|
March 8-10.
Greensboro Coliseum.
Duke 60, UNC 48.
Duke 79, Wake Forest
64.
Duke 91, NC State 61.
This is going to be
a somewhat compressed report for the ACC Tourney, and I hope to hit on
analysis more than play-by-play more than in my usual reports, but we'll
see what this yields. Two words jump out at me when I think back to this
weekend's play: "defense" and "matchups." Duke was aided in its
championship quest by playing against teams that did not match up well
with them. We all saw what amounted to UNC waving a white flag against
Duke as they went to a slowdown game for all forty minutes, giving up a
number of wide-open looks in order to milk the shot clock down to its
final seconds. Against Wake, the one player who was a serious matchup
problem for Duke, Darius Songaila, had his usual spate of foul
trouble. Once he went out, Duke had no problems taking complete control
of the game. And against NC State...well, if Duke and State played 100
times, Duke would probably win all 100. It's not just a matter of
personnel matching up badly for State (because they have a good bit of
talent, though much of it is young) but also style. A team that uses that
many passes in halfcourt settings against Duke is like waving a piece of
raw meat in front of a hungry dog--one is simply asking for disaster.
Another matchup-related key was that none of these three teams had a
quick, top- notch point guard that could stretch Duke's defense by
attacking their pressure, nor did their PG's have the ability to
significantly disrupt Duke on defense.
This segues neatly
into "defense": Duke played its best defense of the year this weekend.
The Four-Corners Flashback aside, Duke shut down a Wake team that scored
92 points in their first game and a State squad averaging 89 ppg in the
tournament. A team known this year for trying to outscore its opponents,
Duke instead concentrated on turning their opponents over (17 for UNC, 16
for State) and limiting good looks (41% for Wake, 37% for State). The
team played superb help defense all the way around, especially against NC
State, but it was Dahntay Jones who erased Jason Capel (1-3, 7 points),
Josh Howard (2-7, 4 points) and slowed down the hottest player in the
tournament, Anthony Grundy (13 points on 5-10 shooting, but 0 in the
second half). More on that later. Suffice it to say that Duke made their
foes' lives miserable on the defensive end and came up with many
game-changing turnovers.
The lingering
question is: would Duke done as well on the other side of the bracket?
It's hard to tell, especially since Maryland really wanted to play Duke
again. So much so, that their early focus in the FSU and State games was
not exactly razor-sharp. As Mike Dunleavy put it, "Maryland came here to
play us. We came here to win a championship." Maryland really does give
Duke a lot of matchup problems, but the key to that game is usually
mental. Whichever team is more poised and intense will usually win. And
if one team is significantly lacking in poise, the result can be like the
big win in College Park. Another thing to consider is conditioning.
Duke's regulars are used to playing big minutes and how to play well while
tired. That might have given them a slight edge in the second half of the
Wake and State games, because Duke just kicked it up another notch at a
point when their opponents' legs were getting rubbery.
Speaking of
lingering, let us consider just what Duke has done since the Third Golden
Age began in 1997. (The first Golden Age was from 1960-1966, the second
from 1984-1994.) Five regular season titles. Four ACC titles. Two final
fours. One title. Possibly more to come. As Coach K would say, "This
isn't normal." All done with four players leaving the program early after
1999. The senior classes of Wake Forest and NC State finished their
eligibility without ever beating Duke. Duke will be very different
without Jason Williams and Carlos Boozer, but the holdovers plus the new
talent should continue to make Duke very interesting indeed.
** Game 1, UNC:
Matt Doherty had a
plan, one with ancient roots. Using stall tactics is something that his
old coach, Dean Smith, was quite happy to do when he felt it was
necessary. Of course, he only used to do this against teams that used a
lot of zone--getting other teams to chase around his offense and tire
themselves out was his goal. Duke is well known for being an attacking
squad at that end. The stall was really more for UNC's benefit than
Duke's detriment, in that Doherty knew that a faster pace for his team
would mean more missed shots and more turnovers, which meant more chances
for Duke to score. Duke plays a reckless style at times, but they can
afford to do so when they are turning their opponents over. He wanted to
see if Duke would take too many quick shots and maybe, just maybe, give
the Heels a chance to pull an upset for the ages.
The problem with this
plan was Jason Williams. That, and the fact that UNC has a number of
young players who turn the ball over a lot. Heck, they have a couple of
old players who turn the ball over a lot, too (Lang: 5, Capel: 3). In a
game where the Heels chose to dictate a slow tempo, any turnover is
lethal. 17 turnovers in a game like this is about 34 in a normal game.
Jason made several plays down the stretch that simply killed UNC,
including clutch shots, great defensive plays and all-around aggression.
In a slowdown game like this, having a small lead is the equivalent of
having a huge lead against most teams. Even when UNC came within 5 points
with 4:35 left, I truly wasn't worried because the Heels insisted on
keeping a slow pace up. The only way to beat Duke is with constant
aggressiveness, beating them at their own game. Slowing it down simply
made the pain linger a little longer.
Duke missed a couple
of jumpers early on and the Heels had a 5-4 lead. The first 7 minutes went
UNC's way, with the Heels holding an 11-10 lead. The Heels were allowing
Dahntay Jones to shoot as much as he wanted, and he missed a couple but
did have a three-point play and tip-in basket. Williams also had 4 points,
including a couple of early free throws. With about ten minutes to go,
Duke went on its first scoring run of 16-2. Duke went from being down 2 to
up 12 in about five minutes. It was sparked by reserves initially: Dan
Ewing scored on a pretty reverse and Nick Horvath stuck back a Dunleavy
miss. After a couple of Boozer free throws, Ewing stole the ball from
Lang and zipped down for a dunk. Then Duke got its perimeter game going
at last as Dunleavy sank a couple of threes. Duke did it simply by playing
good defense, forcing the Heels to take threes and running when they
could.
To their credit, the
Heels kept on keeping on with their game plan, and forced Duke to miss 3
times and turned them over another time. The Heels went on an 8-2 run to
finish the half, with only a Chris Duhon steal and layup keeping Duke's
margin at 6 points. It's not like Duke was horrible in this span, they
simply missed 3 shots and the Heels were able to get a three point play
for Kris Lang. Duhon's steal was crucial because the Heels had just
rebounded a missed free throw and were prepared to run the clock down even
more.
Duke quickly built
their lead back up to 10 in the second half thanks to some Dunleavy free
throws and a Jones quick inbound. Adam Boone hit a ridiculous, lucky
fling of a three point shot at the buzzer to cut the lead to 7, but Duke
finally started getting the ball inside to Carlos Boozer after he had been
blanketed for awhile. A Williams steal and layup made it 37-27 with
fourteen minutes left. Three Duke misses and a Capel three point play
later and the Heels had cut the lead to 3 with over ten minutes left. The
Heel fans and a wide assortment of fans from other schools were starting
to root for the underdog. Jones took Duke's next shot and missed, but
Boozer was there for the offensive rebound and got fouled. Carlos made
both shots and that slowed down UNC's momentum. Duke fouled the Heels
three straight times after that, but when Jawad Williams finally went to
the line, he missed both shots. Duke is proficient at making teams pay in
such situations, and Jason pulled up and hit a 10' jumper. The Heels then
turned the ball over, and Jason made them pay again with a three. Duke
was up 44-34 with over eight minutes to go.
The Heels slowly
worked their way back into the game, trimming the lead to 48-43 with over
four minutes to go. Duke's offense consisted of a Boozer stickback and a
couple of Williams foul shots as Duke missed 6 shots and the front end of
a one-and-one. UNC had the ball and a chance to cut further into the lead
before Jason picked off a Capel pass with his right hand, went left and
dunked with his right hand. It was a tough angle and he made it look
easy, and it was easily the play of the game. UNC turned the ball over
after once again using up most of the shot clock and it was now Duke's
turn to run some clock. Jason hit a three on a Duhon feed with one second
left on the shot clock, and Duhon hit a three with the same period of time
left. That put Duke up 56-45 with over a minute left, and the rest was
just free throws.
Jason's steal and
dunk was a jolt that the Duke team really needed. After that play, Duke
allowed just five points for the rest of the game and scored on every
single possession. The team just looked sharper and more together and
were playing to eliminate the Heels rather than just protect a lead.
Doherty had hoped that being in a close game would make the Devils crack,
but it instead made them a better, more patient team. In so many ways,
the lessons learned from the Heels in this game helped Duke win the
tourney title.
**
Game 2, Wake Forest:
Wake had not exactly
covered themselves in glory down the stretch of the ACC season, but they
nipped a hot Georgia Tech team in the q-finals and were bolstered by the
notion that Josh Howard had missed the Duke whipping in Winston-Salem and
Antawn Scott had not been 100% against the Devils in Durham. Of course,
they received the bad news that reserve shooting specialist Steve Lepore
had a season-ending leg injury, but he was frankly not a huge part of
their attack. If Songaila could stay in the game and avoid his silly foul
trouble, they liked his ability to score against Boozer. They also
figured to have an advantage on the boards with their quick forwards.
The problem was that
they didn't expect Duke to hit their first 9 shots (plus 3-4 from the
line) en route to a 27-7 lead just seven minutes into the game. When Duke
is at its best offensively, there's just a beautiful flow there where the
whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts. Carlos Boozer gets easy
baskets because he gets great passes, and gives his guards easy assists
because he moves well without the ball and has soft hands. Duke hits
threes because they move the ball around until they find an open shot, not
because they pull up and take the first shot available. Duke started
things off with a 15-2 blast that featured Duhon and Williams passing
inside to Boozer, Williams finding Duhon and Duhon finding Dunleavy for
threes, Jones pulling up to hit a 17' jumper and Williams dishing to
Dunleavy on a cut. Meanwhile, Wake missed 5 shots and turned the ball
over once.
The teams exchanged
some scores (with Dunleavy hitting another three) and then Duke went on a
7-0 run. Dunleavy passed to Jones, Duhon found Williams for a three and
Duhon kept the big man happy by zipping a pass into Boozer for a dunk.
That made it 27-7 with eight minutes gone by. Duke lost focus for a bit,
settling for jumpers instead of varying its attack by taking Wake off the
dribble. I don't think it's a coincidence that Duke's offense suffered
when Boozer spent some extended time on the bench, but it didn't help when
Jason missed the front end of a one-and- one and then missed a three after
Boozer tracked down an offensive rebound. (The phrase "Boozer tracked
down an offensive rebound" was perhaps the most uttered one in this game,
as 'los was amazing at that end, especially in the second half.) Wake
managed to squeeze out an 8-0 run during that five minute span, with
streaky Craig Dawson hitting a couple of threes.
Duhon picked up a
rebound and then lasered the ball to Boozer, whom Wake didn't have a hope
of stopping. Williams and Dunleavy then hooked up on a couple of plays as
Jason found him first for a three and then on a break to reestablished
their grip on the game at 34-17. Duke then went into a serious offensive
funk in the last six minutes of the half as Wake made it 39-34 at the
half, really unsettling the Devils. Duke missed three shots in that span
but more disturbingly turned the ball over 7 times. Wake turned up their
pressure a bit but Duke just made a number of boneheaded plays, like
Dunleavy dribbling right into Songaila, who swatted the ball out of Mike's
hands. Dunleavy did hit a three to halt Wake's initial 7-0 run, but Wake
scored 8 straight after that. Nick Horvath was fouled on an over-the-back
and converted both ends of a one-and-one, but Wake's veteran point guard
Broderick Hicks hit a runner with just seconds left in the half. Duke
went from a well-oiled machine to a well-oiled salad in just a matter of
minutes, allowing as many points in the last five minutes of the half as
they did in the first fifteen. Missing shots is one thing, but turning
the ball over is inexcusable for this offense that's predicated on
maximizing possessions.
For awhile, things
didn't look that much better in the second half. Wake scored on their
first two possessions while Jason turned the ball over on Duke's first
possession of the half, his fifth such gaffe of the game. Wake pulled
within 41-40 and forced a miss, but Boozer once again stepped in and
tipped in the miss. That triggered a 6-0 Duke run as Jones followed up
with a runner (after hitting a 15' jumper earlier in the half) and
Williams dished to Boozer inside. The next three minutes saw another Wake
mini-run, this 6-2 and interrupted only by a Williams drive. Duke broke
it up with another Duhon-to-Boozer hookup after a big Boozer steal. The
Deacs once again chipped away at the lead, coming with 51-50 with eleven
minutes left in the game. Wake had a chance to take the lead with a
three, but not only did it miss, but Songaila picked up his fourth foul on
a dumb over-the-back play. Wake never got the burst of energy they needed
by taking the lead and Songaila going out was a signal for Duke to go for
the throat.
And did they ever.
Williams passed to confident frosh Dan Ewing, who nailed a huge three that
gave Duke a bit of breathing room. Duhon followed up a Wake basket with a
three of his own that made it 57-52 with nine minutes left. After a
Hicks three, Duke went on a 9-0 that essentially crushed Wake's spirit.
Williams and Ewing each hit a three, while Dunleavy stole a crosscourt
pass and swooped in for an easy dunk. Suddenly, Duke led 66-55 with eight
minutes left. Hicks scored on a layup, and then there was a sequence that
showed just how hard Duke was fighting in this game. Dunleavy missed a
three and Boozer grabbed the board and tried to stick it back but missed.
Ewing came out of nowhere to grab the ball and drive it in. That basket
buffered a drought over the next three minutes as Duke still couldn't
quite put Wake away completely even if they were in control. Wake was
within 68-60 with four minutes left until Duke went into their delay
offense and it started working beautifully. As always, Jason Williams
made it go, and he shredded Wake with a couple of drives, one on a
gorgeous pass from Boozer. This was all after he went down hard and had a
few serious bruises to deal with.
Songaila fouled out
with six minutes to go and Wake scored all of 7 points without him, and
none in the last two minutes of the game. From that point on, it was all
free throws for Duke and the Devils went 7-8 from the stripe to remove any
suspense as to the outcome of the game. In the end, Wake could never
quite get over the hump of Duke's ridiculously fast start, and the Devils
stopped them from taking the lead when Wake had a number of opportunities
to do so. In this manner, the game was not unlike the loss at Virginia,
except that Duke survived their offensive problems this time by playing
great defense. And this time, Duke had done it against a well-stocked
Wake squad. Duke did a great job in stopping Wake's best offensive
players. Jones threw a blanket around Howard to the tune of 2-7 from the
field and 3 turnovers, while Boozer bodied up Songaila and he went 6-13
with 3 turnovers. Shooter Craig Dawson was 4-14 from the field thanks to
Duhon's attentions. Only Broderick Hicks hurt the Devils, and he had to
do it by himself rather than distribute the ball. Duke held Wake to 41%
shooting, 24% from three, and kept them off the line as well.
The biggest negative
for Duke was its turnovers--15 was way too high for a team that doesn't
have a true defensive stopper. Other than that, the Devils outrebounded
the Deacs and got 11 offensive boards. Duke shot 53% even while going
4-15 from three in the second half. The Devils got to the foul line
(13-19) and made 8 of their last 11. It wasn't classic Duke defense
because they forced only 12 turnovers, but they showed they could grind
it out on a possession-by-possession basis on not rely on defensive
overplay to stop other teams. This was not a perfect performance by Duke,
but there were definite signs that the team was getting tougher.
**
Game 3: NC State
More than any other
game, this one emphasized Duke's advantages in terms of matchups and a
ferocious attention to defense. With the exception of a five-minute
period, Duke's focus and intensity never wavered in this game as State was
simply overwhelmed from beginning to end. The Pack amazingly managed to
beat Maryland in the tourney semis and State has had a history of unlikely
tournament heroics, with Duke's 1997 first round loss to State still fresh
in the minds of Coaches K and Wojo. Not to mention legendary performances
in the 1983 and 1987 tournaments, beating some very highly ranked teams
along the way. The Pack beat Maryland by stretching them out on offense
and drawing their big men away from the basket. By getting some timely
backdoor cuts and hitting a ton of open threes, the Pack were able to
negate Maryland's considerable advantages inside. NCSU also turned
Maryland over by overplaying passing lanes-- having a thief like Anthony
Grundy around was handy indeed. State blanketed Maryland's big men and
dared them to take outside shots, and the Terps simply couldn't convert.
In other words, the
Pack played a bit like Duke at both ends of the court, only without a true
point guard or post player. Without much height in the middle, State
coach Herb Sendek was worried about Carlos Boozer running wild again, as
he had in both blowout losses earlier in the year. So he made an
interesting choice: State would start out in a zone in an effort to deny
Boozer the ball and turn Duke into a jump-shooting squad. That approach
was still fraught with peril considering the potential Duke has to shoot
the lights out at any given moment, but he understandably would take his
chances there.
The good news for
Herb is that Duke didn't really hurt State that badly from three, going
8-19. The bad news is that Duke hurt them in every other way imaginable.
On Duke's first two possessions, Boozer was fouled and drove to the
basket. State didn't anticipate him putting it on the floor and driving,
and his agility caught them off-guard. In the first seven minutes of the
game, Duke efficiently picked apart State's zone, finding gaps and taking
advantage of State's passive approach. Duke gave them a different look
every time. Williams hit a three on a Duhon skip pass, and then Jones
followed up Williams after Jason blew a layup after a steal. Williams
then drove and popped a 10 footer in an open space. Duhon then knifed a
pass to Dunleavy behind the zone, and Williams threw a pass ahead to
Jones after he came up with a steal. Just like that, Duke had a 14-4
lead.
After a Julius Hodge
three, Duke scored 7 in a row, this time relying on Boozer. State was not
double-teaming him, so it was imperative that he at least get a touch down
low in every halfcourt set. The first score in this run was a
Duhon-to-Boozer layup as he had beaten his man. Williams and Boozer then
played a two-man game, with Williams passing inside to Boozer, and Boozer
passing out to an open Williams for three. Duke's shooters are much
better when they're spotting up than off the dribble, and Boozer's precise
relocation passes allow them that opportunity. Moreover, playing that
sort of game makes Duke's offense less predictable while still firmly
staying within motion principles. Will Boozer shoot or pass? Will
Williams look to set up or take it himself? The key is that there has to
be constant variety in the offense to keep the other team guessing and to
keep each player in proper offensive rhythm.
State did finally get
up off the mat and went on a 7-4 mini-run, with Duhon scoring on a drive
and Boozer hitting a short jumper on a Williams feed. The Pack scored on
a Grundy three-point play after an offensive rebound--the ultimate
defensive no-no. But Williams was extremely sharp, driving to the basket
and dishing to Jones on the baseline, where he sank a 10' jumper.
Dunleavy stole the next State pass and zipped in for a dunk. The Devils
had a 29-14 lead with eight minutes to go. What followed over the next
five minutes was Duke's only real offensive funk of the afternoon. That
consisted of 4 missed shots and 2 turnovers as State turned up their
pressure a bit and went on an 11-2 run. Duke's only basket in the interim
came when Jason dished inside to Carlos for a dunk. State got within
31-25 with four minutes to go and the crowd that wasn't wearing royal blue
was rooting for the underdog. (The Charlotte Coliseum was jam-packed with
both Duke and State fans. The Maryland fans who had descended on
Charlotte en masse on Saturday were mysteriously absent on Sunday. More
interesting is the fact that Charlotte is traditionally a UNC stronghold,
and there wasn't a ton of baby blue to be found on Sunday afternoon
either.) The Pack got back into the game by abandoning their zone and
putting more pressure on Duke's shooters.
This simply meant
Duke adjusting to the defense and reminding State that they couldn't
defend Boozer straight-up. And Williams did just that, feeding the ball
to the big man to end the run. Grundy hit a three to keep the pressure
up, but Duke immediately countered with Ewing dishing to Dunleavy inside
for a three point play. That was the trigger for a 13-1 Duke run that put
them in firm control of the game. Ewing then found Dunleavy for a three,
and Mike then absolutely stuffed a Clifford Crawford shot. Jason got the
board and was fouled going to the hoop and made both. Duhon picked up a
rebound and gave it to Jason, who dished to Dunleavy for another three.
Chris then stole the ball from Archie Miller and fed Williams for a
commanding 46-29 lead. Grundy hit a three right before the half and State
blew a chance to cut further into the lead. As the Devils were holding
the ball for the last shot, Ewing turned the ball over and Williams
committed a foul trying to get it back. It was a one-and-one with just 1
second to go, but Crawford blew it and State had to settle for a 14 point
deficit.
Duke had no interest
in prolonging the suspense and started the half with an 8-4 advantage,
with Boozer dishing inside to Boozer for a three point play and Boozer
later returning the favor with a relocation pass to Jason for three.
Miller hit a three to cut the lead to 54-39, but Duke went on a 13-2 run
that game them a commanding 67-41 lead. The run consisted of Boozer,
Boozer and some more Boozer. He was hitting free throws, going inside for
hook shots and passing out to Williams for shots. Duke hit 5-6 free throws
in that stretch. State never seriously threatened again as Duke went into
its delay mode with about ten minutes to go, running it to perfection.
Boozer continued to abuse the helpless State defense before leaving with
about eight minutes to go. Jason hit a three before he left with five
minutes to go. The bench was brought in slowly but Horvath scored 4
points and Andre Buckner 5 in the last four minutes, pushing the lead up
to 91-56 before the final margin was settled.
Again, I can't
emphasize enough how amazing this accomplishment is. The great Laettner-Hurley-Hill
squads only won 1 ACC title between them from 1989-1994. While the
conference was stronger overall at that time, Duke has still had to deal
with all-time great teams from Maryland and Final Four/#1 teams from UNC.
The confidence that the Three Pillars of Battier, Carrawell and James
instilled within this group has grown and may be on the verge of
maturing. They simply beat all comers and know how to win in tournament
situations. When you consider the preseason NIT, the Maui Invitational,
the Coaches Vs Cancer tourney, the ACC tournaments and NCAA tournaments,
this team really knows how to turn it on when they need to in this kind
of environment. It also doesn't hurt that Duke is on a roll going into
the NCAA's, especially when none of the wins were that
taxing.
** Negatives:
1. Boxing out.
State had 17 offensive rebounds, and this was really the only way they
were staying within shouting distance throughout much of the game. Duke
was leaving Boozer alone inside on defense, though, because they sent
Dunleavy out to bother Marcus Melvin on the perimeter (result: Melvin was
1-5 from the field). Duke conceded inside baskets to State and Boozer
single-handedly fought off a bunch of them, coming up with 4 steals. Wake
had 13 offensive rebounds, which wasn't quite as bad though they did shoot
a little better. On the other hand, UNC had just 4 offensive rebounds,
though they were so intent on stopping Duke's break that they didn't send
anyone to the boards.
2. Focus. This
has been a key to Duke's success or failure all year long. When Duke gets
a lead, they sometimes tend to drift at both ends of the court. They'll
take a quick shot instead of making the defense work a bit. Duke is such
a good passing team that if they make an extra pass or two, it's
inevitable that they'll get a good, open shot (be it inside or out). On
defense, Duhon and Jones are applying a consistent level of pressure, but
Boozer and Dunleavy don't always do a good job of helping when necessary
and really attacking the passing lanes. When they are, Duke generates
turnover after turnover for teams that that pass a lot and shots with a
high degree of difficulty for those that attack Duke off the dribble. The
biggest key for Duke is that when faced with a little in-game adversity,
the players must trust each other instead of themselves. If Jason trusts
Carlos to make a good decision inside, Carlos will trust Jason to pass it
back out because he knows he'll make the shot. If Duke relies too much on
any one player, they will have trouble.
3. Three point
shooting. Duke shot under 40% for the weekend. I mention this not
just because the threes weren't falling, but because it explodes the myth
perpetuated by those who aren't paying attention that Duke can't win when
they can't hit the three. The correct way to interpret this is that Duke
can't lose when they ARE hitting the threes, because that opens up every
other aspect of their offense. But when they aren't connecting, the
Devils showed this weekend that they have many, many other ways of
attacking their opponents.
**
Positives:
1. Defense. As
mentioned above, Duke's defense was the true key to each win. Even when
Duke went into serious offensive slumps in each game, the defense was good
enough to hold the fort until things started to click again. Duke's
overplaying the wings essentially beat UNC by forcing 17 tunovers--and
considering that UNC took only 29 shots and 21 free throw attempts, the
turnovers killed any chance they had of keeping up with Duke. Against
Wake, Duke played sticky man-to-man, denying good looks to Howard and
Dawson and making Songaila work for everything. And against State, Duke
did both, erasing Grundy in the second half and forcing their forwards
into making bad decisions, as well as concentrating on their three point
shooters. The fact that Duke was able to defend State's inside attack as
well as they did while keying on their deadly three point shooters is a
testament to how well Duke moved and talked on defense. Note also in the
State game that Dunleavy and Jones did help Boozer quite well when State
tried to drive on Duke, as the two combined for 5 blocked shots.
2. Offensive
diversity. The key to running motion is taking what the defense gives
you and being able to take advantage of that at all times. If they leave
your big man, get him the ball. If they leave the lane open, drive on
them. If they leave the corners open, shoot from there. If they jam you,
go by them. If they sag, find the best available open shot and drain it.
This is precisely what Duke did against State, and it was beautiful to
watch.
3. Valuing the ball.
Duke shoots very well in general and has excellent ballhandlers. This is
why it's crucial that Duke must make good decisions with the ball. It's
OK to occasionally overshoot someone on the break with a daring pass--this
is high-risk, high-reward play and Duke converts on a fair percentage of
these. It's not OK, however, to try and force the ball inside without
properly reading the defense, or to commit repeated offensive fouls.
Player-By-Player:
** Boozer:
Carlos was a deserving winner of the Case Trophy for ACC Tournament Most
Valuable Player. He was patient against UNC and didn't try to force
anything. His rebound basket with six minutes to go was Duke's only
score in a four minute span and provided enough of a cushion for Duke to
step it up and take over down the stretch. 'los did it despite playing
with four fouls, and he also led the team in boards. Where he really won
the MVP in my opinion was against Wake Forest. He had an awesome 16
rebounds against Wake, 7 of them offensive and all of them crucial. When
Wake came within 1 point in the second half, Carlos went on a tear and
rebounded every Duke miss and gave the Devils additional chances. He also
fed Williams a couple of times down the stretch when Duke was running its
delay game. Carlos also did a pretty good job on Darius Songaila, keeping
him a bit further away from the basket than he would have liked.
Naturally, Carlos was also the model of efficiency on offense, hitting 7
of 8 on feeds from Duhon and Williams as well as a rebound basket.
Against State, he was simply coldblooded. He missed his first shot and
then hit his next 11. Now, some of these came on great passes from his
guards (with assists from Williams, Dunleavy, and Ewing), but he also had
a drive, several tough finishes under the basket and dished to Williams
for a three on a relocation pass. State simply didn't have the height or
personnel to match up with him, and Duke took advantage of this
beautifully. Whenever Duke was in a halfcourt situation, I screamed out
"Boozer!", because whenever he had the ball, something good would
happen. Either he'd wheel around and score, or hit the open man if
someone came over to double him. While Carlos only had an average
rebounding performance here (5, 2 offensive) he offset that by tipping
away 4 passes for steals. State couldn't get anything going inside and he
was a big reason why. This game was especially satisfying because the
whole became greater than the sum of its parts: Carlos could not have done
what he did without Duke's guards, and the guards would not have been as
effective without Carlos. As long as Duke keeps this kind of mentality
up, especially through adversity, they will be tough to beat.
** Dunleavy:
Mike shot an awful 2-10 against Carolina, and some of those misses
prevented Duke from putting them away early. On the other hand, his 2
threes late in the first half gave Duke a 12 point lead and established
enough of a cushion to keep Duke ahead for the entire game--and even a
small lead was significant in this contest. He was a flamethrower
against Wake in the early going, hitting his first 6 shots. That included
8 in a row late in the half. He went cold in the second half but did have
a big steal and dunk and a huge block. Mike kept things going until
Williams took over the game. In the title game, Mike got off to another
hot start, shooting 5-7 in the first half, getting 4 rebounds and picking
up a couple of steals and a block. That included 9 points in the last
three minutes of the half after State had crawled to within 5 points. He
had a three point play and hit a couple of threes, hurting the Pack in
much the same way he did in Raleigh. He didn't do a whole lot in the
second half, but he didn't have to. He hit a pull-up jumper and a
three, but the rout was pretty much on by that time. All-in-all, it was a
solid but certainly not spectacular tournament for Mike. He did break out
of his shooting slump to post some nice numbers against Wake and State,
and did a nice job on the defensive end with several spectacular
blocks--an element missing from Duke all year.
** Jones:
UNC was not surprisingly playing him for the jumper, and it worked pretty
well. Dahntay's only scores were on a drive, a rebound basket and an
inbounds play from Williams. He kept taking that jumper when appropriate,
but it just didn't fall. He did do a reasonable job on Capel, though.
Against Wake, he did just enough on offense to keep them honest, hitting a
long jumper or two and also connecting on a runner. More importantly, he
made life very unpleasant for Josh Howard and has proven to be the one
Duke player who can slow him down. He had his biggest impact against
State in the finals, getting a rebound basket, sinking a baseline jumper
and scoring on a cut. Dahntay knocked down 4 freebies in the second
half, including 2 on an intentional foul. As always, Mr. Jones played
superb defense, disappearing Grundy in the second half.
** Williams:
Jason scored 4 points in the first four minutes of the game, and then
disappeared for the rest of the half. In fact, he only took 4 shots in
the entire half! He looked a bit unnerved by UNC's tactics until he took
things into his own hands with fourteen minutes to go in the game. He
scored 16 points in that span, including 2 steals leading directly to
scores (with one of them coming when the Heels had pulled within
48-43...that was perhaps the nastiest slam of his career, punctuated by
the frustration of playing in a delay game). He hit a pull-up jumper and
a three to give Duke a 10 point lead with eight minutes to go and nailed
the back-breaking three with two minutes left. For good measure, he hit 2
free throws that provided the final margin. Jason again started slowly
against Wake, taking just 4 shots in the first half while dishing out 5
assists. He also committed 4 turnovers, including a charge. Once again,
he flipped the "on" switch with about fifteen minutes left, scoring 12
points in that span including 6 straight to salt the game away. He
committed several more turnovers but played through it, using his
penetrating ability to score despite assorted bumps and bruises he was
collecting. Jason was the offensive catalyst that took Duke home down
the stretch, despite all of Wake's efforts to the contrary. He saved the
best for last against State, and this time he came out firing. He scored
5 quick points to give Duke an early lead, and scored 4 more in the last
minute to close out a late run. His playmaking was even better than his
scoring, with 10 assists to 5 different players. He was hitting people
inside, hitting them outside and playing good defense. Jason would have
been a solid choice for tourney MVP if not for Boozer's monster
performance in the finals and steady work against Wake.
** Duhon:
Chris was not surprisingly a bit quiet from the field in an attempt to set
up others against UNC. He did have Duke's only points in the last four
minutes of the first half (a steal and layup) and stretched Duke's lead
from 8 to 13 points in the last minute of the game. He stuck close to
Adam Boone and forced him into a 2-7 shooting night. He had a superb
floor game against Wake with 9 assists and 3 turnovers, including a couple
of threes to keep the defense honest. He kept Wake running and had his
eyes on Boozer at all times, twice feeding the big man in the first half
for easy scores. One came on a rebound that Chris fired into Carlos for a
hoop. About the only thing he did wrong was give Broderick Hicks a bit
too much room to score, but that's simply playing the percentages--Hicks
has never been a great shooter and hitting 2-6 against Duke wasn't a
damaging performance. More bothersome was the fact that Hicks was only
turned over once against Duke, and some of that is attributable to a lack
of defensive pressure. In the finals, he was just OK from the field,
scoring on a daring drive. He did have 5 assists and only 1 turnover and
played reasonable defense. In general, he ran a good floor game, cut back
on his turnovers (which had become an issue) and got the ball in the
hands of scorers. He had some looks at the basket but no one really
sagged off against him.
** Ewing:
Dan added a nice bit of energy in the first half against UNC when Duke
really needed some. He scored on a nifty reverse move and had a steal
and dunk, part of an 8-0 Duke run that reestablished a lead they would
never lose. Dan did miss the front end of a one-and-one in the second
half, which was a bit surprising. He was even better against Wake,
hitting an enormous three that crushed Wake's spirit after they had gotten
to within 51-50 and hitting another in a 9-0 run that made the rest of
the game an exercise in keep-away. He also contributed a rebound basket
after a Duke miss that pushed their lead back to double figures with six
minutes to go. Other teams are giving him wide-open looks and I think
they will come to regret that in the future as he continues to knock down
shots. The bigger the game and the higher the stakes, the cooler he seems
to get. He didn't have quite the same impact against State, but he wasn't
needed as much. He did have 2 big assists late in the half to Dunleavy
that helped break the game open, and another to Boozer in the second
half. The tournament wasn't quite a coming-out party for him but he did
have a number of significant moments, especially on the offensive end of
things. Dan's also an underrated passer and understands team play as well
as any frosh I've seen at Duke.
** Horvath:
Nick had a couple of very solid minutes against the Heels, including a
rebound basket that gave Duke back the lead in the first half. He wasn't
brilliant, but he did what he had to do and did OK when Boozer was out of
the game. Against Wake, he hit both ends of a one-and-one with 37 seconds
to go in the first half that snapped a nearly four-minute scoring
drought. In the finals, he had a couple of important rebounds in the
first half and scored a couple of times down the stretch. There's nothing
about his minutes that stand out, but simply the fact that he was able to
buy 5-7 minutes a game for Boozer and Dunleavy contributed to Duke's win.
The fact that he was able to contribute a little rather than just go in
and not screw up also helps. While he didn't have a big impact, the fact
that he got out there showed that Coach K is trying to deal with Duke's
frontcourt depth problem by squeezing what he can out of the player who
was the most ready to play.
** Buckner:
Andre sank a couple of free throws and pulled up to take a three that had
the Duke bench jumping up and down in joy.
Reported
by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu
Rob's
Archive
|
