|
Overview:
Duke defeated a tiny but game Columbia team 99-52 on 11/23/99 in
Cameron Indoor Stadium. As an Ivy League school, one would
expect the Lions to run a patient offense that used lots of screens
and back-door cuts, and that's exactly what happened. Duke did
a good job in pressuring the ballhandlers and disrupting the passing
lanes, forcing 22 turnovers. 14 of these were steals as Duke
overplayed and held Columbia scoreless for nearly six minutes in the
first half.
The Lions took advantage of liberal Duke
substitutions and a commitment to scoring in the post to make the
second half a more acceptable 44-33 score. As Duke eased off on its
pressure, it relaxed a bit too much and didn't react quickly enough
to alert cuts and head fakes. Duke just turned on the pressure
again and disrupted Columbia enough that they never regained their
modest momentum.
The game began with further evidence of Carlos
Boozer's development, as he effortlessly hit Jason Williams from the
post for a three. Boozer posted his man up and fired out the
pass to a wide-open man, one of his 4 first half assists. Duke
immediately threw on a full-court press that forced a 10-second
backcourt violation early in the game. Columbia managed to
knot the score at 5
using some nice high picks, but Boozer responded with another post
move for an easy score. After a great rebound and outlet from
Nate James to Chris Carrawell, C'well was fouled and Columbia coach
drew a technical complaining about it. (Ref Larry Rose was in
an edgy mood the whole evening, it seemed.) After C'well hit 1
of 2, Battier stepped up for the tech shots and Duke led 10-7.
Duke slowly built a 21-11 lead in the next five
minutes. Duke was giving up fewer open looks and their press
looked especially effective when they had Casey Sanders installed as
the last line of defense. There was one sequence where
Columbia broke the press and a player was driving towards the
basket, but he saw Casey waiting and hesitated, taking a bad shot
that Duke rebounded. The offense looked a little shaky, as
Battier wasn't taking many shots, Williams was making some
questionable decisions and Sanders missed
his only shot of the half. Williams did have a nice steal and
layup, one of 5 steals on the night.
The Devils then went on a 19-0 run highlighted
by defensive pressure that caused 5 steals. Boozer caused a
turnover with a deflection, and then made a beautiful pass to a
cutting Carrawell from the high post. Mike Dunleavy had a
rebound and made a great outlet pass to James for an easy score.
Then Boozer had another
nice relocation pass from the low post to Dunleavy for a 3.
Duke then laid the hammer down with back-to-back steals and layups
from Williams and Battier. James returned the favor to
Dunleavy and found him open for a 3 and Williams scored on a drive
to finish off the run.
Duke wasn't done. After trading a couple
of scores, Battier started heating up with 2 consecutive threes.
Then there was perhaps the play of the game: Matt Christensen
finally made it into the game with 8:13 left in the half, and got an
open court steal. He started thundering towards the basket
with a man in front of him but saw Williams in the other lane.
He made a great pass to Jason for the easy layup in a play
reminiscient of Elton Brand's break-leading adventures last year.
The half ended with the ball in Duke's hands, Battier's in
particular. With the clock winding down, he drove to the
basket and made a smart pass to an open C'well on the baseline, who
drained the jumper with a second on the clock. It's good to
see the team execute in these situations.
The second half had both teams picking each
other apart on offense. Columbia came out of halftime with
much crisper passing and smarter play on offense. Like UNC has done
for years, it is possible to burn a team that overplays on the wing
with a backdoor cut, especially when its post players don't rotate
quickly enough. Within the first eight minutes, the Lions had
almost as many points as they had scored in the entire first half,
and had only been outscored 22-18. Coach Hill of the Lions
said that he was pleased by this but wished it had come in the first
half when the game was still begin decided. The cutting
tactics boosted Columbia's general confidence, because they started
hitting tough, contested jumpers that they had airballed in the
first half. Duke then went on an 11-2 run that sealed things
up for good, mostly thanks to Jason Williams and some pinpoint
passing. He had 6 assists in the half and was quite proficient
in setting up a quick strike after a
steal. The run featured lots of open-court baskets with dunks
by James and layups by Williams.
Coach K, C'well and Battier were all pretty
unhappy after the game despite the results. Chris in
particular was disturbed the team's sloppy play and lack of effort
on certain occasions. K said that the team had to get better,
that the frosh had to learn quicker and was concerned that the team
was behind where he had
hoped they would be. This was all a very clear challenge to
the youngsters to take it up another level. This is especially
true for Williams and Boozer, the two most talented players on the
team who haven't quite put it all together yet.
** Negatives:
1. Sloppiness. Play was ragged at times, with dropped passes,
blown defensive assignments and breaks that weren't quite finished
right.
2. Rebounding. Duke won the battle but it should have been
much more decisive. There were a few times when Duke players just
stood around as the ball went up.
3. Defensive rotation. Usually it's been a problem on the
perimeter, but this time Duke had trouble stopping back door cuts.
It's all about switching and rotating, things the young players must
learn or Duke is doomed defensively.
** Positives:
1. Pressure. Duke showed it could sustain a productive
pressure defense for long stretches of time, and generated a lot of
its offense this way.
2. Shot selection. Mostly pretty good. Boozer went to
his strengths. Williams tried to avoid shooting threes off the
dribble and instead learned to spot up and wait for the pass.
I felt good about most of the threes that were taken.
3. Passing. Duke is executing outlet passes after steals and
rebounds and finding the open man well. There is an occasional
tendency to overpass as well as a few bad passes here and there.
But the team is at least keeping the ball in motion.
Player-by-player
breakdown:
** Boozer: An excellent game as Carlos continues to improve.
In this game, he added deft passing and hustle to his already
evident strength and touch. It's clear that he has a very solid
understanding of the game and knows how an offense is run. He
put a lot of pressure on the ball and the hit the floor for loose
balls, looking more like one of Duke's power wings than a post
player. He made some very good decisions in the post, either
spinning for a jumper or passing out to the perimeter, where he did
a good job in finding the open man. He got open looks for
Horvath, Williams and Dunleavy in this manner. The second half
is where he really shined, as he went 4-4 with some excellent
footwork down low. He hit one shot with two men draped all
over him. So what else needs improvement? I'd like to see him
become more of a defensive force down low, intimidating other
players into taking bad shots. As good a rebounder as he is, I
think he could get even more--there were a few times when Duke
players were in good position but simply got outworked. At the
same time, long-time observers of Boozer now that he has perimeter
skills that have yet to be unleashed. Now, Duke doesn't need
him drifting to the perimeter when they need him down low so badly,
but it wouldn't be a bad idea to see him take the occasional jumper,
or put the ball on the floor and drive every once in a while.
Lastly, while his minutes rose to 23 for this game, he'll be needed
for 30+ in the big contests. This is where conditioning will
be key.
** Battier: A good game for Shane, who exploded in the first
half on offense and defense. He hit big threes, he got a
steal, he was the lead man on Duke's press and forced a block.
What he isn't doing is controlling the boards, only getting 3 with 0
offensive, a rarity for Shane. He drove a couple of times and
got fouled, an important step in diversifying his offensive game.
** Carrawell: An interesting and efficient game with a large
variety of tasks. He played a lot of point guard in the first
half and did very well. Nothing spectacular, but he played under
control, with 4 assists to 0 turnovers. He still had time to pick up
5 boards and play stifling defense, blocking 2 shots taken right at
him. He was constantly looking to cut to the basket, getting a
layup from Boozer and a jam when Columbia didn't pick him up.
On another possession, he saw that his man had his hands down, so he
simply pulled up for
the three. In the second half, he was on fire as he hit 2
threes on the break. On another possession, he had a wide open
shot but passed it up to get the struggling Sanders a shot, the sign
of a true leader. And of course, he hit a jumper right before the
first half ended. He was the team's leading scorer and did it
in his usual quiet fashion.
** James: Nate had his usual hardworking game. He played some
of the best defense on the team, which is not a huge surprise.
Did a great job in running the floor, getting most of his points on
the break. Missed both of his threes and his shot is a bit of
a concern, but shouldn't be a big deal so long as he doesn't overdo
his three point attempts. Great job on throwing outlets as
well. His one defensive negative was a flop he took pretty far
away from the basket that allowed his man an open shot.
** Williams: A lackluster first half that was livened up by
some on-ball pressure that twice resulted in steals and layups.
But JW too often let his man
get by him and once again had trouble fighting through screens.
The second half was a different story, as he carved up Columbia's
defense with a precision fast break. Of course, lackluster for
Williams is still pretty good, as he had 10 points in the first
half. He only memorably penetrated once to get a basket,
however, and this is crucial for Duke's offense. His
incredibly quick hands netted him 5 steals which he all turned into
Duke scores. Jason doesn't quite know yet how good he is and what he
can do, but it's slowly coming. What he needs most now is
toughness, the ability to deal with physical teams who don't allow
easy layups. Most of all, he must develop the mentality where
he totally dominates the opposing point guard defensively. This
means constant pressure and never taking a play off defensively,
which may be his biggest weakness right now. I am certain that
as Jason Williams goes, so goes Duke.
** Sanders: A tough game for Casey, but it's expected that the
performances of the frosh will vary from game to game, especially in
the first month or two. While he intimidated Columbia at
first, they did a good job in getting him to leave his feet, no-no
#1 for a shotblocker. Played a little better in the second
half as he snagged some boards and came up with some steals, but
didn't get many touches in the post.
** Dunleavy: Of all the frosh, Mike has had the highest highs
and lowest lows in his play. But he's become proficient at
wiping away the memory of his last mistake and trying again.
His shot wasn't falling early, but he kept getting good shots and
kept taking them. He made a number of bad decisions, such as a
weird sequence where he faked a shot and tried to pass, only to have
it slip out of his hands for a turnover. There was another
sequence where he passed up an open 3, drove and took a more
difficult shot which he missed. This was one of Jeff Capel's
most annoying habits, and it's one I don't want Mike to pick up.
But as I said before, his attitude remains good and he did well at
drawing fouls in the second half. His foul shooting was much
improved in this game, going 7 of 8.
** Horvath: A solid game for Nick. Not spectacular
numbers, but consistent effort and some big plays. He hit a
three early on thanks to Boozer's pass out of the post. He
also posted up very nicely for a jump-hook, the first time I've seen
him do that. He seemed to be much more patient tonight
offensively than I've seen recently. Add to that some tough
rebounds in traffic, assorted floor burns and a steal that lead to a
layup for Williams and you've got a good utility player who's earned
future minutes. He has very good hands which helps compensate
for his slender frame. One senses that Nick will be a great
player as a senior, the kind who works hard and has paid his dues.
At this point, he's ahead of Christensen in the rotation but is
slightly behind Sanders. The thing I'm most surprised about
with Nick is that he's a good defender. He rarely gets faked
out and blocks the occasional shot and scraps for steals.
** Christensen: Matt's minutes have really fallen off but he
still works hard. His highlight was the steal and assist to
Williams, but he also had an excellent
block and some tough boards. He once again missed a point
blank shot and let a loose ball through his hands.
** Buckner: Looks more and more comfortable out there.
He hit his three with confidence and made another nice drive that
got him fouled.
** Simpson: The legendary Simpson-to-Buckner combo struck again,
with JD dishing to Andre for a three.
** Caldbeck: Had
a chance to put Duke at the century mark once again, but missed a
free throw at the end. He got to the line by snagging a
rebound and getting fouled.
Cameron Craziness:
There were a few empty spaces in Cameron but it wasn't as bad as I thought
considering that half the campus has emptied out already for
Thanksgiving.
As Columbia ran onto the floor, the crowd
noticed their baby blue uniforms and started chanting "Go to
hell Carolina, go to hell!"
After the usual chant for Crazy Towel Guy (TM),
there was a lull where the ballpersons were toweling off the floor.
The old "wax on, wax off" riff was brought up, but then a
new cheer began: "Little Towel Guys!"
As the Lions were getting pounded, one could
hear: "Brown is better!" and then the more clever "Fordham's
better".
When the team on the floor for Duke was nothing
but frosh, a chant of "Let's go freshmen!" was heard.
I liked this one.
Lastly, in the waning moments of the game,
"Start the subway" was chanted, a reflection of Columbia's
location on Manhattan.
Next Game:
Saturday, November 27th vs Southern Cal in Anaheim for the
Wooden Classic. Southern Cal is a fairly experienced team that gave
UNC a hard team in Maui before falling by a decent margin.
They will be a good test, especially inside which is the Trojan's
strength. We'll see if the improved Boozer shows results in a
more competitive game.
Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu
|