Open Practice Review
10/26/01

 Duke's practices are extremely focused, no-nonsense affairs.  There's an emphasis on teaching and repetition of skill work, especially at this time of year.  Like an artist who learns how to paint in a realistic style before they can go on to express their creativity, so too do the Duke players learn in a highly structured environment.

  The focus of today's practice was on defense, and team defense in particular.  It's clear that without Shane Battier around, Duke's helpside defense is going to suffer for awhile.  Before I get to the practice and then individual player performances, a few random notes:

 * Everyone played except for Andy Means, who was on the stationary bike for much of the practice.

 * In attendance was Lee Melchionni, here for his official visit.

 * Matt Christensen looks healthy and is playing without a brace on his knee.

 * Casey Sanders is sporting a new look--a shaved head.

 * There were many people in attendance--at least 2000.

   On to the practice.  The first part of the practice featured conditioning drills and stretching exercises.  Jason Williams and Mike Dunleavy led those, exhorting and encouraging their teammates.  Everyone looks to be in very good shape already. 

  Things got started with 3 on 0 drills.  The point guard and two players on either side ran a break in close formation, and then the two wings spread out going back the other way as the guard passed to one of them.   After that, the guards and big men split up and worked with their position coaches.  With the big men, the managers used big pads to simulate contact in the lane, allowing the post players to get used to physical play.  The big men received entry passes from Wojo, and then would have to perform a number of moves going to the basket: face up and shoot, drop step and dunk, up-and-under, single dribble and power dunk.   Another drill had the big men grab an errant shot and immediately pass it out again.  Interestingly, Mike Dunleavy practiced both with the big men and the guards at various times.

 After about 15 minutes of skill practice, transition play was explored.   After starting off 4 on 0, the team went into an interesting drill with defenders on the court for the first time.  5 players were on the court, with the offense leading a 3 on 2 break.  After that play, 3 players from that group would go the other way, with the offense leading a 2 on 1 break.  This is a great drill because it can prepare you for the sort of broken plays and weird bounces that uptempo basketball brings. 

 After that came a lot of 4 on 4 scrimmaging, with the assistant coaches stepping in to play at various times.  The play was ragged at times, with the Blue team actually winning a few scrimmages with the White team.  The White team had to run a bit since they lost.  The emphasis in these drills was moving without the ball.  Coach K stopped practice several times to lecture about this point, saying "You have to put yourself into position to score when you don't have the ball."  Things started to pick up after that and the passing became much crisper. 

 Lastly came an interesting drill that the guards ran which helps to explain the potency of Duke's three point scoring.  The coaches lined up every player who had three point range around the arc.  Five minutes and the number 199 were placed on the scoreboard.  The players had to hit that many threes in five minutes to achieve their goal.  They beat the mark with 30 seconds to spare.  Quite often, you would see 5 balls land in the basket within seconds of each other, one right after another.  It was a beautiful sight.

 There weren't a ton of surprises here.  Nick and Casey were both bigger and stronger and did some things they didn't do last year, but both still have a way to go.  It'll take a little while to smooth away some rough edges on offense and longer on defense.  Coach K was teaching his standard ball-you-man defense today, with very few tricks and traps thrown in.  There were also no game situation type scrimmages at this point--they're still trying to get certain aspects of the defense down.  Also of interest was that a number of players went back and forth from blue to white jersey, including frosh Mark Causey. 

  The biggest thing that Coach K emphasized was talking.  A lot of the players were quiet throughout the practice until he pointed this out, and it was noticeable how much of an affect it had when they started doing it.  The defense was a bit sharper and more intense.  Wojo ran a drill where he was dribbling the ball, and the entire team had to do slides and yell out the appropriate word.  When he raised the ball as if to pass or shoot, the entire team raised their arms.  This simple point was something that Coach K emphasized.  When a player was late in rotating over to baseline, K first said that the player was late and second noted that he didn't have his hands up.  Putting his hands up would have made it harder to see the court.  A very simple point, but an important one.

  Finally, here are some player notes:

 ** Boozer: Carlos looks to be in excellent shape and stronger than ever.  He was running sprints against Dan Ewing and Mark Causey after practice and holding his own.  His power game was excellent, muscling over Casey Sanders a couple of times for scores.  He also showed off a nice 15' jumper and once again made himself an available target for passes inside.  Carlos also showed off a deft passing touch of his own a couple of times.  He also displayed a turnaround jumper in the lane that was very effective.  About the only thing he didn't do was absolutely dominate on the boards, though he held his own and had several offensive rebounds.  His rapport with Williams and Duhon is excellent, knowing when he's going to get a pass, even on remarkable fakes.

 ** Dunleavy: Mike is still slim but much, much stronger than last year.  His passing was good and his shooting (once warmed up) was solid.  Didn't play a lot of defense in the post, staying more in the passing lanes and picking up some steals.  His ability to finish may be his best quality.

 ** Jones: Didn't take a ton of outside shots, but hammered home a number of dunks.  I was most surprised by his passing ability, as he fed Boozer inside for a couple of easy scores.  He is Duke's best finisher and played very solid pressure defense.  Dahntay was out of place a couple of times on defensive switches, however.  It's amazing that this versatile player will be the fourth option on offense!

 ** Williams: Jason had a lot of turnovers in the scrimmages and missed a number of shots early on.  Then at a certain point, he just turned it up six or seven notches and dominated everyone.  Early on, in the 2 on 1 drills, he was taking the ball at Daniel Ewing with another player on the wing.  Jason delivered a jaw-dropping fake that poor Dan bit on entirely, leading to an easy layup.  Williams also delivered a perfect alley-oop to Boozer that looked like a shot at first and muscled his way past everyone for another driving layup.  His best play came on a break started by a Duhon steal.  Jason took the pass from Chris and drove the lane at about a zillion miles an hour, looking completely out of control.  At the last possible second, he bounced the ball behind him and between his legs to a trailing Jones, who slammed down a one-handed jam.  When Jason has a big play, it tends to energize him, because he suddenly started nailing every jumper in sight.  His ability to take over games is frightening.  His passing was very good throughout though he again had trouble controlling his opponent off the dribble.

 ** Duhon: In my opinion, Chris was the best player on the floor when you consider the practice from beginning to end.  He simply never made a mistake I could see, and his jumper seems to drop every single time--no matter how far out he is.  His defense was superb, both in terms of ball pressure and moving his feet.  Perhaps his best play came when he faked a three and zipped it into Sanders, who then converted a reverse layup.  He and Jason work ridiculously well together.  Chris has managed to become much more confident without any signs of ego, an amazing accomplishment.

 ** Horvath: Nick looked very much improved.  He can still hit the three like before, but has become much more useful under the basket.  First and foremost, he is accepting contact with no problems.  He's also developed a nice one-handed jam on the break, finishing strong.  His passing is also very good, including a nice behind-the-back number in the post.  Nick was on the Blue team that beat the White team, and it was mostly because of his influence that they won.  He hit a three and powered his way to a couple of layups.  Duke is definitely looking like they will be using an 8-player rotation deep into the season.

 ** Sanders: Casey is stronger but is still too hesitant in the lane.  The good news is that he's no longer being tossed aside like a leaf.  Also impressive is the touch on his jumper.  He hit several 15' jumpers in drills and nailed a 5' jumper after an offensive rebound--with no hesitation.  The defensive battle between Sanders and Boozer was awesome to watch--Casey blocked Carlos a couple of times but Boozer also powered over him a couple of times.  Coach K also experimented with using the both of them at the same time on one team, which had mixed results. 

 ** Ewing: Dan played great defense throughout and made very few mistakes.  At the same time, his offense isn't at the same level as the other players.  His jumper looked flat and his thin frame made it difficult to drive on his stronger teammates.  His ballhandling and passing were very solid, however.  Dan will be a perfect roleplayer off the bench, and his attention to detail will get him minutes.  He did start to loosen up later in the scrimmage and hit a few shots.

 ** Christensen: Matt looked pretty much the same.  He ran relatively well, but still has bad hands and can't score around the basket.  His offensive rebounding is still his greatest asset.

 ** Buckner: Andre has accepted the challenge of playing against Williams and Duhon every day and has started to get in some licks of his own.  He hit a few threes and drove fearlessly against Williams, scoring on a couple of drives.  He also kept Jason honest with some determined defensive pressure.  Andre has greatly improved since he arrived at Duke.  He'll never play big minutes, but he provides a real challenge in practice for a team that will need it.

 ** Causey: This walk-on who had a great prep career in Georgia was a big surprise.  He can really play and is extremely athletic.  He hit a few threes and dunked in drills.  He's a big upgrade over past walk-ons and might get more minutes than one might think. 

Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu

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