Duke 93
Temple 66
December 2, 2000
@ First Union Center, Philadephia

Bringing Down The Temple

  Duke brought down the thunder on a fired-up Temple team, and turned what was expected to be a tough, physical matchup into a lopsided laugher.  There were all sorts of bizarre goings-on in this game, with Duke's first 8 field goals being threes and 7 of Temple's first 9 field goals came after offensive rebounds.  Then there was a phenomenon early in the game when James and Dunleavy were confused about where the sideline was because of the NBA three point line on the floor, and so they stepped out of bounds three times.  And of course, there was Duke's insane shooting percentage-- 62% for the game and 57% from three.  Jason Williams came close to breaking Shane Battier's record, but had to settle for hitting 8 three pointers in 10 attempts, while Shane bounced back from some disappointing offensive efforts to put up 18 on 6-10 shooting.  The best thing about Duke's shooting is that they were making the extra pass every time and didn't rush against Temple's zone.  Duke got into such a nice rhythm that the distance of the shot didn't seem to matter--they were all going in.  Duke's 17 threes tied a school record and six different players wound up hitting at least one.

  While the nutty shooting was great, Duke really won this game because of their defense.  While 13 doesn't seem to be a high number of turnovers, it was Temple's season high, and many of them led to Duke baskets right afterward. Moreover, in Temple's deliberate offensive style that has them use up most of the shot clock, taking away that many possessions from them really hurt their offense.  The key to this game was that Duke was able to make adjustments, both from the previous game and at halftime.  Temple was playing Jason  Williams for the drive and concentrated on preventing Carlos Boozer from getting behind the zone, the factor that killed them in the previous game. They were successful in this, but it meant their matchup zone was a little  less effective in disrupting passing lanes, which in turn let Duke patiently swing the ball around in order to get good shots.  In the first half, the Owls killed Duke on the offensive boards, which hurt Duke after playing so well on defense for 35 seconds.  Coach K moved Battier closer to the basket in the second half, which gave Duke a much stronger rebounding presence. The Devils actually outrebounded the Owls overall, 29-28, thanks to a 10-board margin in the second half.

  Looking further at the numbers, Duke had an amazing 26 assists for 31 field goals.  The Devils had 5 blocks, but they all came from perimeter players--Duhon (with 3!), Dunleavy and James.  James had a quiet 14 points, 4 boards and 4 assists.  Battier led Duke with 9 rebounds.  Kevin Lyde was held to only 6 points and 6 rebounds as Temple had to rely more and more on the outside shot as the game progressed.  Lynn Greer, who had a big game against Duke in their first meeting, scored 15 points on 6-23 shooting-- a testament to the in-your-face defense being applied by Duhon, Williams and James.  Despite shooting 30 threes, Duke got to the free throw line 19 times and hit 14 of them.  Duhon may have had the line of the game-- 4 points, 3 rebounds, 12 assists, 3 blocks, 3 steals, 3 turnovers. 

  Temple scored first, but James found Williams and Battier on back-to-back threes.  Duke would never trail again, but Temple kept it close for quite awhile.  Temple would score on another offensive rebound, then Williams would find Dunleavy for a three.  Temple would score on another offensive rebound, then Williams hit another three.  The Owls finally put together a mini-run to close the gap to 12-10 with about twelve minutes left in the first half.  Despite Duke's shooting prowess, the tempo still favored Temple at this point.  Duke would simply not let up on its torrid shooting, as Battier hit back-to-back threes and then Williams hit another three to answer a Temple trey. 

  Mostly, however, Duke was trading threes for twos, and built a 24-15 lead after Williams hit another couple of threes.  But the play that really seemed to break things open was Duke's first two point basket, a layup by Boozer where he was fouled.  Duke seemed to turn up the defense at that point, as James overplayed and came up with a steal, getting fouled before the shot.  James later drove baseline to put Duke up 30-17.  Getting a double-digit lead over Temple is significant because their deliberate offense is not adept at overcoming large deficits, so a large halftime lead might put them away for good.  A James pass to Williams for yet another three and a Dunleavy three put Duke up 15, and the Owls were starting to become unglued.  Duhon got a steal on an inbounds and Jason finished with a  layup to end an 8-0 Duke run that put them up 41-21.  Duhon finished the half with another steal, and this time got it to Battier to give Duke a commanding 47-25 lead.  This was simply a stunning margin against a John Chaney team. 

  The second half was more of the same, really.  Duke started the half with a 10-4 run that featured Battier and Williams threes and a beautiful drive from Williams.  Temple was having a lot more success scoring as Coach K toned down the defensive pressure a bit, but their runs were short--a 5-0 run that cut the lead 59-37 was broken up by 2 Boozer foul shots.  And Duke would go on mini-runs of their own, like Dunleavy driving followed by a Williams three to put Duke up 65-39 with twelve minutes left. 

  The reserves came in with about eight minutes left, and they didn't lose any points off the lead, although Temple did score about 20 points in the last eight minutes.  The subs scored 15 points down the stretch, with Horvath hitting a three, Andre Sweet hitting a jumper and rebound basket, Casey Sanders dunking and Duhon scoring his first points of the game.  Temple had started to press early in the second half, which resulted in exactly one Williams turnover that was converted into a basket, and that's about it. Williams and Duhon shredded the press, leading to a lot more drives and foul shot attempts for Duke in the second half and fewer three point attempts. 

  While Coach K had been pleased with Duke's toughness in coming away with close victories against good teams, it was clear that he expected Duke to be able to dominate its opponents with the personnel it has.  This was the first time that Duke has been able to impose its will on its opponent, making them play the way they wanted to play.  Doing this against a well-coached, disciplined group like Temple is a significant accomplishment, and is  hopefully a harbinger for future games.    

 ** Positives:  

1. Passing.  One could tell that Coach K had broken down Temple's zone very thoroughly and instructed his players on making the extra pass, but to shoot when they were open.  Duhon fits so seamlessly into the offense that it feels like he's been here for years already.  

2. Defense.  Duke switched tactics throughout the game since their standard overplaying the wings wasn't effective in their first meeting.  They concentrated on shadowing Greer and Wadley, and that resulted in 9-33 combined shooting.  Duke went to a full court press at times, which totally caught Temple off-guard and got Duke some easy baskets as they took over the game. They also used a lot more ball pressure on Temple's guards, which led to 8 combined turnovers from Greer and Wadley.     

3. Shot selection.  Duke likes to play to its strengths, and so will take the three if it's falling.  And when players get hot, they get the green light--Battier and Williams were feeling it out there.    

 ** Negatives:  

1. Blocking out.  This was greatly improved in the second half as Coach K sent Shane in to help, but Duke just got their butts kicked in the first half on the boards.  However, Duke might have led by even more than 22 if they had done a bit better here.   

2. Turnovers.  A lot of Duke's early miscues were mental errors, especially some players stepping on the sideline.  Dunleavy also fumbled a transition pass out of bounds.     

Player-by-Player:

 ** Boozer: With Temple concentrating on stopping him, Carlos didn't get that many touches.  The Owls even triple-teamed him at times, but he didn't panic and turn the ball over.  In fact, he even found Williams for a three on one relocation pass.  Carlos got his points in transition for the most part, as James found him for the basket plus one and Williams dished to him on a nice break.  Carlos did post up and get one hoop in the second half, a soft left-handed hook.  He also rebounded much better in the second half, grabbing a couple of boards in heavy traffic.  It would have been nice to see him body up on Rollerson and Lyde a bit more, but he did help hold Lyde to just 6 points.  This was not a night where Carlos was going to be a  primary target, but he did help a bit, proving he still needed to be guarded by Temple.

 ** Battier: Defensively, as solid as ever.  Offensively, this was a break-out kind of night for Shane.  He had 9 of Duke's 18 points in the first ten minutes, hitting back-to-back threes at one point.  He was very effective at penetrating the zone and kicking out to open men on the perimeter, who would then make the extra pass for an open shot.  Shane also scored on a layup after a Duhon steal and an offensive rebound tip-in.  Shane's big night actually helped Jason out in a sense, because Temple couldn't concentrate on either one.  So both got plenty of good looks.

 ** Dunleavy: Not one of Mike's better games.  I almost thought I saw him limping a couple of times as though he had a cramp, but he just didn't seem to be in sync tonight with his 5 turnovers.  He did hit 2 of his 3 threes, and had an excellent drive in the second half.  He also moved the ball well, getting assists to Williams and Battier for threes and helping make the open pass on the perimeter.  But it was displeasing to see this normally unflappable player make some flaky decisions.     

 ** James: While Nate's long-range jumpers weren't falling, he did a fantastic job at taking Temple baseline and driving in for some tough baskets.  And when he wasn't converting shots, he was getting fouled, getting a team-high 8 attempts and converting on 6.  His early turnovers were a concern, but he finally was able to adjust and provide a big boost for Duke.  He had Duke's first 2 assists (to Williams and Battier for threes, of course), found Shane again later for three, and helped Boozer get a three point play.  I was actually happy to see Nate score a lot without hitting threes, because he showed just how versatile he can be.

 ** Williams: Jase is on an absolute tear right now.  Every facet of his game is sparkling--shooting, passing, defense.  He helped demolish Lynn Greer, even forcing a 5-second call on him.  While he didn't get a lot of assists (just 3, to Boozer, Battier and Duhon), he directed the offense well and didn't make a lot of mistakes.  Then there was his  incandescent shooting--he made all 6 of his first half attempts from three, not to mention a transition basket that started with a Duhon steal.  Jason's only other non-three basket was off a steal, where he drove it right down the lane.  

 ** Horvath: Came in for Boozer after the first timeout to give him a rest, but didn't do much in his brief stint, and really struggled on the boards. He did hit a three in the second half to keep up the offensive pressure on Temple.  Nick also played much better defense in the second half, helping Dunleavy get a block by double-teaming a player down low.        

 ** Duhon: For a guy who has to be coaxed to shoot, Chris is one of the most composed and mature freshmen I've ever seen.  His floor game and defense were mind-boggling.  He absolutely wore Greer out and frustrated him into a horrible game.  His trapping was fantastic, getting a steal on an inbounds and feeding Battier.  He fed James, Horvath, Battier, Dunleavy and  Williams for assists, and also got the ball to Casey Sanders when he got in the game, who was fouled.  He nailed an NBA-range three on a Williams pass.  While his steals are to be expected, I was amazed to see him body up on Greer and block his shots, starting a break on one of them.  The Amaker- Dawkins comparisons for Duhon and Williams seem to be more and more accurate, except it's clear that Duhon is playing the Amaker role and Williams the Dawkins role.   

 ** Sanders:  Casey looked a lot more confident and composed than he had in recent games.  He threw down a dunk on a Sweet feed and also posted up strong on another play, getting fouled.   

 ** Sweet: Andre S continues to impress.  He hit the offensive boards for a putback, dished to Sanders for a dunk, and swished a three--all in just four minutes of play.  I really do hope he manages to crack the rotation this year, especially to help on the boards.  While Duke has a surfeit of able perimeter players, limiting his time on the court, I think he can contribute in the frontcourt.     

 ** Christensen: Matt snatched an authoritative rebound and played strong without fouling.   

 ** Buckner: Andre B fed Andre S for a three after penetrating.  

Next Game: Davidson on December 5th in Cameron at 7:00pm.  The Wildcats are 3-4, with their most recent loss an embarrassing one at the hands of Elon. (coached by Gail Goestenkors' husband, Mark Simons.)  They were beaten by 30 by Georgia Tech but did defeat a good Penn team in overtime.  Davidson leans heavily on its forward tandem of Jason Dickens and Emeka Erege, both of whom average in double figures.  However, they have a very deep bench, playing ten guys for at least ten minutes a game.  The Wildcats do have a huge 7-2 center, but his stats are rather modest thus far.  Stat to keep track of: Davidson turns the ball over an average of 18 times a game.   

Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu 

Rob's Archive