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Overview:
Duke defeated Illinois, 72-69 on November 30 in Chicago's United
Center. Some have suggested that dropping the Stanford game was
helpful in demonstrating to the young Devils what factors can
contribute to a loss; this game taught the team how to win.
Winning a game in a hostile, big-time (20000+ fans) environment
where the Devils did not play their best at all times was a big step
in the team's development.
The game had a very odd
flow, with lots of streaks by both teams but very little
consistency. This was caused to some degree by defensive
lapses. For Illinois, it was defending the break; whereas for Duke
it was preventing penetration and rotating to stop threes.
Youth certainly had a lot to do with
it, and this was a key factor that prevented both teams from
pressing their advantage and building up bigger leads. This is
the time of year when young players realize that winning games takes
a lot more than talent. It's all about learning roles, knowing when
to take chances and when to be conservative, and having contingency
plans for every situation. Most of all, clutch play simply
means a player is mentally tough and extremely well- prepared.
All that said, I must
emphasize a plea for patience from Duke fans. If your favorite
player isn't getting enough playing time, just wait for a bit.
Everyone develops at their own pace, and that includes the
still-recovering Boozer and still-skinny Sanders. I don't
think Coach K has any particular desire to go to a small-ball game,
but if his post players are producing in practice, there is little
choice. Practice is where real improvement is made; games are
simply final exams. Duke's big men have a ways to go before
they're ready to be big producers, but I think it will happen.
Look for the holiday period to be another important time for player
development, especially since K likes to finalize his team's
rotation sometime in January.
On to the game. Lon
Kruger is an excellent coach who was well-prepared for Duke, and he
had a number of young players to deal with as well. He started
a number of upperclassmen so as to ease some of his younger players
into the game. The Illini were awful last year, but nearly won
the Big Ten tourney and went on an all-important summer tour.
These tours (theirs was in Australia) have proven time and again to
set up successful seasons for those who travel on them.
Notably, Kruger's 94 Florida team went on a tour and wound up in the
Final Four. Duke countered with starting Dunleavy, whose
sparkling performance against USC earned him more playing time.
The early minutes featured
some jitters from both teams. Williams drew a foul going to
the basket, something one hopes to see more of because of his
quickness. Battier had an awesome drive and slam past a
bewildered Illini defense, and Duke started to go on a roll.
Williams in particular was picking apart Illinois, spotting up for a
three, hitting Dunleavy on a full court pass for a layup, and then
dishing two of the nicest-looking assists I've ever seen: a no-look
to C'well for the slam, and a stop-and-dish to a cutting Dunleavy
who made a reverse layup. Duke went up 19-9 with about ten
minutes left before the wheels came off a bit. Cory Bradford
made some tough threes to pull his team closer but Battier hit a
three and got fouled to extend the lead to 23-16. The Illini
kept creeping closer but threes by Williams and C'well kept the
Illini at arm's length, 33-25.
Illinois made its move with
about five minutes left in the half. Behind a strong post game
and some friendly bounces, the Illini went on a half-closing 15-2
run. Duke could not do anything right as C'well and Battier
both missed shots that would have stopped the bleeding. Worse,
Duke turned the ball over three times and got outrebounded by 10-1.
It was this latter stat that was paramount, as the Illini were
getting all sorts of second-chance opportunities and denied the
Devils any kind of offensive flow.
The second half felt like
Illinois was going to blow Duke out, as they went up 6 on a Griffin
bucket. But they were never able to extend their lead past
46-40 despite having all sorts of chances and control of the boards.
A key early factor in the second half for Duke was Nate James, who
was very quiet in the first half but whose tip-in of a Horvath miss
started Duke's comeback. A crazy double-clutch three by
Williams brought Duke to within 48-47, and a brilliant C'well
baseline drive and slam(+ the foul) tied it up. This was the
beginning of a 10-0 run that put Duke in the driver's seat with ten
minutes to go. It featured another James tip-in, a three by
Dunleavy off an offensive rebound and a drive by Williams.
The Illini crept back to
within 4 thanks to more baskets off of missed foul shot
rebounds. C'well calmly hit some foul shots and Horvath tipped
in a Battier miss to put Duke up by 8 again. Duke was
definitely trying to chew up the clock; they were successful in this
but had trouble converting when the shot clock was running down.
Williams charged twice and turned the ball over another time, but it
was an excellent learning experience. To his credit, he stuck
a tough 17' jumper to put Duke up 63-56 with only six minutes left.
Illinois kept clawing their way back with more tough threes after,
you guessed it, missed free throws. Then came the biggest play
of the game: after
Illinois pulled within 5 and were playing a tough zone defense,
Williams managed to penetrate and kick out to Nate James, who buried
the three. Up 8 with just four minutes left, Illinois was unable to
come all the way back. The two Williams charges helped and Illinois
got to within 68-66 with two and a half minutes left.
This is when Carrawell
really stepped up. He drove and got fouled and sank 2 shots to
put Duke up 4. Illinois was ready to tie it up but only made 1
of 2 foul shots to stand at 70-69. Chris took the ball, waved
off Williams, and drove and got fouled. Lon Kruger called a
time-out to ice him. Time-in: swish. Kruger called another
time-out. Time-in: swish. Frank Williams took a
ridiculous 24' jumper with Jason Williams playing tight D that hit
the back of the rim. Williams rebounded it and wisely ran out
the clock.
This was not a fault-free
win, but rather an ultimate success after a series
of stumbles and advances. The frosh now know what it feels
like to pull out a win after being up, then being down and
thoroughly outplayed and outworked, and then playing several minutes
of error-free ball. While Duke made a number of mistakes down
the stretch, they played with a lot of energy and intensity that
ultimately paid off with the excellent final defensive
stand. There are some things to work on, like clock management
and offensive efficiency when playing with a big lead, as well as
overall intensity and good decision making. Still, Duke earned
its first win over a ranked opponent on the road this year,
something that will help when Duke travels to Ann Arbor and faces a
revenge-minded Michigan.
One thing I like about Duke
this year is the high energy of the bench. Players like Boozer are
always very enthusiastic and cheering even when they aren't in.
This is crucial for a team trying to integrate so many new players,
and suggests that the team's leaders are doing a good job in keeping
everyone on the same page.
** Negatives:
1. Defensive inconsistency. Overall, the D is pretty good, but
the usual nagging problems with rotating and fighting through picks
are still there. Switches are not always smoothly made.
Shooters sometimes aren't stuck with a hand in their face. Too
much penetration is allowed to occur. Slowly, one can see
progress being made. And despite lapses here and there, Duke
did hold Illinois to 34% shooting.
2. Post play. Boozer once again had trouble going up against
bigger and quicker guys. Christensen didn't do much in his
limited minutes.
3. Lapses of concentration. Duke had trouble dealing with
success, as a bad pass or shot would follow a run. Williams
sometimes took his eye off the ball and got picked a couple of times
as a result, although to be fair Frank Williams has very quick
hands. Duke had severe problems dealing with the zone,
although James was used to it and was able to find a "hiding
place," where he got a good look.
** Positives:
1. Shot selection. Mostly pretty good. You can see the
team passing more, looking to run, looking to penetrate and there's
less of players jacking up threes without looking for another shot
first.
2. Rebounding. Some may be scratching their heads at this as a
positive considering some of the big offensive rebounds that
Illinois got from free throws, but Duke did a great job by
outrebounding a bigger, deeper team. And Duke got some big
o-boards of their own, like a Shane one-handed rebound and slam and
a crucial Nate James tip. In the second half, Duke was getting
all of the rebounds when they made their move, and Williams sealed
the game with his board at the end.
3. Foul shooting. After worrying me a bit with early misses,
the Devils were clutch down the stretch. Kudos to C-Well in
particular, who has not always been a great foul shooter.
Player-by-Player evaluation:
** Battier: The team's default post player was
brilliant offensively in
the first half, and brilliant defensively in the second. He
scored on two drives, a tip-slam and a three; but missed some foul
shots, including the front end of a one-and-one. He took an
amazing 3 charges (reclaiming the lead from Dunleavy) and was
astonishing on the boards in the second half. He was
especially efficient on the defensive boards, which he attacked with
great energy. He had a double-double for the game and also
came up with 3 crucial steals. Didn't score much in the second
half but did take 6 shots, which he must continue to do. It
was nice to see him driving to the basket more and shooting fewer
threes.
** Carrawell: Simply The Man. In the first half,
he was only 3-7 as his usually-reliable jumper wasn't falling.
In the second half, he simply found ways to score, with his gorgeous
drive along the baseline for the slam and 12-14 foul shooting.
Throw in 7 rebounds (2 down the stretch) and three assists
and you have a typical Chris game. Incidentally, he's only 2
points away from 1000 for his career, joining quite an illustrious
club at Duke. He's got a shot at being a top 20 scorer; I'll keep
the readers informed of his progress. Chris is important
because he's one of the very few Devils capable of creating his own
shot at any time with the confidence to do so. He works best as a
slasher but he's proven that his jumper must be respected. If he can
continue to hit foul shots at his current (77%) clip, he has a good
shot at all-ACC and possibly more. Did I mention his defense?
He helped shut down Cory Bradford in the second half, a player who
had been tearing Duke apart in the first. He did a great job
in simply denying him the ball, and didn't let him take an open
shot, no matter how far out it was. The adjustments that Coach
K made helped win the game.
** James: Had a first half that can only be termed as dismal
and a second half that can only be called spectacular. Nate
was pretty much a non-entity, taking off-balance shots and picking
up some cheap fouls. But in the second
half, he resumed his New Glue persona, with 2 big tip-ins and that
absolutely clutch three. He also added his usual 5 boards and
a steal or 2. His one ugly glitch was a steal and 2-on-1 break that
he botched with a bad pass to C'well, but to his great credit he
moved on quickly. This is what separates frosh from veterans:
the ability to move on from a bad play to make a good one.
While he's still not completely smooth-looking out there, he plays a
valuable role as a rebounder and hustle player who is strong enough
to fight inside.
** Dunleavy: Started off in absolutely sensational
fashion, with a steal and fullcourt run for a layup, then running
the floor and converting a fullcourt pass from Williams, and then
finishing off a sensational pass from Williams. He scored 6 points
in 3 minutes. He also had a block & rebound that took his
man by surprise. Mike saw a surprising amount of time in the
post, where not surprisingly he was tossed around like a rag doll.
The Duke vets were tuned into this and rotated appropriately for the
most part. The slender Dunleavy still managed to get 3 boards,
dished out 3 assists and swiped 3 steals. He fouled out with
three minutes left, which really hurt Duke down the stretch because
they could have used his ballhandling and zone-busting ability.
Made a huge 3 when Duke was taking over the game in the second half,
ironically off a missed free throw. I can't wait for Mike to
put on 10 or 15 pounds of muscle, because he'll be able to fight
inside a bit more and make my Danny Ferry comparisons complete.
** Williams: Jase had a game that was alternately sensational
and aggravating. He shot well, hitting threes from relocation passes
from Battier and Boozer, as well as his amazing double-clutch three
in the second half that seemed to stun the Illini a bit.
Moreover, he went to his strengths (shooting from a stationary
position rather than off the dribble) and minimized his weaknesses
offensively. He also drove the lane a bit, hitting a couple
off penetration but also tossing up some bricks. His problems
came with lapses in concentration: throwing the ball away with the
shot clock going down, failing to protect his dribble, charging
twice and picking up silly fouls. He made up for it by playing
sensational defense down the stretch and showed off some fabulous
passes early on. When Duke can play fullcourt offense,
Williams is truly in his element, with astonishing zips to C'well
for a dunk and Dunleavy for a layup, plus baseball pass bombs.
It's in the halfcourt that Williams gets in a bit of trouble, and
this is simply a matter of learning how to be patient. He's
already learned more judicious shot selection,
so I think it's only a matter of time before he learns the ins and
outs of the half-court game and how to play with a lead.
** Boozer: 'los looked a little lost out there.
He was certainly aggressive enough, but the weak shots he was
putting up were being thrown out by excellent
shotblocker Marcus Griffin. It's clear that he doesn't have
the ups at this point to compete with premier big men; Coach K said
that they hope he's ready by the time the ACC season starts.
Hopefully he'll get more of a chance to play against a DePaul team
that is tough and talented but isn't that big.
** Horvath: Nick is still a bit too skinny to make a
big impact, but you have to admire his fighting attitude. He
showed off a nice touch on a hook in the first half and had a
crucial tip-in with seven minutes left that put Duke up by 8.
Missed both of his threes but his aggressiveness (4 fouls!) combined
with knowing his role make him a helpful presence. He was on
the floor at the game's end after Dunleavy fouled out, something
that has to help his confidence.
** Christensen: Came in for just a couple of minutes.
Got a rebound but fell out of bounds before he could steady himself.
** Sanders: Just played a minute at the end of the
first half, didn't do much.
Next Game: Saturday, December 4th vs DePaul in Cameron
Indoor Stadium at 7:00pm. The Blue Demons will try to avenge
their embarrassing loss last year with top talents like Quentin
Richardson and Paul McPherson. Q has player-of-the-year type
talent and will be a big test for Battier and Carrawell.
Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu
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