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My apologies to Rob, e-mail problems prevented me from posting this article until March
20. - Jason D'Amico
Coach K noted that it was a blessing in disguise
that Duke didn't know the identify of its first round opponent in the ACC tournament,
because it gave his team a chance to focus on themselves.
At this time of the year, it's difficult to run practices that zero in on
individual and team needs, rather than prepare for specific foes. More than anything, the team needed an emotional
break. They were able to get some distance
from records, expectations, rivals and teams desperately trying to break into the
postseason. They were able to regain the
intensity, the chip on their shoulder that hallmarks great Duke teams. Duke has been a target for opponents for a long
time, but this Duke team has taken extra-hard shots precisely because this squad isn't the
kind that crushes teams. Foes sense that this
Duke team can be beaten, and they go all-out as a result. While this team has a number of
incredibly mentally tough players who know how to win, it had to be wearing to constantly
be on the defensive. Let's zero in on the
frosh in particular. Josh McRoberts is always
aggressive, but had to learn how to channel that aggressiveness into smart
decision-making. Greg Paulus is undeniably talented, but he's looked bewildered at times
when opponents threw intense pressure at him. One
could sense that things were going too fast for him and he couldn't always process
everything that happened on the floor. Not too
unusual for a young player, but this put a freshman point guard in a tough spot. At his best, Greg trusted his instincts and
attacked at both ends. At his worst, Greg was
turned into a liability at both ends. Happily
for Duke, Greg was at his best during the ACC tournament.
There's no question that for the lower
seeds, the prospect of having to play four games in four days is draining. However, Coach K noted that on the day of the
second game for that team, the lower seed has a slight advantage over the team that had
the bye. The lower seed got the jitters out
and got the rust out of their game--and has the momentum of a win the previous day. Just look at Wake's dominant win over NC State, for
example. Beating FSU boosted Wake's confidence
tremendously, and that allowed them to take a huge early lead and squelch any comeback
attempts.
The first game of the tournament
against Miami set the tone for the rest of the weekend. Duke got out to a good start but had trouble
sustaining it, falling behind many times. The
intense and hard-fought contest featured 22 lead changes and 17 ties. The biggest lead for either team was just 6 points.
Miami used the standard MO against Duke: spread the
floor and send everyone to the offensive boards. Guillermo
Diaz, Robert Hite and Denis Clemente were all adept penetrators and good shooters. Coach Frank Haith gave wing Raymond Hicks 32
minutes and he also gave Duke fits.
Duke took a quick early lead thanks to
some aggressive play by Greg Paulus. He had a steal and tossed it to DeMarcus Nelson for a
dunk, and then nailed a three to make it 7-2. JJ
Redick missed 4 consecutive threes, which both disturbed the team and gave Miami a bit of life.
Finally, JJ sank a three that put Duke up 11-6. Miami came out in a zone not unlike Temple's, and Duke took the bait with a lot of quick
threes--and didn't make them. The Devils
missed 9 of their first 11 threes, whih allowed the 'canes to draw close.
Hicks, Diaz and Hite used penetration
to boost Miami to a 20-18 lead. For the next few minutes, Sean Dockery became a
huge difference-maker for Duke. He pulled up
for a three, got a steal and layup and dished to McRoberts for a lob dunk and to Nelson
for a three. A second Nelson three put Duke up
33-32 with three minutes to go. Two misses and
three turnovers put Duke in a whole, as the Canes went on a 9-2 run to end the half,
including a three by Diaz with 7 seconds left. Only
2 free throws from Jamal Boykin prevented the whitewash. Coach K used Boykin and Eric
Boateng for a few minutes to help forestall foul trouble, and while Duke fell behind, it
did put them in position to keep players on the floor in the second half.
Duke turned the ball over 8 times, and Miami nearly maximized that figure with 14 points
off miscues. Miami punished Duke with a 13-3 advantage in second
chance points, while shooting 47%. Duke shot
7-21 from three, which is just barely break-even, but certainly not efficient.
The Devils came out breathing fire in
the second half as Paulus and Nelson drained threes to quickly tie things up. After those supporting players hit baskets, it was
time for Redick and Williams to step up. Williams
scored a couple of inside baskets and Redick sank 2 threes, a 15' fadeaway jumper, and
scored on a clever play where he inbounded the ball off the back of an unsuspecting Miami player and then laid it in. Duke even took a 5 point lead in the half, but Hite
hit a three to tie things up at 48. The last
fifteen minutes featured intense back-and-forth basketball, as both teams forced the other
to respond.
A player who stepped up in a big way
during this stretch was McRoberts. He scored
on a layup, had a 3 point play and sank 2 more free rhows, the latter play tying the game
at 62 with under nine minutes to go. Paulus
hit Nelson for his fourth three of the game and a 1 point lead, and then the teams
exchanged free throws, with Paulus hitting 2 crucial foul shots with under seven minutes
left. Duke got into serious foul trouble and
had to lay off the boards even more than usual. Williams
picked up 3 quick fouls in the second half, while Melchionni picked up 4 fouls in just 12
minutes.
As a result, Miami got 21 offensive rebounds. The good news for Duke is that they stopped turning
the ball over, with only 2 offensive fouls in the second half and no other miscues. After Williams tied the game with a foul shot,
Anthony King got a stickback. Redick led
Williams for another score and forced a stop. McRoberts
stepped in to get the defensive rebound and get another possession for Duke. Redick took advantage by finding room to nail a 17'
jumper to put Duke up 72-70 with three minutes to go.
Diaz drove in to tie the score again, but Williams was fouled and hit 2 big
shots with under two minutes left.
Hicks missed a free throw to preserve
Duke's lead. Nelson missed a three but
Williams got a crucial offensive board. After
running the clock down, Redick drove on Diaz, put the ball behind his back, and got just
enough separation to sink a clutch 18 jumper with thirty seconds left. Hite took a quick shot and Melchionni was fouled on
the rebound attempt. Despite a miserable game
(0-4 from the field), Lee stepped to the line and swished both shots. Diaz hit a three with 8 seconds left, and then came
a bit of controversy. Inbounding the ball,
Redick was fouled before any time went off the clock.
It was unclear what was happening here; it seemed that Haith was trying to
call a time-out (and Miami had none left), or thought that a Duke player
was trying to call time-out. In any event,
Redick nailed both shots to give Duke a 4 point cushion and put the game away.
Simply put, both teams played at a high
level in the second half. Duke shot 45% and Miami 37%. The
two teams combined for just 9 turnovers in the half and did a nice job converting at the
foul line (Miami: 81%, Duke 92%).
Down the stretch, Duke seemed to make every play and suddenly snapped to
attention on the boards. This kind of
rope-a-dope to protect Duke from foul trouble in games where it was clear that the
officials were closely monitoring "over the back" type plays has been common
this season. What's remarkable is Duke's
ability to get those boards and ratchet up their intensity level. Williams' offensive rebound with a minute left was
simply a great play, and Redick's shot was even greater.
After a few games where they came up a bit short, it was great to see Duke's
big stars come up big when they were most needed. Winning
such a close and intense game gave the Devils a lot of confidence for the next game.
The Wake game featured Duke getting out
to another quick, which was important in dealing with an underdog that now had two days
worth of momentum. After Wake's Eric Williams
scored 2 quick buckets, Duke blew out to a 12-6 lead. Josh McRoberts was ready to play,
and showed yet more flashes of his unlimited potential early on. After a rebound, he ran the break with Shelden and
broke off a behind-the-back pass to him in stride for an easy score. It was truly a "did that just happen?"
sort of play. Josh later found Nelson for an
easy score, sank a three and hit 2 free throws to give Duke the lead.
Eric Williams kept coming and dominated
Duke in the first half. It didn't help that
Shelden picked up 2 quick fouls and spent most of the first half on the bench. It's actually unusual for Coach K to use the tactic
of benching a player with 2 fouls for long periods of time.
Duke had enough of a lead to once again afford to keep him off the floor,
and once again it paid off.
After Wake pulled within 20-19, Greg
Paulus went nuts. He hit a 15' jumper, drove
in for a layup and then got a steal and layup to put duke up 31-21. This came during a period where Duke got a major
scare, when Redick bumped knees with a Wake player and had to go to the locker room. The team rallied against a Wake team that had
visibly relaxed without Redick and blew the front end of a couple of one-and-ones. Redick returned, but Justin Gray got hot and burned
the nets with 3 straight threes after being held in check the entire first half. JJ hit a 15' jumper and a free throw, but Wake went
on a 15-5 run to take a 2 point halftime lead. McRoberts
missed a shot and 2 front ends of one-and-ones, and that allowed Wake to creep ahead. Duke was getting smoked on the boards once again
(-12), but they only turned the ball over 4 times. But
there was definitely a sense that Wake had punched themselves out a bit, with all of their
starters playing at least 17 minutes.
Indeed, Duke quickly took control of
things in the second half. Williams was wisely
given the ball very quickly and he tied the game with some free throws. Paulus rebounded a
miss and outran everyone to find McRoberts in transition. Greg then hit JJ for a three and
drove the lane again for another score to give Duke a 43-38 lead. Gray and Chris Ellis scored for Wake, but Paulus
blew past Gray for a three point play and Redick hit another three to put Duke up by 6.
Over the next few minutes, Wake desperately tried to catch up with Duke when they went up
by 6 or 7, and indeed they cut the lead to 56-53 with 9 minutes to go. But Shelden hit 2 freebies and Nelson got a steal. Redick then lasered a pass into McRoberts, who
threw down a tasty reverse dunk. That fired up
Duke, who scored 9 in ar ow. Nelson hit a
three on a Paulus feed, and then Greg hit 2 freebies.
Josh rebounded a missed three from Redick and slammed home a follow. Paulus then threaded the needle and hit Josh
cutting for a dunk that put Duke up 69-55. After
that, it was pretty much free throws all the way down.
Redick did have a play earlier where he drove to the basket and was fouled,
but no call. He grabbed the rebound and was
barely grazed by a Wake player, and so of course got the three point play.
Paulus had 17 points, picking up the
scoring slack for Nelson (who fouled out). Redick
scored 14 points in the second half and McRoberts was 4-5 in the second half. Wake wasn't a very good defensive team to begin
with, and Duke tore them apart in the second half. The
Devils shot 52%, turned the ball over just once, and went to the foul line 20 times. Duke even held their own on the boards. E.Williams and Gray combined for 15 points, which
was not nearly enough to keep up with Duke. The
Devils had ended the careers of two distinguished seniors, who fought hard but simply
didn't have enough help. Duke now had the
experience of beating a team with a great guard and a dominant big man, and they did it
with relative ease. It was clear that the team
had its confidence back, and the young players were doing amazing things. It wasn't just Paulus and McRoberts--Nelson rescued
Duke after they nearly shot their way out of the Miami game.
That set up a final against a Boston College team that punished UNC in the other semifinal. Craig Smith and Jared Dudley proved to be too much
for the Heels, and BC even made some clutch free throws down the stretch. Their earlier game against Duke had been a tight
one as they staged a rally and nearly pulled off a win.
In that game, Dudley went wild against Duke while Smith played
passively. BC's main weakness, outside
shooting, wasn't a factor in that game as they hit some big outside shots.
BC turned the ball over 4 times in the
first four minutes against Duke, and that helped fuel an early 10-2 lead for Duke. McRoberts and Paulus were once again quite active. McRoberts was fouled going up and hit 2 freebies,
posted up for a dunk, hit a baseline jumper on a Redick feed, and passed inside to
Williams for a dunk. Paulus stripped the ball
from Smith and went coast to coast, though Shelden helped him by shielding him from a
defender.
The Big Two then took over for a bit. Redick passed to Williams, who hit a turnaround
jumper. Redick pulled up for a three and later
stole the ball and drained a three in transition. A
later drive was goaltended. Meanwhile, Shelden
scored on a hook and a nifty reverse layup while being double-teamed. Despite that
onslaught, Duke couldn't extend their lead past 10 points. Shelden picked up his second
foul with four minutes left in the half, and once again he went to the bench for a couple
of minutes. BC went on an 8-5 mini-run that
did more to slow Duke down than really push them ahead, but at that point, slowind Duke
down was a more important goal. Duke's offense
stagnated, with only a three by Melchionni and a tip-in by McRoberts emerging as Duke's
only points during this period.
The Eagles put a lot of pressure on
Duke by shooting 52%, mostly on drives by Dudley (10 points) and power moves by Smith (9
points). The Eagles could have had the lead if
they hadn't missed 5 foul shots, including a couple of one-and-ones. Nelson, Williams and Paulus all had 2 fouls, but
Coach K massaged this trouble by using Dockery extensively.
Duke countered BC's efficiency by forcing 9 turnovers and scoring 14 points
off of them. Still, BC's goal was to slow
things down, and they had the game played at a pace they liked.
Duke tried to focus more on Smith in
the second half, but BC countered when John Oates had 2 open looks from long range, and he
nailed both. BC hit 2 threes early in the
second half to seize the lead. Then came the
infamous but ultimately inconsequential dustup between Paulus and Louis Hinnant. Greg swung his arm after being playfully shoved by
McRoberts after generating a steal, and bumped Hinnant, who wasn't looking. Hinnant responded with a shove, but it never went
beyond some heated words and stares as both teams calmed down. Coach K and Al Skinner
shook hands at halfcourt, and the incident only served to make both teams more
intense--but just for playing basketball.
BC extended their lead to 44-40, but
Duke smacked them with a 17-3 run. Up to that
point, Redick had seemed a bit distracted. He
missed a couple of free throws and several shots and only scored 1 point in the first five
minutes of the half. While he was struggling,
Shelden hit a reverse layup and then blocked a shot by Smith. McRoberts was fouled and made his first free throw.
He missed the second and grabbed the offensive rebound.
Seeing a lane on the baseline, he posterized Oates with a brutal dunk and
got the foul. That play gave Duke back the
lead, but Oates responded by hitting another three.
McRoberts then used his eye to hit
Paulus inside for a score. Greg grabbed a miss
and hit Redick in transition, who pulled up for a three.
This came after a little motivating chat with Chris Collins that fired
Redick up, because he came back to sink 2 more in a row as BC's perimeter defense broke
down. With twelve minutes to go, Duke's lead
was 10 again, 57-47. Back came BC with 9
straight points (5 from Hinnant, 4 from Smith) as Duke missed a couple of shots and Paulus
left points at the foul line. When BC got
within a point, Shelden scored on a spinning jumper plus the foul.
The Eagles fought back with a 9-1 run. Smith and Hinnant combined for 7 of those points as
they tore Duke apart, and both Williams & Redick missed some shots. With five minutes to go, the action became even
more intense. BC led 65-61 and it was Duke's
turn to respond to BC's playmaking.
Redick drove and kicked it to Nelson. Markie had not hit a single shot the entire game,
but he sank this clutch shot to bring Duke within 1 and break a three minute drought. Hinnant then drove right by McRoberts and threw
down a ferocious dunk. The senior was really
fired up by the earlier altercation and wound up scoring all 20 of his points in the
second half. Williams and McRoberts each hit a
free throw to pull Duke within 1. Dudley
scored to put BC up by 3, but Nelson found McRoberts inside to make it 69-68 with 2:43
left. Hinnant then found Smith inside for another score with 2:14 to go.
It was JJ time. Nelson found him just off center for a huge basket
that tied the game with under two minutes left. Smith
was fouled by Williams and hit 2 crucial free throws.
Redick then pulled up from 30 feet and dropped an astonishing trey with 1:17 to go.
All the momentum suddenly swung to the Devils, and every rebound and loose
ball seemed to go their way. Hinnant missed
against tough defense and Paulus rebounded. McRoberts
hit just 1 free throw to put Duke up 2. Shelden
bothered Smith enough to force a miss and grabbed the board.
He then calmly drained 2 pressure-packed free throws with eleven seconds to
go. Hinnant hit a ridiculous three with four
seconds left. Paulus hit a free throw, then missed the second, and watched as Hinnant just
missed a halfcourt shot.
Duke prevailed against a tough foe at
their peak. Hinnant went berserk but Dudley
was actually quiet in the second half. Duke
nearly maximized their points off turnovers, scoring 21 points from 14 BC miscues. Redick sizzled from long range, nailing 7-11 from
three. Both teams were shaky from the foul
line, with BC shooting 59% and Duke 65%. Redick
was an obvious choice for tournament MVP, becoming one of a select group of players to win
the award twice. He became the tournament's
all-time leading scorer with his clutch threes at the end, and also became the all-time
three point scorer as well. JJ also became one
of the few players to win 3 ACC titles. Shelden
was another obvious first team selection, while both Josh & Greg made the second team.
Greg simply played loose and free. He trusted his instincts more and it seemed like
his teammates trusted him more as well. Often,
the most difficult decision a point guard must make is when to call his own number. Greg was so paralyzed trying to get the ball to
Redick and Williams that he stopped actually looking at game action to determine what the
best course of action truly was. He's now
taking advantage of driving lanes, finishing with contact and taking open shots when
available. That increased confidence on
offense makes him a more effective playmaker, and that showed with an excellent
assist/turnover ratio. It should be noted that
none of the three teams Duke faced tried to press him, and Duke must be careful with such
teams in the tournament.
McRoberts played aggressively and
really opened up his bag of tricks on offense. He
had everything working: jumper, dunks, post-ups, getting fouled, and most especially
passing. More and more, he's getting
comfortable enough in a motion system to make good decisions and create. There are still questions surrounding his defense
and rebounding, but Josh came up with a number of big boards when needed.
Dockery is still struggling with a hand
injury that is healing slowly. It's getting
better, but it's hard to shoot with and it shows. Duke
will need him to make some shots, and soon. Hopefully
the time off will continue to aid in his recovery.
Nelson had serious foul trouble the
last couple of games, but he has been playing great basketball lately. He certainly gave Diaz trouble. He simply needs to avoid committing silly touch
fouls. That shot he hit against BC had to do
wonders for his confidence.
Melchionni still isn't hitting many
shots, but one senses that he's going to have one big game in the NCAA tournament where
all of his shots fall.
Boykin and Boateng continue to show
obvious deficiencies at the defensive end, but are trying to fight through it with the
time they get. Hopefully they can get some
extended minutes in Duke's first round game.
About Redick and Williams, not much
more needs to be said. They led Duke to their
third title of the season: preseason NIT, ACC regular season and ACC tournament. Now they have just one more title to go, and both
look like they have plenty of energy. It's
been proven that they can't do it alone, but it looks like their younger teammates are
more willing and able to help them.
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