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pressing once again, I thought it'd be interesting to contrast Duke's most recent games
against Wake Forest and Maryland. The first
game was a textbook example of how to beat Duke, and the second a perfect opportunity for
the Blue Devils to strike back. The Deacs
mixed the following ingredients for their win: a raucous home crowd, a highly motivated
team bent on revenge, a team that desperately needed a good win for NCAA and ACC seeding
purposes, a squad that could rebound and take care of the ball, and a team that had a
number of different scorers that kept on scoring.
Wake Forest:
Box Score
The Wake Forest game was really lost in the first
half, despite the fact that the Devils held a lead for most of it. Wake came out fired up and chippy, and the result
was a lot of physical play from both teams. The
Wake bench was whistled for a technical foul and Nick Horvath got one as well as the
officials were desperately were trying to take control of the game. Duke quickly lost its top gun JJ Redick thanks to
2 offensive fouls (one a "ref take charge" call) and a third foul when he came
back in. Wake was not going to let Redick beat them, and face-guarded him whenever he was
outside the arc. Inside the arc, they let him
drive and tried to force him to make decisions--a move that helped create a crucial late
turnover.
Despite those problems, Duke was getting plenty of
scoring punch from Dan Ewing (3 threes in the first half) and Luol Deng (11 points on a
combination of short jumpers, a stickback and a sick spin move) and some unexpected helf
from the bench (Horvath & Randolph combined for 10 points). Duke did a good job of containing star guards
Chris Paul, Taron Downey and Justin Gray. However,
Wake stayed in it thanks to 12 points from 12 offensive rebounds, led by bullish Eric
Williams. The Deacs got 2 and even 3 cracks
at the basket multiple times as Duke's bigs just got pushed out of the way. E.Williams got in foul trouble in the first
meeting between the two schools and he was eager to prove himself in this game. He wasn't doing anything fancy, either--he just
went after the ball and pounded away. Duke
should have been by about 15 points at the half, but a couple of late steals by the Deacs
combined with their rebounding kept things reasonably close.
It's a good thing they did, because Duke came out
breathing fire in the second half, going on an 10-2 run to start things off. As per usual, Chris Duhon was the catalyst,
finding Ewing for a three, Deng for a lob and then pulling the trigger on a three of his
own. Shelden Williams hit 2 freebies to make
it 54-41 Duke. If that had been a 23
point lead, Duke probably could have survived what came next. As it was, it still took Wake quite a while to get
all the way back in the game. Wake's run
started with 2 stickback baskets; a charge by Ewing led to a three by Chris Paul. After a miss by Redick, Jamaal Levy hit a very
rare three to make it 54-51; it was clear that Wake was going to get help from some
unusual quarters. As Duke was getting small
leads once again, shaky shooter Vytas Danelius banged in threes that kept Wake within
range; he tied the score at 61.
Duke finally fought back with Horvath once again
providing some unexpected help with a tip-in and a foul shot. Duke was looking into the post as much as possible
and S.Williams scored twice there toke on top. A
stickback by Shelden gave Duke its final lead at 65-63 with under nine minutes to go. Wake took a three point lead by Shelden kept Duke
in the game with 4 more points. A stickback
plus one for Deng tied the game up again with five minutes to go. Wake wasn't quite able to shake Duke. Paul was
starting to really get warmed up by this time, scoring 7 straight points to give Wake a
79-75 lead. Duhon had just hit a three to cut
it to 2 and then sank a floater to make it 79-77. Then
came a couple of mistakes for Duke: Ewing fouling Paul on a drive for a three point play
and a turnover for Deng. Wake went up 85-77
on that play with two minutes to go.
Duke never dies easily, as Ewing bounced back with
a three and Deng stuck back a Dockery miss with forty seconds to go. That made it 85-82, but Wake hit 5 of 6 from the
foul line down the stretch to clinch the win. Wake shot a ridiculous 62% in the second
half, including 6-12 from three. With Duke keying in on Gay (1-7 from three) and Downey
(1-4), guys like Danelius & Levy were left open and they made the most of it. The bottom line in this game was that Duke didn't
do badly...they just needed to do better, to raise their game even higher. The Devils shot 49% (52% first half, 49% second
half). They were outrebounded 35-32, but did
have 13 offensive rebounds to Wake's 16. Duke
had 15 turnovers to Wake's 14, 9 steals to Wake's 8.
Both teams hit 7 threes. The
main difference was free throws, and excluding the last minute of regulation even that was
pretty close. If Duke had forced some more
turnovers, or blocked out a bit better, or protected the ball a bit more, or had Redick as
a viable target...they probably would have won. But
they didn't, and Wake had a hard-earned win.
The most distressing thing in that game was
letting Wake shoot over 50%. This is a Duke team that was in the business of dictating
defense to other teams, forcing turnovers with ball pressure and scrapping for every loose
ball. Going back a ways, Duke beat Michigan
State so badly because the Devils treated every possession like it was life and death,
where to paraphrase Coach K it hurt the team to see their opponent score. With so many other parts of the team backfiring at
the time, Duke rallied around its defensive pressure as the one thing they could attack
other teams with with a high degree of success. Lately,
the smoother-running Duke offense became a focal point at the price of getting in some
shootouts. This is a function of playing
better teams with high-quality point guards and excellent big men, but it should be
pointed out that it was Duke's defensive pressure that so thoroughly flummoxed Wake &
NC State in their first meetings. Maryland
would be the perfect opponent to try and regain their defensive prowess, given that they
were a young squad that played poorly on the road and that turned the ball over a lot.
Maryland:
Box Score
Early on, things weren't quite going according to
plan for Duke. Muscular Maryland point guard John Gilchrist was cutting through Duke's
defense for 8 straight points. Deng kept
Duke in the game by scoring his team's first 9 points (a three, 2 freebies, short pull-up
jumper and a dunk), but Duke did not want to get into a track meet with a Maryland team
that had had trouble scoring. Duhon was
getting overpowered by Gilchrist and no one was stepping in to cut him off. Coach K inserted Sean Dockery, and he clung to
Gilchrist like static on a freshly dried sock. His
ball pressure immediately forced 4 turnovers in 5 possessions from the Terps as Duke
attacked when Maryland got past midcourt and either got easy looks or got fouled. An 11-9 Maryland lead turned into a 20-11 Duke
advantage in the space of four minutes. The
most impressive play was a steal by Shelden where he ripped the ball out of his man's
hands, dribbled the length of the floor and then got a layup under pressure.
The Terps fought back and cut the score to 20-14. Then came a stretch that really shook Maryland's
confidence. Redick hit a three, and the teams
traded turnovers for a minute. Redick hit
another three thanks to Duhon, who then pilfered the ball from DJ Strawbery and fed Deng
for a fast break dunk. The Terps had another
run in them, hitting back to back threes to make it 30-22.
The lead hovered around there until Duhon stepped up and nailed a three. Dockery picked Chris McCray's pocket and started
another break, with Duhon delivering to Shelden for another crowd-pleasing slam. That put Duke up 38-24, and this time Duke slammed
the door shut on a foe by outscoring the Terps 7-4 down the stretch, with a Redick three
giving Duke their biggest lead at 45-28.
Duke made sure to strike quickly in the second
half and finish this quickly. Williams hit a
turnaround jumper, Deng scored on a three point drive, and Redick hit a three. Two minutes into the half, and Duke had a 53-30
lead. After that, Duke made sure to pound it
inside early and often, scoring 6 points from foul shots over the next five minutes. When Maryland pulled within 20 with eleven
minutes to go, Redick hit a circus shot for a three point play. The Terps kept hanging around, but Deng threw an
entry pass into Williams who exploded for a statement posterization of Hassan Fofana. There was another mini-run for the Terps that got
quashed by back-to-back triples by Redick and Dockery (!).
Coach K cleared the bench with about four minutes to go, but the outcome was
never in doubt throughout the second half.
The only way the Terps could keep Duke from
scoring was by turning them over--and the Devils did cough up the ball 19 times. Of course, Maryland was even worse with 23
turnovers. They did come up with 22 offensive
rebounds, but their 14-27 shooting from the foul line killed any chance they might have
had to stay in the game. Duke was far from
perfect in this game; they were sloppy with the ball (4 turnovers apiece from Randolph
& Ewing and 3 each by Williams & Dockery) and sometimes weren't in the right
position for rebounds. Duke also fouled too
much, with Deng, Ewing & Williams all picking up 4.
None of that mattered, because the team played with the same sort of crazy
exuberance that they displayed against Michigan State.
They were a team that stopped worrying about conference races and seedings
and simply got caught up in the joy of what they could do as a defensive unit. Duke met Maryland with the same sort of fervor
that their opponents had been saving up for them.
Redick had 20 points, Williams 18 and Deng 17. The bench chipped in for 14 points, with Shav
Randolph continuing to do some nice things with 4 points and 6 boards. The one truly consistent player this year has been
Duhon. Even when he doesn't score, he's still
in complete command of the game, and he's made more than his fair share of big plays in
recent contests. Redick is close behind,
with only his bad game against Wake blemishing what he's done. He's hitting 44% of his threes and 46% of his
shots total in leading the team in scoring. Deng
still disappears at times at both ends of the court, but when he's aggressive he's
unstoppable. There are times when he falls in
love with the jumper a bit too much and he's still a trifle careless with the ball, but
he's proven recently that he can take over a game whenever he feels like it. Ewing is the silent assassin, hitting big shots to
kill momentum in game after game. His
injuries have slowed him down a bit. Williams
strung together 2 impressive performances against Wake and Maryland, but needs to step up
his rebounding even more. Dockery's
reemergence energized the team like it did against Michigan State. His mere presence disrupts opponents, but he
doesn't always play smart basketball. Combining
his aggressiveness with taking better care of the basketball and reeling in his tendency
to foul will make him a perfect defender. Randolph
had some big games in January but has struggled recently in terms of scoring. Coach K is starting to let him freelance a bit
more on the offensive end, driving to the basket and taking open jumpers. One senses that he's struggling to get
comfortable out there.
Cameron Crazies:
Special mention must be made of the crowd. The Sixth Man had one of its best nights ever in
terms of volume and creativity, to the point where ESPN' Outside The Lines made mention of
it and compared it quite favorably to the trite vulgarity of Maryland's crowd in College
Park. For Nik Caner-Medley (hamstrung by foul
trouble), one could hear "Two names, no game! and "N-I-K, N-I-T". DJ Strawberry, subject to years of cruel taunts
about his father, instead got a rousing (albeit tongue-in-cheek) "We love DJ!" And of course, Maryland coach Gary Williams, who
has trouble shaking off crowds, was the target of "Sweat, Gary, Sweat",
"Gary Needs a Hug", and "Gary's purple!" after a call went against
him. There was "On the bubble" and
then later "burst your bubble", referring to Maryland's precarious postseason
fate. And the last cheer of the night was
"We're Not Rivals", a little extra slap at Duke-obsessed Maryland.
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