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March 14th and 16th.
Bi-Lo Center.
Duke 84, Winthrop 37.
Duke 84, Notre Dame 77.
The first weekend of NCAA play for Duke brought a game that was far less
challenging than the average Duke practice and a game where Duke faced
several worst-case scenarios and still somehow came through with a win.
The great thing about the
Winthrop
game was that Duke put them away about five minutes into the game, and
then let them know that they had no chance whatsoever of being
competitive. The Devils ended the first half on a 41-8 run. The
interesting thing about this game is that Duke's bench came out and played
at a very high level. Certainly, they were up by 40+ points at the time
they came in, but the bench has let down before. Instead, they actually
increased Duke's lead in the last twelve minutes of the game. This was
significant because the confidence that Casey Sanders displayed against
Winthrop
(looking better than at any time this year since preseason) carried over
against Notre Dame.
When the brackets first came out, I was immediately concerned with a
potential Notre Dame matchup. While the Irish have struggled at times
this year, I thought they matched up quite well with Duke. Chris Thomas
is a top-notch point guard, and such players have given Duke fits this
year. Ryan Humphrey is huge and physical, and I worried that he might get
Boozer in foul trouble. I didn't think that Graves and Carroll would hurt
Duke that much. In this instance, I was 1 for 3 in making predictions.
The two biggest determining factors for Duke's struggle in this game were
turnovers and perimeter defense. Duke had their troubles on offense but
they shot reasonably well from three (40%) and managed to get to the
line. But it was dumb turnovers that hurt Duke, including Ewing twice
stepping on the sideline and Williams doing it once, as well as Dunleavy
twice lifting his pivot foot (once under duress). That's five possessions
wiped out for Duke right there. Duke also did a bad job fighting through
screens and switching on the perimeter at times, allowing
Graves
and Carroll a lot of open looks.
Duke also faced a Notre Dame defense that opened in a triangle-and-two
focused on Williams and Boozer, forcing Jones and Duhon to became jumpshooters.
Coach K's immediate move of bringing in Dan Ewing was a smart one, for
more reasons than one. While he's been a poised and confident player all
year, one thing that's clear is that his favorite spot to shot is from the
corners. And one thing that a triangle and two leaves wide open is a
corner shot--it was an invitation to shoot. (Nate James used to feast on
teams who did this to Duke doing much the same thing.) If not for some
shot selection issues inside and those pesky turnovers, Duke probably
would have won rather easily. Instead, Notre Dame took advantage of
Duke's mistakes, played great interior defense and got physical at both
ends. They basically had the game going in precisely the way they wanted
in the second half but underestimated the ferocity of this Duke team when
truly angered. The Devils stopped the Irish cold in the last minute as
Notre Dame missed their last five shots and committed a charge. For the
first time in a while, Duke battled back from a deficit and made the plays
(and the free throws) down the stretch that put away an opponent. It
should be remembered that Duke went through some nervous moments in last
year's second-round matchup against
Missouri,
though the problems (and solutions) in that game were slightly different.
The bottom line is that Duke found a way to win.
**
Game One: Winthrop.
There really isn't a whole lot to say about this game past a certain
point, other than that Duke was really ready to play.
Winthrop
actually took the lead to start the game, but a Boozer basket and a
Dunleavy dunk off a Williams steal fixed that rather quickly. Think
Winthrop was a
bit nervous? They committed 5 turnovers in the game's first two minutes,
the third of which led to a Williams three and the fourth (in the
backcourt after said three) led to an easy Jason layup. The Eagles got it
together and outscored Duke 5-2 over the next couple of minutes. The
score stood at 11-7 with over sixteen minutes left in the half. Winthrop
would not score again for seven minutes.
During that time, Duke ran off 24 straight points, featuring just about
everything you can imagine. The Eagles missed 6 shots, committed 6
turnovers and even missed 2 free throws during the run. Meanwhile,
Dunleavy scored 11 points (mostly on drives and lobs), Williams 5 and
Boozer 6. Duke scored off of steals twice in transition and popped a
couple of threes for good measure. Even after the run ended, Duke still
outscored Winthrop 17-8 to end the half. Duke was now getting to the line
and hitting jumpers.
Winthrop
missed their last 6 shots and committed a couple of more turnovers, giving
them 13 at the half.
The first five minutes of the second half were actually quite close, as
Winthrop matched Duke 8-8. They even turned over Williams to get a layup
and 4 consecutive points. Jason responded by draining a three on his way
out of the game to put Duke up 63-23. All of the starters were gone by
the ten minute mark, though Boozer and Williams came out first. Duke
slowly continued to up their lead in the last fifteen minutes of the game,
outscoring the Eagles 21-14. Andre Buckner and Casey Sanders played
especially well, but the details can be found under their own individual
listings. Suffice it to say that the deep reserves were happy for an
opportunity to get extended minutes and they didn't squander it.
Duke got what they wanted here: a chance to stretch their legs and see
where they stood after their big ACC Tournament run. While
Winthrop
is from a weak conference, it's one they've dominated for the last four
years. They also went to Clemson and won, a place where Duke has certainly
encountered their fair share of trouble over the years. But the Eagles
were a bit intimidated during Duke's big run and simply didn't know how to
deal with their pressure. And whenever an opponent shows such a sign of
weakness, the Devils know how to finish them off.
**
Game Two: Notre Dame.
Duke started the game with a Boozer three point play on a Williams feed,
but Notre Dame quickly scored 5 in a row when Duhon missed a three. Jones
countered with a drive to tie things up, and Boozer gathered in an
offensive rebound and fired it to Williams, who passed to Duhon for a
three. Right away, it was clear that the Irish would let Chris shoot
whenever he wanted and wouldn't bother to cover him. Notre Dame's
triangle and two did bother Duke a bit since Williams was unable to get a
good look at the basket and Boozer wasn't getting touches. Boozer had a
bad sequence where he turned the ball over, missed a shot and committed
his first foul. Duke went nearly two minutes without scoring and the Irish
took advantage by coming back to take a 10-8 lead with sixteen minutes to
go.
Jones had missed 2 jumpers and committed a turnover; in general, he
seemed a bit frustrated by what was happening. K turned to Daniel Ewing
and told him to shoot when he was open. With the holes in the zone in the
corners (generally the toughest place to hit a three), Notre Dame was
willing to give up that shot...but as I mentioned earlier, it's Dan's
specialty. His first shot was by accident--Jason drove the lane and had
a shot blocked forcefully by Ryan Humphrey. The ball leaked out to Dan in
the corner, and he measured the shot and let fly for a three. Humphrey
blocked a Boozer shot and set up a runout as Notre Dame grabbed a 14-11
lead. Dunleavy and Ewing struck with back-to-back threes, with Dunleavy
not only getting the assist on Ewing's shot, he also got the rebound that
started the whole sequence. A Williams three with twelve minutes left
in the half was Duke's fifth consecutive trey and it gave them a 20-16
lead.
The Irish scored 4 straight, punctuated by a Humphrey rebound dunk. Ewing
countered with 2 free throws and then a pull-up three after Notre Dame had
tied the score yet again. That three gave Duke control of the game for
most of the half and triggered a 10-4 run. Boozer hit a hook in the lane,
and Ewing found Williams for a three before Jason scored on a drive. A
Humphrey basket was matched by Ewing creating for Jones, boosting the lead
back up to 6. The teams went back and forth, but Duke continued to hold a
6-8 point lead as Williams was starting to get into a groove. ND
superfrosh Chris Thomas turned the ball over with less than three minutes
to go with Duke holding a 7 point lead. But Ewing stepped on a sideline,
which gave Notre Dame a chance to score. After a Williams miss, the Irish
hit a three and close to within 39-37. Another Boozer hook restored a 4
point lead.
Then came a bit of ugliness. Humphrey had been tossing around Dunleavy
like a rag doll, and the roughness in the post was being left alone by the
officials. After Humphrey fouled Dunleavy after a missed Carroll three,
the two got tangled as they were getting up and Humphrey tagged Mike hard
with an elbow to the jaw. He got caught and was given a technical. Mike
sank all 4 shots to restore Duke's 8 point lead. Duke still had some
fouls to give, so they brought in Buckner to commit them to slow down
Notre Dame's offense. The plan backfired a bit as Harold Swanagan was
fouled with a second left in the half and hit both ends of a one-and-one.
Still, Duke had a 6 point lead and looked to be in relative control of the
proceedings.
Duke seemed to take an even firmer grip of things in the second half, as
Jones found Dunleavy for a three 13 seconds into the game. Duke was
unable to convert 2 Chris Thomas turnovers into scores, and a Jones
turnover led directly to an Irish score. That seemed to energize them a
bit and was the beginning of an ugly 14-0 run. Dunleavy missed a three
and then the Irish got 2 offensive rebounds to get another score. Jason
then missed a three, committed a turnover and missed the front end of a
one-and-one as the Irish took a 49-48 lead. An offensive foul and
turnover by Boozer led to 4 more Notre Dame points, and with fifteen
minutes to go in the half, they led 53-48. Humphrey had score 6 of those
points, having his way down low as Boozer picked up his third foul.
Casey Sanders came in and immediately passed out to Duhon for a three,
sparking a 7-0 Duke run that put them back on top. Of course, that "run"
came during a period where Duke still couldn't do anything on offense.
They missed 3 shots, committed 2 turnovers and missed the front end of a
one-and-one but didn't lose any ground because Notre Dame missed 3 shots
and committed a turnover. Finally, Duke's improved defense led to Duhon
forcing a steal and dishing to Jones for a hoop. Two more Irish turnovers
led to Duhon finding Boozer inside for a hook shot. The Irish struck back
with a three. Boozer then turned the ball over and was called for a foul
a few seconds later. That was his fourth, and with ten minutes to go
Duke was suddenly in trouble.
The Devils got the lead back on another Duhon three, but the Irish went
on a 5-0 with Carroll and
Graves
hitting some big shots. Williams hit his first (and only shot of the
half), with his three bringing Duke to within 1 with nine minutes to go.
But Notre Dame went on an 8-1 run over the next two minutes. Duke missed
a couple of shots and Duhon turned the ball over, while the Irish managed
to get to the line. The nadir of the game came when frosh Tom Timmermans
(a rather unimposing player), got a three point play against an
out-of-position Dunleavy. The only good thing happening
for Duke was that Sanders was suddenly playing great defense, altering a
shot that still wound up as a basket after an offensive rebound. With
7:35 to go,
Notre Dame led 69-62 and things looked dim for the Devils.
Ewing came in and drove, dishing to Sanders for a two-hand slam. Duke
forced a miss and Dunleavy rebounded his own missed three, but missed both
foul shots. Notre Dame took advantage as Thomas finally slipped by Duhon
for a layup, and the lead was 7 again. After a half filled with miscues
and just plain misses, Dunleavy gathered himself and sank a crucial 12'
jumper along the baseline. Duke got a break as Thomas missed the front
end of a one-and-one and Williams found Ewing in the corner for a three
that visibly energized the entire team. With five minutes left, Duke had
cut the deficit to 71-69.
Boozer stepped in front of a pass and gave the ball to Duhon, who was
fouled. Chris calmly sank both shots, tying the game up. Duke forced a
miss and as Boozer threw a pass downcourt to Dunleavy, Mike took one step
too many after he landed. Coach K was furious because he felt that
Dunleavy was pushed. But Duke got it back when Thomas turned the ball
over again, and Boozer gave Duke the lead when he drove in for a hook. The
Irish recovered from this 9-0 gut-punch by going into Swanagan to tie
things up. After missed shots by
Ewing
and assorted turnovers,
Ewing stole the ball
away from Humphrey and was fouled. The frosh coolly sank both attempts,
putting Duke up 75-73 with 1:47 left. Swanagan powered his way past
Dunleavy to tie it at 75. Williams went right at the Notre Dame defense
and fouled out Swanagan in the process. He then ignored the "tomahawk
chop" of the fans and hit both shots to make it 77-75, Duke. Both teams
were waiting for the other to blink, and it wasn't happening.
Humphrey missed a short shot and Boozer came up with a big rebound and
was immediately fouled. The big man only hit 1 of 2, making the margin
just 3. Timmermans drew a foul and hit both, making it 78-77 with 35
seconds left. Notre Dame immediately fouled Jason, and the captain once
again proved himself, easily hitting both shots. Thomas missed a three
but Carroll rebounded and barreled his way to the basket. But Dahntay was
in his way, and drew the biggest charge of his career. After that, it was
all academic: Ewing hit a couple of more freebies, followed by Jones as
the Irish missed shot after shot. Duke had survived by focusing in a
tight situation and trusting each other.
**
Negatives:
1. Valuing the ball. Duke was very sloppy against Winthrop,
committing 15 turnovers against a team that was just trying to keep its
head above water. That carried over against Notre Dame, where Duke
committed an absurd 19 turnovers. For a team that relies on getting extra
possessions by forcing turnovers and taking care of the ball, this was
nearly disastrous.
2. Blocking out. Again, bad habits in the first game that didn't
have an impact spilled over to the second game. An undersized Winthrop
squad managed to come up with 13 offensive rebounds, and Notre Dame
punished Duke for 19. It's one thing when a horse like Humphrey comes up
with 8 o-boards, but when guys like
Graves
and Carroll combine for 7, it's a real problem. Duke only turned the
game around when Casey Sanders came on and started grabbing
rebounds--Boozer and Dunleavy started to respond and get big boards down
the stretch.
3. Perimeter defense. Notre Dame was only 4-18 from three, but
they got a lot of open looks and hit some crucial shots. Duke didn't do a
good job of locking them up until the end of the game.
** Positives:
1. Playmaking. Against
Winthrop,
Duke had 22 assists for 32 field goals. Against Notre Dame, it was 17 of
24. Williams and Duhon combined for 19 of them. Playing as a team is
what rescued Duke down the stretch, and this is much healthier than
having Williams do it by himself.
2. Bench play. It was spectacular against Winthrop as the reserves
scored 21 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and dished out 8 assists. They were
relaxed but played with a great deal of energy, and they helped the
starters get a lot of rest (no starter played more than 28 minutes). The
reserves came up with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists against Notre
Dame in just 32 minutes of playing time! This was due to the efforts of
Ewing and Sanders, who proved themselves at the most crucial time
imaginable for the team.
3. Toughness. When Duke absolutely had to get stops, they imposed
their will on Notre Dame and came up with play after play. The last
minute of the game will go down as one of the best defensive stands by a
Duke team ever. The Irish got no good looks and then Jones took a charge
to preserve the win.
Player-by-Player:
** Boozer: He was Duke's most efficient player against
Winthrop,
hitting 8 of his first 10 shots. He did a little of everything: getting a
stickback, throwing down a dunk in transition, using a spin move in
traffic and hitting a 15' jumper. Coach K wisely benched him for most of
the second, knowing that he'd be needed later. He had a lot of
difficulties against Notre Dame, and it was because of the way they were
playing him. Humphreys had the size but not the length to bother Boozer
at all times, so they'd bring in a man to double-team him and force him to
make decisions with the ball. But they didn't use Swanagan to do it, but
rather Graves.
With Graves
swatting at the ball and coming at an unexpected direction, Boozer looked
a bit perplexed at times. He wasn't able to roll to the basket and wasn't
given the time to pass out of his difficulties. He even committed an
offensive foul trying to break through the traffic. Carlos did come up
with 8 rebounds, including a crucial one down the stretch. One good thing
about this game for him was that while Notre Dame prevented him from
getting easy baskets, he compensated by getting good position and
converting on jump hooks. This has become quite a weapon for him of late
and speaks to the improvements he's made in the low post. Another thing
to note: though Humphrey had a number of impressive baskets and 8
offensive rebounds, it should be noted that he was only 7-23 from the
floor. Carlos actually did a pretty good job of fighting him in the
trenches and pushed him away from the basket a number of times.
** Dunleavy: Mike was not hitting much from three this weekend,
going 2-6 in each game. That's break-even point, but not much higher. On
the other hand, he was murder in the open court, dishing and dunking
throughout the first half. He had assists to Boozer and Williams, and was
on the receiving end of two memorable passes from Jones. He scored on an
inbounds, hit reverse on a drive and scored on cuts. Winthrop had no
answers for him as he also helped control the boards with 5 in the first
half. In the second half, he hit a three but otherwise didn't do much.
There was a lot of good and bad against Notre Dame, however. He had 4
turnovers and was erratic from the floor. His only field goals were a
three in the first half, a three to start the second, and his big jumper
from the baseline. He also bricked a couple of free throws when they were
really needed, though he did hit 4 straight at the end of the first
half. Swanagan abused him inside (5-8 from the field) though Mike did
managed a huge block on Humphries and a couple of steals. The biggest
stat of the game for Mike was his 9 rebounds, 6 in the second half when
Duke needed everything they could get. This was an OK game for Mike but
wasn't quite up to the star level that Duke will need throughout the
tournament.
** Jones: This was not Dahntay's most memorable weekend. He
took just one shot against Winthrop but had two gorgeous assists to
Dunleavy, one of them a perfect lob pass. His playing time against Notre
Dame was shortened as Duke went to a 3 guard offense and Coach K wanted a
better shooter on the floor. This is not to say that Dahntay didn't come
up with some big plays, because he did. Despite ND playing him for the
drive, he was able to penetrate and score a couple of times, once on a
cut. He also scored on a potential three point play but missed the foul
shot. But with under 30 seconds left, he took a huge charge to seal the
win, and had a couple of late free throws to salt the thing away. He
didn't have a spectacular showing and turned the ball over too much
(though he did have a couple of nice assists for threes in the second
half), but he made plays down the stretch that helped win the game.
** Williams: Jason was his usual supernatural self against
Winthrop in the early going, getting a steal and dishing to Dunleavy for a
dunk. Then he sank a three and scored on a pretty reverse after a
Dunleavy steal in the backcourt. He was firing at will throughout the
half, pulling up for a 15' jumper and hitting another three and dishing to
Boozer after a steal. All told, he had 12 points, 4 assists and 0
turnovers in the half. He came out hot in the second half, skipping the
ball to Dunleavy for a three and then forcing a steal to trigger a 2-on-1
break that he finished. A drive and a three finished his day's work as he
left the game with 12 or so minutes left. In contrast, his game against
Notre Dame was one long struggle, though he somehow tied for the lead in
scoring with 18 points. Jason simply wasn't on in this game, and missed
shots he would ordinarly make. He didn't adjust well to Humphrey blocking
everything he threw up against him as he was just 2-8 from two point
range, almost all of those drives. Jason also did a bad job of covering
Carroll, who shot 7-14 from the floor, mostly on short jumpers. Jason
did force 3 steals and had some crucial assists down the stretch, but
until he hit those Big Time free throws, it was one of his worst games of
the year. And yet, Duke survived. One thing to note is that Jason very
rarely strings together two bad games in a row, so hopefully he'll be
ready to go against Indiana.
** Duhon: Chris was busy keeping everyone happy against
Winthrop, dishing to Dunleavy, Ewing, Boozer, Sanders and Williams. He
also had a steal and layup during Duke's mind-numbing 24-0 run, hit a
three on a Buckner feed and ran a perfect 2-on-1 break with Williams. His
performance against superfrosh Chris Thomas will go down as one of the
best-ever defensive showings by a Duke player. In addition to holding him
to 2-14 from the field, he forced 6 turnovers from a normally unflappable
player. Chris also produced from the field, hitting 3-7 from three,
including one shot that stopped a Notre Dame 14-0 run and another that
gave Duke the lead. Chris was instrumental in the first Duke run of the
second half, getting 2 assists, a steal and hitting that three. He also
was a big part of the run that ended the game, as he passed to
Ewing
for the three that brought Duke within 1, and then hit the all-important
game-tying free throws. All this and just 1 turnover in 40 minutes of
play. K has emphasized again and again how important Chris is to Duke's
fortunes this year, and he really proved it in this game when Duke's Big
Three were misfiring. I am certain that other teams will try a similar
strategy, so he must be prepared to hit the open jumper.
**
Ewing:
Dan was pretty quiet against
Winthrop,
hitting a three on an out of bounds play and twice finding Boozer for
scores. He also had a couple of turnovers. He was very quiet in the
second half, letting others take shots. Of course, against Notre Dame, he
was anything but quiet. Coach K knew right away what was going on and
probably expected a move like this, and it was clear that Dan was ready to
take up for his team. He knew that Mike Brey didn't think he could pick up
the slack on offense for Duke, and was out to make a statement. And he
did so: loudly and eloquently. If you leave him alone, he will make you
pay. If you foul him, he will make you pay. If you don't block him out,
he will grab rebounds all day. Dan has had his ups and downs this season
as any freshman would, but the fact is that he was a state champion in
Texas and was quite accustomed to coming up big when needed. A player who
knows and accepts his role who can also step up his game and become a
dominant offensive player is rare, but it's clear that Coach K knew what
he was doing when he recruited Dan. The only negative in his performance
against Notre Dame was his stepping on the sideline a couple of times. He
sank 3 of his first 5 threes and scored 11 points in just five minutes in
the first half, and later had 2 assists. Dan was also strong on the
boards, grabbing 6. He missed his first couple of shots in the second
half but hit the biggest of his career with that three that brought Duke
to within 1, and followed that with the biggest free throws of his
career. The first set put Duke up by 2, and the second set put the game
out of reach. He just has a cool about him that was reassuring as a
fan--there was no doubt that he'd make the big play when needed.
** Horvath: Nick was a minor presence in both games, grabbing 2
rebounds in the first contest but only appearing for 2 minutes in the
second. He did manage a block against Notre Dame.
** Sanders: After the Notre Dame game, Coach K noted that Casey
had been playing at his absolute best in practice this week, saying that
he was doing things this week that he hadn't done all year. You could
really see this against Winthrop, where he went out to have a big impact
on the game. Casey simply needs to fill his role, be in the right place at
the right time on defense, and avoid dumb fouls. This is precisely what
he did against the Eagles, as he swatted away 2 shots and grabbed 3
boards in 15 minutes of playing time. The real bonus was seeing what he
did on offense: he confidently swished an 18' jumper with a man hanging
all over him, and then scored on a three point play, easily sinking the
foul shot. The big knock on Casey (other than his thin frame) is that
when he's in a game, it's clear that he's thinking instead of reacting.
Thinking too much instead of learning how to make quick decisions will
lead to nothing but problems in basketball since half the game consists of
fooling your opponent into going where you aren't. But Casey looked quite
confident here and earned his extended playing time. Coach K has also
noted that Casey tends to play better when he feels needed. Well, he was
certainly needed against Notre Dame when he came in, and he immediately
produced. The first thing to note about his magical 7 minutes of play is
that he didn't commit a single foul--and it's not like he wasn't in the
thick of the action. The first thing he did in the game was relocate a
pass for a three. Then he came on in Boozer's absence and got 4 defensive
rebounds, keeping the Irish off the boards (score and otherwise) at a time
when Duke was still struggling from the field. His dunk caught everyone
off guard, except perhaps himself. The way he rebounded, defended and ran
the floor was what everyone was hoping to see from him all along.
Hopefully he has more where that came from, because using him as a
wildcard off the bench would cause all sorts of defensive matchup problems
for other teams, not to mention helping Boozer's cause.
** Buckner: Andre played 12 minutes in this game and looked
pretty darn good running the team. After playing well against NC State,
he continued to look aggressive, going to the hole twice. He hit on one
of those drives and was fouled on another. Andre replaced Jason in the
game and also did a find job in finding others: he hit Duhon and Means for
threes and Sanders for a three point play. He has steadily developed as a
basketball player in his tenure here and looked quite confident.
** Christensen: Uncle Matty had a rebound basket and played great
defense, blocking 3 shots. It was great to see him so aggressive around
the basket.
** Means: Andy M sank a three on a Buckner feed.
** Causey: Mark sank a couple of free throws and was one of nine
players that had 2 or more rebounds.
** Borman: Andy grabbed a couple of rebounds in the first round
as the last man off the bench, but also turned the ball over twice. His
four minute stint was one of the longest of his career.
Reported
by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu
Rob's
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