offense balanced, but Wake was keeping Duke at arm's length. When poor shooter Broderick Hicks hit a three to put Wake up 17-11, it looked like it might be a long day for Duke. Every time Duke would get close, with a Battier putback, C-well jumper or Dunleavy thre, Wake would respond, and they had not only survived Duke's response, they even upped their lead to 8 at 26-18. This is when Duke finally made their move. Duke responded with a fired-up defense that first led Nate James to overplay and get a steal and pass it to Williams for a breakaway layup. Dunleavy hit two foul shots and Duke continued to harrass the Wake perimeter players. Robert O'Kelley missed a three for Wake which was rebounded by Duke and led to Williams finding Battier for a three, cutting the lead to 3. Another Wake turnover led to a Battier drive. Williams once again became a catalyst, finding fellow frosh Dunleavy for a three and then zipping a pass to Mike for an easy tap-in. Duke suddenly led, 32-30. After going back and forth, Howard broke a 34-up tie with a big three from the corner. Dunleavy managed to get a couple of foul shots and Duke even had the ball for the last possession of the half, but missed. Wake led 37-36, but Duke had clearly reasserted themselves.
Wake came out very strong in the second half, with Howard getting a putback and O'Kelley scoring to give Wake a 5 point lead. In a play not unlike one seen in Durham, Battier hit a three and was fouled, bringing Duke back to within 2 after he missed the foul shot. After another offensive rebound basket by Wake, Duke went on an 11-0 run. It was led by Jason Williams who had a three, a spectacular drive, and an assist to Dunleavy for a three. The run also featured a couple of steals and a great Christensen block, as well as some tenacious work on the boards. Duke was suddenly up 50-43 with thirteen minutes left in the half. Wake battled back, going to their inside game for 2 straight baskets, but Duke was ready to counterpunch every Wake attempt to come back.
When Wake pulled to within 52-49, Williams found Nate James, who had been scoreless up to that point, wide open in the right corner for a three. Nate nailed the shot, and found a stroke that would carry Duke for the rest of the game. After a Dawson jumper, Carrawell got an offensive rebound and promptly dished it to Battier, who nailed another three. After Williams rebounded his own miss for a layup, he found James again in the same corner for yet another three. Duke was up 63-53 with eight minutes left, and it looked like the game might be over. But Wake kept punching away, with ROK and the stalwart Howard scoring 5 straight. Duke got the lead up to 8 again when Dunleavy found Williams open for a three, but Wake cut the lead to 3 thanks to 5 straight points from the pesky Howard, the latter three coming on free throws. But Williams and James combined for back-to-back threes, with Jason delivering the ball to Nate in exactly the same spot--right in the corner. Duke was up 9 and the rest of the game was a parade to the foul line and Wake misses, as Boozer, James and Williams all stepped up to put Duke up by 13 with a minute remaining.
This was a great game for Duke to win for a number of reasons. First, Duke was behind for much of the game but found a way to come back and hold a lead. Second, the Devils displayed a renewed passion on the offensive boards, which helped them on a number of possessions. Third, it really helped to establish Jason Williams as the primary decision-maker on the team. While Carrawell is still the leader and Battier the best outside shooter, Williams has finally started to run the team. Recognizing what the Wake
defense was giving him and finding James for wide-open shots show how far he's come as a player. Most importantly, Duke found a way to win even when the perimeter shots weren't falling--something crucial for this team that relies so much on its offense. The fact that Wake gave Duke their absolute best game also helped toughen up Duke for the postseason. This Duke team is all about depending on different players to step up, not just Battier and James. There's no ego on that group, just a great team that responds well to competiton and looks for the open man or hottest player.

** Negatives:

1. Shooting. Just 38%, and people were missing from everywhere. And Wake's interior defense made it tough to drive on them.

2. Stopping dribble penetration. Howard, Murray and o'Kelley took advantage of this Duke weakness and were able to slash in for some easy scores.

3. Post play. Duke's post offense was so nonexistent that Coach K went to a smaller lineup, hoping to out-quick the Deacons. (It worked.) Boozer got plenty of shots, but they simply weren't dropping.

** Positives:

1. Valuing the ball. Just 11 turnovers, with only a couple in the second half. Williams was fantastic at making good decisions.

2. Clutch shooting. James and Williams were amazing in the last eight minutes, hitting a number of threes under extreme pressure. Duke was also 8-8 from the foul line, with four different players going to the line.

3. Offensive rebounding. James in particular was a warrior on the O-boards, and Christensen proved handy in limited minutes in this capacity as well. Battier scored from an offensive rebound.

Player-by-Player Analysis:

** Boozer: A non-factor after the first couple of minutes. He did have a turnaround jumper and a layup thanks to a Carrawell post pass, but his second half output was limited to just four foul shots. He also got into some foul trouble and eventually was disqualified, but he did have to deal with a number of tough post players. Essentially, however, he didn't have his "a" game available and Duke chose to go to some perimeter players who were making shots.

** Battier: Struggled early on, making just 2 of his first 6 threes and was just 4-12 for the game. But it seemed like the shots he did make were important ones, and he also did a great job on Darius Songaila, who was just 4-14 from the field. Shane hit an early three to pull Duke within 1 at 8-7, and later had a rebound basket to keep Duke close. 5 straight points late in the half once again got Duke within 1. In the second half, his early three ended a Duke drought. He later hit another three and scored on a put to give Duke some breathing room. Despite his shooting woes, he still scored a team-high 18 points and wasn't afraid to pull the trigger even when shots weren't going down, the sign of a great player.

** Carrawell: Chris had a really tough offensive game, only hitting 3 of 13. He made up for it with 5 boards and 3 assists and great defense on ROK, who had very few open looks. Chris was getting the shots he wanted, often on drives to the basket, but he wasn't getting anything to fall. He did hit a couple of his trademark goofy-looking jumpers in the first half, but weirdly couldn't get his short game going. He had a nice turnaround in the second half, but the rest of his offense was limited to free throws. Still, with others stepping up, he was able to lay back in the weeds a bit and concentrate on defense.

** James: The first half of the game reminded me of Nate's performance against Stanford, which was one clank after another. Nate did have a couple of steals and 4 boards, so it's not like he wasn't giving it all he had, but the shots just weren't going down. The second half changed all that as he remained confident in his form and knocked down four huge threes, all from Williams. Williams had drawn out extra defenders, and so James was left all alone in the corner. It was a strategy similar to the one Maryland had used in Cameron, where Morris got freed up in the corner thanks to a pick. In this instance, Wake decided to double on Williams, who wisely avoided having to pick up his dribble by quickly dishing off to an open James. Nate also had a steal and was intentionally (and rather nastily) fouled by Howard. Carrawell had some choice words for the rookie but Nate just walked away after giving him a glare. Howard whacked him upside the head, partially out of frustration. Nate made both shots and put Duke into a double-digit lead. His 4-for-4 performance, combined with his 9 boards (4 offensive), 3 steals and 2 assists mark this as one of the finest efforts of his career, and it came at a time when he was really needed.

** Williams: Not a great shooting game (just 6-19), but Jason was in complete control from beginning to end. Interestingly, it wasn't his three point shooting that was a problem, but rather his short jumpers that wouldn't fall. Some were off balance, but most were pretty good shots. Still, he didn't let it get to him and worked hard at both ends. He found Battier and Dunleavy for threes and that pair again for twos in the first half. He also came up with a couple of steals, one of which he ran back for a layup. He was extra special in the second half, as he helped Duke get its big early boost that gave them a significant lead. He scored 5 points on his own and got a three for Dunleavy as well. And of course, he found James four different times on threes, exploiting a weakness in the Wake defense previously identified by Coach K. He scored 12 of his 16 in the second half and had half of his assists, and didn't turn the ball over. Knowing when his team needed him on offense and when to get others involved is very difficult for
most frosh to learn, but Jason seems to be getting better and better at developing this sense.

** Dunleavy: Icy Mike came off the bench in the first half and saved Duke's bacon. While his smooth stroke netted him a couple of more threes, it was his solid defense that really earned him some big minutes. He was drawing fouls and using his quickness to snag some rebounds. I'm amazed at the way he's shooting threes (7-7 in the tourney) and pleased with the way he hit foul shots. While he only hit the one open three in the second half, he worked even harder on the boards and also found Williams for a three. I daresay Mike is playing much better now than he ever was. He suggested that even though he was sick, it felt good to rest his legs a bit, and his energy and confidence have definitely picked up the rest of the team.

** Christensen: Matt came in and provided a physical presense in battling against Vidaurreta, Songaila and Shoemaker. He had a remarkable 5 boards in just ten minutes of work, and was eventually pulled for matchup purposes. Still, he played with confidence and a purpose, and did well in fighting against Wake's big men.

Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu