February 22, 2003.
Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The last time Duke played NC State,
the plan was to lay off their shooters in an effort to protect the basket from their
cutters. The Pack had just put together a
series of forgettable shooting efforts and the idea was that they'd do more of the same
against Duke. Of course, NC State wound up
burning Duke from three, which then opened up their cutters even more in a game that was
one of the worst for Duke's defense in some time. This
time around, Coach K chose to stay true to his team's identity as a pressure defense
outfit. Duke would stay in State's collective
face the whole day and force them to make good passes.
That strategy wound up working well as long as Duke maintained their
pressure and focus. When Duke's intensity
waned a bit, the determined Pack took advantage by getting easy shots at or near the
basket. Still, Duke's pressure wound up
building enough of a lead to survive State's comeback attempts, while the offense showed
enough maturity to get big plays when needed. The
result was not the prettiest of wins, but it kept alive Duke's hopes for a regular season
championship. And of course, it marked yet
another winning ACC campaign and brought Duke closer to that 20 win level.
Both teams were down a big man going into the
contest; Nick Horvath just returned from his grandmother's funeral while State's Jordan
Collins was also attending a relative's funeral. Condolences
go out to both players. That made this more of a perimeter game than even their last
contest, with both teams often fielding four or five guards at a time. Duke wanted to give State a big knockout punch to
start the game, but that never quite materialized. Duke
did go up 6-2 in the early going, thanks to a Shelden Williams turnaround jumper and a JJ
Redick three from Chris Duhon. But 2
turnovers from Shelden allowed the Pack to go on a 7-2 run and take a 9-8 lead.
The Devils responded by turning up the pressure. In State's Princeton-style offense, the object is
to make reads for easy baskets, be they back-door cuts or kick-outs for open jumpers. This is actually an ideal offense for a team that
doesn't have a true point guard who can break down an opponent with dribble penetration
like the Pack. All it requires is smart
players who can pass and set screens. The
problem with this kind of offense against Duke is that the Devils make a living off of
overplaying passing lanes for easy turnovers. Duke
is susceptible to teams with scoring point guards who can quickly get to the hoop ahead of
the recovery from frontline players, or teams that bang away at the basket since Duke's
spread defense rarely sends a lot of men to the hoop to rebound. But the Pack have neither this kind of point guard
(though Julius Hodge does like to drive) nor this kind of big man. Duke's aggressiveness over the next several
minutes gave them the working margin they needed to hold off any serious threats from
State.
It started when Dahntay Jones applied serious
pressure to Hodge and fouled him. Hodge,
angry at the pressure, nailed Jones with an elbow to his upper lip and was called for a
technical foul. Redick naturally hit both
shots to give Duke back the lead. Duhon stole
the ball but Duke missed. Ideally, Duke
wanted State to take long but contested jumpers, and that's just what Marcus Melvin did on
his next possession. Duhon, showing good
aggressiveness the whole game, drove to the hoop for a layup. Jones stole a Clifford
Crawford pass and ran it out for a dunk. Duke
inserted Sean Dockery for even more defensive pressure, and he stole the ball from Hodge
for a layup. Dock then turned over Melvin and
dished to Duhon, who was fouled and made both. Dan
Ewing got into the act with another steal, dishing to a weaving Jones for another big
throwdown. With eleven minutes to go in the
half, Duke led 20-9.
Hodge drove for a short jumper, and after
corralling a Duhon miss, State scored again to cut it to 20-13. The Devils were trying to establish a post game
with Williams, but he was setting up too far away from the basket and so was called for 4
travelling violations in the first half as he tried to get better position. However, he did come up with a couple of big plays
at the ten minute mark by first scoring on a spin move and then hitting a couple of free
throws to get Duke's lead back up to 11. After
State scored again, the Pack turned up their defensive pressure. Redick nearly lost the ball and put up a
desperation three as the shot clock was winding down.
But the heady JJ knew what he was doing--he immediately went after the
offensive rebound, which bounced on the side opposite to where most of the Wolfpack
players were stationed. Passing out to
Dockery, Sean then wove his way into the lane and hit on a scoop shot.
State came back with a rebound dunk and a cut from
a Hodge pass to make it 26-19 with under seven minutes to go in the half. Enter Dan Ewing. First, he hit Dockery on a cut
and then hit 2 free throws to push the lead back to 11.
Jones then drove, faked, and reared back for an open 19' jumper. After Duhon took a charge from Levi Watkins, he
dished out to Ewing for a three. An exchange
of baskets between Hodge and Jones still had Duke with their largest lead of the game at
37-23.
Back came the Pack with 2 free throws and a runout
dunk after another Williams turnover. With
two minutes to go in the half, it was a ten point game.
Duhon stepped up with a driving three point play that fired up Cameron. After a State turnover, Ewing rebounded a Jones
miss under the basket for a tough layup. That
gave State a last chance for a score, but a Duhon steal and outlet pass to Redick with 10
seconds to go gave Duke a 44-27 lead. Duke
played some intense defense down the stretch of the half as the Pack never even got off a
shot. The Pack committed 17 turnovers in the
half to just 6 for Duke. Duke shot 52% while
the Pack were at 43%. Jones led the way for Duke with 11 ponts on 5-7 shooting and 4
rebounds. Redick, Duhon and Ewing all had 7 while Dockery had 6.
Duke had a real chance to make the game into a
blowout early on, but didn't take advantage, thanks to 2 turnovers and 2 bad shots that
State turned into 9 consecutive points. As
bad as the offense was, the defense was even worse. Shelden
fouled Hodge weakly after he was already beaten, leading to a three point play. On another possession, no one stepped up to stop
Hodge from driving for a short jumper. Bad
offense was creating lazy defense, a definite no-no at Duke. Ewing finally stopped the bleedint with 2 free
throws, giving Duke a 46-36 lead with three minutes gone by. Williams ripped down a rebound and Duhon again
attacked the basket, scoring on a goaltend. After
a Crawford drive, Jones drove and hit a 10' jumper. State
missed and Ewing drove in for another score. Jones dug in for a steal and passed it
downcourt to Ewing for an easy transition basket. Duke
had fought back and was up by 16 at 54-38.
Duke committed 3 straight fouls (including
Shelden's third and fourth) but Dockery came up with a steal. Jones turned it over and State scored easily. Dockery drove again and was fouled, hitting both
freebies. Shavlik Randolph was then fouled getting his own rebound, and hit both, giving
Duke their biggest lead at 58-40. Once
again, the Devils were on the verge of blowing the game open, but the Pack once again
would not go away, scoring 6 straight. Duke
simply missed 2 makeable shots, and the Pack exploited the mid-range jumper 3 straight
times to leave them trailing by just 12 with eleven minutes left.
Jones threw the ball into Sanders, who took one
dribble and then passed back to Jones for a three point play on a give-and-go. After a Powell layup, Ewing stole the ball and
drove in for a three point play of his own, giving Duke a 15 point lead with nine minutes
to play. The Pack simply would not go away,
scoring 7 straight points over the next three minutes.
Duke missed 3 shots and then JJ turned the ball over under pressure. But in true "next play" fashion, JJ got
open in the corner and sank a three point in State's collective chest. Consecutive scores by Ewing and Sanders put Duke
up 70-57--both missed the chance to get three point plays, however. Duhon put Duke up by 13 again on a drive with
under four minutes to play. The Pack scored 3
points in a row to keep up the pressure, but Casey hit 1 free throw to make it a four
possession game with two minutes to play. After
a State miss, Duhon found Jones for an easy dunk as the Pack were trying to pressure Duke
in the backcourt. When Chris added a free
throw after a Pack miss, the score was 76-62. The Pack outscored Duke 6-3 down the
stretch, but it didn't really matter.
The Pack took much better care of the basketball
in the second half, turning it over just 7 times. That
cut down on easy opportunities for Duke and gave them more cracks at the hoop. They stopped bothering to even take three
pointers, acquiescing to Duke's pressure, but did find success from mid-range. They also did a good job at the rebounding end,
winding up with a 5 board advantage. Duke did
not shoot that well in the half (42%) but did manage to go to the line, hitting 12 of 18. Again, while this wasn't a 40-minute picture of
perfection, it did once again showcase Duke winning with their defense, something that was
difficult to imagine early in the year.
** Negatives:
1. Rebounding. It's understandable that Duke's rebounding total
would be a tad low thanks to Sanders & Williams only totalling a combined 39 minutes,
but it would have been nice to see a few more offensive rebounds and fewer o-boards from
State.
2. Post play.
The Pack definitely won this battle, in that they made sure there
was no true post play in this game. Melvin
& Powell did a nice job of keeping Williams away from the hoop and holding their
ground against him.
** Positives:
1. Defensive pressure. This has always been Duke's bread-and-butter, but
tonight it was a six-course meal. Jones,
Duhon, Ewing and Dockery combined for 12 steals and did a superb job of deflecting even
more passes.
2. Attacking the basket. Once again, an old staple for Duke proved to
be their biggest weapon. Ewing, Dockery,
Jones & Duhon did this all day long, either in halfcourt or in transition for easy
scores.
3. Valuing the ball. Other than Shelden and his problems
getting settled, Duke only turned the ball over 5 times.
Duhon only turned it over once, continuing his recent streak of steadiness.
Player-by-Player:
** Sanders: Not
a bad game for Casey, who did look a bit uncomfortable at times in this guard-fest of a
game. His play really picked up in the second
half when Duke need him the most, since Williams was in severe foul trouble and then
fouled out. Casey had key basket, a big free
throw that stemmed State's momentum, and a great pass to Dahntay for a score. He also sent back a couple of shots. I would have liked to have seen a few more
rebounds, though State only missed 8 shots in the second half.
** Williams: I had been hoping that
Shelden would be able to establish himself early against the smaller Wolfpack, but State
clearly had other ideas. They made sure to
keep him far away from the basket and wanted him to prove that he could beat them
one-on-one. Instead of passing the ball back
out when he didn't have proper position, he indeed tried too hard to get set up and as a
result turned the ball over repeatedly. In
the second half, he was shut down due to foul trouble, twice being called for
hand-checking 40 feet from the basket. It
wasn't all bad--he did have 4 rebounds and scored a couple of times on nice post moves. Shelden will certainly get a chance to redeem
himself against Georgia Tech and their big, mobile frontline.
** Jones: Dahntay
was once again simply The Man. He led Duke
with ferocious defense, strong rebounding, and attacking the basket with zeal. Of his 8
field goals, only 3 were jumpers--and two of those were within 10'. He did his work by going to the hoop for dunks and
getting fouled. He got into Hodge's head at times, making the soph lose his cool while
maintaining his. Dahntay "stayed within
himself" to use that hoary sports cliche', but it really does apply in this
situation. He did what he does best and State
simply couldn't stop him. Making him an
official team captain was a great move, because he seems to have taken on some of the
burden of leadership that was resting so heavily on Chris Duhon's shoulders. As a result, both players have played better:
Dahntay, knowing that he has the confidence of his teammates; and Chris, because he could
relax a bit and get back to doing what he does best.
** Redick: State
was chasing JJ around all day, making sure that he didn't get any good looks. They did that after he nailed a long three in the
first half, and he simply didn't get a decent shot off until late in the game. Once again, you have to admire this kid's guts,
because after he committed a crucial turnover, he simply turned around and hit a three.
Not only did he put his mistake behind him, but he took advantage of State while they were
too busy celebrating to notice that he had gotten open. Amazingly, in a game where he got
very few open shots, he still managed to score 10 points.
What's important to remember is that even though JJ didn't score a lot of
points, his mere presence caused State to put a defender on him at all times, allowing the
other guards to drive to the basket. Even as
a decoy, the freshman proved that he can make an impact on games. It should also be noted that his man, Scooter
Sherrill, was just 1-3 from the field.
** Duhon: This
was a solid around game for Duke's leader. I
loved seeing him go to the hoop again and again and then convert some free throws. His three is still not looking that great, and
there were a couple of times when Duke was trying to kill the clock that he took a three
that was too well-contested to have a real chance of going in. Still, he forced Crawford into 6 turnovers, took a
charge, stole the ball twice and did a nice job in pushing the ball. A 12 point, 5 rebound, 5 assist, 2 steal line
will do fine in virtually any ball game for Chris, thanks very much. Perhaps not superstar
numbers, but then this is not a superstar ballclub.
** Randolph: Shav looked a little lost trying to guard all of
State's little guys while he was in there. He
did manage to get a couple of foul shots after he pump faked in the lane. Shav did miss a couple of easy shots near the
basket--I think he was trying a bit too hard. We'll
see what he can do against Tech's long but lanky big men.
** Ewing: Dan
was the other Man in this game. With Redick
held in check, he stepped up in a big way, attacking the hoop. As perhaps Duke's quickest penetrator (outside of
Dockery), he was able to find all sorts of room going to the basket. With his nice touch, he had no problems finishing
against a team that was more quick than strong. His
defense was sensational and he even had a couple of nice assists. I especially liked his drive into the lane and
then dish-off to a cutting Dockery. After
struggling a bit against Maryland, it was nice to see him step up here. Someone different
from Duke's guard corps seems to step up every night, and it was Dan & Sean's turn in
this game.
** Dockery: After an awful showing against Maryland, Dock made
the most of his chances here. He understood
that his role was to play all-out defense, making the other team's possessions as
unpleasant as possible. And that's just what he did here, swiping three steals. Any scoring he did would have to come on drives,
but he had to be careful to stay under control. His
scores came on a cut, a steal and runout, and a scoop shot. That last shot was his most
daring, but he shot it instead of charging. Sean was also an impressive 3-4 for the line,
an important stat for someone who will no doubt go to the line many times in his career. Sean was a huge spark for Duke on the defensive
end and proved to be the one factor that State couldn't full prepare for.
** Buckner:
Just a cameo minute for a senior in his next-to-last home game.
** Cameron Craziness: This was a slightly subdued crowd compared to
Maryland, but it was pretty much a full house. The
usual "If you can't go to college, go to State" chestnut was used, as well as
the superior "Big...High....School...BIG HIGH SCHOOL!" that parodies the
"N...C...State" chant. And as the
game was ending, one could hear "Start the Tractor".
Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu
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