Duke 104
Michigan 61
December 9, 2000
@ Cameron Indoor Stadium

 Hail To the Victims 

  Duke is well known for putting up huge scoring runs based on its ability to generate offense from turnovers.  But to open the game on a 34-2 run and completely fluster their opponent into utter incompetence boggles the mind. The Devils dominated the hapless Wolverines in every phase of the game and nearly every player make some positive contributions.  The stadium was jam- packed and the crowd was raucous, generating some of the most hilarious chants in recent memory and staying loud at all times.  After coasting a  bit against Davidson, Duke came out with ferocity on defense and efficiency on offense, attacking Michigan off the dribble and using their transition game to deadly effect.  Essentially, Duke came out wanting to make every Michigan possession an adventure, and the cocky Wolverines (who danced on the center circle "D" as the Duke players were being introduced) had no way of coping with Duke's intensity.  While Duke's defense overall is still not quite what it could be, this is the best fast-breaking Duke team since the '92 national champions.  They are that devastating.

  Looking at the stats, there are all sorts of goodies to consider.  Duke shot 65% in the first half and 56% for the game, while the Wolverines could only manage 22% in the first half and 43% overall.  Duke outrebounded the big Wolverines 36-27 and had an impressive 19 offensive rebounds.  This helped account for Duke's edge in attempts, 70-49.  Michigan had 28 turnovers, 20 in the first half, and 15 were a result of Duke steals.  The only players to muster any offense at all for Michigan were Blanchard with 20 points and Robinson with 19.  Blanchard also had 10 rebounds but committed 6 turnovers.  Duke had 6 players in double figures, led by Battier with 21 and Williams with 20.  Sanders led Duke with 8 rebounds, Williams had 7 assists and Dunleavy 5 steals.  The rest of Mike D's line was also impressive: 12 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists.        

  In the first three minutes, Duke got out to a 9-0 lead, thanks to 5 points from Battier and a couple of transition dunks.  Michigan managing to score seemed to anger Duke, and they promptly reeled off 25 straight points over the next eight minutes.  And this came when Boozer left the game with foul trouble.  Sanders sparked the team with his rebounding while Battier continued to terrorize the Wolverine post men.  Even when Michigan was able to penetrate (as Queen often did) or the big men caught the ball in good position, the Duke defenders would slap away at the ball.  Michigan looked a step or two slow the entire time.  Duhon had 5 assists during the run and Williams had 3.  Williams scored 7 points, Battier 5 and James 6.  The play that demonstrated Duke's total dominance was Williams missing a free throw, Sanders getting the board, and Williams then finding Dunleavy for a three.

  Michigan then went on a 6-2 "run" before Duke ran off 7 straight points. Michigan decided to go into a zone, which Duhon promptly ripped apart with a three.  Dunleavy then found Williams for a dunk.  Duke started to go deeper into the bench, bringing out Andre Sweet, who immediately sank a 15' jumper and rebounded a miss.  In the last five minutes, Michigan would score, and then was answered by 4 Duke points in a row.  This meant that the halftime lead was 59-18, one of the biggest margins in Duke history.  Duke actually had a chance to put 60 on the board, but Jase charged right before the half.

  The first eight minutes of the second half featured almost nothing but Michigan highlights as the Wolverines doubled their points and cut the lead to 28.  A lot of this was because of lax Duke defense, who were still spread out but weren't rotating over to stop cutters from getting easy dunks.   Battier kept things from going completely out of control until Duke turned  up the pressure again, as Duke scored 7 straight points to push the lead up to 75-40 with 10.5 minutes left.  Duke then had an 11-4 run highlighted by 5 points from Duhon, a big James three to kick it off, and a great pass from Dunleavy to Williams.  Jase was actually out for much of the second half because of foul trouble, but made up for it with 7 points and 2 assists in his seven second-half minutes.  The reserves started to filter in with about five minutes left, and there were 3 walk-ons, a football player and Andre Buckner out there in the last couple of minutes.       

  Michigan has some talent (Blanchard and Robinson can score, and Young is a good utility player), but it's very thin at this point.  Being whipped by Maryland and St John's in successive games and then getting destroyed in Cameron can't help their confidence, and the disgraceful early season loss to Oakland (of Rochester, Michigan, a former Div II team) sent out some early-warning signals.  While they did play well against Wake, holding a big second-half lead, they haven't come within shouting distance of any other good teams.  I suspect that they'll be a relatively tough team at home, perhaps pulling off an upset, but will struggle on the road, and in fact, struggle to win 10 games.  This game was really only valuable for Duke in the sense that it allowed them to see how they'd react in a stressful time of year (finals), and if they could come out with a lot of intensity and focus.  Well, mission accomplished.  

Positives:  

1. Defensive pressure.  Duke was attacking the passing lanes.  Duke was stopping Michigan's break by using players as safeties to pick off passes. The Devils were using a lot of on-ball pressure.  Duke was attacking ball- handlers when they got in the lane.  The Devils were everywhere and executed every aspect of the defense well.  

2. Attacking off the dribble.  Instead of settling for jumpers early on, Duke took advantage of a tight man-to-man Michigan defense by driving right past them.  Battier in particular was effective off the dribble, either taking his man all the way or pulling up for short jumpers.  

3. Efficiency.  Of Duke's 21 first-half field goals, 15 of them came on assists.  In general, Duke quickly made good decisions to get quick scores.  

Negatives:  

1. Second-half intensity.  Duke was caught a bit off-guard by the Wolverines to open up the second half, as Michigan came out ready to play and used cold shooting by Duke to score almost at will.  Duke eventually righted the ship and wound up outscoring them for the half after the Wolverines opened with a 22-9 run.     

2. Foul shooting.  It was just 60%, and Williams somehow missed 3 out of 5. Casey missed the front end of a one-and-one, but made 3 of his last 4.

     Player-by-Player:

 ** Boozer: Carlos picked up a couple of early fouls and wound up only playing about 20 minutes, but still managed to do a lot of good things.  In particular, he showed off his shooting and passing skills.  He only played for eight  minutes in the first half, scoring early on in transition.  He hit a short jumper and was also the beneficiary of a Dunleavy pass, getting him the  basket and one.  Carlos did turn the ball over twice in the half, but it was his foul trouble that kept him leashed to the bench.  After missing his first couple of shots in the second half (including a three!), Carlos got very active.  First, he hit a turnaround jumper in the lane.  Then, he  relocated a pass out to James for a three.  A few plays later, he posted up and then kicked out to Sanders for a jumper.  Late in the game, he hit an 18' jumper.  This was the first time I'd seen him in the game with Sanders at the same time, and they worked pretty well together.  Their quickness gave Michigan some problems.  Carlos was much more active on defense in the second half; while he picked up a couple of more fouls, he also snagged 2 steals.  A solid but unspectacular showing.    

 ** Battier: He made his incredible defensive effort against Illinois look like he was slacking off with his monster game tonight.  He had a couple of early steals to set the defensive tone, single-handedly forced a 10-second violation with his insane pressure, took a charge, forced a couple of more turnovers by making his man hesitate in the lane, and was visibly pumped up.  After forcing the 10-second violation, he waved his hands to the already loud crowd and fired them up even more.  Early on, he took the lumbering Moore off the dribble, getting the basket and one.  As Duke built a 21-2 lead, Shane had scored on a post-up and a three to bring his total to 10 points.  In Duke's insane defensive run, he at one point blocked a great baseline look from Blanchard, forced him into another bad shot, and then rebounded that miss.  Duke then hit a three to continue their domination. In the second half, when Michigan was putting together a run, Shane was the one player who was hitting for Duke.  He scored on a drive, a 15' baseline jumper, and a three.  That three came after he missed a jumper, took a  three and missed, and then rebounded his own miss and finally swished the third shot.  It was exciting to see him continue to fire away and stay aggressive offensively, as his team-high 14 attempts will attest.  Shane also drove and found Sweet for a short jumper in that stretch.  Battier closed out his night with another three and a job well-done.  Seeing him diversify his offense (especially since Michigan was practically begging  him to drive) was very pleasing.

 ** Dunleavy:  Sometimes, I think Mike sees the game differently than other players, as though he were looking for some kind of aesthetic perfection on the floor.  Case in point: Williams came down the court on one possession and split the defense.  He then passed to Dunleavy in the corner for a wide- open three.  Mike decided to pass up the shot, dribbled out of the corner, and said something to Williams as he passed by him.  Next thing you know, Mike launches a PASS to Williams for an alley-oop layup!  Mike tends to be quiet for long stretches at times, but then explodes with a multitude of plays at both ends.  Another case in point: early on, he hit a three and found Boozer on the break.  But with about six minutes left, he got a steal and fed Williams for a dunk, got fouled on the break (on a near-spectacular dunk attempt) and hit 2 free throws, hit a three, & got another steal and  again fed Boozer--all within three minutes.  He also pulled up for a long 2  late in the half.  Even though he was quiet early on, it wasn't as if he was  useless; he had 4 first half rebounds and did a great job on the defensive  boards.  His only second half basket was an effortless steal and layup.    

 ** James: Quietly effective game for Nate, who nonetheless still hit some big shots.  His first half points came in a flurry, as he hit a free throw, finished on a short Duhon pass, and hit a three from Duhon in a two minute span.  He had a nice pass to Williams for a dunk in the early going, and also had a couple of steals.  One of them came right after he had a careless turnover--he simply reached out and flat took it away from Michigan.  In the second half, he hit a three from the wing that ignited a run after Duke let Michigan close the gap to 28.  He hit another three later in that same 13-2 run.  About the only disappointment here was that Nate was quiet on the boards; otherwise, no complaints.      

 ** Williams: Another fantastic effort for Jason, who helped harrass the Michigan points into ineffectiveness.  About the only thing that was even slightly off was his three point shooting, and he was still a solid 40% in that area.  Breaking down his attempts, much of his scoring was done in transition, getting easy shots.  Three came on Duhon passes, including a tough finish that drew a foul.  When he wasn't drawing a foul, he was throwing down dunks on the break.  He did hit a long three in the first half, as he did in the second half.  Most of his second-half scoring came in the last eight minutes, thanks to foul trouble.  That came on a Dunleavy pass, a Sweet relocation pass for three, and a drive right up the middle. He found Dunleavy 3 times on assists, Battier twice, and Duhon, James and Sanders once apiece.  While he had 3 turnovers, 1 came on an offensive foul; he wasn't stripped or significantly harrassed by Michigan.    

 ** Christensen: Matt came into the game fairly early on because of Boozer's foul trouble, and while he didn't score, he played solid defense on Michigan's enormous players.  His good positioning actually helped force a bad shot from Josh Moore in the lane.  In the second half, he had a nice reverse layup to get Duke to 100, and also passed to Boozer from the basket for a long jumper.  The best thing about Matt's game is that he avoided fouling like a maniac and did a decent job at holding his position on defense.  With  Michigan's big but slow post players, having Matt around was very useful.  

 ** Sanders: Casey came on to replace Christensen after a few minutes and responded extremely well.  He quickly rebounded a Dunleavy miss for a score, and then got 2 offensive rebounds a couple of possessions later, with Dunleavy hitting a three at the end of it.  He later got his 5th rebound of the half by ripping down and holding onto a tough board, and passing it on ahead to Battier, who nailed a three.  All of that came in just five minutes of  playing time.  His defense in the second half was up and down, as he got faked out a couple of times by Queen.  But offensively, he looked great, hitting a 10' jumper on a Boozer pass and completing a difficult reverse layup on a Williams feed.  He also sank 3 of his last 4 free throws.  Casey is starting to play a bit like the player I saw in practice and preseason, but still doesn't have quite the same level of aggressiveness.  I was happy to see him attempt a monster dunk that he got fouled on, although he missed both free throws.  He did display some defensive aggressiveness when he tried a block on a Michigan attempt that would have been a dunk, but he fouled the man instead.     

 ** Duhon: Continues to show off a very high hoops IQ as he becomes more and more confident.  At this point, I don't think he'll win national freshman of the year or anything (that's a fight between Eddie Griffin and Zach Randolph), but it won't matter because he's giving this team everything it needs except an interior presence.  His 5 assists all came in the first half in a seven minute time span.  First there was a dish to a cutting Williams, then a  kickout to Boozer for a jumper, followed by a perfect dish to Williams on the break, and the last was a pass to Williams for a three.  The fourth assist was the best--Williams threw an alley-oop to Duhon, but Chris had to come down with it because he couldn't throw it down.  As he was falling out of bounds, he dished off to an alert James for the layup.  Chris also acted as an ideal zone buster when Michigan went to their 2-3 zone in the hope of slowing Duke down.  Chris took a pass from Williams on the wing about 25' from the basket, shot and got nothing but net.  So much for the zone. He also pulled up and hit a soft 15' jumper after penetrating, something he hadn't yet shown in a game.  In the second half, he had a nice drive all the way to the basket and also hit a soft 3' jumper after getting an offensive rebound.  Chris had the bulk of the point guard duties in the second half after Williams left with 4 fouls, and while he wasn't as effective as he was in the first half, he didn't make any mistakes, either.  His defense overall was solid, only being beaten once or twice by the speedy Queen.   He is very rarely faked out by fancy dribbles and is quick enough to stick to most players.  

 ** Sweet: Dre continues to impress with hustle (2 offensive rebounds) and a surprisingly effective offensive game.  Defense and rebounding are how he's going to get playing time, and thus his offensive rebound of a Battier miss for a layup and the charge he took to wipe out a Michigan basket will earn him much favor.  He also hit a short jumper in the lane from a Battier pass and nailed a 15' jumper on yet another Battier pass.  More than anything, he's looking more comfortable out there and was happy to be in there in the first half.     

 ** Buckner: Andre came in late in the first half when Jason had 2 fouls, but didn't do much of anything.  His only major contribution was a big defensive rebound.

 ** Love: I'm amazed at how quick this guy is.  He's really an amazing athlete all-around.  He missed a three and had another jumper blocked, but both  looked pretty good.  He also got a very tough rebound in the lane, and rebounded his own missed three.  When Reggie practices more with the team, he may actually be able to contribute a bit.

 ** Simpson: Missed his only jumper.

 ** Caldbeck: Had a big-time, elbow-swinging rebound, but missed his only shot.

 ** Borman: The coach's nephew finally got into a game, and responded with a tough rebound and a turnover on a drive.           

Cameron Craziness:  Good lord, where do I begin?  Well, let's start with the national anthem.  The guest singer (not the usual Frances Redding)  suddenly forgot the words half-way through.  After an awkward pause where it was clear that her mind had gone blank, the students spontaneously took over and sang it til the very end...including the OH!  A number of Michigan fans were in the student section, most likely grad students.  They were rather loud and demonstrative, at least at first.  When Battier went to the line to start the game, they loudly started chanting, "Traitor, traitor" at the Michigan native.  The Sixth Man's response: "He chose wisely!"  When Duke went up 21-2, the mathematical chant of "more than ten times" went up.   The standard "Shane is winning" was heard when Battier was personally leading Michigan several minutes into the contest.  Michigan likes to take out little folding chairs and use them during timeouts on the actual court (to reduce noise interference), but the Crazies took exception to that with "off our court!"  After the Michigan fans tried to chant something else, the Sixth Man pointed and cheered "Your worst nightmare!" at them (and truly, it was).  When Michigan finally scored again with thirteen minutes left, a huge mock cheer went up, and a chant of "double-digits" was heard when they reached  that "milestone" with five minutes left in the half.  A particularly brutal cheer when Duke was up by over 40 was "Need 6 touchdowns", but even nastier was the "Stick to hockey" chant, not to mention the "We want Oakland" cheer.  Another great one was "5 fouls, 2 points" that measured the entire team's performance, and was later updated to "6 foul, 2 points".

  Best of all was an amusing, spontaneous series of cheers.  Chris Duhon's younger brother Tommy was sitting on press row, face painted in Duke blue. In the second half, he was taken up and body surfed amongst the students, having a great time.  A chant of "Little Duhon!" then started.  So as not to slight Carlos Boozer's younger brother Charles, "Little Boozer" was heard  right after that (the second time the Boozer family had been acknowledged).   Amusingly, "Little Battier", for Jeremy, Shane's younger but not-so-little brother began.  And returning to the court, the Sixth Man provided a  punchline with "Little Point Guard", aimed at the 5-3 Avery Queen of Michigan!

  There were all sorts of cheers for the players, the best being a call and response for Williams: "Who will? J-Will!"  Plus there was the usual "Who's your daddy? Battier!", "Du-hon!", "Dre Sweet!" etc.

  Oh, and I must mention the Gorilla.  A student dressed up as a gorilla, with glowing red eyes.  And a Santa hat.  This was a level of sublime randomness  not seen in Cameron since the time a bunch of mimes came to a game. 

  Next Game: December 19th against Portland.  This squad is 4-3 and managed to beat PAC-10 team Washington State, one of the worst teams in the  conference.  They have some size with a 6-10 center and a 6-8 forward who can score, along with a high-scoring guard.  But this game is essentially a welcome-home game for Mike Dunleavy and a warm-up for the big game against Stanford.            

Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu 

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