Duke
78
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Last year, I referred to the troika of Carrawell,
Battier and James as the Three Pillars. Part
of that was because those were the only three returning players, who pledged to keep Duke
basketball strong. But as the season
progressed, something else became clear: those were the three who knew what it took to
win. They knew how hard they had to play and
when, especially on defense. I'm happy to say
that the win over Illinois clinches it: Jason Williams is officially a new Pillar. He's always been phenomenally talented and led Duke to a number of wins, but it's
clear that he now understands what it means
to carry a team on his shoulders and make the plays it takes to win. This is not to say that he's flawless, because he
gambled too much down the stretch and violated one of the most crucial laws of life: Don't
Foul The Jump Shooter. Especially when there
are only seconds left and you're up 3. But
when the team looked lifeless in the first half and Boozer was sitting on the bench with
foul trouble, it was Williams who was making all the big shots and playing great defense. And defense was definitely the buzzword for Duke,
because their shooting touch abandoned them (just 28% from three) and they were
obliterated on the boards. The Devils forced
29 turnovers from a team that had survived assaults from hard-pressing Maryland and loaded
Arizona. Illinois guard Frank Williams had
committed only 5 turnovers in his first 4 games, and Duke forced him into 9 miscues. Chris
Duhon, whose offensive game was anemic, sufferred no such problems on defense, stealing
the ball 6 times and forcing a crucial turnover down the stretch. Shane Battier played absolutely out of his mind on
defense, coming up with crucial blocks, steals and rebounds and disrupting many other
plays. But the bench has gone from being an
eyebrow-raiser to a major concern. While I
don't expect Sanders, Horvath or Christensen to be contributors
on offense, I do expect them to play solid Duke defense and not do anything stupid. And Casey and Matt, at the very least, failed that
test. Let's take a look at the numbers. The Illini outshot the Devils, 47 - 42%. That
includes a scorching 7-11 from three (63%!) to Duke's 7-25 (28%). While this meant that Illinois was only 18-43 from
inside the arc, they compensated by dominating Duke on the boards, 42-23, including
getting 12 offensive rebounds to Duke's 6. The
reason the Devils won was because they forced turnovers--26 from Illinois, including 12
steals. And they kept their own turnovers to
a minimum--just 12. And a couple of those
came in the last minute. Jason Williams led
all scorers with 23 points on a variety of masterful penetration moves, as his long-range
jumper wasn't falling. Mike Dunleavy stepped
up in a big way to score 21 from three, from drives and from short jumpers. Jase also had 7 assists, 5 turnovers and 2 steals. Boozer led the team with 7 rebounds and had 15
points despite a wretched first half. For Illinois, Frank Williams had 19 points, 4
assists and 9 turnovers. Marcus Griffin scored on many a putback and would
up with 16 points and 9 rebounds. Hardworking
defensive stalwart Sergio McClain had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and also recorded 2
steals. The game had sort of a herky-jerky feel to it
early on, with Battier getting a steal out to Boozer only to have it blocked by Griffin. Duke quickly took control, with 3 Illini turnovers
helping Duke forge a 12-5 lead. Battier got
an offensive rebound and promptly drilled a three, while James fed Dunleavy for a three
and got an old-fashioned three point play of his own driving to the basket. Illinois pushed back to pull within 2, but an 8-2
Duke run highlighted by a Battier three and Williams drive gave Duke its biggest lead at
8, 20-12. Illinois' offensive rebounding was
keeping them in the game despite a lot of misses inside as Williams was proving to be a
one-man gang. After a Duhon steal, Chris threw a long pass to Jason that he caught and
laid in. Then, he pulled up to hit a 15'
jumper. As the Illini were shaving points off
the lead, Jason picked Cory Bradford and zoomed downcourt for the layup. Duke's lead was only 28-22 with six minutes left
in the half. The Illini went on a 7-0 run at that point,
holding Duke scoreless for nearly four minutes. Boozer
had spent a lot of time on the bench because of foul trouble, and his subs simply weren't
doing the job. With no inside presence, Duke
fired away from the perimeter and the shots weren't falling. The Devils tried to hold them
off with defense, as Mike Dunleavy took a charge,
but Lucas Barnes hit a three to put the Illini up for the first time with about three
minutes left in the half. The lead would
change hands six more times in that time span, with Williams once again keeping Duke in
the game. He hit 4 foul shots and fed Boozer
with a perfect alley-oop pass, but Casey Sanders was hit with a weird intentional foul
right before the half ended, and Bradford hit 2 free throws to put Illinois ahead 35-34. It was an ugly half as only Williams was in double
figures, with 14. Duke had missed a bunch of
free throws and looked completely disorganized on offense,
yet was only down by 1. Illinois seemed to be
taken aback by the aggressiveness of Duke's guards and were surprisingly careless in their
presence. Perhaps they thought that after
whipping a pressing team like Maryland with ease and hanging with a top contender like
Arizona meant that Duke's pressure wouldn't be a big deal, but it would win up costing
them the game. The lead would change hands 7 times in the half
with 4 ties as both teams started to warm up a bit. Duke
continued to force a lot of turnovers, but the real reason they eventually assumed command
of the game was that they were attacking the offensive glass. Duke traditionally is a weak defensive rebounding
team not just because they eschew the huge, lumbering space eater of a center but because
they spread the defense out so far, they usually only have a couple of guys under the
boards. The rationale behind this is if they
overplay the lanes, they can generate steals, which fuels the fast break, which means easy
points. But if the two guys under the basket
don't concentrate on rebounding, then it leaves Duke wide open for an offensive rebound
assault. Thus, if a good rebounder like
Boozer is there and he's blocking out well, Duke can take this gamble, and as long as the
rebounding numbers are roughly even, Duke will probably win. But without Boozer in there, Duke simply got
pummelled in the first half. Furthermore, Duke will rarely send all their guys
to the offensive boards because they prefer to set up the defense. So that means that just one or two players have to
work extra hard to get the extra shots. And
this is exactly what happened in the second half, as James opened the half with a putback
that gave Duke back the lead. But Illinois
scored 4 straight points, again thanks to an offensive board, to stake out a 3 point lead. Battier drove and hit a couple of free throws, but
Illinois got 2 offensive rebounds in their next possession and finally scored to go up by
3 again. Duke started to change their offense a bit and
went to Mike Dunleavy for short jumpers off screens.
Williams and Battier both drove and found Mike for 15' jumpers. Illinois turning the ball over 3 straight times
helped, and Boozer finally came alive by putting back a rebound from a shot by Williams
that was blocked. Duke was now up 3 at 44-41. But a Marcus Griffin three point play tied
the game up once again with fifteen minutes left in the half. Battier found Dunleavy for Duke's first three of
the half, but Frank Williams came right back
and stuck a three of his own. Bradford hit a
three after a Boozer free throw, but Jason drove through the heart of the defense, flipped
up a shot that went in and got fouled. Duke
was starting to get a bit more balance in its offense and was finally keeping the Illini
off the boards, with Dunleavy and Battier combining for 9 second half rebounds. 2 Boozer
free throws, a Battier three and a short Williams jumper off a break gave Duke a 7 point lead with twelve minutes
left at 57-50. A sensational steal and dunk by Jason made it 59-52,
but an 11-1 Illini run gave them a 63-60 lead. Illinois
caught up thanks to some Frank Williams free throws and Williams simply ripping the ball
out of Boozer's hands. But Jason found Nate for a three on the wing to tie it up at 63,
only to have Frank Williams answer with about seven minutes left. Carlos reentered the game and was ready to
contribute. After Williams hit 2 free throws,
he blocked (!) a Frank Williams three and tapped it out to Battier. Boozer got the ball in the post and hit a
beautiful turnaround jumper to put Duke up 67-66. After
Boozer snagged a defensive rebound, he attacked the glass after a missed Battier three,
put it back and got fouled. He was fired up
at this point, and it was amusing to see Chris Duhon push him playfully. Jason Williams started to turn it over a bit as
Frank Williams was scratching and clawing his way back into the game. Duke went back to Boozer, who got fouled and hit a
pair of freebies to go up 72-68. Battier then
made an incredible defensive play, getting a steal and tiptoeing along the baseline before
safely putting it back into play. Williams
found Dunleavy on an inbounds play as Mike used a lane to cut to the basket, scoring
easily. With three minutes left, Duke was suddenly up 6.
Griffin threw the ball away trying to back-door Duke, and instead of sitting
on the ball, Jason drove and found Dunleavy spotting up for three, and he buried it. With just over two minutes left, Duke had a
commanding 77-68 lead. But Duke had some serious problems putting
Illinois away. The Illinois scored with two
minutes left, and then Jason was blocked by defensive stud McClain. Bradford came down and hit a tough three to make
it 77-73. Mike Dunleavy was then called for
an offensive foul after a shot, which meant 2 free throws for Illinois. Griffin could only hit 1, but Battier stumbled in
the lane with only 14 seconds left. Illinois
could tie it on that possession. But Duhon tipped the inbounds pass off McClain,
and Williams was fouled with ten seconds left. He
missed the first but hit the second, making things very difficult for Illinois. Insanely, Jason fouled Frank Williams as he was
taking a three with four seconds left. Williams
hit his first two and was trying to intentionally miss the third foul shot for a chance at
a rebound and a tie. He banked it hard
against the backboard, but it dropped in instead of bouncing out! Duke inbounded, and James was fouled rather hard
with .8 seconds left. He missed the first
foul shot, and Coach K screamed at him "Miss! But hit the rim! No fouls! Make sure to
miss!" Nate
did exactly that, and time ran out when the ball touched an Illinois player. All-in-all, it was an exhilarating win that at the
same time left some rather stern lessons for
the Devils. The bench players have to do more
than stand around--they must contribute hustle and smart play, or else they will continue
to sit. Duke needs to develop a seventh man,
and it must be one of Christensen, Horvath or Sanders.
I imagine this will be a priority over the next few days. The thing that Duke needs most is a consistent
attitude on the court. They'll go up by a few
points and then assume that the opponent is just going to fold. They get sloppy on offense and don't play with
enough intensity. But when the chips are
down, Duke cranks it up a notch and imposes its will on the opponent. It's remarkable how similar the conclusions of the
Temple and Illinois were. Duke was down,
fought back with a ferocious defensive effort and crisp offensive flow, and then survived
a few errors down the stretch to win. Both
wins featured terrible shooting from Duke until they really needed a big shot to go down. It will be interesting to see what Duke learns
from this game when they play Temple on Saturday.
** Positives: 1. Pressure defense. The best I've seen from Duke in a long time. Duke thwarted Illinois' powerful inside game by turning up the heat in the passing lanes and funnelling players toward Battier on the baseline, who opened up his bag of defensive tracks by perfectly timing blocks and knocking balls out of other players' hands. 2. Guard play. Williams was brilliant and took care of the ball
until the end. Duhon had a horrible offensive
game (I'm sure his teammates are still kidding him about the missed dunk) but was
spectacular on defense, coming up with 6 steals and adding a powerful new dimension to
Duke's pressure. James was his usual solid
self. ** Negatives: 1. Rebounding. Oh boy. Boozer was having rebounds ripped out of his hands. The Devils were just plain caught flatfooted at times, while the Illini looked to attack the boards at all times. 2. Shooting. Duke looked tight, as if they were forcing shots that didn't need to be forced. Only Williams was trying to mix things up by driving to the basket in the halfcourt set. 3. Foul shooting. I'll forgive Nate's second miss at the end since that was obviously intentional. But Duke's big-time players were missing freebies. Duke's percentage for the season is a disappointing 69%. Good shooters Williams and Dunleavy are only in the high 60's, a figure that needs to improve. Player-by-Player:
** Boozer:
Played one of the worst games of his career in the first half, and one of
the better ones in the second. He really
looked like he wasn't ready to play early on, as he was beaten to the ball a number of
times and hacked after he was beaten. But he
played with fire in the second half, getting the ball near the basket and forcing 4
shooting fouls. His biggest play was the
rebound and putback of the Battier miss, because it seemed to energize the team. Carlos has to realize that teams are going to
start defending him harder, and this means that he's going to have start going up
stronger. He learned his lesson in the second
half, just in time to help save Duke. ** Battier: Shane was hot early on, but the Illini started to pick him up deep to cut off his threes, and while he got some excellent opportunities with short jumpers, they just wouldn't go down. He was 0-3 from short range in the first half but 2-3 from three. While he amazingly only took 3 shots in the second half, he was actually pretty active. He tried to drive when he got the ball, and he was able to draw defenders away and get other players open shots. He did everything imaginable to disrupt the defense, with a charge, a couple of blocks, and 3 steals. It was their timing that made them the most special, though. Duke had turned the ball over and Illini was breaking. Shane ran all the way down court, and blocked an easy transition basket from behind, and Duke got possession. It was the kind of amazing athletic play that I remember from Grant Hill. He also attacked the boards and played very solid post defense. He helped make Brian Cook a complete non-factor. Shane's defense is better than ever but his shot needs to start falling soon. I'd love for him to try to drive more and draw fouls. And now, another installment of... Shane Battier Senior StatWatch (TM): Points: Three Point Field Goals: Threes Attempted: Blocks: Steals: ** Dunleavy: Mike pulled out all the stops for
this one, showing that he can score like Casey Jacobsen when he wants. His 2 jumpers put Duke ahead early in the second
half, and his 5 consecutive points put Duke up by 9 with two minutes left. He got all of his rebounds in the second half when
the team really needed them. He had a bit of
trouble dealing with Sergio McClain on the boards until then, but his height advantage was
fully exploited when Illinois had its
starting five in, as he got lots of open looks. He
also expertly used screens to get open shots. More
than anything, it was great to see him step up for the first time in a long time and play
like a star. I've said for a while that any
of the top six are capable of putting up 20 on any given night, but it's nice to see Mike
come along and tie his career best against such a good team. About the only down note was his continued
mediocre foul shooting, only getting 2 of 4. ** James: Foul trouble hurt Nate, but he still managed a few key plays. He hit a three on the wing after Illinois had taken a 3 point lead with an 11-1 run. He got a putback and scored early on in transition. He also handled the ball a fair bit at the end when Illinois was pressing, and didn't turn it over once. Not a high-impact game, but a solid effort. Nate Dogg 1K Watch (TM): (Nate has a chance to become the 47th man to score over a thousand points for Duke.) Total Career Points (as of
11/30): 715 ** Williams: I went over his scoring and assist plays in my game explication above, but suffice it to say that Jason has cemented his role as the team's offensive leader. Moreover, he rose to the challenge of defending Frank Williams without getting wrapped up in a one-on-one battle. He was supremely confident of his abilities but not cocky, and he picked his spots well. If only his jumper were falling; he might have cracked 40 points. But his short jumper is falling nicely, and he was almost unstoppable penetrating all the way to the basket. He continues to team well with Duhon, with both men setting each other up well for easy scores. It's remarkable to see how much Jason has matured in just a year, as he learns how to dominate a game without simply jacking up threes. While he did have 5 turnovers, most of them were down the stretch when Duke had a big lead. He didn't turn the ball over when the game was tight. Unlike some, I'm glad Jason is taking the long-range jumpers, because he has to at least threaten to score or his drive will get taken away. Williams Career Assist Watch: 16. Christian Laettner - 273 ** Duhon:
As reported earlier, a great defensive game and a horrible offensive game. While it's fantastic that he's contributing so
much to Duke's perimeter defense and helping Jason out with ballhandling (Jase and Chris
are 1-2 in assists in the ACC), Duke needs for him to hunt his shot when he's in the game. The assists will still be there, but he needs to
understand that he has to stop worrying about being a freshman and concentrate on his
offense a little. Against Illinois, he blew
an open dunk in transition and tried to navigate his way through three defenders, but
missed. He also missed a couple of threes,
with one of them beyond NBA range. Chris just
needs to relax a little on offense and look for his shot, especially when Duke is
struggling. In addition to his 6 steals,
Chris also hit Jason with a bomb for a layup, and found Williams for a short 6' jumper. He also picked up a couple of boards and did not
turn the ball over. In other words, he's a
freshman, one who needs many hours to hone his talent and
assert himself offensively.
** Sanders: Casey's play is the most
troublesome of any bench player, because he's shown so much promise in practice. But when it's game time, he tends to freeze up and
make a lot of mental errors. The perfect
example came late in the first half. With
five seconds left, Illinois missed and Dunleavy grabbed the rebound. But Casey pushed Cory Bradford, and an intentional
foul was called. The Illini hit both and
still had the ball. Duke defended them well
and they didn't score, but it could have been a basket that decided the game. Casey also went up for an alley-oop but got
fouled, and promptly missed the front end of a one-and-one.
He also started fouling at an alarming rate, and it seemed that he was
trying to challenge Crawford Palmer's record of fouling out in just eight minutes of play. ** Horvath: Nick was actually reasonably active
on defense and boxed out well. But his two
jumpers didn't even come close to falling. I
actually think he has the most confidence of the three men competing for a backup post
job, but he may have the farthest to go in terms of being able to help inside. It's hard to tell just how much his foot is
hampering his development right now. ** Christensen: Matt came in at a time when Duke desperately needed a few good minutes in the post. He promptly got lost on defense and was called for a foul. He was then quickly yanked. Matt's progress thus far is disappointing, because he was a contributor towards the end of last year in terms of being a good offensive rebounder and a solid defender. Coliseum Craziness: The Coliseum had something like 18,000 announced in attendance, but a lot of seats were unfilled. The students sat behind one of the baskets and were pretty effective in generating noise when they wanted. The best trick involved banging on the back of the seat in front of you. Another fun bit was the fact that there was a lot of room between the front row and the press table in front of the basket, so as Illinois was taking free throws, some students would charge forward. The Coliseum security was not very happy about that stunt! As bald-headed Lucas Johnson was at the free throw line, the students chanted, "Mr. Clean! Mr. Clean!" There were a decent number of Illini fans there, but the fans were roaring for Duke in the end. Next Game: December 2nd vs Temple in Philadelphia. After giving Duke everything they wanted last Friday, the Owls lost to MAC stalwarts Miami on Thursday night. The embarrassment of that loss coupled with wanting to redeem their loss to Duke will make Saturday's game very difficult. I'm not sure Duke can survive another subpar shooting game, especially since I'm sure John Chaney will be making adjustments to Williams' penetration. Battier needs to have a big night offensively, and it's just as well if he does it with 10' jumpers and foul shots. Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu
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| Rob is a thirty one year old Duke grad who's been an ACC fan since he was nine years old, when a young Duke team was beaten in the finals by Kentucky. Since that time, he has been fascinated by the entire league and started writing volumes on it in rec.sport.basketball.college and other electronic forums in 1991. Recently, he has been writing ACC analyses for Jazzy J's colbasketball.miningco.com site and regularly contributes features on women's basketball for the Duke Basketball Report. |