#2
Duke 103
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Eviscerate
Those Wahoos! Chop Off Their Heads!
They should never have gotten off the bus.
The Virginia Cavaliers got to Cameron just ninety minutes before
game time, but they would have been better served just to have kept going,
because Duke used an efficient, intense and mature attack to disrupt the
Cavs in every phase of the game. Coach
K said afterwards that this game was an abberation and he may well be
right, because Virginia looked distracted and almost bored at times, and
this is a team that had been averaging 90 ppg and crushed top ten
Tennessee. While everything
went right for Duke and everything went wrong for Virginia, what's
important is that Duke never got lazy and played hard to the very end.
Dunleavy and Williams were the key players in the early going.
Mike rebounded a Battier miss and immediately zipped it to Williams
for a trey, and then Jason returned the favor by feeding Mike inside.
Virginia coach Pete Gillen then took an immediate timeout to stop
Duke's momentum, and it worked to a degree as Adam Hall was able to drive
in for a score. Duke took an
7-2 lead when Williams found Battier for a dunk, but a James turnover led
to an easy UVa dunk. Williams
then found Dunleavy for a 15' jumper facing the basket and then led Boozer
to an easy basket with a great pass.
He finished off a 6-0 run by robbing Hand and running it in for a
dunk. Virginia got a three point play after an offensive rebound that sent
Dunleavy to the bench with his second foul, but Duhon got a long rebound
and started a break that wound up with Williams getting it back to him in
a textbook transition play. Another
offensive rebound kept the Cavs to within 16-7, but they weren't able to
run and their halfcourt offense was disastrous. They were lucky to be as
close as they were, and that luck was about to run out.
Because with about eleven minutes to go in the half, the Run began.
This was a 23-0 run that lasted almost six minutes, and it was
fueled by the magic of Jason Williams' all-around game.
It began with Jason feeding Matt Christensen in the post.
He got fouled attempting a shot (more of a mad fling at the basket,
really), and the ball dropped through.
Buoyed by his fortune, he nailed the ensuing foul shot.
Dunleavy then hit a free throw and missed the second, but he
rebounded his own miss and dished to Williams, who sank a three.
After a couple of Duhon free throws, James redeemed his early
mistakes with a nice drive for a layup and a three.
Duhon then stripped Mason and passed ahead to Williams, who
found Boozer in transition for a three point play.
Christensen got back in the act by rebounding a Battier miss as
Duke went up 39-9. Duke has
had big leads this year, but would have periods where the players got
distracted or lazy and let the other team get a bit of confidence.
Such was not the case in this game.
Virginia finally came around in the last few minutes of the half,
but Duke simply traded baskets with them and still finished on a 14-11
note. Duke stayed aggressive on offense, with Dunleavy finding Shane in
the post for a three point play, Duhon locating Williams for a three,
Battier driving all the way for a layup and Boozer getting 2 offensive
rebounds in a single sequence to get a putback.
Duke actually almost scored again, but Williams took a three just a
second after the halftime buzzer sounded.
Duke had absolutely strangled UVa's normally potent perimeter game.
Leading scorer Mason was 0-3, Hand was 0-6, three point specialist
Keith Friel was 0-3 on three ugly, forced shots and even center Watson was
a mere 1-7. The Cavs shot 19%
as a team and turned it over 14 times.
Hand had the team's sole assist but turned the ball over 6
times--and he had a 3:1 assist:turnover ratio coming into the game.
Duke shot 54%, outrebounded the Hoos and blocked 4 shots.
The only negatives were 4-12 shooting from three and 10 turnovers
of their own.
I thought it would be important to start the second half off strong
to completely halt any Cav comeback plans; I remember the 1995 meltdown
against UVa in Cameron all too well.
But Dunleavy and Boozer teamed up to quickly squelch the Cavs'
hopes. Mike found Carlos
inside for a dunk, then drove and led him for another easy basket.
Carlos then found Mike for a three on a relocation pass from the
post, and Duke suddenly led 60-20. Jason
then took over for a bit as he found Mike for an alley-oop layup, and then
drove right up the middle after a Watson basket.
On the next possession, he once again drove right down the middle,
but this time drew two defenders. He
kept going and at the last second dished off to a wide-open Boozer, who
threw down an easy dunk. A
Battier pull-up three put Duke up 70-28, but the Cavs went on a 6-0 run
and started to wake up a bit. But
Reggie Love came off the bench to rebound a miss and everything was
downhill after that.
The next few minutes featured a 9-2 Duke run with some absolutely spectacular
plays. It started with a
James drive, followed by a three on a Duhon feed.
Then Dunleavy found Boozer for a dunk in the halfcourt, a monstrous
in-your-face number on Watson. Duhon
kept things going by finding James on the break, nailing him with pinpoint
accuracy. After several
misses by both teams, Williams started another break by finding Sanders in
stride with a gorgeous forward bounce pass.
Duke led 85-42 with another seven minutes left to play.
Duke started to empty the bench a bit, bringing Love back in and
getting Sanders some time alongside Boozer.
James and Battier would hit a couple of more jumpers, while the
deep reserves managed to get it over 100.
The bench played rather well, accounting for 12 rebounds, 9 assists
and 21 points. UVa finished
the game with an unbelievable 27% shooting mark, but only had 7 second
half turnovers. Duke stopped
overplaying on the wings and that toned down the defense, but they still
played hard in their regular man-to-man sets.
But I can't emphasize enough how well Duke's guards played against
Virginia. While the stats
look nice but not overly impressive, what
doesn't show up is how they got around every pick and never let any of
UVa's shooters get their feet set. They
completely took away several aspects of Virginia's game, and the Hoos
stumbled trying to succeed as a half-court
team. Duke dictated tempo and
while they ran as much as they wanted, they wouldn't let Virginia run.
The Hoos barely used any kind of press, partially because they
weren't scoring enough to apply it to inbounds situations.
What token pressure they would use was quickly blown off by the
speedy Williams and Duhon duo, who made very few mistakes in bringing the
ball up. ** Positives: 1. Rebounding.
While Duke did give up 18 offensive rebounds, this was
understandable since Virginia missed an incredible 52 of 71 shots.
Duke outrebounded Virginia overall 42-34 and by 5 in the second
half. The Cavs had only 5
offensive rebounds in the second half as Duke took away one of the few
things that was keeping Virginia in the game. 2. Ball movement.
I've rarely seen any team play so unselfishly.
Jason and Chris were devastating on the break, while everyone did a
great job feeding Carlos inside.
3. Balance.
Duke scored using the three pointer, dribble penetration,
relocation passes from the post, mid-range spot up jumpers, baseline
drives from the big men, free throws and precise cuts.
They didn't have to rely too much on any one phase of their game. ** Negatives: 1. Three point
shooting. Good but not
great. But that was fine,
because Duke had every other aspect of their offense in tune.
2. Ballhandling.
Very sloppy at first. In
fact, a number of Virginia's early scores came on turnovers.
Duke almost got a little too anxious to feed the post and
impatiently tried to force it inside at bad angles.
Player-by-Player: **
Boozer: An extremely sound, patient game.
Carlos is truly starting to mature as a defender and becoming much
more comfortable in his role. He
waited for his teammates to get him the ball and he was rewarded by
getting two perfect lead passes thrown his way.
He came up with a solid 8 rebounds while waiting for his turn, and
also stormed the passing lanes for a couple of beautiful steals.
The second half was Carlos' reward, as he was being set up for easy
dunk after easy dunk by Duke's army of penetrating guards. All Carlos had
to do was be aware of his teammates and get ready to catch and shoot.
I was especially pleased that he didn't turn the ball over once,
instead demonstrating some nice footwork when pressured.
**
Battier: While the usual deadly three point arsenal was a bit out of
whack, Shane used a startling variety of other moves to get his points.
Interestingly, Shane had only 2 of Duke's first 33 points, on a dunk from
Williams. That was rather
telling of Duke's overall balance in the game. But as they usually do, his
point total creeped upwards, as he hit a few free throws and cut to get a
three point play. He also
drove the lane for a layup, a rarely seen move from Shane.
He picked up a few rebounds, a block and (of course) took a charge.
He hit a couple of jumpers in the second half, but like many of the
other starters, wasn't looking to score very much.
Instead, he concentrated on limiting Chris Williams and helping
with Travis Watson, and he managed to cower them into a 6-19 performance,
also forcing 5 turnovers. Really,
just another day at the office. Shane
Battier Senior StatWatch (TM): 1/13 18. Jeff Capel
1601 Three Point Field Goals: 4. Chris Collins
209 Threes Attempted: 4. Chris Collins
539 1. Mike Gminski
345 1. Tommy Amaker
259 16. Jay Buckley
714 **
Dunleavy: An efficient, hustling game that featured a little of
everything. Other than a few bad decisions with the ball, he had a
sparkling game. He did most of his damage early in both halves, dishing to
Williams for a three and scoring on a lead from Williams in the first, and
then twice finding Boozer, hitting a three and leaping to lay in a
Williams pass in the second. He
also hit a 15' jumper at the top of the key and rolled in a turnaround
shot near the basket. About
the only problem came with his fouls, which sent him to the bench early on
and only allowed him 20 minutes of playing time.
My favorite play was when he saw that his free throw was about to
miss and so he rushed in, grabbed the board and immediately saw Jason
spotting up for three. Jason
nailed it and Mike notched yet another assist.
Mike has been flirting with triple doubles in the past few games
and may get one before the season is out. **
James: Nate started off a bit out of control, and tried to do some
things he couldn't. For
example, he tried to drive down the teeth of the defense from the top of
the key, and was promptly stripped. He
also tried to make a pass or two he would have liked to have had back.
But being the mature man that he is, he checked himself, got back
into his role and promptly flourished.
He scored 7 points in the big 23-0 run, including a drive, a three
and a couple of foul shots. More
importantly, he snagged 5 first half rebounds and blocked a shot.
He exploded in the second half with another
easy drive, another three from deep, and finishing off a break, all while
continuing to play hard-nosed defense and rebound.
Other than his ugly 6 turnovers, it was a fine game.
Some of the gaffes were forgiveable, as he was trying to create
something, but he really should have known better on most of them.
Still, he worked twice as hard when he made a mistake, and really
made up for his errors. 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 1/13): 880 **
Williams: One can't overestimate how thorough Jason's domination of
Donald Hand was. Once Hand
got his third foul and was left in the game, Jason took it right at him
every time, because he knew Hand wouldn't be able to challenge him.
He would either score on his own or set up his teammates
beautifully. The end result
was a 10 assist masterpiece, one where
Jason got to do what he does best: penetrate.
Most teams will try to take that away from him and force him to
shoot, but the Cavs took their chances and got burned.
A number of his passes were simple but precise entry passes that
were aimed high so that he could lead his man to the basket.
This happened on assists to Dunleavy, Boozer and Christensen. He
also had some fine transition passes, executing a perfect 2-on-1 with
Duhon, getting a three point play for Boozer and nailing Sanders in
stride. He also got something a bit more familiar: an assist to a
spotting-up shooter for a three. His
best dish came when he drew several defenders away on a
break so that his pass to Boozer was an easy one.
His hot shooting helped him lead the team in scoring in the first
half, nailing 3 threes, getting a transition dunk off a steal and
converting a drive. He only
took 4 second half shots, making another drive and hitting a short jumper
after penetrating once again. Other
than losing control of the ball once in the half court, he didn't make
many mistakes, and he easily sloughed off Virginia's pressure. At one
point, he used some fancy hesitation dribble moves to freeze his opponent
and blow right past him. A
nice game all around. Williams Career Assist Watch: 12. Bob Bender
332 **
Duhon: While his shot wasn't falling and he made a couple of bad
passes, Chris was setting up his teammates for easy shots and continued to
make Hand's life miserable. The
Hoos really missed having Majestic Mapp in the lineup, because they had no
one around to help Hand distribute the ball. In the first half, Chris was
looking to score a bit more than he usually does, which was a welcome
sight. While he missed 4 out
of 5 shots, I thought the ones he did take were very good.
The exception was a three he passed up in favor of driving to take
a more difficult shot, aka "Jeff Capel's disease". Otherwise, he
continued his great rapport with Jason in transition and in the halfcourt,
finishing a pass from him and finding Jason for a three in the first half.
In the second half, Chris didn't take a single shot, but did find
James for 4 different baskets and also hit Battier for a long jumper.
Chris' quick hands earned him 3 steals in the open court and his on-ball
defense was superb throughout. **
Christensen: Matt was very impressive in the first half, and less so
in the second. His early
three point play pumped the team up and sparked the decisive 23-0 run, and
his rebound of a Battier miss came near the end of the run.
He also attacked the boards and used his body to push aside some
Virginia players. In the
second half, he had a couple of more monstrous rebounds, but the quicker
Virginia players were able to foul him out.
Still, the spark he provided in the early going and the very real
support he was able to give Carlos were incredibly valuable.
Carlos no longer has to feel like he's the only big man that Duke
has, and play tentatively. While
Matt won't offer much on offense, Duke can afford that if plays hard and
smart. Part of the latter involves knowing when to foul, and he hasn't
quite achieved that yet. But
it's clear that he will continue to receive playing time, so perhaps that
will come. ** Love: Reggie
definitely made the most of his minutes, stopping a 6-0 UVa run by laying
in an offensive rebound and hitting some foul shots.
He also really attacked the defensive boards, skying for three
rebounds there. Like the rest of his teammates, Reggie was efficient and
intense, and stayed within his role. **
Sanders: Played in the last ten minutes, but tellingly came in behind
Love. He played some solid
defense, keeping his feet on one possession despite multiple pump fakes,
and it resulted in a missed shot. He
had a great dunk in transition on a pass from Jason and dove for a steal.
He missed a 15' jumper and being out of position resulted in a
couple of embarassing fouls.
Also, 5-11 Donald Hand rose up and threw one down on him and got
the foul, a pretty embarrassing moment.
To his credit, Casey worked harder after that possession and dished
out to Simpson for a three. At this point, it's clear that Casey isn't
going to be in the regular rotation, unless something dramatic happens in
practice. The emergence of
Christensen and Casey's problems matching up down low have pretty much
spelled bench for Sanders. But
other players in the past have fallen out of the rotation and then fought
back to get more playing time, like Greg Koubek and Roshown McLeod.
Casey simply needs to keep fighting. **
Buckner: Andre missed a three and threw it away a couple of times, but
had a nice dish to Simpson for a jumper that put Duke at 100 points. ** Simpson: Great,
great game for the player who was just recently named a co-captain.
I've seen him play well and stick jumpers in practice, so it was
nice to see him hit a couple of shots out there today for a career- high 5
points. Tellingly, JD had the
same number of points as starting UVa guard Donald Hand.
That was also the same number as leading UVa scorer Roger Mason.
Ouch. ** Caldbeck:
Missed a three on a good-looking shot and missed the front end of a
one-and-one. ** Borman: Fouled
Mo Young while he was shooting a three, a supreme no-no. **
Cameron Craziness: A line
monitor told me before the game that he was about to turn away 200
students, so I knew it would be a good day in Cameron. Sure enough, the
place was jam-packed, although there were the few troublesome UVa fans who
showed up in the grad student section.
The game marked the return of the Gorilla, this team adorned in an
"I Said NO! to Dean" t-shirt, waving a pom-pom and a bunch of
bananas. As Duke was pounding
the Hoos in the first half, a cruel and clever chant rang out: "We
want Michigan!" Ouch.
I also heard "Why are you ranked?" and the more typical
"Double digits" when they finally made it past that plateau
fifteen minutes into the game. There
were also lots of "Don-ald" taunts for Hand, an "up by
40" chant and a welcome for visiting Shavlik Randolph.
**Next Game: Tuesday the 16th against Boston College in Cameron. Thought to be an easy game before the season, this game will actually be a very good test. The Eagles have but a single loss, against St. John's in MSG. They have a rangy forward named Troy Bell who's become a big-time scorer and who will present a big challenge. 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. |