January 11, 2004.
University Hall.
This was a game that showed that when
this Duke team is communicating well, they can shut down anyone and generate
defense from offense. When the communication is poor (especially in the
front court), any half-talented team can keep up with the Devils and a good
one can do considerable damage. Duke compounded this problem by fouling in
an attempt to stop penetration, and the result was severe foul trouble for
several players in the first half. Virginia was able to get easy points
from the foul line just by being aggressive and attacking Duke's lapses, and
turn a 7 point deficit into a lead. Once Duke took the measure of
Virginia's strategy and intensity, they were able to make some adjustments,
go much harder to the boards, and go into halftime with a lead. From there,
Duke had Virginia's number and was able to stop everything they tried, while
pounding the ball inside against a helpless defense. The big surprise was
that the half-ending 18-8 Duke run was keyed in part by deep reserves Nick
Horvath and Lee Melchionni. The fact that they were able to contribute some
useful minutes in crunch time was a huge plus for the team.
Virginia is a team with a lot of quality
parts that don't necessarily fit well together. Elton Brown can score and
rebound but isn't really a center. Devin Smith can run and shoot the
three. Todd Billet is a fine shooter forced to play point. Gary Forbes, JR
Reynolds, TJ Bannister, and Jason Cain all show promise but are handicapped
by their youth. There's been a lot of turnover on this roster for the past
few years due to transfers, suspensions, players going pro, etc and the
result has been an enormous leadership void. Another problem is that
Virginia's players tend to be wildly inconsistent, and that doesn't improve
with age. The Hoos have clear weaknesses: point guard, post defense, and
help defense. The freshman class (especially forward Donte Minter) show
promise, but how well they can mesh with the upperclassmen remains to be
seen. I think in an effort to compete in the ACC, coach Pete Gillen has
recruited talent that wasn't necessarily the best fit for his program--both
in terms of skills and character.
That said, this team has the talent to
beat anyone in the league, especially at home. Early on, Duke seemed to be
in control. Duhon was dominant early on against Billet, who was too slow to
guard him. He dished to Randolph for a hook shot, passed to Williams for a
10' jumper, got a three point play on a drive, lobbed a pass to Randolph,
who tipped it in, and then blew in for another layup to give Duke a 14-8
lead with four minutes gone by. A 6-2 run by Virginia suddenly made it a
game again. Luol Deng dished to Shavlik Randolph, but Smith hit a pretty
three to make it 18-17. The Devils responded with a 6-0 spurt, as Deng
drove and dropped off a pass for Shav, Duhon drove in again for a basket and
then threw up a lob to Luol for a dunk. Duke seemed in good shape with a
24-17 lead.
Virginia responded with a 13-4 run that
had U-Hall rocking. Virginia piled up 7 points at the foul line as Williams
and Ewing got into foul trouble.
Horvath tipped a ball twice and finally got the ball to drop after Deng
missed, tying the game. Forbes missed 2 free throws and had his pocket
picked by Duhon, who hit a 10' jumper.
Virginia had a chance and blew it, as Duke
made a play to get back in the game. After a rebound, Dockery dished to
Ewing for a three, and later scored on a drive. After a UVa miss, Ewing got
the rebound and passed it to Deng, who swooped in for a layup. The Devils
were suddenly up 39-32. Virginia still had one last push left, however.
They scored 4 in a row to cut it to 39-36, and only Redick taking a charged
stopped them from scoring more. Ewing
calmly countered by pulling up for a three. Minter scored to cut it to 4
and the Hoos got the ball back, but Deng stole the ball and slammed it in.
This was a turning point of the game.
Virginia had another chance to score, but
this time Melchionni stepped up and took a charge. Deng missed a three late
in the half, but got his own board and hit a shot at the buzzer to give Duke
a 46-38 lead and a whole lot of momentum.
Virginia was holding on by their
fingernails early in the half as JJ Redick hit a three and Deng had a
stickback. Smith hit a three to draw the Hoos to within 51-43, but Duke
broke off a 12-2 run that proved to be a knockout punch. Shav started it
with 2 free throws, Ewing countered
a Brown basket with a three point play, Duhon got a steal and hit Redick for
a three, Deng jammed a Williams miss and Duhon scored on a drive after
another steal. With sixteen minutes to go, Duke had a commanding 61-45
lead, and that was with Shelden Willliams still sitting on the bench with 3
fouls.
The Hoos were in trouble but kept
plugging away, outscoring Duke 11-6 over the next four minutes. That got
them close, but Shelden scored 6 straight points to keep them from dropping
the lead below double digits. The Landlord was killing them with his post
moves, scoring on a turnaround for a three point play and then slicing
through two men with a drop step. After a Duhon drive, Virginia scored again
to make it 71-60 and kept their hopes alive. Williams missed a shot but
then ripped the ball out of the hands of his man, turned around, scored and
got fouled. That play ripped Virginia's heart out and sparked a 9-0 run
that sealed the win. Duke started to run its delay motion, and was
successful in getting good looks nearly every time. Shelden scored 4 more
points on free throws and a turnaround on a Deng feed. Randolph and
Williams kept it up as Duke's lead ballooned to over 20, and a Redick three
was the coup de grace.
This is a game that Duke easily could
have lost. Balanced scoring, exploiting an opponent's weaknesses and a
commitment to help defense are what won the day for Duke in this game. Duke
now has 2 ACC road wins in their pocket but still has all of its most
challenging games ahead of them. Duke has proven that they can play many
styles, but now they have to prove they can knock off teams with outstanding
post games and clever, quick point guards who can score.
** Negatives:
1. Fouling. Duke committed a
ridiculous 16 team fouls in the first half. Two were offensive (which the
refs were calling consistently), but the rest came because players missed
rotating over to stop penetration.
2. Communication. This was another
symptom of the team's defensive problems in the first half. Deng in
particular seemed to be drifting a bit, and it wound up hurting his
teammates. Coach K and Duhon both helped put a stop to this.
3. Blocking out. With players
afraid of picking up more fouls, they became timid around the boards, which
meant that Virginia had multiple cracks at the basket. This is how the Cavs
were able to crawl back into the game in the first half--their quick post
players would get good position and Duke's posts would back off.
** Positives:
1. Low-post scoring. In the first
half, Shav was setting up shop down low and Duhon & Deng got him the ball.
In the second half, it was Shelden's turn as he hit 5-8 from the field and
7-8 from the foul line, grabbing 8 rebounds along the way. Once Duke was
patient enough to set this up, Virginia could do nothing to stop it.
2. Balance. Duke's low-post
scoring was matched by some timely threes by Ewing & Redick (who went 6-10)
and penetration by Deng, Dockery & Duhon. Duke perhaps took a few too many
threes and took some of them too quickly, but once they found something that
worked (Shelden down low), they went with it all the way. The fact that
Duke has so many ways to score helps make up for the fact that the Devils
lack a dominant scorer.
3. Offensive rebounding. Nick had
his big tip-in, Deng had his rebound and shot before the buzzer, and Shelden
ripped the ball away from his man. All led to crucial buckets. Duke had 16
offensive rebounds overall.
Player-by-Player:
**
Williams: After a 1-1 but otherwise forgetable first half, Shelden took
over the game in the last thirteen minutes with 17 points and 8 rebounds.
None of it was fancy: just solid footwork and a soft touch. Shelden was
simply too strong and powerful for Virginia to stop, and his soft touch gave
him a couple of three point plays. Speaking of foul shooting, his 9-10
showing in this game proves that his form isn't a problem, just his focus.
He zeroed in on the basket in this game and the results were obvious.
Shelden also played disciplined defense in the second half, holding his
ground while not leaving his feet.
**
Randolph: Shav was Duke's most potent weapon in the first seven
minutes, scoring 8 points near the basket. After that, he was quiet for the
rest of the game, other than a late basket as Duke was running down the
clock. Shav didn't do much work on the boards in this game, which is
unusual because he's been quite active all year. Part of this was Shelden
just dominating the boards and the left block in particular.
**
Ewing: Dan's numbers were modest, but both of the threes he hit in the
first half were momentum-changers. The first came as Duke was coming back
from Virginia's big run in the corner; the second he took off the dribble
when when the Hoos had drawn with in 3 points late in the half. He also had
a key pass to Deng late in the half for a score. Finally, Dan had a big
three point play the old-fashioned way when Virginia drew within 8 in the
second half. That started a 10-0 run. Combine that with an impressive 5
rebounds and you have a performance that was bigger than the numbers.
**
Redick: JJ's three fouls kept him on the bench for much of the first
half, though he did manage to hit a three and break the all-time ACC record
for consecutive free throws made when he hit his 49th and 50th straight. He
came back with a vengeance in the second half, hitting 2 early threes that
helped put Virginia away. JJ wasn't quite as active on defense as he has
been in recent games, and relied on his hands more than his feet. He did
wind up taking a charge, a gutsy move considering that he was in serious
foul trouble.
**
Duhon: Chris had another excellent game. The only down note is that
none of his threes dropped for him, but he otherwise dominated Virginia at
both ends. A big positive is that his foul shooting stroke is back in a big
way; he looks a lot calmer at the line. This is especially evident when he
scores on a three point play. More pertinent to his role, he had a superb 8
assist, 1 turnover, 3 steal game against Virginia and was constantly on the
attack. He could have had more assists if players hadn't beeen fouled.
Chris' 7 rebounds were also remarkable, with his offensive board that led to
a JJ three at the beginning of the second half his most important carom.
Duhon was simply efficient in this game; never spectacular, but always
moving with a purpose. He's not just out there as a playmaker who's just
trying to avoid making mistakes; he's leading the action and is far from a
decoy on the court.
** Deng: Luol made a few mistakes
at both ends tonight. The worst was when he didn't chase down a loose ball
that was awarded to Virginia. Duhon got in his face and let him know that
you don't depend on the officials to get the ball--you have to go out and
sacrifice your body. And as a player who has become friendly with many a
sideline writer this year, Duhon walks the walk as well as he talks the
talk. Because Luol is such a quick study, he immediately stepped up his
level of play and scored the last 4 points of the half. His steal & dunk
and last-second shot doubled Duke's lead at the end of the half, and he also
had a drive late in the half. Luol fed Shav twice for buckets from the high
post, once again showing that those two have a nice offensive connection.
In the second half, Luol got his points from two stickbacks. A good game,
especially considering his 8 rebounds, but not a dominat one, especially
considering that his defense was spotty at times. Still, he continues to
learn, and is the team's x-factor. His ability to play so many positions is
like having 2 or 3 extra players on the bench, giving Coach K some options
when there's foul trouble or he just wants to throw out a different look.
**
Dockery: Sean had a solid first half at a time when the team really
needed him. With Duhon having to sit a bit because of foul trouble, Dock
took care of the ball and had 2 nice drives for scores. He also hit Ewing
for a crucial three after he drove the lane, and hooked up with Deng on an
alley-oop dunk when he saw Luol slip behind a back screen. Sean looked
comfortable running the team, and just as important, the team looked
comfortable with him at the reins. His only mistake was jacking up a three
after Duhon had just missed one--it was a quick shot that the team didn't
need.
**
Horvath: Nick's tip-in came after Duke had gone nearly six minutes
without a field goal. It was an extra-effort basket that came after he
missed the first tip-in. One or two plays can really alter the outcome of a
game, and while this wound up being a blowout, Nick's play helped set that
up. It also helped that Nick only committed one foul and moved his feet
well--better, in fact, than either Williams or Randolph at that time. Coach
K is still going to put his seven best guys out there, but Nick and Lee both
proved that they can help when called upon. In fact, both now have the
chance to earn some minutes if one of the seven starters isn't holding up
their end on defense.
**
Melchionni: Lee's charge that he took was a bigger play this year than
any of the threes that he's hit. He stepped up and made a smart defensive
play at a time when the team needed a stop. By wiping out a Virginia
basket, he enabled Duke to stretch a 6 point lead to 8, blunting the Hoos'
momentum.
**
Borman: Andy scored on a nice drive to the basket.
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