Maryland 91
Duke 80

February 27, 2001
Cameron Indoor Stadium

and

Duke 95
UNC 81

March 4, 2001
Dean E. Smith (OUR HOUSE!) Center

    It was the worst of times, it was the best of times.  "Roller coaster" barely begins to describe the range of emotions felt in this week by the Duke basketball team and its fans.  It featured the ruination of two senior days, and how the aftermath of each one differed.  The league's player of the year may well have been decided, and an older coach threw out a few new wrinkles at the league's hottest young turk.  But most of all, the despair that many felt after Maryland's convincing win down the stretch was  replaced by joy as Duke dominated the Tar Heels.

     Duke-Maryland

    Before the game, the seniors were honored.  Ryan Caldbeck and JD Simpson basked in their moment, while Nate James was incredibly emotional.  Shane was his usual self--appreciative, but focused.  The game started off rather well, with Shane hitting a three and Nate scoring on a drive to put Duke up 5-0.  But Juan Dixon hit the first of many, many shots to tie things up. Duke turned to its inside game as Carlos Boozer, fresh off a confidence- boosting performance against Wake Forest, easily moved past Lonny Baxter for a couple of scores.  Duke led 11-7 when Dunleavy drove the length of the court for a layup.  But the Terps charged back again, culminating in a 13-11 lead when Terence Morris got a three point play over Casey Sanders. Shane hit a three to take back the lead, but Steve Blake stuck a three to put the Terps out front.  That triggered a 10-2 Terps run, where Dixon hit a couple and Danny Miller nailed a three.

   Jason Williams was struggling with his shot and his bruised calf.  He simply didn't look like his ordinary self out there, though I suspect part of that was mental, dealing with his nemesis Blake.  He finally did score with ten minutes to go in the half, on a drive.  Shane had just scored in the same manner as Duke abandoned the jump shot to get closer looks.  The Terps were creaming Duke on the offensive boards, going ahead 26-19 thanks to 5 o-boards in 2 possessions.  Every time Duke would put together a little run, like when Mike Dunleavy hit a jumper and Nate stole the ball and outletted to Duhon for an easy score, Maryland would come back.  Dixon sank a three and Morris got another offensive rebound to give the Terps their largest lead at 31-23.  Duke was holding on by their fingernails, with Shane driving to create contact and Jason going to Boozer once again.

   Duke's depth had become nonexistent at that point because Casey Sanders had picked up 3 quick fouls and they needed someone to score points in there. Carlos drove and wheeled around for a three point play, sparking Duke's offense at last.  Dixon missed a three and the long rebound went to Duhon, who fired it upcourt to Jason, who then nailed a three.  Duhon harrassed Dixon into a miss and got the rebound, and this time Battier was fouled attempting a three.  He sank all three and Duke had suddenly tied things up. Dixon came back to give the Terps the lead, but Shane was feeling his "chi" and sank a very long three.  Casey came up with a big rebound after another Dixon miss and Shane hit yet another long shot.

   After a Maryland free throw, Duke poured it on as Jason dished to Chris for a three.  The Terps were in complete disarray as they abandoned their suffocating perimeter defense to collapse on Duke's post players while Duke welcomed this development by sticking shot after shot.  After a Mouton basket, Boozer boxed out everyone to stick back a Battier miss.  Jason finished up the scoring by hitting another three, and Duke led 50-43 at the half after being down most of the half.  Battier scored 19 in the half and was backed up by Boozer's 12.  James was active on defense but was only 1-4 from the floor.

   The game may have turned when Duke missed 3 times in one possession, only to have the ball stolen after the third offensive rebound.  Dixon missed a layup on the break but was followed by Morris, who beat everyone else to the spot.  Another offensive rebound brought them to within a single point. Battier found Boozer again, as the Terps were concentrating so much on denying the three that a very active Boozer was making them pay.  Then  Duhon entered the game and took over.  He first got a rebound and then zipped the ball to Battier for a three.  Then after Maryland got to within 55-51, he got a steal and ran it back for a dunk.  Duke continued to attack the wings as Dunleavy stole the ball, passed it to Chris, who  dished it to Battier for his 25th point of the game.  Duke had its biggest lead at 60-51, but disaster was about to strike.  Carlos Boozer, as we all know, broke his foot and left the game.  On the court, Maryland's tight defense was starting to have an effect as Duke missed 5 consecutive threes and the Terps slowly chipped away at the lead, knocking it down to 60-59 with twelve minutes left.  Battier stepped up like a senior should and hit a 17' jumper.  Boozer came back in to test his foot and promptly got fouled and hit 2 free throws.

     But he went out again just as quickly, and Maryland's constant subbing was starting to take its toll.  Williams hit a three to make the score 67-62 Duke and James hit 2 foul shots to make it 69-64, but Maryland then went into clampdown mode.  They held Duke scoreless for four minutes and went on an 8-0 run to take a 72-69 lead.  Duke missed 5 shots but played good enough defense to prevent the Terps from really striking at them until the Devils coughed up the ball two possessions in a row, and Dixon made them pay.  After Battier hit a couple of free throws to bring Duke within 1, the Devils went another three minutes without scoring. Duke missed another 4 shots during this period, with superb interior defense by the Terps, who knew they had a size advantage and used it well.  Battier hit a couple of more free threes to hit his number (31) and pull Duke  within 78-73.

   Maryland was hitting their free throws, but Duke kept fighting til the end.  Jason drove to cut the lead to 5 once again.  Duke had come back from a much larger deficit earlier in the year.  Jason missed a free throw and Maryland hit 4 in a row to go up 84-75 with a minute left.  Dunleavy drove for 2 and then Juan Dixon charged into Williams, and then Duhon hit 1 free throw to make it 84-78 with :36 left.  Morris only hit 1 of 2 foul shots, and when Duhon scored, he cut the deficit to 5 with :29 left.  But Tahj Holden hit 2 foul shots, Duhon missed a basket, and Battier fouled out with 19 seconds left.  The game was over, so Coach K subbed in Simpson and Caldbeck.

   Right after the game, Maryland's fans ran to center court, where they were met by a group of even quicker Duke fans who circled around the jump circle to avoid a repeat of UNC's fans dancing on it.  Some Maryland players and fans tried to push through but couldn't.  The fans stayed there for the duration, waiting for the senior speeches, and as the Maryland fans taunted the crowd (I think they were confused as to why no one was leaving), the Duke students chanted, "We don't throw things."  Every student stayed to hear the seniors speak.  JD & Ryan talked about what the experience meant to them and how lucky they felt.  Nate was very emotional and clearly upset about not winning the game for those that had supported him for so long.  Shane thanked everyone, especially the person who came up with the "Who's your daddy?" cheer (whom I happen to know, incidentally).  He said that he tried to be cool when it was chanted, but he heard it.  Shane also said that they had a lot of games left, so that the fans shouldn't give up on them.

     He was right.

     Duke -  UNC.        

    Duke's chance at a #1 seed was in dire jeopardy, not to mention their streak of regular season titles.  The best they could muster was a tie, but the Heels had the tiebreaker for the league tournament.  But they were talking a lot of smack about not wanting to share anything, and wishing that Boozer was there so that Duke wouldn't have any excuses after they were beaten.  The Dean Dome was stoked and Cameron-loud at the game's tip-off.

   Duke started Casey Sanders at center and Chris Duhon in place of Nate James at guard.  Benching Nate meant taking away a lot more of Duke's size, but for what Coach K was about to unleash, it was a wholly appropriate decision.  In Coach K's system, he rarely worries about individual match-ups and prefers to deal with game situations.  In other words, he doesn't worry about matching up his point guard against someone else's, but is more interested in having his players read the defense and react accordingly. While it drives some folks mad to see Duke hoisting so many threes, if a player is left open, they are usually instructed to shoot.  The only bad shot is a contested one or off the back foot.  One might also notice that Duke usually leaves just one or two guys under the basket to get defensive rebounds.  That's because the defense is spread out to deny the wings and step into passing lanes to get steals.  But what this means is that those one or two guys had better do their jobs or Duke's opponents will have a field day inside, which happened against Maryland and Virginia.  But without Boozer in there, Coach K tried to turn Duke's deficits in  advantages.  No size?  We'll trap the point guard to prevent him from getting it into his big men.  No depth?  We'll use a football player to steal some early minutes while Duke hopefully has a little lead, and then go all-out in the second half.  But the biggest answer to the size issue was  controlling tempo, and Duke ran and ran and ran until the Heels were huffing down the court like a group of asthmatic 10-year-olds.

     The game started off as a dream scenario for the Heels as Brendan Haywood got behind Casey Sanders for one of his two-handed chin-up slams.  Then he swatted away a Jason Williams floater.  Carolina had started walk-on Jim Everett and scholarship player turned cheerleader Michael Brooker along with former high school star Max Owens.  They were almost too amped up, because they missed some easy early shots and Duke calmly went about taking an early lead.  It started with Battier nailing a 15' jumper and Jason finding Casey in transition.  That was a big basket because Casey really needed a confidence booster.  Dunleavy got into the act by dishing to Jason on a cut and then sinking a 15' baseline jumper.  Joseph Forte hit a three but was immediately matched by Jason Williams.  Duke missed a lot of their early threes but kept firing away--21 attempts in all by the half. Meanwhile, Casey blocked a couple of Haywood shots early on, getting great position from behind.  Haywood seemed stunned that the skinny soph would even dare come at him, but Casey went after him hard.

   Of course, he went after him a bit too hard, as he picked up 3 fouls in the first half.  With Duke's frenetic pace, Coach K went to the bench early to give everyone a rest.  This was one reason why he brought James in off the bench--he wanted an experienced hand to come in and sustain the defense while rested other players.  He also brought in Matt Christensen and Reggie Love to play in the post, and instructed James and Duhon to attack UNC point guard Ron Curry.  The strategy worked brilliantly, as he couldn't see into Haywood and UNC was forced to take some bad shots.  Duke was sending three guys to the boards every time and sometimes four, and they did a great job of preventing offensive rebounds from the Heels.  Matt in particular was a warrior, grabbing 2 big boards with Sanders out.

   Duke had a 12-10 lead, but a Capel three restored the UNC lead until Nate found Jason for a three right afterwards.  UNC was simply not going to jam Duke's shooters, preferring to rely on their zone to cut off penetration. The Heels took the lead 17-15 with twelve minutes left, but Duke squeezed off a 9-1 run.  Shane hit a tough baseline jumper, Chris found Nate on a cut, Shane hit a couple of foul shots and then Jason spotted Mike open for a three.  That helped Mike's confidence, because he had missed a couple from long range.  Battier was just outstanding in all phases, grabbing a couple of steals, getting 6 boards and a block in the early going.  He was Duke's "cheater" in that he would double down on whatever UNC big man was posting up at times, and then run out to the perimeter to trap Curry with the help of Duhon or Williams.  The sort of box-and-one/"soft trap" defense Shane called "Shane, run around and make plays."  It was ideally suited for a player in great shape who was at his best in off-ball situations.

     Leading 24-18, Duke braced for another UNC comeback.  Another one did come, as the Heels took a 25-24 lead on another three.  UNC was starting to fall into Duke's plans a bit as they threw up a lot of outside shots. Battier fed the fire by swishing back-to-back threes to give Duke a 5 point lead with six minutes left in the half.  The dreaded UNC blowout of Duke that the Heel fans had been clamoring for was not materializing.  Williams turned up the pressure with a steal and runout dunk and then drove again for another score.  Duke led by 7 with five minutes left in the half.

   Back came the Heels as Duke started to miss some shots.  They went on an 8-0 run that saw some nice inside scoring and another three.  They took the lead 35-34, but one could sense that they were getting a little exhausted coming back for a third time.  Still, they exteded the lead to 37-34, but Shane scored on a big putback.  Jason hit some long-range bombs towards the end of the half to put Duke ahead 42-40--an important psychological  advantage.

   Jason came out raging in the second half, playing with an intensity and awareness I've never seen from him.  He picked off a Curry pass and took it in for a layup, zooming by the Heels.  After UNC came within 2, Dunleavy drove in to keep the pressure up.  Jason drove again and this time passed to Duhon, who canned a 17' jumper.  Chris had missed all 3 of his first half shots, so it was important that he felt like his teammates still  wanted him to shoot.  Then Jason picked off yet another pass and laid it in.  Duke led 50-44, but a UNC three made it tight.  Then came the play of the game, and quite possibly, the year.  Forte picked off Williams and was smoothly gliding down the court for what he thought would be an uncontested dunk.  As he rose, he didn't see Battier behind him, he smacked the ball just enough so that when Forte released the ball, he clanged it against the rim, much to his surprise.  An ever-alert Shane immediately  threw it downcourt to Jason, who spotted up for a three and sank it.  That was a 5-point swing and it was the beginning of the end for the Heels.

   On the next possession, Jason penetrated and dished a no-look off to Duhon, who confidently hit a three.  UNC thought they'd slowed Duke's momentum with a three of their own, but Battier immediately drained another one.  UNC tried to go inside and were able to score a couple of times,  but Williams hit another three.  Duke was suddenly up 62-52 with 14:50 left.  Duhon kept up the pressure with another steal and layup.  Then came an 8-0 Duke run that was rather modest in nature.  It was hard work and execution: Shane rebounding a miss, Jason hitting Mike on a cut, and Chris finding Shane for a three.  With both Chris and Jason out there, it was difficult to defend Duke's penetration or shooting--they were simply two  steps ahead of the Heel guards.  And the duo terrorized Curry into a 7 turnover, 3-11 shooting day.

   Right around this time, UNC coach Matt Doherty yanked his big men and threw in Julius Peppers and Brian Morrison.  Coach K immediately switched tactics, going to his traditional man-to-man.  UNC cut the score to 72-60, and a couple of them slapped the floor, aping the Duke tradition.  Williams responded by sticking a three shooting off his wrong foot.  Actions speak louder than words, and the trash-talking Heels had been silenced.  Duke started to use its delay game a bit, with Battier, Duhon and Dunleavy drawing fouls.  They traded baskets with UNC, so Duke still had a 12 point lead at 80-68.  Duke was pressuring the perimeter like there was no tomorrow and not letting the Heels have any easy looks from long-range. Meanwhile, they were still letting one of the Heels big men set up from the foul line.  They conceded that shot the entire game, and the Heels were only able to convert on it once.

   Jason made things very difficult for the Heels when he drove, no-looked to Duhon and watched as Chris buried a dagger in UNC's chest.  That made it 83-68 with seven minutes left.  Duke abandoned the jumper and looked to run clock, using dribble penetration to core.  Jason found Mike on a cut and Chris drove right past the defense for another layup.  The Devils could taste it now.  Jason ran the shot clock down all the way with three minutes left and drove in.  When he was trapped on the subsequent possession, he spotted Shane driving and zipped it to him for an easy dunk.  As Duke  continued to play spirited defense, James came up with a steal and dunk to make it 93-74 Duke.  The Heels tried to come back, getting with 93-79, but Dunleavy's 2 free throws with :36 left made it official.  Duke had won its third straight game in the Dean Dome in dominating fashion, dictating tempo to the #4 team in the country.       

                Combined Player-by-Player:

  ** Boozer: Carlos was excellent in the Maryland game, scoring 16 and grabbing 7 boards.  He just manhandled whoever was matched up against him on offense.  Baxter also had trouble scoring on him; he did a lot of his damage when Sanders was defending him.  It's a shame to see him go out when he was playing his best ball of the year, but hopefully he'll be  able to contribute in the second round of the NCAA's.

  ** Battier: Played his best ball of the season in both games.  He was the only player who was hitting in the Maryland game, forcing him to fire away again and again.  His 9-9 foul shooting was remarkable, but the game showed that he can't do it alone.  His two blocks on Forte were a fascinating game-within-a-game, as two of the top players in the country confronted each other with the senior coming out on top.  Shane's astonishing defensive job on the entire UNC team was made even more amazing when you look at his 25 points.  And he wasn't just taking threes--he was pulling up for  shorter shots and using the drive.  Remarkably, he was 4-4 in the second half while till getting 6 more boards, blocking 3 shots and a steal. The block from behind on Forte not only seals Shane as ACC player of the year (most likely) but as defensive player of the year.  His remarkable calm in the face of adversity and his dignity after the loss to Maryland are things I'll never forget.

  ** Dunleavy: Struggled against Maryland and was mediocre in the first half against UNC, but he really blossomed in the second half.  He was driving to the basket and moving well without the ball, scoring on a couple of cuts. He also rebounded like a fiend and played great defense.  He almost ended up with a double-double.  His outside shooting stroke is letting him down a bit, so I'm happy to see him put it on the floor and try to get baskets the easy way. 

  ** James: 1-9 shooting against Maryland really hurt.  He looked a step slow the entire game and was torched repeatedly by Dixon, a much quicker player. Worse, he was hesitating before every shot, a sure sign of a slumping player.  He quietly improved without the spotlight of starting against UNC, grabbing 7 rebounds and playing much better defense.  Nate claims he's over whatever malaise took over his game and says he'll prove it against State.

  ** Williams: Didn't look like himself in either game.  Against Maryland, he looked like a slow, nervous player.  Against UNC, he looked like a 10 year NBA player looking to clinch game 7 of the championship.  He played, to  quote him, with "passion and rage", attacking UNC the entire game.  His solid  shooting performance opened up the drive for him, where he hacked the Heels to pieces in the second half.  He hit 7 threes, but he also had 13 other attempts that were drives.  He mixed up his offense perfectly, reading the defense for what was available but aggressively going after the Heels on every possession.  He didn't worry about missing a shot or celebrate after making one.  Jason also played some great defense, guarding Forte for part of the game.  Curry got by him once, but was otherwise a non-factor.  His performance continues to make the race for ACC POY a very interesting one.

  ** Duhon: A guy who's making more and more plays in every game.  Against Maryland, he did a good job at attacking Dixon and racked up 3 steals. He showed what a solid rebounder he is for a guard with 6, while scoring 10 points.  Chris missed all 3 of his second half threes, but he compensated with 3 assists.  He also remarkably had no turnovers even though he's taking more risks.  Against UNC, he followed a shaky first half with a spectacular 5-6 second half, scoring all 15 of his points as Jason dished to him time and again.  Chris is showing a real knack for picking up long rebounds and uncanny timing in the passing lanes, two staples of Duke's defense.  It's going to be very difficult to dislodge him from the starting lineup now.

  ** Sanders:  Casey actually got 4 boards against Maryland but his instant foul trouble once again hampered his game, and he hurt Duke on defense. Against UNC, he stood his ground against the imposing Haywood and even caused him to draw back a bit after being blocked twice.  But his foul trouble really hurt Duke once again, and he fouled out giving UNC a three point play.  Still, he did well for a guy making his first career start against the team's archrival in their arena.  Casey's progress will be measured in very small increments, but as he continues to gain  confidence and become more aware on the court, he will gain more playing  time.  He just needs to avoid leaving his feet and should hold his ground.

  ** Christensen:  Matt didn't play against Maryland, but he got some solid minutes against UNC.  He got off some very hard fouls to prevent baskets and went strong to the boards.  He also played decent defense.  Matt combined with Casey and Reggie to get 27 total minutes of time on the court, enabling the starters to get a little bit of rest.

  ** Love:  Reggie came off the bench to guard Haywood down low.  This is not as absurd as it might seem, since he's a strong player who could hold his position, which is all he needed to do because the UNC guards had  trouble getting the ball over the top.  Look for him to get four or five minutes against NC State to help out the frontcourt.  His chief role will be to get a quick breather for Shane and go after rebounds.  He's not going to do very much in the games, but if he can steal some minutes for the starters, he'll do a lot to help, especially when playing three games in three days.

  ** Simpson: Took a three against Maryland, didn't play against UNC.

  ** Caldbeck: Got a cameo in his last home game.

  Next Game: Friday, March 9th against NC State.  Duke swept State twice, but the game in Raleigh was close.  They also have Archie Miller back, who will help on the perimeter.  Without Boozer, State's deep front line will attack Duke and try to get offensive rebounds.  Duke will have to force a lot of turnovers and keep guys near the boards to block out.       

Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu 

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