Duke Basketball Playbook 2021-2022

I WANT TO READ ABOUT THE MOST RECENT GAME

“Lucky Devil” Extra: COACH K’S FINAL SEASON (Season 13 Preseason Issue) with Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes”

BILL’S CLIFF NOTES

Some of the same reasons that I suspect played into Coach K’s decision to retire had caused me to seriously question whether I really wanted to make the commitment for another season of Duke Basketball Playbook. Primarily, it is this: if the players are not willing to commit to the school, their education, and their teammates for more than one single season—or in Jalen Johnson’s case (had to look his name up), only part of a single season—why should I? For me, the memories of Laettner, Hurley, Hill, Brand, Williams, Battier, Redick etc. maturing and getting better are everlasting, while I cannot even remember most of the names of the one-and-doners from the last few years.

However, when I read that Coach was lacing them up for one more season, I texted Alan: “We can’t quit now. We should go out with Coach K.”

ALANALYSIS:

Both Bill and I are admiring of how Duke is handling the coaching transition from K to Scheyer (especially in light of the desultory UNC handling of Ole Roy’s retirement). Ole Roy commiserated that “the game has passed me by.” There was no planning for “next year”; no introduction or announcement of a new coach. Nothing to encourage the fans. Duke’s year certainly ended unceremoniously, with positive COVD-19 tests and, therefore, a quiet exit from the ACC postseason. Last year’s COVID-ridden season, combined with the wholesale departures (especially the mid-season desertion of Jalen Johnson plus DJ Steward’s unwarranted — by talent — post-season departure) was depressing for this august publication. Most certainly it was so for Coach K, too. Thus, Bill had already said he did not want to participate in the DBP for next season, and I had said I was seriously considering abandoning it too. But the dynamic editorial duo of Jeanne and Laramie remained steadfast with the team. When Coach K announced his quintessentially K-type exit, then we just couldn’t resist.

As ESPN insightfully wrote, “Did you really think [Coach K] would let that [13-11; no tournaments] be his finish line? Of course not. Call this upcoming campaign a retirement tour, call it a victory lap, call it whatever you want. But if we have learned anything about Krzyzewski over the last half-century, it’s that he will never pass up a chance to win basketball games. Duke has a chance to win a lot of them between now and April.”

The Duke transition – unlike the UNC transition — set up real renewed energy for the 2021-2022 Duke season,and therefore an impassioned pursuit of a National Championship to cap the last year of Coach K’s magical Reign: “Now that there’s clarity for our team, I think for everyone, we can focus on the task at hand. Which is to win the whole damn thing this year and have the best season we possibly can.”

I doubt there would have been a DBP for this coming season save for the excitement newly generated for Coach K’s final run at a National Championship (I’ll settle for an ACC tournament or regular season title). But the excitement is real and is the catalyst for Bill’s and my continuing the DBP for this coming season. We plan it as our last season as well. It’s hard to do better than going out with Coach K.

So, let’s take a peek at the pieces that will make up Coach K’s last team in pursuit of excellence. COVID prevented me from seeing the newcomers in action during high school all-star games last year as I usually do, so for the four freshmen (and one transfer), we will have to depend on ESPN’s scouting. Btw, ESPN says that “Duke will enter the season with a team that should be poised to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. The Blue Devils are ranked No. 13 in ESPN’s most recent Way-Too-Early Top 25.

THE FRESHMEN [all quotes in this section are from ESPN]

“It might come as no surprise, but Coach K’s final season will be largely impacted by the play of his highest ranked prospect – Paolo Banchero (ESPN #2). Banchero exits high school with a college-ready game and frame. Standing 6-foot-9 and 235 pounds, Banchero possesses tremendous size and strength for the position. Not only is his frame mature for a prospect exiting high school, but he also plays a mature game with powerful athleticism. Paolo not only is highly effective and efficient in the paint and as a rebounder, but he has expanded his skillset to the perimeter, able to make shots off the catch and put the ball on the ground to attack slower bigs.”

I note that these are almost exactly the same words that were written about Jalen Johnson before the start of the 2020-2021 season. That Jalen deserted, showing no loyalty to teammates, team, or university, doesn’t mean Banchero won’t live up to his lofty pre-season expectations. But it does mean that assuming an incoming freshman will lead the team is not without serious risks. [Wouldn’t it be nice if Matt Hurt re-thought his NBA departure for the last ride with Coach K? A pure fantasy, of course.]

“Another big addition for Duke happened to be their first [signee] in the 2021 class – AJ Griffin (ESPN #26). The five-star prospect is a tremendous athlete who can function both at the three and four on both ends of the court. Coach K will need him bringing a motor and energy to the floor next season as he can impact the game at a high level as a rebounder and defender when he’s locked in and engaged.”

“An important addition to Duke next season is Trevor Keels (ESPN # 20), who has a college-ready game with his [length], skillset and feel for the game. He is a serious threat from three but also is a good passer and rebounder for the [guard] position who has improved his scoring off the bounce this past season.” He had been Jeremy Roach’s backcourt partner in high school – though a year younger — where they both had much success.

“Given the lack of depth at the point guard spot next year, Jaylen Blakes (ESPN # 89) will come in and have a role to fill behind Roach. Blakes is a tough, strong and competitive guard who can provide valuable minutes for Coach K […] He is a capable scorer from all three levels which is a nice bonus but his motor, energy and toughness will be his most reliable asset.”
THE TRANSFER

“Theo John is a grad transfer out of Marquette who averaged eight points, five rebounds and 1.5 blocks this past season.” John is a burly rebounder who will do the dirty work inside and reinforce Duke’s front court, while bringing needed experience to the roster.

KEY RETURNERS: WENDELL MOORE, MARK WILLIAMS, JEREMY ROACH plus JOEY BAKER

Coach K’s key returners start with sophomore Mark Williams, who had a monster end to the 2020-21 season. In his final four games of the season, Williams averaged 18.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks, including a 23-point and 19-rebound performance in a win over Louisville in the ACC Tournament.

It was a performance that has stardust dancing in the eyes of Duke fans. If Williams can maintain that level of play, Duke will have the kind of season we are hoping for. His game against Louisville has “visions of sugar plums” dancing in the eyes of Duke fans. Let’s see if the sugar plums are in view when reality sets in and the season is underway.

“Wendell Moore, who averaged 9.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists this past season. Moore, a former top 30 prospect in the 2019 class, is the last man standing from his high school class at Duke and brings important experience to the roster next season.” Wendell, a Junior, has been an enigma in his two years. He has made some spectacular plays (ask UNC) and is clearly a superior athlete. Yet he has been a mediocre to poor shooter, with a penchant for turnovers (and great passes). I predict he will be the valuable sixth man, who can play all positions, except center. Moore is a talented slasher who can impact the game as a rebounder and playmaker and could develop into a force in guiding this Duke team out on the floor.

Sophomore Jeremy Roach, a former five-star guard in the 2020 class, may be the key to the season. Last year was a bit of a rocky season for Roach, who averaged 8.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in his first year at Duke. His ability to use that experience to make a jump in year two will be key for the Blue Devils next season. Roach was a disappointment early, but Coach K has stuck with him. We say we like to watch the young guns develop. For Duke to chase glory this season, Roach will HAVE TO DEVELOP — 2.8 assists per game will NOT get the job done! He is the only player on the roster with the talent to become an elite leader at point guard. I admit to being positive about Roach’s development, but it is no sure thing.

The last of the returners is Joey Baker, a 6-foot-6 senior who played an average of 11.5 minutes a game last season. While Baker had had a reputation as a marksman from deep, he did not shoot as well last year as he had in his sophomore year. If he can provide a helpful boost off the bench and make shots for the Blue Devils and provide poise taught by his three years under Coach K, he will offer value. However, in 3 years, Baker has shown the hustle and the desire, but not ACC elite level talent.

As ESPN concludes, “this winter, smiles will come only if his last Duke Blue Devils team is winning games. Then again, it wouldn’t be a true Mike Krzyzewski season if there weren’t plenty of snarls to go around. Even now, the last time around.” But in reality, the smiles should be, and are, an appreciation of Duke basketball, the principles that guide it, and a deep appreciation of Coach K’s 42 years of contributing to and creating this special journey. We want to be part of that legacy to the end.

Season 13 Issue Zero – with Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes”

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

I don’t know about you, but I welcome anything that passes for normal in these abnormal times when so much is politicized and civility, logic, and common sense are forgotten and, perhaps, lost arts. So, I welcome throwback sporting events with stadiums full of energized fans. But especially, I look forward to the 2021-22 Duke Basketball season for the following reasons:

Cameron and opponent venues will be rocking (for different reasons) in response to The Coach K Farewell Tour. Four tickets for his final game against the Tar Heels in Cameron were auctioned off for $1,00,000 (proceeds going to the charitable Dickie V Foundation).
Duke is loaded with more depth, talent, size, and chemistry than any team since the 1991-92 National Championship team. And by the way, Coach K’s teams have rarely won with size and strength alone — but this team is deep in both. Also, unlike some recent Blue Devil teams that appeared to enjoy playing offense more than defense, these players demonstrate an appetite for playing a very aggressive man-to-man defense– so do not expect to see much zone.

I base my assessment on rather thin data except scouting reports, one scrimmage, and one exhibition game. The exhibition game against Winston-Salem State (WSS) was relatively meaningless, but the WSS team is hardly The Little Sisters of the Poor; however, the scrimmage against a veteran and highly rated Villanova (#5-9) was whispered to have been won in the mid-teens. Obviously, we will know a lot more after the November games against Kentucky, Gonzaga, and Ohio State.

Alan is writing a very comprehensive pre-season assessment, so: “That’s all for now, folks”.

ALANALYSIS

Coach K’s Approach to the 2021-2022 Duke Basketball Season (and Ours)

“I told my staff and everyone around me not to use the word ‘last’. This is my 47th year, my 42nd year at Duke. … For the last four decades we’ve made a mark on college basketball, and I’d like to make another mark before I leave.”

Duke Men’s Basketball team opens its intriguing season on November 9, 2021, at Madison Square Garden against Kentucky, to be aired on ESPN. To whet your whistle for Coach K’s swan song (not to mention mine and Bill’s), here is the pre-season Duke Basketball Playbook (DBP) for what we hope will be a memorable season in many enduring ways.

Duke played two 12-minute intrasquad games at Countdown to Craziness on October 15, a closed scrimmage with Villanova on October 23 in D.C., and an exhibition game against Winston Salem State on Oct. 30. The intrasquad games were fun but not illuminating. The Villanova scrimmage was split into a 20-minute game; a 10-minute game; plus substantial time was spent working on specific game situations. No statistics or descriptions were permitted, but scuttlebutt says the Blue Devils held their own against a team rated in the top 5 pre-season.

But the first half of the Winston Salem exhibition game gave us a mouthwatering glimpse of what this team might become.

THE ROSTER

DUKE (106) v. WINSTON SALEM STATE COLLEGE (38)

SCORE AT THE HALF: DUKE (63) v. WSS (13)

WSS did not score its 10th point until 4:37 was left in the first half. With 9 minutes and 37 seconds gone in the first period, Duke had 37 points (full game points at that rate is 145). With 40 seconds left in the first half, Duke led by 53; with a score of 63-10. What a devastating performance!

But the opponent was not Kentucky.

THE STARTERS

Mark Williams (7’0” sophomore) looked as good as he did during his late season performances last year. In 19:06 minutes, he blocked 5 shots and scored 14 points (6-7 from the field; 2-3 from the stripe) to go with 5 rebounds. WSS is undersized. Let’s see how Mark handles players of the first rank, like in the game against Kentucky, and if he can handle it consistently.

Wendell Moore (6’5” junior) has drawn a significant amount of praise for his improvement, and corresponding level up in confidence. He can play three positions and run the team when Roach is out. In 17:53 he scored 8 (3-4 from the field; 2-2 from deep) to go with 6 assists — with 0 turnovers. Moore seemed comfortable playing both on the perimeter and up front, and was defensively intense with 2 steals.

Jeremy Roach’s (6’1” sophomore) potential for leadership and improvement in running the team may be the key to this season. He did not have the year that he, and Duke, had hoped for last year, but he looked simply terrific at both ends in the exhibition opener, scoring 10 while handing out 7 assists, with only one turnover during his team-high 21:48 minutes.

Paolo Banchero (6’10 freshman) is Duke’s most celebrated recruit (Pre-Season Player of the Year in the ACC; Newcomer of the Year and Pre-Season first team ACC). In 20 minutes, he scored 21 points (8-13; 1-2 from deep; 4-7 from the stripe), while pulling down 9 boards and handing out 2 assists, plus a steal. He is comfortable both inside and outside. In fact, Coach K lists him as one of the team’s 4 or 5 best ball handlers.

Trevor Keels (6’4” freshman) was Roach’s backcourt partner in high school. He is a mere 18 years old with a grown man’s muscular body. He led the scoring at Countdown to Craziness and looked impressive on both ends of the floor in his 20:18 against WSS, scoring 12 while dishing out 4 assists (0 turnovers). He may be in the starting lineup to stay.

THE BENCH

Adrian Griffin (6’6” freshman) was projected as a starter until he hurt his knee a few weeks ago. He wasn’t expected to play at all in the exhibition game, but he logged 17:39 with the second unit. You could see the rust start to come off as he scored 10 (3-6; 0-2 from deep and 4-9 from the stripe), all in the second half. He drew 5 WSS fouls while grabbing 6 rebounds. Coach K loves him because he’s passionate about defense and comes from a basketball family. His dad played 10 years in the NBA and now is an assistant coach with the Raptors. He will either replace Keels as a starter or be the valuable 6th man (think Mike Dunleavy in 2000).

Theo John (6’9” graduate transfer from Marquette) is a big, strong rebounder and defender. He logged 17:01, scoring 6 (2-4; 2-2 from the stripe) while grabbing 5 boards and demonstrating a good passing ability. He looked solid and will be valuable.

Jaylen Blakes (6’2” freshman) is a point guard, who played well and could lead the team if Roach went down (though I think it would more likely be Moore). He played 21:51, looking good against this level of competition even though his shot was off (2-9; 1-3 from deep without getting to the line). He did grab 6 boards with 2 assists, 0 turnovers, and 2 blocked shots.

Joey Baker (6’6” senior) played the fewest minutes (16:56) scoring 8 (3-7; 2-5 from deep without getting to the line). He did grab 6 boards but committed 4 fouls and had a shot blocked. He will get a chance to earn his way into the rotation.

Bates Jones (6’8” graduate transfer from Davidson) is Daniel Jones’s brother (former Duke and current NY Giant QB; his sister, Ruthie, is the current goalie for Duke’s women soccer team). To me, he looked the best of the bench candidates (after Griffin). In his 18:12, he scored 11 (3-5; 2-4 from deep and 3-3 from the stripe) to go with 4 boards and a blocked shot. At 6’8”, he demonstrated that he can shoot, rebound, and pass. He might surprise and make the rotation.

How good Duke becomes defensively will define the season.

Next Play: Kentucky on November 9 at 9:30 p.m. EST at Madison Square Garden on ESPN. We’re on!

Duke 79 – Kentucky 71 (Season 13 Issue 2 Game 1) with Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes”

ALANALYSIS:

DUKE 79 V KENTUCKY 71

Madison Square Garden– Duke & Kentucky about to take the stage for the Championship Classic game. The atmosphere: simply electric. Coach K was honored. Duke fans filled the arena, buzzing with high anticipation for the season. The entire Knick team and celebrities were everywhere. Does it get any better than that? Well, yes. The game not only lived up to the hype, it over-delivered the hype. It was a great college basketball game between two really good teams. Both teams played with Final Four intensity (not always pretty, but always in breathless overdrive).

While most game stories lead with the spectacular offensive performances of heralded freshmen Paolo Banchero and Trevor Keels (and they were both amazing), it was Duke’s defense that determined the outcome. Duke clamped down for two amazing defensive runs in the second half that created safe leads. However, Duke was badly beaten in the interior by Oscar Tshiebwe, a 6’9” Man Mountain who – for stretches – controlled both backboards. In 29 minutes (a burden of first half fouls limited his game minutes), he scored 17 points (8-14 at the rim and 1-1 from the stripe) to go with a jaw dropping 19 rebounds (12 on the offensive boards). He took Mark Williams virtually out of the game. Theo John was stronger than Mark and logged more minutes. Both were seriously destroyed by Tshiebwe.

The Defense

In the first half, Duke was superb inside the arc, holding the Wildcats to just 7-30 there. There were no open looks. Tshiebwe retrieved 7 offensive rebounds, but he only scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting. However, his astounding offensive rebounding gave Kentucky 13 more field goal attempts than Duke (41-28). Duke’s defense held Kentucky to the same number of baskets (13), but Kentucky was able to stay in the game by going 6-11 at the 3-point line. Duke adjusted at half time, holding Kentucky to 1-7 from behind the arc in the closing stanza while pulling away for a quality win.

With 16:33 to go in the second half, Kentucky took a 48-47 lead. Kentucky’s next score came a full 3:07 later (with 13:40 remaining) when the Wildcats converted two free throws to cut the Duke lead to 5. The Wildcats didn’t score again for another 90 seconds while Duke’s lead grew to 11. With 8:56 left, Duke’s lead was 15, primarily because Kentucky had scored just 6 points in 7 minutes and 37 seconds! This Duke team is going to be a really good defensive team.

Then, Kentucky caught fire and the Devils stalled on 69 for over 4 minutes (cramping took both Moore and Paolo out for a spell) while the Wildcats rode Tshiebwe back into contention. The Man Mountain scored 7 points while grabbing 3 offensive and 3 defensive boards, and he blocked a shot. His foul shot drew Kentucky within 4 points (69 – 65) with 6:07 remaining. Then the Blue Devil defense became dominant again, and the Wildcats could score only 4 points in the next 5:05. By then Duke led by 8 with just over a minute left and the game was securely in hand.

Keels, Roach, and Moore were brilliant defenders on the perimeter. Banchero can guard several positions – unusual for a 250 pound 6’10” player. He had 2 great steals. Tshiebwe made life a challenge for Theo John and neutralized Mark Williams; however, Williams did make two winning plays in the clutch. With 5:34 and 4:31, respectively, left in the game – Williams made two sensational blocks on a driving Sahvir Wheeler, Kentucky’s point guard. Coach K emphasized how crucial those two plays were to the Duke final run.

Another great unexpected perk for Duke came when A.J. Griffin (highly rated freshman who has been injured and was not expected to play) replaced Paolo when Banchero had to come out of the game due to cramping. A.J. gave Duke a real lift on defense and the boards. He played over 10 minutes. Duke started to pull away when A.J. came in, but it was Keels who broke the game open.

The Offense and Rotation

The Rotation

In the first half, Mark Williams (8:42) and Theo John (11:18) divided the center position. Joey Baker played 5:27 (0-2; 0-1 from deep; 2-2 from the stripe) and grabbed a pair of rebounds. Griffin had a 1:37 cameo. Jaylen Blakes played a shade under 3 minutes, but missed a wide-open corner 3, which relegated the freshman backup point guard to the bench for the remainder of the game. Jeremy Roach played all 20 minutes of the second half. Williams (9:04) and John (10:56) again split the center duties as they had in the first half. Griffin logged 9 second-half minutes and earned Coach K’s praise. Griffin is a very gifted player, and his return is significant for this team’s development. Baker played 6 minutes without a statistic. Otherwise, it was the starters who were on the court: Roach, Keels, Banchero, Moore and the two splitting center duty.

The Offense

The negative was that Duke had more turnovers (9) than assists (7). But even that drawback could not diminish the offense, led primarily by Keels and Banchero.

Trevor Keels emerged as a potential lottery pick, according to the announcers. He was, in fact, that amazingly good. In the second half, when the cramping hit Duke, Keels carried the team. He was 7-11 (2-3 from the stripe) for 16 points. He led Duke in scoring for the game with 25 points (10-18; 1-4 from deep and 4-6 from the stripe) to go with 3 steals and 2 assists. He was simply a revelation in his 33:27 on the court.

So was Banchero in his 31:30. He scored 22 on just 11 shots (7-11; 0-3 from deep and 7-8 from the line). He drew fouls and converted free throws. His shots came from everywhere – the perimeter, the post, at the rim (but only from inside the arc). Paolo added 7 defensive boards and a couple of steals. In short, he lived up to the considerable hype, and may have even surpassed it.

Wendell Moore played an excellent game in his 33:24, scoring 12 (6-10; 0-2; 0-1) with 4 boards and 3 assists. He is an intense defender and an able leader — he and Baker are co-captains this year.

Although Jeremy Roach did not light up the box score (6 points on 3-8; 0-1 from both deep and the foul line; only 1 assist against 2 turnovers), he played more minutes than any other Duke player (36:33). Coach K’s faith and reliance on Jeremy is demonstrated by his presence on the court for the entire 20 minutes of the second half. Jeremy is improved, confident, and showed an athleticism that I did not see from him last year. Roach grabbed as many rebounds as Paolo and Williams did (7) and had a brace of steals.

I think (and fervently hope) that Duke’s failure from behind the arc (1-13) was an aberration because 1-13 from deep won’t cut it. Keels made the only deep shot but was 1-4 for three-pointers overall. Banchero was 0-3. Moore 0-2. Griffin, Blakes, Baker and Roach were all 0-1.

Theo John and Mark Williams each scored 5 (each was 2-4 plus 1-2 from the stripe). They each tailor their defense style to their individual talents. John (who Bilas says protects the lane rather than the rim) had 2 blocks and 2 rebounds. Mark (who Bilas says protects the rim) had 7 boards and 3 blocks, including the two dramatic ones down the stretch. Williams has more raw talent than John, but Tshiebwe was simply too strong for him. How the center position develops will be an ongoing saga. I predict a good year for Mark. There are not too many centers like Tshiebwe.

BILL’S CLIFF NOTES:

Tonight’s early, pressure packed test against intense rival Kentucky in sold out mecca Madison Square Garden on national TV confirmed what I wrote in the DBP Preview: This is the deepest, most talented Duke squad since the 1991-92 Laettner, Hurley, Hill NCAA Championship team. That doesn’t mean they will win the championship, but barring injuries, they will surely be a contender.

Duke was ahead most of the way but was unable to shake a very persistent, resilient Kentucky team led atypically by two older, grad transfers: center Oscar Tshiebwe, a rebounding machine, and guard Sahvir Wheeler, a multi-talented point guard. However, after giving up six threes in the first half, the Blues Devils limited the Wildcats to only one in the second. It is not often a team is outscored by six three pointers and still wins, but Duke’s Trevor Keels (25), Paolo Banchero (22), and Wendell Moore (12) made sure it didn’t matter—that’s versatility. Banchero (“We’re a great team. We’re going to play together. We’re going to play hard all 40 minutes. And, yeah, I mean, we’re going to play like Duke.”) was as good as advertised, but when Banchero was out suffering from leg cramps, it was Keels, a basketball version of the Tennessee Titans great running back Derrick Henry, who virtually took over the game and made the difference. (“So, I knew when P went out somebody had to step up and that’s what I did. I kept looking at the score and I just made sure we were up and we were winning. That’s something that I look at all the time. I don’t really care about my points or anything like that. It’s that we come out with the victory.”)

The Good news:

Duke led for 35:46 of game time, while Kentucky led for just 2:07.
Before he developed cramps, Wendell Moore demonstrated he is a much better player than last year.
Grad transfer John Theo’s physicality gives Duke two very different options at center.
This team will not go 1-13 from three point land again or all bets are off.
AJ Griffin is recovering from a knee injury and only played 11 minutes, but nevertheless he really gave The Blue Devils a big lift. When totally healthy, he will be a major contributor in multiple ways.
The cramping issues will be solved before the Gonzaga game.

The Concerns:

Jeremy Roach did not appear much improved from last year. He couldn’t contain Wheeler (who was All SEC at Georgia last year) and only had 1 assist and 6 points. However, Moore, Banchero, and Keels all can initiate the offense. Obviously, Coach K does not agree as Roach played more minutes than any other Duke player.
Co-Captain Joey Baker still appears athletically overmatched and, unless opponents play a zone, does not bring much to the floor except reliable three point shooting.

Miscellaneous:

Why Kentucky hates Duke (Other than the Laettner shot in the NCAA Tournament): Barring another meeting in March Madness, retiring Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski will finish his iconic coaching career with a 7-2 record against Kentucky.
Mike Krzyzewski is in his 42nd season as Duke’s head coach, and his record is now 1,098-302 at Duke, and 1,171-361 overall in this, his 47th season overall.
The game marked Duke’s 100th time playing in the greater New York City area, where the Blue Devils won 73 of those games, including 45-25 at Madison Square Garden, 7-1 in Brooklyn, and 21-1 in East Rutherford, N.J.

Next Play: Duke’s Veteran’s Day Weekend Showcase (two games over the weekend, both in Cameron). Duke plays Army on Friday, November 12 at 7 pm. ACCN (I get those games on ESPN+) and Campbell on Saturday, November 13 at 8 pm. The first home games of the season. The next DBP will cover both of those games in one edition.

Duke 82 – Army 56 & Duke 67 – Campbell 56 (Season 13 Issue 3 Games 2&3) with Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes”

DUKE 82 V ARMY 56 (Friday Nov 12, 2021) – – DUKE 67 V CAMPBELL 56 (Saturday Nov 13, 2021)

ALANALYSIS:

Duke cannot be satisfied with two performances against unranked teams that were as close (though the final score does not show it) as the games against Army and Campbell were; however, the team’s potential is there, even though it was not visible until late in the second half of each of these last two games. The Duke offense looked sloppy and disjointed in the first half against Army. After Duke led by 10 with 17:17 left, Army out-scored Duke by 5 points in the next 16:32 to cut Duke’s lead to 30-25 with 1:49 left. Then, the game announcer insightfully reflected on Duke’s prestigious win against Kentucky on November 9: “Duke really didn’t play that well against Kentucky. The Blue Devils were 1-13 from behind the arc and were badly beaten on the interior. While Duke defended ferociously, Kentucky playmakers had success penetrating.” This reflection emphasizes Duke’s 2021-2022 potential upsides, as well as what needs improvement to reach that potential.

Coach K is now constructing a different offense. Consider Coach K’s past reliance on (and leadership given to the team by) his past elite point guards like Tommy Amaker, Bobby Hurley, Jay Williams, Jon Scheyer, Trey and Tyus Jones. This 2021/2022 team really does not have a true point guard, but they do have at least 4 excellent ball handlers. Duke looked so good in the later stages of the closing half in each game because Jeremy Roach became a true lead guard (more scoring than assists) while leading the offense. Downside is: Duke is still turning the ball over with troubling consistency. Roach has the potential to be the point guard, but he is not there yet. Coach K is hoping these factors will be sufficient to produce a cohesive offensive.

The Good

The Defense! Duke held Army to 56 points and forced 21 turnovers. Against Campbell, Duke trailed by 10 (18-8 with 13:55 left in the first half) when the Devils turned up the defense to hold Campbell scoreless for 4 minutes (18-17), and then to allow only an additional 3 pointer (on a possession occuring after Campbell corralled 3 offensive rebounds); thus holding Campbell virtually scoreless for a few seconds more than 8 minutes! The Blue Devils have terrific one-on-one perimeter defenders in Moore, Roach, Keels, and Banchero. Keels is a ball hawk with 10 steals in 3 games (6 just against Army). Against Campbell, Banchero was frequently the center; Duke was able to switch every screen because Paolo can guard on the perimeter. Duke is still overplaying and therefore giving up backdoor cuts and lay-ups. But overall, this edition of Duke basketball has the potential to be the best defensive team since winning the NCAA in 2010 and 2015.

Wendell Moore, Jr.! Against Army, Moore posted the fifth triple double in Duke basketball history scoring 17, grabbing 10 boards and handing out 10 assists. Moore has provided steady leadership, outstanding defense, excellent ball handling, and scoring. Above all, he has been consistent. He is the acknowledged team leader.

Paolo Banchero! The highly decorated freshman has more than lived up to the pre-season hype. He is so efficient that though he has taken only the 3rd most shots on the team, he leads in scoring (19.3 p.p.g) by a wide margin. He also leads the team in rebounding (8.7 r.p.g.), handles the ball adroitly, and defends well on both the perimeter and the interior. Let’s not forget his 15-17 (88.2%) free-throw shooting, which is fantastic considering how frequently he gets fouled.

The Bad (Not Really Bad, but Needs Big Improvement if Duke is to Reach its Potential)

Backcourt Consistency on Offense! Trevor Keels looked All-World against Kentucky but has not scored in double figures since then, and was, in fact, entirely scoreless in the second half against Campbell (6 points for the game). Since the Kentucky game, he has unsuccessfully forced some shots and has turned the ball over. Coach K has commented that Keels was exhausted after his fabulous performance against Kentucky. Keels’s backcourt partner, Jeremy Roach, has also been inconsistent, though his performance improved this past weekend. Roach didn’t light up the box score against Kentucky but has impressed Coach K enough to make him the player on the team who has logged the most playing time. He has started to score on driving layups (14 points against Campbell on 5-6 from inside the arc; 1-4 from deep; 1-2 from the stripe). He added 3 assists without a turnover for his best game. But he is not (yet) a Coach K true point guard. Stay tuned.

The Bench! Joey Baker has emerged as the first player off the bench, averaging 20 minutes of playing time per game (his 31 minutes against Campbell boosted this average significantly). 12 seconds into the Campbell game, Wendell Moore went down with an injury and Baker replaced him before being pulled back out when he didn’t score. Then, surprisingly, Baker had a great second half against Campbell, playing all 20 minutes while leading the team in second half scoring with 11 (all his points against Campbell came in the second half on 3-5 from deep and 2-2 from the stripe). It was the first time he was an efficient and critical contributor.

A.J. Griffin is playing around 9 minutes a game as the heralded freshman returns from a significant knee injury. So far, Griffin has shown flashes of potential, but is still a long way from being the contributor he was anticipated to be based on being a McDonald’s All-American in high school. Whether and when he reaches that potential will have a large impact on this Duke season. We wish him continuing recovery.

Jaylen Blakes has played about 15 minutes per game so far this season, scoring only 2 points (1-5, including 0-3 from deep). Whether he is in the rotation when the ACC season begins is still an open question.

Perimeter Shooting! As a team, Duke is shooting under 30 % from behind the arc, even after hitting 9 for 23 from deep against Campbell. In addition to Baker’s 3-5, Keels and Moore were each 2-5, while A.J. Griffin hit his only 3 (8-16 overall for those four players). Banchero is shooting 14% this season (1-7) from deep; Moore (14- 46 for 28%); Keels (4- 15 for 26%) and Griffin (1-4 for 25%). Duke has been simply dreadful from behind the arc.

The Ugly

Interior Rebounding, Scoring and Defense! Mark Williams finished last season so strong in scoring and rebounding that his continued progress (pre-season second team All-ACC) was a primary reason for Duke’s pre-season optimism and top 10 ranking. But he has not played much or well. Against Campbell, he played 5 first-half minutes without scoring and did not leave the bench in the second half. He is averaging only 15 minutes a game with modest scoring and rebounding numbers. He is, however, a shot blocker, averaging 1.7 even in those few playing minutes. He has also been a disappointing 50% free throw shooter so far. For Duke to be a contender, Mark has to return to his form from last year.

Theo John supplies toughness but, like Williams, has languished (15.7 minutes per game) with even lower scoring and rebounding than Williams. He has played pretty good defense, but the center position has not been even close to productive, unless Duke has Banchero play center with an otherwise small lineup.

No matter who is manning the middle, Duke has been killed on the backboards, giving other teams a large offensive rebounding advantage. Campbell played small (4 guards) and still outrebounded Duke 34-31, grabbing 15 offensive boards. Kentucky simply demolished Duke on the glass.

Duke’s interior play must improve; Williams is the key to that in all aspects of interior play. We also wish him a speedy recovery!

Going Forward

Duke has 3 more games against lesser opponents – Gardner Webb, Lafayette, and The Citadel — in Cameron in the next 8 days to work on the weaknesses that have appeared. Then comes another nationally televised test on November 26 against Gonzaga, on the West Coast (10:30 EST tip-off.)

Bill’s Cliffs Notes:

Raise your hand if you thought the filler games between Kentucky and Gonzaga were just against stiffs. Seriously? Campbell (formerly Junior College in Buies Creek, N.C. alma mater of Country Music Hall of Fame country writer John Loudermilk, author of “Abilene” & the haunting “Indian Nation”.) Note to file: There are no stiffs anymore. The world is full of people of all sizes and shapes who watch Steph Curry and think they too can fire up shots anywhere inside the half court line. However, Coach K schedules teams for a reason. Army and Campbell are likely potential NCAA Tournament first round opponents and are scheduled closely together so his young team gets used to playing different styles and playing through fatigue.

Coach K: “ The experience of playing against older teams that are going to be ahead of us as far as their ability to work together because they’ve worked together. In the military, you call it ‘on the job training’. No matter what you would do in the classroom or in practice, there’s nothing like on-the-job training.”

So, what did we learn?

For all the well-deserved hype of the freshmen, Junior Wendell Moore has matured into the most versatile, intense, and most indispensable player. Against Army (the final score was not indicative of the closeness of the game), Wendell became only the fifth Duke player—and the first guard—to achieve a triple double. (The others: Art Heyman, Gene Banks, Sheldon Williams, RJ Barrett). When he collapsed and went down and off to the locker room last night just 12 seconds after the tip-off, the season flashed before many eyes—especially the coaches. Fortunately, he returned, apparently none the worse for wear, and had a stellar game. But in the meantime, the Blue Devils fell behind 8-18, to rally only after Moore returned.
As precocious as this team is, and as exhilarating as the Kentucky win was, this is still a young team. After just three games, it appears that, so far, it is inconsistent and less efficient than the sum of the parts. Each of these players was the best player on their high school team and dominated the offense. A case in point is that in the impressive Kentucky win, Duke only achieved a comfortable working margin in the second half when three starters were off the court suffering from leg cramps and Trevor Keels took over and singlehandedly increased the margin to +16. After starters Banchero and Moore returned, the offense inexplicably stagnated and the margin was cut to 5. What that would seem to indicate is that with so many offensive initiators, they tend to stand around waiting for someone to go one-on-one rather than move without the ball, setting picks or getting open.
Having made just 10 of 41 3-pointers (24.4%) while starting the season with wins over No. 10 Kentucky and Army, Duke hit 9 of 23 (39.1%) against Campbell. The Blue Devils hit three 3-pointers during a 15-4 run midway through the second half that allowed them to build their first double-digit lead of the night. This was reassuring, because I am quite sure Duke will see more of their share of various zone defenses this year.
Last night, Duke was basically playing from behind for the first time all season. It was unclear how the temporary loss of Moore and that pressure was going to affect the Blue Devils. However, in winning 1,000+ games, Coach K has seen it all and seemingly willed them back into the game with timely lineup changes (sitting centers Williams and Theo), and relying on his more experienced players, Wendell Moore, Jeremy Roach, and Joey Baker, who played a surprising 31 minutes. This lineup shot 50%/ 39%/ 73% and needed all of it plus much better second half defense to avoid an embarrassing loss. Chalk it up to a learning experience.
It was a pleasure to see Joey Baker play an instrumental role last night, as he has been nothing but “True Blue Duke”, while so far experiencing a disappointing roller coaster of a career. It seems like a decade or so since he passed on his high school senior year to enter Duke, joining that great Sports Illustrated cover class of Zion, R.J., Cam, and Trey. Likewise, it was reassuring to see the overlooked and sometimes seemingly over-whelmed Jeremy Roach rise to the occasion.

Miscellaneous:

Bates Jones, a graduate transfer from Davidson, and former Duke QB Daniel Jones’ brother, played 7 minutes against Army, scoring 3 points with a rebound. It was a good night for his family as his younger sister, Ruth, recorded a shutout as Duke Soceer’s goalkeeper in a 1-0 NCAA tournament win over Old Dominion at Koskinen Stadium.

Next Play: Gardner-Webb on Tuesday, November 16 at 7 pm; ACC Network.

Duke 92 – Gardner Webb 52 (Season 13 Issue 4 Game 4) with Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes”

BILL’S CLIFFS NOTES:

After ten minutes of last night’s game, I thought I had mistakenly activated a rerun of the Campbell game. Holy Upset, Batman! Where is the Top Ten Team that beat Kentucky? Slowly, then all at once, relentless defense and Cameron Crazy pressure prevailed, and the young Blue Devils began to play as advertised! Mark Williams (13 pts. 6 blocks) was protecting the rim. Good ball and player movement abounded, shots were falling (57%/46%/71%). Duke finished with 24 assists on 36 made field goals.

Two more cupcake games and then another early midterm exam with Gonzaga that will be a reality check.

Some things are becoming apparent:

There are three exceptional scorers: Keels, Moore, and Banchero.
For this team to be a contender, Williams must be a consistent performer.
Roach must continue to provide on-the-ball pressure and improve offensively as a complementary fifth man.
Joey Baker appears to have developed into a reliable sixth man.
AJ Griffin is the sleeper/wild card. After not playing for two years (due to injuries), AJ is a major talent who could play a significant role.

Miscellaneous:

The elephant in Cameron: Michael Savarino, Coach K’s grandson, was arrested 1:10 a.m. Sunday for a DUI while driving Paolo Banchero’s Jeep. Paolo was in the back seat and cited (not charged) with “Aiding and Abetting”. The Orange County arrest report stated Savarino submitted to two breathalyzer tests and blew a .08 BAC. “He stated that he had several shots,” the report read. North Carolina law states that aiding and abetting DUI is classified as “when a person knowingly encourages, aids, advises or instigates another person to drive, or attempt to drive, while impaired. There are numerous different behaviors that this could encompass, but the most common scenario involves a person turning their keys over to an impaired driver, and/or being present as a passenger when the driver is arrested for DUI.”

Coach K: “We had a violation of our standards, and we’ll handle that internally. We’re already handling it, but it’s a violation of our standards. It’s two entirely different situations. [Coach K then made the distinction between Savarino’s and Banchero’s] Headlines might make it look like it’s the same, but it’s not. The decisions we made are in conjunction with our authorities and my superiors. We’re taking action and will continue to take action.”

ALANALYSIS:

The Blue Devil defense has been uncommonly outstanding so far in this young season. Duke held Kentucky to 71 points and followed that opener with suffocating defense against lesser teams, giving up 56, 56, and 52 points, respectively, in the next 3 games. Even though there have been some lapses, all the signs are positive; most importantly, this team is defensive minded and truly talented. Wendell Moore, Jeremy Roach, Trevor Keels, and Paolo Banchero have been superb individual defenders.

Against Gardner-Webb last night, Mark Williams began the process of morphing back into the form he displayed last March, blocking 6 Gardner Webb shots and diverting others. So far, the emphasis has been on creating “team defense” and Duke has been steadily building their cohesion. As Coach K pointed out in his post-game press conference, “I was really pleased with our effort tonight. We’ve been playing really good defense in the first three games but tonight we were even better. Our goal was to take away their three-point shooting, and we did a great job of that. It’s tough to single out one guy [for post-game praise] when you play good team defense.” K’s strategy was clearly successful as Gardner Webb went an anemic 2-16 from behind the arc.

It took the Blue Devils some moments to get back on track from a rough start before they steamrolled the Running Bulldogs. More than 12 minutes elapsed before Duke took its first lead, 14-13. They were able to increase it only slightly in the next 4 minutes (to 23-17) before the Blue Devil defense clamped down and started brewing offense. In the last 8 minutes of the first half, while the Devils rolled to a 23 point lead, GW managed only 5 points (not counting the 3 GW points in the last seconds of the half because Roach’s foul was just too silly to acknowledge). Duke won each half by 20 points; this with Duke playing its bench rather than the starters for most of the second half!

Trevor Keels returned to his Kentucky form in the first half, scoring 16 of his 18 points in the opening stanza. Moore took over the lead offensive role in the second half, scoring 12 of his 14 game points. All the Duke starters and Joey Baker scored in double figures.

The Interior

As encouraging as it was to see Mark Williams get 21 minutes of playing time, his impressive statistics and fluid movement once on the court fueled the encouragement. He scored 13 points (6-9 from the field and 1-2 from the stripe) to go with his career high 6 blocks, 3 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. Improvement in rebounding — still needed –against Louisville last March, Williams had 19; last night he had 2 offensive rebounds and only a single defensive board. But his playing last night showed clear movement in the right direction

Paolo Banchero did seem affected by the DUI, scoring only 5 points in each half (4-9 from the field; 0-1 from deep; and 2-3 from the stripe). These are modest numbers compared to his first 3 games (19.5 p.p.g). He grabbed 8 defensive rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, and a block, but also committed a turnover. He played with both Williams and Theo John, as well as being the center himself, when Duke had four smaller players on the floor with him.

Theo John played 15 minutes, grabbing 5 rebounds while scoring 4 points (2-3), with an assist and 2 turnovers.

Bates Jones played 9 second-half minutes, hitting 1-2 from deep with 2 boards and an assist.

The PerimeterJeremy Roach again led the team in minutes-played with 28. He handed out 6 assists, with only 2 turnovers, and played ferocious defense. The Gardner Webb coach mentioned Roach’s defense in his post-game assessment, even though Roach had only a single steal. He is a talented on-the-ball defender forcing GW to start their offense further away from the basket. Jeremy scored 10 (4-7; 0-1 from deep and 2-3 from the line). He is getting to the rim on his drives; Coach K wants him to shoot more from the outside.

Trevor Keels logged almost 26 minutes, leading the team in scoring with 18 points (6-9; including 4-6 from deep; 2-2 foul shots). He contributed 7 defensive rebounds and 4 assists. He and Roach play so well together on both ends of the floor.

Wendell Moore Jr. was a force! with his scoring, rebounding, passing, and leadership. This is becoming his team. He scored 14 (6-9; including 2-3 from deep), to go with 4 rebounds and 3 assists. He is a defender extraordinaire.

Joey Baker played his best 21 minutes of the year. He scored 12 points, even though he was only 1-4 from behind the arc. He was 3-3 on drives, and he had 2 assists and 3 steals, without a turnover. Coach K is pleased with his progress and currently has him as his first player off the bench.

Jaylen Blakes finally made a 3, for his only points (1-3 from the field, including 1-2 from behind the arc) in 11 minutes. He had a rebound, assist and turnover.

A Critical Factor

A.J. Griffin is that critical factor. He had not played for 2 years because of injuries; then he was injured again early in the pre-season. His play had been spotty (averaging only 9 minutes per game)–that is, until the second half last night where Griffin played 15 scintillating minutes. He is so athletic, with superior hops and strength that allows him to play bigger than his 6’7”. He led the team in rebounding in the closing period with 6, scored 5 (2-5; 1-3 from deep), with 2 assists and a steal. AJ’s improvement was apparent; Coach K applauded, “He has a strong body and tonight he played strong, and he can play even stronger with that body. He really worked hard tonight, and we just have to keep working with him. He has a great attitude. He’s got one of the better shots and a really soft shot but he’s behind the guys who are in the starting unit. Obviously, it’s a long season and we hope he can continue to get better, and he will be able to help us become a much deeper team.”

A catalyst to tap the depths of their potential is precisely what this team needs.

Next Play: Friday, November 19 vs. Lafayette in Cameron at 8 pm. ACCN

Duke 88 – Lafayette 55 (Season 13 Issue 5 Game 5) with Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes”

BILL’S CLIFFS NOTES:

Playing good, tenacious defense compensates for lapses or lulls in offensive productivity. However, executing inefficiently and misfiring for extended periods against Lafayette, Campbell, Army, Gardner-Webb is troubling because the three-point shot is a potential equalizer, and embarrassing game changer. Last night, despite another strong start by Mark Williams, the winless Lafayette Leopards made a perplexing first half run to close within five points, just before a Duke 3 and the break. At the start of the second half, Wendell Moore once again took over, and the Blue Devils cruised to a misleading thirty-point victory.

Make no mistake, I think Coach K is the greatest college coach of all time. I have exactly 1,175 fewer wins than he has, and K is the last coach I would second guess. However, I do not believe that Jeremy Roach is talented enough to be the starting point guard on a championship team — but Wendell Moore is, and Duke would be more of a contender than a pretender with AJ Griffin, who can play the 2-5 positions, replacing Roach in the starting lineup.

But don’t take my word for it. Wendell Moore: “I knew he [AJ] was a phenomenal player. It was only a matter of time before the rest of the world was going to be able to see it.… The work he’s been putting in in the offseason and in practice, I’m just really so proud of him that he’s able to come out here and show this tonight because these past two years haven’t been easy for him at all… Really, for him, he hasn’t played basketball in two years, so we knew it was going to be an adjustment for him.”

One more warm up game Monday against The Citadel, then early midterm exams against Gonzaga and Ohio State will give us a better idea of how well this team has matured.

ALANALAYSIS:

The Defense

Against Lafayette, Duke held an inferior opponent to under 60 points for the fourth straight game. Still, it is true that we will not be able to assess where the Blue Devil defensive development is until Gonzaga (November 26) and Ohio State (November 30) are the opponents. So far Duke has been truly exceptional in stretches, but, as Bill noted, Duke has also had moments when the defense waned and lost intensity.

For example, against the Leopards, Duke gave up only 5 points in the first 5:31 of the game and then held Lafayette scoreless for the next 5:27. Think about the fact that the Duke defense held Lafayette to only 5 points in virtually 11 minutes, while forcing 14 turnovers and building a 16 point lead. Then the offense went cold, which translated into the loss of that defensive intensity. Coach K: “I think in the first half we got off to the 23-6 lead, and we didn’t let up, but we couldn’t hit a shot. [W]e fell into that trap that can happen to basketball players and teams where you let that influence the next play. You’re not thinking or talking on defense, and that’s what happened. In transition, we weren’t pointing and talking. We had three open threes and it all had to do with ‘Man I should’ve hit that shot.’ No, you should run down the court and play defense. We talked about it at halftime and how the only consistent part of a game you can have is to play good defense, and we’ve been playing great defense. Our offense has affected our defense, and in the second half, it didn’t do that. We played much more mature.”

With 4 minutes having elapsed in the second half, the score remained competitive with Duke leading by single digits 43-34. Then the defense simply roared! Moore shut down Kyle Jenkins, who had scored 12 points in the first half. Jenkins made only a single second half field goal. In the next 6:24 of the final stanza, the Blue Devils allowed only 5 points while stretching the lead to 26 (67-41) with 10:23 to go in the game, which ended any thoughts of a competitive finish. With 1:12 left in the game, Duke led by 35 points. Lafayette had scored only 14 points in the preceding 9:23!!

While Duke gave up a series of well executed backdoor layups to Lafayette when the Leopards were scoring against Duke and keeping the game competitive in the first half, the adjustments Duke made at half time completely cured that defect.

Mark Williams is returning to form on the defensive end with 4 blocks, 7 defensive rebounds (15 overall) and a steal, in only 21:23. Moore (29 minutes) and Roach (33 minutes) each had 2 steals; Banchero (a steal and a block in his almost 20 minutes), and Keels (25:31) all played beautifully together on the perimeter. AJ Griffin (a season-high 21 minutes) is also a talented defender. He had 2 steals and was on the floor to grab a loose ball.

It is time to test the Duke defense against the nation’s top teams.

The Offense

In recent past editions, I have made the point that Duke needed Mark Williams to return to his last-March form on both ends of the Court. Mark’s offense had been well below that level — he was not rebounding, and his scoring was anemic. At the same time, I urged that A.J. Griffin’s return to the form he showed a couple of years ago when he was a young high school player was also necessary for this Duke team to reach its full potential. Against the Leopards, Duke took significant steps toward both of those crucial transformations.

Mark Williams was a force for whom Lafayette simply had no answers. He scored 14 points (7-13; 0-2 from the line), to go with 15 rebounds (8 on offense), 4 blocks, and a steal. Coach K pointed out one special play for how it reflected Mark’s attitude adjustment, “the one play for Mark; I would call it persistence where he tried, and tried, then all of a sudden dunked it. That was a great play for him because he fought through that adversity.”

A.J. Griffin dramatically returned to his old high school form for the first time in a Duke uniform. He was 5th in minutes played (starter minutes); second in points scored (18 on 7-10, including a scintillating 4-6 from deep) to go with 2 rebounds. From the last DBP edition regarding Griffin: “A catalyst to tap the depths of their potential is precisely what this team needs.” Griffin provided that exquisitely against Lafayette. If Griffin can be consistent going forward, he will indeed be a critical factor for Duke’s season. Coach K knows this: “He’s getting in shape. He was out [this season] for two and a half weeks, and just so you know, he didn’t play in high school for two years. It’s a big learning curve, but he’s in better shape now. It’s not just one or two plays, he can play multiple plays. Obviously, he shot well but he can shoot. He has one of the softest shots. Just keep coming and he’ll make us better.”

Wendell Moore is playing superb basketball on both ends of the floor. Duke has upperclassmen leadership from him, which includes stepping up on offense when Duke falters, and making game winning plays on the defensive end. In the early second half, when Duke’s offense was still struggling and the Leopards had cut the lead to 7, Moore took over. He created an assist for himself and a basket for Williams, scored on a fast break triggered by a Williams block (and made the foul shot for a 3-point play), hit a pullup jumper, followed by a defensive rebound where he outletted to Keels, who fed him back for a 3-pointer. Moore created 10 points in under 2 minutes to stretch Duke’s lead to 14 and start the rout. How is this for an efficient stat line — 23 points in a little under 29 minutes (9-14, including 2-6 from deep; and 3-3 from the stripe) to go with 6 rebounds, 4 assists (to only a single turnover), and 2 steals.

Paolo Banchero is still a bit off, likely from the impact of the DUI issue, but still shows championship form. Although he was 0-6 from inside the arc in the first half, he played very well in all other aspects of the game. In 19:44 (he picked up 3 second-half fouls thus limiting his second half playing time to less than 6 minutes), he scored 11 (4-12, including 2-3 from deep in the second half; 1-2 from the stripe), while adding 6 rebounds, 4 assists (against only one turnover), a block, and a steal. His 7 second-half points in 6 minutes came at a crucial time.

Trevor Keels is so valuable, whether or not he is scoring dramatically (as he did against Kentucky and in the first half against Gardner-Webb). He is a superb perimeter defender, tough rebounder, and excellent passer. In his 25:31, he tallied 10 points (4-10, including 2-6 from behind the arc), 4 assists (only 1 turnover), and a steal.

Jeremy Roach failed to score in 33 minutes (0-6, including 0-1 from deep). He had 5 assists (4 in the second half) and only 2 turnovers. The Duke half-court offense looked stagnant to me. Duke has several good ball handlers, but not a true point guard. This is what fuels Bill’s insights about Roach. However, it seems clear that Coach K is pushing Roach to learn on the fly.

The Bench was a bit ineffectual, if you classify Griffin with the starters (6-person rotation is possible if not probable by tournament time). Joey Baker logged 15:23 of eradicate shooting: 5 points on 2-8, including 1-5 from deep, to go with 2 boards and an assist. Theo John backed up Mark Williams for 17:08, grabbing 6 boards and making 2 steals. He scored 4 (2-3; 0-1 from deep), including a sensational layup following a great steal, then dribbling the length of the floor to make an acrobatic shot.

Jaylen Blakes and Bates Jones played at mop-up time with the walk-ons. Savarino did not play.

Coach K on What It Takes To Win

“About three weeks ago on my XM show, we had Jason Kidd. He’s a good friend and was my captain in Beijing, and I asked him about playing with the best European player ever, Dirk [Nowitzki]. I said, ‘Now you have one of the top five or 10 players in the country, what about him (Luca Dončić)?’ and he said, ‘Coach, God gave him a lot of great genes. But the best gene he gave him was competitiveness.’ The only thing Dončić is concerned with is the score, and that’s my thing with the ‘next play.’ A basketball player, to be really good, has to have that, the only thing they’re really concerned about is the score, and what’s happening now, because you don’t have time to think between plays. Otherwise, you’re hurting yourself and that’s the thing we’ve been trying to develop with our guys. It didn’t work for 8-10 minutes today, but overall, it’s going pretty well.”

Next Play: Monday, November 22 against The Citadel at 9 pm in Cameron. ACCN. [Note: The Citadel beat Jeff Capel’s Pittsburgh Panthers by 15 on November 9.]

Duke 107 –The Citadel 81 (Season 13 Issue 6 Game 6) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” with Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes”

Gonzaga On Friday

Duke fans have been salivating for this game since the schedule was announced. Bill and I decided to delay the DBP so as to provide a bit of a preview after Gonzaga (#1) had played UCLA (#2) on Tuesday, November 23. Gonzaga was #1 last year and undefeated until beaten by Baylor in the NCAA championship game. UCLA was beaten by Gonzaga in an overtime buzzer-beater in the NCAA Semi-Finals. Yesterday’s game was different. It was never competitive.

Gonzaga dominated from start to finish, looking like the best college team in the nation. The Zags led by 20 or more for most of the game as they blitzed the Bruins from the opening tip to a crashing victory of 83-63. Gonzaga has a freshman — Chet Holmgren — even more highly rated than Duke’s own Paolo Banchero, . Holmgren is a 7 ft powerhouse who can do everything we have seen Banchero do. Twice he blocked the shot so softly that he recovered the ball, dribbled the length of the floor, including a behind the back move, for a thunderous dunk. Gonzaga’s other big front court player is Drew Timme, who,along with Holmgren, is a candidate for Player of the Year. At 6’10” he can do everything on a basketball court, including play 39 minutes last night, score 18 points, grab 8 boards, and hand out 2 assists. We will get an accurate fix on the quality of Duke’s front court on Friday. Gonzaga’s best player, 6’5” Andrew Nembhard, leads the backcourt. He was on the floor for the entire game last night, scoring 24 (9-13, including 2-6 from 3land; 4-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Duke’s defense has been very good this year against lesser opponents. Gonzaga’s offense has been very high scoring. Coach K will get an accurate read on how good his defense is against such an elite team, and so will we.

Likewise, Coach K will be able to better measure Duke’s offense against an elite defense, as Gonzaga’s defense has been stifling this season. Gonzaga allowed only 63 points to UCLA (the #2 team in last week’s polls). Only Texas has scored more than 63 points this season against the Zags; the Longhorns scored 74, while still losing by 12. We’ll see how Coach K’s offense — 4 ball handlers, but no true point guard — works against this tough defense. Roach especially will be tested.

Dick Vitale made an emotional return as color commentator even while he is very publicly dealing with cancer. I suspect much of the audience was in tears right along with him in his first moments back. With Gonzaga ahead 33-10 after only 12 minutes of play, Dickie V looked forward to the Duke – Gonzaga game in typical Dickie V fashion, warning us that “Gonzaga is not The Citadel.”

DUKE 107 v. CITADEL 81 (Monday Nov 22, 2021)

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

Steph Curry has changed the way the game of basketball is played, and it has made for more exciting, interesting, and competitive contests. The Citadel, who beat Pittsburgh by 15 points to open this season, is a prime example. Last night they, characteristically, came out firing and made a Cameron-record of 18 of 34 threes, yet lost 107-81; this only because Wendell Moore and Paolo Banchero combined for 50 points, 16 rebounds, and 15 assists, while the Blue Devils made only 3 turnovers and made 27 of 29 free throws. Wendell is having a Player-of-the-Year start to the season, and is the poster child for not being a one-and-done fly by athlete-student. (Incidentally, Matthew Hurt, who left Duke early, was cut by two NBA teams and is toiling for The Memphis Hustle in the G League). Banchero, a wonderful, multidimensional talent, is figuring out that at this level, he is a lot more effective in the half court playing like Art Heyman, than wandering around the perimeter firing up pretty jump shots.

The Friday night game against Gonzaga, which is not Kentucky, will be a good test as to how far this team has come and how far they have to go to be a serious national contender.

Other Comments:

Mark Williams allows this team to play at a different level at both ends of the floor.
Trevor Keels seems to have hit the freshman wall offensively; however, it has not affected his defense.
John Theo gives The Blue Devils a Big East type toughness they will need during the season—and he can hit free throws.
If Jeremy Roach can’t get to the basket against a smallish Citadel, what hope does he have trying this against Gonzaga, UNC, et al?
Joey Baker is demonstrating a lot more diversity to his game.

ALANALAYSIS:

The Citadel put on quite a 3-point shooting exhibition (18 for 34), setting the Cameron Indoor Stadium record for most 3s in a game. The Bulldog 3-point barrage kept them close until the second half; however, their deep shots were not enough for the Bulldogs to remain close late in the game. Duke’s offense played its best of the year, against a team that seemed disinterested in attempting to keep the Blue Devils from scoring.

The Good

The Offense

Duke blew the game wide open in the second half when the Blue Devil offense simply went into overdrive. After tallying 52 in the first half, Duke scored 55 points in the final period with these dazzling statistics – 15 assists without a single turnover, 12-13 from the foul line, and 17-26 from inside the arc. Duke’s only weakness: 3-11 from behind the arc. Duke’s inefficiency from deep has been constantly troubling so far this year! In the closing stanza, Banchero notched 15 points (6-9, including 1-2 from deep; 2-2 from the stripe), grabbed 3 rebounds, and handed out a pair of assists, all without a turnover. Moore was equally superb, scoring 13 (5-7 including 1-2 from 3land; 2-3 from the foul line), to go with 3 rebounds and a team-high 4 assists. This was just in the second half where Banchero and Moore each played 14:12. Mark Williams made it a trio of stars, scoring 10 (5-5 at the rim) in 12 minutes to go with 4 rebounds, 3 assists without a turnover (obviously), and 2 blocks.

Paolo Banchero seems to have returned to his pre-DUI form (in the second half). He dropped 28 on The Bulldogs in 31 minutes (10-19; 2-5 from 3land; 6-6 from the line) with 8 rebounds, 6 assists (without a turnover), 2 steals, and a block.

Wendell Moore, Jr. played a superb 34 minutes, approaching a triple-double. He dished out 9 assists without a turnover and corralled 8 rebounds in addition to scoring 22 (8-14, including 2-7 from deep; 4-5 from the stripe). He is drawing superlatives from the experts for his on-the-ball defense and his stepped-up leadership.

Mark Williams scored 14 (6-7; 2-2 from the line) while grabbing 7 boards and dishing 3 assists in his 20 minutes. His defense is improving. He was a difference maker.

Theo John made his 12:31 count on both ends of the court. He adds toughness to the team when he replaces Mark W. He scored an efficient 8 points (3-3; 2-2 from the stripe), with an assist (0 turnovers), a block, and a steal.

The Not Bad But Could Be Better

Trevor Keels had another difficult shooting night (2-9; 1-7 from deep), but was still a force for Duke in his 29 minutes. He drew fouls ) to score the majority of his 11 points, from the line ( 6-7), and he was a fierce defender (3 steals).

Jeremy Roach is playing with confidence, but not with consistency. His 33:37 was the second most minutes played by a Duke player. Roach dished a pair of assists against one turnover, scoring 10 (4-11, including 2-6 from 3land, without getting to the foul line). An effective point guard draws fouls when driving efficiently to the basket. Coach K is willing to put up with Roach’s less than stellar offensive performance in order to keep his sparkling on-the-ball defense.

Joey Baker has not been the shooter that he is reputed to be (1-5; 0-1 from deep), but he has diversified his offensive game by driving more, and getting to the foul line more–most of his 9 points last night were from the line (7-7). He grabbed 4 rebounds as his game near the basket has improved.

Not Ugly, But Disappointing

A.J. Griffin played about 5 minutes in each half. He missed his first two shots which seemed to drain his confidence and left him looking a bit lost in the first half. In the second half, he scored, rebounded and began to look confident again. Still, after his ACC Freshman-of-the-Week 18-point outing against Lafayette, scoring only 2 points against the Citadel (1-4; 0-2 from deep) was disappointing.

The Bench played little. Jaylen Blakes played almost 5 minutes, making one of his two 3-point attempts, while Bates Jones played 2:42 in mop-up time.

Next Play: Friday, November 26 against Gonzaga at 10:30 pm in Las Vegas. ESPN.

Duke 84 –Gonzaga 81 (Season 13 Issue 7 Game 7) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” with Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes”

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

I do not know how the Coach K Farewell Tour will conclude but it is certainly starting off as if scripted by his fans. There have been two thrilling games against Kentucky, a perennially embittered Blue Blood rival, and Gonzaga, a New Blood rival, in classic, tough wins on national TV in packed, deafening arenas. Gonzaga was deservedly ranked the number one team in the country. Just three nights ago in this same arena, they had blown out #2 UCLA by 20 points, holding the Bruins to 63 points.

With Paolo Bancharo demonstrating in a multiplicity of ways why he is such an exceptional basketball talent, Duke led at the half 45-42. Johnny Tar Heel, who watched the game with me, and I agreed, that Gonzaga had been knocked back by Banchero’s 20 points but, other than that, the rest of the team had not shot well. We thought that Gonzaga was just too good and too well coached a team to let that happen again in the second half as it did in the first. In order for Duke to win, we thought that Moore and/or Keels had to step up and start scoring.

The game showed similarity to the Kentucky game, when during the second half Banchero and Moore went out with leg cramps, and Trevor Keels attempted to take over the scoring. However, unlike the Kentucky game, Trevor was unable to even hit free throws. Yet, Duke’s defense, as it did most of the game, kept the Zags from gaining a working advantage. Ultimately, Moore returned, took over, and scored 16 points in the second half (20 in the game), including seven of his last eight critical free throws to seal the deal (this is Las Vegas after all), to beat the 7 ½ point favorite. Banchero returned but was obviously physically limited. Joey Baker contributed two timely threes and Jeremy Roach drove for a clutch left handed layup with a minute to go. However, it was Coach K’s core value–team defense– anchored by Mark Williams, who had a team-high 9 rebounds, 5 blocks, and many intimidations while battling Holmgren and Gonzaga star Drew Timme in the post that contributed mightily to the upset of a very talented, well coached Gonzaga team.

Coach K: “Mark had a sensational game…. he blocked five but he also altered a lot of shots. I wonder if there’s a—there’s gotta be a stat for that. Some analytics person’s gotta figure that out.”

Duke’s coaches contributed a strategic defensive gamble: Rather than have its biggest player guard Gonzaga’s 7+ foot freshman center, Chet Holmgren, they took a different tactic against the Zags’s two big men. Duke started with 6-10, 250-pound freshman Paolo Banchero guarding Holmgren, while Gonzaga 6-10 junior Drew Timme was guarded by 7-foot sophomore center Mark Williams. Theo John, Duke’s 6-9, 242-pound reserve center, tag-teamed with Williams on Timme. One result was that the defense forced 17 turnovers to help counter making only 15 of 25 free throws (after going 27-29 against The Citadel).

As critical as Banchero and Moore’s offense was in each half, it was Williams who played the most consistently as Keels struggled mightily to score (but had a team-high 5 assists). Trevor was only 1-4 from the foul line, but two of those misses were the front end of a one-and-one, so that’s really one point scored out of a potential six points, if he had been able to maximize the opportunities. Roach missed one with a second left leaving Duke to slightly sweat out a full-court prayer.Gonzaga: Before Friday night, the Bulldogs trailed for a total of 3:18 in four games — against Texas, Alcorn State, Bellarmine, and UCLA. Gonzaga trailed for more than 20 minutes against Duke until retaking the lead on a pair of Timme free throws at the 17-minute mark of the second half.

An appreciative crowd of 20,389, seemingly split 50/50, was the largest to ever see a basketball game in Nevada. Among the record crowd: former boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, former Cy Young winner and World Series champion Orel Hershiser, PGA golfer Brooks Koepka, former NBA player Marcus Banks and sports agent Rich Paul.

Coach K summed it up best: “It was really a players game…. It was just a big-time game. And I love it. I just love being a part of it and seeing how players take over.”

ALANALYSIS:

What a great college basketball game! The quality of play by each team on both sides of the ball was jaw-droppingly dazzling. These were two excellent teams competing against each other at the absolutely highest level. If this was, as Bill has said, an interim exam for these young Blue Devils, Duke got straight A+s in: 1) heart and leadership facing adversity; 2) Defense against a great offensive team; 3) Defense against a great offensive team (the defense was so good, I had to repeat the praise); 4) Paolo Banchero’s first half; 5) Wendell Moore, Jr; 6) Mark Williams; and 7) Theo John.

Peering into the emotional center of the game to extract (hopefully) useful nuggets of analysis led me to focus on the second half. And what a half that was! There were eight lead changes, but neither team led by more than 5 points. Duke had to go it without an effective Banchero (only played 13:33 because of cramping; 0-4, including 0-2 from deep and 1-2 from the line for a single point to go with a single rebound — cramping his style and overall performance). Duke’s guards shot terribly. Trevor Keels played all 20 minutes while scoring just 1 point (0-6, including 0-3 from deep and 1-4 from the stripe). Roach played 15 minutes without scoring until he made 2 crucial shots down the stretch (2-5, 0-2 from deep and 1-2 from the line). In contrast, Wendell Moore, Jr. played the best half of his Duke career after scoring only 4 in the first half. He played the entire half (minus 18 seconds), scoring 16 (4-7, including 1-2 from deep and a critical 7-8 from the line — for a 20-point game); add 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals (and 3 turnovers) for a great second half for Moore. That’s where Duke’s heart and Moore’s leadership emerged big time!

The first half was fabulous; Banchero’s 20 points were breathtaking. Duke came up empty on its last two first-half possessions, while the Zags scored 5 to cut the Duke lead to 3. The Zag defense has been tremendous all year. Only Texas scored more than 63 points against them (even UCLA was held to 63). Duke dropped 45 on the Zags in the first half! Banchero and Williams together scored 31 of those first-half points.

The Good

The Defense

Gonzaga is a wonderful offensive team that passes and moves the ball with poise, skill, and shot-making. Going into this game, the Zags were averaging over 91 ppg. Duke’s pressure defense neutralized and defeated a great offense. For me, the statistic of the game was that Duke scored 23 points off Gonzaga’s 17 turnovers. Gonzaga committed turnovers on nearly one-fourth of its possessions against the Blue Devils. Holding Gonzaga to 81 points in a 79-possession game and especially harassing the Bulldogs into 17 turnovers most certainly qualifies as excellent defense. Six Duke players were credited with at least one steal. Mark Williams had 5 blocks in the first half. His perfect defense on Drew Timme’s shot in the paint with nearly 30 seconds to go was just one of the many clutch plays he made. Williams is turning into one of the best rim protectors in the country.

The experts have anointed Andrew Nembhard as the best point guard in the country. He had 11 assists last night (Gonzaga had 22 total assists on 34 hoops), but the key stat was that Duke forced him to turn it over 6 times by being very aggressive in its ball-screen coverages against him, limiting the time he had to make decisions and find teammates. Duke forced him to speed up his decision-making.

And lastly, Duke played great transition defense and won the transition game. The Blue Devils got back defensively, eliminating the Zags’ MO of getting easy baskets off of makes or misses, thus forcing them to play in the half-court. Transition offense is ignited by the defense. Duke had success beating Gonzaga downcourt. Banchero led one fast break ending in a true Magic Johnson-like assist.

That is why Keels played all 20 second half minutes in spite of his shooting woes. That is why Roach was on the floor for 19 first half minutes in spite of 1-8 shooting. Mark Williams was brilliant and played Timme and Holmgren (player- of- the- year candidates) at least even, and maybe even outplayed each. Williams also scored 17 points on 8-9 shooting (his one miss was a 3-point attempt where you could hear Duke fans across the country imploring him not to launch that shot), to go with 9 boards.

Theo John was more valuable than the box score reveals. In 11:24, John held his own against the Zag big guys and scored two critical second-half baskets over Timme (a right-handed hook shot followed by a left hand one), taking advantage of Timme’s foul trouble. He also grabbed a pair of tough rebounds and had a steal.

Even though we have already acknowledged Moore, Williams, and Banchero’s first half above, it is worth sharing Coach K’s lauding of Wendell Moore: “The leadership of my captain was, I think, the key to the game. Wendell Moore was absolutely spectacular in his leadership, especially at the timeout when they took the lead and we had turned the ball over, the things he said and his demeanor and what he said to his team – he really led us to a victory. It was really a player’s game. Sometimes when a leader says stuff, he doesn’t remember what he said. But, I remember what he said. He said, ‘Be strong with the ball. Let’s get going. We can’t be giving up layups.’ He was saying the things I should’ve been saying, but when it comes from a player, it’s better. Especially that moment – that was a critical moment. I’ve been in a lot of games. We could’ve gotten knocked out right there, and what that kid did at that time out was big time. It was really big time …. That kid is really having a hell of a year. He’s my captain. I love what my guys did. I love my team. They’re really good guys.”

The Not Bad but Could Be Better…

….the offensive play of Keels and Roach, as described above. Although not yet showing up in the box score, I am watching a much more confident Roach beginning to blossom as a point guard. With 4:41 to go, Roach grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a soft 12-foot jumper to tie the score at 73. Then came what I thought was the offensive play of the game. Duke’s lead fluctuated between 3 and 1 after Roach’s basket. With 48 seconds left, Duke had the ball and led by 1. A loss loomed if Duke did not score. With the clock running down, Roach drove to his left, and laid in as pretty a left hand layup as you have ever seen, for his 4th and 5th points of the game. Thus were the Zags finally dead.

The Not Quite Ugly

Joey Baker made two 3s for his 6 points. The first one seemed like a lucky bad shot off the backboard . He was wide open on the second one. In 14:20 those were his only points (2-3 from deep). He also grabbed one rebound and had a pair of steals. Other than Theo John, Baker was Duke’s only effective sub.

A.J. Griffin has returned to his pre-Lafayette funk (0 points in 6 minutes without any other stat besides 0-1 from the floor). Troubling because Duke’s bench is not strong unless he returns to his McDonald’s All-American form.

No other Duke players played. It will be illuminating to see if Duke can avoid the normal human letdown after such an emotional win over Gonzaga when the Blue Devils journey to Columbus to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Big 10 – ACC challenge.

Next Play: Tuesday, November 30 at Ohio State in the ACC-Big 10 Challenge at 9:30 pm. ESPN.

Duke 66 –Ohio State 71 (Season 13 Issue 8 Game 8) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” with Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes”

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

The test tonight was whether this relatively young Duke team had the mental and physical maturity to transition from the hunter to the hunted. John McEnroe once commented that life was much more enjoyable when he was a challenger — the rebellious underdog chasing Bjorn Borg. Once he became number one, suddenly everyone literally and figuratively wanted a piece of him.

Duke ended the first half—with a big assist from the Buckeyes–with a faux 15-point lead and flunked the test badly by playing as disappointing a second half as I can remember a good Duke team playing. Duke lost by 5. The danger warnings were obvious for anyone who paid attention. Monday night Gonzaga was behind 25-26 at the half at home against unheralded Tarleton State (1-6), and only won by nine.

So, what does that tell you? Grow up, play smart and hard like you are the best. The 91-92 team should be their model. They reveled, even thrived, on being number one and rock stars that opponents and their fans hated. However, it took them two or three years to develop that level of mental toughness to overcome bad breaks and off nights. Only time will tell if this was an early lesson well learned or if they are not mature enough to learn from a painful lesson. As Rip, the ranch foreman in Yellowstone, said: “There’s two roads in life. One is you’re winning or learning and the other is that you’re losing all the way to the fucking grave. Kid, you better choose quickly or life’s gonna choose it for you.”

An anatomy of a collapse: basketball is a simple game — make stops and hit shots. In the second half, the Devils shot 23%, got in serious foul trouble as Ohio State finally took advantage and finished the game on a decisive 12-0 run–the kind of decisive run Duke usually makes on other teams. Maybe the Blue Devils needed to have key players cramp up in the second half to make everyone realize everyone needed to go into overdrive. Instead, they got in foul trouble, played ineffective one-on-one offense, and passively on defense. Theo John fouled out, Mark Williams, the defensive eraser, had four fouls, was nailed to the floor for fear of fouling out, and the Buckeyes took full advantage in the paint.

Kentucky, Gonzaga, Ohio State. Three tough, tournament type games (two neutral, one away court) in three weeks. This is a very challenging schedule for any team, much less a young, inexperienced one. I suspect that Coach K made this schedule because he realizes he only has one year, not three or four, to mold this talent into championship shape. The team came within ten minutes or so of acing this test. The good news is that it is better to have this loss now and learn from it rather than going into the NCAA Tournament thinking you are better than you are.

Next play!

ALANALYSIS

Even before the Ohio State game, I worried about the complacency that can set in after a spectacular win: Duke came into this game being celebrated far and wide after a stellar outing in Las Vegas against Gonzaga, for which the Blue Devils earned #1 in the polls . Even before this stunning setback, Duke’s #1 ranking in the latest November poll was not significant –“November” being the most important word in the previous clause. Let us remember that Duke was rated #1 in November of 2019 on the basis of a string of impressive early-season triumphs … with a game against lowly rated Stephen F. Austin next. Duke never got a sniff of a high poll ranking for the rest of the year. Remember also those awful back-to-back losses to Wake and NC State in February, 2020, that almost slid Duke out of the top 25. Even before the Ohio State game, my memory of 2020 was triggered by one writer’s warning made after the Duke victory against Gonzaga: “a letdown would be human.” That writer mirrored my concern.

On Monday, Gonzaga had had just such a letdown when they barely squeaked out a victory against the Tarleton State Texans, a school in Stephenville, Texas that none of us have ever heard of. The Texans had lost 5 of their first 6 games, with its only win being against another school none of us have never heard of (The Paul Quinn Tigers; I am not making this up). The Texans trailed Gonzaga at the end of the first half by a mere 1 point, 26-25. The Zags won by only 9, pulling away in the last 4 minutes. My thought going into last night’s game was: Ohio State may not be ranked in the top 25 and is missing 3 important players, but the Buckeyes would be favored over Stephen F. Austin who stunningly upset Duke (85-83) in 2019 Cameron on an overtime steal and layup at the buzzer. I thought it worth remembering that Duke was ranked #1 going into that game.

Then I watched last night’s game against Ohio State. “The words of the (writer) prophet were written (not on subway walls or in the tenement halls)”, but in the analysis of what happened to the high-flying Blue Devils in the second half. A partial explanation came from Coach K, which comports with my observations, “We were just worn out at the end.” … We fouled so much – this is the worst that we’ve fouled. We’ve been really good at not turning it over and not fouling, and tonight we had 23 fouls. I think part of that shows [us] being tired, just not playing with the same foot speed that we normally have.”

The first half was pleasant to watch. Almost all the players in the Duke rotation gave good performances, though there were signs of trouble.

The Good

Duke played its aggressive defense extremely well, as it has all season. Seth Greenberg described this as “old school Duke defense” — designed to disrupt, create turnovers and transition offense, rather than just stop the other team from scoring. That old school defense produced 9 Ohio State turnovers in the first half, which in turn led to 13 points off of those turnovers. Banchero (4-7, including 1-1 from deep and 1-2 from the line) and Moore (4-6, including 2-3 from the stripe) each scored 10 in the opening stanza. Moore was Duke’s best player throughout the game (17 points; 0-2 from deep and 3-5 from the foul line). He grabbed 8 boards, handed out 5 assists, and made 2 steals. Still, he was only 3-9 in the second half when Duke really needed him to be better.

Jeremy Roach had his best half of the year — 7 points (3-6, including 1-3 from deep), without a turnover, while controlling the offense. While Keels scored only 5 points (2-7 from the field, including 0-1 from deep and 1-1 from the stripe), he played great defense with 2 steals and had 2 assists without a turnover.

The bench really contributed in the first half. Joey Baker scored 5 (2-3, including 1-1 from deep), to go with a rebound and a steal, in his 11:36 first half minutes. Duke’s backup center, Theo John scored 4 (2-3) with 2 boards and an assist in his 9:23, but he was even more effective than the box score showed.

The Not Bad, But Disappointing

Williams, after a slow early-season start, who has been sensational in his most recent games, reverted to early-season form last night. He sank his only shot attempt (2 points) of the first half, and paired it with a rebound, a block. and a turnover. For the game (21:38) he scored 8 (3-6; 2-2 from the stripe), with 7 rebounds and 2 blocks.

The backcourt of Roach and Keels played big minutes and good defense for most of the game , but neither shot particularly well and only scored 9 points each. Keels played a game high almost 37 minutes (3-12, including 1-4; 2-3 from the line). Roach played 35 minutes (4-10, including 1-4, without getting to the foul line – again). Keels had 4 rebounds and 3 assists, but 2 turnovers; I thought he lost his poise as Duke’s offense deteriorated in the closing minutes of the game. Roach had 3 boards but only a single assist (without a turnover).

Duke’s half-court offense has not looked smooth and efficient at any time so far this season. Perhaps this has been concealed because Duke’s transition game has been so ferocious. There is no point guard orchestrating the offense. In the second half, Duke had only 3 assists.

Duke committed 11 first-half fouls which is cause for concern: Banchero had 3, Keels, Williams, and Moore had 2 each. Fouling can be a sign of fatigue. Coach K agrees.

The Ugly

Duke had a 13 point lead at the end of the first half. They scored 43 points in the first half, 13 of them off their strong transition defense and live turnovers, and held OSU to 30. Three times in the second half, Duke had leads of 15 before it started to shrink. Then the wheels started to come off. The Ugly reared its head in the last 10 minutes of the second half.

With 7:18 to go in the game, Duke led by 11. With 4:29 left, Keels went to the line for two foul shots with Duke leading by 6. He missed the first and moved the lead to 7 (66-59) when he made the second. That foul shot with 4 and ½ minutes left in the game was Duke’s last point. Keels missed a jumper; OSU cut the lead to 5 with 3:31 left. Keels missed a 3; OSU cut the lead to 2 on a Russell 3 with 2:32 remaining. Paolo committed an offensive foul allowing OSU to cut the lead to 1 when Russell made 1-2 from the line with 1:46 left. Keels missed a 3 pointer with 1:20 to go. Moore fouled Liddell who gave the Buckeyes their first lead by a point when he made them both with 1:03 left in the game. Banchero missed a jumper; Williams missed a follow when he got the offensive rebound. A scrum created a jump ball (OSU possession). Liddell scored to give OSU a 3-point lead with 15 seconds left. Banchero missed (a pretty open) 3 that would have tied it with 7 seconds to go. When OSU retrieved the rebound, the game was over (Roach fouled in desperation and the Buckeyes sank both foul shots to create their winning margin).

Duke scored only 23 second-half points on horrendous shooting (7-31, including 1-8 from 3land; but, bright side, 8-10 from the line). Banchero was 0-7, including 0-2 from deep to go with an assist and a turnover. Moore was 3-9, including 0-2 from behind the arc and 1-2 from the line. The Keels-Roach combo was even worse (Roach was 1-4, including 0-1 from deep; while Keels was 1-5, 1-3 from deep). Roach had neither an assist nor a turnover, while Keels had a single assist against 2 turnovers. Duke had 4 shots blocked by the Buckeyes and managed only 3 assists, while committing what the stats say were 3 turnovers (though it seemed like more to me). Duke’s defense completely lost its intensity, forcing only 3 turnovers and only making a single steal (Moore) and a single block (Mark).

The Bench was absolutely no help. In Joey’s 8:43, he missed his only shot with no other statistical entry. Theo played only 6 minutes in the second half, committing 4 fouls in that brief time on the court, adding to his 1 foul from the first half and resulting in his disqualification. He contributed a rebound. A.J. Griffin was a virtual no-show, playing less than 2 minutes in the first half (0-1) without even getting into the game in the second half.

Duke could not defend without fouling, committing 12 second-half fouls. Moore, Williams, Roach, and Banchero all finished the game with four personals. Add John’s 5 and that is 21 fouls which Duke’s important players committed. OSU outscored Duke in the closing stanza by 18 points.

The Significance of the Performance and the Loss

It is not difficult for the commentators to dismiss the performance as nothing more than youth and inexperience. Moreover, the way the game went corroborates Coach K’s (“we were just worn out”) analysis. Duke has played many games in a short stretch, but now has 2 weeks off for finals, so exhaustion should not be an immediate future problem. A loss at this time can be a good lesson, especially since the Gonzaga game apparently did produce some damaging complacency. However, there are flaws showing that may be more than just youth and inexperience.

Duke’s shooting woes – season long rather than unique to the OSU game — are troubling. It is not easy to make good shooters out of bad ones during the season. Duke has not yet achieved balanced scoring where opponents need to be concerned about all the Devils, not just Banchero and Moore. Keels has not replicated the superb scoring game he demonstrated against Kentucky in the season’s opener, a bad sign.

This was the young team’s first game in the opponent’s gym, and Duke seemed to come undone as the home crowd screamed its delight at Duke’s poor play. Even though the ACC has no Top-25 ranked teams (other than Duke), winning in the other team’s gym will always be a test of skill and character. For Duke to have the season that Coach K and the DBP readers are hoping for, Duke will have to win consistently on the road in ACC arenas. So, the meltdown at “winning time” in the first road game is a bad harbinger.

Winning time is a state of mind. We have always been able to count on Duke to be at their best in the clutch. Last night, they simply were not. It raises questions not about youth or exhaustion but about the very character of the team, and those questions will be answered in the ACC season–mostly in away games.

When Duke returns from exams, it will be a “State examination” – games against South Carolina State, Appalachian State, and Cleveland State. Duke opens the ACC schedule on December 22 against Virginia Tech in Cameron.

Next Play: Tuesday, December 14 against South Carolina State at 8:00 pm. ACCN.

“Lucky Devil” Extra (Season 13) — Reduced Schedule for December 14 through 18 games

Duke plays South Carolina State tonight ( Tuesday) at 8; Appalachian State on Thursday at 7 pm; and, Cleveland State on Saturday at 4 pm, before opening the ACC campaign on December 22.

Work-related responsibilities prevent a DBP for each game (3 games in 5 days). We will distribute a DBP after Thursday’s game against Appalachian State to cover the first two games this week. Then, an issue after the Cleveland State game will cover that game and talk a bit about the coming ACC campaign.

We take this Lucky Devil Extra opportunity to direct your attention to the Women’s team. Unranked at the beginning of the season (picked to finish 8th in the ACC; top 5 ACC teams were ranked in the top 25), without a single player in contention for ACC honors of any type, coach Kara Lawson faced a challenge. Her first year as coach (last year), the team voted to close the season after 4 games. Lawson then coached the USA 3 x 3 team to a gold medal in Tokyo.

The women started out winning against inferior opponents, but did beat Dayton and Alabama (neither team was ranked). Then came the ACC-Big 10 challenge against 9th ranked Iowa. Duke blew Iowa by 15 out for Kara’s first signature win, followed by a win over Penn that dodged a potential trap game. Duke was ranked 15th in the last AP women’s poll, one place behind Iowa. In the ACC, NC State is # 2, Louisville # 6, with Duke 3rd in the ACC (followed by Ga. Tech and Notre Dame in the top 25).

Which brings us to Wednesday night’s game between Lawson’s emerging Duke team and defending national champions, the undefeated and top ranked South Carolina Gamecocks, in Cameron on Wednesday (December 15) at 7pm on ACCN.

Might be a fun watch, or the Blue Devils could get blown out. Big test for new coach, Lawson. South Carolina beat # 2 NC State 66-57 earlier this year and #9 Maryland last Sunday 66-59..

COVID is impacting sports dramatically, and has a feel for coming disruptions, if not cessation of play. Cleveland State’s outbreak caused it to cancel the game scheduled for December 18; Duke has been fortunate to schedule Loyal (Md) as a substitute to keep a game on the schedule.

Duke will have played 3 games in five days after exams to get set for the ACC schedule beginning on December 22 in Cameron against Virginia Tech. Therefore, instead of the DBP analyzing the first two of the three games in general terms, we will now include all three games as part of an assessment of what the first eleven pre-season game tells us about this team’s chances for an ACC and National title.

We will circulate the next edition of the DBP after the Loyal (Md) game, well in advance of the Virginia Tech ACC opener

Duke 103 –South Carolina State 62; Duke 92 – Appalachian State 67; Duke 87 — Elon 56 (Season 13 Issue 9 – Games 9, 10, and 11) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” with Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes”

Duke 103 v. South Carolina State 67 (Tuesday, December 14) — Duke 92 v. Appalachian State 67 (Thursday December 16) — Duke 87 v. Elon 56 (Saturday, December 18)

This edition of the DBP analyzes these three games in general terms. How did these games contribute to Duke’s preparation for seeking ACC and National titles?

COVID is impacting sports dramatically, and may be a harbinger for coming disruptions, if not cessation, of play. Cleveland State’s outbreak caused it to cancel the game with Duke scheduled for December 18; Duke was able to schedule an alternative game against Loyola (Maryland), but that also now has had to be COVID-canceled. Elon was substituted in to keep a game on the schedule. Duke will have played 3 games in the six days since exams, to get set for the ACC schedule beginning on December 22, in Cameron against Virginia Tech.

Here is the ACC’s forfeit policy: “if a game cannot be played on its originally scheduled date by a team unable to play due to an insufficient number of available players related to COVID-19, that team shall be deemed to have forfeited, with a loss assigned to the team unable to play and a win assigned to its scheduled opponent, with both the loss and win, respectively, applied to the conference standings.” Duke’s women won today’s game against Miami by forfeit, when Miami could not field a team because of COVID restrictions. Cancellations and postponements for college games, and in all professional sports, are multiplying. Coach Nolan Smith tested positive. He was not on the bench for the game. Duke tests twice. Every day. Rapid and PCR. Coach K advocates for an NCAA rule that all teams be tested before every game.

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

Duke Pre-Season:

The Blue Devils have just concluded what might be considered their pre-season schedule of eleven games, that included only three presumably difficult opponents (Kentucky, Gonzaga & Ohio State), with a 10-1 record. One way to look at it is this – the Blue Devils were just five minutes short of being 11-0. Another is that the Devils were about ten minutes away from being 8-3. I subscribe to Bill Parcells’ famous mantra: “You are what your record says you are. Good teams win more close games than bad teams.” Whatever your perspective, Duke is ranked as one of the top four teams in the country, with legitimate opportunity to win ACC and NCAA Titles.

STRENGTHS:

Chemistry– What impressed me the most was at the end of the South Carolina State blowout, Duke’s seldom-seen junior forward Keenan Worthington elevated and emphatically slammed down a buzzer-beater rebound dunk, bringing the entire stadium to their feet. His teammates could barely control their joy, with freshman Trevor Keels holding his teammates back from storming the court. Instead, all the starters and the rest of the squad on the bench celebrated by jumping up and down, waving towels, mimicking the shot like it was the winning basket against North Carolina. That reaction speaks volumes about the camaraderie and chemistry among all the players!—no small component of successful teams.

Leadership: As talented as Paolo Banchero is, Wendell Moore, the poster player for staying in school, has matured into the most versatile, valuable, and important player on this team. With the game on the line, you want the ball in his hands.

Starters: A very balanced team, with a marvelously talented, potential #1 NBA pick Banchero, who can play effectively anywhere he wants on the floor. In close games, I feel he will be deployed in the elbow of the lane and/or high post. Mark Williams gives this team a low post presence that most recent Duke teams have lacked, which was a handicap against big man-centric teams like North Carolina. Trevor Keels is a compact, Energizer Bunny/ Swiss Army knife player. He can play shooting guard, point guard, score from anywhere, and never takes a breather playing in-your-lap defense. Jeremy Roach is nominally the point guard, but that position is actually played by committee (Moore, Keels, Banchero, or Roach). Because no one player is fatigued from point guard duties, Duke can pressure opposing point guards, which obstructs an opponent’s offense flow. Keels and Roach have apparently used the exam break to work on their three-point shot. If the last three games are any indication, that will make this team even more lethal, because they are the best Duke free throw shooting team (Banchero shoots 80%) in quite a few years. And finally, unlike some other talented but more offensively focused editions, this team enjoys playing defense, because, among other things, they realize that good defense wears opponents down, produces easy offense, and was one of the keys that enabled Baylor to win the NCAA Championship last year.

Depth: Transfer Theo John, a strong substitute for Williams, brings a Big East muscular mentality to the paint, yet he has a surprisingly good touch. AJ Griffin, recovering from two years of injuries, is a 6’ 6” multi-dimensional player who may end up starting or playing starter minutes as a sixth man. Joey Baker has matured athletically to complement his shooting touch.

Weaknesses: Offensively, the players have a tendency to stand around without good spacing, waiting for a talented teammate to go one-on-one. That, in part, cost them the Ohio State game. I’m certain the coaching staff will continue to deal with this flaw. Defensively, despite Duke’s size advantage in these last three games, there is some concern over lack of defensive rebounding margins, which are somewhat masked by positive turnover margins.

Questions: While acknowledging Paolo Banchero’s talents, and being thrilled by his performance in big games, I am somewhat puzzled by his recent placid demeanor and recent whining about referee calls, as he did this afternoon against Elon. It reminds me somewhat of Bobby Hurley as a freshman. Undoubtedly, he will get the same coaching advice: “Just shut up and play smarter and harder.” Combine this with missing two open dunks, shooting 60%, not 80%, from the foul line, which contributed to subpar scoring in the last two games, as well as aiding and abetting a DUI, and you have to wonder: “What’s going on with this exceptionally talented teenager? He doesn’t seem to be enjoying himself.”

Maybe it’s just me, but I am much more impressed by the intensity and relentless defense of Trevor Keels, Wendell Moore, Jeremy Roach, and even the less athletic Joey Baker. Add to this the fact that, despite having an intimidating height and athletic advantage in the paint, and blocking shots against mostly overmatched undersized opponents, Mark Williams has been sort of a one trick pony. Maybe all this is nitpicking or being hyper-critical; however, the schedule ahead is a relentless slog through a much-expanded Tobacco Road type competition that has been expanded well beyond the Atlantic Coast with a “Beat Me and Spoil the Coach K Retirement Tour” target on your back.

Bottom line: Grow up! buckle up! From now on there are no easy games. You are the best team. Play like it for forty minutes.

ALANALYSIS:

Coach K’s take on the early season: “beating Kentucky, Gonzaga, losing to Ohio State – that’s like a year ago; we have to be in this moment.” Duke’s next 20 games (10 at home and 10 on the road) will be against ACC opponents. This is, of course, where the Blue Devils will be measured – in the polls and for post-season seeding. The first 11 games were preparation. Let’s take inventory.

The Good

The Offense

During their stretch without games, Coach K put in some new plays. While Duke didn’t use them much against South Carolina State [SCS] because Duke was able to use its transition game so frequently. Coach K: “We were working on sets that we could run in the half-court. When we can run, we will run. But when we get stuck, we can’t just dribble the ball, we need movement. I would hope that our guys would move without having a set, but sometimes you need to call a set to get that movement.”

Coach K analyzed his offense so far: “We had a few too many turnovers, but I think we’re a pretty unselfish team. We should be a really good offensive team. We’re sharing the ball, running to corners, making one dribble penetration. We have hit 15 threes the last two games [plus another 8-25 vs. Elon] because we’ve had really good shots. We have a team of willing passers, we’ve had a lot of assists all year. Our guys like [the extra pass]. To me, it’s the most beautiful part of our game. The most beautiful part of our game is passing and connecting baskets. …We could have some hockey assists in how we play, and I like that.”

SCS — 23 assists on 33 field goals, but 16 turnovers; 15-27 on 3s.
AS — 21 assists on 33 field goals. Only 9 turnovers. 15 – 30 on 3s.
E — 18 assists on 32 field goals. Only 8 turnovers. 8-25 on 3s.

The Emergence of A.J. Griffin

Coach K: “AJ [Griffin] has been coming on. These last two weeks, he’s got in a lot of individual work, making up for time lost with his injury. He didn’t play basketball for two years, so it’s a matter of his continuing to work. Our team is unbelievably supportive of him and they want him to do well, it’s neat to see.”

AJ – 35 points in 3 games (in 60 minutes total):

SCS — 19 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, 0 turnovers, 2 blocks in 21 minutes.
AS — 11 points, 2 boards, 1 assist in 19 minutes.
E – 5 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, 0 turnovers, 1 steal,1 block in 20 minutes.

He is on the way to being Duke’s valuable 6th man this year. He is closer to ready on the offensive end. He was embarrassingly beaten twice on straight line drives to the basket by the Elon player he was guarding. He just needs the playing time.

The Defense

Elon’s Coach Schrage (Dir of Basketball Operations under Coach K for 6 years) compared this Duke team’s talent for forcing turnovers and creating steals to Duke’s championship teams. Coach K: “[Our team] is not at the level but there is potential. In other words, let’s see if we can do it against ACC opponents. We have done it in non-conference, but we should be a very good defensive team. The thing that we’re not doing is rebounding defensively. We’re good defensively, but we’d be very good defensively if we could complete the defensive exchange with a rebound.”

“When we rebound defensively, that’s what leads to our fast-break, more so than from turnovers, because we have four ball-handlers in the game, and we can advance the ball very quickly and space the court. The defensive rebound can naturally lead to the open three, if we do it the right way. We have to do a better job of it. Sometimes, we anticipate someone else getting the ball, and we start going [away from the ball] instead of having our hands ready for the rebound.”

SCS retrieved 21 offensive rebounds. Duke forced 17 turnovers, including 11 steals.
AS retrieved 13 offensive rebounds. Duke forced 13 turnovers, including 6 steals.
E retrieved only 2 offense rebounds. Duke forced 23 turnovers, including 14 steals.

Duke’s on-the-ball defense has been superior, though there have been lapses – the first 11 minutes of the Appalachian State game, for example; Duke gave up 24 points in the first 11 minutes. Roach, Keels and Moore are just terrific on-the-ball perimeter defenders. Mark Williams has been a force defending the rim (8 blocks in a total of 58 minutes). It’s team defense at its best.

Getting Better

In the early going, Duke’s half-court offense was inefficient. Though there was no “point guard”, Jeremy Roach was handling the ball more than anyone. That has changed. Wendell Moore is closer to being a point guard and is having a superb season. Although Wendell had no assists in 23 minutes against SCS (my instinct is that he produces his best when the team needs him the most and Duke didn’t need him against SCS), for the next two games he dished out 11 assists in 57 minutes. The more Moore directs the offense, the better Duke is in the half-court and the less standing around there is. Jeremy’s offense is coming on as he has decreased point guard responsibilities.

Both Roach and Trevor Keels have improved offensively. Trevor had such an outstanding game against Kentucky, and then just stopped shooting well. He scored 44 points in these 3 games, including 19 against Elon. Roach scored 30. Both were 2-5 from 3land. Both are on the upswing.

Good But Needs Work

The hardest aspect of the game for a young team is to develop consistency. Duke’s defense has been excellent but has suffered lapses in intensity. Possibly the lapses are just being lazy, easy to give in to when you are aware of how athletically superior your team is to your adversary’s team. Overall, the players have demonstrated that they are committed to becoming an excellent defensive team.

Duke’s rebounding will have to improve. Kentucky and Ohio State dominated the Blue Devils in the paint and on the boards at both ends of the court. So did SCS and Appalachian State, not on offense, but in rebounding. Then, Coach K issued the call to arms, which may have been answered against Elon, but should be taken with a salt-sprinkled understanding of how undersized Elon was. With Paolo, Williams, Theo John, and A.J. Griffin, Duke has the horses to compete with the elite on the interior. The ACC awaits.

It looks as if Duke will have an 8-man rotation. Neither Bates Jones nor Jaylen Blake will play much when a game is in doubt (barring injury). Theo John is a good backup for Mark Williams. Joey Baker has played well (but surprisingly has not shot well from behind the arc) against the lesser competition. He has worked on his game and supplies a steady hand.

Individual Statistics for These 3 Games (omitting A.J. Griffin – previously given)

Wendell Moore, Jr.:

Coach K: “He’s been our stud. He’s doing that on offense, and he’s also doing it on defense. He’s having, right now, an All-American year. He’s played as well as anybody and he’s been a leader.”

SCS — 11 points, 2 boards, 0 assists, 2 turnovers in 23 minutes.
AS – (when the team needed him) 21 points, 5 boards, 6 assists, 2 turnovers in 32 minutes.
E — 12 points, 3 boards, 5 assists, 0 turnovers, 1 steal in 25 minutes.

Paolo Banchero:

SCS – 12 points, 7 boards, 6 assists, 2 turnovers, 3 steals, 1 block in 21 minutes.
AS — 16 points, 6 boards, 1 assist, 3 turnovers in 31 minutes.
E — 12 points, 9 boards, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 1 steal, 2 blocks in 23 minutes.

Mark Williams:

SCS – 10 points, 5 boards, 3 blocks in 20 minutes.
AS — 6 points, 4 boards, 1 assist, 0 turnovers, 2 steals, 3 blocks in 24 minutes.
E — 8 points, 3 boards, 1 turnover, 1 steal, 2 blocks in 14 minutes.

Trevor Keels:

SCS — 14 points, 3 boards; 3 assists, 2 turnovers in 21 minutes.
AS — 11 points, 3 boards, 5 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 steal in 33 minutes.
E — 19 points, 1 board, 0 assists, 0 turnovers, 3 steals in 25 minutes.

Jeremy Roach:

Coach K “He’s just working at it. He’s the guy who is pressuring the ball. He’s our best on-ball defender. As you start the season, I don’t care what you did in the preseason, you are not accustomed to spending that amount of energy on defense and then having the same shot. It’s kind of a period of adjustment in that regard. Not that he was in bad shape, but he is now in game shape – and he’s worked on it. Bottom line, he’s a good shooter but you have to get accustomed to a game environment. We play really hard on the defensive end, and he is the key up top, it’s just an adjustment he has gone through.”

SCS — 9 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, 5 steals, 3 turnovers in 26 minutes.
AS — 10 points, 3 boards, 6 assists, 1 turnover in 32 minutes.
E — 11 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 steals in 28 minutes.

Joey Baker:

SCS — 13 points, 5 boards, 1 assist, 3 turnovers, 2 steals in 20 minutes.
AS — 8 points, 1 turnover, 1 steal in 11 minutes.
E — 6 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 steal in 18 minutes.

Theo John:

SCS – did not play due to injury.
AS — 6 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal in 14 minutes.
E – 2 points, 0 boards, 2 assists, 0 turnovers, 2 steals in 12 minutes.

Facing the ACC

Until this year, we have never seen the ACC evaluated as being so weak. Duke is the only ACC team in the Top 25. UNC, Wake Forest, and Virginia Tech were the only ACC teams receiving any votes at all in the poll besides Duke. Because there are no other ranked teams in the ACC, any losses in the conference will count heavily against Duke,adversely impacting post-season seedings for tournaments. How Duke does in the 10 ACC-road-games will go a long way to evaluating the success of the regular season. On the road, Duke will play: Clemson, Notre Dame (beat Kentucky 66-62), Wake Forest (11-1; only loss to LSU), Florida State, Louisville, UNC, Boston College, Virginia, Syracuse, and Pitt.

Next Play: Tuesday, December 22 against Virginia Tech (5 votes in AP poll) in Cameron at 9:00 pm. ESPN2. Virginia Tech beat a good St. Bonaventure team (The Bonnies were 9-4 with a win over Clemson) like a drum (86-49) on Friday (Dec. 17).

Duke 76 –Virginia Tech 65; (Season 13 Issue 10 – Game 12) Alanalysis and Bill’s Cliff Notes

Bill’s CliffNotes:

During opening minutes of the game, the Blue Devils were as impressive as their new Gothic lettered “Brotherhood” uniforms; however, they quickly found themselves being schooled by a mature, well-coached, Virginia Tech team, which featured both accurate three-point shooters and two lethal big men. A four-point half-time Duke deficit quickly became eight and Coach K had seen enough. He went smaller, by replacing an ineffective Mark Williams with the more versatile AJ Griffin. Coach K then challenged the recently unproductive Paolo Banchero by putting him in the post opposite Aluma, the Hokie center, who had torched the ineffective Duke big men – Williams, John, and Jones – for 17 first-half points. BINGO! New chemistry, new game: Griffin, Banchero, and Moore all became different players. An eighteen-point turnaround in ten minutes! How many times have we seen this scenario? A “Patented Duke Run” that, once again, determines the outcome of a tight game! The Maestro hasn’t won almost 1,200 games by accident! And he did it this time without even raising his voice.

One of the joys of following Duke Basketball is watching players improve. Wendell Moore has taken three years. AJ Griffin, on the other hand, is doing it at warp speed in real time. How impressive is that? Jeremy Roach is much more effective as he settles into his role by understanding that, surrounded by this much talent, “Less is More.”

Stay Tuned!

Note: The ACC changed its COVID-19 protocols on Wednesday, by changing the forfeit rule. Previously, teams unable to play a scheduled league game due to positive COVID-19 cases forfeited the game. The new ACC rule stipulates that if a team does not have a sufficient number of participants, the game will be declared a no contest. Previously that had been a forfeit. However, if a team does have at least seven scholarship players and a single member of the coaching staff, and still decides not to play, the result would then be a forfeit.

ALANALYSIS:

Duke played a superb second half, outscoring Virginia Tech 44 to 29, (shooting 16-26 from the field, 2-5 from deep) and 10-10 from the foul line. Defensively, the Blue Devils sparkled, shutting down the vaunted Hokie 3-point attack (1-9) and holding Virginia Tech to only 29 second-half points. What was different about Duke’s second half? Coach K basically went with an “Iron Man 5”, with no appreciable help from the bench.

Duke played well in the first half, but the Hokies played better. Significantly, Duke’s defense did not have its usual intensity. The perimeter did not pressure the ball; the defense produced only 2 Hokie turnovers (only 1 steal, by Mark Williams). The Virginia Tech big men had their way on the interior. Keve Aluma (17 points on 7-12; 1-2 from deep and 2-2 from the line) and Justyn Mutts (8 points on 4-9) outscored the Duke big men 25 to 6. Theo John (7:34 minutes played), Mark Williams (8:39), and Bates Jones (2:33) were all scoreless for the entire game. Paolo Banchero looked lost and out of sync in his 14 first-half minutes, scoring 6 (3-9; 0-2 from deep, without getting to the foul line), adding a pair of rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, and a block against 3 turnovers. Wendell Moore kept Duke in the game, scoring 12 points (4-6; 2-2 from deep and 2-2 from the stripe) in his 19 ½ minutes. Joey Baker failed to score in his 5:33 minutes, while A.J. Griffin scored only 3 (1-3; 0-2 from deep and 1-1 from the stripe), with a rebound and turnover in almost 9 minutes…. Duke was behind 36-32 at the break.

Coach K began the second half with his starting lineup: Williams, Moore, Banchero, Keels and Roach. Duke immediately fell further behind. Trailing 42-36, Coach K made the substitution of the year, when he replaced Williams with A.J. Griffin after 3:07 had elapsed. A.J. played the remainder of the second half, except for 1:28. The score during that period tells a fabulous Duke story. In the stretch from 16:53 to go in the second half when A.J. entered the game, until there was 6:50 to go, when Griffin was given a brief rest, Duke was + 18 and had a 12 point lead. As soon as Griffin went out, Duke’s lead shrunk from 12 to 7 (in only 1:28). Coach K rushed him back into the game. In the next two minutes, the Blue Devils stretched the lead back out to 12.

A.J. played 15:25 in the second half, scoring an efficient 10 points on only 4 shots (4-4, 1-1 from deep and 1-1 from the stripe), to go with 3 rebounds, an assist, a block, and a steal. Although unmentioned by coaches or commentators, it is my quibble that A.J. was beaten a couple of times on defense and picked up his fourth foul with 3 minutes left. His stamina may have just been diminished with his time away from the game in past years and months from injury, and because Coach K had to rush him back into the game to rescue Duke’s deteriorating lead.

Coach K was appropriately ecstatic. “Wow, he played well. And he played well for a long time. I was talking to Jon [Scheyer] and Chris [Carrawell] on the bench and saying I wonder how long he can play. He kept playing. He showed, not just me, but himself something tonight that he can do that. If he doesn’t play like that we don’t win. This last week for him has been a good steady progression. Hopefully we can continue to build on it.” Another part of Duke’s marvelous second half was the performance of super-star freshman Banchero, after his sub-par first half. Coach K: “We got down by eight, so we went and put Paolo [Banchero] on him [Aluma]. Paolo had a great second half, not a good second half. Both offensively and defensively.” Banchero actually had an all-world half – 17 efficient points on only 11 shots (6-11, including 1-2 from deep and 4-4 from the stripe) to go with 6 rebounds and a highlight-reel assist. “That one pass he made was spectacular. That was as good as it gets, right there.”

Duke used only 5 players for virtually the entire second half. Williams never returned to the game after his opening 3:07. Bates Jones (in the backup role usually played by Theo John) spelled A.J. for 1:28. Joey Baker spelled Keels and Roach for a 1:30 breather each. That was it for the bench. Moore and Banchero played the entire 20 minutes; Roach and Keels played about 18:30 and A.J. 15:25. Iron Man 5 it was! It will be interesting to see how the success of the Iron Man 5 strategy impacts playing time in future games.

Coach K with the last word: “I told the guys at halftime, ‘Look, this game is even. We should be up by four points.’ Part of becoming a really good team is learning that in games like this is you have to do the little things. You have to do them, or you are punished by a good team. We grew up a lot in that second half. It was a big-time game for us.”

Next Play: Wednesday, December 29 at Clemson in Duke’s first ACC road game at 2:00 pm. ACCN.

Duke 69 –Georgia Tech 57; (Season 13 Issue 11 – Game 13) Alanalysis and Bill’s CliffsNotes

Duke Basketball Playbook (DBP) 2021-2022 game #13 (January 4, 2022)

Weird Circumstances

After defeating Virginia Tech on December 22, 2021, the Duke team left school and went home for a 3-day holiday. When the team reported back, the entire team and coaching staff tested positive for COVID, necessitating a 10 day quarantine (confined to room; no practice or any interaction) and the cancellation of the away games against both Clemson and Notre Dame. All the players and coaches were cleared for the Georgia Tech game last night.

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

Duke played like a team that had been in covid quarantine for two weeks. Oh wait, they have been in quarantine for two weeks. It’s a good thing that the Blue Devils were playing in Cameron against a conference bottom feeder tonight, because against a decent ACC team, on the road, they might have lost from being tired and rusty . Duke shot 37% from the floor and 65% (26-40) from the line. When was the last time you remember Duke missing 14 of 40 free throws!?!! These are not usually winning numbers.

For most of the game, Wendell Moore looked as if, on offense, he had reverted to last year. However, he had flashes of brilliance. In the clutch, Moore drove to the basket and was cut off. A.J. barreled down the lane to the basket, and Moore hit him with a perfect pass which AJ slammed home dramatically. A timely dunk late in the game; it was a key play to stop Ga. Tech’s mini comeback.

Defense was a different story. As we have pointed out, this team likes to play defense. As Coach K commented in his post-game press conference: “Defense was a key to the game. We are a good defensive team. When we played Ohio State, we got tired but that was more [because] of travel. They make you tired, and we stopped playing defense. Tonight, we did not do that. We talked about it at halftime. I told them, ‘I know you guys are tired, but you cannot be tired on the defensive end.’ We couldn’t be (like we were at) Ohio State, when we gave up buckets like that. We are maturing and hopefully we learned from that game. Defense is really a key to our team.”

ALANALYSIS:

The Good

The Defense

Bill’s closing Coach K quote sums up Duke’s defensive effort with accuracy. This was not Duke’s pressing, turnover defense, but rather one that contested every Ga Tech shot. This was in-your-grill-defense for the full 30 seconds of the shot clock. Duke had 8 blocks (3 each by Paolo and Mark; 1 each by A.J. and Theo), but forced only 9 turnovers, including 3 steals. It is comforting to understand the commitment that this group of players has to the defensive end; both Paolo and A.J. talked in post-game comments about their individual and team commitment to the defensive end. Jeremy, Wendell (despite his offensive woes), and Trevor were and are superb defenders.

A.J. Griffin

It is fascinating to see in which game circumstances Coach K turns to A.J. Griffin. A.J. is like Coach K’s aspirin when the headache strikes. Duke was down a point, with 14:32 left in the first half, when A.J. made his first appearance in the game. When he was replaced 4 minutes later, Duke led by 6. In that stretch, A.J. garnered 2 rebounds, handed out a nice assist, and blocked a shot. He changed the game without scoring. Griffin returned with 6:58 to go in the first half; Duke’s lead had been trimmed to 5 and momentum was beginning to tilt toward Ga. Tech. By the time A.J. was replaced, with 1:59 to go, Duke’s lead was 9. In the second half, A.J. played 8 consecutive minutes, leaving the game with Duke ahead by 12 with 7:39 left in the game. When the Duke lead shrunk to 8, Coach K put A.J. back in the game. Griffin scored 3 and fed Keels on a beautiful assist for another 3, setting up an 11-point Duke lead with only 2:09 left. He made 2 free throws with 1:13 left in the game to cement the Duke win.

In 22:35 of floor time, he scored 12 (3-5, including 1-2 from deep and 5-8 from the stripe) to go with 6 rebounds, 2 assists (0 turnovers), and a blocked shot. A.J. was Duke’s leading scorer in the second half, playing almost 14 minutes, scoring 8 points (2-3, including 0-1 from deep and 4-6 from the line) to go with 3 boards and an assist. He was +17 for the game (which means that in his 22:35 on the floor, Duke outscored Georgia Tech by 17 points). A.J. was Duke’s force in the second half as Paolo was in the first half.

Paolo Banchero

Paolo was, in my opinion, the defensive star of the game in his game-high 36:15 minutes played. His offense was good – Duke’s leading scorer with 17 points on only 8 shots (4-8, including 0-1 from deep and 9-16 from the line). Getting to the line for 16 attempts is dominating. Missing 7 is disappointing if not horrifying. Tired shooters do miss. Paolo had 4 assists against 3 turnovers. His on-the-ball defense was outstanding, whether he was defending Ga.Tech big men in the paint or guards on the perimeter. Not many 6’10” 250 lb players can do that! He plays such intelligent defense, knowing how to switch and when to hedge. He had 8 defensive rebounds (11 boards in all), 2 steals, and 3 blocks. Paolo was +10 for the game.

Mark Williams

Coach K had not been happy with his 7-footer’s rebounding so far this season. He had to have been happy with Mark’s rebounding last night against Ga. Tech. In only 20 minutes, Williams snared 14 rebounds (9 defensive) – a stupendous effort and accomplishment! Mark had a double-double, scoring 10 points (4-8 from the field and 2-2 from the stripe) to go with 3 blocks and countless alterations at the rim which prevented Ga. Tech field goals.

Rebounding

Ga. Tech is not a big team (also the Yellow Jackets were missing their best big man) and does not rebound well. So, Duke’s rebounding success (a 48-35 margin) has to be taken with a grain of something. Still, it was a needed improvement by the Blue Devils.

The Almost Good

Jeremy Roach

Roach is playing substantial minutes (36:10 last night) because of the defensive intensity he brings as well as his ball handling skills. Even though he is not scoring as well as some (and I) think he is capable of, his defense is so valuable he will be in the lineup. He would be up in the “good” if he could just put the ball in the basket more frequently. He scored 9 (1-5 from the field, including 0-2 from deep; plus 7-9 from the line). Jeremy is very aggressive and drew fouls with his drives. He was + 11 for the game.

Trevor Keels

Trevor is also a wonderful on-the-ball defender, who would move up to “good” if his shot went in more frequently. Keels scored 10 (3-10, including 2-6 from deep) with a steal and a turnover.

Foul Shooting

40 free throws is an accomplishment, but missing 14 of them is Not Good and will cost Duke in big games should that affrontery continue. Maybe the Covid circumstances and quarantine (no practicing at all) are an explanation – worth watching going forward.

Not Championship Caliber (AKA The Bad)

The Bench (Besides A.J.)

Joey Baker

Joey played 7:19, sinking his only 3-point shot and his only foul shot. In contrast, his defense was awful. He looked as if he must maintain social distancing while attempting to defend. He can make baskets, but his defense will continue to limit his playing time as I think it did last night.

Theo John

In 3:59 of playing time, Theo missed both of his attempted shots, while blocking one.

Jaylen Blakes

Jaylen played less than 2 minutes, missing his only shot, a wide open 3-point attempt.

Wendell Moore, Jr.

Wendell had his first bad offensive outing of the season. He has been Duke’s best player, but he stunk on offense last night. In 35:32, Moore scored only 8 (2-11, including 1-3 from deep and 3-5 from the stripe). He had 2 assists, 2 rebounds, and 3 turnovers. Admirably, Wendell did not let his offensive woes impact adversely on his defense, which was superb (as usual).

The Offense

Duke looked out of sync on offense, committing turnovers (10) and having shots blocked (7). The plausible explanation is the long layoff between December 22 and January 4 plus the 10-day quarantine. Still, in the game-winning last 4 minutes, the freshmen – Keels, Banchero and Griffin — scored all of Duke’s points, stretching the lead back out to 11. Griffin had a monster dunk off a great Moore feed to top off the game, stinging the Yellow Jackets dead.

Next Play: Saturday night (Jan 8) against Miami in Cameron at 8 pm. ACCN. Miami had a 7-game winning streak in Dec 2021-Jan 2022 [after a rocky November (4-3)], including 3-0 in the conference (wins over Clemson, NC State, and Wake Forest). Miami may make it an 8-game streak with a home game tonight (Jan 5) against Syracuse.

Duke Basketball Playbook (DBP) Duke 74 – Miami 76; (Season 13 Issue 12 – Game 14) Alanalysis and Bill’s CliffsNotes

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

It’s games like this that must make Coach K think he should have retired a few years ago. Miami, the undersized senior citizens of college basketball (Charlie Moore is 23 and counting), gave Duke’s (sometimes) precocious teenagers a postgraduate course in Basketball 101 by schooling them in fundamentals and by forcing them into 17 turnovers, scoring 52 points in the paint by spreading the floor and making basic cuts and passes. Miami’s offense was so lethal that Coach K went to a 2-1-2 zone. Only briefly though, because Charlie Moore hit a 3 from somewhere near Greensboro. K promptly returned to-man-to-man, which was no more successful than it had been before the zone infinitesimal interlude. Conversely, Duke’s inability to force turnovers was as important as Miami’s success in forcing turnovers.

This team cannot play fifteen or so minutes of their best basketball or twenty-five of so-so basketball and expect to beat decent teams. They cannot have 18 turnovers and still beat decent teams. Even so, Duke led by three points with 34 seconds to go, but then they blew it. K’s instructions: “No three point plays”! When Charlie Moore drove to the basket, Jeremy Roach was beaten (once again) and fouled him as Charlie threw up a wild prayer of a shot. That is when the basketball gods intervened and said: “Not this time, Duke you don’t deserve the win” and somehow Charlie’s no-look layup bounced around and miraculously went in.

Charlie, who shoots and makes threes from Steph Curry’s range, missed a foul shot, the rebound of which was somehow snatched by the smaller Jordan Miller from the midst of Duke’s bigs, before Kameron McGusty hit a floater to put the ‘Canes ahead. Duke still had a chance to win the game but could not capitalize on the opportunities. Wendell Moore had a wide-open look for the win and missed. Duke got another shot on an out-of-bounds play, but Keels missed a prayer of a three.

Coach K was left to make the excuses for his team’s inconsistent play by blaming the residual effect of the Covid virus. Who knows, but it does not explain the inability of players to be able to stop an undersized, three-point-shooting team from making threes and also beating the larger Blue Devils with points in the paint. Nor Mark Williams’s lack of understanding that when he brings the ball low, he gives up his considerable size advantage and allows smaller players to steal the ball. Banchero has impressive guard skills for a man his size, but in close games he is more effective down low.

How much defense is needed to cover for periods of inconsistent offense? These players must play Duke Basketball consistently in order to win close games! “Sometimes” is simply not good enough.

ALANALYSIS:

It turns out that the game was even more depressing to write about than it was to watch — and that’s saying something. With the exceptions of Paolo Banchero and Mark Williams, the Blue Devils were so far below form that the team was almost unrecognizable. Duke committed 13 first-half turnovers (17 for the game), while scoring just 2 points off the only live ball turnover that the defense forced. Though Duke was bigger and outrebounded Miami by 14 (44-30), the Blue Devil offense was so sloppy that Miami took 11 more shots than Duke (70-59). In short, Duke made Miami look good.

The Good

Banchero

Paolo played a great game [in 35:18, he scored 20 points on only 10 shots (6-10, including 2-4 from deep; and 6-7 from the stripe), to go with 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal], but it was his second-half effort that was even more spectacular. Paolo played every second of the last period, scoring 13 points on 6 shots (5-6, including 1-1 from deep and 2-3 from the stripe. With Duke behind by a point with 1:17 to go in the game, Banchero blocked Wong’s layup attempt and retrieved the rebound. He then scored a hotly contested layup to give the Blue Devils a 1 point lead with 1:01 to go. Fourteen seconds later, Paolo poked the ball away from Miami to Wendell, who hit Banchero with a great pass for an easy layup and a 3-point Duke lead with 45 seconds to go. Banchero never touched the ball again and Duke never scored again.

Williams

Mark was very efficient in his 26:33 on the court (his most court time in a game this year), scoring 12 (6-8; missed his only foul shot) with 7 rebounds and 6 (6!) blocks. He had 2 assists, but also 3 turnovers. Even when Mark doesn’t block the shot, he has a knack for altering opponents’ shots so that otherwise easy shots don’t go in. Frequently, Mark and A.J. Griffin substitute for each other. Duke tied the game at 63 with 6:36 to go. Mark turned it over with 5:53 left; the Hurricanes scored to take a 2 point lead and Coach K replaced Mark with Roach. With Duke still down 1, Williams returned, replacing A.J. with 2:27 left. Williams delivered immediate dividends after a Miami hoop (3-point Hurricane lead with 2:05 left) when he grabbed an offensive rebound off a Roach miss and slammed it home to bring Duke back within 1. A.J. Griffin then replaced Williams. Therefore Williams was not in the game for the final 1:33 , including for Charlie Moore’s missed foul shot, which wound up being rebounded by Miami. If Duke had secured that defensive rebound it is likely the Blue Devils would have won.

Not Bad, But Could Be Better

A.J. Griffin

A.J. made his first two 3-point attempts to score 6 quick points in the first half, but then missed his next 3 shots (2 from deep). Those first 6 points were his only first-half points in 13 minutes on the court, also contributing 4 first-half rebounds (1 turnover) He scored 4 in the second half (2-4, including 0-1 from deep and 0-1 from the stripe) with 2 boards. He scored 10 in a little over 24 game minutes. He is clearly the sixth man, and in the second half was Duke’s only substitute.

Joey Baker

Joey played only 6 first-half minutes, without scoring. One rebound. His (lack of) defense at the end of the first half may explain why he did not get into the game in the second half.

Theo John

Theo played even less than Baker, appearing for only 2:29 in the first half (scoring 2 points on 1-1, a dandy lefty hook, and a board). He did not enter the game in the second half. His playing time is being curtailed by Coach K in favor of more time for A.J.

The Ugly Perimeter

For the first 13 games of the season, Duke’s perimeter defended brilliantly, and on offense scored consistently with four ball handlers, even without a traditional point guard (though Wendell could object to my take on that). Against Miami, the defense was porous, allowing Miami’s guards to penetrate at will, whether on straight drives or back door cuts. The Blue Devil pressure defense that had thrived on forcing turnovers – especially live ball turnovers that led to transition points — failed to turn the Hurricanes over and produced only 1 basket from a live ball turnover in the entire game! Miami outscored the taller Blue Devils in the paint 52-38 because of Duke’s sloppy turnovers and shoddy defense.

Coach K: “First of all, points off turnovers give you points in the paint. If we don’t turn the ball over, we would hold them in the 60s and they’ve been averaging 90. The backdoors were the ones because we didn’t want to contest. We’re not going to get steals, so we’re playing half a man below and they still backdoored. That shows you’re tired, I think. … I thought a key point of the game was when we were up 26-18 and we were playing well, and we came down three or four straight times and turned the ball over.”

Wendell put it this way: “A lot of our turnovers were kind of unforced errors, just lazy passes, dribbling the ball off our legs, dribbling into double- teams … just things that we know we really can’t do. It’s stuff that we went over in the scouting report. I feel like if we clean up some of that, the outcome is definitely a little different tonight.”

Roach

Jeremy played 32 minutes, scoring 9 (3-8, including 1-2 from deep and 2-2 from the line), with a rebound, 4 assists, and 3 turnovers. Roach’s calling card for playing time is his defense. Ineffective is a fair adjective to describe his defense against Miami. He simply could not guard Miami’s Charlie Moore, who torched him (other defenders as well, but Roach was primary) for 18 points on 13 shots (6-9 inside the arc) with slick drives and back door cuts. Roach was embarrassed through the back door. Even the announcer wondered if Duke would adjust to the stream of back door layups from Miami (the answer turned out to be “no”). With Duke leading by 3 and only 34 seconds left, Charlie Moore had the ball for Miami. Coach K: “Our thing is no threes and no fouls in that situation … and we (Roach) fouled. We were too spread out, we wanted to be condensed but we were not.”

Keels

Trevor played 36:11 in the game (all 20 minutes of the second half), also scoring 9 points, but taking 11 shots (2-11, including 1-6 from 3 and 4-4 from the stripe). Keels had good statistics aside from his abysmal shooting: 6 rebounds, 4 assists, without a turnover. Moore had previously told the press that the Duke perimeter triumvirate put such intense defensive pressure on an offense that opponents were unprepared for its intensity. Miami gave every appearance of being so completely prepared for the Duke pressure that there did not seem to be a Duke pressure defense. Keels had a chance to win the game with 12 seconds left and Duke trailing by a point. Trevor raced down court and looked to be loose in the paint before Miami defended him effectively and retrieved his missed shot.

Moore

Wendell has, I believe, understood how dramatically his game has fallen off in the last two games from the high standard he set for himself in the first 12. Even though Moore had a double-double (12 points and 12 rebounds), he did not play well. Wendell is aware that Duke depends on him for leadership and to play well. “I really think that all starts with me. Tonight, I didn’t lead the guys the way I’m supposed to. Up three with 30 seconds left, I feel like, as a leader, I can’t let our team lose that game. So really I kind of put this one on me as a leader. … But at the end of the day, I feel like if we follow our scouting report and I lead our team better, I feel like the outcome is different.” Wendell played a team high 37:14 (all 20 minutes of the second half). His 12 points came from 5-12 shooting, including a sad 0-4 from deep; 2-2 from the stripe) to go with his 12 rebounds and 7 assists (but 6 turnovers). He also had a block and a steal, which makes for a misleading stat line. Moore didn’t lead as he had done earlier this year, and it cost Duke dearly.

Even so, Miami left the door open. After Miami scored to take a 1 point lead with 20 seconds left, Keels drove into the lane, but missed with 12 seconds remaining. When Miami grabbed the rebound, Griffin had to foul with only 8 seconds left. When Miami’s Wong missed the second foul shot with 6 seconds to go and Duke behind by 2, A.J. got the rebound. With 2 seconds left, Wendell received a great pass and had a wide open 3 for the win …but clanged it.

Conclusion

Coach K: “I thought Wendell [Moore Jr.] had a good shot, I thought Trevor [Keels] really took the ball hard and had a chance to maybe get a foul. We had a chance to win the game, but we did not. It’s a very tough loss for us and we just have to keep moving. We’re not in shape.”

The reason it has been depressing to write about this game is that the game perhaps demonstrated that Duke is vastly overrated as the only ACC team worthy of being in the top 25. Based on the Miami game, Duke is clearly not a top 10 team. Was this desultory performance an aberration caused by the weirdness of the COVID disruption, or is Duke simply not as good as we had hoped and predicted. Time will tell, but the evidence from the Miami game is no reason for optimism.

Next Play: Wednesday night (Jan 12) at Wake Forest at 7 pm. ACCN.

Duke 76 – Wake Forest 64; (Season 13 Issue 13 – Game 15) Alanalysis and Bill’s CliffsNotes (January 12, 2022)

“What do you say we start Griffin and not tell Coach K?” *Credit: Raleigh News and Observer*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

Coach was missing-in-action with a non-Covid virus (aka severe indigestion after watching loops of tape of the Miami game where Duke made 17 turnovers and blew a 3-point lead with 30 seconds to go. (Instead he might have watched Georgia demonstrate how to close out a close game in beating Alabama for the N.C.A.A. Football Championship. Go Dawgs!!!) Not to worry, head coach in-waiting, Jon Scheyer, filled in admirably for head coach Mike Krzyzewski by replacing Jeremy Roach in the starting lineup with A.J. Griffin, who responded by scoring 22 points on only 11 shots! (Jon is 2-0 as head coach. He won at Boston College last year, only about 1,081 wins to go to match Coach K.)

The Devils started fast with Banchero working down low and scoring almost at will to get an early eight-point advantage. Then, they played like they did in the Miami game and lost the lead until 42 seconds before the half ended when the Blue Devils turned the game around. Moore hit a layup, Keels had a steal then a 3, Griffin drew a charge then nailed a three — an 8-0 run in the final 42 seconds and Duke was up 35-29 at the half. They continued to play outstanding defense and offense to start the second half, scoring on their first nine possessions making the Duke lead 55-35 — after the 20 – 6 run. Then Duke cooled off, and Wake cut the lead to the low teens where it stayed until the final buzzer.

Duke showed how lethal this team can be at their best, but how ordinary they can look when they get stagnant on offense and lazy on defense. Hopefully, COVID can explain some of their uninspired play, but you never know what goes through a teenager’s mind—even a precocious one. One thing for sure, Banchero and Griffin need the leadership and scoring of Moore, the defense of Williams and Keels, and occasional breathers from the bench to beat the best teams.

ALANALYSIS:

Duke won each half by 6 points, for its total 12-point margin of victory: opening stanza 35-29; second half 41-35. In a stretch of time that included the last 42 seconds of the first half + the first 4 minutes 42 seconds of the second half (total 5 minutes 22 seconds), Duke outscored the Deacons by 22 points (25-3), scoring on the Blue Devils’ first 9 possessions of the second half. The defense made it happen by holding Wake to a single field goal and a single made foul shot in that 5 minute stretch.

Wendell Moore explained how it felt: “It all really started with our defense. Our defense led to easy shots on the offensive end, it gave guys confidence to come in and hit huge shots. … I really think this win was big for us, not just because we won, but the way that we played as a team. … [T]his game was so fun to play in as a team. It felt kind of like how we were playing at the beginning of the season. It was a lot of fun – guys sharing the ball, a lot of guys smiling. You don’t even know who’s scoring, you just know that Duke’s scoring. We’re getting stops at the other end. That’s what it’s about. Any time we come out and play like that, I think we’ll be a very hard team to beat.”

All the starters, except Moore, scored during that amazing 4:42. Banchero scored 9 of his 11 second-half points during that run. The defense was intense, led by Mark Williams, who made all 3 of his blocks during that special run.

However, it is worth noting that for the other 34 minutes and 38 seconds of the game, Wake outscored the Blue Devils 63 to 51. What do we make out of those two different sections of the game, as well as for the streaks for each team within the game in the second half? Wake cut the Duke lead to as low as 11 at the midpoint of the last half, but twice after that, the Blue Devils pushed the lead back out to 20, the last being with 7:37 left in the game. Duke had an 18-point lead with only 4:02 left in the game, and the lead was 16 before Wake scored the last two baskets during garbage time at the end.

The Defense

While Duke’s offense was inconsistent, the defense was stout throughout and visibly flummoxed the Deacons. Duke forced 15 Wake turnovers; Wake had only 7 assists. So even though Duke was outrebounded (36-29), Duke still took 7 more shots than Wake (61-54). Wake’s star, Alondes Williams, scored 25 and may have seemed unstoppable at times. A closer look shows that Duke defended Alondes quite effectively, thereby slowing down a Wake offense that has been formidable this year (until last night). To achieve 25 points, Alondes had to launch 21 of Wake’s total of 54 shots. Moreover, though he is Wake’s leader in points and assists, and did dishe out 4 assists last night, Duke hounded Alondes into 7 turnovers from which Duke scored a bunch. Moore had primary responsibility, but like all great defenses, it was team defense that stymied Alondes and the Geek Deacs.

The Rotation

A.J. Griffin replaced Jeremy Roach in the starting lineup, which obviously changed the rotation. Coach Schyer: “First of all, it gave us great size. That group that we put out there to begin the game, it’s a big team. Trevor Keels and Wendell Moore Jr., as your two smallest players – they’re big guards that can switch really well, switch one through four at times, one through five. AJ Griffin has just been coming on. He’s just been playing really well. We still need Jeremy [Roach] to come through big for us, and he did that in the second half. But it was really AJ’s emergence, the consistency that Mark Williams has had, and then really to spotlight and highlight Paolo Banchero. Paolo played a terrific game.”

Moore was on the court for the entire game (except when Scheyer took him out with 43 seconds to go); Banchero played 37:36; Griffin 35:44 (his longest of the year by far); Keels 28:01 (he was injured and couldn’t or didn’t play the last 6:54); Mark Williams 21:45 (his second half was limited to 9 minutes because of foul trouble – he picked up his 4th with more than 13 minutes left in the game); Roach 19:35 (14 minutes in the second half where he scored all 5 of his points.)

Theo John committed 4 fouls while failing to score in 6:27 inefficient minutes. Joey Baker scored a point (0-2, including 0-1 from deep; and 1-3 from the foul line) in his 11:32 appearance. In those minutes, he also committed a foul and a turnover. I find his defense a liability.

As a team, Duke committed 18 fouls for the game. Too many!

The Offense

The most critical improvement for the offense after the Miami game is that there was no rash of turnovers the way it happened against Miami (13 in the first half). Against Wake, Duke only turned it over 7 times. The ball handling was crisp, with Moore in charge. Duke hit 7 of 15 from deep (21 points on 15 shots); but not much better from the foul line (7-13).

Banchero

Paolo scored a team high 24 points, but took 23 shots to do it (11-23, including 2-6 from deep, and, strangely, did not even attempt a free throw). He added 5 rebounds, an assist, and a block. Paolo’s 23 (of Duke’s 61) shots were more than the other 3 starters (except for A.J.) combined (Keels 9; Mark 6; and Moore only 5, for a cumulative 20). Paolo’s defense is sometimes not appreciated as much as I think is deserved. With Mark on the court for only 9:31 second-half minutes, and Theo limited by his four fouls to 2 second-half minutes, Paolo played as center with Duke’s small lineup for almost half of the last stanza. Paolo said after the game, “I think the mindset in the second half was ‘Don’t let up.’ … We didn’t want to let up because last time we were on the road against Ohio State, we were up 13 at halftime and obviously we know what happened. We didn’t want to have that happen again, and so we just wanted to come out and keep our foot on the gas.”

Griffin

A.J. was simply the star! He scored 22 points (11 in each half) on only 11 shots (8-11, including 3-5 from behind the arc) and 3-5 from the stripe. His 3-pointer at the first half buzzer was a great finish to the half and the start of the Duke run. He also contributed 4 key rebounds, an assist, and a block. It was A.J.’s night! His teammates and coaches showed their delight at A.J.’s superb outing.

Moore

Wendell showed how to dominate a game without scoring much. He scored only 7 (2-5 from the field and 3-5 from the foul line). Moore led by grabbing 5 rebounds, handing out 6 assists, without one turnover, while making 3 steals. His dramatic improvement from the sluggish effort against Miami was just what the Blue Devils needed to eradicate the bad taste left by the Miami loss.

Keels

Trevor scored 11 (5-9, including 1-2 from deep without attempting a free throw). He was 3-3 in the second half before his injury, handled the ball with aplomb (4 assists; 2 turnovers), and defended well (2 steals). He garnered 3 boards. I am not in love with the +/- statistic, but it is worth noting that Trevor was + 17 in the second half and + 27 for the game, both well above any other Duke player.

Williams

Despite his foul trouble and limited second half playing time, Mark was efficient in his almost 22 minutes on the court. He scored 6 (3-6). His value was demonstrated with his team high 7 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Roach

Jeremy contributed, mostly in the second half, when he scored all of his 5 points on 2-2 shooting, including 1-1 from behind the arc. His 3 halted a Wake mini-comeback and gave Duke breathing room. He played almost half of the game, where he also contributed 2 steals and an assist, all without a turnover.

Concluding Thoughts

Evaluating this team’s progress, potential, and quest for ACC and National Championships is more difficult this year than in a non-COVID normal year. However, this makes every game highly anticipated as the unexpected is likely to happen. The league may be down (only Duke in the top 25), but the games are fascinating, close, and it is impossible to predict their outcomes. Miami beat Duke IN CAMERON but then lost last night by one point to Florida State. I plan to enjoy this season somewhat uncritically (and if you believe that…).

Next Play: Saturday afternoon at 2 pm vs. NC State in Cameron. TV: ABC

Duke 88 – North Carolina State 73; (Season 13 Issue 14 – Game 16) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” and Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes” (January 15, 2022)

Mark Williams reaches for a triple-double, executing one of his eight critical blocks against NC State. *Photo credit: AP Photo/Gerry Broome*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

Johnny Tar Heel told me that the Miami loss might be the best thing that could have happened to Duke. Well, only if it was an impetus for moving A.J. Griffin into the starting lineup and using Jeremy Roach strategically as the sixth man. This should solve some of the problems by making the Blue Devils bigger and more lethal offensively, and more consistent defensively. Trevor Keels (9 assists, 5 steals, 12 points) is a better defender, and demonstrated an ability to share, if not run, the point, which allowed Wendell Moore to replace Banchero on the wing, permitting Paolo to operate around the lane where he is most effective.

The wins against both Wake and NC State showed periods wherein the Blue Devils were capable of playing better, if not more consistently, than they did before the Christmas break when the team contracted the COVID virus. Having said that, we must acknowledge some areas that need to be addressed: the tendency to fall behind early; the drop off in free throw shooting efficiency from nearly 80% to about 60%; and defensive rebounding.

Mark Williams took full advantage of Manny Bates, the Wolfpack’s big, mature center being out for the season, by having a Career Game (19 points, 11 rebounds, 8 blocks). He also made the highlight play of the game by running down a fast break pass and, while leaping out of bounds directly under the basket, in one motion caught it and threw a no-look bounce pass to a following Banchero for an uncontested dunk.

Wendell Moore has shown flashes of playing like he had in the first eleven games of the season. All in all, the two games were a good response to a disappointing performance against the Miami Hurricanes.

Duke’s Tuesday game against Florida State, which beat Miami by a point this Friday in Tallahassee, will be a better test of how far the Blue Devils have come back and how far they have to go to be a formidable contender.

ALANALYSIS:

Paolo Banchero has earned my leadoff spot today with his accurate post-game summary of where the Blue Devils are now: “We’re getting there. Like Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] said, we’ve still got a long way to go and still some things to figure out. But we’re definitely trending in the right direction as a team. We’re playing a lot more together, we’re communicating better on offense and defense, and we’re holding each other accountable, just as a team, and everybody listens to each other. Nobody’s stubborn. Nobody doesn’t listen. Everyone takes what someone has to say and puts it to use, so we’re definitely taking good steps.”

The team, and individual statistics, against NC State bear that out. Duke shot an amazing 66% (31-47) from inside the arc. The Blue Devil bigs ran circles around the smaller Wolfpack. Coach K: “Our big guys were terrific. Mark [Williams] almost had a triple double. Theo [John] really contributed well in the first half when we got a little lead. We got 29 points, 13 rebounds and nine blocks from our bigs. Let’s get that every game.”

Paolo’s “we’re playing a lot more together” is demonstrated by Duke’s 23 assists on 35 field goals – 9 for Keels, 4 each for Roach & Paolo, plus 2 each for A.J. and Williams – against only 8 turnovers. As Bill describes, one assist from Mark was special. Keels pitched ahead to Williams in transition, but the pass was a little too long. Mark caught it underneath the basket, but his momentum was carrying him out of bounds. Amazingly, he maintained his balance and had the composure, while in midair, to drop a short bounce pass back for an oncoming Banchero to finish with a dunk. (I couldn’t resist also describing the play; it was just so pretty.)

On the defensive side of the ball, Duke blocked 10 Wolfpack shots – 8 by Williams and 1 each by Banchero and John. Five of those blocks were on State’s offensive star, Dereon Seaborn, who has earned a reputation with his athletic drives to the basket and 20 points per game average. Duke limited State to 41% shooting (31-75).

However, there were aspects of the game that also support Paolo’s “we still have a long way to go and still some things to figure out.” NC State grabbed 22 offensive rebounds, which resulted in the Wolfpack attempting 15 more total shots than Duke (75-60). Coach K on his team giving up 22 offensive rebounds: “With our bigs helping, when there was a missed shot, they weren’t able to block out the [NC State] big because they were helping the perimeter. The weak point of our game was the offensive rebounds against us. However, you’re going to give some up … we limited their threes, limited penetration, but it’s difficult to limit everything.”

Duke’s defense was amazingly lax (as in way too relaxed) during the first 5:16 of the game. NC State shot 6-7, including a 3, from the field plus 2-2 from the line for 15 points to lead Duke 15-8. Scoring continuously at that rate would produce almost 120 points for NC State for the game.

Duke shot only 31% from behind the arc (4-13), but even worse from the foul line — 14-24 with Paolo and Joey each missing 3 while Mark and Theo each missed 2. Mark’s 2 misses were “and one” as he was fouled while scoring. Thus, Duke’s bigs missed 7 free throws.

Williams, Banchero, and Keels had excellent outings. Theo John had his best game of the season. Moore didn’t look himself until NC State made a late run, then he morphed into his pre-Xmas leadership role. Griffin, Roach, and Baker contributed, but each has contributed more in previous games.

Williams

Mark in 26 minutes was just two blocks short of an amazing triple-double (19 points, 11 boards, and 8 blocks) with 2 assists, including the one that Bill and I loved to describe, and a steal. Mark committed only one foul and one turnover. I believe that warrants a “wow”!

Keels

Trevor was even better than his impressive stat line that Bill set out above. In 35:15, he was 5-13, including 2-6 from deep, for his 12 points while snaring 5 boards, and handing out those dazzling 9 assists (only 2 turnovers). Even more important to Duke was his dominating defense that resulted in 5 steals and intimidating harassment of the Wolfpack backcourt. Coach K: “I thought Trevor [Keels] played his best game since the beginning of the season, with nine assists and five steals. He made a couple passes to Mark when the momentum was changing a bit, and Mark made good catches and finishes. … With the starting lineup we have, he ends up being a point guard at times, and with the other lineup, he really never was, unless we put him in a ball screen. He’s a very smart player and he’s strong with the ball. He can get in certain positions and make passes because of his strength. He’s had a really good week of practice. I think he’s getting sharper, and he had a terrific game for us tonight.”

Banchero

Paolo is so good, it’s easy to take his game for granted. Coach K: “Paolo played his normally solid game.” Normal? In the second half, Paolo’s “normal” was 13 points on 4 field goal attempts (4-4) + 5-8 from the line. Paolo was so distraught at his 3 misses that when he made his last 2 ( which clinched the game) he gave himself cynical applause. Paolo’s “normal” in his 32:39 game minutes was 21 points on 11 shots, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal. Coach K will be even happier if Paolo does not make the 4 turnovers he committed during last night’s “normal”.

Moore

Wendell logged 33:13, scoring 15 (6-8; 3-3 from the line) and corralling 4 boards. But Wendell had 4 turnovers with only a single assist. However, when NC State cut the Duke lead to single digits late in the game, Moore took over. In the second half, he scored 9 on 4-5 shooting and 1-1 from the line (a 3-point play) and solidified Duke’s win. Coach K was insightful about Wendell and the playmaking help he received from Trevor, which: “took off some of the load from Wendell [Moore Jr.]. Wendell is not back to where he was before this. He had one assist and four turnovers … he used to have four assists and two turnovers. We put a lot on him, and maybe we can take a little off so he’s not playing so tired. In the last six minutes of the game, I thought he was our best player. He didn’t have a great game until then, but he’s guarding Seabron …[one of the] best players in the league and probably…first team All ACC. That’s had an impact on his offense.”

John

Theo logged 10:33 in this, his best game as a Blue Devil, scoring in double figures (10 points on 4-4 sho0ting and 2-4 from the line), grabbing 2 boards and blocking a Wolfpack shot. Great contribution.

Griffin

A.J. played 27:31 (1-6 from the field, including 1-4 from deep) with a pair of rebounds and a pair of assists. He gave Duke a 23-21 lead that the Blue Devils never relinquished when he scored his only points, a 3 with 9:26 left in the first half. Still Coach K understands what A.J. brings to this team. When assessing Duke’s return to pre-pause strength, Coach K said: “the element that’s changed is A.J. [Griffin]. A.J. did not have that spectacular game today. He’s 18 and I thought he played hard and well. I think our fans think that every shot he takes will go in. I wish that were true, but today he didn’t. He’s the new element.”

Roach

Jeremy played 23 minutes without a field goal (0-1, a layup that was blocked) but made 2 critical foul shots when NC State had cut the Duke lead to 9 with 5:15 left to play. As Coach K pointed out “Jeremy [Roach] didn’t give us points, but he gave us defense, four assists and no turnovers.”

Baker

Joey played 12 minutes, scoring 6 points (2-5 from the field, including 1-3 from deep; 1-4 from the stripe (ugh!). He added 2 boards and an assist. Coach K: “Joey gave us some really good minutes.”

The Last Part of the Second Half When It Counted

NC State never quit and made things a bit nervous for Duke fans as the Wolfpack cut into the substantial Blue Devil lead. Duke stretched the lead to 19 with 12:11 to go and again with 10:59 left. Duke still led by 17 with 7:31 to go. Then NC State made its run, trimming the Duke lead to 11 with 6:04 left. Coach K called a timeout that didn’t help because after, Paolo made a bad pass allowing the Wolfpack to draw within 9 on a 3rd offensive rebound and dunk by Dowuona. 75-66 with 5:20 left. State fouled Roach in the backcourt, and he made both free throws; Moore scored on a drive that resulted in a traditional 3-point play – lead 14 with 4:30 left. State twice again cut the lead to single digits: first on a Seaborn offensive rebound and dunk (80-71 with 3:21 left), and then on a fast break layup (82-73 with 2:50 left). That is when Paolo took over and sealed the deal. First, Paolo hit Moore with a beautiful pass for a layup; and then Paolo scored on an assist from Keels and closed out the scoring with 2 foul shots to create the winning margin before being taken out of the game with 38 seconds left, to cheers from the Cameron Crazies.

Next Play: Tuesday evening at 9 pm at Florida State. TV: ABC/ESPN

Duke 78 Florida State 79; (Season 13 Issue 15 – Game 17) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” and Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes” (January 18, 2022)

an 18, 2022; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Duke Blue Devils center Mark Williams (15) tries to block a shot from Florida State Seminoles guard Caleb Mills (4) during the first half at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports — *FSU ties Duke up. Photo credit: USATSI*. *Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

There is something about teams from Florida. Big or small, they know how to play Duke. Both Miami and Florida State not only exposed Duke’s weaknesses—inconsistent play, turnovers, rebounding (the Seminoles had four point-blank misses at the rim before finally getting the ball in the basket to start the second half – Where were the Duke defenders?). But surprisingly FSU also outhustled Duke for most of the game. Tonight, the Seminoles deserved to win. But, the Blue Devils were beaten by the same play as they were in the Miami game: a guard driving right and putting up a difficult shot—one a prayer while being fouled by Roach (Miami), the other a beautiful lay-up high enough off the backboard to keep from being blocked by both Banchero and Williams (FSU).

Banchero, who somehow did not take a shot for the first fifteen minutes of the second half, put the team on his back the rest of the way. Somewhat surprisingly, if not amazingly, Duke made a determined run of 12-4 in the last five minutes, without Trevor Keels who injured his calf before the stretch drive, to go ahead, before Evans’ great shot to tie the game as the buzzer went off. The impetus to the dramatic late comeback was Duke switching to a zone defense, which kept the Seminoles out of the paint. However, Duke switched to a man-to-man on Evans’ drive to tie the game in regulation—possibly to avoid a winning three point shot.

It was an exciting college basketball game; Florida State deserved the win by executing a terrific game plan with enthusiasm. It is obvious from the stats what Duke needs to work on: Florida State had 19 offensive rebounds to Duke’s 7 and forced 15 turnovers while committing only 5. They also had 18 more field-goal attempts than Duke. The good news for the rest of the season is that the Blue Devils, playing as poorly as they did for most of the second half, nearly won and could have won by making a stop at the end of regulation or a shot at the end of overtime. Who should take the last shot—the man with the hot-hand. In this case, it is obviously Paolo Banchero, not Wendell Moore, who has played erratically since the break. That’s what good teams do.

ALANALYSIS:

THE LEAD

The key statistic – where analysis starts, is that FSU fired up 73 shots –18 more than Duke’s 55, including 2 more from deep (25-23). Duke gave up 19 offensive rebounds to the hustling Seminoles (I have heard no calls for a new mascot or new nickname), while committing 15 turnovers and a damaging 19 fouls. FSU shot 80% from the foul line and outscored Duke by 6 from the stripe (20 points to14). Duke survived the turnovers and the Seminole rebounding — Duke scored 1 more field goal and 3 more 3s from deep (10 baskets to7 ), but Duke’s fouling on defense turned out not to be survivable. Of all the Duke failings, Duke would have still won if they had not committed so many fouls and if FSU had not shot such a high percentage from the line. 80% is excellent. Duke lost by 1 — on foul shots. No one has mentioned it, but it was not a smart or necessary foul. FSU’s victory in the last 12 seconds of the overtime came on 2 foul shots following an inexplicable Roach foul.

When Bill and I spoke at half time, I said, “FSU is just playing harder than Duke.” It was true. The Seminole effort on defense was prodigious, turning Duke over and destroying Blue Devil offensive cohesion. One play stands out: Banchero tried to bring the ball up court and just couldn’t (a timeout saved the Duke possession, but the Seminole intensity was at zenith.) Then in the second half, the wheels fell off for Duke. In the first 3:35 of the second half, Duke failed to score; the 5-point Blue Devil half time lead became a 4-point deficit by then. After 7:14 had elapsed in the closing stanza, Duke had managed to score just 3 measly points. FSU’s largest lead was 9 (59-50) with 7:32 to go.

Coach K: “Florida State’s depth and their physicality – they played hard, and it was tough to get entry passes. It was tough to run plays against them. I thought their defense dominated our offense. It was really not kind of an x and o game – they’re going to take you out of every play, so you’ve got to make plays. [I]t was the most physical game we’ve been in. They knocked us back for most of the first half, and at the end of the first half we took some control. And then right away at the start of the second half, they dominated those first four minutes and set a tone where we could’ve been knocked out. We kind of hung in there, and in the last seven-eight minutes, we changed defenses. [From man-to-man to a 2-3 zone.] That gave us a little bit of rest and I thought it slowed down the momentum of the game. The momentum of the game was definitely going in their favor for most of the game.”

First Half

Even though FSU attempted 9 more field goals, forced 5 more turnovers than Duke (and had 3 more steals), Duke’s offensive rush in the last 1:54, scoring 5 straight points (Keels a basket and 1-2 from the line; Williams 2-2 from the stripe) snapped a 33-33 tie and gave Duke a 5-point lead at half time. Nevertheless, the Seminoles had played harder.

Banchero scored 9 on 4 field goal attempts (3-4, including 0-1 from 3land) and 3-4 from the foul line. He had 6 rebounds. Keels scored 9 on 8 shots (3-8 from the field, including 2-6 from deep) and 1-2 from the line, but committed 3 turnovers and only a single assist. Joey Baker (2-3, including 1-2 from deep) & Wendell Moore (2-2 from the field, including 1-1 from deep) each scored 5. Mark Williams was 1-2 from the field and 2-2 from the stripe for 4 points to go with a block and 3 boards. Jeremy Roach (1-2 from the field and 1-1 from the line) and A.J. Griffin (1-1 from deep) each scored 3 for Duke’s 38 first-half points.

Second Half

After 7:32 had been played in the closing period, Duke stopped falling further behind the ‘Noles. But, the Blue Devils still trailed by 9 with 6:52 left in the game. With 4:53 to go, Paolo made two foul shots – his first second-half points. The Seminole lead was a substantial 8 with 4:29 left and 6 (65-59) with just 2:55 left. In the next 2:25, Duke scored 8 straight points as Paolo’s full game went on display (after he had failed to score in the first 15:07 of the second half). First, he got a rebound of a shot he had missed, and dunked it (65-61). Then he fed Mark with a lovely lob for a Mark Williams dunk, cutting the Seminole lead to 2 (65-63). With 1:09 left, Paolo fed Griffin for the game-tying jump shot (65-65). And finally with only 30 seconds remaining, Banchero again fed Williams for a dunk and a 2-point Duke lead. FSU had 14 seconds left on the clock after calling time out. Duke had been in a zone to stop the bleeding, which had fueled the necessary defensive part of the comeback. But for this last possession, Duke switched to a man-to-man defense, which Evans defeated on a superb drive and layup over both Paolo and Mark to send the game into overtime.

Trevor Keels had a terrible second half (0-3, including 0-2 from deep and committing 2 fouls) before being hurt with 10:11 left in the game. Coach K: “we think it’s not a knee, it’s a calf injury, but we don’t know the extent of it.”

Jeremy Roach took up the slack. While he only scored 3 (1-3, 1-2 from the line), he handed out 3 assists without a turnover. Coach K said that in the latter stages of the half, “we started making plays and Jeremy and Paolo were a key to that. I thought Jeremy Roach really played one of his best games and was strong with the ball, and so was Paolo [Banchero]. We were just much stronger with the ball during that time period and made really good plays as a result of it.”

Mark Williams led Duke’s second-half scoring with 9 points (4-5 from the floor; 1-1 from the stripe) to go with 3 rebounds and 2 blocks. He was superb at crunch time. Moore scored 6 on 2-3 from deep, but committed 3 turnovers without an assist. A.J. scored 2 on 1-3 shooting while Theo John missed both of his field goal attempts, but made both of his free throws for 2 points. Joey Baker missed both shots, failing to score while committing 3 fouls.

In the closing stanza, Florida State attempted 11 more shots than Duke because the ‘Noles had grabbed 13 offensive rebounds off of Duke’s backboard while Duke had only 12 rebounds off the same backboard, Not common–a defensive team doesn’t usually allow the offense to get more rebounds off of its own backboard. Duke’s 7 second-half turnovers also contributed to Florida’s advantage in shots attempted. Finally, Duke committed 10 fouls, which FSU turned into 13 points (13-14 from the line in the second half).

Banchero: “I think some of the struggles, they were denying and switching everything, so they were in all the passing lanes, making it hard to catch the ball. [They were] making us catch outside of where we wanted to start our offense at. They put good pressure off the ball and on the ball. Then, we turned it around I think by getting out in transition and then driving and kicking. That worked for us pretty much all game, was driving and kicking out. … The zone, I think, worked just because we were able to keep them out of the paint for the most part. Then, just staying engaged and finding their shooters – [John] Butler, for the most part, we didn’t let him hit any threes in the second half and down the stretch.”

The Overtime

The offensive prowess of both teams returned for the overtime (ie the ball started to actually get in the $&^* basket). The lead changed 6 times and the game was tied thrice in the 5 minute session. Florida State scored 12 to Duke’s 11. Banchero scored his 4 overtime points in the last minute of the overtime, including 2 foul shots that gave Duke a 78-77 lead with 36 seconds to go. In the overtime, A.J. hit a 3, then Moore and Williams each scored a 2-point basket for Duke’s 11. With 12 seconds left and Duke leading by one, Roach fouled Evans, who made them both, giving the Seminoles their winning margin. Duke still had those 12 seconds. Moore flew down court but made an ill-advised drive against 3 large waiting FSU defenders. He turned it over and that was the game. The pre-pause Moore might have made a different play.

Closing Thoughts

It turns out not to be too much more complicated than that, with just a handful of seconds left in both regulation and the overtime, the ‘Noles scored and Duke failed to.

As Coach K said, “It was a tremendous basketball game. Great crowd, two teams that played their hearts out. [When] you’re the road team, the home team benefits from that, which is why it’s tough to win on the road.” Duke, as Bill wrote, is too inconsistent to be a national (perhaps not even ACC) contender. Yet, the Blue Devils could have easily folded after the disastrous first five minutes of the second half on the road, but didn’t. Duke stormed back against all odds to lead by 2 with 14 seconds to go. Duke fought through the overtime (and the loss of Keels) to lead by 1 with 12 seconds to go in overtime. Great spirit. On the other hand, this is exactly the type of game that really good teams win (especially on the road against an unranked team – that I predict will be ranked next week) but lesser teams lose.

Part of Duke’s inconsistency comes from not having a true point guard (not a new theme for me). I watched Oklahoma play Kansas in a close, tough game. Jordan Goldwire is the Oklahoma point guard, and he has grown tremendously. He led Oklahoma, took all the key shots down the stretch and was a true leader. Watching both Duke and Oklahoma last night made me wish Jordan had remained at Duke for this year.

[Note: all of Coach K’s quotes are accurate. I did re-order some of what he said for better organization and comprehension.]

Next Play: Saturday Jan 22nd afternoon at 2 pm vs. Syracuse in Cameron TV: ESPN

Duke 79 Syracuse 59; (Season 13 Issue 16 – Game 18) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” and Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes” (January 22, 2022)

*Moore drives and dunks (better than driving drunk). Photo Credit: Duke Chronicle*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

Coming off two recent, tough, one-possession losses, Duke’s game was a test of commitment to fix weaknesses. On paper, it looked like a walk in the park for Duke. But Syracuse has always been a tough out for Duke. If a team is not shooting the three well, they are in for a long, difficult game, because Syracuse‘s zone can make life miserable for you when you are not—and Duke was without Trevor Keels, who is one of the Blue-Devils best outside shooters. Fortunately, A.J. Griffin got the Devils off to a good start by hitting his first two threes (and five 3-pointers overall). And the Blue Devils played their best defensive game of the year, holding ’Cuse to 5-29 threes and 35% from the floor. The Blue Devils were ahead by thirty before Coach K substituted liberally. Duke was most impressive in playing a spirited defense, shared the ball well—four starters scored 15 points, there were 25 assists on 30 baskets. Wendell Moore had a very active game (15 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals) and seems to be regaining his pre-break mo-jo, which could give Duke a much needed edge in the predictably close games coming up.

“We played really well,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “We’re getting better. It’s been a tough time since Christmas with COVID and Trevor’s injury. These kids are hanging in there, getting better,and today they played really well, especially on the defensive end. We were connected on the offensive end with balanced scoring. For a few minutes there in the second half, I thought it was the best we’ve played.”

P.S. After North Carolina gave up 85 points to Miami and 98 to Wake Forest, Johnny Tar Heel says that he is changing his name for the season to Johnny Blue Devil.

ALANALYSIS:

Bill wrote in his CliffsNotes, after Duke lost to Florida State, “Both Miami and Florida State not only exposed Duke’s weaknesses — inconsistent play, turnovers, rebounding (the Seminoles had four point-blank misses at the rim before finally getting the ball in the basket to start the second half – Where were the Duke defenders?).” ALANALYSIS also identified Duke’s failures to both defend against the drive and to foul excessively in the attempt to defend, as major flaws.

It is worth exploring how well Duke has done in correcting and improving those deficiencies against Syracuse, a team whose talent is not equal to Duke’s (or FSU or Miami for that matter).

The Defense

Saturday’s game was, especially in the first half, perhaps Duke’s best defensive effort of the season. Duke held The Orange to 22 first-half points on 26 % shooting, including 2-16 from behind the arc (12.5% in the first half; 5-29 or 17% for the game). While it appeared that Syracuse just happened to miss a bunch of open shots that the Boeheim Brothers and Joe Girardi usually make, Coach K pointed out that those misses were the result of the intense defense Duke played overall, which makes shooters rush a bit even when they’re open. Coach K acknowledged in understatement “We played good defense.” It started with Wendell Moore, Jr. defending the lethal Buddy Boeheim. Coach K: “His [Wendell’s] defense today started it off. He had a tough assignment. He did a good job with it.”

Jeremy Roach and Wendell locked down on Syracuse’s 2 best scorers, Buddy Boeheim and Girardi. Wendell: “Their two guards, Joe Girardi and Buddy Boeheim, are two of the best shooters we have in our conference, two of the best scorers we have, so basically on the perimeter we knew we had to come locked in early and it started with myself and Jeremy – with those two assignments we knew we needed to win those matchups.” And win it they did! Buddy (averaging 18.6 p.p.g) was held to 7 points on 2-15 shooting, including 1-10 from deep; while Girardi (averaging 13.6 p.p.g.) was also held to 7 points on 3-13 shooting, including 1-9 from behind the arc. Roach: “I think Wendell did a heck of a job on [Buddy]. Just knowing your personnel, knowing your scout. Knowing what he likes to do, knowing tendencies. I think that was a big thing for us. They love to run those floppy actions, so just knowing to stay on top of that, knowing to go over the screen, because he likes to come off and shoot the ball. Try not to foul him too. Buddy only got to the line once (2-2). Wendell did a great job of not fouling him on his jumpers too, so give a lot of credit to him.”

A.J. Griffin’s defense is catching up with his offense. His improvement defensively is impressive and was acknowledged by Coach K in his press conference. “[A.J.]’s a really easy guy to play with because he keeps spacing, he plays defense, he makes simple passes, and today he did a really good job on [Cole] Swider, that perimeter is a very difficult guard.” Griffin is now secure in the starting lineup and playing starter minutes (31 yesterday).

Defensive Rebounding

While Syracuse actually took more shots than Duke, and did grab 15 offensive rebounds, Duke pulled in 32 defensive rebounds (retrieving over 2/3 of the rebounds off its defensive backboard – quite respectable). Paolo Banchero was an excellent rebounder with 13 (10 defensive boards), as was Mark Williams with 7 (5 defensive) and A.J. Griffin with 6 (4 defensive). Duke outrebounded the Orange 45-35, and thus scored more second-chance points than ‘Cuse. Satisfactory improvement from Florida State’s flood of second chance points, but then again, Syracuse is a weaker rebounding team than FSU.

Fouling

Duke committed only 12 fouls in the game, but a close analysis makes that statistic even better. Duke’s starters committed only 5 fouls the entire game (Moore had 2; Banchero, Roach, and Williams each had only 1; Griffin did not foul.) No Duke player had more than 2. Syracuse only scored 6 points from the stripe in the entire game. Major Duke Improvement!

Turnovers

Duke scored 20 points off Syracuse turnovers while giving up only 13 to the Orange as a result of Duke turnovers.

The Offense

Duke’s Excellent Passing

Coach K: “I think we shared the ball well. In the last two games Jeremy [Roach] has like 20 assists and two turnovers, or something like that, and he and Wendell [Moore] were 17-2 today for assists and turnovers. So, they were sharing the ball and balanced scoring.” Impressively, Duke had 25 assists on 30 made field goals. That earns a Wow!

Duke’s Balanced Scoring

The balanced scoring that the Duke team exhibited may set them up in a good way for the rest of the season, not being dependent on any single scorer will help them be more adaptable. Moore, Banchero, Williams and Griffin each scored 15, while Joey Baker had 11. Roach 6 and Theo John 2 = Duke’s 79 points.

Moore: 6-12, including 3-7 from deep with 6 boards, 8 assists (only 1 turnover), and 2 steals. Coach K: “In non-conference, he was a beautiful player, one of the best in the country. With the stoppage he lost his rhythm. Maybe tried to do too much instead of doing too much of what he had done before. I told him, ‘don’t bring the past into the present. The only thing good about the past is if you learn from it.’ Today he was smiling. He’s playing. He’s our leader on the court.”

Banchero: 6-11, including 1-4 from 3land, 2-4 from the stripe with 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a block. Paolo: “We’re just shooting our shots now. One thing Coach says is don’t hesitate – if it’s there, shoot it. Let it go. We work a lot on shooting before and after practice, so we’d be wrong not to take those shots. We should want to go out there and shoot confidently.” Paolo’s high basketball IQ helped him orchestrate Duke’s attack against the zone. “Yeah, … just catching it in the middle and then making reads trying to find the open guy and not doing anything too special. We just threw it to the open player and tried to get guys good looks, and obviously looking for my shot when it was there.”

Williams: 6-7 from the field and 3-3 from the line, with 7 boards and a block (but 4 turnovers). Mark played only 23 minutes and was dominant inside. His big sister, Elizabeth, an All-Time Great Duke player, congratulated Little Brother on his career-high 8 rebounds against Florida State. However, she reminded him that she had the family record for blocks in a game with 12! “You have a way to go, little bro.”

Griffin: 5-10 from the field, including 5-9 from behind the arc with 6 boards, a steal, and a block. A.J. made all four of his attempted 3s in the first half (plus one more 3 in the second half). Coach K: “AJ is our best shooter and I’d really like for him to be more aggressive. I think A.J. keeps it really simple. He’s a really easy guy to play with because he keeps spacing, he plays defense, he makes simple passes. He’s a key guy, there is no question about it.” K compared him to Reddick as a shooter. That may be exuberant or maybe not. The ascent of A.J. may have only just begun.

Roach: 2-10, including 2-8 from deep with 9 assists (a turnover) and 3 boards. Jeremy earned praise from Coach K, “He’s had a great attitude. He is a good kid, all team. A lot of pressure on him today because we switched and put Jeremy on top instead of Wendell. He had 2 great days of practice. I’m proud of him because he didn’t shoot well, but he didn’t let it affect his defense or his passing. And that’s a sign of a really good player.”

Baker: 4-8 from the field, including 3-6 from deep with an assist, a steal, and 2 turnovers. Joey is energetic and made his open shots. He had 2 turnovers and was beaten on defense a couple of times. Good support off the bench in the absence of Keels.

John: 1-2 from the field with 4 boards and an assist. Theo provides support for the Duke interior on both ends of the floor.

SOME CLOSING THOUGHTS

Wendell: “That last game we lost before this one was definitely a tough one, personally and team wise. But the second we came back it was this fire that was inside all of us, like this game on Saturday is one that we need to win. It was a bigger game than just a regular game for us. We called it a ‘program game’ in our locker room. So, we all just came out here with that mentality and it really showed with everybody who checked in today – checked in with a different fire, different energy.”

Coach K: “It’s coming along, we just have to run our own race. I’m not paying attention to anybody except the team we’re playing next, and my team obviously. We’re going to run our race, keep getting better, and see what happens. Any other things that are put on us, I don’t care. I don’t care about rankings; I care about winning and playing well and getting better. Our kids did that this week. They responded well. We had two bad end-of-game situations since this part of the conference has started. Sometimes this can really knock you back when you lose one-possession games but thank goodness it didn’t do that for our guys today.”

There is a saying that “one Swallow does not a summer make.” Duke has been described, not inaccurately, as “inconsistent”. Excellent wins over Kentucky and Gonzaga. A final possession loss at Ohio State. Nice opening ACC win over Virginia Tech, but then disappointment against Georgia Tech and a final possession loss to Miami. Improving nicely against NC State and Wake Forest, before another final possession loss to Florida State. That’s three shocking losses on the final possession of the game.

Now Duke is back to “improving nicely” against Syracuse. January holds three more games: Clemson, Louisville, and Notre Dame. February opens with UNC in Chapel Hill. The jury is still out on whether the Blue Devils will remain a few Swallows (avian not alcoholic) short, or if they will usher in a sunny summer by morphing into the National contender we all hope them to be.

Next Play: Tuesday January 25th at 7 pm vs. Clemson in Cameron TV: ESPN2

Duke Blue Devils 71 v.Clemson Tigers 69; (Season 13 Issue 17 – Game 19) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” and Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes” (January 25, 2022)

*The Baker rises. Photo by Winnie Lu | The Duke Chronicle*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

It’s one thing to lose to good teams like Miami by a basket at home and to Florida State in Tallahassee in overtime. It’s another to almost lose to Clemson after Duke having beaten them the last 19 times they faced off in Cameron. Rebounding and turnovers are still a problem for Duke: Clemson outrebounded Duke 39-31, had two fewer turnovers, a 15-6 edge in transition. And took 19 more shots from the field than Duke. The good news is that Joey Baker and Bates Jones picked up the scoring slack when Banchero sat out about ten minutes of the first half after picking up two silly fouls in the first 5 minutes of the game.

However, playing hard and smart consistently on defense was another problem. Duke led virtually the entire game and seemed poised to deliver the knockout blow time and time again in the second half–but even with Banchero back they didn’t. Duke led 41-36, 43-38, 47-41, 52-46, 55-48 and 60-53 and yet somehow trailed 65-63, with 3:19 left.

These players need to understand they are not in high school anymore—everyone in college can play and shoot the three and are not intimidated, but rather energized, by playing against one-and-doners wearing jerseys with Duke on the front and targets on the back. When Banchero and Williams and Moore are on the floor with any two other players, Duke is formidable if the five are playing hard, and smart, and taking care of the ball. When they aren’t, it’s a jump ball.

OTHER COMMENTS:

A case for A.J. Griffin: He is 9-for-17 from the left corner of the 3-point arc and 8-for-13 from the right — miles ahead of NCAA averages from either location. Griffin started off the season slowly due to his pre-season knee injury, but he took coming off the bench with the maturity of a seasoned veteran, waited his turn to start, and is now cooking ACC defenses when he gets in rhythm. The approach to a Duke offense hitting on all cylinders is simple—when you have a player uniquely capable of making shots worth 1.5 times more than anyone else in your lineup, you should use him as much as you possibly can.
Dick Vitale’s grandsons are on the Duke tennis team, coached by Ramsey Smith, son of legendary tennis player Stanton Smith. The Vitale grandsons are both top-20 recruits, with Connor coming in at No. 8 overall and Jake checking in at No. 19. The Krug brothers are finally here, and they’re ready to make an impact. *see photo below

ALANALYSIS:

INTRODUCTION

Duke was back to “improving nicely” when they demolished Syracuse last Saturday. It is hard to deduce whether “Duke is improving nicely” from the 2-point win over Clemson last night.

Before last night’s game, Clemson had won 11 while losing 8 — with losses to St. Bonnie, W.Va, Rutgers, Miami, Virginia, Notre Dame, plus a loss on January 18th (91-78) to the same Syracuse that Duke had shellacked! A 2-point win in the last minute – in Cameron – is less than a status-raising / stellar performance. Head Coach in Waiting, Jon Scheyer, told the ESPN sideline reporter at halftime, “they played harder than we did.” Not the first time a comment like that has been made about a Duke performance this year.

Duke was well scouted by The Tigers, as you could tell from the opening two plays. On the opening jump, Mark Williams, who has been winning every tap all season long with a back tap to Jeremy Roach, again did the back tap to Jeremy. However, Clemson knew what was coming, and attacked Roach before the ball reached him.Roach had to foul in the first 2 seconds of the game trying to outfight Clemson for the ball. On Duke’s first offensive possession, A.J. Griffin tried to feed Paolo Banchero in the post, but Clemson met the pass before it even reached Paolo. Clemson demonstrated from the opening tip that the Tigers had come to play.

Yet, Duke did not wilt under the Clemson energy. Rather, in the second half, the Blue Devils adjusted to the intensity of the back-and-forth game to make winning plays when it counted. A dramatic turnaround from the final possession losses to both FSU and Miami. Making the plays that count at “winning time” is no small matter.

The second half was vastly different from the opening stanza; therefore, taking a separate look at each half is the way to obtain the clearest analysis of this game.

FIRST HALF: TIE AT 36

Coach K acknowledged the intense defense that Clemson played throughout the game (part of “playing harder” than Duke in the first half): “They were denying entry passes, applying ball pressure…for Jeremy [Roach] to finish the game with nine assists and only one turnover is fantastic because their guards played outstanding defense. The Trevor [Keels] thing…we’re not who we are without him, … They knocked us back because it wasn’t just pressure on the ball, it was old-time man to man defense where you had a hard time making an entry, or if you did, you’re out of your normal area of deployment—getting a ball to the elbow. Every single one of their kids played hard.”

Duke’s scoring was (to say the least) “unusual”. Joey Baker scored 9 points in 7 minutes, on 3-4 shooting from deep to lead Duke’s first half scoring. That was a first!

Bates Jones came off the bench for 9 first-half minutes, and scored as many points as Duke’s season-long high scorers – Banchero, A.J. Griffin, and Wendell Moore – scored in the opening period. All four of those players scored 5 points. Bates was 2-3 from the field, including 1-2 from deep. Another first!

Mark Williams was the second highest scorer, with 6 points (1-1 from the field and 4-5 from the stripe). Roach only scored 1 to complete Duke’s first-half scoring (1-2 from the line), but he had 5 assists against only a single turnover.

A.J. Griffin had a difficult game. His ineffective 12 first-half minutes limited his playing time in each half. In the first half, Griffin was 1-5 from inside the arc without attempting a shot from deep. He did sink all 3 of his foul shots for his 5 first-half points, his only points of the game. A.J. played fewer minutes than Joey Baker did in the second half. and was not even on the floor at crunch time. Coach K: “He is young, that physicality – he has to learn how to respond to the physicality.” Duke shot well in the opening half – 11-24 from the field (including 6-10 from 3land) plus 8-10 from the stripe – but allowed the Tigers to force 9 first-half turnovers from Duke and to grab 5 offensive rebounds, which gave Clemson 11 more shot attempts than Duke had.

Duke’s defense was visibly less intense than Clemson’s. Duke forced only 5 turnovers (truthfully, most Clemson turnovers were not forced; Clemson was just careless with the ball), while Clemson scored 12 points off Duke’s 9 turnovers. Duke had half as many steals (3) as Clemson had (6). Clemson had not been a good 3-point shooting team, but then last night shot 50% from behind the arc in the first half (6-12), because Duke.didn’t have the energy or will to guard the 3 point line and contest the Clemson shots.

SECOND HALF – DUKE 35 v. CLEMSON 33

The Rotation

In response to Clemson’s intense defensive pressure, Roach and Moore each played 40 minutes. After being harried into 9 first-half turnovers, Duke committed only 3 in the closing half. Astoundingly, neither Roach nor Moore committed a single turnover in the last stanza.

The reduction in turnovers was a remarkable second-half improvement which was a significant factor in Duke’s win. Three Duke players played every second of the latter stanza – Banchero was the 3rd. Mark Williams played almost as much; he was out of the game for less than 2 minutes (Theo John played only those 108 seconds that Mark sat out). Joey played 10:39, scoring a crucial basket to give him 11 points for the game, while A.J. played only 9:21 (0-2, including 0-1 from deep to go with a board and an assist). Incredibly, it was Baker in the game rather than A.J. for the last 7:26 of the game.

Paolo was superb in the second half after having been limited in the opening period by the 2 quick fouls he picked up. He scored 14 second-half points (6-11, including 1-3 from deep plus 1-1 from the stripe,) while grabbing 5 rebounds, handing out 3 assists and blocking a shot. He scored 19 points for the game. That is star stuff!

Moore scored 8 (2-6, including 2-4 from deep, plus 2-2 from the foul line), in addition to 4 boards and an assist. He is almost back to his pre-pause standard.

Roach scored 7 (3-6, including 1-2 from behind the arc) with 4 assists – Paolo, Wendell, and Jeremy accounted for 29 of Duke’s 35 second-half points. Coach K pointed out that with Keels and Moore handling the ball in recent games, Jeremy has “been playing off the ball because Wendell [Moore] was out there. With Trevor [Keels] being hurt we put him back on top, and (chuckle) he probably wants to stay on top. He was really strong, in addition to hitting those two shots after all that ball pressure…he’s in really good shape physically and mentally. He’s worked really hard. He and Nolan [Smith] have worked on extra stuff, and whenever guys do that, they play better. They just don’t do what you do in practice, they do extra, and the extra can’t just be practice-work, it’s got to be an investment.” Roach’s recent games have been extraordinary; he has logged 28 assists against 3 turnovers in the last four games.

Jeremy added, “In the Miami game, we kind of did a little one-hand rebound and they got the ball back. So just rebound with two hands, execute and don’t turn the ball over, and no fouls. You saw we slapped the floor [late in the game] and that was a big Duke moment out there to get some stops.”

Mark was 2-2 for 4 points. Coach K: “Mark is becoming more athletic laterally. You always see him being athletic vertically, but his lateral movement has really gotten better, and he’s more athletic. He’s playing wider, he’s moving his feet, and he had to tonight, playing against [Hall]. You know, we’re moving forward here, and I see him improving in that area and I needed him to do that tonight because Hall was a big-time matchup problem—I think he had 10 defensive rebounds, too.”

Baker made a crucial layup for his 2 second-half points. His basket plus those by Paolo, Wendell, Jeremy, and Mark, account for all of Duke’s second half points. Baker may have had the fewest points, but arguably the most crucial. Coach K: “The very first guy you should talk about is Joey because when Trevor went out, in our practices, Joey elevated his talk, his enthusiasm, and as hard as he works, he worked harder and was really a co-captain—and it translated. You didn’t see it much against Syracuse because we played lights out, but again, he did it in preparation for this game, and did it again tonight. In fact, I just talked to him privately about it—that he’s [become] a big-time Duke veteran in these last couple of games.”

Winning Time

The second half was nip and tuck with Duke leading by between 1 and 7 points, until Clemson took its first lead with 61-60 at 6:11 left in the game. I think of the final five minutes of a game as “winning time”. With 4:40 left, Paolo threw a beautiful cross court pass to Jeremy who hit a 3 (Duke leads 63-61). Hunter tied it at 63 with 4:10 left before Clemson converted yet another offensive rebound to lead 65-63 with 3:19 left. Roach penetrated inside on a drive to tie it at 65 with 3:05 left. After the media timeout, Hall, well defended by Mark, missed and Jeremy got the rebound. Crucial!

With 2:15 remaining, Joey Baker made a great driving hook shot to give Duke a 2-point lead, which it never relinquished. When Clemson missed a 3 with 1:53 left, Wendell grabbed the critical rebound, raced the ball down court himself, and made the assist of the game with his entry pass down low to Paolo. Banchero made a difficult turnaround jump shot out of the post that gave Duke a 4-point lead (69-65 with only 1:27 left). But the Blue Devils transition defense failed after Paolo’s next shot missed, giving up a fast break dunk by Clemson to make it 69-67 with 37 seconds left. Jeremy then won the game. when he fed Paolo with a perfect lead pass for Paolo to lay it in, giving Duke a 4-point lead with only 10 seconds left. Clemson cut the lead to the final two point margin with a meaningless offensive rebound put back with 1.2 seconds left. A thrilling, yet disappointing win!

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Coach K: “The big three tonight were Joey, Bates, and Jeremy. … With Bates he’s on the scout team so he doesn’t get much time because he’s playing behind Paolo, and a lot of times we put A.J. in for Paolo. Banchero wasn’t in and A.J. wasn’t having his game, so Bates stepped up. Again, we made mention of that in front of the team because that’s how you win —when others step up.”

One writer asked in the post-game press conference how Duke was going to fix its rebounding problem (the other team getting so many offensive rebounds creating so many extra shots). K’s reply was interesting (maybe even enlightening), “Keep working at it. We won! So, we did some things to make up for that disadvantage. We are not a perfect team. We’re young and playing our butts off. As we move forward, let’s keep seeing individual and collective improvement. I haven’t seen a perfect team yet and we are certainly not one of them.”

That leads me to ask: Even though Duke is still the only ACC team ranked in the top 25 in both polls, is Duke the best team in the ACC, or are they overrated?. Facts to consider: Duke is tied with Miami and Florida State for the ACC lead at 6-2 (each of those teams beat the Blue Devils; Miami in Cameron). Notre Dame also has 2 losses, but only 5 wins. Of Duke’s 6 wins, only one was against a team with a winning ACC record (Wake at 7-3). Duke’s other wins are against bottom teams – Ga. Tech (1-6); Virginia Tech (2-6); NC State (3-6); Clemson (3-6); and Syracuse (3-6, after last night’s loss to Pittsburgh).

Louisville (on Saturday) is 5-5, but in disarray. Their coach was just fired today. Virginia, Duke’s other game in January, is 6-4. This Duke team is hard to evaluate at this point in the season. February will be the month to get a real feel for how Coach K’s last team, the 2021-2022 Duke Blue Devils, will be remembered.

Next Play: Saturday afternoon, January 29th, 2022 at 12 pm at Louisville. TV: ESPN2

*Dick Vitale and his tennis-playing grandsons, the Krug Brothers*

Duke Blue Devils 74 v. Louisville Cardinals 65; (Season 13 Issue 18 – Game 20) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” and Bill Miller’s “Cliffsnotes” (January 29, 2022)

*A.J. channels J.J., eyeing up the three. Photo Credit: Duke Chronicle*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

Head Coach-in-Waiting Jon Scheyer said in an interview: “We are a different team with Mark Williams on the floor.” If there is any doubt about that, you only needed to watch yesterday’s game at Louisville. The Blue Devils quickly built a lead that fluctuated between 12-16 points in the first half, then Williams went out with two fouls. Before you could say “WTF “, the margin was only two points – until A.J Griffin hit a three with .6 seconds left to play in the half, from what can only be described as Steph Curry territory.

Starting the second half, predictably Louisville went right at Williams, who was called for his third foul and took a seat on the bench. It was a re-run of the Clemson game until shortly after Mark came back in and took control of the boards and, with an assist from Banchero, made what can only be called one hellacious / vicious/ all-ball blocks by a big man on a big man you will ever see, followed by a block of a three, recovering the ball to create a turnover….well you get the idea. Basketball is a game of momentum-changing moments—and these were two of them. They were the impetus for a Duke 14-5 run to salt the game away. Mark’s dominance gave the opportunity for Banchero to be Banchero, for Griffin to be Griffin, Moore to be Moore…well you get the idea. Mark Williams is the catalyst for the rest of the team to play inspired Duke Basketball!

Mike Krzyzewski on the end of the game: “We were able to hang in there and keep it either tied or a two-point lead until Mark came back in and Mark had been a tremendous influence on the game in keeping balls alive on offense and protecting the basket. Our half court execution was really good, and AJ was terrific. When it was 62-60, he hit a three and then he hit another three, if they don’t hit threes, that puts you up four possessions and then we were able to get a stop and then we had two really good offensive executions which took some time, and we were able to stop them and got that margin.”

The puzzling thing is why the Blue Devils at this stage of the season cannot play a complete game? How can teams like Louisville and Clemson play them even or make up big deficits? One reason today was that the Devils were 8-18 free throws and 6-20 for threes (Griffin was 5-5, so the rest of Duke was 1 for 15 ). Maybe, it’s that teams are playing Duke very, very physically. The refs had to take time to calm the players down. These Duke players don’t back down but maybe it distracts them—is this a basketball game or a test of one’s manhood? Whatever the case, it’s getting a little late—even with the Covid and injuries—to be coming together. However, if anyone can do it, Coach K can.

One more comment: our Hall of Fame Coach certainly has the pieces. Banchero contributes in more ways than scoring. He is a Swiss Army Knife type of a player: scores, passes, and rebounds with equal efficiency. A.J. Griffin is the most lethal three-point shooter since JJ Reddick. Moore and Keels are terrific defenders and explosive, if not consistent, scorers. Roach is a steady point guard, who has settled into playing to his strengths as the season progresses.

Next play: Road Trips.

ALANALYSIS:

Winning Time (for this game, the last 5:45 of play)

Louisville was tied at 2-2, never led in the game, and finally tied the game again at 60, with 8:28 left to play in the game. Wendell Moore was fouled twice, making 1-2 each time, to give Duke a 2 point lead with under 6 minutes to play. Then, the Blue Devils were given a magical boost by A.J. Griffin, for the best “winning time” basketball of Duke’s season so far!

When Paolo Banchero blocked a dunk attempt by Louisville’s 6’9” strong man, Sydney Curry, Mark Williams grabbed the deflection. Jeremy Roach fed A.J. Griffin, who swished his fourth 3-pointer of the game, with 5:46 to go. (65-60).

Then came the sequence that changed the game. Falkner, a Cardinal sharp shooter, had a mid-range jump shot blocked by Mark; Williams also managed to keep control of the ball. When Jeremy missed a layup, Paolo grabbed the offensive rebound, but missed his put back. Mark grabbed yet another offensive rebound and passed to Wendell. Moore passed to Griffin, who swished another wide open 3-pointer. (68-60) with 4:50 to go.

Locken of the Cardinals missed a layup, but then Wendell had his drive blocked. A.J. missed on a mid-range jumper for Duke followed by Ellis missing for the Cardinals, also from mid-range. Banchero secured the rebound, with 3:54 remaining, and made a difficult turnaround jump shot from outside the paint with 3:28 left. (70-60). When Louisville missed another jumper, Paolo got the rebound. He then missed a pullup jumper, which Mark rebounded and laid it in off the backboard, with 2:38 remaining. (72-60). The game seemed to me to effectively be over at that point. Louisville wasn’t quite ready to give up though.

The Cardinals converted an offensive rebound, with 2:17 left (72-62). In the ensuing minute and 32 seconds, Banchero missed 2 driving layups for Duke, while the Cardinals missed 4 shots. First, Cross missed a jumper. Then, Louisville missed 3 times (grabbing 2 offensive rebounds) before Paolo secured the ball for Duke, with 1:11 left. He made the assist to Mark Williams for his dunk and Duke’s final points, with 50 seconds left. Louisville did score the final basket, a meaningless 3, with 45 seconds left, for the final score of 74-65.

The Rotation

Mark Williams

The game statistics corroborate Bill, Scheyer, and Coach K’s (inverse order of consequences) analysis of Mark’s value to Duke in this game (and for the season going forward). In the first half, the two early fouls Williams committed limited his playing time to just under 10 minutes, but in that limited time, hee still scored 8 points (4-6 from the field), with 2 boards.

Before Mark had committed a foul, he was taken out for a quick rest, replaced by Theo John, after 5:20 of the game had elapsed with the score 14-2 for Duke (Mark scored 6 of Duke’s 14.) His rest was short; Mark re-entered the game with almost 12 minutes in the half remaining, and soon committed his first foul (with 10:35 left in the half) and his second (after 2 more rebounds and a put back), with 7:31 to go, and Duke leading by 11 (28-17). In the next 7:30, which the Blue Devils played without Mark (it was Duke by 37-35, before A.J.’s buzzer-beater 3 at the close of the half), Duke had been outscored 18 to 9 while Mark was on the bench.

Mark’s performance in the last part of the second half was scintillating, especially at winning time! Early in the second half, Mark committed his 3rd foul, when Curry beat him badly on a drive. Coach K replaced Mark with Theo with Duke leading by 2 (47-45). When Williams returned with 10:25 to play, Duke was leading (58-55). Mark played the rest of the game (13:24 in the entire second half), with 6 second-half points (3-5 from the field) and a critical 9 rebounds and 2 blocks (one of which was absolutely sensational at crunch time!). He confirmed all that Coach K, Jon and Bill have concluded about Mark’s value. In 23:11 for the game, Mark’s double-double was 14 points (7-11 from the field) and 11 rebounds (5 offensive) and 2 blocks. Mark committed only a single turnover.

A.J. Griffin

A.J. had a monster game, leading Duke in scoring with 22 points (8-13, including an astounding 5-5 from 3land; plus 1-3 from the stripe). He added 4 tough rebounds and 2 steals to his well-rounded almost-34-minute performance. His clutch shooting won the game for Duke and will make future opponents prepare game plans that concentrate on stopping A.J. Duke’s inconsistency is exemplified by A.J.’s terrible game against Clemson, and now magical play against the Cardinals.

Paolo Banchero

As Bill emphasized, Paolo’s value to Duke extends beyond his dynamite scoring. Even though he can score at all 3 levels – behind the arc, mid-range, and at the rim – he did not score well against the Cardinals. In 36:30 he scored only 11 (5-15, including 0-2 from deep and 1-2 from the line), but he added 15 rebounds to lead Duke in that department, plus provided 3 assists and valuable rim protection that added a block. Paolo is an all-around player. He re-entered the game for the final 9 minutes. In that short period, while he missed four shots, he contributed 4 rebounds, a block, an assist, and a field goal.

Wendell Moore, Jr.

Wendell had a disappointing first half and a valuable second half. In the opening period, Moore played 18:18, scoring only 2 points on 1-6 from the field, (including 0-3 from behind the arc), with 3 assists, 2 steals, a rebound, and a turnover. He was much better in the second half, playing all 20 minutes,while scoring 8 (2-3 from the field and 4-6 from the stripe). He added 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Thus, for the game, Wendell scored 10 with 5 assists (2 turnovers), 4 boards and a pair of steals. Wendell is still not quite the Wendell we saw in November and December, but if he continues like he did in this second half,he will be back to the player that Coach K described as one of the best in the country.

Jeremy Roach

After the first half, I was prepared to anoint Jeremy as Duke’s MVP. He played all 20 first-half minutes, scoring 7 (3-7 from the field, including 1-4 from 3land). He added 4 assists without a turnover and corralled a pair of rebounds. He was the glue. Then his effectiveness waned in the second half, I believe due to his simply finally getting tired. He actually was given a minute and 45 second rest in the closing stanza. In the second half, Jeremy scored only 2 points (0-2 from the field, including 0-1 from deep; and 2-3 from the foul line). He had only 1 assist and committed his only turnover of the game.

Jeremy’s 5 assists in this game gives him 28 total in the five games where he has been the point guard since Keels was injured. His only turnover today was his fifth in those games. That is close to otherworldly!

Theo John

Theo spelled Mark Williams for about 6:30 in each half, scoring all 6 of his points in the first half. For the game, Theo was 3-4 from the field; an embarrassing 0-4 from the stripe, to go with 5 boards, an assist and 2 turnovers. In the second half, Theo did not take a shot from the field and missed both of his foul shots.

Joey Baker

Joey played 12 unremarkable game minutes – 6 in each half, scoring his only 2 points in the second half (1-5, including 0-3 from deep) with an assist and a steal. There are times when Duke needs his offense–last night it was MIA. One more example of the inconsistency that has plagued this team.

Rebounding

Duke outrebounded the Cardinals 47-34, with Banchero’s 15 and Williams’s 11 leading the way. At one point, the announcer highlighted that after collecting 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, Duke had played a substantial portion of the second half without securing a single offensive rebound. The announcer gets credit for extending the “announcer jinx”. Duke immediately started to dominate the offensive glass, ending up with 10 in the second half — all in the last portion of the second half. Duke took 9 more shots than the Cardinals in the game.

A.J. put it well, “I think when you see the adjustments we have to make, we knew we had to rebound and box out. You just look at what we’ve got to work on, and you’ve got to capitalize on it. Having Mark Williams, Paolo Banchero in the paint working, helping us get rebounds, having big blocks at the end – that’s what wins games is defense.”

Assists to Turnovers

Duke had 15 assists on 30 made field goals. Good. While Duke turned it over 7 times, only Moore had as many as 2.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

The challenging part of the Duke schedule is upon us. Duke now faces the ACC teams with winning records … many on the road. This week, Duke travels to Indiana to face Notre Dame (14-6; 7-2 in the ACC) tomorrow, and then on Saturday to Chapel Hill to play the Tarheels (15-6; 7-3 in the ACC).

Of the 9 February games, 6 are on the road. Inconsistency in this stretch could derail Duke’s post-season preparation and hopes.

Next Play: Monday evening, January 31st, 2022, at 7 pm at Notre Dame. TV: ESPN.

Notre Dame is the make-up of the Covid-canceled game from New Year’s Day. Notre Dame also played yesterday (also in South Bend), defeating UVA). Play in Louisville on Saturday, travel to South Bend and play on Monday–logistically this is a difficult travel schedule. Next Play indeed!

Duke Blue Devils 57 v. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 43; (Season 13 Issue 19 – Game 21) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” and Bill Miller’s “Cliffsnotes” (January 31, 2022)

*Let the Block Party Begin! Photo Credit: Duke Chronicle*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

I am apprehensive about all away ACC Basketball games, but Notre Dame is the only institution which issues Leprechaun outfits instead of beanies to all first-year students. Then, for basketball games, they skip afternoon classes for Pub 101 to participate in pre-game warmup. Now, they are ready to support Coach Mike Brey and his team! And support them like they are the football team they do—even when the team is down double digits. This year, ND is short on big men, so Brey lives or dies by a deliberate offense and the three-point shot, which has led to nine straight wins at home and the same ACC record (7-2) as Duke. Add to this, the arena is sold out for the first time since Duke was last there and the Blue Devils had just played a very physical game at Louisville; therefore, you have the makings of an upset (or as Alan likes to phrase it, a trap game) .

Not to worry tonight. A combination of Duke defense plus a score reminiscent of my prep school days, had Duke leading 27-14 at the half (I wondered if both teams would play the second half in Chuck Taylor Converse All Star high top canvas sneakers and take two handed set shots from beyond the arc), and beating Notre Dame with a 1950s prep school type final score of 57-43. The Blue Devils did not shoot well either, but Duke had Mark Williams and Paolo Banchero, who controlled the paint, and superior overall talent. And, speaking of talent, Trevor Keels returned and played more than half the game.

Coach K on the mental toughness required to play six ACC games in such a short span, made tougher because five of them are on the road, “It just turns out this way because of COVID. We were shut down for 10 days where we didn’t do anything. We had over 40 COVID cases in our entire program, with families. I’ve never been through anything like that. My wife is just recovering right now. She had the monoclonal infusion; so, it’s been a hell of a month. We missed two road games; so, they have to be fit in. This is how they fit it in. You’ve got to do what they ask you to do and try to use it as a positive. Being at Louisville at noon on Saturday and being here on Monday, and winning both games, that’s good. We have a young team. Trevor [Keels] is 18 and so is AJ [Griffin]. They both [turned] 18 in August. It’s a young team, so going through this, you get confidence, you get older. I’m only paying attention to our team and how we develop, because I can’t compare it to anybody. I don’t watch anybody else. But I do think we’re getting better and we’re in better shape.”

“Actually, I was surprised where Trevor was today. He really helped us in the first half, because we were kind of playing wild offensively, and he settled us down. In the second half, we put some things in there where he had a chance to maybe get 12 points, but, you could tell, it’s 25 minutes – he’ll [get] there. But having him back will help us and give us that depth on the perimeter.” Coach K was referring to Trevor being wide open to score, but rusty (0-4 in the second half, including 0-2 on wide open 3s). The fact that Trevor played so much was the real headline. He is knocking the rust off quickly.

ALANALYSIS:

The Notre Dame Game Loomed Daunting

The day after a thrilling road win over Louisville last Saturday, Duke traveled to Notre Dame to play last night’s game that was re-scheduled from New Year’s Day. Notre Dame, with a team of all seniors and one heralded freshman, was on a roll, having beaten both Kentucky and UNC on the Irish home court. Notre Dame features a potent 3-point attack – Dane Goodwin (16.6 p.p.g) was shooting 50% from behind the arc, while 6’10” Nate Laszewski was at 45% and they are both volume shooters. Blake Wesley, the athletic freshman, made the Wooten Watch List at 14.6 p.p.g. Notre Dame is the only other ACC team receiving points in both polls (but well out of the top 25) besides Miami and Duke (who is the only ACC team in the top 25, albeit still at #9).

My pre-game note “Defense against ND’s 3s will be the key.” And so it was!

BEATING NOTRE DAME 57-43 WAS A GREAT (NOT JUST GOOD) GAME FOR DUKE, IN SPITE OF WHAT THE ANNOUNCERS SAY.

On the ACC Network, the quality of basketball played by Duke was denigrated by Matt Packer and Wes Durham. Packer and Durham were giving us an example of commentary that only scratches the surface. Go kick rocks!

The Defense

Duke’s defense was so good against the Irish that I thought Coach K had morphed into George Balanchine because the Blue Devils defense looked as synced and together as a New York City Ballet. It was simply beautiful.

Coach K: “We played really good defense. To me that was the story of the game. With one day of preparation!”

“Mike [Brey]’s team has been an offensive juggernaut. Tonight, we were able to defend them. I thought our big guys did an excellent job. They have that five-out, and so it’s not a low post game. … It’s team defense. We have good players … we’re athletic. Wendell [Moore Jr.] did a really good job on Wesley. Our bigs, too, on the ball screen in an ice where we didn’t have to switch it all the time. With Goodwin, we were lucky, I guess. He’s so good. When I looked at the box score [Goodwin was held scoreless for the entire game!!!], I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ He’s one of the best players in the league. He’s played as well as anybody in the league. [He is shooting] 50 percent from three for the season and just solid. He wasn’t able to get his post move because AJ [Griffin] was on him. We have a big perimeter, a lengthy perimeter, so it’s something they probably haven’t seen.”

Paolo Banchero added at the post-game press conference where he appeared together with Coach K, “We had a good game plan coming in. We knew they were a great three-point team; so, we wanted to run them off the line, and with our Bigs protecting the paint as well. We were going to be switching and icing ball screens, so just protecting the paint, and then keeping them off that three-point line. We did a real good job.”

Not only did Paolo, Wendell and A.J. smother the feared ND attack, but Duke also got terrific perimeter defense from Trevor Keels in his first game back from injury. While he was rusty offensively (at least scoring wise – 3 points on 1-8 shooting from the field, including 0-4 from behind the arc and 1-2 from the stripe), he had 4 assists without a turnover in 26 minutes (only Paolo and Wendell logged more game minutes than Trevor did). Good news for Duke.

Duke’s interior defense from Mark Williams, Theo John, and Paolo was ferocious. Mark had 3 blocks, Theo 2 (in only 13:32), and Paolo had 1.

ND was averaging well over 70 points per game coming into this one – The Blue Devils allowed the Fighting Irish only 14 points in the entire first half. For a team that relies on its deep shooting, ND was 6-23 from the field, including 0-8 from behind the arc. It will be hard to find another game this year where a good team was held to a 14 point half.

Duke’s reserves gave up a run of 6 meaningless points at the end of the game, or ND would not even have reached a rate of a point per minute in the game. It is as if Duke had held the Irish to 37 points for the entire game. Either way, it was the defensive performance of the season and maybe for the decade!

The Bench

With the return of Trevor, and the emergence of Bates Jones as a valuable reserve while Trevor was rehabbing, Duke now goes 9 deep. It’s as if Duke has 6 starters (with Roach and Keels) and a solid three experienced reserves: John played 4 years at Marquette, Jones played 4 years at Davidson, and Baker is a senior. This is becoming a deep bench that contributes to Duke’s success, which is very different from earlier in the year. Very good for Duke!

The Return of Trevor Keels

Bill posted Coach K’s assessment of the value of Trevor’s return and 26 minutes of play in his first game back (3rd most for any Duke player against the Irish). While Jeremy did not play well last night in the wake of Trevor’s return, he has been a godsend as the starting point guard (“playing on top”) in Trevor’s absence. We now know that Coach K has 6 players that he trusts as starters (even though only 5 may start.)

Theo John

Theo had a marvelous game, scoring 6 on 3-4 from the field to go with 9 rebounds and 2 blocks (in only 13 + minutes).

Joey BakerJoey gave the starters almost 16 minutes of rest, with energetic defense but less than he usually provides on offense (0-3 from deep for 0 points). Nevertheless, he is giving the team genuine senior leadership.

Bates Jones

Bates took advantage of the opportunity presented by Trevor’s injury and has played his way into the rotation. Bates is a good shooter and reliable player. In his 10 minutes, he scored 5 points (2-3 from the field, including 1-1 from 3land). He added a steal and a rebound. Bates entered the game with 4:58 left in the first half and Duke leading by 4 (18-14). The team on the floor was: Baker, John, Jones, Keels and Roach. In that last 4 and ½ minutes, those reserves pushed the lead from 4 to the halftime margin of 13 (27-14)!

Coach K: “I think a key part of the game was the end of the first half, where we went on a 9-0 run with our bench out on the court. Theo [John], Bates [Jones], Joey [Baker] – they did a heck of a job. We got that double-digit lead and were able to maintain the defensive intensity throughout.”

Rebounding

Last night, Duke exhibited not a hint of their previous rebounding deficits. The Blue Devils built a 51-36 rebounding advantage. Duke’s interior controlled the boards: Paolo had 9 rebounds, Theo had 9, A.J. had 9 in only 22 minutes, and Mark had 8 in 23 minutes. Wendell added 5.

Offense

Duke’s 54 point game score is close to what the Blue Devils have scored in a single half elsewhere. Though Duke did not shoot well (under 40% total for the game (26-66), and under 16% from behind the arc (3-19), Duke led by as many as 22 late in the second half, and were never even threatened.

Scoring

Little or None: Keels scored 3, Moore scored 2, Baker and Roach did not score.
Banchero – In 30 minutes, Paolo scored 21 points (10-22, including 1-5 from behind the arc, without a foul shot). Paolo scored 14 of his points in the second half – more than half of Duke’s 27 second-half points.
Griffin scored 13 points (6-11, including 1-2 from deep).
Williams scored 7 points in 23 minutes (3-4 from the field to go with his 1-1 from the stripe.
As previously noted, the bench added 11 (Theo 6 and Bates 5).
Astoundingly, Duke took only 3 free throws in the entire game (2-3: Mark was 1-1 and Trevor 1-2).

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

The upcoming schedule is daunting. The final road game on this 3-game swing is Saturday in Chapel Hill. A second Saturday/Monday weekend in a row occurs (because of COVID rescheduling) when UVA comes into Cameron on Monday (Feb 7) following the UNC game. Brutal. Duke then heads out on a second 3-game road trip: Clemson on Thursday (Feb 10), B.C on Saturday (Feb 12 – another two games with only a day in between) followed by a trip to Wake Forest on Tuesday (Feb 15). Definitely daunting!

Coach K described the carnage from Duke’s experience with COVID that caused the postponement of two games (causing this brutal Louisville & Notre Dame weekend) and the shutdown of the whole program for 10 days. Physically and emotionally devastating. No wonder it took a while for the Blue Devils to shake off the consequences of that horrible experience.

Playing with only a day between games is getting the Blue Devils ready for the NCAA tournament. By the end of the second road trip, Duke will have played 3 times with just a day between games. This is good NCAA practice because each of the four game tournaments (Coach K says that to win the National Championship, one must win three 4-team tournaments) requires playing a second game with only a day in between.

I agree with Coach K when he says, “I’m only paying attention to our team and how we develop, because I can’t compare it to anybody. I don’t watch anybody else [not SportsCenter, the polls, Joey Brackets, or even Jay Bilas]” I, too, support not paying attention to the rankings, what other teams look good on any given day or for any given game, or any of that stuff. The rankings are truly bovine excrement, depending far too much on where a team starts in the pre-season poll. Look at this comparison between Duke and Miami:

Duke is #9 in the AP poll with 1107 points, and #6 in the UP poll with 604 points. Miami is unranked, though garnering 29 points in the AP poll and 19 points in the UP poll (30th place in each). Now let’s look at the records of the two teams. Miami is 16-5; 8-2 in the ACC; Duke is 18-3; 8-2 in the ACC. Each team lost close games to Fla. State – Duke by one in overtime and Miami twice by a point. They each beat Va. Tech, Ga. Tech, Wake Forest, NC State, Syracuse, and Clemson. But Miami beat Duke … in Cameron! Even so, Miami trails Duke in the AP poll by the huge margin of 1078 points and in the UP poll by 585 points. Bovine excrement!No wonder Coach K says, “I’m paying attention to our team and how we develop. I don’t watch anybody else.” Me neither.

Next Play: Saturday, February 5th, 2022, at 6 pm at UNC. TV: ESPN.

Duke Blue Devils 87 v. UNC Tarheels 67; (Season 13 Issue 20 – Game # 22) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” and Bill Miller’s “Cliffsnotes”

*The Rise of Skywalker: A.J. makes elbow room Photo Credit: The Duke Chronicle*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

It was not a warm welcome for Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski as he walked out onto the court at the Dean Dome for the last time. There was no polite applause. No embrace from Roy Williams. No show of respect for the man who took an intense regional rivalry to a national level, making it the best in college basketball—if not all of sports. No “Thanks for the Memories” of all the great contests decided at the final buzzer. No respect was given to the man with the most wins in NCAA basketball history. Rather, he was greeted by a chant that inserted a four-letter word f**k in front of his name–not a smart, classy move. To quote Julia Roberts’ wonderful “Pretty Woman” retort to the snooty saleswoman in the Rodeo Drive boutique shop who dissed her : “Mistake. Big mistake” as she flaunted thousands of dollars of dresses she had purchased at a nearby competitor.

Coach K’s revenge was to have his players amped up and ready to play, starting both halves with vengeance by playing the best basketball they have played all year. They played so well, it turned the raucous crowd of 21,000 in the Dean Dome into an inebriated “Wine and Cheese” crowd who cheered mindlessly but hopefully whenever the Tar Heels closed the lead to the mid-teens.

Jim Summers summarized on Dukebasketballreport.com, “Griffin ended with 27 points, hitting 11 of 17 shots. Moore added 13 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and zero turnovers. Banchero struggled with his shot, only hitting 5 of 15 but 10 rebounds. Trevor Keels hit three triples for 11 points, Jeremy Roach had another solid game—8 points, 4 assists, 1 turnover and Mark Williams’ stat line doesn’t begin to suggest his value in keeping Bacot in check and [William’s] intimidating presence altered many shots.”

Johnny Tar Heel called it. He predicted Carolina would get blown out because their guard play is clueless– they can’t dribble and think at the same time—and that no Carolina player was good enough to be in Duke’s stop six rotation.

The breakout star of the game—and you could see this coming in the last few games– was A.J. Griffin. He had 27 points, 3 of 6 threes, and the rest by putting the ball on the floor and driving to the basket. A.J is now a complete player, and the Blue Devils are a much more formidable team with what he brings to the floor.

Wendell Moore, Duke’s captain, expressed the feelings of the entire squad: “It was more than just about us and Carolina. I mean, obviously it was about Coach. His last time coming to Carolina, we wanted to send him out with a win, because he definitely deserves it.”

Coach K: “Our guys really played well today. We beat a very good and hot team. It was a great atmosphere. I thought we started out so well. We really won the first 12 minutes of the first half, and then they won the next eight minutes. I thought they seized some momentum in the game – The stop we had at the end of the half and then having the arrow to start the second – At least we kept a double-digit lead.

“Then AJ [Griffin] exploded. We wanted to run a couple things for him, but we ran one thing, and he just went off. Our guys found him, which is really good. We rebounded well, we didn’t turn it over, and we played a really good game. AJ was a star today.”

Coach K regarding what he told the team at halftime: “There are no magical talks. I just told them that we won the first 12 and they won the next eight. If they start out the first four like the last eight, they’re going to beat us. But if we start out the first four like we did the first twelve, then we’re going to win. In our really good games, we’ve come out well in the second half. Tonight, we came out great, because of AJ [Griffin]. And we played defense and our defensive rebounding was excellent. It was a 10-0 run, but that means you’re playing defense. They didn’t turn it over – we had stops there too.”

Part of an interview by The Duke Chronicle with Bobby Hurley, current coach of Arizona State, who was Coach K’s treasured 4-year point guard and who is still holds the record as the All-time career assist leader for college basketball (*see photo at end):

DC: How does the Duke-UNC rivalry stack up against other rivalries you have seen throughout your career?

BH: It’s the greatest I’ve ever been a part of. It’s really not close to anything else that I’ve seen. I’m sure that there’s other sports and other rivalry-type games within other sports, but college basketball, I think it’s an elite rivalry matchup. I don’t know if there’s one better. But I’ve had it out here. I’ve had Arizona-Arizona State and I’ve been a part of that. It’s a heck of an environment when those games are happening here. Duke-Carolina is just a touch different.

DC: Say you’re having a conversation with Coach K and the team before the game—what would you say to them?

BH: Good luck. It’s a war man. It’s like if you’re a competitor, it’s why you’re involved in sports, to be a part of games like this where there’s a lot at stake locally, bragging rights.

Next (trap) game: Virginia (which just beat Miami) at Cameron.

ALANALYSIS:

When Coach K said at the Notre Dame press conference, “I’m only paying attention to our team and how we develop”, his hope was to see the 2021-22 Duke Blue Devils develop into precisely the team that disemboweled, smothered, and dominated the Tarheels! One might write truthfully, “the ‘heels never had a chance.”

However, another test for the 2021-22 edition of the Blue Devils looms immediately and requires me to get out the old, tried, but unfortunately, true designation of Duke’s next game – “a trap game” [Bill is obviously coachable]. With only today (Sunday, February 6, 2022) between the celebration of humiliating Carolina, and facing a resurgent Virginia team in Cameron tomorrow (Monday, February 7, 2022), this is the perfect definition of a trap game.

The UNC game was indisputably Duke’s best performance of the 2021-22 season, but raises the question of whether it was truly a quality win. UNC was on a roll, having won 4 in a row, moving into second place in the ACC, and remaining unbeaten on its home floor. All of those accomplishments earn a team the status of “elite”. On the other hand, UNC has no wins over ranked teams, with losses to Purdue, Tennessee, and Kentucky (the only ranked teams in its non-conference schedule). The Tarheels have lost on the road in conference games to Notre Dame, Miami (by 28 points), Wake Forest (by 22 points), and now Duke by 20 points. That is not the record of an elite team, making it hard to measure the true development of these Blue Devils. But a team only plays the opponent on the schedule, and Duke played UNC to almost-perfection.

The First 10 Minutes of the Game

I’m not sure an NBA All-Star team could play better basketball than Duke did in the first 10:01 of the first half. Joey Baker’s steal and layup pushed Duke’s lead to 23 points (31-8) by the midpoint of the first half. Duke’s defense was dominating. The Tarheels scored only 8 points in 10 minutes (a Bacot layup and two Manek 3-pointers); at that rate, UNC would have scored only 32 in a full game 40 minutes. The Blue Devil defense just squeezed the life out of the Tarheels, while the offense was dissecting the UNC defense with lab-like efficiency. Duke scored 31 in 10 minutes; at that rate Duke would have scored 124 points in 40 minutes. 124-32 would be an evisceration of the highest order.

Paolo Banchero scored; A. J. Griffin hit a 3; Banchero hit a 3; Mark Williams layup and foul shot made it 11-2 after only 2:30 had elapsed! A.J. scored on successive drives, Paolo passed to Wendell Moore for a layup; Jeremy Roach assisted a Mark jump shot from 15 feet out; Trevor Keels entered the game and immediately assisted Moore’s layup before he sank a deep 3 of his own after a neat pass from Theo John; John then stole the ball, passed to Paolo, who fed Wendell for the layup (and free throw from the foul); Griffin and Joey Baker each made layups to masterfully create Duke’s 31 points – in 10 minutes! It was Duke’s dominating defense that set up the offensive explosion that decimated the Tarheels.

The Second-Half Slaughter

UNC had cut Duke’s lead to 11 by the end of the first half. Duke removed any doubt of the game’s outcome in the first 3:27 of the second half with increasingly intense defense, holding the ‘heels scoreless while running off 12 quick points – 10 by the smoking hot A.J. With 16:49 left in the game, Duke led by 23 (51-28), and the game was effectively over. UNC got as close as 16 twice, and Duke led by as much as 28 with 1:09 left in the closing stanza. UNC scored a meaningless 8 points in the last minute; Duke’s real margin of victory was 28 points. Duke scored 48 second-half points, while holding UNC to just 31 (if you don’t count the last 8 meaningless points scored in the final minute when Coach K’s grandson and other Duke reserves entered the game).

The Defense

The Blue Devils perimeter defense simply took the Carolina guards right out of the game!. Wendell was spectacular, Jeremy was steadfast (even when rocked by devastating screens), Trevor was his old intense self, and A.J.’s defense is improving just as dramatically as his offense is. The defense against UNC was every bit as efficient as the amazing perimeter defense against Notre Dame. As Bill and I have been singing: consistency is critical!! This just might be Duke’s best defensive team in a long time.

Duke’s interior defense slowed Armando Bacot, whom Coach K described as “one of the best players in the country and having a fabulous year.” Bacot is UNC’s leading scorer, averaging 16.8 points per game; he was held to 12 last night (only 4 in the second half). Mark Williams and Theo John played him very well. Coach K: “he had a good game but not his normal game. I thought Mark did a good job against him, keeping his feet [moving], and he [Bacot] didn’t get easy buckets. As a result, he was 4-for-10. Normally, he could’ve been 8-for-10. Mark’s playing really well helped tone him down a little bit.”

Rebounding

Bacot has been one of the leading rebounders in the nation (12.2 rebounds per game). Holding Bacot to only 5 rebounds (only 1 offensive), while out-rebounding the Tarheels 40-24, Duke had its best rebounding game of the season. Carolina got only 6 offensive rebounds in the entire game, scoring only 2 second-chance points in the entire game! 2!!! Paolo doubled Bacot’s rebounding total, snaring a game high 10. Wendell had 8, Mark Williams had 6, A.J. had 4, and Trevor garnered 3.

A Quick Synopsis of the Rotation

A.J. Griffin (31:09 minutes played)

A.J. had his best game of the season as he continues to get healthier and into game shape. Coach K: “He’s become more athletic and in better shape. That left-handed dunk – three weeks ago he wouldn’t have been able to do that. I think a big part of it is how well he’s playing on defense. He had Goodwin in the Notre Dame game. He’s moving his feet, and as a result, his whole game is getting wider. So, his first step – he’s driving the ball better. He’s getting somewhere with his first dribble instead of having his dribble within his body. As a result of that, because he can shoot, you gotta be up on him. And he can drive the ball too. He’s really done a great job of finishing. You know, he’s worked hard. No one has worked any harder than that kid.”

Paolo Banchero (31:18 minutes played)

Paolo did not shoot well after making his first 2 shots for 5 points (5-14, including 2-4 from deep, plus 1-2 from the stripe for 13 points), but did have a double-double (13 points; 10 rebounds). He did the “dirty work” of defending, rebounding – unusual for a star player.

Wendell Moore (32:53 minutes played)

Wendell quietly had a simply superb all-around game. He scored 13 points (same as Paolo, but on 8 fewer shots: 5-6 from the field and 3-3 from the foul line) to go with 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 0 turnovers. Superb!

Mark Williams (25:26 minutes played)

His stats mask his true value to Duke’s superior effort. Mark was 4-4 from the field and 1-2 from the free throw line for 9 points, to go with 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, zero turnovers. While Mark had only 2 blocks, he visibly altered many other shots around the rim.

Jeremy Roach (22:31 minutes played)

Jeremy continues to contribute on both ends of the court. He had another 4 assists with just a single turnover. Jeremy scored 8 (3-5 from the field including 1-2 from deep, plus 1-2 from the foul line). He added a rebound and a steal.

Trevor Keels (19:58 minutes played)

Trevor looked much better in his second game back from injury. He played half the game, scoring 11 points (3-6 from the field, including a gaudy 3-4 from deep, plus 2-2 from the stripe). His shot was falling against UNC as it had not in his return-game against Notre Dame. In addition, Trevor grabbed 3 boards, handed out 2 assists, and made a steal. Welcome back!

Theo John (13:48 minutes played)

Theo had 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal in addition to scoring 2 points, making his only shot. His value is unmistakable.

Bates Jones (9:28 minutes played)

Bates continues to contribute with good defense, passing, and experience. Bates scored 2 on 1-3 from the field, 0-2 from deep, with a rebound and 2 neat assists.

Joey Baker (9:40 minutes played)

Joey made one good play – a steal and layup – for 2 points (1-2, including 0-1 from deep), but had 3 turnovers. Joey provides rest for the starters and leadership for the team on the perimeter.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS What comes after a spectacular performance such as Duke displayed? First, comes satisfaction from destroying an old rival, especially one that was so classless as to fail to acknowledge the icon that is Coach K, mocking rather than lauding him. It was the classic divine retribution for a bunch of non-achievers having failed to understand respect for the level of competition that Coach K fostered for all of us. Duke fans NEVER would have treated Dean Smith so disrespectfully.

Second, comes the acknowledgment of human nature. Satisfaction can eat up the hunger necessary to produce the same type of superb performance in the next game. That’s why such a game earns the adjective trap. The “trap” game against Virginia concerns me. Virginia stomped the same Miami team that beat Duke in Cameron. Human nature suggests Duke may be thinking highly of itself after the Carolina game, which could defuse the hunger; instead, may the Blue Devils whet their appetite for filet of Cavalier.

Next Play: Monday, February 7th, 2022, vs. Virginia at 7 pm in Cameron Indoor Stadium. TV: ESPN

*Bobby Hurley — arguably Duke’s most important point guard ever — scoring Duke’s most important 3-pointer against UNLV in 1991 (on the way to winning Duke’s first National Championship).*
*Photo Credit: AP*

Duke Blue Devils 68 v. UVA Cavaliers 69; (Season 13 Issue 21 – Game # 23) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” and Bill Miller’s “Cliffsnotes” (February 7, 2022)

*Last second HEARTBREAKER! Photo Credit:Samantha Owusu*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

The Basketball Gods decided that Duke would not win this game. How else do you explain Griffin missing a point-blank dunk or Banchero missing so many layups and going scoreless in the second half? So, They decided that Virginia would break our hearts just like the Blue Devils have broken many hearts over the years with last minute shots. Virginia had bested Duke every which way, yet somehow the Blue Devils had the lead in the final minutes until Roach fell asleep and let Beekman steal the ball from him and make a layup right under Duke’s basket. Then, with seven seconds to go, Theo John, who otherwise played a stellar game, got a rebound but brought the ball down and allowed the Cavaliers to tie him up with the arrow favoring Virginia. Then, someone let Beekman get an open-but-difficult three and the result was a well-deserved win for UVA, but a heart-breaking loss for the Blue Devils and their fans.

There is another explanation: Virginia Coach Tony Bennett is the best damn defensive coach in college basketball and does more with less than anyone. His defense on Banchero (9 pts) and Griffin (2 pts) was well conceived and executed – Bennett shut down Duke’s high scorer’s and dared the other Duke players to beat the Cavaliers. Duke did not respond well. Only two players scored in double digits: Williams 16 in 19 minutes and Keels with 12. It’s a wonder that Duke scored 68 points and was in the game at all.

Anatomy of a defeat:

Coach K has often said that the best time for another team to play Duke is before or after a game with North Carolina.
Duke’s man-to-man defense was carved up by less talented, but more disciplined players. Only when the Blue Devils went to a zone did they close Virginia’s double-digit lead.

Williams made two silly fouls in the first half —one on defense, one on offense – that limited his minutes to only 19 in the game. His 3rd and 4th second half fouls limited his second half playing time to 8+ minutes. Fortunately, Theo John filled in admirably, but when Mark Williams is on the floor, Duke is a different team both defensively and offensively.
Duke had 15 turnovers to just 5 for UVA.
Only two players scored in double digits: Williams 16 in 19 minutes [12 in only 8 second-half minutes], and Keels with 12 [all in the second half].
Out hustled. Example: Williams jogging leisurely back on defense allowed his man to beat him down the floor for an open layup.
Banchero is struggling offensively. He has to read the defense quicker and make decisive moves to the basket.
Have the outcome of the game come down to the referees’s whim in the final minutes. Need to make stops and make shots instead.

NEXT PLAY

ALANALYSIS:

Overview

The most insightful fact about the weirdness of Duke’s loss: In 8:33 of playing time, Bates Jones scored 3 times as many points in this game as A.J. Griffin did in his 23:37 minutes of playing time. Bates scored 6 (2-2 from deep) while A.J. was 1-7, including 0-2 from behind the arc to make his 2 points. The next weird fact is that Paolo Banchero scored only 9 in 38:09 (3-9, including 1-3 from 3land, plus 2-2 from the foul line). Even more shocking is that in 20:00 second-half minutes, Banchero’s only shot attempt was a wild, improbable fling as time in the game expired. 0 second-half points!!

The final insightful fact may be the worst one: this is the fourth game that Duke led right up to the final buzzer – but then lost. Yesterday, Duke led by 2 points with 2 seconds left in the game. Duke led with 1:03 to go but lost to Ohio State; Duke led with 23 seconds to go but lost to Miami; Duke led with 14 seconds to go in regulation, and again with 12 seconds to go in the overtime, but lost to Florida State. National contenders do not lose games like that, and not at home (Miami and Virginia) and not to unranked teams (only Ohio State is ranked in the top 25).

UVA fully deserved to win the game. The Cavaliers played their A-game – a controlled offense, with sharp cuts, good passing, and scoring efficiently in the paint; paired with a tenacious defense that kept the Blue Devils off-balance and forced turnovers. Duke on the other hand played terribly.

UVA simply played harder than Duke in the early going, as occurred in the losses to both Florida State and Miami. It was as if the Blue Devils had a Tarheel hangover (as was feared). Mark Williams acknowledged, “In the first half, we didn’t fight. In the second half, we gave ourselves a chance. We were fighting a little bit more in the second half, but we didn’t close it out.” Coach K (and I) feared human nature after Duke had blasted UNC: “We’ve got to be hungry after we’ve eaten. We had a big meal, but we have to be hungry again, and I thought they were hungrier than we were tonight. … we were not worthy of winning most of the game.” Trevor Keels: “I think we could’ve prepared better. We started off the game a little slow.”

The Good

Duke came back from a terrible stretch in the first half when the Blue Devils trailed by 12 (32-20) with only 2:11 left before halftime to cut the UVA lead to 34-29 at the half. Even though Duke was not playing its best basketball, while Virginia was, the Blue Devils came all the way back in the closing period to take the lead with 4 minutes left in the game (64-63) and hold it until the last second. This is what Character looks like.

Mark Williams was absolutely gallant in the second half. While his foul trouble limited his court time in the final period to 8:44, he was 4-5 from the field and 4-5 from the foul line for 12 points, to go with a block and 2 rebounds. He was Duke’s high scorer with 16 game points, even while playing less than half of the game minutes (18:33).Trevor Keels in 14:49 second-half minutes, scored all 12 of his game points to tie Mark for Duke’s scoring lead in the concluding stanza. Trevor drove into the Cavalier defense, getting fouled 3 times (5-6 from the foul line). Keels was 3-8 from the field, including 1-2 from deep, to go with 4 boards.

The Bench in the first half: When the Duke starters went almost 10 minutes without scoring, it was Bates Jones,Theo John, and Joey Baker who scored 10 points collectively, to keep the Blue Devils close enough to compete. Bates played 8:31, hitting 2-2 from deep for 6 points,2nd most for Duke in the opening half (Paolo had 9 points). Theo played 3:21, scoring 2 points (1-1), with a rebound and block. [Theo was even more valuable in the second half when he logged 11:14 because of Mark’s foul trouble.] Joey Baker played only 1:51, all in the first half, when he scored from the field (1-1) and grabbed a rebound.

The Bad

Human Nature – Theo John said “Coach K talked to us at the half. He talked to us before the game. He told us it’s not going to be easy. You’ve got to beat human nature. You just beat a Carolina team by 20 on the road, and you’ve got to come out here on a Monday, just two days later, and beat another tough team. We didn’t do that tonight.”

Duke’s Man-to-Man Defense – After one of the great defensive efforts of the year against UNC, Duke was completely ineffective against the Cavaliers. Coach K: “They carved us up where 20 of the first 22 points were in the paint—they had 52 in the game—but in the beginning, it was more the cuts …” The zone was not much more effective. UVA was getting uncontested jump shots against the zone.

Duke’ offense also had serious flaws – 37% shooting in the first half, 15 turnovers for the game (while the defense forced only 5 turnovers from Virginia). Virginia had twice as many second chance points as Duke, grabbing 9 first-half offensive rebounds. The Cavaliers controlled the paint for the game. Duke somehow allowed Kadin Shedrick (who did not start, and averages less than 7 points per game) to clean the glass with put-backs: 8-8 for 16 points, to lead Virginia in scoring)!

Wendell Moore played 38:09, scoring 9 (3-8, including 1-5 from behind the arc, plus 2-2 from the stripe). Moore had only 1 assist and 2 turnovers, without a steal. It was not Wendell’s best defensive game, though he still managed to be Duke’s second leading rebounder with 7 (Duke out-rebounded UVA 39 to 32).

The Ugly

Jeremy Roach would not have been in this category but for his final turnover (3 total for the game). Such an outrageous lapse in concentration would not happen on the playground, let alone at a crucial time in an ACC game. It changed the game. Duke led by 66-64 with 1:48 left in the game when Theo blocked Reece Beekman’s driving layup and Roach grabbed the rebound. Roach looked around and apparently forgot Beekman was on the ground behind him. Beekman just came in from out of bounds and swiped the ball from the oblivious Jeremy to lay it in the basket. Jeremy’s reflex committed the foul. When Beekman converted the 3-point play, Duke had gone from a 2-point lead with the ball to a 1-point deficit. Ugly. Otherwise, Jeremy was not ugly, though he had more turnovers in this game than in any since Jeremy moved to be the prime playmaker when Trevor was hurt against Florida State.

A.J. Griffin and Paolo Banchero scored 2 points collectively in the second half. Paolo played every second of the closing period without scoring. A.J. scored 2 (his only score of the game) in his 7:48 minutes played in the final period. He was 0-5 in the first half. And those guys are usually bagging ~20 points each per game–Paolo is the leading freshman scorer in the nation. Ugly.

Virginia scored 20 points from Duke turnovers, while Duke, in contrast, scored only 2 points from UVA turnovers. In the first half it was 11 Duke turnovers to 0 for UVA . The Cavaliers scored 52 of their 69 points in the paint. Ugly defense.

The last plays of the game: Paolo’s turnover and Beekman’s 3 pointer with 1 second left.

Coach K: “We put ourselves in a position to win, but we made two bad plays, two really bad plays—one on offense and one on defense, and that’s all it takes. You have to make a play. If you get the ball in the lane, you have to get a shot, and we weren’t able to get a shot. Then we missed the defensive assignment on the last play and when you do that, you lose.”

With 30 seconds left and Duke nursing a 2-point lead, Duke was not able to get a shot up when Paolo tried to dribble through two Cavaliers, but could only dribble into a turnover. Ugly.

Mark Williams, who missed the defensive assignment on Beekman: “It was on me. I lost Beekman. I should’ve stayed with him off the inbounds, and he got an open look and he knocked it down. There’s not much more to it. I take full responsibility for it. I let my teammates down.”

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

consistency, Consistency, CONSISTENCY! – Duke must still find consistency if the Blue Devils are to be the National contender for a final Coach K championship!

A.J. Griffin and Paolo Banchero are still freshmen, who can be (and indeed have been) inconsistent. These freshmen now have about a month before it is tournament time. Inconsistency will end the season.

The Blue Devil penchant this year for losing games at the buzzer is more than troubling. That’s not the consistency Coach K is looking for.

This 3 game road trip coming up – Clemson, Boston College, and Wake Forest (newly #25 in Monday’s poll) will give Duke a chance for redemption … or disaster.

Next Play: Thursday, February 10th, 2022, at Clemson: 8 pm on TV: ACCN

Duke Blue Devils 82 v. Clemson Tigers 64; (Season 13 Issue 22 – Game # 24) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” and Bill Miller’s “Cliffsnotes” (February 10, 2022)

*Keels: First & Ten Photo Credit: Simran Prakash/The Duke Chronicle*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

So far, this Duke team has been inconsistent—being at critical times less than the sum of its parts. However, to their credit they have responded to losses well. Duke’s winning margins in the four games following a loss this season were 41, 12 and 20 points. Tonight was more of the same with an 18-point win against a short-handed Clemson team.

Krzyzewski said Duke’s successful response was no accident: “The very first thing you have to do is take accountability for why they [Virginia] played better – not just [at] the end of the game. We had long meetings with our guys, and then they had meetings. A big thing was for them to hold each other accountable more. For a young team, they have really good attitudes. They all want to play well, but you can get caught up with you playing well. Not trying to score a lot of points, but you don’t see globally- you see locally. That’s part of the maturity of a player and a team, is to see globally.”

We will see. The question is whether it was bad luck, or was something missing from this team’s losing three games, two at home, by a point or two in the final minutes! As talented as the players on this team are, when it comes time for someone to complete a stop or someone to make a shot, there is no there there. Well, tonight, Trevor Keels, as he did against Kentucky, took charge of the game in the second half as Duke’s eleven-point half time lead was cut to five. Trevor hit 8 of his 9 second-half shots to put this important road game on ice, in front of a very hostile crowd just ready to explode. Keels explained: “When you get a lead like that, just keep fighting and keep pushing. Don’t let the team get back and get their crowd into it. It was loud in there, so in games like that, you don’t want their crowd to get into it. You want to keep that lead and finish the game.” He scored all but two of his game-high 25 points in the second half, making all of eight-straight field-goal attempts. He also had 11 rebounds. “I feel like I’m getting back to myself. Missing three games is tough, especially when you can’t be out there with your brothers and fight. But inside the locker room, Wendell talked to me before the game and told me: ‘Play like yourself.’ It really helped me.”

Near the end of the first half, another play fired up the Blue Devils. Wendell Moore stole the ball from Clemson senior guard David Collins and drove for a breakaway dunk. Collins, apparently angry at a no call or being humiliated, and trailing well behind, blocked Moore’s hip and legs while Moore was dunking the ball. It was as if a defensive back hit a defenseless receiver. Moore came down parallel to the floor simultaneously on his back and head with a sickening thud. It was as vicious a play as I can remember seeing in basketball!

[ https://www.barstoolsports.com/blog/3405561/dude-on-clemson-straight-up-forgets-hes-playing-basketball-delivers-one-of-the-dirtiest-fouls-youll-see]

Duke’s coaches and players leapt to their feet and onto the floor incensed with the takedown and concern for their teammate. Amazingly, Wendell got up and shook it off. However, that seemed to give the Blue Devils extra incentive to close out Clemson. Collins was ejected for a Category 2 Flagrant Foul, and, therefore, it took a valuable Clemson starter out of the game.

The rest of the season will tell whether this young Duke team is maturing into a battle-ready contender or is just a talented, but inconsistent, immature pretender.

ALANALYSIS:

Introduction

It was a very satisfying bounce-back win for Duke after the disappointing loss to UVA in Cameron on Monday. The Blue Devils were better in shooting, rebounding, and ball handling. Perhaps the gaudiest statistic was that A.J. Griffin (2-2) and Trevor Keels (3-6) collectively shot 5-8 from 3land. That’s 15 points on 8 shots. Perhaps the best news from the game was Trevor morphing back into the potential lottery player he was in the season opener against Kentucky. Keels scored 23 of Duke’s 44 second half points. After Monday’s heartbreak, it was just the stress-free game Duke fans needed on a Thursday night!

Coach K’s final year is strange because the regular season is where our Hall of Fame coach is simply getting ready for the post-season. Duke’s bench has been longer, and rather than shrinking as the season progresses (Duke fans watch that phenomenon every year), the number of players and the roles of the bench has expanded.

We will examine the game half by half, followed by the status of the team in Coach K’s rotation, which has been quite different this season.

Duke v Clemson – Each Half Was Different

Coach K, echoing what we mean when we say that ACC road games are just different, “For us, it was a great response after a difficult loss against Virginia. They [the Duke players] were tough-minded. They’ve lost some really tough games, close games and we knew that they [the Clemson team] would be ready and the crowd [would be raucous]. I like the way my team responded to them[the crowd + the team]”.

“I thought our defense was very good. The second half, Trevor took over. Wendell Moore did a great job of leading our team; he had eight assists and no turnovers, and was more like he’s played in the early part of the season. We’re moving along.”

The First Half (Duke 38 – Clemson 29):

With 8:11 remaining in the opening period, Duke led by 4 (18-14). In the next 2:38, Duke scored 9 straight points to lead by 13. Mark Williams scored twice, Wendell scored, and A.J. hit a 3. While Clemson did cut the lead to 5 in the second half, the Tigers never led in the game. The Duke players had balanced scoring in the first half and a 26-15 rebounding edge with 8 offensive boards.

Williams, in his 12 first-half minutes, led the scoring with 10 points (5-5 from the field), to go with 5 rebounds, a steal, and a block. Dominating. Paolo Banchero and Wendell each scored 8 points. In his 18:22, Paolo was 3-8 from the field, (including 0-1 from deep, plus 2-2 from the foul line), to go with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal (2 turnovers); while Wendell, in his 14:22 of playing time, was a more efficient 3-6 from the field, including 1-1 from behind the arc plus 1-2 from the stripe. Wendell became the main ball handler as he had been before Trevor was injured handing out 4 assists without a turnover. Wendell added 2 rebounds and a steal to round out his excellent first half performance.

A.J. played 13:39 and scored 6 first-half points (2-5 from the field that included 2-3 from deep. A.J. did grab a single rebound and handed out an assist, but committed 2 fouls and 2 turnovers. Theo John (6:49), Trevor (12:55) and Jeremy Roach (12:00) each scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting. Trevor had 6 rebounds to lead Duke in that department. Theo had 2 boards, a block, and, astoundingly, attempted a 3. Clang.

The defense held the Tigers to 29 points on 36% shooting.

The Second Half (Duke 44 – Clemson 38):

Duke shot 58% from the field, including 55% from behind the arc and 80 % from the foul line.

The big story of the concluding period was Trevor Keels, who had a second half that is the stuff of legends. In 17 minutes, Trevor scored 23 (8-9, including 3-4 from behind the arc plus 4-5 from the line) to go with 5 boards. 0 assists, turnovers, steals, or blocks. As all announcers and Bill have noted, Trevor has not played like this since the opening game against Kentucky in Madison Square Garden.

Astonishingly, Mark, A.J., and Trevor were a combined 13-14 from the field, including 5-6 from deep and 4-5 from the stripe for a total 35 of Duke’s 44 points. Paolos’ 7 second-half points in 15:25 (2-7, including 1-3 from 3land plus 2-3 from the stripe) and Jeremy’s 2 in 13:21 completed Duke’s second-half scoring. Contrary to the balanced scoring in the first half of the game, in this second half Keels was responsible for scoring more than half of Duke’s 44 points.

Mark Williams was not in any foul trouble and yet played only 8:55 in the second half. Mark was 3-3 for 6 points, with a rebound, an assist, and a block. A.J. took only 2 second-half shots in his 14:24 and made both 3s for his 6 points. A.J. also contributed 2 boards, an assist, and a block.

Human nature reduced the Blue Devil aggressiveness on defense versus the first half. Clemson scored 38. Duke’s lead ballooned to 22 with a little over 5 minutes left. The Tigers never got closer than 5 (45-40 with 16:38 left). The last time Clemson reduced the lead to single digits (9) was with 12:20 left in the game. Then the Blue Devils went on a tear over the next 7 minutes that put the game away.

Evaluating The Rotation – it is Different

Coach K’s final season will be evaluated by the results of the post-season. Duke could win every game in the regular season but failing to win a post-season title, and the season will not be the stuff our dreams were made of. More than in other years, the regular season is mainly building Duke for the post-season, which is why Coach K’s rotation this year has been deeper with mixed lineups so that everyone will get used to playing with everyone else in any new situation. Coach K’s team has at least 4 competent ball handlers who can bring the ball up and initiate the offense, but no traditional point guard in the Hurley, Jay Williams, Tyus and Tre Jones tradition. That has contributed to Duke’s inconsistency.

Duke has 6 in the regular rotation: 3 freshmen (Paolo, A.J., and Trevor), 2 sophomores (Mark and Jeremy) and 1 Junior (Wendell). Duke goes 9 deep with the addition of an experienced bench: graduate transfers that have already played 4 seasons of NCAA basketball (Bates Jones from Davidson and Theo John from Marquette) and one senior (Joey Baker). Looking at the rotation by class year provides unique insights:

The 4 Freshmen

Paolo Banchero – has been in a bit of an offensive slump recently, which can camouflage his effectiveness in all aspects of the game. Coach K played him a ton of minutes early in the season, and, it seems to me, Paolo has worn down a bit. However, he is special whether or not he is scoring at a high rate (he’s the leading freshman scorer in the nation with a 17.1 points per game average). But his average was higher earlier in the year. He has personally been the major factor in Duke ceasing to give up offensive rebounds and second chance points. He has been Duke’s best rebounder, especially on the defensive backboard. He is a versatile defender. His rebounding, passing, and defense – not to mention his scoring – have been key components for Duke’s improvement. But his inconsistency – 0 points and shots in the second half versus UVA, for example – are exactly what Duke must cure for a successful post-season. Hopefully, he is being rested more, and his offense will return to the dazzling heights of earlier in the season.

A.J. Griffin – is in the midst of a roller-coaster year. He came slowly back from injury and rust to lead Duke (and practically the nation) in 3-point shooting and to score prodigiously in several recent games. But inconsistency remains a concern. After a monster game against the Tarheels last Saturday (27 points), A.J. scored just 2 against Virginia. Unsurprisingly, Duke creamed UNC and was nipped by UVA. A.J. is such an important part of Duke’s team that when his scoring fails, Duke is in Big Trouble.

Trevor Keels – has displayed amazing potential, playing like an NBA lottery pick against Kentucky and Clemson, but also demonstrating erratic shooting in many other games. His potential is indisputable. Whether he, and his freshmen brothers, can consistently realize that potential in the post-season is Duke’s biggest challenge.

Jaylen Blakes, the 4th freshman, has not played much.

The Sophomores and Wendell

Mark Williams – is the only player from the ACC on the final list of 15 players from which the National Defensive Player of the Year will be chosen (his sister Elizabeth won the award in her senior year at Duke). His improvement has been dramatic. As Associate Head Coach Scheyer has said, “Duke is a different team when Mark is in.” He not only blocks shots, he alters many that he doesn’t block. His rebounding has improved and can get even better. Coach K rests him quite a bit and is appreciating his overall defense. Mark guarded Clemson star P.J. Hall; Coach K said, “He had a tough matchup. I think [PJ] Hall is one of the best players – I love that kid. He puts so much pressure on you. It’s a different cover for Mark, so I’m proud of Mark because you’re all over the court covering him, but you were able to finish.” His offense has been excellent. He still has a long way to go to reach his full potential. Coach K is hoping he comes closer to it in the post-season.

Jeremy Roach – is having a checkered year. He lost his starting position when his shooting and offense were not contributing. Then Trevor was injured against Florida State, and Jeremy was not only back in the starting lineup, but he became the prime ball handler and was a revelation. Fantastic assist to turnover ratio. His scoring began to expand. Then Trevor came back and replaced Jeremy in the starting lineup against Clemson. Jeremy returned to a diminished effectiveness. His on-the ball-defense is Duke’s best. Having 6 dividing the prime minutes keeps everyone a bit fresher. Jeremy is in an interesting position.

Wendell Moore – was the team leader and chief ball handler early in the season, and now he’s back. He was playing at an elite level. He has seemed more adversely impacted by the COVID 10-day quarantine than any other player. Coach K after Moore’s performance against Clemson yesterday: “Wendell Moore [Jr.] did a great job of leading our team. He had eight assists and no turnovers and was more like he’s played in the early part of the season.” A bravura performance!

Theo John, Bates Jones and Joey Baker – have provided depth and, on occasion, valuable minutes. Joey is the most inconsistent. Bates is newly earning time in the rotation because he can shoot, pass, rebound, and defend – just not as well as the starters. There are some situations that favor Theo (he is physically tougher than Mark) when he is extra-valuable.

The Road to the Post-Season

Assuming Duke will earn the double-bye for the ACC tournament, which opens at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn on March 8, Duke’s first game would be on March 10 in the quarter finals. Coach K will want to win his final ACC tournament; he will be entering the tournament with the most talented team. However, we all know that the best team does not always win in the post-season.

Then it is on to the climax. It doesn’t matter what Duke is seeded or to what region the Blue Devils are assigned. Coach K’s team must have achieved consistency or their effort for the coveted NCAA championship will be short-circuited.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

The Duke freshmen have been inconsistent for sure. Paolo leads the nation’s freshmen in scoring and blanked in the second half of a crucial loss to UVA. A.J. pours in 20+ points one night followed by a low scoring game. Trevor pours in points in two big games and scores almost nothing in other games. Why? Perhaps,it is worth remembering how young Duke’s key players really are. Coach K: “We are a very young team. [Trevor turned] 18 in August, AJ Griffin is 18, Paolo [Banchero] is 19. These guys aren’t hardened veterans, so they have to learn.” It is only in the regular season the Blue Devils can appreciate these lessons.

Coach K. “With a young team, they have really good attitudes, and they all want to play well, but you can get caught up with you playing well. Not trying to score a lot of points, but you don’t see globally – you see locally. That’s part of the maturity of a player and a team, is to see globally, like how are we doing? By holding each other accountable, that helps you in that. I thought we did a really good job of that tonight.” Learning is what the regular season has been, and is, all about.

This has been a difficult eight-day stretch beginning with Carolina, followed by Virginia, Clemson, and ending Saturday with B.C., caused by the December COVID cancellations. Playing through difficult circumstances is how a team grows.

Wisdom is part of growth. We would be remiss if we didn’t mention Coach K’s wise reaction to David Collins’s vicious foul on Wendell. And Brad Brownell’s. The Clemson coach brought Collins over to the Duke bench to apologize. Rather than escalate a tense situation, K completely defused it by giving Collins a hug to symbolically accept the apology. This is rare in competitive sport, but should not be.

Next Play: Saturday, February 12th, 2022, at Boston College: 5 pm on TV: ACCN

Duke Blue Devils 72 v. Boston College Eagles 61; (Season 13 Issue 23 – Game # 25) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” and Bill Miller’s “Cliffsnotes” (February 12, 2022)

*Paolo flyin’ high & Duke grabs another win*
*Photo Credit: Winnie Lu for The Duke Chronicle*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

Duke wore down a well-coached but out-manned Boston College team tonight 72-61. Duke won because Paolo Banchero, operating in the high post, took advantage of his matchup and finished with 16 points and 14 boards, and because Duke outscored BC 21-3 on three pointers. Early on, the Eagles carved up the Blue Devils’ man-to-man defense with a high post offense, back door cuts, and precise passes, but as the game progressed Duke’s size and talent won out.

Feel for the flow of the game and savvy substitutions have always been Coach K’s strength (ref. NCAA Championship game against Wisconsin with his substitution of seldom used Grayson Allen, whose play off the bench was the impetus for the Blue Devils’ victory). However, this year he seems to be eschewing his limited six- or seven-man rotation for more liberal minutes with a seven- or eight-man rotation. Banchero, Williams, Moore, Keels, and Griffin are the difference makers. Jeremy Roach and Theo John are solid subs. Joey Baker and Bates Jones are situational players, who have their moments, but are often taken advantage of defensively, and do not strike fear in an opponent’s heart. Perhaps the deeper rotation is intended to keep the players fresh.. Time will tell if Coach K reverts to form or not.

The “History of the ACC Tournament” is showing on the ACC channel and is an interesting and accurate trip down memory lane for some of us, and a history lesson for those who were not there for the maturation of basketball mania in North Carolina.

ALANALYSIS:

Duke’s final 11-point margin of victory deceptively minimizes Duke’s dominance in the game. That dominance was better shown by the almost 20-point lead the Blue Devils maintained throughout the second half, until Coach K called off the dogs with over 4 minutes left in the game. Duke had stretched the lead to its largest margin, — 21 points (69-48) with 4:38 left when Trevor Keels made 2 free throws. Then, Joey Baker came in for Keels and Bates Jones replaced Paolo Banchero. In the last 4:38, Duke’s lead shrunk with its bench on the floor closing out the game. Jaylen Blakes played the last 38 seconds, committing 2 fouls and missing his only shot. The point is the game was not close to competitive in the latter stages of the second half.

A Return to Form for Banchero and Moore; Trevor’s Resurgence Continues

The victory over BC was good news because of the return to form for Paolo, Wendell Moore, and Trevor, each of whom had been either shooting erratically or had been injured.

Paolo, whose scoring fell from an 18.6 points per game average to 14 over the last few games, returned to the form that has him in the discussion for #1 NBA draft selection in the spring. In 34:20, Banchero had a double double – 14 rebounds and 16 points (7-14 from the field, including 0-2 from deep, plus 2-2 from the foul line). Paolo’s 11 defensive rebounds matched B.C.’s total of offensive rebounds. He continues to do the needed dirty work. Overall, Duke out-rebounded the Eagles 41-31.

Wendell acknowledged how much Paolo’s return to form means to the Blue Devils, “One thing was for sure Paolo established himself early. When we needed him most, he came through. He really led us out there tonight. He was real strong with everything he did. We ran our version of Iso [isolation offense] for him, and he just made strong drives every time. He might not have scored every time, but he made the right play. In the first half, he hit Mark [Williams] for an assist, he got a layup and then he kicked it out to AJ [Griffin] for a three. So, just him making plays makes us a lot better.” Typically, an Iso would put 4 guys on one side of the floor and the scorer (Paolo in this case) on the other to make a double team very difficult. But Duke was a bit different; the Blue Devils spread the floor and got the ball in the post to Paolo. What made the Iso work was Paolo made his move as soon as he touched the ball. Fake! Drive! Crossover! No one BC player could defend him, and Paolo’s instant moves deprived BC of the time to bring a double team.

Wendell was also inspirational in his superb play, especially after taking such a bruising fall when fouled by David Collins at Clemson only 2 days before. He was the only other Duke player, besides Paolo, on the court for more than 28 minutes (31:15), scoring 14 points on only 7 attempts from the field (4-7, including a dazzling 4-5 from behind the arc!, plus 2-2 from the stripe), while adding 5 rebounds and 2 assists, but did commit 4 turnovers (2 in each half). Wendell: “I feel like my shot preparation was there tonight. I feel like my hands were ready. Whenever one of my teammates drove today, I was calling for the ball. Most of all, I wasn’t thinking – I just shot it. Every time I shot it, I believed it was going in. Really, one went well for me, and with the confidence my teammates have in me, pair those two things together, it makes a pretty good night for me.”

Trevor was again superb, coming off the bench to log the 3rd most minutes on the floor of any Duke player (28:37). Keels scored 13 points (5-7 from the field, including 1-2 from 3land, plus 2-4 from the stripe) — 9 in the second half. He added 4 rebounds but turned it over 4 times. Over his last 4 games, Trevor has averaged 15.8 points per game. Trevor has scored in double figures in 16 of Duke’s games. When he scored in double figures Duke won 15 of those 16 games.

Duke’s Centers

Mark Williams (20:36 minutes), Theo John (17 minutes) and Bates Jones (8:36) were Duke’s big men on the court throughout the game. Paolo was never the sole big man on the court.

Mark has been having a remarkable season. In Duke’s last 10 games, he has been 54 of 68 from the field (.794), and in his last 5 games was 23 of 27 (.852). His two jump shots – one from the foul line against Clemson, and from the top of the key against Boston College – showed another potential phase of his game. Against the Eagles, Mark scored 10 (3-4 from the field and 4-4 from the foul line), to go with 3 boards and 2 blocks. In Duke’s 25th game this season, this was Mark’s 22nd game with at least 2 blocks. Williams missed only one shot from the field, at the beginning of the second half, which snapped his streak of 14 consecutive field goals – his final 4 in the second half against Virginia, 8-8 against Clemson, and his first 2 against the Eagles.

Theo played one of his best games, giving Mark substantial rest without leaving Duke to falter. Theo grabbed 4 boards and blocked 3 shots (1 more than Mark), while scoring 2 points (1-4 from the field). Theo’s defense against Boston’s high-scoring big man, James Karnik, was more effective than Mark’s.

Bates Jones has played his way into Coach K’s rotation. In this game, he played at the end when the game was not in doubt (called garbage time by the cognoscenti) and did not score. He did get 2 rebounds though.

The Defense

Boston College has been a fearsome 3-point shooting team. Duke’s defensive game plan was to contest BC’s 3s. The Eagles were held to 1-12 from behind the arc. The concentration on running BC off the 3-point line and contesting 3-point attempts allowed Eagle guards to pump, fake, and drive. Duke was “carved up” a bit by BC forays into the lane, but the Blue Devils held the Eagles to 61 points (and the last 8 were against Duke’s bench and didn’t impact the game). Duke was not as aggressive in the passing lanes and forced only 9 BC turnovers. It was the right defense against BC.

In its last 14 games, Duke has held opponents to 30% or an even lower shooting percentage from behind the arc in 11 of them (17 games for the entire season so far). Duke’s success over the year against the 3-point shot has been helped by having Mark and Paolo to protect the rim. Duke’s perimeter defenders can be aggressive because even if a drive gets the shooter into the paint, Duke still has a formidable defense from its bigs.

Jeremy Roach

Jeremy is acknowledged as Duke’s best on-the-ball defender. He began the season as a starter, played his way out of the starting lineup, and has again been a starter since Trevor was injured. Jeremy remained in the starting lineup even as Trevor returned. His defense remains premier; it is his offense that has been inconsistent.

Jeremy stepped up to play an inspirational point guard during Trevor’s absence and his offense began to thrive. His assist to turnover ratio was second in the nation, and even began to find his shot. . However, since Trevor’s return, Jeremy’s offensive game has regressed. His shot has again deserted him and his turnovers have increased. Against the Eagles, Jeremy started and played 26 minutes, scoring 5 points (a depressing 1-7 from the field including 0-4 from behind the arc, plus 3-4 from the stripe). Roach had only a single assist against 2 turnovers.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

It is fascinating to watch Coach K bring this very young team along to the point of being a contender for the NCAA championship. Every move he makes is a teaching move to create a consistently cohesive balanced team for a championship run. As always, Coach’s insights about the team are really about our lives as much as about basketball:

“When you coach for 47 years, there’s a lot of things that you’ve failed at,” he said. “When you fail, failure is a part of learning about a new limit. That’s why a lot of parents don’t allow their kids to get C’s. You’re not going to get better unless you’re told the truth. When you lose and you don’t do well, you should tell yourself the truth, and move on. And when you win, move on. Learn from both and get better. That’s what I’ve tried to do.”

“I’ll look back at it, but not now. Not when [BC is] making an 8-0 run to cut into a 16-point lead.”

Next Play: Tuesday, February 15th, 2022, vs Wake Forest in Cameron: 7 pm on TV: ESPN

Duke Blue Devils 76 v. Wake Forest Deacons 74 at Cameron ; (Season 13 Issue 24 – Game # 26) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” and Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes” (February 15, 2022)

***Euphoria at 0.4 seconds*** *Photo Credit:* *Elena Granowsky* *| The Chronicle*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

Duke played some of their best basketball for about 29 minutes against a very big, tough, talented, and mature Wake Forest team that has been on a roll. The Blue Devils led by 9 at the break, by as much as 19 early in the second half and was still up 61-46 with 11 minutes remaining. Then, they played like they did for much of the Virginia game and were extremely fortunate to survive the closest finish, decided by a fraction of an inch, within the final 0.4 seconds.

First, with the score tied and the clock winding down, Banchero drove down the right side and put a layup high off the glass—a fraction of an inch too high. Because it came down on the front of the rim, multiple players jumped for the ball. Mark Williams got the ball. And Mark slammed it home. The ref on the baseline waved it off, because from his angle, the ball appeared not to have totally cleared the cylinder of the basket. After reviewing the monitor, the referees determined the basketball was just outside the cylinder and put 0.4 seconds back on the clock. Wake inbounded the ball to Domari Monsanto, who threw a three quarter length shot baseball-style, hitting the backboard hard and a little off center. It ricocheted off the front of the rim. It might have counted, or it might not have counted—no one checked, but that is how close the Blue Devils came to an embarrassing loss. Give Wake Forest a lot of the credit for making stops and making shots during those eleven minutes. They are a dangerous team.

The frustrating and puzzling aspect of this team is that since the break, except for the Carolina game, they have not played forty minutes of consistently good offensive and defensive basketball —and in the last minutes of some games find themselves left at the mercies of the referees and the basketball gods. One obvious solution is for Paolo Banchero to break out of his shooting slump. To his credit, he has made up for it by excelling at the “mundane stuff” like defense and rebounding.

Coach K did not appear for the second half because he was feeling sick, but is reported to be feeling better. After the game, he told his players they had to play smarter and harder until the final whistle.

Cameron Indoor Stadium has earned its reputation and mystique: Duke has won more games at its current home venue than any team in college basketball. Now in its 83rd season as the home of the Blue Devils, Duke has averaged 11.1 wins since it opened January 6, 1940 with a 36-27 win over Princeton. The Blue Devils have 18 undefeated home seasons, including 11 under Coach K who has posted an all-time record of 928-170 (.845) at the venue.

ALANALYSIS:

After 4 Last-Second Losses; A Last-Second Win!

Ambivalent is a fair adjective to describe how Duke fans felt after the Blue Devils squandered a 19-point lead in 14 minutes to be faced with a tie score 20 seconds away from the end of the game. After four devastating losses when Duke was leading with just seconds to go, desolation loomed if Wake forced an overtime and won the game (as Florida State did in its visit to Cameron last month).

Joy replaced desolation when Mark Williams scored on an offensive rebound, literally at the buzzer. Thus ensued a series of heart clenching ups and downs. Initially, the basket was waived off as offensive basket interference. But the replay showed a legitimate winning field goal. One last heart stop: Wake had 0.4 left and fired a desperation 70-foot heave that went around the rim – but then rimmed out. So, Duke finally won a nail-biter, but it was far from glorious. One sports outlet had a headline, “Duke loses Composure Down the Stretch”. Unfortunately, the headline was indisputably dead on. The Blue Devils seemed stuck to the floor on defense and disorganized when they had the ball. Scheyer tried to say it “nicer”.

“I think for us, we’ve been in positions now multiple times at home where it comes down to getting stops. We had a lead there down the stretch and we weren’t able to get the stop. In the history since I’ve been a part of this program, and obviously way before, when we’ve needed a stop in this building, or multiple stops, we’ve gotten them. We weren’t really able to do that tonight down the stretch, and it’s cost us in other games, but we did make enough plays throughout the game that put us in that position.” (Emphasis added because these late game collapses are not usual for Coach K teams)

The First Half

Duke had an excellent first half both on offense and defense (except for the last 7 seconds when the Devils gave up an open 3 — forgot to defend? — to allow Wake to cut the lead from 12 to 9). It was a harbinger for the latter part of the second half.

Inconsistency at its most glaring – or WTF!?However, even with an overall excellent performance in the first half, Duke’s “inconsistency” was evident. Each of Duke’s most dangerous scorers were held without a point in one half. Paolo Banchero failed to score a point in the first half, while A.J. Griffin failed to score in the second half even though he played 19 minutes! Paolo scored 13 in the second half; A.J. had scored 12 to lead Duke’s first-half scoring.

The Loss of a 19-Point Lead From 14:36 to 0:20

Duke gave up 41 second-half points, 36 of them in less than 15 minutes! This, after the Blue Devils had stretched the lead to 19 (57-38). Is complacency after gaining a big lead human nature? Not for National Championship caliber teams. The defensive collapse mirrored an offensive decline. – Duke had scored 15 of its 34 second-half points by the 14:36 mark. Duke scored just 19 more points in the next almost 15 minutes (to Wake’s 36). In the closing stanza, Duke shot 37% (10-27 from the field, including 2-10 from behind the arc (25%), and turned it over 9 times (only 5 assists). Duke’s 12-15 from the stripe is all that staved off complete collapse and certain defeat.

Duke had substantial dry spells – significant minutes without scoring. Banchero hit a 3 to move the Blue Devils from 57 to 60 total points with 13:45 left. Duke did not reach 61 points until fewer than 11 minutes were left in the game. Then another 2+ minute drought strangled the offense.

For a wishful minute, it looked as though Duke had shut the Deacons down and locked up the game, leading by 9 (74-65) with 3:58 remaining, after Paolo made 2 free throws — (his final points).

Then, at 3:16, Paolo committed his 4th foul. Wake converted both free throws–74-67. A.J. Griffin missed. And Duke committed a shot clock violation with 2:14 left. A.J. turned it over again with 1:52 left, before Wake’s Williams hit a 3 to cut the Blue Devil lead to 4 (74-70) with 1:05 left in the game.

Trevor Keels immediately turned it over (with 59 seconds left), which Wake turned into a breakaway layup (74-72 with 55 seconds left). Moore turned it over (backcourt violation; I thought he was fouled) with 35 seconds remaining.

Williams (Duke) fouled Williams (Wake) with 20 seconds left. Wake’s 2 free throws tied the game at 74. Paolo drove, but missed; Mark rebounded, missed, and then finished with less than a heart-stopping-second left in the game (as Bill so aptly described above).

Duke did not score from 3:58 until the last second, while Wake poured in 9 points in the same amount of time!

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Coach Scheyer was clearly disappointed. He understood how deficient his team’s performance was for this late in the season, “ I mentioned the stops, clearly if we get stops that puts us in a different position to finish off that game. Knowing time and score and having poise and working for great shots. I think we got a little panicked down the stretch just with making quick plays. When we have poise and break the defense down, because we can put so many weapons on the floor, we’re a tough team to defend. Really just knowing time and score and managing the clock is something we need to learn to do a better job of.”

Wendell described how the team reacted positively even as Duke’s substantial lead melted away: “Really just our will to win. If you looked at our huddle, no matter how big of a run [Wake Forest] went on, everybody’s face in the huddle, we all knew that we weren’t going to lose this game. We were determined that we needed a stop, and we were able to get the stop that we needed.”

Duke’s determination to win transcended/overcame formidable barriers. Even though the calls seemed to damage Duke (Mark made what appeared to be a clean block — it was very clean at the top, but a foul against Mark was called), the Blue Devils dug in and fought back successfully.

Coach K gets the wise closing word. He understands both the good and the bad from the game, and the final result. It was positive (mostly) and encouraging without being disingenuous, discordant or naive. Here’s what he said to the team after the game: “Way to fight, have to be smarter. We shouldn’t have even put ourselves in that situation, but we still found a way to win, which was the most important thing. We’ve been in a lot of situations that have been close and been on the wrong side of that, so just to get a win was huge.”

That is undeniably true. Unlike the four last-second losses that continue to haunt, Duke did not lose this game!

Next Play: Saturday, February 19th, 2022, vs Florida State in Cameron: 6 pm on TV: ESPN

Duke Blue Devils 88 v. Florida State Seminoles 70 at Cameron ; (Season 13 Issue 25 – Game # 27) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” and Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes” (February 19, 2022)

*Baker fires up the oven for four 3s. Photo Credit: Duke Chronicle*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

Florida State’s deep, but depleted, team started by matching Duke point-for-point as they easily broke down the Blue Devil’s too aggressive switching position 1 through 5 man-to-man defense. Suddenly, with only ten minutes played, Williams and Banchero were on the bench with two fouls each, in what appeared to be a much tougher game than anticipated. But, it was Joey Baker, doing a very good impression of J.J. Redick, who was the catalyst to changing the complexion of the game. Joey entered, Williams and Banchero came out, and the fifth-year senior had a night to remember— 4 three-pointers and a defensive charge taken within a span of seven minutes! that gave the Blue Devils separation from the Seminoles, who had been carving up Duke’s man-to-man defense, shooting 55% from the floor.

Joey was so hot that everything was going in– in the second half a short lob to Williams looked as if it was going in the basket [Williams got credit for the deuce]. Joey had another 3-point swish waived off because he shuffled his feet before releasing the shot. His game changing performance sparked the offense that featured a spectacular transition sequence, with Wendell Moore Jr. throwing a halfcourt bounce pass,to A.J. Griffin for a rim-rattling dunk and a 52-41 lead in the final minute of the first half. It was reminiscent of Zion Williams’ famous full court bounce pass. All this was too much for the short-handed Seminoles, who cooled off considerably in the second half.

Six Blue Devils scored in double figures as Duke as beat the Seminoles 88-70, much to the delight of the fans in Cameron, on this penultimate home game of Coach K’s record-breaking career. The Blue Devils shot 52%, and had 25 assists on its 32 field goals. Coach K said, “I thought we assisted well.” It was a team win –Paolo Banchero scored 17 points to lead. Wendell Moore had 16 points with 7 assists, while freshman A.J. Griffin added 15 points. Freshman guard Trevor Keels, who played the point for much of the game, had 13 points and 8 assists. Joey had 12 points and Mark had 10 to round out the six double-figure scorers. Mike Krzyzewski said. “Some of the passes from Trevor were spectacular. I really thought Paolo had a different gear in the second half.”

Comments:

Lesson learned: After halftime, the Duke defense ratcheted up, the Seminoles tired and shot just 11 of 27 (41%), for the kind of closeout a veteran Duke team makes. Krzyzewski said Duke thought it could turn Florida State over early, but it was going about it the wrong way, trying for individual steals rather than concentrating on team defense, and were burned as a consequence.

It is still puzzling to me that Mark Williams, whose defense and offense and mere presence on the floor makes Duke a different and more potent team, was limited to twenty minutes. I can see protecting Mark from getting in foul trouble in the first half, but at tournament time…..

ALANALYSIS:

Introduction

Even though Duke won against Wake Forest last Tuesday, it was a confidence- and ego-deflating win. Duke, which had led Wake by as much as 19 with a bit over 14 minutes to play, was inexplicably in a tie game with 20 seconds left to play! So, even though the outcome against Wake was a victory, this game against Florida State was still a bounce back game. Coach K knew that and spoke to it:

“The game is a long game. We show our youth when we don’t have the discipline to maintain that lead or add to it or only lose a little of it. I thought we did a little bit better job tonight. But still, it’s like you are saying whoa, just settle down. No one-handed passes. You don’t have to make a flamboyant play. We just have to take care of the clock. Doesn’t mean you are holding the ball. Be smart. Time and score. And end up with more points than them. It’s simple. If you get that far ahead, you should win. You shouldn’t have to go to the last play of the game, the way we did in the last game, no matter how good the other team is. We were contributors to that. Tonight, we were not. Hopefully, going forward, we won’t be. You have to learn from all these things. Our guys are very confident; you have to be careful not to be too confident. That’s what we are working on.”

Duke’s offense was exceptional –52 first-half points; 88 for the game,25 assists on 32 field goals, a solid rebounding advantage (including dominant offensive rebounding), and good ball security. Duke’s scoring for the game was balanced, but the Blue Devils were carried by A.J. Griffin and Joey Baker (12 points each) in the first half, and by Paolo Banchero (13 points) and Wendell Moore, Jr. (8 points) in the second half.

But, once again, Paolo had a low scoring first half while A.J’s scoring was limited in the closing period. For example, in the second half A.J. Griffin and Michael Savarino scored exactly the same – 3 points on 1-1 from 3land. Mark Williams had 4 points and Trevor Keels scored 5 points. Joey Baker, Jeremy Roach, Theo John, and Bates Jones failed to score at all in the closing stanza.

Duke’s defense was once again carved up in the first half. The Seminoles got into the paint on drives for layups to score 41 first-half points. Half-time adjustments stymied Florida State in the second half–the Seminoles scored only 29 in the closing period.

The Defense

Coach K explained the problem with Duke’s first-half defense and the half-time adjustment that Duke made to solve it: “My feeling is we were ready to play. In the first half we felt that we could steal the ball, pressure, and get on them. They’re strong with the ball. Their kids played really well. When you try to steal, you commit [yourself]. You don’t steal the ball with two hands, you steal with one. And when you do, you get narrow. When you get narrow, they go by you. When you control the ball, you have two hands out and you get wide. In the second half, we controlled the ball. That was the adjustment we made.” I find myself agreeing with Johnny Tarheel that Coach K is worth 5-10 points per game just due to his brilliance at being able to switch up and find the right strategy to fix the problems midstream. The Blue Devil defense forced turnovers in the second half, but not in the opening stanza: “When you try to steal, you’re not going to get turnovers. You might get one steal, but they’re going to go by you. When you control the ball, you have a chance to do stuff off the ball, and that’s what happened in the second half. By controlling the dribble, we were able to keep them out, and then we had good hands. We thought we could do that in the first half by over-pressuring and that didn’t work. So, that was a big part of the game – the points off turnovers – 16, but most of them in the second half. … [In the first half], they took advantage of us. They were strong.”

The Rotation With Offensive Statistics

The Starters

Trevor Keels

Coach K made it clear in his press conference that Keels is back in the starting lineup to stay. “Keels has been a starter pretty much the whole year until he got hurt. To me, he’s gotten back from the injury he had and is in a condition now that he wasn’t coming off that injury when he missed some games. So, Trevor is one of our best players. He’ll be in the starting lineup.”

“He doesn’t just make passes from the 3-point line. Because of his physicality and strength, he gets within 12 to 15 feet into the lane. … He makes passes within that perimeter, not outside the perimeter. He did it in the normal course of the offense tonight and he likes doing it. It’s a big asset for us when he is doing it.” Keels is beginning to feel like a more traditional point guard and the Duke offense is growing around him.

Paolo Banchero

Paolo had a brilliant second half, to finish the game as Duke’s high scorer with 17 points (6-12, including 0-3 from behind the arc, plus 5-5 from the stripe). He was also Duke’s leading rebounder with 8, as well as contributing a block, a steal, and an assist. Shooting stars do not usually do the dirty work of defending and rebounding, but Paolo does that. He was limited to 11 first-half minutes by his two early fouls, but he finished the game with still only those 2 fouls. He is actually better than his formidable scoring statistics. In the second half, Banchero carried Duke with 13 points (on 5-11, in spite of 0-3 from deep, plus 3-3 from the foul line) and 5 rebounds.

A. J. Griffin

A.J. had a superb first half, in 17 minutes scoring 12 of his 15 total points and grabbing 3 of his 5 rebounds . For the game, A.J. played 28 minutes (5-10 from the field, including 2-6 from 3land, plus 3-4 from the foul line). A.J., after avoiding any fouls in the first half, committed 3 second-half fouls, which limited him to 11 second-half minutes (1-1 from deep).

Wendell Moore, Jr.

Like Trevor, Wendell is rounding back into the game shape he was in prior to the COVID episode in December. It has been a gradual rebound but appears to be now complete. Moore played 37 minutes (most for any Duke player) of outstanding basketball on both ends of the floor. Wendell scored 16 points, grabbed 5 rebounds while handing out 7 assists and making 6 steals. That is worth a wow! Wendell’s 16 points were scored on only 10 shots (5-10, including 1-3 from behind the arc, plus 5-7 free throws).

Mark Williams

Mark’s early foul trouble (2 in the opening stages of the first half, and a 3rd early in the second period) limited his playing time to less than half the game (19:14), and, “shockingly”, he missed 2 shots. But, in his limited playing time, Elizabeth’s baby brother tallied 10 points (5-7 from the field) and garnered 6 boards, while blocking a shot. He played only 7 first-half minutes. His absence for the majority of the first half partially explains Duke’s defense being carved up in the paint by the Seminoles.

The Bench

Jeremy Roach

Jeremy is having a hard time scoring with his role reduced by the return of Trevor Keels. Jeremy failed to score a single point in his 17:30 of playing time (0-2, including 0-1 from deep). He is still a terrific on-the-ball defender who is all over the floor. Although he did not score, he did grab 4 boards and hand out 5 assists (some of them really pretty), but uncharacteristically turned it over 3 times. He is a quality backup.

Joey Baker

Joey is Bill’s player of the game (I award him Player of the First Half). It was Baker’s best game of the season, even without bringing in a single point in the second half. Baker scored all 12 of his points in the first half on 4-5 from deep.

Wendell expressed how the team feels about Joey: “Joey came in and he played his butt off. He hit four huge threes and not only that, but he was defending. He was defending probably the best I’ve seen from him in a long time. When he does that, it just takes our team to another level. It gives us more spacing on the floor because teams, they certainly can’t help off of him when he’s shooting the ball like that. Joey’s a great player. He’s been through it all, he has the experience, he has the knowledge, and he’s a great leader for us.”

Theo John

With Mark in foul trouble from early on, Theo played almost 17 minutes with 2 points (1-1 from the field), 2 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, and a steal. A very solid backup.

Bates Jones

With A.J. now in the starting lineup, Bates has been getting more playing time. Earlier, A.J. was coming off the bench to spell Paolo. Bates now replaces Paolo when Paolo comes out of the game. Not so much against Florida State last night as Bates played only 2:34 (0-1 from deep).

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Duke starts its last road trip of the year on Wednesday when the Blue Devils take on a resurgent UVA in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers just beat Miami in Miami yesterday, and are making a late season run for a postseason bid. Next Saturday, the Blue Devils journey to Syracuse to take on the Orange, who just beat Boston College like a drum last night.

In March, Coach K meets his protégé, Jeff Capel, in Pittsburgh (coming off thumping UNC last week)before heading home for Senior night in Cameron against the Tarheels, who just broke Virginia Tech’s six game winning streak yesterday with an impressive win. Duke does have a two-game lead for the regular season ACC title. Wendell explained the Blue Devil goals and cautions:

“Our goal is to win three championships here. The first one is an ACC regular season championship. That’s our first goal. We have four games left to accomplish it, so we’re taking it one game at a time. We’ve got three road games, and no road games in the ACC are easy; so you can’t look ahead to Coach’s last game against Carolina. We’ve got to head to Virginia on Wednesday, and they came in here and beat us. Coach says we have the chance to do something special, but at the same time, we have our mind set on one goal right now – that’s to win the next game against Virginia, because if we win that game, we’re one step closer to our bigger goal in four games.”

And then there is Coach K’s last game in Cameron on March 5 (senior night for Joey Baker; freshmen night for Paolo, A.J., and Trevor). No time to think about that now, but for an interesting side note, top price paid for a ticket to this legendary game is reputed to be $80,000 – so far.

It’s being a helluva ride.

Next Play: Wednesday, February 23rd, 2022, at Virginia: 7 pm on TV: ESPN

Duke Blue Devils 65 v. Virginia Cavaliers 61, in Charlottesville; (Season 13 Issue 26 – Game # 28) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” and Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes” (February 23, 2022)

*A.J. Griffin Closes Out Virginia Photo Credit: Duke Chronicle*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

The frustrating characteristics of this talented but young Duke team has been their inability to execute consistently for an entire 40-minute game, and to close out tight games. Early in the season it was Keels, Moore, and Banchero, who were the closers in the close wins. Then Keels got hurt and, after the break, Moore and Banchero turned cold offensively. Consequently, the team has lacked a go-to player. Tonight, Jeremy Roach, recently relegated to 6th man, played the best game of his college career, and AJ Griffin, who couldn’t buy a basket in the first half, sealed the deal in the last minutes with two 3s, a drive, and two free throws. And, oh yes, another metaphorical game ball to Coach K, whose savvy substitutions and strategy intuitively put the right players in the right place at the right time to excel. In the final minutes, he substituted Williams on defense and Griffin on offense.

The game was a chess match between two great coaches. In Duke’s loss in Cameron, Virginia scored most of their points in the paint, and won by a long three in the last seconds. Tonight, Duke packed the paint, and UVA senior guard Kihei Clark made them pay by hitting six 3s in the first fifteen minutes but, due primarily to Jeremy Roach’s defense, not a one after that.

The Blue Devils’ inconsistent offense (Banchero 2-13 & Moore 1-3) was offset by Roach scoring 15, Keels and Griffin 13 each, limiting turnovers, and matching the always tough Cavaliers in other defensive categories. It was a testament to their maturing that they won in spite of the subpar offensive performances of Banchero and Moore. One reason was Duke’s defensive effort matched the Cavaliers famous pack line defense.

COACH K: “AJ [Griffin] made big plays and we were able to do a couple things there, but I thought Jeremy’s performance was the differentiator. We defended their bigs. They had 24 and 16 last time – they had two points this time, and I think we only gave up only single digits in the paint, where we gave up 52 last game. And still, it was that close to losing. We did so many good things, and that means they did a lot of good things. [It was] just a great ACC game.”

On substituting AJ Griffin and Mark Williams down the stretch on offense and defense: “We went to an open set, and we were going to attack the big match up if they stayed big. Attacking it is one thing, for our guys to see it is another. It just worked. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t work. I was proud of our guys and I’m really proud of AJ because he had such a tough shooting night, but we have confidence in him that his next shot is going to go in, and three of his next shots went in in the last four minutes, and God bless. So, it just happened to work. I thought his best move was the two-point [basket] because he had to really muck it out.”

COACH TONY BENNETT (whom I consider in a category with Coach K, Smith, and Wooden) “Both teams played I thought extremely hard. You could feel that electric atmosphere and all that stuff was there. I’ve got to say, sometimes the game comes down to, ‘Can you make a play,’ and they made some really impressive plays. Roach hit some tough shots. Yes, we had a turnover and a couple of breakdowns, but (AJ) Griffin hitting some of those shots and then the plays that they made were tough. We had Kadin [Shedrick] in, and we wanted to put him on Paolo [Banchero] when they went small. We didn’t quite have a matchup, we tried Kody [Stattmann]. So, a lot of things you looked at, and he did hit some tough shots, and you know, I’ll see on film if they were real tough. They felt like a lot of big time plays were made down the stretch. We made some plays at their place that just pushed over the edge, and they certainly made a few more here, and they were tough defensively, you know around the lane. I thought we got some good looks and all that but, we had some trouble finishing around the basket and just some key plays here and there that were costly.”

On his farewell gift to Coach Krzyzewski: “It was the right thing to do. I mean, I thought about some remarks right before the game. You know, I didn’t know if we were going to do that or not. I appreciated our crowd being classy. His contributions are monumental to the game, to the modern game of basketball and college basketball, and when someone can last that long and do what he’s done. Again, it was the right thing to do.” [Alan Adds: nice juxtaposition to the UNC fans and University reaction to K’s last game in Chapel Hill!] [Coach K Adds: the gift was a plaque that “weighed 800 lbs. I figured they were trying to take me out of coaching the game by giving me a hernia.”

ALANALYSIS:

This was a wonderful basketball game between two very good teams playing great defense and good offense. Coach K: “Just another Duke-Virginia game! What a great game for the conference and for our two programs, really to celebrate the talent of both teams and the teamwork. Just like the last game could have been ours, this game could have been theirs.”

The defense played by each team was so intense and strategic that it could be used in an instructional video! UVA defended Paolo Banchero better than any other team this year. Duke wanted Paolo to be more physical and he tried. When Duke got him the ball in the post, the Cavaliers doubled immediately and denied Paolo any shooting space. UVA concentrated on stopping Duke’s 3 leading scorers, Wendell Moore, Paolo, and A.J. Griffin. The Cavaliers were dramatically successful … until the last 3:29 of the game when A.J. scored 10 of his 13 game points.Duke changed its defensive strategy from that used in their first UVA matchup with excellent results. Coach K: “I thought our defense was excellent. We defended their bigs. They had 24 and 16 last time – they had two points this time, and I think we only gave up single digits in the paint, where we gave up 52 last game.”

Although each half was competitive, each stanza played out differently. It is worth analyzing each half separately.

First Half

Offense

Duke’s scoring was evenly distributed, with Jeremy Roach leading the way with 7 points off the bench in his 15 first-half minutes (3-4 from the field, including 1-1 from behind the arc). Theo John added 4 bench points in 6 minutes, to make 11 bench points (with Jeremy’s 7). Mark Williams, in 14 minutes, was 3-4 from the field for 6 points, to go with 5 rebounds (team high) and 2 blocks. Trevor Keels also scored 6 points (2-4 from the field, including 1-3 from deep, plus 1-2 from the stripe).

Duke’s big guns were shut down by Virginia’s well-conceived defense. Neither Wendell Moore (limited to 11 minutes by his 2 first-half fouls) nor Joey Baker (4 minutes) scored a single point. Moore was 0-1; no field goal attempts for Joey. A.J. Griffin, in 15 minutes, was 1-7 from the field, including 1-4 from 3land for 3 points. Griffin did contribute 4 first-half rebounds, blocked a shot and made a steal. Still, only 3 points from A.J. was disappointing.

Paolo was UVA’s main defensive focus. Banchero played more than 18 first-half minutes, but scored only 4 points (2-6 from the field, including 0-2 from deep and 0-1 from the free throw line). Paolo was harried into 3 turnovers, but did hand out 4 assists. UVA brought an immediate double team, literally whenever Paolo touched the ball down low. It really flummoxed him (as one could discern even more dramatically from his 0-7 from the field in the second half.)

The score was tied at 25, with 54 seconds left in the half, when Keels hit a 3, followed by a Banchero layup as the half expired. Duke 30 v. UVA 25.

Defense

First and foremost, UVA only scored 25 first-half points! Kihei Clark scored 18 of the Cavaliers’ 25 on 6-9 deep shooting. Clark made his 6th 3 pointer of the half with 4:32 left;he had scored 18 points on those 6 deep shots. At that point, the entire Duke team had scored only 17 points – thus, Clark himself led Duke 18-17 (the score was actually 22-17). But, that was the last 3 pointer Clark made in the game as Jeremy stepped up the intensity of his defense and brought Clark back to earth! Clark had the best game of his life (25 points) with 21 of his family and friends from the West Coast in attendance.

The entire rest of the Virginia team scored only 7 first-half points (no other player had more than 1 field goal). Gardner (1-4, plus 1-2 from the foul line); Beekman (1-3) and Franklin (1-6) had the remaining Cavalier first-half points. TheVirginia bigs failed to score at all in the first half. Duke defended its rim; Virginia could not get a single offensive rebound!

Second Half

The Blue Devils never lost the lead in the second half, which fluctuated between an 8 point lead (with 6:48 left in the game) and a 1 point lead (with 5:02 left). Then came lots of heroics by each team, with Jeremy, A.J., and Trevor leading Duke to victory.

An example of Coach K’s genius: for the first time this year, he began substituting Griffin (in for offense) for Mark Williams (in for defense). It turned out to be the strategy that won the game. Williams blocked shots; Griffin put points on the board. Metaphoric game ball for K!

Neither team scored from 5:02 remaining until there was only 3:39 left. Griffin substituted in for Williams with 4:29 left; Duke took possession. That substitution was reversed 12 seconds later after Paolo committed a turnover. Griffin replaced Williams with 3:49 left and began his scoring spree (10 points in the last 3:39) with a deep 3.

Williams and Griffinagain switched. UVA’s Franklin retaliated with a floater (Duke led 55-53 and A.J. returned to the game). A.J.’s second 3 came at the 2:40 mark (Duke 58 -UVA 53). UVA’s Gardner came right back with a layup with 2:22 left (Duke 58-UVA 55). With 2:05 left, A.J. made a difficult driving lay up (Duke 60-UVA 55). Moore fouled Beekman, who made both free throws (Duke 60-UVA 57 with 1:47 left).

Banchero missed a pull-up jumper; Clark turned it over when Keels stole the ball and drove for the layup with 54 seconds left in the game (Duke 62-UVA 57). Gardner responded with a driving layup (Duke 62 – UVA 59 with 41 seconds left).

Coach K called time out with 25 seconds left in the game and 15 seconds left on the shot clock. Shedrick fouled Keels with 15 seconds still left in the game and 5 on the shot clock. Trevor missed the first free throw that would have made it a 2 possession game. Visions of Miami, Florida State and, yes, UVA danced in my head, I admit.

We all exhaled when Keels made the next free throw (Duke 63 – UVA 59), which felt like the game clincher. But then, Clark made a layup with 3 seconds left on the game clock (Duke 63 – UVA 61). UVA was forced to foul, and when A.J. made them both, Duke was the winner of a great game!

A.J. scored 10 second-half points. He played only 9:34 second-half minutes, but all his scoring was in the final 3:39 of the game (3-4 from the field, including 2-3 from deep and 2-2 from the foul line).

Roach was superb in the closing stanza, scoring 8 points (3-3 from the field, including 2-2 from deep) in 17:16 minutes! He even blocked a Clark 3-point attempt. Coach K: “I really thought the key guy for us in the game was Jeremy. Jeremy came in and not that he stopped Clark, but he defended him. But then his verve on offense really lifted us.”Jeremy, A.J., and Trevor scored 25 of Duke’s 35 second-half points. Trevor played 18:12 in the closing stanza, scoring 7 (3-4 from the field, including 0-1 from deep, plus 1-2 from the stripe).

Paolo scored 4 in 18:19 (0-7 from the field, including 0-1 from 3land; he scored all of his second-half points on 4-5 from the foul line). Coach K pointed out that Paolo tried to be more physical but was so very well defended, saying that Paolo’s seemingly ineffective effort, “will translate into something really good. You have to go through things; it’s how you improve. They are a good defensive team, and Gardner is a very good defender. They also double. He learned a lot tonight. He never put his head down.”

Wendell, who played all 20 second-half minutes, also scored 4 (1-2 from the field and 2-3 from the stripe) with 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Mark scored the remaining 2 points of Duke’s total score on 1-1 shooting in 13 minutes, to go with his team-high 5 second-half rebounds and 2 critical blocks.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Preparation is my key effort towards avoiding flagrant fouls in life, and certainly the key to any team’s success and development. Jeremy referenced it in his postgame interview, “We did a hell of a job in preparation this week, so I think that was the key. Preparation is key for every game. If you don’t have good preparation, it’s going to lead to a bad performance. We just wanted to stay locked in on the preparation, have great energy and follow the game plan like I said, and do the main things that Coach said – [play] smart, tough and together. I think we did that tonight.”

Coach K interrupted to say: “Let me add one thing. This is our 28th game and so is our 28th preparation. I thought the maturity of our team in preparing went to a different level. They are getting it. Chris Carrawell [former star Duke player and now one of the Duke coaching staff] had the scout [team] and watching our preparation yesterday, said, “We look like an old Duke team in how we are going to defend. I knew we were going to defend well tonight; we did it for two days [in practice].” I added the bold because this is the most important insight to take from beating UVA in Charlottesville. This very young team is (finally) maturing and developing as we have all been hoping it would. They proved that in the game last night against UVA.

The final test of growth will be whether this edition of the Blue Devils can prepare and perform at this kind of high level – consistently. Can the Blue Devils do it for 2 more games in the regular season, 3 games in the ACC tournament and, of course, The Big Dance?

Duke is closing in on the first of its season goals – the ACC regular season championship. Duke plays 2 more games on the road – Syracuse on Saturday and Pittsburgh next Tuesday, before the season concludes on senior night next Saturday at Cameron against the Tarheels. Duke, with 3 losses, holds a 1 game edge on Notre Dame (4 losses) but it is really a two game edge because Duke holds the tie-breaker for having defeated ND in the regular season. Duke holds a 2-game edge on Miami and UNC. Wins at Syracuse and Pitt will clinch the ACC regular season title.

The first four finishers in the ACC regular season earn a double-bye to the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament – the Blue Devils have already secured the double-bye. The fifth and sixth place teams (Wake and UVA) have 7 losses each and cannot catch Duke who has only 3 losses with only 3 games left to play. So, Duke will be in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament on Thursday, March 10 at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, NY.

Next Play: Saturday, February 26rd, 2022, at Syracuse: 6 pm on TV: ESPN

Duke Blue Devils 97 v. Syracuse Orange 72, in Syracuse; (Season 13 Issue 27 – Game # 29) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” and Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes” (February 26, 2022)

*Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid* *Photo Credit: The Duke Chronicle*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

On a Saturday when history was made, when seven of the top ten college basketball teams lost (#1. Gonzaga, #2. Arizona, #3. Auburn, #4. Purdue, #5. Kansas, #6. Kentucky, #9. Texas Tech), Duke showed how impressive they can be, for parts of a game, by starting so white hot against Syracuse that they shocked and silenced the 31,803 fans in the carrier Dome—the most at a college basketball game this season– going up 14-0, and then extending that to 41-13, before the Orange men made a mini run to end the half at 51-34. In starting fast (especially on the road – something that Coach K stresses), the Blue Devils avoided a Trap Game, like the Virginia game following the impressive win at Chapel Hill. Not to worry; lesson learned. Duke was unbelievable for about twelve minutes; they were hitting 91% overall and 83% percent on 3s.

Despite the mild slump at the end of the first half, Duke shot 18 for 30 for the half (a mind-boggling 10 for 17 on 3s) and assisted on 15 of 18 made field goals. Banchero had 18 points and 6 assists; Griffin 15 points; and Williams 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Banchero was 4 for 5 from beyond the arc, Griffin 4 of 6. For the game, Mark Williams proved too much to handle inside, as he scored a career-high 28 points while gathering 12 rebounds!

Winner of six games in a row, first-place Duke (25-4 overall, 15-3 ACC) has the Regular Season Championship within their grasp: They hold a one-game lead over Notre Dame (21-8, 14-4) in the league regular-season standings with two games left to play. Because the Blue Devils beat the Irish 57-43 on Jan. 31 to claim a tiebreaker, Duke only needs to beat Pittsburgh on Tuesday night, or North Carolina on March 5 to clinch their first-place finish in the ACC regular season (first time since 2006; Duke tied with Maryland in 2010), one of Coach K’s goals for this team. But that’s not quite good enough. If they win out, and do not stumble in the ACC Conference Championship, they will move up in the seedings of the NCAA Championship. It is really an opportunity to put an exclamation point on Coach Ks’ career. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There is still a lot of basketball to be played.

Coach K:

On the team maturing: “We’ve been a much more mature team [since our Virginia loss], an older team. Again, you only have a year with a team – it’s a matter of how old you can get them. With that stoppage for about 10 days, when we had nothing for a week, that really hurt us. We’re beyond that now. We played like an older team today. Same thing against Virginia. We prepared that way. We’ll have a challenge now, going back tomorrow and getting prepared for Pitt on Tuesday, because we have to travel again on Monday. If we can do that, that will really develop the character of our team.”

On how freshman Paolo Banchero was able to perform at a high level tonight after recent offensive struggles: “Working through it is the main thing. We’ve talked. He and Jon [Scheyer] have worked a lot. The workouts have been at a greater speed to try and get him to play at a greater speed. I think he’s been trying to analyze too much instead of getting it and go. I told him, ‘Analyze it before you get the ball and be more instinctive.’ He was a lot quicker today. He was the guy in the middle of the zone. That hurts any zone when you have a guy like that doing that – nine assists, one turnover. And he hit four three’s. Really, a very outstanding performance.”

ALANALYSIS:

My pre-game email to Bill warned that Syracuse might constitute a trap game – I believe Bill is still laughing. I did however also write something cogent: 1) I believe Paolo will have a great game; 2) the key will be Duke shutting down the Orange 3-point game. The Orange have relied heavily on the 3-point game this year, shooting almost 38% from behind the arc. Syracuse was, in fact, dramatically shut down from 3land. The Orange shot only 5-19 from behind the arc (26%) for the game and even worse in the second half (2-10; 20%). Paolo Banchero did have a great game, scoring 21 points, handing out 9 assists (only a single turnover), and blocking a shot in his 35 scintillating minutes.

Duke won the game in the opening minutes. I like to channel Jake Rupert, an early Yankee owner’s view of a good Yankee game, to my view of a great Duke game – Duke scores the first umpteen points of the game, and “then slowly pulls away.” That is surely what befell the Orange from the moment that Mark Williams won the opening tip-off.

The First Half

The game was basically decided in the first portion of the first half; Duke played its very best basketball of the season!

The Defense

Duke held Syracuse scoreless for the first 4:33 of the game. Syracuse broke double figures (11 points) only after 9:26 had been played. After 11:23, Syracuse had 13 points and trailed by 28 (41-13). Syracuse did not score its 20th point until 15:08 had been played. The Orange’s 20th point cut Duke’s 30-point lead to 28 (48-20). With 3:33 left in the first half, Duke led 51-23, before the Blue Devils turned back to human and gave up 13 straight points – 11 to end the half (51-34) plus the first basket of the second half. Buddy Boeheim scored 17 first-half points, half of Syracuse’s 34 points.

The Offense

Defense was almost unconscious in the early going and superb throughout the rest of the game.

Duke was up 11-0 at the first media time out. Paolo Banchero had a hand in all 11 points (1-1 from the field; 2-2 from the line with 3 assists (including one on A.J.’s 3).

Duke had amassed 34 points with less than 10 minutes played (144 p.p.g. at that rate). Paolo scored 15 of those 34 points and also handed out 6 assists as he led Duke’s offense. Duke had 12 assists on 15 baskets at that point. For the entire first half, Duke shot 60% from the field (18-30) and 59% from behind the arc (10-17), with 15 assists on 18 baskets.

Duke’s front line players were unstoppable. Banchero, in 18:11 scored 18 first-half points (6-10, including 4-6 from deep plus 2-2 from the line) with 6 gorgeous assists (some of his passes were so pretty that his assists deserve the double mention). A.J. Griffin scored 14 in his 18:29 first-half minutes (5-6, including 4-5 from deep). Mark Williams scored 11 (4-6 from the field plus 3-3 from the foul line) to go with 3 boards and a pair of blocked shots. Those three players scored 44 of Duke’s 51. Trevor Keels, Jeremy Roach, and Theo John each scored a basket (Keels and Roach were each 1-2 from the stripe for the remainder of Duke’s scoring).

The Second Half

The first basket of the second half belonged to Syracuse; the Orange’s 13th straight point cut the Duke lead to 15. That was as close as Syracuse ever got. The Blue Devils played excellent offense and sufficient defense to keep the game from ever being in doubt. After the Orange opened the half with that basket, Duke’s lead fluctuated from a low of 16 (twice) to a high of 28 (twice).

The offense belonged to Mark Williams who poured in 17 points (7-8 from the field and 3-4 from the stripe) to go with 7 second-half boards, an assist, and a block in 13:27 minutes of play. He was simply unstoppable.

Jeremy Roach had a superb second half, scoring 7 (2-4 from the field, including 1-3 from deep plus 2-2 from the free throw line). His game is improving again after a short slump, and his value continues to grow.

THE ROTATION

Mark Williams

Dominant is an accurate adjective to describe Mark’s play against Syracuse at both ends of the floor. On offense, in only 26 minutes, Mark had a career-high 28 points (11-14 from the field and 6-7 from the stripe) to go with 12 rebounds, 3 blocks (and countless altered shots) with an assist (0 turnovers). On most of his 3 misses, he seemed to rebound his own miss for yet another score. Mark has an amazingly quick second jump, so he taps in his own misses more frequently than anyone I have seen recently.

He was also the recipient of many of Banchero’s assists. Paolo on Mark: “He’s automatic, especially in the paint around the rim. You just want to get him the ball there and he’s going to do the rest. He’s been doing that all year. We knew coming in with the zone that we’d be able to have an advantage inside and get easy buckets around the rim. We just wanted to feed him.”

Williams was instrumental in Duke’s opening 14-0 run at both ends of the floor. Mark: “It was great. Obviously, we were flowing really well on the offensive end, and I think we were really locked in on the defensive end too. Offensively, we were moving the ball. Everybody was getting good shots, and defensively, we were communicating well, moving and just playing great Duke defense.”

Paolo Banchero

The Syracuse zone is famous and well respected in all college ball – Boeheim is considered the best zone defense coach. Syracuse might be the only team I know that never plays man to man defense. But Paolo shredded that vaunted Syracuse zone with his first-half shooting and his game-long passing. He did much of his damage by sliding into the middle of the zone below the foul line. The Orange have not seen passing against the zone like that. Paolo to Mark Williams for a dunk happened enough times that Coach Boeheim will have nightmares replaying it. In 34 total minutes, Banchero scored 21 (18 in his jaw-dropping first half). For the game, Paolo was 7-16, including 4-7 from 3land, plus 3-6 from the line. All season, TV coverage has posted a visual of an NBA scout’s assessment, which grades Paolo a C+ on defense. Anybody watching Duke’s wonderfully effective defense will see Paolo’s contributions everywhere – on the defensive boards, guarding smaller players on the perimeter, taking on the adversary’s best interior scorer. He does the dirty work.

A.J. Griffin

A. J. was a force throughout his 31 minutes of playing time as Duke’s 3rd 20+ point scorer. Griffin scored 20 (7-11), (including 6-10 from deep – that’s 18 points on 10 shots) as he punished the Syracuse zone from the perimeter. A.J. is an excellent defender, with the size and toughness to defend the interior, and the speed and quickness to defend on the perimeter. A.J.’s resurgence, from playing only a few minutes a game early in the season to being a high scoring starter, has been a substantial factor in this team’s steady development.

Wendell Moore, Jr.

Wendell doesn’t score as much when Duke doesn’t need his scoring. In 31 minutes, Moore scored 5, all in the second half, on 2-7 from the field, including 1-3 from 3land. In addition to contributing 6 rebounds and 6 assists, Moore plays great defense, too (Corey Alexander picks him as ACC defensive player of the year). Wendell made the dunk of the game when he stole the ball, bobbled it, and then soared for a dramatic slam! He also had a deep 3 and an infectious smile on his face for the whole time.

Trevor Keels

In 28 minutes, Trevor scored 4 (1-4 from deep and 1-2 from the stripe) while running the offense. Keels had 4 assists without a turnover. He is secure with the ball and makes excellent passes.

Jeremy Roach

Jeremy scored 10 points and was Duke’s 4th double-digit scorer. In 23 minutes, Roach was 3-7 from the field including 2-5 from behind the arc, plus 2-2 from the stripe. Jeremy also grabbed 3 defensive rebounds and handed out 3 assists (against 2 turnovers). You can see that Jeremy’s confidence, which soared with his terrific game against Virginia, continues to grow. He plays when the game is on the line whether or not he starts.

Theo John

Theo was a valuable contributor in his 11 minutes of playing time. He scored 4 on 2-2 from the field and garnered 4 boards and blocked a shot. It was one of his best games.

Joey Baker and Bates Jones failed to score. Joey played 5:35 without any statistics; Bates played less, missed his only shot (a 3-point attempt) but grabbed a board and handed out an assist. Each has given more in other games.

Jaylen Blakes played only 2:22 of garbage time, but deserves a mention for taking 3 shots in his short time on the court and scoring 5 points (2-3 from the field, including 1-2 from deep). He might be the only player returning next year from this team.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Duke is seeking its first regular season ACC title since 2006. Duke is 15-3 in the conference with a 2-game lead over Notre Dame and UNC, with each of the three teams having 2 games left. Of course one of those games is Duke-UNC next Saturday. If Duke wins either game (at Pittsburgh on March 1 or UNC), the title goes to the Blue Devils. Notre Dame plays Florida State and Pitt; UNC has a date with Syracuse on Monday before preparing for Coach K’s last home game at Cameron.

The 2021-2022 Blue Devils have been fascinating to watch as this very young team is being developed into a national contender! Duke, ranked 7th in both polls last week, won on the road yesterday while the first 6 ranked teams lost on the road – a very wacky day indeed in college hoops.

Coach K’s wise and optimistic insight was quoted by Bill in CliffNotes, but is so to the point that it is worth repeating: “We’ve been a much more mature team, an older team. Again, you only have a year with a team – it’s a matter of how old you can get them. With that stoppage for about 10 days, when we had nothing for a week, that really hurt us. We’re beyond that now. We played like an older team today. Same thing against Virginia. We prepared that way. We’ll have a challenge now going back tomorrow and getting prepared for Pitt on Tuesday, because we have to travel again on Monday. If we can do that, that will really develop the character of our team to a deeper level.”

Duke’s defense has been excellent this season as exemplified by 4 categories: 1) defending the three-point line (29th nationally, holding opponents to .301), 2) field goal defense – Duke is 45th nationally (.407), 3) blocked shots (5.6 per game for 11th nationally) and 4) scoring margin (7th nationally at +14.4). Duke leads the ACC in each category. Defense has been a Duke calling card this year so far.

So, Mark Williams’ comments are purposely focused, because Mark understands how much better the Duke defense can be: “On the defensive end, I think we can be as special as we want to be. I think we showed glimpses of that today. It’s going to be game-by-game, obviously. Coverages are going to be different, knowing personnel, scouts – that sort of thing. But when we’re locked in on the defensive end, we can be really special.”

First things first: The first ACC regular season title since 2006! It can be done on the …

Next Play: Tuesday, March 1, 2022, at Pittsburgh: 8 pm on TV: ACCN

***Friendly Rivals*** *after coaching the national team together for 12 years. It’s a family affair, with both the Boeheim and Krzyzewski families involved in their respective university’s sports programs.*
In juxtaposition to the reception Coach K received at UNC, the Orange arranged a lovely ceremony before the game for Coach K, who says, “The honor that they bestowed on me today was amazing – just absolutely amazing. Then I’ve got to get right to the game, so unless they did that to really distract me – I don’t think they did. I’ve got to take a little bit of time to really understand just how deep of an award that is.”
*Photo Credit: The Duke Chronicle*

Duke Blue Devils 86 v. Pittsburgh Panthers 56, in Pittsburgh; (Season 13 Issue 28 – Game # 30) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” and Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes” (March 1, 2022)

*Banchero gets his groove back. Photo Credit: The Duke Chronicle*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

“I like where my team is right now.”

– Coach Mike Krzyzewski

After three road wins in six days—a gut check win against Virginia and blowouts of Syracuse and Pittsburgh, this precocious but young team is playing its best, most mature basketball! As a matter of fact, during the beat down of Pitt, Johnny Tar Heel asked me if I thought this was the most talented Duke team ever? My answer: “Four potential first round NBA picks. Most talented, yes. Best team: Wait and see.”

After starting the season by beating Kentucky and Gonzaga, Duke stumbled against Ohio State and, after the COVID break and an injury to Trevor Keels, struggled to find their groove in conference play. However, the emerging of AJ Griffin, (recovering from a pre-season knee injury) as a starter, a 50% three- point shooter, and more; as well as Keels quickly recovering from a leg injury; and Banchero rebounding from a shooting slump, makes the Blue Devils a more formidable opponent than they were at the beginning of the season. Whom do you double team?

Only thing that stands in the way of an impressive finish to the first Regular Season ACC Title since –gasp—2010 is what my partner Alan loves to call a Trap Game –the pressure of Coach K’s final home game against North Carolina, who recently lost to Pitt and was taken to overtime by Syracuse (both at Chapel Hill).

However, when it comes to Duke versus Carolina, history tells us: “Forget their record. You never know!!!”

Miscellaneous:

You really might need to watch “The History of the ACC Tournament”, a ten-part documentary on the ACC Network. It will bring back memories for some of us and fill in gaps for others.

ALANALYSIS:

Introduction

The raw talent on the 2021-22 Blue Devils was unmistakable even before the season began. After the season started, we analysts critiqued Duke’s continued inconsistency and failure to develop to its full potential. Four losses in the last seconds embodied the inconsistency and unreached potential. However, after Duke was still playing terribly but managed to hold on to beat Wake Forest by 2 points on February 1, that all changed dramatically because the next four games were a revelation.

Duke blew out Florida State in Cameron, beat a tough UVA team in Charlottesville, and then crushed both Syracuse and Pittsburgh on the road. Now, Duke has been consistent and looks to reach full potential with five star starters. For example, Mark Williams has been named one of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Men’s Defensive Player of the Year Award. Wendell Moore Jr., as one of five finalists for the 2022 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award. The other three freshman starters will be first round NBA draft picks. Paolo Banchero is potentially the first pick in the draft. A.J. Griffin will be a lottery selection according to most experts, and Trevor Keels will also go in the first round, said Corey Alexander on TV last night.

Let’s hope Jeremy Roach returns next year. He has developed into a valuable player. He has the potential to be the veteran (he’ll be a junior) point guard leading the highly regarded freshman in Jon Scheyer’s first year. But that’s next year.

The Defense

Defense has been Duke’s calling card all season and is actually continuing to improve. In the last four games since the Wake win, the Blue Devils yielded 70 points, 61, 72, and 56, respectively, even with the starters on the bench at garbage time in 3 of the 4 games. The players emphasize defense, even when the reporter’s question is about offense. Trevor was asked about the 27 points he laid on The Panthers. He responded, “I think it started on defense for us. When we defend, we pick up, we’re talking on defense together, the guys’ shots just fall. Like Coach always says, basketball gods look out for us. When we defend like that and start off the game defending, worrying about defense, we’re good shooters so the ball is going to go in.”

Duke’s switching has been beautiful to behold and now has taken on the symmetry of a world class ballet troupe. The defense is cohesive and all five players on the court are working together. It’s one of Duke’s very best defensive teams.

The Offense

Duke shot 70% from the field in the second half; 50% from behind the arc for the game. Coach K on his team’s improved offense: “They are taking really good shots, too. They are more and more comfortable playing with each other. So, they know if a guy is in a rhythm; who’s hot. They make the extra pass. It’s the second game in a row we’ve only had 6 turnovers. They are really getting to know one another!” Development! Consistency!

Four Duke starters accounted for 73 of Duke’s 96 points: Trevor Keels scored 27; Paolo Banchero, 21: Wendell Moore Jr., 13; and A.J. Griffin, 12.

Keels played 34 minutes, scored 27 points on 15 shots (10-15, including 5-8 from deep, plus 2-2 from the foul line) to go with 3 rebounds, 2 assists without a turnover, and a steal.

- “I think my teammates found me. I made a couple 3’s to start off the game. P [Paolo Banchero] found me, Dell [Wendell Moore Jr.] found me. Like Coach said, our chemistry is unbelievable. Two games in a row with six turnovers is crazy. Mark is setting screens for me, Theo – I think none of this happens without my teammates finding me, setting me screens, looking for me, and me finding them too. I think it was a great team effort, and it got me going.”
- Coach K: “ He [Trevor] has great balance right now. His shot is the same. He’s got a good base. He’s always been a good shooter, but right now he’s a very good shooter because of having great balance.”

Banchero played 33:13, scoring 21 points on only 10 shots (7-10 from the field, including 3-3 from 3land, plus 4-6 from the free throw line).
Moore played 27 minutes, scoring 13 points on just 6 shots (4-6, including 1-2 from behind the arc, plus 4-4 foul shots) while handing out 5 assists and grabbing 6 boards.
Griffin logged 26 minutes, scoring 12 points (5-7, 1-3 from deep and 1-1 from the stripe) while garnering 7 boards (some were exceptional on the defensive end) with an assist (0 turnovers) and 2 steals.
Williams had an odd ‘triple double’: 2 points, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks in 21 minutes.
Roach, whose on-the-ball defense continues to dazzle, played 24 minutes with 3 assists and 0 turnovers. He scored 4 (2-6, including 0-3 from deep)

A reporter noted that in the last five games, Duke has had five different leading scorers. Coach K’s great quote: “These guys take turns. They don’t care who leads the team in scoring. They just want us to lead the other team in scoring.”

UNC ON SATURDAY (MARCH 5)

Keels: On clinching the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament:

“It’s great, but we’ve still got Saturday to look on. We’ve got to take care of Saturday, but then we can look and really celebrate it. We’re happy we’re first place, but we’ve still got a huge game Saturday to take care of, and then we can really celebrate after that game.”

Coach K: The main thing is that we’re 16-3 [in the ACC] and 26-4 [overall], and we got a chance to play against an outstanding team on Saturday in what will be a great setting and that’ll help us going into next week. And then let’s see what happens after that.” Coach K is adamant that the final game in Cameron is not about him. “I want to live in their moment. If I make it about me, I’m being selfish. It’s about my team. Always! Always! Always!”

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Last night, Florida State beat Notre Dame 74-70, giving Duke its first – undivided -ACC regular season championship since 2006. The first goal for this season has been accomplished!

I do not believe that having won the championship will diminish the Blue Devil’s motivation to finish the season, and give Coach K a win in his final home game at Cameron. UNC might be highly motivated after having been totally embarrassed on their home floor when Duke thrashed them on Feb 5 by 20 points! Who cares! We suspect that Duke fans will not forget the Carolina reception for Coach K in Chapel Hill, especially in contrast to how he has been feted in every other visitor’s arena. If Duke has developed as Coach K believes and we all hope, Duke will finish the regular season with a flourish.

As Jay Bilas always repeats, “Duke v Carolina NEVER DISAPPOINTS!” Every TV camera, sports celebrity, and wealthy fan will be there. The price of the ticket will be the stuff of future legend – ESPN says the cheapest ticket was $2,800 (the most expensive – so far – ticket was auctioned off for charity at $80,000) A final home loss to UNC in Coach K’s final home game would be so deflating that it is crushing to even think about. So, I channel Mr. Sensitive, who writes amazingly, dexterously, hilariously, and insightfully about Duke basketball. Here is hilarious and dextrous:

“I pride myself on being a master of overhyped hyperbole (overhyperbole?) for all things Devil. But this next game is un-overhypeable. There ain’t no thesaurus big enough, no sobriquet fawning enough, no language that can adequately capture the portent of this next game.” Mr. S describes his take on the UNC game as his “hubris strut”. He wishes to capture the emotions “as we humiliate our archrivals. We’ll beat them down into a rare halftime surrender. Having barely escaped our cat toy, Syracuse, Carolina will not be favored. We’ll have talent, emotion and full throated Devildom on our side. They’ll have some weakass Hube speech about spoiling our party.”

This is Mr. S’s Next Play: “Get your extra absorbent facial tissues, a whole case of ‘em. Get your DVR ready to capture the game, the pre-game, the pre-pre-game, the post-, pre-post-, post-pre, etc… video spectacle of the FINAL GAME OF COACH K LEADING THE DEVILS IN CAMERON. Get your Grandma to tune in, because it’s gonna be one for all the inhabitants of the vast Devil universe.”

Next Play: AS EVERYONE KNOWS — COACH K’S SWAN SONG AT CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM ON Saturday, March 5, 2022, 6 pm on TV: ESPN

Duke Blue Devils 81 v. UNC Tarheels 94, in Cameron; (Season 13 Issue 29 – Game # 31) Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” and Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes” (March 5, 2022)

*K-ommunity: “The Brotherhood” of 96 of Coach K’s former players returning to celebrate the GOAT.*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

North Carolina outplayed, out-hustled, and, yes, even out-coached Duke in the second half of Coach K’s last game in Cameron. If a team of four or five projected first round NBA picks cannot rise to the occasion of outplaying a bitter rival for most of forty minutes before a packed, supportive home crowd that included 100 or so former players–and some of the best players ever to wear a Duke uniform– it is beyond disappointing. It is inexplicable, But then again, it’s Duke-Carolina. Inexplicable is the norm!

If there was a turning point in the game, it was late in the first half with 3:52 remaining. Duke went on a 14-0 run to take a 9 point lead. However, the Blue Devils failed to capitalize on the opportunity. With the score 37-30, Banchero missed the first end of a 1-and-1. Keels did the same. Missing the front end of a 1-and-1 is the functional equivalent of a turnover. So two turnovers instead of 4 points. Then came a controversial charge-block call, one that would have sent Armando Bacot to the bench with three fouls. Instead, Williams was called for the foul, and Caleb Love hit a 3-pointer. R.J. Davis closed the half with another triple — even though Duke had two fouls to give before being in the bonus. Opportunity lost. That never would have happened to a good, veteran Duke team. Duke still led 41-39, but it felt like Duke could have – should have – taken a 10-12 point lead into the locker room.

Still, Duke started the second half strong and had 7 point leads at 52-45, 54-47 and 56-49. Then, this team’s inability to play close to forty minutes of good, tough basketball resurfaced. The Blue Devils couldn’t get a stop or make a shot.

A one-on-one offense works until an opponent makes an adjustment; then it doesn’t work. How does it make sense for Banchero to take 26 shots and Griffin only take three 3’s & 5 total shots in 35 minutes? The same inattention to execution can be said of sloppy man-to-man defense.

Next play. Coach K’s impromptu comment: “This afternoon is unacceptable. But the season is very acceptable. The season is not over.”

Addendum: In 1991, Duke lost to North Carolina in the finals of the ACC Tournament by 22 points. Then, the Blue Devils ran the table beating UNLV, then Kansas for the NCAA Championship!

ALANALYSIS:

Bill sacrificed to be emotionally ready for the game. (His dedication to Duke’s season was apparently superior to Coach’s K’s young charges.) Bill gave up his Saturday golf game (canceled his tee time!!!) in order to be perfectly situated in front of the TV. I believe Coach K would admire Bill’s wise choice.

It was a superb Duke Day from beginning to end, if we can simply forget about the desultory 40 minutes (the actual game) that temporarily cast a bad shadow in the middle of the festivities. The plaudits were ample and the cliches were presented in world record abundance (commemorative benches! five annual scholarships in Coach K’s name! Cameron Crazies camped out since January!)

96 of Coach K’s former players returned to honor his Hall of Fame career (current NBA stars were scarce because of NBA games and schedules or there would have been even more). The juxtaposition of former Duke stars who spent 3 or 4 years in the program with this year’s very young team may go a long way towards our understanding of not only the poor quality of yesterday’s play but also the lack of ability to maintain poise in the midst of such an unprecedented emotional outpouring comes with experience.

The truly dispiriting performance by the young Blue Devils brought out the best in Coach K as he used the post-game ceremony to instill motivation for the next two tournaments. In the midst of his address, he turned to his team: “We didn’t play well, and (pointing to his 96 former players) there were times when you didn’t either! But, not for long. Not for long,” he said. “Hopefully, today, for our program — this program right now — it’s a great learning experience. It’s a great learning experience. First of all, to learn, look at what you’re a part of. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?! [Meaning you are so fortunate to be among The Chosen; to be invited into this unique Brotherhood; time to be worthy of that and understand you are The Chosen.]

He continued, “We need to fight for Duke. We need to fight for the brotherhood. And we need to fight with all of our might through the remainder of the season. Then, I’ll be ready to get the hell out of here.”

He concluded, “you may not know it now, but I love you guys, and I’m going to love what we will do, learning from this experience, going forward!” Then, to restore his team’s shattered confidence – even a bit of shame at losing during this much-anticipated and ultra-hyped Coach K celebration – he emphasized that the 2021-22 Duke Blue Devils have already earned a form of Duke immortality that will enshrine them in the Brotherhood forever; this team will have a banner forever in Cameron – winner of the 2021-2022 Regular Season ACC Championship. That’s coaching!

Why Did Duke Lose?

UNC played its best game of the year. The Tarheels were highly motivated from being humiliated when Duke obliterated them in early February, intense, and ready. Coach K: “we had just played the three road games in six days, and we won the regular season. When that happens, you just don’t win a game, you win a culmination of games, so it’s an accomplishment. Then you have this game, which is like its own entity, and we were never able to move to that level, and that’s on me to do that.”

Duke was just the opposite. Wendell Moore: “Really, from start to finish, [North Carolina] kind of out-played us. That’s on me as a captain, as a leader, to really get our guys ready for a game like this. It was a big moment, actually, a huge moment this whole week. I feel like we kind of got lost in everything. It’s easy to get lost in it. Even I got lost in it a little bit.”

Duke’s defense was beyond awful. Duke gave up 55 points in the second half!!! The Blue Devils led by 7 points (56-49) with under 13 minutes left in the game; UNC then blitzed the defense for 45 points – leaving Duke outscored by 25 points in that final 12:50. That is called a total collapse of the defense, which has been Duke’s calling card this year. Truthfully, it was a bit shocking after Duke’s defense has been so stellar in recent games. It is even more shocking for the collapse to be on the most center of center stages.

Coach K: “It started with [our] defense. Their guards we couldn’t keep in front of us and [Armando] Bacot has been player of the year in our conference, and he showed that again today. They’re a really good team and they played a lot better than we did today.” Paolo: “We had some key miscommunications on defense, and that gave them some threes and some easy buckets. That’s how they pulled away.”

The Regular Season is Over; Time to Focus on the Post-Season

The Blue Devils have responded this season with gaudy performances after the lackluster ones. We are counting on that to continue. Duke has lost five times this season, but the Blue Devils have never lost 2 in a row this year. Coach K and the DBP, are both turning the page on the regular season and Duke’s outright ACC Regular Season Championship and preparing for the ACC Tournament.

Coach K: “I want to put this away, the regular season. Now we’re in the 0-0 part of our season and we’ll be that twice [ACC & NCAA tournaments]. We’ll be that right now until next Sunday or before, and then next Sunday we’ll be that again. Hopefully the lessons that we learned from playing 31 games, especially this last one, will help us in both of those situations.”

Paolo pointed out a paradox in Duke’s home season (losses in Cameron to Virginia, Miami, and UNC) and the need to focus on the post-season: “We just didn’t execute as we should have. It’s kind of been a theme for us at home, losing games like that. On the road, and everywhere else, we’ve been hungry. We won’t be playing the NCAA Tournament here [in Cameron], so we look forward to going on the road to Brooklyn for the ACC Tournament and then wherever we are for the NCAA Tournament and making up for it.”

The ACC Tournament

The ACC Tournament begins on Tuesday, March 8, at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, NY (Home of the NBA Brooklyn Nets). The first four seeds – 1) Duke; 2) Notre Dame; 3) UNC; and 4) Miami receive a “double-bye” to Thursday’s quarter finals. Duke and Miami will meet in Friday’s semi-finals, if both win on Thursday.

Duke plays in the first quarter final on Thursday against the winner of Wednesday’s game between Florida State (8th seed) and Syracuse (9th seed). Wake Forest is the 5th seed. Miami will play Wake Thursday, if Wake can beat the winner of Tuesday’s Pitt (12th seed) – BC (13th seed) game. UNC has the toughest draw; the Tarheels might have to face Virginia (6th seed) Thursday in the quarterfinals, Notre Dame in the semi-finals Friday, and then, if they win both, they will be allowed to face off against Duke in the finals, all in 3 days.

Duke is the favorite to win the ACC Tournament, but, as proved by this UNC debacle, it will not be easy. Remember, no one on this young team has had any tournament experience due to cancellations in the last two COVID years.

Sunday, March 13 is Selection Sunday when the NCAA draw is announced, and we learn in which of the four regions Duke has been placed, as well as what seed they have been awarded. The college President, Vincent Price, offered this Duke team a great motivation to win the NCAA tournament – to grant a sixth scholarship in honor of Coach K’s sixth NCAA title.

image001(11).jpg — *Celebrating an upset that will be motivation for the Blue Devils in the tournaments. Photo Credit: Raleigh News Observer*

Next Play: Duke v Florida State or Syracuse in the Quarterfinals of the ACC tournament at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, NY, at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 10 against the winner of Florida State vs. Syracuse (Wednesday, March 9 at noon).

Vincent Price offering a sixth basketball scholarship?

Duke Blue Devils in ACC Tournament at Barclay Center in Brooklyn, NY (Season 13 Issue 30 – Game # 32, Duke Blue Devils 88 – Syracuse Orange 79; Game # 33 Duke Blue Devils 80 – Miami Hurricanes 76; Game #34 Duke Blue Devils 67- Virginia Tech Hokies 82; with Alan Silber’s “Alanalysis” and Bill Miller’s “CliffsNotes”

image001(12).jpg — *Falling short against Virginia Tech. Photo Credit: Duke Chronicle*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

The keys to the win against Syracuse are instructive going forward:

Less reliance on Banchero to score. He does everything well—defense, pass, rebound, and draws attention away from the other four on the floor.
Play Williams more minutes—35-38 minutes. He is a difference-maker at both ends.
Moore must play like he did at the beginning of the season and today. He was the MVP then and now.
Obviously, Jeremy Roach’s 5 threes were huge.

I believe that for this team to be successful going forward, it has to be less Banchero-centric— and they cannot fall in love with the three.

Duke v Miami

The thing that impressed me the most about the win—other than the maturity with which Duke closed out this game as well as the Syracuse game– was that it was a total team win, one in which everyone contributed.

Paolo Banchero’s sharpshooting in the early win against Gonzaga gave everyone unrealistic expectations of his shooting skills. At this stage, Paolo is more of a scorer than a pure shooter. As the season has progressed, the further the star freshman has been from the basket on offense, and the less effective he has been. Recently, except for the Carolina game, Paolo has operated closer to the basket and let others take the majority of threes.

Again, Duke gets everyone’s best shot (editorial note: Because of Duke’s reputation at the top for so long, beating Duke is huge for everyone. So each of the teams on Duke’s schedule prepares for the Duke game as the big game for national prestige). If the defense is not at its best, the Blue Devils often find themselves in a dogfight. Tonight was no different. Banchero kept the score close until A. J. Griffin heated up and scored 12 straight points. Then Jeremy Roach, playing the point, hit a layup at the halftime buzzer to tie the score (which eerily resembled the Miami’s Moore (Charley’s) buzzer beater in Cameron back in January). The Blue Devils were barely ahead most of the second half. Then Duke’s Moore (Wendell) made the plays of the game—all consecutively. First, Wendell hit a three; then he blocked a Miami fast break layup from behind, grabbed the loose ball off the backboard, and streaked down the floor to make a fast break layup of his own!

Roach, Keels, and Moore closed the game out flawlessly from the line. (This is why I stress hitting free throws. All of Coach K’s better teams have attacked the basket and made more free throws during the season than their opponents attempted.) Oh, and yes – Mark Williams played major minutes. With the game still in doubt, Miami’s star, Kameron McGusty, penetrated, came to a stop down low and – intimidated by the presence of Williams – shuffled his feet for a crucial turnover. This was neither the first nor last time that Williams had a subtle impact on an opponent.

With Griffin coming off an early-season injury, and the dramatic offensive improvement of Jeremy Roach, this is a much more versatile and dangerous team than the one which beat Gonzaga and Kentucky early in the season. They have five potential first round NBA picks. However, in the one-and-done era, young teams have seldom won the NCAA Championship!

Duke v Virginia Tech

Duke may have five first-round picks in the NBA draft this year, but they were thoroughly out-hustled and out-played by Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament final. Duke’s man-to-man defense was exploited by the Hokies all night, led by Hunter Cattoor hitting 7 of 9 from beyond the arc on the way to a career-high 31 points. Aluma had 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists.

Virginia Tech deserves all the credit for recovering from tough, close losses at the beginning of the season and transitioning to winning four straight tournament games against Clemson, Notre Dame, North Carolina, and Duke. On the other hand, Duke played as though they were the team that was playing their fourth game in four nights, getting beaten in every statistic, shooting a woeful 4 for 20 from 3-point range and 15-23 from the foul line. The fact that, after Moore threw the ball away on a sloppy pass to Banchero to start the first half, Coach K called a timeout in less than a minute says it all. How many times do you see a coach call a timeout one minute into a half?

Next play.

ALANALYSIS:

Duke v Syracuse

[Duke had an illness – perhaps food poisoning – hit some team members. A.J. was throwing up; whether he would play was unknown until right before the game. He played, but sparingly and ineffectively.]

When it became apparent that Syracuse was scoring virtually at-will against the Duke defense (40 first-half points; 39 second-half points), the scenario gave me flashbacks of Duke’s failed defense in the last part of the game against UNC in Cameron last Saturday. Coach K agreed, “We’re not playing very good defense right now. We did not against North Carolina, and we did not in this game. We’re missing a lot of assignments, and we fouled a lot of three-point shooters. I mean, we fouled at least three today. You just can’t do that. So, we can improve definitely on that end of the court.”

Duke’s defense gave me a sinking feeling of how unpleasant writing the DBPs would be. The Orange were not less than gallant in their magnificent effort. The extraordinary Syracuse shot-making as well as intense hustle were part of the reason for Duke’s subpar defense. Offense was a different story.

First-Half Offense

Duke started very well, leading by 11 points (24-13) after 9 minutes of play. However, in the next 11 minutes the Orange scored 27 points to take a 40-36 half-time lead. The Blue Devils hit 4-6 from behind the arc in the early going. After falling ‘in love with the 3-point shot’, Duke kept firing blanks (2-16) for the rest of the half. 22 of Duke’s 36 first-half shots were from behind the arc. “I thought we started the game well; then fell in love with the three-point shot. I thought it was going to be easier, but they got momentum. We started fouling, and they saw the ball go in a lot, and then it was a helluva game,” said Coach K.

Second-Half Offense

Duke’s offense came alive in the second half, playing basically only five players. Tellingly, Duke had 15 assists on 19 field goals, which means they were playing cohesively as a team, sharing the ball to get open shots. The rest of the stats for the half weren’t too shabby either: 52 points on 19 for 31 shooting, including 5-10 from behind the arc, plus 9-13 from the stripe

Jeremy Roach, in only 13 minutes, led the second-half scoring with 16 points (5-6 from the field, including 4-5 from 3land plus 2-3 from the foul line), after scoring just 3 in the first half. Mark Williams, Wendell Moore, and Trevor Keels played all 20 minutes of the second half. Mark had a fabulous second half, after a scoreless first half. Williams scored 15 second-half points (7-9 from the field and 1-2 from the stripe) to go with 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, and a steal. Wendell was superb in the second half, dishing out 8 assists (1 turnover) while scoring 13 points on just 6 shots (4-6 from the field, including 1-1 from behind the arc, plus 4-4 from the stripe). Honestly, Wendell had a great first half as well, scoring 13 for 26 points in the game (high scorer for Duke). Keels scored only 4 (2-5, 0-2 from deep), but defended Joe Girardi, holding Girardi to 5 second-half points, after Girardi had torched Duke in the first-half for 18 points. Paolo Banchero played 18 minutes, only scoring 4 points in the closing stanza (1-4 from the field, including 0-1 from deep, plus 2-4 from the stripe), but grabbed 7 rebounds, handed out 4 assists, and had 2 steals.

Duke essentially only played those five in the second half – A.J. Griffin was the only other Duke player that got any court time in the closing stanza (in 9 minutes, A.J. failed to score, missing his only attempt – from deep).

Duke Becomes Duke in the last 11 Minutes of the Game

With 11:41 left in the game, the score was tied at 60; Duke took the lead with 11:17 left in the game, and held a lead of between 2 and 5 points until Girardi made a jumper at 4:25 to draw the Orange within one point: 78-77. Syracuse never led in the second half until 3:38 was left in the game when Girardi missed, and Jimmy Boeheim put in the offensive rebound to give the Orange a 79-78 lead. That’s when my I-don’t-want-to-write-about-this-loss kicked in. Then the game changed.

Winning Time

Keels fought for and retrieved an offensive rebound; Moore made 2 free throws – 80-79 with 2:57 left. Williams rebounded a Jimmy Boeheim miss, for Keels to assist Banchero on a jumper – 82-79 with 2:15 left. After Jimmy missed a pair of 3-point attempts (made possible by a Syracuse offensive rebound), the Orange retained possession when Jeremy committed a non-shooting foul. Banchero then made a steal to give Duke the ball with a 3 point lead with 1:36 to go. Moore drove for the basket, pivoted, and kicked-out for a wide open 3 point basket by Jeremy. Duke 85-79 with 1:08 to go. Girardi and Jimmy Boeheim missed 3s. Trevor grabbed a contested rebound and found Mark for a game-sealing dunk (87-79 with 49 seconds left). Girardi and Swider missed 3s. Williams got the board and was fouled. He made one of two for the final 88-79 margin with 38 seconds left.

Duke v Miami

The ACC semi-final game produced an even higher quality game than the quarterfinal win over Syracuse (which was high quality), and played out in similar fashion. Miami, like Syracuse, began the game on fire; it took the Blue Devils some time to recover equilibrium and begin to compete. Paolo Banchero (11 first-half points) and A.J. Griffin (15 first-half points) stopped the Blue Devil’s bleeding and brought Duke back. Paolo and A.J. accounted for 26 of Duke’s 36 first-half points (Moore, 4; Williams, 2; John, 2; and Roach’s layup as the first half ended completed Duke’s first half scoring).

Coach K: “They almost knocked us out. The plan we had didn’t work or wasn’t working defensively, and we weren’t aggressive in the plan we had, and that’s on us, on the coaching staff, on me. Then we changed it and got back to playing our regular stuff, and we were able to tie the game.” Paolo (5-6) and A.J (6-8) together were 11-14 from the field; the rest of the team was 4-17 with 7 turnovers. Miami’s defense typically relies on creating turnovers – the 17 turnovers Miami created against Duke in Cameron last January goes a long way toward explaining that Miami victory.

The second half was well-played, intense and competitive. Duke’s defense improved perceptibly and dramatically – better than it was in the first half, better than the porous defense the Blue Devils had played against UNC on Senior Night, and better than the subpar defense against Syracuse in the quarterfinals. A reporter in the press conference put the obvious assessment in a question to Mark, “Coach had said you guys didn’t play very well defensively against Carolina, and then yesterday, early today was kind of a struggle. What flipped the switch for you guys? How did you play so much better the rest of the game to get that win?” The question revealed more than Mark’s cliche answer about never backing down.

Wendell Moore was simply outstanding on defense. He blocked 3 shots; 2 of them by chasing the fast break from behind , leaping and slamming the ball from the shooter’s hand into the backboard; then grabbing the ball and starting his own fast break. Breathtaking! Williams blocked and altered shots. Roach, Paolo , and Trevor ratcheted up the intensity. It was high level basketball where, as Coach K said, “both teams were worthy of winning.”

Duke’s offense became efficient, limiting second-half turnovers to 3. Duke had 6 assists on 14 field goals. In spite of 2-10 from behind the arc, the Blue Devils shot over 50% from the field – an efficient 12–17 from inside the arc. The Hurricanes employed a switching man-to-man defense, which allowed Duke to create mismatches – especially down low. The result was that the smaller Hurricane players fouled Duke’s bigger guys. The difference in free throw points (Duke: 17 vs Miami: 6 in the game; Duke:14 vs Miami 5 in the second half) made the difference in the game.

The Rotation, With Game Stats

Paolo (sat out less than 1 minute in each half) had an amazing double-double, scoring 18 points on 10 shots (8-10, including 0-1 from deep, plus 2-4 from the stripe) to go with 11 rebounds, 4 assists, a block, and a steal without a turnover. He defends on the perimeter and protects the rim.

Wendell (36 minutes) scored 17 points on 12 shots (6-12 from the field, including 1-4 from deep, plus 4-4 clutch free throws to clinch the game), to go with 6 rebounds and excellent defense. Coach K: “I thought two of the key plays were the blocks when they had fast breaks. Our guys made magnificent plays on them, but we also turned them into a bucket. So there were two four-point turnarounds during that time.” Like Paolo, Wendell excels at so many different parts of the game.

A.J. was Duke’s high scorer with 21 points; 15 in the first half – 12 in a row at one point, to bring Duke back into the game that looked as if it was getting away. In 30 minutes, A.J. was 7-12 from the field, including 4-6 from 3land, plus 3-4 from the stripe. Griffin grabbed 7 defensive rebounds.

Mark grabbed 10 boards in his 32 minutes, and blocked 3 shots (and altered others), while scoring 9 points (4-8 from the field, plus 1-2 from the stripe).

Jeremy (23 minutes) also scored 9 points in the game (7 in the second half, where he was so valuable). While he missed all three of his 3-point attempts, he made 3 tough layups and 3 clutch free throws. (3-8 from the field, including 0-3 from deep, plus 3-4 from the line. He craftily drew 4 Miami fouls and grabbed 3 boards.Trevor scored only 4 points (all in the second half) in 33 minutes (1-7 from the field, including 0-4 from 3land, plus 2-2 from the stripe). He handed out 3 assists but committed 2 turnovers.

Theo played 5:37 (all in the first half) scoring 2 (2-2 from the stripe) and blocking a shot. He committed 2 fouls.

Joey played 3 minutes (0-1 from deep) all in the first half.

Winning Time

5:07 Miami tied Duke at 65 on a Waardenburg 3, after Duke had led by between 2 and 7 points for almost 15 minutes.

When Miami’s Moore fouled Jeremy (Miami’s 7th), Roach made both free throws. 67-65 with 4:42 remaining.

With 4:15 left, Williams altered 2 Hurricane shots at the rim and got the ball. Mark whipped it to Wendell, who fed Trevor for a fast break that took less than 2 seconds (Trevor’s only basket of the game). 69-65 with 4:13 left.

Williams rebounded a McGusty miss; Paolo was fouled but missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 3:26 remaining. Keels stole the ball with 3:08 remaining but missed a 3-point attempt. Miami time out with 2:30 left.

Paolo fouled Wong, who made both foul shots. 69-67 with 2:09 left in the game. Waardenburg fouled Paolo, who missed the first, but cashed in the second. 70-67 with 1:42 to go. Paolo fouled Wong, who made them both. 70-69 with 1:22 remaining. Miller fouled Moore, who made them both. 72-69 with 58 seconds left.

With 47 seconds left, Mark’s presence caused McGusty to commit a costly turnover by traveling. Duke ball. When Roach cleverly induced a Miami foul, he made 1-2; Duke by 73-69. Paolo retrieved an offensive rebound from Jeremy’s miss and fed Trevor, who was fouled. Trevor scored his final two points (4 points for the half; he did not score in the first half) by making both free throws. 75-69 with 33 seconds remaining.

Miami scored quickly on a drive. 75-71. With 25 seconds left, Miami had to foul; Wendell made them both. 77-71. Paolo made a defensive mistake leaving Waardenburg wide open for a 3. 77-74 with 15 seconds left. Paolo inbounded to Griffin, who made 1-2 when he was fouled. 78-74. When A.J. rebounded his own miss; Miami had to foul. A.J. made both with 7 seconds left, Making Miami Moore’s final layup with 3 seconds left meaningless — for the final 80-76 score.

Coach K: “But we did right the ship, and then the second half was just back and forth. We hit on a little thing we do and got some multiple looks and got a little bit of a margin.”

Concluding Thoughts

Duke won exactly the kind of game the Blue Devils lost (to Miami, to Virginia, and to Florida State) during the season. Mentally, this is critical for the Championship game against Virginia Tech and for the NCAA tournament. Mark was asked what it meant to win two games at clutch time. “I think plays like that show our growth as a team. Those moments where we didn’t make those plays or didn’t convert, but now later in the season, we’re making those plays, making the right decisions or whatever it may be. I think it’s just a testament to just our hard work and perseverance throughout the season.”

The game against the Hokies will tell much about Duke’s consistency and maturity. It’s not about NCAA seeding; it is about achieving Coach K’s second stated goal – winning the ACC Tournament.

Coach K is optimistic (and so am I). “We have good kids, and they’re getting better. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow night or whatever, but we should be a real high seed. Then hopefully, especially from these two games — and we’ll learn from tomorrow’s game no matter what — this team really needs that [to play smarter and more mature], really needs that because they didn’t have it. … But that’s how we’ve tried to adjust…A couple weeks ago, I said I wish they would be smarter. The last two games they’ve been very smart. They’ve been really smart.” cohesive.image.jpg

In sync — Duke gets smart. Photo Credit: John Minchillo, AP

Duke v Virginia Tech

For a whole host of reasons, Virginia Tech’s dismantling of Coach K’s last team in the finals of the ACC Tournament is one of the most depressing Duke games I have ever had to write about. But, if Coach K has taught us anything about the game of life (and a bit about the game of basketball), it is both to learn from the experience and to move on to the next challenge (“next play”).

The second half of last night’s debacle eerily re-created the debacle of the second half against UNC on Senior night last weekend. What do we make of that?

Second Half: Va Tech 40 – Duke 28 & Second Half: UNC 55 – Duke 40

With under 13 minutes left in the game, UNC blitzed the Blue Devil defense for 45 points – leaving Duke outscored by 25 points in that final 12:50. That is called a total collapse of the defense, a defense which had been Duke’s calling card this year. Against the Hokies, Duke trailed by 7 (67-60) with 6:30 remaining in the game. Not an insurmountable deficit. Then, Virginia Tech outscored the Blue Devils by 11 in the last 6:29 for an 18 point lead (Savarino’s 3 at the buzzer reduced the margin to 15!). In each case, experienced veterans overwhelmed talented freshmen.

Duke’s defense had seemed to revive in the last half against Miami, having shaken off the emotional impact of having been blitzed in Cameron on Senior Night by the Tarheels. The collapse against the Hokies obliterated those optimistic insights about this team’s development. It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the 2021-22 Blue Devils, while talented, are inconsistent and seem to lose focus, following good performances with unexpectedly bad losses.

In the second half against Virginia Tech, Duke’s shooting was genuinely awful – 9-23 (39%), including 2-12 from deep (16.7%). Banchero and Moore played the entire half until the end, when Coach K put in his bench with 1:16 to go in the game. Paolo scored 10 points (3-4 from the field and 4-7 from the stripe), while Wendell contributed 5 points (2-4 from the field, including 1-3 from 3land).

No other Duke player made more than a single 2-point field goal in the half, except for Savarino’s 3 at the buzzer. Roach played 14:28, scoring 4 points in the half (1-3, including 0-2 from deep, plus 2-4 from the stripe). Trevor (2 free throws), A.J. (1 basket), and Mark (1 basket), each scored only 2 points.

Comparing the Duke 2021-22 team to the 2018-19 team For Why Having Future NBA Super Stars Does Not Automatically Translate to NCAA Success

Duke’s amazingly talented 2018-19 team did not reach the Final Four and finished 3rd in the ACC regular season. Experience may be as or more valuable than individual talent.

As Bill points out, this Duke team starts five players who will likely be selected in the first round of the NBA draft on June 23, 2022. The 2018-19 Duke team also also had five starters that are playing or played in the NBA, including 4 freshmen: the 1st (Zion), 3rd (R.J.), and 10th (Cam) selections in the 2019 NBA draft, plus Tre Jones (now with the Spurs) and Marques Bolden (then a junior; he played with the Cleveland Cavaliers for a year before his continuing GLeague career). A comparison of that team with Duke’s current one yields some insights that I explore below.

In spite of that immense talent on the 2018-19 team (not only the starting five, but also DeLaurier (G League) and Jack White (Australian League) then juniors, still have ongoing professional careers), Duke finished third in the Regular ACC season (14-4) – behind both UVA and UNC (16-2 each). Duke was 32-6 for the year. This current Duke team is 28-6 going into the NCAA tournament.

The 2018-19 team started off All-World by beating Kentucky in the season’s opener 118-84 (never played that well again!), as the 2021-22 team did in its opener against Kentucky. In 2018, there was an early season loss (89-87) to Gonzaga (neutral court) before the ACC season began. The current team lost to Ohio State in 2021for its only pre-ACC season loss.

In the regular ACC season, the RJ-Zion team lost to Syracuse (January 2019 in Cameron) 95-91; and then faded in late February and early March, losing 3 of their last 6 games. In 2018-19, Duke lost to UNC 88-72 in Cameron and Virginia Tech 77-72 in Blacksburg in February. In March, Duke eked out a 71-70 win against Wake Forest (4-14; 11-20) in Cameron before being again beaten by UNC in Chapel Hill 79-70.

Duke won the 2019 ACC tournament title, getting revenge against Syracuse and UNC before beating Florida State for the championship. Reverse the Regular Season and ACC Tournament titles and the results are eerily similar this year.

THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

Rather than one single massive tournament of 68 teams, Coach K views the NCAA tournament as a pod of four-team tournaments each weekend – Sweet 16 is the second weekend’s tournament pod and the Final Four is the third weekend’s four team pod.

This team needs to not be thinking about NBA drafts or four team tournaments or NCAA titles, or anything except the court they’re on in that moment –forget ‘eyes on the prize’, eyes on the damn game in front of you.

2019

Duke was #1 seed in its Region. In Duke’s first four-team tournament, the 2018-19 team beat North Dakota State (#16 seed) 85-62, before almost being upset by Johnny Dawkins’ (the super star from Coach K’s first successful recruiting class) University of Central Florida team. Duke prevailed 77-76 when Aubrey Dawkins (Johnny’s son) missed a point blank put back at the buzzer. Duke managed to hang on to beat UCF even though UCF out-scored the 2018-19 team 40-33 in the second half. Thus, Duke was fortunate to win their first four-team tournament. Duke got revenge against 4th seeded Virginia Tech, defeating the Hokies in the Sweet 16 by 75-73 before losing to #2 seed Michigan State in the Elite 8 by 68-67.

Lessons from 2018-19

No other team in 2018-19 had the kind of talent that Duke hadd. Yet, the season – a success at 32-6 – was full of bumps, including the failure to reach the third four-team tournament. After the first game, Duke had all it could handle against UCF, Va. Tech, and more than it could handle from Michigan State. It doesn’t matter how talented the freshmen are. Experienced teams are difficult opponents.

2022

Coach K said after the Miami game “We hit on a little thing we do” … let’s hope he and this team can find that “little thing” again in time to make Vincent Price hand over that 6th scholarship!

Duke is the #2 seed in the West Regional. The top four seeds in that region are: 1) Gonzaga; 2) Duke; 3) Texas Tech; 4) Arkansas. Duke will play on Friday, March 18 against # 15 seed Cal-State Fullerton in Greenville, South Carolina The other two teams in that four team tournament are # 7 Michigan State and # 10 Davidson. If Duke beats Cal-State Fullerton, the Blue Devils will play the winner of Davidson-Michigan State on Sunday, March 20 to try and reach the Sweet 16.

Next Play: NCAA Tournament against Cal-State Fullerton on Friday, March 18 at 7:15pm in Greenville, S.C.

ROUND # 1 – 2022 NCAA TOURNAMENT ( # 2 seeded) Duke Blue Devils 78 v (# 15 seeded) Cal State Fullerton Titans 61 in Greenville, SC (Season 13; Issue 31 – Game #35) Alan “Alanalysis” and Bill’s “CliffsNotes”

(March 18, 2022)

image001(13).jpg — **“We gotta win this one first, guys” Photo Credit: Duke Chronicle**

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

The Blue Devils are a frustrating team. When they are good, they are very impressive. When they are bad, they are not very impressive and very beatable. Unfortunately, they are often both during the same game. Tonight wasn’t one of those games. Against an undersized, overmatched but game opponent, Duke scored well: Williams had 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 blocks; Banchero 17 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists; Moore 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists; Roach 12 points and 5 assists; and Griffin 10 points, 6 rebounds.

Coach K: “I thought they took a deep breath” he said of his impressive group of one-and- doners, who helped their coach improve his lifetime tournament record to 98-30 in March Madness and avoided any hint of what befell #2 seed Kentucky on Thursday night against Saint Peter’s, or any hint of what befell Duke themselves on those few odd occasions through the years when teams like Lehigh, Mercer, and VCU beat Duke in the opening round. But this is the nature of March Madness. There are a lot of good basketball players out there. Not all of them are 6” 6’ to 7’0’ and under 20 years old. Some are shorter but more seasoned and just as talented. And, as we have seen, on any given night with the three-point line, anything can happen.

The good news is that Krzyzewski’s record is 12-3 over Izzo. But Michigan State is always a tough out and they beat Duke with Zion, RJ, and Jones in 2019.

One loss and you are done in more ways than one.

image002(2).jpg — *Coach K hasn’t lost any of his passion in his 42nd season.* *Photo Credit: Duke Chronicle*

ALANALYSIS:

Defense was Coach K’s stated concern: “we’ve been a really good defensive team [all season], but the last four games we were a really bad defensive team.” Duke held the Cal State Fullerton Titans (CSF or Titans) to 27 first-half points and 31% shooting; 61 points for the game. Duke’s major (only) defensive lapse was giving up 12 offensive rebounds to CSF, 7 coming in the first half.

Jeremy Roach replaced Trevor Keels in the starting lineup and corroborated Coach K’s judgement by playing as the glue (superb point guard play) on offense and aggressive on-the-ball defense. It was his best game at Duke!

After A.J. Griffin had a disappointing first half, Coach K gave him a short pep talk as the second half was about to start. AJ then played a superb second half.

Paolo Banchero and Mark Williams dominated the paint on offense and protected the rim on defense.

The floor was slippery, causing turnovers and chaos. That is ridiculous for a tournament game of this magnitude! Wendell Moore was injured (hopefully not badly; he appeared at the post-game press conference) when he slipped on the floor twice, once in a quite painful looking split position. Jeremy was charged with a turnover when he fell on a wet spot. Apparently, the arena is used for hockey, and it was speculated that the ice under the court was causing condensation on the floor. In any event, the slips clearly cost Duke a bunch of points.

The Defense

The Blue Devils were intense on defense from the opening tip. After 7 minutes and 5 seconds had elapsed in the game, CSF had managed only 4 points. Duke led 17-4! In that short period, the Blue Devils terrorized CSF by blocking 6 shots (10 for the game) – 2 by Paolo, 2 by Theo John, 1 by Mark (who had Duke’s other 4 blocks for the rest of the game), and 1 by Jeremy. It is a tribute to CSF’s resilience that the Titans not only avoided being blown out by the Blue Devil start, but clawed back to within 6, twice, before the half ended.

Coach K: “I just thought it was a great game for us to play. We played better tonight than we have been playing. I thought our defense overall was a lot better, especially on Anosike and Milstead, who we felt coming into the game, if they had big games, we had a chance to get knocked off. So, it’s a big improvement.”

A major point of emphasis, in the week of practice for the Blue Devils, was communication on the defensive end. Both Paolo and Mark talked about that improvement in the postgame press conference. Paolo said he thought it was better than it had been recently. Mark emphasized, “Yeah, I thought we did a good job on that. Obviously, we can always improve. For us to do well, defense is going to be really important. Communicating, making all those right decisions, rotations, whatever it is. Then that translates into offense, transition, whatever. So that’s huge for us.”

Williams not only had 5 blocks, but he also visibly altered or prevented other shots. A few times, the Titans had penetrated, and passed back to the perimeter when Mark loomed near. Banchero, who is an outstanding defender, earned Coach K’s praise, “Paolo did a really good job on [Anosike] because he’s the leading scorer in their conference.” Banchero held Anosike to a 2-point first half (10 for the game). Jeremy’s on-the-ball defense flummoxed The Titans all night.

The Offense

Duke shot 52% for the game (30-58, including 40% from behind the arc – 9-22), with 21 assists on the 30 baskets. Duke scored 40 of its 78 points in the paint, where Mark and Paolo were unstoppable. Duke broke the 0-0 tie with a Williams dunk after 24 seconds had elapsed to take a lead that the Blue Devils never relinquished. Duke led by 10 at the half (37-27).

The Titans scored the opening basket of the second half to reduce the Blue Devil lead to 8. Duke answered with an awesome run. A.J. hit a triple, Jeremy made 3 foul shots, Jeremy hit Mark for a dunk and foul shot for a traditional 3-point play, A.J. hit another 3-pointer, Paolo went 1-2 from the stripe before Moore hit a triple to give Duke a 20-point lead with 12:40 remaining in the game.The Titans were not done and crept back to within 13 (close as they would come) with 5:52 left, making for just a bit of nervousness. A.J. made a crucial basket on a drive with an assist from Paolo to restore order and the 15-point lead. The lead was 19 with under a minute left to play.

The only down aspect of Duke’s performance was CSF scored 16 points off 13 Duke turnovers. Between the turnovers and CSF’s offensive rebounds, the Titans actually took 6 more shots than Duke, but made 6 fewer.

The First Half

Banchero with 12 points and 7 rebounds led Duke in the opening stanza. Williams and Roach each scored 7 to account for 26 of Duke’s 37 first-half points.

The Second Half

A.J. scored the team-high in the second half with 8 points, augmented by 7 each from Mark and Wendell. Both Paolo and Jeremy contributed 5 points, while Trevor added 4. They collectively scored 36 of Duke’s 41 before Coach K gave his bench playing time with the game obviously decided.

THE ROTATION (AND MINUTES PLAYED)

Jeremy Roach (34: 58)

Jeremy was seemingly everywhere, on both ends of the court. He scored 12 points (3-8 from the field, including 1-3 from deep, plus 5-5 on clutch free throws), to go with 5 assists, a steal and a block. Jeremy will keep his starting job for the next game because he was the glue that held the Duke offense together in the face of intense trapping pressure.

A.J Griffin (33:14)

For the game, A.J. scored 10 (4-9 from the field, including 2-7 from deep) to go with 6 rebounds.

A.J. had a slow first half with only 2 points (1-4, including 0-3 from deep). I could tell from early on that A.J. was not comfortable in his first NCAA game. As the second half was about to start, Coach K told him, “Relax. Those are good shots. Have fun out there. Just don’t worry about the first half.” Coach K told us, “I didn’t want him to be down on himself. He’s only 18 years old, and he wants to do well.” A.J. then had a superb second half, scoring 8 crucial points (3-5 from the field, including 2-4 from deep).

Paolo Banchero (33:01)

Paolo had his 10th double double of the season and his 3rd in the last four games. He scored 17 points on 14 shots (7-14 from the field, including 2-4 from 3land, plus 1-1 from the foul line), to go with 10 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal and 2 blocks.

Mark Williams (31:44)

Mark put up simply amazing numbers! He scored 15 points on 7 shots (6-7 from the field and 3-3 from the stripe), to go with 7 rebounds, 5 assists – a career high – and 5 blocked shots. Coach K, “I thought Mark made two consecutive plays there in the second half that produced six points. A.J. got a three [on a pass from Mark who had picked up a loose ball]. Then he [Mark] made a terrific pass to Paolo who scored [and was fouled]. Paolo hit the free throw [Duke] got six points. When your 7’1″ center is doing that, you’ve got a good chance of winning.”

Wendell Moore (29:05)

Wendell hurt his hip when he slipped twice on the watery floor. It is a good sign that Wendell wasn’t seriously injured in that he continued to play efficiently. He scored 13 points (5-8 from the field, including 3-4 from behind the arc), to go with 6 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal. Wendell said the team is developing, “We’ve got some work to do on the defensive end, on our defensive rebounds. For the most part, I feel like our offense was good. We didn’t turn the ball over too much. We got some good shots. Also, we took some bad shots. There’s always something we can clean up.”

Trevor Keels (20:58)

In the second half, Trevor adapted much better to coming off the bench instead of starting. He played less than 8 minutes in the opening period, scoring 2 points, but committing 3 turnovers. Trevor improved in the closing stanza, scoring 4 crucial points. For the game, Trevor scored 6 (3-7, including 0-2 from 3land). Keels had 2 rebounds, an assist, and 4 turnovers (but only 1 in the second half).
Bench

Theo John (8:16). In that short span, Theo scored 2 points (1-1) with 4 boards, 2 blocks, and a steal (but 3 fouls).

Baker (5:24) made a 3 pointer during end game garbage time. He is not defending well and therefore not playing much.

The deep bench – Bates Jones, Jaylen Blakes, and Michael Savarino – got to see the floor for a minute or so in an NCAA tournament game.

THOUGHTS ABOUT NCAA ROUND 2 – THE MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS

Tom Izzo, the Spartans’ Hall of Fame coach, and Coach K square off frequently in the NCAA. While Coach K has the edge, Izzo won the last encounter – that left a disappointing taste for Duke. In 2019 (Duke’s last NCAA appearance), the Duke team with Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish, Trey Jones, and Marquez Bolden lost to Michigan State in the Elite 8 by a single point. Duke was # 1 seed and favored to win the entire tournament. We hope it’s payback time – or, at least Survive and Advance to next week’s Sweet 16 time.

The Spartans opened the year unranked, then spent 12 weeks in the Top 25, peaking at No. 10 before falling off the ranking chart again by February. Michigan State lost 7 of their last 10 regular season games, then lost to Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. This is their 24th straight NCAA Tournament; they have won at least one game in the Tournament 19 times. Izzo made eight trips to the Final Four, winning one National Championship. And in the meantime…….

Next Play: NCAA Tournament against Michigan State on Sunday, March 20 at 5:15 pm in Greenville, S.C.; TV: CBS

Duke Blue Devils v Michigan State Spartans – 2nd round of NCAA Tournament; Season 13; Issue 32; Game #36 Duke 85 v. Michigan State 76

(March 20, 2022)
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Coach K’s longtime rival, and dear friend, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo: “We were up 5 and …like a championship team, [Duke] dug down and made the plays.” Photo Credit: Duke Chronicle

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

It was a defensive and offensive team win—everyone contributed as this Duke team may be maturing before your eyes. Make no mistake. Talent be damned. Tom Izzo’s Michigan State teams are nothing if not tough. A win against his team is earned. Nothing is given to you. However, today, the Blue Devils were tougher down the stretch, 20-6 to be exact, with a deceptive 85-76 win over the Spartans that sends Duke to its record 26th Sweet Sixteen and 2,000th career win for Coach K!

It was a team effort with Mark Williams, Paolo Banchero, Wendell Moore, Trevor Keels, and Jeremy Roach all making big plays in that closing run– big shots, big blocks, and big foul shots. And no one has improved during the year more than sophomore Jeremy Roach, who recently does a pretty good Bobby Hurley impression as point guard—especially hitting timely threes. Mark Williams and Paolo Banchero are a formidable duo defensively and on the boards.

Now the challenge is to build on this effort against # 3rd seed (in the West Region) Texas Tech, who is statistically the most efficient defensive team in the country.

roach to basket.jpeg — *“Roach willed that ball in. They were some of the best drives I’ve seen as a Duke coach”*
*Photo Credit: Duke Chronicle*

ALANALYSIS:

Introduction

I have viewed many postgame Coach K press conferences, but I cannot remember his tearing up as he did in this one. With damp eyes, Coach K addressed the five players sitting next to him (no post-injury A.J. Griffin), “you guys were terrific, man. I’m really proud to be your coach. It had nothing to do with coaching those last four or five minutes. It all had to do with heart and togetherness.”

The last 5:10 of the game was what we have come to know and love about Duke basketball at “winning time”. Coach K, “My guys were so tough in those last six minutes of the game. The last four or five minutes, the defense was incredible. They followed their hearts, and God bless them. We’re in the Sweet 16!”

The win over Michigan State was Duke’s 30th of this season — Coach K’s 16th 30-win season! It is also his 1200th career win and 99th NCAA triumph.

Winning Time

Duke led during the second half with margins of between 9 points and 4–with 12:03 left in the game, Duke still led 54-46. And then, the Spartans took charge and had the game tied at 65 with 5:43 remaining. Williams committed a foul; Paolo missed the front end of a 1 and 1; then, Spartan guard Tyson Walker made a 3-pointer. 68-65 Spartans, with 5:24 left. Mark Williams committed another foul, and Bingham converted both shots. 70-65 with 5:10 left. The Sweet Sixteen looked further away than K’s retirement.

Then the young Blue Devils morphed into the seasoned Duke team we have been anticipating all season– a team that had their heart committed to winning and was becoming (in Coach K’s lexicong) “older”, avoiding the inconsistency and careless errors. Compare Jeremy having Miami’s guard just take the ball from him when he wasn’t looking at crunch time to his spectacular play in the NCAA tournament.

First, Paolo made a driving layup. 70-67 with 4:55 left. Walker missed (great defense by Jeremy), and Williams retrieved the rebound. Roach made an exquisite driving layup. 70-69 with 4:17 left. Banchero fouled Hauser, who made both free throws. Duke still trailed, 72-69 with a timeout was called at 3:43 remaining.

Wendell was asked if the thought of losing was used as motivation in that timeout. Wendell: “Honestly, the conversation, I mean, losing didn’t come up one time. … Once we got in the huddle, we just looked in each other’s eyes, and we knew we weren’t going to lose.”

Trevor took a great pass from Paolo and hit a crucial 3-point shot to tie the game at 72 with 3:24 left. Hoggard (the other Spartan guard ) made a driving layup to give the lead back to Michigan State 74-72 with 2:51 remaining. Trevor drove the lane, was fouled, and made 1 of 2 free throws. Duke down 1 (74-73) at the 2:44 mark.

Then Duke’s defense took over and the winning time offense reminded us of the great Duke finishing teams of old!

Williams not only blocked Hoggard’s next layup, but he also retrieved the ball. Coach K, “We went to a little bit different coverage in the full court, like a soft, soft press, just so they didn’t get a run because they can really run. Then we started — we were going to switch 1 through 5. Mark has improved so much during the year in his lateral movement that he can stay in front, and that’s what he did. Like on that particular play.” Mark said, “I’m not thinking too much about like ‘I want to get a block here’. It’s more ‘I want to win’. If that’s the winning play, then I’ll do it. That’s all that really happened right there.”

Paolo gave Duke their first lead in winning time with a driving layup. Duke 75-Spartans 74 at the 2:05 mark. Banchero blocked yet another of Hauser’s attempted layups; Moore got the rebound and found Jeremy with 1:16 left on the clock for what one writer called “one of the ballsiest 3s for Duke in the NCAA tournament since Bobby Hurley hit that huge shot late against UNLV in 1991.” Duke 78 to 74. Duke closed out the game hitting 7-8 free throws (Moore 4-4; Keels 2-2; Williams 1-2).

Coach K summed it up: “It’s great. I love these kids. They’re becoming men, and they’re so young, and we were young for a little bit at different times today. They [Michigan State] took advantage of it. We were so good in the last part of the game. I mean, just — I can’t tell you how proud I am of them because they — we had not been playing well. We had a helluva week of practice and camaraderie stuff and whatever. They believe in one another.”

Player of the Game – Jeremy Roach (37:15)

He not only shoots and drives, he makes magic passes. Photo Credit: Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press

Jeremy made 0 field goals in the first half (0-3, including 0-2 from deep), scoring his only 2 points on foul shots (2-2). Then, in the second half, Jeremy played all 20 minutes and led Duke to victory, scoring 13 second-half points on 6-7 from the field – drives and floaters, including “the ballsiest 3-point Duke basket” since Hurley’s in 1991. Coach K: “Jeremy hit a huge three for us, and in his drives, he willed that ball. He willed that ball in. They were some of the best drives I’ve seen as a Duke coach, really, especially in a pressure situation. … We started the week, we just said we need great ball pressure. He [Jeremy] can do that, and he did that today, but also to lead us. He made some big time baskets today. It wasn’t just that three. Those drives to the basket were huge. And everybody got energy from them. So, we’ve never stopped believing in him because he’s believable. He deserves it.”

Duke has had multiple ball handlers initiating the offense during the season – Trevor, Wendell and even Paolo – which was different from when Duke gave the keys to the team to a genuine point guard (think Hurley, Amaker, Jay Williams, and both Tyus and Tre Jones). In the NCAA tournament, Duke has given those keys to Jeremy.

THE ROTATION (AND MINUTES PLAYED)

Paolo Banchero (37:51)

Paolo led Duke in scoring with 19 points (8-14, including 2-5 from deep, plus 1-3 from the stripe) to go with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and a crucial blocked shot at crunch time. He was fabulous on the defensive end, holding the high-scoring Spartan, Joey Hauser, to just 5 points for the entire game. 5 turnovers marred his otherwise extraordinary stat line. Paolo went out of the game early for 1:16 so that Coach K could settle him down. Banchero becomes just the fourth Duke player of all time to play back-to-back NCAA Tournament games with stats of 15+ points, 5+ rebounds and 4+ assists, joining Danny Ferry (1987 and 1988), Grant Hill (1994), and Jon Scheyer (2010).

Jeremy Roach (37:15) see above

Wendell Moore (35:15)

After a potential bad injury due to slipping last game, Wendell – showed no ill effects and was simply terrific on both ends of the court! He scored 15 points on only 6 shots. (3-6, without a 3-point attempt). His 9-10 at the stripe, including 4-4 to preserve the win in the last minute was dramatic! Wendell also contributed 2 boards, 4 assists with only 1 turnover, and 2 steals – the one steal – literally snatched a floating pass in mid-air – during “winning time” which contributed to breaking the game open and finishing off the Spartans.

Mark Williams (30:26)

Mark also scored 15 points (7-9, including a beautiful fade away from almost 15 feet when Duke was having difficulty with the Spartan defense, plus 1-2 from the stripe). Mark added 8 boards (Duke’s leading rebounder), 5 blocks, and 2 steals. Coach K: “Mark looked like a hockey goalie the whole night, trying to protect our net. He did it enough to win the game.”

Mark is the first Blue Devil in history to record consecutive NCAA Tournament games with 5+ blocked shots after adding last night’s five to the five he swatted away in the first-round win over Cal State Fullerton. Williams has blocked 104 shots this season – fourth most of any player in any season at Duke. The only other Duke player to have 100+ blocks in a single season was Sheldon Williams, who did it three times (137 in 2006, 122 in 2005, and 111 in 2004). Mark racked up five dunks during the game and therefore moves into second on Duke’s single-season dunks list, with 88. Only Marvin Bagley III in 2017-18 had more dunks, with 98.

Trevor Keels (25:12)

Trevor scored 12 (4-8, including 1-2 from deep – the one tied the game at 72 — plus 3-4 from the foul line) to go with 4 rebounds, and an assist. He looked lost in the first half, playing only 9 minutes, and scoring only 2 points on 1-3 shooting. Then he came alive and was crucial for Duke after A.J. was injured early in the second half. Duke has now won 20 of 22 games when Keels scores in double figures.

A.J. Griffin (23:11)

A.J. played only 8 minutes in the second half, without scoring (0-2, including 0-1 from behind the arc), before he was injured. A.J. had an efficient first half, scoring 7 in 15 minutes (3-5 from the field, including 1-2 from 3land) to go with 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Unfortunately, we note complete radio silence about A.J. Griffin’s injury, which occurred after only 7:30 had gone by in the second half. Whether he will be at full strength next Thursday night could be key.

Theo John (9:34)

Theo spelled Mark for almost 5 minutes in each half, scoring 2 points (1-2) to go with 2 rebounds.

Bates Jones (1:16) briefly replaced Paolo in the early going to give Coach K a chance to talk with Banchero. No statistics.

GOIN’ TO SAN FRANCISCO TO PLAY #3 SEEDED TEXAS TECH IN THE SWEET 16

The Texas Tech Red Raiders are a formidable foe. The Red Raiders, ranked 11th in the final Coaches’ poll and 12th in the AP, are 27-9 for the season, finishing 3rd in the Big 12 at 12-6, behind Baylor and Kansas. In the conference tournament, Texas Tech beat Iowa State (who beat Wisconsin last night) and Oklahoma, before losing to Kansas in the finals. Duke’s offense must be ready to face the Red Raiders’ nation-leading efficient defense.

Texas Tech lost early in the season to Providence, Gonzaga, and, later, to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The Red Raiders beat Baylor twice in the regular season, as well as beating Tennessee and Texas. They beat Kansas once at home but then lost in double overtime when playing at Kansas. The Red Raiders likewise split one win-one loss against both TCU and Iowa State. It will be a Sweet, but tough, game for these maturing Duke Blue Devils. moore and roach.jpg

Coach K: “They followed their hearts and we’re in the Sweet 16!” Photo Credit: Bob Donnan, USA Today Sports

Next Play: NCAA Tournament against Texas Tech, in the West Regional Semi-Finals (Sweet 16) on Thursday March 24 at 9:39 pm EDT in San Francisco. TV: CBS

Editorial staff note:

My friend knit this for my daughter for the 1991 NCAA Championship. She wore it; Duke won! Last night, when Duke was down 5 towards the end of the second half — seemingly the end of Coach K’s reign — I grabbed the sweater and nailbitingly hung on till Duke won, again! I will be keeping the sweater close by during Duke’s trip through the NCAA tournament..

And if the basketball gods should bless the Blue Devils once again, I’ll recreate the 1991 celebratory menu of duck and lobster.

Duke Blue Devils v Texas Tech Red Raiders – Sweet 16 round of 2022 NCAA Tournament; Season 13; Issue 33; Game #37 Duke 78 v. Texas Tech 73

A fearless Jeremy Roach drive Photo credit: Raleigh News and Observer

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

This was Duke’s most impressive victory since the win in the 1992 Final Four against the previously undefeated UNLV Runnin’ Rebels. As I wrote last week: “ You could see this team mature and grow up before your eyes. Duke shot lights out down the stretch, making big shots and big stops– and they needed every single one of them.”

“It certainly took the Blue Devils some time to get it figured out. Duke shot air-balls on three of its first four possessions and then had two live-ball turnovers that led to fast-break baskets [for Tech]. Mike Krzyzewski was forced to call a timeout with his team down 10-2, barely four minutes into the game. [However, it’s how you finish a game, not how you start it.] Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. And Duke was punched in the face. But they responded, after one of the best timeouts of Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s career. After the timeout, the Blue Devils made its next four shots and tied the game at 12-12.” [“Duke Was Golden In The Clutch Against Texas Tech” by Jim Summer on dukebasketballreport.com]

“I’ve never played in a basketball game like that. When you’re out there, it’s not like you’re even thinking. You’re just playing to win,” freshman man/child Paolo Banchero, who finished with a team-leading 22 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, said after the game. With four minutes left in the game, despite four players being in double-digit points, the Blue Devils were down one point. Two Jeremy Roach drives, a Banchero triple, and a Mark Williams block later, Duke was up three with one and a half minutes to go. It was then Roach sank yet another clutch jumper to put Duke up five with under a minute to go.

Sophomore Jeremy Roach is a good example of how much being in a program for more than one year can improve a player. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski commented after the game: “The resolve and improvement of Jeremy Roach has been incredible. His drives against that defense were so strong, so determined.” Roach, who ended with 15 points (11 in the second half) and 5 assists, continued his timely play from the opening period with fearless, slick drives and jump shots that he has been pulling out more and more in the postseason.

Similarly, Sophomore Skywalker Mark Williams, an important key to both the defense and offense, grabbed a quick eight points in the first five minutes with three dunks and two free throws, and graduate transfer Theo John got on the board with a put-back layup. Finally, a three from AJ Griffin put an exclamation point on a Duke run that tied the score at 47 with 12 minutes to go.

All in all, a very mature and impressive start to the 2022 NCAA men’s Basketball Tournament.

ALANALYSIS:

What a potpourri of intense competition at the highest level –great plays, strategic coaching decisions, and a Duke performance at winning time that was breathtaking in execution and high in drama. Or, as Coach K put it, “what a tremendous game!”

Texas Tech lived up to its advanced billing as a great defensive team, especially in the early going (The Red Raiders raced out to a 10-2 lead because as Coach K put it, “we weren’t ready for that level of expertise on defense and their strength”). However, in the second half, the Blue Devils simply shredded the vaunted Red Raiders defense, shooting 71% from the field (13-16 inside the arc, including 4-8 from deep), and making their final 8 shots attempts, to put the game away at winning time. Duke scored on 12 of its last 15 possessions. The Red Raiders simply could not defend as Duke scored 49 second-half points.

The Red Raiders may be ranked #1 nationally on defense, but Duke was every bit as good as the Red Raiders on defense, especially in the second half. Coach K turned the game around by playing a zone defense that Texas Tech had not anticipated. After a needed adjustment, the zone confused the Red Raiders. Coach K’s young charges then successfully lobbied him to return to the man-to-man defense to finish the game. Coach K agreed. They slapped the floor! Then the Blue Devils got the stops that won the game.

With 3:15 left in the game, Duke trailed 68-65. Duke scored 49 in the second half. The reason the game was a nail biter, was Duke’s defense didn’t stop the Red Raiders …until it did! The Red Raiders did not score again until only 27 seconds remained in the game, when Arms drove the length of the court for a dunk and then hit a 3-point shot with 13 seconds left to bring Texas Tech to within 2 (75-73; only 13 seconds left). The Blue Devils outscored Texas Tech 14-5 in the last 3:55 of the game with a 3-point play (“and one”) at the rim by Paolo; 3 jump shots by Roach, 2-2 free throws by Moore, 2-2 from the stripe by A.J. Griffin and 1-2 from Paolo to win the game.

WINNING TIME

The Offense

Duke was behind by 4 at half time (33-29) and continued to trail by between 1 and 6 for the first 7 minutes of the second half. The Blue Devils finally tied the score, and for the next 9 minutes, the game see-sawed back and forth, with 7 lead changes and 6 ties.

Then, in the last 8:19, the Blue Devils made every one of their last 8 field goal attempts!! (Banchero 3, including two 3-pointers; Roach 3; Moore and Williams each 1), while adding 8-9 free throws (Moore 3-3; Williams 2-2, A.J. 2-2; and Paolo 1-2) in that same last 8:19.

With 4:04 remaining, Texas Tech led by 65-64. Roach scored on a driving layup, giving Duke a 66-65 lead at the 3:35 mark. Texas Tech’s last lead came on McCullar’s 3-pointer (68-66) with 3:15 remaining. Then came Duke’s “Finest Hour”: Paolo drained a 3 pointer (Duke 69 v Raiders 68 with 2:55 left). Williams made his 3rd crucial block of the game, and Jeremy came up with the ball. Roach took it himself on a beautiful step-back jumper (Duke 71; TT 68 with 2:16 to go). Paolo stole the ball with 1:56 left and fed Jeremy for another wonderful jump shot under pressure. Duke led 73-68 with 1:30 left in the game. When Moore rebounded the Red Raiders next miss, with 49 seconds left, Duke looked to be home free.

Looks, however, can be deceiving. Jeremy was fouled, but missed the front end of the 1-and-1 with 34 seconds left. Texas Tech then hit a dramatic 3-pointer to draw within 3 with just 27 seconds left. Moore made both free throws before Tech cut the lead to 75-73 with a dramatic 3 with only 13 seconds remaining. A.J.’s final clutch foul shooting preserved the win.

Duke dismantled the nation’s best defense, shooting 71% from the field in the concluding period. Wow!

The Defense

Duke turned the game around and tied it when Coach K went to a zone defense midway through the second half. The Red Raiders were not prepared for it, perhaps because Duke has played zone so seldom this year. Coach K, “we practiced it a little bit during the year where our guys just know to keep the wings high and whatever. Today during our walk-through, we just mentioned it, like, look, there’s a chance we’ll use it, but you really couldn’t practice it in the walk-through, and these guys are smart players. They were able to do it. It kept out the amount of physicality because they were wearing us down, so the zone gave us a chance to kind of dance around the ring a little bit instead of being in a corner.” Texas Tech shredded the zone at first, but Duke stuck with the zone, “What happened was the zone was too far out, and so at the timeout, Jon Scheyer and Chris Carrawell said ‘they’re beating us on cuts, not on threes’, so we made that adjustment.” When Duke pulled the zone closer to the basket, the Red Raiders could no longer initiate the cut to get open and receive a pass. The Tech scoring stopped.

“These guys, with a few minutes left said, ‘Coach, we want to go back, man.’ It was like a Catholic boys’ choir. It was a chorus. They all said it. They all said it, and they said it with enthusiasm. ‘We want to do this. We want to go man.’ So, they were playing so well, I figured I would listen to them.”

Coach K went with the players’ suggestion: “With this team they’re so young and they’re still growing. Whenever they can own something, they’re going to do it better than if we just run it. When they said that, I felt they’re going to own it. They’ll make it work, and that’s probably more important than strategy during that time. So that’s the way I looked at it. I’m not sure I’ve been in that many situations like that before, but again, the ownership of doing something I think is key.”

Duke paid homage to earlier days by slapping the floor with a minute to go. Coach K: “The slapping the floor, what the hell? Why not? Our guys really wanted that because it’s kind of like crossing the bridge to the Brotherhood. They can now say they did that. Hopefully they can say that again at least on Saturday.”

I wonder if anyone in the Brotherhood remembers players asking Coach K to run a specific defense! I have a strong suspicion that that was a Duke first!

THE ROTATION WITH MINUTES PLAYED

Duke’s starting five played most of the minutes. Trevor Keels played only 14 minutes – spelling A.J. for 3:10, Wendell for 6 minutes, and Jeremy for 4:32 – without scoring. Theo John spelled Mark for approximately 5 minutes in each half, scoring 2 points on 1-1 from the field. Bates Jones gave Paolo a 2:49 break in the first half, but did not score. Thus, 76 of Duke’s 78 points came from the starters. Jeremy and Paolo each played all 20 minutes in the second half.

Paolo Banchero (37:11)

Paolo had an All-World game!, scoring 22 points (11 in each half) on 12 shots (7-12 from the field including 3-4 from behind the arc, plus 5-6 from the foul line), to go with 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Paolo shares Player of the Game (POG) with Jeremy. Coach K: “Paolo did a couple of things tonight that he has never done in his life, and he did it instinctively. He just wanted to win so badly, and it was so beautiful to see. … I’ve been around so many good players, and when they just go into their own thing, where it’s stuff you can’t teach them and they just do it, that’s what he did. For that little bit of time and it gave us such a verve. … I’m just so happy that I was there for that moment with him because it’s his. It’s his, but it benefited all of us.” In the post game interview courtside, Coach K was prideful, “I get to coach that guy!”

A.J. Griffin (36:50)

A.J. scored 11 (3-9, including 3-7 from deep, plus 2-2 game-sealing free throws) to go with his 7 key rebounds, an assist, and a block, without a turnover. It was surprising that A.J. played the second most minutes of any Duke player after his injury in the Michigan State game. He appeared healthy; good news for the Arkansas game.

Jeremy Roach (35:28)

Jeremy had another Player of the Game performance! He scored 15 points (7-11 from the field, including 0-1 from 3land and 1-2 from the foul line) to go with 4 boards, 5 assists (but 4 turnovers), and a steal. His 11 second-half points were crucial to Duke’s win. When Jeremy was asked the source of his (seemingly new) confidence to take the crucial shots he made at winning time, he replied, “Just trust in your work. These guys — like Paolo just said, these guys trust me, and the coaching staff trusts me. Trust in your work and being instinctive was the biggest key out there.” He and Paolo share POG.

Wendell Moore, Jr (33:59)

Wendell scored 12 points (4-7 from the field, including 1-3 from deep, plus 3-3 from the stripe), augmented by his 4 rebounds and 2 assists. His free throws were clutch. Wendell described his foul shooting routine. He closes his eyes briefly to lock himself in and everything else out.

Mark Williams (30:04)

Mark also has a strong case for POG; he scored 16 points on 9 shots (6-9 from the field, plus 4-4 from the stripe) to go with his team high 8 boards and 3 blocks. At 5:37 left in the game, Mark made a galvanizing dunk that he was asked about in the press conference, “As far as that dunk, I mean, it felt like it gave the team some life. Obviously [Paolo] made a great pass, and I just finished the play. I was really amped up. I think it got the team going, and I think that translated to the defensive end as well.”

Paolo: “We had, like, three straight stops after that dunk.”

DUKE v. ARKANSAS IN THE ELITE 8 ON SATURDAY, March 26

Regular Season

The Razorbacks finished the regular season 28-8 ranked 17th. Arkansas was 4th in the SEC with a 13-5 record behind Auburn, Kentucky and Tennessee.

SEC Tournament

The Razorbacks beat LSU, but lost to Texas A&M by 18 points.

NCAA Tournament

Arkansas beat Vermont 75-71 in the first round and New Mexico State 53-48 in the second round. Then the #4 seeded Razorbacks took out the # 1 overall seed, Gonzaga 74-68. Arkansas just played better; Gonzaga might have been overconfident because Arkansas didn’t look that formidable on paper. (Duke better not do that).

In 1994, the Razorbacks won the NCAA National Championship by beating the Blue Devils on a last second 3-pointer by Scotty Thurman. If Thurman had missed, it would have been Duke’s 3rd championship in 4 years. Still hurts.

Next Play: NCAA Tournament against Arkansas, in the West Regional Finals (Elite 8) on Saturday March 26 at 8:39 pm EDT (5:39 p.m. PDT) in San Francisco. TV: CBS

Duke Blue Devils 78 v Arkansas Razorbacks 69 – Elite 8 round of NCAA Tournament; Season 13; Issue 34; Game #38 Duke v. Arkansas

DUKE TO MEET UNC IN NATIONAL SEMI-FINALS NEXT SATURDAY

Duke and UNC have faced off 257 times in basketball, but never before in an NCAA tournament game. Memories of the thrashing the Tarheels gave the Blue Devils on March 5 in Cameron is not far from Duke minds. Coach K interrupted the post UNC festivities to tell the fans packed into Cameron and watching around the world, “This afternoon is unacceptable. But the season is very acceptable. The season is not over.” In his more formal address, he turned to his team: “We didn’t play well, and (pointing to his 96 former players) there were times when you didn’t either! But, not for long. Not for long,” he said. “Hopefully, today, for our program — this program right now — it’s a great learning experience. We need to fight for Duke. We need to fight for the brotherhood. And we need to fight with all of our might through the remainder of the season. You may not know it now, but I love you guys, and I’m going to love what we will do, learning from this experience, going forward! Then, I’ll be ready to get the hell out of here.”

When Duke was preparing to play the winner of the UNC-Virginia Tech game for the ACC championship, Paolo Banchero was asked in an on-camera interview which team he wanted to play. That Senior Night loss in Cameron still rankled, and Duke, 1-1 against the ‘heels this year, wanted a third game. Without any hesitation, Paolo smiled and said “UNC!”. He was appropriately chastised by his coach, who explained that it was an honor to play whomever, etc. In the Arkansas post-game interview, Paolo was again asked if he was rooting for St. Peters or UNC. “No, you are not going to get me again on that!” he laughed. At least not publicly!

Coach K rhapsodized about the beauty and magic of the upcoming Saturday National Semi-Finals. “There’s no greater day in college basketball than when those four regional champions, four champions, get in one arena and play. It’s the greatest day for college basketball, and we’re honored to be a part of it. We already know Villanova is there. … and then whoever wins tomorrow, it will be an honor if we ever get a chance to play them.”So, it is Duke v Carolina for the first time in NCAA history – Coach K’s “Last Hurrah” Tour! Win, lose or draw, this is being a magical season.

*DUKE WINS WESTERN REGIONAL! Mike Krzyzewski heads to his 13th Final Four. Photo Credit: Raleigh News Observer*

Bill’s CliffsNotes

Going into the game, I felt confident that Duke would win because the Blue Devils had more talent and size at every position and because Arkansas was coming off an emotional win against the #1 Seed Gonzaga—and it is difficult to play two exceptional, emotional games back-to-back in this tournament. In addition, every Duke player was playing with increasing confidence — especially Mark Williams, who is the key to the Blue Devil’s defense and offense.

And tonight, Duke proved they could not only come from behind to win, they could also hold a lead and close out the game.

Duke led for most of the first half but struggled to pull away from its persistent opponent. That changed in a flash at the close of the first half, as the Blue Devils stretched a four-point lead to a 12-point halftime advantage in a breakneck final sequence highlighted by freshman guard Trevor Keels’ transition 3-pointer on a selfless assist from Paolo Banchero at the buzzer.

“They’ve been beautiful. They’ve been sensational. And they were really good, ” Coach Krzyzewski said. “I loved them before, but now I respect them so much, how much they’ve done.”

Duke was getting equally important stops on the other end, with Mark Williams patrolling the paint. “Mark really was the difference maker for us today,” Krzyzewski said. “I just tried my best to protect the rim,” Mark said in an understatement. “I thought that was important for us.”

And we saw some more zone defense, a maneuver Coach K said that allows Mark to stay in the lane and protect the rim–another gadget in the toolbox heading to New Orleans. “For this group to do that in that half—because we were not playing well and we were ready to get knocked back. But the last 12 minutes they didn’t get knocked back,” Krzyzewski said. “They played beautiful basketball!”

Duke led by as many as 18 points, at 72-54. The Blue Devils had some sloppy turnovers in the final stretch, but the outcome was never really in doubt during the final ten minutes.

The win was the kind of team victory that makes coaches proud, where everyone contributes . Griffin led Duke with 18 points, two more than Banchero, who had 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Moore added 14 points; Mark Williams 14 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks; Jeremy Roach and Keels 9 points each. Duke out-rebounded Arkansas 34-25 and out-shot them 55 percent to 42 percent. The foul shooting was sensational: 11-11 for Arkansas, 16-18 for Duke. Duke held Arkansas to 6-20 on 3s and their leading scorer J.D. Notae to 14 points on 5-14 shooting.

The Blue Devils have played this tournament not only with increased confidence but also with a purpose that has allowed them to approach their potential—something that eluded them both in the final game of the regular season and in the final of the ACC Tournament.

Coach Krzyzewski : “When you only have them for a year, you’re trying to avoid as much adversity, but in the last 10 days or so of the regular season and the tournament, we experienced a very deep level of adversity. And in some respects, it really helped us. I would rather not have experienced it, but I think it helped us. It hurt, but they grew together, and we all took responsibility and figured out what was wrong, and then we tried to correct it. It was actually, in some respects, a good thing, but that usually happens over a period of time.” When asked to rate where this team is in Coach K’s history, he deflected the question: “Just like I don’t rate my [three] daughters or my [eight] grandchildren, I’m not going to rate [the team]; my other teams might get mad,” Krzyzewski said, “but obviously, this is 1 of 13 that have gone to a Final Four, so they’re right up there.”

ALANALYSIS:

Coach K was asked about his team’s character. Q:“Even with great athletes like these you can’t really tell how they’re going to respond until they’re five down to Michigan State with five minutes to go and when that happened, you learned something significant about them that you didn’t know?” Coach K’s response (slightly edited for clarity), “Your question is a great one, and it really smacks of what’s happened over these last two weeks. … You really find out about character in those situations. It’s not luck. It’s them. That’s what I’m trying to tell you, it’s on them because they’re the ones. No matter what you do as a coach, they have to show that level of character, and in this tournament, it really lifted them. They’ve been beautiful. They’ve been sensational!

In this NCAA Tournament my team has just played such good basketball in pressure situations. I mean, they were a close team before the NCAAs, but during these last four games they have been terrific. I’m so proud of you guys and happy for you. You crossed the bridge! They’ve won a regular season championship, and they’ve won the western regional championship. They did that. They did it for us, and enough about doing it for the old man here. We’re not going to do it unless we all own it, and we all owned this. We all owned this moment together. That’s what we’re playing for.”

The Blue Devils were surprisingly beautiful and shockingly sensational. None of the pundits predicted that Duke would have a 17-point lead over the Razorbacks with only 3:06 left to play in the game. In spite of Duke’s loss of intensity in those last minutes, even the loss of 8 of its 17-point lead didn’t throw the outcome of the game into doubt. The writing on the Blue Devil Mascot’s temporary bandana, turned out to be the best pre-game predictor: “Smells like bacon!”.

THIS TIME, WINNING TIME CAME WITH 13:13 LEFT IN THE GAME

The Important First Half Close

As Bill succinctly described, Duke’s first run, which changed the game, came with 2:14 left in the first half. Duke led by 4 when the Blue Devils got a stop on defense; Paolo hit a 3-pointer (assist from Keels), Mark Williams grabbed a defensive rebound, followed by an offensive rebound that became a dunk (assist from Paolo). With 4 seconds left in the half, Mark grabbed yet another rebound, passed to Paolo, who hit Trevor with the assist for a half-ending 3-pointer and 12-point half-time lead.

The Offense in the Second Half

But the Razorbacks had plenty of fight left. Coach K: “At the start of the second half I thought they just took control of the game, and we were not playing well — they were making us not play well — and got it down to five.” Duke led 53-48 when the Blue Devils called time out with 13:13 remaining in the game. “At that timeout our guys really got organized offensively. We scored on four or five straight. We hit on a set that gave us some good looks, got the ball to Paolo, and then reversed it after a couple to A.J. From then on, we just had control over the game. In the last 12 minutes, as Coach K said, “Duke played beautiful basketball.”

The Defense in the Second Half

Duke held Arkansas scoreless for 3:10 (from 13:13 until there was 10:03 left in the game). Then, Arkansas’s Williams made a dunk to finally give the Razorbacks their 50th point. But in the meantime, Duke had scored 10 points (Paolo 4, A.J. 4, and Wendell 2) to lead by 15 (63-48). It was The Run of the game, from which the broken (Razor)backs never recovered. Duke’s lead maxed out at 18, with 6:31 left in the game, and was still a 17-point lead with just over 3 minutes left.

As Coach K said in classic understatement, “changing the defense helped.” Once again, Duke went to its seldom-used zone defense to stymie a team well-prepared for The Blue Devils’ man-to-man defense. J.D. Notae is the Razorback’s leading scorer, who primarily attacks the basket from the perimeter. The zone defense allowed Mark Williams to protect the rim instead of switching on ball screens as is required in Duke’s man-to-man defense. Mark: “I think going to the zone helped. I think it gave them a different look, slowed them up a little bit. Obviously, [Notae] was trying to get downhill [full steam to the basket] a lot, so I tried my best to protect the rim. I thought that was important for us. I just tried to do that.” Coach K: “One thing with the zone, we’ve just put Mark right in front of the bucket, so he didn’t have to defend the ball screen and then come back there. Look, he was the player [of the game for Duke]. I mean, all these guys played well, but Mark really was the difference-maker for us today.”

Jeremy was asked about how Mark’s ability to protect the rim impacted the perimeter defense. Jeremy: “Talking about Big Mark right here? (Laughing). His presence back there is why we’re one of the top defensive teams in the country. When guys go to the paint, you know he is there to either contest the shot or beat it off the glass. He is a hell of a defensive player. Love having him on the court. Makes it so much easier for the guards to really try to pressure the ball. So, they really don’t have to worry if a guy gets past you, you know the big fellow is always back there to back you up. He is a huge part of this team. We wouldn’t be here without him.

Coach K made a further crucial point: “[Mark’s] defensive rebounding is one of the biggest one or two things in this game. He had nine defensive rebounds, and that’s a possession time; and if you score, a stop and a score, and we needed that. His defensive rebounding along with the blocks, huge.” Duke curtailed the Razorbacks’ offensive rebounding in the second half because of Mark’s dynamic work on the defensive boards.

THE ROTATION WITH MINUTES PLAYED

Paolo Banchero (37:57, including all 20 minutes of the second half)

Paolo was a force all over the court. He scored 16 points (4-11, including 1-2 from 3land, plus a crucial 7-8 from the stripe), grabbed 7 rebounds, handed out 3 assists, and made a steal and a block. He guarded Razorback star Au’Diese Toney, holding him to just 4 points and drawing 4 fouls from him. Outstanding defense!

Paolo: “I was just trying to take my shots and make strong moves. [Toney] was playing solid defense, and I drew two fouls up top on jump shots, but, yeah, I just wanted to be aggressive, and I wanted to get to the line and convert. We needed a boost. I think they cut the lead to five or six, so [I]wanted to make aggressive moves to the basket and either score or get fouled.”

Mark on Paolo: “I mean, I’ve seen it all year. Obviously, [Paolo] is a great player, and we’ve seen that since the beginning of the year. We all know what he is capable of doing every time he steps on the floor. He makes everybody better, and playing with a guy like that, it always makes it a little more fun.”

Wendell Moore, Jr. (36:26)

Wendell scored 14 on 10 shots (5-10 from the field plus 4-4 from the stripe). Moore upped his play in the second half, scoring 8 key points during Duke’s excellent run in the second half. He was thoughtful in the post-game press conference (K was present together with all the Duke starters): “For me it means everything. I preach it all week, but for me it’s been a three-year wait. You come to Duke looking to get to moments like this, and, unfortunately for me, those first two years that moment was taken away [by Covid]. So, to be able to do it with these guys right here, I wouldn’t want it any other way. This moment right here is definitely pretty special to me.” For the NCAA Tournament, Wendell is 16-of-17 (.941) at the free throw line! His closed-eye ritual where he centers himself and locks in appears to be working.

Mark Williams (34:55, including all 20 minutes of the second half)

Mark recorded his 12th double-double this season with 12 rebounds and 12 points (6-of-6 shooting from the field), plus three blocked shots. Mark only took (and made) a single shot in the second half.

Mark has now blocked 16 shots in this NCAA Tournament, tying Shane Battier’s record 16 in 2001 for the most blocks in a single NCAA Tournament by a Blue Devil. And, unlike Shane, Mark still has more games to play. He is shooting .806 from the field (25-of-31) through four games in the NCAA Tournament, which stands as the best field goal percentage by a Blue Devil in a single NCAA Tournament (in order to be counted for the best field goal percentage, the player had to have attempted at least 25 shots).

On one layup, Mark drove and Euro-stepped around a defender. When he was asked about it in the press conference, Mark said, “And then as far as the Euro step, it just happened. Didn’t really think too much. Just made a move and finished the jump.” It was such a graceful move for a 7’1” player and Mark just treated it as nothing special. The announcers, however, knew it was special.

Jeremy Roach (34:47)

Jeremy came back to earth a little bit in this game. He scored 9 points in the game, but only 2 (foul shots) in the second half (3-8 from the field, including 0-1 from deep, which was blocked, plus 3-3 from the stripe). He garnered a rebound and had 2 assists (but 5 turnovers) and 2 steals. It wasn’t his best game, but it has been a great year for Jeremy.

He was asked, “Can you give your emotions on what you guys accomplished tonight after what you have been through?”His response: “Definitely high emotions. Obviously, last year didn’t go as we planned it, but this year we came back hungry. I think just getting to this point, all the hard work has paid off since June, since obviously last year too, and it’s just paid off. I’m very happy for that.”

A.J. Griffin (25:51)

A.J. had a Player of the Game type performance, scoring a team-high 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-3 from three-point range, plus 2-2 from the foul line. A.J. also contributed 3 rebounds, a steal, and a block.

Critically, A.J. led Duke’s second-half scoring with 12 points in the concluding half (5-5 from the field, including 2-2 from deep). Arkansas simply had no answers for A.J. Griffin has scored 10 or more points 23 times – Duke won 21 of those 23 games.

Trevor Keels (24:59)

Trevor scored 9 (4-9 from the field, including 1-4 from 3land) with an assist, a steal, and 2 turnovers. Trevor is returning to form, and was a good Sixth man. He will be needed in New Orleans.

Theo John

Theo played five first-half minutes, effectively spelling Mark. Theo retrieved 2 rebounds in that short stretch. The Duke defense remained stout when Theo played.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS FOR THE UPCOMING FINAL FOUR

The Blue Devils are flying high emotionally as they prepare to head to the Big Easy and The final Final Four of Coach K’s unique career.

duke basketball Coach K cuts down the net — *Cuttin’ down the net as Champions of the West Regional Finals*
*Photo Credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images*

Wendell was asked, “Has it sunk in yet that you’re going to have a banner in Cameron?”

WENDELL: “For sure it’s sunk in. The moment after we won the game, it started sinking in. For us that’s our second banner we’ve hung [the 1st was for the ACC regular season], and the thing is we’re not happy about it. For us the job is not finished. We want to hang one more banner. Two more if we get two games. We for sure want to hang another banner in there.”

It’s nice to see this team has grown mature enough to understand that even though they got handed Final Four swag and all ceremonially cut down the net, this is not the moment to lose focus or intensity.

“We’re going take this five-hour trip back to Durham and going to be happy about it, but once we get in to practice tomorrow or the day after, it’s time to move on.”

Next Play: NCAA Tournament against UNC , in the National Semi-Finals (Final Four) on Saturday April 2 at 839 p.m. EDT in New Orleans; TV: TBS

MOST RECENT GAME

Duke Basketball Playbook (DBP) Duke Blue Devils 77 v University of North Carolina Tar Heels 81 – National Semi-Finals of NCAA Tournament (Final Four); Season 13; Issue 35; Game #39 Duke v. UNC

[This Issue # 35 will cover the National Semi-Final game against UNC. We will publish Issue # 36, a season ending analysis by Friday of this coming week.]

*The many faces of Coach K…which one for Mt. Rushmore?* *Photo credit: Duke Chronicle*

Bill’s CliffsNotes:

If you appreciate basketball and competition, you have to appreciate how the North Carolina Tar Heels responded to adversity during this season and in this game. With a one-point lead and both the game clock and the shot clock winding down, Caleb Love made an NBA-three over Duke’s best defender to seal the deal. It doesn’t get any better than that.

The game lived up to the hype. It came down to making shots and making stops. Carolina did the better job. The Blue Devils couldn’t stop RJ Davis in the first half nor Caleb Love in the second half. North Carolina rallied from a 41-34 disadvantage early in the second half. They were aided and abetted not only by out-rebounding Duke 50-41 but also by Duke’s shooting a woeful 5 for 22 (23%) from beyond the arc and 12 for 20 (60 %) from the foul line. The Tar Heels, on the other hand, made 10 of 26 from 3-point range and 17 of 24 from the line. That’s 15 more points on 3s, five more from the line

.And a Duke team that had made all the big plays down the stretch against Michigan State, Texas Tech, and Arkansas simply could not call upon the magic one more time. For example, Mark Williams, a 75% free throw shooter, missed two free throws that would have given the Blue Devils a one-point lead with 46 seconds to go. Game, set, match, season.

The win gives the Tar Heel fans a full set of bragging rights to claim that they ruined Coach K’s Farewell Tour—bagging both the final game in Cameron and knocking Duke out of the NCAA Tournament—as if these two wins cancels out the fact that he is the winningest Coach in Division One Men’s Basketball and various other sundry records that probably will never be broken– Krzyzewski’s Retirement Tour concludes a career of 1,570 games overall, 1,438 games in 42 seasons at Duke, which include 132 NCAA tournament games. Coach K has won 101 tournament games among his 1,202 games won.

UNC, which was founded in 1789, is one of the three oldest public universities in the country, and has more graduates residing in the state of North Carolina than Duke (established in 1924)has graduates across the entire world. Consequently, they resent Duke and all that it represents—especially anything that threatens “Dean Smith” and “The Carolina Way”. Dean was a terrific coach and, perhaps, even a better man*, but he did not invent the game of basketball. He invented the “Four Corners” offense.

Coach K: “I’ve said my entire career — or when I knew what the hell I was doing — that I wanted my seasons to end where my team was either crying tears of joy or tears of sorrow, because then you knew that they gave everything. And I had a locker room filled with guys who were crying. And it’s a beautiful sight. It’s not the sight that I would want. I’d want the other. But it’s a sight that I really respect and makes me understand just how good this group was.”

*Dean did much in the late 50s and early 60s to integrate Chapel Hill by requiring restaurants to serve all of his players – at some personal risk.

ALANALYSIS:

Introduction

There was never a time in this game that I thought that Duke would lose … until the very last 46 seconds. While Duke was clearly the better team, the better team lost because the Tarheels simply PLAYED better. In this game, Duke lost hold of the magic that Coach K had somehow instilled in the Blue Devils for his last NCAA tournament run. After the Tarheels spoiled Coach K’s farewell at Cameron, and Coach K made such a dramatic speech to his team, I could not envision Carolina beating Duke 2 out of 3 for the season. Well, so much for my pre-game intuition.

All the bugaboos of the regular season came out on Saturday– bad shooting from deep (5-22), bad foul shooting (12-20), giving up critical rebounds to UNC for second (and third, fourth) chance points, and the worst of all, porous defense with the game on the line (UNC scored 47 second-half points, 22 of them by Caleb Love)! Inconsistency plagued Duke all year. For example, A.J. and Jeremy shot a combined 3-18 from the floor, including 0-9 from deep, when each had scored and played brilliantly in the previous four NCAA tournament games. A.J. took only a single shot in the second half (0-1 from deep).

The First Half

Pre-game, I wrote to a friend that the Mark Williams – Armendo Bacot confrontation would be the one that determined the outcome of the game. Mark has had an amazing season. But, so has Bacot. I thought Mark would keep Bacot from his offensive rebounding and protect the rim against the UNC guards. However, Bacot won that matchup in the first four minutes of play, which turned out to settle the question for the entire game –Mark committed his second foul with only 4:41 played and went to the bench for the remainder of the first half. Bacot grabbed 9 first-half boards (4 on offense). The stage was set for Bacot to simply dominate in the second half, and he did just that (21 rebounds for the game, 8 of them offensive).

Duke committed five team fouls in the first 4:58 of play (1 each for Moore, Griffin, and John, plus Williams’s 2), which is a sign of bad defense. Theo John was gallant – 4 boards and 6 points on 3-4 shooting — in replacing Mark, but he committed 4 first-half fouls of his own in his 11:25 minutes.

Duke led by 6 with 1:30 to go when the Blue Devils got sloppy: a Paolo turnover, a missed 3-pointer by A.J., and UNC baskets by Davis and Manek tied the game at 34 before Jeremy closed out the half with a spectacular driving layup and foul shot. Duke led 37-34.

Duke’s Defense

In four of the games that Duke played in March – UNC on Senior Night, and the two ACC tournament wins before losing in the finals to Virginia Tech – Duke’s defense was just plain bad after having been Duke’s primary asset all season. There were two runs in those 4 games that were especially disastrous. The first was on Senior Night against UNC when, with under 13 minutes left in the game, the Tarheels blitzed the Blue Devil defense for 45 points (Duke was outscored by 25 points in that final 12:50). The second was against Virginia Tech in the finals of the ACC tournament. The Hokies outscored the Blue Devils by 11 in the last 6:29 for an 18-point lead. In the NCAA tournament, with the insertion of Jeremy Roach into the starting line-up, Duke played superb team defense in all four games. But that consistently good defense fell apart against UNC. That was caused partly by Duke’s big men fouling so early and frequently, which created the disastrous chaos in the middle of the defense and partly terrific offense by the ‘heels. Duke gave up 47 second-half points.

The UNC run early in the second half was reminiscent of the two disastrous runs described above. Duke led 41-34 with only a minute and 9 seconds having elapsed in the second half when the defensive wheels (and offensive ones too) came off. In 2:53, UNC scored 13 straight points to go from down 7 to leading by 47-41 with 15:58 left in the game. Then the game turned into an instant Duke-UNC Classic, only because Duke’s offense made up for the points the Blue Devil defense allowed to slip through. As Jay Bilas famously intones for every Duke-UNC game, “Duke-UNC NEVER DISAPPOINTS!”

Duke’s defense has relied upon the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Mark Williams, to protect the rim and (lately) and to dominate the defensive backboard. Mark was playing more than 30 minutes a game, shooting lights out from the field and stripe, while blocking and altering shots at the rim. Coach K deemed him “the difference maker” against Arkansas in the Regional Finals. When Mark picked up his second foul with only 4:41 having been played, Duke’s defensive game plan was shattered. Mark played only 4:41 in the first half, scoring 4 points (2-2 from the field) with only 1 rebound and 0 blocked or altered shots. For the game, Mark played only 16:16, being limited to 11:35 second-half minutes, scoring 4 second-half points (2-3) with 3 boards and 2 steals. He blocked 0 shots and had his second-half playing time limited by committing 2 more fouls (total 4) – 3rd one after 5:40 of the second half had been played and the 4th after 9:29 had gone by in the closing stanza. What a disaster! Williams’s woes combined with Theo’s 4 first-half fouls to make the Duke foul disaster that allowed Bacot to simply dominate the interior on both ends. And the Blue Devils made a heroic effort to nearly overcome that fatal disaster. That is why I opine that Duke was the better team.

Duke’s interior defensive troubles were mirrored by the Blue Devil inability to protect the perimeter. Davis in the first half (14 first-half points; 18 for the game) and Love in the second half (22 second-half points; 28 for the game) were the keys to UNC’s shredding Duke’s previously superb NCAA tournament defense.

Winning Time

When Duke tied the game at 47 with 13:51 left in the game, it turned into a Duke-UNC classic. In the second half alone, there were 13 lead changes, and the game was tied 7 times. It was not a classic defensive struggle. Rather, it was amazing offense by each team. UNC scored 34 points in those 13:51 while Duke scored 30. UNC scored on 6 second-chance opportunities from offensive rebounds. UNC led by as many as 5 points, Duke by as many as 2 points. The score was tied at 67 with 4:36 left to play. Paolo was fouled and gave Duke a 1-point lead 68-67 when he converted 1-2 with 3:32 remaining. Love made a layup with 3:03 left. 69-68 UNC. Duke could not manage to score even on three tries in its next possession when Banchero, Roach, and Moore all missed consecutive shots at the rim (Moore and Roach each with an offensive board, but still could not score) Then, Moore fouled Manek, who made 1-2– UNC led by 70-68 with 2:29 remaining. Trevor hit a crucial 3-pointer to put Duke up 71-70 with 2:07 left. Manek responded with a 3-pointer from the corner. UNC led 73-71 with 1:41 to go. Keels missed a 3-point attempt, but Banchero retrieved the offensive board and fed Wendell for a crucial deep 3. Duke 74 v. UNC 73 with 1:18 to go. Williams replaced A.J. in the lineup.

Roach had a foul called at 1:01 that the replays showed was non-existent. Love made them both for a 75-74 Carolina lead. Then came the defining play of the game. Bacot fouled Mark with 46 seconds left; it was Bacot’s fifth foul. Mark stepped to the line (an excellent free throw shooter) with a chance to give Duke a 1-point lead in the final minute. However, he missed not only the first attempt but the second one as well. This was the first moment that I even contemplated that Duke would lose.

Love rebounded and then fired a deep 3-pointer under defensive pressure that went in. 78-74 Carolina with 25 seconds left. Roach roared downcourt for a layup. 78-76 with 19 seconds left. Keels had to foul. Love made only 1-2 so that when A.J. retrieved the rebound, Duke was down 79-76 with 17 seconds left. Trevor drove, scored, and was fouled. However, the referee (correctly) ruled the foul was before the basket; so Keels went to the line for two shots with Duke still down 3. He missed the second one with 10 seconds left in the game. Duke had to foul; Love made them both with 3 seconds left for the winning margin.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Paolo Banchero (39:11 minutes played) – exceeded all pre-season expectations to be one of Duke’s All-Time great freshmen. There is nothing that Paolo does not do well on the court. The focus is (rightfully so) on his scoring from all levels (at the rim, in the post, mid-range, and from deep). He had his 12th double-double of the season scoring 20 points (8-17 from the field, including 2-4 from deep, plus 2-4 from the stripe) to go with 10 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks (one was a beauty against Bacot). He has demonstrated he is unselfish, a superb passer, an improving rebounder, and a competent defender on both the perimeter and near the rim. Moreover, he has been a great teammate according to all reports. Also, an excellent journalist: “We gave it our all, and it sucks we came up short!”

Trevor Keels (29:45 played) – had a great game and absolutely superb second half. He scored 19 in the game (8-14 from the field, including 2-7 from deep, meaning he was 6-6 inside the arc, plus 1-3 from the line.) He led Duke in second-half scoring with 11.

Roach (33:37 played) and A.J.(29:02 played)—both had truly terrible shooting games. A.J. scored only 6 points (1-7 from the field including 0-4 from deep, plus 4-4 from the foul line) to go with 4 rebounds, an assist and 2 great blocks. In the second half, A.J. played only 12:23 and took only 1 shot (he missed a crucial wide open 3 from the corner). Jeremy made 2 field goals – a great drive at the end of the first half and a layup with 19 seconds left in the game for his 8 points (2-11 including 0-5 from 3land and 4-5 from the foul line) to go with 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals.

Moore (37:57 played) – scored 10 points (4-14, including 1-2 from deep and 1-2 from the stripe) to go with 8 rebounds, 3 assists (without a turnover), and 2 steals. He scored 7 of his 10 in the second half.

Small Forward of the Year – The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame today announced Duke junior Wendell Moore Jr., as the 2022 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year.

3 Point Shooting – had been a weakness all year for the Blue Devils. It really caught up with Duke against UNC in the Final Four – 5-22 for the game (2-12 in the first half). A.J. was 0-4; Jeremy was 0-5; and Trevor was 2-7. At least, Wendell was 1-2 and Paolo 2-4. In stark contrast, UNC scored 30 points from deep.

Foul Shooting – UNC was 17-24 for 70% while the Blue Devils were 12-20 (60%). UNC scored 20 more points than Duke from the combination of 3land and the foul line.

Interior play by Duke’s post-up players (The “Big Guys”–Mark and Theo) – which had been great all year – with Mark scoring, blocking shots and rebounding – turned into a foul-plagued disaster – when Mark picked up 2 quick fouls in the first half and two more early in the second half and Theo committed four in the first half – that ultimately cost Duke the game.

Next Play: Jon Scheyer begins his career as Duke’s head coach for the 2022-2023 season

Duke Basketball Playbook 2019-20

Welcome to the eleventh edition of the Duke basketball Playbook. After watching only two exhibition games, it is difficult to make any definitive assessments about this year’s team, except that there is n0 Zion Williamson. But that has been true every year, because he is a once-in-a-lifetime player. However, there is more depth of talented … Continue reading “Duke Basketball Playbook 2019-20”

Welcome to the eleventh edition of the Duke basketball Playbook.

After watching only two exhibition games, it is difficult to make any definitive assessments about this year’s team, except that there is n0 Zion Williamson. But that has been true every year, because he is a once-in-a-lifetime player. However, there is more depth of talented players than recently, just not an obvious top lottery pick—the kind of game changing talent to which we have become accustomed. That doesn’t mean one or two won’t develop into that kind of player. The question is: whom will that be and, more to the point, other than Tre Jones and, possibly, Vernon Carey and Mathew Hurt, whose practice and play will deserve floor time?

Let’s hear what’s on Coach K’s mind: “Well, Zion and RJ are not here. It’s a different approach every year. This group is going to be a unit, not a starting five. Everyone’s gotta be ready to play. I’d call it old school. Like older Duke teams, from years past. Not the (Christian) Laettner, (Bobby) Hurley, or (Shane) Battier, or those guys, but a team that plays really good defense. Our kids want to do that.” [Translation: This will be a coach centric, not player centric, team.]

If history is any guide, unless you can shoot like JJ Redick, defense will be the key to minutes played. We know that Coach K loves point guards and Jordan Goldwire, a demon on defense but who has, shall we say, limited shooting range, has been starting with Tre Jones. That may be an early message to the more highly touted freshmen, because it is hard for me (but not Alan) to imagine he and Tre (who appears not to have improved his three point shot over the summer) playing a lot of minutes together– except if a Louisville-like comeback is needed. We know what Javin DeLaurier (if he stays out of foul trouble) and Jack White (if he found his jump shot in Australia this summer) can do. They are experienced co-captains and will get PT. Wendell Moore, Cassius Stanley (who broke Zion’s vertical leap record but is 100 lbs. lighter) are intriguing players as are the enigmatic but talented Alex O’ Connell and Joey (almost redshirted) Baker, who had a JJ like three point explosion (6-9), 22 points in 21 minutes against Ft. Valley State. It will be interesting to see if he can do that against Kansas in the Garden this Tuesday. As Johnny Tar Heel told me Friday at lunch: “O’Connell, Jack White, and seldom used graduate student Justin Robinson are the only other players who have demonstrated they can throw it in the water from a boat in the middle of the ocean.”

After these exhibitions games, I agree with Buzz Mewhort’s comment that free throw shooting and three point shooting may again be the Achilles Heel of this team– but with no Zion or RJ to bail them out. [Note: This year, the three-point line in college basketball moved from 20’ 9” inches from the center of the basket to the international basketball distance of 22’ 1 ¾”. Fortunately, the free throw line remains unchanged.]

Bottom Line: It’s a long season with more unknowns than knowns. These are teenagers blessed with exceptional physical and athletic skills and but burdened by often unrealistic expectations not only by themselves, but also by their parents, friends, neighbors, and classmates. Their success and failures are broadcast on television twice a week, sometimes more, for all to see and celebrate or critique on social media. Millions of dollars of NBA and shoe money are on the line. And, oh yes, there are classes, homework, term papers, and tests. Then, there is teammate and parental jealousies, girlfriend issues, and being away from the comfort of home. This is a lot of pressure for anyone much less a teenager, no matter how talented, to shoulder.

Stuff happens: Last year’s preseason #1Duke team played it’s best game of the year in the first game of the season destroying #2Kentucky 118-84. They looked hands down like the best team in college basketball. Then, Zion got hurt, RJ wore down, and, for mysterious reasons, Cam Reddish never again was consistently as good as advertised. They won the ACC Tournament beating UNC in the semi’s. At full strength, the last two NCAA Tournament games of the year against Central Florida and Michigan State, were among their worst. In 1991, UNC beat Duke 96-74 for the ACC Championship but three weeks later defeated unbeaten UNLV then Kansas to win the NCAA National Championship. Try to explain these oxymoronic outcomes. They are just some of the fascinating mysteries that makes sports so compelling to follow.

Alan Adds:

Why am I smiling as I excitedly start to write about the upcoming season? I admit I am totally psyched for the coming Duke basketball year. My heresy: “this year’s team will be better than last year’s.” Really? No team has ever had three of the previous year’s starters as lottery picks. How could this team be better?

Last Year

In spite of having Zion and RJ, Duke played a desultory end game in February and March last year. Remember, after the heroic comeback against Louisville on February 13, Duke lost by 16 to UNC on February 21; to Virginia Tech by 5 on February 27; to UNC again by 9 in the season finale in March. In the penultimate regular season game, Duke held off a terrible Wake team by a point on senior night in Cameron, after giving Wake a chance to actually win with 7 seconds left. Winning the ACC tournament was a feat, but may have obscured obvious weaknesses. Duke beat UNC in the semi-finals by a point before defeating Florida State for the title. Florida State had beaten UVA in the semi-finals, which might have dulled their fires for the final. In any event, the Blue Devils were far from impressive in the Big Dance: unimpressive in beating North Dakota State, almost lost to Central Florida (when Dawkins missed the open put back), winning by 1; beat Virginia Tech by 2 after Tre missed the front end of a 1 and 1, which gave the Hokies a wide open bunny at the basket to tie the game; and, finally the loss to Michigan State. Duke’s problem last year is easy to identify. In the modern game, Duke shot thirty percent from deep; last in the ACC by a wide margin and 317 out of 371 Division I teams. Duke also shot under 70% from the free throw line 13th in the 15 team ACC. Those two statistics were Duke’s Achilles heel last year.

My Optimism for This Year

We have seen one half of basketball in an intra-squad scrimmage; and two exhibition games against teams that had no real inside presence (or at least nothing comparable to ACC and National class competition). We have seen 11 players with enough talent to make the rotation and enough inconsistent play to make predicting the starting lineup and rotation next to impossible. Readers know that I love defense and believe it is the key to championships. Duke has many high level defenders who could be part of an extraordinary defense. The best news is that the headlines from coaches and players coming out of practice are all about defense. Here’s my analysis of the pieces of the puzzle that are Coach K’s to use:

The Bigs

There are five: Justin Robinson (6’9” 5^th year senior), Javin DeLaurier (6’10” senior), Jack White (6’7” senior) as well as two highly regarded freshmen, Vernon Carey (6’10) and Mathew Hurt (6’9”).

Vernon Carey – rated 6^th overall last year and 3^rd rated center. He’s down to 250 lbs. from 270 for speed and mobility. In the Blue-White scrimmage, he was the best player on the floor, posting up DeLaurier, scoring inside and out. Coach K said he played mostly on the perimeter in high school, and is just learning to score on the interior. He’s coordinated and a shot blocker. Then, in the first exhibition game, he simply laid a shocking egg, committing 3 offensive fouls in the very early going and only seeing 9 minutes of playing time. In the final exhibition game against a dramatically inferior and smaller team, he started and played very well. I believe he will be a stud by the time Duke is deep in the ACC season.

Mathew Hurt –is rail thin at 215 pounds, but can do everything on a basketball court. He is a scorer and smart player. He can shoot from the outside, has nifty post moves, can pass, dribble, drive, rebound and defend. More than any other player, I want to see how he handles playing against a Nationally ranked team like Kansas, with its powerful front line. The jury is out, but I very much like what I have seen so far.

Jack White – is so valuable. However, his shot deserted him in the second half of last year, which really hurt Duke. He had, by all reports, an excellent summer with the Australian National Junior team. He is best as a rebounder; he is a versatile defender, with no real weaknesses (if his shot goes in this year)

Javin DeLaurier – seems to have acquired the maturity he needs to stop fouling and stay on the floor as the team’s best defender among the Bigs. He will play many crucial minutes. He is not a scorer, but a valued contributor.

Justin Robinson – All laud his value in the locker room as a team builder. I (maybe alone) have seen enough to think there may be a time this year when he is in the rotation. I was impressed that when he guarded Tre Jones on the perimeter in the Blue-White scrimmage when he blocked two of Tre’s shots. He can shoot from the perimeter and is a good rebounder.

Wings and Off Guards

It is very possible that Matt Hurt will play as the small forward with two of the more traditional Bigs up front. The others who will compete for playing time in those positions are Alex O’Connell (6’6”), Joey Baker (6’7”) as well as freshmen Wendell Moore (6’6”) and Cassius Stanley (6’6”).

Joey Baker – had played himself well out of the rotation in the intra-squad scrimmage and the first exhibition game. He looked lost at both ends of the floor. I had him least likely to play until the last exhibition game, when he demonstrated that his reputation as a long range shooter wasn’t an alternative fact. His shot lit up the Duke offense as he led Duke’s scoring. He will get a chance is my prediction. There will be a lot of pressure on his first shot. He clearly has the potential to shoot himself into the rotation.

Alex O’Connell – has shown flashes of skill and talent, but suffers from being inconsistent and sometimes not intense on the defensive end. He has matured and will see time on the floor. As with most, how he takes advantages of his opportunities will dictate his playing time. He has demonstrated hops and driving ability. He can be a bit sloppy with the ball, but has played very well in spots. If he overcomes his inconsistency, he will be a valuable contributor.

Wendell Moore – might be the most athletic player on this squad. He’s been a ball hawk and intense one on one defender on the defensive end. He has played some backup point guard. He is not shy; will shoot from anywhere. He is a ferocious driver, but can be over exuberant. He has perfected the behind the back pass to the press in the front row. A warrior on defense and a work in progress on offense.

Cassius Stanley – the lowest rated of Duke’s freshmen coming out of high school (a 4 star recruit), he has been (to me) the surprise of Duke’s pre-season. I love this freshman and believe that in spite of being the lowest rated, he may turn out to be the most valuable. He’s smooth. He has never seemed rattled to me and has not displayed a freshman like inconsistency. He’s quick (and since he broke Zion vertical leap Duke record), it is clear he has remarkable hops. I have liked his passing, ball handling and defense. He has a terrific handle, makes his free throws and has a high shooting percentage. I will go out on the limb and predict that if he doesn’t start (I think he will), he will be first off the bench. I like my limb.

The ballhandling guards

Tre Jones and his backup (maybe) Jordan Goldwire. When they play together, they make a formidable defensive duo. They have acquired the nicknames: Thing One and Thing Two, for their ferocious pressing defense.

Jordan Goldwire — we saw last season – especially against Louisville and UNC in the ACC tournament – he is a superior defender who can steal the ball, execute the trap, and has amazing intensity. His three point shooting has been woeful, but he has shown an ability to get to the rim with the ball – even against Tre in the scrimmage. I believe he will log major minutes this year.

Tre Jones — as Tre goes, so will Duke go. He has had a slow start. He was outplayed in the scrimmage and has not shot well from the perimeter. Of course, his defense is the best, he handles the ball with aplomb and skill, and has increased his scoring on drives and a pull up mid-range game. Whether he can turn into the player his brother was will depend on his long range shot and his ability to hit free throws at the end of games. He is the player that Duke will rely upon more than any other.

Musing About the Season

Coach K’s starting lineup in the last exhibition game is my bet on who will start against Kansas. Thing One and Two will start in the backcourt with three freshmen up front – Stanley on the wing; Hurt and Carey up front. I think (and fervently hope) that this will be a pressing team that substitutes freely to keep the defensive pressure on. Coach K will do much experimenting before we know who is starting and what the various roles are by February and March (and hopefully April).

In the last years (since the 2015 championship), Duke has been better in November and December than at seasons’ end. I predict that will change this year. I think Duke will have trouble in the early going and jell at the best possible time.

That’s why I’m smiling.

Tuesday November 5 at Madison Square Garden: Duke v Kansas. Game on.

Duke 68 – Kansas 66

A year ago in this nationally televised season opening Champions Classic, Duke’s precocious freshmen played like they belonged in the NBA. Tonight, this new class of freshmen sometimes played like they were suffering from stage fright but the upper classmen led the way with retro Krzyzewski basketball– tough, aggressive defense that trumped (a bridge, not a political, term) sloppy, inconsistent offense. I don’t know if the Blue Devil defense is this good or Kansas big players have hands of stone but the Jayhawks committed 18 first half turnovers and 28 overall. For sure, the defense appears much better than that of the last few years when defense was a seven letter word that seemed like an afterthought and led to (gasp) Duke Playing Zone. While the savvy point guard from appropriately enough Apple Valley (15 pts, 6 assists, 3 steals) led the Blue Devils to this win in the Big Apple, it was the tough Australian senior and co-captain Jack White, who was the enforcer at closing time. Although he hit an important three, it was his shrewd defensive manuevers with 2 steals, a block, and an offensive rebound in the final minute and a half that clinched the win.

All the freshmen settled down and had their moments: Vernon Carey held his own against older, bigger players; Matthew Hurt, hit some big threes but was not a strong presence inside; and Wendell Moore demonstrated unusual versatility and athleticism but was often out of control. However, it was Cassius Stanley, the only Duke freshman who did not to make the McDonald’s All-America team, who stepped into the spotlight in the second half going 5-6, including 2 dunks and a three for 13 points to spark the second half resurgence. In addition, Alex O’Connell contributed both offensively AND defensively. Of the top ten players, only Joey Baker, coming off a sensational shooting performance, did not receive any playing time.

Other Comments:

Both teams struggled from the foul line with Kansas going 16 for 26 and Duke 14 for 23. Only Ty Jones’ 5-5 at the end made Duke’s semi-respectable.

The win ended a three-game Duke losing streak to Kansas and extends Duke’s all-time record in the rivalry to 8-5. It also ran Duke’s record to 6-3 in the Champions Classic.

At games in Madison Square Garden, Duke is now 36-18 all-time and now 70—27 when playing in the greater New York City area. Under Coach Krzyzewski, they are now 31-11 at MSG and 33-18 in games between top-five teams.

Alan Adds:

As the announcers make unnecessarily clear, this year’s Duke basketball team will be a work in progress for most of this year. As Bill emphasized, Duke’s defense, which has been distressingly un-Coach K like in the past several years, looked exceedingly formidable. The Devils doubled the post frequently and effectively (except for one stretch in the second half). It was coordinated team defense, led, of course, by Tre’s on the ball defense. But Tre had plenty of help from his energetic teammates, who pressed and switched, giving Kansas fits and creating the raft of Jayhawk turnovers.

The game began to answer the intriguing questions about this team. Who will earn minutes, start the games, be on the court at crunch time are all open questions. I thought last night’s game against Kansas, especially the second half, began to illuminate some answers. The second half was winning time (obviously), but also where Duke faced its first real adversity of the season (down 9 as Kansas ran off 13 in a row). How Duke responded to that, fought tooth and nail for the entire half, and prevailed at the end with Tre Jones doing his best Tyus Jones imitation. With Duke leading 62-61 and 1:34 left in the game, Tre scored Duke’s last 6 points with a tough mid-range jumper followed by 4 clutch free throws to clinch it. Duke also established a Big 3. Tre played all 20 minutes (39 for the game), while Vernon Carey was on the floor for 17 minutes and Cassius Stanley for 16. Both Stanley and Carey played exceedingly well and got timely help from Jack White (11 minutes of scintillating play after a sub-par first half) and Alex O’Connell (whose 12 minute second half contributions were on the floor and defense – a very good sign) and Matt Hurt. Hurt made 2 huge 3 point shots in his 10 minutes on the floor, but had trouble competing on the interior (a single rebound). Alex scored 9 in the game; 7 in the first half. Wendell Moore (6 minutes, a rebound, a foul and 2 turnovers), Jordan Goldwire (5 minutes; 0-1), and Javin (who managed to commit 2 fouls and miss his only field goal attempt and both free throws in just 3 minutes) contributed little in the final stanza. Javin continued his foul prone defense committing 4 in only 12 minutes.

Cassius Stanley’s second half deserves special attention. As I predicted in the pre-season edition of the DBP, in addition to his excellent defense Stanley was the Devil’s offensive stud in the second half. One play stood out for me. Stanley was after a loose ball heading out of bounds off Duke. He grabbed it on the sideline and staggered for balance. He maintained that balance enough to throw an accurate pass, giving Duke an extra possession. Incredible athletic skill. His second half was awesome (11 points on 4-4 shooting; 1-1 from deep; and 2-3 from the foul line). He was Duke’s anchor facing that 9 point deficit. With 14:35 left in the half, the Jayhawks had forged a 46-37 lead. Carey and Hurt made back to back 3s (both on assists from Tre) to trim the lead to 3. Cassius then scored 8 straight points – the first two on dunks (great passes from Tre on each) followed by 1-2 from the line and a 3 pointer. Duke was back in the fray fighting toward the end. With Duke trailing by a deuce with under 3 minutes to play, Stanley scored from the field on a tough shot and completed the 3 point play to give Duke the 62-61 lead that set the stage for Tre’s heroics. Carey was the glue to Duke’s interior game. He helped Duke answer another big question: does this team have the inside presence to compete with national class front lines.

The answer was a qualified yes, with the emphasis coming from Carey. It was almost as if it took him a half to understand how big and powerful the Kansas front was. Then Carey’s athleticism (2-2 on 3 point attempts) took over and he led Duke on the interior both on defense and offense. His development will be a huge factor in how this season turns out. Jack White was superb in the second half and Matt Hurt played well and will get better. Let’s hope this was just an aberration for Javin.

It was a wonderful start to a season of questions.

Next game: Colorado State on Friday (11-8).

Duke 89 – Colorado State 55

After one very difficult game in a very difficult venue and one not so difficult game in a very friendly venue, Coach K stayed true to his word prior to the season that due to the team’s “balance” the Blue Devils would not have a go-to starting five. [Translation: There is no Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Marvin Bagley III, Wendell Carter or Jayson Tatum like there were during the last three seasons However, we have depth and talent, so I am going have to be a real coach again.] Consequently, Krzyzewski will shift different players and/or groups of players in and out until he finds what works against a particular team on particular night. Krzyzewski’ somewhat puzzling analogy: “It’s like a musical. When you have a few guys that are NBA ready, they sing most of the songs and have all the dances. With this group, is more like an ensemble. It’s, okay, knock our socks off with how you’re doing it. That’s why I said it’s more of an old-school, retro[team]. It’s built on defense.”

A case in point: In both games, defense kept the Blue Devils in the game until some one or two players developed an offensive rhythm and demanded the spotlight. Against Kansas it was Cassius Stanley, supported by Tre Jones, and Jack White. Tonight, it was a late first half surge by starters Jones, O’Connell, & Stanley teamed with non-starters DeLaurier & White in place of Carey & Hurt. Suddenly, the lead doubled to 12 points. By the time the half was over, Duke had scored the game’s last 10 points to lead by 16. The Blue Devils forced 8 Colorado State turnovers over the first nine minutes of the second half. Think about that. A lead that was six points with 2:18 left until halftime was now 24 just 3:21 into the second half. In less than six minutes of actual play, Duke quadrupled its lead. That is a classic Duke Run to which Blue Devils fans have become accustomed from their best teams. “That group at the end of the half really played the best eight minutes of the game– the last four minutes of the first half and first four minutes of the second half,” Krzyzewski said. “Jack, Javin, Alex, Cassius, and Tre just found a rhythm defensively and offensively and boom we had it.”

This wasn’t a particularly good night for Carey and Hurt. The 6-10, 260-pound inscrutable Carey scored 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting but fouled out in just 15 minutes of play. Afterwards, he was very analytical: “I have to adjust to the calls, really, and the playing style, because, for instance, this game was completely different from the last game where we played Kansas just physical wise and call wise. I have to learn to adjust to that.” Hurt had 9 and 5 rebounds in 22 minutes. White and DeLaurier only combined for 7 points, but their play meshed well with Jones, O’Connell and Stanley.

The bottom line is that chemistry and defense usually win close games. Take another look at the picture above. Did you notice Jack White lying unconscious in the paint? He and roommate Javin DeLaurier crashed into each other lunging for a loose ball. Jack got the worst of it, but Javin recovered to contest the shot along with Alex O’Connell (aka. AOC). That, folks, is tough defense.

Other Comments:

Despite a team of McDonald All-Americans, three point shooting and free throws (60%) again appear to continue to be a frustrating weakness with the Duke Blue Devils. Duke was 4-for-22 from long range against Colorado State. O’Connell made three of them. The rest of the team was 1-for-16.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski announced Thursday that fifth-year senior Justin Robinson has been named a captain for the 2019-20 season. Robinson, a graduate student at Duke University, is in his fifth year on the Duke men’s basketball team. He will join sophomore captain Tre Jones and senior captains Jack White and Javin DeLaurier on the Blue Devils’ newly-created Leadership Council. Robinson, whose NBA All Pro father David rarely misses a game, is from San Antonio, Texas, holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and is pursuing his master’s degree in management students in Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.

Highly touted Carolina freshman Cole Anthony (UNLV’s Greg Anthony’s son) has had an impressive two games, scoring in the 30’s. However, he took 40 percent of UNC’s shots against Notre Dame and 33 percent against ECU. When I pointed this out to Johnny Tar Heel, he said that is because nobody else on the team can shoot. However, Roy’s Boys have had a number of injuries and are short- handed.

Alan Adds:

The Defense

Before the Kansas game fades from memory, just how remarkable the Duke defense was in that game should be examined. This was the first game of the season and Duke was a very different group from last year. I went back to look at portions of the Kansas game. The sophistication and cohesion of the Duke defense would have been remarkable at season’s end for a veteran team, like Virginia. Duke negated Kansas’s inside advantage by doubling the post on almost every post possession. Yet the post player could not find an open man … because there wasn’t one. Duke’s switching and anticipation was almost magical. I found myself a bit disappointed by the defense in this game. There were missed assignments and Colorado State did get a bunch of open looks. Duke played really hard, but there was a Kansas like intensity that was missing by a small notch or two.

But wait a minute. Duke held the Rams to 26 first half points, and 32% shooting for the game, while forcing 18 turnovers (12 steals). Moreover, the defense allowed only 2 offensive rebounds. The reality of the rout is the defense simply gutted Colorado State, both physically and spiritually. The Rams had to work so hard just to avoid steals on every possession. After the early run in the second half, Colorado State was emotionally done. The defense did all that; so, maybe I overreacted.

The Rotation

There is growing clarity to Coach K’s rotation. Alex O’Connell has emerged and has played his way into starting. He has been the most improved veteran. It seems the coach has settled on a starting perimeter of Tre, Cassius, and Alex. They all excelled last night. Cassius has been a highlight; and Tre has been all we hoped for (except from deep). Wendell Moore will be first off the bench on the perimeter. He is so athletic and exuberant on the court that he will get minutes. He can turn the ball over from anywhere, but he can also dazzle. I believe Coach K will be patient with him and he will blossom before February. Jordan Goldwire will spell Tre when there is that luxury, and come in for defense in pressing situations. The interior is more muddled.

Coach K mentioned many players in his press conference, but not Matt Hurt or Vernon Carey. The co-captains earned praise for their amazing performance in the 8 minutes that Bill described so well. But Duke needs Vernon Carey. He may have fouled out in his 15 minutes, but take a look at his stat line for those 15 minutes. He scored 11 on an efficient 5-5 from the floor and 1-1 from the line. He grabbed 3 boards, blocked 2 shots and had a steal. He wasn’t mentioned because he turned it over 3 times while committing 5 fouls. Coach K has many ways of motivating his freshmen. White (especially if his shot ever returns) and Javin have great value, but for Duke to be a force at tournament time, the freshmen – especially Carey – have to mature and develop.

The Offense

While the offense overwhelmed an inferior team – gutted by early second half – the offense is developing. But it seems like de ja vu all over again with the abysmal 3 point shooting and the sub-par foul shooting. Last year we kept saying that the players were too talented to keep shooting so badly. It should be fixable, but if it is not fixed it will be fatal to championship dreams.

An interesting insight

Coach K explained why he elevated David Robinson to captain. He said that with Team USA, there was a “leadership council” of a few players. “It doesn’t matter whether you call it leadership council or co-captains. It gives a chance for analysis, planning and chemistry.” They meet every Monday. Another example of Coach K’s genius.

Central Arkansas on Tuesday (7:00 ACC Network) and Georgia State on Friday.

DUKE 105 – CENTRAL ARKANSAS 54

Duke’s Wendell Moore Jr. (0) forces a turnover by Central Arkansas’ Rylan Bergersen (1) during the first half on Tuesday, November 12, 2019 at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.

Since this was such a lopsided game, we will summarize this and Friday’s Georgia State game on the weekend.

Of note: After a first half head to head collision, Tre Jones is apparently OK and, shockingly, #1 Kentucky lost at home to Evansville 67-64. (It’s still very early in the season.)

DUKE 74 – GEORGIA STATE 63

Attention to detail is one of the reasons Coach K is who he is. For instance, he schedules teams like Central Arkansas and Georgia State, etc. for a reason. It is because there are a lot of talented basketball players who are not quite big enough or who, for some other reason, never were on the recruiting radar of the big programs (Stephen & Seth Curry) but who play at smaller schools like Evansville, Wofford, Belmont, Lehigh, Davidson, and UMBC– small, quick talented teams who, with the benefit of the three point line, play a different style of basketball (sort of a college version of the Golden State Warriors) and on any given night can and have beaten the best teams in the country. Just ask Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, and Virginia. These are the kind of teams a high seed often play the first rounds of the NCAA Tournament and they benefit from the experience of defending a team much different than the typical ACC opponent.

The two games this week demonstrated the logic of this approach. The game against Central Arkansas was a no-problem blowout; the first half against Georgia State was anything but. The Blue Devils were fortunate to be up by two at the half as G State hit 50% of their threes, forced as many turnovers as Duke, had as many steals, and only Tre Jones and Vernon Carey seemed to be able to put points on the board. Fortunately, in the second half Joey Baker’s two consecutive threes sparked a patented Duke run that more or less put the game away.

Ever since Coach K has been successfully recruiting one-and-done players, I have been surprised by what relatively mediocre defenders, free throw and three point shooters many of these uber rated players generally have been. Perhaps, it is because until this level, they had been so much better than their competition, they could just out score opponents with sheer athleticism—or, perhaps, they had an eye on their NBA draft status. Whatever the reason, this year’s Duke class appears different, because defense is their calling card—and it is a good thing, because, as Friday’s game demonstrated, right now collectively they appear offensively underwhelming—especially for a top rated team with a target on their back. When Tre Jones is scoring half your points and has the only threes of the half, and, for the entire game, the team only shoots 34% from the floor, 59% from the charity strip, and 25% from three–Holy JJ Redick, Batman, this team better be able to play defense! My take is that only Jones and Carey are irreplaceable starters and until any of the other eight candidates develop more confidence and consistency, the other three spots will be musical chairs. For a Duke fan, the frustrating aspect of all this is that what used to be a four year development process has, in many cases, been compressed into one year.

An early season assessment:

Tre Jones– A sheer joy to watch. The consummate point guard. A wonderful teammate. Sets the tone at both ends of the floor. Not to worry: Anyone who hits nearly 80% of their free throws has the skill set to hit threes.

Vernon Carey – As large and strong as an NFL lineman but athletic and an unusually soft touch for a big man. Mature and analytical. Needs to get more comfortable in the post (missed two point blank dunks last night) and not always go left. Has to be on the floor for thirty minutes or more in big games.

Cassius Stanley – Least highly rated of this year’s class but, perhaps, has the most upside. His 45” vertical leap broke Zion’s Duke record but is about 100 pounds lighter and a much different player. By far best frosh defender. Has multiple game changing skills. Doesn’t seem to quite understand how good he can be but stay tuned.

Matthew Hurt – Terrific touch and range for someone 6’ 9” but lacks strength. When that comes, he will have Laettner-like abilities to stretch the floor and impact the game.

Jack White – Aussie Tough but last year lost his shooting touch somewhere in the Outback. Nevertheless, look for this senior to be in at the end of close games. If his shot ever comes off vacation, he will start, because Coach K loves his physicality and toughness and ability to defend 1-5.

Javin DeLaurier – Tough defender in the paint and in the open floor but has difficulty staying on the floor and not fouling out. Really blossomed at the end of last year but has not attained that same consistency this year. I’m betting the senior co-captain will be a valuable contributor.

Alex O’Connell– The junior has improved his defense and could well start if he can hit open shots and maintain his focus. He and Stanley are the most explosive players on the team.

Joey Baker – Joey may be the wild card of the group. He appeared to fall out of favor early but may have shot himself back into favor Friday with his two timely threes and intense defense. For sure, this team will see a lot of zone defenses and Joey may be the best available antidote to that.

Wendell Moore – Those who evaluate Blue Chip talent love his size and athleticism and aggressiveness. Except for flashes, he has been a bull in the china shop and until he relaxes and lets the game come to him, it is tough to see Coach K risk using him in close games.

Jordan Goldwire– Solid sub for Jones. Coach K loves him. A lot to admire, except his shot. Cannot see he and Jack White on the floor at the same time as Jack is a more physical and versatile defender and rebounder.

Having proffered all the above, the reality is that right now Duke is undefeated, Kentucky & Kansas have one loss each and, for whatever it means, next week the Blue Devils will probably be ranked the number one team in the country. However, we will have a much better take on this team late December 3^rd, after Duke plays pre-season #1 Michigan State in East Lansing. Whatever that outcome, Duke fans can anticipate another exciting season with high expectations but with the knowledge that it is a long, tough journey to another national championship. However, buckle your seat belt, the Blue Devils have a very deep, talented team, and a coach much like the legendary Alabama football Coach Bear Bryant of whom it was said: ” He can take his’n and beat your’n, and then he can turn around and take your’n and beat his’n.”

Alan Adds:
Duke maybe atop the polls at the moment, but do not be fooled. Right now this is a team of potential, that may or may not jell into a National contender, but certainly not a team that has “arrived” and deserves to be considered as momentarily the best in the nation. The ascendancy was fueled by: 1) Duke’s feisty performance and sophisticated defense displayed in the win over highly ranked Kansas; 2) the defensive full court pressure that produced turnovers at a jaw dropping rate against non-competitive Colorado State and the first on campus game of the tournament versus Central Arkansas. Georgia State was a reality check and evidence that this team has a long way to travel toward the goal of National contender. The first half of the Central Arkansas game illuminated the defensive potential (amazing) of this team. Georgia State illuminated the strength of what Coach K calls “human nature”, as well as the nature of competition itself, and the danger of a team beginning to believe the press clippings about its prowess.

Central Arkansas first half: Duke 57 v CA 20

Duke unleashed a press of almost unmatched fury and played scintillating and suffocating defense. Central Arkansas made only 5 field goals while committing 15 turnovers. With 1:07 left in the half, Duke led by 41 (57-16). CA scored the last 4 points in a minute to get to 20 at the half. It was a tour de force (except for the 12 first half fouls committed by Duke). The offense thrived off of the defensive pressure shooting 60% from the field; 50% from 3land; and 5-6 from the stripe.

I know my attitude was bad. I invited my daughter to watch the game with me and told her “it won’t be a competitive game.” I suspect that deep down, the Duke players believed that as well. It made for (hopefully) a needed lesson for growth and allowed Coach K to explain to the press that no team “is supposed to win”.

Coach K’s Wisdom

“Nobody is supposed to win or supposed to lose, you’re not ordained to win or lose, that’s why it’s called competition. People who compete and work hard turn out to be winners, and those who don’t turn out to be the team that the winners beat. That’s just the way it is and that’s what makes competition so good. In our sport, our sport is more prone to upset than any because there are just five people out there, so there’s age, athleticism, maturity, all those things, depth and a lot of things where people can make up differences. That’s why there are a lot of so-called upsets in our sport. A lot of people can win and you have to be ready to play all those people.”

Coach K’s point was Duke was not ready to compete against Georgia State. “They didn’t approach [today] with the intensity they needed to. I’m not saying they weren’t ready; they weren’t ready at the level they needed to play Georgia State. …In the past couple of games coaches have come in here and said how hard Duke plays, and those are great compliments. That’s our calling card. If you show up and don’t play hard that gives a lot of confidence to the other team – “Oh, they’re not who we thought they were”. So, if we don’t come out and match or exceed that effort, we’re giving our opponent momentum right from the start. I thought that was evident right away tonight because we weren’t strong with the ball. Not that Georgia State wasn’t confident, but their confidence grew.”

“I thought they were tougher than we were by far in the first half. We were not ready for that level of intensity from our opponent. Obviously in the second half we matched or exceeded it, and that’s why we won.”

Georgia State

The Bad

Javin DeLaurier committed 4 fouls in his 6 minutes of playing time while missing both field goal attempts and committing 2 turnovers; (he did grab 4 boards and had a block; 1-2 from the foul line). The five Duke players who logged 20 + minutes (Jones all 40; Carey, 34; Stanley, 28, Hurt, 22 and Jack White, 21) could be considered the starters. While Tre and Carey carried Duke (scoring 51 of Duke’s 74 points), the other 3 scored only 14 points on a collective 4-20 from the floor including 1-10 from behind the arc and 3-6 from the line. Duke had 17 turnovers against only 13 assists. The Blue Devils shot 34% from the field; 25% from behind the arc and a demoralizing 59 % from the line. Tre was 7-10 from the line but missed all 3 front ends of his 1 and 1 attempts. The defense gave up 5-10 from deep in the first half. Coach K pointed out that Duke allowed Georgia State open looks from the corner even though it was a point of pre-game strategy to stop that particular shot. In the second half, Duke clamped down and allowed only 2 attempts from deep (they both missed). Wendell Moore and Alex O’Connell had disappointing games. In 12 minutes, Alex failed to score (0-3; 0-2 from deep) or get to the foul line. He had an assist against 2 turnovers (4 rebounds), while Moore was 1-5 (0-1 from deep without a free throw attempt) in his 11 minutes. His two steals were matched by his 2 turnovers. He too had 4 boards. Goldwire was 0-2 in his 11 minutes (0 points; no free throw attempts). Duke’s defense revived in the second half.

The Good

Tre Jones had the best game of his career at Duke and virtually willed Duke to win. With the score tied at 40 early in the second half, Jones took over, scoring 10 of Duke’s next 11 points. Jack White’s only point (1-2 from the line) and Moore’s only field goal moved Duke out to a 13 point lead (53-40). Joey Baker hit 2 key 3s from the corner to push the lead to 16. In his 15 minutes, Baker had 8 points (3-6; 2-5 from deep). He didn’t add any other stats.

Vernon Carey was a beast and Duke dominated the back boards. In 34 minutes, Carey shot 50% from the floor (7-14) but not much better from the foul line (6-11). He will be at the line frequently and must improve that part of his game. He led Duke in rebounding with 14 (7 offensive). He blocked 2 shots, and had a steal while he committed only 2 fouls (perhaps the freshman should be tutoring senior DeLaurier). White had 10 rebounds and played just superb defense. I believe he will start ahead of Hurt because of his defense and rebounding. If only his shot would start to find the range.

Duke grabbed a monster 30 offensive rebounds (Coach K ruefully pointed out the downside of that positive stat, “we missed a lot of shots”). Duke took 73 shots to score 74 points. Inefficient at best. But they won! Kentucky lost to Evansville; winning is not ordained. Duke overcame “human nature”; Kentucky did not. Now it is back to New York and Madison Square Garden for the tournament finals. Duke plays California while Texas faces Georgetown on Thursday November 21. The winners and losers will meet the following night.

Coach K on playing at Madison Square Garden:

“It’s every kid’s dream to play there and every coach’s dream to coach there. I still get a thrill. Everything is different; the ball sounds different when it bounces; the public address announcer sounds different. “The basketball gods play pick up there at 2-3 o’clock in the morning.”

Note: DBP has a new blog site: dukebasketballplaybook.com, which is a collection of all the Duke games starting with the 2010-11 championship season.

Duke 87 – University of California 52

Duke 81 – Georgetown 73

We learned a lot about this team and its players in this two game tournament in the spotlight of Madison Square Garden:

Whether against a mismatched Cal-Berkley or a very talented, very dangerous Georgetown team, Vernon Carey proved he a top NBA lottery pick and the one indispensable player for Duke to be a legitimate championship contender.

This team has a disconcerting habit of starting sluggish offensively but not defensively; however, it has a good habit of finishing off games at closing time—probably, in part, because they wear opponents down.

Wendell Moore had a breakout game which demonstrated why he was rated so highly by the scouts and why Coach K kept giving him an opportunity calm down and get comfortable with his teammates. He is tough, fearless, multi-talented, and seizes the moment.

Cassius Stanley can do a lot more than just elevate 46” from the floor. His stroke is silky smooth, he plays defense, and rebounds tougher than his choir boy appearance–he is a playmaker.

Although he had a SportsCenter dunk in the Cal game, Alex O’Connell has not consistently taken advantage of the playing time given to him at the beginning of the season. However, Joey Baker is playing himself into role as designated three point shooter.

Tre Jones may be offensively inconsistent but he more than makes up for it with his defense and leadership.

Coach Krzyzewski may be 71 years old but is still one hell of a bench coach. He continues to shake up his starters, auditioning his fifth different lineup in the fifth game of the season but replacing the highly touted Matthew Hurt when it was apparent tonight he was physically overmatched. And how many times did Duke score after a timeout on an out of bound’s play? Over the years, Duke players take advantage of the rules and are rarely out of control. On the other hand, the Hoya players never did adjust to how the game was being called and were in the foul penalty almost a quarter of the game, limiting the minutes of center Omer Yurtseven, Georgetown’s best player and talented guard Mac McClung. Granted offensive charges are tough, judgement call but best not put a ref in that position. Coach Ewing grew incensed over what he considered bad or inconsistent calls. In truth, they did effect the game as part of Duke’s plan was to get Georgetown’s 7-0 center Omer Yurtseven, the former N.C. State player, in foul trouble, which they did. In fact, he didn’t so much as take a shot in the first half but scored 21 points after the break—most of which were when Vernon “The Tank” Carey was on the bench with three and four fouls.

Think the freshmen are settling ? Stanley (21), Carey (20), Moore (17) and Jones (13) combined for 71 of Duke’s 81 points. Jack White played his usual tough all-around game and Joey Baker gave Duke five big first-half points. But Duke’s four upperclassmen combined for 5 points, 6 rebounds, 1 for 10 shooting and 8 fouls, with only White playing more than 13 minutes.

Alan Adds:

DUKE 87 – CAL 52

DEFENSE! Defense! It was back in intensity, quickness and fluidity to the wonderful defensive effort of the Kansas game. Dan Dakich (color announcer) was continually pointing out the sophisticated switches (“There were three beautiful switches on that one defensive set.”) and superb help that was the calling card of this defense. (“Look how many players moved in to block that drive.”) The defensive intensity just sucked the guts out of California. Dakich: “Look how far out Cal has to initiate its offense. That’s the Duke defensive pressure.” Dakich played for Knight at Indiana and had this insight that resonated with me. He said Duke was playing “old fashioned” defense, and cited the West Point teams coached by Knight when now Coach K (but then just Mike) was his captain and point guard. I saw those Army teams, which were astounding defensively. It made me smile in agreement.

Cal was a perimeter oriented, three point shooting team. Duke’s pressure took it away; Cal was able to launch only four attempts from behind the arc in the first half (10 for the game). Open looks for the Golden Bears were very hard to come by. Duke created turnovers and had many deflections.

For some reason the offense could not get untracked for almost half of the first half (causing Bill to call me wondering why the Blue Devils couldn’t shoot). Duke had only 6 points after 9 minutes of play, and tied the game at 8 at the half way point of the first half. You did read that correctly. Then the offense started cooking. The Devils scored 31 points in the second part of the opening half and 47 in the second half. That’s 78 points in ¾ of a game.

I’ll write this before the Georgetown game, but readers will have the benefit of knowing how the Georgetown game went. Georgetown presents a completely different type of team. They are big inside and will test Carey (not to mention DeLaurier and White) as Cal did not have the horses to do. Duke crushed Cal on the boards. Carey was astounding – 31 points in only 23 minutes of action (11-18; 1-1 from deep; 8-9 from the stripe, to go with 12 rebounds (6 offense and 6 defense) and 4 blocked shots, defending the rim. He was not only an offensive stud, he anchored the defense. How he does in the second of back to back games against a powerful front line will be illuminating.

A rebound worth mentioning: Stanley soared so high for one rebound in traffic that it was replayed. After a breathless “Wow!”, Dakich said wistfully to his announcing partner, “Wouldn’t you like to have done that, just once!”

DUKE 81 – GEORGETOWN 73

The First Half

Georgetown presented a very different and much more formidable challenge than did Cal. It was simply a sloppy first half, in which Duke depended completely on Carey to remain competitive (tied at 33 at the half). In 15 first half minutes, Carey scored 16 of Duke’s 33, grabbing 5 first half boards, and drew 2 quick fouls on Georgetown 7 foot center Omer Yurtseven. Yurtseven, who transferred from NC State, was limited to 7 minutes and 0 points in the opening stanza. Duke was winning inside even though both Carey and De Laurier committed 2 fouls – Javin in only 5 minutes of first half playing time. He committed 3 more, fouling out in 8 second half minutes. Duke committed 12 first half fouls – both Tre Jones and Cassius Stanley also had 2. The Georgetown perimeter completely outplayed Duke; Georgetown guards torched Tre and held him completely in check (0-4; 0-1; 2-2) with 2 assists and 2 turnovers. Georgetown starting guards scored 18 first half points. The second half was the game, and illuminated both Duke’s strengths and weaknesses.

The Second Half

The Rotation

Except for a scoreless two minute cameo by Joey Baker (5 points in 8 first half minutes) and 8 foul plagued minutes from Javin, Duke played Carey (13 minutes), Tre (the full 20 minutes) Wendell Moore, Cassius and Jack White each logged 19 minutes. Georgetown turned the interior around and dominated. Yurtseven torched the Blue Devil interior defense for 21 second half points on 13 shots from the field in 17 minutes. He reduced both DeLaurier and Carey to “ineffective”. I think Carey was gassed. He took only 4 shots (1-4) missed key free throws (2-6), which to me signified “tired”. After Javin fouled out, he hung in with 4 fouls but his aggression was diminished on both ends of the floor. Neither Hurt, O’Connell, nor Goldwire played at all in the second half, after each was scoreless in the opening stanza. So much for the “new deep bench”.

The Offense

Duke scored 48 second half points and led by 14 (77-63 after a corner 3 by Cassius Stanley), with only four and a half minutes left. Duke and its offense were humming. (44 points in a little over 16 minutes). The two freshmen, who just blossomed to lead this scoring burst were Stanley and Moore. Cassius was beyond wonderful, scoring 20 second half points on 6-9 shooting that included 3-3 from deep (wide open good shots) and 5-5 from the foul line. He added 7 second half rebounds to achieve a stat line he will remember. Moore supplied much ball handling to help Tre and made some superb drives to the basket to keep Duke’s control of the game even as the defense was unable to stop the Hoyas’ inside game. Wendell scored 11 in the closing period on 4-6 from the field (1-1 from deep and 2-2 from the line) and played superb defense. Tre also had 11 second half points, scoring the first two field goals of the second half as Duke broke the tie and took a lead that was never relinquished. He was only 1-7 after the two opening baskets, but was 5-6 in crucial foul shots. Stanley, Moore and Tre combined for 42 of Duke’s 48 second half points (Carey’s 4 and Jack White was 2-2 from the foul line).

Duke’s lead shrunk from 14 with 4 and ½ minutes to go to 4 with 42 seconds left, before Tre and Stanley each went 2-2 from the line for the final margin. It is an old axiom in basketball that pressing teams do not like to be pressed. Georgetown’s desperate press in the last 5 minutes was frighteningly effective. Duke started turning the ball over (Moore committing 4 and White 3 — The Devils had 11 second half turnovers). I suspect that there will be some intense practices in the coming days to fix that obvious weakness.

Besides the lack of poise and ball handling against the Hoya press, a troubling aspect was the failure of the upper class players to score. White had 5 (in 33 minutes). O’Connell, Goldwire and DeLaurier failed to score in the game. Add the 0 in 5 first half minutes for Matt Hurt (his only minutes of the game) and instead of a deep bench, the reserved gave little support.

The Defense

Duke gave up 40 second half points because Yurtseven was simply unstoppable on the blocks. Double teams did not slow him. But Duke continued to force turnovers and tightened up its perimeter defense to make for what would have been a comfortable win, if the offense had not succumbed to the Hoya press.

One More Concern Moving Forward

Duke committed 21 fouls, most either were on offense or trying to compete on the interior. The offense turned it over 21 times – 10 in the sloppy first half and 11, primarily against the press in the second half.

Upcoming

Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday November 26 (at 9 pm EST) and Friday November 29 against Winthrop (7 pm EST) to get ready for a formidable December schedule.

Stephen F. Austin 85 – Duke 83 (Overtime)

Duke 83 – Winthrop 70

Washington, D.C., November 27th, 12:05 am. My cell phone rings. Immediately, I recall back in the day telling our teenage kids that nothing good happens after midnight, so best be home by that time. However, it wasn’t a teenager with bad news, it’s Johnny Tar Heel asking what is Stephen F. Austin and where is it? I tell him I don’t know and why is he asking. He replies that someone with this name just beat Duke in overtime. I tell him it’s too late for jokes, I didn’t have video access to the game, but last I checked Duke was up 15, hung up, then check my ESPN app to find out it’s no joke nor bad dream. Duke had experienced one of, if not the, worst upsets in NCAA history– Right up there with Chaminade and Ralph Sampson’s Virginia.

Some weeks ago I wrote, in part, Coach K schedules teams like Central Arkansas and Georgia State, etc. for a reason. It is because there are a lot of talented basketball players who are not quite big enough or who, for some other reason, never were on the recruiting radar of the big programs (Stephen & Seth Curry) but who play at smaller schools like Evansville, Wofford, Belmont, Lehigh, Davidson, and UMBC– small, quick talented teams who, with the benefit of the three point line, play a different style of basketball (sort of a college version of the Golden State Warriors) and on any given night can and have beaten the best teams in the country. Just ask Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, and Virginia. These are the kind of teams a high seed often play the first rounds of the NCAA Tournament and they benefit from the experience of defending a team much different than the typical ACC opponent. Now add Stephen F. Austin to those smaller, unknown schools who have upset a Basketball Powerhouse, ranked Number One no less.

That doesn’t totally explain what has happened in these two game in Cameron. Until this week, exceptionally good defense and timely plays have masked mediocre shooting and inconsistent play. Still several stats stand out:

Vernon Carey’s free throw shooting has regressed to the level other recent Duke centers—an ominous development. [I am unconvinced that someone with his touch is going to continue to be this inconsistent.]
Tre Jones assist-to-turnover ratio has flipped upside down.[I
nexplicable for someone who nearly led the nation in this stat last year.]Wendell Moore’s rapid improvement against Georgetown seems like a mirage. [He has been too productive in International Play not to excel at the collegiate level.]
Matthew Hurt responded to poor performances against Georgetown and S.F Austin by playing well against Winthrop….. but Winthrop is not big and strong like Georgetown or Michigan State. [Stay tuned.]
Do you see a pattern of young and inconsistent here. [Maturity often develops unevenly in stages.]
The only good news about Cassius Stanley’s hamstring injury is that it does not appear too serious and that it gave Joey Baker an extended opportunity to demonstrate the skills he can bring to the floor, especially the ability to hit threes and thereby extending the defense to open up the paint for Carey, Hurt , and Company.
It is easy to forget that these are exceptionally gifted athletes—but still are teenagers. However, DeLaurier and White are not. They are seniors. Jack’s reluctance to shoot limits his usefulness, (except for special occasions) and Javin’s maddening tendency to foul, limits his usefulness. And finally, with the popularity of basketball attracting the best athletes worldwide, the longer a better team let’s a less talented team hang around, the better chance there is for an upset. At the end of the S.F.A. upset, the point guard penetrated and got the ball to a big man. 49 of 50 times in the past, Duke converts, or there is a foul. But for the ball to emerge from a scrum under the basket to a guard fast enough to run 70 feet in 2.5 second and make a layup is 100-1. But that’s what makes basketball such an exciting game.

Alan Adds:

Overview

The two games dramatically demonstrated what I have written – at this juncture of the season, this edition of the Blue Devils is far from a #1 team; far from a top 5 team; and maybe only a top 20 team. Coach K, as always, put it accurately: “We’re going to have to work through a bunch of things … with this group. It’ll take time and we’re going to try and muck it out and we know we’re not a top five team – maybe not even a top 25 team in the country right now. We’ve beaten good teams and we’ve played well. But now it’s where do we go after a loss and a win this week. … Next week would be tough even if you were a top five team.” [Next week is road games at East Lansing (Michigan State in the ACC-Big 10 challenge) and Blacksburg (opening the ACC season on the road).]

For me, the question is “what happened to the superb defense that Duke played in New York (especially against California). In both games – far more in the SFA game – Duke gave up a startling number of points in the paint. Even after allowing 64 points in the paint to SFA, Duke did not stop the penetration of Winthrop, which led to interior passing that produced easy layups at the rim. When Duke doubled the post, Winthrop scored either on passes or offensive rebounds when the weak side was abandoned for the double team. The sophisticated switching that was the Duke hallmark against Kansas and in New York was simply non-existent. No, I don’t know what happened. It will be necessary for the defense to reappear if losses next week are to be avoided.

Offensively, it was a mixed bag. Duke’s offense revived against Winthrop, thanks to the re-emergence of Matt Hurt in the first half (18 in the half; only 20 for the game) and Joey Baker (Bill’s favorite; because he’s partial to seeing Duke shots go in the basket) for the game – 16 points in 23 minutes. Jordan Goldwire also was instrumental in Duke getting untracked in the second half. With Stanley’s injury and the terrific play of Baker and Goldwire, the rotation is completely in flux.

Duke v Stephen F Austin (written prior to the Winthrop game)

Duke was a 27.5 point favorite last night (and is an even heavier favorite against Winthrop for Friday’s game). Bill was away for the holidays, so we decided we would do one edition of the Duke Basketball Playbook to cover both games, “since they would not be competitive games”. Apparently the Duke team also had the view that the games would not be competitive. The first few minutes corroborated that feeling, but completely undid this young team. With 9:03 left in the first half, Matt Hurt added a layup to give Duke a 15 point lead (33-18). What happened for the next 36 minutes is exactly what happened to Kentucky against Evansville and in countless other spectacular upsets. Stephen F. Austin (SFA) morphed into a team of destiny and played so well that I almost wanted to root for the 27 and ½ point underdog, playing in an arena of legend and just sticking it to Duke with intensity and energy. “Up Yours, # 1!”

Not only did The Lumberjacks deserve to win, but Duke deserved to lose. The second half and overtime are illuminating for any analysis of this game from Duke’s perspective. Duke shot 11-24 from the free throw line in the second half and overtime. SFA had 8 more field goal attempts than Duke and 7 more rebounds in the second half. Duke turned it over an astounding number of times, including giving up the winning basket on the final of its 22 turnovers. Worse, the vaunted defense was beyond porous – SAF scored 25 more points in the paint and grabbed 7 offensive rebounds (making Duke pay almost every time). Coach K: “We gave up 60 [64, actually] points in the paint; we don’t give up 60 points for a game!”

Coach K: “They were better than we were. They were tougher. They had more poise. They made so many layups (those 64 points in the paint).” The Coach pointed out the terrible foul shooting and sloppy ball handling. Tre had 8 turnovers alone. However, K gave full credit to the incredible performance of The Lumberjacks: “we played badly, but they made us play badly by their superb play.”

Coach K: “We were not deserving of winning. The overtime, especially the last play, was symbolic of the game we played.” Duke scored just 2 points in the crucial overtime, and that was on a put back by Carey (2^nd offensive rebound of that scrum). In the crucial 5 minutes of overtime, Duke turned the ball over 6 times! Both Lumberjack overtime field goals came off of live ball turnovers in the open court leading to open layups. Duke took 4 shots – a 3 and a put back by White, the put back by Carey to tie the game at 83 with 2:14 left and a missed short jumper by Tre with 16 seconds left. When Tre missed a pretty open mid-range jumper with 16 seconds left on the clock, Moore grabbed the offensive board and got the ball to Hurt, who was stripped of the ball for the winning Lumberjack basketball. Duke had not only failed to score in the last 2:14 of the overtime, but had only taken one shot (Tre’s mid-range miss)!

The second half was an illuminating nightmare for the Blue Devils, who gave up 41 points, committed 12 fouls and were outrebounded by 8 after dominating inside in the first half. Vernon Carey was 2-9 from the free throw line. Duke’s offense got the ball into him in good position. He drew the foul. But when you brick the free throws, it is just like a turnover. Tre was 1-5 from the field and only 3-6 from the line. There was no bench. Javin played 2 minutes (only 1 foul); Alex was in for 4 minutes (1-1 from the field). Neither Baker nor Goldwire made it on the floor in the second half. Carey played 15 minutes (3-3 from the field with 3 rebounds and 4 blocks for 8 points. Tre (6 points) and Cassius (8 points) played all 20 minutes, while Wendell Moore scored 7 in 16 minutes (5-6 from the free throw line; 1-2 from the field). Hurt and White split the small forward time at 10 minutes each. White played 3 minutes as the center with Carey getting a rest and Javin completely ineffective. Hurt was 2-6 from the field (1-2 from deep and 1-2 from the line) for 6 points, but only 1 rebound. White did not attempt a shot or foul shot in his 13 minutes. He grabbed 2 boards. Both Hurt and White committed 2 second half fouls. It was very hard to watch if you were a Duke fan.

Coach K: “We did not respond well to winning in New York. We assumed we would win. Not that it would be easy, but that we would win. We tried to tell them at half and at time outs. We didn’t respond to a different emotion. They outplayed us.”

It was about toughness. SFA forces turnovers and dominated the interior to score and rebound. K attributed the many turnovers to a lack of toughness. “Duke was not strong with the ball.” Understatement!

What’s next? [written before the Winthrop game]. Coach K: “I’m disappointed. I’m going to wallow in that disappointment before figuring out what to do. I’ve told my team, ‘it’s not ok to play like that. We have to get tough quickly.”

Winthrop

The score was tied at 32 with 3:10 left in the first half, when Duke went on its first run (8-0) with Stanley and Tre hitting from the field (Tre’s only 3) and Hurt making 3 of 4 from the line. Duke led 42-35 at the half (Duke also won the second half 41-36). With 13:40 left in the game, Duke led by 11, when the wheels started to come off. It felt just like the SFA game, where Duke’s 15 point lead started to shrink with alarmingly bad play. Duke went 4:20 without scoring while Winthrop chopped the Devil lead to 4 with 9:45 left. Sloppy play by both teams followed. Duke expanded the lead on good plays by Hurt, Baker, Carey and Goldwire to lead by 10 with 5:31 left. By then Winthrop was gassed and Duke rolled the lead to 16 before calling off the dogs.

The rotation

Cassius only played two minutes in the second half because of his injury. Coach K said it was hamstring rather than knee, and hoped Stanley would return by Christmas. Alex (6 minutes) and Jack White (8 minutes) played only cameos. Matt Hurt played 17 second half minutes even though his scoring stopped (1-4 for 2 points). He had scored 18 in a spectacular outburst in the first half. In the second half, Matt earned his time with 4 boards and excellent defense. The result was White played only 3 second half minutes to spell Hurt.

With Cassius hurt, one hoped Wendell Moore would step up, but exactly the opposite happened. It was a bad game for Wendell who failed to score in 19 minutes, missing his only 2 shots. Eventually, Baker took his minutes. Coach K gave Carey more rest, which produced excellent results. Vernon played only 22 minutes to record his double double – 10 rebounds and 17 points (5-10 from the field and 7-10 from the stripe) to go with a block. Tre found him with some great passes for easy lay ups. Javin played 16 minutes (2-2 for 4 points) with 3 boards. While he committed 2 fouls in his 7 first half minutes, he was in the game for 9 valuable second half minutes without fouling. Major improvement.

Goldwire was simply a star. Tre had big trouble guarding the quick Winthrop back court (the 5’8” other Jones gave Tre fits). Jordan made 5 steals – 4 in the second half, where he played 13 scintillating minutes, scoring 6 (2-3 from the field and 2-2 from the line). Baker played 14 second half minutes scoring 8 and playing superbly – diving on the floor, taking charges, and really making a case for getting significant playing time. Let’s see if this was a true emergence or a flash in the pan. Carey had 12 of his 17 points in his 10 second half minutes.

Tre had an odd week. He committed 13 turnovers in these 2 games, and was significantly torched on defense by both SFA and Winthrop guards. He is scoring and passing, but his floor game was off by a wide margin. The test against Pre-Season Player of the year, Michigan State point guard Cassius Winston will be telling next Tuesday. Tre could not contain Winston in last year’s elite 8 loss to the Spartans.

Next Week

This was the week where reality set in. Coach K said Duke was playing with “inherited wealth” by being ranked so high this early in the season. By “inherited wealth” he meant that Duke’s ranking was based in significant part on the past recent (and long term) success of K’s program rather on this team’s accomplishments (really just the opening night win over Kansas; think last year’s opening night win over Kentucky). This team did not earn that high ranking, which was fully disclosed by this week’s games.

The Michigan State game will receive mega scrutiny, but I believe the most important game next week is in Blacksburg against The Hokies. Virginia Tech beat Michigan State in the first round of the tournament before the clock struck midnight for the next two losing games. The ACC will be such a gauntlet this year (4 teams in last week’s top 8 – Duke, Louisville, who will be #1 next week, UNC and Virginia, which held Maine to 26 points for an entire game). Losing in Blacksburg would set a bad tone for Duke’s ACC championship hopes.

Michigan State is on ESPN; Virginia Tech on ACCN.

DUKE 87 – MICHIGAN STATE 75

What a difference a week makes!

Raise your hand if you thought these young Blue Devils, who just seven days ago lost to Stephen F. Austin in the most embarrassing home loss in school history, struggled against Winthrop, then traveled to East Lansing without the services of an injured Cassius Stanley, would not only beat but totally dominate Michigan State, the preseason #1 team in the country. ESPN studio hosts Seth Greenberg and LaPhonso Ellis certainly didn’t think so, but then, apparently, they don’t know K (“We’re not a Top-5 Team. We may not even be top-25 right now.” Translation: But next week? Lookout!) However, we do know Coach K. How many times have we seen this re-run? Why is anyone still surprised by the ending? Why weren’t more hands in the air?The bottom line is that given the circumstances—an unprecedented fall from grace, the tough opponent and venue, and essentially down two starters—injured Stanley and Mia Moore—this was one of the most impressive team turnaround performances in memory.

The score was deceiving. Duke was never behind, ahead mostly by double digits and the high teens to low twenties for most of the second half. The Spartans had no answer for Vernon Carey (26 points,11 rebounds, 3 blocks) and Tre Jones (20 points and 12 assists, 3 steals while locking down Elite Eight nemesis Cassius Winston, the preseason National Player of the Year). Despite the impressive numbers of the two stars, it was an remarkable total team win with a lot of gritty, blue collar play by the senior co-captains. Lauren DeLaurier had his best game since these same two teams met in the Elite Eight last spring. DeLaurier (10 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, only 1 foul) appeared to be jumping off a trampoline as he consistently played above the rim at both ends of the floor. His roommate Jack White (7 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks) started for the injured Cassius Stanley and brought the kind of toughness Duke needed in a very hostile venue. Matthew Hurt (10 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks) played stronger. Jordan Goldwire (3 assists, a steal and 1 block gave) Duke 24 solid defensive minutes off the bench. Only Wendell Moore, who got into early foul trouble, and Alex O’Connell failed to contribute and consequently lost playing time to Joey Baker in the second half, who again shot (5-6) impressively.

Make no mistake, a tough, active defense was the lynchpin for this win but the equalizer was every time Duke needed points (when State made a 9-1 run to start the second half), the ball went to Vernon Carey (final three schools: Duke, Michigan State, and North Carolina) in the low post. The Spartans had no answer for the big center with a soft touch. Coincidently, as Johnny Tar Heel often comments, Coach K was a terrific bench coach who is worth ten points a game. So, I was puzzled why Matthew Hurt and not Vernon Carey was on the floor on the last possession of the overtime against Stephen F. Austin The score was tied, four SAF players had 4 fouls, and Duke was in the double bonus. The obvious play was to get the ball down low, make a basket or get fouled. But Carey was on the bench, Matthew Hurt was in the low post. The pass from Jones was loose on a scrum on the floor, Hurt got pushed out of the way, and the rest is history. Nobody on SAF could push Carey away from that loose ball. Coulda, shoulda, woulda!

Other Comments:

Duke is now 19-2 in the ACC-Big 10 Challenge, 5-0 against Michigan State.
Tom Izzo’s Michigan State teams take pride in playing “tough”. Duke has a reputation of being soft. Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils are 13-2 against Tom Izzo’s Spartans.
Duke hit 7-of-15 on 3s and 16-of-22 from the line, while out-rebounding Michigan State 34-32. Duke had 11 blocks and 10 steals.
The Spartans were 4-for-16 on 3s.

Alan Adds:

Euphoria was the unanimous emotion as Duke dominated the Spartans with an epic performance. That euphoria can disguise some of the analytics that put this wonderful performance in perspective. Duke dominated in the first half, torching the Spartans for 45 points. An explosive outburst. Michigan State scored 46 second half points. Duke dominated on offense for the entire game, but on defense only in the first half. The defense did not die in the second half, but the Spartans revived. Duke simply could not stop them; but didn’t have to because of the Devils’ spectacular offense.

Let’s examine the rotation, the offense, the defense and Coach K’s wisdom.

Coach K’s wisdom

Coach K was asked who his toughest opponent has been in his coaching career. His answer: “human nature”. Duke thought the game against SFA would not be competitive. The challenge of the Spartans was obvious – SFA humiliation; Winthrop first half; last year’s tragic loss in the Elite 8 when Duke was the favorite to win the national championship; and (perhaps most important) the thrashing of Tre Jones by Cassius Winston in that game. Winston had simply taken Tre to school. Duke met that challenge in the first half in not less than spectacular style. Duke’s double digit lead throughout the second half may (partially) explain giving up 46 second half points. Duke plays Virginia Tech on Friday. Human nature?

The Rotation

This game was won, in large measure, by Duke’s returning players. Only Vernon Carey was dominant out of the freshman class. In only 25 minutes of action, Carey scored 26 to go with 11 boards, 3 blocks and an assist. He was 9-12 from the foul line. He missed a couple of bunnies; he could easily have scored 30. Cassius Stanley didn’t play. Wendell Moore played only 10 minutes (7 in the first half while committing 3 fouls) without scoring. Matt Hurt contributed 10 points in 27 minutes. Valuable in many ways.

But it was Tre Jones (best game of his Duke career), who totally dominated Cassius Winston, playing every minute of the game, and scoring 20 points ((6-13 from the field including 2-5 from deep and 6-8 from the stripe) to go with 12 assists, a block and 3 steals. The only negative was 6 turnovers. It was an All-American performance. Tre had plenty of help from the upper class. Javin was superb. Coach K acknowledged that Javin had been a disappointment until this game. He spelled Carey, playing 19 minutes, scoring 10 – mostly on dunks by really running the floor. Tre’s passes to him were worth watching more than once. Javin had 10 (5-5) with 6 boards, 2 steals, a block and an assist. In 19 minutes, he committed only 1 foul! Jack White played 31 superb minutes (only player besides Tre to log more than 27 minutes). He had 7 points (3-4, including 1-2 from deep) to go with 6 boards, 3 steals, 2 blocks and an assist. He supplied a toughness that has been somewhat missing. Coach K singled out all 3 co-captains with praise for their leadership and energy. Let us not forget junior Jordan Goldwire and sophomore Joey Baker, who both made their mark dramatically. In 24 minutes, Goldwire was terrific. He was a perfect complement to Tre with ball handling on offense and guarding Winston on defense. Baker has played himself into the rotation. Duke’s meritocracy. He had 11 points in only 17 minutes (5-6 from the field, including 1-1 from deep). He has used his new found fame as a 3 point shooter to employ the shot fake to get rid of his defender and score in the mid-range game.

The Defense

Duke’s defense was as good as it has been all year (which is amazingly good) in the first half. The energy was papabile. Duke got deflections, blocks, steals and completely disrupted the Spartan offense, which scored only 29 first half points. Double the first half score and Duke wins 90-58. The game was effectively over at the half. Even though the Spartans found their offense – especially in the paint, reminding us of the defensive shortcomings against SFA and Winthrop – Duke did some amazing things. Coach K pointed out that even when Duke players were beaten by a Spartan driver or excellent inside pass, each made the extra effort, making basket saving blocks from behind. Coach K said that was what won the game.

The Offense

What a great inside – outside combination Duke displayed. Carey was absolutely unstoppable in the post (+ 1-2 from long range). He is simply a stud. Enjoy him this year because it is hard to see him returning next year. Tre was, as described above, at his absolute best. They scored 46 of Duke’s 87. Duke shot better than any game this season – 47 % from behind the arc, including 4-6 in the second half to keep the Spartans at bay. The Blue Devils shot 56% from the field and 73% from the foul line. We would take that for every game for the rest of the season. It was a performance to build on.

Virginia Tech

Duke faces its first conference game in Blacksburg on Friday under extremely difficult circumstances. First, Blacksburg has been a scene of frequent Devil disappointments in the past. Second, the schedule requires two long flights in 3 days on the week before finals. Coach K said that two of his players had to take tests during the trip to East Lansing. I wrote last week that the game against the Hokies was actually more important than against Michigan State. As we can tell from Louisville’s dismantling of Michigan, winning the ACC regular season title will be difficult. It would be more difficult if the first conference game is a road loss. What a week!

DUKE 77 – VIRGINIA TECH 63

I thought there were many reasons to be apprehensive about tonight’s game:

Bad Karma: For years, Virginia Tech has been an unusually difficult opponent for Duke. For example, a highly ranked Blue Devil team has lost their last three trips to Blacksburg.

Payback: Tech almost upset Duke in the Sweet Sixteen last year.

Preparation: Tech is rested (they did not participate in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge) and their talented, new Coach Mike Young has had weeks to prepare for the game. Duke had less than a day.

Balance: As opponent’s devise ways to defend and frustrate Vernon Carrey, will he find the open man, and if so, can that player score?

Defense: Is the defense as good as it looked against Michigan State or as bad as it looked against Stephan F. Austin and Winthrop?

Injury: Who or what combination of players will replace Cassius Stanley’s scoring, defense, and playmaking abilities?

Fatigue: Will the players be able to recover mentally and physically from the travel and quick turnaround from the emotional Michigan State game in East Lancing during Finals Week?

What I didn’t anticipate was that we would see yet another example of why Johnny Tar Heel keeps telling me Coach K is a great bench coach with an intuitive feel for the flow of a game and complementary talents of his players that is worth 5-12 points in any given game.

The first half was not encouraging. The Hokies were shredding the Blue Devil defense like SFA and scoring points in the paint with ease. Duke was fortunate to be down only three points, not double digits, at the half. The second half was only a minute and two easy Hokie baskets old when a disgusted Coach K uncharacteristically called quick time out and made the most surprising and impactful substitution since little used freshman Grayson Allen went into the second half of the 2015 NCAA Championship game against Wisconsin.

Out of the timeout, we saw the indefatigable Tre Jones on the court with the unlikely (What’s going on? Have the starters just declared for the NBA draft?) combination of Jordan Goldwire, Joey Baker, Jack White, and only one freshman, the recently benched Wendell Moore. To provide more athleticism, the inconsistent Alex O’Connell quickly replaced Joey Baker. This unlikely group surprisingly played Tech even, then totally turned the game around and quieted the raucous arena by out-defending, out-hustling, and out- scoring the Hokies 35-16. These Duke subs held the Hokies scoreless for more than three minutes, turning a slim 56-55 Duke margin into a 62-55 lead.

With 4:23 to play, a frustrated Landers Nolley, the Hokie’s most talented player, lost his composure. As the Hokies were setting up their half-court offense, Nolley, attempting off ball to shake a relentless Wendell Moore, shoved him in the chest. The solid 6’5” Moore should receive an Oscar nomination for making certain officials didn’t miss it and whistled a foul. After a replay review, the refs changed it to a flagrant-1 foul, giving Moore two free throws. He hit them both giving Duke a 68-57 lead. Then, the mercurial Alex O’Connell finally rediscovered his touch and nailed a deuce, then a three. After that, the deflated Hokies were so discouraged and gassed, they didn’t even attempt a full court press.

The bottom line is that after 39 years, 5 NCAA Championships, 12 Final Fours, 12 ACC regular season titles, and 15 ACC Tournament championships, you think you have seen it all and thought you knew Coach K like a well-read book. The Maestro showed you that you haven’t and didn’t.

Why and how did this game turn around?

As usual the relentless, indefatigable Tre Jones (he wasn’t even breathing hard for the post-game interview) was the catalyst at both ends of the floor. Vernon Carey (12 points, 5 rebounds) and Matthew Hurt (8 points, 0 rebounds) barely played in the second half. Cassius Stanley, after missing only one game with a hamstring injury, started but was rusty and barely played. So impressive against Michigan State, Javin DeLaurier had 12 unimpressive minutes. On the other hand, Jordan Goldwire (10 points and 6 rebounds) played 30 minutes of his best basketball. The always athletic but inconsistent Alex O’Connell (7 points and 5 rebounds) played 15 impressive minutes. For 22 minutes, blue collar Jack White (7 points, 2 blocks, 1 steal) defended the interior better than anyone. Wendell Moore (12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists) was in his element and played more like the impactful international player he has been the last two summers.

Other observations:

Key stat: The Blue Devils, ranked 238th nationally in free throw percentage, went 10-for-10 tonight.

For those who thought Coach K was always reverts to a 6 or 7 man rotation in tough games: 9 different Devils played at least a dozen minutes, with a 10^th, Stanley getting 7.

Seven Duke players scored between 7 and 15 points but Jones, Moore and Alex O’Connell proved all of Duke’s points in this decisive 17-2 run.

Alan (who assured me at the half that Duke would win) Adds (from paradise):

I texted Bill at the half, “Where is our defense? 41 points allowed. Duke is schizophrenic on defense.” Winthrop was a perfect example; excellent defense in the second half after a porous first half. When Bill called around half time (complaining that Duke was losing while the Hokies paraded to the rim with 26 points in the paint), I assured him that Duke would win. My assurance was based on the fact that Duke was down by only 3, when it should have been 15 based on the porous defense. But, it should have been based on the fact that Duke is coached by K. I do not believe there is another coach who would have made the change in strategy and lineup that Coach K created early in the second half.

Duke gave up the first two baskets of the second half in a minute to trail by 7. Time out. The Coach took out Matt Hurt (8 points in 15 first half minutes) and the star offensive player, Vernon Carey (10 points and 5 boards in 11 minutes) in favor of Wendell Moore (10 first half minutes without a point or rebound) and Joey Baker (8 first half minutes without a score). Hurt never returned to the game; Carey played another 2 minutes (2-2 from the line). The substitution and switch in strategy produced an amazing defensive effort that clearly won the game.

Coach K: “We could not defend the ball screen in the first half. They scored twice to open the second half on ball screens that produced drives.” Duke went to a lineup that could switch everything on defense and could provide spacing and movement on offense. The offense was pure motion without running any sets. On defense, the switching allowed Duke to close off the driving lanes. Nowlins II was torching the Duke bigs from the elbow in the first half. In the second half Duke guarded him primarily with Wendell Moore, who got help from both Jack White and Jordan Goldwire. “We guarded him with athletes.” Nowlins was scoreless in the second half and committed 6 turnovers.

“Being able to switch was the key to the game. We kept them out of the paint. We kept better pressure on with switching.”

How amazingly wonderful was this second half defense? Take away the first four points before the timeout and the last 4 points that the Hokies scored in the last minute to cut the lead from 18 to 14. Duke held the Hokies to 14 points in about 18 minutes! I do not have the eloquence for the proper adjective.

The Duke offense thrived. Wendell Moore played his best half at Duke on both ends of the floor. He scored 12 second half points (4-6 from the field and 4-4 from the line to go with 2 boards and a steal) in 17 minutes. Tre was superb in 20 second half minutes. After and even battle with Hokie point guard Wabissa Bede, Tre dominated him in the second half, scoring 10 while keeping Bede out of the paint (where his passing shredded the defense in the first half) and holding him to 6 points. Tre was 5-9 with 5 rebounds. Goldwire also played all 20 minutes of the second half. He shared the ball handling with Tre, also grabbed 5 rebounds and was a demon on defense. Alex hit two big shots in his 9 second half minutes. Baker played 12; White 13. The bigs saw little floor time (Hurt, just that first minute – suggesting he has much to learn about switching and defense; Carey 4 minutes; Javin 4 minutes). It was some second half!

Still, the game was tight. With 8:59 left, Duke led by 1 before breaking the game wide open. Moore grabbed an offensive board and hit a short jumper. Tre forced Bede into a turnover, and then (after a timeout) hit a jumper. Tre garnered a defensive rebound, passed to Goldwire who fed Moore for an open court layup. Duke by 7. After a string of misses by both teams, Bede and Tre each made jumpers. Moore blew by Nowlins for a layup and a 9 point lead when Nowlins committed the flagrant one against Moore, who made both free throws. Alex hit a three as Duke maintained possession on the flagrant foul. Duke by 14 and the rout was on. What a stretch! The Hokies were done. They were too tired to press. As Tre said post game, “We ran them into the ground.”

Coach K said “We played like winners.” He applauded the toughness he saw – especially from Moore. When Wendell missed a wide open layup, he didn’t pout he just played harder. “This is just an old fashioned team.” Coach K said. It was clearly a well-deserved compliment.

DUKE 86 – WOFFORD 57

[Unforced error: Alan had a medical procedure scheduled for Saturday morning so we agreed to combine coverage of the Wofford and the Brown games on December 29^th. Early Saturday morning, I decided to send a picture and score with a short explanation. Inadvertently, I send some of you a draft of my notes from last night, which I use as an outline for my coverage the next morning. Alan belatedly decided that if he survived the procedure/operation, he would write/play hurt so we could send something this week-end.]

No Tre Jones. No problem. Seriously, how many times has a non-conference team come to Tobacco Road and swept North Carolina and Duke in back- to- back games? If you said never, you win!!!!

But Tre’s minor foot strain was not the big news. Coach K actually playing nine players serious minutes this far into the pre-ACC play was– and each was productive. The defense was impressive as only one opponent scored in double digits. However, Joey Baker, Justin Goldwire, and Javin DeLaurier were the most impressive.

DeLaurier replaced Carey two minutes into the game and gave Duke a much-needed infusion of strength and energy. Even Krzyzewski singled him out. He ended the game without a foul or a turnover. And Goldwire played the most complete game of his career as he did not miss a shot and shared point guard responsibilities with Wendell Moore.

However, it was Baker (22 points) who continues to impress with JJ Reddick like three point shooting, knocking down 5 three pointers in a span of just under 10 minutes. The first two extended Duke’s lead from 46-30 to 52-30 and ended any chance of a Wofford comeback. Even Coach K was impressed and said that Baker has worked his way into the rotation. “In September, I wasn’t sure how much Joey could play. And he’s come every day and practiced. He shoots game shots even when he’s just shooting. He’s become our quickest shooter and our most accurate shooter. The guys see it.” It seems as though Joey Bucket’s long distance shooting and the teams improved free throw shooting may well be the keys to this more experienced team with fewer one-and-done lottery picks being even more successful than the last few more highly rated editions.

Carey had a 20 & 10 night against an undersized front line. He now has eight double-doubles this season. Hurt had 12 points and 8 rebounds.

As I mentioned, this team has four players—Baker, Stanley, Hurt, and Carey– shooting over 40% from beyond the new three point line. And after a slow start by Carey, as a team they are recently averaging over 70% on free throws. These a championship-like numbers.

Alan Adds;

When Wofford beat UNC on Sunday, December 15, I wrote to Bill that I thought Duke would simply pulverize Wofford when they met just 4 days after The Terriers had handed the Tarheels a loss at home that was just as embarrassing as Stephen F. Austin’s humiliation of the Blue Devils in Cameron just two weeks prior. After that embarrassment, I was sure that Duke would never underestimate an opponent this year (See the DBP re the Stephen F Austin game). Moreover after what Coach K called “the toughest week I’ve had in my 40 years at Duke” – away games at Michigan State and Virginia Tech in the space of 4 days in the midst of the week before finals – Duke had 13 days off so I knew Duke would be well rested. I was confident … until I learned just before tipoff that Tre would not play. That was an X factor.

Obviously, we now know that I should not have worried. The Blue Devils put on what Coach K called, “an outstanding performance.” He listed the building blocks for that assessment: 1) the outstanding defense Duke played; 2) the way the team shared the ball; 3) the paucity of Devil turnovers in a fast paced game; and, 4) 9 players played between 28 minutes (Goldwire) and 17 minutes (DeLaurier).

The Defense

After a slight struggle in the opening minutes, adjusting to Tre’s absence, the defense played as well as it has all season, and Duke has had some tremendous defensive games so far this season. Wofford led 9-5 after 3:52 had elapsed. For the next 16:07, Duke held Wofford to just 14 points. Of course, Coach K had the perfect game plan. Wofford is a 3 point shooting team led by its ace guard, Storm Murphy and his long range shooting partner, Nathan Hoover. They had torched the Tar Heels, and Coach K’s main emphasis was to shut them down from 3land. How well did that work? Neither scored a single point in the first half. Murphy could not even attempt a 3; he was 0-3 from the field. Hoover missed 3 well contested 3s to go 0-4 for the first half. Duke held Wofford to 26 first half points, the last 3 coming on a well defended 3 as time expired. It was simply a superb defensive effort. Human nature being what it is (Duke’s lead was as high as 29 a couple of times in the second half)), the defense was not quite as intense, allowing 31 points. Neither DeLaurier nor White put big points on the board, but each played hellacious defense. Goldwire tortured Murphy (though Coach K said that Goldwire and Murphy played each other evenly, I thought Goldwire took him to school) and Wendell Moore (scoreless in 11 second half minutes) also played intense defense to go with his 5 second half rebounds. Cassius Stanley had a great first half at both ends as well.

The Offense

All 9 scored in the first half, led by Carey and Hurt, who each played 12 minutes and scored 8 against the undersized Terriers. DeLaurier (8 minutes) and Baker (6 minutes) each scored 5. DeLaurier was 1-1 from the field and 3-4 from the line, while Joey missed his only 2 first half field goal attempts, but was 5-5 from the line. Moore scored 4 in 13 minutes (2-4 from the field). Stanley logged the most first half minutes (14) while scoring 3. White, Goldwire, O’Connell each had a field goal for 2 points. Duke was only 1-7 from behind the arc, but shot 14-20 from inside the arc (Wow!) and 8-11 from the line for 39 points.

Duke’s offense (particularly Baker and Carey) exploded for 47 second half points. Baker’s 5-6 from behind the arc (6-9 from the field) led the way with 17 second half points in just 12 minutes. Carey was amazingly efficient, scoring 12 second half points in only 11 minutes on 4-5 from the field and 4-4 from the line to go with his 8 boards and a block. He was a beast, to say the least. The second half also belonged to Goldwire, who logged a team high 17 minutes, scoring 6 on 2-2 from the field including 1-1 from behind the arc and 1-1 from the line to go with 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal. Duke did not miss Tre at all. That is astonishing, and bodes well for the growth of this team.

The Rotation

Is it just this game, or has Coach K changed his philosophy to match the talent of this team. It seems he has 10 players with the capacity to contribute. JGold led the team in minutes with 28. Others who logged 20 minutes or more were Alex (24), Moore (24), Carey (23) White (21) and Hurt (20). Stanley (18, but only 4 in the second half), Baker (18; 12 in the second half) and DeLaurier (17; though scoreless in his 9 second half minutes) rounded out the main players. JRob had 3 blocks in his 5 minutes. Duke is morphing into a really deep team.

Next Play

Duke is off until December 28, when Brown visits Cameron at the early hour of 11:30 a.m. In early 2020, the ACC season is on.

DUKE 75 – BROWN 50

What do you think when someone mentions Brown University. I think of it is the safe backup school for children of eastern celebrities (JFK, Jr., Amy Carter, Emma Watson) or a baker’s dozen of the Kennedy clan who, for a variety of reasons, couldn’t get into Harvard– or Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) in George Lucas’ autobiographical, coming-of-age classic movie, American Graffiti (which, incidentally, became one of the most profitable films of all time and gave a young Lucas the juice to finance the Indiana Jones & Star Wars franchises) finally deciding to get on that 50’s prop plane to fly east to Brown University, after which he presumably became, you guessed it, a successful screen writer.

However, what I don’t think is BASKETBALL! And that’s a good thing, because the score was very deceiving. For much too long, the game looked more like an intermural fraternity scrimmage or a rerun of the Stephen F. Austin game. It appeared that during Christmas break, Carey was the only player who picked up a basketball but, fortunately, Alex O’Connell apparently found his jump shot under the Christmas tree. Too long for Duke fans, the game was too close for comfort as it was a tossup whether the Blue Devils were worse offensively or defensively. If Duke had played well, they would have scored about 100 points. An example: with eleven minutes left in the half, Brown hit a three to tie the game at 12. Wendell Moore stood under the basket with the ball, waiting to throw it in to somebody– only all his teammates had run to the other end of the floor and no one was there to receive the inbounds pass. Duke had to quickly call a timeout to avoid a turnover and an infuriated 72 year old Coach K to ripped off his jacket, a tactic usually saved only for big time opponents. Even that didn’t work very well as the Blue Devils only lead 33-29 at the half to a middle-of the-pack Ivy League team.

Starting the second half, Duke went back to Plan A: throw the ball to Vernon Carey in the post and watch him score. However, it wasn’t until the predictably unpredictable Alex O’Connell, who missed all four of his shots from the floor in the first half, started hitting long jump shots, then two threes did the Devils really settle down as Moore and White stepped up to help ice the game. “Alex is a good basketball player,” Krzyzewski said. “He came through. With all these kids, it’s consistency. It’s not him, it’s all of them. We just have to keep working on it. He was a key guy today, no question.” And red hot Joey Baker? He got his first start, made two terrific defensive plays but was 1-6 as his jump shot was apparently still on Christmas break. Coach K called it “starter’s disease” and he could see signs of it in practice. “He just couldn’t get it. It showed at the end of the first half when he took two wild shots. I talked to him right after the game and told him: “Just remember you’re a damn good player. You don’t have to change when you start. But it meant so much to him.’ We’re going through all those growth periods and thank goodness we were able to play well the last 15 minutes.”

It appears the ACC schedule is the easiest in years, so there is a terrific opportunity for this team to sort out the all the moving parts and win the regular season. But for right now it is very much a work in progress as Jones, who is supposed to start against Boston College on New Year’s eve, and Carey are the only dependable performers. The other eight have their moments but like Cassius Stanley today–he played very good defense but dribbled the ball off his foot on the way to a dunk and Joey Baker inexplicably shooting bricks– you just don’t yet know what to expect from these young, talented players, who are a long way from being NBA ready.

Let’s acknowledge what an impressive run the Clemson football program is having. I just finished watching one of the most exciting, improbable football games I have ever seen. Ohio State outcoached and outplayed Clemson for all but a few minutes of the first half, yet were only up 16-14. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence (and the defense) just would not let his team lose as his final 90 yard drive was one of which Joe Montana would be proud. Although Ohio State certainly played well enough to win—coulda, shoulda, woulda- it was just not meant to be. The bottom line is that Clemson hasn’t won two national titles in the last three years for nothing. This is a team that has been in these kinds of games and has the coaching, talent, skill, and tenacity to know how to respond. Well done, ACC Champions!

Alan Adds:

At half time I texted Bill that the game was reminding me of the Stephen F. Austin game. Duke had no passion, shot poorly, and had defensive lapses. It was only 14 offensive first half rebounds that helped Duke to a 35-29 half time lead against Brown. Duke led Stephen F. Austin 40-34 at the half. The first five minutes of the second half against Brown was more of the same. Duke committed 5 team fouls in the first 5 minutes of the final stanza. But, unlike the SFA game, Duke changed its fortunes and stormed to a 25 point win, playing 15 minutes of solid basketball against an inferior team. Duke held Brown to 21 second half points and put the game out of reach. But it surely wasn’t pretty.

The Defense

Coach K said the game plan was to limit Brown’s point guard, Brandon Anderson (leading scorer in the Ivy League with an accurate deep shot) and forward Tamenang Choh, a potential All-Ivy forward. Anderson was 3-5 from deep in the first half, but was held without a 3 pointer in the second half. Coach K said that the game was won by the defense that Cassius Stanley and Wendel Moore played on Choh, holding him scoreless in the first half, and to 4 total points in the game, while forcing him into 5 turnovers. Even though there were some lapses, mostly in the first half when interior Brown passing led to several open layups when Duke’s interior doubles were sloppy, Brown did only score 50 points in the game. The first half lacked the talk that the coach said returned in the latter part of the second half. Duke controlled the boards. Coach K singled out Alex O’Connell for two crucial contested defensive rebounds, and said he thought that was a factor in Alex’s sparkling offensive second half. The superior Blue Devil athletes blocked 9 shots and made 13 steals.

The Offense

Painful is the adjective that jumps to mind. Duke came back to campus two days before the game and had only two practices. K’s assessment: “It looked like we had not played or practiced.” There were players cutting to the basket when the pass was to the spot vacated, and the team was generally sloppy with the ball. Some of that may have had to do with Tre’s absence, but more likely it was the time away from the game. Seth Greenberg (The Great Pontificator) said the two toughest games of a season are the one before Xmas and the one after. The offense was a tale of two different halves (especially if you put the first five minutes of the second half with the first half). Vernon Carey scored 19 points – 10 in the first half while playing 14 minutes. He scored Duke’s first 8 points in the second half but added only 1-2 from the line for the last 16:28 of the game. Duke was 0-10 from behind the arc, shooting 32% from the field in the opening stanza. Painful.

Then Wendell Moore and Alex O’Connell took over the Duke offense. After being held scoreless in 12 first half minutes, Moore exploded for 10 in the second half on 5-8 from the field to go with 4 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals in 15 minutes. Alex was even better after an undistinguished 6 first half minutes (0-5; 0-2 from deep and 2-2 from the line), when he torched Brown for 12 second half points on 4-5 from the field including 2-2 from deep and 2-2 from the line to go with 3 boards that Coach K so admired. Matt Hurt’s 6 points on 3-4 and Jack White’s 3 points accounted for all 40 of Duke’s second half points.

The Rotation

Jordan Goldwire played 32 minutes to lead the team in minutes played. Coach K praised him. He said he and Alex played like juniors. The coach pointed out that JGold had a poor first half and had let Brown “speed him up”, but that he stayed composed in the second half and provided leadership and defense.

I had said to Bill that Joey Baker turned into a pumpkin like Cinderella in this game, but Coach K had a better way to explain Baker’s disappointing outing (2 points in the first half on 1-5 from the field in 14 minutes and only 3 minutes on the court in the second half). He had “starter’s disease”. He wanted so badly to prove he deserved the start that he put extra pressure on himself and did not play his game. Coach K said that after being told he would start, he couldn’t hit a shot in practice either. Nobody is giving up on this sweet shooter.

The second half rotation is pretty interesting. In the second half, Stanley played 8 minutes, DeLaurier 7, White 6 and Joey 3. Carey played 11. Alex had the most second half minutes (17) while Goldwire and Moore logged (15), Hurt 14 and Carey 11.

Closing Thoughts

This is unlike any Duke team I can remember. No player (except Carey) has been consistent. Each has great stretches or great games, and then disappears or disappoints at other times. It is deeper than any team I remember (since the ’99 team). Coach K reaffirmed it is old school. He analogized what he seeks by reference to the playground games we all played and remember. If your team didn’t win, you sat. There was natural communication because you wanted to play in the next game, which only happened if you won. You had to play together and figure out your teams strengths and weaknesses on the fly. He emphasized, YOU TALKED. Coach K is hoping to develop that and with it the elusive consistency.

Next Play

ACC play begins. Dec. 31 vs BC. A great end to 2019.

DUKE 88 – BOSTON COLLEGE 49

Once again, Duke started sluggishly on offense and for a time it looked as though we were in for another grind-it-out, defensive battle while waiting and hoping for a patented Duke run that would put the game on cruise control and determine the outcome. With seven minutes left in the half, the Blue Devils led just 21-12. Then, Matthew Hurt hit a flurry of threes, worked hard on the offensive glass, and fueled a 15-3 run. Soon, it was 45-19 at the break. Looking at the box score, it appeared to be a total team effort as no one played more than 26 minutes–10 players played at least 12 minutes, 11 players scored at least 3 points, 7 players hit (this is not fake news) 3-pointers.

However, as we turn the calendar page and start ACC play, it is apparent that currently the team’s success revolves around the twin axis strengths of Tre Jones and Vernon Carey plus eight interchangeable parts (depending on matchups and who’s hot) of Hurt, Stanley, Moore, Baker, O’Connor, Goldwire, reliable center sub DeLaurier, and junk yard dog Jack White. Tonight, it was Hurt, who stood out. The game before that it was AOC, before that Joey Buckets, before that Stanley, before that Moore. So far, the interchangeable eight have only been consistent in their inconsistency. I think that Hurt, if he is physically and mentally strong enough, has so much versatile talent, will have the best chance to become a third constant starter –as well as Stanley, if he figures out how talented he really is and becomes less deferential. And Baker has already demonstrated he has rapidly become a much more complete, aggressive player, even playmaker, than anyone had imagined and may be the designated sixth man. O’Connell is just too ethereal to be counted upon as a starter but as a spot player can morph into a game changer. Goldwire has improved offensively but is a situational sub. Co-captains DeLaurier and White are reliable, well-known quantities who have earned spot duty playing time–not a bad mix of talent from which to choose.

Back in the days before one-and-done players, we had four years to watch players develop and mature. Now, in some cases, we have four months. Until some one or two or three demonstrate that they are consistently reliable in all phases of the game—or at least can reliably hit threes and free throws– we will probably see Coach K actually coach the old fashion way—really use more than six or seven players, and substitute aggressively by feel and intuition. In the meantime, Duke’s depth can wear teams down by bringing players off the bench with little or no drop-off. As Krzyzewski commented: “It’s a team where everybody knows that what they do can contribute to winning and that it’s important.”

While we are talking about improving and maturing, the stoic but studious Vernon Carey, Duke’s most prolific and impressive freshman, has recently been a much more active, tenacious, and effective defender and rim protector. The flip side of that is the sad case of Derryck Thornton, the former highly touted Duke point guard with a stage father who was unhappy with how his son was developing and is now at his third college (Duke, USC, and B.C.) without having developed any NBA skills.

Coach K’s retrospective on Duke Basketball’s last decade:

“We won four ACC tournament titles. The main thing we won was two national titles and being No. 1 seeds a number of years. It’s a hell of a decade. It is our best decade of the four decades that I have been here because it has been the most consistent. When you average 30 wins and seven losses in 10 seasons, c’mon. We are not going to get caught up on regular season or we didn’t win enough tournament titles. During that time we got eliminated a couple times in the first round of the NCAA but we went for it. We have gone for it. We have gone for the national championship. This team has a long way to go before they can do that. But, if we can keep going, we would like that to be how this team is judged… The other thing for the 10 years, we had a different team each year. It wasn’t bringing the same backcourt or the same quarterback. We have a different team each year. It is a hell of a thing. I am proud of these guys that have played for me for the 40 years that I have been there. But this decade I am really proud because it is a new age. It is a new age and to stay in the hunt every year is a hell of a thing. All of my guys have made it possible for me to have that opportunity and I am proud of them.”

Mike Krzyzewski is in his 40th season as Duke’s head coach, and his record is now 1,071-286 at Duke, and 1,143-345 overall in this, his 45th season overall. Duke is now 899-162 all-time when playing at Cameron Indoor Stadium, including 541-67 under Coach K. Duke closes the decade with a record of 300-70 (.811).

Alan Adds:

It is hard not to be filled with admiration and expectation as we watch this “old school” team grow and develop. I cannot remember a Duke team that genuinely goes 10 deep. To reinforce the importance of Coach K’s insight that Bill quoted above, each of the 10 players knows that he is capable of contributing to a Duke win on any given night. Last night’s rout of BC was illuminating, and sparked by one of the best halves of basketball any Blue Devil team has played. While BC, without its star, does not have the ACC horses to compete, The Eagles were still 2-0 in the conference coming in, with wins over Wake at home and Notre Dame by a point in South Bend. Not an ACC contender, but not The Little Sisters of the Poor either.

Coach K (admiringly): “We played like we practiced. They were talking more and had good energy. We pushed the ball.” Duke’s good energy comes in part from playing 10 players with meaningful minutes. This team is always fresh because of the substitution patterns. Everyone contributed.

The first half

The game was absolutely over by half time; so it is worth looking at the first half in some depth. The score really does tell the tale: Duke 45 – BC 19. First, and most important, was the return of Tre Jones on both ends of the court. Encouragingly, he played 16 first half minutes, shutting down BC’s guards, handing out 6 assists without a turnover and grabbing four rebounds. While his shot was a little off (2-6; 1-3 from deep), he made some passes that were simply breathtaking. His leadership is palpable. Welcome back, Tre.

The defense was as good as it has been all year. BC scored just 19 points in the first 20 minutes. BC had very few open shots on the perimeter. When BC did penetrate, the rim protection provided by Carey and Javin bordered on the spectacular. Coach K admired that the team was talking more on defense, especially Matt Hurt. The Devils forced 10 turnovers and allowed BC only 3 assists on 8 made baskets. Moreover, BC barely got to the free throw line – only 3 free throws (2-3). It was really impressive. The depth allowed the Devils to be intensely energetic; BC simply couldn’t handle the pressure.

On offense, Matt had a breakout game, notching 20 first half points in 15 minutes. He actually outscored BC by himself in the opening stanza (20-19)! Coach K said, Matt has been playing well in the last few games, but this half was other worldly (8-11 from the field including 4-6 from deep) to go with 3 rebounds and a steal. Coach K said Matt has gained weight and is stronger, adding to his confidence. His spectacular play limited Jack White to just 3 first half minutes. The remaining 25 first half points were spread about equally: Wendell Moore (off the bench) scored 6 (2-3 from the field and 2-2 from the line) in 13 minutes to go with 4 rebounds and 3 assists; Carey scored 5 (2-3 from the field but only 1-3 from the line) and grabbed 3 boards in 12 minutes; Joey Baker (off the bench) played 12 excellent minutes even though he was 0-2 from behind the arc. He made 2 delicious drives to account for his 4 points. Alex was 1-2 from deep in his 6 minutes, and Cassius had a dunk in 3 shots for 2 points in his 9 minutes. Tre’s 5 points made up Duke’s 45 points. DeLaurier (8 minutes), JGold (6 minutes) and White (3 minutes) did not score.

Consistency

Much of the commentary this season has been about Duke’s inconsistency – different players having big games and moments and then disappearing in the next games. Coach K made some interesting points about consistency. He said in other sports, it only counted if you won the game to determine consistency. Teams in those sports all went through bad moments during the game – a pitcher giving up 4 runs in an inning or a quarterback throwing the crucial interception — but in those sports consistency was determined by only one thing – winning. Coach K said Duke’s consistency has been in its winning this year. Duke is 12-1 and has moved into 2^nd place in the national polls. This team has grown – and fascinatingly is still growing – into a team far more deserving of that high ranking than when it was ranked # 1 earlier. This is really a different Duke team from the recent ones, and has, in my opinion, a huge potential upside. It really is old school watching Coach K integrate the skills of the team into a National contender. Stay tuned.

Next Play: Saturday night at Miami. First ACC road game. We all know ACC road games are just different.

DUKE 95 – MIAMI 62

It’s too early in the season to tell if Duke is this good or the opponents are that bad. I do know that Coach Jim Larranaga is a very, very good basketball coach and Chris Lyke is a very talented, even lethal, and exciting college player. However, when Jay Bilas, who watches as much college basketball as anyone and has the qualifications to evaluate it properly says that because of Vernon Carey and the depth of talent, Duke has the most upside of any team this year, you have to believe this Blue Devil team may really be developing into something special.

Tonight, after another sluggish start (take it from me because ESPN chose to show the overtime of the exciting Buffalo-Houston NFL game even though it was on a free channel) and with Tre Jones on the bench with two fouls, Duke just methodically ground down and dominated the Hurricanes at both ends of the floor to lead 50-36 at the break. The Blue Devils hit a 60 percent from the field, 43 per cent threes, while holding Miami to under 40 percent from the field and 2-for-12 from beyond the arc. Vernon Carey, playing against the school where his father was an All-American offensive lineman, had 24 pts & 9 rebs in 25 minutes, Stanley 20 points in 26 minutes. Duke dominated Miami 41-24 on the boards, while forcing 15 turnovers,. when we went to the bench we didn’t drop, at times we ascended. Matthew Hurt is adjusting to the physicality of college ball. He is becoming more than just a finesse scorer. Tonight, he had 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks to go along with 6-for-8 shooting. You cannot underestimate what impact assistant coaches Nate James, Chris Carawell, Jon Schyer, and Nolan Smith, all of whom were talented and heady players in their prime, have in personally suiting up and schooling these talented young players in the nuances of the game.

First Semester Report Card:
Vernon Carey A+. Better than advertised. Only irreplaceable piece of the puzzle. Terrific, soft touch. Improving defensively. Very analytical, very smart.
Tre Jones A. The leader of the Pack (er Devils). Mature beyond years. Sets the standard for maturity, defense, intensity, and focus.
Cassius Stanley B – Lots of untapped talent. Too nice and deferential. Getting more aggressive.
Matthew Hurt B. If he gets stronger and tougher, look out! Takes this team to another level.
Joey Baker B. Surprise, surprise. The former Joey Buckets becoming a much more versatile, valuable player. Now his jump shot needs to come back from vacation.
Wendell Moore C+. Lot of versatile talent for his size. Very good defensively. Needs to relax and let game come to him more.
Jordan Goldwire B+. Huge improvement on offense. Valuable sub.
Alex O’ Connell C+. getting better defensively but still offensively erratic.
Javin DeLaurier B+. Tough veteran. Ready, willing, and able to fill in at a moment’s notice.
Jack White B+. Tough veteran. Ready, willing, and able to fill in at a moment’s notice.

Coach K comments: “Talking (communicating) is the music of the game. This team is getting better at that and it is showing in their defense. We have more depth and when we went to the bench we didn’t drop, at times we ascended. Our guys just played really hard and shared the ball. With 23 assists, it was nice to see. But how hard we’re playing defensively, it’s something we’ve worked on since September, so they keep getting better at it. Jordan Goldwire was a key guy tonight. When Tre (Jones) got his second foul—I’ll play a guy with two fouls in the first half, but when I took him out, I’d thought I’d bring him back with about five minutes to go but J-Gold was doing such a good job that we were able not to do that. Wendell’s (Moore) ball pressure was outstanding. Our guys played well. It’s tough to single out one of them when they all did a good job.” On the team’s improving ability to share the ball: “We’re driving the ball. It’s not just Tre driving. In the last couple of games a couple of our best passes have come from Joey (Baker), who you would not think is a driver. Cassius (Stanley) is driving to score a little bit more which is great and Wendell when he’s getting in there he’s not losing the ball, he’s also kicking. C-Well (assistant coach Chris Carrawell) has been working a lot on our guys making stronger drives and kicks, and it’s paying off.”

A word about North Carolina’s basketball sudden fall from grace: Roy Williams, who is a very loyal, honest, hardworking man and who is Tar Heel born and bred and embodies “The Carolina Way”, has always been in a very difficult, even thankless, situation as head coach at UNC. He reluctantly left Kansas, where he was very much appreciated, to rescue Carolina from the malaise of a decade of miscast coaches Guthridge and Doherty attempting the thankless task of following in the footsteps of Dean Smith, who had achieved saint like status in Tar Heel Land, only to find himself competing with the juggernaut program of rough-around-the-edges, feisty but respected Coach Mike Krzyzewski had built just 12 miles away at hated rival Duke and who was on his way to shattering Dean’s and all other coaching records. Nevertheless, Roy won two National Championships and under any other circumstances, would be appreciated, even, revered.

Alan Adds:

When a team scores 95 points as Duke did last night against Miami, one might expect an in-depth analysis to start with the offense. In recognition that Miami’s defense does not quite reach the competence level of yelling “Woo!” as the opponent drives by or elevates for an open shot, I want to emphasize the value of Duke’s amazing defensive effort last night. It is obvious this team is making huge growth strides on both ends of the court as the season progresses. Last night was a hymn to that progress. Still, let us remember that while a win on the road in the ACC is always welcome, Duke has been competing against the ACC’s least formidable teams. Virginia Tech managed only 39 points last night against UVA. BC has been so bad for so long that a good coach’s job is in jeopardy there. Miami is near the bottom of the entire NCAA in defensive stats. So delirium at this superb performance still needs to be tempered.

Duke played its full complement of 10 and completely wore Miami down and out. J. Robinson played only 2 minutes, but led the team in points and blocks per minute with 3 points and a block. It was that kind of night.

Duke did not take a double-digit lead in this game until there was only 2:25 remaining in the first half and stretched it to 14 on Matt Hurt’s 3 as the first half closed. Duke’s defense was like an anaconda, squeezing the energy, enthusiasm and life out of the Miami offense. And squeeze the Blue Devils did. 8 of Miami’s 26 second half points came at the stripe. The Devils limited the Hurricanes to only 4 well defended 3 point attempts in that stanza (0-4) and only 3 assists on 9 field goals while forcing 9 turnovers (5 steals and 2 blocks). Coach K said his team played very well on defense. Then he corrected himself and said they played very, very, very well (“I have to add two verys.”).

Special kudos to JGold and Tre who limited Miami’s star point guard, Chris Lykes to 0-6 in the second half (2-15 for the game). Duke outrebounded Miami 20-10 (limiting the Hurricanes to 4 offensive boards in the closing stanza). Coach K said it was hard to single out individual players because the team played so well, but Wendell Moore, Joey Baker and Matt Hurt earned individual praise.

Interestingly, Tre, who was limited to 8 first half minutes by picking up two fouls, and JGold each played 14 second half minutes. Goldwire did not score in the second half but dished out 3 assists without a turnover and played scintillating defense. They were on the floor together for 8 second half minutes. Goldwire’s efficiency limited Alex to only 3 second half minutes. Coach K said he would have brought Tre back with 5 minutes to go in the first half, but Goldwire was playing so well that Tre remained on the bench, playing only 8 first half minutes. He was a star, of course, in the closing stanza.

The Offense

Carey (24 points in 25 minutes) and Cassius Stanley (16 first half point in 17 minutes) carried the offense in the first half. However, I believe much of Duke’s dramatic improvement in recent games is based on the emergence of Matt Hurt as a force on both ends of the court. He is shooting lights out (taking good shots), rebounding, defending and passing. He is playing superb all-around basketball as his stat line last night demonstrates. In 27 minutes, he scored 13 points (6-8 from the field including 1-2 from deep) to go with 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks without committing a foul. His emergence has limited Jack White’s playing time, though White continues to play valuable minutes. He and Javin each played 13 minutes.

Coach K pointed out that Duke is driving and kicking out for good shots. Stanley has been impressive. Joey Baker has not hit from deep lately but has been driving and making great passes. He logged 15 minutes. Wendell is holding on to the ball better (under the tutelage of Chris Carrawell). Carey has been a revelation in the post. Javin didn’t score from the field but was 4-4 from the line while committing only 1 foul.

Next Play

Georgia Tech (fresh from a shocking win over UNC in the Deandome yesterday) in Atlanta on Wednesday night in a late (9pm EST) game.

DUKE 73- GEORGIA TECH 64

Duke was challenged tonight by being denied their favorite default scoring option of throwing the ball to Vernon Carey in the low post whenever they need a basket, because he was neutralized, even outplayed, by James Banks and by Moses Wright, who combined for 25 rebounds, 7 blocks, and 26 points. So, Tre Jones (16 pts; 8 rebs, 7 assts, 4 stls) celebrated his 20^th birthday by rallying his team, then closing out the Yellow Jackets by either scoring himself or passing to Cassius Stanley for a series of what only could be described as Michael Jordan/Grant Hill sensational, gravity defying dunks to win a tough ACC game on the road. Otherwise, it was a manic-depressive game for Duke fans, of whom there were many cheering “Go Duke!’ as the Blue Devils started both halves playing young and sloppy followed by settling down and playing lock down defense to fuel binge scoring.

In the first half run, AOC and Hurt hit threes to help build a 40-29 half time lead. However, the second half opened with missed shots, sloppy offense, and a few questionable calls as Duke went almost six minutes without a point. Suddenly, the Blue Devils were down 53-50 on the road. As Coach K explained: “In the second half, they came out and we gave them nine quick points and it looked like the whole thing was going to turn. Our kids showed some amazing toughness. They really hung in there. Cassius, who was not playing as well as he has been, played great. He responded [by] coming off the bench after a timeout and made some sensational plays. I just think our kids were real tough.”

Good teams—and this is a very good, talented, deep team just growing into themselves– wear an opponent down and finds a way to win games like this. However, missing 10 free throws makes that task all the more difficult. Every player except for starter Joey Baker, who got an early hook and never returned, contributed. His replacement Alex O’Connell was at his best supplying energy and production both offensively and defensively but did not play much in the second half as down the stretch Coach K went with Goldwire, co-captains White and DeLaurier. Javin, in particular, delivered by protecting the rim, rebounding, and draining free throws that put Duke up by six with less than a minute remaining. Oddly enough, Duke shot just about fifty per cent from the floor, three point line, and free throw line. The last one has been the Achilles Heel of the last few teams and needs to be a consistent 70% and above.

Alan Adds:

What I most admire about the 2019-2020 Blue Devils is that the whole is so much more than the sum of its parts. That fact was fully on display last night as Duke beat a highly motivated and talented Georgia Tech team. In the final analysis, Duke overcame being beaten up inside by stronger interior Yellow Jackets with tenacious defense and superb performances by its role players – Alex O’Connell in the first half; and Jack White and Javin DeLaurier in the closing moments. Jordan Goldwire entered the game with 3 minutes gone and played every moment thereafter. The stalwart starters did not disappoint – Carey was heroic fighting the bigger stronger Banks and Wright on the interior while also scoring; Hurt and Stanley had crucial valuable moments with big plays; and Tre Jones led the scoring, making crucial baskets throughout but especially at crunch time. This team is much more than the sum of its parts.

Both halves had a similar pattern. Tech’s bigs were dominant inside for the first part of each stanza. Duke took back control in the closing minutes of each. Duke did not lead in the first half until 7:35 remained in the first half (if you don’t count a 25 second 6-5 lead), when Javin put home a slam. The litmus was, in my opinion, the foul trouble for the Tech bigs. Moses Wright, who was a force, picked up his third with 5:06 to go. Banks, who had 7 blocks in the game, picked up his second with more than 9 minutes left. Tech’s inside dominance receded, Duke’s defense was outstanding, and the Devils rolled to the 11-point lead at the break.

The second half told the tale. Tech was again ferocious, controlling the paint, forcing Duke turnovers, and had the crowd in a frenzy. Duke trailed 53-50 with 11:37 left in the game. Duke’s defense began to assert itself while the offense continued in disarray until there was 8:59 left. Still 53-50, when Coach K put Jack White in the game. He blocked at Wright dunk attempt, which led to Cassius’s highlight dunk and foul shot to tie the game. White hit a 3 to put Duke up by 1. The game was tied at 61 with 5:20 to go. Tech never made another field goal. Duke defended, and Tech simply ran out of gas. Duke’s depth prevailed.

With 3:11 left, Duke led by 2 (66-64) after Banks made 2 free throws. Those were Tech’s last points. Tre was a true leader down the stretch, hitting a mid-range miracle for 68-64 with only 2:23 left. Coach K then made the substitution of the game, Javin for Carey. Javin then proceeded to win the game for Duke. He blocked a dunk attempt by Wright, contested Wright’s put back and blocked Banks, who had grabbed the rebound and was attempting the put back. Then he grabbed the rebound (finally) and was fouled. He went to the line with 55 seconds left and made them both to give Duke a 6 point lead with 55 seconds left. What a sequence! Javin grabbed another key rebound with 30 seconds to go and the Devils were finally home free. White and Javin gave Duke the needed toughness to neutralize Wright and Banks. The whole is bigger than the sum of the parts.

The second half rotation also tells the tale. Georgia Tech played its 4 stalwarts all 20 minutes of the second half and used only 6 players. As the Yellow Jacket coach said in his post-game, Tech got tired at the end. Duke’s defense and depth wore Tech out. For Duke, Goldwire and Tre played all 20 minutes. Carey logged 14 minutes (2-7; 1-2 from the line for 5 points and 3 boards. 2 turnovers); Cassius (8 points on 3-5 and 2-2 from the line to go with 2 key rebounds) and Hurt (1-4; 1-2 from deep for 3 points, a rebound, an assist, a block and a steal) each played 15 minutes. Javin’s heroics came in only 6 second half minutes while White played only 5. Yet they won the game for Duke.

It was a solid team win in an ACC road game. Ask UVA about ACC road games as BC ran them out of the gym in Boston.

Next Play: Wake Forest in Cameron at 8 pm on Saturday, January 11.

Duke 90 – Wake Forest 59

Apparently, it’s really a simple game: “To get your game right, get your threads right”.

The Duke broke out the fifth (and hands down best) of their six new Nike-provided uniforms for their first ACC home game of 2020 and the result was the 900^th win in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Wearing their new Gothic Theme, Brotherhood Scheme (Nolan Smith’s idea) navy blue uniforms and shoes, these Blue Devils never looked or played better as they totally dominated Wake Forest in all phases of the game. They had more steals (11) than Wake Forest had assists (8). Add 8 Duke blocks, shoot about 50% from all areas of the floor, force 17 Deacon turnovers, limit the Deac’s to 42% shooting, and you have a stone cold a blow-out.

“I love my team. They listen. They all want to get better. They’re really a great group of kids. All of them are getting better. “We’re a different team than we’ve been. Why would we be a team that we’re not? In other words, why would we do something that was successful in the past that wouldn’t be for this group?

What impresses me the most is that the team is becoming more offensively balanced and less Vernon Carey centered. If Tre Jones can consistently shoot anything approaching the range that he did tonight; if Hurt continues to get tougher inside to go with his shooting rage; Stanley plays with more confidence and aggression, Goldwire can hit a few shots to keep the defense honest; Baker and O’Connor continue to improve; DeLaurier and White play tough; Moore’s hand heals quickly; and everyone stays healthy, the path for a memorable season is there for the taking.

However, next week will be a better test– a trap game @ Clemson and a tough test against Louisville.

Other Comments:

While it may be a simple game, I cannot understand these players can hit half their shots from beyond the new, wider three point line, and only hit 50% of uncontested shots from the free throw line.

The win kept alive a lot of streaks. Duke is 5-0 in the ACC and has won 9 straight overall. Duke has won 11 straight against Wake Forest, 19 of 20, 22 straight in Cameron.

Alan Adds:

Duke came pretty close to playing a perfect first half, especially on the defensive end, demonstrating in its play, what Coach K’s vision is for the growth of his team. Coach K explained how he wants his players thinking about themselves and the team:

“We don’t have a rotation. All our guys should consider themselves starters. Because you are not playing behind anybody. When someone comes in you do not have to be the guy you came in for. All you have to do is be you. Then we have a little bit of a different look. And that’s the thing we’ve tried to build our team on. And, defensively, we have more athleticism so we can pressure the ball better and move it down the court a little bit more. So, you have different looks by having different people in the game. It just happens.
Everyone on our team knows he is important. None of them are complementary players. All are good basketball players. And when they are in there, they need to think of themselves as starting players.

“It’s just how are team is — a collection of guys hopefully doing enough to come up with a big-time win.”

The first half statistics demonstrates how well each of the Devils played and why the whole of this team exceeds the sum of its parts. Let’s look first at those who replaced the starters. While Carey started and played 13 minutes (5 points on 2-4 from the field and 1-4 from the line to go with his 4 rebounds and a block), DeLaurier also scored 5 (2-2 from the floor; 1-2 from the line to go with 2 boards and 2 blocks) in only 7 minutes. Joey Baker scored 8 points in 7 minutes (3-3 from the field, including 2-2 from deep) Baker and Alex (only 3 minutes and a steal) were in for the 2 minutes that Cassius sat (7 points on 3-6 from the field; 1-2 from deep; 3 rebounds; an assist and a steal), the 2 minutes that Tre sat (he led the team in scoring with 11 points) and the 5 minutes Goldwire was not on the floor. Jack White played 11 minutes (4 points with a made 3 and 1-2 from the line) while Matt Hurt scored 5 (2-3, including 1-2 from deep and 2 rebounds) in only 8 minutes.

The Duke backcourt was sensational. Tre had his best game of the year, becoming a scoring machine. In the second half he scored 12 points in 9 minutes (5-6 including 2-2 from deep) but let us continue analyzing the amazing first half. Tre scored the first 5 points of the game and the last 4 of the half (in the final 15 seconds). He was 5-9 in the first half, including 1-2 from deep to go with 4 assists without a turnover, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. He and JGold played amazing defense. Goldwire had 1 more assist than Tre (5) while scoring 4 points and getting a steal.

The Defense

Duke had more steals (6) than Wake had assists (4). The Devils forced 12 Wake turnovers, which led to 13 Duke points. Wake did not score a fast break point or a second chance point! Duke’s big men protected the rim and were amazingly athletic in switching the ball screens and still keeping position to defend the Wake bigs who rolled to the basket. Wake had only 6 points in the paint. Duke has played defense like this before, but it is still a privilege to watch a team play cohesive and cooperative defense that way.

The deep rotation allows each player to go all out on every play. How about Joey Baker diving for a loose ball going out of bounds when Duke had a 30-point lead with just a few minutes left. That dive was emblematic of the Duke defensive desire and intensity.

The Offense

The ball moved. The players moved. Duke shot well because the shot selection was so good. The Devils were creating good, very good and excellent shot opportunities. A contested shot was rare. Duke was 6-10 from deep in the first half (but only 3-9 from the stripe), and 14-22 from inside the arc. It was sweet to watch.

Next Play: Clemson in Death Valley on Tuesday (Jan. 14) at 7 pm. The Tigers will be coming off their first ever win at UNC (0-59 before yesterday) and will be facing Duke the day after the football team meets LSU for the National Championship. Clemson is traditionally tough in Littlejohn. This is a classic trap game, an ACC road game just before a ballyhooed meeting in Cameron on Saturday [ESPN Game Day is I Durham]. Next Saturday Jan. 18), Duke meets Louisville in Cameron in the first really crucial game of the ACC season. The winner will have a definite leg up in the regular season race.

Duke The Best School For Student-Athletes In The USA

Duke Ranked Top College for Student-Athletes

January 8, 2020

DURHAM, N.C. – According to the 2020 best college rankings by Niche, Duke University is ranked the No. 1 school for student-athletes in America.

Duke finished among the top-5 in numerous other categories, including No. 1 for public policy, No. 3 for best value, No. 4 for best professors and No. 6 in both top private university and best college by the organization.

Niche’s rankings are based on rigorous analysis of key statistics from the U.S. Department of Education and millions of reviews.

Duke Athletics finished last season ranked ninth in the Learfield IMG Directors’ Cup Standings by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and sent 48 student-athletes and 16 teams to NCAA action, highlighted by the women’s golf team winning its seventh NCAA title.

Academically, a total of 17 Duke teams achieved a 100 percent graduation success rate: men’s basketball, women’s cross country/track & field, men’s fencing, women’s fencing, field hockey, men’s golf, women’s golf, men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, rowing, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s swimming and diving, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, volleyball and wrestling.

Duke also made history last year, setting an ACC record with 519 ACC Academic Honor Roll selections. The Blue Devils have led the conference in honorees for 31 of the previous 32 years. The Honor Roll is comprised of varsity student-athletes who registered a grade point average of 3.0 or better for the full academic year.

DUKE 72 – CLEMSON 79

My final comments on the Wake Forest game: “The path for a memorable season is there for the taking. However, next week will be a better test– a trap game @ Clemson and a tough test against Louisville.” Clemson gets an A. Duke a D. When you miss ten free throws, blow two uncontested layups and several other that were contested, allow an opponent to shoot 57%, and two players to have career games, it’s difficult to win on the road (or anywhere else). Teams are double teaming Vernon Carey and forcing him to pass, which is a strength. However, his teammates must make themselves available and make shots. Unfortunately, Matthew Hurt’s lack of strength and mediocre to poor defense often results in his watching the action from the bench and the supporting cast is suddenly depleted. Tonight, Jack White, whose savvy and toughness are never a liability and who recently found his three point shot, replaced Hurt for most of the second half. Look for him to play more minutes while Moore and Baker are unavailable.

Coach K summed it up: “Clemson played a great game and have been playing so well. To beat NC State and win at North Carolina we knew that Brad [Brownell] team’s always play outstanding defense. Good tough, kids, good players and it’s tough to score against them — and they were that tonight. We knew coming into the game that the four and the five were the positions we had to defend. In our last game, we didn’t do a good job at the four and the five and we didn’t do a good job tonight. [Aamir] Simms and [Tevin] Mack were terrific and it’s a different offense to defend, but Simms was spectacular tonight and how he controlled the game. We got knocked back right away. Our kids have to understand how hard it is to win and we’ve been winning, but when you’re in conference, people are hungry, and if you win a lot sometimes you’re not as much as the other team. We missed layups and then in the second half we started pressing and that got us a short lead and then we missed free throws that could’ve given us a two possession lead, but I’m not blaming our guys because Vernon had to work so hard for that. Clemson was more deserving of winning tonight. We almost got it in the second half, but overall they played better than we did. One of the reasons we’ve been good is that we had depth,” Krzyzewski said “but we have two kids (Moore, a broken hand and Baker, a sprained ankle) out right now on the perimeter. I saw it a little bit in the last game and tonight you definitely saw that we are not as good without that depth.”

Other Observations:

Exchange with a former Duke player: This “old fashion team” is not ready for prime time. Desultory defense and casual passing is recipe for disaster. Time for K to tear off his jacket and throw down his clip border! You guys called it. A trap game for sure! As we‘ve talked, Carey is a liability in close games. We will probably see more “hack a shack “ in future close games. Very disappointing in a very good player.

Alan Adds:

I closed the most recent Alan Adds with the following prescient comment: “Next Play: Clemson in Death Valley on Tuesday (Jan. 14) at 7 pm. The Tigers will be coming off their first ever win at UNC (0-59 before yesterday) and will be facing Duke the day after the football team meets LSU for the National Championship. Clemson is traditionally tough in Littlejohn. This is a classic trap game, an ACC road game just before a ballyhooed meeting in Cameron on Saturday [ESPN Game Day is I Durham].” (In red in that post)

If you watch a rewind of the beginning of the game, you will see the Duke attitude, contrasted with Clemson’s, had “trap” all over it. Clemson came out simply dripping with fighting emotion. You could see the Tiger players were sky high, pumped up, in a virtual frenzy. The Duke players were calm and (over) confident. Nobody was jumping around or pumped up. The Duke stats – rated first in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings; the only team in the top 10 statistically in both offense and defense; nationally formidable in steals; blocks and assists—were so impressive. Moreover, Clemson was 8-7 and probably due for deflation after winning in Chapel Hill. In the opening minutes it was crystal clear that all the emotion and energy came from the Tigers, while the Blue Devils confidently waited for (and expected) Clemson to fold.

Instead it was Duke that folded. It was Duke, whose interior defensive weakness was exposed. Duke’s depth was non-existent and it was the Devils that were worn out down the stretch. Bill’s analysis and Coach K’s quotes were right on: Duke is not defending the on the interior “we didn’t do a good job at 4 and 5”. In games where Duke has struggled, that has been true throughout the season. Duke can overcome that weakness when its defense shuts down the perimeter, forces turnovers and gets a fair share of blocks to protect the rim. All of that was dramatically missing from the Blue Devil arsenal last night. Let’s look at the second half, where Duke’s press had turned the game around and allowed the Blue Devils to take the lead. Duke led by 62-59 with 6:36 left in the game, and only trailed by 65-64 with4:19 left when the wheels came off. In my opinion, the Devils were simply worn out. They could no longer press, which is what got them a 3 point lead after trailing by 9. Carey turned it over, Tre missed 2 in a row, White missed a foul shot (but at least he had made the first), and the Duke could not get a stop while committing foul after foul. Those are the indications of a tired team.

In the closing stanza, Duke was 4-11 from the foul line (Carey was 2-7), outrebounded 21-12, corralled only a single offensive rebound while committing 11 fouls. This was a tired team down the stretch. With Baker and Moore out, Duke had only 8 available of its core. However, there were not 8 contributors: Alex played only a single second half minute; Hurt played only 5; and DeLaurier only 7. Collectively those three not only failed to score, but did not even attempt a field goal. Stanley picked up 2 quick fouls (total of 4), which not only required him to sit, but removed his aggressiveness when he did return to the game. His defense suffered because he understood that his team could not afford him to foul out. Tired teams miss free throws. Carey played hard – he has simply great hands – but had no help on the interior. Coach K tried everything – he played DeLaurier and Carey together; he had 3 bigs on the court at times, but his team was gassed down the stretch.

While the loss is disappointing, I believe it will have the requisite silver lining. When Duke was shocked by Stephen F Austin, after displaying the same over confidence, the team grew by leaps and bounds. I believe this game, and the return of depth, will have a similar impact. Perhaps the best takeaway from this game was the emergence of Jack White in the second half. In 17 minutes, he scored 9; (3-4; 2-3 from deep; 1-2 from the stripe) with 2 boards and 2 steals. He adds toughness for sure. Let’s see if he can sustain that play for the remainder of his senior year.

Next Play: Duke is home against a very good Louisville team [Saturday night at 6 pm], and is likely to still be without its formidable depth. This will be a tough game, which will tell much about the heart and soul of this team.

DUKE 73 – LOUISVILLE 79

Payback!

A year ago, Louisville lost a 23 point lead with ten minutes to play to lose to the Blue Devils at The KFC Center in a devastating defeat from which they never fully recovered for the rest of the season. Tonight, they lost an early 15 point lead in raucous Cameron and with just under four minutes to play were clinging to a one-point lead when dynamic freshman point guard David Johnson, who had scored 19 points, was sidelined by a shoulder injury. But this time there was a different result. For a third straight road game, Louisville was the tougher, more poised team in the closing minutes, holding Duke scoreless for 3:24 and scoring 8 straight points to pull away. “That game last year,” Louisville coach Chris Mack said, “ was the hardest defeat I’ve ever had. You can do one of two things — either think about those ghosts and get revisited, or go and do the job. I’m really proud of our guys to be able to face what we did a year ago. That was a hard loss, man. A really, really hard loss.”

However, this was also an impressive win in a difficult venue by a very tough, mature, deep, talented team that could jump start a championship run.

There is no way to sugar coat these last two games. With the easiest ACC schedule in years, Duke came out flat against Clemson, tight and tentative against Louisville in Cameron, digging themselves a very deep hole from which to recover. Nevertheless, the Blue Devils fought back and tied the game late on multiple occasions, but could never pull ahead. Cassius Stanley had an open, potential game-tying 3-pointer with :17 seconds left but shot an air ball. However, you can hardly blame Cassius. If it wasn’t for his 24 points and 11 rebounds, the game would have been a blowout by halftime.

It was men against boys. There are five transfers and only one contributing teenager on the Cardinal roster. Any Blue Devil who thinks they are physically ready for the NBA, should review the tapes of these last two games. For this team to be a true title contender, they have to play lock-down, turnover producing defense and Vernon Carey has anchor the half-court offense down low, giving them 20 & 10. Without his inside presence, the Blue Devils are offensively challenged, because they are usually a mediocre three point and free throw shooting team. In both games, Duke was in position to close an opponent out, but were unable to score in the half court. In this game and the Stephen F. Austin game, Carey was on the bench at the end. Defense can win games but someone has to be able to put the ball in the basket. Ever since the 2015 NCAA Championship, Duke has had talented, freshman centric teams that have started the season strong but finished disappointingly. The conventional wisdom is that as the season progressed, Coach K shortened his rotation to 6 or 7 players and they wore out. Well, this year he is going 8-10 deep and they look tired before mid-season. What’s the answer? For starters, they have to play mentally and physically tougher; Vernon Carey has to play better defense, stay out of foul trouble, and on the floor at critical times; Matthew Hurt has to man up and play big not small; Joey Baker has to start scoring consistently; Cassius Stanley has to keep improving; and, hopefully, Wendell Moore returns.

Considering these stats, it was amazing the score game was this close: FG: 48% -37%; 3’s: 56%-24%; ft: 83%-72%.

Coach K compared the game to the early ‘90s Bulls and Pistons battles: “That was a brutal game. The most physical game we’ve been involved in… in years. They’re good. They’re really good. [David] Johnson was terrific in the first half. With the depth that they have and the experience – they outplayed us, especially in those first ten minutes. Our kids fought like crazy and put us in a position to win. The term “freedom of movement” was not alive and well tonight. I hope we don’t have the rest of the conference like that. That’s not good basketball. They played great – I don’t want to take away from them. For both of us, you can’t have that. The last two teams we played… we just have to get older. I’m really up on my team. It’s a long journey. I’ve never told you that we’re great. It’s a process for us, playing these two teams. Getting beat, we have to learn from it and move on. It’s a long journey.”

Alan Adds:

Overview

In the closing moments Louisville took control and looked the way Duke – at winning time –usually does. On the other hand, the Blue Devils looked the way the unranked visiting teams usually looked when they routinely collapse down the stretch – especially at Cameron. However, the demoralizing last 3:27 seconds should not completely obscure some terrific moments that Duke produced. There was “good” even though the “bad and ugly” were more prevalent and relevant for analysis.

The Good (It is shorter)

This team has real heart and showed a fighting spirit and determination last night that should not be forgotten in the disappointing loss. Duke was basically run out of its own gym in the early going. After taking an early 5-2 lead (a 3 by Hurt and a jumper by JGold), the Cardinals just took it to Duke physically. Duke turned the ball over so frequently that Louisville did not have to run a set half-court offense. In the first half, Duke turned it over with amazing frequency, gave up 26 points in the paint (while scoring only 8) and allowed 12 fast break points. The Devil bench failed to score in that half (only 5 for the entire game – a layup by White and a meaningless 3 by Baker with 3 seconds left in the game). Duke was down by as much as 15 points; and had given up 42 first half points to trail by 10 at the break.

This team fought all the way back in a game that was physically brutal. Coach K said it was played like an old Bulls v Pistons in the 1990s when Detroit was “The Bad Boys”. Nevertheless, Duke tied the score at 58 with over 8 minutes left. When Louisville retaliated and pushed the lead back to 6, the fighting Devils responded and tied the score again at 63 with 6:29 left. Although Duke never had the ball with a chance to take the lead, Duke was down only 1 (66-65) with 5:18 to go. When the Cardinals pushed it to a 6 point lead again – 71-65 with 4:27 to go, the Blue Devils still answered with 5 straight points – a 3 point play the old fashioned way by Tre plus a nifty steal and layup by Goldwire – to be down only a point with 3:27 to play. Then the wheels came off.

Both Cassius Stanley and Matt Hurt had breakout games. Stanley logged 37 minutes while scoring 24 points (6-10 from inside the arc and 90% from the foul line – 9-10) to go with 11 rebounds. He was only 1-7 from deep, however. Hurt scored 16 points (11 in the first half) in 32 minutes. He made 2 crucial second half plays – a one handed dunk on an offensive rebound; and even more crucially sunk 3-3 from the line when he cleverly drew a foul on his 3-point attempt. That tied the score at 58. While he tired (4 fouls in the second half, fouling out in the last 3 seconds), he was a force on the floor on defense. He was part of Coach K’s 2 interesting innovations to spark the Devils.

First, he went big, which worked for a while until Louisville adjusted. He used Carey in the middle with White and Hurt at the forwards and Cassius as Tre’s running mate in the backcourt. When the Cardinals ultimately stretched the lead, Coach K went to his Pony Express team (as I call them), playing Hurt and White and Stanley along with Tre and Goldwire. That is the lineup that brought Duke back into contention all the way to 3:27 to go.

The “Bad and Ugly”

The End Game and Rotation

Duke was (again) simply gassed at the end of the game. Looking at the second half rotation discloses Duke’s lack of depth and bench strength, which I believe led to the exhaustion and losing. Tre and Cassius played the whole second half (Cassius was out for less than a minute). Tre logged 39 for the game; Cassius 37. Hurt played 16 minutes; White 15 and JGold 14 (he was only out while the Big team came back and then faded) in the closing stanza. The bench was non-existent and a non-factor. Baker launched 4 shots in 4 second half minutes, making only the meaningless 3 virtually at the game ending buzzer. He did miss all of his 6 other shots in his 10 game minutes, while committing 3 fouls. Alex did not play in the second half and only logged 2 minutes in the first half (0-1). Javin has again become a non-factor even though he has stopped fouling. He played 9 minutes in the game (4 in the closing stanza) without a point, shot or rebound. He turned it over twice in his five first half minutes.

Carey played only eight second half minutes, partly because of foul trouble (he had 4 midway through the period) and partly because of his foul shooting (3-6 in the second half). Coach K appears not to trust him at the foul line at closing time. The early season depth that fueled the early season success seems to have vanished. This makes the return of Wendell Moore seem essential.

The Offense

Turnovers in the first half and terrible shooting in the second half doomed the Devils. Duke had officially 10 first half turnovers, but I think there were significantly more (only 5 assists). Worse, the turnovers led to open runouts for easy Louisville layups. Duke was 1-12 from deep in the second half (I’m not counting Baker’s 3 at the buzzer; Duke was officially 2-13) with Stanley leading the (0-4) way. Hurt, White, and Baker couldn’t hit in 5 collective attempts. Tre was 1-3. Many of those attempts were wide open. Tre scored 12 in the half, but on an inefficient 12 shots.

The Defense

There was a serious breakdown in fundamentals, especially in transition defense. Louisville got open runouts on Duke’s misses; as Duke failed to balance the court. Grievous fundamental errors. As in past games, Duke is not defending the post well. Previously, the double teams gave up easy layups. In this game, Carey (and who was defending during Carey’s 17 bench minutes) was left to defend by himself, and could not do it. The Louisville bigs got the ball in deep to score and Carey ran into foul trouble. Duke committed 9 fouls in each half, almost all by its bigs. Tre’s vaunted defense was ineffectual in the first half and really sub-par throughout.

Was this a Coach K shot at ‘Ole Roy?

“When we lose, I always credit an opponent. I don’t throw my own team under the bus ever…ever. …I’m really up on my team. It’s a long journey. I’ve never told you that we are great.” (Emphasis is mine).

Next Play: Tuesday at 7:00 pm against Miami in Cameron

DUKE 89 – MIAMI 59

It is apparent that the back-to-back loses to Clemson and Louisville may well be the inflection point for the season in that it should now be obvious to all the freshmen that teams no longer will play Duke straight up. Rather, they will smother Vernon Carey, making it difficult for him to be the 20 & 10 pillar that carries the team and forcing other players to beat them. On nights like last night, when Duke makes 11 of 25 3-pointers (44 percent), the wins come easy. When they go 6 of 25, like against Louisville, not so much. Obviously, the answer is that the burden for a successful season is for some combination of Hurt, Stanley, Baker, O’Conner , and (soon) Moore to grow up and play Big Boy Ball. Everyone plays hard and aggressive against Duke. Jones already does and Goldwire, by the way, has improved dramatically to become a very reliable, contributing starter, who plays to his strengths (more shots for others). Plus, a given for a Coach K team—consistently, good tough defense that makes for easier offense. And being strong with the ball has to be a constant, not a sometimes thing.

It appears Carey is adjusting to the new normal and Hurt is gradually utilizing all his talents and size; Stanley is a lot more than Zion-light; Baker needs to be more relaxed, under control, and consistent; but AOC is still a quixotic talent—you never know what you are going to get. Last night he got two quick hooks for inattentive plays then scored 8 points on a variety of shots in the last minutes of garbage time.

Coach K: ”We played really well. Our guys responded. We had a heck of a day yesterday with our team from 7 in the morning to 10 at night with a couple of practices, meetings, just good stuff! They grew from it – all positive. They responded. (Reflect a moment on the subtext of that quote and translate it for us). They’re fighting human nature because we beat them by a lot, but since then they’re down by only four against Louisville, probably should’ve beaten Florida State. They’ve been playing well, so we showed them stuff from those games. They were a mature team tonight. We got back to playing defense.” On Duke’s defense: “We just concentrated more on it. In our six wins, we’ve given up 60 points. In the two losses, we gave up 79. We talked to our team about that. For us to win we have to play good defense. If we’re playing that hard on defense it translates to good offense – then we’re pushing the ball. At the start of the game we had a lot of energy.

“We just played really good defense. [Chris] Lykes is a heck of a player and in the second half he showed more. We just had a couple of good games against them. He’s one of the quick scorers in the league – big time.” When asked about Duke’s energy: “They really responded to the two losses in a positive way. Our practices yesterday were excellent. Our team meetings – I think we grew a lot as a team and I think it showed today. We got a little bit of a break from competition. Wendell [Moore Jr.] still won’t be ready by next week, but that’s a week we don’t lose a game with him. That’s a good thing. It does give some of these other guys a chance – Joey [Baker] has been playing with a sprained ankle – for us to get rejuvenated after eight conference games.”

On Vernon Carey: “He has counter moves -counter moves are great if you’re doing them against one guy. I don’t think anyone has come up with a counter for double and triple teams. That’s what’s happening to him. If the three-point shooting keeps going well then, he’ll have more room. Part of the reason we have more open threes is because of Vernon. When he runs the court, people are going to go to him. That gives a window of opportunity. In Matt’s case, he was a little slower with that window earlier, so they could recover to him. His prep is quicker and if he keeps going like that – then that’s a great counter with Vern. Vern has – it’s tough to move down there. As long as he’s running – he just has to stay patient. He did a great job tonight with just running and making sure the defense had to react.”

Alan Adds:

“At the start of the game, we had a lot of energy. Second half, it was 10:30 at night and we had a big lead.” Coach K had about summed it up The first half was just one of those halves!

With 1:37 left in the opening stanza, Duke enjoyed a 29-point lead, and had held Miami to only 18 points! Duke’s offense is and was fueled by energetic defense, while Miami’s defensive game plan completely backfired. The Hurricane plan was to pack it in down low to neutralize Carey (which was successfully done) and leave the perimeter relatively open. In reality, there was nothing relative of how wide open the Hurricane left Duke shooters. Where the word relatively appeared, replace it with “completely”. The result was the best Duke 3-point shooting of the season, led by Matt Hurt’s 15 first half points (3-5 from deep), Tre was 2-4; Baker 2-3 and White 1-1 from deep. Besides Hurt’s 15, the first half scoring was balanced with 3 players scoring 6 (Tre, Carey and Baker) while 2 – Stanley and White — scored 5. Tre and JGold combined for 8 assists without a turnover, 7 rebounds and 2 steals. The defense held Miami’s best player scoreless. It was an almost perfect half, and a wonderful response to the 2 game losing streak.

Perhaps the last 2 minutes of the second half were also important for Duke’s depth. Alex O’Connell, who has been mired in sloppy ineffective play, has seen his playing time diminish to almost nothing as a result. Alex entered the game in the first half and was immediately stripped of the ball leading to a Miami runout and score. Coach K yanked him immediately; he was on the court for about 30 seconds. Coach K put him in during the second half, and Alex was again awful. He missed a 3 and committed an immediate turnover that led to another Miami runout and open layup. K yanked him again after less than a minute.

But with 3:38 left in the game, Alex received another chance and took so much advantage of it, that he may have earned his way back into the rotation. He stole the ball with 3:03 left that led to a Stanley score. In the last 2 minutes, he hit 2 jumpers and made 2 layups (the last one by running the court and receiving a “touchdown pass” from Justin Robinson to push the lead to 30. It was a helluva of last two minutes for Alex, giving him 8 points in a total of 5 minutes of action.

Next Play: Duke has a week off before meeting Jeff Capel’s revitalized Pittsburg team in Cameron at 9 pm (1-28). The week should give Baker’s ankle more healing time, revitalize the team, and keep us looking forward to Wendell Moore’s expected return in February.

DUKE 79 – PITTSBURG 67

The good news is that Vernon Carey apparently put the week off to good use—to freshen up and reflect upon how to capitalize on what opponents have recently been doing to neutralize him. While he has had nine double-doubles in sixteen games this season, tonight’s was his first since Dec. 19, 2019. Vernon was much more active and physical in establishing himself down low. When double-teamed, he demonstrated he was not only an efficient scorer with range but also a creative passer. It was his most complete game of the season, dominating in every conceivable way finishing with 26 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, a block, multiple altered shots (see above) in a season high 36 (ten more than normal) minutes. For Duke to be as successful as they want to be, the offense must run through Tre Jones and Vernon Carey, because the other players, while talented, are not yet consistent.

The not so good news is that as the Blue Devils were coasting to their 17^th win of the season, leading 60-42 with 13:43 left, when the offense went cold and the defense played tired, allowing a 24-6 run by the Panthers that brought them within five points with six minutes left in the game. It was a text book example of inefficient offense and missed shots leading to easy buckets as every team has athletic players who love to run and score. Forward Au’Diese Toney had a career-high 27 points—20 over his average– as neither Stanley nor anyone else could neutralize him.

Just when an improbable nightmare—think Stephen F. Austin– seemed to be unfolding, Coach K called a timeout to settle and focus his team. From that point on, the Blue Devils played winning basketball: tight defense, four free throws by Hurt and Goldwire (two missed free throws by Pitt), an NBA three with time expiring by Stanley, a jumper and a dunk by Carey on a nice pass from Jones, and a late block from Jack White put an exclamation point on the win.

Only six players played double digit minutes as O’Connell and Baker are playing themselves back to a nice view from the bench. On the other hand, Jordan Goldwire has solidified his position as the fifth starter as he has added efficient offense to his defense. Tonight, he had three straight threes, scoring 13 points to go with 5 rebounds and 3 assists, and 1 steal. And Jack White, who is the toughest player on the team had 23 minutes off the bench. His 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal does not do justice to the stabilizing force he provides to his team at critical times.

OTHER COMMENTS:

Former Duke player and assistant coach Jeff Capel has his Pitt Panthers on a nice trajectory.

Eight former Krzyzewski assistants are now head coaches: at Notre Dame (Mike Brey), Harvard (Tommy Amaker), Central Florida (Johnny Dawkins), the NBA’s Utah Jazz (Quin Snyder), Northwestern (Chris Collins), Marquette (Wojo), Pitt (Jeff Capel) and Howard (Kenny Blakeney). Only Brey did not play for K.

Alan Adds:

The second half was the story of this game. Duke’s 18 point lead (60-42) with 13:43 to go in the second half was down to 3 (68-65) with 4:28 to go. In 9 minutes and 15 seconds Duke had scored only 8 points. Coach K on being unconcerned with the lack of defensive intensity against Miami last Saturday in the second half: “it was 10:30 at night and we had a big lead”. That same lack of defensive intensity in the second half last night almost cost Duke what would have been a worse-than-embarrassing loss. However, in the next 3:32 of play, Duke played like Duke has traditionally done at “winning time”.

Coach K played “offense-defense” substituting Hurt (even with 4 fouls) for offense; and replacing him with Goldwire for defense. Hurt made his 2 free throws; Carey got the next defensive rebound and then scored in the paint on a superb feed from Tre. He retrieved another defensive rebound (missed Pitt free throws) and Duke stretched the lead back to 10 on a shot-clock-winding-down 3 from Stanley (great pass from Tre) with 2:24 left — 75-65. White made a critical block to keep Pitt at bay. Carey scored again on yet another assist from Tre with 1:29 to go. Duke closed out its scoring when JGold sank 2 free throws with 56 seconds left to push the Duke margin to 14 – 79-65. Duke held the Panthers scoreless from 4:28 to 0:37, when Pitt scored a meaningless bucket. Duke’s offense and defense came together in dramatic fashion to crush Pitt.

The rotation in the second half was also telling: Duke had only 15 total minutes of bench playing time and not a single bench point. Jack White, who played 11 minutes, was really the only bench player. DeLaurier and Baker each logged only 2 minutes. Alex played one first half minute (0-1 and a defensive lapse) but 0 in the closing stanza. Hurt, in foul trouble all night (he finished with 4; only 1 in the second half), logged 12 second half minutes. Duke made good use of a big lineup from time to time – Carey, Hurt and White up front; Stanley and Tre in the backcourt. Tre played all 20 second half minutes; Stanley and JGold played 18 and Carey 17. The good news may be that Wendell Moore is expected back in a week or so (the cast is off).

The Duke offense stalled so badly in the second half because the three point shooting, which was devastating in the first half (7-14, including JGold hitting 3 of 4), went almost completely cold in the latter stanza (2-12 – JGold was 0-3; Hurt 1-3; Stanley 1-4; White and Baker were each 0-1). The defense seemed to wilt in intensity as the offense shooting woes mounted.

Next Play: Duke hits the road for 3 straight ACC road games beginning this Saturday (Feb 1) vs. Syracuse at 8 pm (ESPN)

Our website covering the last eleven seasons is: dukebasketballplaybook.com

DUKE 97 – SYRACUSE 88

The young Blue Devils are entering a stretch of tough games that may well determine whether they are truly battle ready contenders or just precocious pretenders. We witnessed some of both tonight. They started like pretenders in front of an intimidating 31,000+ crowd in the Carrier Dome but in important stretches responded like contenders until they didn’t but ultimately did. Confused? Well, for starters Duke was coming off a close home game where Coach K reverted to his predictable later-in-the-season pattern of playing a short rotation and darn near getting a technical foul for losing it against (of all people) the Cameron Crazies! In addition, coaches John Scheyer and Nolan Smith were not on the bench. Be honest. How many briefly thought this might the beginning of the end?

Well, one thing we have learned over these past forty years is that Coach K and his teams are tough and resilient and K is a great bench coach who knows how to push the buttons of his players—as is his old friend Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim. Tonight, they treated us not only to an exciting, high scoring game but also an interesting, probing Masters Coaching Chess Clinic. The Blue Devils started (surprise!) sluggishly with Syracuse leading 21-14 and Duke big men Vernon Carey, Matthew Hurt, and Javin DeLaurier being called for two fouls each in the first eleven minutes. Duke was in danger of digging themselves into a deep hole as they did in loses to Clemson and Louisville– but with 31,000 fans piling on. Like it or not, Coach K was forced to mix and match his lineup for the rest of the game. Fortunately, the unlikely quartet of Alex O’Connell (whom keen observer wrote “had played himself onto a nice view from the bench”), Javin DeLaurier, both of whom had barely played against Pittsburg, Wendell Moore, who has been recovering from a broken fingers, and Jack White somehow not only kept things from getting out of hand but helped rally the team (with the help of Carey) to an improbable 40-36 halftime lead. But that was nothing. The second half score was 57-52 as Duke would lead the rest of the way but, unable to consistently handle The Orange full court press, never could comfortably put the game away. However, (surprise) they, er Tre, who played every minute, never missed a free throw at closing time.

Duke looked to be cruising, until they didn’t, as they led by 15 points with nine minutes left and 14 with less than five minutes left. But those five minutes took an eternity as virtually every possession stopped the clock, either with a foul, a turnover, or a timeout. It was like watching the final innings of a close, major-league baseball game. Duke lost Wendell Moore, DeLaurier, then Cassius Stanley to fouls. With more than three minutes left, Syracuse closed the gap to five points. However, the Blue Devils closed it out with championship shooting from the foul line– 12 straight free throws down the stretch, 10-10 from Tre Jones and 2-2 for Stanley.

While making way-too-many turnovers (19), a season-high 29 personal fouls, even a (questionable) technical foul on Vernon Carey, the good news is that Carey and Stanley (after a disappointing first half) played with an intensity and passion that is needed to wins tough tournament games and, as always, Tre Jones steadied the team a critical times. In addition, a full complement of nine players responded extremely well to contribute to the win. Interestingly, only Joey Baker, whom you would think would be a logical zone buster, did not play—but stay tuned.

The play of the game: Vernon Carey, whose father played offensive tackle in the NFL, gathered a rebound under his basket and threw a full court pass to a streaking Cassius “Skywalker” Stanley, who caught it, hung, changing hands in midair, then laid the ball in the basket while being fouled by an incredulous defender.The bottom line: A promising response and learning experience against an improving, dangerous team in a tough venue.

Miscellaneous Comments:

A year ago, the game with Duke (and Zion) drew 35,642 that set the record for largest on-campus crowd in college basketball history.
Duke was without two of their assistant coaches. Jon Scheyer fell ill Saturday morning in Syracuse and underwent a successful appendectomy at a local hospital. Director of basketball operations Nolan Smith did not make the trip to Syracuse with the team due to his daughter’s illness.
Kyle Shanahan, head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, attended Duke on a football scholarship, but transferred as redshirt freshman to the University of Texas at Austin. Shanahan played wide receiver on a Longhorn team that featured future college coach Major Applewhite as well as future NFL players Roy Williams, Cedric Benson, Bo Scaife, Mike Williams, and Chris Simms. Kyle caught 14 passes for 127 yards in his career at U.T.

Alan Adds:

The second half is worth a close look. Duke scored 57 second half points, shot the lights out, got scoring from the bench as well as bravura performances from Carey (14 points in 14 minutes with 9 rebounds), Stanley (13 points in 16 minutes, including two crucial 3 point plays in the last 3:06 of the game) and Tre (12 points in 20 minutes, including 10 straight free throws in the last 2:35) while hitting 21 of 23 free throws (including 12 in a row in the last 3:06). So, is anything wrong with this picture. Well, yes. Syracuse scored 52 points including 21 fast break points (after only 4 in the first half) and 14 second chance points while grabbing 12 offensive rebounds (Duke had 6 in the closing stanza). Duke committed 19 second half fouls with Stanley, Moore and DeLaurier fouling out. Carey finished with four (one an ill-advised technical). The Devils committed 11 second half turnovers vs only 8 assists. Moore in particular had a dismal second half committing four fouls and 3 turnovers in 9 scoreless minutes, after an efficient first half. Javin played only 4 scoreless minutes. Fortunately, Alex was brilliant scoring 7 points in his 6 minutes; he was almost all of Duke’s bench scoring; Jack White added 3 on 1-2 from deep in 7 minutes.

Duke maintained a double digit lead for almost all of the second half, with it reaching 14 with 6:02 to go. Then the Orange began to chip away slowly. Single digits with 3:50 left. Carey committed his 4^th foul with 3:37 remaining and Moore fouled out with 3:32 to go. Syracuse converted from the line and the lead was down to 5 (79-74) with 3:06 remaining.

Duke did not miss another shot from that point on. Stanley made 2 layups where he was fouled and converted each time. He did not foul out until there was only 38 seconds left and the Duke win was secure. Carey hit a tough jumper while Tre made 2 foul shots five straight times. He was also brilliant in defeating Syracuse’s desperate trapping press as well as leading Duke’s defense into hounding the Orange from the 3 point line (6-17 for the game). It was a solid ACC road win highlighted by a fabulous final 3:06.

No Blue Devil played as much as 30 minutes, except Tre who played every minute. 10-10 from the line after playing as hard as he does for the full 40 minutes is worth another tip of the hat. Goldwire started, but played only 15 minutes in the game (8 in the second half). Moore logged the starter minutes in the back court (24; 13 in the first half) in his first game back from the hand injury. DeLaurier (12 minutes; 8 in the first half when he scored all of his 8 points and grabbed 4 boards), O’Connell (15 minutes; 11 points); and White (14 minutes; 7 in each half; 1-2 from deep with 2 critical rebounds) were Duke’s efficient bench. No announcer or internet bit has explained why Joey Baker did not play; he looked healthy sitting on the bench. Carey played 28 minutes while Hurt and Cassius logged 26.

All in all, it was a very satisfying road win for the Devils.

Next Play: BC at BC on Tuesday at 7 pm (ESPN). Yes, another trap game since Saturday’s game is in Chapel Hill against some team that wears uniforms that Bill describes as “washed out blue”.

DUKE 63 – BOSTON COLLEGE 55

Alan sees “trap games”, whatever that means, in his sleep. I just wonder why, more often than not, this team starts out “flat,” just going through the motions as if wearing the Duke jersey intimidates an opponent. Well, here’s a flash: The Duke jersey makes an opponent play harder so they can go back to campus or home and boast about how well they played against the great college powerhouse.

Tonight was worse than usual. The Blue Devils appeared to be just going through the motions on both offense—Carey was missing contested but point blank shots that usually fall and his teammates were 0-12 from three point land. And on defense, the Blue Devils were out hustled, beaten to rebounds, and by back door plays. I thought Coach K was going to have a heart attack. Fortunately, BC, which is not one of the better ACC teams, turned it over 17 times and were 2-18 on threes. At the half, Duke was down three and had only scored 21 points (Three nights ago, they scored 57 in the second half at Syracuse). Go figure! Is college basketball, like the 2016 presidential election, Bizarro World defying all logic and gravity and turning upside down? Can both traditional ACC basketball also-rans Clemson and Boston College beat both North Carolina and Duke back to back? What are the odds on one, much less both of these events, occurring?

Johnny Tar Heel often points out with envy what a great bench coach Duke has. Well, tonight certainly demonstrated that in spades as Duke pulled out a losable game because of Coach K, Joey Baker, Tre Jones, and Javin DeLaurier. With the Blue Devils trailing, Carey in foul trouble, and his team playing uninspired basketball, Coach K substituted Joey Baker, who did not play against Syracuse, and Joey Buckets responded with instant offense (8 points and a steal in 13 minutes); then, he went to Javin DeLaurier (4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 charge taken); then a zone; and then a variety of full court presses. The Eagles became discombobulated and lost the lead. An energized Duke had the lead but with Carey’s effectiveness hindered by four fouls, Tre “Cool Hand Luke” Jones took over the offense and sealed the win by working his way into the paint, where he is lethal, and scoring. Please note one other important aspect to this win: 16-20 free throws, 7 more than BC, just about the winning margin.

Just a word about the Jones Boys—Tyus & Trey– and how much they have meant to Duke Basketball. By basketball standards, they are not super athletic but have a super basketball IQ and are mature beyond their years. And while pass first guards, they really have an intuitive sense of when and how to take over a game. Every outstanding Duke team has featured great point guards.

It is interesting what players were not on the floor at closing time: starters Matthew Hurt, who had a miserable 11 minutes, Cassius Stanley, who had another Luke Skywalker dunk but was subpar defensively for the second game in a row plus Jack White and Alex O’Connell, who played so well against Syracuse. Seems as though the Darwinian ten man rotation is alive and well. For all his athletic gifts, there seems to be a reticence or shyness about Stanley that inhibits his ability to want to take over a game like Michael or the Jones Boys. On the other hand, although we only see it in spurts, Joey Baker brings an intensity, fire that Cassius and AOC do not.

Time is running out for the freshman to grow up as an obviously frustrated Coach K commented about adversity on the road in his presser: “They didn’t listen to me, so they’re in trouble with me and that’s the main adversity that they have, because it’s stupid not to listen. I’ve warned them for two days about it. I’ve watched BC’s recent games – they’ve been playing great, not good. This guy’s (BC’s Jim Christian) a good coach, and these kids (BC) played their butts off and I thought they did that even better than what I’ve seen in the last three games. They took it up a notch. They were very good tonight. They were certainly deserving of winning – we were fortunate tonight. We missed six shots by the bucket in the first eight minutes. Even at the end, we missed right by the bucket. When we’re young, we try to shoot there, and when you’re by the bucket, you don’t try to shoot – you try to score. It’s a big difference. you’re trying to shoot, there’s the bucket, you might go here. You try to score, you’re going in here, so you’re either going to get the bucket, foul or both. Here, you’re not going to get a call because you haven’t worked for it. It’s not like we were getting fouled. We were shooting the ball, and what happens then is there’s a lot of stuff underneath body-wise and so if you’re just shooting it, you’re shooting at a moving target because you’re going to be hit, whereas if you’re trying to score, you’re right there. Anyway, it makes sense – I’ve been doing it for 45 years. There’s a big difference between shooting and scoring by the bucket. Winning teams score the ball, they don’t shoot the ball by the bucket, and we didn’t do that tonight until late Tre got a couple.”

Alan Adds:

Coach K and I are frustrated. Not only did Coach K warn his team about the dangers of BC and the “human nature” of a “trap game”, but so did I. The last Alan Adds concluded with “BC at BC on Tuesday at 7 pm (ESPN). “Yes, another trap game since Saturday’s game is in Chapel Hill…” But since he coaches the team let’s examine his vision. Here’s what he said that probably applies to all of us in life: “The investment to win is huge. You sometimes think you are making that investment, but you’re not. That’s a lesson for us. We need to have more investment.”

In his press conference, the coach was not happy with his team, even while conceding that “my guys did some great stuff at the end of the game.” “I warned them.” He reiterated how “human nature” is a tough adversary. “I’ve been beaten by human nature before.” He complained his guys didn’t listen to him. “That’s stupid!” The first half was a textbook example of “not listening”. Duke came out as if they had been anointed – they looked relaxed and confident. Way too relaxed. BC was not relaxed; they were totally fired up, fresh from beating Carolina in Chapel Hill. Duke was completely outplayed in the first half and very lucky to be down only 3, while shooting 26% and 0-12 from deep. Thornton (former Duke point guard) outplayed Tre in the opening stanza.

At half time, I told Bill Duke would win (based on the law of shooting averages). With 14:44 left in the game, Carey picked up his 4^th foul as Duke trailed by 4. I texted Bill that maybe I had been wrong in my half time prediction. Then Duke went to work, and the quality of basketball picked up as the lead went back and forth.

With 12:22, Joey Baker entered the game for the first time. He had not played at all against Syracuse. He apparently didn’t like that because he energized the Duke offense by scoring 8 points in about 4 minutes (his – and Duke’s – only 3 with 7:33 left brought Duke within one.) Then Coach K made the coaching move of the game. He changed the defense. He had gone small in the second half because BC was “more athletic” than Duke was with its big lineup. Neither Hurt nor Jack White played a minute in the second half, as Duke went with Baker and Moore at the wings with Tre and JGold in the backcourt.

Duke went to “something we put in last week”, called “22”. Duke picked up somewhere between full and half court. K said it made BC start from further out and to “stand up”. It changed their athletic advantage and Duke went on to win from that defensive adjustment. Coach K said the zone was easier to play out of the “22”. Duke was fouling big time early in the second half (11 in the second half after only 4 fouls in the opening stanza). The zone stopped the fouling and BC’s poor shooting did the rest.

Carey never fouled out as he and DeLaurier substituted – offense/defense. Carey scored 4 in a row to give Duke a 1-point lead (50-49) with 6:02 left; Devils never relinquished the lead again as they (finally) squeezed the life out of the gallant Eagles. Tre simply took over the game at winning time. The announcer asked how Duke was able to turn it around. The color guy told it true, “Duke just started playing harder. Sometimes it is the reality that you are losing the game that brings out the effort.” That is exactly what happened.

When Coach K changed the defense, the Devils (and especially Tre) played harder and went into winning mode. Tre hit a mid-range contested jumper (52-49 with 5:30 to go). After Goldwire made a steal, Tre hit Moore with a great pass for a layup (54-49 with 5:12 to go). With 3:26 to go, Tre drove the lane for a spectacular layup from the left side (56-49). After BC went 1-2 from the line, Tre made another incredible drive from the left side and converted a lefty layup as he flew out of bounds. It was a wow! (58-50 with 1:58 to go). BC wasn’t done, chopping the lead to 5 with 54 seconds left, but Duke had the game in hand. Tre put the icing on the cake, when he made a brace of free throws to stretch Duke’s lead to 63-55 with under 30 seconds to play. A very satisfying win.

Next Play: This is a big (BIG) weekend for this team – Carolina at Chapel Hill on Saturday at 6 pm (ESPN) followed by a crucial game against Florida State in Cameron on Monday, Feb 10.

DUKE 98 – NORTH CAROLINA 96 (OT)

Duke versus Carolina is the best rivalry in college basketball. Improbably, not only have the teams split the past 100 games evenly, each has scored 7,746 points– and there have been many incredible finishes. Tonight’s game proved the premise and even topped all of them, because there was not just one but two incredible finishes—one in regulation and one in overtime. Each time the Blue Devils somehow defied the laws of probability and scored as time expired. You had to see it to believe it and even then, you might not believe it until you have watched the replay of the final ten minutes several times. For thirty-five minutes, North Carolina outplayed, out hustled, and out coached Duke. It was as if the Tar Heels were excising all the demons of this embarrassing, losing season. Then, with Vernon Carey, who scored more than half of Blur Devil’s 35 first half points fouling out, Duke inexplicably started playing like one of the best teams in the country and suddenly the outcome game was in doubt. Why it took the Blue Devils thirty-five minutes to play with intensity and urgency is a question for another time.

At half time, a classmate of Johnny Tar Heel called him to say: “OMG, the Heels are up by nine. Duke has us where they want us.” Nevertheless, with a 13 point advantage and 5:40 remaining, some more optimistic North Carolina fans headed to the exits. That reminded me of what a Kansas City linebacker said to a celebrating San Francisco opponent when the 49ers went up 10 points with seven minutes to play in the Super Bowl: “You suckers are celebrating too soon ‘cause your asses are going home losers just like those other guys (Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans) did the last two games.” Candidly, I had a lot less confidence as I was well into my favorite bottle of Pinot Noir, not at all confident that the Blue Devils were going to give us a miracle comeback for the ages. With Vernon Carey unavailable with five fouls and Hurt having a disappointing game, Krzyzewski switched to hybrid lineup of Jones, Goldwire, Moore, O’Connell, Baker, and a variety of semi-pressing defenses. These changes led to Tar Heel turnovers and triples by Alex O’Connell (2) and Joey Baker and a comeback that will forever be remembered along Tobacco Road. The invigorated Duke momentum, along with missed free throws by Carolina, gave Duke the opportunity to cut the lead to 81-79 with :40 seconds remaining. Then, Tre Jones did a pretty good Patrick Mahomes impression. Trailing by three with four seconds left in regulation, Jones went to the free throw line. He made the first, then with two hands powered the second shot off the right front of the rim. The ball ricocheted way out to right of the key where Goldwire caught it and quickly handed it to Tre, who dribbled through several defenders, nearly losing control of the ball, to get a contested mid-range jumper off with less than half a second on the clock. The ball swished, forcing overtime.

A steal and five quick points by Jones gave Duke their largest lead of the game but Carolina powered back as the Blue Devils appeared out manned and out of gas as they trailed by five with :20 seconds remaining in the overtime. However, the Devils had a few fumes left in the tank. Jones converted a lay-up. After losing the ball out of bounds, Moore would score on the ensuing possession to cut the deficit to one. The Tar Heels botched the inbounds pass that offered an opportunity for the Blue Devils to go for the win with 10 seconds left on the clock. Jones drove and was fouled. He made the first to tie the game. However, he missed the second, but Moore tipped it to Jones beyond the foul line. Tre dribbled through traffic for a jump shot. His shot from inside the top of the foul line was off left but, as luck or the basketball gods would have it, turned out to be a perfect pass. Wendell Moore, who grew up in Charlotte watching the Duke-Carolina games, was crashing to the basket and right there for an all-in-one-motion catch and put back as he tumbled to the floor without seeing if the ball went in for the game-winner just as time expired!

Duke trailed for forty-two minutes of the forty-five minute game. But to their credit, after the collapse in regulation and quickly falling behind in overtime, Carolina fought back with an 11-1 run putting them up 96-91 and took apparent control with only :20 seconds left. Of course, the Tar Heel missing 17 free throws during the game was what really kept the game from being virtually unlosable. Nevertheless, be warned: With Cole Anthony back on the floor, this this is a very different North Carolina team. He is dangerous enough by himself but he also is talented and unselfish enough to make everyone more confident, more productive and Carolina will be more like Carolina for the rest of the year.

Quotes of the evening: “With Duke being my dream school since I can remember, I’m always watching these rivalry games,” Jones said. “Seeing Austin Rivers hit a shot here when I was at one of my basketball tournaments, going crazy, watching my brother do what he did against Carolina. I just wanted to put my name in the game like that. And I feel like I might have done that tonight.”

Preparation: How did he miss that free throw to himself? “I’d actually practiced just this situation with Duke associate head coach Jon Scheyer. We’d talked about how to miss the free throw and create a long carom so the shooter could run to his right and secure it.”

Alan Adds:

There is something special when a ballyhooed event lives up to the hype. Past Duke-Carolina games were on all the sports channels as the hucksters intoned that “it doesn’t matter what the records are going into the game, Duke-Carolina always delivers”. Boy, did it ever! As Ole Roy said in his press conference, “if you didn’t care who won, it was a great game to watch. Unfortunately, I did care who won, so it wasn’t such a great game for me.”

It was one of the most miraculous Duke wins ever. Down ten with a little over a minute to play (having never led in the game), Duke tied it when the Carolina lead was three. Ole Roy had taken the blame when Carolina had led by three in an earlier game and he did not direct his team to foul. This time The Heels did to prevent a tying 3 point attempt by fouling Tre with 6 seconds left. Tre made the first free throw, and then fired a line drive at the rim, which bounced out almost to half court as Bill described above. Tre tracked it down, beat two Carolina players, one of whom actually deflected the ball but not enough, to launch a buzzer beater to tie the score. In the post-game interview, he was asked if he was lucky to have retrieved the carom. Tre said, “Actually, I’ve been working with Coach Scheyer on that play. He moved me over to the right a step or two. I got pretty good at hitting the rim and the ball would come off to the same place almost every time.”

Before we examine the overtime, let’s look at the second half. Duke scored 49 second half points without any contributions from any of the 4 big guys. Hurt and White did not score in their two minute second half cameos. Carey was 0-5 in his eleven minutes while committing four second half fouls, fouling out with 4:16 left in the game and Duke trailing by 13. DeLaurier scored 2 points in eight minutes. Coach K’s genius: Duke went to a zone with Cassius as the center and Moore as the other big. At his press conference, Coach K played down his genius, “there wasn’t anything else I could do and I had to do something.”

When Platek turned it over and then fouled Cassius, who hit both free throws with 3:55 to go. When Brooks missed two free throws, Moore rebounded, passed to Tre, who found Joey Baker for a wide open three. Duke down eight with 3:35 left. UNC scored again to take its last double digit lead with 2:18 left (79-69). Moore made 1-2 from the line; Duke down nine with 2:06 remaining. Alex grabbed a defensive board, fed Tre who sent it back to him for an open three. Duke down (79-73) with 1:46 left. Anthony pushed it to 80-73, making 1 of 2 from the line. 1:06 left. Cassius hit a jumper right away (80-75) with 1:03 left. When Platek missed both free throws, Cassius rebounded and fed Tre for a hoop. 80-77 with :48 seconds left. Black went 1-2 after being fouled to make it a two possession game with 48 seconds left. Critically, Tre drew the 4^th personal on Anthony and made both free throws – 81-79 with :40 seconds left. Cole made a pair to create a two possession lead for Carolina with :21 seconds remaining. Tre responded with a jumper to bring Duke within 2 with only 15 seconds in the game. Cole backed off on defense to avoid committing his fifth foul. Platek again made 1-2 to give UNC a three point lead with :06 seconds left, setting the stage for Tre’s miraculous game tying basket that sent the game into overtime.

Duke outscored UNC 14-12 in the overtime. Tre (9) and Moore (5) scored all of Duke’s 14 overtime points. After Tre scored the first 6 in overtime (2-2 from the field and 2-2 from the line), he missed his next 3 shots and only went 1-3 from the line. Cassius fouled out with 2:13 to go in the overtime. Duke finished with Moore as the big man, Joey Baker and Alex as the wings and JGold and Superman (aka Tre) in the backcourt. UNC stormed back with 11 points to lead by five, 96-91 with only 20 seconds left. Tre made a magnificent basket at the rim and drew the foul; however, he missed the free throw (96-93) with :16 seconds to go. Duke somehow got the rebound and Moore scored quickly to make it 96-95 with :12 seconds to go. Then came the game’s most crucial play. With 10 seconds left, Duke tipped the ball free and both Moore and Brooks went for it. The refs gave it to Duke while Bilas complained that the refs had missed an obvious foul call on Moore. Still Duke ball when Tre was fouled with :06 seconds remaining. He made the first. When he missed the second, Moore somehow tapped the ball out to Goldwire, who handed it to Jones, whose miss, Moore converted for the scintillating win.

The second half and overtime belonged to Tre (22 points; 9 in the overtime), Cassius (15 points in the second half) and Moore (13 points; 8 in the second half). This was Tre’s best game at Duke (so far). Coach K said Tre was “magnificent”, “he reached another level tonight”, “his will and passion permeated through the team”, and “he was such a leader at the time outs, telling his team that Duke was going to win”. In the post-game interview, Tre was asked how he was able to take over the game the way he did. His answer gave a shout out to his brother, by saying he channeled “Tyus Stones” (referring to the nickname Tyus had earned with his clutch shooting when the game was on the line as Tyus led Duke to the National Championship in 2015). Tre said it was just little brother emulating big brother. It was a great interview.

Coach K said Duke looked as if it had run out of gas at the end of the overtime, but then somehow got a great shot of adrenalin to complete the amazing comeback. I was at the Millrose track meet yesterday afternoon and had the opportunity to chat with Billy Mills (Native American who won the 1964 Olympic 10,000 in Tokyo – Bud Palmer’s famous race call when Mills came from 8 spots down in the last 100 meters to win, “Look at Mills! Look at Mills!”) Worth looking at that finish on You Tube. Mills actually told what those last hundred meters felt like to him as he raced into immortality (“I was being pushed from behind and someone was dragging my jersey forward from the front. I just rolled.”). I think Duke experienced something like that in this game. What a game!

Next Play: Can you believe Duke will play a most crucial game tomorrow night against Florida State in Cameron (ESPN) at 7 pm? I don’t know how I can get up for another game so quickly, let alone the ten Duke players who gave everything on Saturday night.

DUKE 70 – FLORIDA STATE 60

After the game, Johnny Tar Heel told me: “These last two games demonstrated what I have long believed but as a Carolina fan, never admitted publicly. Behind or ahead, better players or not, in the last five minutes Coach K wins an incredibly high percentage games. Somehow, over the years he has been able to convince his players that they will win, so they are not afraid to lose. It’s become a Duke Basketball mystique, because opponents know the history– their teams have been on television more than “Law and Order” reruns.”

If I told you Vernon Carey would only score 10 points, that Goldwire would be Duke’s high scorer with 13 points, and that they would commit 21 turnovers, how much would you have bet that the Blue Devils won? Well, they did with savvy substitutions and contributions by nine players starting with toughness by, of all people, Matthew Hurt, who may be getting what Duke basketball is all about having lost his starting job due to weak performances (“People call me a shooter, a scorer, but I want to be more than that. I want the dirty plays, the dirty work, the rebounds, the deflections, all of that. I’m just trying to make winning plays.”) , Alex O’Connell (“I like to come in, bring energy, and hit big-time shots. If I can be out there in a situation like out there and the coach trusts me, then that just makes us a better team.) with the second straight game of critical shots, and Javin DeLaurier’s athleticism, energy, and free throws.

Strangely enough, Duke started fast going up ten, and led—barely– 81 percent of the game. Florida State led for only 7 percent, and it was tied for the remaining 12 percent. The halftime message was “we can be tired tomorrow. We’ve got to grind it out tonight.” And grind it out they did, holding Florida State to eight points in that decisive final 7:32, rebounding physically aggressively against the deepest and most athletic team in the ACC– and hitting all their free throws.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski explains it best: “This has been an incredible 48 hours for our team. I have really good kids. We beat a heck of a team tonight after beating a heck of a team in an epic game 48 hours before. I don’t know where they got the energy the whole game to do this, but they did– they listened, they fought. We really played good defense. The Seminoles will tire you out because they play such good defense and they have depth, but at the end of the first half, you could tell we were tired, rightfully so.

In the second half, we were kind of holding our own, but when they went ahead 52-50, instead of waiting for the eight minute [timeout], we were ready to get knocked out and so we called a timeout, Alex (O’Connell) came in and he gave us five quick points, and that last 8:29 we were terrific. We were not tired but we talked, we made plays. Javin (DeLaurier) was spectacular, Matt Hurt, obviously the rebound and the free throws and then inbounding the ball, no mistakes. Wendell (Moore), who, I don’t think any of you in the audience have had a winning shot in front of 21,000 people against your archrival, but if you’re 18, how you handle that can be pretty tough, and he had a game like a kid 18 until the second half, and then that play he made in the full court just was spectacular.

Switching (Jordan) Goldwire to (Trent) Forrest was a key because Forrest is a big-time player. They have big-time, but this kid, he’s a pro-guard, he can defend and get by you and he’s a veteran. He and Tre (Jones) were going back and forth and that’s wearing Tre out, We needed him on offense and so the switch to put Goldwire on him helped. We did that with Cole Anthony in the last part of the game in Chapel Hill and that helped us there, so having those two guys being able to have each other’s backs is big, but they forced a lot of turnovers. I thought we weren’t as strong as we needed to be, but overall we were pretty damn strong.” On the play from Tre Jones to Wendell Moore Jr. to Matt Hurt: “Those are like making plays that you don’t diagram. A real player doesn’t run plays, a real player makes plays. You run plays for people who aren’t players. That doesn’t mean you don’t run them for players too, but players make plays, and our guys are making plays, they’re making really good plays.”

On Javin DeLaurier’s contributions off the bench: “ Javin was terrific. His two-handed rebounds, blocked shots, free throws, and he’s been playing well, but you know, we could hardly do anything yesterday at practice with most of the guys, so we did with a couple of the guys who didn’t play as much really intense individual work, and I stay and I watch all of that stuff and Javin had an amazing workout. I brought him over after and said ‘Man, you’re going to a whole other level. In our game, we have a thing called trust your work and in other words, if you’re working hard and whatever, when you get out there, trust it and he worked really hard and he trusted it.

We needed a full day off. This is a nine-day period with three road games and this game, and our kids won all four of them. It’s a lot of travel, a lot of stuff. They’re really developing into a good team. I really love these guys, because it’s different guys. We don’t have a starting lineup, we have a team. Sometimes when you have a starting lineup you put a ceiling on the other guys in ego, in opportunity, in all that, and it hasn’t happened here with this group.”

It is obvious Coach K really likes and admires this team but thinks perhaps the Cameron Crazies may be spoiled and not appreciative enough of what they are seeing: “The fans] weren’t bad. But you’ve got to be even more hungry, even more appreciative. Not for me. . . But these kids. For many, it’s their first year playing at Duke. And they’re young and they just fought like crazy and they should have gotten a standing ovation. We’ve been spoiled to watch Zion and Bagley and Tatum but that’s not what this team is. . . . Don’t get on the ride at the end. Be on the ride the whole way.”

In the series, Duke leads Florida State 41-10, including 22-2 in games at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Alan adds:

The term “gut check” applied to a crucial game is such a sports cliché. Yet it was the perfect description of Duke’s game last night against Florida State at Cameron. In 9 days, the Blue Devils won 3 ACC road games, including the indescribable emotional effort 48 hour earlier against a gallant Carolina team, and then had to face the 8^th ranked team in the nation for sole possession of 2^nd place in the regular ACC race. We were all exhausted from just watching the Saturday night game against the ‘Heels; you can only imagine how mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted Tre and the team were from that game. That exhaustion (and a terrific Seminole defense) contributed to Duke’s 21 turnovers in the game (16 were Florida State steals) and the 17 fouls the Devils committed as well as the 17 offensive rebounds the Seminoles grabbed (Duke had only 19 defensive rebounds by comparison). That Duke overcame that exhaustion to produce an oh-so satisfying win had Coach K gushing about his team as Bill described.

“I got good guys; good kids”. “We don’t have a starting lineup; we have a team.” I will go through the last minutes in depth (it’s even exciting to write about), but first to emphasize what Coach K meant by that pithy statement, “we have a team”. Duke’s last 8 points, which won the game, were about the team – a tough layup by Goldwire, 2-2 from the line for Javin, and 4 crucial and winning foul shots by Matt Hurt. Alex’s 5 straight points after the key timeout were what launched Duke on the path to the very tough win.

Javin was on the court for 12 second half minutes compared to Carey’s 7 minutes. Each had 4 second half boards. Carey had 4 second half points in his short appearance (1-2 from the field and 2-3 from the line). Duke played 8 in the second half (+ a 3-minute cameo for Baker, who missed 2 shots in a row in that brief appearance, he also grabbing a rebound while turning it over and committing a foul). JGold led the second half scoring with 8 efficient points on only 3 shots (2-2 from behind the arc to go with his crucial layup) in 11 second half minutes. Alex scored 5 points (2 shots in a row; one from deep) in 7 minutes. Add the clutch free throws from Javin (2 points in 12 terrific minutes) and Hurt (4 points in 9 minutes and his amazing rebound with 13 seconds left) and you see the corroboration of Coach K’s love of his old fashion team. He was not relying on his high scoring starters — Tre, 7 second half points on 11 shots, Cassius 3 points and Carey 4 for 14 second half points; he was relying on his “old fashioned” team – 19 second half points from JGold, Alex, Matt and Javin. 23 if you add Wendell’s 4 crucial late game points.

I want to focus on Duke’s defense for the entire game and Duke’s winning drive in the last 8:31 of the second half. Afterall, Duke held the high scoring Seminoles to 65 points. Last Saturday Florida State scored 99 against Miami. Coach K said the scouting report did not identify opposing players; rather Duke identified Florida State’s shooters and defended them closely on the perimeter; the drivers (backed off a bit) and the bigs. The Seminoles shot badly (38% for the game; 3-18 from deep, and an inexplicable 12-20 from the free throw line for the ACC’s leading foul shooting team (season 80%). Duke defended passionately and well. It won the game.

Coach K said the key defensive move he made was to switch Goldwire on to Forrest. Tre was exhausted and Forrest was dominant against him in the first half. As Bill points out, Coach K had made the same switch against Carolina, switching JGold on to Cole Anthony. It worked both times. While Forrest led the Seminoles with 18 points, he was held to 2-8 in the second half (6 second half points). Javin was intense and effective against the Seminole bigs, especially in the closing stanza. Coach K said that in practice on Sunday, Javin was playing at a whole new level. He did that in the game on Monday.

After Coach K’s timeout with 8:31 to go and Alex’s 5 straight points to jump start the Devils again, the teams traded scores. Carey tied the game at 59 with 7:16 left when he was fouled on a successful layup, and then gave Duke a 1-point lead that the Devils would never relinquish when he made the foul shot. Tre made 1-2 from the line for a 59-57 lead with 6:48 to go. For the next 2 and ½ minutes, neither team was able to score. The Seminoles had misses from Vessel (leading scorer on the year), 2 from Williams as well as a miss and a turnover from Gray. Duke gave up 2 steals (one swiped from Alex and one from Wendell) while Tre missed twice and Cassius once from deep. With 4:12 left, the Devils demonstrated what Coach K instills – peak performance at “winning time”. Tre got a key rebound and found Moore for a fabulous bucket (61-57). After the Seminoles scored (61-59), Carey grabbed an offensive rebound (Tre’s miss) and was fouled. He made 1-2. 62-59 with 3:15 left. The Seminoles scored again on Vessel’s jumper – 62-61 with 2:46 left. Goldwire hit a crucial and difficult shot by the rim. 64-61 with 2:15 left.

Then came what I think was a key play in the game. Tre fouled the Florida State 7-footer, freshman Balsa Koprivica, who missed the front end of a 1 and 1 with 1:57 to go. Then both teams went cold for a minute. Forrest had his pocket picked by Carey, who promptly turned it back over. Javin replaced him with 1:18 left. Florida State had two looks (contested hotly by DeLaurier ) and missed both. Javin finally got the second rebound and was fouled with 56 seconds left. A pair of swishes. Javin on the foul line at crunch time! One of the reasons watching a player grow in 4 years is so satisfying for us as fans.

Florida State scored over Javin on a dunk to bring it to 66-63 with 49 seconds left. Coach K then substituted Hurt for Javin. How did he know to do that? In the last minute, both Carey and Javin were on the bench. Tre missed a jumper with 18 seconds left; Moore made a spectacular attempt at a 3 with the shot clock almost off, which missed. And who grabbed the game winning rebound? Matt Hurt, of course. How did Coach K know to make that substitution? Hurt, naturally, went 4-4 from the line in the last 13 seconds to ice the oh-so-satisfying win for the Blue Devils.

Next Play: The Devils get a much needed week off before meeting The Fighting Irish in Cameron next Saturday (2-15) at 4pm on ESPN.

DUKE 94 – NOTRE DAME 60

This is the time of the college basketball season that usually separates the pretenders from the contenders as some teams hit the wall and others get a second wind. Duke has impressively powered through the most difficult part of their schedule with eight straight wins –three on the road—while Louisville and Florida State have suddenly stumbled badly, leaving the Blue Devils in sole possession of first place in the ACC. (Clemson is an anomaly. They can beat anyone or lose to anyone in the same week.) If Duke is good enough and lucky enough, they will run the table in the six remaining regular season games and be guaranteed a high second or number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. If today’s blowout against a mediocre Notre Dame team is any indication, they are in well positioned to do just that.

Despite Cassius Stanley being unavailable due to a mysterious eye injury, Carey and Jones were dominant (what else is new) in the first half as the Blue Devils went up ten points. Duke started the second half playing well, when one of the most memorable moments in Cameron history occurred. Suddenly, a timeout was called and Elvis, er Zion, fresh from bending a rim and shattering a backboard in the NBA Rising Stars game Friday night in Chicago suddenly appeared on the Jumbotron ambling toward the Duke bench. The Crazies responded like a crowd at a Linda Ronstadt concert in the 70’’, cheering and chanting, “Zion, sit with us” like adoring rock fans, causing the larger than life 19-year-old icon to bury his head in his arms in embarrassment.

Once Zion got seated behind the bench, there appeared to be a lid on the Irish basket (they couldn’t even complete dunks) and the Blue Devils suddenly started playing their best basketball of the year as O’Connell and Baker started shooting like JJ Redick–the game became a runaway highlight film. Carey had 21 points in 23 minutes. Jones 19 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal in 33 minutes. The Blue Devils defense forced 14 turnovers, while committing only 9 and hit 10 threes. The Irish were 5 of 20.

However, more importantly most of the supporting players played like starters: Goldwire, the former defensive specialist, has blossomed into a very efficient offensive player to the point opponents cannot slough off him to double Tre, Carey or Stanley. Hurt is rebounding and generally playing more aggressively. O’Connell is showing more than occasional glimpses of is athletic playmaking abilities. Joey Baker is shooting more and more consistently. DeLaurier has become a defensive enforcer. Moore is adding consistency to his “Oh, My” winning plays. Unfortunately, Jack White, who is a defensive stopper, has totally lost his shooting touch.

Krzyzewski said: “I just saw [Zion] smiling behind the bench with Quinn [Cook],”. “Two of the great smiles in the history of Duke basketball, those two guys. It says a lot that they come back. For Zion—he played last night. I love the fact that they want to maintain their relationship with this great university. And that’s one of the reasons they came here. Not just to play, but to be a part of it.”

Other Comments:

- Also in the house: Gene Banks, who was Zion before Zion, LA Lakers Quinn Cooke, Danny Ferry, Tyus Jones and the Jones Boys mother.

- Duke is now 29-6 against Notre Dame.

- The only downer was that Dick Vitale, who has done so much to promote college basketball, was one of the announcers. He just has become a parody of himself and keeps repeating the same old homilies. It is both sad and annoying.

Alan Adds:

Jim Summer’s article on the game said it best, “Duke followed up a solid first half with a stunning second half, combining a suffocating defense and a barrage of 3-pointers to go from “in control” to “are-you-kidding me”! The “stunning” second half is worth looking at closely. However, Duke’s first half set the stage for the “stunning” closing stanza. Duke’s defensive game plan was to pressure the perimeter and stop Notre Dame’s effective 3 point shooting. Notre Dame was leading the ACC in fewest turnovers per game (9) and mounting much of its offense from the bonusphere. The defense – primarily Tre, who played all 20 minutes and JGold who logged 19 – destroyed the Fighting Irish perimeter game. Duke forced 9 first half Irish turnovers (JGold had 2 steals and Tre 1) and held the Irish to 1-10 from behind the arc. But, on offense only 4 Duke players scored. Carey was formidable with 16 first half points in 14 minutes (6-7; 1-1 from deep; and 3-4 from the line) to go with 2 rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal (no turnovers and only committed 1 foul). Carey was asked how he was able to get free so often; he replied, “they overplayed me to my left; so, I went to my right.” The dynamic backcourt of Tre and JGold scored 20. JGold was perfect from the field (3-3; 1-1 from 3land) for 7 points, while Tre had 13 on 6-9 from the floor including 1-1 from deep. Matt Hurt rounded out the Duke scoring by going 3-7 for 6 points in his 16 minutes. He added 3 assists, 2 boards and a steal. However, neither Alex (10 minutes; 0-2), Moore (9 minutes; 0-3); DeLaurier (6 minutes; 0 shots; 2 fouls), White (4 minutes; 0-2 while committing a foul), nor Baker (2 minutes, 0 stats) scored a point. At the half, Coach K tried to fire up the bench, that scoring was needed from them. He was told by the players, “don’t worry, Coach, we got you. We’ll do it.” And do it they did in the second half.

The Blue Devils outscored the Irish 52-28 in the closing stanza. The defense was dominant, holding the Irish to 26% from the field; 5-23 inside the arc. The bench flourished scoring 27 second half points (31 if you count the baskets that Justin Robinson and Mike Buckmire scored at the end). Duke had built a lead of 14 with a minute to go in the first half (Mooney scored the last 4 of the half to cut the lead to 10). For the early part of the first half, the lead swung between as much as 15 and as few as 9. With 13:13 left in the game, Duke led by 15, 56-41; “in control”. Four minutes later, Duke led by 31; “are you kidding me”! Baker had 8 points (2-2 from deep) on 3 shots in a minute and 50 seconds; Alex had 6 points (2-2 from deep) in 2 minutes to go with 2 boards, a block and a steal during the run. Javin even made a 3 pointer (1-2 from deep; he tried a heat check after he made the first) while scoring 7 in 11 minutes. He and Alex kept pouring it on to increase Duke’s lead to a high of 35. It was some half!

Alex was truly amazing. He led Duke in second half scoring with 12 points in 12 minutes. He was 5-10 from the field (2-5 from deep) to go with 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists and a block. He clearly wants to earn more playing time. Baker played 12 minutes (scoring those quick 8 and playing a good floor game); DeLaurier 11 with 2 boards; and White 5 (0 points, but 2 boards), allowing the starters to play fewer minutes. Tre scored 6 in 13 minutes; Goldwire, 2 in 11 minutes; Carey, 5 in 9 minutes; and Moore, 2 in 8 minutes. A word about Mathew Hurt’s second half. He scored 6 in 12 minutes (2-2 from deep), but was particularly impressive as rebounder, grabbing 7 in the second half. He guarded Mooney, the Irish 6’ 10” double-double machine. Mooney missed his double double by a rebound, but Hurt held even – they both grabbed 9. Hurt said the rebound he got to save the Florida State game inspired him to know he could be a rebounding force. That has the potential to be a huge leap forward for him.

It was a bravura performance, but should not lead to thoughts of Duke “running the table” and gaining a high seed in the NCAA tournament. There are still 6 conference games left, 3 of them on the road. None will be easy. There is no such thing as an easy ACC road game as Louisville found out this weekend. The Cardinals were leading the ACC when they went on the road to face to teams that were below .500 in the conference. Louisville fell to Georgia Tech on Saturday and to Clemson (as Duke did) in Littlejohn last night. 3 out of Duke’s next 4 are on the road: NC State, Wake, and a Saturday night match up with the defending National Champions, who seemed to have finally found their magic, in Charlottesville. UNC has had a dismal season; the possibility of a win at Cameron on Duke senior night will surely fuel the ‘heels to a maximum effort. Looking ahead is what produces the dreaded “trap game”.

Next Play: NC State in Raleigh on Wednesday night at 9 pm on ESPN2

DUKE 66 – NORTH CAROLINA STATE 88

It is difficult to decide who had the worst night: Mayor Bloomberg or the Duke basketball team. Both were figuratively literally stopped and frisked or mugged (take your pick) and left looking confused, overwhelmed and embarrassed. Duke played like pretenders not contenders against a talented but inconsistent Wolfpack team that just lost to a mediocre Boston College. State not only outplayed, out muscled, and out hustled Duke with more determination and energy, they also had one of those nights where everything seemed to go their way– loose balls bounced to them and even made and a half-court shot at halftime that banged off the backboard and went in, just after Duke had cut the lead 12 points. While Duke has been on a roll, winning seven straight games, they should have been able to get up for a talented team playing at the PNC Arena where the Blue Devils have lost five of its last seven games (including a 2014 first round NCAA tournament loss to Mercer).

Once disconcerting constant is the tendency of this team to start sluggishly and fall behind early. This can be overcome at home in Cameron. However, as we saw tonight and at Clemson and (almost) at Carolina, playing on the road with a raucous crowd can a recipe for disaster for an inexperienced team not playing efficiently for forty minutes.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said :“That’s our worst game, but they made us look bad.” “They were just at a different level of competitiveness than we were tonight. Not even taking us out of the game, because in order for them to take us out of the game we would’ve had to be in and we weren’t ever in the game. It wasn’t like we were hunkering down or anything, we were just never there and that’s on all of us. I’ve been doing this a long time and this happens to good teams.” Hopefully we’ll be more competitive Saturday and in the rest of our games, but tonight we weren’t.”

The blunt truth is that other than Carey and Jones, no other Blue Devil was of much help and, consequently, Duke blew an opportunity to win and position themselves in the enviable position of separating themselves from a field of pretty good but not great teams. All explanations and rationalizations aside, these two teams meet again on Monday, March 2 at Cameron and we will see whether or not this game was an anomaly or whether the Blue Devils have been more lucky than good.

Alan Adds:

The most efficient motivator in sports – certainly college basketball at this time of the year – is desperation. NC State was desperate, sitting on the wrong side of the NCAA bubble, and needing (NEEDING) the win over Duke at home. Coach K: “Winning is a malady; it’s the best malady, but it is a human nature malady.” Tonight, our team felt like it didn’t need the win. We’re not that good; we’re good, but we’ve accomplished really good. Tonight, [our] winning [22-3] was “a horrible sickness”.

Duke second half against Notre Dame last Saturday led Bill to write about “running the table” for the last 6 games leading up to the ACC tournament and Duke’s bid for a #1 NCAA seed. I poked back at him at the end of the Notre Dame Alan Adds when I wrote:

“It was a bravura performance but should not lead to thoughts of Duke ‘running the table’ and gaining a high seed in the NCAA tournament. There are still 6 conference games left, 3 of them on the road. None will be easy. There is no such thing as an easy ACC road game as Louisville found out this weekend. The Cardinals were leading the ACC when they went on the road to face to teams that were below .500 in the conference. Louisville fell to Georgia Tech on Saturday and to Clemson (as Duke did) in Littlejohn last night. Three out of Duke’s next four are on the road: NC State, Wake, and a Saturday night match up with the defending National Champions, who seemed to have finally found their magic, in Charlottesville. UNC has had a dismal season; the possibility of a win at Cameron on Duke senior night will surely fuel the ‘heels to a maximum effort. Looking ahead is what produces the dreaded “trap game”.

Bill responded as the Duke players demonstrated they felt:

“While Alan sees “Trap Games” in his sleep and despite the fact that all away games can be difficult, aside from three teams, this year the ACC is a weak conference. If Duke is good enough and lucky enough, the opportunity is there for them to run the table in the six remaining regular season games and be guaranteed a high second or number one seed in the NCAA Tournament.”

In Jim Carroll’s “Basketball Diaries”, this New York high school star in the 1970s (he wrote music with Patty Smith, some other literature, and was an addict) played on a wonderful team. They would go to Central Park before the games to score “uppers” and “downers” to take the uppers before the game and the downers after. One game they got them mixed up. Carroll described how the players were anchored to the floor and moved in slow motion. It was a disaster (comic in the book). Duke played last night as if they had gone to Central Park and swallowed the wrong pre-game drug, as Carroll described. “Not in sync” was my assessment when Bill and I talked during the game. It was understatement. Duke was behind by double digits for the entire second half where the Wolfpack lead reached 27 with just under 2 minutes to go. That does qualify as a nightmare game.

It was a hard game to watch and is an even harder game to write about. Only Vernon Carey came to play (27 points in 30 minutes; to go with 12 rebounds and 3 blocks). He was 10-20 from the field (0-2 from deep and 7-12 from the line). In 35 minutes, Tre scored 17 on an inefficient 18 shots from the field (6-18; 2-5 from deep and 3-5 from the foul line to go with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 turnovers. The contributions fell off after that. Jordan Goldwire took the third most goal attempts was (3-9; 1-4 from deep) for 7 points in 31 minutes. Duke got virtually no other offense. Moore (4 points in 29 minutes), Stanley (4 points in 23 minutes), Hurt (1-2 from deep for 3 points in 9 foul-plagued minutes) Alex (2 points in 20 minutes) and Javin (2 points in 11 minutes) was all that the rest of the Duke team scored. Baker (8 minutes) and White (4 minutes) failed to score. Nightmare stuff.

Duke shot under 50% from the foul line (10-22) and poorly from behind the arc (4-17; 1-7 in the first half) and under 38% from the field. The defense gave up 44 points in each half. The Wolfpack shot 62% from deep (8-13) and 90% from the foul line in the second half (16-21 for the game). Obviously, it was Duke’s worst game of the year on both ends of the court.

Next Play: I predict Duke will play as if the Blue Devils “need to win” Saturday night against Virginia Tech at Cameron (8 pm on ESPN2). Duke can still win either or both post-season tournaments (Duke won 2 national titles after being badly beaten in Raleigh during the regular season). Let’s hope this nightmare is a needed “wake up call”.

DUKE 88 – VIRGINIA TECH 64

If you follow Duke basketball, you knew that tonight’s game probably was over before it started—and if you didn’t, it was obvious after the first few minutes. For whatever reason, Coach K’s Duke teams rarely lose two games in a row. And coming off a surprisingly listless 22 point loss, where they were thoroughly out played, Coach K replaced Matthew Hurt with the more athletic Wendell Moore and, I’m sure, had more than a few choice words about effort and enthusiasm. At home against a young, undersized, struggling three point shooting team, the Blue Devils, atypically, started fast and never looked back.

The key to this team are the 3-10 players, because in Tre Jones and Vernon Carey, you have not only two of the best but also most reliable players in the country. However, from game to game, it is any one’s guess whom that might be—or might not be. Against N.C. State, Cassius Stanley and Matthew Hurt were missing in action. Tonight, Cassius played like his namesake Muhammad Ali (formerly Cassius Clay) and “floated like a butterfly, sting like a bee”. And Hurt, off the bench, responded with one of his most confidently aggressive, best all-around games of the season with 16 points, 10 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks, and solid defense. At halftime, the Blue Devils led 51-25. Stanley had hit four 3’s and had 16 points. After going 4-for-17 on 3’s in the 88-66 loss to the Wolfpack, Duke was 8 of 15 in the opening half and 10-22 on two-point shots.

Such inconsistency might seem inexplicable until you remember these are young freshmen and that Coach K’s first great recruiting class—Dawkins, Alarie, Bilas, Henderson, etc.–. didn’t figure it all out and start winning until their junior year. With the one-and-done drop-in athlete-student, the whole maturation process has accelerated to warp speed—some get it, others don’t, see ya– so it is imperative that every game is a learning experience and the time between games is a teachable moment.

Coach K: “It’s not a matter of busting their chops. It’s a matter of being honest with them. So, this is who we are. We are going to go on the court now, we’re not going to do animal drills or crazy-ass things. What they’re going to be are things we need to improve on. We had a really, hard good practice. . . . We talked about attitude and belief. Whenever there’s adversity the single biggest gift that God has given to you is attitude. Only you can control your attitude.”

As former NFL Coach Bill Parcells famously said: “You are what your record says you are” and this team is 23-4, 13-3 in the ACC, in a three-way tie in the loss column with Louisville and Florida State, who play each other Monday night. Last night #3 Kansas beat #1 Baylor, BYU beat #2 Gonzaga, and UNLV beat #4San Diego State. Duke beat Kansas at he beginning of the season and lost to a talented but unranked North Carolina State that lost to #6 Florida State last night. What does that tell you? This year there are no great teams, just a lot of good ones. Any one of the top thirty teams can beat anyone else once, but winning six games in a row, as Virginia demonstrated last year, takes talent plus luck.

Miscellaneous:

Coach K on his 1000th win as a ranked team: “It’s hard to believe. I think I’ve coached over 1,300 games here, and almost 90% of them have been as a ranked team and to have 1,000 wins as a ranked team is kind of mind-boggling. We have crazy numbers. A few weeks ago we had our 500th win against ACC competition, and for me, because we don’t look back, it’s hard to believe that that’s happened and it’s taken a lot of years and a lot of really good players, but that’s something we’re very proud of, the consistent excellence I guess is what we would call it, hopefully we can continue to pursue that.”

Alan Adds:

How did Coach K handle the NC State debacle in getting ready for last night’s rout of Virginia Tech? It is illuminating as to how he produces “consistent excellence”. It also seemed to me that as he was dispensing his wisdom, he was subtly critiquing ‘Ole Roy’s attitude to this year’s Tarheels (at least I hope so).

The team was angry and Coach K was angry. But there were no crazy practices, the team wasn’t forced through a workout on the night of the game when returning to Durham, the team wasn’t told they couldn’t wear anything that said Duke, and they were not kicked out of the locker room (all previous Coach K tactics). The team “took responsibility right away.” So his response was more intellectual than emotional.

He explained that no game was complete until there was a post-game evaluation (the next day) of individuals and team. After NC State demolished Duke, Coach K said this team had to not only hear, but also see what they had not done. We used tape and talk! “We showed the team on the bench during the game “looking comatose”. Different assistants discussed differing aspects of the game. “I wanted them to hear it from more than just me and to see it.” We were just honest – we showed them what they had to learn. Then we had a good hard practice (Thursday) working on things to improve on.”

“We couldn’t do that on Friday because it was too close to Saturday’s game. On Friday, we worked on attitude and belief.” Each person has complete control over his (or her — to make the point these are more than basketball lessons; these are life lessons we can all use) attitude. That’s a gift of insight. “We worked on belief – in yourself and in the group. Finally, we worked on preparation.” The test for the game is “execution”. Duke’s defensive game plan and execution were at the highest level. Duke’s defense against a “5 out” offense was a superb improvement. Carey and Javin are now competent perimeter defenders so Duke can switch everything. Last night, the help defense was absolutely breathtaking; every driving Hokie was met with more than one defender. 51-25 at the half is execution at both ends of the court.

Coach K said “we were 1-1 this past week.” A game like being “knocked out as NC State did to Duke “is an opportunity that makes you better. We grew as a group this week.”

Coach K acknowledged in this strange season, Duke might get “knocked out again”. If so, we’ll do the same thing. I won’t throw my team under the bus, say they are not good, say they are not trying. [Hear that, ‘Ole Roy?] We will keep trying to get better for the tournaments.”

The First Half Explosion

While Duke exploded on offense with Cassius leading the way with 16 first half points (4-5 from deep) on 9 shots in 15 minutes. Carey scored 11 in 15 minutes to go with 7 boards. He only played 8 minutes in the second half. Tre led in minutes, playing 17 and scoring 8 (6 in the opening minutes to set the tone for the game). Mathew Hurt was superb in his 12 minutes, scoring 8 and grabbing 5 boards. He drove to the basket for 2 lovely layups in traffic and blocked a pair of shots. It was his defense that I thought was an amazing improvement. He helped (one of his blocks was of a jump shot being taken by JGold’s man), he got deflections, he dominated the boards. It was the improvement we all thought possible after his heroics in the Florida State game.

Duke had 10 assists on 18 baskets while committing only 3 fouls (I am not counting the 3 fouls Alex was told to commit at the end of the first half to run the clock on the Hokie’s last possession of the first half). It was a flawless half of superb hoops.

JRob got a job offer in the press conference. Coach K extolled his value to the team and hoped he would stay around to coach. JRob scored 5 and blocked a shot in his 3 minutes.

Next Play: Duke’s last two ACC road games are this week. Tuesday at Wake Forest (7 pm; ACC Network). With the Cavaliers of Virginia coming up next Saturday at 6 pm, yes, Bill, Wake Forest is yet another trap game. Then it will be March with the final two home games: NC State (we hope payback will be a bitch) and senior night against the desperate Tarheels.

First and foremost: Wake Forest on Tuesday.

DUKE 50 – VIRGINIA 52

There are some inescapable conclusions to be taken from Duke’s three recent losses to unranked teams: Duke’s team is less than the sum of their parts; Virginia is more than the sum of their parts; Tony Bennett sure can coach; a team has to be able to walk (play offense) and chew gum (play defense) at the same time; it is not easy to mold a true college basketball contender with one-and-done players; and finally, I have always thought one of Coach K’s terrific strengths was as a bench coach and his feel for substitutions to change the flow of a game. For all the talk about the depth of this team and a deeper rotation, I think he has struggled to find the right combination at the right time. Perhaps, that is more a case of incomplete skill sets of the 3-10 players. Whatever the case, time is running out in finding the right chemistry. Alan follows with a very insightful analysis if this issue.

You really have to admire Virginia coach Tony Bennett. He essentially takes the recruiting leftovers and molds them into a unit that plays the equivalent of Ohio State’s former Coach Woody Hayes “three yards and a cloud of dust” basketball—boring but effective difficult to beat. And yet, to their credit, the Blue Devils were ahead (barely) much of the game and in a position (down one point) to win in the last seconds as they got the play it wanted– the ball to Carey down low. He didn’t go strong to the rim, but pump faked, giving the legendary Pack-Line-Defense time to recover, and had the soft finesse shot blocked from behind by Jay Huff, amazingly his tenth assisted by two other Cavaliers. After the Wake loss, someone wrote: “Also a suggestion for Vernon Carey: “Go strong for dunks at the rim and power the ball through the basket or get fouled doing so. Finesse at point blank range doesn’t get the job done against big athletic, centers and forwards” (or the Pack Line Defense). Except for Jones and Carey, every other player was offensively missing in action as none of them scored more than 6 points.

We, as Duke fans, are spoiled. We are not used to seeing our team lose many close games—certainly not back-to-back. It is interesting to note that the teams beating us are primarily veteran teams, most of whose players are older and physically and mentally more mature than Duke’s one-and-doners. For instance, despite his physical appearance, Vernon Carey just turned nineteen years old a few days ago Then, there is the Zion exception:

“Zion Williamson’s NBA career is off to a great start. Less than 20 games in, Williamson has already provided fans with a plethora of highlights while displaying the unbelievable athletic ability that led to him being the top pick in the 2019 Draft. He has made some history along the way too. During a stretch of games earlier this month, Williamson became the first rookie since Michael Jordan to record four consecutive games of at least 25 points while shooting at least 57 percent from the field.

The fact that he was the first player to accomplish something since Jordan, a player that he idolized growing up, isn’t lost on Williamson.

“Chico, my name’s next to Michael Jordan?” Williamson said when he first learned of the feat, via ESPN. “I mean, it’s dope. I can’t even lie. One of my favorite players growing up. I said in some interview, my mom told me to study film of him so to be in that category, it means a lot.”

Jordan is already a fan of Williamson, as evidenced by the fact that he signed the explosive rookie to the vaunted Jordan Brand. In fact, Williamson’s five-year agreement with Jordan Brand is the most lucrative rookie shoe deal in NBA history.

“I think his passion for the game is coming through the way that he plays,” Jordan said of Williamson in January. “That’s great for the league… The NBA is very fortunate to have a talented young man who shows a certain passion about the game. That’s something you can’t get. You’re born with it, and you share it with the rest of the world.”

Though Williamson’s four-game streak of 25-plus points on 57 percent from the floor came to an end on Friday night, he set another mark by becoming the first teenager in league history to record 10 straight 20-point games. Williamson’s early success has garnered him a lot of individual attention, and though he is appreciative of it, he is more concerned with the success of his team as a whole.

“I think the world and the media, I think, is more happy for me than myself,” Williamson said. “Honestly, I don’t even think much of it if I’m being honest. I just want to get the win. You know, my stepdad taught me growing up, you know, if the team has success then the individual things will follow. So I guess it’s just one of those things.”

Alan adds:

There was not a single moment from the end of the Wake Forest debacle last Tuesday that I thought Duke would beat UVA in Charlottesville last night. Not during the first half; nor at any time during the second half including the last couple of minutes where Duke historically makes the winning plays. It was not (at least not completely) that I thought Duke would again play badly; it was that I thought UVA had morphed into a team that has as good a chance (perhaps the best chance) as any team in the league to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. The Cavaliers may be the best coached team in the league (and that’s saying something!). But there were thoughts that Duke could not recover from the Wake Forest disaster (losing a 9 point lead in the last 1:21 of regulation; giving up 113 points – the most ever for a Coack K team). Hence my Humpty Dumpty/All The King’s Men concern.

In great contrast to the genuinely poor performances against NC State and Wake, Duke played hard, tough and competitively. Coach K: “I’m proud of our guys; but disappointed we lost. It was a very good basketball game where each team played well enough to be deserving of winning.” But, in truth, only Duke’s defense was deserving of winning. The offense has been regressing instead of “getting better”. Yes, Duke is second in the nation in scoring, but UVA’s famed “pack line” defense held the Devils in check. Tre was magnificent and Carey was very good. But Duke got little from the rest of its supposedly deep team. Duke seems to me to be regressing because rather than jelling (as should be the norm with talented young players and a Hall of Fame coach) and seems unable to find an identity. Coach K is struggling to help his team find chemistry and an identity. The UVA game was a dramatic example that the struggle continues without success … yet.

Coach K put the point (the capitalization is mine): “THE WINGS DIDN’T SCORE; NOR DID OUR 4 MAN! That’s the level of our inconsistency. Vernon is a good passer out of the post. Our guys need to hit shots.” Last night the supporting players were abysmal on offense. It cost Duke and prevents building the needed chemistry.

Cassius played 29 minutes scoring only 4 points (1-9 from the field and 2-4 from the line). Goldwire played 25 minutes, scoring only 2 points (1-3; 0-1 from deep). Wendell Moore played 20 minutes, scoring only 2 (1-5); Jack White failed to score at all in 14 minutes (0-4). Mathew Hurt played only 9 minutes and failed to score (0-2; with one horrible 3 point attempt). Baker was 1-5 for 2 points in only 9 minutes; while Alex was 0-1 in his cameo of 3 minutes. So those 7 players logged a total of 89 minutes and collectively scored only 10 points. Duke had only 4 assists (2 by Tre), but turned it over 10 times. Duke’s carelessness as well as UVA’s defense was responsible.

Javin offered the only real support in his 23 minutes (only 2 fouls), some 9 minutes at the same time as Carey was in the game. He scored 6 (but only 2 in the second half) and contributed 3 crucial blocks but missed a dramatic dunk for a 5-point swing when UVA hit a second chance 3 off the long rebound.

Carey was heroic but struggled inside against the Pack line that collapsed on him in the post. He scored early (8 points in 9 minutes on 3-3, including a 3 to go with 1-1 from the line) in the first half, but was again limited in playing time by picking up his second foul with 7:21 left in the first half. He played the entire second half (19 minutes) fouling out with 3 seconds left in the game. He had 17 points in 28 minutes (3-8 from the field as the Pack Line closed down on him effectively, though he drew fouls – 3-4 from the line). Bill thinks he is not going up strong enough, I see it a bit differently. I credit the Pack Line and the blocks from behind when Carey thought his moves had produced a clear shot.

Tre was simply heroic. He played all 40 minutes. He was 3-5 from behind the arc and 2-3 from the foul line with 5 rebounds, 2 assists without a turnover and a steal. He was, however, only 3-9 from inside the arc. He was also the heart of Duke’s effective defense.

But the offense was ineffective. For example, Duke led 18-13 in the first half with 8:37 left in the first half. Duke did not score again for 5 minutes and 20 seconds.

Duke’s defensive game plan worked superbly. Coach K wanted to take the ball out of Clark’s hands (he has become a force as point guard – that improvement from early season is one of the chief reasons for UVA’s latest impressive winning streak. Tre did that. Duke also wanted to close down UVA’s newly discovered shooting star, Woldetensae. Duke held him scoreless in his 23 minutes. But that left Duke vulnerable on the interior and Huff and UVA made the defense pay scoring on layups when Duke switched. It kept Virginia in the game.

Next Play: NC State at Cameron on Monday night at 7pm (ESPN). This is like an NCAA tournament schedule. Tough game on Saturday (say, Sweet 16) and then another tough game two days later (say, Elite 8). But you have to win the first game or you don’t get to play two days later. Coach K says his team needs the experience of being in close games like the UVA struggle to grow. We’ll see, but there is a Humpty Dumpty-All the King’s Men aspect to Duke’s regression.

DUKE 88 – NORTH CAROLINA STATE 69

After another inexplicably inept start where the Blue Devils missed 12 of their first 13 shots and turned the ball over like it was a hot potato, I was going to write: “A Duke team that just ninety days ago beat Kansas, currently the unanimous #1 team in the country, has played these last three games like they don’t deserve an invitation to the NCAA Tournament.” It has been painful to watch such a promising team play so poorly. Last Saturday, I did write something to the effect that one of Coach K’s strengths is that he has been a terrific game day bench coach who has a wonderful, intuitive feel for the flow of a game and how to maintain and/or change the momentum with a timely timeout or the right substitution, but, for whatever reason, hasn’t been able to find the right combination with this group.

Well, who could have imagined the magic in this move? Down eight points early and the game looking too much like the blowout in Raleigh ten nights ago, Coach K called all the way to the end of the bench for Justin Robinson, the often praised but seldom used fifth year blue blood, grad student—and, Holy Jim Boeheim, went to a 2-3 zone. The unlikely pair of J-Rob and G-Wire sparked a comeback that had Duke ahead 38-36 at the half. Robinson had exploded for 8 points, making back-to-back threes and slamming a put-back dunk to inject new life onto the moribund Blue Devils and, perhaps, the season.

Alan texted: “Have never seen a team so undeserving of a halftime lead.”

In the second half, Duke stayed with the zone and the Wolfpack did not adjust well, shooting only 37.5%, scoring just 33 points, and being outrebounded 46-27. The 3-10 players who were missing in action against Virginia (shooting 6-for-34) were on fire the rest of the game, none more than Cassius Stanley who had 18 points and several spectacular dunks that would make Zion Williamson proud.

After the game Justin Robinson said: “Any time I get a chance to play, I want to bring energy. I want to bring leadership and talk. Luckily, I got a couple of shots to fall early, so that helped a lot. We needed a little more energy, especially on defense. And then once our defense picked up, our offense always follows, we get the transition buckets you see, like Cassius [Stanley] throwing down lobs. That always brings our energy up too. I love the Crazies. They’re so fun. They always do give a little extra energy for me – I notice that and I appreciate that. It’s always fun.”

Following back-to-back losses, the Blue Devils’ mini-resurgence came none too soon as they must get tougher, more consistent, and play better both defensively and offensively to fulfill their potential.

Prediction: Johnny Tar Heel says that Coach K is worth 10 points and Cameron is worth 8. Duke by 18 on Saturday.

Alan Adds

Coach K said this game was Duke’s biggest win of the year, and from a psychological perspective he is correct. Duke’s first half looked like a continuation of the NC State game in Raleigh (not to mention the debacle at Wake that followed the mugging by the Wolfpack). I thought the first half was Duke’s worst defensive performance of the entire year. That was one reason why I texted Bill about Duke not deserving its half-time lead (down by 6 with 2:03 to go, Duke scored the last 8 points of the half – Hurt close to the rim; 2 foul shots by Carey, and a steal by Goldwire that led to his great assist on a Moore bucket on the run; followed by 2 Moore free throws). Duke could not defend State’s ball screens even slightly. The Wolfpack lived in the Duke paint, shooting 50% with 9 assists (6 turnovers). On offense, only the heroics of Goldwire (Coach K: “He was sensational; not just very good; sensational) and Justin Robinson, who may have just played his way into the rotation, kept Duke in the game. Tre played the entire game – a subpar first half (1-8 with an assist and 2 turnovers) before delivering one of his best halves of the season in the closing stanza. Stanley (2-9 in 13 minutes) and Moore (0-3 in 10 minutes) struggled early before shining in the second half.

Duke started with 2 bigs – Javin and Carey alongside Stanley, Baker and Tre. That lasted for 2 minutes before Goldwire entered the game and never left it (38 minutes). Baker and Javin were ineffective in their cameos (each was 0-1). Javin did, however grab 4 boards in his 5 minutes. Robinson led Duke’s first half scoring with 8 crucial points (also 2 rebounds) in just 7 minutes. Think about Robinson being Duke’s leading first half scorer in just 7 minutes. His play saved Duke in the opening stanza. The bench kept Duke in the game: Goldwire had 7 points (not really bench) and Hurt had 5 in just 9 minutes. The second half rotation was much more truncated. Really only 6 players were used. I am not counting Hurt, who played only 3 second half minutes or Javin, just 1. Neither Baker (after his first half cameo), White nor Alex played at all in this game. It is worth examining Duke’s stellar return to form in the second half where Tre, JGold and Stanley each played 20 minutes. Moore played 16 of the 20 (spelled so briefly by Hurt and Javin) while Carey (13 minutes) and Robinson (7 minutes) manned the center position.

Coach K’s zone was the catalyst for Duke’s resurgence. Coach K said the zone gave 4 major advantages that Duke used to pull away: 1) (and most important) it kept not only State’s brilliant point guard, Johnson, out of the paint after he had torched Duke in the first half with his classy drives, but it kept the entire State team out of the paint; 2) it enabled Duke to control the backboards on both ends (Duke had more offensive rebounds than State had defensive boards); 3) it set up Duke’s fast break. With Tre and Goldwire on the top of the zone, the outlet pass was there and the two guards were devastating running the break; and 4) it allowed Duke to play 4 perimeter players around Carey or JRob, which fueled the break. Stanley and Tre had halves to remember. Cassius scored 13 second half points (5-9; 0-1 from deep; and 4-5 from the stripe). He also had 2 boards, 2 blocks and an assist without a turnover, and – together with Tre — was the catalyst for Duke moving from a small lead to blowout. With 12:52 to go in the game, Duke led only by 2. In the next 8 minutes, Stanley scored 13 points (3 spectacular dunks on great passes; 4-4 from the stripe to go with a layup and a jumper) while grabbing 4 rebounds, handing out an assist and making a block as Duke stretched the lead to 18. Some 8 minutes! Tre had 12 second half points (3-6; 1-1 from deep; 5-6 from the line) to go with 3 assists and 2 steals. Carey scored 10 second half points in his 13 minutes. Moore had 6 in the closing stanza and Goldwire 4. Those 5 scored 46 of Duke’s 50 second half points (JRob, 2 and Hurt 2). It was (or might turn out to be) the half that resurrects Duke’s season.

Coach K had special words for Cassius and JRob. “ Cassius played with a verve”. Competition for the understatement of 2020 may have ended early. He praised JRob’s attitude and off the court contributions to the team before talking about his game performance. He said Robinson has been having good practices for the last month and played like it in the game. “What a good story of persistence” Robinson is. He may be supplanting Javin in the rotation.

Next Play: Senior night at Cameron against the Tarheels – Saturday at 6:00 pm ESPN. We will try and get out a pre-tournament edition as the ACC tournament begins on Wednesday. Duke, guaranteed a double bye will not play until Friday (the 13^th). We won’t know the matchups until the weekend is over.

DUKE 89 – NORTH CAROLINA 76

In horse racing, when one horse leads from start to finish and wins impressively by open lengths, it is often said he “wired” the field. Well, Duke “wired” Carolina last night but that would be deceiving as they had to collectively play their best game of the year on both ends of the court because it was the equivalent of a heavy weight fight. Duke was never behind but neither could they put the Tar Heels totally away until nearly midway through the second half when Vernon Cary with assists from Tre Jones (What else is new?) played some of his most versatile and effective basketball and Cassius Stanley continued to assert himself as a third closer. Do not be deceived, Carolina is now a healthy, talented but not deep team that had won three in a row. UNC will be a dangerous opponent in the ACC Tournament.

This was one of Coach K’s very best late season fine tunings of a good but not great team that was on the cusp of winning the ACC Regular Season Championship only to fall apart against mediocre N.C. State and Wake Forest teams. Setting aside for a moment the awkward question of how the winningest, arguably best, coach in the history of college basketball (and his staff) has for five years not recognized what a versatile game changer they had at the end of the bench in five-and-done Justin Robinson– let’s just call it another stroke of genius. But I digress.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski assessment: “Really a key was J-Rob. He has been a Godsend for us. His fingerprints are on every aspect of the game.” Consider this: Three weeks ago the player who may potentially be the missing piece of the puzzle to make this a more consistent, formidable team, Robinson had 72 career points in almost four red shirt seasons. In the last three weeks he’s scored 34 points and has 17 blocks in just 102 minutes. Coming into this game against the Tar Heels, Justin Robinson, or J-Rob as he is affectionately known, had played just 227 mostly mop up minutes in his five years with the Blue Devils. But the graduate student saved his best for last in Cameron, driving the Crazies to new levels of appreciative insanity and his teammates to their best efforts with 13 points, 4 blocks, and stellar interior defense. The basketball gods certainly rewarded J-Rob for his years of patient, hard work as 2 of his 4 successful threes where way off target but somehow miraculously bounced through the basket. However, they had no hand in his gritty ability to play interior defense next to Vernon Carey and Javin DeLaurier, which makes this a much more formidable team.

In many ways, it appeared Coach K took a couple of pages from Dean Smith’s playbook by starting seniors Javin DeLaurier, Jack White and Justin Robinson in their last game on the iconic Cameron Court. Though this combination isn’t what we are accustomed to seeing to start a game, the three seniors played with a fire that only someone playing their last home game could, giving the normal starters something with which they were unfamiliar– a lead. Robinson hit two 3-pointers, while DeLaurier caught and finished a lob to help Duke establish an early margin. Then, giving Carolina some of its own medicine, Coach K had Carey and the other big men primed to race their counterparts baseline to baseline producing 15 easy, discouraging points to none for Carolina. Holy Fast Break, Batman, had the players changed uniforms? Krzyzewski said it wasn’t an accident. “That’s been the biggest point of emphasis in our practices, to beat them down the floor on both offense and defense. We really worked a lot on that.”

Duke also played-man-to man the entire way. Tre and his teammates harassed Cole Anthony, their most lethal and important offensive weapon, into trying to play one-on-five, only scoring 9 points. But the real back breaker was the fast-break points flip flop: “I thought the biggest key in the first half was their fast-break points,” Roy Williams said. “It was 15 to 0. I don’t know that I’ve ever had a team outscored 15 to zero in fast-break points. When we pushed it, they did a great job of getting back.” This simply never happens. It is the Tar Heels who specialize in run-outs, drowning opponents in easy fast-break baskets.

Duke led by as many as 10 points in the first half before taking a 42-34 lead into intermission. However, UNC would not fold and outplayed Duke early in the second half as the Blue Devils scored on just one of their first eight possessions. But then, Duke, with an assist from the Cameron Crazies, closed out the game with flawless execution (No turnovers and hitting 10 of 11 free throws)—a very satisfying and impressive close to the regular season.

The stats tell the story. Duke hit 29 of 33 free throws and 10 of 21 three pointers, 6 of which were in the second half. That turned a 1-point game into a 13-point game with 3:43 left. Had Duke shot the same percentage on these attempts as last year’s team, there would have been a 16 point turn around and perhaps a different outcome. While the depth of talent offers many options, it appears we are back to a mostly seven man rotation with Robinson taking minutes from Hurt, DeLaurier, White, Baker, and O’Connor.

The Bottom Line: Coaching and chemistry make a difference. Matthew Hurt is talented but is not yet physically strong enough to hold his own—as Justin wasn’t initially– against more mature strong forwards. He is a teenage boy playing against mature twenty year old plus men—as many of Florida State and Louisville players are. Player development takes time. The emergence of the more mature and versatile Robinson was years in the making. And the mental maturation of Cassius Stanley and Wendell Moore, almost a season in the making, to go with the steady Jordan Goldwire, three years in the making, are all pieces of a puzzle that may be a season in the making.

Boys & Men (perhaps, there is a lesson here.) Although they are not comparable, consider the emergence of Justin Robinson with the sensational, record breaking LSU QB Joseph Lee Burrow. He is also a five-and-done, 23 year old, who did not initially find success at Ohio State before transferring to LSU as a 21 year old. Then, consider how many Duke one and dones—other than Zion– have fared in the NBA as opposed to Grant Hill, Shane Battier, Elton Brand, who stayed three or four years. Here’s a flash: In the NBA, there are only real men who can run and jump and shoot and play defense that get playing time. Otherwise, it is the G (Gee, I almost made it in the NBA) Development League

Perhaps, patience is an underappreciated virtue.

Alan Adds:

The Duke stars in this game were (in no particular order): Coach K, Justin Robinson, Tre Jones, Cassius Stanley, and Vernon Carey Jr.

Coach K

Coach K: Bill’s friend Johnny Tar Heel says Coach K is worth 10 points a game as bench coach. Last night his genius exceeded that value. His game plan was flawless and worked to perfection. First, he stole a page from UNC by his fast break and long passes, even after made baskets. Second, on defense he wanted to: a) slow or stop Carolina’s best offensive player, Cole Anthony; b) stop the vaunted Carolina fast break (and secondary break); and c) hold even on the boards after being so badly outrebounded last month in Chapel Hill. In the first half, Duke outscored Carolina 15-0 on fast break points. ‘Ole Roy said ruefully in his press conference, “I don’t think that ever happened to a Carolina team before.” Carey ran the floor like a greyhound and Tre found him with full length of the court passes that emulated a fourth quarter Tom Brady. Duke completely shut down Carolina’s potent fast break (UNC had only 5 fast break points for the entire game). Coach K said they worked hard on transition defense in practice, but “we played even better than we practiced”. Duke got back in lanes, picking up the Carolina player in that lane rather than guarding the Tarheel designated in the man to man. It was sublime defense. Duke held even on the backboards (38-37 for Carolina), even though the Blue Devils gave up 18 second chance points. As Ole Roy (at his rueful best) praised the Duke interior defense. “In the second half we got it inside better, but they contested everything underneath and we couldn’t finish inside.”

Justin Robinson

What a story! Coach K said it’s an amazing story, like the movie, “Rudy”. In 25 minutes (15 in the second half), J-Rob scored 13 (4-6 from deep) to go with 6 boards, 4 blocks and 3 assists. He was, as Coach K said, “a godsend. He impacted every aspect of the game. He not only blocked 4 shots, but he altered a bunch.” (think ‘Ole Roy’s “they contested everything, and we couldn’t finish inside”.) “He made us better.” Will J-Rob be the catalyst that allows this team to reach a higher plateau? He was the second big for almost all of the second half. Javin played only 11 minutes (4 fouls), just 4 minutes in the second half without scoring. Jack White failed to score in 6 first half minutes (did not play in the second half); Matt Hurt failed to score in 9 minutes (only 3 in the second half). Hurt looked absolutely lost trying to defend the Carolina bigs and rebound. If Robinson can maintain this level of play going into the tournaments, Duke becomes more of a true contender.

Cassius Stanley

Stanley had an efficient 19 points in 36 minutes (6-10; 3-5 from deep; 4-4 from the line) to go with 6 boards. It was in the second half that Stanley soared, playing every minute, and scoring 11 (3-4 from deep; 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 key rebounds and an assist without committing a turnover or a foul. He and J-Rob hit back to back 3s that broke the game open. He is a superb athlete that can and did defend. He was instrumental in Duke’s second half defense, which was adequate, though UNC did score 42 in the closing stanza.

Tre Jones

Tre was simply magnificent in his 39 minutes (I don’t remember him coming out for a minute in the first half) scoring 21 points and handing out 11 (yes, 11) assists against 2 turnovers. His long outlet passes shredded the Carolina defense. His 10-10 from the line, including 6-6 down the stretch kept Duke safely in front. Tre’s 7 second half assists were crucial. He added a block; committed only 2 fouls. But even more important than his offense was his defense. Tre is a better defender than his brother was (or is in the NBA), and was part of the way Anthony was kept totally in check and completely frustrated. Stopping the other team’s best player has long been a Coach K value. Tre (Goldwire and the helping team defense) accomplished that task against Anthony, who was only 4-14; 0-2 from deep and 1-2 from the line for 9 points even though he played almost the entire game — 39 minutes. The Carolina point guard managed only 3 assists and turned it over twice. Shutting such a great player down like that was one of the keys to Duke’s win.

Vernon Carey, Jr.

After an under achieving (for him, anyway) first half (playing only 13 minutes, grabbing only 3 boards while shooting 2-4 from the field and 3-4 from the line), he took over the game when he came back in with 11:08 left in the game, Duke leading 54-53, and Brooks on the line shooting to tie the game. When Brooks missed, Carey immediately grabbed 3 boards, made 2 layups in just over a minute. 59-54. After a Tar Heel 3, he scored again underneath and followed that with an old fashioned 3 point play to give the Devils a 69-63 lead with 7:18 to go. He scored on another dunk with 5:46 to go, stretching the Duke lead to 7 and setting the scene for J-Rob and Cassius to close the door on Carolina. J-Rob blocked a Brooks layup and then hit a 3 with a beautiful assist from Tre. When Anthony missed a contested (by Tre) 3, Cassius got the rebound and sunk a 3 with an assist from J-Rob. Duke up 13 with only 3:27 to go. The game was over then.

Carey scored 18 in the second half (6-10 from the field and 6-7 from the line) while defending the back board with 7 second half rebounds. He also had a steal. What an amazing performance!

Overview

Duke was aggressive and won the game from the free throw line (29-33) and from behind the arc (10-21). Duke’s defense did the job as per the Coach K game plan. A bit troubling was the lack of production from the rest of the team. In the second half, Carey, Cassius and Tre accounted for 38 of Duke’s 47 points. Add J-Rob’s 6 and those 4 scored 44 of the 47. Goldwire’s 3-4 from the line completed the second half scoring.

Neither Alex nor Joey Baker saw the floor. White, and Hurt were scoreless in essentially cameo appearances. Moore had 4 points, but none in the second half. Javin had 4 first half points (0 in the second half). Goldwire was scoreless from the floor 0-3 but was 3-4 from the line at crunch time for 3 points in 24 minutes. However, his defensive contributions were immense.

Next Play: Duke will be the #4 seed in the ACC tournament and will play on Thursday (March 12) at 2:30 p.m. against either Pittsburg, Wake Forest or NC State. Pitt and Wake play on Tuesday, with the winner to face NC State on Wednesday. If Duke wins that Thursday quarterfinal, The Devils would play at 7 pm on Friday the 13^th against the winner of the bracket that includes top seeded Florida State. The Championship game is on Saturday (March 14) at 8:30 p.m. Let’s hope that Duke is in that game.

Duke Basketball Playbook: 2018-19

Introduction: Bill Miller and Alan Silber, Duke graduates of 1960, have been producing and distributing the Duke Basketball Playbook since the 2009-10 Championship Season. For years prior to that, it was just casual email exchanges about each game between two friends, who love Duke and the game of basketball. Over time, friends received copies and forwarded it to their friends. When Torrey Glass (’74) started distributing the blog to the Hilton Head Duke Alumni Club, the readership expanded exponentially to a following of hundreds alumni, fraternity brothers, friends, and friends of friends who were Duke fans as well as some basketball fans who just liked the analysis. As the readership expanded, the writing became less casual. There were drafts, edits, and re-writes. The project became a passion, which nourished both craft and friendship. Bill writes the opening section; Alan writes further commentary under the heading “Alan Adds”.

Welcome to the Duke Basketball Playbook 2018-19 season preview.

Let’s not tap dance around it. This is the most talented, athletic, and deepest Duke Basketball team I have seen—with the extra added attraction of a once in a generation talent in Zion Williamson. Even Johnny Tar Heel grudgingly agrees with this assessment.

Come on, Bill. How can you say that when the season hasn’t even started? Well, for starters no college has ever run the recruiting table 1-2-3- #1 point guard–not even Michigan’s much hyped Fab 5. And thanks to DirecTV and ESPN+, I have watched five & a half (Countdown to Craziness) exhibition games and the “Earn Everything” series on Duke basketball. Granted, these games weren’t against Final Four teams but they weren’t against The Little Sisters of the Poor either. In addition to offensive firepower, here is what I saw: hustle, defense, assists, camaraderie, and improvement with each game.

What were last year’s team weaknesses? Man-to-man defense, consistent point guard play, and foul shooting. This year’s treasure trove of athlete/students/future millionaires, has a pure pass first/shoot second, point guard in Tre Jones, a bigger, stronger, and, hopefully, just as clutch version of his older brother Ty, who also plays Tommy Amaker like on-the-ball defense, which is the starting point of good defense. In addition, there are three other starters—Barrett, Williamson, and Reddish– who can play the point better than Trevon (shoot first/ pass second) Duval. And so far, they have demonstrated the talent and desire to play much better man-to-man defense and have no 50% free throw shooters—as a team, they are shooting a respectable but not outstanding, 70%.

Reading Coach K’s mind: My youngest grandson could pick four of the starters. Initially, it appeared Javin DeLaurier would be the fifth. Then, he hurt his foot and Marquis Bolden took his place and has continued to start. Maybe, Coach is protecting Javin but maybe Coach is looking at the size of Kentucky on November 6 and thinking he should find out whether or not Bolden will figure out what kind of player he wants to be. If Bolden does start playing to his potential, that will give Coach another option to throw at an opponent. He knows what kind of effort he will get with Javin and/or Jack White and I am sure with them on the floor, he will go to his Five Out Motion offense, press both full and half full court, and play Golden State Warrior basketball. An effective pressing defense should be the key as to how successful this team will be, because they are so lethal in the open court.

Once again, Coach K is talking a nine or ten man rotation. But you know how that usually goes: 10-9-8-7, then 6 at tournament time. This time he may really mean it, because DeLaurier and White are co-captains (Interestingly, Bolden was not. What does that tell you?). Alex O’Connell and Baker may be a later day Grayson Allen wildcard subs, because they can really play and shoot the three.

What else to like: The intangibles. All the players appear to like one another and enjoy all aspects of the game. In a press conference, DeLaurier commented that, unlike some other years, there are no class cliques. The freshmen hang with upper classmen. Every player talks about enjoying all aspects of the game but watch how many actually dive on the floor for a loose ball. Up fifty some points against Ferris State, Flyin’ Zion (half man, half amazing) dove for a loose ball, knocked it away from an opponent, got up, chased down the player who retrieved it, and tied him up. That’s Duke Basketball!

Any caveats or hedges? Yes, you have to play the games and sometimes the basketball gods play tricks on the better team: #16 Maryland-Baltimore County 74 – #1Virginia 54. North Carolina State 54 – Houston (Phi Slama Jama) 52. North Carolina 54 – Kansas 53 (Wilt Chamberlain). And injuries (ref. Kyrie Irving.)

Miscellaneous Comments:

If you ever wondered what it is like to be a basketball player at Duke, you must watch the above mentioned series “Earn Everything” streaming on ESPN+ . It takes you behind the scenes and almost makes you feel like a member of the team. You are right there seeing and hearing how Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski runs his program, talks to his coaches and his players as he prepares this team for the upcoming season in pursuit of the program’s sixth national championship. There are up close and personal looks at the athletes as they are taught how to practice, how to rehab, what and when to eat– and as they spend time interacting with one another. There is access to closed practices, conditioning and skills testing, and even nutrition counseling; Zion Williamson breaking the all-time Duke vertical record during testing; One-on-one conversations between coaches and their players during practice; Preparation for pre-season exhibition tour of Canada; Coaches breaking down film with the team after the Ryerson game in Canada; and No. 1 recruit RJ Barrett discussing his reasons for attending Duke.

What stood out dramatically for both Alan and myself was the intimate look at just who our student-athletes are. What you see are articulate young men, who are also thoughtful. These gifted athletes clearly belong as students at Duke University. They perform community services at the Emily K Center, getting as much out of it as they give to the underprivileged kids. They are insightful about themselves in differing aspects of their growth. And finally, Coach K was philosophical and analytical about the role his program plays within the Duke University universe. The university gives to the program and the program contributes to the university. It is a really an exceptional documentary and watching is a perfect introduction to the 2018-19 season.

Alan Adds:

I have been a basketball recruiting junkie since 1985 (when you had to subscribe to publications – no internet). In all that time, no recruiting class at any school has contained the consensus top three recruits, as this freshman Duke class does. But, as we learned last year, freshman talent alone may not be enough. Last year’s team had # 3 and #7 lottery picks in the NBA draft as well as a late first round draft choice, and an early second rounder plus an undrafted player who earned a professional contract. Expectations (and maybe a bit of hubris) may have harmed that team. I cringed last year when Wendell Carter opined, well before the season opener, that Duke had so much talent it might go undefeated all year. Hubris. Duke had a very good season, but could not play even passable man-to-man defense, did not win either the ACC regular title, the ACC tournament or get to the Final Four — while sustaining nine losses. However, this group of freshmen are saying all the right things, and have much different talents than last year’s talented class. Let’s look at the four highly touted freshmen. I am leaving out 6’7” freshman, Joey Baker, who is rumored to be red-shirting this year.

R.J. Barrett: I saw him several times last year and opined he is the best high school player I have seen since LeBron. He’s 6’7” and can play on the perimeter and in the interior. Two years ago, when Canada beat the USA in the Under 19 World Championship, Barrett scored 38 points while grabbing 13 boards to lead Canada. He is the only non-NBA player on the Canadian National team getting ready for the next World Championship, and was in the starting lineup in the National team’s last game. He is a spectacular finisher in the open court as well as a defensive stopper. But, he might not be the best player in Duke’s freshman class.

Zion Williamson: Zion was nowhere near as impressive last year (but damn impressive – overall #3 recruit) when I saw him as he has been in his Duke pre-season appearances this year. Last year I saw a superstar in the open court, but not in the half court. [He got hurt about mid-way through the McDonald’s All-Star game and did not play last spring after that). He is 6’7” and 270 lbs. (down from 285 and won the pre-season award as Duke’s best conditioned athlete) with a 45 inch vertical (David Thompson territory). Against inferior opposition, he has been unstoppable in the post and in the open court. He is an energetic defender. But what I did not see last year and has been in dramatic evidence this year is ability to handle the ball and pass. His attitude is as amazing (as per Bill’s description of diving for the loose ball; what is astounding about that is that it came with Duke ahead by 50 points in the fourth quarter with only a few minutes left) as his motor. In the pre-season, he snatched every 50-50 ball with strong and dexterous hands. Let’s see how he does against top flight competition before we put him in the Naismith Hall of Fame, but his upside seems to have no limit.

Tre Jones: Tyus’s younger brother is not as highly rated as the top 3, but I am writing about him third because, like Bill, I think he may be Duke’s most important player. What is interesting is that Duke’s other freshmen think so too and are not shy about saying so. He impressed me last year in All Star games (playing tough defense in games where defense is honored more in the breach) with his leadership and passing. He missed the 3 games in Canada, but has looked very good since then. His high school English teacher is a friend of a friend. My friend reports that the teacher extolled Tre as a student, a leader and a very thoughtful person who was respected and admired for much more than basketball. Great attributes for a point guard.

Cam Reddish: Cam has not yet shown Duke fans the kind of play that made him the #2 ranked high school player last year (ahead of Zion). He was injured for the Canadian trip and had damaged ribs through the exhibition season. I saw him several times last year. Another 6’7” postionless player, he is a smooth in all aspects of the game, more at home on the perimeter as a passer and shooter. While he had a reputation as a defender, when he tried to guard Barrett in the McDonald’s game (they played on different teams and guarded each other), he could not stop Barrett (but then no one else ever has). He will be in the starting lineup.

What stands out for me with these four is that all are essentially point guards. Barrett played the point in the three Canadian games when Jones and Reddish were not playing. Reddish has been slated to be the backup point guard when Jones rests. However, in my opinion, Zion may be the best of the backup point guards; he has dazzled when given the opportunity. Moreover, each has a reputation coming in as a defender. It is impossible not to be excited about these four and this team as a result.

Veterans Competing To Start and/or Be in Coach K’s Rotation

Javin DeLaurier: This 6’10” Junior defender and rebounder is a co-captain, who will fight to be the fifth starter. He seems vastly improved this year. In the past, he has been a helter-skelter high energy defender, rebounder, but a fouling machine. This year he is playing just as hard, but with a confidence that adds a calmness (and some leadership on defense) to his assets. Whether a starter or in the rotation, he will play major minutes.

Jack White: The other Junior co-captain, this Australian has been Duke’s best upper-class player in the pre-season. Another 6’7” wing, Jack has shown a nose for the ball of the glass on both ends as well as defensive skills against both perimeter and interior opponents. He has added proficiency from behind the arc when open (and with these freshmen, he will be wide open multiple times). He is improving in the satisfying way we have seen with four year players.

Marquis Bolden: A Junior 6’11” center, who is Duke’s leading returning scorer (a paltry 3.6 ppg average), Marquis has been an underachiever in his first two years. He was very unimpressive in Canada and not much better in the exhibition game against Virginia Union. However, he looked better than he ever has against Ferris State (of course, it was against Ferris State and not Kentucky) and was good in the Blue-White game. It’s hard to guess what his contributions will be, but I think that he will get an opportunity in the pre-conference portion of the schedule to earn playing time. He started both exhibition games, logging 20 minutes (compared to Javin’s 16) against Ferris State.

Alex O’Connell: Alex, whose father played at Duke, has grown to 6’6” and is fighting for playing time. If he shoots from behind the arc, as he did last year, he may well be in the rotation, and could even start if Coach K wants to go small. Alex has been a surprisingly good rebounder for one so skinny, and is developing an all court game. I predict he will play valuable minutes this year.

These are the complementary players who have to do the dirty work, defend, and score when open.

Justin Robinson (6’10” Junior), Antonio Vrankovich (7’0” Junior) would play – even start – on many teams; however, they are unlikely to see major minutes in close games. But if called upon, each has the ability to contribute. Joey Baker is a 6’7” freshman who has an excellent all court game. He re-classified to join the team this year. Unless injuries happen or Duke’s shooting is not up to snuff from the perimeter, he is likely to red shirt. Jordan Goldwire, a 6’2” backup point guard played a lot in Canada when Tre Jones and Cam Reddish could not play. He is the only Duke player who did not play against Ferris State (no one has said why). I believe Tre Jones will be backed up by the other freshmen rather than Jordan.

This is a team that should hold our interest, inspire our affection, and excite our fantasies.

Duke 118 – Kentucky 84

If you had Duke and gave 33 points, you won!

You may not have believed my assessment in our DBP preview (“Let’s not tap dance around it. This is the most talented, athletic, and deepest Duke Basketball team I have seen.”), but seeing is believing. And if you didn’t see it, you missed an unexpected blowout anticipated by no expert. The only thing Kentucky won was the opening tip. The Blue Devils made their first four shots — three from beyond the arc and all by freshmen who never looked back because contrary to Satchel Paige’s immortal homily: No one was gaining on them. Duke dominated the more experienced, #1 ranked Kentucky in all phases of the game giving Coach Calipari the worst defeat of his career in Lexington. Either the Wildcats are vastly overrated or this Duke team belongs in the NBA. I usually try to be a gracious winner but, for different reasons, games against Maryland and Calipari are exceptions. So, I will say it: The deflated, defeated look on the face of the duplicitous John Calipari was priceless.

It’s hard to know where to start. The four freshmen Barrett 33, Williamson 28, Reddish 22, and Jones 6 outscored the entire Kentucky team. However, the most interesting development was the defense which held Kentucky to 44% shooting, forcing 15 turnover (Duke 4) and having 10 steals. In addition, Marquis Bolden appears to have had a talent and personality transplant and was impressive on both end of the floor and on the bench. Jack White, doing his best John Havlicek impression, hustling all over the floor was one point shy of a double-double, and O’Connell hit 3 of 4 threes. An overlooked stat is that Trey Jones only had 6 points but no turnovers against a vaunted defender known for his on-the-ball pressure. Another thing that struck me was how well these alpha players share the ball and how, even when on the bench, are joyfully into the game cheering and waving towels when subs like White, O’Connell, Vrankovic, or Robinson make a good play.

A note of caution. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves like Carter did last year in bragging about how talented his team was. This was just the first game of a long, grueling season. As talented as these players are, the ball is not always going to go in the basket like it did tonight and some games will be a lot more difficult. Silly fouls were a potential problem but White, DeLaurier, and O’Connell filled in seamlessly. Also, the foul shooting (69%) was subpar for a championship team.

Miscellaneous Comments:

In a rare moment of candor John Calipari told his players. “I got outcoached. You got outplayed.”

The Blue Devils made 19 layups and eight dunks. They scored two out of every three times they possessed the ball, and collected 22 assists on 54 made field goals while turning the ball over just 4 times.

Joey Baker did not play. Either he is injured or he is being red shirted.

How cool is it to see David Thompson in Duke hat on the sidelines cheering the team on?

Alan Adds:

There is no way to fully take in the impact of last night’s total destruction of the #1 ranked team in the pre-season polls by the Blue Devils. The college hoops world will be buzzing. The first 10 minutes are as good as a college team can play. Duke scored 34 points in the first 9 minutes and 24 seconds of the game to lead by 31 (34-13). The gaudy impact of RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson will be water cooler conversation today all over Hoopsland. I want to share a couple of more subtle takeaways from the game that auger very well, indeed. The play of Tre Jones was eye opening. His on the ball defense set up Duke’s very effective man to man. Duke played great transition defense and made the usual running Wildcats a half court team. Duke’s offense was jaw dropping (59 points in each half). 22 assists and only four turnovers. Kentucky’s defensive game plan was to pressure the ball in the backcourt. Tre made Kentucky pay dearly by beating the press easily and guiding Duke into its offense. He had 7 assists without a turnover. He hit the first shot of the game and then was simply a maestro at both ends. When Tre went down with a knee (turned out not serious, but for a moment he looked awful), I saw the glorious season being only about 30 minutes long. As absolutely superb as the others played, this is not the same team without Tre.

The dramatic moment when belief solidified was at the opening of the second half. Duke led 59-42 at half. I believed (wrongly) for the longest time that Kentucky would make some kind of a run. After being embarrassed in the first half, I feared the ‘Cats would come out clawing after the intermission. As Coach K has said many times, it is just human nature to see the score and let up a bit. Duke came out on fire; Zion made like Zion (Reddish assist); Reddish hit a 3 (assist from Tre) forcing Calipari to call a time out just :54 seconds into the second half. Game over. Duke never took its foot off the Wildcat neck even when the lead ballooned to almost 40 points. This team appears to have that “killer instinct”.

I said this Duke team could be special because all of the freshmen had a point guard mentality. Indeed, in the 10 minutes that Tre was off the court, all 3 took turns as backup point guard. Twenty-two assists and only 4 turnovers! Against Kentucky! Wow!

THE ROTATION

Zion was 6^th man in minutes played! Three players logged 30+ minutes – Barrett (32), Jones (30) and…[I should write AND] Jack White (30). Jack was simply a revelation and reliable “glue” guy. He grabbed 11 boards, played just superb man to man – individual and team – defense (guarded Kentucky’s leading scorer, holding Herro to a tepid 14), making two steals. He had 3 assists and 9 points on offense without a turnover. Right now, he is the Sixth Man. Marquis Bolden had by far his best game at Duke, logging 25 minutes, in which he contributed 7 points (3-4; 1-3 from the line) to go with an assist and a steal. No turnovers. Reddish lived up to his high school reputation as a smooth all court player, on the court for 24 scintillating minutes. He scored 22 (6-14; 3-8 from deep; 7-7 from the line) to go with some superb defense (4 steals) and all around floor play (3 assists without a turnover);Javin is still a fouling machine – committing 4 in his 11 minutes on the court. He moves well and had a block and two steals to go with his four fouls. Alex scored 9 points in only 11 minutes (3-6; 3-4 from deep) while corralling 3 boards. He will give the team valuable minutes this season, I predict. Vrankovich played little, but a valuable minute (2-2 from the line) when Duke had early foul trouble in the first half.

Foul trouble – The only negative was Duke’s fouling on defense – worse in the first half. Duke committed 16 first half fouls (26 for the game), which had DeLaurier with 3 and the rest of the interior players with 2 at the intermission. Zion played only 10 first half minutes. RJ played the entire first half.

RJ AND ZION

RJ took over the game in the early going. He showed why I’ve said he’s the best finisher around the basket that I had seen in high school since LeBron. He was simply unstoppable, connecting from the perimeter, driving to the basket, passing, and rebounding. He scored 33 on 26 attempts (13-26; 3-7 from 3land; 4-8 from the line) to go with 2 boards and 6 assists. He was everything that I saw from him in high school. But he wasn’t the story. Zion was.

Zion was limited in minutes by his two early first half fouls – the first coming before the two minute mark. He committed only one foul in his 13 second half minutes. In those 23 minutes he compiled a stat line that staggers the imagination. He scored 28 points on just 13 attempts (11-13; 1-1 from deep; 5-7 from the line). He passed; he defended; he got loose balls. In short, he looked like a man among boys. He was unstoppable driving to the rim. He helped Duke destroy the Kentucky zone from the post.

The first game has “visions of sugar plumbs dancing in our heads”. Why not! I’m not sure I’ve seen anything like the quality of this rout against a team like Kentucky (Maybe W. Va in the 2015 NCAA tournament). This was a pure wow.

Army on Sunday at noon is the Next Play.

DUKE 94 – ARMY 72

If you took Duke and gave more than 22 points, you lost!

Well, Army is no Kentucky. The Black Knights execute much better than the Wildcats. And in doing so, they gave the Blue Devils a lesson that last year’s team was unable or unwilling to learn.

At least the most precocious freshman Zion Williamson got it: ”It’s one thing for somebody to tell you that everybody’s going to bring their best against you, that all their shots are going to feel like they’re going in. But I think until you truly experience it, I think you just have to go through it to fully understand.” Quite right. As last year’s team learned the hard way, better sooner than later. Defense is mostly about attitude and effort and it is a lot more difficult when your shots aren’t falling like usual and the opponents rebound and beat you down the floor for relatively uncontested shots. Fortunately, Williamson not only got it, he led the team in points (27), rebounds (16), assists (6), blocked shots (6), and floor burns (5). He has become must see TV as ESPN acknowledged by moving the game to their flagship channel. The you-make-the-call (quiet/shy/self-contained/enigmatic) Reddish, the best pure shooter on the team and the beneficiary of Zion and RJ’s driving ability, went 7-13 from outside the circle and again had a quiet-if that’s possible- 25 points.

Among other challenges will be the reaction of these alpha Blue Chip teenagers to the barrage of press coverage to which Zion is being subject—and it is just starting, because you know the press–anything worth covering is worth over-covering, then moving on to the next new thing. Until now, Barrett has been referred to as the projected number one NBA draft choice—that means about as much as being ranked the number one team in a preseason poll. I suspect that has changed. I know whom I would choose if I were an NBA general manager. And I suspect, that Cam Reddish may also pass RJ in that pecking order as he is being referred to as a Kevin Durant clone. However, so far, this team is a “Brotherhood” of Four/Five Musketeers, all for one, one for all and is fully enjoying the intense spotlight. There is only joyful camaraderie. You see it when Barrett, Williamson, Reddish and Jones — the four freshmen starters weren’t comfortable posing for the Sports Illustrated cover photo unless the fifth freshman, reserve redshirt candidate Joey Baker, was included. You saw it during Williamson’s post-game interview on ESPN Tuesday night after the defeat over Kentucky. “All of us have fun. I can’t even explain it,” Williamson said with a chuckle and a shake of his head. “I just love playing basketball. I love playing with my brothers. And playing for Coach K and those coaches, I don’t think there’s anything better than that. And in the awe of Javin DeLaurier:” I’ve never seen anyone like Zion. “All of us hit the genetic lottery… but Zion hit it twice.”

However this season unfolds, one thing is certain. This is the most likeable basketball team in Duke’s history. There is no easily vilified player like an Art Heyman, Christian Laettner, J.J. Redick, or Grayson Allen.

Miscellaneous Comments:

Via the Duke men’s basketball Instagram account, users have viewed videos 1.87 million times with 33,779 new followers onboard over that period. Kentucky is next closest among major college programs in that period, with 408,000 views and 3,658 new followers.

Jack White played as many minutes (25) as Bolden or DeLaurier combined.

Freshman Joey Baker played well during the Blue Devils’ exhibition season, but still has not played a second through three halves of the regular season. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the Kentucky game that he’ll wait and see how Jack White and Alex O’Connell look on the perimeter before deciding whether to use Baker this year. It appears that unless one of Duke’s current rotation players suffers a serious injury, Baker is likely to redshirt.

Alan Adds:

“Our guys do not feel good about themselves right now”, said Coach K after the game. He said that because Duke played an awful defensive first half and did not play cohesively together as they had against Kentucky. “But, it was a great game for us. We could have lost [Duke led only by 2 with a little over 2 minutes left in the first half]. Instead we turned it around in the second half. We played harder than Army in the last 15 minutes of the game.” “It was the perfect game for us following the Kentucky game. A key for a winning team is to keep the “noise” out of the locker room. This wasn’t just noise; this was NOISE – exceptional noise. We didn’t handle it very well.”

Perhaps, that is why the Duke defense was slow to move (and talk – Coach K said Army moved faster than Duke was talking) and reverted to a lazy transition defense (last seen in the first Canadian exhibition game). In any event, Army seemed to outhustle all the Blue Devils (except for Zion) to offensive rebounds, to penetrate to the rim and make the perfect pass in the first half.

Here’s why Coach K felt good about the second half. Duke held Army to 30 points, but was even more suffocating on defense as the game wound down. With 12:14 left in the game, Army trimmed the lead to 6 with 2 straight 3s (67-61). Five minutes and 10 seconds later, Army hit a 3 to give them 66 points, while Duke had broken the game wide open (81-66; Army had made a layup at the 9:15 mark). In short, Duke held Army to 5 points in that span, and to only 3 more in the next 6 minutes and 5 seconds — Army scored only 8 points in that 11:42 of play. That is why Coach K said it was a great game for Duke because to obtain those amazing defensive results, Duke PLAYED HARDER THAN ARMY in the last 15 minutes.

The three scoring freshman had 75 of Duke’s 94 points (Zion, 27; Cam, 25, and R.J. 23). Add Trey’s 8 (2-4; 2-2 from behind the arc and the foul line, to go with 7 assists) and the freshman had 83 of Duke’s 94. White (6; 2-6 from 3land), Alex (3; 1-3 from deep) and Javin (2) rounded out the scoring. It was clear that Zion could score at will in so many different ways. He was 11-14 from the floor. His statline (See Bill’s detail above) was simply astounding. R.J. seemed a bit sullen to me; looking askance at the ref on one call, but stepped up his game in the second half on both ends of the floor. Cam is so smooth and does everything (he reminds me of Keith, later Jamaal “Silk” Wilkes).

Jack White has become the Sixth man, and he is playing starter minutes. The four freshman were on the court for over 30 minutes a piece (R.J and Tre for 33 minutes; Zion for 32; and Cam for 31). The player who logged the fifth most minutes was Jack White with 25 minutes (15 in the second half) grabbing 4 rebounds, handing out a pair of assists to go with a block and a steal. He is steady. No turnovers and only 1 foul. I would not be surprised if Coach K makes him the starter to go with the four freshmen down the road. DeLaurier played 12 minutes – 9 in the first half where he picked up 2 fouls. Bolden played 13 minutes without scoring, but excelled on defense, while Alex played 10.

Next Play: Eastern Michigan on Wednesday Night at Cameron at 7 pm before heading to the Maui Classic next week.

DUKE 84 – E. MICHIGAN 46

If you took Eastern Michigan and got 37 points, you lost!

And actually, if it was a prize fight, it would have been call a TKO sometime during the first twenty minutes as Duke led 48-13 at the half. Mercifully, Coach K called off the precocious freshmen greyhounds in the second half by substituting liberally. The Eagles were thought to present a challenge because of the size and experience of their front court and tough Syracuse type zone defense. Duke aced that test by pressing full and half court, creating chaos, turnovers, and putting on a SportsCenter dunking show that has become their calling card. We have become accustomed to the dunking show but the first half defense was just as impressive as the first half rout of Kentucky— for a different reason. This group of teenagers take as much pride in their defense as their offense. The Blue Devils held the Eagles to shooting 21% in the first half. At one point, the score was 21-3.

Coach K: “We played at a pace different than what they’re really good at. It kind of snowballed for them. The intensity was excellent. We talked well, on both ends of the court. We shared the ball well and got every loose ball in the first half. Our goal was anybody, except the center, if you get the board, go. In transition, we were relentless. Everything we did kind of worked. But it worked because we played so hard. Alex [O’Connell] can score the ball. Alex continues to have to learn to play defense. He’s trying, but he’s not there yet. When that comes, he becomes better. It’s our third game, and he’s playing hard and well, but he can do that better. Jack [White], Javin [DeLaurier], even Antonio [Vrankovic] know exactly what they’re supposed to do. So even if we were to go to 10 or 11 guys, who, even if they don’t play much, know what they’re supposed to do, then we’re going to be better.”

However, to be the team they want to be, these Blue Devils have to shoot free throws and threes better or some night in a close game, this weakness cost them dearly. In the ESPN+ series “Earn Everything” Coach K explains that in the Five Out Motion Offense spacing will create open, stand still threes and that every player on this team has to be able to hit them as well as free throws. He pointedly commented that practicing all these razzle dazzle dribbling moves is fine, but the easy, uncontested shots should be money in the bank. On the Olympic Team, Kobe Bryant didn’t believe him and when he got some, he missed them. So, Kobe shot a thousand of them a day for a week and didn’t miss many more on the way to a Gold Medal.

Duke had 14 dunks, 6 by Williamson, 4 by Bolden, 2 by Javin DeLaurier and 1 each for Barrett and White. Williamson and Barrett led Duke with 21 (12 shots) and 20 points (21 shots), respectively. DeLaurier and White, whose consistent all-round play is demanding more playing time, each had 10 points. The suffocating defense ( 56-37 advantage on the boards, forcing 20 turnovers, with 14 steals and 11 blocks masked the fact that the Blue Devils didn’t actually shoot very well and were sloppy with the ball. The Blue Devils were 5-for-24 on 3s, 6-for-17 from the line. Of course, those stat lines were skewed a bit by the use of the deep bench.

Miscellaneous Comments:

The final two (#7& 8) episodes of the Duke series “Earn Everything” are now available on ESPN+. I found them to be the most the most interesting and revealing of the segments. They made one thing crystal clear: The Duke “Brotherhood” extends back decades, is a potent recruiting tool, and has a powerful hold upon former players–even the one-and-done players.

Cameron Reddish did not play at all in the second half. Krzyzewski said Reddish had a sore groin, nothing serious, but it didn’t make much sense to play him when he could rest for next week.

For Duke, Monday’s No. 1 showing is an AP poll record. The Blue Devils, with this week’s ranking, have now stood atop the AP rankings 135 weeks in their history. That breaks a tie with UCLA for most all time. The AP poll dates back to 1949; UCLA had held the record for decades, thanks to the season-over-season dominance during the John Wooden era. Mike Krzyzewski has been coach for 117 of the 135 weeks Duke has held the No. 1 ranking.

Alan Adds:

The beat down was as severe as any I can remember a Duke team handing out. 17 minutes and 36 seconds had expired in the first half before Eastern Michigan’s point total hit double figures. The Eagles did not score points 10 and 11 until then to reduce Duke’s 37 point lead to 35. Duke’s lead in the second half ballooned to 46 with 9:14 left in the game before Coach K called off the dogs (the freshmen) and the 1-2-2 press. The tale of this game was in the amazing first half, where I will concentrate this analysis.

The Defense

This team has the potential to be not just a good defensive team, but a great defensive team. Duke certainly was last night. Duke’s 1-2-2 ¾ court press destroyed Eastern Michigan. Duke’s trapping completely discombobulated the Eagles. Tre is simply a superb on the ball defender. He got his hands on the ball many times to disrupt the Eastern Michigan offense. Then there is the size and athleticism of the trapping players – Cam R.J. and Zion primarily. Bolden, DeLaurier, Zion and Jack White protected the rim, turning away a bunch of Eagle layup attempts with blocks (Duke had 5 blocks in the first half; White had 4 in the second half by himself). You watched Duke just eviscerate the Eastern Michigan psyche. The Eagles were looking for their exit transportation with much of the first half still left to play.

In the half court, Duke kept the visitors from open shots. The switching was efficient, but even more so was the interior defense against penetration (Duke’s major weakness last year). Jack White is an outstanding defender. He had the knack of fronting the big in the post, allowing him to switch onto every penetrator without giving up the pass to the primary opponent he was guarding. Zion was also superb defending the post. What was apparent is how much this team likes playing defense and attacking as defenders. Duke has not had a defensive team with this much potential since its last championship team (where Justice Winslow led an improved defense to the title)

The Offense

Duke did not shoot the ball well from anywhere but the paint, but did not have to. The Blue Devils ran through Eastern Michigan (to quote George Scott as Patton) “like crap through a goose”. The Duke transition – powered by 10 first half steals (10 in a half!) was a highlight reel. Zion had one dunk where I swear his chest was at the rim. He scored 12 in 11 first half minutes on 6-7 from the floor, (he missed his only free throw) to go with 4 boards 2 assists and a block. He had 2 turnovers and committed 2 first half fouls. He had his shot blocked twice (first time I can remember that happening this year); when he came back on defense, he committed a silly foul. Coach K yanked him immediately. Zion’s passing is fun to watch; he had 2 superb assists, and seemed to come up with every loose ball. R.J. seems to me in a bit of a funk. He played better in the second half, but had trouble finishing at the rim early (usually his very strong suit). R.J. played 15 first half minutes (most on Duke) and scored 12, but took 11 shots to do it (5-11; 0-2 from deep; 2-5 from the line) to go with 6 assists (1 more than Tre) 2 rebounds, a steal against only a single turnover. Reddish played 12 first half minutes (his only action) going 1-4 from deep and 1-5 in total from the field. He had 2 steals (he is a tenacious defender), 3 boards, 2 assists with only 1 turnover.

Coach K was asked if Cam was unhappy “not being a first option”. Coach K explained that Duke has 3 “first options” – obviously Zion, R.J. and Cam. Against Kentucky, Cam was the first option in the game plan (he made 7 3s). In the half court, the Blue Devils had no trouble with Eastern Michigan’s zone (which was not mobile and did not resemble the efficiency of the Syracuse Zone – Eastern Michigan coach was a long time Boeheim assistant at Syracuse). Both Zion and R.J. were able to flash to the lane, catch and make plays. Duke’s lobs to Bolden and DeLaurier were effective. DeLaurier scored 8 first half points in 9 minutes (3-3 on 2 dunks and a putback; 2-3 from the line) to go with 4 boards, a block, 2 steals and 2 turnovers. Key stat: 0 fouls. Bolden played 12 minutes scoring 4 on 2 dunks. He grabbed 2 boards, and displayed improved defense – 2 blocks and a steal. 0 fouls. Jack White is glue. He is playing starter minutes (11 in the first half; same as Zion) without committing a turnover or a foul. He led the team in first half rebounds with 5 and made a steal. He was also 2-3 from deep for 6 points. Duke shot badly from behind the arc except for White’s 2-3 and Alex’s 1-1. The rest of the team was 1-7. The foul shooting was embarrassing (4-11 in the first half; Barrett 2-5; Zion 0-1; Vrankovich 0-2) 36% even with Javin’s 2-3.

I still believe that Tre is the most important player on offense. His shot wasn’t there (scoreless in the first half: 0-2; 0-1 from deep), but he controls the offense like a senior (and his defense is off the charts). He had 5 assists, but I particularly like his leadership and his calmness. He also threw one of the absolutely greatest lob passes I have ever seen to Zion for a dunk. Barrett got the rebound and passed long to Tre running the left side. Tre had to leap for the pass, and without turning, looking, or landing, threw it long over his head to Zion for an instant classic dunk. He will score when the game is tight (just like his brother). He is a point guard’s point guard.

The Rotation

Coach K is playing 9 right now with Jack White, Javin, Alex and Jordan Goldwire constituting the bench (Bolden is the fifth starter to go with the four freshmen). The co-captains are playing very well – especially Jack White. Alex’s defense drew the negative comments from Coach K that Bill quoted. He is goosing Alex to improve. Goldwire played well (kept it simple, said Coach K). The rotation may remain longer than the usual K rotation if the press continues to pay the kind of dividends that it did last night.

The Maui Invitational

Duke leaves for Maui on Friday to play 3 games in 3 days beginning Monday against San Diego State (5 pm EST game). If Duke wins, they will mostly likely face Auburn (#9 in the AP poll this week) on Tuesday at 8 pm. The finals are on Wednesday at 5 pm. Gonzaga, (#3 in the AP poll) is the highest rated team in the other bracket and favored with Duke to make the finals. If Duke loses to Auburn, there is the consolation game at 2:30. It should be a great tournament.

Duke 90 – San Diego State 64

It’s no secret about how to beat Duke: control the tempo, hit a high percentage of your shots, get back on defense to prevent SportsCenter dunks, clog the lane and force the Blue Devils to be jump shooters, and get the Four Freshmen in foul trouble. The Aztecs accomplished most of these goals as Duke did not have a dunk in the first half. However, they had nine threes and RJ Barrett practically scored anytime he wanted. In one of the segments of the ESPN+ Series “Earn Everything”, Coach K stressed that every player had to be able to hit stand still threes, because in this Five Out Motion Offense with these players ability to drive, there were going to be a lot of them.

An example of the versatile lethality and opportunism of this team and how coaching matters is what happened at the end of the first half. The teams were more or less trading baskets. The Aztecs had a player on the line to potentially make it a single digit game, and then all of a sudden SDS is down 17. The Aztecs missed the free throw, RJ hits a three, Aztecs miss a shot, Coach K calls a time out, subs O’Connell for Antonio, spreads the floor with R.J dribbling the ball at the top of the key…. pass to Cam in the corner, swish as buzzer goes off. SDS is down 17.

What RJ provided in the first half, Cam Reddish supplied with flourish in the second with acrobatic drives and scoops to the basket. While early fouls limited his minutes, Zion Williamson had, for him, a quiet game with only one thunderous dunk, he did have 5 steals. And speaking of minutes, Jack White, whose Australian father was in attendance, played more minutes than any player and almost had another double-double. Jack has developed into an invaluable sixth starter as he may be the most complete complementary player on the team.

One of the reasons I enjoy Duke basketball is watching players and teams mature—or not. What we watched last night was Reddish and Jones demonstrating that they also can score. Consider this point distribution: Williamson 13, Barrett 20,Reddish 16, Jones 14, White 12. Whom do you double team? Not to make an invidious comparison but compare this defensive challenge to last year’s team—an opponent only had to neutralize one of three players.

Mike Krzyzewski commented: “They did a little bit of what Army did to us and tried to not let us penetrate completely to the bucket. As long as our guys were ready to shoot, they knocked them down. I thought that was the differential in the first half.” And on why these young players are so good so early in the season: “They’re over themselves. It’s not about them. They’re very secure and they have been parented well, they have been coached well, and so they understand being part of something bigger than them, but still being really good. They are all really good kids as well as really talented basketball players. They are a joy to coach.”

ESPN wrote: “Duke is the best show in town, even in Maui. Tickets were being scalped for $600. Yes, the Duke Blue Devils are the early favorites to win the national title. But they’re also rock stars even 4,700 miles from Durham, North Carolina, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. When they entered the gym during Auburn’s overtime win over Xavier, folks in the stands murmured and stared. Then dozens of fans grabbed their smartphones and snapped photos of the Blue Devils, who stood together next to the court as security officials warned anyone who got too close to the young stars. They seemed unbothered by the pregame frenzy. “I try to really just ignore it, just continue to work hard and listen to Coach,” said Reddish, who finished with 16 points. It’s a constant process for a team full of former prep stars who, in just three weeks, have become the collective center of college basketball’s universe.

Miscellaneous Comments:

Vlade Divac, Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri, Los Angeles Clippers executive Lawrence Frank, Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge and Golden State Warriors executive Bob Myers all were courtside along with representatives from dozens of other NBA teams.

Should Duke keep the preseason tournament mojo going by winning Maui for a record 6th time, it would be the 20th preseason championship of Mike Krzyzewski’s career.

Alan Adds:

Auburn tonight at 8 pm

Duke faces its second top 10 team of the season when the young Devils tangle with Bruce Pearl’s #8 Auburn, the defending SEC champions. This will be, I predict, a stern test. Auburn has an star studded backcourt that produced 51 points in the Tigers’ win over Xavier (overtime). The 5’10” point guard (Harper) made a Zion-like (sports center highlight) slam on a darting drive to win the game in overtime. Both of Auburn’s heralded big guys fouled out, but Auburn dominated the overtime after seeing its double digit lead dissolve late. This team is good.

Last night, I had the oddest feeling as I watched the first half. The score and what I was watching did not match. Duke looked awful in some aspects of the game, and yet kept building a lead. Here’s what seemed to me awful: Duke could not defend without fouling; 14 first half fouls. Only White, Jones and Barrett had less than 2 fouls. DeLaurier (who continues to lead the world in fouling – and rebounding) and Vrankovich had 3 each (Antonio’s 3 came in only 4 minutes). DeLaurier eventually fouled out in only 11 minutes. The Aztecs doubled Zion in the post effectively. His first two shots were blocked and he committed 2 fouls in the first 5 minutes (but interestingly no more in the game), limiting him to 7 first half minutes. He did make the first 3 of the game, but then was 0-4 for the rest of the half. The Devils did not (could not) penetrate. But, of course, when you shoot 50% from deep (9-18 or 27 points on 18 shots) your offense is rolling anyway.

The first half was very different from the second half. RJ Barrett played every minutes of the first half, lighting it up for 16 first half points (3-6 from deep and 5-6 from the line) to lead Duke. Tre Jones played 17 first half minutes. While he was the second high scorer with 9 on 4-5 shooting (1-1) from deep; his defense was ineffective and (for the first time) he had more turnovers than assists (2-1) and was 0-3 from the foul line. Reddish played 13 minutes, scoring 8 (3-5; 2-4 from deep). The three of them were collectively 6-10 from behind the arc. Add Zion’s opening 3 (1-2 for the half) and that is 7 for 12. We are getting to the point where we may say Duke has 6 starters or that Jack White is the best of the upper class players even though he comes in off the bench. He played 16 first half minutes (Bolden, the starter, played 9 and De Laurier 7). White is so valuable as a defender, who does not foul, a tough rebounder, a good open shooter, a reliable foul shooter, and a finisher who does not turn the ball over. Duke was up only 11 with over a minute to go in the half. The Devils scored 8 including two 3s in the last 39 seconds (Barrett and Cam) to give a 17 half time lead that felt almost artificial.

It felt very artificial when San Diego State opened with 5 straight points. But just when it seemed that the second half could be a struggle, Duke broke the game wide open with its devastating transition game. “We’re explosive”, said Coach K. Indeed! After being thwarted in the first half, the young Devils put on a show. Zion played 11 second half minutes and put his stamp on every aspect of the game (do not underestimate the value of his 4 second half steals). One play is worth recounting. DeLaurier grabbed a tough defensive rebound and outletted to Tre. Tre fired a bullet to a cutting White for the layup. The ball never touched the floor! It was simply beautiful. The Devils rolled, upping the lead to 34 with over 6 minutes to go before Coach K called off the dogs and emptied the bench.

White played 28 minutes (as Bill points out, more than any other Duke player), scoring 12 (3-5; 2-4 from deep; 4-4 from the line). R.J. was quiet in the second half, limited by the three quick fouls he picked up in the first 5 minutes of the second half (which made 4). He led Duke in scoring with 20, but played only 6 second half minutes. Reddish had a dazzling second half, scoring 8 more in only 8 minutes. His drives were acrobatic. He had 16 in 21 total minutes (6-10; 2-5 from 3land; and 2-3 from the line). I thought he and Tre were Duke’s best players (so I guess did Coach K; they were the two players at the post-game press conference). White led Duke in rebounding (8); while Zion (6), DeLaurier (6) were mainstays. But all of Duke players can rebound: Barrett, 4; Bolden 4; Vrankovich, 4 (he provided needed minutes in the first half because all the Duke bigs were in foul trouble); and O’Connell, 4. Zion, for all his first half troubles, scored 13 on 11 shots in 18 minutes to go with his 6 boards, 5 steals and a block. That’s a pretty cool sub-par night.

Tonight’s game should be Duke’s first close game of the year and a real test.

Gonzaga 89 – Duke 87

Sorry for the delay. Since I was going to be in Pinehurst for Thanksgiving, Alan and I arranged to email the DBP on time. Unfortunately, technology and/or operator error failed us. However, I have had extra time to think about the game.

Because it is Coach K and Duke and the top rated freshman class with Flyin’ Zion, the human video highlight, and they smoked another “Blue Blood” Kentucky to open the season, the hype for this team was off the charts. What the Gonzaga game taught us was timely reality check:

There are a lot of very, very talented basketball players in college many of us have never heard of or much less seen– especially if they play on the West Coast. And all those players want to prove they are just as good or better than the highly publicized players at Duke, Kentucky, or North Carolina– so we get their best shot. The blunt truth is that Gonzaga is as talented as Duke–plus older and more mature. Hachimura was the best player on the floor. Until tonight, Tre Jones was underrated because he usually was satisfied to function as a facilitator, when in fact he has a multi-faceted game. Reddish and DeLaurier need to stop making silly fouls, which limit their playing time.

Duke needs a more balanced attack, shoot a higher percentage of threes and free throws. But most of all R.J. Barrett needs to dial back his alpha player mentality. He takes disproportionate share of the team’s shots (Alan covers the surprising stats). In the last minute, he took a three, drove three times and was stuffed three times. On the final attempt, he drove into a triangle of bigger defenders right at the basket. That being the case, do the math. It left two ‘Zags to defend four Duke players. Two Blue Devils had to be undefended. That’s not Duke basketball. The player taking the last shot needs to be better than a 60% FT shooter—and btw Buzz Mewhort is right about the free throw weakness as was demonstrated by R.J. missing 4 of his 8 attempts on this night. So, despite missing 6 free throws, and two dunks, the opponent shooting 53% from the field and the circle, Duke only loses by two.

The bottom line: Despite the comeback, I thought the score did not reflect the difference in the performance and sophistication of the teams.

Alan Adds:

Bill called me at half time and said, “They are better than we are.” It did not take a basketball genius to see how well Gonzaga was playing (65% shooting in the first half). The Zags played Duke’s game (5 out on offense) better than Duke did. Marques Bolden, who was the star of stars against Auburn on Tuesday, was the Zag target. Whoever he was guarding got the ball on the perimeter, where Bolden is a defensive liability. While Duke played mediocre defense, Gonzaga played almost perfect offense. The Zags are talented, long and experienced (3 upper classmen, including a grad senior point guard and 2 sophomores start). Coach K said, “We looked young. They were more emotionally ready than we were.” Gonzaga WAS a better team than Duke yesterday, though what that means for the long season, nobody can say at this point.

What we can say is that the Maui Championship loss was a very good game for Duke in many respects. My own feeling is Duke is actually better off for having been beaten at this stage than if the comeback had produced the small miracle (I fantasized Bill naming this team “The Miracles Without Marvin”). First, there was much for Duke to be pleased with and proud of. Second (and maybe really first), Duke learned a lot in this game, which I predict will lead to quicker improvement than if Duke had won.

Great Duke Performances

Tre Jones – Before this game, Jones was the respected orchestrator of a dynamite offense. Now this is Tre’s team. Coach K said that Gonzaga knocked Duke back at the start of the second half and went for the knockout. They doubled their 8 point half time lead after 4 minutes of the second half had gone by. Coach K said, “One guy making a play can turn a game around. Tre did that for us, and for the next 14 minutes we dictated what would happen in the game.” The play came when Zion blocked a shot and Tre got the rebound and went the length of the floor for an acrobatic finish. He whirled around and stole the ball on the inbound pass, and drained both foul shots when he was fouled attempting another acrobatic layup against 2 defenders. You saw Tre grab his teammates and yell, “let’s go” in a way that reminded me of Grayson Allen’s moment in the 2015 championship win over Wisconsin. Zion then hit a jumper and the lead was down to 10. The Zag lead bounced between 9 and 15 for the next nine minutes before the Devils began to cut into the Gonzaga lead when the Zags finally started to miss (better Duke defense, and Bill and I both think the Zags got a little tired) and Duke kept scoring. Tre played 39 of the 40 minutes scoring 17 points (7-14; 1-2 from deep; and 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. He turned it over twice early, but was the calm leader of the comeback offense. He played valiant defense while committing only 2 fouls.

Heart – Duke had trailed for only 35 seconds total in its first 5 games, none of which were close. While Auburn seemed to slow the Duke juggernaut, the Tigers still never got closer to Duke than 5 points. Against the Zags, Duke scored the game’s first bucket, but never again led in the game. Down 16, Duke emotion returned to the level it needed to be. But the Zags are an excellent team; they managed to maintain a significant working margin. Then with 6:26 left in the game, the Devil’s emotional fight began to cut the 11 point deficit. Zion hit a jumper; Javin, tough underneath, was fouled. He made the first, but bricked the second. In a great sequence, White grabbed the offensive board and hit R.J. with a pass. But R.J. missed an open 3; Tre got the offensive board, but could not convert on the put back. Duke scored when Zion soared for a dramatic dunk. 81-75. Zion stole the ball from Hachimura and fed R.J. for a dramatic full court run and dunk. 81-77. White fouled Novell, who made them both. The Zags were not giving up. When Zion missed a jumper, Javin stuffed in the rebound. Zion blocked Kispart and Tre came up with the rebound and found R.J. who buried a jumper. 83-81 with 3:45 left. Clark scored on a traditional 3 point play (foul by White), but Duke closed to 3 on a Tre floater in the lane. After a timeout, White rebounded a miss by Clark; Tre hit another hoop to make it 86-85 with 2:26 to play. Javin fouled Clark who made 1 of 2. Duke tied the score at 87 with 1:41 left to play when R.J. fed Zion for a jumper. But Gonzaga took the lead for good when Hachimura scored on a layup with 1:15 to go. From there, Duke had 7 shots on goal without scoring. R.J. missed a 3 (too quick, but going for the lead); Javin got the board, but Hachimura blocked Tre’s layup. Duke kept the ball. Clark blocked R.J.’s attempted layup; Hachimura blocked R.J.’s jumper. Clark missed both free throws after R.J fouled him, but R.J. missed a contested layup with 14 seconds left. White grabbed the rebound but missed the putback. Hachimura got the board, was fouled by White, but he, too, missed both free throws. Duke down 1 with 10 seconds left; one last chance. R.J. was frustrated again by Hachimura on his last ditch effort to tie. What a fabulous (even if not a winning) comeback! Duke has heart.

Zion – While he wasn’t the 80% shooter and unstoppable force he had been in the first 4 games, he played a whale of a game. In 37 minutes, he scored 22 (8-17; 0-1 from 3land; and critically, 6-6 from the line) to go with 10 boards; 4 blocks; 2 assists and 2 steals. He was heroic on both ends. His spirit and motor drove Duke. He was simply terrific.

Javin – Although he only played 15 minutes, they were impactful minutes. In addition to the dunk (his only field goal attempt), he was 4-6 from the line, garnered 6 rebounds, and played ferocious defense (but still committed 3 fouls in only 15 minutes). He and Tre were the Duke players in the post-game interview. Coach K praised him, “In the last 10 minutes he played like he can.”

Jack – He is such a glue guy. He made his only 3 point attempt (his other shot was the offensive rebound that didn’t go with 11 seconds left in the game). He had 5 rebounds and an assist before fouling out at the end of his 25 minutes of playing time (starter minutes).

What Duke can learn from

R.J.’s efforts at the game’s end; he took it on himself to tie or win the game. This highlights what Bill and I think is a problem. R.J. took 16 second half shots (25 for the game), which makes Duke’s offense unbalanced. No Zag took more than 14 shots for the entire game. Barrett led Duke in scoring with 23 points (9-25; 1-4 from deep; and a troubling 4-8 from the line). He is a great player, but he should not be taking three times as many shots as Cam, for example, who took 9 shots in foul plagued 25 minutes. Cam scored 10 on 3-9 from the field (2-4 from deep and 2-2 from the line), but had a strong second half, scoring 8 of his 9 in his 9 second half minutes, including 2-2 from deep.

R.J. has missed more shots this season than any player on Duke has taken, except Zion. In 6 games, R.J. is 51-125 (meaning he has missed 74 shots); 12-38 from deep; and 23-32 from the line. These are not the statistics of one who is touted to be a #1 NBA draft pick. By comparison, only Zion has taken more shots than R.J. has missed (Zion is 49-75); Cam is 29-69; Tre 21-45 and White is 15-31. This is a dynamic team with talented players. R.J. cannot continue to dominate Duke’s shooting if Duke is to reach its potential. He also has to give up his “Alpha Male gene” at game’s end and seek the player who has an open shot. Good shots, as opposed to forced shots, win games.

Reddish has been a foul plagued problem, which has adversely impacted him at both ends of the court. He will be so much more valuable when he learns to defend at this level without fouling. He is such a smooth player, good shooter (from behind the line, on the drive and at the foul line) and versatile defender, that Duke should be benefitting more from his skill and talent.

Duke needs to be able to defend better with Bolden at the back line. Duke needs the Auburn Bolden. There are not many teams with big guys who can draw Marques away from the basket as Gonzaga did. Duke will mix and match on defense with Bolden, DeLaurier, Zion and White playing the interior, depending on game situations.

Perhaps the biggest lesson Duke learned from this early season loss, is the requirement to bring full passion for each game from the beginning. As Coach K said, Duke was ready, but not as ready as Gonzaga was emotionally. In the post-game interview, Javin said that in the last 14 minutes Duke played together and with emotion to get back in the game. If Duke can learn that, this was a great game for Duke even though it goes in the L column.

Next game is Tuesday, November 27 at 9:30 (p.m.) against Indiana. Duke is traditionally ferocious after a loss. I almost feel sorry for the Hoosiers.

Duke 90 – Indiana 69

Well, if anyone was wondering how the Blue Devils would respond to the loss against Gonzaga, they got the answer tonight in Cameron against Indiana. Duke played the first half like they did the last eight minutes in Maui and were up 53- 29 (while missing 7 free throws) at half time. Actually, they were losing some focus or intensity or interest in the waning minutes before the half, so Coach K called a time out. The result was a 9-0 run to close out the initial twenty minutes to more or less put the game on ice. Makes you wonder he doesn’t regret doing that at the end of the Gonzaga game.

Duke started the game in a zone press, hounding Indiana (5-1) in its half-court offense with pressure man-to-man defense that led to turnovers, open court opportunities, and high wire shows that are these Blue Devils calling card. Duke only scored 4 points in the first five minutes of the second half, matched by 5 turnovers, and 4 fouls. So, Krzyzewski called a timeout, yanked off his jacket, fired it into the crowd, and had a few blistering comments for his precocious teenagers. The result were several SportsCenter Slamma Jamma highlights by Zion and R.J. that had an excited Scott Van Pelt, a Maryland grad, proclaiming like most of us that he was not going to miss any Duke games this season. Just to make it an ACC enemy’s list unanimous capitulation, Johnny Tar Heel reluctantly has confessed the same thing.

Although a blowout, Duke’s play was far from perfect. Looking at some of the stats, you might have thought it was a close game. The Devils shot 59% from the foul line, committed 24 fouls, had 14 turnovers, was out-rebounded by three. However, as much as the Williamson/Barrett show mesmerized the fans, the most significant play of the game–the one that signified lessons learned–was at the end of the half. Unlike the Gonzaga loss, when Williamson and the world watched R.J. Barrett try unsuccessfully to beat the Zags all by himself, there was a distinctly different approach tonight. Duke was holding for a final shot of the half and again Barrett had the ball. This time Coach K gestured for Barrett to pass the ball to Williamson. Zion successfully navigated the Indiana defense like a slalom racer, went one way, spun back to the other, leaned toward the bucket, and softly laid the ball into the basket. “I know what he can do, so I’m excited about what he is going to do,” Krzyzewski said. “After the trip, we’ve done some things to get him the ball more. That’s just the evolution of your team. So we were able to do that tonight, including at the end of the half, we were able to do a 4-5 ball screen. He’ll keep getting the ball.” However, it is not just the gravity defying dunks. It’s the sensational blocks that look like a volleyball spike, the defensive plays and steals, the diving for loose balls, the assist after slipping on a wet floor. The Williamson Show is must see TV.

Fortunately, Zion and R.J. are roommates and good buddies as this post-game exchange demonstrated. Williamson and Barrett often assist each other with well-placed lobs. Zion was asked who throws better lobs, himself or Barrett. He responded: “See, that’s a trick question. I throw better lobs, but people will say he throws them better, because of the way I finish them. The finish will look better. But I think my pass is better. He knows I’m joking, he knows I’m joking.” The reporter: Are you, though? “Not really,” Williamson said with a broad smile, before breaking into laughter again.

Miscellaneous Comments:

Duke extended its non-ACC home-winning streak to 142 games, is 18-2 in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, and is 7-3 against Indiana.
While The Four Freshmen outscored the Hoosiers 75-69, Cam Reddish continues to struggle with too many cheap fouls and inconsistent play. Actually, Jack White is more effective and, as a result, is getting more minutes. On the other hand, Tre Jones is not struggling. Tonight, he had 15 points, 8 assists and 0 turnovers. The point guard has 41 assists against eight turnovers on the season.

Question: If Barrett misses a three, Williamson rebounds it and slams it home, does R.J. get an assist?

Jay Bilas added his usual incisive comments, which always add to the enjoyment of the game.

Mike Krzyzewski said of Jones’s defense: “He’s in that room where Amaker, Hurley, Wojo, Duhon, and Silber (just wanted to be sure you were paying attention) are as far as on-the-ball pressure. He has such will and determination.

Alan adds:

After the Maui loss to Gonzaga, I wrote, “Next game is Tuesday, November 27 at 9:30 (p.m.) against Indiana. Duke is traditionally ferocious after a loss. I almost feel sorry for the Hoosiers.” I’m bragging, of course. Duke was, in fact, ferocious from the opening tip – as if the Devils could reverse the loss to The Zags, by beating the living hell out of the Hoosiers. And that the young Blue Devils did beat the living hell out of Indiana. On both ends of the court! Duke demonstrated just how effective this team can be on the defensive end when it plays with the intensity demonstrated in the opening stanza. Coach K termed Duke’s first half performance as “outstanding”, and the second half as “disjointed” (which he blamed on the lateness of the game – which was scheduled to start at 9:30 p.m. to secure the largest west coast audience). Duke’s bench was on full display in the second half (Indiana outscored Duke 40-37) with R.J. limited to only 8 minutes, and Zion to 11. After R.J. had an efficient first half, it was as if he ran completely out of gas in a nightmarish second half. In the latter stanza, R.J. committed 4 fouls in 8 minutes (fouling out) while turning it over 5 times. R.J. has not been as good in the second half this season. The first half was the game; so, this analysis will concentrate on the “outstanding” first half.

The team statistics tell the story. Duke was 18 for 28 inside the arc (Zion was 9-10; 2 of his 3 first half misses came from 3land) and forced 13 Hoosier turnovers. The Indiana’s heralded stars, Langford (3-10; 0-2 from deep; 2-4 from the line) and Morgan (1-5 for 2 points) were held in check, while the Duke three quarter court press simply wrecked the Hoosier’s offensive plan. Duke was not only a wrecking crew with the press, the Devils were also superb in the half-court defense (really talking to each other), holding Indiana to 33% shooting. Tre’s on the ball defense is brilliant. Coach K pointed out that he almost got about 5 additional steals where he applied disrupting pressure but just missed getting the ball. Duke protected the rim (blocks by Zion, R.J. and Bolden) and held their own on the boards (R.J. 8; Tre 5 and Zion 4) On offense Duke had 9 assists (Tre had 5; Bolden 2) with only 4 turnovers (2 of them from reserves DeLaurier – 2 fouls in 5 minutes – and O’Connell in his 2 minute first half cameo). Of course, the biggest team statistics are: 1) holding Indiana to 29 first half points; and 2) scoring 53. And, Indiana is NOT a weak team.

The rotation in the first half was tight: Barrett (19); Zion (18); Tre (16); White (15) and Bolden (12) were the only double digit minutes guys. White played 6 minutes more than the struggling Reddish, whose nightmarish first half was followed by an efficient (hopefully confidence restoring) second half (he led the Devils in second half scoring with 10). DeLaurier played 5, Goldwire 4 and Alex 2. Zion led the scoring with an efficient and defense (or soul) destroying 19 points (9-12; 0-2 from 3; 1-2 from the line) to go with 4 rebounds, a block, a steal and an assist. It was a world class performance. R.J. was an efficient scoring teammate with 15 first half points (6-13; 1-3 from deep; 2-3 from the line) to go with 8 boards (led Duke) and a block while committing only 1 foul and 0 turnovers. Their back to back dunks were a highlight. Jack White and Trey Jones were also efficient. Each scored 8. White was 2-3 from deep and 2-2 from the line, while Tre was 4-6 from the field. Cam was the only other Duke first half scorer – 3 points on 1-6; 1-3 from deep; and 0-3 from the line – in his frustrating first half. Bolden played well without scoring – 2 assists and a block without a foul or turnover.

For the game only Tre (32 minutes) and White (30) played more than 29 minutes. Zion played 29; R.J, 27; Bolden 23 (0 points, but 2 assists, 3 blocks, 3 boards and 2 steals). Reddish played 22 minutes (his 13 second half minutes with 10 points were redemptive). He drained a pair of 3s and made a superb driving layup to go with 2-4 from the line in the last stanza. DeLaurier played 12 efficient minutes – efficient except for his continuous fouling – 4 in 12 minutes. Alex (5-6 from the line in the second half) and Goldwire each played 11 minutes.

The level of competition drops for the next four games, all in Cameron. Duke will be working on its man to man defense and communication.

Stetson on Saturday (December 1) at 7 pm. Followed by Hartford (12-5), Yale (12-8); and Princeton (12-18) before playing Texas Tech in the World’s Most Famous Arena on 12-20.

Duke 113- Stetson 49

Since Stetson (1-7) lost all their starters from last year’s team, I guess you could say this year Stetson, which shot 32 percent and committed 27 turnovers, is: “All hat and no cattle.”

Other than that bad pun, there were only a few takeaways from this mismatch:

Coach K:: “Two of the guys that really didn’t score had the biggest impact on the game, and that’s Tre [Jones] and Jack [White]. They’re just such good teammates. Tre goes another game where he doesn’t turn the ball over, has 7 assists, and was all over the place defensively. Jack had 9 rebounds in 15 minutes. I think he reluctantly shot the ball, which is why he missed… This is a rough stretch because of all the academic work that has to be done now”…On using defense to start a play: “They know that—it’s the best way to start a play. That, and defensive rebounding by the perimeter, if you can get both of those with multiple ball handlers. Obviously, the best way to have transition is to turn someone over with a live ball because you can have the numerical advantage. If you get it off of a defensive board, you may not have the numerical advantage, but you have mismatches. A guy who was supposed to guard you is guarding someone else. It forces the team to talk more. The more we get of that, the better we’re going to be.”

Miscellaneous Comments:

Duke played a lot harder and more intensity than they did in a similar situation against Army.

Even announcer Corey Alexander’s stream-of-conscious ramblings stumbled across the fact that this year’s team is much better defensively than last year’s edition. What he did not mention is that this year’s freshmen parents are just content to watch their kids play.

For whatever reason(s), Cam Reddish was more aggressive on both ends of the floor and Coach K gave him more minutes than any other starter. He responded with 23 points in 23 minutes.

Practically everything R.J. Barrett threw up went in as he was 12-14 from the floor for 26 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals in just 17 minutes.

I am really impressed with Alex O’Connell’s shooting and athleticism (but not his hair styles). He had three long threes and is shooting 50% from behind the arc. Unfortunately, Alex and Justin Robinson are statistically Duke’s best three point shooters.

One criticism: Again, lousy free throw shooting.

With his parents in the stands, how cool was it to see reserve Justin Robinson go 3 for 3 from three point land, then make a steal and go coast to coast for a dunk as the entire Duke bench of starters celebrated like they had just won the NCAA Tournament. Even the stoic Admiral gave his son a standing O!

For the record: Duke’s home non-conference winning streak now stands at an amazing 143 straight games – the nation’s longest active streak. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s record at Duke is now 1,034-280 in his 39th season. His overall record is 1,107- 339 in this, his 44th season.

Alan Adds:

It is hard to discern the important takeaways for Duke from this preposterous mismatch in talent that masqueraded as a basketball contest. Every Duke player looked All-World. However, I found several impressive aspects of Duke’s performance that auger well for the season. As usual, I start with defense because I believe Duke’s potential at tournament time will depend on how well this group perfects the justly famous and (formerly) feared Duke man to man defense. Duke is an excellent pressing team as today’s game graphically demonstrated. But Gonzaga proved that a terrific ball handling team with experience can (did) outplay Duke’s press. Therefore, in my view, Duke will have to be an excellent half court man to man defensive team to make a deep run at tournament time. How is this group doing with that development? The short answer is (except for the first half against Gonzaga) pretty damn well! The first seven have been superb (Alex can still fall asleep more than the others, but is improving) in communicating, switching to guard the penetration, protecting the rim, guarding the three point line, and forcing turnovers. Against Stetson, Duke had 19 steals (4 by Barrett and 3 by Tre), forced 26 turnovers and had 5 blocks (Bolden, DeLaurier 2, White, and Justin R). Ok, it was Stetson; but still, Duke held Stetson to 10 points in 14 minutes during the last part of the first half. Fabulous defense played with intensity. That is impressive even if the opponents were functionally The Little Sisters of the Poor. The Duke press was so explosive in the first 4:08 of the second half (outscoring Stetson 20-4) that Coach K called off the dogs, “we weren’t going to get anything out of continuing to do that.” and played his bench and half-court defense for the rest of the final stanza.

To give you an idea of what Coach K calls “explosive”, consider that R.J and Tre played only those opening four minutes of the second half, while Zion and Cam logged just a few minutes more — seven minutes each. In those brief minutes, the three high scoring freshman scored 23 points on 13 shots. R.J. must have set some kind of record by going 5-5 from the field, including 2-2 from deep for 12 points, 2 assists, a rebound and a steal in just 4 minutes. Zion was 3-4 (his miss was his only attempt at a 3) with 4 boards and 3 steals in those 7 minutes. Reddish actually missed two shots from the field, scoring his 5 second half points to go with an efficient and gaudy 18 first half points in just 16 first half minutes. What a coming out party it was for him! (6-11 – most shots for Duke; R.J. was second with 9 – 4-8 from 3land and 2-2 from the line). Justin Robinson acquitted himself brilliantly by scoring 13 points in his 12 minutes (5-5; 3-3 from deep; 0-1 from the line) to go with a board, a block and a steal. It even got The Admiral to his feet cheering his son. Alex led Duke in minutes played in the second half (14), scoring 9 on 3-5 from deep (3-6 from the field) to go with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Alex is a valuable rebounder for a thin guard as well as a good stand still shooter.

Coach K pointed to the academic pressure at exam time. This week projects and papers are due. Next week is exams. Duke plays Hartford on Wednesday at 7 and Yale (which beat Miami last night) on Saturday, December 8 at 7 p.m.

Duke 84- Hartford 54

If Duke plays the way they did against many teams like they did in the first twenty-five minutes against Hartford, they will have a disappointing season. To their credit, the well-coached Hawks followed the Gonzaga model: being patient on offense, defensively clogging the lane, and challenging Duke to beat them from the outside. The Blue Devils contributed to the strategy work by becoming the Duke All-Thumbs Bricklayers. Cam Reddish, the best three point shooter, bageled five for the half, and Flyin’ Zion missed two point blank dunks (“I don’t know what was going on with me. I’ve never missed dunks like that before, not even when I’m just messing around. It’s very frustrating but if I can’t play within myself, I have to still play hard for my teammates.”), while allowing Hartford to be down only 33-24 at the break, making Duke fans as well as Las Vegas bookmakers very nervous.

After more of the same to start the second half, Coach K called time, angrily spiked his folding chair several times on his very own personalized court to be sure (I assume) it stayed in place as he emphatically lectured his young students in a vernacular not normally heard in a Duke classroom. Whatever the message, it elicited better effort which netted about fifty points in the remaining sixteen minutes. DeLaurier (10 points, 4 rebounds, 5 blocks and 3 steals in 19 minutes) played most of Bolden’s minutes in the second half and with his athleticism and hustle had his best performance of the season. Barrett, just a relentless scoring machine, had a 27-15 double-double, as did Williamson 18-12. On a breakaway, Zion was teeing the crowd up for another monster jam when he unexpectedly softly kissed the ball high off the backboard for his trailing roommate to make a two handed slam. The selfless, unexpected finesse play brought the house down and guaranteed a spot on SportsCenter.

The bottom line is that on a night they came out flat against a team of seniors who won 19 games last season–one in the CIT–and started five seniors, Duke never did find the range from downtown, shooting 5-for-26 on 3s, with Reddish a woeful 1-for-9, the Blue Devils still won by thirty as they were 30-43 on two-pointers, outscored Hartford 36-3 in fast-break points, out-rebounded Hartford 46-32, while forcing 21 turnovers, with 15 steals and 10 blocks.

Coach K had some interesting post game comments:

“This week is that time of the year that’s been very difficult for our teams over the last 10 years. Exams are next week; often this week is harder than exams because of all the projects and papers. Sometimes the end of a course is this week, not next week. That changed about 10 years ago. A lot of times we don’t schedule a game during the week this week. We usually schedule it on Saturday. Just because we had to get games in, this year we did. We know what can happen.

On Javin [DeLaurier]: “He’s playing great. He’s playing more like he played in Canada. He’s getting into a rhythm right now. When you play against these teams that have five position-less people or they don’t play a low post, it requires that fifth guy to guard the ball. Javin can do that. The lineup that we had in when we extended was when we had Jack [White] in there with the four freshmen, but then Javin came in and kept it up. I thought Alex [O’Connell] actually did a good job in the second half.”

On discovering Jack White: “We were looking at tape of guys. I saw him on tape and I said, ‘I like his bounce, his size.’ I checked with our friends in Australia, the people I’ve gotten to know internationally. They didn’t say he’s a great player, but they said he’s a great kid and a good student. He’s followed the more traditional thing of not being as good as a freshman, being okay as a sophomore, and then kind of changing his body. Not just kind of, he’s lost 12 pounds, he’s a really good athlete right now, and is really strong. That’s happened in our program, when we have guys for a longer period. He’s been a huge asset for us.

Making history (This drives Johnny Tar Heel crazy): Mike Krzyzewski’s record at Duke is now 1,035-280 in his 39th season. His overall record is 1,108- 339 in this, his 44th season. Duke’s home non-conference winning streak now stands at 144 games – the nation’s longest active streak.

Alan Adds:

Coach K seemed rather proud of the way his team turned the game around, and it led him to talking about the defensive potential of this team. He was also a bit defensive about the performance of his recent past teams on that end of the court. “We’ve played some pretty great defense in my 39 years here.” Indeed the Devils have … but not really since the 2015 end of the season. He recognizes the potential of this team to be elite defensively, and also that these youngsters are not quite there yet.

Human nature humbled Duke in the first half. Hartford is a losing team from a weak conference. But Hartford also started 5 seniors with wily veteran guards. Duke couldn’t put the ball in the ocean from the perimeter. Consider that without R.J.’s 3-4 from behind the arc, Duke was 2-22 for the game from deep. Duke had no energy on defense, and the lowly Stags were only down 5 late in the first half. Duke’s press was frustrated. Coach K said, “They played harder than we did for the first 22 minutes; then we turned it around.” He pointed out that no matter what defense an opponent throws up in the half court, a team can have a night where the shots just do not fall. However, if the Duke press causes turnovers, Duke WILL SCORE IN TRANSITION! He credited Tre for turning the team on with his pressing defense; then everyone got into the fun. In the last 16 minutes, the Duke pressure destroyed Hartford. Duke’s 8 point lead with a shade over 12 minutes to go simply ballooned to over 30 courtesy of the press and defense at the rim. Javin had 5 second half blocks! [5!]. Bolden only saw 3 second half minutes, though he logged 15 for the game. Coach K: When the opponents have a low post player, Marques is excellent, but when teams play 5 out (as Hartford and Gonzaga both did), Javin can guard on the perimeter better than Bolden. Javin’s 11 second half minutes were simply scintillating: (3-3 from the floor; 5 blocks; 2 assists, 3 rebounds and a steal). In the second half alone. Coach K also credited Jack White (“we had the four freshmen and White on the floor when we broke the game open.”). Duke’s rotation is 9 deep for now (Goldwire spells Tre for a few minutes in each half; I doubt Goldwire will play that much once conference play begins.

It is worth mentioning R.J.’s game and especially his second half. He scored 27 points on 14 shots (same number that Zion took) in 36 minutes (10-14; 3-4 from deep; a disappointing 4-7 from the line) to go with 15 rebounds, 4 assists and a block. In the second half, he scord 17 points in 18 minutes (6-6 from the field; 1-1 from deep).

By contrast, what is the problem with Cam Reddish, who had a nightmare game. In 31 minutes, he scored only 5 (2-12; 1-9 from deep; he did not get to the line) to go with only 2 rebounds and 3 turnovers. He did have 4 assists and 4 steals. Duke is going to need him, and he is in a real slump.

Saturday, December 8 vs Yale at 5:30 (EST) on ESPN.

Duke 91 – Yale 58

Shortly after Dr. Richard Brodhead, Dean of Yale College, accepted the presidency of Duke University, one of his students congratulated him and commented: “Duke is Yale on steroids.” And this was in 2004 before anyone had seen Zion Williamson– or the 2018-19 version of Duke basketball that, despite missing 12 three point shots and 9 free throws wore down, blitzed a good Yale team (they had just beaten California and Miami) by 33 points.

Unlike last year, Duke compensated for poor shooting by playing an energetic, effective pressing defense that forced the Bulldogs into 23 turnovers and 9 steals which they converted into the margin of victory. However, like the Hartford game, it was a close for most of the first half and the Blue Devils were only up by nine at the break. Interestingly, the momentum for that spread was supplied by subs Alex O’Connell and Jack White. Beside the missed threes and free throws, the only negative is that Tre Jones night was cut short after suffering a lower body injury midway through the second half on a collision at mid-court. The Apple Valley, Minn., native would return briefly but immediately return to the bench. To emphasize how important Tre’s on ball pressure is, Coach K said; “To fight Tre the whole night is the key (to our defense). That makes it easier for all of our other guys to play defense. If we become the team that we’re going to be defensively, Tre will be as valuable a defender as there is in the country because of what he does. Similar to when Wojo [Steve Wojciechowski] got Defensive Player of the Year, or Tommy Amaker … everyone should recognize the value of pressure and how we’re trying to put our team together”.

On Javin DeLaurier’s play: “He’s playing with a lot of confidence and talking. He’s such a good athlete when he’s playing loose that we can switch that one through five. He ran the court well with good hands. I’d rather have him not become a playmaker. He needs to just grab it. But he’s doing a really good job. He’s in a really good place and he’ll just get better.”

On Alex O’Connell’s defensive play: “He’s making a lot of progress on defense. He’s a heck of an athlete, and he’s got really good quickness. Out of everything, we’re spending a lot of time on our defense. For the denial, or what we call contesting, he’s got great feet. He’s 6’5/6’6 and long. He got his hands on a couple today. That was a big game for him. One, it helped us, and two, he really did something, instead of only hitting a shot. It was good. We just have to keep seeing progress from these guys.”

A gracious head Coach James Jones: “I told Coach (Krzyzewski) before the game that what he has created down here is nothing short of tremendous. (Dean who?) It is kind of an American icon, this arena and how the game is played and the fans and how they’re into every single possession and every second. It’s a wonderful experience for our guys to be a part of and to see how it’s developed over the years.”

Miscellaneous Comments:

Cam Reddish is in a shooting slump and it is apparent that Coach is running plays for him to get his confidence back. So far, it hasn’t worked. He is even missing free throws. However, he had 4 steals.

Minute for minute, Jack White, who had a career-high 12 rebounds (surpassing the 11 he had versus Kentucky) and 9 points to finish a point shy of his first career double-double, is the most productive player on the team.

Marquis Bolden has regressed against these two smaller, quicker teams. Rather than going up strong to the rim, he appears hesitant or indecisive..but whatever, his playing time is diminishing. On top of that DeLaurier is playing his best basketball on both ends of the floor. If he could just eliminate those silly fouls…
There are a lot of reasons to like Zion Williamson and his effort and hustle are two of them. While chasing a fast break and unsuccessfully attempting to knock the ball from the point guard, he paused and emphatically spiked the attempted layup by the unsuspecting player.
During the 50-26 second half blowout, the Cameron Crazies, who get Princeton in ten days, were chanting: “We want Harvard.”
My long time buddy “All Prep Ep” suggests that teams, along with player’s height & weight, also list their SAT & GPA scores.

Alan Adds:

I’m writing Alan Adds from a beach in Key West, after watching it while at a NORML (National Organization for the Reform of the Marijuana Law) Legal Seminar. Thus, this analysis comes with a heightened consciousness and may sound somewhat “mellow”.

The Coach K press conferences have been revealing. It has been a while since I have heard and seen Coach K so positive about the progress of his team. He has extolled the improvement since the season began but has told the press that the team is a long way from what it will be at tournament time. He has had players as heralded as this group before without sounding so positive. It is worth exploring why this sunny Coach K.

The answer is DEFENSE! Duke is back to the high pressure Coach K man to man defense. The answer is also the depth (perhaps unexpected based on last year’s performance) that has emerged. DeLaurier, White, Bolden and O’Connell have contributed on both ends of the court. There are lineups where Duke can switch 1 through 5, which makes it difficult for the opponents to get to the rim. Duke is blocking shots at a record breaking rate. The pressure defense is forcing turnovers (and steals) that turn into transition baskets. Of course, this defense starts with Tre (Goldwire has also had good minutes pressuring the ball when Tre gets a breather). His ball pressure is the calling card that makes this defense go.

The pressure defense is one reason (and a main one) why Duke has destroyed well coached (but less talented) veteran teams in the second half. The pressure induces fatigue (which, as Vince Lombardi once famously said, “makes cowards of us all”) which made Hartford and Yale simply wilt in the closing stanza.

Reddish, who has been in a shooting slump, broke out of it in the second half with 8 points in 16 minutes, while playing an excellent floor game (2 assists and 2 steals). Cam was 3-4 shooting from inside the arc (2-2 from the line, but 0-3 from deep). Coach K was pleased with his second half and expressed the hope Cam will build on it.

R.J.’s second half (and defense for the entire game) is worth mentioning. He held the Yale star, Oni, to a single field goal, while scoring 18 points in 17 minutes (5-9;2-6 from 3land; and a gaudy 6-7 from the line) to go with 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

Two more games before Xmas and the beginning of ACC games.

Next game: Princeton. Tuesday, December 18. 6 pm. ESPN 2

Duke 101- Princeton 50

The Blue Devils started the game on both offense and defense as if they had pulled all-nighters for the last week studying for exams. They missed their first eight shots and were down 13-8 with twelve minutes to go but closed the half out 39-26. Oh wait, they had just come off exam week but actually slow starts have been the rule not the exception for this team. As Alan will remind you in more detail, the first game of the season—the blowout of that cupcake, Kentucky, where they scored 59 points in both halves—was the only one in which this team played consistently for a full forty minutes. I call it the Golden State Warriors Syndrome—mess around, then flip the switch and blow out the opponent. The only trouble is this: Duke is good, but they don’t have Steph and Durant and threes and free throws are their weak link, so it didn’t work against a top team like Gonzaga.

We are used to seeing Duke teams make a game changing run–especially in Cameron–that gives them separation that turns into a winning margin. However, this team is something else because of their defense, speed, unselfishness, and athleticism, so when they get the pedal on the metal, they turn the game into a track meet and SportsCenter highlight reel.

An inconvenient truth is that Cam Reddish’s underperformance may be a major reason for the sluggish starts and the antidote has been Jack White, who is clearly out performing Cam by any metric. No disrespect but the Stetson’s, Hartford’s, Yale’s and Princeton’s are not ACC caliber teams, so what to do when league play starts? Will it take another loss for Coach K to invoke tough love and bring Reddish off the bench as sixth man? And if so how fragile is Cam’s ego or is it the move that light’s a fire that ignites this multi-talented high school phenon? Just the fact that B.J. is as good as advertised and Flyin’ Zion is better than advertised and is the poster player for college basketball should be motivation enough—but you never know what goes on in a teenagers head. And speaking of a teenager’s head, Alex O’Connell improved defense to go with his obvious offensive skills is playing his way into Coach K’s heart and rotational minutes. This is becoming a deep team.

Miscellaneous Comments:

Williamson was almost down for the count twice. The first time he caught an elbow on the mouth that took him out of the game for some medical attention on the bench. Then later, he went for a block and appeared to hit his head on the glass back board. Both he and the backboard survived.

The second half was a clinic. The Devils had 10 blocks, 7 steals, and many deflections that contributed to scoring 62 points. “They got so many deflections,” Princeton coach Mitch Henderson lamented. “Stuff we haven’t seen before.” It all starts with Duke’s defense: point guard Tre Jones on ball pressure backed up with plenty of length and athleticism on the wings.

Coach Mitch Henderson: ”Boy, that’s a really good team. They’re even better in person.”

Alan Adds:

Now the season starts. After the Maui trip, Duke has played 5 games in Cameron’s friendly confines against suspect competition: Indiana (Big 10 Challenge), Stetson, Hartford, Yale and Princeton. Thursday (tomorrow), Duke will play Texas Tech in the World’s most famous arena (Madison Square Garden, just a mile from my home). The Red Raiders come into the game unbeaten (10-0), ranked 11^th in the Coach’s poll and 9^th in ESPN. So far, the Red Raiders lead the nation in defense. One team scored 67 points and another 62. Two teams managed 52; in the remaining 6 wins, Texas Tech held its opponents in the 40s. They will try and slow The Devils on offense and avoid the live ball turnovers that lead to Duke’s devastating transition game. Then Duke is off for the holidays until the ACC season begins on January 5 in Cameron against Clemson. Then two road games against Wake and highly ranked Florida State. Remember last year’s first two ACC road games for highly rated freshmen (bad losses to lowly ranked BC and NC State). Now the season starts.

Let’s dispense with the first 14 minutes of the Princeton game, and call it simply wiping the rust off. First (and foremost), Duke could not put the ball in the ocean, and settled for deep (missed) shots (1-11 for first 12 3 point attempts). Second, Duke forgot about Princeton and its “back door” offense. Princeton smoked Duke early; both Zion and Javin were beaten easily back door and Princeton was launching (and making) open 3s. The defense revived before the offense. Princeton had 16 points after 9:10 had elapsed, but could manage only 10 in the final 11 minutes. In fact, it turned out to be Duke’s best defensive effort of the year – 14 blocks; 12 steals and forced 19 Tiger turnovers. Princeton was held to 26 points in the first half and 24 in the closing stanza – 35 points in 31 minutes. Tre Jones is an amazing defender. He took on the Tiger guard who plays with R.J. on the Canadian National team, and who has been scoring in bunches since his recent return from injury. Tre simply took his heart (and energy) out with intense on-the-ball-in-your-face defensive pressure. R.J. held Princeton’s leading scorer in check with his length and quickness. R.J. is not just about scoring. Jack White is also proving to be a stopper and valuable individual and team defender. Zion, Javin and Bolden protected the rim. Cam’s defense is – for the moment – way ahead of his offense. He had a block and 2 steals – one of which was spectacular, partly because it was followed by a floor length pass to the streaking R.J. for a highlight real hoop.

Duke’s offense did not get rolling until almost 14 minutes of the game had passed. With only 5:45 to go in the first half, Duke had been limited to 16 points. In the next 25:45 (1 minute longer than an NBA half) Duke scored 85 points (23 in the last 5:45 of the first half and a dazzling 62 in the last stanza). The second half was virtually perfect. Consider R.J. After launching 14 first half shots (5-14; 0-3 from deep) – second most were Zion and Cam with 5 shots each), Barrett put in a scintillating 8 second half minutes, scoring 14 efficient points on 7 shots (6-7; 2-2 from the line), finishing drives spectacularly. He grabbed 2 board and handed out 2 assists. For the game he had 27 (including 5-6 from the line) to go with 6 boards. Jack White had 10 points in 20 minutes. Zion was superb with 17 points (9 in the closing stanza) in 26 minutes (6-8 from the field; 1-2 from deep; 4-5 from the line) to go with a game high 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks (and several altered shots), and 3 steals. Tre played only 7 minutes in the closing half. Coach K rested his regulars, getting ready for tomorrow night’s game in Madison Square Garden against Texas Tech.

Duke’s offense has been off the charts since the season started, producing half of 50 points or more 9 times in 11 games. In addition, Duke has halves scoring 49, 48 and 48. Consider: Kentucky – 59/59; Army – 50 in the first half; Eastern Michigan – 48 (first half); San Diego State – 49 (first half); Gonzaga – 48 (second half); Indiana – 53 (first half); Stetson – 59/54; Hartford – 52 (second half); Yale – 50 (2^nd half); Princeton – 62 (second half). Auburn alone held Duke somewhat in check (41 in the first half), but still never got closer than double figures in the game.

The Season starts now.

Next Game: #9 Texas Tech (10-0). Thursday 7:00 ESPN2. Madison Square Garden

Duke 69 -Texas Tech 58

There are some things in life and sports that are inexplicable. Duke’s win tonight is one of them. For most of the game, I thought the basketball gods had decided enough was enough with all the glowing publicity and accolades for these young players and decided to teach them a lesson in humility: “Tonight’s not Duke’s night. The ball will not fall.” Candidly, I was mentally preparing to write that the Blue Devils brought their show to Broadway and bombed, which they did for all but the about fifteen of the forty minutes. I should have known better. I have seen this movie too many times. But still, it defied logic and the law of averages. One of the reasons Alan and I do this is in admiration of Coach K’s teams never, ever giving up and playing hard until the end. In 1992 it was Hill to Laettner. At this time last year, it was Marvin and the Miracles. Even Johnny Tar Heel called to tell me he was impressed with tonight’s win.

Fortunately, with Barrett and Reddish shooting blanks and Williamson saddled with foul trouble, it was the relentless defense of the least publicized but most important freshman, Tre Jones, that kept Duke in the game. He was credited with 6 steals but that does not do justice to his disruption of the Tech offense. His defense resulted in multiple offensive opportunities for the Blue Devils, which was the only way they could score in the first period as they looked like they never practiced a half-court offense. Barrett, who is not shy about taking more than his share of shots, took 14 of Dukes 32 first half shots–they weren’t dropping–and Reddish utterly disappeared in the opening twenty as he had 0 points and 6 turnovers. Best supporting roles go to the two junior captains—White (2 of Duke’s 3 three pointers) and DeLaurier—who played relentlessly and productively the entire game.

Never mind that Duke trailed for twenty-five minutes or that it only hit 3 of 20 three point attempts or that its most talented player fouled out in the critical final five minutes. The Blue Devils overcame all these obstacles (mostly of their own making) on the big stage of Madison Square Garden and still beat previously undefeated Texas Tech, 69-58 in an often aesthetically ugly game. The Red Raiders turned the ball over 24 times and the Blue Devils 19. Combined, the two teams shot a poor 38.5% from the floor, part of which can be contributed to tenacious defenses, part to stage fright.

The good news is that counting missing the front end of one and one’s, the Devils left about 7 potential points off the scoreboard in the first half and had 8 points taken away by charging calls. However, they went 16-18 from the line in the second half and, just as importantly, Barrett became an assist man at a crucial time. Up three with three minutes to go, Barrett was in the same set at the top of the key as he was with the game on the line against Gonzaga. This time he started his drive but passed to a suddenly rejuvenated (8 points & 3 steals) Cam Reddish, who nailed the three to more or less seal the deal. If Cam can consistently play like this and everyone stays healthy, this team can be much more solid and formidable.

As improbably exciting as this finish was, it should also be a teaching moment for these talented freshmen. Poor outside shooting and missed free throws are a receipt for defeat. The balls and the calls are not always going to fall or go your way. Nevertheless, you have to find a way to win. Jones, White and DeLaurier know how, Williamson, Barrett, and Reddish are learning.

Miscellaneous Comments:

I sensed it was going to be a long night when I heard Dickie “Bless his heart” Vitale’s voice. He has become a parody of his former self.

Texas Tech is a well-coached team and a tough out. Sophomore Jarrett Culver (25 points) was the most polished, mature offensive player on the floor.

Who is surprised? The Blue Devils are 124th and 202nd respectively in the nation in 3-pointers made and 3-point shooting percentage,

Zion Williamson had 17 points, 13 rebounds in only 25 minutes. When he fouled out on a questionable call with 4:50 to go, Duke was +10 with him on the floor and -5 when he wasn’t. However, the Blue Devils continued a 16-3 run to close the game.

This was Duke’s 35th win at Madison Square Garden.
Alan Adds:

There are many reasons why this December win was significant. While Zion and R.J. receive the lion’s share of publicity on this team, this is Tre Jones’s team. At the post-game press conference, Tre and Jack White were the 2 players also interviewed. They were both poised, articulate and insightful – the theme is the theme for this team – defense. White, who had an amazing game, said, “defense is a big part of our identity. We want to be one of the best defensive teams in the country, if not THE BEST.” Coach K put the defense and Tre’s role on this team in perfect perspective. “Tre was the key to this game. He turned it around for us. Six steals (seemed like more, didn’t it?). He willed the ball in the basket. All of our guys fed off his effort. He was magnificent. He’s as good a defensive point guard as I’ve ever had (mentioning Duhon, Wojo and Hurley), and tonight he may have been better.” Tre was insightful as well as magnificent. “We haven’t won a game like this – close, we were behind for the most part against an older and more experienced team.”

Think that was high praise? Coach K added emotionally, “Real time leadership while the game is going on is the ability to make reads that are usually adjustments at the timeouts. Tre does that for our team and me the way LeBron and Chris Paul do on Team USA. This was one of the best performances.”

This was a defensive game for sure. Coach K said, “we haven’t played against a defensive team like [Texas Tech]. They play beautiful defense. And indeed they did. Coach K’s praise was the highest; he compared Texas Tech to the Army team that he captained under Bob Knight. We didn’t block a lot of shots, but we took a lot of charges. This was old school.”

Duke scored 41 points in the second half. Duke scored 19 points in the last 7:13 (at winning time). The Devils are in superb physical condition, and I think wore the Red Raiders down. Texas Tech missed 8 shots in a row at the crucial juncture as Duke pulled away to a satisfying win. The Devils (shockingly) won the game at the foul line (16-18 in the second half). Zion was 6-6 from the line in the second half (his only second half points – 0-4 from the field. Cam was 5-6 while Jack and R.J. were each 2-2 from the line in the closing stanza. Interestingly, Duke used only 6 players in the second half. Marques did not appear at all; Alex had 6 minutes, but was yanked when his man beat him easily for a layup. He didn’t play again. R.J. played the entire half; Tre until the last minute when the game was safe, and Jack 18 minutes. Zion fouled out in only 12 minutes; Cam and Javin played 13 minutes each. Duke had more turnovers than assists, both in the half and the game. More beautiful Red Raider defense.

Zion was an amazing force, leading Duke with 17 points (4-9; 0-2; 9-10 from the line) to go with 13 rebounds (3 on one play showed, as Coach K said, “his competitiveness at the highest level”). K was asked what was unique about Zion: “did you see him?” Laughter in the audience. He was something – rebounds, defense, rim protector as well as scorer (but note the 6 turnovers). R.J. had a great second half because he adjusted to how he was being defended. He made “big time plays” because he made the adjustment. Cam had a terrible first half and then turned his game around. He made crucial steals, a huge 3, and 5-6 from the line down the stretch. Coach K said that rebound at the crucial time was “better than if he scored 20 because he did what he did after what he didn’t do .”

Jack White is Duke’s most unsung valuable player. In 32 minutes, he was 2-3 from behind the arc and 2-2 from the line for 8 points on his 2 shots. He grabbed five rebounds, had 2 blocks, 2 steals and 2 assists without a turnover and committing only 1 foul. He played the third most minutes of any Duke player.

For all of those reasons, this was, in my opinion, a very significant win and wonderful sign of how this team is growing up.

The ACC season, which begins for Duke on Jan 5 against Clemson, should be scintillating. UNC is coming together as fast and efficiently as Duke. The ‘Heels play Kentucky tomorrow. I think UVA may be the best team in the country right now (Silber rankings). The ACC has 5 teams ranked in the top 12. NC State humbled Auburn and should move up significantly in the rankings. Auburn learned about playing ACC teams on the road. It’s hard not to be psyched about this season and this team.

Duke 87 – Clemson 68

For most of the first half, I thought I was watching the basketball version of the movie “Groundhog Day”—a repeat of last year when Marvin and The Miracles went undefeated and were ranked #1 until the start of the New Year when they were upset by Boston College, then Florida State. Fortunately, this is a different team with a deeper bench, a better point guard, and that plays much better defense, because once again Tre Jones, Jack White and Marquis Bolden provided the spark that gave the Blue Devils an improbable 40-33 halftime lead. Then, Zion Williamson put on another made for SportsCenter highlight show and exhibited why ESPN keeps moving the Duke games to prime time. (Alert: The January 19^th Virginia game has been moved to 6pm.)

While Clemson is a very mature college team—the age of the players looks more like an NBA D-League roster—they still made two consecutive bonehead plays at the end of the first half that negated their determined play and very good three point shooting. First, Aamir Simms (1 for 11), apparently suffering from Zion envy, missed a ferocious dunk so badly the ball ricocheted all the way to half court where Tre Jones grabbed it, went in for a fast break layup, but when challenged, deftly dropped the ball behind his back to a trailing Javin DeLaurier for the jam. Then, on the ensuing in-bounds play, Clemson slow walked the ball into a half court ten second violation. Suddenly, a tight game was not so tight.

That’s all an opening the Devils, who seem to be a second half team, needed as they started the final twenty minutes like a Final Four team by running off 12 points and suddenly it was a 19 point lead. The game was essentially over, but Showtime was just beginning. Zion, apparently embarrassed by getting two cheap fouls, air balling a three, and only playing eight first half minutes put on a show of athleticism in scoring and shot blocking that had all 9,314 Cameron attendees jumping up and down like Crazies yelling “Did you see that? Do you believe that!” The piece de resistance was teaming with Tre Jones to steal a ball at half court, take off half way down the lane, do a 360 degree suspended spin, and emphatically tomahawk a jam. If you missed it, a picture of the finish is above or go to YouTube. It was so good that even Johnny Tar Heel immediately called me and asked if I saw Zion set that steal up and noticed J.R. Barrett all the way at the other end of the court jumping up and down in excitement of his roommate’s play. Maybe it’s my imagination but ever since Zion had his lower tooth knocked out by an errant elbow, I sense he has played with more determination and fire. The sheer boyish joy for the game is still his baseline—he is not naturally an angry person or player, he is more like the gentle giant and like a lot of gentle giants does not want to inadvertently hurt anyone—but I think he is toughening up his mindset.

Not so thrilling was the continuing struggles of Cam Reddish, who seems to have lost confidence in all facets (except free throw shooting) of his game. The 6-foot-8 forward, who appeared to be the team’s best three point shooter and most skilled all-round talent, has gradually morphed into an unrecognizable version of the former self we saw in the Kentucky game. He went scoreless in the first half, missing all three of his shots from the field, turning it over five times and getting whistled for three fouls. However, he still is the team’s best free throw shooter—as he demonstrated against Texas Tech. Cam didn’t start the second half supposedly because he had three fouls. In his place was the reliable Jack White, who has yet to start a game in his career, but who clearly is outplaying Reddish and is a later day version of Boston Celtic legendary sixth man John “Hondo” Havlicek. He finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, and 2 steals in 26 turnover-free minutes. Reddish is a starter but White a bench player in name only.

It sometimes is easy to overlook Tre Jones but he is the team’s most valuable player. He establishes relentless pressure on an opponent’s point guard that is the predicate for loose balls, steals, rush shots, and shot clock violations; sets up the offense; keeps all the scorers happy; and, like tonight, when everyone else struggling offensively, scores until the others get going. He now has 76 assists and only 13 turnovers.

Miscellaneous Observations:

o Zion Williamson had 25 points, 10 rebounds 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 goal tend in just 22 minutes against his runner-up school, just an hour from his boyhood home.

o The somewhat over looked Javin DeLaurier made his only two field-goal attempts, bringing his season mark to 27-for-31.

o At one point, spanning both halves, Duke outscored Clemson 51-21. The Tigers had only 9 second-half points in the first 10 minutes.

o Dick Vitale has done a lot to popularize college basketball but the game has moved past him and his ramblings are embarrassing. Why in the world does ESPN let him continue to promote the thoroughly disgraced Rick Pitino for the UCLA or any other college job and go into his “all the country needs is love” soliloquy?

o “You probably heard that NC State renamed Reynolds: it’s now James T. Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum, which is a bit confusing. Well that wasn’t confusing enough so when you play at Reynolds now, you are playing on the Kay Yow Court inside James T. Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum. Why not make it the Kay Yow Court inside James T. Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum at the Everett Case Pavilion?” [DBR observation]

Alan Adds:

Bill called me after the game and sighed, “I guess we’re a second half team.” Dickie V said one prescient thing: at half time, he said the first four minutes of the second half would be crucial. It didn’t take the whole 4 minutes. Duke had possession to start the half; White hit a 3 immediately. DeLaurier stole the ball and Barrett hit a three. :43 seconds had elapsed and Duke led by 13. Then Zion went spectacularly to work, scoring 6 straight on three amazing forays to the hole (cross over, hang in the air, off the backboard) which produced 2 hoops and 2-2 from the free throw line. 2:53 had elapsed and Duke led by 19. Barrett closed out the three minute and 13 second explosion – fueled by great defense to hold Clemson scoreless – with a medium range jumper that gave Duke a 21 point lead and turned the remainder of the half into garbage time (not quite, but almost).

Offense

Coach K singled out Zion, Tre, R.J. and Jack White for special praise. Zion had, perhaps, his best game in only 22 minutes. He committed two first half fouls (“we have to keep him on the court and from committing silly fouls 75 feet from the basket.”), which limited him to 8 minutes in that stanza (“only” 11 points on 5 shot attempts; 4-4 from inside the arc; 0-1 from 3land; 3-5 from the line to go with 4 boards). Then he came alive ☺! In fourteen second half minutes, Zion scored 14 (5-6 from the field; 1-2 from deep; 3-4 from the line to go with 4 more rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals.) That means he was 9 for 9 from the field inside the arc and 1-3 from behind it. 9-9 ain’t bad! Coach K was amusing when discussing Zion’s 360 dunk. He laughingly said, “We allow that. There is no ceiling on how many times he can twirl as long as he puts the damn thing in.”

Tre is beginning to gain the respect he deserves from the journalists. His defense is superb; his leadership on this team unquestioned, and his ball handling is all one could ask for. He had 9 assists without a turnover, while scoring 10 in 34 minutes. He didn’t come out at all in the first half. R.J. was shy as a shooter (only 14 attempts on which he scored 13 points in 32 minutes) but was acknowledged as playing an excellent floor game (9 rebounds; 4 assists; and a block). White has been, as Coach K said, “our unsung hero”. In 29 minutes he took 6 3s (his only shots) and knocked down 4 of them for 12 points. He earned praise for his hard-nosed defense, tough rebounding, and all around excellent play.

DeLaurier was 2-2 (extending his consecutive streak without a miss; he’s closing in on Alaa Abdelnaby’s school record) playing 9 minutes in each half. Bolden had an excellent game. He was 5-10 from the field and 1-2 from the line for 11 points. He was getting good shots, but missing them in the first half when he played 11 minutes. If he can make those shots, he will draw a double team (as he did not against Clemson), which will open up more driving lanes. Strangely, he played only 4 second half minutes (2-2 from the field).

Defense

Duke is playing simply superb defense. Clemson missed some close in shots, but that was caused by Duke’s superb rim protection. I admit to being very excited about just how good a defensive team this year’s group is and is becoming. Our Hall of Fame coach was effusive. “We played good defense. Really good defense. We forced 19 turnovers and got 13 steals against a veteran team with an outstanding backcourt.” In the early part of the second half when Duke blew the game open, Clemson could score only 9 points in the first 10 minutes (9:59 actually). “Our defense gave us our offense.” Coach K pointed out just how hard his team plays on the defensive end. “If you play hard, with the athletic ability we have, we will play good defense. These kids want to play good defense.”

ACC games and Road Games

This week will be Duke’s first true road games of the season (Duke has played five neutral court games) when Duke visits Wake on Tuesday (7pm) and Florida State on Saturday (2 pm). As we have painfully learned, ACC games are different and road games are different. Kansas, Kentucky, Nevada, and Florida State all lost road games yesterday. It is worth mentioning the Florida State visit to Charlottesville (ACC road game). I have said to Bill that at this moment, I think UVA is the best basketball team in the country. Yesterday, before the Cavaliers took their foot off the gas pedal with a couple of minutes remaining, the Seminoles had been held to only 33 points in almost 38 minutes. UVA is not only a great defensive team, but has real offensive fire power from the field (they have really talented shooters; 43% from 3land). With 2:19 left in the game, the Caviliers led the #9 ranked Florida State by 29 points! Do not be fooled by this opening ACC win. Every road game will be a war (except maybe Wake, which has been losing with frequency) and the Seminoles will be smarting over that televised whipping. Over confidence will be a Duke enemy.

Duke 87 – Wake Forest 68

After watching this Duke team play almost twenty games against a variety of competition, I have a few observations, some more obvious than others: While talented and athletic and skillful, they are most effective in the open court but rather ordinary in executing an half-court offense, shooting threes or free throws. Zion Williamson aside, what sustains this team is their defense, which rarely gives an opponent an easy possession and the steady baseline to baseline court savvy of Trey Jones. We see it in the fact that this team often appears to start slow and finish fast. Moreover, I think the dynamic is that every team gets sky high to play Duke and that adrenaline rush combined with the unremitting defense allows the Blue Devils to eventually start runs for which Coach K’s teams are famous—only these runs usually are sustained for the rest of the game as opponents just get worn down by the relentlessness of the pressure from a full eight man rotation.

Tonight’s game was predictably a pretty mundane, back and forth affair until a few minutes before the half when Duke gained a 42-34 advantage. Then, at the start of the second half extended and extended the margin. One key was the concentration on double teaming Childress who was limited to 12 points and a few assists. Reddish’s initial minutes can only be described as awful in all aspects of the game but recovered to play better as the game went on but is still a long way from performing like a high draft pick. Williamson was wonderful (30 pts, 10 rebs, 5 assts, 4 steals, 3 threes!!) as was the uber consistent Trey Jones (7 assists, 6 pts). Duke which leads the country in blocked shots had 13 tonight, led by Jack White’s 5 (that’s a career total for some players). Marques Bolden appears to be much more comfortable and productive as he becomes a very important component of the rotation.

Poor free throw shooting continues to be the potential Achilles Heel of this team’s quest for a National Championship. However, the most important development is that R.J. Barrett is shooting less, assisting more, and everyone is the beneficiary.

Miscellaneous Comments:

Clemson takes down Alabama. As N.Y. Post columnist Mike Vaccaro wrote: “This was Sonny Liston lying on his back on the canvas in Lewiston, Maine, Muhammad Ali looking over him and shouting, “Get up and fight, sucker! Nobody will believe this!” This was Roberto Duran in the closing seconds of the eighth round, staring at Sugar Ray Leonard on the floor of the New Orleans Superdome, meekly raising his gloved right hand and offering, “No mas, no mas.” Clemson thoroughly outcoached and outplayed favored Alabama. Freshmen QB Trevor Lawrence made enough throws under pressure to impress Tom Brady and wide receiver, Justyn Ross (six catches, 153 yards) made enough circus catches to make a Wallenda blush, and Clemson defensive co-ordinator Coach Brent Venables’ defense did a damn good impression of the 1985 Chicago Bears Buddy Ryan’s 46 defense. “We’re just little old Clemson, and I’m not supposed to be here,” said self-effacing Coach Dabo Swinney, architect of the football powerhouse. “But here we are. If I can do it, anyone can do it. How ’bout them Tigers?”

Alan Adds:

The buzz about Zion is reminding me of the astounding period in New York when Jeremy Lin burst out of nowhere to give the City weeks of Linsanity. Zion is giving us a whole season (we hope), while turning on the whole nation of college hoop fans. Duke has become ESPN’s darling – in substantial part because Zion is the star attraction in all of college basketball right now. His dunks are generating much of the jaw dropping adoration from announcers, writers, and pundits, but his performance has been about so much more. His defense is galvanizing – steals, blocks and help. He leads Duke in rebounding, and he is so offensively efficient both in transition and the half court. And, he can really pass. Zion’s performance against Wake is worth scrutinizing as he puts together this amazing (perhaps even historic) season. How about offensive efficiency? He took 16 shots to score 30 points! He was 3-4 from behind the arc, where he has struggled this year (under 30% prior to last night’s game). Opposing coaches must be shuddering at the thought of Williamson becoming a proficient 3 point shooter (which I predict is exactly what is going to happen). This means he was 10-12 from inside the arc. His season average from inside the arc was 74% before last night’s blitz. That is efficiency! In the second half, for example, Zion logged 14 minutes (late game became the opportunity for lesser used players) and scored at better than a point a minute rate – 18 points on 8-9 from the floor; 1-1 from deep. One of the new analytics is Box Score Per Minutes (BMP) which estimates the number of points contributed versus the average player. In this decade (2010 to 2018), the top records were Anthony Davis (18.67) and Karl Anthony ( Towns at 17.30) when they each played at Kentucky. For this season, Zion is at 20.8. Wins Per Share (adjusted from baseball) estimates the number of wins contributed by a player because of his offense and defense. For the decade, the top score is .3459. For this season, Zion is at .391. Interestingly, Zion does not score higher in transition (where he is King Stud) than in the half court. Critically, he rates just as high on the defensive end. The analytic called defensive rating tracks how many points a player allowed per 100 possesions. Zion ranks 4^th in the nation (behind 2 guys from Texas Tech and UVA’s Braxton Key). He creates turnovers with his dramatic and consistent rim protection (30 blocks in 14 games as well as steals. Zion actually has five more steals than blocks. He is Duke’s leading rebounder averaging just a shade under 10. R.J. is quietly morphing into Robin, although he is still averaging more points per game (on far more attempts) than Williamson. They work so well together – Duke is the only team this year that has two players averaging more than 20 points per game. They pass so well to each other.

Last night, Wake played Duke close for 15 minutes, leading by 1. Duke began to inch ahead, and with 30 seconds left in the half led by 5 with the ball for last possession. Cam drained a 3 with 4 seconds left. Duke had possession to start the second half; Wake fouled Barrett on his successful jump shot. When he missed the free throw, Zion grabbed the rebound and stuffed it through. 4 points on the opening possession of the half. Duke went from a 5 point lead to 12 point lead without Wake even touching the ball. From there the rout was on.

Duke is getting very efficient play from the center position. DeLaurier and Bolden virtually split time at that position. Their combined stats are revealing. Bolden logged 20 minutes and DeLaurier 19. Combined they scored 20 points, corralled 15 rebounds and had 5 blocks! That is real production.

Now the real tests begin. Florida State is ranked #13 in both polls (down from #9 as a result of being humiliated in Charlottesville last week). The Seminoles are traditionally tough at home and will be ferociously vengeful after being simply taken apart on National television. Facing a top 10 team like Florida State in their own gym after the Seminoles suffered such an embarrassing loss will be this season’s sternest test for the young Blue Devils so far.

Next Game: Duke – Florida State. ESPN Saturday at 2 pm.

Duke 80 – Florida State 78

How many times have we seen this movie without ever getting tired of it? Laettner against UConn and Kentucky; Gene Banks, Capel, Duhon and Rivers against North Carolina; JJ Redick against N.C. State—just to name just a few. Actually this game most reminded me of last year’s Michigan State game when Marvin Bagley was poked in the eye and didn’t return. Grayson Allen stepped into the breach and went for 37 to save the day and seal the win. Today ,it was BJ Barrett (32 pts.) and Cam Reddish (23 pts.).

Cam Reddish’s buzzer beater three was much bigger than just another exciting game winner. For weeks, Cam has not consistently demonstrated nearly the skill set of teammates Williamson or Barrett or Jones—or, for that matter, sixth man Jack White. As a matter of fact, many coaches would have benched him for his inept, inconsistent play, which lately has been inexplicable. I don’t know what the coaches or his teammates or his family said to him. But tonight, it was as if a light went on in his head and Reddish thought: Zion is out, we are going to lose this game if I don’t give BJ and the guys a lot of help. If Cam can continue to play offense and defense at this level and if everyone can remain healthy, Duke is a much more versatile, formidable team that is truly deserving of its national ranking.

That is not to say that Cam or the rest of the team—other than Barrett– was flawless. They only shot 50% from the free throw line—Cam missed four early and Tre missed the front end of a one-and-one with the game on the line; in the last few minutes both O’Connell and Reddish gave up 5 easy points by inexplicably fouling three point shooters; Jones and Reddish both fumbled balls out of bounds at inopportune times; Javin DeLaurier, Marques Bolden and Jack White combined for only six points in 65 minutes playing time; Florida State out-rebounded Duke 39-34, blocked 7 to Duke’s 3 and shot 9 more foul shots. And still Duke found a way to win.

Duke got the final break and capitalized on it. Barrett missed a second free throw that would have tied the game and, in a scramble, the ball went out of bounds. After a lengthy video review, the original call was over-tuned and it was Duke’s ball out of bounds under the basket. With just three seconds left on the clock, the Seminoles lead by a point but, thanks to multiple timeouts by both teams, each coach had what seemed like an eternity to plan and re-plan. Understandably, Leonard Hamilton chose to defend the rim and double Barrett. Three players were stacked in the lane guarding the basket, a fourth guarding the in-bounds pass, and a fifth face guarding Barrett. BJ broke to the corner, where he was double teamed. Reddish ran like a tight end on a crossing pattern to the elbow of the opposite three point line. Trey made the hot read and threw a pass to Cam for a wide, wide open shot. Dead solid perfect play and execution. Nothing but net! RJ Barrett: “Coach said it. They’re gonna watch me and Cam’s gonna be wide open.” Trey Jones: “Coach drew it up, the play was wide open, and Cam was able to execute.” That’s one reason they come to Duke.

For a long time, I have thought that winning a game when things were not going your way was the real test of a top team, because these days any decent team can win when the wind is at their back. So, this was a critical test for this young team. Florida State is always big, athletic, and talented—and Tallahassee is a difficult, even hostile, place in which to play. The Tucker Civic Center is the largest arena in the Panhandle and the Seminole fans know how to tomahawk an opponent. Recently, Duke has gone down there twice with a #1 ranked, veteran team and lost. When Zion Williamson was inadvertently poked in the eye just before the half, Duke was up 38-33. When Zion did not return for the final twenty minutes, the Blue Devils chances looked decidedly blue—at times Code Blue. However, we know one thing about Coach K’s teams. They fight to the end and he is one hell of a bench coach.

Miscellaneous Comments:

Recently, Zion Williamson has had a tooth knocked out and an eye traumatized. In neither instance was there a foul called or time called for a player on the floor incapacitated. Something is wrong here. Zion may look indestructible, but that is no reason for the referees to treat him as if he is indestructible. In his press conference, Krzyzewski said that Williamson had double vision but added that Zion did not have any headaches and hoped he would be ready Monday night against Syracuse.

The questions is going forward are these: 1) Was this a breakthrough performance that motivates Cam Reddish to consistently play to the level of his three freshmen teammates and 2) How will Zion Williamson respond to the physical play of the ACC?

Think Duke is a draw? The game was sold out and $250 tickets were being scalped for $2,500.
Dick Vitale demonstrated once again that he should no longer be allowed to be an announcer for a televised college basketball game. Among other things, we had to endure four minutes of second half incessant, non- germane yakking before the announcers noticed that Zion was not playing and minutes more yet before there was any information as the severity of his injury or availability.

Alan Adds:

Last March when Duke’s four elite freshmen were still in high school, the four were interviewed at the McDonald’s game in Madison Square Garden about what they anticipated from playing together at Duke. In that interview, Tre was asked who he, as the point guard, would look for with Duke down by a point and time for one last shot. Tre smiled, looked straight at R.J. and said, “Without a doubt, Cam.” While Dickie V was prattling on how Duke had to get the ball to Barrett with 2.8 seconds left in the game and Duke trailing by one, I was thinking of that interview when I texted Bill that Cam should take the last shot because Barrett would be blanketed. I was thinking of it when Tre took the ball from the referee on the base line just to the left of the basket. I was hoping he remembered (as Zion had not earlier) that he could not run the baseline. Florida State covered the lane with 3 men. I am betting that Leonard Hamilton, Fla. State coach, was remembering how – in almost the same game situation – Barrett had attacked Gonzaga in the lane but had his drive thwarted by Gonzaga’s bigs. He proffered an identical defense. One defender guarded Jones, who was inbounding, and one guarded Barrett in the corner when he cut across the lane. That left Cam wide open when he moved from the left side to the right elbow – I mean shockingly wide [expletive] open! There was no defender within 10 feet when he caught Tre’s perfect pass — just as Tre had said in that long ago interview, just as Coach K called the play; just as I texted Bill. The shot of the season so far!

You can feel Bill’s excitement jumping off the page because this was a significant win for a young team facing a its first tough ACC road game in a sold out arena against a highly ranked team that had much to prove, and with its own star power player unavailable. Zion went down with a minute and 35 left in the first half and Duke up by 5. No foul was called and Zion was on the floor, unable to get back and defend. Cofer hit a long 3 while Duke was shorthanded. To compound Duke’s bad luck, Cofer’s shot went in off the backboard – obviously not his intention. When Duke came out for the second half, the Blue Devils faced a fired up arena, a one point deficit, and having to play without Zion. In my opinion, Duke’s team developed and displayed what Coach K so admires and creates – character.

The Second Half:

The second half was simply intense, terrifically competitive, very high level basketball. The game was tight for the first five minutes; in the second five minutes, the Seminoles established a small working margin, which fluctuated to as high as 5 points several times. With 10:25 left, Duke trailed by 5. R.J. tied the game quickly, hitting a 2 point jumper with 10:19 left and a deep 3 with 9:32 to go. From there, neither team established a lead of more than 2 points. The game was tied 7 times in the last 9 minutes, the last time at 76 with 2:01 left when Kabengele made both free throws after being fouled by Bolden. Barrett and Cofer traded misses. With 45 seconds left, Cam had his pocket picked by Savoy, and with 15 seconds left, Cam fouled Savoy as the latter attempted a 3. Still 76-76. Savoy missed the first (critical) before sinking the last 2 for a 78-76 Florida State lead. Barrett raced up court and drove the lane (shades of Gonzaga), and was fouled with five seconds left. He made the first, but (after going 8-8 from the line in the game) missed the second one. An intense scramble for the rebound ensued, and the ball went out of bounds. The call giving Florida State the ball was reversed when the replay clearly showed it was Duke ball. Cam could have been the goat with the turnover and foul of a 3 point shooter in the last minute, but he garnished his superior game with a shot that will be remembered.

Duke played 7 (but Alex’s role was limited to a 6 minute cameo without a box score statistic – one turnover, but it really wasn’t his). DeLaurier and Bolden have been splitting time at center. In the second half, Bolden logged 13 minutes to DeLaurier’s 7. Duke needed Bolden’s superior size against the huge Seminoles. Tre and R.J. played every minute while Cam and Jack White logged 17 minutes each. But it was the R.J. and Cam show. Between them, they scored 35 of Duke’s 42 points. Tre hit 2 layups in transition and White made a 3, otherwise it was R.J. scoring 19 second half points on 5-8 shooting; 2-3 from deep and 7-8 from the line; and Cam with 16 points on 6-9 shooting (4-6 from deep, but 0-2 from the line). R.J and Cam were 6-9 from behind the arc, and 5-8 from closer. They were both efficient: R.J. scored 19 on 8 shots in 20 minutes; Cam scored 16 on 9 shots in 17 minutes. These are all just second half statistics.! That was some offensive half from those two. Tre missed his other 2 shots from the field and the front end of a crucial 1 and 1, but was himself in other important ways: 5 assists without a turnover to go with a steal, and 3 rebounds.

Miscellaneous Comments:

This was the kind of win that has the capacity to change Cam’s season, which has been disappointing. Cam reminded us that he came out of high school rated higher than Zion in some scouting assessments. If his play continues with last night’s quality, it will be huge for Duke going forward.

UVA continues to impress. UVA simply smoked Fla. State in Charlottesville last week (an almost 30 point lead with 2 minutes to play) and went into Littlejohn yesterday limiting Clemson to 43 points while winning by 20. It is worth noting that Duke hosts UVA next Saturday at 6 pm.

However, before that titanic match up (Oh please have a non-Dickie V color guy), Duke plays Syracuse in Cameron on Monday. The timing is like an NCAA tournament schedule with only one day off between games. Zion is a game time decision.

Is this season being fun, or what?

Duke 91 – Syracuse 95 (OT)

There should no longer be any doubt who is the most valuable, irreplaceable player on this Duke team. Tre Jones had four steals in five minutes and Duke was up by eight before the tenacious point guard, who is both the defensive and offensive facilitator, was shelved by a shoulder injury diving for a loose ball. The good news is that Zion Williamson started and was unaffected mentally and physically by his frightening eye injury just two days ago. The bad news is that Cam Reddish did not (because of an illness). After a horrendous beginning (0-12), the Syracuse players started shooting like they were like Golden State Warriors (11-25 threes 44%). As time expired for the half, Syracuse’s Isaiah Hughes even swished an improbable 75-foot prayer of a heave that cut Duke’s lead to one point—a very ominous omen.

All season, we have cautioned that the Achilles Heel of this team was free throws, three point shooting, and injuries. Well, tonight the Blue Devils hit the trifecta and lost in overtime. Zion, like BJ against Florida State, missed the second of two free throws near the end of regulation that would have put Duke up by one. However, you cannot fault either player (ZW: 35 pts. 10 rebs. 4 blks. BJ: 23 pts. 16 rebs. 9 assists), because they had very little help. When you consider that Duke was 9-43 for threes, it is amazing the score was as close as it was. Because Tre and Cam were unavailable, Barrett was by default was often forced to run the point, rather than attacking the seams from the side, where he is more effective. DeLaurier was overwhelmed but Bolden (12pts, 11 rebs, 4 blks) had one of his best games. Also, without Cam and Tre, there was no zone buster. This was a situation where we have seen Jack White step into the breach or an opportunity for an eighth man, Alex O’Connell, to have a Grayson Allen Final Four coming out party. However, both White and O’Connell often appeared reluctant to be proactive in shooting or penetrating. The talented but unpredictable O’Connell was more productive (16 pts, 3 rebs, 3 assists, 2 steal. 4-8 threes) but showed his inexperience by committing two untimely turnovers. And then there was Jack White. In the last two games, this year’s uber reliable sixth starter’s play ( 0-9 from three point land) has been a mystery.

As a basketball fan, you really have to applaud Coach Boeheim and his team. They lost Saturday at home to Georgia Tech, had to travel to Durham, fell behind tonight 0-12 in Cameron, then rallied to for an impressive, possibly season saving win. But that’s the ACC. Saturday, Louisville blitzed North Carolina in Chapel Hill and tonight, Pitt beat Florida State.

As a Duke fan, you have to wonder what the basketball gods have planned for this year’s Blue Devils. Is this injury is another bad break like when Kyrie Irving’s foot injury cost Duke dearly or is it a less serious injury from which the irreplaceable point guard can recover relatively quickly so this team is primed for tournament time?

Miscellaneous Comments:

Tre Jones collision with Frank Howard in the opening minutes that sent him to the ER was diagnosed as an AC joint separation. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski said afterwards that neither Jones’ shoulder nor collarbone showed signs of a break, but added that Jones was “in a lot of pain”. [Tuesday morning update: Jones’ injury is an AC joint separation. Jones will be out “indefinitely” and the Steadman Clinic lists a wide range of recovery times, taking anywhere from “a few days to 12 weeks, depending on the severity.”
One good note is that Jay Bilas was in Dickie V’s seat at the microphone.

Alan Adds:

Duke’s season hangs in the balance while Tre’s injury is analyzed and treated. Coach K was asked about his game plan. After Cam got sick right before the game and couldn’t play and Tre was hurt six minutes into the game, Coach said “We had no game plan. We were trying to survive. You know what our game plan was when we thought we had a full team– we wanted to press them in the open court and get out in transition. Worked pretty well in the first minutes.” It sure did; even without Reddish.

Long ago, Coach K said that everyone on the team had to be ready to make open jump shots because having Zion and R.J. driving to the basket, there were going to be a lot of open shots. And so there were throughout the game. Duke had lots of open looks, but had an absolutely atrocious shooting night. This destroyed the offense. By the time Duke got to the overtime, the team was exhausted and played like it. Duke took eight shots in the overtime – they were all 3’s. 2-8 in the overtime (R.J was 1-4; White 0-2; Zion 0-1. Alex made his only attempt. Duke scored six points, while Syracuse went 4-6 from inside the arc. Duke’s three point shooting for the game was simply awful, taking 43 attempts. But as Coach K said, they were open shots. He was ok with his team shooting them. The loss of Tre “knocked us back”, said K, “but our kids fought hard.”

I do not know what Duke will do if Tre is out for an extended period. He thought something was broken because he was in so much pain, but it is not broken. It’s a shoulder sprain, but we don’t know about recovery time Tre will need. The game proved Goldwire is not the answer. He played two minutes in the second half and none in the overtime. If you want a picture of the game, consider that R.J. ran the team, which took him out of the offense. He took 15 shots in the second half (0-7 inside the arc without getting to the foul line and 2-8 from deep. Cam’s return will be crucial.

What a season! Georgia Tech beats Syracuse; Syracuse beats Duke. Louisville loses to Pitt and beats UNC after the ‘heels battered Pitt. Pitt beat Fla. State last night. Virginia, Duke’s next opponent, is, however, unbeaten. A glorious season hits unchartered waters.

Duke 72 – Virginia 70

This was a rare non-sequitur college basketball game that has only occurred four times in the history of the NCAA regular season: #1 vs. #1. Duke was ranked #1 in the AP Poll and Sagarin ratings but Virginia was ranked #1 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and NET rankings. Polls, shmoles, this was a Big Time Game between the two best teams in the best conference in the country as well as two of the most admired academic institutions in the country. The Blue Devils were without point guard Tre Jones, who is the straw that stirs the drink both defensively and offensively. However, as former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld famously said: “You go to war with the team you have, not the one you wish you had.” And a war it was in the paint as the Blue Devils played to their strength and did not settle for threes as they did in losing to Syracuse in overtime. One is a veteran team that consistently is more than the sum of its parts and the other is a young team that is sometimes less than the sum of its NBA bound parts. However, Cameron is one of, if not the, most difficult venues in the country for a visiting team and, in a tough game that comes down to getting stops and making shots, can make a critical difference. In addition, in sports it is not uncommon for a team suddenly missing a key component to find a way to raise their collective play to another level—and that happened tonight as Cameron was rocking, Williamson and Barrett were rolling and that combination was too much for even the poised Virginia players and their vaunted pack line defense.

Though Virginia shot 52.8 percent overall and turned the ball over just 8 times, the Cavaliers, an unusually accurate three point shooting team, hit only 3 of 17 3-pointers. UVA shot just 48.1 percent after halftime and hit just one field goal over a stretch covering more than nine minutes. That allowed Duke to build a 67-60 lead Virginia couldn’t overcome. During part of that nine-minute stretch, Duke employed a zone defense that appeared to temporarily disrupt the rhythm of the Cavaliers offense After DeAndre Hunter scored with 4:25 to play cutting Duke’s lead to 61-60, the Blue Devils stopped Virginia on its next three possessions. Each time the Cavaliers got one shot per trip and missed it. On the other hand, Duke led 57-56 when Williamson, whose defense was outstanding, leaped high and blocked Hunter’s shot attempt with both hands (see above). At the other end, he drove in the lane for a basket put Duke up 59-56 with 6:06 left. A minute later, Zion took an in-bounds pass from Barrett and jammed home a dunk for a 61-58 Blue Devil lead they never relinquished.

As satisfying and important a win as it was, it must be noted that Duke missed 13 free throws (but fortunately had 14 more attempts than the Whoos), mainly because the Cavaliers had no answer for Williamson and Barrett, who combined for 57 of Duke’s 72 points as no other player scored in double figures. That point distribution and the fact that the starters played 188 of the 200 available minutes, scored all of Duke’s points, and grabbed all of its rebounds is not a recipe for tournament success. Cam Reddish, who missed Monday’s game with an illness, added 9 points, 6 rebounds, an assist and a steal. If he continues to improve and an healthy Tre returns, this obviously is an even more formidable team. Duke also only made 2 threes. Meanwhile, DeLaurier, who had 5 fouls in seven minutes, is struggling to stay on the floor. (It appeared as though every time he looked at a Cavalier, the refs blew his whistle, but when Zion & BJ got mugged on drives, the refs swallowed their whistle.) Fortunately, Marques Bolden continues to improve, allowing the team to defensively switch 1 through 5 even when Javin is out. He is a defensive plus and is one of the better free throw shooters. Tonight his two free throws down the stretch were huge.

The difference between this team and some other of Duke’s one-and-done teams is that that they have made a commitment to play outstanding defense and have unusual team chemistry. For example, the two highest profile players are roommates and genuinely buddies, referring to each other as brothers. And when asked about ex-Bulls Scottie Pippen suggestion that he should sit out the rest of the college season to preserve his health and #1 status for the 2019 NBA Draft, Zion said that he came to Duke to play basketball, live out a dream and win a championship, not watch his teammates from the bench.

Miscellaneous Comments:

Coach K on Tre Jones status: “I don’t know. But he wasn’t going to play, as we made that decision yesterday. He just doesn’t have enough movement yet. I can’t tell you when [he’ll return]; I’m not going to tell you that he could be ready for Pittsburgh. Every day we’re just going to see how he progresses and make that decision based on the day-to-day stuff without putting a timetable on him so there’s no pressure for him to come back and force something. We don’t want that to happen.”

Coach Tony Bennett is not just a good basketball coach, he is a great college basketball coach. Virginia is an outstanding, classy university and he has recruited players to match. For instance, guard Kyle Guy, who could play on any team, had a blunt and telling assessment of the Duke team: “An NBA team. That’s the only thing I can think of in terms of talent and size and length. We’re not probably going to see another team like that.”
Coach K on Zion’s growth and focus with all the media scrutiny: “I think to where we all should admire him. He’s such a people person. When football was still playing and he was at a football game, he would take time with people. He really doesn’t want a lot of attention, when obviously he attracts a lot of attention. Even for Gameday and that, he didn’t want to do too much. He didn’t want to separate himself from what the other guys are doing, and the family doesn’t either. They’re just good people. He’s handled it really well. You guys know from being with him that he’s such an upbeat kid. He was terrific tonight. Even though it was a lot of adversity on Monday night against Syracuse, he and RJ played the whole game, and that helped them tonight. The fact that they did that then, how do you handle it? You don’t handle it until you have to handle it. You can’t practice that. The times we’ve won big games in our program like championships, usually our best players have to play a lot of minutes, so hopefully what they’re learning right now will help them as we go forward.”

BJ Barrett on his confidence as a shooter and playmaker down the stretch in late games: “It definitely helps when you have the greatest coach of all time telling you to keep going, keep shooting the ball. I love playing for him.”

UVA is the Villanova model, featuring three and four year players who have become well marinated in their coach’s system.

Alan Adds:

Duke faced a #1 team in the nation without its point guard (the heart and soul of both its offense and defense so far this year), got 0 points and only 12 minutes from its entire bench (Alex 5 minutes – all in the first half; and Javier 7 minutes – one minute in the first half, but he managed to commit 2 fouls in that minute, before fouling out in 6 second half minutes. Duke got a pair of foul shots from Marques for only 2 points in his 33 minutes (0 shot attempts) and 4 points from Jack White’s 40 minutes (2-3). Moreover, while Cam had a satisfactory first half scoring 7 (3-8; 1-3 from deep) to go with 6 rebounds, a steal, an assist against only one turnover, he reverted to his previous ineffective form in his full 20 minutes on the court. In the closing stanza, Cam was 0-4; 0-3 from deep, and 2-4 from the line for his only second half points, while committing 3 fouls and causing 3 turnovers. And still Duke won!

In hindsight, one is left to wonder how Duke could possibly have accomplished that. The answer is four-fold: first and foremost, this team has amazing heart; second, is defense; and third and fourth (maybe really first and second) were R.J. and Zion. Each played the full 20 minutes. Zion scored 13 on 5-7 from the field, but a terrifying (mabe horrifying) 3-9 from the free throw line. R.J. showed why he was the consensus #1 rated player in high school last year going 6-7 from the field (his only miss was his only second half 3 point attempt) and 4-7 from the line. Zion and R.J. scored 29 of Duke’s 35 second half points. Imagine if they had also been efficient from the line (or from 3land). I said last year that R.J. was the best finisher at the rim that I had seen in high school since LeBron. Last night he supported that assessment with a series of acrobatic finishes at the rim against a defense famous for protecting its interior. R.J and Zion were simply other worldly in the clutch. They were 11-13 from the field inside the arc in the second half, but only a collative 7-16 from the stripe. Foul shooting in the second half – especially at “winning time” determines the outcome of many games.

Duke won the game on the defensive end of the floor. Jack White (40 minutes) replaced Tre in the starting lineup. In all of Duke’s games this year, Duke had never switched every screen, mostly because of Tre’s aggressiveness and lack of length. With White replacing Tre, Duke was able to switch every screen, which turned out to be the strategic game winner. Coach K wanted to stop UVa’s vaunted 3 point attack (Guy is almost as good as JJ was, said K), and switching every screen allowed Duke to do that very effectively. Let me add a word about Marques Bolden. He is now athletic enough to switch and even guard the other team’s point guard, as he did last night. I never would have believed he could do that, but he has improved so dramatically on the defensive end of the floor as to be an integral and valuable part of this team. He is playing superb defense. This team loves to play defense. Duke got tired (duh!); so, Coach K gave the team an energy break on defense by going to a zone for 3 possessions. Very effective. This team loves to play defense. White, Bolden and Cam may not have been scoring, but they were part of an extraordinary team defense that ultimately won the game.

This team has demonstrated the kind of heart that we have always admired in Coach K’s best teams. In the last three games, Duke fought from behind without Zion to beat Fla. State in Tallahassee by a deuce; lost to Syracuse in overtime by a deuce without Tre or Cam, while dealing with the shock of those twin losses, and then came back to beat the #1 team in the country without Tre or an effective bench. A team with this much heart will always be dangerous and continues to provide us with a gallant season — and to make us proud of the team and Duke.

As Coach K said, “it will be a helluva game up at their place (Feb 9). Isn’t this why sports keep us watching. What a week from the high of Florida State to the low of Tre’s injury and the Syracuse defeat, back to the high of last night. Next Play: Tuesday, Duke visits Pitt and Jeff Capel. Take nothing for granted (In short, “earn everything”).

Duke 79 – Pittsburgh 64

In what could have been a ‘trap” game, Duke, fueled by Zion Williamson’s 19 without-a- miss points, went on a 33- 12 run to close out the first half and pretty much put the game on ice, then cruised to an auto pilot win. Coach K kept his team in a zone much of the second half to a) rest them b) cut down drives and defend threes, which is easy with the 6’ 10” arm extensions of Barnett and Reddish on top of the 2-3 zone. Not many teams can beat Duke by trying to trade deuces; however, the math of trading threes for two’s is another matter, because threes and free throws are not the Blue Devil’s strength (although they did shot a season high 80% tonight). However, no team has yet shut down the explosive firm of Williamson & Barnett, that combined for 51 points, 10 assists, and 4 steals tonight. In addition, RJ filled in nicely at the point.

Duke dominated the painted area, outrebounding Pittsburgh 39-34 and recording 7 blocks. Better defense is what separates this team from the recent one-and-done teams. More specifically, these future teenage millionaires (without the benefit of a traditional degree) can play old school Duke/Bobby Knight man defense or even a Jim Boeheim zone as they did for periods against Virginia and again for more extended periods tonight. That’s what makes this precocious Duke team different and why this team could be the best of their genre. Consider these stats: Duke has three of the seven players (Jones, Williamson, and Reddish) in the ACC who average 2.0 steals per game plus Bolden, Williamson, White all in the top 10 in the in blocks.

This group can obviously multi-task. After Saturday’s 72-70 home win (without Jones) over Virginia, Duke ranks No. 6 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency rating. Here are the Blue Devils’ pre-tournament KenPom Adj rankings (in ascending order) since Austin Rivers ushered in the “new Duke” era in 2012: 72, 39, 77, 37, 85, 39 and 7.

Marques Bolden certainly is improving. His athletic, big body presence ( 6 pts, 9 rebs, 4 blocks) is adding another welcomed dimension to the this team. In addition, Cam Reddish (15 pts, 6 rebs, 4 assists, 2 blks) is playing with more confidence. You can see in his shooting motion—the rotation, trajectory, softness, and accuracy of his free throws that his shooting touch is returning. On the other hand, Javin DeLaurier is in a foul plagued slump, Jack White’s shot is on vacation, and Alex O’Connell appears to be in Coach’s dog house.

Former Duke assistant Jeff Capel certainly has turned around the Pitt basketball program. His team fought hard to the end of the game, outscoring Duke 39-35 in the second half. However, Coach K has only lost to one former assistant—Notre Dame’s Mike Brey.

Alan Adds:

I have several takeaways from a game that seemed to lack any pizzazz! In spite of my natural apprehension about any ACC road game; this one against Capel, who had been intensely involved in recruiting this premium class to Duke (before the game the freshmen spontaneously acknowledge Capel when he came on the court, a really nice gesture); the absence once again of Tre Jones (moving R.J. to the point and replacing Tre with Jack White in the starting lineup); and the emergence of Pitt’s freshmen guards as serious penetrators. The big takeaway for me was the defense, which, for the first time this year was primarily a zone defense. I was lost in admiration for how well this team played it. Bill is right about the top of the zone, which featured Cam and R.J. Cam looks taller to me than the 6’8” he is listed at. He is clearly longer than either Zion or R.J. and he is quick. So, the top of the zone was long, quick and athletic, which simply kept Pitt at bay throughout the endless second half. Pitt never got closer than 15. The back line of the zone was equally efficient. Bolden in the middle had 5 blocks; Zion is so active on the wing in the back line. He disrupted the Pitt offense from the right wing with extreme activity. He made a couple of steals from there (which, of course, led to Zion time at the rim), one of which led to a superb dime to R.J. for a dunk. It is a joy to watch the two of them play together seamlessly. Jack White was very efficient on the other side of the back line. This team loves to defend.

The other takeaway is how efficient and therefore destructive of an opponent’s defense Zion is. How is this for efficiency in the first half? In just 15 minutes he scored 19 first half points on 9-9 shooting, which included 1-1 from deep. He did miss both of his first half free throws and turned it over twice. He is such a force on the boards (5 boards; 4 offensive) to go with 2 assists and a block. He led the charge that in reality ended all suspense as to who would win the game (maybe just the second half had no pizzazz). With 7:54 left in the first half, Duke led by 9 (27-18). In that almost 8 minutes to end the half, Duke shut down the Pitt offense, holding the Panthers to 7 points in that last 7:54. The Duke zone took away the ability of Pitt’s young and talented back court from attacking the rim and the length up top drove them off the 3 point line. During that 7:54, Duke scored 17 to put the game away. Cam hit a 3; R.J a jumper on a feed from Cam and went 3-4 from the free throw line; Zion had 3 put backs or layups at the rim; Jack White was 2-2 from the line and Marques was 1-2 from the line. Marques was also extremely active on defense and the boards; he had 3 blocks, a steal and 3 rebounds in that stretch.

Some interesting rotation observations: Alex played only 3 minutes; DeLaurier only 10; he missed his only two field goal attempts, ending his consecutive streak at 19 straight. He picked up 2 fouls (and 2 boards) in 4 first half minutes, but none in his 6 second half minutes (2-2 from the stripe). It seems clear that Bolden has nailed down the center position with his defense and rebounding. Goldwire played 13 minutes, giving R.J. an opportunity to play off the ball where he is a better scoring threat. R.J. was the glue for Duke as its point guard and as a scorer. He played 37 minutes scoring 26 (on 24 shots: 10-24; 3-7 from deep and 3-4 from the stripe to go with 5 boards, 2 steals and 3 assists. He (14) and Cam (9) kept Duke comfortably ahead in the second half. Cam had 15 for the game as those 3 freshmen had 66 of Duke’s 79 points.

Duke returns home to face Georgia Tech on Saturday followed by a Monday game in South Bend vs Notre Dame. Every Duke fan wants to know “When will Tre return?”

Duke 66- Georgia Tech 53

Everyone was baffled by the Blue Devils worst opening 22 minutes of the season. They trailed by as much as eight points before finally exploding on a patented 29-9 run to put away Georgia Tech 66-53 in Cameron. The reason for the sluggish start is that, despite my having 1,000 DirecTV channels, Apple TV, and ESPN+, because the game was blacked out locally, I was unable to access it until a few minutes into the second half. Once the guys realized I was watching and taking notes, they settled down and played Duke Basketball. Actually, Coach K’s vigorous timeout conversation also might have contributed somewhat to the belated turnaround: ”Our guys were just different (after that timeout), which says a lot about them (Editor: and the Coach). This is a game you lose if you’re thinking about being a winner. It’s a game that winners win, when you can turn it around with eighteen minutes to go and just really not playing well, and then start playing great.”

The inconsistency in the last two games is of concern. Against lesser teams, and even some better ones, Zman & RJ can score a majority of the points. But the best teams will figure a way to limit one of the two. However, a championship team needs balance. I have thought that Cam Reddish was the key as we saw in the Kentucky game. Well, somewhere along the way, Cam hit the freshman wall. Fortunately, the other three haven’t. Cam has recovered except for making threes, which was his calling card, but otherwise is very productive (7 pts. 5-5 ft. 6 assts, 5 stls.). Jack White, who was instant offense early in the season, is a mystery. Recently, he has missed so many threes (1-for-20) that he appears reluctant to pull the trigger. And teams dare Barrett and Williamson to shoot them. Until the Blue Devils demonstrate they are a long range threat, opponents will pack the paint and beg Duke to try and beat them from the perimeter. However, the good news is that the team’s free throw percentage has recently improved dramatically. And that is huge because they shoot a lot of them every game. In addition, I have always thought that a player hitting a high per centage of free throws is an indication of their shooting touch, and who can and will hit jump shots.

It also occurred to me that there were two interesting developments surrounding Alex O’Connell and one probably led to the other. First, he finally settled on a mature haircut which no longer offends Coach K’s army sensibilities. That led to Alex (4 pts, 3 rebs, 1 steal) playing significant minutes (19) when the game was in doubt. Actually, he got DeLaurier and White minutes. Early on, he was beaten badly by a back door cut (RJ was slow to provide weak side help) and I thought for sure that Coach K would pull him. He didn’t and Alex (4 pts, 3 rebounds and a steal) validated the decision with solid, active, athletic play. In addition, I suspect Coach is running out of patience with the poor three point shooting and is giving Alex, a talented offensive player, an opportunity to prove he is mature enough to be counted upon.

Miscellaneous Comments:

Alan had a terrific halftime assessment: “The first half looked like the Syracuse game without the excuses.”

Duke out-rebounded Tech 20-10 in the second half. Barrett led everyone with 11. Duke had 7 blocks–3 by Williamson–and 13 steals. Foul shooting was superb, 16-for-19.

I think this team will see a lot more zone defenses. For sure we will see it when we play Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.

Coach K said that after playing 35 minutes, Trey felt really well; that our defense was very important today; and that the crowd was the sixth man —and we really needed them.

Marques Bolden suffered a toenail problem that is not believed to be serious.

Alan Adds:

The valuable insights from this game are not on the surface. Btw, I did text Bill at half:“the first half looked like the Syracuse game without excuses.” The Syracuse adversity was more than Tre’s injury; it was also Cam getting sick right before game time. I take some value from both the Syracuse game and Duke’s first half. While it was surely Duke’s worst offensive performance of the season, Duke’s defense remained excellent. Horrible offense can impact defensive efficiency. It is easy to hang one’s head when the shots are not falling, but Duke did not do that. The defense remained stout (with a little hiccup in the last two minutes of the first half). Against Syracuse, Duke was wiped out exhausted for the overtime (Duke took only 8 shots in that overtime, none inside the arc). In this game, Duke had all its weapons and exploded in the second half when Bill finally got the game on (Bill don’t you have any great grandchildren who can aid the digitally challenged?). It was a game of two halves, and it is worth analyzing each separately. The rotation was different for reasons that are not altogether clear.

The Rotation

The four elite freshmen and Bolden started, but Bolden got stepped on causing a foot problem. Coach K said it was his toe. He was limited to 9 first half minutes, and 2 in the second half when he tested it and found it a “no go”. In the first half, Vrankovich was first off the bench to replace him; not DeLaurier. DeLaurier was a virtual no-show logging only a single minute in each half (0-1 in the first half for only stat of the game). Whether that was a message from Coach K or was there a physical problem is unknown; Coach K did not mention Javin in his press conference. Jack White’s time was reduced – shooting slump and lots of minutes while Tre was out — he played 7 minutes in the opening stanza and a scant 4 minutes in the second half when Duke blew the game open. Alex played 4 unremarkable minutes in the first half. In that first half, Zion and foul shooting kept Duke competitive. Zion was limited to 15 first half minutes by picking up 2 (silly) fouls, but was still 4-6 from the field and 2-2 from the line for 10 points. R.J. and Cam played 19 first half minutes, contributing points from the foul line – Cam was 4-4 and R.J. 3-4 (that’s 9-10 for the three freshmen). Cam is still in a shooting slump from the field (0-4 from the field including 0-3 from deep in the first half; 1-7 in the second half, but the single made shot was a 3 and it came in rhythm at an important time. Still 1-11; 1-8 from deep has to change if Duke is going to fully reach its potential this season. He and R.J. logged 38 minutes each for the game.

Of course, most of the focus was on Tre’s return. In the first half it looked like he was a victim in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. Where the hell was the real Tre? He was, as it turned out, waiting for the second half. In his first game back, he logged 35 minutes, 19 in the second half. That is cause for jubilation. In those 19 second half minutes, he morphed back into the real Tre (3-4 from inside the arc; 3 assists and a steal). He is special as Coach K said in his press conference. There is physical shape and there is mental shape; “Tre is NEVER out of mental shape. He is just a remarkable young man.” I think he might have been briefly out of mental shape in the first half, but his return is beyond major.

The First Half

In spite of playing solid defense, Duke was pretty abysmal in the first half. In my opinion, much credit goes to the Georgia Tech zone, which was an amoeba like 1-3-1 ( also morphing at times into a 2-2-1). Georgia Tech was particularly impressive stealing passes to the post (where when they got through, Zion was unstoppable) and picking off bounce passes. Duke did miss many open perimeter shots; very deflating. Duke was sleep walking. Consider: The Wramblin’ Wreck outscored Duke 22-14 in the paint; 9-3 on second chance points (RJ’s only 3 off an offensive rebound); 5-2 in fast break point (think about that!) and 4-1 in bench points (Vrankovich was 1-2 from the line). Zion’s 4-6 from the post and Duke’s 10-12 from the line + stout defense were all that Duke mustered.

The Second Half

Duke played most of the second half with a small lineup that did not include a center. Bolden was in for two minutes but could not go; DeLaurier for one. Vrankovich’s only appearance was in the first half. The four freshmen played the entire half until the last minute of garbage time. The fifth player for virtually all of the second half was Alex O’Connell. Like Bill, when Alex was beaten back door, I expected him to be yanked as he had been in the last game, when that very back door thing happened to him. Coach K said that Alex would know he [Coach K] was speaking the truth when he opined that Alex has not played very well recently. But he was a star support in the second half after that one defensive lapse. Alex was 2-5 (an offensive rebound put back and a medium range jumper). He missed two 3’s but, as Coach K pointed out, they were in rhythm and “the right shot”. Alex has the potential to make Duke more lethal from the perimeter, which so far has been Duke’s real offensive weakness. For example Duke was 2-21 from deep for the game (the freshmen were 2-15 – R.J. 1-5; Cam 1-8 and Tre 0-2). White, Alex, and, Goldwire were each 0-2. If that doesn’t change, Duke will fall short of the current lofty goals for this dream-like season.

From the timeout Coach K called, Duke played extremely well, and the Duke defense was beyond merely superb. In the 16 minutes and 20 seconds between the timeout and the entry of the reserves at the 1:39 mark, Duke surrendered only 13 points! In that same period Duke scored 39 points. Zion and Barrett were a combined 10-13 — with 0 3 point attempts (R.J. 5-7; Zion 5-6). They were a combined 6-7 from the line (R.J. 4-4; Zion 2-3) giving the dynamic duo a total of 26 of Duke’s second half points. Add in Tre’s 6 and the trio scored 32 of Duke’s 39. Alex had 4, and Cam’s crucial 3 completed an admirable second half. If only Cam’s stroke would return …

Schedule

Duke faces a quick NCAA tournament-like turn around tomorrow night (Monday), playing a beleaguered Notre Dame team in South Bend (I don’t care how beleaguered Mike Brey’s Irish are, it is an ACC road game!) at 7 on ESPN. The Devils are home next Saturday at noon against St. Johns, the last non-conference team to beat Duke at home (long ago).

Duke 83 – Notre Dame 61

A Northern Hemisphere’s Polar Vortex breakout that is producing the coldest Arctic blast in recent midwest history, combined with playing their second game in three days 1,000 from home, as well as facing the only assistant that has beaten Coach K (not just once but 5 times in 14 tries), had no effect on these precocious Blue Devils as they counterintuitively started hot and stayed hot beating a Notre Dame team riddled with key injuries. (Whew. That’s about as much information as I can cram into a run-on, introductory sentence. After all these years, I can still hear the disapproving voice of Mr. Ruge, my Fifth Form English teacher/guru: “Mr. Miller, for the amusement of your classmates will you please come to the blackboard and attempt to diagram that monstrosity of an opening paragraph.”)

Zion Williamson had a spectacular game with 26 points on 10-12 shooting, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks (including one for his overflowing “Do you believe he that” archive). Marques Bolden is playing stronger and more aggressively on both ends of the floor. He had 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks in just 21 minutes. His athleticism allows the defense to switch 1-5, helping hold the Irish to shooting 35%. Cam Reddish played with more confidence. He was only 4-13 (but his missed shots just missed) but had 3 threes, 2 steals for 13 points. The role players DeLaurier, White, and O’Connell (2 threes) all contributed in a variety of ways.

Coach Mike Brey: “They are really gifted. With Duke’s pressure and switching, it was almost impossible to make a pass. You can say move the ball, but that’s not realistic. Their switching and their length are in the passing lanes, so when you get to ball screening, somebody has got to drive and kick.”

Miscellaneous Comments:

Coach K had very complimentary words for Irish Coach Mike Brey, one of the few assistant coaches who did not play for him. Mike, an assistant from 1987-1995 was credited by K (along with Tommy Amaker) with helping build the program that went to seven Final Fours in nine years.

I enjoy Jay Bilas’ analysis a lot (“One reason this team is so good is that Zion, who receives so much publicity, does not seek the spotlight. The spotlight seeks him and he wants to share it with his teammates.”) However, I wish he would refrain from second guessing so many referee calls. With the size and speed on these athletes, it’s a lot harder making the calls in real time than with the help of monitor replay. Less is more (effective), Jay.

Miscellaneous stats: Zion is almost shooting a phenomenal 80% from inside the arc but only a mediocre 68% from the free throwline, which led some wise guy sports commentator to comment that at this rate, he may miss more free throws than field goals. Zion and RJ are averaging about the same number of points per game but RJ has taken 138 more shots.

Alan Adds:

The game was practically over in the first six minutes – with 14:07 still left in the first half, Duke led by 15 (17-2) with Tre and Cam having hit opening 3s followed by Zion’s 5 straight goals — 4 at the rim and a mid-range jumper plus 1-2 from the line. Notre Dame rallied for an nanosecond before Duke stretched the lead to 19 (26-7) with 10:36 left. Note that meant the Duke defense held Notre Dame to 7 points in 9 minutes and 24 seconds. Duke is playing great defense and this game was a continuation and growth. It is hard to maintain the emotion required for great defense when the lead is so large that the game is not competitive. Even when the offense receded a bit in the second half (Duke scored 46 first half points; only 37 in the closing stanza), the defense was very good (down just a tad from excellent; a few little flubs). Notre Dame was gallant, but totally overmatched. The Irish fought back to down 9 with 4:50 to go when Zion hit a 3 to push the lead back to double figures. It was never single digits again. It was 18 at the half, and never less than 16 in the second half with the widest margin being 24 with 5:41 to go.

Duke’s offense was terrific. 10-19 from deep (5-9 in the opening stanza). Zion had a first half that would be a career achievement for an ordinary player – 17 points on 9 field goal attempts in 18 minutes (7-9; 1-1 from deep and 2-4 from the line) to go with 3 rebounds, 3 blocks and an assist without a turnover and committing only a single foul. R.J. grabbed 5 rebounds while scoring 10 (4-8; 2-4 from deep). Marques had a quite spectacular first half; 4-5 from the field in 13 minutes to go with 6 rebounds and a block. He held Mooney (12 consecutive double doubles including last night) to 1-8 in the first half. His improved mobility and athleticism is allowing Duke to switch 1 through 5 because he has the quickness (new to me) to stay with guards on the perimeter. He hustles, and is on the floor for loose balls as quickly as anyone on the team. His play is crucial, especially on the defensive end. However, foul trouble (4; # 3 and 4 came early in the second half) limited him in the closing period.

More good news: Cam played an excellent second half. Coach K is trying to play Cam back into the player he was in high school (36 minutes last night; 18 in each half). Cam hit a 3 on his opening shot, but did not score again in the first half (1-6). He is, however, playing excellent defense. He had 2 steals (and 2 assists). In the second half, he led Duke in scoring with 10 (total 13) on 3-7 from the field including 2-5 from deep and 2-2 from the line. Let us hope this is like the first robin of the spring and not an aberration. He can be the difference between Duke being an excellent team and a National Championship team.

Tre was Tre (5 assists; 1 turnover and superb defense); White grabbed 6 boards in the second half where Duke played significant minutes without a big on the floor. Alex scored 6 in 7 second half minutes (2-2 from deep).

Duke’s defense deserves scrutiny and the highest praise so far. Consider this: Duke leads the nation in two critical categories – blocked shots per possession and steals per possession. Duke is blocking shots or stealing the ball on almost 1 out of every 4 of the opponents possessions. That’s practically insane! Moreover, Duke has been elite at defending the opponents 3 point shots. Each of the Duke starters is a superior man to man defender (how unlike last year where Trevon, Gary and Grayson all compiled low defensive metrics) and have the length to drive shooters off the 3 point line. Zion is as talented on the defensive end of the court as he is scoring. Barrett is not only an intense defender, but also a superior defensive rebounder. Those two are so versatile defensively that Duke can defend the post efficiently even without a big on the court. This is such a fun team to watch on the defensive end.

The January part of the schedule is done. Two home games — St. John’s next Saturday (noon on ESPN) and Boston College on Tuesday before the showdown in Charlottesville on Saturday, February 9.

Duke 91- St. Johns 61

Historically, teams like St. Johns, featuring a group of city ballers, have given Duke trouble mainly because they thrive on an open floor run-and-gun urban playground game. For instance, the last time the Blue Devils lost to a non-conference opponent in Cameron was an incredible 18 years and 146 games ago to, you guessed it, St. John’s. And just one year ago, an unranked St. John’s team, led by point guard Shamorie Ponds’ 33 points, beat #4 Duke 81-77 in Madison Square Garden. That was then against defensively challenged Duke players and this is now in Cameron against Trey Jones, who shut out Ponds in the first half, and Zion Williamson, who put on another “Oh My God! Did you see that!” SportsCenter Highlight Show.

What I look for at this time of the season is whether or not the players are all improving, contributing, and developing chemistry so that the whole is more than the sum of the parts– or whether the team is uneven and overly dependent on one or two players. Today, the Blue Devils played forty minutes of good offense and almost that much of good defense. Granted, the score was too closed for comfort until the last few minutes of the first half when Zion scored ten straight points to go into the locker room with a ten point lead and plenty of momentum. Predictably, Cris Mullins’ team started out in a zone, daring Duke to hit threes, which, fortunately, Cam Reddish did. Unfortunately, so did his Red Storm. However, threes come easier at the beginning with fresh legs than later with tired ones. And in the second half, fatigue had turned the mean Johnnies into exhausted, frustrated players, while the Dukies were sprinting to the finish.

Obviously, it doesn’t appear than anyone has an answer for Williamson anywhere on the court but anyone can have an off night or get hurt. What I liked today was the balance of point distribution among the starters: 29, 16, 15, 13, 10. Sometimes, RJ is the leading scorer, sometimes it is Zion—whatever, together they are usually good for 50 or so points. But to have Cam stroking it, Tre looking for shots, and Bolden continuing to contribute on both ends is very encouraging. Also, Duke outrebounded their opponent 48-30 with RJ getting 14.

Generally speaking there are three basketball defensive philosophies: 1) Play a team straight up and hope for the best. 2) Give the best player his points and focus on shutting down his teammates. 3) Try to take away an opponent’s best player and hope none of his teammates have a career game. You just knew that with Try Jones, Coach K was going to try to limit Pond’s production, frustrate him, and put pressure on the others. It takes a very mature player who is used to the spotlight not to be frustrated by not being able to do what he does best and not let it impact his attitude—especially his defense. Well, Shamorie spent a lot of time shaking and baking, showing off his moves (and taking time off the clock) without scoring a point in the first twenty minutes. While Jones was the main perpetrator, all the other players, including Marques Bolden, were his accomplices switching with help defense. Temporarily, Ponds’ talented teammates filled in. However, pressure, fatigue, and the law of averages kicked in and the Red Storm team ended up shooting 34%.

Miscellaneous Comments:

My buddy, Johnny Tar Heel, says that if you put Zion Williamson on any of the top ten teams, that team would be #1. BTW, Carolina is surging. They beat Louisville at Kentucky.

St. John’s Coach Chris Mullins, one of the great shooters in basketball history: “They’re a great team, obviously. Talented, unselfish. It’s great, I love playing Duke. They’re the classiest team in the country, so you can learn a lot from them.”

I have watched and played a lot of basketball and been thrilled by many wonderful players. However, I only have seen what I can consider four transcendental players: Pete Maravich, David Thompson, Michael Jordan, and Zion Williamson. While I do not think it fair to compare players of different eras, as a freshman, Zion is the best. If you are a basketball fan, do not miss watching him play.

When Dick Vitale is announcing a game, I wonder how many people turn the sound off?

Duke 80 – Boston College 55

Well, Alan was half right. After twenty minutes, the game appeared to be the “trap game” he cautioned against as the score was 28-30. It was that close only because Cam Reddish converted a back court steal from Ty Bowman at the buzzer. While scoring 52 second half points and holding BC to just 25 was an impressive “progression to the mean” (patent pending), it couldn’t have happened without Cam Reddish’s steadily improving play producing his best game of the year. He scored 24 points on only 16 shots, played terrific defense, and was a rare welcomed sight (80%) at the free throw line. Zion’s all-round hustle and production (9 pts, 11 rebs) was about all the good news in the first twenty minutes but the second twenty was what excites Duke fans (and basketball aficionados). Neither Hubie Brown or Dick Vitale could recall a college team with three of the projected top five picks in the upcoming NBA draft.

The final scoring was 24-19-16-11-6-4. (O’Connell hit two late baskets for the Blue Devils only bench points. DeLaurier and White did produce 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks.) RJ was hampered by two early, silly fouls and the focus of the Eagles defense was to double Zion. When a team shoots 1-15 from three point land in any half, you have to wonder if it is a Final Four team. However, 52 points on 6-9 threes, shooting 63% overall, and playing lock down defense (36%) makes one wonder who were those guys wearing the Duke jersey’s in the first half? Coach K should tape his half time conversations for a motivational CD to be edited and sold at a later date as a G rated video.

Speaking of defense, for the second game in a row Tre Jones (and Company) limited an opponent’s, talented, high scoring point guard, Ky Bowman, to 11 points on 17 shots and forcing 3 turnovers. The team also recorded 9 blocks and 9 steals. Also, flying somewhat under the radar is the improved play of Marques Bolden, who according to Coach K has finally been healthy for six straight weeks for the first time in his Duke career.

During this upcoming tough stretch, let’s hope that the Blue Devils are able to play close to forty minutes of their best basketball each and every game. Otherwise…….

Other Comments:

This victory produced Duke’s 23rd consecutive 20 win season.

Zion (16 pts, 17 rebs, 3 asssts, 3 blks, 4 steals) missed an open floor reverse slam, then later had a perfect pass slip out of his hands as he was taking off for an uncontested dunk. Coming off the floor was the first time I have ever seen him angry. Fortunately, it was in disappointment with himself, not an opponent. Incidentally, here is what St. John’s coach and former All Pro Chris Mullins said about Zion: “I said coming in probably one of the best things about him is his attitude and his personality. He’s got a great joy for the game and passion for the game. I think it rubs off on his teammates. He’s very unselfish. If he doesn’t like his shot, he shares with his teammates. Those things get overlooked. Obviously, his physicality, his athleticism is unmatched. A lot of these kids, when they’re critiqued and they’re rated, sometimes by the time they get here they’re worn out. He seems to have been able to maintain that smile and that passion. I think that’s contagious to their team. It’s good to see.”

Basketball lifer, Hubert “Hubie” Brown (Hall of Fame, two time NBA Coach of the Year) was one of the announcers. Both Hubie (1968-72), as well as HOF’er Chuck Daley (1963-69), head coach of NBA champions Detroit Pistons as well as the 1980 Olympic Dream Team, were an assistant coaches at Duke under Vic Bubas.

Alan Adds:

Hubie was a blessing on this telecast; Vitale actually shut up to listen to Hubie’s insightful color commentary so, I didn’t have to turn the sound off. I texted Bill at half time, lamenting how Duke played in the first half, but concluded that Duke has been a second half team all year. And were they ever.

The First Half

But, thoughtful analysis should not just disregard the first half. ESPN had this to say in a pre-game column: “To call it tough would be underselling the six-game stretch that awaits the Blue Devils at the end of this week. Toughest is better, because that’s what it literally is. The toughest scheduled six-game stretch. For any team. At any point this season. Past or present. No offense to Boston College, but we’re actually previewing the six-contest stretch of heavyweights that begins after the Blue Devils beat the Eagles Tuesday” Coach K was concerned and it showed in the opening stanza. Tre admitted he lacked energy and had to be more of a leader in the second half. On offense, maybe; he played a great defensive first half and game. Duke’s offense was worse than horrible in the opening stanza (scoring only 26 points before Cam made the game changing play to close out the half – stole the ball and laid it in at the buzzer, cutting the Duke deficit to 2). Coach K said Duke’s offense against the zone was stagnant. “Their zone messed us up.” After the St. John’s win, Coach K pointed out, all the hype about Duke-UVa this coming Saturday began. “they didn’t even mention the BC game. That’s what these kids have to live through.” It might have affected the first half, but fortunately not the whole game. “We played good defense the whole game (BC scored only 55; only 25 in the second half); our defense kept us in the game in the first half. In the second half, we played great; not good, great.”

The Second Half

Offensively, the show was on. Coach K insightfully pointed out that Duke got control of its own defensive backboard in the second half to change the game. He said when we got rebounds, we could run; that changed the game. In the second half, BC retrieved only 8 rebounds altogether (2 offensive) to Duke’s 22. Cam played an outstanding second half (first half was not bad — 4-10; 1-6 from deep for 9 points). OUTSTANDING! In 17 minutes, he scored 15 points (4-6; 3-5 from deep; 4-4 from the line) to go with an assist and a steal. Coach K was giddy, “Cam had a great game; not just on offense. He was moving beautifully on defense. We gave him the tough assignment of guarding Chapman (who, Coach K pointed out, scored at least half of his points when Cam was not guarding him). He was running through screens and moving side to side; it was absolutely beautiful. His defense helped his offense. He was moving strong on defense; that helps other aspects of your game.”

Had a deceptively terrific second half after a sub-par first half in which he was limited to 12 first half minutes by committing 3 silly fouls early, limiting him to 1-6 from the field; 0-2 from deep without attempting a free throw. Then came the second half where he absolutely sparkled (sort of under the radar). He scored 15 second half points in 15 minutes (4-6; 2-2 from 3land; and 5-7 from the line). He is both defender and rebounder (5 for the game; tied for second with Tre and Bolden behind Zion’s astounding 17 (10 in the first half to go with his 9 first half points, keeping Duke close. He plays so hard and with such joy that Coach K overlooks a missed dunk or two. “We’re lucky to have him, and you are lucky to be able to watch him.”

In the second half, Tre realized that he has to be an offensive threat; 2-6; 1-2; 2-4 for 7 second half points (11 for the game). He has to shoot better from deep, but he is the straw that stirs the drink on both ends of the floor. Coach K was unstinting in his praise for Marques Bolden. “He’s not just improved, he’s playing great.” He is healthy and moving well. “His footwork; good on offense, really good on defense. We switched him on to Bowman. He did a good job there. Javin has played well; so we are getting better inside.”

Defensively, Duke shut down Bowman as it had shut down Ponds in the St. Johns game. It was not just Tre. The bigs stepped up and helped Tre contain him. It was great team defense. Bowman only had 4 second half points. This is a terrific defensive team

The Gauntlet

Away against UVA Saturday; and Louisville next Tuesday. The start of a 6 game grind that ESPN says is one of the toughest in the history of college basketball. I plan to watch.

Duke 81 – Virginia 71

This game was two heavyweights going the distance. Uncharacteristically, Duke shot lights out 13-21 (62%) from three point land and a decent 16-23 (70%) from the foul line to never lose the lead but seldom able to increase it into comfortable double digit territory. Nevertheless, Virginia was relentless and went on a late three minute 11-3 run to cut the halftime lead to only four points. Virginia Coach Tony Bennett’s “Pack Line Defense”, which discourages the opposition from penetrating and getting inside the paint, had frustrated Zion Williams into only 8 field goal attempts and multiple turnovers and forced Duke to do what they statistically have done poorly–shoot threes. Duke ranks 317th — that’s is not a typo– 317th in the nation in three-point shooting, right between those national powerhouses Texas Rio Grande Valley and Jacksonville State. And Virginia has the top-ranked defense in the nation against three-pointers. In the previous game at Cameron, Duke made 2 of 17. However, RJ Barrett did his best James Harden (on a good night) impression. Yet, hitting an amazing 8-11 (73%), playing good defense, and the Blue Devils still were only up only four points at the break—and the water was rising.

Going into halftime, it certainly appeared to the packed, raucous John Paul Jones Arena that the Cavaliers had taken the Blue Devils best shot, shook it off, and definitely had the Big Mo going for them in the remaining twenty minutes. However, never underestimate Coach K ‘s halftime talks, which he should record for a motivational tape to be edited and sold at a later date as PG rated, and his adjustments. To become quicker and more flexible, Krzyzewski started the second half inserting Jack White for Marques Bolden. This change created more defensive quickness and more space for shooters like Cam Reddish, who responded by nailing three triples before the under-16 timeout to put Duke in front by 11.

No matter how talented, you never know how a young team will react to adversity on the road in a hostile ACC arena. Tonight, the Blue Devils earned an A+. For every charge the Virginia team, which had not lost to any other team this year, made– and there were many– the Blue Devils had an answer. In the second half, Tre Jones (13 pts, 7 assists, 3 steals) did his best big brother Ty impression by scoring points only when they were most needed plus playing, relentless ball hawking defense. The strong commitment to defense is what separates this team from all of their recent talented, one-and-done predecessors. For instance, good defense produced steals and turnovers that led to 17 fast break points versus none for Virginia.

How is this for scoring: 26-18-17-13-5-2 (Unsurprisingly, a seven man rotation). You cannot underestimate what the improvement of Cam Reddish (17 pts, 3 assts, 2 blks, 3 steals) has meant to the team. As Johnny Tar Heel noted: “Cam is really tall and rangy and a great defender as well as having the best shooting stroke on the team”. Since his Florida State 23 point heroics, a rejuvenated Reddish has scored 9, 15, 7, 13, 16, 24, 17. (He missed the Syracuse loss with illness). Although Zion was frustrated by the Pack Line Defense, which limited his field goal attempts, he compensated by hitting a three to go with 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks (one of which he closed from UNDER THE BASKET to spike a three point attempt from the corner into the stands.

The bottom line is that this was the best Duke has played since the opening win over Kentucky. However, it was much more impressive because Kentucky was never in that first win as Duke cruised from the opening tip and Virginia, which rarely loses at home under Coach Bennett, never, ever, stopped competing.

Miscellaneous Comments:

I have nothing but admiration for Coach Bennett, who, defensively, is college basketball’s version of Patriot’s Coach Bill Belichick, and has turned Virginia into a powerful national program. Tonight, he took away the points in the paint, gambling that Duke could not make threes. Others will be doing the same—hopefully, not as well.
An indication of what Tre Jones’s defensive value means to the Blue Devils is that with Jones in the lineup, Duke leads the country in steal percentage (13.9). When he was out with an injury, their steal percentage dropped to 6 percent. He also leads the ACC in assists (5.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (4.8).
Among the packed John Paul Jones Arena of 14,629: LeBron James, Ralph Sampson, Rajon Rondo, Grant Hill, and John Grisham, who lives in Charlottesville.

Alan adds:

“OK, I have said all year that Virginia is better than Duke. I guess, I was wrong!” This sentence was actually written by Bill because I have been saying that UVA was, for the moment, a better team than Duke (with a caveat that did not mean it would be true in March). UVA is as good as any team in the country, and they played an absolutely superb game last night in their home arena. Consider that Duke hit them as hard in the beginning (Barrett 5-5 from 3 in the first 10 minutes) as the Devils hit Kentucky in the season opener. Kentucky was done and never even got into the game. In contrast, the Cavaliers actually weathered the storm and staged a dramatic comeback in the last couple of minutes of the first half to be down only 4 (after trailing by 14) at the break. Even Duke shooting 73% from 3 in the first half failed to crack UVA. You have to credit the heart and soul of a team that can withstand what the Devils hit UVA with in the first half. Even though Duke didn’t cool off much in the second half: shooting 56% from the field and 50% from deep (5-10), while playing outstanding defense, Virginia hung tough and never stopped competing. The only way to measure the significance of the Duke performance in this game is to understand how truly excellent Virginia’s play was. Duke was on the road (ACC road games) in a place where Virginia has a home court record almost as good as Duke’s at Cameron, playing the #3 team in the country.

Tellingly, in that situation, Virginia never had the ball in its possession with a chance to take the lead; and after Zion’s dunk followed Barrett’s opening 3, Virginia never, in the 38 remaining minutes, had the ball with a chance to just tie the game! NEVER! That’s an unusual type of domination in a highly competitive game. It is one reason why I think this Duke performance was a difference in kind rather than just a difference in degree. I think Coach K agreed based on the dreamy smile and outlook he displayed in the post-game press conference. “As good as the game in Durham was, this was better. I thought both teams played outstanding basketball tonight. It was tough to single out a kid. We were fortunate we won. It’s the best we’ve shot from the three-point, and obviously, it’s a huge difference. They’re outstanding, and we’re really good too and it was that game. We feel very thankful that we won. I’m proud of my guys, but we beat a heck of a team, and they’re a great program.”

Duke was a complete team where the whole exceeded the sum of the parts. This may be the first game where all the contributions of each Duke starter felt so equal. First, as Jay Bilas is beginning to recognize, this is not just a good defensive team; it is on its way to becoming a great defensive team. They communicate and switch with few flaws. Bolden (24 minutes) has morphed into a superb defender, allowing Duke to switch 1-5. He was guarding Guy and Jerome on the perimeter and making those two amazing players work for their points. Cam and R.J. are beginning to be recognized for their ability to guard, create deflections and make steals. Zion is a major part of why Duke is among the NCAA leaders in both steals and blocks; he has been a highlight reel in both categories. We don’t really need to say anything more about Tre’s defense – it has been all-world. Duke does not suffer defensively when Jack White and DeLaurier, Duke’s only substitutes last night, come into the game. Neither played much: (White 13 minutes — 5 in the first half; DeLaurier 9 minutes – only 2 in the second half). But their presence and performance are an integral part of the whole.

Everyone in the starting lineup made valuable contributions. I received an email from a friend asking “Where was Zion?”. You get an idea of how high the bar has been set when a stat line — scoring 18 points in 36 minutes on 8 field goal attempts (6-8; 1-1 from deep; 5-7 from the stripe) to with 5 rebounds, 5 assists (ponder that for a moment), 3 blocks (one drew this comment from the UVA coach, “only 2 people in the world could make a block like that and they were both in our gym tonight” – referring to LeBron sitting courtside) and 3 steals — produces “Where was Zion?”.

Part of Duke’s three point success was how open the shot attempts were – really clean looks. Zion gets some of the credit for those clean looks, because UVA packed it in to keep Zion from exploiting the lane, as he did against them in Durham. It worked forcing Zion into 5 turnovers, but it also cost them by giving Duke open looks from deep. R.J. was superb last night in all aspects of the game. He never came out of the game (full 40 minutes). He passes, he rebounds, and he is a great teammate. At one point Zion had him open and turned it over before he could hit R.J. for an easy slam. No mere, “my bad”; the two roommates hugged after that on the court. Much of that type of “Three Musketeer” outlook underlies what is making this team special. Coach K on R.J.: “he’s been disappointed [in himself even though he has been very good]. He wants to be great. He really had unbelievable preparation for this game, and you could see right away that he was lathered up. He got us off to such a good start.” You can also see his experience in tight situations – gained in International competition — giving Duke leadership in tight situations. In my judgement, this was the game where Cam fully joined Zion and R.J. to realize the expectations from the top three high schoolers signing with Duke. Finally, he was an equal partner in all aspects, he played solid defense and continued his upward trajectory on offense, with 17 points, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks in 36 minutes. At one point earlier in the season, we heard suggestions that Jack White should replace Cam in the starting lineup. Don’t hear that anymore! Coach K on Cam: “His defense has gotten so much better. He’s just playing stronger. He was good before, but his shots weren’t strong. His whole game has gotten stronger. He went on a flurry for a little bit, which he can do. We see him getting better and better.”

And then there is Tre. Announcers have taken up our refrain that Tre may not be the best player on the team, but he is the most important. He is that, but I believe for this season (not NBA potential), he is also the best player on the team. His second half was a microcosm that I believe justifies my outlandish opinion. Like R.J., Tre never came out of the game. While Duke was hot in the first half, Tre was the distributor, but not scorer (0 points on a single shot), but 5 assists and 4 rebounds. We should appreciate what an elite rebounding guard Tre is and has been all season. In the second half, Virginia was relentless, and Duke needed scoring. Tre became the scorer that I believe, and we all hope, he really is. He led Duke’s second half scoring with 13 points (4-7; 1-2 from deep; and a crucial 4-4 from the line. He totaled 7 assists and 2 steals. His heralded teammates recognize him as their leader. He is really something!

Finally, let’s talk about heart. The second half was a beautiful war. Duke pushed its 4 point half time lead to 7 almost immediately. From there the Duke lead fluctuated between 5 and 11. With 12:20 left, UVA reduced the Duke lead to 5 when Tre answered with a 3. Coach K said that every time the Cavaliers reduced the Duke lead to 2 possessions, a Duke player stepped up and answered. A Tre jumper; foul shots by Bolden and R.J., a 3 by R.J., a layup by Bolden, another jumper by Tre, layups by Zion and clutch free throwing down the stretch by R.J. and Tre kept UVA from ever getting closer than 7 for the final five minutes of the game.

This week will be interesting. UVA travels to Chapel Hill for a game worth watching on Monday and Duke faces Louisville (stung by an overtime loss to Florida State in Tallahassee) on Tuesday. Is this fun or what!

Duke 71 – Louisville 69

I saw it but I still don’t believe it! For thirty minutes, #2 Duke was totally dominated in every phase of the game by #16 Louisville. The Cardinals were playing like the best team in the country to the delight of their raucous 22,000 fans in the KFC Yum! Center but to the chagrin of the 90 some Duke fans, their body language and posturing increasingly said: “This game is over”.

With ten minutes left and Duke down 23 points on the road with Zion Williamson saddled with four fouls, raise your hand if you didn’t think the Blue Devils were dead in the water without a motor or even a paddle. There was only one problem. One person raised his hand as well as his voice: Coach K. He said he didn’t believe the game was over. According to Zion, he said: “Look, you’re not losers, but you’re playing like losers. I don’t coach losers. Keep fighting”, substituted little used Jordan Goldwire, and switched to a full court 2-2-1 zone press. Suddenly, Duke looked like the team as advertised and Louisville looked like a scared, tentative pretender not a contender. What a transformation! No Cardinal player looked as though they wanted the ball, much less to shoot it. On the other hand, with time running out, on a secondary fast break RJ Barrett, who was having a rare off night (13 pts), casually dropped the ball between his legs to a trailing Cam Reddish, who pulled up and nailed an NBA three to tie the score.

Zion Williamson ( 27 pts, 12 rebs, 1 blk, 3 steals) was his usual amazing self but tonight Cam Reddish, with 16 of his 23 points in second half, was the scoring catalyst for the rally as well as the closing. His threes and final two free throws were stone cold Larry Bird type daggers to the heart of the shocked Louisville players and suddenly quite 22,000 of the 22,090 fans.

After hitting their first five threes and shooting 55% from the floor in Charlottesville on Saturday, Duke shot 25% threes and 37% from the floor as they faced their largest halftime deficit of the season at 38-29. When we talked at half time, Alan said that it certainly looked bad but (whistling in the dark) at least we have been a second half team.

What this win says to me is that this teams is talented, flexible, and tough enough to win a lot of different ways. They may not win the NCAA Championship but this was a win for the ages.

Miscellaneous Comments:

Coach K is a great motivator and a great bench coach. Substituting Goldwire and switching to a zone press was like substituting Grayson Allen in the Championship game against Wisconsin—a game changer. At his press conference Coach K was very complimentary of Louisville head coach Chris Mack and his team and brutally honest as he gave credit to his Army training: “At West Point, one of things I learned as a cadet is this: Even when you don’t feel like it’s going to go your way, your men better not see that in you, and as a result, you can speak into action sometimes. I did think that we could play better. I was hoping we wouldn’t lose by 35—I’m not kidding, we could have. So, you’re talking positive, but I don’t believe it. Once that press was going, I said, ‘We’ve got a chance here. We can get it.’ But, at that point, I think I may have been telling them a lie.”
The dumbest (or most calculating as he did achieve several TV shots) person in the arena had to be the student with the sign: “Zion can’t dunk.”
This game, combined with the indelible memory of the Christian Laettner shot in the 1992 NCAA Tournament, makes Duke fans pretty much persona non grata in the entire basketball obsessed state of Kentucky.
Tonight, Duke went from “Hey, we can beat they guys.” to “Duke is ranked #2? That’s a misprint. These guys really are amazing!”

Alan Adds:

The comeback left me speechless. Let’s go inside it. It is true that the Blue Devils started to reduce the 23 point deficit with 9:13 left; that’s the headline, but it does not tell the true story. Two minutes later Duke had only reduced the lead to 20. It was far from clear that there was a comeback in progress, though you could feel the vibe on the court change. Goldwire and the 2-2-1 zone were having an effect that was still subtle. With 6:25 left, Duke still trailed by 19. It was the next minute that transformed the game and brought hope, tension and a special kind of stirring excitement. Zion scored inside – a 3 point play the old fashion way and Tre stole the ball for a layup. Louisville called time out with its lead cut to 14. The next sequence was wild. Tre stole the ball (again) but had his layup spectacularly blocked at the rim. The Cardinals corralled the rebound but not for long; Zion stole it back and was fouled. He cut the lead to 12, making both free throws. So, with 5:41 left, Duke was down 12. Zion stole it again and fed R.J. for a superb finish at the rim. Down 10 only. It was in that minute and 8 seconds – from 6:25 to 5:17 – that the rout was transformed into a game with an uncertain outcome. Of course, Zion was not done. Down 12 again after a Cardinal 3, RJ. grabbed a key rebound and fed Zion who was fouled and swished them both to get back to a 10 point deficit. Then came the unheralded play of the game for me. Zion rebounded a Cardinal miss and took it the length of the floor. His determination oozed out of the TV screen. Louisville only sort of got back, and Zion challenged them. He made a fake at high speed to open a lane into which he flashed for the score, and added the foul shot for another 3 point play reducing the deficit to a single digit – 7 with 4:13 left. We all moved to the edge of our seats. Reddish and McMahon of Louisville traded free throws (Reddish had been fouled while firing a 3 from deep – bad foul – and made two of his 3). Duke down 7 with under 4 left. The Cardinals got the rebound, but RJ. intercepted the pass and went the length of the court for his specialty, a strong finish at the rim. Down 5 with 3: 44 left. Zion stole it again and Cam made the Cardinals pay with a deep three, and Duke was within 2. But with 2:31, the gifted Louisville point guard, Cunningham, fed the talented Nwora for a three; the Cardinals lead ballooned to 5 with only 2:31 left. But the bloodlust was up for the Devils. Jones stole the ball (again) and scored to cut the lead to one possession, 69-66 with 2:10 left. And what a possession it was.

With 1:38 left, Tre grabbed a defensive rebound and passed ahead to RJ. J. King of DukebasketballReport.com, chose the perfect adjective to describe R.J.’s pass to Cam. R.J. made an “arrogantly casual” pass between his legs to Cam who was at least 5 feet behind the 3 point line. No hesitation. The pass said “I know you will nail this.” Cam’s confidence in going up in rhythm almost like a ballet dancer said, “I know I’m going to nail this.” Watching on TV, I knew he was going to nail it. Cam’s teammates knew it also. Nothing but net and a tie game with 1:29 to go. Duke just couldn’t lose having come back this far, but the shots stopped falling – for both teams. Reddish and Nwora traded missed 3s (Cam’s seemed almost like a “heat check” – not a good shot, but who could complain after the tying three). With 45 seconds left, Goldwire grabbed a defensive rebound and Duke called time with 30 seconds left. Cam drove into a collision (charge), but the Cardinal sneaker heel was in the restricted area; so the referees reviewed the play and overturned the charge call on the floor. Cam dropped both free throws for the winning margin with 14 seconds left. Goldwire defended the last Louisville shot and Zion, fittingly enough, grabbed the tough rebound to clinch the game.

The freshmen scored 68 of Duke’s 71 points [Zion, 27; Cam, 22; R.J., 13; and Tre 6]. Bolden scored 2 in only 12 minutes (2 in the second half) and DeLaurier 1 in 13 minutes. Goldwire played 12 minutes overall, but a crucial 10 in the second half. This comeback is, of course, the stuff of legends. Two tough road wins against ranked teams. The gauntlet continues at home with N.C. State on Saturday at 6pm (ESPN). UNC next Wednesday at 9 pm (ESPN).

Duke 94 – North Carolina State 78

The good news is that the Blue Devils never trailed as they beat N.C. State for the first time since 2016. Zion Williamson had 32 points on 16 shots in just 30 minutes (they were -8 when he was not on the floor) and RJ Barrett had only the fourth triple double in Duke Basketball history (The others: Sheldon Williams, Gene Banks, and Rudy D’Emilio.) The bad news is that Duke “held” N.C. State, which scored just 24 points against Virginia Tech, to 78 points and never put them away. But when they were good, the Blue Devils were flashes of very, very good, and when they were mediocre, they were very, mediocre. However, Tre Jones played 40 minutes, and, as usual, did not take one minute off. Tonight, in the last minute of a game already decided, Tre knocked the ball lose at half court, dove on the floor for it, and, on flat prone, passed to Jordan Goldwire for a lay-up.

One of the challenges tonight is that Zion was saddled with foul trouble for much of the game and only played 30 minutes. It appears the referees are not use to seeing a college basketball players make plays that Zion does, don’t believe what they are seeing, so are making some phantom calls or calls better ignored, because they do not affect the outcome of the play. Tonight, for instance, Williamson skied and torqued his body in a reverse “C” far above C.J. Bryce to snatch a rebound one handed. Bryce was not impeded, had no chance for the ball, and there was barely any contact but, nevertheless, Zion got called for the foul. Fortunately, Captain Jack White, who was substituted for Zion, broke out of a slump and contributed as he had in the beginning of the season. He started with an athletic chase-down block of a Johnson layup, followed by a cut to the basket for a dunk, and pulled down an offensive rebound in traffic before converting a put back to give Duke a double-digit lead with eight minutes left. The Australian forward then ran the floor on a three-on-one fast break to slam home an alley-oop off an assist from Barrett. Bolden( 9 pts, 8 rebs, 3blks, 4 stls) and DeLaurier 6 rebs, 3 blks, 2stls) were very active defensively as Duke controlled the glass, out-rebounding State 44-26, and a 17-2 edge on second-chance points. Cam Reddish was inconsistent: some very exciting creating drives but 1-7 from beyond the arc.

Coach Krzyzewski said his team is tired– back-to-back road games plus Barrett and Bolden have been sick this week.

Miscellaneous Comments:

Mike Krzyzewski became the all-time winningest college basketball coach on Saturday with 1,123 career wins. Mike was tied with McKendree legend Harry Statham for the most wins in college basketball history. He already had the most NCAA victories of any basketball coach, as a portion Statham’s 1,122 wins came in the NAIA (The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) a college athletics association for small colleges and universities), not the NCAA.

Kentucky dominated #1 Tennessee 86-69 at Rupp Arena. I don’t pay much attention to polls but the last time I looked at the Coaches Polls, #2 Duke only received 2 first place votes. Tennessee, which until tonight has played the easiest schedule of any top team received all the others—a little bit of coach’s envy?

Johnny Tar Heel mentioned he was surprised that Coach K had not employed the full court zone press more often this year as UCLA Coach John Wooden had done in 1964 & 1965 winning the first two of his ten NCAA Championships. We recalled that that he had only one tall (at that time) player, Keith Erickson, who was 6’4”, but a world class volleyball player, and very skilled, quick players, like Walt Hazzard and Gail Goodrich, who caused havoc with taller but less agile opponents. As a matter of fact, in the 1964 NCAA Finals, the Bruins zone press was instrumental in beating the Jeff Mullin led Duke 98-83. His point was that the pressing defense played right into the strengths of both teams then and now.

Because of Zion Williams sensational athleticism and skill set plus his precocious teammates, this Duke team is the face of college basketball both in person and on television. Tonight, Boxer Floyd Mayweather was sitting directly behind the Duke bench and next to former Blue Devils guard Quinn Cook. Among other NBA players in attendance was Minnesota’s Tyus Jones, the older brother of the current Duke point guard, Grayson Allen, Lance Thomas, Tyus Jones, Amile Jefferson, Quinn Cook and Gary Trent Jr., who have all played for Duke this decade, as well as Phoenix’s T.J. Warren, a Durham native and former N.C. State star. When asked about it, Williamson modestly commented: ”I think that’s just the Duke effect. You’ve got to understand, (Mike Krzyzewski) is the greatest coach of all time, so a lot of people want to just come and experience Cameron. We appreciate Floyd and especially the former players who came back, because you know, they’re part of the brotherhood.”

“As great a basketball player as he is, he’s a better person,” said Brennan Besser, a fourth-year Duke walk-on guard who graduated from Chicago’s Latin School. “I’ve seen a number of unbelievably talented players who are now in the NBA, and he is the first teammate to leverage his star power to create a more equitable space for everyone on the team. Zion does this in a number of ways: by including Buckmire, a little-used guard, in interviews. By giving teammates such as Besser a shout out in Duke-produced (“Duke Blue Planet”) videos. Duke recruits great players. A lot of times these guys are very basketball-centric. Zion is the most multidimensional player and friend that I’ve come across. It creates a culture where everybody feels loved. He does it because he’s a nice guy and he knows that if he were a walk-on, he’d want to be treated that way. He has that sixth sense. He cares about other people.”

Alan Adds:

This 16 point win was a much better win than it seems on the surface. On the surface, Duke won at home against a Wolfpack team that is not contending for the ACC title. But, this was a situation where very good teams have lost. Duke is playing a six game stretch that is beyond difficult. Last week, the Devils had their two best wins of the season, beating UVA on the road and creating the “Comeback of the Year” on Louisville’s home court. Both R.J. and Bolden were sick, and Coach K said his team was “tired”.

In those difficult circumstances, Duke’s lead was never less than 7 and was frequently in double figures. Defensively, Duke gave up the lanes to stop the 3. (State was 1-9 in the first half). When Duke doubled onto the ball handler to drive him off the 3 point line, the roll man was open. State was scoring with the roll man or the roll man making the next pass that enabled State to score 78 points. Not a defensive gem in total, but many defensive gems – none better than Jack White chasing down an open fast break with a LeBron-like block from behind, racing full court. Duke dominated the backboards, outrebounding State 44-26. Barrett had 11 (9 defense); he has been a stalwart had deterring other teams offensive rebounding. Bolden had 8 in 22 minutes; Cam had 7, while both Javin (in 13 minutes) and Zion (in 30), had 6.

You cannot complain about an offense that score 94 points (48 in the first half). Duke played excellent half-court offense. R.J. had a stat line for the ages (23 points; 10 assists and 11 boards). He seemed to find Zion consistently – almost all of his 10 assists were to his roommate. Coach K pointed out how young he is (reclassified; he could still be in high school), and how he is still so advanced. R.J. won the national high school championship last year and is on the Canadian National Team (the only non-NBA player on it). Zion picked up his fourth foul (again) with 12:50 left to play. He did not return to the game until 6:18 remained. Then, he scored 13 in those last minutes. Other than some missed free throws in the second half, he was a beast for whom the Wolfpack had no answer. He scored 32 points in 30 minutes of action (12-16; 0-1 from deep; and 8-13 from the line). Four turnovers, but 3 steal (0 blocks).

The shot distribution is evening out: R.J. 17, Zion 16, Cam 15, and Tre 9. Jack White was 3-4 in 14 minutes. He may have broken out of his slump. Cam was off (2-15; 1-7 from deep; 4-5 from the line). He had a 4 point play early on his only made 3. He played well; just did not shoot well. Tre was wonderful with 5 assists and only 1 turnover. He scored 13 (6-9; 1-3). He had 2 steals. The last one captured the spirit of this team in a play. There were only a few seconds left in the game that Duke led by a lot, when Tre dived to create a steal and made a pass to Goldwire for the layup as the game ended. I thought that play was what this team is about both on and off the court. Jack King of Dukebasketballreport.com, wrote, “But no matter what happens on the court, these guys are the best representation of Duke basketball and what most of us would like it to be since Shane Battier graduated, and you just can’t pay a much higher compliment than that.”

UNC in Cameron on Wednesday at 9 pm (EST) on ESPN

Duke Basketball Playbook: 2017-18

It’s a sign of the new normal (drop-by basketball athlete-student era) when a team with only one experienced upper classman and a bench full of highly recruited but unproved freshmen can be ranked #1 in the Coach’s Preseason Poll. How many times have these coaches seen this team play? Nada, Zilch, None. This poll is virtually meaningless, except its Duke, Coach K, and a squad full of highly pursued freshmen. Speaking of highly rated freshmen—Dean Smith called them “prospects”– remember Cris Burgess, Joey Beard, and last year’s for sure lottery picks Harry Giles and Marques Bolden? No? That’s because they rarely contributed. BTW, how many Division I offers did Stephan Curry receive? My point is these are teenagers, who knows how they will turn out? And as talented and impressive as Jayson Tatum was from day one, it took until the ACC tournament before he could consistently contribute on a championship level for an entire game at both ends of the floor. Three other notes of caution: Duke’s best teams have always had senior leadership, this team will start only one upper classman–Grayson Allen, and the last two NCAA Champions, North Carolina and Villanova, had no starting one-and-done players.

There are also the three unknowable caveats: chemistry, injuries, and luck. Unlike other years, a Duke injury would be less devastating than say the previous years, but lack of chemistry and bad luck are random, heartbreaking decrees of the basketball gods.

OK, enough with the disclaimers. Now the good news: Count your blessings and enjoy the journey Duke fans, we have seen this team play in exhibitions and it really is impressively big, athletic, talented, and deep. So, the early hype may well be justified.

What to look for:

A big, stronger, deeper Duke team—especially in the front court—but not the typical perimeter oriented three point shooting Blue Devil team. The size of the players should shrink the court and make an opponent’s interior scoring more difficult than in recent years. One thing we do know for sure: Coach K will build the team around his talent, not force a one size fits all system on the talent.

I suspect that a lot of what this team achieves, revolves around the production of Grayson Allen, Marvin Bagley, Wendell Carter, and Trevon Duval. Allen is the only senior and if he plays well, the younger players will respect his experience, his seniority, and follow his lead. If not, all bets are off. I have always thought that Grayson was one of the program’s most talented and intriguing players. Certainly, his game changing ten minutes in the second half of the 2015 NCAA Championship as well as his sophomore year confirmed that assessment. Last year, under the pressure of pre-season Player-of-the Year predictions combined with a series of nagging but not debilitating injuries led to a few unfortunate, immature, non-lethal retaliations, the constant re-running and public discussion of which might have crushed the spirit and psyche of a lesser man. Grayson is a 3.8 student who could gone pro after his sensational sophomore year and was on track to graduate in three years. For a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that he really loves being at Duke, he chose not to leave and is one of today’s rare four-year college stars. Over the summer, Grayson had an operation on his injured foot and followed Coach K’s advice not to touch a basketball for three months. At the recent Midnight Madness, Grayson appeared happy, carefree, and obviously healthy as he hit four threes in the abbreviated scrimmage, won the slam dunk contest by jumping over two cheerleaders– and a third straight Iron Duke award for strength and conditioning in the offseason. All this plus the fact that Coach obviously believes in him—he’s the only team captain—is enough for me to believe he is primed for an outstanding year.

Point guard. Coach K was a point guard at Army. He recruits and is most comfortable structuring his teams to play with a strong point. History tells us that it is hard to win the NCAA Championship without a really good player running the offense (i.e. Bobby Hurley, Tyus Jones) and he appears to have one in the very athletic, multi-skilled 6’3” Trevon Duval. Krzyzewski: “I do know that Trevon is going to have the ball and he knows what to do with it. Will he have it all the time? No, he shouldn’t have it all the time. Will he have it a lot? Yeah.” Trevon is physically more gifted than either Hurley or Jones. Whether he is as mentally gifted and will be as good in the clutch is another question. If he is, this team will be as formidable as advertised.

The Blue Devils are loaded with front court players: Marvin Bagley, Wendell Carter, Marques Bolden, Javin DeLaurier, and Antonio Vranikovic are all 6’10”, 235 lbs. and over. Because Coach K likes to put the most versatile and complete players on the floor, I suspect he will start a lineup that features Marvin Bagley, the most highly rated, and Carter down low with Duval and Allen at guard, and Gary Trent at small forward. However, depending upon performance and the competition, we will see various combinations with Bolden, DeLaurier, O’Connell, and perhaps Tucker or White getting serious minutes until Coach K settles on the rotation that may be deeper than we are used to and for which some fans pray. Whatever, Coach K has won more Championships than all of us—even more than any active college or professional coach.

Other Comments:

The University of North Carolina has always been one of my favorite schools. I have a number of prep school classmates and other friends who went there. I love the campus, the logo, the colors, the way Dean and Roy teams play. Truly, what’s not to like? That’s why I had a hard time believing the academic scandal until it was an undeniable truth, which was devastating—no required class attendance, papers written by tutors, grading by a non-professor basketball junkie..…When the toothless NCAA recently gave them a pass, the print and social media exploded:

“North Carolina never got its day of reckoning for facilitating the most widespread academic scandal in the history of college sports. North Carolina’s basketball program was never going to get the harsh punishment that many college basketball fans thought it deserved.
“How in the hell did North Carolina get away with this?”
“The NCAA did not dispute that the University of North Carolina was guilty of running one of the worst academic fraud schemes in college sports history, involving fake classes that enabled dozens of athletes to gain and maintain their eligibility.”
“The school acknowledged that the classes that were taken were essentially bankrupt of any kind of teaching, learning or supervision … but that was perfectly OK with them. To defend the basketball team, the university had to claim it wasn’t really a university. Sure, they took a shotgun to their academic credibility, but, hey, those championship banners get to stay. The truth is, alums probably care more about hoops anyway.”
“What’s stopping a school from setting up a similar “paper course” and making sure it’s open to all students, then sending athletes through it?”
“even the most ardent Tar Heel should be outraged by the fraud the university committed”

Alan Adds:

There are barriers to our enjoyment of the 2017-2018 season that I want to address. The first barrier is the pre-season hype that had Duke #1 in the pre-season polls. The second is, in my opinion, underappreciating last year’s team. There are a multitude of satisfactions for Duke fans besides the NCAA tournament. I also caution against an analogy of this year’s team to the 2015 National Championship team because of each’s heralded freshman class.

2016-2017

Duke fans assess last year’s team (also pre-season # 1) as “disappointing”. I believe a more proper assessment would be that the 2016-17 Blue Devils were heroic, and deserve far more appreciation than has been given. Duke’s # 1 pre-season last year was largely based on yet another highly rated freshman class – Giles, Tatum, Bolden and Jackson – plus the return of Allen after his sensational sophomore year. Duke also had returning stars like Kennard, Jefferson and Matt Jones. Javin DeLaurier was a freshman athlete who would add depth. However, it did not work out. Giles, Bolden, and DeLaurier contributed very little because of (hopefully) health issues. Grayson self-destructed. Coach K had surgery. Tatum was hurt early. Remember Jefferson’s amazing offensive start before he was hurt. Thankfully, it was not season ending as his 2016 injury had been, but though he returned and played well, he was never the same offensive player as he had been in the early season. So, the pre-season team that had so much talented depth turned out to have a rotation that was only 6 deep and without a real point guard. Players logged very heavy minutes all season long. Duke had a “disappointing” 28-9 record and heroically won the ACC tournament in unprecedented fashion by winning four games in four nights (would most schools celebrate such a season?). It was a great season to that point! Then came the meltdown against South Carolina in the second round of the NCAA. One bad (really bad) half; Duke was ahead at the break, but gave up 65 second half points and simply and finally ran out of gas. That half should not tarnish what was, in my opinion, a wonderful year for Duke basketball because it demonstrated what is the true Blue Devil value – never-say-die heart and competitive spirit. It will remain one of my favorite Duke teams.

2015 compared to 2017-18

The four freshmen on the National Championship team – Tyus, Justice Jahlil and Grayson — were, of course, the tournament stars. But, that team had veterans that played significant roles both on and off the court. Quinn Cook’s leadership is on point. He moved over from point guard, was the team ambassador to the freshmen from day one, and provided solid on the court leadership at crunch time. His off the court attitude cannot be overestimated. Ditto for Amile and Matt. This team has only Grayson for guidance. Justin Robinson has, according to reports, been valuable in team building, but the elder statesmen who taught and bonded with the freshmen in 2014-15 do not really exist for this team. Highly rated (out of high school) Marques Bolden, thought about transferring after his disappointing freshman year, but bravely elected to return, expecting to go to the NBA next year. Other returners are less likely to make K’s usually short rotation. Leadership may have to come from other sources.

The reason for the 2017-18 #1 pre-season ranking is four of the top rated eight freshman (ESPN) will play for Duke. Marvin Bagley signed late and was able to reclassify from 2018 to current eligibility. He is 6’11” versatile player, who has been described as the best high school prospect since LeBron James. Chemistry! What will his late signing do to Bolden’s psyche because it just might have pushed him out of the starting lineup. Duke also signed the top-rated point guard, Trevon Duval. I have not seen either Bagley or Duval play. If he and Bagley are as advertised, it gives Duke a top and bottom on offense that should be formidable. In addition, Duke had signed Wendell Carter (a 6’10” beast, whom I’ve seen play quite a few times). He’s a stud inside, and a great athlete, who will be superb. The fourth highly rated freshman is Gary Trent, Jr., a 6’5” swing man who is reputed to be a superb shooter. He is very good, but not as elite as Carter, in my opinion. The issues will be team chemistry and DEFENSE! One of the reasons that the last two NCAA champions have had no “One and Done”s is that it takes time (years) to become a great defensive TEAM. In 2015, Duke became that great defensive team in time for the NCAA tournament. It was a turnaround – remember that while Duke won the National Championship that year, it did not win either the ACC regular season or tournament. So, no doubt Duke has talent (top six plan to play in the NBA next year), but whether that talent coalesces into a great team remains to be seen.

The Backcourt

Grayson, Duval and Trent should get most of the minutes.

Duke 93 NW Missouri State 60 (Exhibition game played Friday October 27)

Grayson was superb by all accounts, scoring 23 points (9-15; 5-10 from 3land but did not get to the line) in 26 minutes. He had 5 defensive rebounds and 3 assists. Duval and Gary Trent each played 21 minutes. Duval got high grades for his defense and ball handling (held the NW Missou star to 3-14 shooting and had 2 steals to go with 5 assists against a single turnover). Although he missed both of his 3s, Duval was otherwise 3-3 from the field for 7 points. Trent shot lights out (as advertised) 7-9 from the field missing his only 2 3point attempts for 15 points. Jordan Goldwire, a 4 star freshman point guard, brought in more as a practice player and second team point guard, played 16 minutes and Alex O’Connell, a 6’6” freshman shooter, played 14 undistinguished minutes. Neither scored.

Blue-White game on October 20 (just one 20 minute half)

Grayson, Duval and Trent each played the full 20 minutes – Duval and Trent for the winning Blue team (43-41) and Grayson for the White team. Trent and Grayson each scored 13 points. Goldwire also played 20 minutes (3-6; 2-4 from deep for 8 points). This means the other backcourt players – freshman Alex O’Connell (12 minutes — 8 points including the winning 3 at the buzzer) and Australian sophomore Jack White (6’7”; 14 minutes 6 rebounds) played on the wing.

The Front Court

Bagley, Carter and Bolden should be given most of the front court minutes.

Duke 93 – NW Missouri State 60 (Exhibition game played on Friday October 27)

Duke got big minutes out of the four front court players, who will, I predict, be in the rotation. Marvin Bagley drew raves for his 23-minute performance scoring 16 on 6-10 shooting, including 1-2 from deep and 3-5 from the line. He grabbed 6 boards and handed out 2 assists (3 turnovers). The other starter was Wendell Carter, who also impressed. In 18 scintillating minutes, he was 5-7 from the field (including 1-1 from deep) for 11 points to go with 9 rebounds. Both Bolden and DeLaurier each also played 18 minutes and looked good. Bolden scored 6 on 3-5 shooting, grabbing 5 boars. De Laurier played great defense and was 4-4 from the field and 1-1 from the line for 9 points while grabbing 7 boards. Vrankovich, 7 foot returning Junior, played 7 minutes while Justin Robinson played 8.

Blue-White game ( October 20th. Just one 20 minute half)

Bagley and Bolden played all 20 minutes; Carter 17. Vrankovich played 11 minutes scoring 4 points and grabbing 3 boards, while Javin DeLaurier, who has grown 2 inches to 6’10”, logged 15 minutes (9 boards!!; 3 points). Justin Robinson played only 5 minutes; he will not be in the rotation.

Bagley drew raves in his 20 minutes (6-10; 0-1 from deep for 12 points to go with 4 boards). Carter was a beast shooting 4-7; 1-2 from deep; 2-3 from the line for 11 points to go with 3 boards. Bolden was less productive (2-6; 0-1 from deep; and 0-2 from the line for 4 points while grabbing 5 boards. DeLaurier’s 9 rebounds and overall athleticism was impressive.

Duke 88 – Michigan State 81

Holy Jim Boeheim, Batman! Coach K goes zone for a full forty minutes!

My old fraternity/basketball buddy Phil called from Florida today to say that he hadn’t been able see the team play and asked if are they really as good as Alan and I have written. After the game, he said he should never have doubted us. So far, this team has demonstrated the talent, resiliency, and, yes, maturity to overcome slow starts, opponent’s runs, and still finish strong. The good news is that J.J. Allen was sensational scoring 36 pts. ( 7-11 threes), the one at the buzzer to end the half put Duke up by four was from Steph Curry’s zip code. Then, with less than a minute remaining nailing a dagger of a three to put the Blue Devils up seven to close out the tough Spartans. The bad news is that Bagley left the game early in the first half because of an inadvertent finger to the eye, went to the locker room and after the half, returned to the bench but not the game. Other than that, the young Duke players responded admirably to the pressure of playing a more experienced, highly rated team in a not exactly friendly environment on national television with the added burden of being without their double-double big man for most of the game.

When was the last time a Duke team dominated the glass, winning the battle of the boards 46-34 (25 offensive rebounds) against a top five team? In a post- game interview, Grayson was asked how he had such a great game and he said: “Tre(von)”, his point guard, who had 17 points, 10 assists, and 6 steals. Gary Trent had an off night (3-11), missing six threes. However, with four minutes remaining, he hit the three on a sweet assist from Allen that tied the score and fueled the winning run that closed out the game. If he had missed that shot, the result could have been different. Carter had a 12-12 double-double and off the bench DeLaurier was a real disrupter on defense with 4 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks. Marquis Bolden, however, did not take advantage of this opportunity for more playing time. Hopefully, it was a post strep infection funk.

The only obvious weakness of this team continues to be free throw shooting. Other than Grayson’s 8-8, the rest of the team shot Plumlee brother numbers– 50%. Giving up that many points in a close game can potentially jump up and bite this team in the loss column.

In the post-game interview Coach K said that he loves participating against top programs like Michigan State early in the year, because this is a Final Four type venue and either the moment or the other team can defeat you—a priceless experience for young players. Further, that Grayson has evolved from being a good shooter to being a great shooter. He had to learn to be a shooter, then a scorer. Earlier in his career, he spent too much time driving and getting knocked to the floor. However, he is in much better control now. “I felt like I was coaching J.J. Redick. You keep calling plays for him and they work. Grayson was fantastic tonight. Come on. He wasn’t good, he was fantastic.” Grayson commented: “I’ve played in 90 more games than the four teammates that are out there with me. So I feel a little more comfortable and calm and confident out there.”

Other Comments:

This Champions Classic at the United Center in Chicago was like a Final Four in November with Kansas beating Kentucky in the nightcap.

Tom Izzo is a great coach. However, he is now 1-11 against Coach K.

Allen’s 37 points were Duke’s most against a top-2 team since J.J. Redick dropped 41 in 2005.

Before the game, Duke wore their “Equality” shirts, while Michigan State wore shirts that said “We talk, We listen.” Alan will have to explain what they mean.

Alan Adds:

This game was, in my opinion, about the second half, so that is what I will write about. Coach K said, “We faced a lot of adversity against a great team and won a big game. Not a bad night.” The freshmen bigs were knocked back early in the game. There were times when Duke played 4 guards and only one big. Bagley was Duke’s third leading rebounder with 6 in only 10 minutes.

In the second half, Duke essentially played five players only. Bolden, Vrankovich and Goldwire played 2 minutes each and O’Connell 1 without scoring a point. Carter came out for 3 minutes as did DeLaurier. Trent had a one minute breather. DeLaurier and Trent played for over 9 minutes each with 4 fouls. Grayson and Duval played the entire half (Grayson played all 40 minutes). Allen (23), Duval (12) and Carter (10) scored 45 of Duke’s 50 second half points. Trent’s 3, which broke a 75-75 tie and Javin’s layup for Duke’s last score after he stole the ball were Duke’s other 5 points. The Duke zone gave up 47 points in the furious second half.

In the second half, we finally got to see the real Wendell Carter Jr. with a double-double in just the second half alone — 10 very tough rebounds to go with 10 points [3-5 from the field and 4-6 from the line]. He also had committed 4 fouls by the end (all in the second half heroically battling the Spartan’s big front line). He was the stud and beast that I have been describing. Duval was a revelation. He’s been really good throughout, but we could see him growing in confidence and efficiency in the second half. He scored 12 on 5-11 from the field (0-1 from deep; 2-3 from the line), but he ran the team. He had 6 second half assists against a single turnover. On defense, he had 3 second half steals and a block. Grayson was effusive in his praise of “Tre” after the game. Duval has been transformative. Finally, Grayson gave us a second half for the ages, scoring 23 points on 13 shots [8-13; 5-9 from deep and 2-2 from the line]. Duke was 8-11 from the line in the second half, which is an improvement over the first half and earlier games.

DeLaurier didn’t score until the end but he was sensational. With Bolden still sick and Bagley out, DeLaurier was the other Duke big to team with Carter. He had 5 rebounds, 2 assists, a block and a steal. He made the zone work (as much as it did in the second half) and cemented his place in the rotation. Trent had a subpar game and yet made the play of the game with his only second half basket. Duke won at what we call “winning time”. The last minutes of the game. With 4:12 to go, Duke trailed 75-73. Carter tied it with a dunk on an offensive rebound after a Trent miss. Then Grayson missed a three and DeLaurier got the rebound of the game, passed to Grayson who hit Trent for an open 3. Coach K said that it took guts for Trent to hoist it up after such an awful shooting night. Splash! Duke led by 3 with 3:12 to go. Then came the sequence of the game. Bridges missed a three and DeLaurier rebounded. Duval missed a layup; Javin got the offensive board, but missed a put back dunk. Trent grabbed that offensive rebound and found Grayson for a contested 3. Duke up 6 with 2:27 to go. A flurry of misses by both teams before Grayson sealed it with a three with only 70 seconds remaining, putting Duke up 9, and essentially ending the Spartan hopes.

As Bill might say, “Holy Jim Boeheim, Batman, Duke played zone for the entire game (except for one possession).” I wrote this before I got Bill’s first draft. That’s a bit scary! As for explaining the warm up shirts, I decline since I know my limits.

Coach K said he went to the zone because he was worried about Duke fouls. Duke’s length made the zone work (especially in the first half) and allowed Duke to avoid having anyone foul out (it was close; the game ended with 3 Duke players with 4 fouls.). Friday against Furman at home and then on to Portland for a three day; three game tournament in the Phil Knight Invitational. Duke could face real competition in the second and third games. First game against Portland State on November 23.

It was as Coach K predicted, “a hell of a night.”

Whetting the Whistle

Duval and Allen will start in the backcourt. Bagley and Carter will start up front. Who will the 5^th starter be? Either Trent (going small) or Bolden (going big); it was Trent in the first exhibition game. DeLaurier is more athlete than basketball player at this juncture, but having a 6’10” athlete on the court (especially if he becomes an elite defender) could earn significant minutes. I believe the rotation will be among these 7. Jordan Tucker, a 6’7” freshman swing man, who chose Duke at the last minute over Syracuse played only 4 minutes in the exhibition game and 6 minutes in the Blue-White game, which makes me predict a red shirt for him. Justin Robinson will not make the rotation. If the rotation extends beyond 7 (which will happen with injury, but, I predict, not otherwise), Vrankovich, White, O’Connell, or even Goldwire will see some necessary minutes.

Enjoy the season and do not let unrealistic expectations take away our enjoyment.

Duke 97 – Elon 68

Duke 99 – Utah Valley 69

Just looking at these scores, you would think: “Ho hum, two easy blowouts”. However, you would be dead wrong as they were against two entirely different teams that presented different challenges and the games were won in dramatically different ways. In the Elon game, Grayson Allen came out like a man on a mission hitting his first six shots as Duke took a 19-3 lead and cruised. At one point, he had outscored Elon 17-16. Against Utah Valley, a team that Friday night lead Kentucky by nine at the half, after eight minutes (and much of the half), Grayson had no points, and Duke was down as much as seven. At the second TV timeout, Coach K switched to a zone and essentially told the freshmen to man up because they were playing against adults (14 transfers and a 24 year old 7’, 250 lb. center) not boys. The freshmen obviously paid attention and grew up before our eyes, as Duke led Bagley & Carter (threes and four blocked shots), began to force turnovers, and went on a 20-5 run over the next five minutes.

Suddenly, the Blue Devil fans were no longer blue as Duke was up by seven. The Devils finished the game with 33 points off turnovers. Marvin Bagley, who moves in the post like George Gervin and has a full court motor like John Havlicek had his second double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds. In addition, notice how quickly he elevates on his second jump after he misses a shot and how often it enables him to get a second tip or shot. This is a rare talent for someone so big. Three other freshmen also had big nights: Trevon Duval had 15 points and 12 assists, Gary Trent Jr. added 17 points and Wendell Carter Jr. had 12. Grayson Allen finally heated up in the second half with 18 points and several acrobatic drives and dunks.

In all fairness, the Wolverines had to have been exhausted after a road trip that took them from Orem, Utah to Lexington, Kentucky to Durham in a few days. I suspect there aren’t a lot of direct flights from Orem to Lexington and Lexington to Durham.

I have long been fascinated by the way Coach K finds ways to win when his teams often do not have a dominant center or overwhelming size. For decades, the recruiting whisperers have told big men not to go to Duke, because Coach K is guard oriented and doesn’t know how to develop big men. Hello, 2017-18. Look out. Duke has them in spades—and they not only can play, they can run and jump and rebound and shoot and play defense. This team looks more like an NBA team than any since the 1991-92 team.

A stroll down memory lane (Carolina and Kentucky fans can stop reading): This was Mike Krzyzewski his 1,000th win in his 38 years at Duke, 1073rd overall, the most-ever for a coach in men’s Division I college basketball history. Before coming to Duke in 1979-80, he won 73 games in five years at his alma mater Army. During Krzyzewski’s tenure/reign, Duke has won five national championships in 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015 as well as playing in 12 Final Fours, won 12 ACC Regular Season Titles, and 14 ACC Tournament Titles. During his summer break, Coach K has guided the men’s Olympic Basketball team to gold medals in 2008, 2012 and 2016. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001. And BTW, the streak of non-ACC home wins now stands at 134.

Krzyzewski’s response. “ I don’t like Duke, I love Duke. I’m so lucky to be here for this time. It keeps you young. I don’t have a timetable for how long I’m going to coach, just trying to be in this moment. I can’t even believe it. We were 38-47 here in my first three years. There were a lot of people here that didn’t think I would win 1,000 games– me being one of them.”

Other Comments:

1 overall 2018 prospect R.J. Barrett committed to Duke over Oregon and Kentucky. Barrett is the star of the 2018 Class and gives the Blue Devils their third five-star pledge in the class, to go with Cam Reddish and Tre Jones. Duke now boasts the No. 1 overall recruiting class for 2018, leap-frogging cross-state rival North.

Keep an eye on Alex O’Connell. He is the skinny white kid with the 1940’s retro haircut who has more animated fun on the bench than most Cameron Crazies but, more importantly, makes things happen when he gets playing time. I suspect that Bolden, DeLaurier, and O’Connell will be the eight man rotation.

Alan Adds:

Nothing we saw in the first two games could diminish the high expectations for the 2017-18 Duke basketball season. Nothing we saw in the first two games could diminish the eager expectation of Tuesday’s matchup with pre-season #2 Michigan State. Tuesday promises to be a game that takes a preliminary measure of this year’s freshman dominated team. Michigan State is big and strong, historically a ferocious rebounding team, and has the leading player of the year candidate in Myles Bridges (6’7” swing man who led in votes for the pre-season All-American team; Grayson was second). Michigan State opened with a 30 point win against North Florida and showed an 8 man rotation. Michigan State has its own highly rated 6’11” freshman center in Jaren Jackson, who scored 22, and depth and experience at guard. Duke is flying high after two scintillating team performances.

Interestingly, both Bill and I said to each other that a Duke loss might be the best thing that could happen to these freshmen. Perspective: Perhaps, the youngsters learned from the first 8 minutes against Utah Valley when they were taken aback by the intensity of the visitors, who led 17-13 after 8 minutes. Coach K: “In the first four minutes, and our guys were grabbing things with one hand and they were just outplaying us. The second media timeout, we just talked to our team about the fact that this is the way it is. It isn’t like the other games. This is better, you’re going to feel better about playing in a game like this, but we have to play in a game like this, which means we have to be there every play. They really responded.” Four defensive blocks by Carter, which Coach K identified as the turning point, triggered the turnaround.

In the first two games, Duke played in friendly Cameron against teams that were not an athletic match for the Blue Devils. Notwithstanding, Duke was impressive – especially on the defensive end. In the first half against Elon, Duke switched everything 1 thru 5. Coach K said he could do that only with Amile previously, but Carter and Bagley are so quick on defense (and DeLaurier makes them look slow by comparison) that Duke can switch everything. Duke also showed more zone against Elon. Coach K pointed out that Duke is so long that a zone is effective. “We played it more than we will going forward.” Against Utah Valley, Duke had 33 points off turnovers. It will be interesting to see how well Duke defends against competition of the Michigan State quality.

Front Court

Duke is loaded up front. Wendell Carter and Bagley will start. Carter had foul trouble against Elon and logged only 16 minutes (11 in the second half). He had 3 fouls early, but did not foul again. In the second game he played 31 minutes, scoring 12 [4-8; 1-3 from deep; and 3-4 from the line]. He and Bagley pass and play well together. Bagley lived up to the hype in the first two games. He had double doubles in both games and had announcers gushing over every aspect of his game, and treating it as a sure thing that he will be the first overall pick in next spring’s NBA draft. The only blemish was he is 2-9 from the free throw line. That has to get better, because he will be shooting a lot of foul shots this year.

Behind the two starters is Javin DeLaurier. Although he logged only 14 minutes against Elon and 11 in the Utah Valley game, it is hard not to be impressed by his energy and athleticism. At 6’10”, he is quick enough to stay with point guards, and is a pure rebounder. I believe he will be a major contributor. Marques Bolden was too ill to play against Elon, and was projected to miss Utah Valley and Michigan State. He rallied to play 7 minutes against Utah Valley, grabbing 2 boards and looking as if he will be the 6^th man this year. Finally, Vrankovich (now a junior) has the experience (Croatian National Team), size and IQ to contribute if any of the four are unavailable. We are all curious to see how the front-line fares against stiff competition on Tuesday.

Backcourt

Trevon Duval is young, but he is playing the point with aplomb. He had 20 assists – 8 against Elon and 12 last night with only a single turnover. He picked up two quick fouls last night, but Coach K continued to play him. “I’ve never been a proponent of ‘you get two fouls and you sit.’ If you do that, I’m going to try to get two fouls on your best player because then you’re going to defend him the rest of the half, I don’t have to defend him. I’ve never subscribed to that, guys have to learn how to play. Now we change defenses to help in that regard, when we went to 12, our zone, but then they have to learn that, the discipline of playing. If they did get a third foul in the first half, then this is the time of the year when we have to teach that.”

The sharpshooters running with Duval in Duke’s 3 guard starting lineup have been really fabulous. Grayson has been at his best. He scored the first 8 against Elon, which was a statement this is a new and better year (Elon was the game last year where Grayson melted down in public after committing his third tripping incident). He scored 19 in the first half against Elon. Gary Trent has been almost as impressive, scoring 17 in each game. He is a shooter (4-5 from deep against Elon), but has many other exciting talents. He is a much better ball handler than advertised and has been a good defender who displays overall great hustle.

The back up to the guards is not yet set. It seems as if Duke will rest the guards by going big (3 bigs and 2 guards) since there is so much depth and athleticism in the front court. Alex O’Connell really impressed in both games. I said to Bill that he will be to this team what Grayson was to the 2015 championship team. He has so much energy and is a deadly shooter. In 13 minutes against Elon, he scored 8 on 3-3 shooting (2 from deep) to go with 3 rebounds. He garnered 5 rebounds and scored 4 points (1-3; 2-2 from the line) in only 9 minutes last night. In some ways, he is what college sports should be about. He is having fun, so animated on the bench, and so much energy when given the opportunity to play.

Tuesday night promises to be so much fun.

Duke 88 – Michigan State 81

Holy Jim Boeheim, Batman! Coach K goes zone for a full forty minutes!

Other Comments:

This Champions Classic at the United Center in Chicago was like a Final Four in November with Kansas beating Kentucky in the nightcap.

Tom Izzo is a great coach. However, he is now 1-11 against Coach K.

Allen’s 37 points were Duke’s most against a top-2 team since J.J. Redick dropped 41 in 2005.

Before the game, Duke wore their “Equality” shirts, while Michigan State wore shirts that said “We talk, We listen.” Alan will have to explain what they mean.

Alan Adds:

It was as Coach K predicted, “a hell of a night.”

Duke 78– Southern 61

When top ranked 4-0 Duke meets unranked 0-4 Southern in Cameron, you expect a blowout not a game that is tied twice in the first half. Blame youth, travel fatigue, a hangover from the big win, whatever… Surely, a relatively painless learning experience for essentially a group of teenagers from whom there will always be surprises– especially when the only non-teenager, Grayson Allen scores 10 points, not 25. More importantly, the good news is that there was no damage to Bagley’s eye and he was his usual mesmerizing self. So, let’s discuss what we know so far.

Marvin Bagley and Wendell Carter are the most talented and productive big man combo Duke has ever had. Individually, they are more talented than any freshman power player Duke has ever had. They are interchangeable playing the high/low post, are unselfish, and are both double/double machines. This is the strength of the team and it will go as far as they take them. Trevon Duval has been a wonderful point guard and has demonstrated a fearless instinct for the timely, big play. However, his jump shot and free throw shooting need work. (Calling Chip “The Shot Doctor” Engelland ‘83). Until Gary Trent gets more comfortable, Grayson Allen, who appears to be on a redemption mission, is the only lethal three point threat and, like tonight, that makes any game potentially more difficult, because close games are usually decided by the team that makes the most threes. When these two are on fire, these Blue Devils are lethal.

This team is deeper than most of K’s teams and he appears ready to use DeLaurier, Goldwire, Bolden and O’Connor. We will see if that continues as the schedule gets tougher. DeLaurier, a marvelous athlete and developing basketball player, is a defensive disrupter. Bolden looked better tonight but is still a question mark. Under recruited Goldwire is surprisingly capable as a short term breather sub. In limited minutes, O’Connor has demonstrated more of a feel and understanding of the game than the others. He definitely is fearless, a better shooter, and is much more athletic than he looks.

Other Comments:

After playing zone in beating Michigan State, Duke played man-to-man tonight with disappointing results. Stay tuned.

The fact that Blue Devils finished with only 14 assists, a season-high 15 turnovers, shot just 4 of 20 from 3-point range, and 24-37 from the line demonstrated that this team has some work to do to continue to consistently beat top teams.

Grayson Allen was taken down on a fast break by a flagrant foul and just walked away without showing any emotion. Whew! While he had a quiet scoring night, Grayson did have a SportsCenter highlight moment when, after a Bagley monster block spiked the ball well past midcourt, Allen ran the ball down, dribbled, took the ball around his back to avoid a defender, elevated, and laid the ball up with his left hand.

Mike Gminski ’80, an All-American center, number seven pick in the NBA draft, and outstanding student, was an announcer. While probably too low key for many in today’s audience, he is a throwback in that he doesn’t talk unless he has something pertinent to say.

Reloading: During the just concluded early commitment period, Duke announced the signing of three probable one-and-done athlete/students: R.J. Barrett, Tre Jones and Cam Reddish– all rated by ESPN as a five-star recruit and ranked among the 10 best overall prospects in the nation.

Thankfully, NBA commissioner Adam Silver ’84 is in talks with the players union to eliminate the one-and-done rule. Stay tuned.

Alan Adds:

Coach K hit the nail on the head to explain Duke’s unsatisfyingly sluggish performance against an 0-3 team that had been blown out by mediocre opposition in its first three games. “They thought it would be easier than it was.” Early on, Duke was leaking out instead of all rebounding defensively, which caused Coach K to call a time out before 3 minutes had gone by. “We did not play together tonight either on offense or defense. When you don’t play together, you gravitate toward the individual effort.” “We were out of character tonight. Something was missing.” However, Coach K was careful to warn that press and fans should not make more of the sluggish performance than is warranted. “We want to be who we have been.”

Coach K pointed to a lack of practice mandated by NCAA rules as one reason for the sluggish performance [email me if you want me to explain the hyper technical requirement that prevented Duke from practicing on Wednesday or Thursday following the Michigan State win]. And Grayson pointed to a favored Coach K insight, “sometimes you have to overcome human nature.”

As Bill pointed out, the game showed that Duke has much work to do on its man to man defense. This is a team of excellent individual defenders, who have the potential to become an effective defensive team, but that potential was well disguised last night. Part of that was Southern shooting well from deep (5-11 from deep in the second half). Contrast that with Duke going 0-9 from behind the arc in the second half – Grayson 3; Trent 2; Duval 2; Goldwire 1 and Bagley 1 (4-20 for the game). Duke’s foul shooting improved in the second half (12-16; Bagley was 1-1) but was a disappointing 12-21 in the first half where only Wendell Carter shot better than 50% (5-7); Bagley (4-8); DeLaurier, Allen and O’Connell were 1-2.

The Starters

The starters played between 28 and 32 minutes with the game decided by Duke’s huge superiority up front. Carter had the game of the night notching a double double in only 28 minutes. He scored 20 [7-9; 1-1 from deep and 5-7 from the line] to go with 11 rebounds and 6 blocks [only Giminski had more in a game as a freshman in Duke history]. Oh yes, he also handed out two assists and had a steal. Bagley played a game high 32 minutes before fouling out. There is no missing his special athleticism, yet I think he has not yet shown all he can do. He also grabbed 11 rebounds with his third double/double in 4 games [19 points on a team high 12 shots – 7-12; 0-1; 5-9 from the line]. He also had 2 assists and added 2 blocks.

Grayson and Duval played 30 minutes and Trent 31. After the Michigan State magnificent shooting performance, Allen was 0-6 from deep for the game. He scored 10 on 3-3 from inside the arc to go with 4-5 from the line (3-3 in the second half). He had 4 boards and led Duke in assists (4 tied with Duval) and turnovers (3; tied with Wendell). Trent had an uncharacteristically bad shooting game and failed to get to the foul line (3-11; 2-6 from deep), but made up for it with his rebounding and hustle. He grabbed 10 boards and earned Coach K’s praise. Trevon “Tre” played better in the second half (tied for Duke’s second half high scorer with 7 (Grayson and Bagley each had 7 and Carter 6 in the last stanza) and avoided a turnover. He had 10 for the game, including his first 3 pointer – his only points in the first half.

The Bench

Marques Bolden played all of his 11 minutes in the second half, where I thought he looked rusty and a bit lost on the court. He was totally out of sync on defense, and I thought tentative on offense (his travel on what should have been a power dunk is a dramatic example). He scored 4 [1-3; 2-4 from the line] to go with 2 boards and a turnover. Let’s hope it is just a slow recovery from strep throat, but I fear he is the same disappointing player this year as he was last year. However, my analysis might be wrong since not only Bill (above), but Coach K in his press conference praised Marques, “Marques gave us a big lift in the second half.” It will be especially interesting to see how he performs in the 4 games during this coming week.

DeLaurier continues to draw oohs and aahs for his athleticism (he had one block from behind on a Southern runout that was almost LeBron like), but his statistics were meager. In 12 minutes (6 in each half), he missed his only shot and was only 2-4 from the line for his 2 points. He had 2 boards, an assist, a turnover and that block. He was first off the bench.

Alex O’Connell is a pleasant surprise. He scored 5 in 14 minutes [1-2; 0-1 from 3land; and 3-4 from the line. He brings good energy to the game.

Goldwire played 8 uninspired minutes missing both of his 3 point attempts (his only shots) while making one steal and committing a turnover.

Vranovich (1 minute), and White (3) played cameos while Jordan Tucker and Robinson did not play.

Next week – 4 games

Furman on Monday night before Duke travels to Portland for 3 games in the Phil Knight tournament celebrating his 80^th birthday. It is a cool tournament (actually two separate tournaments – Duke is in the Motion bracket while UNC is in the other tournament called Victory). On Thanksgiving Day, Duke plays Portland State, then things get interesting. Assuming a Duke win (“they thought it was going to be easier than it was” is a warning against such assumptions), the Blue Devils face the winner of Butler v Texas on Friday. Texas has the superb freshman center, Mohamad Bamba (Duke lost that recruiting battle). The four teams in the other bracket are Florida, Ohio State, Gonzaga and Stanford. The final game is on Sunday. Every team plays three games.

Duke 92– Furman 63

The start of the game was delayed for fifteen minutes because at six o’clock a second floor fire alarm went off and the entire building was evacuated. Fortunately, it was a false alarm but after the delayed start, the Blue Devils appeared as though they had evacuated without their warm-up suits, because they again started cold, playing unimpressive basketball as Furman got into the lane for one good look after another, making five of its first six shots. Nevertheless, when your team beats a good, veteran Southern Conference team with a terrific point guard by 29 points, how critical can you be? [Warning: I am evaluating this team by a standard only previously applied to the 2001 and 1999 teams.] Well, the fact of the matter is that the Blue Devils were actually behind for about ten minutes before Duke’s man-to-man defense forced four turnovers in the next six minutes and went on a patented 20-6 run. During that stretch freshman Marvin Bagley dominated offensively and defensively. He scored 11 points in two minutes on a variety of shots, blocked a shot, stole the ball, picked up 2 assists, and even accidentally tipped in a basket for the other team.

This team has demonstrated that they have all the individual parts to be a multifaceted, dominating team. However, except in spurts—even against Michigan State—they have not been a well-oiled machine. For the second game in a row, the firm of Bagley & Carter dominated down low, Trevon drove the lane at will but Allen, who had not practiced due to being “banged up”, and Trent did not score well. It will be interesting when the Double-Double Brothers come up against a really large front line how they react and adapt and if Coach K stays with the man-to-man defense as he has for most of the last two games or goes more zone which was so effective against the Spartans. The truth of the matter is that the undefeated, #1 Duke has yet to play a game with balanced scoring, which they will soon have to do. They have, however, improved one major weakness—free throw shooting.

When DeLaurier, who brings so much energy and athleticism to the party, is in the mix, the defense may even be better. And O’Connor, who looks like a freshman pledge whose hair was the victim of a hazing incident, sure appears to be the sleeper of the freshman class. He has a rare feel and instinct for the game. Bolden still appears raw and in need of maturing. Even against this level of competition, Goldwire seems in over his head and I would not be surprised if Allen, who had six nice assists tonight, plays the point when Duval is rested and O’Connor plays the shooting guard.

Duke extended their streak of consecutive non-conference home wins in Cameron to 136.

Alan Adds:

Coach K was well pleased with last night’s effort against a good Furman team. His assessment was the team played hard and well, and most importantly, “played together – on both ends of the court.” He was asked if the Furman was a statement game after the disappointing effort against Southern last Friday. K responded with a quip, and then made the serious point that it was “more like we got back to playing the way we are supposed to” and the way the team has played all year. He pointed out that the team had two really good practices after not being able to practice after the Michigan State game.

Even though Duke gave up easy drives during the game’s opening minutes and a raft of threes toward the end of the game when Duke switched to a zone defense with mostly substitute players, Coach K was pleased with the defense. He said the game plan was to take away Furman’s three point attack, so when Davis (Furman’s talented point guard) got into the lane, the help stayed with the shooters leaving him open to create and score. The adjustment was subtle. Coach K said Furman was “a right handed driving team”. We started out forcing them right and got burned.” When Duke started forcing them left, the defense stiffened and the lead grew consistently.

The Bench

The rotation is longer now than it will be in the conference season, and it is where the competition for playing time exists. The starting lineup is set.

First off the bench is Javin DeLaurier, who continues to impress me greatly. What I appreciate about his game is his energy on defense. He is quick enough (and has the intensity – motor) to guard the perimeter and still protect the rim when one of his teammates is beaten. I do not believe any other Duke big has shown that capability, even though both Carter (especially) and Bagley are formidable defenders. Javin logged 17 intense minutes, scoring 6 (3-3; 0-1 from the line), grabbing 6 boards and blocking 4 shots, and making 2 steals. Interestingly, when Grayson picked up his 3^rd foul early in the second half, DeLaurier replaced him, making a lineup of 3 bigs + Tre and a Gary. I liked this lineup defensively.

Bolden earned Coach K’s praise in his 12 minutes (2-3 from the floor and 2-2 from the line) for scoring 6 points, grabbing 2 boards and having a block. He was yanked, however, after a cameo in the first half when he completely lost his roll man on a Furman screen and roll, creating a wide open (embarrassing) layup. In fairness, DeLaurier had one almost identical defensive lapse. Bolden moved well and is a potential contributor. Potential.

Alex O’Connell logged 12 scintillating second half minutes after remaining on the bench in the first half. He made the most of his opportunity scoring 10 [4-5 from the floor; 2-3 from deep] with 2 boards, an assist (sweet interior pass) and a block (the skinny kid has hops). He was very impressive on several levels. As I have written previously, he reminds me of Grayson as a freshman.

Jordan Goldwire played 13 minutes without scoring [0-2 from deep] with an offensive rebound, an assist, a steal against a turnover and a foul. Vrankovic (3 minutes), White (4 minutes) and Justin Robinson (1 minute) made cameos. Tucker did not play (again).

The Starters

The Backcourt

This was a coming out party for Trevon Duval, who was nothing short of sensational on both ends of the court. In 26 minutes, he scored 18 [9-12; 0-2 from deep] to go with 4 boards and 4 assists. He dominated some aspects of this game, and could be heading for a Tyus Jones like season. He has an uncanny ability to snake to the rim and finish acrobatically. Trent played a game high 31 minutes (he is trusted by Coach K) scoring 9 [4-8; 1-3 from 3land] to go with 3 boards, an assist and a turnover. He is on the court as much for his defense, rebounding and energy as his shooting. He had a pair of steals. Grayson, who did not practice, had a bad shooting game, but was still valuable. He led Duke with 6 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals, even though he scored only 5 in 28 minutes (only 8 second half minutes after playing the entire first half) [2-9; 1-4 from deep without getting to the line]. His defense is always played on high energy.

Bagley and Carter

Both Bagley and Carter had substantial size advantages over the Furman bigs. Both exploited their size advantage and skill to allow Duke to dominate on the inside. Carter played only 24 minutes, scoring 14 [6-7 from the floor; 2-4 from the line] to go with 9 boards a block and 2 assists. Bagley played 29 minutes grabbing 8 boards and scoring 24 points on a team high 15 shots [8-15; 1-3 from deep – 3 attempts, really; and satisfyingly 5-6 from the line]. With the game still close in the first half, Duke went to him on the low block 4 straight times for 4 straight scores and an end to the competiveness of the game. Coach K has emphasized that neither is a traditional big – they are complete basketball players who happen to be big. One of the splendid aspects of them playing together is the skill each has to pass. They like to pass and are making a formidable inside presence.

The PK tournament and Big 10 Challenge

Duke will fly to Portland tomorrow for 3 games in 4 days. Duke’s second game will be against an undefeated team that has received votes in the ranking whether Texas or Butler wins. Florida (#7 in both polls) is the highest rated team on the other side of the Motion Bracket. They play Stanford first. Gonzaga (#17 in both polls) plays Ohio State.

If Duke reaches the championship game on Sunday (11-26) evening at 7:30, they will travel back to Durham on Monday before flying to Bloomington on Tuesday for Wednesday (11-29) night’s game against Indiana. Whew!

Duke 99 – Portland State 81

Duke 85 – Texas 78

You could sense this kind of result developing for weeks. Another slow start, porous defense, poor free throw and three point shooting. But for the first time, add a big, talented Texas front line that neutralizes this team’s primary strength and, “Durham, we have a problem”.

After each Elon, Utah Valley etc. game Coach K starts his presser by saying what a good, well coached (but unranked) team Duke just beat without commenting on the Blue Devils weaknesses. Because I was at dinner with our son’s family in Washington and only occasionally stole a look at my smartphone, I was spared the actual disappointment of watching Texas taking and expanding their lead. Down fourteen midway through the second half, I finally I turned it off so that I could enjoy the fine Italian Cuisine.

What!! Duke won? No way! Fortunately, I taped it or I wouldn’t have believed it. Grayson came alive playing the point before fouling out to lead a rally that got the Blue Devils even. (May I quote from our last blog: “Goldwire seems in over his head and I would not be surprised if Allen, who had six nice assists tonight, plays the point when Duval is rested and O’Connell plays the shooting guard.”) The freshmen took it from there. First, with the score tied and ten seconds remaining, Bagley, who had only hit two shots from La-La Land in his brief Duke career, decided it is a good idea to launch a three which missed and O’Connell then Carter miss tips as time expired in regulation. Think it would have been a better idea for Trent to take the three and MBIII try the tip? However, that was about the only mistake the big guy made as he went for 34 & 15. After huddling with the coaches, Bagley and Carter predictably set up in the low post and flushed dunks on pinpoint passes from Tre Duval against Texas’ backup front line (Bamba and Sims had fouled out) to win in overtime.

You really have to hand it to these freshmen, so far they have mastered the art of living dangerously. And if they have the tenacity and talent to rally against good teams like Texas while missing 14 free throws, and going 3-18 from three point land, I sure like their chances if they ever master the boring art of shooting free throws.

Other Comments:

How impressive was this win? It was the sixth best comeback in Duke basketball history. And it was another lesson that for a Coach K team “It’s never over until it’s over”.

Bagley’s 34 points on Friday tied J.J. Redick’s single-game scoring record by a freshman.

At this point, North Carolina is a better “team” than Duke.

Jay Bilas was one of the announcers. He is the best at college basketball.

Alan Adds:

Overall impressions:

Duke will play Florida (#7 in both polls) on Sunday night at 10:30 for the championship of the Motion Bracket of the PK 80 tournament. Florida prevailed 117-111 over Gonzaga (#17) in a double overtime thriller that ended early in the EST Saturday morning. Duke’s defense will be tested.

Duke 85 Texas 78

The first and most important takeaway from the initial two games of the PK 80 tournament is that Duke’s defense is in shambles and whether or not it can be improved is the key issue for the early (or late) season. The second takeaway is this team has heart, resolve and an unstoppable force in Marvin Bagley III. In spite of Texas’s unimpeded stampeded to the rim for easy layups, Duke came back from 16 down with 7:29 to go in the game and forced an overtime (in a game that should have been won in regulation). The third takeaway is the dramatic increase in Alex O’Connell’s playing time. He entered the Texas game with 10:05 left to play and Duke down 16 (14 really since Bagley made 2 free throws during the substitution). He played the remainder of the game and all 5 minutes of the overtime and was a major contributor. For the last 2 minutes of regulation for all of the overtime, Duke played 5 freshmen (except for Javin’s about 5 second cameo).

Duke 99 Portland State 81

A friend of mine minted the perfect description: “The Portland State game was ugly. Like a 300-pound bully finally beating up an exhausted depleted kid.” When Bill called at half time, here’s what I told him: “Portland State played such beautiful offensive basketball – it did not matter whether Duke showed man to man or zone, the Vikings penetrated at will for easy layups, passed the ball on the interior through the Duke bigs for dunks or kicked out to allow for success on a high percentage of open looks from 3, and did not commit a single turnover against Duke’s pressure – and Duke was hanging in the game only because of the tremendous size advantage of their bigs down low. That made a strong pull to root for Portland State!” Duke gave up 49 first half points (probably making Coach K pull out tapes of the infamous Vermont game from seasons ago). The Vikings played a first half that you could not help but admire, even though they could not stop Bagley, Bolden and Carter on the inside, and so gave up 45 points to the Blue Devils. Duke led by only 3 with 10 minutes to go, and then blew the Vikings out as the Portland State front line began to foul out and wilt against Duke’s superior size. Not a very impressive win.

Duke Basketball Playbook: 2016-17

Welcome to the Duke Basketball Playbook 2016-17 season preview.

Mark your calendars for the game dates, fire up the Hi Definition 4-D Flat Screen TV, and buckle your seat belts. This year shapes up to be a National Championship for Duke to lose—and that is not just my opinion— as this is as talented, diverse, deep, and experienced a team as any in Duke’s remarkable basketball history. Having said that, there are three caveats: chemistry, injuries, and luck. Unlike other years, an injury will be less devastating than say last year, but chemistry and luck are the random, heartbreaking decisions of the basketball gods.

What to look for:

Defense will be much, much better with the depth and talent to press and trap anywhere, anytime. And we all know a good pressing/trapping defense produces exciting, easy offense.

Will Grayson Allen play hot but with a cool head? He will be a target for physical and verbal abuse. It will be interesting to see if he is given the calls that are normally awarded All American players or will his reputation as a hot head have negative influence on the referees?

Luke Kennard is playing with much more confidence and has been a scoring machine in practice and in exhibitions.

Matt Jones’ defense, which is near and dear to Coach K’s heart, will keep him on the floor for significant minutes.

Jefferson’s maturity and savvy will be the glue for a much improved front line.

Jason Tatum reminds me of Jamaal “Silk” Wilkes who won championships at UCLA, The Warriors, and The Lakers and may be the most talented player on the team.

Marques Bolden looks like the defensive basket protector we have been looking for since Sheldon Williams (Okafor was not a strong defender) left the post as is, perhaps, Harry Giles, who has not played in a year because of knee issues.

Frank Jackson is a younger less physical version of Grayson Allen.

Chase Jeter has looked good against D-2 players but still has to prove that he can fight for position and finish at the rim against D-1 players.

Jack White is an Australian similar to former Dukie Lithuanian Marty Pocius –a talented European style player.

Javin DeLaurier is my sleeper star in the making. His physical attributes are off the chart—a bigger, smarter version of Corey Maggette. The question is when will his basketball skills catch up with his athletic skills?

All the other players are practice player “projects”.

Final comment: With this much talent is only one ball enough to keep everyone happy?

Duke 94 – Marist 49

Duke 96 – Grand Canyon 61

This weekend the Blue Devils started the season with Jayson Tatum, Marques Bolden, and Harry Giles—the larger half their vaunted freshman class and projected one-and-done first round NBA draft picks– on the bench in matching golf shirts and sweatpants with a variety of enigmatic knee/ leg/ankle/foot injuries, the severity of which is somewhat of a mystery. We know Giles is recovering from multiple knee surgeries and is being brought along cautiously. The other two are “day to day or week-to-week” ….whatever—but then that is a troubling reminder of the initial prognosis last year for Amile Jefferson, so keep your fingers crossed. It could be this way for a while. Tatum is probably closest to returning, and was expected back by now before suffering a setback. Bolden will be reevaluated this week. However, Coach K did disclose that none are likely to return this (busy) week, which after Kansas includes Penn State on Saturday and either Cincinnati or Rhode Island on Sunday.

Against Marist and final thirty minutes against Grand Canyon, it did not make much difference. However, Tuesday we are no longer in Cameron playing Marist Grand Canyon, Toto, we are in The Garden playing Kansas—and it is not a dream.

Defensively, The Blue Devils looked a lot like last year until Frank Jackson came in for Chase Jeter. Then the four guards plus Amile Jefferson took charge of both ends of the floor and more or less put the game away by half time. In a lineup line this, the guards have to rebound and they did that and much more. It was a different team even though they only shot 11-29 three’s & 21-31 from the line. Jeter has improved from last year but he is not yet a front line talent for a top ten team while Allen, Kennard, Jones, Jackson, and Jefferson are. Allen had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Jackson 21 points, Jefferson 15 points and 7 rebounds, Luke Kennard 14 points and 6 assists, and Matt Jones 11 points and 5 assists as five members of the Blue Devils’ six-man rotation finished in double figures.

Krzyzewski commented: “I like my team a lot. We just have to keep getting better, and then once all these injuries are taken care of, at some time, we can become a different team. Right now, we have to be this team and not think about who we could be.”

Injury update: Forward Harry Giles, who has yet to play in a Duke uniform, is still not ready to come back after a knee scope. Wing Jayson Tatum, who was expected to suit up for the opener, was available because he prematurely returned to practice after spraining his foot. And forward Marques Bolden, the latest Blue Devil to be affected by the team’s bizarre injury bug, sat out nursing an unspecified lower-leg injury. “It wasn’t an event,” Mike Krzyzewski said, addressing Bolden’s injury. “It’s too difficult to explain. He’s getting better. We gotta be careful not to try to get these guys coming back too soon. We’re just going to shut those guys down for a while. We can’t go through the whole year with lingering injuries.”

Comment: If you did not watch the Duke win over UNC Thursday night, you missed an impressive, thrilling game that demonstrated once again what an exceptional job Coach David Cutcliffe has done with the formerly moribund football program. I watch the team with additional interest this year because Daniel Jones, the Blue Devils outstanding freshman quarterback, is from Charlotte and our daughter Kristin prepped him for his SAT tests. She had told me what an impressive young man he is and glad he chose Duke over Princeton.

Alan Adds:

It feels as if the two opening games were a continuation of the exhibition season, with the first real game this Tuesday against Kansas at Madison Square Garden (the late 9:30 pm game after Kentucky and Michigan State on ESPN). Coach K emphasized that “this team consists of nine players right now and it is a very good team. We can win with this team.” Coach K said that when the injured players returned the team would be a different team and he would coach that team then, but not at the present. Right now he is coaching a team of 9. While he gave everyone minutes against Marist, one can see how he will play this coming week by his use of the 9 man rotation against Grand Canyon. His 9 consisted of a 6 man rotation + very minimal contributions from Antonio Vrankovich (6 minutes), Javin DeLaurier (5 minutes) and Jack White (4 minutes). The starting team consists of all returning players, including Chase Jeter. Bill and I have very different evaluations of Chase so far this year, but a true evaluation has to await the three games against quality opponents that Duke will play in the next 8 days. Chase has been a defensive force against the opening lesser competition, blocking shots (2 against Marist and 3 against Grand Canyon; he also had 3 steals against GC). Against Marist the minutes were fairly evenly divided among the rotation of 6, but against GC, 3 players played almost the entire game — Grayson, Luke, and Matt. They were out of the game collectively for only 10 minutes. Grayson and Luke played the entire game until garbage time (last 3 minutes). Matt sat out only 4 minutes (he and Frank Jackson remained in the game during the last 3 minutes). Amile played 29 minutes, Frank Jackson 25 and Chase 22.

The Defense

Duke has played many different defenses, but the staple is a pressing and trapping aggressive man to man. Against Marist, Coach K kept the substitutions coming for most of the game so each player could go full out on defense and get a quick rest. Duke played some zone (ineffectively) in both games. The defense was a bit different when Coach K had only one big in the game (whether Chase or Amile) than when both were in together. With only one big, Duke switched on every screen and made it nearly impossible for Grand Canyon to penetrate the perimeter. It was Duke’s half-court defense at its best. GC was a far better team than Marist, and jumped out to a 15-9 lead with 12 minutes left to play in the first half. Then Duke kicked it up on both ends of the floor and for the next 15 minutes (12 in the first half and 3 in the second half) played beautiful basketball on both ends of the floor. Duke held GC to 12 points in the remaining 12 minutes of the first half. The guards rebounded well and the Devils ran at will. Then, human nature took over as Duke’s lead stretched to 29, and the Devils got sloppy on offense and lazy on defense. GC dropped the lead to 19, exposing Duke’s transition defense, and profiting from some careless ball handling and bad shot selection. Then Duke returned to form, finishing the game well (with Vrankovich, DeLaurier and White on the floor for the last 3 minutes).

The only two minor quibbles: 1) Duke had some bad lapses in transition defense; 2) Duke is committing team fouls putting the two opponents in the bonus and double bonus early in periods (Jeter and Jackson committed 4 against GC and Grayson 3; DeLaurier 4; Jones and Kennard 3 against Marist). Before the injuries, Coach K made the point that the team was deep enough to avoid individual foul trouble, but wanted the team to concentrate on not putting teams in the bonus with team fouls. Still a work in progress.

The Backcourt

Duke’s backcourt has looked world class, with time being apportioned among 4 players. Each has had superb moments. The ball handling is being handled by committee with each of the four (Luke a bit less) initiating the offense at different times. It is clear that one motivation for Grayson’s return is to develop his point guard skills for the next level. Matt has been a Jon Scheyer like point; very steady and an accurate shooter. He has played very well in the opening games. But the revelation is Frank Jackson. He is not shy about shooting both from deep and off the drive (accurately), and has been a superb ball handler. Moreover, he might be the best one to one defender on the team. He hustles, as do they all, and looks as if he will be a very significant contributor this year. Duke will not miss Derryck Thornton (this year). This has the potential to be a great back court. Foul shooting, which has been a bit off — even from Luke and Grayson — at crunch time will be key.

The Front Court

Duke’s weakness may be the front court until some or all of the injured freshmen return to the rotation. Amile is so mobile, mature and steady that it makes us wonder about how last year might have gone had he not been injured. Coach K said he was trying to do a bit too much in the first game as senior (actually post-grad) leader. He is so solid. However, Kansas is big and mobile, and will be a challenge for Duke’s depleted front court. Chase is the other big in the rotation. His offense has been a bit inconsistent, but I have seen his confidence grow as he develops his skill in the post. Neither replacement is ready for prime time. Javin is big and athletic, but still a freshman who will develop. Vrankovich is intriguing. First, he is over 7 feet, and, second, he has deft hands and more athletic ability than I first observed. Duke will need him if the injured freshmen take a significant time to heal and return.

But when the freshmen do return, that Duke team (as opposed to “this” Duke team) should be awesome. Tatum is 6’8” and can score from both perimeter and interior; in the half court set or in transition. I believe he will be a star on both ends this year. Bolden had one terrific exhibition game, but has not played since. He is a true center at 6’10” with the bulk and skill to dominate (or at least hold his own) even against Kansas type opponents. Giles is, of course, the most intriguing. He has not played in over a year, but was the consensus #1 high school player before his ACL injury last November. He had made progress in his rehab when he had a setback, which required additional arthroscopic surgery. There is no time table for the return of any. Coach K has emphasized the danger of bringing each of them back too fast (both Tatum and Giles sustained additional injuries after returning to practice). He is reputed to be a superb interior defender and rim protector.

We will know much more about this team after Kansas, Penn State and either Cincinnati or Rhode Island in the next 8 days.

Duke 75 – Kansas 77

Although this was a tough but not surprising loss, it demonstrated once again why Duke Basketball is so compelling. The Blue Devils played so poorly for the so much of the second half as Kansas controlled the game and was ahead double digits with about five minutes to go that I was going to write that these players would be lucky to have a .500 record in ACC play. Grayson Allen was about oh-for-the-night, the Devils were in foul trouble, the Jayhawk backcourt was scoring seemingly at will and dominating all phases of the game. Then, Allen started scoring like he did last year, Kennard and Jackson made plays and shots and Duke unexpectedly and inexplicably made a run to tie the game. The fact that Frank Mason made a jumper over Matt Jones in the last seconds was disappointing but appropriate as he was the dominant player the entire game. But that was almost incidental as the game was another reminder how a Coach K team can be outmanned, outplayed yet almost pull out a seemingly unwinnable game. In the long run, it might be a motivational wake-up call for the players to realize they are not invincible or even unbeatable. Grayson, for instance, had his worst game of the season a year ago against Kentucky in this very venue and recovered to have an All-American season. This injuries have left the Blue Devils with just a six-man rotation and a clear size disadvantage in the frontcourt. Throw in a tough, veteran Kansas team as an opponent and foul trouble that ended up costing Amile Jefferson the game’s final minutes, and it was, frankly, a surprise that Duke had enough in its tank to tie the game. As talented as Duke’s players are, mental toughness is their defining characteristic.

And that makes Duke’s narrow loss all the more impressive. There’s a reason Krzyzewski said he was encouraged afterward. Grayson Allen, banged up and frustrated, didn’t play his best yet scored a three and a layup to bring the Blue Devils within three points with a minute to play. Then, Frank Jackson, Duke’s only healthy freshman, hit two monster three-pointer. Luke Kennard led all scorers with 22 points on the night. Even the at-times awkward Chase Jeter got a compliment from his coach for how hard and well he played.

“I think we’re a good team — otherwise we’d get blown out of here tonight,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “But we’re a limited team right now. We’re not who we imagined ourselves to be. But that’s not an excuse. That’s just the way it is. We’ll see what happens when we get guys back. I think these experiences are good. “We didn’t lose because we were short-handed tonight. We lost because Kansas played better than us and (Frank) Mason is a big-time winner.”

“Overall, it was good for us,” Krzyzewski said. “You learn a lot from (playing) at this level of the game.”

Alan Adds:

While Duke lost a heartbreaker on a buzzer beater by Kansas, Duke fans can take plenty of solace from the loss. Duke played with only six players (De Laurier played less than a minute as the seventh), all of whom were in foul trouble throughout the game. I will not talk about the way the game was officiated (Bilas did that beyond reason). Coach K was clear Duke did not lose because they were shorthanded; Duke lost to a team that simply played better. Shockingly, Duke had all the attributes of a team badly coached: 16 turnovers; six players committed 22 fouls; Duke could not defend the interior (Kansas was 31 for 47 from inside the arc); and could not protect its defensive board (Kansas had 14 offensive rebounds, most resulting in Jayhawk points).

Duke lost the game in the first 10 minutes of the second half, after leading by 5 at the break. Coach K’s insight was “Kansas really knocked us back at the start of the second half.” Duke was terrible on defense and sloppy with turnovers on offense. “We can play good defense, but we were not. We were stagnant.” Coach K called several timeouts to try and get Duke straightened out, pointing out that offense is adversely affected when the team plays lazy defense. Then, Coach K said, at the 10 minute mark his team came out of its funk, “boom! We played really good basketball for the last 8-10 minutes.” In that time, you also saw Duke’s fighting spirit (remember last year’s outmanned team) and player adjustment. In the last 10 minutes both Frank Jackson and Grayson Allen came alive to bring Duke back. Kennard was the player of the game and at this stage of the season, looks to be Duke’s best player. He led the team in scoring (22), rebounding (5) and assists (5) plus having the only blocked shot by a perimeter player.

The Backcourt

In the first half, Duke turned the ball over 11 times against only 4 assists (but led by 5). Frank Jackson did not score in the first half and seemed lost (0-2; 0-1 from deep), but he came alive in the last 10 minutes of the game to look like Duke’s point guard of the future. I would be more sure of that if he had had at least one assist. Duke turned it over on its first 2 possessions of the second half and continued to be sloppy in those first 10 minutes. Then Jackson asserted himself in the last 10 minutes, scoring 11 points on 3-3 shooting including 2 3s — the last of which dramatically tied the game with 7 seconds left. He played 30 minutes. In the second half Duke got 2 assists from Jefferson, 3 from Kennard, 2 from Grayson and 1 from Matt Jones. Matt played all 40 minutes and had a superb game with 11 points (4-7 from the field and 3-5 from deep) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists (0 turnovers) and a steal. I did think he got tired at the end, but he supplied valuable leadership. Kennard’s numbers are even more impressive when closely studied. He scores when Duke needs him (6 in the first half when Duke led; 16 in the second half to keep Duke in the game). In 35 minutes, he was 7-10 from the field, including 2-4 from 3land and 6-6 from the line. He committed less than four fouls (3). He and Grayson Allen (2) were the only Duke players who did not foul out (Jefferson) or have four fouls at game’s end. Until the last few minutes, Grayson had what Coach K called “a frustrating game”. He noted that Grayson seemed to expect to be fouled on his drives. “You can’t do that”, said Coach K. He also noted that Grayson played hard with the ball, but not without it until the end. The he started moving better and Duke became cohesive. Kansas’s defense on Allen was simply outstanding. Tellingly, Allen was only 1-7 from deep (4-15 from the floor and 3-4 from the line for 12 points in 38 minutes. While he had 3 boards, 3 assists and only turned it over once, it was not an All-American or Player of the Year game for him.

The Frontcourt

Both Chase Jeter and Amile Jefferson had really good first halves and weak second halves. Jeter is playing well, but still has deficiencies — 5-10 from the line and an inability to finish at the basket (turning an easy deuce into 50% foul shooting). In the first half, Jeter was 4-6 from the line and 1-1 from the field for 6 points, 3 boards, 2 blocks and a steal. He did have 3 turnovers and committed 2 fouls. In the second half, Jeter continued to play good defense, but his offense deserted him. He was 0-3 from the field (all right under the hoop) and 1-4 from the line. Still, he is much improved from last season. Coach K reminds us that he just turned 18 and is very young for a sophomore. Jefferson, too, had a desultory second half and overall a disappointing game. In the first half, he was 4-5 from the field and 3-5 from the line for 11 points with 4 boards. In the second half, he missed his only shot from the field; was 1-2 from the line for only a single second half point and he failed to haul in a single rebound in the second half. In 30 minutes, he committed 7 turnovers before fouling out. Kansas beat Duke badly on the interior — especially its offensive rebounding. If Kansas had not been 2-17 from 3land and 9-19 from the line, Duke would have been blown out. Clearly the return of the freshman bigs — Bolden and Giles — will go a long way to changing Duke’s interior fortunes. Tatum will add firepower and defense. But that is then; this team that played Kansas is now.

Assessment

Duke gained valuable experience playing against a Kansas team that will be (barring injury) one of the nation’s top teams this year. As Coach K said, “we learned a lot”. This team has fighting heart, firepower and enormous potential. This was a great game and no reason for any Duke heads to hang.

Duke 78 – Penn State 68

Duke 75 – Rhode Island 65

What in the name of Dr. James Naismith is going on? Have the basketball gods decided that Coach K has won too many games and titles and that injuries are the only way to level the playing field and keep the “hate Duke” fans from acting like millennials after the recent presidential election? The potential starting front court for a lot of NBA teams was on the Duke bench dressed for a GQ photoshoot not a basketball game–then Chase Jeter goes down and is carried to the dressing room. The only time Grayson Allen leaves the court is to limp into the dressing room for medical attention. After the Penn State game, Amile Jefferson, last year’s devastating casualty, cuts an ESPN interview short saying he has to go ice down to get healthy for the Rhode Island game. I used to be amused when former Redskin Hall-of-Fame Coach Joe Gibbs would say a key player was “nicked” only to learn that John Riggins was at Sibley Hospital in traction until noon Saturday. Of course, John being John, he played the next day and gained about 150 yards. The Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski played the second half last week’s game against the Seattle Seahawks with a punctured lung. Seemingly yesterday crippled Chase Jeter even made a few cameos on Sunday. At this level, players do what they have to do.

Whatever is going on, this Duke team played against Penn State like it is depleted, nicked, and tired. Grayson obviously is “nicked” ( toe and/or foot) and is clearly not himself as he cannot hit a three, run, or explode very well but is dead solid from the foul line where he can shoot flat-footed. Fortunately, these players are West Point tough and they have each other’s back. Jefferson was the MVP demon at both ends, posting back to back two double doubles; Luke Kennard is playing with more confidence and consistency and scored enough points to replace Grayson’s ten point offensive shortfall; Matt Jones and Frank Jackson also chipped in at crucial times. However, it was the defense that set the table for gutting out this impressive win.

Make no mistake, Rhode Island is a very talented team made up of a tough, city playground type players (coached by Danny Hurley) much like St. Johns, which used to give Duke such a difficult time in Madison Square Garden. Raise your hand if you thought Duke would win wire-to-wire. I wasn’t even sure at halftime that the Blue Devils were going to win. Some people never learn.

Bottom line: It was a very impressive win that even Dick Vitale didn’t see happening until it was apparent to everyone else.

Additional Comments:

Krzyzewski said Grayson Allen was playing at about 50 percent because of a toe issue. While his scoring average is down Coach K said it was one of his best passing games. Grayson even mentioned to assistant Jon Scheyer: “You know, coach, it’s amazing what you can see when you can’t shoot.”
Turf toe or whatever injury Grayson Allen has is of concern, because this type of injury often takes a long time to heal. However, even at less than full speed, Allen is a tremendous asset on the floor.

Note: I will be travelling the rest of the week. We will post a summary a week from today.

Alan Adds:

The Hall of Fame Tournament did not appear to be favorably placed in Duke’s schedule — third game in 6 days; fifth game in 8 days; four injured front court players, including the 3 highly rated freshmen. Duke had only six rotation players, and Chase Jeter was hurt early in the first game, leaving Duke with essentially a rotation of five for the entire tournament. Back when Bill and I were undergraduates, Duke’s team — also small, playing a non-existent rotation — was nicknamed, “The Flaming Five”. Duke’s team in this tournament took on that persona, and may have even improved on it. As it turned out, Duke’s participation in this tournament was, in my opinion, crucial to the development of this team and its chances for a National Championship. Here’s why:

This Duke team played beautiful basketball as a cohesive unit on both ends of the floor. One picture is worth 1,000 words. Against Rhode Island, Duke took 60 shots. The even distribution of those shots — Jefferson and Jones 13, Kennard, Allen and Jackson 11 each — is symbolic of a team with five valuable players who know how to play together. Duke struggled from 3 land [6-21; but consider Luke was 4-5; Grayson and Jackson were 0-9 and Jones 2-7], but shot well over 50% from inside the arc and 15-17 from the foul line. Each of Duke’s five played extremely well at both ends of the court, almost without relief. The bench provided only 12 minutes [Chase 8 minutes and Vrankovich 4]. Kennard and Matt Jones played the entire 40 minutes, while Grayson came out of the game briefly (listed as a minute, but really only a few seconds). Frank Jackson sat for 7 minutes, mostly because of picking up his 3rd foul early in the second half. Amile sat for 4 minutes, almost all of that time after he picked up his third foul. Jeter played those several possessions well, but as Coach K said, “we needed Amile on the floor”. Of course, Duke did. He had 17 points and 15 rebounds, controlling the defensive boards and Rhode Island’s excellent interior game. He was even 1-1 from the foul line, completing a 3 point play. In the first game against Penn State, Amile had 15 boards to go with 16 points and four blocks [but 4-10 from the foul line]. Perhaps Jefferson is most valuable as a coordinator of the defense and defender. He is playing at the same high level that he played at last year before he was hurt. Luke had a monster game; Rhode Island could not defend him. He scored 24 efficient points, taking only 11 shots [ 8-11; 4-5 from deep; 4-4 from the line] to go with 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Rhode Island could not guard him with a big, and so eventually went small. That played into Duke’s hand on defense, allowing Duke to switch every screen. Duke played admirable defense, holding a good team to 65 points. Matt Jones is Duke’s glue. He is the best defender, reliable outside shooter, leader and hustle playmaker. He scored 13 points on 13 shots (4-13; 2-7; 3-4 from the line). Coach K is unstinting in his praise of the defensive contributions of the combination of Jefferson and Jones. As Coach K pointed out, Grayson is unable to push off his toe, which has adversely affected his shooting, but not the rest of his game. Grayson guarded Mathews, one of Rhode Island’s best scorers, and effectively took him out of the game. Coach K said it was Allen’s best passing game, and he is a rebounding guard (5). Allen scored 10 on 3-11 from the field; 0-5 from deep; and 4-4 from the line. He had 3 assists and 2 steals to go with his rebounding. He may not be shooting well, but he is playing heroically. Frank Jackson has been a revelation. One feels secure when he has the ball in his hands, and he seems unguardable. In his 33 minutes, he was 4-11; 0-4; 3-4 from the line for 11 points. He is a great defender and athlete, who has that knack of delivering in the clutch. The injured freshmen will have to live up to their press clippings to be considered more valuable to this team than Frank Jackson.

Coach K, Jefferson and Kennard all echoed the same theme in the post-game press conference. This team has amazing inner toughness fueled by the strong bond among this group of players. They share the ball and play cohesive defense. In some ways the team reminded me of the 1970 to ’73 Knicks. Each player is good enough to command a double team, and when it comes that player finds the open man. If it doesn’t come, points go up on the scoreboard. Coach K said that the team is getting more comfortable with small ball, “which is neat. They are playing beautiful basketball.” Yes, they are!

Duke 78 – Michigan State 69

It never gets old for Duke fans and infuriates Duke haters. Coach K finds a way to win games even when his players, for whatever reason(s), do not have their “A” game and probably should not win. Since Alan gives a very comprehensive coverage of the game, I am going to take the time to hit the pause button and reflect upon some astonishing historical data of which you might not be fully aware—or fully appreciate.

Tom Izzo is one of the very best recruiters and big game coaches in basketball. However, Coach K owns him. Just look at the record. The irony of this particular loss was not lost on Tom Izzo. If there had been one recent thread in his inability to beat Duke, a drought that is now almost 12 years, it was that so many of his veteran Michigan State teams were derailed by Duke’s very young, very raw talent. Izzo didn’t have to mention Kyrie Irving’s 31-point explosion in 2010, or the Final Four loss to the Blue Devils’ freshmen in 2015, but it was clearly on his mind. And as Izzo reflected upon yet another loss to a Triangle powerhouse – that makes 13 straight now against Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams – he could only shake his head that his team built around four talented freshmen was utterly undone by a six-man Duke rotation that had only one freshman and all the poise Izzo is accustomed to being able to rely upon. “Usually they’re the team with the younger guys and we’re the team with the veterans,” Izzo said.

Matt Norlander

CBS Sports column:

“One of the truly ridiculous streaks in sports that refuses to die. It might continue so long as Mike Krzyzewski is still coaching. There’s no evidence to suggest otherwise.

We need to reflect on, and talk about, the insanity of Duke’s nonconference home winning streak. It’s now at 130 games. One-hundred-and-freaking-thirty. I can’t quite understand how it’s gotten to this point. No team from outside the ACC has won at Cameron in almost 17 years. Five-star players being recruited by Duke now were not born the last time the Blue Devils lost at home to a non-league opponent.

The 130 number is 89 more than the program currently with the second-best home non-con winning streak (Wichita State), which sits at 41 in a row. Dominant programs almost never even hit 50 straight. Jon Scheyer, an assistant on K’s staff, was 12 years old the last time Duke was beaten at Cameron by a nonconference opponent.

And even when you account for how many unnecessary buy games Mike Krzyzewski has scheduled over the eras, and there have been many, it’s still ridiculous. Duke’s Tuesday night win moved the program to 16-2 all time in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. A lot of those games have come on Duke’s home floor against ranked Big Ten competition. Nine ranked teams, including programs such as Indiana, Ohio State, Georgetown, Wisconsin and Stephen Curry’s Davidson‘s group (twice), have all tried and failed.

And just 16 of the 130 wins over the past 6,123 days have been decided by single digits, the most recent coming on Tuesday night. For nearly 17 years, a Duke win at home over a non-ACC opponent has resulted in a single-digit spread 12 percent of the time. That’s almost as absurd as the streak itself..

Nobody can clip the Blue Devils. The last team to do it? Mike Jarvis’ St. John’s team all the way back on Feb. 26, 2000, an aberrational, very late out-of-league game. Duke only lost by one point (83-82), and was ranked No. 2 in the country at the time. St. John’s wasn’t ranked, but the win acted as a slingshot to a No. 2 seed in that year’s NCAA Tournament for the Red Storm. “When somebody asks me about some of the most significant accomplishments of my life, I point to that game,” former St. John’s coach Mike Jarvis said. A program that lost at home to pitiable Delaware State (and what’s that about?) on Tuesday night — that’s the last non-ACC college hoops franchise to get K in Cameron.

“We had some huge wins, winning the Big East, winning the NIT championship and cutting down the nets,” Jarvis told NCAA.com. “Honestly, that day was probably just as special.”

That Duke team had Shane Battier, Jay Williams (he was Jason Williams back then) and Carlos Boozer. St. John’s had (ready for these names?) Erick Barkley and Bootsy Thornton, who hit the winning shot with 13 ticks to go.

The streak is obviously the longest in program history — and one of the longest in college basketball history — as it’s long since outlasted Duke’s near-13-year run from February of ’83 into December of ’95, when the program went 95 in a row against non-con opponents without dropping a home tilt.

Krzyzewski’s all-time home win percentage is .888, with a record of 494-62. That’s including quality competition within the ACC. Non-conference win percentage at home for K, all time? I couldn’t find the exact numbers, but it’s got to be north of 98 percent. The NCAA.com article linked above cites merely three home non-con losses for Duke between 1983 to present day. Phenomenal. This column of dominance is the most underrated aspect to Krzyzewski’s mammoth coaching legacy. Even if you account for all the cupcakes, you still occasionally should slip up, and it just doesn’t happen. Duke is nearly unbeatable in that building.

And guess what — this streak is going to live on well into 2017. Because Maine and Tennessee, the only non-conference opponents remaining on Duke’s home schedule this season? Yeah, they’re not walking out of Cameron Indoor as victors. The streak’s going to grow to 132, gestate for another 10 months, and then likely continue through all of next season.

Most of the folks who love to hate Duke enjoy the Blue Devils most when they watch them lose in the NCAA Tournament. But that happens almost every year. Seeing Duke fall at home to any team is rare enough. Dropping a home game to a non-conference team has become college basketball’s version of Halley’s Comet, only there’s no promise we’ll see it again before Coach K decides to retire.

Alan Adds:

Let’s talk about Duke’s defensive performance in the second half, which was impressive and really won the game for Duke. In this game, Duke was outshot; out-rebounded; missed 9 of 20 from the foul line (previously a major strength); Matt Jones and Luke Kennard combined for 1-13 from behind the arc; while Matt scored only 2 points playing a full 40 minutes. Duke played only 6, with Jeter playing 21 minutes (spelling Jackson for 13 minutes; Jefferson for 5 and Grayson for 3). Luke joined Jones as a 40 minute Iron Man. As Coach K said, “they came to wear us out; and by the end we were worn out. Our older guys know how to win when they are tired. I have a group of tough kids.”

With 14 minutes left in the game, the score was tied at 48. Michigan State scored only 9 points in the next 8 minutes and 38 seconds as Duke played simply outstanding defense, The Spartans had only 57 points with 5 minutes and 22 seconds left to play. Moreover, Michigan State made only one more basket in the next 2 and a half minutes while Duke extended its lead to 14 (73-59) with only 2 minutes and 45 seconds left to play. Human nature took over and the Spartans scored 10 in garbage time, but never made it close. Duke’s transition defense was suspect in the first half and toward game’s end, but during the crucial spurt, Duke’s defense was devastating.

Duke was efficient offensively from inside the arc, but unusually abysmal from deep (7 – 26) and the foul line where Allen missed 2 (5-7), Kennard missed 2 (3-5), Jefferson missed 3 (3-6) and Matt Jones (0-2). The winning spurt for Duke came with the game tied at 48. While Duke’s defense stifled the Spartans and turned Michigan State over, the Duke offense picked up steam. Grayson made a layup on a gorgeous feed from Jackson and was fouled. Jeter subbed in for Jefferson with 13:38 to go. Coach K went to Jackson (“just a feeling”), who scored on a jumper and a nifty drive. Luke hit a jumper and Allen was fouled on a drive and made both foul shots for a 10 point lead. Jefferson came back in for Jeter when he committed a foul with 10:51 to play. Michigan State made 1 of 2 and then hit a 3 to reduce the lead to 6 with 10:20 to play. That turned out to be the Spartans’ last gasp. A gorgeous Jackson 3 with a hockey assist from Kennard and a wondrous assist from Allen was sandwiched between a Kennard steal and a Kennard block to push the lead to 9. It got back to double digits when Jefferson made 1 – 2 from the line and Duke was never seriously threatened from there.

Allen led Duke in scoring with 24 in his 37 minutes, but on 21 shots. He was 2-5 from deep in the first half and 3-6 in the second. Overall he was 7-21, which means 2-10 from inside the arc with 4 turnovers. The Spartans played Allen (and Duke in general) well on the drives. The offhand help came and frequently disrupted the dribble drive causing a few turnovers. Grayson is heroic, especially on the defensive end and protecting the defensive back board (4). He is not able to practice — not a minute, said Coach K. This may be a reason that Allen is not shooting this year as well as he did last year. Coach K is hoping to get Allen some rest and back to health. Matt Jones played the entire game, which Coach K described as “a spectacular 2 point performance.” Jones played the freshman Spartan star, Myles Bridges, and essentially took him out of the game. Bridges fouled out in his 34 minutes, being held to 11 points on 4-13 shooting. Coach K lauded Jones as one of the nation’s best defenders, and emphasized Matt’s 4 steals as disrupting the Spartan offense. He guards the best scorer on the other team and he is “only about winning”. He just couldn’t make wide open 3s (0-6) or a foul shot (0-2). Kennard was absolutely brilliant (if you discount his 1-7 from behind the arc). Coach K said he has been healthy only for the last 3 weeks and that he “is as consistently good as anyone on the team.” In his Iron Man 40, Cool Hand Luke went 8-18 from the field — meaning 7-11 from inside the arc — and grabbed a crucial 6 boards. Jackson had a great second half after being limited to 12 minutes in the first half by foul trouble. He logged 27 minutes scoring a very efficient 11 on 6 shots [5-6; 1-2 from deep without getting to the line] to go with 4 good rebounds and a block.

On the interior, Amile Jefferson had another simply great game, while Chase Jeter became a valuable contributor. Jefferson does it all: defends the post, is a dexterous help defender, rebounds like a demon, and scores in the post. If he could only be an adequate foul shooter. In 35 minutes, Jefferson had yet another double double scoring 17 [7-12 but only 3-6 from the line] to go with 13 boards, 3 assists and a block. He is having a great season and providing real leadership. Chase played big minutes (21) and played “the best he has played,” said Coach K. He scored 4 on 2-2 from the field (a nifty post move and a put back) to go with 4 boards, a block, and some good defense (though not without a lapse or two). Coach K lauded his upper class players as having earned their way to their current (star?) status. The three upper class players all have won a National Championship and provide the intangibles. Coach K pointed out that “this was not inherited wealth”; they had to earn everything that they have so far accomplished.”

The injured freshmen are making progress. Jayson Tatum was reported to have a very good work out. “He’s close”, said the coach. While the other two — Harry Giles and Marquis Bolden — are “getting close, it will be a while.”

Duke 94 – Maine 55

#3 North Carolina loses to Indiana, #1 Kentucky loses to UCLA in Lexington, uber-freshmen Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden return for #5 Duke—Game On!

It has been an injury plagued but nevertheless impressive start of the season for the Duke 8-1 team that has been missing three potential starters as they have only lost to a highly rated Kansas on a last minute shot. Well, today Tatum and Bolden played while Grayson Allen and Frank Jackson watched from the bench beside Harry Giles, who is said to be ready to play for real sometime this month. If you thought these freshmen, as talented as they may be, are in mid-season form, think again. Even against 2-5 Maine, they were rusty and as for most of the first half, the defense was definitely subpar.

Going forward (assuming everyone stays healthy), it will be interesting to see how Coach K manages the lineups and the minutes. This team will potentially be nine players deep, can go big, small, or hybrid. However, sometimes a team can be too talented. You can only play five players at a time and there is only one basketball. Will Grayson, picked as the preseason Player of the Year, resent or embrace Kennard’s increased offensive productivity or Tatum, who is not bashful, taking a rebound and going coast to coast, or Frank Jackson being touted by announcers as the best athlete on the team?

Year after year, one of the fascinating aspects of Coach K’s teams is that they generally overachieve. If this one just plays to its talent, it probably wins another NCAA Championship. If not…. However, managing these egos cannot be more difficult or challenging than coaching the pros on an Olympic team.

Other Observations:

Coach Krzyzewski: “Grayson needs more than one game out, but hopefully he’ll be ready by Tuesday,” noting that Allen is dealing with a form of turf toe. “We think Frank Jackson will be ready to go for Tuesday—he has a little bit of a sore foot. He’s played an unbelievable amount of minutes.”

Duke’s nonconference home winning streak at Cameron is 131 games. No team from outside the ACC has won at Cameron in almost 17 years. Players now being recruited by Duke were not even born the last time the Blue Devils lost at home to a non-league opponent.

Alan Adds:

No one looking at the Duke schedule in October could have foreseen what a watershed event in the Duke season, the Maine game would turn out to be. Coach K finally listened to Bill and gave Grayson Allen a game off to rest his turf toe. He (Coach K; not Bill) explained that Grayson’s turf toe is on the side not right under the toe. Certain positions of the foot in play cause considerable pain, but it is not constant pain and is healing. Grayson will play in the next game against Florida on Tuesday in Madison Square Garden (aka Cameron North). Frank Jackson was also rested, apparently with a sore foot, and as Coach K said, “he has played a ton of minutes”. He too will play on Tuesday. It was “watershed” because of the long anticipated debut of both Jayson Tatum and Marquis Bolden, and the start of reintegrating them (and Harry Giles) into a team that has already formed. It is sure to present some unique problems, but it would be hard to find someone better equipped or more experienced in handling such “problems” than Coach K (think USA Basketball).

The game itself was a tale of two halves (almost; really 15 minutes and 25 minutes). In the first half, Duke’s defense was slow, lacked intensity, and the offense was also a bit off. As Luke Kennard admitted afterward, “We started a little slow. We gave up some shots we shouldn’t have given up. We didn’t play our kind of defense, and didn’t share the ball as well as we should.” Duke played much better defense in the late first half and most of the second half to simply take the heart out of Maine.

The Freshmen

Jayson Tatum started along with veterans Jefferson, Jones, Kennard and Jeter. As Bill said, the rust was evident, but so was his enormous skill and basketball intelligence. The veterans and Jayson played almost the entire first half. Jones and Kennard did not come out (20 minutes). You might note that they were the only two guards available with both Jackson and Allen indisposed. Jefferson played all but a few seconds and Tatum played 18 of the 20 minutes. Kennard (20), Jefferson (11) and Tatum (8 – on 2-7 from the field including 1-2 from deep and 3-4 from the line) scored 39 of Duke’s 46 first half points. Tatum added 2 free throws in the two minutes of the second half that he played before cramps finished off his debut night. There is no doubt that he is the real deal. He was aggressive to the basket and earned 6 free throw attempts in addition to his 8 boards and a block in just 20 minutes. It was a bad moment seeing him on the floor holding his leg, but Coach K was clear in the press conference that there was no re-injury.

Marquis Bolden played his first 7 minutes in the first half, replacing Jeter (who logged 13 minutes). He played another 5 minutes in the second half before retiring for the game. Coach K said he had not done much for five weeks and he simply ran out of gas. Bolden looked rusty but extremely agile, athletic and talented. In 12 minutes, he scored 7 (3-5; 1-2 from the line) while hauling in 5 boards and blocking a shot. He also committed 3 turnovers. Contrast to Jeter who, in twice as many minutes, scored 4 points, grabbed 1 board, and committed 5 turnovers. Bolden looks as if he will be a significant contributor if he is allowed to work himself slowly back into game shape and the rotation.

Harry Giles is, according to Coach K, “getting closer.” He participated in 5 on 5 drills for the first time. While his reputation (based on solid performance) is extremely high, we should anticipate a reasonably long re-integration. Unlike Bolden, who missed a few weeks, Giles has not played in almost 13 months. In some ways, the more measured reintegration of the heralded freshmen with the over achieving veterans helps Coach K answer the potential problems that Bill insightfully described above.

Javin De Laurier took Tatum’s 2 minutes in the first half (grabbing 2 boards in that cameo) and 13 in the second half, in which he was 1-1 from the field and 1-2 from the line to go with 3 more boards and a block. He may not contribute significantly this year, but he will be a valuable player for Duke for several more years.

Jack White played 10 minutes (9+ in the second half) scoring 4 and grabbing 4 boards. Like Javin, he could be a significant contributor in the years to come.

The Backcourt

Scoring wise, it was the Luke Kennard Show. The statistics are eye-opening. Luke played 34 minutes (the last 6 minutes of the second half both he and Jones were on the bench. So, who was Duke’s point guard and primary ball handler? Stay tuned!) scoring 35 [11-16; 4-9 from 3land; 9-9 from the line] to go with 8 rebounds, 2 assists and a block. 9-9 from the foul line is an incredible weapon. Jefferson (4-4), Tatum and Luke were 18-19 from the stripe. They also pulled down 25 boards among them.

Jones is, in my opinion (and Coach K’s) the soul of this team. He also played 34 minutes, but took only 4 shots and hit 1 of 2 3s for 3 points. It is easy to notice that Jones shoots (he is well over 40% from 3land) when Duke needs a hoop, but not at all when Duke is rolling comfortably. He is a superb defender, and reliable, if not fancy, as a ball handler. Both he and Luke left the game with 6 minutes to go. The ball handling duties then fell to Amile Jefferson. While it creates smiles, it is telling when your primary big guy is also a very competent (and Amile looked very confident, and has apparently been practicing the role) ball handler. Remember Coach K used Danny Ferry and Shane Battier as ball handlers against the press in the past.

The Frontcourt

Amile was (once again) superb, even though he missed a double/double by one rebound. He set his personal record for points with 20 (8-11; 4-4 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 4 assists (I don’t know how many were from his point guard position) 2 blocks and 2 steals. Jefferson is getting better and better, exuding confidence and leadership. Right now he IS the Duke front court against upper echelon competition.

Jeter started, playing 13 minutes in the first half and 9 in the second. His 5 turnovers are a problem. He will have to play better in order to stay in the rotation.

Antonio Vrankovich continues to impress (but do remember the level of competition). In 13 minutes, he was 4-5 for 8 points with 3 boards, 2 assists and a block. Not shabby.

Summing Up

It was a watershed day because of the return of Jayson and Marquis, the superb performances of Kennard and Jefferson, and the positive prognosis for Harry Giles.

Duke 84 – Florida 74

Does anyone doubt that Jason Tatum is the real deal and makes this Duke team much better at both ends of the court or that Amile Jefferson and Luke Kennard have improved more in one year than any two Duke players in memory? Anyone who was concerned that there is only one ball (and I’m talking about myself) does not have to worry when all the players share the ball as well and as often as these Blue Devils did tonight. They had 16 assists and, at times, moved the ball with breathtaking precision and speed.

And player rotation. What rotation? When Amile Jefferson is working on 24 points and 15 rebounds, Luke Kennard on 29 points, uber freshman Jayson Tatum on 22 points 8 rebounds, 3 steals, an assist and a block, Grayson on 8 assists, and Jones is a shut-down defender who does not look for his shot, who, other than for a breather, would you want to sit? And this was in Madison Square Garden against #21 Florida, not in Cameron against some overmatched soft touch. So far, Jefferson is putting up better numbers with more efficiency than any post player in Duke’s history and Luke Kennard is making scoring points look like he is casually playing in a rec league pickup game.

After getting a facial on his first couple of shots, Jason Tatum realized this is not high school anymore, kicked his game up a couple of gears, and put on a sophisticated clinic of finesse forward offense. He has one of the best soft shooting touches you will see in a man of his size–heck, any size. Yes, I am definitely a buyer of this stock.

Other Thoughts:

Grayson Allen is either still hurting and/or lost his some confidence in his shot. You can see he is not nearly as explosive as he was last year and his jump shot just isn’t there. However, his assists led to 20 points and while he is shooting like Alan Silber, he is seeing the floor and passing like Tom Brady.

Marques Bolden was the only player who did not look happy. Two fouls in two minutes is not Duke Basketball.

Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke teams are 29-10 at Madison Square Garden. The Blue Devils lead the all-time series with Florida 13-4.
Florida young coach is Michael White, son of Duke Athletic Director Kevin White.
Dick Vitale is a nice, generous man who loves basketball but a little of him goes a long way.

Alan Adds:

Duke in Cameron North (aka The World’s Most Famous Arena — Madison Square Garden) playing a ranked opponent in the Jimmy V Classic — it just doesn’t get much better than that in December college hoops. But for the Blue Devil faithful, it was indeed much better. Amile Jefferson had his best game ever and is serving notice of just how good a player he has become. Luke Kennard was so efficient that at least one commentator has said he is in contention for National Player of the Year. But the finest Blue Devil holiday plum was the return to form of Jayson Tatum. While those three handled the scoring, Grayson Allen was a superb ball handler, passer, rebounder and defender even though he scored only 6 points. Matt Jones did not score at all, but again was a defensive standout, secure ball handler and leader. Frank Jackson had a slow game and may be hurt more than has been advertised.

The rotation

When practice began and all except Harry Giles were healthy, Coach K said his starting lineup was: Jefferson, Allen, Jones, Tatum and Bolden with Kennard and Jackson coming off the bench first. With the injuries, Coach K moved Luke into a starter, and alternated between Jackson and Chase Jeter as the fifth starter (with Jackson securing the starting role after a couple of games). Against Maine, Tatum (20 minutes) and Bolden (12 minutes) returned, though both looked rusty. If you thought that return would lengthen Duke’s bench, it did not do so last night. Bolden played 2 minutes (picked up 2 fouls) and Jeter only a minute (1 foul and 1 turnover). The rotation was essentially 6 with Tatum replacing Jeter as the 6th man (he will be a starter going forward). Jackson played 20 minutes — only 9 in the second half when he failed to score or have a statistic besides 0-1. In the first half he scored 3 (1-4; 1-2 from deep). Coach K pointed out that this team is not practicing — “our practices are just shooting and walk throughs”. Bolden is not practicing; Tatum did not practice before the Maine game and has had only one practice after. He was in St. Louis at the funeral of his great grandmother on Monday. Jefferson was at the funeral of his grandmother, who is the woman that brought him up. So neither was at the Monday session. Allen is not practicing and Jackson is dinged up as well. The good news is that Harry Giles is close to ready. He has not played in contact, but Coach K suggested (with reservations) that he can be back “before Christmas”. Vrankovich, DeLaurier, and White did not play at all.

Tatum

Against Florida, Tatum moved into the starting lineup — in reality he didn’t do it until the last 8 minutes of the first half. Jayson replaced Jackson after 4 minutes and 9 seconds had elapsed, but was still out of sync. He had his first 3 shots blocked and looked insecure. He played 3 and a half minutes before Coach K took him out and told him, “We need you to play like you can play.” With a bit under 9 minutes to go Jayson returned to the game and began to “play like he can play”. He immediately made a layup, got rebounds, played good interior defense and then made the play of the game. He made a great steal and superb pass that ended up in a Jefferson layup to put Duke ahead by a point. Coach K said the play turned the game around and turned Jayson around as well. From there on he was superb. In the last 9 minutes of the first half he scored 6, grabbed 4 boards, and had 2 blocks. In hindsight, one could have said, “you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!” Jayson simply took the game over (with Kennard) in the second half. After playing 12 minutes in the first half, Jayson did not miss a shot in his 17 second half minutes [4-4 from the field; 8-8 from the foul line for 16 second half points and 22 for the game]. In the second half, Jayson grabbed 4 more boards, handed out 2 assists and had another block. As Bill said, he is the real deal. He will not be playing for Duke next year.

Kennard

Kennard has been Duke’s best player so far this season. Any speculation that the return of the freshmen can push him from the starting lineup is being dispelled by his play. How is this for efficiency: 29 points on just 16 shots [11-16; 5-7 from deep and 2-2 from the line] to go with 3 assists, 2 steals and a rebound (the box score says only 1 board, but I seem to remember more). Luke simply took the game over. Allen hit him with some great passes, which Luke converted to keep Florida at bay throughout the second half. He has a great sense for the game and is an all-around scorer. Luke got a 2 minute blow in the first half, logging 38 valuable minutes.

Jefferson

Amile played his best all- around game ever (though his defense against Kaminisky in the 2015 championship game was his most important game so far). He played 39 minutes (replaced by Jeter for just a minute in the first half) of simply scintillating basketball. He is so unselfish and such a leader. Coach K called a play for him in the second half, and Jefferson told him to call it for Jayson instead because he had the hot hand. That is the attitude that leads by example and makes a winning team. Jefferson and Kennard carried the team in the first half. In the opening stanza, Amile was 8-10; 2-2 from the line for 18 points to go with 8 boards, 2 blocks, an assist and a steal. He played the entire second half, going 3-4 for 6 points; adding 7 more boards and 2 more blocks. Coach K’s called it his greatest game, and lauded him as “a basketball player”, meaning he can do it all, including handle the ball.

Allen

Grayson had an off game shooting and is clearly hampered by his turf toe. He was 2-10 [1-5 from deep and 1-2 from the line], but he found other ways to help his team. In his 35 minutes, Allen had 8 assists to lead the team, and some of them were simply exquisite. Coach K thinks he is “trying too hard, but he will be fine.” After Saturday’s game against UNLV, Duke has exams, which means time off for Grayson to rest and the team to practice.

Jones

Matt played 36 minutes without scoring [0-4; 0-2 from deep without getting to the line], yet he is so valuable. He played great defense, had 3 boards, a steal, an assist and a block. I think he will benefit from the exam break.

Jackson

Let us see how he plays against UNLV on Saturday. He looked very out of sync against Florida.

Next Game

The first time Duke has played UNLV since the great win in 1991 in the semi-finals of the NCAA. In Vegas on Saturday at 5:15.

Duke 94– Las Vegas 45

Holy Player of the Year, Batman. Grayson Allen is finally healthy–34 points in 29 minutes! The kid was on fire with his whole repertoire: uptown high flying, trampoline dunks and acrobatic drives, downtown and all-around-town threes. If you missed the game, click on goDuke.com for the highlights. UNLV probably made a mistake by roughing up Allen in the first minutes, pushing him around and then even choking him in a scrub. Mistake, big mistake. This is Grayson Allen 3.0. He channeled his aggression into scoring, rather than getting even.

This game was the 25^th anniversary of Duke’s coming of age upset win over Jerry Tarkanian’s undefeated #1 seeded UNLV 79-77 in the semi-final game of the 1991 NCAA Championships. It was sweet payback for the previous year when UNLV embarrassed Duke 103-73 for the National Championship. What a difference twenty-five years makes and what a great 25 years it has been for Coach K and Duke basketball!

Coach said before the game that with all its injuries, Duke was in October mode rather than December mode because so many injured players still have to be brought up to speed, including Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum, Marques Bolden, Frank Jackson, and Grayson Allen. Well, Duke is starting to get healthy and have the practices it hoped for entering the season. Despite all that, today the Blue Devils were in mid-season form and put on an offensive and defensive clinic —a scary thought for future opponents. Allen and Kennard combined for 50 points, outscoring UNLV by themselves. The team shot 60% from the floor, had 18 assists, and forced the Running Rebels into more travels than assists.

It appears that with Jefferson and Tatum in the game, the Blue Devils will run a double high post at the foul line, leaving the low post open for drives or cutters. Both big men are very good ball handlers, passers, and put the ball on the floor with confidence. Amile had another double-double and Jayson is 2000 version of Jamaal “Silk” Wilkes, who was an integral part of championship teams at UCLA, Golden State, and the Lakers.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves but this team has demonstrated they have the talent, feel for the game, and chemistry to have a very, very exciting, special season. For sure, it should be fun to be a Blue Devil fan. Buckle up!

Other Comments:

Harry Giles is scheduled to be activated for game play on December 19^th against Tennessee State in Cameron. If he remains healthy and is nearly as good as advertised, Coach K will have an embarrassment of talent at his disposal. Even if Giles is not totally healthy, the distribution of minutes will be interesting. So far, it is hard to imagine another Big Man being as productive as Jefferson has been or any combination of guards being as prolific scorers as Luke Kennard and a healthy Grayson Allen or any power forward being as versatile and lethal as Jayson Tatum or as good a defender and savvy a veteran as Matt Jones. So even as promising as Frank Jackson is or big and athletic as Marques Bolden (who appears to be the only unhappy bench camper) is, whose minutes should be dramatically cut? I’m sure the coaches will sort it all out without getting heartburn.

Highlight Reel: Frank Jackson had an sensationally athletic dunk off a missed shot that was only the third runner up to two of Grayson’s and Luke Kennard gave up and open floor layup for a blind drop off pass to a trailing Jayson Tatum. Its unselfish plays like this that establishes a tight bond between teammates.

My buddy and (among other talents) sports aficionado Peter, who lives in Las Vegas, was at the game. His take: “UNLV was simply outmatched, outplayed, out coached, and out classed.”

With all the good, young announcers working for ESPN, why is the ubiquitous Dickie V still doing so many college basketball games? The guy will not shut up and let the viewers enjoy the game. While Vitale enthusiastically drones on and on about his buddies Tony Bennett, J Lo, Reba, Brooks & Dunn etc., he might have noticed that a basketball game was actually being played.

Alan Adds:

When Jake Rupert owned the Yankees in the midst of their Ruthian domination in the 1920s, his idea of a perfect game was, “The Yankees score 8 or 9 runs in the first inning, and then slowly pull away.” That is a fair description of Duke’s annihilation of UNLV yesterday. I want to talk about Duke’s smothering defense and amazing performance in the second half (at both ends of the floor). In the first half, Duke played great defense until the contested shot went up, then Coach K said that Duke started to try and run on the break too early. The result was loose ball rebounds that went to the Runnin’ Rebels, who turned those loose ball rebounds into open 3 pointers (UNLV made 3 in a row like that). At the intermission, Coach K said, “don’t worry about running except on turnovers.” The result was one of the most outstanding and efficient halves that a Duke team has played. Duke held UNLV to 19 second half points, playing amazing team defense. Don’t ever wonder why Matt Jones is on the floor even though he is not scoring; he leads the perimeter defense and can guard all positions.

Most of UNLV’s 19 came when the freshmen were playing. You can see that neither Tatum nor Bolden is yet comfortable with Duke’s switching and help defense to negate an opponent’s drive, when the adversary gets past the perimeter defense. Watching Jefferson, Kennard and Jones do that was like watching Balanchine’s NY City Ballet. It was really beautiful. The Rebs got no open looks on the interior and were only 6-25; 2-9 from deep and were only 5-9 from the line in the last half. Duke’s second half offense was equally breathtaking, shooting 70% from the field (21-30) with 12 assists on the 21 baskets. Grayson was 4-4 from deep and Kennard made his only 3 point attempt in the second half. Jackson was 1-2; only Jones (0-4) was off from behind the arc. Duke had 12 assists against only 7 turnovers. Duke humbled UNLV on the boards, but that is partly explained by how few defensive rebounds there were for the Rebs to grab. Coach K was excited because “we played with passion.” Coach K had the team watch the tape of the 1991 victory over the Runnin’ Rebs in the National semi-finals “so we would know we were playing a proud opponent.” Of course, no Duke player had yet been born when that game was played. But, the passion in this team was evident from the opening tip-off.

The Rotation

Vrankovich and Justin Robinson did not play (the Admiral was in attendance), while Jack White logged 4 garbage time minutes; and, Javin DeLaurier played 8 minutes (all in the second half). Marquis Bolden is obviously: 1) not in game shape; 2) rusty; and 3) talented with a huge potential to shore up Duke’s inside game. He played 13 minutes — 8 in the first half (he is part of the rotation, while the others mentioned above are not), scoring 6 on 3-5 shooting and looking competent in the low post. However, he also had 3 turnovers and committed 2 fouls in that abbreviated stint. Unfortunately, he reminds me of Okafor on the defensive end. He hasn’t yet picked up on the help and switching, but he is so athletic that it is fair to project that he will do so this year. In the first half, Kennard never came out; Allen was out for a minute and Jefferson for 2. The rest of the minutes were evenly divided among Jones (11), Tatum and Jackson (10 each). Jeter started (he is from Las Vegas) but played only 6 minutes. For the game, Kennard played 34 minutes (garbage time started when he came out for the first time with 6 minutes to go), Jefferson 30 and Grayson 29. Jayson Tatum logged 24 minutes and played well down the stretch after struggling early. Matt Jones played 23 minutes and Jackson played 20 minutes. Jeter played 9 minutes in the second half (15 for the game), but is not showing enough to keep in the rotation once Bolden is in game shape. And that is not even yet considering how Harry Giles’s playing time will be allotted.

The Front Court

For now, Jayson Tatum is playing in the forecourt and playing big. He grabbed 5 boards (tied for second on the team) and 2 blocks and 2 steals to shore up the interior. He also got hot late in the game and finished with 13 points [5-11; 1-3 from deep and 2-4 from the line] to go with 3 assists. The rust is coming off; he is a big time player. Jefferson was simply superb, notching another double-double 10 points [4-6 from the field and 2-2 from the line] to go with 12 boards. He also had 5 assists to lead the team in that department against only 2 turnovers. Coach K now uses him to help break the press because of his reliable ball handling. Bolden, Jeter, and DeLaurier are works in progress. Bolden has the most upside potential, but has a ways to go. Then there is the intriguing prospect of Harry Giles’s return.

The Scintillating Back Court

Kennard and Allen had Player of the Year-like games. Allen appeared to be back in his All-American form as Bill described above. How is this for a gaudy stat line: 34 efficient points on 16 shots [12-16; 6-9 from deep; 4-5 from the line] to go with 4 rebounds an assist and one highlight dunk. Grayson practiced for the first time since the Kansas game before this game and said after the game that he is almost 100% (UNLV would rather not see him at 100% then if this was “almost”), and should be fully recovered by the next game in 10 days. Kennard’s stat line was every bit as gaudy: 16 points on 12 shots [6-12; 2-5 from 3land; 2-2 from the line] to go with 5 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals and 0 fouls or turnovers. What a one-two punch! In the back to go with Jefferson and Tatum up front. Frank Jackson played an excellent 20 minutes scoring 9 [4-5 from the field; 1-1 from deep] with 2 assists, 2 steals and a rebound (2 turnovers). Jones scored only 2 in his 23 minutes [1-5; 0-4 from deep] to go with 3 boards; 3 assists and 2 steals.

The Status of the Team Going into Exams

Duke has 10 days before playing Tennessee State (who lost in overtime yesterday to NC State). Coach K said the team will use the time to study, get healthy, and get the reps in practice of the returning players playing with each other. Tatum and Bolden had only practiced twice before the UNLV game; and Allen only once. Everyone, including Harry Giles, participated in the last practice for the first time. Giles did not scrimmage, but is playing contact one on one and is running well. Coach K said, “he is coming soon”, but cautioned about expectations: he hasn’t played a game in 13 months. “There will be a period of adjustment”, said K. It will be exciting just to have Giles start back adjusting. If he re-integrates smoothly, he will be a major force in Duke’s interior defense.

It’s all a pretty exciting prospect for the coming conference wars!

Duke 65– Tennessee State 55

Christmas almost came six days early for Tennessee State as all the Duke players except Luke Kennard shot for much of the game like they had pulled too many exam week all-nighters. Finally, a too-close-for-comfort game was broken open midway through the second half with a 25-5 run. Freshman Jayson Tatum, who was a non- factor in the first half, played an instrumental role in the second half. He finished a rebound shy of a double-double with 14 points and 9 boards. Three of his defensive rebounds led to assists for triples on the other end—two by Kennard and one by Allen– which ignited the decisive run.

TSU is the kind of team top seeds are likely to meet in the NCAA Tournament and often give bigger, better known programs trouble– think Belmont and Lehigh. They are older, more mature players starting three redshirt seniors and two juniors who just nine days ago were able to take N.C. State into overtime. Since these type of teams are overmatched, they limit possessions by taking their time on offense, play defense with a physicality that’s hard to match, and do not take plays off. This slower, more patient approach often frustrates younger, more celebrated opponents.

Fortunately, Luke Kennard’s 25 points, solid defense, and Jefferson’s 18 boards kept Duke in the game until other offensive help arrived. Among other contributions, Jayson Tatum made consecutive 3-pointers to stretch Duke’s lead to 20 with a little more than seven minutes left in the game. Jayson started slowly. He scored only two points over the first 31 minutes, but found other ways to help his team by playing tough defense, rebounding, blocking shots, and making steals—namely, playing Duke Basketball.

Coach K commented: “He did dirty work in the second half. . . . That was a big game for him. . . . Be a player. If you define yourself by a shot, you’re not going to be a real winner. You define yourself by the score. Any player who defines himself by the score, will find a way to win.”

Harry Giles, Duke’s most celebrated freshman recruit, who has not played in a real game for more than a year, made his first competitive appearance tonight as a Blue Devil. He played four uneventful but apparently healthy minutes as he works his way and confidence into competitive shape.

Other comments:

The UNLV game aside, Grayson Allen is not yet shooting as well as last year. He even missed three free throws.

Duke left a lot of points off the scoreboard by missing an uncharacteristic 13 free throws.

What a pleasure it was to have the always knowledgeable and informative Doris Burke as the TV analyst.

Alan Adds:

Coach K said he told his team that Tennessee State is just like a team The Devils will draw in the NCAA tournament. The visitors play a tough cohesive team defense and rebound aggressively. The Tennessee team defense showed up in the first half. Duke’s terrible offensive first half was about half of the opponents’ defense and half of simply missing open shots. To give an idea of how off Duke was, consider that if we subtract Luke Kennard’s 3-3 first half, Duke shot 4-22 (and missed 6 foul shots). The game was interesting to us because of: 1) the rotation, which foreshadows how Coach K will proceed with his returning injured freshmen; 2) Kennard’s superb performance; 3) Jason Tatum’s terrific second half after an unproductive opening stanza; 4) Duke’s excellent defense when the veterans are on the court.

The rotation

Coach K wants to win games. He was very clear: “I am not about individuals; this is about the group and about winning.” He emphasized the individuals need to think about winning and fitting in. I loved his quote that Bill recited above. Good players define themselves by the score of the game. He used Tatum as an example. Tatum played only nine minutes in the first half, missing both of his long range attempts and turning the ball over twice. In the second half, he played every minute and turned the game Duke’s way. But K was also clear that Tatum is still growing. When the team went to him in the high post as the game wound down, he passed up some open shots (three Coach K said). The other wounded freshmen made brief appearances in the first half — Giles for 4 uneventful and unimpressive minutes (to be expected) and Bolden for 6 frustrating minutes (especially frustrating on the defensive end). Jeter contributed 10 minutes — 6 at the end of the first half when Duke took the lead by 5 after trailing by 5; and 4 unproductive in the second half. Surprisingly, Jackson played only 13 minutes (4 fouls) — 7 in the first half and 6 in the second. He has only practiced once because of the academic requirements. Only 6 players scored for Duke and 3 of them each had only 5 points (Jones, Jefferson and Jackson). The starters logged heavy minutes, especially in the second half. Kennard was only out for a minute. Grayson played 35 minutes, Jefferson 33 and Jones 31. Tatum played the entire second half for a total of 29 minutes.

The Defense

Duke played good defense all night, though Tennessee State penetrated to the basket more easily early in the game. In the second half, Duke’s defense turned the game, getting consecutive stops and turnovers. Duke trailed 36-34 with 15 minutes left in the second half. Eight minutes later, Duke led by 20 (59-39). Duke gave up 3 points in 8 minutes while scoring 25. Coach K said in that stretch, Duke played beautiful basketball. Jefferson and Tatum protected the rim and Duke’s defensive backboard. Tennessee State got only 4 offensive rebounds in the entire game (and it is a good rebounding team). Jefferson pulled down a career high 18 boards. Tatum had 9 rebounds and 2 blocks. The defense was porous when Bolden anchored the middle and Giles was understandably uncertain. Jeter looked good in the first half and wholly inadequate in the second. When Duke led by 20, Coach K replaced Jefferson and Jones with Jeter and Jackson. A minute later the lead was down to 15 and Jefferson and Jones returned to the game. The veterans make the defense … for now.

The Offense

Aside from the dramatic spurt that blew the game open, Luke Kennard, and Tatum’s second half, Duke’s offense was worse than merely ragged. Luke was quite amazing, scoring 24 on just 10 shots (7-10; 3-5 from deep; and 7-8 from the line) to go with 3 boards and an assist. He carried Duke in the first half (11 points on 3-3; 1-1; and 4-4 from the line). While Jayson scored only 2 in his 9 first half minutes, he notched 12 in the second half for a team second high 14 (4-11; 2-6 — they were daggers — from deep and 4-5 from the line). Allen was also a double figure scorer with 12, while it was not a good shooting game for Grayson (2-7; 1-6 from behind the arc; and 7-11 from the line), he was terrific in the rest of his game. He pulled down 5 boards, and handed out 2 assists without a turnover. Jefferson was uncharacteristically missing shots he usually makes and was a disaster from the foul line (2-7 from the field and 1-8 from the line). Matt was also reticent and off (2-8; 1-4 from deep for his 5 points). Jackson was 2-6 (1-3 from deep) for his 5 points.

Yet for those 10 –12 minutes in the second half, the offense hummed and it didn’t matter who shot. The ball moved with spirit and purpose. As Coach K said, the point is not who scored but that Duke scored.

The end of Non-Conference

Tomorrow Duke plays Elon before Conference play opens against Virginia Tech at noon on December 31, 2016. Duke fans are savoring the possibilities of 2017.

DUKE 72 – ELON 61

Before James B. Duke rescued a struggling campus in Durham, North Carolina suffering from an identity crisis—named and renamed Brown School, Union Institute, Normal College, Trinity College—by establishing the $40,000,000 Duke Endowment, Elon University, which apparently did not suffer from any such personality disorder, beat the whatever-your-name-is school seven times. It’s amazing what a large endowment and name change can accomplish because since the 1924 personality transplant and cosmetic surgery, Elon has not beaten Duke in basketball. However, tonight the Phoenix must have been suffering from dyslexia and not realized whom they were playing, because at the half they lead 35-34.

If anyone thought a Coach K team would let an opponent from the Colonial Athletic Association continue to shoot 50% from the three point line again in the second half (try 12.5%), they haven’t been paying attention. Nevertheless, this was the second unimpressive and troubling game for the highly ranked Blue Devils. The highlights were Matt Jones defense, Jayson Tatum’s sophisticated game, Luke Kennard’s scoring, and Amile Jefferson’s free throw shooting (9-12). If the Blue Devils had shot the same percentage from the foul line as they did against Tennessee State, it would have been a two point game. On the other hand, there was Marques Bolden’s continuing to struggle defensively and the question of how far Harry Giles has to go to live up to his reputation.

However, by far the most perplexing question is: What’s going on with Grayson Allen? He has been struggling with a foot injury and inconsistency and to add insult to injury has gone from a Player-of-the-Year candidate to designated Punk-of-the-Year candidate with one more unnecessary tripping incident. If you watch the replay in real time, not slow-motion, you will get the better perspective of the speed and physicality of the action. There is contact with a driving Steve Santa Ana who clamps Grayson’s arm between his arm and body, throwing Grayson off balance. In attempting to stabilize himself while doing a 180, an angry Allen throws a leg into the back of Steve’s leg knocking him to the ground. While an adolescent retaliation to tough, physical play, it was a misdemeanor not a Draymond Green or Cris Paul type felony. But Allen plays for Duke and Coach K, so the reaction will be a firestorm of indignation and demands for a pound of flesh—or more. And because video tape replay is ubiquitous, ESPN announcers and sports writers being who they are, and social media being what it is, this incident will live as long Duke is in the hunt this year—and longer. In the short term, Duke is not a national contender without Grayson Allen 3.0 being at least Grayson Allen 2.0. So far, except for the UNLV game, he is not. Allen is finally physically healthy but, after tonight’s post foul meltdown, his emotional health is a huge question mark. Just consider the toll that the white hot light of the media contributed to the deterioration of Tiger Woods’ golf game. Alan has some very interesting comments on the impact of the Grayson Allen situation upon the team.

Fortunately, this team has enough depth to make adjustments for a missing-in-action player. In just a few games Jayson Tatum has not only shown flashes of an exceptionally sophisticated offensive skill set, he also plays the entire game with a maturity seldom seen in a freshman. However, the three players that are keeping this 12-1 team together are the senior co-captains Amile Jefferson, Matt Jones, and sophomore Luke Kennard. Luke’s scoring obviously has filled the stat sheet void left by Grayson’s travails and Amile’s double/doubles are clear evidence of his contributions. But a lot of what Matt contributes doesn’t show up on a stat sheet. It doesn’t track dives on the floor or tipped or stolen passes or forcing a ball handler to set up the offense near mid court or dribble with this weaker hand. Jones never takes a rest on defense and when a team threats Duke, he’s usually the guy who steps up with a play that gets the team back on course and in control. He’s truly become a coaches’ player, one the fans may overlook but a savvy coach covets.

Alan Adds:

Grayson Allen

Everything that happened in this game pales in significance in relation to how the team will react to the Grayson Allen trip redux (again). In my opinion, this is one of those events that has the capacity to derail the entire season. I eschew a discussion of what either Coach K or the ACC should do in this situation. My focus is on how this incident can or will affect the fortunes of this team going forward. Anyone who has seen Allen’s post-game interview knows how deeply affected and ashamed he was. It was painful to watch. As readers knows, I have unbridled respect and admiration for Coach K, but listening to him at the post-game press conference had me cringing. Not intellectually, but emotionally. I wanted to turn him off because some his words made me very uncomfortable. Some were, however, words of wisdom. Coach K said we have all done stupid things that have hurt ourselves. That makes one feel bad. But when the stupid thing you do hurts not only yourself, but your family or in this case your team, you feel much worse. Coach K was clear: this was a team captain who knows he let his team down in the game for sure, and maybe for the season. Duke had a 32-24 lead when the incident and technical foul occurred with 4:15 left in the first half. Duke scored no further field goals and only 2 points on Kennard’s 2 free throws to trail 35-34 at the half. It was a terrible game for Grayson even before the incident. He scored one 3 in his 13 first half minutes and failed to score at all in his 9 second half minutes. He was 1-8; 1-6 without getting to the foul line to go with 3 boards and 2 second half assists. We will have to see how this shakes out. It is not necessarily a disaster, but it is surely a potential one.

The Rotation

Bill’s analysis is superb. The only aspect I might add is about Harry Giles, who played a perfunctory 2 minutes in the first half. He logged 4 in the second half, scoring his first collegiate point (1-2 from the line with a rebound). However, he is already moving better and showing some confidence. I predict Giles will take less time than expected to begin to positively impact this team. But for now the rotation was as thin as ever. In the second half, Frank Jackson played 16 minutes. Grayson’s 9 and Giles’s 4 were the only rest the main five were given in the closing stanza. Tatum played 19, Kennard 18, and both Jones and Jefferson played 17. In the first half, Marquis Bolden appeared for 3 minutes (and gave up 2 open 3 pointers on defense) without registering a statistic. His defense is behind in spite of how athletic he is. Chase Jeter played 7 first half minutes, but 0 in the second half. Frank Jackson played 13 minutes in the first half for a starter’s playing time of 29 minutes in the game. Tatum led the team in minutes with 38, followed by Kennard with 36, Jones 34, Jackson 29 and Jefferson 27 (only 10 in the first half while Coach K gave Jeter, Bolden and Giles a few front court minutes.

The front court

Jefferson sparkled in the second half as Duke put the game away. After a scoreless first half (4 boards), he was 2-2 from the field and 9-12 from the line for 13 second half points (and 3 more boards). Jayson Tatum should be described in both front and back court sections. Although his shot is still not where it will be — in his 38 minutes he took 22 shots, scoring 18 points (7-22; 0-4 from downtown and 4-4 from the line) — he was quite amazing. He led Duke in rebounding with 8, blocks with 4 and assists with 3. He had 2 steals (2nd to Matt Jones’s 5). Giles will supply some added support in the front court as the season progresses. Whether Jeter and Bolden will provide significant support this season is up in the air. Coach K pointed out that Elon centers were given open looks from behind the arc and made 4-4. Jefferson was victimized once; Bolden twice and Giles once, all in the first half. Elon was 7-14 from 3land in the first half, but when the defense tightened up, 1-8 from downtown in the second half. Jefferson did give up a 3, but the defense was back to being Duke.

The backcourt

Kennard was again superb leading Duke in scoring with 21 points on 17 shots [7-17; 2-4 from 3land; 5-6 from the line], grabbing 7 boards (same as Amile) to go with a block and a steal. Matt Jones was absolutely superb with 5 disruptive steals and some solid second half defense. In his 34 minutes he scored 9 on 6 shots [4-6; 1-3 from behind the arc] to go with 6 boards, an assist and a block. Jackson picked up Allen’s minutes, scoring 7 in his 29 minutes on 2-5; 1-3 from 3land and 2-2 from the line. He has been hampered by some physical problems and exams; so has only practiced once recently.

The Conference

The ACC will be brutal this year, and winning on the road will be difficult. Duke opens ACC play on New Year’s Eve day at noon against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Phase 2 of this season begins.

Hi Folks:

I have received some criticism about my comments on the Grayson Allen tripping incident. Let me be crystal clear: It was wrong, it was juvenile, it was puzzling. Allen needs to be more mature, more disciplined and, probably, needs professional counseling. However, they were poor sportsmanship not vicious thuggery. No one was even close to being injured. When you consider the totality of his academic and athletic accomplishments, his personality, and how well liked he is by his teammates, I do not understand how a few seconds of flawed emotional judgement out of twenty years of exceptional accomplishments justifies the outpouring of the volume of acrimony against him, Coach K, and Duke Basketball. I am confident that between the coaches, his teammates, and the university, Grayson will survive this firestorm.

Below is a very thoughtful piece by Al Featherston on Grayson that I hope everyone will take the time to read or even re-read. The only thing I would like to add is that just viewing the edited version of the three tripping incidents does not tell the whole story. Grayson has demonstrated that he plays very hard but fair and also takes a lot of punishment. As the commercial says, “He takes a licking and keeps on ticking.” Prior to all three incidents, there was contact and, in two instances, physical aggression against Grayson that was missed or overlooked by the refs. I’m sure that was the trigger for the retaliation.

As an example of the current state of sports journalism, I am also including a link to a CBS piece on the most hated Duke Basketball players.

Alan adds:

For me, Featherstone hits the problem in the heart of the bull’s eye when he wrote: “Like Allen’s first two trips, the play wasn’t that noteworthy – other than it was the third time such a play involved Allen.

Even worse, in my mind, was Allen’s reaction to the play. Frankly, he went berserk. Assistant coach Jon Scheyer had to muscle him to the bench, all the time, mouthing “Calm down.” But for about 30 seconds, Allen was out of control. I’m not sure where his anger was directed – at Santa Ana? At the refs? At himself?

We actually need to know about those 30 seconds and what was in Grayson’s mind that triggered such an out of control reaction. It’s the key to solving the problem. Was he feeling victimized or berserk at himself for undoing all of the off-season good in two shockingly stupid seconds. Featherstone is right that the play and technical foul were no big deal. Bill is right. No one was even close to being hurt; it wasn’t the type of thuggery that we see routinely in games; and it wasn’t deliberately sneaky as say Chris Paul was with Julius Hodge (deliberate shot to the groin while they were just standing there). Nevertheless, those defenses miss the point. This is the third time and after much public scrutiny, outcry from fans and media; and much soul searching and correction by Grayson. When it happens again, followed by a meltdown that was clearly seems to be some type of diagnosable disorder, we have a very serious problem — for not only Grayson, but for Duke’s season.

I don’t see a Grayson defense in the social media. It can only keep the flames high. We know there are stupid people who fan the flames of disparagement (Proven rather dramatically in the past few months). This is an internal problem, and whether it is solved in a way that saves Grayson, his future and the Duke season remains to be seen.

Concern For Grayson Allen

Only a handful of people fully understand what happened to Grayson Allen against Elon but how he responds is critical.

by Al Featherston

Mike Krzyzewski once talked about the problems he faced in dealing with the great Christian Laettner.

Laettner was an intense and combative player. Those qualities were what lifted him to greatness. But they also made the Blue Devil star difficult to deal with. Several of his teammates complained that Laettner was as tough on his teammates in practice as he was on opponents in games. Freshman Cherokee Parks had some particularly ugly run-ins with Laettner in 1991-92, while fellow All-Americans Grant Hill and Bobby Hurley admitted that there were times that they almost hated Laettner.

Krzyzewski knew what was going on, but he had to walk the fine line between controlling Laettner’s fire and extinguishing it. His metaphor is that dealing with Laettner was like tending a furnace in the basement of a building – the trick was to use the fire to heat the building without burning it down.

In Laettner’s case, Krzyzewski never let the building burn. He controlled the fire well enough to earn two national titles and four straight Final Fours in Laettner’s four seasons.

Well, it doesn’t take a fire fighter to understand that K’s building is smoldering today.

A quarter century after Laettner, Grayson Allen brings a very similar fire to the Duke program. His aggressiveness and combativeness is what lifts him from good to great. When controlled, Allen is like a force of nature on the court, asserting his will and dominating the game.

Unfortunately, Allen’s fire has not been as well-controlled as Laettner’s inferno. The older Duke star really only lost control once in his career, when he tapped the chest of fallen Kentucky center Aminu Timberlake in the 1992 East Regional title game. It was not a dangerous or vicious blow – certainly not the “stomp” that Duke haters like to call it. But it was an expression of Laettner’s frustration and a moment when he lost control.

It was also the only in-game loss of control by Laettner in his career.

The problem in Allen’s case is that he’s lost it three times in the last season-and-a-third. He first tripped Louisville’s Raymond Spalding last Feb. 8 in Durham. It was easy to see what caused the play – Allen was bounced to the floor on a driving layup attempt without a foul call. He clearly reacted out of frustration.

And while his trip was inexcusable, it was not as inherently dangerous as the blow that sent him flying to the ground.

If that had been the end of it, Allen’s trip would have been as obscure as the elbow to the face that he took from Louisville’s Jaylen Johnson in the rematch with Louisville later that month (a blow that didn’t earn Johnson a technical foul or a suspension).

But Allen followed his Louisville trip by tripping FSU’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes in the final seconds of Duke’s victory in Cameron. This one was different. Allen and Rathan-Mayes were jawing as the clock ran down on the Blue Devil victory, when Allen stuck out his leg and tripped his antagonist. It was almost a playful action – except such action has no place on a college court – especially not from a player already involved in one tripping incident.

Suddenly, Allen was the most famous tripper in America – the subject of countless diatribes on ESPN and on other outlets. He was universally condemned (even vilified) and many were outraged when the ACC failed to do more than reprimand the Duke star.

Allen was contrite in public, apologizing profusely and promising that he had learned his lesson. For the first 12 games of the season, the tripping problem seemed to be behind him. There was much more emphasis on his struggles to overcome an injured toe.

Then came Wednesday night in Greensboro.

Allen’s trip of Elon’s Steven Santa Ana was deliberate and inexcusable. As Santa Anna drove for the basketball, Allen clearly bumped him, drawing a foul. But when Santa Ana ended the play by making a flailing attempt to get a shot off (a move Allen attempts time after time) it got ugly. Their arms locked and Santa Ana’s momentum spun Allen around.

It was during that spin that the Duke junior stretched out his leg and tried to trip the Elon guard.

Like Allen’s first two trips, the play wasn’t that noteworthy – other than it was the third time such a play involved Allen.

Even worse, in my mind, was Allen’s reaction to the play.

Frankly, he went berserk.

Assistant coach Jon Scheyer had to muscle him to the bench, all the time, mouthing “Calm down.” But for about 30 seconds, Allen was out of control. I’m not sure where his anger was directed – at Santa Ana? At the refs? At himself?

Krzyzewski didn’t want to talk about the incident after the game, other than to call the play “inexcusable” and to report that he had forced Allen to personally apologize to Santa Ana and Elon coach Mike Matheny.

The next morning, Duke released a statement from Krzyzewski, reporting that Allen was suspended indefinitely.

Obviously, this creates concern for the Blue Devils going forward. Their next game will be Dec. 31 at Virginia Tech, which is likely to be a ranked team at that point. Without Allen, a tough game becomes even tougher. After that are two gimmies – home games with Georgia Tech and Boston College.

But concerns for Duke going forward have to be secondary to concerns about Allen’s future. Krzyzewski made it clear Wednesday night that he is concerned for the kid and getting him on track is his primary concern.

It would be easier to deal with if Allen was a simple thug.

But he’s not. He’s a well-spoken young man and an academic All-America. Unlike Laettner, he’s not disliked by his teammates. On most occasions, he’s exactly the NCAA’s ideal “student-athlete.”

Except when he’s not.

It would take a psychiatric professional (which I am NOT) to judge the roots of Allen’s apparent anger issues. But those issues – whatever the cause – have to be addressed … and corrected.

I honestly believe that’s why Krzyzewski suspended Allen “indefinitely” – rather than for a set number of games. His suspension will not be dictated by the schedule, but by Allen’s response to his Wednesday night meltdown.

I’ll be honest … it scared me.

I may be an alarmist here, but I recall a number of ACC players who had mental issues. There was Wake Forest center Loren Wood – a player Krzyzewski once asked the Crazies to lay off, who after a breakdown in Winston-Salem, recovered to help Arizona to the 2001 national title game (a loss to Duke). There was Ray Harrison, a guard from Greensboro who once beat out David Thompson as North Carolina’s prep player of the year. Harrison had a great junior year for UNC, but had issues the next year and struggled.

Then there was Mike Wilkes, a forward who helped Virginia to one of the great upsets in ACC history – a victory over UNC and Charlie Scott in the 1970 ACC Tournament. Friends were bothered by Wilkes’ bizarre behavior off the court and one night he melted down on the court, showing up with a shaved head, putting himself into a game, then having a meltdown in the locker room. Wilkes died very young of mysterious causes.

Now, I’m not suggesting that Allen’s problems are anywhere near that level … or even that he has serious issues at all. I just want to be sure he doesn’t have such issues … and I feel sure that Krzyzewski has the same concern.

Allen’s future is more important than the future of this Duke basketball team.

Duke will be fine. I just hope Allen is.

DUKE 75 – VIRGINIA TECH 89

When I saw Duke opened the ACC regular season with an away game at Virginia Tech, I thought: “Not good.” And when Grayson Allen was suspended, I cringed because the Hokies (11-1) usually have been a tough out in Blacksburg plus new coach Buzz Williams had assembled and honed a team of talented players who can match up with and beat any team in the country. Unfortunately, today that team was Duke which, playing without the suspended Grayson Allen, was about as out of synch as you will ever see a Coach K team. However, even with Grayson playing, it is doubtful the result would have been different– only closer, because the truth is the Hokies played inspired, exciting, even superb team basketball and dominated Duke in all phases of the game.

The Blue Devils, on the other hand, contributed to their own defeat. The freshman had a rude awakening to life on the road in the ACC, where veteran players and observers can tell you that no win is easy or assured. (Example: Carolina lost on the road to bottom feeder Georgia Tech today.) When a team shoots as poorly Duke did, it hands an athletic opponent the opportunity to run off easy baskets, get the crowd into the game, and suddenly, shots become tougher to make, (you think) the calls aren’t going your way, and the entire tide and trajectory of the game changes. The only thing worse than the Blue Devils’ offense was their defense. There was no weak side help, the Hokies drove and scored like it was a playground pick-up game, and there were too many open threes that hit nothing but net. The shellacking was so bad that the Blue Devils not only never had a lead, they never even made one of their patented runs at the lead.

The number tell the story: Duke shot 42%; Va. Tech shot 55%. Duke had two players ( Kennard 34 pts. & Tatum 18 pts.) in double figures; Va. Tech had six players in double figures. But the truth is this loss should come as no surprise, because Duke has not played very well in their last three games. Unfortunately, I fear that the game pointed out how important Grayson Allen is to the chemistry and efficiency of this team–not only offensively but also defensively and emotionally. Krzyzewski said after the game that he did not want to talk about when Allen might return but noted that the junior is no longer a co-captain. He also noted that breaks for exams and vacations can have a negative effect upon the cohesiveness of a team with young players and players returning from injuries.

Jayson Tatum took a half to adjust to life on the road before playing like we have come to expect. Frank Jackson, who also started, does not appear to have fully recovered from his unspecified ankle/foot injury. Harry Giles (4 points and 8 rebounds) looked more comfortable playing 13 minutes but is obviously still working his way back in shape and feeling his way back from his serious injury. Marques Bolden in his 3 minutes looked more and more like a project.

Suddenly, this team has gone from a Final Four contender to one with more questions than answers: 1) When will Grayson Allen return and will that have a positive or negative impact? 2) What did Luke Kennard mean when he said that some players not as invested in the team as they should be? 3) Why did Frank Jackson walk away from Captain Amile Jefferson in the Tech game when Amile was trying to make a point? We have seen this movie before and Coach K has usually found a solution but he has never had four highly-hyped freshmen projected first round picks, three of whom are underperforming.

There will be two home games against Georgia Tech and Boston College for the Blue Devils to recover from whatever ails them before they hit the road again against Florida State and Louisville.

Alan Adds:

After the Elon game, I wrote, “Everything that happened in this game pales in significance in relation to how the team will react to the Grayson Allen trip redux (again). In my opinion, this is one of those events that has the capacity to derail the entire season.” Nothing that transpired in Blacksburg changes my feeling. Even Coach K seemed on the ropes in one of his least insightful post-game press conferences (essentially admitting he did not have insight). When Coach K was asked how long it would take this team to jell and become cohesive, Coach K simply said, it can happen quickly or it can take a long time. Sometimes a team never jells; we call them losing teams.” He did say that team building was not a science and is “a beautiful part of the game”. Other signs that Coach K is (temporarily) lost. He said, “I do not want to talk about Grayson” before announcing Grayson has been stripped of his captaincy. Coach K said, “Duke is not playing as one. It’s not selfishness; it is a lack of familiarity because of the constant interruptions — injuries, Grayson etc.

Take Heart; All is Not Lost

We might all remember Duke’s last two National Championship seasons. In 2015, Duke was riding high at 14-0 when the wheels came off in January, On January 11, Duke got bombed on the road by NC State 87-75. We all expected Duke to rebound ferociously at home after the loss (a Coach K trademark). Instead Duke got blown out in an even worse performance by Miami 90-74. Coach K got that ship righted, turning a woeful defensive team into a defensive force by tournament time. In 2010, Duke was struggling in January. A most embarrassing loss came in DC against Georgetown on January 30, with President Obama in attendance, when the Hoyas destroyed Duke 89-77 (the game was not that close). Duke actually lost twice in January besides to Georgetown — at Georgia Tech and at NC State. Coach K got the ship righted and Duke went undefeated in February; and only lost one more game on its road to the NCAA championship.

Preseason, I wrote that defense would define the Duke season, pointing out that Duke has not been Duke defensively for a few years except for the tournament run in 2015. Coach K had hoped to run and press with his loaded roster, but there has been no chance to do that because of the interruptions. Duke could not have looked worse defensively against Virginia Tech. In my opinion, much of that is caused by Grayson’s absence. Grayson has been great on the defensive side — he is an excellent on the ball defender, excellent help defender, excellent defensive rebounder, and provides excellent pressing. All of that was missing yesterday. In my opinion, the absence of practice time for the whole rotation together is largely responsible. That’s good news because it is fixable. Right now, the freshmen all either look lost on defense or are prone to making a mistake in a particular defensive rotation. A couple of times, Duke played solid defense for 25-26 seconds before allowing points. I believe the defense will get better, though it will take time and a healthy full roster.

Duke won the second half 44-42 (although the Devils were really never in the game). Kennard played 18 minutes of the second half, scoring 20 points (9-11 from the line) in the closing stanza. Kennard was heroic. In 38 minutes he scored 34 [11-19; 3-6 from deep; 9-11 from the line] to go with 7 rebounds (third on the team behind Amile (12) and Harry Giles, yes Harry had 8 boards in 13 minutes. Jayson Tatum scored 18 points in 38 minutes (19 minutes in each half), but his game was a tale of two different shooting halves. Jayson was 1-7 from the field; 1-3 from deep and 4-4 from the line for 7 points in the first half; 5-7; 1-2 for 11 second half points (but 0-2 from the line). He needs to be more consistent and to concentrate for all 30 seconds on defense, but he is rounding into game shape. This was only his 6th game.

Finally, for me anyway, the best news of the game was the visible progress that Harry Giles is making. He played 7 productive first half minutes [2-3 for 4 points to go with 3 boards]. In his 6 second half minutes, he grabbed 5 boards and dished out an assist. He did commit 3 fouls in that half. Coach K said, “he gets tired. He is not in game shape and gets winded. He is doing now what pre-season is for. In short, as Coach K said, “he is learning on the job.” Giles, reputed to be an outstanding interior defender, is still looking lost on defense. Coach K acknowledged as much, but pointed out that Giles has not participated in the team’s defensive drills. I keep seeing good signs from Giles, and if he can take a productive place in the rotation, it could transform Duke’s season back to its lofty pre-season goals.

The Rotation

Jones, Kennard and Tatum played 38 minutes and Jefferson played 37. They are the four usual starters. Jackson played 24 minutes. His 3 first half fouls limited him to 7 minutes (0-1) in the opening stanza. Jackson played 17 second half minutes, committing only one more foul and going 3-8 from the field (0-1 from deep) for 6 points. He had a rebound and a turnover. Very troubling is Jackson failed to record an assist or get to the foul line. I suspect he is playing injured because without Grayson, he is desperately needed. However, Duke needs much more out of him. Duke needs much more out of Matt Jones as well. In 38 minutes, Jones scored only 4 points on 2-8 from the field; 0-4 from deep, and they were wide open 3s; and 0-1 from the line. He did have 2 blocks and a steal. Critically, he was AWOL in the second half, failing to score (0-2;0-1) without a rebound, steal or block. In the past, Jones has hit big shots when Duke needed a basket. Not yesterday. Amile scored 9 in 37 minutes (but only 2 in the first half where he was 1-4 and 0-1 from the line). He collected 6 boards in each half. It was not a bad game, but it was not up to the standard he has met so far this year.

The bench was thin, led by Harry Giles’s 13 minutes. In the first half, Jeter, Bolden and Jack White each logged 3 minutes. Bolden pulled down 3 boards (rebound a minute) and missed 2 free throws. Neither Jeter nor White recorded a statistic. Neither Bolden nor White even played in the second half. Jeter logged another 3 minutes with a rebound and a foul. That is essentially a six person rotation (Giles is the 6th man) in Grayson’s absence. Bolden has been disappointing so far. Jeter has played himself out of the rotation.

Looking Ahead

It is still — perhaps more than ever — a season on the brink. Coach K said Duke has had 3 subpar games in a row, playing without cohesion since the impressive win against UNLV on December 10. The ACC is going to be unforgiving this year. Wins on the road will be treasured, and losses not unexpected. Florida State got the most impressive road win this year, beating UVA in Charlottesville yesterday. The Tar Heels learned about ACC road games in Atlanta, bowing to lowly Georgia Tech. This is not the season we all hoped for so far, but take heart; all is not lost.

DUKE 110 – GEORGIA TECH 57

No, that’s not a typo but that’s also no indication of how the game started. Tech went up 4-0 off two easy baskets. Be honest, were you thinking like Alan and myself, “Oh my God, it’s Virginia Tech all over again.” Actually, this was a classic reality check game: a huge underdog upsets a top ten team at home and goes on the road to play a top ten team that just got blown out on the road by an unranked team. With the season maybe teetering on the brink of imploding and Coach K going on a multi-week post operation sabbatical, you knew there were going to be some changes. Harry Giles started and Grayson Allen came off his one game (but two week) suspension and bingo, Coach K had the team he had been envisioning all along. It was Grayson’s evolving point guard abilities to push the ball up the floor, break down defenders, see the entire floor, and score or pass to an open teammate that got the Blue Devils going tonight. As talented and deep as this team is, Grayson Allen is the straw that stirs the drink and makes this team as lethal as a Molotov Cocktail. Allen finished with 15 points, 7 assists, 3 boards, 1 steal in 27 minutes. All the threes that didn’t drop Saturday in Blacksburg were dropping early and often tonight in Cameron. 0-4 went to 9-4 in a heartbeat, then 29-11, and 61-30 at the half. The Yellow Jackets went to the locker room at the break looking as if they had been zapped by a can of Raid Spray.

Perhaps the most encouraging sign for Duke’s future this year was that seven players scored in double figures including Harry Giles, who had a double/double in the first start of his career and displayed some of the explosiveness and athleticism that made him the nation’s top recruit. After a Saturday game against Boston College, we will know more about the true trajectory of this team with a road trip to Louisville and a home game against Florida State. If they pass that test with no injuries or losses, Duke fans can breathe a lot easier. As most of you know, Mike Krzyzewski will have surgery Friday to remove a fragment of a herniated disk from his lower back, which just recently flared up. Tonight his facial expressions reflected more than discomfort. He appeared to hobble on his left leg, at times leaning back on the bench with that leg extended and clutching it. It will be the fifth surgery in nine months for Krzyzewski who will turn 70 next month. Last offseason, he had knee replacement and hernia surgeries as well as a pair of procedures on his left ankle. “I’m a little bit accustomed to listening to doctors’ orders and doing it the right way,” he said. “I’m tired of it. I’m not tired of coaching basketball, but I’m tired of not being healthy.” Despite the his age, recovery from this type of operation can be relatively quick for someone who’s healthy and Jay Bilas said that he has never seen his former coach be as enthusiastic about coaching as he was this fall. However, I can attest to the fact that back issues at any age are serious and usually are managed not resolved.

Other Comments:

Jay Bilas was one of the commentators tonight. Unlike J. Williams and Seth Greenburg, who were in the studio, Bilas made a lot of sense when talking about Grayson Allen’s one game suspension. Jay said that the Jim Swofford, the ACC Commissioner, let Coach K make the decision and that he was sure Coach K talked to his athletic director and president about his decision. Further, Jay, who played and coached for Krzyzewski (while he was getting his law degree), said in all his years he had never seen anything like the tripping incidents and that there is nothing in the rule book about it and he thought it was time just for everybody to just (shut up and) “Let the kid play”.

Jayson Tatum, who only had a few points in the first half, but ended with 19 said: “Coach doesn’t want me to just be a scorer, but an all-around player, help the team any way I can. I may not always hit the shots but I can always play defense, I can always rebound. He and Giles, who played AAU ball together, also demonstrated an unusual passing chemistry together as, obviously, do Allen and Kennard.

For the first time this year Marques Bolden looked like he belongs in the rotation. BTW, it looks like there will be an eight man rotation with everyone getting periodic breathers. Alan will go into more detail.

Welcome to the 2017 ACC season on the road: Virginia Tech gets blown out by a recovering N.C. State, Louisville gets beat at Notre Dame, Virginia loses at Pittsburg, and North Carolina squeaks by Clemson in Littlejohn in over time.

Duke 93 – Boston College 82

Duke won the first half 53-34 with Amile Jefferson. Duke lost the second half 40-48 without an injured Amile Jefferson. What does that tell you? It confirms what Alan and I have long contended: namely, that Jefferson may be as valuable as anyone on this team and this is a huge challenge— at least until Giles and Bolden adjust to the fact that they are not in high school anymore and there are a lot of talented basketball players in the ACC. Fortunately, that is not the case for Jayson Tatum, who stepped into the breach— hitting a now-you-can-breathe-easier three, four straight foul shots, and making a monster Big Boy rejection at the rim– scoring nine points in the final 4 1/2 minutes to save the most embarrassing, and unexpected collapse since The Warriors lost a 24 point lead to The Grizzlies Friday night.

Duke had six players in double figures, and a seventh, Luke Kennard, with 9 points. Grayson Allen had 12 points and 11 assists. He would have had a few more if Giles and Bolden adjusted faster to a pick and roll. I wonder if Grayson got credit for an assist when the threw an out of bounds pass ball from under the basket off the back of an unsuspecting a BC player and caught it for a layup?

With Allen operating the point, whether after a missed or made shot, the ball moves up the court much faster and often catches opponents before they get set defensively—much like Carolina’s very effective secondary beak. Add to that Grayson’s natural aggressiveness and innate ability to see the entire floor and you have another dimension to this offense. And speaking of offense, when the threes are dropping like in the first half, the game seems easy. When they are not, as in the second half, the outcome can become dicey. Other than missing Jefferson, the difference in the two halves was that the assist ratio was 15-5. That indicates that in the final twenty minutes, the shots were rushed and contested, not a result of ball movement. Axiom: Passes travel faster than players.

Obviously, Amile Jefferson’s injury (He injured the same foot as last year. The MRI revealed he suffered a sprained ankle, not a fracture, as had been previously feared.) is just another unanticipated challenge to what has seemed like, perhaps, another star-crossed season. As previously mentioned, Giles and Bolden need to mature fast—hustle and defend the rim like the impressive athletes they are, and understand how the game is being called. Today, they both fouled out and Tatum moved to center for the last for four minutes.

Other Comments:

Jeff Capel will settle in and do a fine job coaching this team. However, no one can energize/scare/intimidate/inspire a faltering team like Coach K and I have a hard time believing he would have let the Blue Devils almost blow a twenty point second half lead.

When everyone is hot and an opponent is being blown out, sometimes it is easy to forget who your money shooters are. Luke Kennard let his teammates share the spotlight but when the Eagles were making their run, he came off the bench cold. Shooters—unless your name is John Havlicek–have to shoot to stay warm. When you need points, I like the ball in Grayson or Luke’s hands and Jayson as an option at the high post elbow.

Alan Adds:

With 1:51 left in the first half, Duke led by 25 points at 53-28 when Jefferson went down. With 2:23 left in the game, the Eagles had cut the lead to a mere 7 points. It was a dicey time. Duke had scored only a single field goal since Giles hit a jumper at the 11:25 mark to give Duke a 22 point lead. Duke then proceeded to turn into the Duke team of the Virginia Tech game (and the two previous games). The shots — many of them very open looks — stopped falling. The ball stopped moving. Kennard missed 3 shots, including a 3; Jackson missed a pair of 3s; Jones missed a pair of 3s; Allen missed a 3; Tatum missed 3 shots (including a put back attempt) before making Duke’s only field goal in that stretch, a layup with 4:14 to go. If the offense was horrible, the defense was even worse. After playing the best defense of the year (before Jefferson’s injury), Duke returned to the Virginia Tech game defense. The Devils gave up scores on 11 straight possessions. The transition defense was non-existent; resulting in easy BC baskets. The Eagles penetrated for uncontested or barely contested layups out of the half court set. Tatum, Grayson and Jones all committed fouls, permitting BC to score. Giles, who had only 1 foul in the first half, fouled out with over 3 minutes to go. Bolden committed 4 fouls in his 7 on court minutes. Tatum finished the game with 4 fouls. I thought I saw Jeff Capel morphing into Pete Gaudet. But he didn’t. He calmed the team down and set them up to win the game.

Capel made the important point in his press conference — Duke made winning plays when it mattered. Tatum emerged as a team leader with amazing heart. He hit the game saving 3 to move the lead back out to 10 with 1:59 left to play. He made 4-4 crucial free throws, and took over the center position after Giles fouled out. He had 3 needed defensive rebounds and a block. Capel pointed to good foul shooting to keep Duke safe: Giles was 4-4; Tatum 4-4; Jackson 2-4 (but made the front end) and Kennard (1-2, but made the front end) down the stretch. Capel’s coaching point is that Duke played winning basketball in situations that cannot be replicated in practice; therefore the game was a positive.

The Frontcourt

Duke missed Chase Jeter yesterday! Capel started Giles, Jefferson and Tatum and they were absolutely superb until Jefferson went down. The rotation kept everyone fresh — Jefferson played 13 minutes; Giles 10, Tatum 16 and Bolden 4 in the first half. Giles was impressive going 3-5 with 3 boards for 6 points. Jefferson was superb with 11 points on 5-7 shooting and 2 boards and 2 assists. He anchored the superb defense. Tatum was smooth, scoring 9 [2-3; 5-6 from the line and was key on defense with 3 steals and 2 boards and a block. He gets better with every game. Bolden looks lost, but is now at least hustling. He runs the court well, but committed 3 fouls and a turnover in 4 scoreless minutes in the first half. Duke went small a few times with Jayson moving to power forward or playing with 4 guards and a big.

The wheels came off a bit in the second half without Jefferson. Giles was asked to play more minutes at a high level than his current condition allows. He was just gassed in 14 second half minutes (made necessary by Jefferson’s injury, Bolden’s foul trouble and Jeter’s injury-absence). The result is that transition defense suffered because he is unable (yet) to run full out on every play when playing substantial minutes. His defense really suffered and he committed fouls that come from a tired player not moving his feet. Yet, he is undeniably getting visibly better with each outing. His one turnover came when he tried to go behind his back in the lane. Just trying that move impressed me. He is going to be a dominant front court player this year. He finished with 12 points, 5 boards, a block, an assist and a steal. His defense will come around, you can already see his improvement, which I predict will accelerate as he gets in game shape. Bolden in 7 minutes, made 2 crucial foul shots and stole the ball (good); but he failed to get a rebound, committed a turnover and missed his only shot (bad). If Jefferson is out for an extended period, Duke will need good minutes from Bolden and/or Jeter. Of course, Tatum is living up to his reputation and becoming a team leader. He played 30 minutes, and, except for 5 turnovers (he’s still a freshman learning what he can and cannot do in the college game), played a scintillating floor game. He scored 22 on 9 field goal attempts [6-9 from the floor; 1-2 from deep, which was the game saver; 9-10 from the line] to go with a team leading 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 4 steals. He was not less than heroic. Whether from small or power forward, he will anchor the front court if Jefferson misses extended time.

The backcourt

Grayson Allen’s return to the backcourt has been inspirational and impressive, if not publicized. He is now the established point guard (with Jackson) as he was not before his suspension. He makes the Duke offense go. He is becoming a facilitator, who shoots and scores when Duke needs him. He played almost the entire game (37 minutes), shining in the first half with 9 assists. He finished the game with 11, but, as Bill pointed out, his teammates denied him several beautiful assists by failing to convert (or even catch) some splendid passes. His five turnovers remind us that he is still new at the point. Most of his turnovers came as help defenders deflected the ball on his drives into the lane. Though his long range shooting was off and he missed his only 2 foul shots, he scored 12 points [6-9; 2-6 from deep and 0-2 from the line]. Grayson added 5 important rebounds and 3 steals to his floor game. Luke had his first underwhelming performance of the season in the second half. He was efficient in the first half logging 12 minutes (limited by his 2 fouls and Duke’s big lead), scoring 8 on 2-4 from the field; 1-2 from deep; 3-3 from the line to go with an assist and a steal. But in 16 second half minutes he was uncharacteristically quiet. I attribute that to the big Duke lead in the opening 10 minutes. Kennard shoots only when Duke needs his points, and by the time they needed his points in the second half, he was badly out of rhythm, scoring only a single point and missing 3 of his shots — 1 from inside the arc; 1 from deep; and a free throw (1-2 at the line). He did pull down 4 important rebounds (Tatum also had 4 to lead Duke’s second half subpar rebounding). Frank Jackson was an important contributor. He scored 15 in his 25 minutes [4-9; 2-6 from deep and 5-8 from the line]. It is still troubling when a point guard fails to record an assist. He missed all 4 of his field goal attempts in the second half (0-3 from deep) but hit crucial free throws [4-6 down the stretch] even though he missed 2. Matt Jones logged 36 minutes (second to Grayson), playing wonderful defense and scoring 10 [4-7; 2-5 from deep]. The backcourt is not a Blue Devil worry.

Next Play

Duke will play Florida State (unbeaten in the conference with wins over Virginia in Charlottesville, Louisville and Virginia Tech and ranked nationally) in Tallahassee on Tuesday night. This will be a huge challenge (especially if Jefferson cannot play), and may tell us much about this team.

Alan Adds:

The high point of Duke’s season thus far came in the game after the very low point against Virginia Tech last Saturday. Of the Virginia Tech game, Coach K said simply, “We were awful. I was awful. There is nothing to be gained from that game. Just flush it.” But Coach K pointed out that the loss to Virginia Tech was “the end of us patch working.” It was the end of “do we have enough guys” and the end of players logging such extended minutes. Duke was unselfish and on fire. There were 24 assists on 39 baskets. In the first half, the veterans — Kennard, Allen and Jefferson — led the way along with yesterday’s most effective freshman, Frank Jackson. In the second half, the freshmen showed why they are so hyped — Tatum, Giles, and Bolden — along with Matt Jones. This is the team we had hoped to see when the season began. The starting lineup against Georgia Tech is the one Coach K had hoped for — Giles, Tatum and Jefferson up front with Allen at point and Kennard in the back court. Jones and Jackson substituted on the perimeter and Bolden up front. It was delicious to watch. The only slight quibble is the freshmen are not yet there on defense, but you can see the defense improving (Ga. Tech was pretty awful on offense; so the next games will offer better tests).

The Rotation

Coach K said he wanted to establish the 7-8 player rotation, and did so. His first substitutions were after 4 minutes had been played; Jones and Jackson replaced Tatum and Giles. Bolden played only 3 minutes in the first half, so that when Giles (9 first half minutes) and Bolden were not in the game, Duke played with Jefferson in the middle and four perimeter players (Tatum is both — a true swing player). In the second half, Coach K gave his veterans a rest. Kennard played only 7 second half minutes without scoring (0-1), while Jefferson and Allen played all of 10 minutes while giving the freshmen much needed floor time.

The First Half

Kennard had a simply dazzling first half, logging 19 minutes and scoring 16 efficient points on 6 shots [6-6; 4-4 from deep] to go with 4 boards and a steal. Grayson found him with some beautiful passes. Grayson’s return was something special. It is as if corrections and therapy for the “tripping” syndrome have made Grayson see his role on this team more clearly. He is the starting point guard (experience that he will need for the next level). In 17 first half minutes, Grayson handed out 7 assists while scoring 15 points on 4 field goal attempts [3-4 from the field, including 2-3 from deep and 5-5 from the line]. Getting to the line is the result of the point guard’s penetration, which starts the offense. Grayson was also superb on the defensive end of the floor with good (maybe better than just good) on the ball defense, 3 boards and a steal. His demeanor was excellent. Our fingers will remain crossed for the remainder of the season. Amile played 17 minutes, grabbing 5 boards and scoring 8 points [2-4 from the floor and 4-6 from the line]. Matt Jones played only 7 minutes because of foul trouble (3 in the opening stanza), hitting 2-3 from deep for 6 points. The freshmen played well, but none better than Frank Jackson, who came off the bench with Matt. He was a scoring machine, lighting it up for 12 points in 13 minutes [4-6 from the field; 3-5 from deep and 1-1 from the line] to go with a board, an assist and 0 turnovers. Giles played 9 minutes and led Duke in rebounding with 6, while going 1-5 from the field for 2 points. Tatum also scored only 4 first half points in 15 minutes [1-5; 0-3 from deep; 2-2 from the line] but played a wonderful floor game and is improving on defense (not all the way there yet, though). Jayson snared 3 boards, had 2 steals, 2 blocks and 2 assists. Bolden played only 3 first half minutes without a statistic. Duke had 12 assists on 20 field goals (20-37). If you subtract Duke’s 5-13 from deep, Duke hit 15 for 24 from inside the arc. It was some offensive display in the first half.

The Second Half

In some ways, the second half was even better for Duke as the team started to evolve into the team that Coach K had hoped for in the pre-season. The scrubs — Vrankovich (7), White (5), Robinson (2) and Pagliuca (3) — played a total of 15 minutes (out of 100). Neither Allen nor Kennard made a second half field goal (Grayson had 2 points on foul shots). Jefferson scored 6 with 2 rebounds [2-4 from the field and 2-2 from the line]. The second half belonged to Giles, Tatum, and Bolden. Tatum was unstoppable. In 13 minutes he poured in 15 points even though he was only 1-4 from deep and 0-1 from the line. He made all 7 of his field goal attempts from inside the arc to go with 3 boards, 2 blocks 2 steals and 2 assists. Giles also had an amazing second half (perhaps the best news for Duke in a game filled with good news). He scored a point a minute (8 in 8 minutes; on 4-7 shooting) while adding another 6 boards for a total of 12 (and his first college double double). Even better is how quick he looked around the court. He got several deflections on passes. As Coach K said, his athleticism is not all the way back, but it is coming. He raced for the loose balls he had created, but did not come up with them. Still, you can see him getting comfortable on the court. Coach K said the most important thing is Giles getting used to contact. Tatum hit him with a couple of beautiful looks. They have played together before. Marquis Bolden had his first good game, logging 12 second half minutes, in which he went 2-4 for four points to go with 4 rebounds and a block. He will be the 8th member of the rotation. Matt Jones played well in the second half. In 12 minutes, he scored 8 on 3-6 shooting [2-4 from deep] while grabbing 4 rebounds and handing out 2 assists.

The coming games

While this was a great Duke game, one game does not a season make. However, it was great to see a division of both minutes and scoring, which should not be undervalued. No player logged as much as 30 minutes: Tatum led with 28, Jefferson and Allen played 27 and Kennard 26. Frank Jackson played 24 minutes, Jones 19, Giles 17, and Bolden 15. The scoring was really balanced. Tatum led the scoring with 19, followed by Kennard with 16, Jackson and Allen with 15, Jefferson and Jones with 14, and Giles with 10. This is a great model for moving forward.

Coach K will be sidelined, but remain involved. There are tough games coming up in a conference that is unforgiving (see yesterday’s results; not to mention Ga. Tech’s win over UNC). Coach K gave the perfect response for watching the next games, “We will see how we grow.”

Duke 72 – Florida State 88

For the first ten games of the season this Duke team was more than the sum of the parts. Suddenly, down a key player—maybe the indispensable player– and a head coach, they are less than the sum of the parts. Make no mistake, energized by eleven straight wins Florida State is a big, talented, athletic, deep team playing with the confidence of a Final Four team. Florida State ran, shot, defended jumped, and dunked all over the seemingly overmatched, under sized Blue Devils, who were as bad defensively as the Seminoles were good offensively. How bad was it? Seventeen turnovers including Allen, Tatum, and Giles air mailing passes to fans in the stands, Jeter called for three seconds in the lane when he was, apparently, afraid to put a rebound back up at point blank range and couldn’t locate an open teammate, Tatum and Bolden, our highly touted big men, playing only a total of 14 minutes. There were times that it looked like the Globetrotters against the Washington Generals.

I’m not ready to say that this is 1995 all over again, but this season could get very ugly, very quickly unless the team rediscovers a lot more chemistry, precision, moxie, and plays fundamentally sound basketball. Unfortunately, there is another difficult assignment Saturday as Duke plays at Louisville. We will learn a lot more about the resilience and direction of the season after this game.

Alan Adds:

There was definitely a hole in the Duke basketball donut last night. The middle of the Duke team — the center position, the rim protection, the rebounding, any offense from the post — was missing. Coach Chapel said “We could not keep them out of our paint. They lived in the paint. We need to do a better defensive job as a team there.” Competition for the Understatement of 2017 ends in January! The Duke perimeter defense was a sieve, leading to Duke being dominated off the glass on both ends.

Duke was overwhelmed in every aspect of the game. Florida State used 12 players efficiently. Kennard played 40 minutes; Tatum 38 and Jones 36. Those three scored 54 of Duke’s 72 points. Kennard was again heroic scoring 23 [8-15; 2-6 from deep and 5-6 from the line] to go with 3 boards, 2 assists and a steal. He committed only 1 foul and had only 1 turnover. Tatum was also heroic scoring 21 [7-17; 3-6 from 3land; and 4-5 from the line] to go with 4 boards and a steal. Duke was loose with the ball (and the Seminoles played outstanding defense, stripping Duke’s drivers quite frequently). Tatum had 4 turnovers without an assist. Matt picked up 4 fouls while playing good defense and scoring 10 [4-8; 2-5 from deep without getting to the line].

Grayson played only 26 minutes, being kept out for the last minutes because of a blow to the head. He had a curiously bad shooting game while making some nifty dishes, but also turning the ball over. He took only 6 shots [2-6; 0-3 from deep; and 5-7 from the stripe] for 9 points, while handing out 5 assists and committing 3 turnovers.

The hole in the middle, created by the absence of Jefferson, was monstrous. Harry Giles was supposed to step into Jefferson’s shoes after 24 minutes against BC. However Harry played only 5 minutes in each half. He scored 5, and had 2 boards and 2 turnovers. AWOL on defense. The other heralded freshman big, Marquis Bolden, played only 4 first half minutes (0 in the closing stanza) while committing a foul and a turnover. I do not think he is, as was projected, a one and done. That left the bulk of the minutes played in the middle to Chase Jeter (26 minutes). Chase played creditably, but was overwhelmed underneath on the boards and defense. He has not elevated his offensive skills. He grabbed 6 boards (tied for team lead) but scored only a point [0-2; 1-2 from the line]. Frank Jackson was, essentially, the Duke bench. He logged 21 minutes and also grabbed 6 boards. But he scored only 3 (3-4 from the line), missing all 5 of his shots; 4 from deep.

This is a fairly desperate time for a team that had National Championship hopes pre-season. The one picture is worth a thousand words for yesterday was Jefferson on the bench with a boot on his foot.

Duke 69 – Louisville 78

After the Florida State game, I wrote that recently this Duke team is less than the sum of the parts. After today’s loss, we should consider the possibility that perhaps this Duke team is the sum of their parts and the parts just aren’t that good. Look, Louisville is a very good defensive team that, uncharacteristically, hit seven big threes at critical times to secure a win from a Blue Devil team that never played for any extended length of time as though they could win the game. Only Allen (23 pts. 9 rebounds, 1 assist) and Kennard (17 points) scored in double figures. There were 18 turnovers and only 8 assists. Allen leads the ACC in assists per game with 9. So why start Jackson, a freshman and a very good spot up three point shooter, at the point on the road? The offense never looked in synch as there was very little ball movement and too much aimless dribbling around on the perimeter. My old buddy All Prep Ep called to say that Duke looked like intimidated boys playing men and that Coach K stalking the sidelines in his blue suit exhorting his players and screaming at the refs was worth ten points a game—maybe more!

The hole in the middle left by Amile Jefferson and his double-double numbers is not a pot hole, it is a bottomless sink hole because, except for a few flashes, no one has been able to fill it. Replacements Harry Giles, Chase Jeter, and Marques Bolden combined for 7 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 fouls. Excuses for highly touted Harry Giles lack of consistent productivity or hitting free throws now goes beyond not having played in a year. And a little of Chase Jeter goes a long way as Anas Mahmoud took advantage of Jeter’s extended presence by having a career game (17 points and 11 rebounds). The fact that Jeter is playing significant minutes is a good indication that the coaches assessment of Marques Bolden is the same as Alan’s and mine—he is a raw talent but not yet ready for ACC play. Usually reliable Jayson Tatum never fully adjusted to Cardinal defense or the way the game was being called. (Note: Jayson, you are not a star playing high school anymore. You are not going to get all the calls so shut up and play). Luke Kennard scored most of the time he had the ball in his hands at the right place, but there were not enough of those times.

After Saturday’s loss, Duke interim coach Jeff Capel said that Jefferson’s ability to come back is on a day-to-day evaluation. Duke’s next game won’t come until next Saturday (at home against Miami). So with seven more days to heal that bone bruise, help may be on the way.

What to say about Grayson Allen? Today was a sort of flashback to last season’s shooting guard numbers. In virtually every game since his suspension, while doing anything and everything the coaches have asked of him–run the point, play shooting guard, rebound, play defense against all size players– he has played harder and more aggressively than anyone on the floor. He does not back down. However, in doing so, he does not avoid contact and dives onto the floor and into the stands for loose balls. In short, he is a highly competitive, physical player who takes and gives a lot of punishment. Opponent’s fans boo every time he touches the ball and the television announcers and social media look for every possible slow-motion replay to opine if he may have made another dirty play. I realize Grayson brought this on himself and am not going to defend the indefensible–but enough is enough! Give the kid a break. He is not a thug, no one was injured—or even close to it. He is an outstanding student on track to graduate in three years and a well-liked teammate. If you somehow could administer Sodium Pentothal to all those who boo and/or harass Grayson, I wager virtually all would say they would want him on their team. A case in point: Rick Pitino said that Allen’s past tripping incidents were simply a mistake and had a different opinion when asked about the treatment of Allen away from home. “Everybody always says, ‘He only sat one game. You can bury a young man. Believe me, that kid is paying the price in different ways. You hear it in the crowds everywhere he goes.”

Other Comments:

I was very relieved and encouraged to open Monday’s DBR website and read an article by Al Featherston, the most knowledgeable journalist writing about Duke Basketball, which included the following observation: “Just a moment to digress. While I understand the initial wave of criticism – and even the national debate as to whether Allen deserved a longer suspension – the continued post-suspension focus on Allen has moved from the outrageous to the despicable. ESPN’s attempt to generate new controversy with the slow-motion breakdowns of the screening collision in the Boston College game and his collision with the FSU assistant coach while scrambling for a loose ball are ridiculous. And the response to the blows to his face that Allen suffered in the Louisville game – one ESPN columnist essentially said that he deserved everything he got – was disgusting.”

Looking from afar, Dr. Alan Goldberg, an Amherst, Massachusetts, sports performance consultant, says Allen clearly has lost control of his emotions when he trips opponents. “Any time our emotions steer our ship, we always end up on the rocks. Our emotions make us stupid. You can be very, very intelligent, but when we get emotional they highjack us.” That Allen is “acting out” is unacceptable, he says, but “not unusual behavior” when dealing with high-profile, high-intensity athletes. “You don’t think of consequences when that stuff happens, you just react,” Goldberg observes. “One needs to take responsibility for that kind of behavior: Realize that it’s a serious problem, and he needs to work on it and that no one can do it for him.”

Alan adds:

Grayson Allen was not less than heroic against Louisville. With the crowd booing every time he touched the ball, Grayson played with verve, heart, and aggression. He may be becoming JJ and Laettner-like in letting the home crowd fuel his performance. Not only did he score 23 points on only 11 shots [6-11; 2-3 from deep; 9-12 from the line], but he led Duke in rebounding with 9! Giles was second with 6 (all in the second half). Jeter in 17 minutes managed only 2, for example. The stat sheet gives Grayson only 3 assists, but his passing is excellent (one does not receive an assist if the player receiving the superb pass does not catch it or score the open look after catching). The flaw, and it did hurt Duke, is his turnovers (Grayson committed 6 of Duke’s 18). Let’s remember this is the first time that Grayson has ever been a primary point guard. It has to be his position at the next level and he is growing in the role as we watch, and doing so in a difficult public setting. He has earned and continues to earn my admiration.

The Bottomless Sink Hole

Bill points out that Jefferson’s absence has created a bottomless sink hole. He is so right. While Duke played with more passion and heart against Louisville than in the most recent beating from Florida State, there were too many similarities to ignore. After the Florida State game, I wrote: “There was definitely a hole in the Duke basketball donut last night. The middle of the Duke team — the center position, the rim protection, the rebounding, any offense from the post — was missing. Coach Chapel said “We could not keep them out of our paint. They lived in the paint. We need to do a better defensive job as a team there.” Competition for the Understatement of 2017 ends in January! The Duke perimeter defense was a sieve, leading to Duke being dominated off the glass on both ends.

Nothing really changed against Louisville. Coach Capel pointed out that Duke has given up 92 points in the paint in its last two games! He also accurately said, “This is not just on the bigs. The perimeter is allowing penetration first.” So true. The rotations to defeat the pick and roll are simply coming too slow or not at all. Duke makes the first rotation smoothly, but not the secondary ones. So offensive interior passing is allowing open layups. It is not all Jefferson’s replacements, but it is a lot. Neither Giles nor Bolden have the basic defensive idea yet (though you can see Giles starting to get it; just not on every play). When Duke did prevent the Cardinals from scoring on the first attempt, the Blue Devil inability to defend its own backboard gave Louisville a plethora of put backs and second chance opportunities. Yes, that is part of missing Jefferson. Giles is a ferocious rebounder, who looks as if he can be a force on the boards (when he is finally in game shape). Duke’s hidden positive was Giles’s second half performance. After a desultory first half — 7 minutes only with one missed shot and 1 rebound; though he did have 2 blocks and a steal, demonstrating his athleticism — he played 12 second half minutes, grabbing 5 boards while scoring 7 [3-4 from the field, but only 1-4 from the line] and adding a block. How well he has developed by mid-February will be almost (well almost is a stretch) as important as getting Jefferson back. But the performance of the other Duke bigs is jaw-droppingly below the reputations of the players coming in. Bolden, a projected one and done, logged only 5 second half minutes [did not get on the court in the first half], committing a foul, but otherwise not scratching in the box score. One and done? Jeter played 17 minutes without scoring! He corralled 2 boards and blocked a shot while committing 2 turnovers, 2 personal fouls, and missing his only free throw, the front end of a 1 and 1. The only consolation for me is that he reminds me of Jefferson as a sophomore. DeLaurier made a return from the injury list and recorded a block against 2 fouls and 2 turnovers in 7 minutes. Another non-scoring big! Jeter, Bolden and DeLaurier did not score; nor did Giles in the first half.

The Thin Backcourt

Frank Jackson played only 10 minutes making 1 (a 3) of his 5 shots. He again had 0 assists against a turnover and 3 personal fouls. He played only 3 minutes in the second half, missing both of his shots and committing a turnover. As Bill emphasized, Jayson had a disappointing game, which may be about his going up against a level of competition that is higher than he has experienced. In 31 minutes he scored 11 on 11 shots [3-11; 0-1 from deep, but 5-6 from the line] to go with 5 boards (4 less than Grayson) and a steal. He had no assists against 3 turnovers. This left the minutes and the scoring to Duke’s central threesome — Grayson (36), Kennard (39) and Jones (36). Matt scored only 8 [3-5; 1-2 from deep and 1-1 from the line. He had 3 boards, an assist and a steal against only one turnover. His plus/minus stats lead the team. Duke does much better when he is on the court than off. Kennard had a quietly efficient game scoring 17 on 10 shots [6-10; 1-3 from 3land; 4-4 from the stripe] to go with 4 rebounds and 3 assists (against 3 turnovers). Although he took only 2 shots in the second half, he made a 3 and all 4 foul shots.

The Jeffersonian Conclusion

Without Jefferson, and with the non-development of the freshmen bigs, this year’s Duke team looks a bit like last year’s thin-rostered overachievers, except without the saving grace of last season — Marshal Plumlee. This has such a last year feel, with Duke fans hoping for Jefferson’s return for much of the year before he was officially out for the season. If he returns, Allen continues to improve his point guard skills, Giles develops (and Jayson goes back to being Jayson), Duke still has a chance to have a really special year. That is a lot to ask, but it is not impossible. However, without Jefferson ….

Duke 70 – Miami 58

A Duke team that had scored 50 points for the third straight half of play just two weeks ago against Boston College tonight struggled to score only 25 desultory first half points in Cameron to fall behind by 11 points against Miami, a team that had beaten them four of the last six times. Having lost consecutive ACC games to Florida State and Louisville, the Blue Devils were clearly looking at falling not only out of any national ranking consideration, but also into an inept, irrelevant abyss from which there might be no return. And to make matters more troublesome, they were not playing with any discernable urgency, determination or passion—and Coach K, still recovering from back surgery, was unavailable to work his halftime and sideline magic. Seldom a has talented Duke team looked so out of synch and lost both offensively and defensively.

Interim coach Jeff Capel started the second half with the seemingly odd combination of senior co-captains Amile Jefferson, Matt Jones beside freshmen Marques Bolden, Jayson Tatum, and Frank Jackson with first half starters Kennard, Allen, and Giles relegated to the bench—hardly an offensive juggernaut lineup. How many of you were thinking: Jeff, are you out of your mind? The season is probably hanging in the balance, you bench three players likely to go in the first round of the NBA Draft?

What happened next was one of the most amazing transformations since Clark Kent went into a phone booth and came out as Superman. Well, Matt Jones came out of the locker room, not a phone booth, but the transformation was about the same as he played as an impressive and transformative ten minutes I can remember from a Duke player. He defended, stole passes, didn’t miss a shot (three threes), and led a rejuvenated five oddly matched Blue Devils to an improbable eleven minute 29-4 run to totally turn the game around and, perhaps, resuscitate the season.

It was a Heimlich maneuver that saved a choking patient. Of course, Matt had help. A rejuvenated, suddenly athletic and effective Marques Bolden looked like Shane Battier in his last game at Carolina, running around, challenging players, and causing confusion and chaos — a major reason the second half defense so discombobulated the Hurricanes. Amile was a demon on defense and the boards. Jackson had 10 points and 4 assists running the point, splitting defenders for athletic drives, and Tatum scored 12 timely points. We all have come to expect defining Duke a run somewhere during a game, but I cannot remember one as unanticipated, inexplicable, and sustained as this one.

In one bold, improbable, gutsy lineup change, Jeff Capel became Coach Capel. He said of the first half: “We weren’t tough, we didn’t do it together, we got down and maybe tried to do some things on our own. Because our defense was so poor, we were not able to get out in transition. Miami even did all this even with Amile Jefferson making his first start since the Boston College game.”

A reality check: As exciting, important, and impressive as this win was, it points out that every game is forty minutes long and, as Miami learned, twenty minutes of good play will not beat top teams. Unless this win is a teachable moment and a rebuilding block to better, more consistent offense and defense, it will be just an exciting memory that meant nothing in a very, very disappointing season.

Other Comments:

By chance or on purpose, Grayson Allen is being tested. Tonight, he was physically bounced around several times, one time opening a cut near his eye, another time painfully dislocating his little finger. On every occasion, he reacted maturely.

It was a pleasure having Jay Bilas be one of the announcers. He invariably tells us something we didn’t know about the game or a team.

Alan Adds:

My game ball goes to Jeff Capel, which is not to say that Matt Jones wasn’t also amazingly deserving. Jeff took a clear eyed look at how his players performed in a desultory first half and trusted his instinct as to half time adjustments and player personal. Frankly, Coach K could not have done a better job. Capel saw the desultory performances of Grayson Allen, Luke Kennard and Harry Giles in the first half. Luke and Grayson played 17 minutes without recording an assist while going 3 –12 combined from the field and 0-4 from behind the arc. While they led Duke in scoring that half by getting to the foul line. Allen was 2-8 from the field; missing all 3 attempts from deep, but going 3-4 from the line for 7 first half points; Luke was 1-4; missed his only attempt from deep while hitting all 4 of his foul shots for 6 first half points. Neither started the second half. In my opinion, the reason was the lax defense that the team and each played on the perimeter.

Miami got to the rim with ease, penetrating on pick and rolls that made the Devils look as if their feet were encased in cement. Capel said that Duke had a great week of practice. Jefferson finally practiced for one day, and certainly was not expected to play 34 scintillating minutes on his return. Amile tried to join practice on Thursday, but could not really go. He participated on Friday fully for the first time. Duke finally practiced with a full complement of players and Capel expected an excellent performance. But that did not materialize in the first half. Duke was not tough, did not play together (“trying to do too much individually”), and played shockingly inept defense, which closed down Duke’s running game (more difficult to run when you are taking the ball out of your own basket to initiate the offense).

Capel knew Duke needed energy. He saw Bolden bringing it in practice. “He had a great week of practice. He worked his butt off and had a great attitude. That carried over into the first half where he played 12 minutes, scoring 4 [2-3] and grabbing 3 rebounds. He was energetic on defense, as Bill emphasized. Jackson also scored 4 in 12 first half minutes [2-4; 0-1 from deep] with an assist and 0 turnovers. Capel looked at the good play from Frank Jackson and Marques Bolden in the first half and turned to them to start the last stanza. Pretty guts move for an interim coach. The third starter after the break was Matt Jones, but not because of his first half play. In ten opening stanza minutes, Matt was scoreless without an assist or rebound. His only first half stats were a foul and a turnover. Capel ingeniously put him in to start the second half, and it is hard to imagine a better coaching decision. Capel said that Coach K had advised him to trust his instinct (as Capel did last year when Coach K could not make the trip to Georgia Tech, and Capel turned that game around by going to a zone defense), which Capel said he has no trouble doing, and then proved it. Game ball!

Not far behind are Jones, Bolden, Jackson and Jefferson (and let’s not forget about Jayson Tatum). Matt Jones turned the game around in a heartbeat to start the second half. In the first minute, Jones stole the ball for a layup; two minutes later, he stole the ball and sunk a 3 to put Duke back in the game. In 19 second half minutes, Jones scored 13 on 100% shooting [5-5; 3-3 from deep] and had 3 steals and 2 tough rebounds. He led the resurgence of the Duke defense, which (inexplicably) became glue like, holding Miami to 22 second half points. Everyone played great defense but none better than Marques Bolden. He has a big body, runs really well, and was intense in his defensive concentration (which is completely new for him, in my observation). He was a revelation, and together with Jones and Amile, he stopped the Miami pick and roll offense. It was dramatic. He played 11 second half minutes for a total of 23 game minutes. He scored 8 [4-6] with 4 boards. He clearly replaced Giles in the middle. Giles played only 8 game minutes — 5 in the first half, where he picked up 2 quick fouls. He got the 3rd in his 3 second half minutes. But because of Bolden, Duke did not miss Giles.

Jackson was also a revelation at point guard. In 24 minutes, he dazzled with acrobatic drives, deft ball handling and superb hustle and defense. He handed out 4 assists without a turnover while scoring in double figures (10) [4-7; 0-1 from deep and 2-3 from the line. He added 2 steals. Tatum had a superb second half after scoring only 2 points in the first half while committing 2 fouls and a turnover. However, he was a key in the second half where he scored 12 points in 15 minutes while grabbing 2 rebounds and blocking a shot. In 25 game minutes (he fouled out in the closing seconds), he was key with 14 points, 3 boards. His foul shooting is reliable (5-6) and his ball handling is improving as he learns what he cannot yet do against this higher level of competition.

Which brings me to Amile Jefferson and his incalculable contributions to this team. He played a team high 34 minutes, hauling in 12 rebounds, while anchoring the Duke defense. He is clearly not all the way back physically, but his mental and leadership contributions are above and beyond. Capel called him the most valuable player in college basketball. “He does so many things that do not show up on the stat sheet, and his stats are really impressive (he’s still averaging a double-double even though he only scored 5 against Miami). Capel lauded Amile’s basketball IQ and communicating skills. “He can make adjustments to our defense in real time. Others do it at a time out or with the coach; Amile does it in real time within the flow of the game.”

Grayson is playing hard, but his shot has gone missing. He failed to score in 11 second half minutes. For the game, he scored 7 in 28 minutes [2-9 from the field; 0-3 from deep and 3-4 from the line] to go with 2 assists and 2 turnovers. Jackson’s improved play takes some pressure off Grayson. Kennard scored 11 in 29 minutes [3-8 from the field; 1-3 from deep and 4-4 from the line] to go with 5 rebounds, a block and a steal.

Duke’s rotation was limited to 8 (with Harry’s contributions quite limited). There is a quick turnaround for tomorrow night’s game against NC State at Cameron. For all the reasons that Bill identified, this will be another big game. This is so much fun — a season perpetually on the brink. Very exciting for me.

DUKE 82 – NORTH CAROLINA STATE 84

Duke may be talented but they are not a good team. They kept proving it in the last nine games. Good teams do not turn a potential 12-15 point lead into a 6 point lead because they cannot execute in the last 30 seconds of the half. To add insult to injury, good teams do lose their 6 point lead in the first four minutes of the second half. Good teams move the ball on offense, not stand around, then go one-on-one. When they are in the bonus situation, good teams do not stop driving and instead jack up contested threes. Good teams do not lose a 9 point lead with seven minutes left at home. With the game on the line, good teams do not have a power forward get a rebound and try to go coast to coast and dribble the ball off his foot. Good teams know passes travel faster than dribbles. Good teams do not let teams that lost by 51 points at hated North Carolina leading to four losses in five games hang around because if they have the best player on the floor and a three point line, anything can happen. Good teams close out an opponent not let them go on a 20-5 run. Good Duke teams do not lose in Cameron!

Saturday night, twenty five-minutes of good basketball was enough to win. Tonight, it wasn’t.

Other Comments:

One of the problems is that Grayson Allen is a shell of his former self. Despite a sensational up and under drive, he was 1-9 for threes, 2 assists, and 1 rebound.

Another problem is that Duke missed 7 free throws and was 8-28 from three point land.

But the biggest problem was that Duke had no defensive answer either beyond the arc or in the lane for freshman sensation Dennis Smith, who led the Wolfpack to their first win in 22 years at Cameron.

Tonight, Coach Capel started the five players that turned the Miami game around. Until he solves the problem of player rotation, the players understand and accept their roles, develop chemistry and to play Duke Basketball, it will continue to be a frustrating, disappointing season.

Alan Adds:

Apparently I am not the only person who has no idea of how to analyze last night’s wholly aberrational Duke home performance. Coach Capel’s press conference lasted for all of a minute and 54 seconds (please, return the game ball I gave you last game). The reporters could not even formulate questions after Capel’s shell shocked softly spoken barrage of clichés. And no wonder after the second half that Duke played, even though the Devils were still in a position to win the game with 5.3 seconds to go. How bad was the Duke offense in the second half? How about 2-14 from behind the arc, which Capel correctly pointed out were mostly wide open looks (Grayson 0-4; Tatum 0-2; Kennard 1-3; Matt Jones 1-4; and Jackson 0-1)?

So, do not let anyone tell you that NC State played good defense; they did not. Duke, once again, was dominated in the paint. Ted Kapita, a reserve who averaged 5 ppg in the previous 15 games and who played only 19 minutes, scored 14 points and grabbed 10 boards. Abu, in 36 minutes, scored 19 on 8-12 shooting and hauled in 9 boards. They dominated Duke’s bigs, including Jefferson. With the game on the line — Duke led by a point with 2:47 to go, Duke missed open 3s by Kennard, Allen and Tatum (taking the clock down to 50 seconds, by which time Duke trailed by 6). NC State missed 4 consecutive free throws (The Wolfpack were 11- 20 from the line in the second half.

Don’t let anybody tell you that NC State is not a bad team; they are) to open the door for Duke. With Duke down 1, Tatum turned freshman and dribbled the ball off his foot as he rushed up court (Wooden: “be quick, but don’t hurry!”) to seal the defeat.

The Freshmen

It was apparent why none of the vaunted Duke freshmen were pre-season freshman of the year; Dennis Smith was. Jayson Tatum produced enviable statistics, but I do not think the stats tell the real story. Tatum scored 16 on 14 shots in 31 minutes [7-14; 1-4 from 3land; 1-2 from the line] to go with a team leading 9 boards, 3 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. In the second half, Jayson and Luke Kennard were virtually Duke’s only offense. Tatum played the entire closing half, scoring 11 on 11 shots, while grabbing 7 tough rebounds. However, in the last 6 minutes, Jayson seemed try and take over the game in lieu of the team concept. He missed 3 layups (on spectacular moves) and a 3 before committing the last turnover. He did grab the rebound off Matt’s desperate 3, creating the 3 point play that brought Duke within one. Freshman giveth…

Jackson played an efficient 13 minutes in the first half, making his only shot (a 3) and dishing out 2 assists without a turnover. In the second half he made 2 layups while missing his only 3 and turning it over twice without an assist. Duke had only 4 assists in the entire second half. Bolden played 18 minutes for 2 points (1-4) and 3 boards. He played only 8 minutes in the second half (2 points and 2 boards). He is active on defense. Giles continues to confound. In a scintillating first half performance of 9 minutes, he scored 8 (4-5) while grabbing 6 rebounds! But in the second half, where Duke was being dominated in the paint, he was AWOL [5 minutes without scoring, committed 2 fouls and a turnover, while missing the front end of a crucial one and one].

The Bigs

Amile played 28 minutes [5 points on 2-3; 1-2 from the line with 5 boards], but only 12 in the second half [failed to score, missing his only shot, and grabbed only 2 boards] as Duke struggled big time. He is clearly not yet all the way back. Together with the inconsistent play of the freshmen bigs, Duke had a real weakness in the middle. Yet, Duke got pummeled when Capel chose to go with only 1 big and Tatum as the power forward. Serious issues for Duke going forward.

The Veterans

Only Luke Kennard really showed up. He tried to carry Duke in the second half, scoring 14 of his 20 when Duke needed it the most. He did not start and played only 27 minutes — 15 in the second half. In the second half he was 3-5 from the field; 1-3 from deep and 7-7 from the line to go with 2 steals a board and an assist. He committed 4 second half fouls and two turnovers. He had 4 first half rebounds and 3 first half assists. Matt Jones played a team high 34 minutes (17 in each half), but was far more effective in the first half [8 points on 3-5; 2-4 from deep and 2 boards] but the clock struck midnight in the second half for his shooting [1-6; 1-4 from deep] when Duke needed his offense. His defense is never in doubt.

It appears to me that the public furor surrounding Grayson Allen has taken its toll. He did not start and played only 26 minutes scoring 13 on 13 shots [4-13; 1-9 from deep and 4-5 from the line]. He had only 1 board (for a great rebounding guard) and as many turnovers as assists — 2. His defense has also suffered. In the second half, when Duke struggled, he was 1-6; 1-4 from deep, scoring only 4 — 2-2 from the line — in 14 minutes. His decline is very much part of the Duke problem.

Going forward

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DUKE 85 -WAKE FOREST 83

Holy Paul Newman, Batman, Cool Hand Luke is alive and well! It is unanticipated moments like today that explains our fascination with and enjoyment of Duke Basketball —you never know when you will see another I-don’t-believe-what-I-am-seeing athletic performance. When was the last time you saw a college player put a team on his back in an important road game and score 30 points in the second half while not missing a shot? The nation’s preseason No. 1-ranked team entered Saturday having lost three of its previous four games and winless on the road. The Blue Devils were but a fading version of the team that had started the season 11-1. Earlier in the week, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, still recovering from back surgery, called the team to his house and did a number on them. Among other things, he barred them from using their locker room at Cameron Indoor Stadium and forbade them from wearing Duke gear in public.

Badly outplayed and lethargic most of the game, the Blue Devils gradually remembered how to play winning basketball: Ball movement, make an extra pass, and get the ball to the hot hand—in this case Hot Hand Luke– then play lock-down defense. Duke ended the game with a 15-4 run, punctuated by Kennard and Grayson Allen cashing 3-pointers as part of nine straight points to close out the game and save Duke further humiliation– for now. Kennard’s 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds left gave Duke its final margin and also put the Blue Devils ahead for the first time in the game since it was 18-17. Allen, who was continually hassled and taunted by both a sold out Joel Coliseum fans and some Wake players, had a measure of revenge by scoring 19 points on five treys, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.

The Blue Devils have little time to enjoy this improbable—and in most ways undeserved– win as they travel to Notre Dame, where even their best teams have had a rough time, for a Monday night game. The question is whether this improbable win was a reset, a turning point in the season, or just a one-off explosion?

Other Comments:

Coach Capel gets another game ball for calling time out and drawing up the baseline curl play that put Luke Kennard in a position to have an open, game winning three.

Luke Kennard’s sensational second half: 30 pts, 10-10 FG, 6-6 from 3-pt range, and game-winner….just hope Coach K didn’t hurt his back jumping up in the air when Luke hit that final three.

While Duke was in foul trouble, seldom-used sophomore center Antonio Vrankovic played meaningful and productive minutes.

I really dislike the one-and-done era. As good as Jayson Tatum and the other freshmen may sometime be, they need to stop believing their press clippings and reading about their projected draft positions. Take Luke Kennard for example. He came to Duke after breaking all of LeBron James high school scoring records. He was good but inconsistent last year. After a summer of maturing and working of his game, he is now, as a sophomore, the best player on the team. Jayson has been impressive when he plays within the offense. However, when he chooses not to do that, he hurts the team. His ineffective domination of the offense helped Duke squander its lead against N.C. State on Monday – Tatum went 0-for-4 during that stretch, then dribbling the ball behind his back and off his foot on the final possession. It wasn’t an issue at the end today, because Tatum fouled out with seven minutes to go after turning the ball over attempting to lead a fast break. That left the upper classmen free to play within the offense. This team needs Jayson Tatum, teammate, not Jayson Tatum, auditioning for a lottery pick.

Alan Adds:

I am still on my first cup of coffee, savoring Duke’s gutty miraculous win after playing 36 minutes of basketball that called for a descriptive adjective from the excremental world. For those 36 minutes, Duke’s defense was even worse than it had been in recent games. The Blue Devils gave up open shots from the perimeter and layups on the interior. Duke had only 2 steals in the entire game and only 2 blocks. While the game was called tightly (but without advantage for either side, in my opinion, in spite of Wake’s advantage going to the foul line — 32 attempts to Duke’s 20), Duke fouled at an alarming rate (17 fouls committed in the second half; 30 for the game). It was only in the last four minutes of the game that Duke’s defense not only looked suddenly competent, but played with a fiery passion that shut Wake down when it counted. Wake scored only 2 in the last 4:11 — a mid-range jumper with 2:11 to go. Duke’s offense was clunky in the first half, mostly because good shooters were missing open shots and Duke was turning it over. Kennard committed 2 early fouls and was limited to 13 first half minutes where he actually missed 3 shots from the field (he made his only 3 point attempt) and 2 from the foul line (1-3) for just 4 points. Duke scored 53 points in the second half; astoundingly 30 by Kennard. Duke’s remaining second half production was Grayson 8; Tatum 6; Jefferson 4; Jones 3; Giles and Jackson 2 each. It was the Luke Kennard Show! He played the entire second half (much of it with 4 fouls) keeping Duke in contact with the Deacons in the second half. In the first 16 minutes of the second half, he had 19 points, but Wake still held a 10 point lead with just under 4:00 minutes to play. Then, everything changed.

Harry Giles

The Duke defense tightened and stopped Wake’s straight line drives. Suddenly Duke knew how to defend the pick and roll. Tatum had fouled out; Jefferson, saddled with 4, played only 6 minutes in the second half. So, what happened? With 4:01 left in the game and Duke trailing by 10, Harry Giles came into the game and remained on the floor to the end. He was fabulous with his energy on defense. He protected the rim and guarded Wake’s formidable big man, John Collins. With Duke down by a point and 26 seconds remaining, Wake’s Woods missed a three and Harry grabbed the critical rebound. Then, he set the low post pick to free Kennard for his game winning three. After Luke’s dramatic shot put Duke ahead by a deuce, Wake had one more chance on a drive to the rim by Crawford, which Harry blocked with a second to go. That is the Harry Giles that Duke was hoping for.

The Fabulous Last 4 Minutes

Luke Kennard put on a show for the ages, with great team play from every Devil on the court. Luke scored 11 points in under 4 minutes. He hit a 3 with 3:43 to go and a jumper in the paint with 2:41 to go (Duke down 5). After Wake’s only score in the last 4 minutes at 2:11, Luke answered with a 3 at the 1:51 mark (Duke down 4). With 55 seconds to go, Luke started a drive, whipped a great pass to Matt Jones, who fired to Grayson for a dramatic 3 (Duke down 1). When Woods missed and Giles rebounded, Duke called time out and set up the dramatic winning shot on a set play, fueled by a perfect pass from Matt Jones. Giles’s block sealed the deal on a miracle finish.

Coach Capel

Jeff Capel deserves kudos, not only for the perfect final play drawn up at the time out with 25 seconds to play, but for creative substitution pattern in the second half necessitated by Duke’s foul trouble. Capel called on Antonio Vrakovich, who gave Duke 6 productive minutes (a dunk some good interior defense while committing 4 fouls). Tatum fouled out, playing only 11 minutes in the second half (21 for the game); Jefferson had 4 and played only 6 minutes in the second half; 14 in the first half. At game’s end, the only Duke players in the 7 man rotation who had not fouled out or had 4 fouls were Jones (3); Kennard (2); and Jackson (2).

The Front Court

With the exception of Giles’s heroics in the last 4 minutes, the front court was woeful. The defense gave up layups and open dunks at the rim. How dramatic is this statistic: The front court players committed 19 fouls (Tatum 5; Jefferson 4: Giles 4; Vrankovich 4; and Bolden 2 — in only 3 first half minutes) while scoring 20 points (Tatum 8; Giles 6; Jefferson 4: and Vrankovich 2). Duke’s season will not flourish unless the front court returns to championship caliber play. It is clear that Jefferson is not the same player he was before the injury. If he heals completely and returns to pre-injury form and Giles continues to progress (and Tatum listens to Bill’s wise counsel), the season could still be a success. But time is running out and progress is frustratingly slow.

The Backcourt

Frank Jackson gets real kudos for running the team in the late game heroics. He scored in the first half (7 of his 9 points) and was the glue for Duke in the second half. In my opinion his best statistic was 4 assists without a turnover. He is very athletic and defends pretty well. Matt Jones shot terribly (1-10; 1-8 from deep) but is so valuable to this team that he was on the floor for 39 minutes. Capel singled each out for praise in his post-game conference. Grayson is still coming to grips with the ferocious backlash to his tripping incidents. For me it is beyond imagination, but it is real and will continue on the road for the rest of the season. Grayson seems to be learning to deal with it. His 19 points were key to the Duke win. He’s a gamer, who I predict will return to last season’s form.

Going Forward

It is hard to look past the next very tough test on Monday night against Notre Dame in South Bend. Duke’s play will have to improve for the Devils to be competitive.

DUKE 84 – NOTRE DAME 74

Duke had a lot of reasons to lose this game: They haven’t won in South Bend in this century (January 1995), Notre Dame coach (ex-Duke assistant Mike Brey) was 5-1 against his mentor, Duke has never had a defensive answer for Bonzi Colson, Jefferson fouled out with four minutes to go, Kennard went out a minute later—and to top it off, this was the second away game in two days. However, when you hold an opponent to shooting 42% from the field, shoot 52% yourself, hit 23-24 free throws and outrebound them 37-25, you take the raucous students out of the game and dramatically improve your chances of winning.

This may not have been the Blue Devils best game of the year (Kansas was. Degree of difficulty) but it was the most important and best played game since Christmas break. Pundits have recently written that this is Luke Kennard’s team. As well as Luke has played, I disagree. To win, this team cannot be one man’s team. This is the Jefferson, Jones, Kennard, Allen, Tatum, Jackson, Giles, Bolden etc’s team. Successful Coach K teams have always played to their strengths, covered their weaknesses, and been mentally tough. First and foremost, they must play better team defense. Then collectively, they must understand the offensive pecking order. Luke and Greyson are the first two scoring options, should look to take the most shots, and make opponents pick their poison on whom to double. If together, they score 40-50 points, the rest of the team only need to score 25-30 to win. Jayson Tatum is a multi-skilled talent, who had a huge game: 19 points and 14 rebounds but 5 turnovers. However, he is a freshman and this is not his team. To play winning basketball with these players he needs to focus as much on defending and rebounding as offense where he is the third option and needs to discipline himself to initiating his offense from the foul line in. If I see him get a defensive rebound and not pass the ball forward to a guard, I am going to mentally scream: “You are terrific wing player, but a bench point guard.” Tonight, he did it again–made another turnover at mid-court with guards in front of him. Jefferson, who is playing more like his pre-injury self, is the fourth option, especially when he has a slow player guarding him. Matt Jones is the utility man, who can do, and is comfortable doing, any job –as he demonstrated tonight. Actually, given the disparity in the stats, the Blue Devils should have won by more than ten points. They made uncharacteristically little, dumb mistakes and turnovers like Giles committing a foul under the basket when the ball was being dribbled at half court or Kennard losing his man on an inbounds play because he was complaining to the ref about the call.

When Jefferson fouled out with four minutes to go and a five point lead, Harry Giles replaced him. Obviously, the Blue Devils desperately needed to see the heralded Giles. Well, the first thing he did was miss a point blank put back at the front of the rim. From then on he played like the Harry Giles we had have been looking for– he had four points and five Big Boy rebounds. He even went two for two at the foul line.

Hopefully, this team is coming together. I have had the feeling that Grayson Allen is still the key to this team. He has gone from being the preseason college cover boy Player-of-the-Year to playing poorly through a painful toe injury, to having a self-inflicted emotional meltdown in front of the ESPN sports world, to being the most reviled player in college basketball, to adjusting to being the number two scoring option, to assuming the responsibilities of playing the point. That’s a lot for a twenty year old to deal with—and a team to digest. To his credit, Grayson demonstrated more maturity when the Wake players roughed him up and was the first player to embrace Luke after his game winner at Wake, indicating he is a team first guy. This is a different team when Grayson scores 21 timely points like he did tonight and against Wake Forest. I sense that Allen is coming to grips with his fall from grace and being reviled by channeling his inner JJ Redick– realizing the best way to quiet the boo birds and trash talkers is to get his groove back and Make Plays. The team wouldn’t have been in a position to win at Wake or the Dome if he hadn’t taken and hit his shots.

Other Comments:

While the fans were all over Grayson with booing and signs (Funniest: The Tripper vs. The Gipper), the Notre Dame players, unlike the Wake Forest players, just played the game with a little trash talking or physical hassling.

Dan Dakich, a former player and coach at Indiana, was one of the announcers. I thought he made some savvy comments. Alan disagreed but then Alan thought the key to the game was leaving Coach K in Durham, because he had never won at South Bend.

Alan Adds:

Harry Giles

With 4:23 to go, Jefferson fouled out, being replaced by Giles, who had picked up 4 fouls in just under 5 minutes. After Farrell made the first one, Duke’s more comfortable 10 point lead was cut to 5. I could feel the apprehension in my fan’s soul building as Notre Dame took back the momentum. Kennard and Giles were saddled with 4 fouls (Tatum, Allen and Jones all had 3). Duke had gone cold from deep (1-5 in the second half), and, as Bill points out, ND has had Duke’s number since joining the ACC and especially in South Bend.

In the last 4 minutes — but more specifically in a fabulous two minute stretch — Giles and Duke’s superb foul shooting won Duke’s best win of the season (better than the last second loss to Kansas, Bill). Tatum pushed the lead to 7 with a jumper and after Beacham missed, Tatum drove, but missed a tough shot. Harry grabbed the offensive rebound, but looked hesitant as he missed the put back. He did not let the miss bother him. He defended Colson really well, but Kennard committed his 5th with 3:04 left. Flueger’s first reduced the Duke lead to 6, and when he missed the second, Harry grabbed the rebound rather emphatically. Giles’s athleticism led Coach Capel to extoll his ball screen defense when it really counted. When Grayson missed a jumper, Giles grabbed the board and dunked with a flourish with 2:42 remaining. When Farrell missed a layup (Harry moved over to protect the rim) Giles grabbed the defensive rebound. Then on offense, he posted up Colson and drew the foul and calmly sunk both free throws to give Duke a 10 point lead with 2:29 to go. It was the first two of Duke’s 12 straight made free throws down the stretch — Giles 2; Jones 2; Tatum 2; Jackson 2; and, Allen 4. It was reminiscent of how Duke closed out games in 2015 with Tyus and Quinn’s reliable ball handling and foul shooting. Duke’s ball handling was far from reliable with both Tatum and Jackson turning it over as The Irish put on a desperate press. When Farrell missed a critical 3 with just under 2 minutes left, Giles once again cleaned Duke’s defensive glass (Duke up 8 with 1:57 left). If Giles can begin to play substantial minutes at that level, the Duke season may yet be salvageable.

The Rotation

Duke’s bench was very thin — Giles played 9 minutes and Jackson 15, missing his only shot, but making 2 crucial foul shots. He scored 2 without an assist; played some excellent defense down the stretch, but turned it over twice. Giles’s 4 points led the bench in scoring (total bench points:6). Vrankovich played 2 minutes, committing a foul and a turnover. The five starters all played heavy minutes with Jefferson fouling out in 31 minutes and Kennard in 32. Thus, Jones with 38 minutes, Tatum, 37, Allen 36 were on the court for virtually the entire game. Tatum and Jones were simply scintillating. Jones was superb; it will make a huge difference in the remainder of the season if Matt can add this kind of offensive efficiency to his defense, hustle and leadership. In his 38 minutes, Jones scored 16 on just 6 shots [5-6 from the field; 1-2 from deep and 5-5 from the line] to go with 5 boards, 3 assists and a steal with only a single turnover. He was simply superb. Tatum returned to being a team player and ferocious defender. He anchored Duke’s back line and pulled down 14 rebounds (11 on the defensive end) to go with his 19 points. Capel said they had been working with Jayson to make his moves to the basket without hesitation. He really did that today, torching ND’s senior defender Beacham with an assortment of dazzling moves around the hoop. Capel also praised Tatum’s defense and said that his working so hard on the defensive end was the key to his improved offense. He scored 19 (his first collegiate double double) on 14 shots [8-14; 0-1; 3-3 from the line], while dishing for a couple of assists and getting a block and a steal. The only drawback was he committed 5 of Duke’s 15 turnovers (Duke had only 11 assists). Jefferson logged 31 minutes, but it is hard to ignore how his stat line has diminished since his return from injury. He scored only 6 — including Duke’s first 4 points [3-7 from the field and missed his only foul shot, the front end of a 1 and 1]. This means that in the remaining 37 minutes of the game (or his 29 minutes on the floor) he scored only 2 points and grabbed only 4 rebounds. He seems to be moving well and running the floor enthusiastically. He will, I predict, return to form.

The key to the Duke offense is still Kennard and Allen. I agree with Bill that Grayson seems to be regaining his mojo and is returning to his leadership role and reliable scorer. He scored 21 points on 13 shots [6-13; 3-7 from deep; and 6-6 from the line] to go with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block. He is still learning the point and did commit 3 turnovers. But he was calm and superb. Kennard drew much defensive attention after his magical second half against Wake. He scored 16 on 11 shots [5-11; 1-2; 5-5 from the line. He had 4 boards and an assist that was other worldly, saving the ball out of bounds to Allen through an ND defenders’ legs for an Allen 3.

Going Forward

Capel was optimistic; he said that Duke had gone through “the storm”, and showed a new toughness and resiliency by going into 2 sold out hostile gyms and winning both games. Duke’s defense was good against Notre Dame. Capel said the team aimed to close down the straight line drives to the basket and to not over-help. Notre Dame is small. Let’s see if Duke’s defense continues to improve as the Devils get to practice and to grow in continuity. Capel said he thought there was a carryover from the last 4 minutes of the Wake win, and that now that all the key players were healthy and practicing, Duke will improve. Now comes three home games, starting with Pittsburg on Saturday (1pm on CBS).

DUKE 72 – PITTSBURG 64

Pittsburg is a better team than their record. Even though the Panthers have no natural point guard, the large, talented, mature (read grown men, of which there not many playing anymore in the ACC) front line featuring Young and Artist, who took half the team’s shots, are a matchup nightmare for Duke’s undersized starters of two forwards and three guards. For this configuration to work, the defense needs to create turnovers and bad shots leading to fast breaks–plus making a lot of threes. Even though the game was tied at the half, I still thought the Blue Devils were in good shape because they were playing with energy and verve on both ends of the floor and they had open shots that were on target but just not falling–Pitt shot 50%; Duke 40%. Allen and Tatum together had only a 5 points. How long can this last? There had to be a Cameron progression the mean. Another good indicator was that Duke’s man, while undersized, was forcing turnovers and shot clock violations. Frank Jackson started for Jones, who injured his ankle in practice, played most of his minutes, and who is getting more and more comfortable and consistent.

Holy Grant Hill, Batman, his parents didn’t have “one more son” for the Cameron Crazy’s but Hot Hand Luke has a brother! Earlier in the week I checked in with my pal Pete, a former fraternity brother and soccer player, who retired to Durham and is very plugged into the Duke sports scene. He said that he agreed with my assessment that Grayson Allen is basically a good kid working through a bad situation and was “coming to grips with his fall from grace and being reviled” but that he was not “channeling his inner JJ Redick” because, as talented as he is, he is an entirely different personality. Rather, he said Allen is a basically a very competitive but shy kid who is emerging from a very dark time-tunnel and beginning to relax, restructure his game as a facilitator/scorer, and increasingly playing with his former passion and confidence. However, Grayson’s late game clutch shooting in the wins at Wake Forest and Notre Dame, were just a warm-up for today. With the score tied and only eight minutes to go, Allen went into UNLV mode and broke the game open by scoring 18 points (6 rebounds & 6 assists) to put an exclamation point on Coach K’s return to the bench. When you have two players who can score 30 points in twenty minutes as Kennard did at Wake and another who can score 18 in eight, then add a Tatum potential double-double, the defensive glue co-captains of Jefferson & Jones, plus Thomas and Giles off the bench, it doesn’t take much imagination to see how potentially lethal this team can be.

Other comments:

When Coach K came out of the tunnel and onto the floor for the first time since his surgery, he received a Standing O from all 9,314 in Cameron. The student section bowed in unison. Coach bowed in return and the crowd went wild.
The victory was Krzyzewski’s 500th win at Cameron Indoor Stadium as the 69-year-old pulled to within 12 victories of 1,000 in his career at Durham. Those numbers prove that my buddies All-Prep EP and Johnny Tar Heel must know what they are talking about when they say that Coach K is worth ten points a game.
In his press conference, Coach K noted that ESPN misinterpreted his disciplining of the players. It was not a punishment. Coach K said, “whatever happened with my team was the start of a process. It’s called team building. I went through it every year as a cadet many times and as an officer in the military. You don’t get better by doing the same thing over and over again. Everything we did that week was team building. Before the Wake game, the team was back in the locker. I won’t tell you the story, but it’s beautiful because it was team building. That’s what we do. It wasn’t about punishment; it was about getting rid of bad habits. You don’t get rid of bad habits easy. Habits are hard to get rid of, and you have to do things.” Coach K credited his staff for running great practices, and concluded, “we got better after the loss to State. We won a tough game against Wake; we won a tough game at Notre Dame. We won a tough game today. We are tougher and more together. It wasn’t about attitudes.”
Two great men were in the house: Dick Groat, Duke’s greatest basketball player (if you don’t believe me look it up) and most accomplished athlete, did the radio for Pittsburg and Grant Hill, Duke’s most admired basketball player, worked the telecast for CBS.
I was having dinner Thursday night at Ocean Prime on the Phillips Golden Mile in Orlando when I noticed a man at the next table with a shock of snow white hair who looked familiar. When he got up to leave, I was struck by how tall he was. I asked our waiter if that was Coach Bobby Knight, and, by golly, it was. When he was out of hearing range, I whispered: “Say hey, Bobby, thanks for recommending Coach K to Duke AD Tom Butters.”

Alan Adds:

Duke’s offense became incredibly efficient in the second 10 minutes (8:32 to be exact) of the final half, putting up 30 points (6-9 from deep; 8-8 from the foul line; and 2-3 from inside the arc) to win the game. Duke did not really stop Pitt in that stretch, but rather outscored the Panthers (who scored 21 in the same span, which is pretty good offense). It was Duke’s shooting in the end that prevailed because the other statistics in the second half do not tell an uplifting story. Pitt’s advantage scoring in the paint in the second half was 22-6. Pitt had the advantage not only in second chance points (6 to 2), but also in fast break points (2-0).

The Rotation

Duke’s rotation was once again very thin. Allen and Kennard both played all 40 minutes. In the second half, Tatum played without substitution and Amile was on the bench for under a minute. Matt Jones played 7 minutes in each half; he was the only sub in the second half. Jackson played 14 minutes in the last stanza; 27 for the game. In the first half the bench consisted of Bolden (1 minute; no stats), Jones for 7 minutes (no stats) and Giles (7 minutes), 15 total minutes with only Giles scoring. What is the Giles story? He was an offensive weapon in the first half scoring a dunk on a great lob pass and a nice 12 foot jumper, (2-2), and made his only foul shot. He never saw the floor again, but his 5 points were the only bench scoring besides Matt Jones making 1 of 3 foul shots in the second half. Matt was clearly hurt, but gave the team what he had, which Coach K noted was valuable even without impressive stats.

Jefferson (10 points), Kennard (8 points) and Giles (5) scored 23 of Duke’s 28 first half points. Jefferson scored 5 in the second half and Kennard just 2, though they both played the entire second half. Grayson’s 18, Tatum’s 10 and Jackson’s 8 (he was huge down the stretch, just a bit overshadowed by Grayson’s coming out party) scored 36 of Duke’s 44 second half points. Tatum was amazing in the second half [3-4 from the field; 2-2 from 3land; 2-2 from the line] to go with 3 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block without a turnover. Jefferson is rounding back into form; he was a rebound shy of a double-double [15 points and 9 boards. Allen was, of course, simply amazing scoring 21 [6-13; 5-11 and 4-4 from the line, after a 1-4 first half], to go with 6 rebounds and 6 assists (2 turnovers). As Bill points out, he looks like he is having fun again. After all, it is a game!

The Magical 8:32 Run

Duke was down 43-42 when Jackson started the run with a 3, which resulted from blocked shots by Jefferson and Tatum followed by a tough rebound by Allen. 45-43. Tatum made 2 foul shots, but fouled Young, who also made both. 47-45 with 7:58 to go. Allen drained a 3 with 7:23 to go. 50-45. Nix put back an offensive rebound for Pitt. 50-47. Grayson responded with an acrobatic lay-up. 52-47. Duke gave up an easy layup to Artis. 52-49 with 6:10 left. Jackson hit another 3 with 5:50 left. 55-49. Young hit his jump shot. 55-51, which Jackson matched with 4:57 left. 57-51. Tatum made a steal and Grayson finished it off with a 3 with 4:19 to go. 60-51. Duke then had its only lapse during this period. Jefferson and Tatum both committed fouls, which Pitt capitalized on at 3-4. 60-54. Kennard fouled Artis on a drive; Artis completed the 3 point play. 60-57 with 3:10 left. Grayson hit another 3 with 2:58 left to stretch Duke’s lead to 63-57. Duke gave up an easy dunk to Jeter. 63-59. Then came the key sequence. Jefferson made a sensational block on Jeter’s next layup attempt and Tatum corralled the rebound with a little over a minute left. Grayson missed a 3, but got his own rebound, and received the return pass from Tatum, launching a 3 with 52 seconds left. It should have missed, but the high bounce off the rim fell through, icing the game for the Devils. 66-59. If that shot misses, the game very easily could have turned out differently. Duke cemented the win with 6-6 clutch foul shooting (Tatum the first 2 and Allen the final 4) in the closing seconds.

Next Play

Carolina in Cameron next Thursday followed by a Saturday home game against Clemson at 1pm — just 36 hours later.

Duke-Carolina Week

A rivalry with deep history and significance.

by Al Featherston

I attended my first Duke-North Carolina game in 1960.

That was the semifinals of the ACC Tournament in Raleigh’s Reynolds Coliseum.

It was a great introduction to the best rivalry in all of sports. UNC was a powerhouse – so good that ACC player of the year Lee Shaffer was the third best player on his own team (behind Doug Moe, the best all-around player in the ACC in 1960, and York Larese, the league’s best shooter). Duke was kind of up-and-down in its first season under young coach Vic Bubas — mostly down against UNC, losing three meetings by 22, 26 and 25 points.

But the Devils, getting a splendid game from forward Carroll Youngkin and from center Doug Kistler (who became my high school coach) jumped to an early lead in the Tar Heels in Raleigh and grimly held on for a 71-69 victory. One night later, Duke beat Wake Forest with Len Chappell and a balding sophomore guard named Billy Packer, to win the school’s first ACC championship.

As significant as that 1960 tournament matchup is in the rivalry, I think the real turning point in the Duke-Carolina saga occurred a year later.

The Feb. 4, 1961 matchup at Duke Indoor Stadium marked the moment when Duke-Carolina became a great basketball rivalry. Oh, there had been plenty of significant games between the two schools before that night, but I think most fans and the media still regarded the football rivalry as more significant.

That changed on Feb. 4, 1961.

For one thing, it was the first time the two teams ever met with both ranked in the top five – No. 4 Duke vs. N0. 5 UNC (in the coaches poll, it was reversed – No. 5 Duke vs. No. 4 UNC). For another game, the game featured volatile sophomore Art Heyman, a celebrated prep star from Long Island who had signed a letter-of-intent with North Carolina, but after a fight between UNC coach Frank McGuire and Heyman’s stepfather, re-opened his recruitment.

Bubas swooped in and stole Heyman from the Heels.

McGuire never forgave him.

Art Heyman became the first hated Duke basketball player. And nothing that Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, J.J. Redick or Grayson Allen ever endured was close to the abuse that Heyman faced … most (but not all) spewing from the program that he spurned and its fan base.

In his first freshman game with UNC (freshmen could not play varsity ball in those days), Heyman was subjected to a torrent of anti-Semitic abuse. He ignored it and was leading the Blue Imps to a lopsided victory over the Tar Babies (yes, that was the name given to UNC freshman teams) when Heyman was cold-cocked by UNC’s Dieter Krause, precipitating a brawl that ended up with Duke freshman coach Bucky Waters pounding UNC coach Kenny Rosemond into the scorer’s table.

That was just the prelude to the 1961 matchup in Durham.

There was an ugly atmosphere that night. It started in the freshman preliminary game, when there was a brawl that left UNC with just three players available for the final minute of Duke’s lopsided win. There was a near-brawl in the first half of the varsity game – precipitated (Heyman claims) when Moe kept spitting on him. Krause, who was buried at the end of the UNC bench, rushed onto the floor as Heyman and Moe squared off. That’s what almost sparked the brawl.

Then there was the incident as the two teams left the court for halftime – through the same exit in those days. A male UNC cheerleader was slapping the Tar Heel players on the butt as they passed him. He also swatted Heyman in the butt –and the Duke star responded by turning and shoving the kid to the floor. Upstairs, a UNC fan saw the incident and filed assault charges against Heyman (the case was thrown out of court the next week).

But that was all just setup for the final seconds. Heyman, completing a magnificent performance (36 points on 11-13 shooting against the best defender in the ACC, Moe) had Duke in position to claim the win when Larry Brown, who was once slated to be Heyman’s roommate in Chapel Hill, raced for a meaningless layup.

Heyman foolishly grabbed him.

Let’s get this straight – he didn’t hit Brown or undercut him or throw him to the ground and in any way hurt or endanger him. The 6-5 Heyman wrapped both arms around Brown and hugged him, holding him upright.

Brown responded by throwing the basketball in Heyman’s face. Then he threw a punch that landed on Heyman’s face. Before Heyman could respond, Donnie Walsh (a future NCA executive) jumped off the UNC bench and slugged Heyman from behind.

From that point, it devolved into the wildest brawl in ACC history. Heyman threw a punch at Brown then turned to chase Walsh, who delivered his dastardly blow, then turned and sprinted away like a coward. Heyman’s chase was impeded by first dozens and then hundreds of students, who poured onto the floor and began fighting each other. It took more than 10 minutes to clear the floor and play out the finals seconds of the game (an 81-77 Duke win).

The officials, in their game report, blamed Heyman for starting the fight. Bubas was so outraged by that report that he had his game-film developed in record time and convened an extraordinary press conference to show reporters that Heyman was the victim, not the instigator.

Commissioner Bob James, who had been struggling to crack down on brawling at ACC games (most of it precipitated by McGuire’s teams), came down hard on everybody involved – Heyman, Brown and Walsh were all suspended for the remainder of the ACC season.

In my mind, that game launched Duke-UNC basketball toward the stratosphere of sports rivalries. It didn’t happen overnight – even after that memorable night – but the sustained excellence of the two programs has made Duke-Carolina the greatest rivalry in college basketball.

I sometimes quibble with the Duke SID people over one remarkable stat. They are fond of pointing out that either Duke or UNC have been ranked in every matchup since Feb. 27, 1960 – a week the ’60 Tar Heels temporarily dropped out of the AP poll. Beating Duke by 25 in Durham was enough to lift UNC back to No. 16 in time for the next meeting six days later in Raleigh. One or the other has been ranked for every meeting since.

That’s correct as far as it goes.

But the AP poll – the writers’ poll – was not the only poll. The rival United Press International polled the coaches’ and that poll was every bit as authoritative as the writers’ rankings.

And North Carolina never dropped out of the UPI coaches’ poll that season. The Tar Heels were No. 12 the night they faced Duke in Durham.

That means that the last time neither school was ranked was Feb. 25, 1955 – that’s 62 years and 157 straight meetings in which one or the other (but usually both) are ranked. Can anybody site another rivalry that’s even close to that number when it comes to national relevance?

The two programs have remarkably similar accomplishments – both have five NCAA titles; UNC had 19 Final Fours to 16 for Duke; Duke has 19 ACC championships to 18 for UNC; they are third and fourth in all-time wins – second and third when it comes to NCAA Tournament wins.

ESPN recently ran a story mentioning that over the last 96 Duke-Carolina games, both teams are 48-48 and both teams have scored EXACTLY 7,437 points in that span.

That’s parity.

Of course, Barry Jacobs pointed out Wednesday that dominance in the rivalry does swing back in forth. It all depends on what time frame you are going to choose. For instance, over the entire history of the rivalry, UNC has a substantial 134-108 edge.

But look at just this century and Duke has the edge – 25-13.

Coach K is 43-39 vs. UNC.

Coach K is 16-10 against Roy Williams at UNC (he was 4-1 vs. Roy when Williams was at Kansas, so 20-11 overall).

Since UNC swept Duke in 2009, Duke has pretty much dominated the series, winning 11 of 15 matchups this decade. Barry pointed out that Duke has a much better record in recent years in the first matchup of the year than in the second … and also a slightly better record against UNC in the Smith Center than in Cameron.

All in all, a wonderful rivalry.

***

Now for the elephant in the room.

There was a time when Duke-Carolina was thought to represent the best in college sports.

Duke was perceived as the great private institution, playing basketball at a high level while maintaining the highest academic standards. UNC was the “public ivy” maintaining similarly high standards at one of the nation’s best public schools.

And after the 1961 ugliness, the rivalry was conducted on a very collegial level. Duke and Carolina recruited the same players; those players often scrimmaged against one another; players from both schools hung out at the same Durham barber shop; and the coaches – no matter their private doubts and frustrations – almost always maintained a façade of respect and good fellowship for their rival.

That was before we found out that North Carolina was running the longest and most widespread academic sham in NCAA history. UNC AD Bubba Cunningham acknowledged earlier this week that the Heels cheated – he’s not denying the crime, only that the NCAA rules don’t allow that organization to punish them for it.

I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know that it has changed my perception of the rivalry. I can’t look back on the two great games in 2005 (one thriller won by Duke, one won by UNC) without thinking that most of the stars for the Heels that year where hiding in fraudulent classes – indeed, Rashad McCants has bragged that he NEVER went to class that semester.

It will be interesting to see if the NCAA has the power to punish UNC for its cheating ways or whether the Heels can get away with it.

But the scandal has had another tangible impact on the rivalry – the two programs, which used to be mirror images of each other, are now on very different paths. Duke has relied very heavily on one-and-done talent since 2011, while UNC has not been landing the kind of guys who go one-and-done – and when they do (in the case of Harrison Barnes and James Michael McAdoo), those kids stay in Chapel Hill longer than expected.

Roy Williams said earlier this week that he’d like to recruit like K – but can’t, because of the scandal and the possibility of NCAA punishment.

“It’s not by design,” he said. “All the guys they’ve got, we tried to recruit also.

There is no question about that.”

He pointed out that he did get one-and-done talent early in his tenure at UNC. Marvin Williams in 2005 and Brandon Wright in 2007 were both one-and-done players.

“We’ve been in a time period here where it’s been difficult to get the top 10, top 20 recruit,” Williams explained. “I’m just going to hazard a guess – I have seen something one of my assistants made up – our first 10 years here, we recruited 26 McDonald’s All-Americans and the last three years, we’ve recruited one – Tony Bradley.

“Justin [Jackson], Joel [Berry] and Theo [Pinson], they all committed to us as juniors and then when the junk started, there has been a lot of negative recruiting, there have been a lot of questions asked, It’s been harder for us to get those kinds of kids.

“I’m not against them. We’ve had Marvin Williams and Brandon Wright. I’d love to have those guys right now. It’s been harder for us to get past the negative recruiting, harder to get some families past the stuff that’s been going on.”

UNC had remained competitive with players recruited before the scandal exploded with the release of the school’s own Wainstein Report. But Williams has also benefited because his top players have stayed beyond their peers.

For instance, senior forward Isaiah Hicks was rated the nation’s No. 14 prospect in 2013 (according to the RSCI, which averages recruiting rankings). Almost every other top 25 player from that class – including No. 16 Joel Embid (one-and-done), No. 24 Tyler Ennis (one-and-done) and No. 25 Cat Barber (three-and-done) are already in the NBA.

In the junior class, No. 9 ranked Justin Jackson is the highest-rated player in the class that’s still in school. No. 15 Theo Pinson is the second-highest.

So Williams has the benefit of an experienced team.

“There is more than one way to skin a cat,” the UNC coach said. “I remember a long time ago, we played George Mason in the 2006 NCAA Tournament and they had four fifth-year seniors and we had three freshmen in the starting lineup and they beat us

“There are different ways, but this is not by design. I saw Jayson Tatum play many times. I saw Harry Giles play many, many times. It’s just the way it has happened.”

That’s Krzyzewski’s explanation too.

“It’s not like we have an option where we think everybody is going to go one and done,” he said. “But if they’re good enough, they go. Some guys stay and some guys go.”

Indeed, players make different choices. After the 2015 national title, freshman point guard Tyus Jones was projected as a late first-round pick. He decided to go – and as expected, he was picked in the first round. A year later, sophomore Grayson Allen was projected to go late in the first round. He elected to stay for his junior year …. although freshman teammate Brandon Ingram did go pro – Duke’s seventh one-and-done since 2011 – and was picked No. 2 in the draft by the Lakers.

K doesn’t regret his recruiting decisions and he doesn’t think any of his ACC rivals would mind having to deal with one-and-done issues.

“I think any program in our conference, if they had an opportunity to get a youngster who was given those accolades and was perceived to be a one-and-done, people, would go after that guy,” he said. “Nobody is going to pass over talent. We are not and I do not think they will.”

Despite the difference in recruiting approaches, Krzyzewski thinks the rivalry is as good as it’s ever been, thanks to the historical foundation it rests upon.

“Their program and our program have pretty much stood the test of time,” Coach K said.

UNC might have to deal with some difficult times if their battle with the NCAA goes badly for them. They may even lose some of that glorious history that makes the Heels one of the nation’s blueblood programs.

But for right now, Duke-Carolina is still what it has been since early February, 1961 – the best rivalry in all of college basketball, for sure … and in all arguably in all sports.

DUKE 86 – NORTH CAROLINA 78

The greatest rivalry in college basketball once again lived up to its billing. With former greats Christian Laettner, J.J. Redick, and Danny Ferry watching with the Duke students from the bleachers, there were 17 lead changes, 9 ties, and neither team led by more than 8 points. To beat this big, deep, very talented #8 Carolina team, #18 Duke needed serious scoring from their big three: Kennard, Allen, and Tatum plus defensive support from Jefferson and Jones as well as productive minutes from Thomas, Giles, and Bolden—not to mention nerve shattering support from the Cameron Crazies.

Well, the Blue Devils were hitting on all cylinders, the maestro was on the bench, and the house was rocking! The numbers tell the story. Both teams shot 52.5% from the field, but the Blue Devils hit 9 more threes and made 13 of 16 free throws while Carolina was only 10 of18 and, surprisingly, out rebounded 31-29. In contrast to the North Carolina State game, the Blue Devils closed out a very tight game against a potential Final Four team like a serious title contending team should. This was the kind of performance, Duke fans have been waiting for.

Luke Kennard (20 pts) has been consistently carrying the scoring load all year. Jayson Tatum has impressed everyone with his exceptional skill set but has been, frankly, freshman inconsistent. Tonight was no different. In the first half, he had no points, a few rebounds, a few assists and a few defensive lapses, so he sat more than usual. (“Coach challenged me to attack the rim strong. I got my opportunity and I fed off that and my team did and we just kept on going.”) But in the second half, he patiently played like an upper classman– within the offense, picking his spots to exploit mismatches, and scoring 19 points to go with 9 rebounds and 5 assists.

However, the straw that stirs the drink for this team is Grayson Allen. In the last three games, we have seen Grayson emerge from a very dark time tunnel of his own creation, gaining confidence, taking and making important shots, and starting to enjoy playing again. You can see it in his face and in his body language. Tonight, it wasn’t just one or two important shots. It was back to the future, Grayson Allen 2.0 (”When Coach tells you to shoot the ball, you shoot the ball”). Allen was on fire the entire game with 7 threes and 25 points. One was right before the buzzer to close out the half 40-39 Duke, another midway into the second half when Duke was down five and Carolina threatening to pull away, the third was over Jackson with about a minute left to put the Blue Devils up 80-75. Then there was the exclamation point: a give-and-go one handed dunk from Jefferson.

North Carolina is fun to watch. Their frenetic primary and secondary break is programed to wear teams down and run them into the ground. However, I think their egalitarian, let-everyone-touch-the ball and take the shot works against them in close games at crunch time. Duke, on the other hand, is autocratic so that with the game on the line, the ball ends up in the hands of the best playmaker. We have been watching this scenario play out for decades.

Other Comments:

A reality check. Carolina was without Isiah Hicks and his 12.8 points and 5.6 rebounds, which means UNC played Duke close in Cameron without its third-leading scorer and rebounder.

Coach K commented that both teams played very well and both deserved to win…that it was a “players game” and that “maturity, continuity, and preparation” were responsible for his team’s recent improvement.

Tatum’s three pointer with :37 seconds left was a wide-open look, but careened off the left side of the rim for the kind of long rebound that so often fuels the Tar Heels fast break game. However, Matt Jones beat Berry to the ball and snatched it away at the top of the key. That and two steals are typical of the kind of hustle plays Matt has been making for four years.

Grayson has gone 20-of-41 from beyond the arc in Duke’s four-game winning streak. He is just the third Duke player to make at least six 3s in back-to-back games against North Carolina (Jason Williams and Trajan Langdon were the others).

After the game the Duke players went to the stands and high fived the students. I thought it was interesting that no player appeared happier or more exuberant than Harry Giles, who only played ten minutes but had 6 points, two rebounds, and 1 block.

Frank Jackson is really improving. He had 11 points and 2 steals in twenty minutes.

Alan Adds:

Finally! This is the Duke team that we have been waiting for since October. Even though there is a caution not to make too much out of the game, there is a desire to celebrate the growth of this team under difficult circumstances that was so visible last night. It was just a great ACC basketball game in which both teams were simply superb. This is also how sports and competition are supposed to be; each adversary competing hard and bringing out the best in the other. Coach K emphasized the friend part of the fierce-friendly competition. Jeff Capel’s father has been diagnosed with ALS. The coaches on both sides wore ALS awareness buttons, and the two coaches are planning a joint supportive event. Coach K said, “the guys on the other bench are good friends and great guys.” The level of competition and sportsmanship reminded me of the Australian Open finals between Federer and Nadal where the quality of the competition reached the highest level and was equal to the respect, admiration and friendship that each competitor had for the other. A great advertisement for sport, and affirmation that Duke-UNC rivalry is the best in sports.

It is apparent how tremendous Duke’s big 3 — Allen, Kennard and Tatum — played, but Coach K put his finger on how Duke won. Rebounding. Duke held the bigger ‘heels even in rebounding. Everyone dug in. Tatum led Duke with 9; 7 in his quite amazing second half. Carolina is lethal in transition and is an offensive rebounding juggernaut. Duke did a pretty good job against the UNC transition offense, and a superb job protecting its defensive board. Carolina had only 7 offensive rebounds (of course, they were shooting so well, that there were not that many rebounds to fight for). Jefferson did not really score in the entire game (he made 2 foul shots with 2 second left in the game for his only points), but anchored Duke’s defense and played Kennedy Meeks really tough. In 30 minutes, Amile had 6 boards (to Meek’s 5) and played (admirably) much of the second half in foul trouble (his 3rd came with 17+ minutes left). Another key was Duke’s defense played without fouling, which was a key. Jefferson had 2 fouls in the first half, but got rest (and time without being challenged to foul) because Giles (8 minutes; 4 points on 2-2 from the field and 2 rebounds) and Bolden (7 minutes and a rebound) gave Duke valuable minutes in the first half. In the second half, with Amile hampered by his foul situation, still played 16 minutes and grabbed 4 boards (0-1 from the field with an assist). Giles played only 2 minutes in the second half, adding a field goal to make him 3-3 for the game with 6 points and 2 rebounds and a block in his 10 game minutes. Bolden made only a cameo in the second half. It was Tatum who took over the inside game for Duke when it counted.

The Big 3

Jayson Tatum’s second half deserves scrutiny because his play was epic. After failing to score in 13 first half minutes, he scored 19 points in 19 second half minutes (5-11 from the field; 2-4 from deep; and critically 7-8 from the line]!!! He hauled in 7 boards, an assist and a block while committing only a single turnover and a single foul. That deserves a “Holy Something” from Bill. Duke scored 46 points in the second half with only 6 points coming from other than the big 3 — Jackson 2 (2-4 from the line); Giles 2 and Jefferson’s 2 rather meaningless foul shots at the end. The Big 3 put up 40 points in the second half [playing the entire second half, Kennard scored 10 on 4-7 from the field; 2-2 from deep to go with 3 rebounds and 3 assists; while Allen in a foul limited 14 minutes scored 11 second half points on 4-6 shooting including 3-5 from deep]. They were amazing.

The big three got scoring support from Frank Jackson in the first half. He scored 9 in 12 first half minutes (4-4; 1-1 from deep) to go with 2 boards and an assist without a turnover. He added 2-4 from the line in 8 second half minutes for 11 points. He is handling the ball better. Matt Jones played the entire second half without scoring and still may have won the game for Duke. He made timely and dramatic steals, played terrific defense and snatched the offensive rebound of the game. With 1:02 left, Berry’s 2 free throws drew Carolina with a single possession (80-77). Jayson missed a crucial 3 with 37 seconds to go, and it looked as if UNC had corralled the rebound, but Jones miraculously snatched the rebound giving Duke the ball. Jackson was fouled and made the first to give Duke a two possession lead with 27 seconds left, but he missed the second. Tatum made the game sealing rebound of the miss and then made both foul shots after Britt had to foul with 16 seconds left, giving Duke a 6 point lead 83-78. Coach K said Jones has been “unsung” for 4 years, “but we know his value.” He played the entire second half, demonstrating Coach K’s assessment of his value.

Next Play

Like an NCAA tournament, Duke has a 1 pm game on Saturday at home against Clemson. Coach K pointed out the obvious. A game like this dramatic effort can give you a loss in the next game because it takes so much out of the team, and there is a desire to stay in the beautiful moment. When asked if Jayson had controlled his emotions better, K responded that Tatum was very emotional. So much so that he missed a defensive assignment after making a great goal. Insightfully, K said that when you do something so good and satisfying, you want to stay in that moment. But Carolina comes at you so fast, that not getting to the next play immediately can cost. It is the same with winning a big time ACC game, like this one, and having to leave that very pleasant moment to prepare for a Clemson team that will come into Cameron hungry. Coach K: “let’s see if we can handle that.”

DUKE 64 – CLEMSON 62

What a difference a day makes. Thursday night the Blue Devils were hitting on all cylinders and played their best basketball. This afternoon, they were only hitting on one or two cylinders and played some of their most ineffective basketball since the final eight minutes against N.C. State. The Blue Devils were up 29-18 at the half thanks to seven threes and the fact that the Orange Paws couldn’t shoot the ball from a boat and hit the ocean. They were 1-15 at one point. However, I never feel comfortable when the threes come early and easy, especially against an overmatched opponent, because players seem to be lulled into thinking the game is just a stress-free scrimmage. Not today. Pass the valium.

Once again, credit Luke Kennard for putting the team on his back and carrying them to victory with 25 points, which included 12 of the last 16 and Coach K for, well, being Coach K. He called a timeout 68 seconds into the game with his team down 0-4 because he thought his players were not focused. That reset resulted in better focus and an eleven point halftime lead. Then, deep into the second half, a quick 9-0 run gave the Tigers their first lead since the opening minutes. Then, Krzyzewski employed a patented Coach K tactic. He shed his jacket like he was taking off a warm-up suit, jumped from his chair to make the point that a seventy year old man four weeks after back surgery was more into the game than his players and the listless Cameron crowd. His Blue Devils responded, as Luke Kennard drilled two three pointers on Duke’s next two possessions, the crowd came alive, and the Devils never trailed the rest of the way. He also believed Grayson Allen, who badly turned his ankle in the first half, was also fatigued and not himself. He liked Kennard’s matchup, so called plays almost exclusively for him—similar strategy as against Carolina, just Kennard rather than Allen—nice to have choices like that! And Luke was, once again, The Cool Hand. In about nine critical minutes, he reeled off 15 consecutive points. This is how empty the tank was: No other Blue Devil scored in double digits. Freshman Frank Jackson, who had 8 points in just 14 minutes, was the only other efficient scorer. The bottom line: Thank goodness Duke was playing Clemson, losers of eight of its last ten games, in Cameron.

The unsung hero again was Matt Jones who played 38 minutes, much of it guarding Clemson 2016 All-ACC star Jaron Blossomgame. Matt held Jarom to 3-12 shooting, for 7 points, 11 below his season average. He also was a major reason the Tiger never got a shot off in the last six seconds, when they could have tied or won the game.

After the game, Coach K made this seemingly curious statement: “This was our best win. You had a really good Clemson team which is desperate for a win…I’m not saying we’re a great team, but we are a team, and we are getting better. And we’ve been very tough.”

Other Comments:

I assume Coach meant that in this game, his players overcame fatigue, not shooting or defending well for forty minutes yet still found a way to win. That is his definition of “tough”. The dramatic difference in quality of play in the Carolina game and the Clemson game exposed the obvious weakness of this team. When Kennard, Allen and Tatum are playing well and the perimeter shots are falling, this team plays better defense and can beat anyone. However, when the threes are not falling, this team can lose, because there is little low post alternative production. Before Jefferson’s injury, that was not the case. He was averaging a double/double. Not now! Although Duke pulled ahead early on today, the Blue Devils scored only six points in the paint in the first twenty minutes. The three Duke big men combined for just two points but accumulated five fouls. They also allowed redshirt freshman Elijah Thomas to camp under the basket, where he scored 9 points and had 7 rebounds. Despite Jefferson playing at less than 100 percent, Coach K does not trust freshmen Harry Giles and Marques Bolden, who have only exhibited flashes of their potential, to make more than cameo appearances. Duke is at their best with a three guard, two forward configuration. That makes them a small team but makes Jayson Tatum a mismatch nightmare for a power forward because he can take that big man to the perimeter where the air is thin. If Jayson is successful in exploiting that matchup, it may force the opposing coach to substitute a small forward, which negates the team size advantage and whom Tatum can overpower down low. And then, Duke’s most effective sixth man is Frank Jackson, another guard. So, despite the Carolina win, this team is vulnerable to being overwhelmed by say, a Florida State or any other big physical team. So the questions are:

Can this team go very far in two tournaments with a short rotation without significant, productive minutes from Giles and/ or Bolden?
Are Giles and Bolden injured, not in shape, or just overrated and not ready for prime time?
What happens if there is an injury to one of the six starters? Is it 2016 all over again?

Clemson was trying to join North Carolina State as teams earning their first victory at Cameron since 1995 – and just the fifth win here in their history.

Alan Adds:

Duke’s best win of the season

Coach K was so erudite, insightful and wise in his post-game press conference, that I yield the first part of “Alan Adds” to him. Rhetorically, he asked if the press perceived a different feeling in Cameron during this game from what was experienced on Thursday against UNC. The arena, the fans and the team were clearly not as emotional. Coach K said that his team is human and the fall off of emotional energy after such a heroic performance is human nature and normal. “But in order to win, you cannot be normal. You have to fight human nature. After the first half lead of 11, Coach K said “rationalization sets in. We got a lead; this is a bottom tier team we’re playing; and we are playing at home. We can’t really lose. Rationalization equals relaxing. “It’s what you have to fight in order to win a national title or a gold medal. To be really good you have to beat it. I know that because I’ve been in it more than anyone else. And, I’ve lost because we haven’t beaten it.

“It’s not about attitude or being ready to play. It’s about how much do you have in the tank — not always physical; it can be emotional; that is the toughest tired to fight through. I knew this would be our toughest game, and it is our best win of the season.”

The Second Half Malaise

Duke gave up 44 points while scoring 35 in the final stanza. The entire Duke team — Duke’s only bench in the second half was Jackson’s 6 minutes and 2 points (on a great clutch floater in the lane) — outside of Kennard scored only 15 points. [Jefferson 6; Tatum 5 and Allen 2]. Grayson got 3 minutes rest; Kennard 2 and Jefferson a brief moment, while both Jones and Tatum played every minute of the second half. Duke toughed it out under difficult circumstances. Jefferson was valuable anchor of the defense, grabbing 7 second half rebounds and blocking 2 Tiger shots. He was also 3-4 from the field, though missed his only foul shot. Tatum contribute a crucial 3 and an interior goal for 5 second half points, to go with 2 boards and a block. 0 assists. Matt was 0-1 but contributed a crucial steal and some great defense on Clemson’s star, who he held to 1-5 shooting for just 2 points in the second half. Coach K said Duke kept going to Kennard because he liked the match up. Luke scored his 20 second half points on only 9 shots [5-9; 3-5 from deep; and crucially 7-9 from the line] with a board, a block and an assist. Duke had to really suck it up as the clock wound down. With 10 minutes to go, Clemson took the lead at 45-44. Duke fought back (when it would have been easy to fold) and led by 7 with a little over 2 minutes to play. Clemson scored off an offensive rebound; Grayson missed a 3 and Clemson scored again on a layup by Thomas, who completed the traditional 3 point play after Grayson’s foul (why?). 62-60 with a minute and 10 left to play. Luke made 2 clutch free throws (64-60) before Thomas (who was a beast all night) made a layup (oh those points given up in the paint! Clemson had 9 second chance points to 0 for Duke in the final half) to bring the Tigers within 2 with 37 seconds left. Jackson missed a 3 and Thomas grabbed the board with 14 seconds left. Clemson had the ball with 6 seconds left and a chance to win with a 3, send the game to overtime with a 2, or lose without a score. Coach K said he did not call a timeout because he did not want to give Clemson a chance to set up a play. Duke doubled Mitchell (Clemson’s scoring star in this game) and Kennard made a superb defensive play getting his hand on a pass and knocking it out of bounds. He almost won the game right there. Duke doubled Mitchell again, who had scored 20 for The Tigers. They forced him to go into the backcourt to receive the inbounds pass with 4 seconds left. Matt did a great job and Mitchell never got a shot off.

Coach K pointed to the endgame as evidence that his team is gaining in toughness. “In the last 4 games we have been very tough.”

Goals for the Last 6 Games

ACC standing are interesting; all is still up for grabs. UNC, UVA have 3 losses; Louisville, Florida State and Duke have 4 losses while Notre Dame and Syracuse have 5 losses. Using tiebreakers, Duke is 5th — one spot out of the double bye for the ACC tournament. Coach K was asked about his goals for the next 6 games, but he declined to consider the question. He said no goal setting now; he and his team are too tired. They need a day or so away from basketball, he said. However the schedule is formidable — Duke has away games against UVA (this coming Wednesday), Syracuse, Miami and the final game on UNC’s senior night; Duke hosts Florida State and Wake. The last 2 games are Florida State at home and Carolina in the Dean Dome. So Duke plays 3 of the 4 teams ahead of the Devils in the standings. Whether Coach K is willing to say or not, the first goal is a double bye in the ACC tournament. The real goal is to continue to improve, and as Bill points out, to more fully integrate Giles and Bolden into the rotation as effective players.

More Wisdom from Coach K (applies to more than basketball)

Even though Matt Jones scored only 6 points — all in the first half (2-3 from deep in the opening stanza; 2-4 for the game), Coach K values him highly as a great defensive stopper, and as a leader on the floor. He may be “unsung” he said, but “we know his value. He knows his value. You have to understand your value and not let somebody else determine your value. If you understand your value, you will do your job well.” He analogized it to the woman who is responsible for the locker room’s upkeep. She knows her value and does a good job. Matt’s value is his toughness, not only as a lock down defender, but also as the teammate, who is toughest mentally, who fights through fatigue, whether emotional or physical. Coach K knows Matt’s value, which is why Jones was on the floor for the entire second half.

Pretty cool season so far.

DUKE 65 – VIRGINIA 55

On a night when Kennard and Allen went 5-19 from the floor of John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville against Coach Tony Bennett’s famous Pack Line Defense, the Blue Devils nevertheless took another impressive step toward being the team they were predicted to be at the beginning of the season. Fortunately, offensively Jayson Tatum had another “career” second half as he scored 28 points to go with 8 rebounds. What was even more impressive was that after the Devils scored (gasp) just 21 first half points, 18 of Jayson’s points came from matching his height, 6-7 from way beyond the three point line in what we refer to as “JJ Land”. However, this performance didn’t surprise me as much as the fact that the Duke defense, led by Matt Jones, held the Wahoos to shooting 37% from the floor and 25% from three point territory. During this six game winning streak, the Duke defense has gradually improved from subpar to pretty darn good. Not only that, Harry Giles played a season high 19 impressive minutes. After replacing a foul plagued Amile Jefferson late in the game, he dove on the floor for a pair of steals and gave the Blue Devils a much-needed jolt of energy. Giles continuing development means that together with Frank Jackson, Duke now has a legitimate seven man rotation. (What, you really expect Coach K to play use more than seven players at this time of the year?)

Even though this Virginia team is not powerful offensively, they were 18-6, ranked #14 and, despite having the worst haircut, has one of the best point guards in the conference. So, in many ways this was as impressive and encouraging a win as the team has had– road game, two leading scorers had off night, closed out a tight game with, let’s just call him a the third Cool Hand Brother, and tough defense. To quote the PGA commercial “ These guys are good!”

As Jay Bilas pointed out, a key to the effective Duke defense was Coach K utilizing a 1-2-2 three quarter court zone press which slowed down the offensively challenged Cavalier half-court offense by shortening the shot clock. Coach K pointed out that a halftime adjustment of spreading out the offense and moving the ball faster somewhat neutralized the Pack Line Defense and created more open shots, which Tatum capitalized upon. He also pointed out the fact that when Tatum is playing strong defense and rebounding well, he is stronger and more aggressive offensively. It’s a maturing mindset that results in his recent game changing second half performances.

Other Comments:

- Grayson Allen reinjured his left ankle just before the half. He had it taped and played most of the second half. However, Coach confirmed that both Jefferson and Allen are not totally healthy but that hopefully by March they will be 100%.
- Most of the season, Jayson Tatum has been much more effective scoring inside than outside. However, the last few games, he has been much more accurate from long range. It doesn’t surprise me because he has one of the most classic shooting motions you will ever see—best observed when he is shooting free throws. Anyone who shoots nearly 90% from the line has a shooters touch.

- Through all the good, bad, and indifferent games this season, Duke’s starting players have been an exceptionally accurate free throw shooters. Tonight, they were 18-20, most of which came as they protected their lead to close out the game.
- Virginia’s Tony Bennett is an admirable coach. He recruits and coaches the right way and obviously gets the most out of his talent. Duke has arguably three first round picks, Virginia none. I can’t remember the last UVA player to leave school early for the NBA draft. Nevertheless, Coach Bennett’s teams are a tough out and always one of the top teams in the ACC.

Alan Adds:

With both Allen and Jefferson playing hurt, which limited their scoring ability — in the second half, Jefferson was scoreless and Allen had 2 points — Jefferson with 3 first half fouls; the first half offense totally out of sync (only 21 points on 2-14 from the field for Allen, Kennard, and Jackson), committing 8 turnovers; the Blue Devil outlook at halftime was dim. The second half was very different. Coach K made adjustments to the offense, which turned very efficient, scoring 44 points (44 points against UVA in a half is a feat!). Jayson had an extraordinary half, playing the entire 20 minutes, he scored 21 points, including 5-6 from deep. “He had a few minutes that separates the ordinary player from the outstanding one”, Coach K said. Kennard contributed some clutch foul shooting (9-10 all in the second half), scoring 13 in the final stanza. Tatum and Luke combined for 34 of Duke’s 44 second half points. With about 2 minutes to go, Duke led by four when Jayson hit back to back deep 3 pointers to push the lead to 10 with 1:56 to go. Coach K pointed out how huge those two shots were. “We went from a 2 possession game to a 5 possession game (K counts each possession as 2 points), which required UVA to foul in an effort to get back into the game. Coach K took Jefferson out so he had 5 excellent free throw shooters on the floor when Duke was on offense — Luke, Grayson, Matt, Jackson and Jayson. A Duke strength this year has been at the free throw line. Duke was 10-10 in the last two minutes, including Luke’s 6-6 (Jackson’s only 2 points and 2 by Jayson were the 10). For the game, Jayson was 6-6 and Luke 9-10. As a team Duke was 18-20 (Giles had the other miss — 1-2).

The Rotation

Jefferson and Giles divided the minutes at center almost evenly — 21 for Amile and 19 for Giles. Giles’s continuing development is critical for Duke’s post-season chances. He is clearly coming along. Coach K said he is in November in terms of his development. It was a big game for him with 5 points and 3 rebounds. Bolden added 2 minutes and had another ferocious block, a rebound and a foul without scoring. Frank Jackson was the only other reserve in action contributing 13 minutes (10 in the first half). His 2 foul shots in the last minute of the game were his only points. Bench scoring for the game — 7. In the second half, Giles’s 7 minutes (spelling Jefferson) and Jackson’s 3 (spelling Grayson) were the only bench minutes in the second half, and 3 points on foul shots — Jackson 2 and Giles 1 — were the only second half bench points. Matt Jones scored 5 big points in the second half, and was again an outstanding contributor. Coach K called him the “unsung hero” of the last 3 weeks’ resurgence. He held the Clemson star in check with his defense and did the same with UVA’s go-to point guard, Perrantes. Jones made Perrantes work hard and shoot a lower percentage than usual. Coach K said Perrantes did not play poorly, but was not real good either. Matt got the credit. Duke’s defense was awesome throughout. Even hurt and offensively challenged as a result, Amile still anchors the defense. Giles’s defense is impressively improving (which is why he was on the court for 19 minutes, and committed only 1 foul).

Grayson’s performance is troubling because he is obviously hurt. In 33 minutes his numbers were very un-Grayson like — scoring only 5 points [2-10 from the field; 1-6 from deep and critically failing to get to the foul line] while grabbing only 2 rebounds. He had a pair of assists and a turnover. Kennard was glue, even though he did not shoot well from the floor. He was money from the line and grabbed 7 big defensive rebounds [ 3-10; 1-3 from deep] with 3 assists for his 16 points. He and Jayson combined for 44 of Duke’s 65 points.

Coming Down the Regular Season Stretch

Duke has the most difficult remaining schedule of the ACC contenders. Wake visits Cameron on Saturday. Then Duke has away games against Miami and Syracuse before facing Florida State at home and UNC on Senior night in Chapel Hill. After the last 3 weeks, Duke is facing that gauntlet with quite a bit of confidence.

DUKE 99 – WAKE FOREST 94

Today, we had an math class in Cameron Laboratory. The subject was a regression to the mean or mean reversion. Wednesday night Duke scored 65 points, Virginia 55. Today Duke scored 99 points, Wake Forest 94. This might be called the converse– progression to the mean or mean progression. Cliff notes: Over the course of the season Duke should average scoring in the low 80’s and opponents scoring in the low 70’s.

Or, you could call this the shootout at the Cameron Corral—a lot of shots hitting their mark. Once again, Duke had no answer for John Collins (31 points, 15 rebounds), and could not keep the Demon Deacon guards out of the lane. So, the halftime adjustment was to defend the three and live with two’s: “In the second half we just switched everything. We can’t go zone, our ball-screen defense stinks, let’s switch and if they want to try to take advantage of us inside, at least they won’t be driving and they’ll be two-point shots. It was a good trade. It got us tougher offensively. The defensive rebounds led to some aggressive offense.”

Fortunately, the Blue Devils have more fire power—six players in double figures, Cool Hand Luke in the clutch, and The Maestro managing the strategy. Frankly, it was the substitution of freshman Jackson midway in the second half that sparked a Duke run to break open a very tight game. Then at closing time, getting the ball in the right hands staved off an embarrassing upset as Wake has not won in Cameron in this century—really, since 1997.On the other hand, Coach Manning and/or the Deacons, in the last two minutes when they were in position to win or tie, never got the ball to Collins. Go figure.

Coach K assessment: “I think guys are settling into their roles and understanding what is expected of them. At the end of ballgames, we’ve been really tough. We’ve made winning stops, winning free throws, winning shots, and it hasn’t been one guy. Really, in all the games, all the wins, the last three, four minutes we were a little bit better than the team we’ve played. And that shows toughness. It has to do with getting healthy. Everyone is at practice now, although I’m holding back Jefferson and Allen to help them heal from lingering injuries.”

Kennard said it was all about the players being exactly who they are and becoming comfortable playing together. “Honestly, we don’t have specific roles. We’re playmakers. That’s what coach recruited us to be, that’s what he wants us to do. … We’ve learned who each other is and what each other can do and we’re really connecting with that. That’s why we are starting to win a lot.”

Co-captain Amile Jefferson summed up the team’s attitude and mind set: “All of us—freshmen to seniors–we came here to play in pressure situations on a big stage. We came here to make big plays. We came here to win games.”Other Comments:

The fact that a team with a record as mediocre as Wake Forest can shred the Blue Devil defense and take Duke down to the wire both at home and the on the road is not an encouraging sign. We will learn if this and the Clemson game were anomalies when Florida State comes to town in a week.
If Giles and Bolden think they are ready to play in the NBA, they are not looking at the video tapes of the same games I am.
Karen wrote: “Can someone please tell me why the Duke players wear the initials KB on a patch in the upper right side of their jerseys? None of the announcers has mentioned it.” Peter M and Jimmy H both responded that former Duke President Keith Brody, who was close to Coach K, recently died and the initials are in his memory.

Alan Adds:

Throughout the year, we have observed Duke’s defense as being a somewhat porous, and being exploited in both the lane and defending the rim. Against Wake, Duke’s defensive weakness — especially on the interior — was on full display. Duke gave up 47 points in each half! Duke did stop the Wake 3 point attack for the most part (5-15) but allowed Wake to shoot 30-54 from inside the arc. While Duke did “switch everything in the second half”, which was the “least bad” defense that Coach K could conjure, Duke did not stop Wake very often. Wake’s scoring per possession was even higher because of the number of offensive rebounds that produced second chance points. Wake had 15 offensive boards to Duke’s 21 on its own defensive board (the last few of the game for Duke were key). When Wake realized that Duke was switching everything, it gave Collins the opportunity to set the screen, and then roll to the basket. That meant he was defended by a guard. Hence the frequent picture of 6’2” Frank Jackson guarding 6’10” Collins in the post. When Duke went to help Jackson with a double, Collins got the assist. When the double did not come or was late, Collins scored. Switching everything might have been the least bad option, but it does not appear to be the defensive answer. Given two of Duke’s last 4 games are against teams with huge and effective front courts — Fla. State and UNC (who dismantled UVA last night in an awesome display of inside power — Duke’s interior defense is going to have to be better for a great end to this season.

Of course, as woeful as the defense was, the offense was better than superb. Duke scored 52 points in the second half, and needed all of them. It was an impressive display. Duke shot 36 for 61 from the field, including 13 – 27 from the bonusphere, and 12-14 from the line (including the game winners at the end). Duke had 19 assists against only 7 turnovers. Wake’s reputation as an inefficient defensive team was proven to have been earned.

The Interior

Welcome back Amile Jefferson! Coach K said he is still “limping around” and not practicing, but in this game he returned to his pre-injury offensive form. And, he won the game on defense in the closing minutes, worked hard throughout the game while staying out of foul trouble. Coach K limited his first half playing time to 13 minutes so he was fresh to play all 20 minutes of the second half. Amile had 16 points on 7-10 shooting from the field to go with 2-2 from the line (the first, the front end of a 1 and 1 was the most crucial shot of the game). He not only had 7 tough boards, including the crucial one at game’s end, but also had 5 blocks, including the crucial one at game’s end. Welcome back, Amile.

In the first half, Marquis Bolden played his best basketball since arriving at Duke. He earned 6 minutes of playing time and scored 6 points (2-2 from the field including a beautiful lefty hook) 2-2 from the line with a rebound and an assist. On the down side, he committed a foul and a turnover. The statistics don’t demonstrate the inconsistency. After a great basket, he committed a silly foul 30 feet from the basket. After a terrific dunk, he lost his man (Collins, of all Wake players), who scored on a wide open dunk. Still his athleticism is obvious and Coach K praised his minutes. Giles committed 3 fouls and a turnover to go with 1-1 from the field in his 4 minutes, which was disappointing considering the progress we have been seeing from him. Neither played at all in the second half. Coach K said, “I would have used them more in the second half, but we had something, and I was afraid to lose it. If I had played either, we would have had to defend the ball screen differently; we could not have switched everything.” Amile’s amazing defense and play at the end confirmed Coach K’s decision.

Jayson

It is hard to know whether to write about Jayson Tatum on the interior, the perimeter or separately. He was Duke’s best defensive rebounder with 6 (7 overall tying him for team lead with Jefferson), and scored an efficient 19 points on 11 shots in his 35 minutes [6-11; 3-5 from 3land; and 4-4 from the foul line]. He does get beat one on one from the perimeter on defense, but he is a ball hawk and amazing athlete. Let us enjoy him while we can, he is special.

The backcourt

Kennard had a great all-round game, but it was his breathtaking second half that needs to be fully appreciated. In the second half, he scored 15 points in 17 minutes. He missed only 2 shots (both 3s) going 1-3 from behind the arc. It was his dazzling 5-5 on intricate drives and mid-range pull ups that kept Duke in position to win. He also pulled down 3 second half rebounds, one of which was crucial, and handed out 2 assists without a turnover. He played the entire first half scoring 8. Once again Matt Jones provided crucial leadership, clutch shooting and toughness. In 35 minutes, he scored 10 [ 4-7; 2-4 from deep] to go with 2 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal while being charged with only 2 fouls. Grayson logged 28 minutes (12 in a better second half after an ordinary — subpar for Grayson — first half. For the game, Allen scored 11 [3-8; 3-6; 4-4] but most good stats came in the second half where he hauled in 4 boards and passed out 3 assists, in addition to 2-4 from the field including 2-3 from deep. He did miss his only foul shot, the crucial front end of a 1 and 1 with 1:02 left in the game and Duke leading by 1.. Coach K said the injury is affecting him — it distracts a great athlete — and he has to give Grayson time to heal to be effective in the post-season. Frank Jackson picked up some Allen slack and was superb in the second half. In the closing stanza, Jackson scored 9 points [3-5 from the field including two crucial gorgeous layups; 1-3 from deep and 2-2 (also crucial) from the line in 12 minutes. He also had 2 assists, 2 rebounds and 0 turnovers. For the game, he played 22 minutes, scoring 12, adding 3 assists without a turnover. He was huge in the end game, and Duke’s only substitute in the second half.

The Crucial Winning End Game

Duke led by 12 with 12:07 left to play after Tatum hit a deep 3. Duke simply could not stop Wake from there, even though Duke kept scoring enough to maintain a shrinking lead. With 3:06 left, Wake had cut the lead to 2. Jefferson made a great layup, but Wake responded with a traditional 3 point play on Jefferson’s foul. 91-90 with 2;29 left. Kennard and Crawford traded baskets. It was 93-92 Duke, when Grayson was fouled with 1:02 left and missed the front end. Collins rebounded, but Duke’s defense rose from the dead to make the winning stand. Tatum defended Crawford’s layup attempt spectacularly, got the rebound and was immediately fouled with 31 seconds left. He made them both. 95-92. Crawford again drove the lane and this time was turned away by Jefferson, who also grabbed the crucial rebound and was fouled. Duke up 3 with 14 seconds left and Jefferson on the line for 1 and 1. The first one was crucial, to be sure. Jefferson made them both. 97-92. Game over. Jackson fouled, made a pair with 8 seconds left and Crawford closed the scoring with a meaningless lay-up. A salute to Jefferson, Tatum and defense in the last minute! Wow!

A Duke Feel-Good

Jeff Capel’s father, just diagnosed with ALS, was on the bench as an honorary coach. Coach K said it was not just a good moment; it was a great moment. The team gave the elder Capel the game ball. Coach K talked about the Duke culture and the student-athletes’ love of Duke as empowering that culture. Tyus Jones and Okafor were in the audience. Coach K explained that older players (peers; not coaches) have to instill the culture in the younger guys. He pointed to Quinn Cook and Marshall Plumlee, who did that in the past; and, to Matt and Amile who do it for this team. He said it is the love of being at Duke; of being proud of being Duke students, not just Duke basketball players, that makes the culture so effective.

DUKE 75 – SYRACUSE 78

Although Duke had won an impressive seven games in a row, they had demonstrated an unimpressive, disconcerting tendency to play to the level of their competition and tonight they paid a painful price by losing a game that should not have been decided by a final shot. Syracuse does not offer the offensive matchup problems that a Carolina, a Florida State, a Louisville, or even a Wake Forest does. However, Syracuse is very well coached, does play good defense, and this year every ACC team is dangerous at home—especially when home houses 36,000 very loyal fans, the team is on the bubble to be selected for the NCAA Tournament, and the basketball gods decide, “Sorry Duke, tonight is not your night. We are going with the other guys” as two bad jump shots bank in anyway. How many times do we point out it is not a good idea to let any team hang around and stay close, because late in a tight game, strange things can and do happen.

Up eight points at the half, the Blue Devils should have been up about eighteen or twenty as they threw or kicked away five fast break opportunities and missed shots they normally hit. In addition, how many teams can you beat shooting just 38% from the floor and putting them on the line for 25 easy points? If nothing else, this game exposed the Blue Devil weaknesses—poor defense (giving up 78 points!), lack of a rim protector, and lack of an inside game. Golf Pro David S. mentioned that this Duke team does not seem to always play with the same passion he has been used to seeing. That was demonstrably true for about thirty minutes of this game. While Tatum (19pts. 13 rebs, 6 assists) carried the load in the first half, and Kennard (23 pts, 7 rebs, 5 assists) and Jefferson (14 pts. ) in the second, Grayson Allen was terrible in both halves, going 2 for 11.

Other Comments:

With just less than eight minutes to play, Kennard, Frank Jackson and Grayson Allen all had picked up four personal fouls, further handicapping the man-to-man defense.

It is apparent that neither Jefferson nor Allen can jump normally off injured feet and/or ankles. Despite being at point blank range, Amile never dunked the ball and Grayson looks like he is shot putting his threes.

The other disconcerting reality is that the Blue Devils close the regular season with a murder’s row schedule—at Miami, Florida State, and at Carolina. And speaking of Carolina, last night they thoroughly dominated #7 Louisville 74-63 in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels are a mature, deep, well-balanced team with healthy, skilled players at every position who, unlike some other years, play with almost as much passion and pride on defense as offense. They are well-positioned to make a serious run at both the ACC and NCAA Championships.

Alan Adds:

Readers know my admiration for Coach K is extreme. However, I thought he was way off in his press conference, focusing on Duke’s poor first half transition offense (blowing what should have been easy scores five times) rather than the second half defense. He said the problem was more human nature (they were desperate; we were not) than Xs and Os. I disagree. Duke has, and has had this year, a serious Xs and Os problem on defense. This is not new, though Duke’s second half defense against The Orange might have been its worst defensive performance of the year. Syracuse is a bubble team with 12 losses on the season. The Orange played 3 players for all 40 minutes (Battle played only 33). They did have 2 centers, but neither is an All-Star. Against that level of achievement, consider these second half statistics: 1) Duke “held” Syracuse to 53 points (that’s a rate of 106 for a 40-minute college game); 2) Duke allowed Syracuse to shoot 17-24 from the field (71%, including 4-5 from deep); 3) Duke’s primary defense was to foul the Syracuse driver – The Orange went to the line for 17 second half attempts (made 15); 4) Syracuse was in the bonus with 13:08 left in the second half and the double bonus with 8:50 left. The Duke foul trouble took away much of the defensive aggressiveness that was on display in an outstanding first half defense. 5) Duke forced only 8 Syracuse turnovers for the entire game.

Duke again switched everything, of which Syracuse took full advantage. Lydon or Thompson would set the pick for Gillon. When Duke switched, Amile was guarding Gillon on the perimeter, while Grayson or Jackson was on Thompson, who rolled to the post or basket. Gillon gets by everyone, but it is easier for him to get by an big on the perimeter. If no help (or really late help), he laid it in (sometimes getting fouled in the process). The Syracuse big in the post had a huge advantage over the shorter Duke defender. When the driver made the pass, interior layups seemed to follow (with the foul). If Jayson or another gave help to the guard defending in the post, other Orange players drove the open lane for easy layups. Duke hardly stopped Syracuse in the second half; Syracuse only missed 7 shots and got a plethora of offensive rebounds. If the Duke defense does not become more efficient in the near term, the specters of Lehigh and Mercer may make an appearance.

Duke’s offense was hampered by the woeful shooting of 3 of its vaunted perimeter marksmen: Allen (2-11; 1-6 from deep); Jones (1-6; 1-5 from deep); and Jackson (0-4, all from deep). With 45 seconds to go and Duke leading by 2 (75-73), Grayson missed a wide open 3 that would have iced the game for Duke. Grayson, Jackson and Jones were a combined 3-20 (2-16 from deep). Jones did not get to the line (Grayson 3-3; Jackson 2-2). Tatum had, as Bill described, a wondrous first half (but scored only a deuce in the second half), and both Kennard and Amile had terrific second halves. Tatum and Jones played all 40 minutes; Kennard 37. The only other Duke player besides the starters and Jackson (4 fouls in 15 minutes) was Harry Giles, who had one of his best games. In 11 minutes, he was 3-3 from the field and grabbed 4 boards, while committing only 1 foul. Bolden did not play.

All contenders have 3 games left. UNC leads the conference by 2 games (3 losses). Four teams are 10-5: Duke, Florida State, Notre Dame and Louisville; Miami is 9-6. Duke plays Miami (away at 4 pm on Saturday); Florida State at home; and UNC in Chapel Hill. Thus, Duke’s final 3 foes have conference records of 12-3; 10-5; and 9-6. Murders row without a viable defense (wrote the criminal defense lawyer).

DUKE 50 – MIAMI 55

FG: 32%, 3 PT: 24%, FT: 33% = 50 points. If this Duke team cannot score a lot of points, they probably cannot win because they do not consistently play good defense. Injuries, lack of practice time together, squad makeup, no true point guard, or chemistry may be the reasons that down the stretch and in a position to win against N.C. State, Syracuse, and now Miami, this team has imploded not exploded. For Duke fans, watching this happen has been as difficult as trying to spell Krzyzewski.

Because of his lingering ankle injury, Grayson Allen did not play today and Harry Giles started in his place. While he and Bolden rebounded well, neither proved capable of defending the rim. The other freshman, Frank Jackson, provided an impressive scoring spark but made three critical turnovers that led to six easy points. However, shots of Kennard and Tatum, which have been dropping, suddenly are bouncing and/or rolling out not in. When this inevitably happens, we know that the trademark of Coach K’s best teams—lock-down defense, execution, playing smart, and closing the game out—is the antidote. The most discouraging aspect of this team’s recent losses is an inability to execute The K Playbook of Winning Basketball: win the first and last four minutes of each half, make a sustained, backbreaking run that gives you a good cushion, attack the basket, get to the line and hit free throws, and play fundamentally sound, smart basketball to finish off an opponent.

Additional Comments:

After the game, Coach K said he doesn’t know if Grayson will play Tuesday: “I won’t know until then. Same thing, I gotta make a decision on Amile. I don’t know. Amile, is not running because of his injury and I didn’t play him most of the second half.” This is the dilemma: Jefferson and Allen are shells of their former selves. Injuries heal with therapy and rest. Next week it is Florida State and Carolina. The following week it is the meat grinder of the ACC Tournament. The following week is the NCAA Tournament. Duke cannot win the regular season and probably will not qualify for a bye in the ACC Tournament, so there is the possibility of multiple games in a row. No matter the outcome, the Blue Devils will be in the NCAA draw. Does Coach K hold Jefferson and Allen out next week and, perhaps, for some or all of the ACC Tournament and challenge Giles and Bolden to step in and prove they are really NBA ready? Or….?
You know it was a rough day when an opponent torches Matt Jones for 25 points—almost half his team’s points. And to add insult to injury, late in the game, Matt’s man scores a touchdown on an out-of-bounds three quarter court pass (made possible because Jefferson couldn’t jump high enough to prevent the throw) for a touchdown/dunk.

Duke’s 50 points were its fewest in sixteen years.

Alan Adds:

Duke, scorned in the pre-season rankings, takes on UNC tonight in its final regular season game, having secured a double bye for the ACC tournament and an unexpected top 10 ranking in the national polls. Oh wait! That’s the Duke women’s team, which goes into its final game tonight with a season record of 23-4 (3 losses in the ACC—all between January 12 and January 26). Why am I writing about the Duke women in an email about Duke men’s basketball? You know if you watched the completely disappointing performance of the men’s team against Miami (not to mention Syracuse and NC State)? It was Duke’s worst offensive performance in many a moon – especially in the second half, where Duke was 11- 37 from the field and 4-14 from deep. The abysmal foul shooting also contributed to the loss. Amile and Giles were a combined 0-4 from the line. Both of Jefferson’s misses were the front end of a 1 and 1, and (worse!) were the only Blue Devil free throw attempts of the first half. Giles missed 2 crucial free throws (his only attempts) with :37 seconds left and Duke trailing by 5. Jackson (1-2) missed with the score tied at 39. Luke missed the third of a three shot foul (2-3 for the game) with :29 seconds left, failing to cut the lead to 4. And Duke has been a great foul shooting team.

Coach K, in his press conference, emphasized Duke’s fragile health as the main reason for the disappointing performance. He was clear that Grayson would be held out until he is healthy and can play with his customary verve. That could be until the NCAA tournament. Coach also pointed out that Amile cannot run because of his injury, which resulted in Amile’s spending most of the second half on the bench. He played 21 minutes (2-2 early in the first half for his 4 total game points) grabbing 5 defensive boards, but turning it over 3 times (0 assists) and committing 3 fouls. Without either Grayson (completely) and Amile (mostly), Duke played 4 freshmen (along with Matt and Luke) in the second half. Coach K said Giles and Bolden played well, but have essentially no big game experience. He explained they are both “just cutting their teeth” in the 16^th ACC game. The result, said the coach is that there is more continuity on defense than on the offense. The coach thought the team defended well, holding Miami to 55 points.

I am not sure that Coach K’s explanation is the real (or at least not whole) story. Duke’s rotation has been very thin this year, with Allen, Jones Tatum and Kennard logging huge minutes all season long. It is an axiom of basketball that tired players miss shots that are usually made. Certainly, that was the case with Duke’s shooting last night. Kennard and Tatum again played all forty minutes. Tatum was 0-7 from long range, scoring 8 inefficient points on 16 shots (4-16) without getting to the foul line in the entire game. He is playing hard, grabbing 7 boards, handing out 2 assists with a block and a steal without a turnover or committing a foul. Tired players miss shots that are usually made. Kennard scored 16 points on an inefficient 20 shots [6-20; 2-6 from deep; 2-3 from the line – no free throws until the last 29 seconds of the game). I think he had more of his shots blocked by Miami than in the rest of the season and he had his pocket picked more than once for turnovers that became easy Hurricane layups. Jones has logged 983 minutes for the season (2^nd to Kennard’s 1024), and I believe his huge minutes are beginning to be reflected in his declining performance. In 37 minutes, Jones scored only 4 points (2-9; 0-3 from deep without attempting a foul shot) with 3 assists and 3 turnovers and a steal. He missed critical 3s down the stretch. A vaunted defender, Jones was simply torched last night by Bruce Brown who scored 25 of Miami’s 55 points. Brown penetrated to the goal easily throughout the game. When Duke trailed by 3 with :05 seconds to go and Miami inbounding, Brown beat Jones for the full court pass that produced the game deciding layup. Tired players not only miss shots that are usually made, but also are late defending and rebounding as fatigue saps the reflexes and stamina.

Jackson shot well and played well, but he is not the sure ball handler that a point guard needs to be. Nor is Jones. Nor is Grayson. The absence on the roster of a true point guard may be what has kept this team of McDonald’s All-Stars and potential NBA lottery picks from reaching its potential. Before the game, I wrote to a hoops junkie friend that I thought Coach K had to play Jayson at small forward and go with two bigs. With Grayson out, Coach K started two bigs — Amile and Giles. Duke defends better with 2 bigs, although the second rotation is late or non-existent. When the pass goes to the roller, Duke is getting a good double to stop the layup, but leaving the hoop open for the next pass for a layup when the second rotation does not arrive (Jayson is a major offender in this defensive lapse). But for most of the game, Tatum was the power forward. Miami did serious damage late in the game with its offensive rebounding.

Two potential lottery picks who have disappointed (understatement here) are Giles and Bolden. Both played extended minutes against Miami. Bolden played 14 minutes without scoring (0-3), but grabbed 4 rebounds and blocked 3 shots. You can see his potential. Giles logged 19 minutes, showing what a good rebounder he is, by grabbing 8 for a team high. He was 1-4 for 2 points with a block and a turnover (only 1 foul, which may be important if he is learning not to foul; he has been hampered by foul trouble). He is, so far, all potential without the kind of performance that this team needs from him. He is clearly improving.

It seems Coach K has recognized that the regular season – and maybe even the ACC tournament – is not salvageable. Coach K’s emphasis is clearly focused on the NCAA tournament. It will be interesting to see how he prepares for it with 2 very difficult regular season games remaining – Florida State on Wednesday in the last home games for (at least) Matt Jones and Amile Jefferson; and UNC on Senior night in Chapel Hill next Saturday.

I don’t think things have looked this dark all season for Duke’s post season challenge.

DUKE 75 – FLORIDA STATE 70

Raise your hand if the you saw this coming. Shame on you who didn’t, because you obviously haven’t either been following Duke long enough or you haven’t been paying attention and reading Duke Basketball Playbook. How many times do we have to tell you: Coach K’s teams rarely lose three games in a row, especially when that game is in Cameron. At their best, Florida State has the talent and the size (their starters are taller than all but one NBA team) to beat anyone—but, apparently, not on the road where they are 3-6 in ACC play.

While this was obviously a coming out point guard party for Frank Jackson (22 points playing a healthy Grayson Allen role), equal billing goes to the team defense, a retro Amile “double-double” Jefferson (14 pts & 11 rbs), Jayson Tatum (15 pts. 9 rebs) and Luke Kennard (17 pts. 6 rebs). Last week we referred to the discouraging aspect of the team not executing The Coach K Playbook of Winning Basketball (win the first and last four minutes of each half, make a sustained, backbreaking run that gives you a comfortable working margin, play good defense, attack the basket, get to the line, hit free throws, and play fundamentally sound, smart basketball in the final minutes.) Obviously, Monday the student-athletes went to class and paid attention, because tonight the defense held the Seminoles to 42.5 % from the floor, won the start of the second half with a sustained run to expand an 11 point halftime lead to a 19 points to give the Blue Devils a large cushion, and held on by Tatum and Kennard making plays down the stretch. Amazingly, the Blue Devils also matched the Seminoles 38-38 in rebounding as well as hitting three more threes and free throws.

It has been pointed out many that this team lacks a true point guard and that when healthy, Allen fills that role pretty well. Tonight, Jackson was the action (that’s a pun) that filled that role and what a scintillating exhibition it was. He was just unstoppable for periods of the game. Likewise, Tatum has matured into not only a potent offensive force (K: “We went to Jayson on some iso’s late and he came through. You don’t call plays (for him), he makes plays.”) but also plays bigger than he is on defense. He had nine boards, made a thunderous, LeBron James-like trailing block of a fast break layup and swooped in from the weak side to swat a jump shot out of the hands of a Seminole.

While this game was not actually as close as the score, it featured the coming of age of Frank Jackson, the resume building of Jayson Tatum, and the steady scoring and all-round play of Luke Kennard, and demonstrated what a different team this is when Amile Jefferson is anywhere near one hundred percent. It was his first double-double since December against an imposing front line. “My mark has been a player who hustles, who works hard, who does the dirty work,” Jefferson said. “Fighting, putting my heart out on the floor at Cameron one last time was incredible. It was about not pacing. That’s what I’ve been doing since I’ve been injured. I’ve been playing but I’ve been playing not to get hurt, thinking about my foot, thinking about the pain. Tonight I was going to go out and give it all I’ve got. Once I did that, I forgot about the pain.” That pretty much sums up Duke basketball.

Coach K pointed out in his press conference that in this league a lot of games are close and if you win the last few possessions, you are “great”, but if you lose two games on the last possession, you are in a “slump”. Actually, he thought his team played hard and well in losses against both Syracuse and Miami but just lost those final possessions and in this league, road games are tough to win. There is another school of thought that thinks that Kennard, Tatum, and Jones have tired legs from playing so many minutes. However, we all know Coach K has the old army attitude that if you can breathe, you can fight, and he has won over 1,000 games, five NCAA Championships and counting. So, who are you going to believe?

Other Comments:

Coach K commented on how fortunate he has been to have Amile Jefferson and Matt Jones to coach for four years. Incidentally, for those of you with an institutional memory, Amile’s uncle is Truck (as in: built like a) Robinson, very tough, eleven year pro who led the NBA in rebounding in 1977-78.

Dick Vitale is a nice, generous man but has become a real distraction for those of us who want to focus on the game being played and not listen to him reminisce about his friendship with Frank Sinatra or whatever extraneous thought meanders from his mind to his mouth.

Alan Adds:

In the first 11:19, Duke scored only 12 points! For the next 12 minutes and 42 seconds (8:19 in the rest of the first half and the first 4 minutes and 23 seconds of the second half) Duke played its best basketball of the season on both ends of the court, going from a tie score (12-12) to a 19-point lead (49-30). In that span, Duke outscored the Seminoles 37 to 18. Duke’s Killer J’s — Jayson, Jackson and Jefferson — led the way on offense, while Duke played locked down switching defense while defending the rim with passion. The announcers, complained about the Seminoles missing attempts at the rim. But all of those attempts were hotly contested, which is what caused the misses.

Defense and Rotation

Duke’s first half defense was breath taking. Amile seemed all the way back, and it had a huge impact. He led Duke’s spirited protection of its rim, and hedged out dramatically in defending ball screens. He helped the defense succeed in its major strategic goal — keeping Rathan-Mayes out of the paint and from dishing out assists, as he has done all year for the Seminoles. While he scored (11 in the second half), he had only 1 assist in the entire game. It was unabashedly gratifying when Coach K, in his press conference, said exactly what I had written down in my notes. Duke played superb defense – best of the season – until Florida State wore the Devils down. Duke tired, and fatigue’s impact on the Devil defense was profound and perceptible. Duke held on, but we all had “that feeling” as the 19-point lead shrunk to 5 by game’s end. It wasn’t as if Duke was ever actually in danger of losing because the Devils – led by Jackson and Tatum – kept scoring enough to keep the lead at several possessions all the way to the end. Duke hung on, though clearly tired.

The Rotation

In the second half, Kennard, Tatum played every second; Jackson was out for 1 minute; Jones for 3; and Jefferson for 5. The entire bench was Grayson Allen for 8 minutes (scoring Duke bench’s only 2 points of the game) and Giles for 1 minutes. For 4 minutes, at game’s end, Duke played with Jayson Tatum as its center and only big (Coach K wanted all good foul shooters at the end as Florida State pressed and fouled). Coach K pointed out that Duke did not turn the ball over against the press, which was a big factor in Duke’s successful end game. In the first half, Allen also played 8 minutes (0-2; 0-1 from deep); Giles 4 (1 offensive rebound and 1 foul) and Bolden 2 (1 foul was his only statistic). 0 points from the bench in the opening stanza. The starters were Duke’s team last night.

The impact on Duke’s Second Half

Duke gave up 47 points; committed 10 fouls, 6 turnovers with only 3 assists; and gave up 10 offensive rebounds to Florida State as against 12 defensive rebounds. As Coach K said, “They wore us down.” But Duke had the heart and talent to hold on without real drama. Tatum and Jackson were spectacular. Coach K said that in the last 10 games, Tatum has elevated his game. He was tremendous driving to the basket against the Seminoles. Coach K praised not only his scoring, but also that he is Duke’s best defensive rebounder (9 for the game; 8 were defensive; 6 in the second half when he and Kennard were Duke’s leading rebounders) and has become a much better defender. “If you could see tape, you would see how wide he gets and how he is quick to help,” said the Coach proudly. Dickie V’s (virtually) only game related comments were his hysterical discovery of Frank Jackson as a talented player. Coach K was also on that bandwagon, pointing out that Jackson has exploded in the last two games and is virtually a starter. He logged 33 minutes in the game.

Going Forward

The regular season ends Saturday in Chapel Hill. Even if Duke were to win, a top 4 seed (and double bye in the ACC Tournament) may be out of reach. Coach K was frank that his emphasis is on getting Grayson healthy and the team ready for the NCAA tournament. If Amile is really all the way back and both Tatum and Jackson continue to shine, it might be an interesting tournament.

Duke 83- North Carolina 90

Once again the Duke and North Carolina basketball teams proved why this game is billed as one of, if not the, greatest rivalry in all of sports by playing another exciting contest that had more lead changes (23) than Price-Waterhouse could keep track of. The outcome was determined by the fact that Duke had no defensive answer for Joel Berry, who had a career game by hitting five early threes and closing out the game by finishing at the rim for 28 points on only 14 shots — and the fact that Isaiah Hicks, who did not play in the first game, exploited the smaller Blue Devil line-up for 21 points and 9 rebounds in just 22 minutes . But that’s what this Carolina team, which has no one-and-done players, brings to the floor–a deep, experienced, well-balanced team. Stop Justin Jackson and Joel Berry can get you. Stop Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks can get you. And visa versa.

To win games against Carolina, or any top team, this relatively small but talented and potent Duke team must score more than 80 points by winning the lines—at the foul line and beyond the three point line—and defend well enough to hold their opponent to less than 80 points. One out of two won’t do. Tonight, the Blue Devils executed the game plan well until the last five minutes when they appeared fatigued, missing half their free throws and a few critical shots that rolled out not in. In the final analysis, the Blue Devils have little depth or margin for error and Jayson Tatum challenge is to consistently play big and strong at both ends. Tonight, the senior Hicks overpowered the freshman Tatum, making 7 of 9 shots.

The good news is that this away game, also senior night against one of the top four teams in the country was (like Syracuse and Miami) very winnable. More importantly, Jefferson and Allen appear to almost fully recovered from their injuries. In addition, Luke Kennard (29 pts) continues to be a scoring machine, Frank Jackson has matured into another offensive force, so Duke now has a four lethal offensive threats, and Jayson Tatum (4-13) had an off night. Also, the Blue Devils never stopped competing. They were first on the floor for loose balls. Grayson had the hustle play of the game—much like his coming-of –age play against Wisconsin in the NCAA Final–diving on a ball at half court. Only this time he rolled over and somehow on his back threw a perfect pass to Tatum for a dunk.

The bad news is that candidly Harry Giles is a good rebounder but lost playing man-to-man defense (and a fouling machine to boot) and Marques Bold is just not ready for prime time. And Matt Jones’ shot is on vacation. Fortunately, his defense is not.

Other Comments:

Carolina had 19 assists (7 by Theo Pinson) and Duke only had 8. Look for Duke to have a true point guard next year.

Duke, which had the most difficult schedule in the conference, has a very difficult draw in the ACC Tournament. They have more wins against top 50 RPI teams than any school in the country yet are a five seed in the same half as Louisville, and Carolina. Don’t get me started on the ACC expansion that was constructed for football centric television money reasons, that geographically has teams from Syracuse and Boston to Miami (do all the non-revenue teams fly to away games? No wonder tuition is $60,000+ and rising), because I am an old ACC guy where there were natural rivalries between comparable schools within a bus ride of each other that played twice and the tournament meant a ticket to the NCAA 32 team draw.

Alan Adds:

This was simply a great college basketball game. Coach K said it was like the first game in that “both teams were worthy of winning”, and both teams played superb basketball. Despite being on the short end of the final score, Duke can take much positive from the game. As Coach K said, “we’re getting better.” Bill may be overly optimistic when he says Grayson has almost fully recovered. Coach K allowed that he is getting better, “but is still not there.” Grayson did not start and played only 23 minutes [14 points on 2-4 from deep and 8-11 from the line] and did not attempt a field goal from inside the arc and had only a single rebound. He is still not the spectacular driver, rebounder and defender that he has been in the past. His recent improvement, and more importantly his continued improvement before the Big Dance is a big positive. Duke played evenly against perhaps the most talented and deep team in the country on their home floor at Senior Night for 36 minutes. It was championship basketball. Carolina’s depth juxtaposed to Duke’s lack of depth made the difference, in my opinion. The ‘Heels played ten (not counting the senior starters who do not usually play), got valuable contributions from 7 players (and Britt, who had a difficult night). Duke played 7 (Bolden, who played less than a minute, is not included) with a minimal contribution from Giles (13 minutes with a point while committing 3 second half fouls in a span of 26 seconds), and sub-par play from Allen (injured) and Matt Jones (26 minutes without a point or a rebound, but 2 steals). Kennard (28 points in 39 minutes) carried Duke as Berry (25 points in 36 minutes) carried UNC. Tatum had a difficult night at both ends – in 30 minutes, he scored an inefficient 13 points on 13 shots [4-13; 2-4 from 3land and 3-4 from the line] with 5 boards 2 turnovers and an assist.

But, in my opinion, Duke is only a Grayson return to form and Harry Giles consistency away from being a potential final four team. Giles was significant in the first half, but non-existent in his foul plagued second half cameo. His second half absence played a bigger role in the Duke loss than may meet the eye. Amile played 36 minutes but was not the efficient rebounder he usually is with only 6, 2 on offense. He was tied with Frank Jackson who led the defensive rebounding with all 6 of his. Jackson was excellent in his 32 minutes, scoring 15 on 9 attempts [4-9; 1-3 from deep; and 6-7 from the line]. His driving got him to the rim and the foul line. But, in the decisive moments, UNC won because of its offensive rebounding with Giles on the bench. He adds substantially to Duke’s interior presence and depth when he plays as he did in the first half. Whether he can up his game to do that in the post-season is critical for Duke’s chances for a NCAA run. A Grayson who can drive, rebound and defend, in addition to shoot, is a must for Duke to be the team envisioned in the pre-season.

I thought Duke again got tired at game’s end, and the Devils’ superb play deteriorated. Allen’s 3 pointer drew Duke within 1 with 4:07 left (79-78). From that point, Duke was inefficient, that may have been caused by fatigue – a few players playing huge minutes over the course of the season. Duke gave up a layup to Berry, Tatum missed 1 of 2 foul shots, Luke missed a 3 point attempt, Tatum committed a foul, and Berry drained a 3 making it 83-79 with 2:07 left. Grayson missed a pair of free throws leading to a Berry layup with 1:42 left (85-79). Each team’s Jackson missed a 3 and Duke had the ball with 45 seconds left when Jayson also missed a 3. Luke got a great rebound and passed to Grayson who was fouled; he made the second after missing the first. 85-80 with 35 seconds left. Duke had to foul, and Berry made 1 of 2 (his miss was crucial, keeping it a 2-possession game at 86-80. Luke made a dazzling layup and foul shot reducing the lead to 86-83 with 24 seconds left. That was Duke’s last gasp. UNC went over the top against the press for an easy layup (88-83); Luke missed a 3 and Amile had his offensive rebound blocked by Hicks, who then made both foul shots to complete the game’s scoring.

Coach K wants to “do a great job in Brooklyn and then on to the Big Tournament.” In Brooklyn, Duke (#5 seed) plays the winner of Clemson-NC State game in the second game of the afternoon on Thursday, March 9. The winner plays Louisville (4 seed) on Friday, with the winner projected to meet UNC (#1 seed) in Saturday’s semi-finals.

DUKE 79 – CLEMSON 72

Late in the first half, Johnny Tar Heel texted me: “Is this game as bad as I think it is?????? I’m not watching. Just saw the score”.

It was as Duke’s fouling and poor shooting kept the Tigers in the game. Fortunately, the Blues Devils made a run in the first five minutes of the second half to go up by nine as Tatum put on a show, Luke started being, well, Cool Shooting Luke, Jackson provided energy, and Clemson demonstrated why they have now lost eleven games by seven points or less.

The only other thing I can say is that Alan’s analysis is so very thorough, comprehensive, and accurate that he speaks for both of us.

Alan Adds:

Duke’s win was satisfying, but does not give off much optimism for the remainder of the ACC tournament; and in my mind, diminishes the expectations for The Big Dance. It is the bench and the rotation that was troubling in the midst of some clutch performances by all the Duke starters. Duke got less than no help from the bench. After the UNC game, I wrote that Duke only needs the return of Grayson to last year’s form and the emergence of Giles as a competent support for the interior to become the team that was envisioned in the pre-season. Against Clemson, Duke had no bench and both Allen and Giles looked completely lost for differing reasons. The entire offensive contribution from the bench came with 12:25 left in the first half, when Grayson hit Giles with a beautiful pass of the pick and roll for Giles’s lay-up. That was it! The Duke bench scored just those 2 points. Giles played 5 minutes; 4 in the first half where, after his hoop, he committed 3 fouls in 26 seconds. In his brief cameo in the second half; he committed another foul. Bolden played 3 first half minutes without any productivity and had the ball stripped from him embarrassingly, which led to an uncontested Clemson layup. He did not see the floor after that embarrassment. Vrankovich played a minute in each half and grabbed a board. Grayson played only 12 minutes, his shortest time on the court since his freshman year. He committed 3 fouls (one the controversial technical), was 0-4 from the floor; 0-2 from deep with one rebound. Coach K attributed Grayson’s bad day to both injuries and foul trouble. Grayson can’t go full in practice, and K opined that throws off his timing. His deep attempts were on target, but short. The starters played all but 22 minutes (Giles 5; Bolden 3; Vrankovich 2; and Grayson’s 12). There is great concern that Duke may not have enough left in the tank against Louisville this afternoon.

The starters were heroic and outplayed Clemson. Kennard played 39 minutes and had a dazzling second half after a terrible first half (1-9 from the field; 1-5 from deep for 3 points to go with a single rebound and a turnover in the opening stanza). In the second half, he scored 17 on 11 shots (8-11; 1-3 from deep; strangely he did not get to the foul line the entire game); 4 boards; 2 assists and a steal. He was one of Duke’s 3 20 point scorers. Tatum, who also played 39 minutes, took a step up and looked like a sure lottery pick despite going 1-7 from deep. He scored 20 on 15 shots (7-15; with 9 rebounds and 4 assists (the pass to Matt Jones for a crucial layup was a highlight). He was 5-5 from the foul line including the last crucial 4 in a row in the last minute that clinched the game. Jayson scored on acrobatic drives, he muscled defensive rebounds, and made superb decisions and passes. His defense is getting much better. Perhaps the star of the game was Frank Jackson, who is taking Grayson’s minutes and playing absolutely lights out basketball. Except for missing 2 crucial free throws with a chance to make it a 7-point (3 possession) game with 1:52 to go, he was amazing. In 35 minutes, the freshman scored 20 points on only 10 attempts (7-10; 2-2 from deep; and 4-7 from the line) to go with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and the great game opening steal for a layup. As Coach K said, if you add Grayson’s proven ability back into the mix, Duke has 4 players who are so dangerous and difficult to defend. Amile played superbly, notching a double double in 31 minutes (4-7 from the field; 3-4 from the line for 11 points; and 10 rebounds). He anchored the Duke defense with 2 blocks and a steal. He also had a pair of assists. Amile would have played the entire second half, but was in foul trouble, finishing the game with 4. Duke’s defense was superb when he was on the court (before he picked up foul # 4; then he had to be tentative and Clemson took advantage). However, when he was on the bench, Clemson scored at will. Matt Jones was solid in 34 minutes, playing excellent defense and making 3 steals. He scored 6 on 2-4; 0-2 from deep and 2-2 from the line.

Matt Jones was quoted as saying Duke was having a hard time with its identity. Coach K said that even though it is so late in the season, “we’re still evolving. We are still getting better.” But even he admitted, “I don’t know who we are.” Tellingly, he admitted, “we need 7-8 guys.” They had only 5 yesterday, and today face a rested Louisville team that is better than their #4 seed in this tournament.

DUKE 91 – LOUISVILLE 77

With Duke down double digits, Louisville scoring at will at the rim and Duke starters in foul trouble, Coach K took a deep breath, grimaced, apologized to Bobby Knight, crossed himself, and called for a 2-3 zone defense. No one was struck by lightning but the momentum of the game changed dramatically. The Blue Devils got some stops, Luke Kennard, who was laboring on his worst shooting game of the year, suddenly heated up like a microwave—and about as quickly as you could say “ Bad face lift and hair plugs, Ricky” the Blue Devils took over the game, then put it away like a top team should.

In his Clemson post-game press conference, Coach K spoke about how this team was still searching for its identity. Frankly, I don’t know what that means but I do know these players can score a lot of points and if they can play enough defense to hold an opponent in the low 70’s, they have a pretty good chance to win. Today was a classic example of how defense and missed shots can change the entire rhythm, momentum and outcome of a game. Missed shots not only lead to good offensively opportunities but also gives an adrenalin rush when the resulting possessions result in seeing the ball going through the basket. And one thing we know is that Kennard, Tatum, Allen, and Jackson can all score a lot of points– fast.

However, an opponent must also co-operate in their own demise as the Cardinals did by not attacking the zone with patience, missing free throws, and making dumb mistakes. For instance, Coach Pitino subbed seldom-used David Levitch to apparently provoke Grayson Allen. He grabbed his arm then shoved him after the whistle. Allen had the sense to walk away with his hands in the air. On the very next play, Levitch knocked Allen to the ground on a three-point attempt. Allen hit all three free throws to cut the lead to 64-61 with nine minutes left. Think what you will about Grayson Allen but Coach K and his teammates “have his back”, love his passion for the game, and are energized and thrilled when he plays well.

One of the most difficult challenges in sports is to be playing a game or match and be out of rhythm or timing (as opposed to being “in the zone”) and, in the midst of that pressure, being able to have the presence of mind to ignore the fear of failure, find your stroke, and keep shooting. Well, Luke Kennard did exactly that in front of thousands of people and a national television audience to produce a breathtaking reversal of form and provide his team with the winning margin.

Alan Adds:

Duke’s exciting win over Louisville yesterday may have been Duke’s most important performance of the year. Louisville is a Final Four quality team. Duke won with heart, head and passion; but even more importantly with its bench! Grayson led the bench in scoring and passion with 18 points in 28 minutes [5-12 from the field; 2-3 from deep; 6-7 from the line] while grabbing 4 boards. Giles played his best game at Duke and providing 15 minutes of solid interior play. He scored his 4 points in his 9 first half minutes (2-3), grabbed 2 defensive rebounds, had a steal while committing only 1 foul. In the second half, he added a rebound, 2 assists and a block in his 6 minutes. Important and impressive contributions. Bolden played 4 second half minutes and was part of the play that changed the game. He was first to a loose ball after a critical Louisville missed dunk, and made a great outlet pass ahead that led to an easy deuce in transition that changed the game’s momentum. Yesterday, Coach K had the “7-8 guys we need”.

After the Clemson win on Wednesday, I wrote that “Duke’s performance does not give off much optimism for the remainder of the ACC tournament, and, in my mind, diminishes the expectations for The Big Dance. It is the bench and the rotation that was troubling in the midst of some clutch performances by all the Duke starters. Duke got less than no help from the bench. After the UNC game, I wrote that Duke only needs the return of Grayson to last year’s form and the emergence of Giles as a competent support for the interior to become the team that was envisioned in the pre-season. Against Clemson, Duke had no bench and both Allen and Giles looked completely lost for differing reasons.” The return to form of Grayson especially, but Giles and Bolden as well were as important to Duke’s post season prospects as was the superb win.

Duke got spectacular performances from Kennard, who scored 24 points in the game; 18 coming in the second half when he came alive as “Cool hand Luke”, including 10 in a row in the 3-minute span from 6:33 to go to 3:29 when Duke closed the gap and took the lead for good. He was 7-16; 3-8 from 3land; 7-9 from the line. He also led Duke in rebounding with 10. Coach K said that one of the keys to the win was the defensive rebounding of Kennard and Tatum in the second half. For the game, Kennard had 8 and Tatum 6 defensive boards. The bigs only retrieved 6 defensive boards altogether in the entire game (Jefferson 4; Giles 2; Bolden 0). Tatum was equally as spectacular as Kennard, leading Duke in scoring with 25 points [9-15; 1-2 from deep; 6-8 from the line] and was almost a point forward. His defense gets better by the game. He is, in short, becoming a beast.

Matt Jones’s shot has gone south, and as a result his minutes are beginning to shrink. He has played a ton of minutes this year and the possibility exists that fatigue is catching up with him. He failed to score in 23 minutes (0-3; 0-2 from deep) without getting to the line. He had a board and a steal. Coach K said he was trying to rest Jefferson — who had played so hard and well against Clemson’s big men — limiting him to 25 minutes. Amile scored only 2 [1-3] with 6 boards (2 offensive) and a block. He will be desperately needed today against UNC’s huge front line.

Coach K said it was a “fun game to coach”; “I felt like a little kid”. He said he just let them play, by running motion offense without calling set plays. He was joyous at Giles’s best game and that he is having fun again. Although he down played the impact of his decision, I believe Coach K deserves the game ball for his decision to go zone with a little over 6 minutes left to play. The decision was “any port in a storm. We could not stop Louisville in transition with the man to man. I don’t know if my team was tired or what, but they [Louisville] missed shots and it changed the tempo of the game.” It surely did. However, on the game’s final play where Louisville had the ball down 3 with time running out, Duke played man to man. “It was the defensive possession of the game. We went man so we could switch everything to defend against the 3, but without fouling.” Duke never gave Louisville a decent opening. It was a highlight of a defensive stand.

What a game! Who knows how much Duke will have left in the tank for tonight’s semi-final against UNC? I suspect we will all be watching.

DUKE 93 – NORTH CAROLINA 83

Coach K said that this team was still searching for its identity. Frankly, it is still a mystery to me as to exactly what that philosophical/psychological intangible means but by the end of March Madness we know if this team overcomes injuries, over-hyped implosion and resurgence of a crucial player, Coach K’s absence, and finishes the season as the team everyone thought it would be. In the meantime, we will just have to settle for these last two games, because for the second day in a row the Blue Devils accomplished the improbable, if not the impossible. They came back from what seemed like certain defeat to beat two of the best teams in the country.

The Tar Heels controlled the first half by exploiting their size advantage, where they posted 49 points, outscoring Duke 32-10 in the paint. Those 32 points on the interior were only two fewer than UNC scored in the entire loss at Duke a month ago. The 49 were 6 points more than the 43 they scored in an entire game against Virginia in Charlottesville. It was a near death experience as only Grayson Allen’s four threes and a late run to reduce the margin from 13 to 7 kept the game from being decided in the first twenty minutes.

The start of the second half was just as bad as the Blue Devils trailed again by 13 points with fifteen minutes remaining when Joel Berry committed an imprudent fourth foul and went to the bench. Duke increased its defensive intensity with a very effective three quarter court pressing trap which curtailed the momentum of the Tar Heels fast pace and suddenly defensive stops entirely changed the momentum of the game as Duke outscored Carolina 29-11 during the next eleven minutes to lead led 77-72 with 3:30 remaining. Even with Berry back in the game, Carolina could not play with the same confidence with which they started the game and Duke closed out one of the most improbable, even, heroic wins of Coach K’s career.

Watching this unanticipated turn of events was incredulous, because North Carolina is such a talented, deep, big team that will be a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. How did it happen:

Duke got production from seven players. I still contend that Grayson Allen is the straw that stirs the drink—he had 5 amazing assists leading to 14 points– for this team and makes it a true contender. His ability to aggressively attack the basket, see the entire floor, and make the pass to an open Kennard, Tatum, Jackson, or, tonight even, Giles adds an entirely different creative lethal dimension to this offense. And speaking of Giles, tonight was the second consecutive game he has shown any sustained indication of being the player he was touted to be. In one frantic span of 83 seconds, he scored on an alley-oop, dove for a loose ball, forced a turnover, and pulled down a defensive rebound. Of course, the big four of Tatum, Kennard, Allen, and Jackson are all capable lighting up the scoreboard. When you drop 93 on a number one seed in the ACC and NCAA Tournament, you truly are a contender.

Other Comments:

Other than Duke, the team that I most enjoy watching is North Carolina—and it has been that way for an most of my life. Their players all have sound fundamentals (plus great looking pastel uniforms) and the relentless non-stop primary/secondary break, even after made baskets, is just beautiful basketball. Also, Roy recruits and develops his big men to be the hub of an extremely productive offense. Meeks and Hicks are good examples as they bear little resemblance to the players they were as freshmen. If Carolina can’t run past you, they set up a half-court offense is an egalitarian, big man centric system looking to over-power you. Threes are an afterthought. Duke on the other hand, is a free-wheeling, free form, attack and kick three point centric offense letting talented players identify and exploit mismatches. The other interesting differences between the two Hall of Fame coaches are defense and game management. Coach K stresses defense to the point that if you don’t at least try to play it, you don’t get off the bench. Coach K manages the game by feel—especially when to call timeouts– while Coach Williams manages by the numbers and likes to save his and let the players deal with the momentum challenges of the game.

The stats tell the story. As Jay Bilas pointed out, to beat a team like North Carolina, Duke has to win at the foul line and the three point line. Tonight, it was 33 to 14 and 10 to 5. Game, set, match!

Defense is the talisman for this talented but undersized Duke team. After shooting 55.6 % in the first half, UNC shot only 28.6 % in the second half.

Alan Adds:

From Tuesday, February 27 through Friday, March 10, Duke played Florida State, UNC before three games in a row against: a desperate Clemson team needing a win to make it to the NCAA; Louisville and UNC again. Duke won 4 of those 5 and played well in the loss. Coach K said, “we’re getting better.” “We’re getting to know each other.” What a wonderful stretch. Duke showed so much heart and passion in the two comeback wins against Final Four caliber teams. Finally, the 2016-17 Blue Devils are looking like a complete team. As Dana O’Neil (ESPN) wrote:

“This game was not won by a single player. It was won because Allen hit four 3s in the first half and Kennard scored 10 in the second. It was won because Jayson Tatum finished with 24 points but also seven rebounds. It was won because Frank Jackson nailed a three to give the Blue Devils the lead. It was won because Amile Jefferson endured the thankless task of dealing with Carolina’s bigs all night and emerged the victor. And it was won because, in one frantic span of 83 seconds, Harry Giles scored on an alley-oop, dove for a loose ball and forced a turnover and pulled down a defensive rebound.”

UNC is a deep team that wanted to press Duke and wear the Devils down by “winning time” at the end of the game. Shockingly (to me anyway), it was Carolina that got worn down. I think Duke is just in better physical condition than the Tarheel players. How else do you explain the disappearance of UNC’s formidable inside game in the last 10 minutes of the game? Carolina, who shot 56% in the first half (18-28 from inside the arc), could manage slightly less than 29%, going 9-28 from inside the arc in the second half. Moreover, Carolina stopped defending efficiently as the ‘Heels had done in the first half. Duke scored 51 second half points, shooting 59% from the field (5-8 from deep). Carolina committed 16 second half fouls (tired players foul more) allowing Duke 23 attempts from the free throw line (20-23; 13-14 in the first half). The Carolina Bigs may simply not be in shape.

Ole Roy is a Hall of Fame coach, but in my opinion, he was completely outcoached in this game. Not that he isn’t wonderful, but Coach K’s unique genius is worth points to Duke by his coaching regardless of who is on the other bench. Duke was down 13 with 13:53 to go in the second half after Meeks made yet another layup. Jayson drove the baseline for a spectacular dunk. Coach K called time out.

Few coaches would stop the game after a potential momentum building play like the Tatum dunk. He said that he coaches by feel and that “I know my guys”. He wanted to give them a breather. The next play was, according to Coach K, “the play of the game”. Grayson grabbed an 50-50 ball offensive rebound after a Tatum miss, and hit Luke, who got off the three point attempt faster than I have ever seen anyone do. He was rising as he caught the ball; swished it as he was fouled. He made the free throw for a four point play that reduced the Carolina lead to single digits (51-47). Duke rolled from there.

Tatum stole the ball and fed Allen for a 3. Luke grabbed a contested defensive rebound and fed Frank Jackson for a great layup. Down 2 (63-61). Jackson and Hicks both missed (tired?) and Jefferson rebounded. Luke made a pair of free throws to tie the game at 63 with 10:21 to go. Carolina regained the lead for the last time on a Britt layup. Then Duke took its first lead with 9:02 left when Giles grabbed a defensive rebound and Grayson fed Frank for a 3 to give Duke a 66-65 lead. Giles blocked Meeks; Luke hit a jumper; Giles got a defensive rebound. Duke led by 3 and never trailed again, though Carolina tied the game at 70 with 6:29 to go. Then, it was what Bill and I call “winning time” – the last minutes of the game. Frank’s tough layup restored Duke’s lead (72-70). Then came the sequence of the game for me. Justin Jackson committed an offensive foul; Grayson found Luke for a dagger 3 (75-70). When Justin Jackson responded with a drive down the lane (which had been so kind to Carolina in the first half), Giles blocked it! And then Giles streaked down the court where Grayson found him with a long alley oop that Giles went to the ceiling for and athletically dunked it. It was a play that said Giles is ready to contribute big time. Duke by 7 with 5:31 to go. Duke’s defense held (Giles had another block) until Britt scored with 3:46 to go. Coach K put the foul plagued Amile back in and he scored on a superb post move to stretch the lead back to 7. With 2:51 to go, Amile blocked Pinson’s layup attempt and Jayson scored on a thunderous dunk with 2:19 to go. Game almost over (Duke by 9). The teams traded 2 made free throws before Frank Jackson pulled down a defensive rebound and was fouled. He made them both and Duke led by 11 with 1:34 left. Giles back in grabbed a key defensive board from a missed Justin Jackson free throw, was fouled immediately and made both free throws. Duke by 10. Matt Jones scored his only 2 points swishing both foul shots to stretch Duke’s lead to 12 and the game was effectively over. Carolina simply couldn’t score (good defense; but tired?)

Duke now has a bench; in fact, a really good bench. Grayson played 30 minutes, scoring 18 points (12 in the first half where he and Jayson Tatum – 18 of his 24 points came in the first half – kept Duke from being knocked out early). Grayson was 4-5 from 3 for his 12. In the second half, he was more distributor, notching 4 more assists (5 for the game) including the amazing floor length pass to Giles for the critical dunk. Giles’s statistics are, in my opinion, simply dazzling. In 15 minutes, he grabbed 7 rebounds (6 protecting Duke’s vulnerable defensive board) blocked 4 shots (as a team UNC blocked only 2 for the game), scoring on a tip-in in the first half and the amazing dunk and 2-2 foul shots in the second half for 6 points in the game. Fabulous bench contributions. Bolden got in for a minute in the first half to try and stem the Carolina onslaught inside, but committed 2 fouls in less than a minute and returned to the bench for the remainder of the game.

Coach K told Giles that he needed to bring enthusiasm. “Just be enthusiastic and the rest will take care of itself.” Giles is listening. Coach K said he wanted Giles to be athletic and not so mechanical (play instinctively). Giles and Jefferson were on the floor together for a period. When Tatum is also there, Duke’s lack of size disappears. “This gives us much more versatility, helps the zone, and adds to our inventory,” said K. He also acknowledged that this is a team that “can’t defend inside very well”, but has been outstanding at defending (as well as shooting) the 3. He said a team has to win certain aspects of the game; can’t win every aspect (i.e. rebounding and defending in the paint).

With an effective bench, the rotation allows Duke to stay fresh. Kennard logged 39 minutes (he is a workhorse, who does not seem to be wearing down). He scored 20 points on only 7 shots [4-7; 2-2 from deep and a gaudy 10-10 from the line]. Jayson played 36 minutes scoring 24 on 15 shots 1-4 from deep but 7-7 from the line. That’s 17 for 17 combined. Jayson also grabbed 7 boards (6 on defense). Same as Harry, but who played 19 fewer minutes. Otherwise there was a balance in the rotation that has not been possible before. Frank Jackson continues his wonderful season; in 30 minutes, he scored 15 points on 11 shots [4-11; 2-5 from deep; 6-7 from the foul line]. He also had 5 rebounds. Amile played 28 minutes before fouling out with 8 points [2-4; 4-6] and 4 rebounds. He and Matt (reduced playing time to 21 minutes – 2 points on the 2 foul shots at game’s end) are the heart and soul of Duke’s defense.

Fourth game in four nights against Notre Dame. I have some idea of how Duke might feel. I watch the games riding my exercise bike (hour and 40 minutes), but never ride 2 days in a row. I know how my legs felt this morning after 3 straight hour and 40 minute rides. LOL! It will be worth watching tonight at 9 on ESPN.

DUKE 75 – NOTRE DAME 69

If this Duke team came to New York in search of an identity, they found one at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn—2017 ACC Champions. In an unprecedented four games in four days, in successive contests the Blue Devils came from 13 points down in the second half to beat both #10 Louisville and #6 North Carolina, then from 8 points down with ten minutes to go to beat #20 Notre Dame. This was Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s record breaking 14th –and most unexpected—title.

After the Carolina win, Alan asked me which of the other finalists I would like to play. I picked Notre Dame, because unlike Florida State, they do not present a size problem. Playing Notre Dame is like Duke playing themselves and except for Bonzie Coleson, for whom Duke has never had an answer, the Blue Devils have better players and athletes. The challenge was to win the lines—foul and three point—where the Irish also excel and fighting fatigue.

Duke started the game with the pedal to the metal, appearing as fresh and efficient as they ever have. However, the Irish made a late run (sound familiar) to only trail by four points when it felt like it should have been about ten. Then, the Irish took control of the second half (more familiarity) to go up by 8, and I thought: “Boy, I don’t believe this. Duke is getting Duked”.

Well, not exactly. The Blue Devils somehow found the energy and will to ratchet up their defense and shoot their way back into a one point lead. At that critical juncture, the most publically under-appreciated but indispensable player made the two decisive, winning plays. With the shot clock running down, Tatum drove the lane, collapsing the defense, and passed to Matt Jones, who has been in a shooting slump and had not made a basket all game. No problem. Without hesitation, the co-captain nailed a three to make it 71-67 with :50 seconds to go. Then, the Irish pressed hard and, when not successful, fouled without penalty (Duke was not yet shooting free throws). On the final inbounds play that mattered, Jones, the senior defensive specialist, took the ball from an official near midcourt and yelled: “Jay.” From the “I” stack, Jayson Tatum immediately broke down court and Matt hit the 6 ft. 8 in. freshman gazelle for a touchdown dunk (and foul). That is how a talented, composed championship team closes out a game.

No matter what happens in the NCAA Tournament, this roller coaster of a season has once again given us another exciting journey and up close look into how a world class coach manages and molds a group of exceptional student-athletes into a cohesive unit where the ethos is teammates unselfishly trusting each other to accomplish something bigger and more important than themselves. How fortunate are we to be along for the ride?.

Other Comments:

In the last month or so, freshman Jayson Tatum has taken his game to an entirely different level and is emerging as one of the most talented, productive players in Duke history.
The same can be said, except it has been all season, for sophomore Luke Kennard, who was named the MVP of the tournament. Not to take anything away from Luke but Jayson should at the very least have been the co-MVP. However, for some reason the votes are collected before the game ends. It reminds me of the year Daniel Ewing was voted the MVP, when JJ Redick caught fire late in the game, nailing threes from NBA territory, rescuing Duke from certain defeat. Makes no sense.
Before the ACC Championship game, Notre Dame’s Rex Pflueger was asked if the Irish were happy to play Duke. He responded: “Oh man, we want them.
This was Duke’s first ACC title since 2011. It beat three ranked teams—and the odds. If you are interested, according to kenpom.com: When Duke trailed Louisville, 61-49 on Thursday, its win probability, was 7.2%; when it trailed North Carolina, 61-48 on Friday, its win probability was 5.7%; and when Duke trailed Notre Dame 56-48 on Saturday, its win probability was 16.8%.
There is a CBS report (fake news?) that Duke is now a projected 1-seed (don’t bet the farm) after winning four games in four days to win the ACC Tournament. The Blue Devils picked up neutral-court victories against Louisville, North Carolina and Notre Dame in the past three days to give them a total of 12 top-50 wins (Michigan State is 51st) and eight of those came away from home. Even with eight losses, which would be the most ever for a No. 1 seed, Duke has put together a profile deserving of that spot.

Alan Adds:

This week, Coach K’s “team building” bore delicious fruit. This was such a team effort by a group of players that have faced injury and adversity throughout the year. Coach K thought that the adversity had drawn the team close together. He attributed the ACC championship to that closeness paying off; a special kind of closeness born from the season’s adversity. Both Jefferson and Kennard spoke of Duke’s staying poised and “strong”, even when ND knocked them back by speeding up the game to make its second half run. Amile tellingly put it after the game, “I’m so proud to be on this team with this group of guys when we’re becoming pure.” (Isn’t that a great word choice?) Both Matt Jones and Luke Kennard each explained, “we came to Duke to be part of something bigger than ourselves.” Amile and Luke said the theme for the week was “we’re not going back to Durham without this championship.”

Coach K was asked at the press conference, “how did you do it?” I loved his response, “I don’t know. My team has taken me on this journey that you could not plan. … This journey is so different (and he pointed out that he has been on quite a few terrific journeys in the past). How cool at 70 to be on a journey that I’ve never been on.”

Duke’s offense was as good as it gets in the second half. Duke shot 67% and if you omit the 2-5 from deep, Duke shot 14 for 19 from inside the arc. No wonder Duke didn’t get many offensive rebounds! Notre Dame stayed in the game two ways – offensive rebounds and Duke turnovers (Grayson had 6 of Duke’s 12). The Irish had 16 more field goal attempts but made 2 fewer for the game. Duke had no answer for Bonzie Coleson (29 points and 9 rebounds), but shut down the rest of the Irish. Beachem was the only other ND double digit scorer with 15. Matt Jones was ferocious on the defensive end, playing a major part of holding Vasturia to 2-9 from the field for his 5 points. Matt’s shooting woes have been well documented and his playing time has decreased as a result. Against Notre Dame, he played 31 minutes, taking only 2 shots, but making what Coach K called “the shot of the game.”

With less than a minute to go and Duke leading by one, Jayson drove the lane and was cut off. With the shot clock winding down, Tatum found an open Matt, who put up a 3 in rhythm and without hesitation. Swish! 4-point lead. Game almost over. Beachem scored leaving ND down a deuce with only 25 seconds left, and pressing for a steal or a foul to prolong the game. Jones triggered the inbound, and like an NFL quarterback lofted a long pass to the streaking Tatum. The sailed over Tatum’s head into his outstretched hands for a dribble and the game sealing dunk. Let the celebration begin. When asked about Jones “coming through” after not shooting well, Coach K was effusive. “Matt was coming through for us the entire game. He and Amile turned the game around defensively. … There are valuable things that players do to win the game that only people who want to look deeper will see. Matt does valuable things for us.”

The Duke bench outscored the ND bench 14 to 2. Grayson had a difficult game (those 6 turnovers), playing only 21 minutes with 10 points [4-9; 1-5; and 1-1 from the line] with a rebound and an assist. In a stretch of a minute and a half in the second half, Grayson turned it over 4 times, including 2 offensive fouls. Coach K went with Jackson rather than Allen down the stretch. Giles played well in the first half, going 2-2 from the field and snaring 4 rebounds with a block. However, he had problems in the second half with a turnover, a blown dunk (the ball slipped out of his hand on the way up with no one around him) followed by a frustration foul. In what turned out to be a second half cameo (10 minutes for the game), he had no positive statistics, gave up a layup and committed a turnover. Jefferson played the rest of the game, and played it superbly. In 35 minutes, he scored 14 points [7-8; 0-1 from the line] with 5 rebounds and 3 critical blocks. Frank Jackson was a force in his 26 minutes, scoring 9 on 4-6 shooting (1-1 from deep) while grabbing 4 boards. He is a very good rebounding guard.

Duke got an amazing game from Tatum [39 minutes; 19 points on 7-11; 7-9 from inside the arc; 5-7 free throws; and 8 rebounds. He was an irresistible force (as Bonzie was for the Irish) for which ND eventually had no answer. In a memorable play with 1:51 to go in the game, Tatum blocked a Vasturia layup, grabbed the rebound and dribbled the length of the court for a spectacular basket. Coach K: “How the hell did he do that?” That play gave Duke the positive energy to close out the championship game.

Both Bill and Coach K are right when they said that he should have been a co-MVP with Luke for the tournament. Luke was the official MVP and was again clutch in his 38 minutes. It was not his best shooting night, scoring 16 on 13 shots [6-13; 2-5 from deep; 2-3 from the foul line]. Notre Dame kept him off the free throw line (compare 2-3 against ND with 10-10 against UNC). Yet when Duke needed points, Luke was reliable in the final portion of the game. Coach K had trust in “his guys”. Duke ran “motion”, which is free-lance without set plays for the last 10 minutes of the game. “They own motion more than when running plays. They took the ownership and made it work, said the coach.”

It’s now on to the NCAA tournament with a huge accomplishment already in the bank. Coach K was unconcerned (perhaps even oblivious) to where Duke will be seeded and who they will play. “We paid no attention to standings, seedings, or ranking during the year. It was just about us – our team. When asked if Duke should have a #1 seed, the coach responded, “whatever they decide is all right – just let it happen.” Duke could not be heading to The Big Dance in better position to make a run.

DUKE 87 – TROY 65

Duke started fast, was never seriously challenged but, nevertheless, the game was a lot more competitive than the score. These mid-major teams are dangerous (think Lehigh, VCU, Belmont), because there are more talented, skilled athletes of all sizes and shapes playing basketball at all levels than any other sport and, with the three point line, no lead is really safe. However, every time Troy closed to within single digits, the Blue Devils had an answer.

Two disconcerting notes were: characteristically, a less than stellar interior defense but effective three point defense and, uncharacteristically, missing 7 of its first 17 free throws to let Troy hang around at different points of the game. All in all, it was a relief to see that after just last week winning an unprecedented four successive ACC Tournament games Thursday thru last Sunday, the Blue Devils were fresh and took the opponent seriously.

Other observations:

Jayson Tatum had 18 points, 12 rebounds, 4 blocks, & 4 steals. While he has developed a terrific chemistry with his teammates and taken his offensive game to another level, his improved defense and rebounding is even more impressive. His block at the end of the half was a hugely impressive play—both physically intimidating and psychologically damaging.

While Kennard (3-12, 8 pts, 1 bloody nose) was Cold Hand Luke for about the only time this year, Grayson Allen, coming off a subpar game against Notre Dame, more than made up for it by not missing a shot in the first half and scoring 21 points, to go with 4 assists, 5 rebounds in 28 minutes. [Note to Allen critics: How many All-Americans and pre-season Player-of-the Year candidates would have the attitude he has had, not starting but coming off the bench?]

Matt Jones, who for the last third of the regular season, appeared either not 100% healthy or worn down by all the minutes he has had to log, played like his old self for the second game in a row, scoring 14 points, to go with 3 steals and 3 assists.

With the maturation of Frank Jackson, Duke’s guard rotation of Kennard, Jones, Jackson, and Allen (and sometimes Tatum) presents a nightmare for opposing defenses. And speaking of defenses, Coach K occasionally employs a 2-2-1 three quarter court zone press and a 2-1-2 or 2-3 just to slow down and/or confuse an opponent on a run.

Harry Giles regressed and was replaced not by Marques Bolden but rather Antonio Vrankovic, who is not a physically talented but is just a large and has better instincts.

Duke appears to be well positioned to make a serious run in this NCAA Tournament.

Alan Adds:

Duke plays South Carolina tomorrow for a trip to the Sweet 16. Be warned: this will be a very tough game – much tougher than it appears on the surface. First, this will be an Away game for Duke. Only 100 miles from the South Carolina campus, the arena will be packed with Gamecock supporters. UNC is also playing there, and we know how supportive of Duke the Tarheel fans will be. South Carolina is a fierce defensive team that applies full court pressure and loves to run. They wore Marquette out so completely that a tight game turned into a runaway. The Gamecocks outscored Marquette by 21 in the second half (scoring 54 points). The Gamecock defense (their calling card) forced Marquette into 18 turnovers and to commit 20 fouls. In a conference with many great players (think of Kentucky’s impressive roster), the SEC Conference Player of the Year is Sidarius Thornhill, who will be a load for Duke to deal with. Last night he had 29 points and 11 rebounds to dominate the game. His high scoring sidekick, D.J. Dozier had 13 of his 21 points in the second half. Frank Martin’s team will try to do the same to Duke – press, force turnovers, make Duke foul, and try to wear Duke down. No Duke fan or player should take this team lightly.

Against Troy, Duke played well (Coach K said that at least four times in his press conference). He was insightful when asked about the Duke defense. Duke did a good job defending the three, which was Troy’s chief weapon. “We’re a good defensive team; not a great one. We are a better offensive team than defensive.” He pointed out that Duke’s subconscious mindset is “we can outscore you.” For this game, and the ACC tournament, Duke used a few defenses to good effect. Duke employed a zone (I did not hear any announcer recognize that or mention it) and a defense that is called “32” – a 2-2-1 zone press. It was very effective in the second half when Duke gave up only 27 points. Coach K said the zone and trap “stopped their driving and stood them up. They had good momentum.” Duke’s defense – led by Tatum – carried the day. Jayson was astounding; 9 of his 12 rebounds were defensive. His 4 blocks were inspirational; and Duke stole the ball frequently (Jayson 4; Matt 3; Jackson and Jefferson 2 each. Even Harry had one.) for easy baskets in transition.

Giles played only six minutes. When asked why Giles did not play more, Coach K pointed to the contrast between Harry’s performance in the ACC tournament (a major piece of Duke’s success) and last night’s lackluster performance [3 fouls, a missed lefty hook air ball; and a turnover]. Coach K: “He didn’t play well. Did you watch the game?” Giles picked up two quick fouls, which Coach K said affected him. “He was young tonight. We still have confidence in him and he will play more.” Vrankovich seems to have replaced Bolden as 8^th man. He gave 4 good minutes, including a nice offensive tip in.

Sunday vs. South Carolina for a trip to the Sweet Sixteen at Madison Square Garden (only a mile from where I live).

DUKE 81 – SOUTH CAROLINA 88

Looking at South Carolina Coach Frank Jackson, it is not surprising to learn that in his younger years he moonlighted as a bouncer and that is the kind of defense his team plays—rough and tough. The Gamecocks played stronger, more aggressively, and with more intensity and, consequently, did something you don’t often see opponents do to a Duke team. They totally took the Blue Devils out of their game– and bounced them out of the tournament.

After a really aesthetically ugly first half, where South Carolina took 36 shots to Duke’s 18, the Devils were still up 30-23. However, in the second half the Gamecocks capitalized on Duke’s deficiencies: lack of a true point guard, lack of team size, and defensive inefficiencies on the way to a twenty minute smack down. The Blue Devils were like a drowning man with the tide coming in. How can the same players shoot 20% and score 23 points in one half, come out fifteen minutes later, shoot 71% and scored 65 points in the next? Unbelievably, that’s more points than they have scored in almost ten entire games this season. Sometimes the basketball gods decide you guys have won enough, the other guys deserve this win.

Close games come down to stops and shots. Teams that do that and make them win, those that don’t lose. It just goes to show what can happen when a team gets on a run in a friendly arena. A friendly, frenzied crowd—and this was a South Carolina arena packed with Gamecock supporters and Duke deniers/haters (i.e. UNC fans from the first game)– can fuel a momentum and adrenaline rush that carries a team to perform beyond their abilities. How else to explain (except for one very talented scorer) a usually offensively challenged team scoring almost three times as many points in the second half than the first?

Coulda, shoulda, woulda…but no excuses. That’s the fascination of sports—anything can happen. South Carolina took charge of the second half and totally dominated the entire court. Congratulations to a very deserving team on a well-deserved victory.

Other Comments:

Amile Jefferson, as he has this whole season and his whole career, gave everything he could in his final performance. He finished with 14 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks. The same can be said for co-captain Matt Jones’ stellar four year career.

The last two games, Luke Kennard has not been himself. Perhaps, essentially carrying the team on his back through most of the season when various teammates were unavailable, finally wore him down. My wife is of the view that effort of four straight games in the ACC Tournament—three of which were come from behind victories—left the seven players entirely depleted.

It is interesting that in all his recent press conferences, Coach K took Grayson Allen and one other different player to answer questions. It was as if he was saying to the national press: “Take a second, good, long look at this young man and how well he is now handling himself. In four short months you and social media have helped make an All American Player-of-the-Year candidate into a hated Punk-of-the Year candidate. As you see tonight, he is in reality a pleasant, thoughtful, well-spoken, and well-mannered young man who a few times reacted emotionally and immaturely to action on the court in full view of national television that were blown way out of proportion but has overcome all the intense scrutiny to play some of his best basketball.”

As disappointing as this loss was, it should not obscure the larger issue of how fortunate we are to support the university that produces the Gold Standard of NCAA Basketball. It’s not only that they win but also the way they compete and the true student-athletes with which they win. I will leave it to Alan to sum up another exciting season except to say my memories of this season will not be this loss but rather coming from behind on successive days to beat Clemson, Louisville, North Carolina, and Notre Dame to win the ACC Tournament—and beating North Carolina two out of three times.

Alan Adds:

South Carolina Game

I had a bad premonition when Bill called to say that Wisconsin’s win over Villanova made Duke’s path to the Final Four easier. My first part of Alan Adds after the Troy game was a big warning about how tough the South Carolina game would be (I feel like Cassandra!). The game itself reminded me of the 2006 Sweet 16 loss to LSU when Duke (#1 seed) had two first team All-Americans (JJ and Sheldon Williams). LSU just smacked Duke around physically, and Duke could not respond. Exactly what happened yesterday. South Carolina was so physical at both ends of the floor. Defensively, they forced 18 Duke turnovers – a season high. Offensively, the Gamecocks grabbed 15 offensive rebounds. They forced Duke into fouling (Duke committed 26 fouls in the game) with Tatum, Kennard and Jones fouling out. Jefferson finished the game with 4.

South Carolina’s physicality wore The Blue Devils down. Coach K said it was by far the most physical game of the season. “We got worn down. It was a complex second half with our foul trouble.” In the second half, Duke simply withered defensively after playing terrific defense in the first half. The Gamecocks shot 20-28 in the second half (4-5 from deep) and 21-23 from the line. Duke gave up 65 points in the second half (rate of 130 for the game). Duke’s short rotation really caught up with this team. Duke played basically with 6 + Harry Giles’s 9 ineffective minutes. I agree with Bill that Luke finally showed the effect of playing 1341 minutes this season. He seemed to me a tick slower in the last few games in his offensive moves, which enabled teams to defense him, as they could not for most of the season. He and Matt Jones were simply asked to do too much when injuries thinned the ranks of effective players. It was a disappointing loss and ending to a season that was interesting, if not heroic.

The Season

Despite the lofty pre-season predictions which were never realized, I do not believe this season should be classified as disappointing. This was a terrific group, who played with amazing heart through a huge amount of adversity. This was a championship team — it won the ACC championship, that should glow for a long time. Duke beat four teams in four days; 2 ranked in the top 10; and the win over UNC gave Duke the season series. This makes a fitting case for seeing this season as a success. Jefferson became won of Duke’s All Time greats with his performance this year. Matt will be remembered (I predict he will be on the Duke coaching staff sometime in the future.). Grayson and Luke were not less than heroic. Jackson developed wonderfully. Jayson was a joy to watch; he will be a wonderful pro and will go high in the lottery. If Giles, Bolden, Jeter had been able to contribute as had been anticipated, it would have been a better season, but the fact is that each, hampered by injury, was a major disappointment.

I am not yet ready to even consider next year and who may or may not return. Guaranteed that Jones, Jefferson and Tatum will not be back. Grayson and Luke will have a decision to make. Ditto Giles (of course he’s nowhere near ready, but a few million dollars can turn, and has turned, heads).

I had so much fun writing these post-game emails with Bill. It heightens my enjoyment of the game as I watch while riding my exercise bike; it renews my lifetime friendship with Bill; and I love the writing and analysis. Thank you for reading. I hope we are all back writing and reading next year.In conclusion:

Folklore has it that James Buchannan Duke established the Duke Endowment with $40,000,000 (over $500,000,000 in today’s dollars) after Princeton University turned down his offer of the very generous bequest with the caveat to change the name of the school to Duke University. The gift to Trinity had two caveats: change the name to Duke University (after his father Washington Duke) and build it to look like Princeton.

Whatever the truth, building a campus as beautiful as Duke, establishing rigorous entrance and educational standards, then building nationally ranked football and basketball (as well as baseball, golf, tennis, and lacrosse) teams were the lynchpins of the meteoric rise of Duke University as an elite institution (Yale on steroids is how one of President Brodhead’s former students characterized the school). It could not have happened without all of these elements –and it would be difficult to maintain that status without preserving a dual excellence in both academics and athletics.

Thank you for allowing us to share our thoughts with you this season.

Alan Adds:

It is hard to overestimate they hype surrounding the 2016-17 edition of this Duke team. Five returning members of the rotation, including pre-season All American selection, Grayson Allen and 5th year senior and captain, Amile Jefferson is a great start. Matt Jones and Luke Kennard return along with Chase Jeter. Semi Obi, Antonio Vrakovich, and David Robinson’s son, also return, though they played sparingly or not at all last year. To that mix is added an outstanding freshman class with highly rated prospects. The key to that sentence is the word prospects. For example, Chase Jeter was a McDonald’s All-American and highly rated prospect, whose play last year did not reflect his high school reputation. Prospects! Duke has four McDonald’s All Americans in its 6 man class: Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum, Marquis Bolden and Frank Jackson. In addition, Javin DeLaurier and Jack White (Australia) are also potential contributors. That said, this Alan Adds analyzes the two pre-season exhibition games — the first was against Virginia State on October 25 and the last against Augustine on November 4. The Duke rotation was dramatically affected by the rehabilitation status of players as well as injuries. Neither Harry Giles nor Jayson Tatum played in either game. Matt Jones logged only 3 minutes in the first game because of a tweaked hamstring. Grayson left the lineup twice with minor injuries. Semi Obi is still rehabbing from off-season surgery. Marquis Bolden was held out of the second exhibition games for benign reasons. The minutes allotted in the early games begin to give some clues as to what the regular season rotation might look like — at least in the beginning.

Virginia State –Duke started an almost all veteran lineup: Jefferson, Allen, Jones, Kennard started along with freshman Marquis Bolden in the middle. The rotation included big minutes for Frank Jackson (required because Matt played only the first 3 minutes before his hamstring curtailed his night), Chase Jeter and Javin DeLaurier, which made a rotation of 7. Kennard played 36 minutes and led the team in scoring with 30 points (8-17; 3-10 from deep, and critically 11-12 from the free throw line). Jackson logged 31 minutes, scoring 17 on 6-10 (4-7 from deep and 1-2 from the line). He had 4 assists, but a troubling 5 turnovers. Jackson’s 10 shots were the second most behind Luke. No other Duke player hit double figures in shot attempts. Jefferson played 28 minutes and Bolden 25. Bolden scored 13 on a gaudy 5-7 from the floor and a disappointing 3-7 from the line. He and Jefferson dominated the boards, as expected against this level of competition. Amile was only 1-4 for 2 points but had a slew of boards. Grayson also scored an efficient 13 in 22 minutes on 8 shots (4-8; 3-6 from deep and 2-2 from the line). Chase and Javin backed up the Amile and Marquis. Chase played 21 minutes and while only 1-5 from the field, he was an encouraging 6-8 from the line for 8 points. Javin played 18 minutes and impressed by hitting both field goal attempts, but was only 3-6 from the line (but he got to the line by being aggressive). Jack White logged 12 scoreless minutes in his Duke debut.

Augustina — last year’s Division II champions, but lost 3 key players from that team. They had no real big guys, so Coach K elected not to play Marquis in favor of experimenting with new combinations against a small lineup. Nine players saw significant minutes (10 if you include Justin Robinson’s 7 minutes). A slight surprise was the 14 minutes that Antonio Vrankovich played (going 0-2 from the field but 7-8 from the line; he also had 4 turnovers. I do not believe he will be a contributor this year). Coach K started his five veterans including Chase Jeter. Matt Jones played 28 minutes (most on the team and very good news for his hamstring), while Grayson logged 24; Jefferson and Frank Jackson 23 and Chase 20. That is a 6 man rotation augmented by Jack White’s 16 impressive minutes and Javin’s 13. Giles, Bolden, Tatum, and Obi did not suit up or play. Duke had 4 double figure scorers, led once again by Luke’s 17 points. He and Jackson were again the only players who attempted double figure shots. Luke was 7-13 (2-6 from 3land and 1-2 from the line); Jackson was 5-12, including 2-4 from deep and 4-5 from the line; critically he had 0 turnovers in this game. Grayson scored 16 on 9 shots (3-9; only 1-5 from deep but 9-12 from the line. Amile was 3-7 from the field and 3-5 from the line. He had many boards but quite a few (4) turnovers. The revelation was Chase Jeter. In his 20 minutes he did not miss a shot going 5-5 from the field and 5-5 from the line for 15 points, a slew of boards. Jack White also impressed in his 16 minutes, going 3-4 from the field including 2-2 from deep for 8 points. Javin played 13 minutes scoring 6 on 3-4 shooting, but causing horror by going 0-5 from the line.

The Season Begins

The season opens with Marist on Friday and Grand Canyon on Saturday (really like two more exhibition games) before playing Kansas on November 15. Duke has 8 games in a little over half a month this November, and some of them are against very good teams. What can we expect in the early going? Coach K has said he expects Jayson to be ready, which would leave only Harry Giles and Semi on the unable to play shelf. Coach K’s report on Giles is encouraging. He said Harry was back to playing 5 on zero (which is where he was when he had his setback last month) and anticipates his return by the end of the month. Do not be surprised if it takes a substantial amount of time before Giles is back to his exalted form. These first two games will give Coach K his first chance to see the whole team (except for Harry) together. Therefore, even though against inferior opponents, the first two games should be interesting and informative.

The Key to the Season, in my opinion

Defense! Duke (except for the latter part of the championship 2015 season) has not been the defensive juggernaut of yore in the recent seasons. This year’s team has enormous defensive potential, but we know it takes time — sometimes years — for teams to become that dominating cohesive defense that creates offense. Coach K has said he will play an aggressive trapping and pressing man to man, and has acknowledged he has not had the horses or depth to do so recently. Coach K is also experimenting with playing just one big, which he says allows Duke to switch everything, making it very difficult to penetrate to the basket. He did that in the second exhibition game and Augustina had trouble scoring at all. However, morphing into a great defensive team will take time, but Duke has the defensive talent to realize the kind of defense needed to (dare we say it) win a National Championship. But that is down the road. Duke’s sights should be set on winning the regular season conference championship and the conference tournament (not done in a few years, even in the last championship season).

There is every reason to be excited about this season.

Next game: Friday: Marist 7:00pm. ACC network / streaming on goduke.com

Duke Basketball Playbook: 2017-18 Season

What to look for:

Other Comments:

“North Carolina never got its day of reckoning for facilitating the most widespread academic scandal in the history of college sports. North Carolina’s basketball program was never going to get the harsh punishment that many college basketball fans thought it deserved.
“How in the hell did North Carolina get away with this?”
“The NCAA did not dispute that the University of North Carolina was guilty of running one of the worst academic fraud schemes in college sports history, involving fake classes that enabled dozens of athletes to gain and maintain their eligibility.”
“The school acknowledged that the classes that were taken were essentially bankrupt of any kind of teaching, learning or supervision … but that was perfectly OK with them. To defend the basketball team, the university had to claim it wasn’t really a university. Sure, they took a shotgun to their academic credibility, but, hey, those championship banners get to stay. The truth is, alums probably care more about hoops anyway.”
“What’s stopping a school from setting up a similar “paper course” and making sure it’s open to all students, then sending athletes through it?”
“even the most ardent Tar Heel should be outraged by the fraud the university committed”

Alan Adds:

2016-2017

2015 compared to 2017-18

The Backcourt

Grayson, Duval and Trent should get most of the minutes.

Duke 93 NW Missouri State 60 (Exhibition game played Friday October 27)

Blue-White game on October 20 (just one 20 minute half)

The Front Court

Bagley, Carter and Bolden should be given most of the front court minutes.

Duke 93 – NW Missouri State 60 (Exhibition game played on Friday October 27)

Blue-White game ( October 20th. Just one 20 minute half)

Duke 88 – Michigan State 81

Holy Jim Boeheim, Batman! Coach K goes zone for a full forty minutes!

Other Comments:

This Champions Classic at the United Center in Chicago was like a Final Four in November with Kansas beating Kentucky in the nightcap.

Tom Izzo is a great coach. However, he is now 1-11 against Coach K.

Allen’s 37 points were Duke’s most against a top-2 team since J.J. Redick dropped 41 in 2005.

Before the game, Duke wore their “Equality” shirts, while Michigan State wore shirts that said “We talk, We listen.” Alan will have to explain what they mean.

Alan Adds:

It was as Coach K predicted, “a hell of a night.”

Whetting the Whistle

Enjoy the season and do not let unrealistic expectations take away our enjoyment.

Duke 97 – Elon 68

Duke 99 – Utah Valley 69

Other Comments:

1 overall 2018 prospect R.J. Barrett committed to Duke over Oregon and Kentucky. Barrett is the star of the 2018 Class and gives the Blue Devils their third five-star pledge in the class, to go with Cam Reddish and Tre Jones. Duke now boasts the No. 1 overall recruiting class for 2018, leap-frogging cross-state rival North.

Keep an eye on Alex O’Connell. He is the skinny white kid with the 1940’s retro haircut who has more animated fun on the bench than most Cameron Crazies but, more importantly, makes things happen when he gets playing time. I suspect that Bolden, DeLaurier, and O’Connell will be the eight man rotation.

Alan Adds:

Front Court

Backcourt

Tuesday night promises to be so much fun.

Duke 88 – Michigan State 81

Holy Jim Boeheim, Batman! Coach K goes zone for a full forty minutes!

Other Comments:

This Champions Classic at the United Center in Chicago was like a Final Four in November with Kansas beating Kentucky in the nightcap.

Tom Izzo is a great coach. However, he is now 1-11 against Coach K.

Allen’s 37 points were Duke’s most against a top-2 team since J.J. Redick dropped 41 in 2005.

Before the game, Duke wore their “Equality” shirts, while Michigan State wore shirts that said “We talk, We listen.” Alan will have to explain what they mean.

Alan Adds:

It was as Coach K predicted, “a hell of a night.”

Duke 78– Southern 61

Other Comments:

After playing zone in beating Michigan State, Duke played man-to-man tonight with disappointing results. Stay tuned.

The fact that Blue Devils finished with only 14 assists, a season-high 15 turnovers, shot just 4 of 20 from 3-point range, and 24-37 from the line demonstrated that this team has some work to do to continue to consistently beat top teams.

Grayson Allen was taken down on a fast break by a flagrant foul and just walked away without showing any emotion. Whew! While he had a quiet scoring night, Grayson did have a SportsCenter highlight moment when, after a Bagley monster block spiked the ball well past midcourt, Allen ran the ball down, dribbled, took the ball around his back to avoid a defender, elevated, and laid the ball up with his left hand.

Mike Gminski ’80, an All-American center, number seven pick in the NBA draft, and outstanding student, was an announcer. While probably too low key for many in today’s audience, he is a throwback in that he doesn’t talk unless he has something pertinent to say.

Reloading: During the just concluded early commitment period, Duke announced the signing of three probable one-and-done athlete/students: R.J. Barrett, Tre Jones and Cam Reddish– all rated by ESPN as a five-star recruit and ranked among the 10 best overall prospects in the nation.

Thankfully, NBA commissioner Adam Silver ’84 is in talks with the players union to eliminate the one-and-done rule. Stay tuned.

Alan Adds:

The Starters

The Bench

Alex O’Connell is a pleasant surprise. He scored 5 in 14 minutes [1-2; 0-1 from 3land; and 3-4 from the line. He brings good energy to the game.

Goldwire played 8 uninspired minutes missing both of his 3 point attempts (his only shots) while making one steal and committing a turnover.

Vranovich (1 minute), and White (3) played cameos while Jordan Tucker and Robinson did not play.

Next week – 4 games

Duke 92– Furman 63

Duke extended their streak of consecutive non-conference home wins in Cameron to 136.

Alan Adds:

The Bench

The rotation is longer now than it will be in the conference season, and it is where the competition for playing time exists. The starting lineup is set.

The Starters

The Backcourt

Bagley and Carter

The PK tournament and Big 10 Challenge

Duke 99 – Portland State 81

Duke 85 – Texas 78

Other Comments:

How impressive was this win? It was the sixth best comeback in Duke basketball history. And it was another lesson that for a Coach K team “It’s never over until it’s over”.

Bagley’s 34 points on Friday tied J.J. Redick’s single-game scoring record by a freshman.

At this point, North Carolina is a better “team” than Duke.

Jay Bilas was one of the announcers. He is the best at college basketball.

Alan Adds:

Overall impressions:

Duke 85 Texas 78

Duke 99 Portland State 81

Duke Basketball Playbook: 2015-16

Retrospective & Preview:

Welcome to the fifth edition of the Duke Basketball Playbook. Before we preview this year’s team, let’s reflect upon last year’s season. Four highly rated freshmen joined with three upper classmen to win the 2015 NCAA Championship. Okafor, Jones, and Winslow combined with Cook, Jefferson, Jones, and Plumlee for most of the regular season playing minutes. However, perhaps, the most difficult, critical decision was Coach K stunning dismissal Rasheed Sulaimon from the team after the Notre Dame game, because that gave the up-to-then forgotten fourth freshman Grayson Allen valuable playing time and confidence which led to his spectacular game changing five career minutes against Wisconsin. The other important change was making Jefferson a sixth man, replacing him with Matt Jones and moving Winslow to power forward. In retrospect, strategic adjustments have been par for the course during Coach K’s career and one of the primary reasons we are so intrigued by Duke Basketball and enjoy analyzing the moves he and his staff make. At this point in the season, not even the coaches know how the players on this year’s young, deep, talented team with fit together or if, ultimately, the chemistry between them will develop to the point they are true contender. As always, there will be joy and excitement in the journey, which starts this Friday against Siena on ESPNU then quickly gets much tougher.

Based on only one scrimmage and two exhibition games, here is my assessment of the players:

Amile Jefferson & Marshall Plumlee are both playing stronger and more confidently—like the senior leaders they are. Look for a lot of high-low post play with Marshall setting massive picks at the elbow of the foul lane and Amile doing his Spider Man impression down low.

Matt Jones is the jack-of-all-trades who holds the team together by doing whatever needs to be done—somewhat reminiscent of a smaller version of Shane Battier. His ability to neutralize an opponent’s best non-post scorer (ref. Wisconsin’s Sam Dekker) is an overlooked component of Coach K’s most effective defensive schemes.

Grayson Allen is the most dynamic, exciting, versatile player, and, if he stays healthy, the best playmaker on the team—perhaps, one of the best in the country.

Luke Kennard is the most mature and polished of the freshmen. Impressive feel for the game.

Brandon Ingram is the most highly rated of the newbies. Coach K is praising his skills like he did Jabari Parker and Jahlil Okafor so….. but so far, I am more impressed with his defense and ball handling than his shooting touch. He appears to be more of a scorer than a pure shooter and because of mismatches will spend a lot of time at the foul line. He creates havoc as the point on a 1-2-2 zone (yes, look for more switching defenses) and on out-of-bounds plays. At 6’10’ but stick thin, he can play all five positions.

Derryck Thornton is no Ty Jones pass first, shoot when he game is on the line point guard but a better defender. Look for point guard by committee.

Chase Jeter has gained weight (remember most of the freshmen have been attending summer school and working out) and playing with increasing confidence. He will be a valuable blue collar, front line sub…. would do well to model himself after Amile Jefferson.

Sean Obi, the Rice transfer, is big and strong which should come in handy against physical teams if Plumlee gets in foul trouble.

Antonio Vrankovic has been injured but looks like a 7 foot project—a more skilled Brian Zoubek .

Justin Robinson, David’s son, has had little playing time and looks like a red shirt candidate.

ALAN ADDS:

Last Year’s Championship, and this Year’s Expectations.

Last year’s freshmen driven team exceeded all expectations by season’s end. Let us not forget what, in my opinion, was the primary reason for Duke’s National Championship –- by tournament time, Duke’s early season defensive inconsistencies had been transformed into what was, arguably, the best and most consistent defense in the nation. In my opinion, Justise Winslow was the major reason that occurred. Notwithstanding Billy King, Shane Battier, Tommy Amaker, Grant Hill and Wojo played just a tad of defense, Justise’s second half of the season may have been the best defensive performance by a Duke player. A second crucial reason for Duke’s success was its game closing ability when leading. Duke had not one — but two — top point guards to handle against desperate trapping pressure with Tyus and Quinn, who each shot over 90% from the foul line to close games. That was a critical component to last year’s great won loss record and National Championship.

Once again, Duke has the # 1 rated incoming freshman class, and there is temptation to expect a season similar to last year’s. The danger for Duke fans is that unreasonably high expectations can make for an artificially disappointing season. This is not last year’s team. The 2015-16 Devils return only one starter and four players from last year’s team, and those returning players did not score much [Jefferson, 6.1 ppg; Matt Jones, 6.0; Grayson, 4,4; and Marshall, 2.2]. Each of these returners has the potential to turn into a substantial scorer, but none have actually done that yet (though Grayson’s performance in the Final Four leads to great optimism). The good news is that defense was their calling card.

There are seven newcomers, though two of them do not figure to be relevant this year. There are four freshmen (3 McDonald’s All-Americans – Brandon Ingram, Chase Jeter and Luke Kennard — plus Derryck Thornton, who reclassified to join Duke with a year of high school eligibility left). Semi Obi is a transfer from Rice, who practiced with the team last year, but is just eligible. In 2013-14, he was a Conference USA All-Freshman Team Selection, averaged 11.4 points and 9.3 rebounds per game (led conference in rebounding) while playing in all 30 games. He led Rice in points scored (342) (with a .591 shooting percentage) and rebounds (279). I like that he was a member of 2014 C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll. After all, it is Duke.

In short, this is a team with unlimited potential, but has a long journey to fully grow into that potential. The early season schedule is a killer, though should help prepare this young team for March, and, hopefully, April. After two warm ups against Siena (next Friday) and Bryant (Saturday), Duke plays Kentucky (in Chicago on 11-17), VCU and the winner of the Georgetown-Wisconsin game in Madison Square Garden November 22 and 24, Indiana in the ACC-Big 10 challenge on December 2, and Utah in Madison Square Garden on December 19. Whew!

The Big Guys

Jahlil is gone and Duke’s inside game will be different. Scoring is likely to come more from the wing and perimeter. Coach K has said he has designed a new offense and a new defense to play to the strengths of this year’s players. Amile Jefferson had an outstanding defensive game against Wisconsin, and is a senior. Seniors have always been special on Coach K teams (see Quinn Cook last year). My gut tells me Amile will have a breakout year in scoring, rebounding and leadership. If he can just shoot better from 15 feet and beyond, he will be a weapon. Marshall has looked formidable in the pre-season and has fully matured. Will he play more and be able to sustain that same intensity? They are the two senior captains who have been defensive minded assets.

The newcomers are Chase Jeter (6’10” heralded freshman) and Obi. How Coach K will mix and match, who has what talents to blend and make the team efficient, is part of what the early season will tell us. I’ve seen Jeter play twice. He could not hold his own against the huge front line of the World in the US v World high school all-star game. He is very mobile and quick for a big. He will develop; the question will be how fast and whether it will be this year. Semi will demonstrate the competitive difference between Conference USA and the ACC. If he can build on his freshman year at Rice, he will be a huge asset. He has not played much in the exhibition games. In short, there is lots of potential for Duke to have an efficient inside game on both ends, but nothing is certain.

BACKCOURT

Matt Jones is the only returning starter. Duke transformed when he replaced Jefferson in the starting lineup last year. He has been Duke’s best perimeter defender, and seems poised, in his junior year, for a big leap in offensive production. The other returning guard is the hero of the Final Four, Grayson Allen. Based on those two games, expectations are very high for Allen. He has scoring potential (dropped 27 on Wake), but still only averaged a bit over 4 ppg. last year. Will his defense match what Quinn was able to give last year? Early signs are a resounding “yes”.

The freshmen guards will be a key. Duke has only one point guard on the roster, Derryck Thornton, and he really should be a high school senior this year. He has to stay healthy for Duke to have a chance at a really good season. How he grows into his potential and how soon will have a lot to do with Duke’s season. I think the key will be whether he can be a great (or at least good) on the ball defender, as Duke’s great point guards have been in the past. Part of Quinn’s exceptional senior year was his development as from an inadequate to a superior defensive player.

Duke’s other freshman guard is Luke Kennard. I’ve seen him play a few times now, and I believe he will leave a great legacy as a Duke player, I just don’t know if it will be this year. He’s 6’5” and more athletic than he appears at first. For example, he was for 3 straight years the Ohio Group II offensive football player of the year as a QB. He was a fantastic scorer in high school, moving into second place on the all time list (LeBron is third). He’s academically superior and has excelled at community service in high school – in short, a perfect example of a Duke student-athlete. He has been prominent in USA basketball and led the USA team against the World. He played the most minutes (25), and was the high scorer (26). I was impressed with his defensive effort, his ability to get to the rim, defend in the open court and help on the interior. He showed me an all around game and passion in the way he played. I am giving the same prediction about Luke that I did about Quinn before his freshman year. [I was wrong for the first year, but last year clinches my status as prophet].

BRANDON INGRAM

Brandon is the number 4 rated freshman (ESPN), a 6’9” skinny scoring wing. He is considered likely to be a one and done, though he seems awfully slight (190 lbs.) to think about the NBA. Pundits have predicted he will be Duke’s best scorer this season. Though 6’9”, he is a perimeter player with an ability to get to the rim and to fire from deep. The pre-season predictions from those watching practice are that he will start. I admit to having been a bit underwhelmed by him in the US v World game. In the pre-season his exceptional athleticism on the defensive end had coaches and commentators praising him.

In some ways he mirrors the season, can he be what last year’s freshmen were, developing because they committed to the team and each other? I don’t think Jabari and Hood ever made that complete leap (hence, Mercer). It should be an entertaining and interesting season.

ADDED FEATURE

Al Featherstone wrote a long, thorough analysis of the making of Duke’s five championship teams on dukebasketballreport.com. It is too good an historical tutorial not to reprint:

“Five NCAA Championship teams and five transformations – either in rotation or, in two cases, a radical change in the style of play over the course of the season. I could cite a dozen other teams that changed significantly over the course of the season – the 2009 team that I mentioned; the 1986 team that played half the season with Danny Ferry starting at center because Jay Bilas was hurt; the 1989 team that saw the emergence of Laettner late; the 1994 Final Four team that developed freshman Jeff Capel late … at least a half dozen more.

True, some of those transformations were dictated by injury (the 2001 makeover, for example), but many were simply Coach K tweaking his lineup and his rotation to maximize his talent (as in 2010 for example).

My point is that the Duke team we see play in the next few weeks may be very different than the one we see in March. This lineup offers Coach K a lot of options and I’ll be very surprised if he doesn’t try them all out over the next couple of months.

How will he rotate his true post players – Jefferson, Marshall Plumlee, Chase Jeter … and maybe Sean Obi later? Freshman Derryck Thornton is the only true point guard on the roster, but Coach K has other options at the position – maybe Luke Kennard plays there? Brandon Ingram is going to play somewhere – probably on the wing, but at some point does he become the “power forward” (as Winslow did a year ago)? How will Coach K mix-and-match his many talented wings – Allen, Matt Jones, Kennard and Ingram?

A lot of options there and I’m sure we’ll see most of them over the course of the season. That’s why I think it’s so futile to try and guess the starting lineup and the rotation for the start of the season.

Whatever lineup/rotation starts next month in the opener against Siena, there’s very likely to be a different one in January when Duke opens ACC play at Boston College and a new one again in March when the Blue Devils pursue another back-to-back title.

The coaches are still watching it all develop, still unsure of how the team – the lineup and the rotation – will eventually break down? That process is often impacted by injuries that change things as the season wears on, but quite a few seasons are shaped by the gradual development of individual players and by team chemistry.

Just take last year’s team, for example.

2014-15: The One-and Done team

When practice began a year ago, it was predictable that Jahlil Okafor would play in the middle. There was a lively debate over the summer as to whether Tyus Jones would start at point guard or come off the bench behind senior Quinn Cook or whether the two smallish guards would share the backcourt.

There was also junior Rasheed Sulaimon returning as a likely starter. The big question was whether he would supplant Cook or Jones in the starting lineup or perhaps be part of a three-guard rotation – a move that would likely send freshman Justise Winslow to the bench?

By the time the season opened, it was clear that Coach Mike Krzyzewski was committed to playing Jones and Cook together. Winslow was also in the starting lineup, while Sulaimon came off the bench, but saw significant playing time. Not surprisingly, freshman Jahlil Okafor and junior Amile Jefferson started in the post.

But here’s the funny thing … the team that started the season was very different from the one that cut down the nets in Indianapolis six months later.

Yes, Okafor was still the anchor in the post and the Cook-Jones partnership flourished in the backcourt. But by the end of the season, Winslow was starting at the “power” forward spot, while defensive ace Matt Jones was starting at “small forward.” Jefferson was coming off the bench. So was freshman Grayson Allen, who spent the first two months of the season buried on the bench.

Sulaimon was off the team.

It was a very different lineup and rotation than we saw in October. Heck, it was a very different rotation than the one we saw in January. The style of play also changed over the course of the season, at least defensively. Duke started playing man-to-man, but playing it very erratically. By midseason, the man-to-man defense was such a disaster that Coach K switched to a primary zone defense for the first time in his career. But by March, the man-to-man was back and Duke playing it at a very high level.

And here’s another funny thing – the evolution of last year’s team is the rule for Krzyzewski-coached teams … not the exception. In fact, let’s take a look at his first four national championship teams and see how they evolved (and why). `

1990-91: The First Title

When Duke opened the 1990-91 season against Marquette, the starting lineup included juniors Christian Laettner and Brian Davis, sophomores Bobby Hurley and Thomas Hill and freshman Grant Hill. Sophomore Billy McCaffrey played 30 minutes off the bench and senior Greg Koubek played 20. The eighth man, freshman Tony Lang, played eight minutes.

That lineup and rotation would fluctuate all season.

It almost always contained Laettner, Hurley and Grant Hill (although the freshman was limited briefly in early January with a broken nose). But the last two starters – and the order of the rotation — changed frequently. Thomas Hill started 23 games. McCaffrey started 21. Davis started 11 games. Coach K experimented with twin towers as junior center Crawford Palmer started nine times. Lang, a slender 6-8 forward, started eight times.

By the team postseason rolled around, Krzyzewski had settled on Thomas Hill and Koubek as the fourth and fifth starters.

The choice of Koubek was kind of curious.

The 6-6 swing man saw his role and his playing time almost disappear in December and early January. He did have a 14-point outing in a blowout win over Boston University, but in the other 10 games between December 1 and January 16, Koubek scored the grand total of six points and averaged single digit minutes – even though many of those games were lopsided blowouts.

Late in that stretch, the Duke Chronicle ran an article grading the Duke team. Koubek received the lowest grade on the roster – a C-plus. Krzyzewski was furious. He set up a locker room meeting with the Chronicle sports staff and proceeded to verbally blast the young sports writers.

Maybe it was just a coincidence (or maybe it was a F-you moment from the combative coach), but in the first game after that tumultuous locker room meeting, Koubek played 18 minutes in a win at The Citadel. The next time out, he played 19 minutes (with nine points and six rebounds) in a homecourt rout of UNC. A week after that, he scored 14 points in a rout of Clemson. And a week after that, Koubek got his first start of the season at Notre Dame. He started 13 of the team’s final 18 games, including all six in the NCAA Tournament.

By the time the Final Four rolled around, Coach K was basically playing a seven man rotation. The five starters, McCaffrey and Davis got major minutes. Palmer and Lang got off the bench, but only for very brief relief roles.

Duke’s first national championship team ended up as a very different team than the one that started the season.

1991-92: Back-to-Back

A year later, Krzyzewski returned four national championship starters and added heralded big man Cherokee Parks. K had to replace Koubek, the only senior on the ’91 team, plus sixth-man McCaffrey, who transferred to Vanderbilt, and Palmer, who transferred to Dartmouth (interestingly, both McCaffrey and Palmer would win first-team all-conference honors at their new schools).

It’s hard to imagine a more stable situation. Davis slid into the starting lineup and Duke famously went wire-to-wire as the nation’s No. 1 team, winning a second straight national title by beating the Michigan Fab Five in Minneapolis.

But the 1991-92 season was anything but stable. The issue was injuries – few Duke teams have had to battle as many injuries as the ’92 Devils.

It started in the opener, where Parks replaced an injured Laettner as the starting center. Lang was also out early as senior Marty Clark, redshirt freshman Kenny Blakeney and freshman center Erik Meek were the three major players off the bench that first night.

That didn’t last long. When Laettner and Lang returned, Blakeney and Meek saw their minutes shrink to almost nothingness (except there were a lot of blowouts and they did get plenty of garbage time). In competitive games, Coach K basically played an eight-man rotation with Parks, Lang and Clark getting minutes off the bench.

That changed again when Hurley broke his foot in a Feb. 5 loss at UNC.

Duke’s next game was at No. 22 LSU, which featured Shaquille O’Neal in the middle.

Coach K responded by moving sophomore Lang into the starting lineup and shifting Grant Hill from forward to point guard. The versatile sophomore responded with 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists and Laettner outplayed Shaq for the second straight year as the Devils escaped an extremely hostile environment in Baton Rouge with a win.

That lineup lasted until Grant Hill suffered a severe high ankle sprain in practice in the days before the Feb. 26 matchup with Virginia in Cameron.

Blakeney actually started at the point that night, but he played just 15 minutes, giving way to Hurley – who returned just 21 days after breaking a bone in his foot. The next time out, Hurley returned to the starting lineup and played 36 minutes in a huge win at No. 4 UCLA in Pauley Pavilion.

Grant Hill returned for the regular season finale against UNC, but even though he played well off the bench, Krzyzewski seemed to like the new rotation with Lang sharing the starting lineup with Laettner, Hurley, Davis and Thomas Hill. Grant Hill became a super Sixth Man – a role he played as Duke won the ACC championship by routing UNC and through the NCAA Tournament – including the famous 104-103 overtime victory against Kentucky.

Grant Hill didn’t start that game, but he did play 37 minutes off the bench. By that point, Krzyzewski was close to playing a six-man rotation – Clark and Parks played a combined seven minutes against the Wildcats that afternoon. Neither Blakeney nor Meek got off the bench.

I would call that the finishing rotation of the 1992 team, although it was complicated by another injury – Davis sprained his ankle in the semifinal victory over Indiana and was only able to go 10 ineffective minutes off the bench in the title game. Grant Hill returned to the starting lineup for the finale against Michigan’s Fab Five.

Obviously, injuries had a lot to do with the evolution of the 1992 team, but whether because of the injuries or not, the rise of Tony Lang and the shortening of the bench were very real changes in what was expected to be a very stable team.

2000-01: Changing on the Fly

If the 1991-92 team appeared stable at the outset, the 2000-01 team looked like it would be nearly set in stone. True, ACC player of the year Chris Carrawell was gone from the nation’s No. 1 team in 2000, but heralded freshman Chris Duhon was on hand to fill that gap. The other four starters – and sixth man Mike Dunleavy — were all returning and so were almost every other player on the 2000 roster.

And, as expected, the 2001 Blue Devils were a remarkably stable team – the same starters almost every game (sophomores Jason Williams, Carlos Boozer, Mike Dunleavy, senior Shane Batter and redshirt senior Nate James) with Duhon getting major minutes off the bench. It was basically a six man rotation for most of the season – backup big man Matt Christiansen was the closest thing to a seventh man, but he averaged less than eight minutes a game.

Then everything changed.

In Duke’s last home game, Boozer broke his foot. A team that critics said was too small and without the depth to compete for the national title, suddenly became much smaller and much thinner.

Of course, we know that Coach K responded with his single greatest coaching moment – reshaping the lineup (not only did he replace Boozer with a three-headed monster of Casey Sanders/walk-on Reggie Love/Christiansen, he also had Duhon and James swap roles – with Duhon moving into the starting lineup and James becoming the Sixth Man), but also transforming the team’s style of play – turning the Devils into a pressing, running, 3-point shooting machine.

The result was a 10-game winning streak to close the season, starting with a shocking victory over No. 6 North Carolina in Chapel Hill and continuing with a dramatic victory over No. 11 Maryland in the ACC Tournament in Atlanta, a rout of UNC in the ACC title game, and East regional wins over UCLA and Southern Cal in Philadelphia.

Boozer made a token appearance in Philly and was able to play a significant role again when Duke matched up again with Maryland in the Final Four in Minneapolis.

The funny thing about 2001 is that even with Sanders starting at the end, Boozer was playing the most minutes. So this is one Duke championship team that ended up with a very similar lineup/rotation as it started.

Yet, it terms of style of play, the team that beat Maryland and Arizona in the Final Four was a very different team than the one that opened the season.

2009-10: Slowing Things Down

The only Duke championship team that changed more over the course of the season was the 2009-10 team.

A special prize for anybody who can name the five starters in Duke’s 2009-10 season opener against UNC Greensboro.

Give up?

Well, Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith are easy. And Miles Plumlee at center is not too tough if you remember that his younger brother Mason – expected to start in the middle that year – was out with a broken wrist as the season started.

But does anybody else remember that the fifth starter was Olek Czyz?

The 2010 Blue Devils returned two clearcut starters from the Sweet 16 team of 2009 – Scheyer and Singler. Smith had started 21 games as a sophomore, but he lost his starting job late as Coach K transformed that team in February — replacing Smith at the point with Scheyer and moving freshman Elliott Williams into the starting lineup. Smith also missed the last two games of the regular season when he suffered a concussion due to a brutal pick at Maryland, but he had already lost his starting job before that.

Krzyzewski did have to replace the team’s best player – first-team All-ACC pick Gerald Henderson, who left a year early for the NBA, and Williams, who transferred to Memphis.

Coach K also had a number of players with starting experience up front – senior forward Lance Thomas (16 starts in 2009), sophomore center Miles Plumlee (2 starts) and senior center Brian Zoubek, who actually qualified as a returning starter with 17 starts in 2009.

But Zoubek played little role in the early part of the 2010 season as Coach K built the team around Scheyer, Singler and Smith. Thomas quickly seized another starting role, but the center job mostly went to Miles Plumlee – we thought at the time that he was holding it for his heralded younger brother, who was slowed by preseason injury.

Zoubek averaged close to 14 minutes in the first half of the season, although his most productive performances came in blowouts. But between the ACC opener against Clemson on January 3 and the February 10 game at UNC, the Big Z was merely a minor factor. Over that 12-game stretch, he averaged 13.8 minutes a game, contributing 2.8 ppg and 4.7 rpg.

He ended the stretch with no points and three rebounds in the win at UNC.

Mason Plumlee played 27 minutes in that game (7 points and 9 rebounds). It seemed his time had come and the freshman big man would be in the starting lineup for the Maryland visit to Cameron three days later.

Instead, it was Zoubek starting in the middle and contributing 16 points and 17 rebounds in 22 minutes as Duke beat the Terps 77-56.

From that point until the end of the season – a stretch of 16 games – Zoubek not only started at center, but he played like a man possessed, averaging 9.7 points and 13.3 rebounds in 24.9 minutes a game.

But it would be a mistake to claim that Zoubek was the reason that Duke won 15 of those 16 games. Duke won because Krzyzewski rebuilt the team to take advantage of Zoubek’s emergence … or you might say that Coach K revamped his style of play to take advantage of the things that Zoubek did well.

Early in the season, Duke was still playing a variation of the style that Coach K installed after Boozer was hurt in 2001. The Devils extended their pressure man-to-man, shot a lot of 3-pointers and tried to force tempo.

That style did not really suit Zoubek. At 7-1, 260-plus pounds, he wasn’t quick or agile even when he was healthy (which is wasn’t for much of his career). He never attempted a 3-pointer.

Zoubek WAS very big, very strong and he had great hands. He proved to be the best offensive rebounder in college basketball when he finally got extended minutes late in his senior year.

To emphasize Zoubek’s strengths, Coach K slowed his team down to a sedate tempo, so that the big man could keep up. He also pulled back his defense – not quite into a zone, but more into a sagging man-to-man that allowed Zoubek to stay in the middle and protect the basket.

That’s how Duke was able to grind out a 61-59 victory over Butler in the title game. Zoubek played 31 minutes, pulled down six offensive rebounds and blocked two shots – plus, he was in position to ruin Gordon Hayward’s short baseline jumper than would have given the Bullogs the lead with seconds left. Zoubs not only made the Butler star shoot an almost impossible rainbow over his outstretched arm, he also turned around and rebounded the miss.

So that’s five championship teams and five transformations – either in rotation or, in two cases, a radical change in the style of play over the course of the season. I could cite a dozen other teams that changed significantly over the course of the season – the 2009 team that I mentioned; the 1986 team that played half the season with Danny Ferry starting at center because Jay Bilas was hurt; the 1989 team that saw the emergence of Laettner late; the 1994 Final Four team that developed freshman Jeff Capel late … at least a half dozen more.

Duke 92 – Siena 74

Duke 113 – Bryant 75

While the 2015-16 season officially started with Siena and Bryant trading the honor–and national exposure– of playing Duke in the iconic confines of Cameron Indoor Stadium for being consecutive non-conference losses 117 & 118, the real season starts Tuesday against Kentucky. So, anything we think today must be taken within the context of basically talent mismatches in exhibition season.

First, you must be aware that for 2015-16, the NCAA made rule changes designed to speed up the game and establish a better balance between offense and defense. Not to bore you with the details, but the rule pertaining to hand checking will be heretofore be referred to as the Greyson Allen straight to All American rule, because, if he is not injured (and that is a big if), that is what he will be. Allen’s NCAA Championship five minute game changer against Wisconsin was no fluke. The kid has big time game. He is not only an athletic freak who can run and jump and finish but also can shoot (90%+ from the line), pass, and play defense. If you liked Dawkins and Hill and JJ, you will love Greyson, because he really, really enjoys playing all aspects of the game. And the new rule will guarantee him 8-10 points from the line.

Right now, it looks like a seven man and a boy rotation, because Derryck Thornton hasn’t yet made the transition from high school. But who needs a point guard when you can give the ball the Allen or Ingram and have MP3 set a high pick. BTW, Brandon shot 1-9 threes against Siena but was 4-6 against Bryant. Why the discrepancy? Between games, Coach K pointed out that although he was 6’9”, there still was a difference between shooting with a man flying at you and letting the game come to you and shooting an open three.

The good news: Coach K’s better teams won by attacking the basket scoring, getting fouled, or passing to an open man for a three; getting to the free throw line and hitting free throws; and playing good defense which led to easy offense.

The not so good news: Siena and Bryant scored 74 & 75 points. The defense was inconsistent and Bryant, in particular, was hot from beyond the arc. Nevertheless, remember last year’s team became a championship team when the defense jelled.

Some observations:

Four more reasons to keep enjoying Duke Basketball: The verbal commitments to Duke’s Class of 2016—three big men and a true point guard– signed letters of intent Wednesday, cementing their decision to join the Blue Devil program next fall. Together, Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum, Frank Jackson and Javin DeLaurier make up the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class, which would be head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s third in a row. Giles and Tatum are slated as the No.1 and No. 2 overall recruits in ESPN’s Class of 2016 rankings. “We’re ecstatic about the class,” Krzyzewski said in a press release. “The very first thing is that they’re four outstanding young men who come from great families. They’re players who can play right away. This group, as far as talent is concerned, is at a high level and their talents are complimentary. All of them can get better, too, so we’re very excited.”
Seven foot center Antonio Vrankovic made a four minute cameo playing ahead of Obi tonight. In scoring four points, he appeared to have good hands and footwork and ran the floor with surprising speed. His father is Stojko Vrankovic, a retired Croatian professional basketballplayer, who also played five years in the NBA.

As thrilling as the one-and-done talent is, I get a special satisfaction and delight in watching four year players like Amile Jefferson and Marshall Plumlee develop as players and people.
Clemson is not the best football team in the country and Carolina in not just the twenty some best team. As a matter of fact, I am picking UNC to beat Clemson for the ACC title.

Alan adds:

The two preliminary games in the pre-season tournament were illuminating. We saw the 2015-16 Blue Devils for the first time, and gained an inkling of how the rotation will begin, the type of defense to be played, and where scoring and rebounding are likely to come from this season. While it was unthinkable that Duke would actually lose either game, it is worth noting that in the other bracket of the 2K Classic, Georgetown lost to Radford while # 17 Wisconsin was beaten by Western Illinois. However, under the weird “tournament” format, the two losers, Georgetown and Wisconsin will play next Friday instead of Western Illinois v. Radford. The winner will play the winner of Friday’s Duke v. VCU on Sunday. But, before we look ahead to the coming week, including Tuesday night’s game against # 2 ranked Kentucky, let’s see what was disclosed in the wins over Sienna and Bryant in the last two days.

After the Sienna game, Bill asked me who I thought Duke’s best player was and would be for the season. Bill was touting Grayson after his 20 point opening half and jaw dropping athleticism. My response was, “clearly, Brandon Ingram.” Of course, it is irrelevant; the issue is how this team develops, not who becomes the go-to guy. Nevertheless, Ingram’s potential is breathtaking. But so is Grayson’s. In both games, Grayson was a man among boys. His 54 points (26 against Sienna and 28 against Bryant) mark the second most ever scored by a Duke freshman in his first two games (55 by Johnny Dawkins). He defended, rebounded, passed (6 assists against Bryant) and was 17-18 from the foul line. The question is how he fares against athletes of his own athletic quality. Ingram shot poorly in the Sienna game and well against Bryant. Ingram seems more scorer than shooter (though it is way too early to really tell) and has breathtaking versatility. He may end up as the primary ball handler and distributor. He has an easy calm and amazing athleticism. He is going to be a great defender eventually with his 7’3” wing span, and had a plethora of deflections. In any event, how good Duke becomes this year will depend on the development of these two budding stars.

The Rotation

In both games, Coach K started the four returners — Marshall, Amile, Matt and Grayson — with Brandon. Only three reserves saw extended time — Luke Kennard, Chase Jeter and Derryck Thornton. Sean Obi played 4 minutes against Sienna and 0 against Bryant. Vrankovic played 4 minutes against Bryant (scored 4 points) and a brief cameo in the first game. The Admiral’s offspring did not play.

The core trio consists of Grayson, Brandon and Amile. Grayson played the most, 32 minutes in each game. Brandon played 28 minutes against Sienna (15 points, 5 boards, 2 blocks and 2 steals) and 24 against Bryant (21 points, 3 boards, 2 steals and a block). Amile had a double-double in each game (32 minutes, 19 points, 12 boards against Sienna; 24 minutes with 11 rebounds and 11 points in the second game). The supporting trio — Matt Jones, Marshall and Luke Kennard — will see a lot of court time and will be crucial to how this team grows. Jones had a spectacular first half against Bryant scoring 19 on 5-6 from behind the arc. He played superb defense throughout and was a reliable ball handler, shooter and rebounder (Sienna: 26 minutes, 10 points. Bryant: 22 minutes scoring all his 29 points — career high — in the first half on 7-9 from the floor including 5-6 from 3land). Marshall was much improved in the second game. In the first, he was an effective inside presence, but collected 4 fouls in his 20 minutes (9 boards, 2 blocks, 2 assists and 4 points). Against Bryant, he stayed on the court for 28 minutes committing only 2 fouls (8 points, 8 boards and 3 blocks). He was a presence, but the competition in both games was especially suspect on the interior. The Kentucky may disclose whether he can perform at a high level against the best competition. That game may be more important for Marshall than for any other Duke player. Luke has not shot well, but you can see how valuable he will become as he gets experience. He came alive toward the end of the Bryant game. Against Sienna, he scored 9 points in 26 minutes; against Bryant 11 in 22 minutes. He can do everything on the court — handle, defend, pass and rebound. Although he did not shoot well (1-5 from behind the arc against Bryant), he will be a major contributor as the season progresses.

The Critical Reserves

Chase Jeter was the primary reserve in the front court for the first two games, but did not receive as much playing time as the first seven (Thornton is the 7th). Chase logged 11 minutes in the opener (5 rebounds; 3-4 from the foul line, but 0-3 from the field for 3 points), and 16 minutes against Bryant (7 points, including 3-3 from the line; 4 boards and a block). He is slight and may have trouble on the interior against big talented front courts such as Kentucky’s. Still at the moment, he is the only back up to Jefferson and Plumlee. His development into a contributing player against front line opposition will be one of the keys to Duke’s season. However, an even more important key is the development of the only true point guard on the roster, freshman Derryck Thornton. Thornton struggled mightily in the first two games. Before one gets too down on his disappointing performances, it should be remembered that: 1) he reclassified from being a high school junior after Tyus submitted his name to the NBA draft; and, 2) he was busy finishing up his high school academics this past summer and was not with the other freshmen in summer session. Notwithstanding that, even a casual observer could see his defense is suspect — he loses concentration as the shot clock (new — 30 seconds this year) winds down. His help is slow in coming. In 22 minutes against Sienna, he was 1-8 from the field (1-4 from downtown) with only 2 assists and 5 points. In the second game, Coach K played him more, 27 minutes, in what appeared to me as an attempt to build his confidence. He had 4 points on 2-9 shooting (0-2 from behind the arc), but contributed 4 assists. I believe he will improve during the year, but unless the improvement is dramatic, Duke will be without a true point guard against top competition at critical moments. If we remember the stellar point guard play of Tyus and Quinn last year — especially at the end of games — we can see what a challenge point guard play will be for this team this year. However, let us remember Coach K has solved this problem before (moving Scheyer to the point inn 2010 is the best example, but also remember the insertion of Elliot Williams at the point several years ago).

The real season begins this week. First Kentucky (ESPN @ 7:30 EST)

DUKE 63 – KENTUCKY 74

The eleven point differential is not a proper indication of the difference of play between these two storied programs. Had it not been for the play of the veterans—Plumlee, Jefferson, and Jones—it would have looked like Duke vs. Bryant. Coach Cal had done his homework and funneled Grayson Allen into the teeth of his big athletic front line. The versatile Grayson never adjusted his game to a plan B or C. The lack of driving success apparently shook his confidence the entire game, because he even missed two of three free throws. Coach K commented succinctly that when you’re put in a position when you’re ‘the man,’ rather than the fifth option, it’s different.

And the inexperienced Brandon Ingram was in early foul trouble and never was a factor. Without the two best playmakers (Allen and Ingram entered Tuesday’s game averaging a combined 45.0 points per game) and no pure point guard, the Blue Devil offense struggled shooting just 40%. And you know what that means—lots of easy offense for an opponent. Had Plumlee, Jefferson not had career games, the score would have been much more embarrassing.

It will be interesting to see what Coach K does and which players respond in a positive manner.

I was sick before the game and watching it was no tonic, so I will leave the details to Alan.

Next play.

Alan Adds

Let’s do the unpleasant assessments first, with an understanding that the thrashing at the hands of the Wildcats may well prove to be a godsend for the ultimate development of this team. Last night was the perfect example of a reality check, and dramatic notice that as good as this year’s freshmen actually are, they are a long way from ready to play at a championship level. That does not mean that in March they won’t be ready, but it is clear that these freshmen are not last year’s, and right now they are not as good as Kentucky’s (I saw this dramatically last year in the high school All Star game of World v US. Duke freshmen Brandon Ingram, Luke Kennard and Chase Jeter all played for the U.S and were overwhelmed by the World, who featured Jamal Murray (All Star game’s MVP) and Skal Labissiere — also Simmons of LSU). While the underclassmen looked lost, the upper class players had excellent games. Marshall Plumlee had his best game ever at Duke and looks as if he will have a noteworthy senior year. I have predicted that Jefferson will have a break out year and he made me look really good last night. Coach K has said that Matt Jones is the leader of this team (as Quinn was last year). Matt was superb.

Doris Burke is one of my favorite color commentators for college basketball. She made a point about Grayson Allen’s drives where he held the ball in one hand and successfully drove against Sienna and Bryant. “I don’t think he will be able to get that shot off against higher level competition,” she said. It did not take Kentucky long to enshrine her as a prophet. It was as if the clock struck midnight for the star of last season’s Final Four. He was 0-9 in the first half. His jumpers were contested and his drives to the basket thwarted by superb defense. It was all summed up in his turnover in the last seconds of the first half, where Duke had a chance to cut the lead to a respectable 2 or even a 1 point deficit (score was 35-31). Not only did Grayson lose the ball but it led to an easy last second Kentucky basket that finalized the first half at 37-31.

In the first two games, Duke’s offense was powered by not only Grayson, but also freshmen Ingram and to a lesser extent Luke Kennard. Together with freshman Chase Jeter, the three McDonald’s All Americans also failed to score in the first half. 0 points from those 4 was close to incredible. Things did not improve in the second half (the two half scores were eerily similar — Kentucky scored 37 points in each half; Duke 31 in the first half and 32 in the second). The defense was underwhelming, regardless whether Duke played zone or man to man. The Wildcat trio of guards got past the Duke perimeter defense with depressing ease, while the Wildcat bigs dominated the glass after the first 10 minutes of the opening half. Duke’s transition defense was weak; in contrast, the Devils did not have a fast break basket until the waning moments of the game. On offense, the absence of a point guard was a dramatic deficit. Duke substituted the freshman point guard Derryck Thornton early because Duke looked so disorganized in the half court with Matt Jones, Grayson and Ingram on the perimeter. He improved the offense but only marginally; hitting for 5 in the first half. Thornton actually had his best game, but is still a long way from being a competent ACC point guard. Still the rest of the team was so out of sync that he logged the most minutes (29) of anyone outside of the three upper classmen who fought so valiantly to keep Duke close. After 2-3 and 5 points in the first half, Thornton was 1-4 in the second half with 4 turnovers against 3 assists (7 points). Tyus, come back! Btw, Tyus is not playing with Minnesota (did not suit up last night and is not hurt). In 11 games, he has been on the court twice — once for 13 minutes — for a total of 14 minutes (0-2 from the field and 1-2 from the line for his only NBA point so far). And while we are “btw”, Rasheed was superb for Maryland last night (37 minutes, 7 assists and 10 points including a dagger 3 at the end).

The Backcourt

Matt Jones was the only Devil who performed well, actually he was almost heroic. In 35 minutes, he scored 16 (3-6 from downtown and 3-4 from the line) with 2 boards, 2 assists and breathtakingly 0 turnovers. He simply had absolutely no help. Grayson’s final line was 6 points (2-11; 1-3 from downtown and shockingly — after 17-18 in the first two games — 1-3 from the foul line) 4 turnovers (1 assist) and four fouls. Ugh! Duke’s other perimeter players were not much different. Brandon (welcome to big time college hoops) played only 19 minutes because of foul trouble; he had 4. In that short time he was 1-6 from the field (2-2 from the line) for 4 points and 4 turnovers. Ugh! With the exception of not committing either a turnover or a foul, Kennard was equally as terrible. In 14 minutes, he was 0-6. Ugh! And it should be noted that except for Matt Jones, the backcourt was as woeful on defense as on offense.

The Frontcourt

Marshall and Amile were not less than heroic; Duke’s only firepower. Marshall played more minutes by a ton than he had ever played before (36 minutes) posting a double double (12 points and 10 boards), with 6 blocks (yes, 6), an assist, 0 turnovers and committed only 2 fouls. The only downside was at the line (4-8). Wow! If he can do this all year against this type of competition, he might turn out to be the best Plumlee to have played at Duke. He was amazing. Jefferson’s performance might have been even better. In 35 minutes he also posted a double double (15 boards and 16 points on 7-8 from the field and 2-4 from the line). He committed only 2 fouls. But there was no substitution support for those two heroes. Chase Jeter’s impact was a bit less than negligible. He played only 4 minutes (I think Coach K saw he was overmatched by the Kentucky front line) but managed to commit 3 fouls and a turnover in that time. Not ready for prime time yet.

Assessment or Reality Check

It will be interesting to see how Duke responds in the next three games, which all take place within the next week. On Friday, Duke plays VCU in Madison Square Garden. VCU is good (not top 25, but good), and it will be a fair test to see how the freshmen and Grayson rebound from their Wildcat debacle. If Duke wins (think about what a loss would feel like), there is a Sunday finals against the winner of Georgetown- Wisconsin. Georgetown lost to Radford (who in turn was humbled by VCU) and last night to Maryland. Wisconsin crushed Sienna after losing to Western Illinois (who?). Duke needs to win this tournament to recover confidence and begin to address the myriad of weaknesses that Kentucky was able to demonstrate. Finally, next Wednesday, Duke plays Indiana (at Cameron) in the ACC-Big Ten challenge before a 17 day layoff. The first fair assessment can probably be made after this coming week.

I wrote in the pre-season DBP that unrealistic expectations for Duke could make the season artificially disappointing. The good thing about the Kentucky game is to make expectations for this season more realistic.

DUKE 79- VCU 71

Tonight for about thirty minutes, visions of Mercer and Leigh, not sugar plums, were dancing in my head—but, fortunately, Christmas did not come early for VCU.

I was interested to find out what kind of motivational buttons Coach would employ. Predictably, he didn’t start my man Grayson Allen. Allen entered the game after a few minutes on fire—six quick points—and never looked back. Gone was the one dimensional offensive mind set of a game past. Instead, Grayson utilized his full repertoire of shots and scored a career high 30 points to go with 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.

Here is what ESPN had to say: “What Allen displayed Friday night was special. There were quick-catch 3-pointers, lightning-fast open-floor moves, and savvy, opportunistic drives. There were athletic, hanging finishes in traffic the likes of which only a handful of college players can make. And there were timely plays on both ends: a big block and subsequent steal on back-to-back possessions during a crucial stretch early in the second half, a simple, quick reversal to set up Jones for a 3 to make the game 65-58, and the cool spot-up Allen buried to extend that lead to 10 less than three minutes later. It was a complex and skillful display with a straightforward message: Allen is what we thought he was. Which is to say: really good.”

Let’s give Coach K the last word: “The response that Grayson had from Kentucky is huge. I think it’s spectacular, to be quite frank with you. A lot of kids would question themselves, and he never did. We have a standard on our team that we tell each other the truth. So, you confront it. He didn’t play well against Kentucky. He didn’t have a good look, and he didn’t adjust. That was his first big-time start, too. It’s not like Grayson is this combat veteran. So I was hard on him, but honest. And he’s fine.”

Observations:

Coach mixed and matched a tight seven man rotation until the Blue Devils, interestingly enough, pulled away with MP3, the MVP against Ky, on the bench.
Derryck Thornton, who started for Allen and played 39 minutes, had what Duke fans hoped was breakout game with 19 points, 4 assists,3 turnovers, and 2 steals.
It tells you something that Luke Kennard, who was oh/no from the floor still played 19 minutes and was in the game for the winning run.
Matt Jones again proved it is not always how many you score but when you score them.
What does it tell you that this team has given up 74, 75, & 71 points. I’d say that the defense is a work in process. –or that they shot 19-34 from the line. Deduct Allen’s 8-9 that’s 11-29. Another way to look at it is Duke left a lot of easy points off the score board. Can’t afford to do that in close games. It is obvious that defense, ball handling, and free throw shooting are areas than need improving.
Don’t want to pick on Brandon Ingram but he needs a reality check and get a lot stronger and heavier before he thinks about the NBA.
Duke as not lost back to back games since 2009.

Alan Adds

While last night’s game produced much good stuff, and a significant amount of less than good (read bad), the second part of the second half had the feel of a watershed moment for the development of this 2015-16 team. Coach K said that Duke is not really a team yet, it’s developing towards becoming a team. He described what I call a watershed moment. Duke was down six with 13:34 left in the second half when Matt turned the ball over. Coach K said that “things could really have gone south” at that moment. Instead the Blue Devils turned up the defense — which had been porous in the first half, and not more than barely competent in the opening minutes of the second half — to surge to a very satisfying win. “From that moment on, we played at a different level. VCU played better than us up to that point. We played better than VCU from that point on.” Coach K pointed out that Duke closed out this game with defense rather than offense (meaning missed foul shots). The missed foul shots did not adversely affect the defense. Brandon missed a bunch, but got key defensive rebounds right after. It was dramatic improvement during the game. Coach K’s insight was that when you can do that during the game instead of at a film session after a loss, the group is developing into a team.

The Good

Bill has already sung the “Grayson was wonderful” song, and so he was — in every aspect of the game. In addition to his 30 points, Allen had 6 crucial defensive rebounds to with 3 assists, a steal and a block. Grayson made one move in the open court on a fast break that was jaw-dropping. Flying down the left side of the court, he made a Euro jab step to the left and then, without breaking stride, flew past the defender going right. “I learned that move from Tyus last year. He kept blowing by me with it in practice, but he kept teaching it to me.” Even more than Grayson’s superb rebound from his Kentucky debacle, the best aspect of the VCU game was the dramatic development of Derryck Thornton. Only Grayson (37) and Amile (34) played more minutes than Thornton’s 31. Matt Jones also played 31 minutes. Thornton would have played more, but was in foul trouble, finishing the game with 4. Coach K had to take him out with 5:30 to go when he picked up his 4th. All breathed a sigh of relief when he reentered the game in the last 2 and a half minutes to steady the offense at “winning time”. In spite of 3 turnovers, he is becoming a reliable ball handler as well as a proficient shooter and scorer. His final line was 19 points on 7-11 shooting (2-3 from behind the arc and 3-5 from the line) to go with 4 assists, and 2 steals. He is still inconsistent on defense, but his improvement last night was a great sign for Duke. Coach K pointed out that he brings personality to the team, and has earned respect from his teammates. “He played strong, and his mistakes did not rattle him. He’s not afraid.” He is both humble and well spoken. It was so clear that Duke’s half court offense is subpar without him.

Matt Jones played an excellent second half after seeming to miss his usual fire in the first half. He made 2 dagger 3s (2-6 from behind the arc) scoring 10 on 4-11 from the floor. He contributed 6 boards and 3 assists, but turned it over 4 times. Amile was good, if not as scintillating as he was against Kentucky. He was the glue to beating the VCU press by giving Duke an extra reliable ball handler on the floor. In his 34 minutes, Amile had 3 blocks, 7 boards and an assist to go with 2-3 from the floor. The big negative was 2-7 from the line — a couple of those misses were at “closing time”.

Marshal logged only 21 minutes, going 2-2 from the field for 4 points to go with 3 boards, 2 steals and a block. He committed only a single foul; he has been foul free this season (except for the Bryant game where he picked up 4). While Marshall is strong around the defensive hoop, he was not quite agile enough to give Duke good interior defense. VCU was scoring at will inside in the first half (where Marshall logged most of his playing time) with passes from the penetrator to their bigs at the rim. Marshall will play more, but this team created a need for Duke to go smaller on defense.

The Interesting

Duke made its winning run with four perimeter players and Amile. This allowed Duke to switch on every screen, which was the reason the defense went from porous to efficient. Duke also stopped running set plays for this group and went to free lance motion offense, which also was a major factor in the win. Coach K said that when the two bigs were on the floor, the interior got jammed. That lineup also allowed Duke to use Amile quite a bit to get the ball up the floor against the press without turnovers. I do admit that my idea of beating the press is not just avoiding the turnover, it is making a pressing team pay by breaking the press for an easy layup; Duke did that only twice — once with Matt and once with Grayson. Otherwise, Duke just went into its half court offense. On the other hand, frustrating VCU by avoiding the turnover was significant.

Luke Kennard was one of the four perimeter players on the floor at crunch time (Matt, Grayson and Thornton were the others). He logged 20 minutes even though his shooting woes continued (0-4; 0-3 from behind the arc, but 2-2 on crucial foul shots). He had 4 boards and 0 turnovers. He was on the court at “winning time” for two reasons. The first is 0 turnovers. He is a reliable ball handler, not always in evidence for Duke last night. The second is that he is an excellent defender and rebounder. It was not coincidence that Duke’s defense finally looked competent only when Luke was on the court. Coach K wanted to send the message that Luke is a valuable and good player regardless of whether or not his shot is falling. All agree that it is only a matter of time before the ball starts going in for him.

The Bad

The early defense was cringe-making. VCU shot 12-19 from inside the arc in the first half — most on point blank uncontested layups and put backs. On offense, Duke’s backcourt is turnover prone — Matt 4, Thornton and Allen 3 each. The stat sheet says Brandon had two turnovers, but I seem to remember several more. Brandon, projected as a possible one and done as the # 3 rated entering freshman in the nation, did not look ready for being more than an important role player. In 26 minutes, he scored 8 on 2-7 shooting from the field (0-3 from downtown) and that atrocious 4-11 from the line (without the last 2 that he made when the game was over and only 22 seconds were left, it was 2-9). He just might have played his way out of the starting lineup. He and Marshal (of the seven man rotation) were on the bench when Duke made its run. Chase Jeter never played. It is clear that Coach K thinks Jeter has a long way to go before he will be a significant contributor.

Next Play

Sunday afternoon at 1 pm (ESPN) in the finals against Georgetown (lost a week ago to Radford, a former girls school in rural Virginia) but who beat Wisconsin rather handily. Go figure. Who needs the NFL?

DUKE 86 – GEORGETOWN 84

Georgetown Coach John Thompson III played at Princeton for legendary Coach Pete Carril, whose teams not only led the nation in scoring defense twenty times but also taught the most fundamentally sound offense –commonly referred to as the Princeton offense–known to the game of basketball. It was an offensive system consisting of frequent ball reversal, precise movement without the ball, and well-timed back-door cuts which frustrate more talented opponents into impatient errors that often led to head shaking baskets and stunning upsets. John returned to coach at Princeton before replacing his father at Georgetown.

I mention this because the last time Duke played Georgetown was January 21, 2006, when unranked Georgetown upset No. 1 Duke by shredding its defenses with his version of the Princeton System and, consequently, thought this would be an interesting test for the young Blue Devils.

TEST GRADES:

Grayson Allen A+ What more can you expect from the kid. Averages 30 points in the tournament on all manner of shots, to go with 4 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals, hustles, fights bigger players for rebounds, gives the ball up to open teammates, is perfect from the line. “Thirty-two points on 12 shots is crazy,” Krzyzewski said. “It’s just a crazy, crazy stat.”

Derryck Thornton B+ In these two games, Derryck grew up right before our eyes. When he went to the bench in the second half with foul trouble, there was no theme to the Duke offense. Greyson might as well have been sitting also as his he didn’t get the ball at the right time or in the right spots. He missed his last two important free throws but was 8-10 for the game.

Matt Jones B Matt could not score any points and deserve to be on the floor. His play on the baseline in the 1-3-1 zone down the stretch was critical. And, of course, he had three game changing threes (courtesy of Greyson) in the second half run.

Luke Kennard B- Except for free throws (where he is 8-8), Luke can’t seem to throw the ball in the ocean from a row boat. Other than that temporary glitch, he is a mature presence beyond his years. And you know he is a player because Coach has him on the floor at critical times.

Chase Jeter C+ When his man went right by him for a lay-up, I thought “Not ready this year”. Then he makes a terrific low post move and ends up with 4 points and 2 rebounds in five minutes and I thought “Yes, this year”.

Brandon Ingram D The incredible shrinking man. Right now he is neither a shooter or a scorer. Getting stronger would help his game a lot. He is sometimes helpful on defense but even then he does not appear to hustle all the time. Let’s see how he reacts to not starting, because Coach says: “Brandon is not even close to playing where he should be playing. He’s been knocked back with that physicality and level of attention and competitiveness. We need him (to be the player he can be.)”

Amile Jefferson and Marshall Plumlee are grown, mature men and you know what you will get from them every game. Unfortunately, Marshall’s game is hindered by the new touch foul rules. The last two games he seems to get called for a foul before the center jump or leaves the scorer’s table.

Coach K A+ – What else is new? His management of Grayson after the Kentucky game, of bringing Thornton along, mixing and matching his personnel, switching from a man-to-man to a 2-3 zone, then, when that didn’t work, to a 1-3-1 (with Jefferson on top not down), which facilitated the second half separation run is why he is THE MAESTRO. (Eat your heart out Johnny Tar Heel).

OBSERVATIONS:

Giving up 84 points does not usually win games. Like last year, defense will be the key to winning any sort of title.
Half court shots at the end of each half– one went in, one didn’t. It is much easier for a left hander to get off a contested shot going left with the sideline as protection from a defender than a right hander going left. Try it sometime.

Alan Adds:

Assessing After three tough games in six days on Neutral Courts

Duke played, in Coach K’s words, “three hellacious games” in six days. He added, “This team needs the time to grow.” Matt and Amile each started for only half a year; otherwise there are no players on this team that ever started a game for Duke prior to the season. Coach K assessed, “We are a good team; and we hope to grow into a really good team, but we are not a juggernaut.” Clearly, the three heralded McDonald’s All-American freshmen have had a rocky start. Both Chase Jeter and Brandon Ingram have been knocked back by the level of physical play and defensive attention. Luke Kennard has been 0-for the last 3 games from behind the arc in spite of his reputation as a long range shooter. However, he is contributing more than Chase or Brandon because of his ball handling skill, hustle, defense and rebounding. The upperclassmen have therefore had a lot placed upon them. Coach K said that Matt Jones “trying to do everything for us” and as a result it wears on him. Amile and Marshall have been effective in their own way, but foul shooting for them has been a problem coming down the stretch. For example, Marshall retrieved a great rebound and was fouled with Duke up 6 and only 1:23 left to play. On the line for 1 and 1, he had a chance to make it a 3 possession game if he made the first. Miss the first and it has the same effect as a turnover. Marshall missed and Georgetown was still alive.

Grayson, of course, has been fantastic and amazing. Coach K said that against Kentucky, Grayson did not adjust when Kentucky loaded up against him at the rim. He was trying to get his shot off instead of trying to score. After the game, Coach and Grayson looked at film to show Grayson what his face looked like. Coach K asked, “Is that how you want to look?” Grayson was astounded at his down demeanor on the court. Coach K said, “you win by how you look and act. Your teammates see how you look; the opponents see how you look. It is the responsibility of your best players to look confident and to lead. Grayson did that this weekend in the Garden.”

Derryck is Duke’s point guard for this year, and is improving with every game. Coach K: “He’s 18 years old! Are you kidding me? He’s really really really good.” However, it cannot go unmentioned that he remains inconsistent on defense (something that can be said about the Duke team so far this year). Whether or not Grayson can continue his amazing play will depend on whether Duke finds some balance to its offense. Coach K said that Grayson will be consistent only if the team is balanced. Otherwise defenses will be able load up on Grayson.

In spite of being waxed by Kentucky, Duke fans should be pretty pleased with the season’s start.

Georgetown

Duke’s youth showed, especially in the first half, but Duke got its sea legs in the last 8 minutes of the first half, actually taking the lead with 1:11 left on Matt’s 3. Then youth showed and Duke gave up 8 points in the last 47 seconds (Grayson foul and Chase turnover), including the desperation heave at the buzzer. Only Thornton played all 20 minutes of the first half. Only Grayson (11 points) and Derryck (8 points) — 19 of Duke’s 32 points — kept Duke in the game. Duke’s foul woes were already apparent. Marshall had picked up 3; Amile and Derryck 2.

Duke came out on fire in the second half. After a Georgetown opening hoop pushed the Hoya lead to 7, Duke ran off 8 points in 1:26 to take a 1 point lead — a Plumlee dunk on a great feed from Matt; Grayson and Matt each nailed 3s. Down by 1, Duke ran off another 10 straight on 3 foul shots by Grayson, a Plumlee dunk on a wonderful assist from Grayson, another Jones 3 pointer, and a dunk by Amile on a feed from Matt for a 9 point lead with 12:48 to go. The wheels came a bit off for Duke at that point when Derryck picked up his third foul and went to the bench for the first time in the game. He sat for a little over 6 minutes. In that time Duke made only one field goal and the lead had shrunk to 3 when Thornton re-entered the game with 6:52 to go. With 6:17 to go, Duke’s lead was 1. Duke stretched the lead to 8 (welcome back, Derryck) with only 2:11 left on an Amile layup; Grayson’s 2 free throws and a 3 on a sweet assist from Derryck. But the young Devils could not close out the game in Duke style. Remember last year when Quinn and Tyus shot 90% from the line and did not turn the ball over against the press? That was last year. The lead was still 7 (3 possessions) with a minute to go. Jefferson missed a free throw with 58 seconds left that would have restored the 3 possession lead; instead the lead was 6. Inexplicably, Duke fouled. So did the Hoyas and the teams traded foul shots. With 36 seconds to go, Duke still led by 6. All Duke needed to do was not foul and not give up a 3. Just guard the perimeter to contest the 3 and whatever, do not foul. Brandon fouled. Derryck’s 2 foul shots restored the lead to 6, but with 20 seconds to go, Duke gave up a long 3 that was not really contested. Now it was a 1 possession game. Derryck made 2 free throws, so Duke led by 5. With 9 seconds left, the Hoyas nailed another 3 that was not truly contested. The rest is history; Thornton missed 2 free throws with 5 seconds left, but he had an excellent contest on the Hoyas’s last desperation 3 that would have won them the game.

The Defense

The first half was truly a defensive disaster. Georgetown shot 57%, but critically, the Hoyas shredded the Duke defense from inside the arc (10-14). The only way Duke could stop the easy penetration was by switching to a zone. The 1-3-1 (with Amile at the top) proved effective in the second half, and helped stifle Smith-Rivera who had been getting to the rim at will. Still, the Hoyas shot 55% for the game and 41 % from behind the arc. Duke will not win games against top competition with that kind of defense. Whether the defense improves dramatically as it did last year, or remains a huge defect as it did 2 years ago remains to be seen.

The Rotation

Matt and Grayson played 38 minutes; Thornton 34 and Amile 31. Marshall was limited to 24 minutes (4 points on 2 dunks from great feeds; 6 boards, an assist, a steal and a block) before fouling out. Brandon, still having offensive woes, played only 16 minutes. He is not shy, hoisting up 7 shots (2-7; 0-1 from 3land; 1-2 from the line) for 5 points. He had 2 steals. Coach K said that Brandon has not adjusted to the physicality yet. He came in with the biggest reputation and got “knocked back” by the defensive attention he receives because of his high school reputation. “He is not playing close to what we need from him.” Luke Kennard played 14 effective minutes, scoring 8 on 2-2 from inside the arc and 4-4 from the line. He still can’t get the 3ball going (0-3), but all are confident it is just a matter of time before his 3s start falling. Chase logged only 5 minutes, but in the second half, he was key with 2 big boards and 2 field goals (missed the free throw that would have given him a 3 point play). Coach K described him as a grape not yet ready to be plucked from the vine. He has a great attitude and will eventually be a significant contributor. If Marshall and Amile keep committing fouls, it had better be this year.

Amile has played well, scoring 8 (2-5; 4-6 from the line) with 8 rebounds and excellent defense. Importantly, he gives Duke a solid ball handler against the press. Matt is key at both ends of the court. He was only on the bench in this game for 2 minutes. He is having trouble scoring on offense (3-13; 0-6 from inside the arc and 2-3 from the line), but has made critical 3s (3-7) for 11 points to go with 4 boards, 3 assists. He committed only 1 foul and 1 turnover. He is Duke’s glue. Derryck scored 14 on 3-6 from the field and 8-10 from the line. He had only 2 assists, but only 2 turnovers. His upside is Duke’s hope for the season.

Grayson’s stat line had Coach K speechless. 32 points on only 12 shots. “Maybe we should get him more shots,” said the Coach wryly. Dickie V was back to his annoying self as the color guy (thank god for the mute button), but he had one insight that might prove prophetic. He said that Grayson, with his full tilt energy and amazingly varied scoring, reminded him of John Havlicek. What a compliment! Of course, the former Ohio State and Celtic great did it for more than 4 games. We’ll see.

Next Play

Four games in two weeks — Yale (Wednesday) and Utah State (Sunday); Indiana on Wednesday and Buffalo on Saturday. Then a 10 day exam break.

DUKE 80 – YALE 61

Would you have taken the over or under on Duke falling behind 0-9 to Yale in Cameron? Maybe it should be called the Ivy League Offense, because Yale ran the “Princeton Offense” better than John Thompson’s team did Sunday. Or maybe Duke’s man defense was worse tonight. Whatever the explanation, the opening minutes were disturbing enough to take away Duke fans appetite for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dinner.

Once again, Duke’s man-to-man defense was shredded and the pain did not end until Duke reluctantly went to their 1-3-1 defense, which coincidentally also turned the Georgetown game. The unindicted co-conspirator for those first fifteen painfully puzzling minutes was an atypically passive Greyson Allen. Coach K had commented that the freshmen had to step up to help lighten his scoring load, because it is not sustainable for one player to score 40% of the points. So by design or circumstance, Greyson was scoreless until Coach had seen enough and switched to the zone. Co-incidentally, the players started to look for Greyson and he became more aggressive- que Scott Van Pelt for some ESPN SportsCenter Greyson Allen highlights.

There may have been a method to madness as early substitutions Ingram and Kennard plus starter Thornton hit threes to get the Blue Devils on the scoreboard. They were also effective defensively with Kennard making the play of the game by diving for a loose ball and in one motion throwing a blind half court ball to Greyson for an uncontested dunk. But then Luke was also an all-state Ohio quarterback.

The Good News/ Bad News:

Duke spotted the same Yale team, who upset defending NCAA Champion UConn at home last year, 9 points and still won by 21– but that margin is in no way a fair indication of the competitiveness of the game.

Grayson Allen had 5 assists, 4 more than point guard Derryck Thornton. No one claims freshmen are consistent.

Brandon Ingram, who seemed more animated/motivated coming off the bench for the second time, had 15 points– but none of them were outside of four feet. The oxygen gets thin for him on the perimeter unless he is going to the basket.

Oxymoron: Luke Kennard is 14-14 from free throw line but 4-23 from three point land. Which is reality? Answer: Anyone who shoots that well from the line has a shooting touch and will soon light it up from the floor. Example: Allen, who is 41-45 from the line is over 50% per cent from the floor.

Observations:

Allen had only (for him) 14 points but added five assists, five rebounds, a steal, and enough floor burns to satisfy even Wojo.

Amile “Spiderman” Jefferson and Matt “Mr. Utility” Jones and Marshall “Muscleman” Plumlee constitute the tough, blue collar backbone of this team.

Matt Jones has developed into Grayson Allan’s “Wing Man”. On Allan’s forays to the basket, Matt just follows to an open space and, if Allen is blocked gets a pass for an open three. It’s a new play called: Kentucky Option. It has been a tough week for Jones off the floor, as his grandfather, the main male figure in his life, died Monday. He was still able to lead Duke with 17 points, shooting 7-of-11 from the floor.

An unusual number of the referee calls made you want to hit the replay button.

How many times have you seen Duke players diving for loose balls while opponents are leaning over reaching for it. Who wins that scrum?

This was win number 1023 for Coach K and 119 straight versus non-conference foes in Cameron.

Pay close attention to these next six games for clues as how Coach K and his staff assess and determine the best roles for this young talent.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Alan Adds:

If you love the game of basketball, it was hard not to completely admire Yale’s opening salvo against Duke at Cameron. The Bulldogs simply played beautiful basketball in carving up the Duke man to man defense. It could have been an offensive coaching clinic (with Duke defenders playing the role of the Washington Generals!). Coach K thought his team was tired from last week’s schedule, and said that his team wasn’t talking as it usually does. Duke, he said, played hard, but there was something missing. His first substitutions — replacing Amile and Thornton with Brandon and Kennard — stemmed the tide. The Coach then switched (not reluctantly, I submit) to the 1-3-1 zone (misidentified at first as a 2-3 by the announcers). “We went to the 1-3-1 because we couldn’t keep Mason out of the paint. The zone changed the game.

Defense

The last two teams — Georgetown and Yale — have good patient penetrating offenses. Coach K said those teams had returning players and their offense was way ahead of Duke’s man to man defense. Coach K recognizes that Duke will be beaten if the man to man is the primary or only defense Duke plays this year. In the past, Duke has had senior leadership to teach the Duke man to man. Coach K said watching the Marquette (coached by Wojo) – Arizona State (coached by Bobby Hurley) play each other reminded him that he had 8 years of the best possible on the ball defense at the point. But, the coach said that neither of those two excellent defenders were excellent in their freshman season (Coach K said it took Wojo 2 years to get it). He simply does not have the personnel to play the man to man as Duke has done in the past, but Duke is not giving up that defense either. “We can get better, but we need time to practice. We haven’t had time to practice in the last week.” Coach K also said that the team has worked very hard on the 1-3-1 zone in practice all year because that defense fits Duke’s personnel very well, “especially when we have all the bigs in”. Grayson was lauded as being “unbelievably active on the wing in the 1-3-1. By the time Yale figured out how to play against it, the game was over.

The Rotation

I believe that Coach K is still tinkering and learning about his team. Although he didn’t start, Brandon Ingram not only changed the game, but also played the most minutes (34) of any Duke player. He is still a work in progress (but the progress is becoming more apparent). Although he is still having trouble with his shot (1-6 from behind the arc; and 0-1 from the line), he contributed in very meaningful ways last night while scoring 15 points (6-10 inside the arc) with 5 boards, 3 assists, a steal and a block against committing only 2 turnovers and 1 foul. Brandon is active on the defensive boards, on defense in the paint and is a terrific defender at the top of the zone. Luke Kennard was also a major contributor in his 23 minutes, scoring 12 points (2-8; 2-6 from downtown and, importantly, 6-6 from the line. While he made 2 from deep, he is still not shooting up to his reputation. However, Luke played outstanding defense with 3 steals while committing only 1 foul. He also had an assist without a turnover. When those two freshmen entered the game, they gave Duke “some pop” — a dose of emotional energy that changed the game.

Matt Jones had a very solid game in his 32 minutes, as did Grayson. Derryck Thornton played only 22 minutes. I believe Coach K knows his team has to learn to play without its only true point guard this year. One of the very good aspects of this game was that Duke looked fine on offense with Grayson and Matt in the backcourt. Matt (who was grieving the loss of his grandfather, with whom he was very close) was lethargic in the first half (4 points on 2-5; including 0-2 from 3land), but turned it on in the second half (5-6 from the floor; 3-3 from behind the arc). He had 17 for the game to lead Duke in scoring. His solid floor game produced 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and some effective defense against only 1 turnover. Grayson also played 32 minutes, dishing out 5 assists against only 1 turnover while scoring 14 points on 4-10 shooting (0-2 from 3land; but 6-6 from the line). He also snared 3 boards and had a steal. He did whine about the fouls called on him, and he picked up his 4th with 9:48 left in the game. Coach K left him in because it is a learning experience that you cannot simulate in practice. Grayson played well down the stretch without committing foul number 5. Derryck in his most limited role recently, played well enough on offense (but was victimized in man to man defense as he has been frequently this year). He committed 3 fouls in his limited playing time. He was smooth on offense with 6 points on 2-4 from the floor (1-2 from 3land and 1-1 from the line). He had an assist, a steal and 2 blocks (how cool for a guard!) against only 1 turnover. Duke cannot thrive with Grayson scoring 40% of the team’s points. Against Yale, the scoring for Duke was balanced — Matt, 17; Brandon, 15; Grayson 14; Luke, 12 and Amile 9.

The Duke bigs were disappointing in the first half. Amile had a single point on 1-2 from the line and only 2 boards in the first half. Marshall had 3 boards but 0 points. Worse, Yale was dominating the Duke defensive backboard and scoring at will in the paint (26 of 36 points in the first half). The second half was a totally different story. The Duke bigs (including Brandon) simply overwhelmed the Bulldogs. In the second half, Amile scored 8 on 4-6 from the field and pulled down 10 boards. In his 25 minutes, he was 1 point shy of a double double and played outstanding second half defense in the zone — whether up top (when Brandon was on the bench) or in the back line. Marshall played 26 minutes and in the second half scoring 5 points (a dunk on a great assist from Grayson — 1-2 from the field; and 3-5 from the line). For the game, Marshall contributed 2 steals and 2 blocks, but also turned it over twice and committed 4 fouls. Chase Jeter made a 5 minute cameo, scoring a bucket on his only shot, but missing a free throw. He had a block and a steal; not bad for 5 minutes.

Coach K’s Interesting Presser

He likes his team, but understands that it is a much younger team than last year’s team (even though the ages are similar). He understands that youth is reflected in inconsistent play. Coach K said that it would take a while for all of the pieces to play together at a high level. “We won’t get everyone playing well together for a while. Getting consistency is growing up.” Coach K said the task was to keep growing, and that this team “has a lot of growing up to do.” Interestingly, Coach K said that, unlike last year, “I am the consistency. This team needs that from me and my coaching staff, but I have told them that I am the consistent aspect for now. I need to be consistently present and passionate at every huddle, every timeout, every practice — that every second matters. That’s what this team needs from me.”

Coach K also said that any team that plays for four minutes without timeout or substitution is a tired team. Duke had a 10 point lead and had played more than 4 minutes without stoppage. Coach K said in a more competitive game, he might have called a timeout, but he wanted to see if his team could play tired, so it was over 6 minutes until stoppage. Coach K said, “we didn’t — couldn’t — do it. We didn’t lose the lead”, but Duke couldn’t sustain its level of play. He said he did it because that is something you can’t teach in practice; it requires a game situation. He has always said that how you play when exhausted is one of the key aspects to winning.

All in all, the Yale game was a valuable growth experience for this young Duke team.

DUKE 85- UTAH STATE 52

Nothing like a little home cooking on Thanksgiving break for 9,314 of your closest friends. Today was the most complete game these Blue Devils have played. Coming into the game, an athletic but undersized Utah State was an undefeated 4-0 –in the state of Utah. Nevertheless, the Blue Devil man-to-man defense was very effective while Jefferson and Plumlee dominated the paint. Ingram again started in place of Thornton, who has not distinguished himself these last two games. However, it was a coming out party for another freshman, Luke Kennard, who shot like the player we have been expecting to see— 4-5 threes and 22 points.

Krzyzewski said after the game that Kennard hadn’t brought his shot speed up to the speed of the college game. He pointed to the free throw line – where the game is the same speed in high school and college — and Kennard is 18-for-19 from the charity stripe. During live game action, though, Krzyzewski said Kennard needed to move quicker and get ready to shoot quicker. “The ball comes to him at different times than it did in high school,” Krzyzewski said. “Just shooting at the speed that he is going to need to at this competition. You’re not in the right lane anymore; you’re in the left lane.”

I guess my foremost takeaway from this game is how much satisfaction and pleasure I derive watching seniors Amile Jefferson and Marshall Plumlee play. Maybe it is that they realize this is their last year, maybe it is that they want to show the Crazies how much they have learned and grown in their time here, maybe they just want to show the younger guys how Duke plays the game. But there is no denying that they play with a joyfulness, verve, and confidence that most of the one-and –doners don’t. Damn, I really miss that about contemporary college basketball.

Observations:

The normally friendly Cameron rims were not very accommodating today. Greyson’s first three shots that normally go in, rolled off or out and the basket rejected other shots that usually seem to fall.

Seth Greenberg, the former Virginia Tech coach was one of the announcers.He is very knowledgeable and highly entertaining. However, the only thing he never talks about is why he refused to offer scholarships to Hokie All-American Dell Curry’s sons Stephen and Seth. He did offer the opinion that Brandon Ingram was more effective as a four than on the perimeter.

This was win number 1,024 for Coach K and 120 straight versus non-conference opponents in Cameron.

Alan Adds:

It is hard to find any fault with Duke’s beat down of Utah State yesterday. If you want to quibble, Utah State penetrated the Duke defense at will…for about 5 minutes. Then Duke clamped down and played serious man to man defense. Coach K went to the 1-3-1 zone for exactly one possession (a wide open Utah State 3 from the corner ended that defense for the game), and then stayed with the man to man, even showing serious pressure from time to time. Duke’s excessive fouling at garbage time at the end of the game (Obi and Vrankovic committed 5 fouls between them in a collective 6 minutes) and sloppy play (with two walk-ons) were the only other blemishes on an otherwise season’s best performance. Because the outcome was never in doubt, Duke’s full rotation got a look. Nobody played more than 29 minutes (Grayson and Amile). Marshall logged 27, Luke Kennard 26, Brandon 25 and Matt 24. Thornton played only 19 minutes (4 fouls limiting his playing time) while Chase Jeter had a 13 minute stint. Jeter shows potential — he is fluid and can score — but he is lost on defense and not yet confident on offense. He is not ready for crunch time yet. There were some gaudy stat lines in a game where Duke looked very efficient on offense, suffocating on defense and dominating on both backboards. Beat down was a fair description.

There was much good news for the Devils, but none better than the performance of Luke Kennard. He looked confident and smooth, dropping 22 points on 7-9 from the field (4-5 from 3land and 4-5 from the line). He added a steal, a block and an assist. Except for being beaten badly on his first defensive play on entering the game, he was a valuable defender. His only downside was 4 turnovers; yet he is an excellent and reliable ball handler. It would not be a shocker to see him in the starting lineup against Indiana. Both Brandon and Derryck, who have each started games, had ineffective offensive games. Brandon had some moments, while Derryck had a lackluster game overall. He was missed 10 shots before he hit a final driving layup during garbage time (1-9 from the field including 0-1 from behind the arc; and 0-2 from the line), and wasn’t a whole lot more effective on defense, the four fouls being an accurate indicator. Derryck did dish out a pair of assists and had a steal. Brandon was a valuable contributor, but is not yet shooting well or scoring. His confidence has been shaken, I think, as he took only 4 shots from the field (2-4), but got to the line for 6 attempts (4-6). He is becoming a better defender (2 blocks and a steal) and was effective on the glass with 6 rebounds (3 on offense). You still get the feeling that, like Kennard today, he has breakout talent that will boost the team. So much of this year’s accomplishments will depend on the continuing growth of the freshmen, which includes becoming consistent contributors.

The four veterans had superb games. Matt scores really only when the team needs him. He took just 6 shots today (2-6; 2-4 from 3land) for 6 points. He is the glue to the defense and the team leader. You know he is there when the going gets difficult. We are getting so used to Grayson’s outstanding play that 22 points on 15 shots doesn’t seem like the big deal it really is. Grayson was 8-15 (2-5 from deep; 4-4 from the line), but that hardly tells the whole story. Grayson plays with such energy and leadership. His defense is excellent and his stats beyond scoring are admirable. He pulled down 5 rebounds, dished 2 assists without a turnover, and had a steal and a block while committing only 1 foul. That is efficient basketball, but might not have been the most efficient performance of the game. Amile is a candidate for that award. His shooting was almost perfect — 6-7 from the field and 1-1 from the line for 13 points — and the rest of his game was as good or better. He pulled down 9 tough rebounds, and added 2 blocks, 2 steals and two assists without committing a foul. While Amile was nearly perfect in shooting, Marshall was actually perfect (3-3 from the field and 3-3 from the line for 9 points) and added 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals and an assist while committing only 2 fouls. Duke just dominated on the interior.

Next Play is the ACC-Big Ten Challenge game against Indiana at Cameron (9:30 pm on ESPN). I will be traveling for the next two games, causing the DBP to be possibly a day or two later than usual.

DUKE 94 – INDIANA 74

Holy Kevin Durant, Dickie V! Brandon Ingram finally showed us more than a few flashes of what all the hype is about by scoring 18 points on a variety of shots in twelve minutes of the first half and playing by far his most complete game of his brief college career. To use a couple of Coach K’s favorite words, he played with a verve and enthusiasm that had him sprinting back on both ends of the floor and even animated and involved on the bench. At halftime Jay (aka. Jason) Williams, the former Duke All American guard, explained that Ingram has not had his hands up anticipating a pass so that he was not physically or mentally ready to shoot. Tonight he did and boy, what a difference.

While the Hoosiers (aided and abetted by Duke’s sometimes inattentive defense) shot, well like you expect Hoosiers to shoot (over 50%), other aspects of the game like defense and rebounding apparently left with Bobby Knight, who must have had heartburn last night. The Blue Devils ended up shooting 53 % from the field, 46 % on 3’s, and 82% from the line. Duke out rebounded Indiana 38-25 and turned it over only six times, an impressive statistic for an up-tempo game like this one. The Devils had more offensive rebounds (19) than Indiana had defensive rebounds (17). And while we look at the blue collar statistics, let’s give it up for Amile Jefferson, who gives it up on every minute of every play to make stats like these the rule, not the exception.

Indiana made an impressive run early in the first half to go up by six before Duke made an extended one of their own punctuated by Grayson Allen’s shot of the night—maybe the year– to end the half. On a patented drive into the lane, Allen lost his footing around the foul line, slipping as he flung the ball with two hands, from waist level, over his shoulder. With his back to the basket, Allen couldn’t see the ball hit the backboard and bounce into the net. As my old tennis coach once counselled me: “Good players make more lucky shots than bad players.”

As the teams jogged past each other to head to the locker room, Coach Krzyzewski was bumped by an Indiana player at halftime. Krzyzewski took exception and spoke with Indiana head coach Tom Crean before leaving the floor. Whether coincidence or not, the Blue Devils came out to the second half as if they wanted to prove a point. The blue Devils rattled off a 9-0 run to begin the period, doubling their halftime lead to 60-42. On the defensive end, the they held Indiana without a field goal for the first 8:29 and seemed to win every loose ball

Every game won’t always be like this, at least not right away– not for Ingram, not for Duke. This is part of a process, one that does not necessarily have a smooth progression forward. But, to channel an old Elvis Pressley song: “It was a night. Such a night. What a night it was!”

In the Duke-Utah State blog, I mentioned how much I missed watching four year players like Jefferson and Plumlee mature and hated that the NBA takes players before they are ready for the unstructured NBA lifestyle—too much time, money, women, drugs etc. A good example is Jahlil Okafor. By all accounts is a good kid and never got into any trouble at Duke. Now a 76er, he personally is doing very well on the court—despite playing for an undermanned and winless team. Off the court appears to be another matter. There are the press reports about Okafor’s extra-curricular activities: Stopped by police driving 108 mph on the Ben Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia; had a gun pointed at him during a dispute outside of a Philadelphia club in early October; refused service at the bar for having a fake ID; TMZ released a video of Okafor punching an obnoxious fan outside of a Boston club early Thanksgiving morning.

“Look, Jah is one of the great kids,” Krzyzewski said. “Pros need to have security. When we’re with the U.S. team, we have security for everybody because all of those guys are targets. You’ve just got to be smart about that. He was not. He apologized. He is being punished. Look, anybody who pictures that kid as some bad kid, you’ve got to be kidding me. He is one of the most loving, good kids… But he did a couple stupid things. Okay, knock him, suspend him, let’s move on. But let’s not characterize him as that. He is not that. That kid is a special, special human being. And he is a pretty damn good basketball player in addition, too.”

And speaking of former players, Rasheed Sulaimon is playing for Maryland this year. Whatever the circumstances surrounding his dismissal from the team last year, this much is apparent: He stayed in school, finished the semester, which had to be awkward, even difficult, and graduated. He and is part of one of the best back courts in the country. Rasheed had an outstanding game in the loss to Carolina Tuesday night and seemed at ease among the hostile Chapel Hill crowd, even chatting amiably with Marcus Paige during breaks in the action.

Observations:

What’s wrong with Matt Jones and Grayson Allen playing the point?

Imagine how good this team would be if Brandon Ingram continues to play anything like he did tonight and Derryck Thornton and Luke Kennard continue to gain confidence.

Duke played primarily a man-to-man defense tonight but slipped into a 2-3 zone a few brief times.

This was win number 1,024 for Coach K and 120 straight versus non-conference opponents in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The last time Duke lost a home nonconference game was Feb. 26, 2000 when St. John’s escaped with a narrow 83-82 win.

Alan Adds:

This was obviously Duke’s best overall game of the season. My only caveat is that, having seen Indiana in previous games, THEY CANNOT GUARD ANYONE! Leaving aside the Hoosier wreckage, there were some genuinely positive things for Duke beyond the offensive outburst from Brandon and the superb floor game played by Matt Jones. Duke had 18 assists against only six turnovers. Duke’s assist leader had 8 — Amile Jefferson from the post. What a great statistic that is. Grayson was Duke’s second leading assister with 3. In many ways, Jefferson took over the game, dominating the backboard and creating havoc with his interior defense. If I believed in such merit as POG (I don’t), it would be Amile. But this is a team game and Duke had a great team game.

Coach K seemed to be narrowing the rotation. Only 7 played. Chase Jeter did not play even though Coach K said Duke has 8 starters and Duke’s lead was as large as 25 — rarely below 20 in the second half. I don’t know the story behind Jeter’s benching, but I do suspect there is a story. {Editor: Same as MP3 only getting 20 minutes–Indiana played small] The rotation is definetly shortening. Even in the blowout, Grayson played 38 minutes and Matt 37. Both had fantastic games on both ends of the court. Grayson had 16 (7-11; 2-2 from the line), missing his only 3 point attempt. He had 5 boards and 3 assists. Matt took the most shots (19; 11 from behind the arc). He was 9-19; 5-11 for 23 points and some in your face defense. Amile played 35 minutes and Brandon logged 32 in his offensive breakout. He was 10-15, including 4-6 from behind the arc for 24 points and 6 boards. He should have had a block on which he was called for a phantom foul. He is valuable on defense, but still has lapses that allow easy layups. His improvment is palpable. He has the potential to play the same role on this team that Mike Dunleavy played on the 2000 team. Duke then went only 6 deep because Dunleavy was so versatile. Brandon has that same potential because he has a perimeter game and an interior game.

Marshall played only 20 minutes, accumulating 4 fouls in that time. When he was out, Brandon was the other big. Marshall was strong while on the floor though limited to 4 points. He had 5 rebounds. Kennard logged 22 minutes as his long distance shooting woes returned (after his last breakout game). He was 3-10 (1-5 from behind the arc for 7 points to go with 4 boards, 2 assists and a block. He continues to impress with his floor game, ball handling and defense. He is becoming a lock down defender. He played the fifth most minutes.

Derryck was limited by Coach K to 16 minutes. He can surely score — 12 points in 16 minutes on 4-5; 1-1 from behind the arc and 3-3 from the line. So, why isn’t he playing more? My guess (opinion) is there are two reasons. First, Derryck is turning the ball over without reconrding assists. Point guard skills include running the offense and making teammates better. He had a single assist against 2 turnovers. The second aspect to his game that needs (dramatic) improvment is his defense. He loses track of his assignment and gets beaten by his man moving without the ball with some frequency. He is young, but his minutes seem to be diminishing. It would not surpirise me to see this team play with a rotation as small as 6 at crunch time because of Brandon’s versatility.

Duke won by a blowout, but it is hard to ignore that Indiana — especially in the first half — penetrated with ease. The Hoosiers shot 54% in the first half and finished the game at 51%. In the second half, the Duke help at the rim improved as the defense tightened — especially when Brandon was in the game as one of the two bigs.

All in all, it was a definite step forward. Duke will need that in the ACC. UNC looked awfully good dismantling Maryland.

DUKE 82- BUFFALO 59

A game scheduled for 5:15pm on Saturday is not the main attraction, it’s not even the opening act, it’s a local band playing for free. Nevertheless, you never know what you will see or hear. What we saw was Brandon Ingram’s game and attitude continue to develop and mature right before our eyes. Let’s face it, Brandon has to be going through more than the normal freshman adjustment period. He is from athletic mother load of Kinston, North Carolina, normally a feeder system to Chapel Hill, who played on an AAU team coached by fellow Kinstonian Jerry Stackhouse, whose attitude hastened Dean Smith’s retirement– and who probably has more tats than all the freshman class put together. Well, the last two games Brandon has looked and played like he is getting much more comfortable at Duke–not only has he scored practically at will, he also has hustled, played hard at both ends of the floor, and bonded with the home crowd by urging them to raise the noise level to the roof.

Neither team shot well and Buffalo hung around until Duke switched to a 1-3-1 zone. Coincidentally, Duke’s offense heated up and the margin doubled.

Grayson Allen had an “off” night”—only 22 points, 11 rebounds plus lumps, bumps, and floor burns usually associated with a cage fight. I guess the definition off and “off” night for Greyson is twenty some points, and an “on” night is thirty some. If both Allen and Ingram have “on” nights against top flight competition, Luke Kennard starts scoring as advertised, Thornton continues to improve, and Jefferson, Plumlee, and Jones, continue to play as they are now, this team plays at an entirely different level. At present, Chase Jeter is getting little playing time and is not distinguishing himself when he does. So, this is a versatile seven man rotation. What else is new? Let’s hope no one gets hurt.

Miscellaneous:

Ø Duke freshman forward Justin Robinson, the son of NBA Hall of Famer David Robinson, will redshirt this year.

Ø This was win number 1,025 for Coach K and 121 straight versus non-conference opponents in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The last time Duke lost a home nonconference game was Feb. 26, 2000 when St. John’s escaped with a narrow 83-82 win.

Ø Despite three NCAA Championships, Coach K has not been ACC Coach of the Year since 2000. Go figure.

Ø Duke now takes a 10-day break for final exams and will return to the court against Georgia Southern Dec. 15 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Alan Adds:

It was hard to take Buffalo seriously, given the defections, injuries, and league that Buffalo plays in. One felt the spread should have been in triple figures. The game started as if Duke players felt that way even as they tried to take Buffalo seriously. But, Buffalo demanded to be taken seriously by out hustling Duke in the early going, getting every 50-50 ball while playing the game like it actually was for them — the biggest moment of each Buffalo player’s athletic life. Of course, the huge talent disparity wore Buffalo down and it is fair to say there was never a single moment when any knowledgable fan thought Duke might actually lose. At the end of the first half when Duke led by 10, it felt like a moral victory for Buffalo.

Brandon was, as Bill described, absolutely scintillating — especially in the first half. But I want to highlight the play of Derryck Thornton, who played like an experienced point guard. In 24 minutes, he had 0 turnovers to go with 5 assists. Moreover, he was 4-4 from the line and 2-4 from the field (0 attempted 3 pointers) for 8 points, while committing only a single foul. These are excellent numbers even though the competition was inferior; the issue will be whether he grows into playing like this against the highest level of competition.

As Bill pointed out the rotation is only 7 players. Jeter is not getting any playing time (3 minutes,) missing both of his shots and committing a foul in that cameo. Marshall is starting, but he is not playing the minutes that the other starters are. In 23 minutes (no foul trouble), he was 1-2 from the line and 0-2 from the field for a point to go with a board, a block, a steal, and a turnover. The key stat for Marshall was 4 assists. Duke had only 10 assists (Grayson got the other one). Luke is still having trouble with his stroke (and now his drives) after a break out game. He was 2-7 (1-3) from the field in his 15 minutes and 2-2 from the line for 7 points. He is valuable on the floor, snaring 3 boards in his short stint and playing excellent defense.

The reason it appeared that Grayson had an “off night” is because he was wretched shooting from the field. He had, in his 36 minutes, 15 field goal attempts, of which 3 were from distance. But he made only 5 — 1 from distance (each at 33%). The reason he is still accorded star status is the rest of his exceptional game. He was 11-13 from the foul line, a great statistic from any standpoint, and he snared a game high 11 rebounds — all defensive. In short he kept Buffalo off its offensive glass. In addition, he played great defense while committing only a single foul. Both he and Brandon took 15 shots, but while Grayson was off, Brandon seemed, and was, on fire. He played 38 minutes of scintillating basketball, which is corroborated by his statistics — 8-15, including 2-4 from 3land and 5-7 from the line. In addition, consider he collected 8 rebounds (3 offensive), made 2 steals and 4 blocks, while committing only 3 fouls. 3 turnovers is the only negative in yet another breakout game for him.

Matt and Amile were simply solid. Amile was limited to 28 minutes by his foul trouble (ended the game with 4), but was offensively efficient going 5-6 from the field and 3-4 from the stripe for 13 points. He also had 8 boards, many of them very tough rebounds. Matt seems only to score when Duke needs it. He made one 3 pointer, but it came at perhaps the only crucial moment in the entire game. He logged 32 minutes grabbing 4 rebounds and scoring 8 points on 2-8 (1-4 from behind the arc) from the field and 3-4 from the line for 8 points. He is so steady and is the go to guy at crunch time.

It is a very interesting team. Conference play, which starts in January, will be defining — especially conference play on the road.

DUKE 99 – GEORGIA SOUTHERN 65

The big news tonight is more clarity about Amile Jefferson’s injury. The underrated but perhaps the most irreplaceable player on the team sustained a “non-surgical” break of his right foot in a practice scrum for a loose ball and is out “indefinitely”. Without Jefferson, Duke has six players who will play the majority of the available minutes and a seventh, Chase Jeter, who isn’t ready for prime time or, even tonight, non-prime time. In his first minutes, he lost the ball on an inbounds play, bricked a lay-up, missed an ally-oop, lost his man on defense, and then fell down in the paint. However, as K pointed out, he has only just turned eighteen and because of the difference in physicality and speed the transition from the high school game to the college game is much tougher for big men than guards. What about Sean Obi, the large Rice transfer? He was never mentioned.

Most telling about the severity of the situation was Krzyzewski’s reaction to a question suggesting that this year’s numbers challenge (with seven available useful players) is similar to last year, when Duke won the national title with eight scholarship players. Krzyzewski quickly cut off the question. “We were never in this situation. Not even close…not even close because we had more experience. And we had Okafor, we had Winslow, and we had guards. We had eight good players.”

Jefferson’s broken foot will be in a hard cast until he returns from Duke’s holiday break on Dec. 26. At that point, he will be re-evaluated and be fitted with a walking boot. The timetable for his return is unknowable. “Tune in for the next episode,” Krzyzewski said, “We can start a series right now of “What the hell is happening with the Blue Devils. We have to keep the ship afloat while he’s gone. We don’t have many guys. . . . We have to take a look at what we do on defense because not every team is going to play four perimeter guys. We can score if two variables are addressed: having tired legs and being in foul trouble…. not being in the game. So, we have to think of ways of us staying out of foul trouble and having fresh legs.”

The Good News: Brandon Ingram continued to mature and impress almost geometrically (ref: In his last three games, Brandon has scored 73 points, 28 rebounds, 6 blocks, and a season’s worth of highlight plays for most players. Those are All-American numbers. Tonight, he had a double- double punctuated by a couple of SportsCenter worthy highlight dunks; old reliable Matt Jones just keeps doing all the big and little things in an impressive manner; MP3, a big, physical post presence, almost had a double-double; Derryck Thornton keeps improving; Luke Kennard, who came with a big time scoring reputation, is doing everything but that well (Coach K swears he is often the high scorer in practice but, for whatever reason, hasn’t been able to transfer that to real games); Grayson Allen had another “off” night: two missed foul shots, (only) 18 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 4 take downs, plus 2 head shots.

The Bad News: With Jefferson, the Blue Devil defense has not been your first choice to take to the Big Dance. Without Jefferson, you might be going stag. It can be beaten off the dribble and is weak in the paint—but it is still early in the season.

Miscellaneous:

Brand, Boozer, Irving, Ryan, now Jefferson all sidelined by foot injuries. Coincidence, drills, or shoes?
This was win number 1,026 for Coach K and 122 straight versus non-conference opponents in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The last time Duke lost a home nonconference game was Feb. 26, 2000 when St. John’s escaped with a narrow 83-82 win.
Next game: Saturday, December 19. Utah @ noon @ MSG on ESPN.

Alan Adds:

Over the weekend, I wrote to Bill: “Reasonable Duke goals at exam break (before Amile’s break): [note the prescient comment about “especially if there is any kind of injury”] Lowest, but still acceptable and probably the right goal for this team: 3rd in the ACC; Semi-Finals of ACC tournament; Sweet 16, maybe elite 8. The rotation of 7 is too few, especially if there is any kind of injury. However, I agree there is a terrific (possibly magical) upside to this team (and his name is Brandon Ingram). If the last two games are the beginning of the arrival of a star, who blossoms [Now we can say last 3 games], Duke could step up to the level of the top tier of teams. The defense will jell then, Grayson would have room to flourish, and the interior would be pretty solid. Nice holiday thought.”

Of course, Amile’s injury is a significant blow to this team, and calls into question “ the interior would be pretty solid”. How large a blow depends on when he is able to return and if he can return to the level of his early season play (something neither Kyrie nor Ryan Kelly were able to do when each finally returned from their respective foot injury).

The game against Georgia Southern is not a good measuring stick because of the immense discrepancy with Duke in talent and size. However, it is certainly interesting to see how Coach K tried and will try to survive in the interim. He did not sound optimistic, but realistic,”if dad gets laid off, the sons have to go out and get jobs.” The three most productive and important players (you might say core) played over 30 minutes — Grayson 35; Matt 33; and Brandon 31. Coach K is trying to see if he can add to the core from the next 3 players who all logged 22 minutes or more — Luke played 29 minutes; Derryck 27 and Marshall 22. No player committed more than 2 fouls this game. The only other two players to see action were Jeter (I love he wears # 2) and Obi (who made only a cameo of 4 minutes, and got his first Duke points — 1-1 with a rebound for 2 points). As Bill described, Chase looked lost in the first half, but played better in the second half. In his 17 minutes, he was 1-2 with 3 boards a steal and a block.

Whether Duke “survives” in this mode will, I believe, depend on Luke Kennard beginning to play to his potential. That just means his shot has to start going in. In his 29 minutes, he was 1-7 from behind the arc — opening 0-4 in the early going. His shot selection was not the problem; he was open and he took the shot he was supposed to take. Actually, he was tied with Brandon for the most shots of any Duke player (4-13 and 2-2 from the line for 11 points). He also pulled down 5 rebounds and handed out a pair of assists. Even though he was called for a backcourt violation, Luke showed some amazing ball handling skills grabbing a loose ball in a scrum and dribbling dexterously. My take is that if he can be the deadly shooter that he was projected to be, Duke will not only survive, but thrive. Derryck is showing great improvement on both ends of the court. In 27 minutes, Derryck was the model of efficiency. A cautionary note is the level of opposition. Thornton was 5-8 from the field including a dazzling 3-3 from 3land but only 2-4 from the line for 15 points to go with his 4 defensive rebounds and 4 assists. Marshall is going to be an enigma. He can be a force, and was last night against the much smaller Ga. Southern team, but he is not athletic enough to guard the paint. He missed 4 of his 5 foul shots while converting 4-8 from close in. He had 11 boards and 2 blocks, but also 4 turnovers. Even though he committed only 2 fouls, he logged the sixth most minutes on the team (not starter minutes, even though starting). It will be interesting to see how Coach K distributes the minutes on Saturday against Utah, a big athletic team that has been ranked this season. It will be a big test for Marshall.

Duke’s core was fabulous against an undermanned and defenseless (Georgia Southern could not play any defense at all) team. Brandon was All-World. Suddenly you can see why there was a one and done aura about him in the pre-season. In 31 minutes, he looked like Larry Bird. The closest one could come to finding a flaw was his 6-9 from the stripe. He scored 26 on 9-13 from the field (2-4 from deep) while leading Duke in rebounding with 14 (8 on offense). He had 2 assists, a steal and 2 blocks without turning it over at all and committing only 1 foul. Some stat line. Utah will be an illuminating test because of the heightened level of competition. Grayson is impressive even when he is not scoring over 30 points on 12 shots. He played a game high 35 minutes, sitting out when he got hit in the face inadvertently. He actually missed 2 free throws (4-6 from the stripe) and 3 from behind the arc (2-5 for a paltry 40%). He scored 18 on 6-11 from the field (which means 4-6 from inside the stripe) to go with 7 boards, 5 Utah The downside was the ease with which Georgia Southern scored on uncontested layups, that Duke shot under 60% from the line (19-32) and had 7 turnovers in the first half.

Next play will tell us much more about Post-Amile Duke on Saturday in Madison Square Garden.

DUKE 75- UTAH 77

When your daddy is missing-in-action, the number one son is sick, the tallest, most talented baby brother doesn’t seize the moment, you only shoot 30% from the floor, and you’re outrebounded 56-38, you’re cruisin’ for a losin’.

Despite being shorthanded and behind most of the game, the Blue Devils made a patented n 18-2 run midway into the second half to build a 49-44 lead. Starting the run, there were no post players on the floor as Ingram, Jones, Allen, Kennard and Derryck Thornton made it work. It appeared another improbably Duke win was teed up—in the lead with the clock running down, the star Utah center on the bench with four fouls, and Duke in the foul bonus situation. With five to go, center Jakob Poeltl came back and was the difference by blocking three Blue Devil drives and scoring at the other end as Duke did not score a basket in the last four minutes. And yet, and yet, the Duke defense held on the last possession and the score was still tied at the end of regulation. Then, falling behind by five in OT, a breakout brilliant performance by Luke Kennard (aided and abetted by a Ute clinic on defensive mindlock), Duke almost rallied tie again at the buzzer as Brandon Ingram missed an uncontested finger roll drive at the rim.

Except for Luke Kennard (24 points in 27 minutes off the bench), the Blue Devils shot horribly, were badly outrebounded, and played inconsistent defense—zone or man, it didn’t matter. Nevertheless, and this is what is so compelling about Coach K’s teams, they never stopped fighting and somehow almost salvaged a win.

Without Jefferson, Duke is in for a challenging month or two. However, Grayson will recover, Brandon will be more confident and assertive, Luke demonstrated he has the talent and temperament to be a go-to playmaker. Thornton is talented but a work in progress, but Jeter is way behind the other freshmen. However, by tournament time (assuming Jefferson fully recovers and no one else is injured) this will be a much more formidable team. Meanwhile, the lineups and playing times are a work in progress. Coach K replaced Jefferson with freshman Luke Kennard in a victory over Georgia Southern. Today, he opted to start another freshman, point guard Derryck Thornton, who was 2-13 with 4 assists in 42 minutes.

Miscellaneous Observations:

Patience while the pieces come together.

Watching Grayson playing like a shell of himself today reminded me of Bob Verga, the Duke All-America guard, whose regular season’s average was about what Allen’s is (without the three point line), in the 1966 NCAA Tournament semi-final between Duke and Kentucky. Bob had a strep throat and only scored 4 points as Duke lost 83-79. However, Pat Riley’s Kentucky (star Pat Riley) had the dubious historical distinction (made into a movie) of being the first all-white team who played (and lost) to an all-black team Texas Western (star “Bad News” Barnes) in the NCAA Finals. How do I remember that? I was there for that heart breaking loss at College Park, Maryland. I thought this was the year for Coach Bubas to win our first NCAA Championship. It was a very, very talented team: Bob Verga, Jack Marin, Mike Lewis, Steve Vacendak.

As much as Mike Krzyzewski gets credit for how he’s adjusted to the one-and-done era of college basketball, we forget that he still does an incredible job of developing players who stick around. We saw it last season with Quinn Cook and we’ve seen it this season with Amile Jefferson, Marshall Plumlee, and Matt Jones.
In Madison Square Garden, Duke’s Coach Krzyzewski teams are 28-10.

Next game: Elon December 27 on ESPNU.

Alan Adds:

What an interesting game! I had a Bob Verga image from how Grayson looked in the first half, and was smiling when I read Bill’s first draft referencing it. There were many really bad things about this game as well as a lot of good things. Thus “interesting” is my adjective of choice to describe the game. The first really bad thing is Duke lost to a genuinely terrible team. Do not be fooled by Utah’s ranking or 8-2 (coming into the game) record. Utah’s two losses were telling. Miami beat them handily by 90-66 and Wichita State (5-5) stomped them by 67-50. Moreover, the Utes committed 19 turnovers, played lackadaisical defense (except for Poeltl defending the Utah rim), committed 26 fouls, and had enough crunch time brain cramps to give Duke a chance to win that the Devils never should have had. They may improve — Poeltl is the real deal — but so far this year they have been mediocre (terrible contrasted to expectations).

Bad Stuff

The bad stuff begins (and almost ends) with Duke’s terrible shooting. One might look a long time to find a game when Duke shot under 30% from the field and only 8-26 from behind the arc (28%). Coach K said, “If we had shot a little better…They blocked some layups at the rim, but we missed a lot of open shots.” The coach revealed that Grayson had been sick for two days and wasn’t sure he could play at all up until game time. Coach K, shaking his head in admiration, “and he played 37 minutes, but he wasn’t the same guy.” In those minutes, Grayson was 3-18 including 1-7 from behind the arc and astoundingly 0-2 from the line. He missed the front end of a 1 and 1 with a little over 3 minutes to go in regulation and Duke down 3. He missed his first 3 shots in overtime and finished the extra stanza 1-5 (a layup) and missed a chance for a 3 point play by missing from the line with Duke down 4. Duke divided the bulk of shots among Ingram (16), Matt (19) Grayson (18) and Thornton (13). Collectively the four were 17 for 66 (6-23 from 3land). Utah’s defense was porous and Duke got to the rim with ease, but the layups that usually fall seemed to roll out. Matt and Grayson each had sure layups miss. Derryck was blocked at the rim, but also made some great moves that he just did not finish. He scored only 8 on 2-13, 1-4 and 3-4 from the line, but did have 4 assists against only a single turnover in his 42 minutes. Matt played every second of this overtime game (45 minutes) in case you do not think Coach K relies on him. He was 6-19 including 2-6 from 3land and 4-4 from the line for 18 points. Brandon was heroic, yet missed the two most important shots of the game. In his 42 minutes, Brandon scored 15 on 6-16; 2-6 from 3land and 1-2 from the line. He had 5 boards, 3 blocks, 3 steals while committing only 1 turnover and staying out of foul trouble. With 33 seconds left in regulation and the score tied at 60, Brandon had an open three (game winner?). With 3 seconds left in the overtime, he missed an open (defender flopped and didn’t get the call) finger roll from 4 feet that would have sent the game to a second overtime. Coach K said he felt bad for Brandon and knew Brandon would beat himself up. He said losing was not his fault. “Really good players want the ball at that time. Brandon is a really good player.” Coach K was also feeling sorry for Grayson’s illness induced bad shooting day.

The rotation is really short. Marshall was the fifth starter and it was one of his least efficient games. He played 26 minutes before fouling out with 3 points (1-1 from the field and 1-2 from the line) with 4 boards, 2 blocks, 2 assists (Duke only had 10) and a steal. His defense made us understand how valuable Amile is on that end of the court. Coach K said Duke had depth on the perimeter, but only 3 bigs, one of whom is “still developing”. Amile was the best of Duke’s big men, so “it is much different without Amile.” Duke started in a man to man and, after building an 8-2 lead, gave up 5 straight easy layups (4 by Poeltl). Duke switched to a 2-3 zone, which was immediately shredded by a long 3 and layups behind Marshall. Duke went to the 1-3-1 without any noticeable improvement. Ultimately, Duke’s man to man became its primary defense; and was much improved in the second half. Jeter may be “still developing” but he is not developing in competition on the court. He played only a cameo of 6 in effectual minutes, missing his only shot from the field as well as both of his foul shots, while committing 2 turnovers and 2 fouls. Still developing means “no help yet”. So, Duke essentially played 45 minutes with the five starters and Luke Kennard.

Good Stuff

The good stuff is a combination of Duke’s grit, determinations and fight to go with Luke’s really nice 27 minutes. In the first half, Luke was barely visible until the end. He missed his only shot (a 3), but in the last 1:04 of the first half, drove and was fouled, making 5-6 from the line. In the second half, Luke contributed 9 points in regulation. He missed another 3 early, and then began to score with 10 minutes left. He made a layup, a tip-in, a 3 pointer, and another layup when he followed his own 3 point miss. He was all over the court in the last 10 minutes grabbing rebounds and hustling for loose balls. The overtime was simply Kennardtime. He scored 10 of Duke’s 15 overtime points (Brandon 3 and Grayson a layup). Luke was overall 5-9 from the field (2-5 from 3land) and an incredible 12-13 from the foul line. He had 8 boards to lead Duke in rebounding to go with a steal and 0 turnovers. Luke was not less than heroic in the the last minute of the overtime. He began to drive and get fouled (not the smartest defense by Utah, which held a comfortable lead). He was 6-6 from the line. Duke was down 6 with 6 seconds left when Luke let go a long 3 (swish) and was fouled, converting the 4 point play bringing Duke within 2. He scored 9 points in the last 1:03 of the overtime. Welcome to the beginning of fulfilling expectations, Luke.

Coach K affirmed he was proud of his team’s fight. Duke displayed championship grit and never-say-die fighting spirit. “I’m not disappointed; this loss had nothing to do with lack of effort.” He said that his guys did lots of wonderful things in the game and especially “in the last minute or 45 seconds, our guys did some incredibly good things.” Since Duke did not score in regulation after Luke’s three gave Duke a 60-55 lead with 4:14 to go, Coach K was talking about the overtime and Luke. He also praised the Duke man to man in this game. “The man to man got us back in it. Going into the game, I did not think we could defend them with our man to man. But our man defense has lots of switching and has some zone principles.” The man to man defense forced Utah into the turnovers that kept Duke in the game.

In the long run, this game could mean the emergence of Luke Kennard. Amile is in a cast, which the Duke medical staff hopes to replace with a walking boot after the holiday break. If Amile comes back playing as well as he was when injured and Luke’s coming out party is enduring (as Brandon’s has been) rather than a flash, there is still much hope for a satisfying season.

DUKE 105 – ELON 66

What can you say about a game that was 70-31 at the half?

Until Jefferson returns, this season will be a roller coaster ride. When the threes are dropping, the game will look easy. When they are not, it won’t.

Brandon Ingram and Grayson Allen will be the keys. If Brandon can play like he has the last few games against the top tier teams like he has against the Georgia Southerns and Elons of the world and Grayson can return to his pre-flu form, Duke can play with anyone. Matt Jones is the glue who can hold the team together, because he is spectacularly unspectacular. He does everything consistently well. Luke Kennard looks like his role will be a John Havlicek type sixth man who comes off the bench to provide instant offense. MP3 is the enforcer who needs to stay out of foul trouble. Derryck Thornton is a shoot first point guard. At crunch time, look for Grayson Allen to play the point. He can penetrate and score or dish with the best. Chase Jeter just has not demonstrated he can consistently contribute meaningful minutes in the low post.

Other Observations:
Meadowlark Lemon, the “clown prince” of basketball’s barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters, whose blend of hook shots and humor brought joy to millions of fans around the world, died. He played for the Globetrotters during the team’s heyday from the mid-1950s to the late-1970s, delighting fans with his skills with a ball and a joke. Traveling by car, bus, train or plane nearly every night, Lemon covered nearly 4 million miles to play in over 100 countries and in front of popes and presidents, kings and queens. He averaged 325 games per year during his prime, that luminous smile never dimming. NBA great Wilt Chamberlain, who actually played a year with the Globetrotters, said: “Meadowlark was the most sensational, awesome, incredible basketball player I’ve ever seen.”
Speaking of “sensational, awesome, incredible”, if you have not been watching Stephan Curry play this year just Google “Steph Curry highlights”. He is playing the game at a level not named Michael Jordan.
Duke-Kentucky drew 3.12 million viewers. Duke-Indiana 1.7 million in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge in which Duke is 15-2. Matt Jones older sister, Jordan, is an All American and (no surprise) two time SEC Defensive player of the year at Texas A&M.
Next game: Wednesday Long beach State. 4:00 on ESPN3

Alan Adds:

Unlike running or ski racing, where performance is measured by objective (time) standards, playing a competitive sport directly against an adversary makes performance harder to measure because your performance is so dramatically impacted by your opponents performance. When Duke blows out a Bryant, Sienna or Georgia Southern, it is difficult to rate Duke’s performance to speculate on how good Duke really is. That is the backdrop of assessing Duke’s blowout win last night against Elon, whose players were physically no match for the McDonald’s High School All-Americans who now suit up for the Blue Devils. Nevertheless, I was particularly heartened by the way Duke played. The Blue Devil offense looked as if it had been choreographed by Balanchine, dropping 70 on Elon in the first half. After the first five porous minutes — Elon had 12 before 5 minutes had elapsed by shredding Duke’s man defense for open layups; that is 96 ppg if multiplied by 8 — Duke began turning Elon over regularly and the game was over in the next few minutes. Interestingly, Duke’s defense tightened when Jeter replaced Plumlee at that 5 minute timeout. Elon stopped scoring then.

Coach K raved about his team’s practices after Xmas holidays. He had time to work with the team “to personalize” some of how Duke will play in Amile’s absence. K pointed out that Duke would now have only a single big on the floor. He said this allowed Duke to space the perimeter more and (critically) to have the big post up lower (closer to the hoop). The spacing allowed Duke to drive to the hoop, which Brandon, Grayson, Matt and Derryck did with success. When Elon packed in to protect the rim, Duke was on fire from the perimeter, dropping 9 three pointers on Elon in the first half. Coach K didn’t channel Balanchine to describe the offense, but he made my Balanchine point dramatically: “we had so many run outs where the ball moved so fast, you didn’t know who scored; just that we scored.” I think that’s how Balanchine would have choreographed the fast break!

Coach K called off the dogs at half time, “no fast breaks unless on an open court turnover”.

Grayson and Brandon outscored Elon by themselves in the first half 35-31. Grayson had 15 in that half and looked energized. Because of his leaping ability, he is able to gather himself and square up to the rim while he is in the air. Suddenly difficult shots become easier because he is squared up and freed up close to the rim. He was 6-12 from inside the arc on circus shots, and 1-3 behind it. Coach K said that while Grayson was recovering, he was not fully recovered from the flu. Allen was bedridden for several days after the Utah game and lost 9 pounds. He seemed to tire in the second half, playing less than normal and scoring only 2 points. In 28 minutes, he handed out 5 assists, made 3 steals while turning it over only once and committing only 1 foul. Brandon was All-World, dropping 20 on Elon in the first half. In four games he has gone from “hasn’t yet adjusted to the speed of the college game” to a likely lottery pick next spring. Not bad in four games against less than top flight opposition. He was simply a man among boys against Elon. In 31 minutes, he had a virtually flawless stat line (he missed a free throw for a flaw) scoring a game high 26 on only 16 shots (11-16; 3-6; and 1-2) and controlling Duke’s defensive boards (10 of his 11 rebounds on the defensive end). He added 3 steals and an assist without a turnover. Everyone contributed. Matt, as usual, played the game high number of minutes — 35. Coach K does not seem to feel comfortable without Matt and his defensive tenacity on the floor. Here is why: in 35 minutes, Matt scored 17 on only 11 shots (6-11; 3-7; and 2-3 from the line) while grabbing 6 boards and dishing out 3 assists with only a single turnover. Luke did not start, but played as many minutes as Grayson (28) and continued his exemplary play. He grabbed 6 boards, handed out 4 assists, made 2 steals while turning it over only twice. He contributed 18 points, second high scorer on the team after Brandon, though when the top 4 scorers contribute 26, 18, 17 and 17, you can call the scoring balanced. Though Luke was only 5-12 from the field, 4 of his field goals were 3s (out of 8 attempts), and Luke was 4-4 from the line. He is on pace to be Duke’s all time best foul shooter. He is 38-40 for the year; just about 95%. Derryck played 32 minutes and you can see his confidence grow. He played more minutes (32) than any other player besides Matt. He scored 12 (5-11; 1-4; and 1-1 from the line) to go with 3 assists, a steal, a block and 2 boards with only a single turnover (a big statistic for Thornton).

This game is the first time that I have been impressed with Chase Jeter. He contributed to the big run with shots (2-3, though he’s still raw when he gets the ball), rebounds and defense. Even though Marshall had a double double in only 20 minutes of action (3-6 from the field and 4-6 from the line for 10 points to go with 11 rebounds; 5 on offense), I thought Duke was better with Jeter on the floor — at least at the defensive end. He is simply much more mobile on defense than Marshall. BTW, in the first half Duke missed only 19 shots, but collected 12 offensive rebounds. Chase contributed 15 minutes, grabbing 5 boards and scoring 5 (all in the first half). Of course, until Jeter (wearing # 2 of course) can perform at such a high level against highly regarded opponents, the rotation will be essentially 6 until Amile returns.

Amile had the cast removed and is in a walking boot. While there is no timetable for his return, Coach K was pleased that the healing is proceeding apace and there have been no setbacks.

Long Beach State tomorrow and the ACC schedule begins on Saturday against BC.

DUKE 103 – LONG BEACH STATE 81

For the first fifteen minutes, I was wondering who were these imposters wearing Duke uniforms? The Blue Devils were down eight points when the Grayson Allen we have been waiting for the last two games recovered from his post flu blues to turn the Blue Devils into the Red Hot Devils and sparked a patented 22-4 run to bracket halftime. It was Grayson in his All-American mode: 33 points (24 in the final twenty minutes), 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and a defensive trailing hustle play that had him flying off the court and, in a Bo Jackson imitation, halfway down the tunnel to the dressing room. One of his assists was a drive and pass to Marshall Plumlee under the basket for a no look, two hand, back hand jam (shades of MP2) that brought the house down.

Unsurprisingly, it was Matt Jones (21 points, 5 assists) and, surprisingly, Derryck Thornton (19 points, 5 assists) who played his best game, that kept The Beach Boys from running away with the first half. I always feel that if Duke can stay within a single digit deficit, Coach K’s half time attitude and strategy adjustments will turn a game around. This was classic Krzyzewski basketball: attack the basket, get into free throw penalties, hit a high percentage (28-32 today) of free throws, protect the ball, attack defensively by overplaying and cutting off the passing lanes, create turnovers, and turn steals into easy fast break points. Simple concept but difficult to execute with any degree of consistency.

The disconcerting news is that the Devils were out rebounded and the defense gave up 81 points—that’s enough points to win most games. Duke will not score 100 points against every team. And, oh yes, K used basically a six man rotation as Chase Jeter once again could not keep up with the speed of the college game, got a quick hook and did not re-enter the game until the outcome was no longer in doubt. Obi had a one minute cameo at the end.

Other observations:

Long Beach State Head Coach Dan Monson: “I brought my two boys with me. They’re the only two guys on our bench that didn’t have a turnover today…You can’t simulate that kind of pressure that Duke put on us… I really appreciate Coach Krzyzewski letting us come in here. It’s an honor to play in iconic Cameron against this historic program. I just wish we would have played a little bit better.”
DBP fan Jack Simermeyer writes: Did you notice that Marquette extended Steve’s contract to the 21-22 season? In addition, Cris Collin’s Northwestern team is off to the best start in school history at 13-1 and Bobby Hurley’s Arizona State is currently 10-3 with wins over Belmont (no easy feat) NC State, Creighton and Texas A&M.
My wife observed that she feels encouraged when she knows there are millennials like Marshall Plumlee, who has many employment options, volunteers to serve the country in the military.
This was win number 1,028 for Coach K and an incredible 125 straight (that’s 16 years folks)wins versus non-conference opponents in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Next game: Saturday, January 2. Boston College @ 4:30 on Comcast or Fox South.

Alan Adds:

The Duke offense reminded me of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde against Long Beach State. After a 70 point half against Elon, The Blue Devils laid 61 on LBS in the second half. Add a closing run in the first half and you had to endure Hyde only for the first 16 minutes of the game. Endure is the correct word. With 4:06 left in the first half, LBS led by 6. Luke, Brandon and Grayson were a combined 1-12 from the field; Duke was being out rebounded 16-6; and, LBS won every 50-50 ball. LBS was shooting 52%; if LBS was not foul and turnover prone, Duke would have been behind by 20. After only 3 and 1/2 minutes, Duke had committed 3 fouls and trailed 10-5. Enter Jeter for a seemingly immobile Plumlee. Chase gave up a put back basket even though he had inside position; turned it over twice and committed an offensive foul in a minute and a half. Marshall came back in. Then with 3:46 left in the first half, it all changed. Duke outscored LBS by 12 in that span even though the Devils only made 2 field goals (a 3 by Grayson and a bucket by Kennard). Duke made 11-12 from the line to take control of the game.

When asked about Duke’s explosive second half, Coach K pointed out that scoring from the foul line is scoring without the clock moving. Makes for a high scoring game when a team fouls as much as LBS did. The second half marked the return of Grayson Allen to health and stardom. “Thank God for Grayson,” Coach K said at the press conference, “he rescued us.” K pointed out that Grayson was a complete offensive player because he can score in all 3 important ways: from behind the arc, from inside the arc, and he has the knack for getting fouled and is a superb foul shooter. He was 15-17 against LBS, but the real surprise was that he missed 2. Allen played 35 minutes scoring 24 of his season high 33 points in the second half. Coach K said Brandon could also do that and that Luke was on his way to that status. Duke has scorers. As Bill pointed out, Derryck had an amazing shooting game and played well over all.

Duke played its shortest rotation of the year. Obi had a minute at the end. Chase got several minutes at garbage time for a total of only 9 minutes in the game and failed to score. So, it was basically a 6 man rotation with Luke playing 21 minutes off the bench (he missed a foul shot and is now 40-45 for the year from the line). He had 2 field goals (1-4 from behind the arc and 1-2 from near the rim) to go with 4-5 from the line for 9 points. He also contributed 4 defensive rebounds, a steal, an assist and a block. After that, it was the starters, who each played from 30 to 38 minutes. 55 of Duke’s 64 shot attempts were evenly divided among Matt (14), Grayson (15), Brandon (14) and Derryck (12). Marshall was 3-3 which along with Luke’s 6 attempts constituted the other 9.

Matt was again a virtual Iron Man (remember he played all 45 minutes against Utah) logging 38 minutes, scoring 21 on 6-14; 4-7; and 5-6 from the line. Critically, he dished out 5 assists, against 0 turnovers. He also corralled 4 boards to go with a steal and a block. Coach K has called him the heart of the team. He is Mr. Reliable and Mr. Clutch. He doesn’t garner the splash that Grayson and Brandon get, but he may be Duke’s MVP. Grayson and Derryck were superb. Matt, Grayson (6) and Derryck (5) handed out 16 of Duke’s 18 assists. Thornton played only 30 minutes (he picked up his 3rd foul in the first half), but is really coming on as a ball handler and as a defender. He was 8-12 (2-3 from 3land) for 18 points. He has a very reliable jump shot, good shot selection (the key) ,and made some acrobatic drives to the rim. He also committed only one foul in the second half with 5 minutes to go. His progress is a welcome development.

Brandon did not have a good shooting game (5-14; 2-7 from behind the arc), but in his 35 minutes played an excellent floor game. He made both free throws, collected 5 boards, a steal and handed out an assist without a turnover. He deflected balls and played some terrific defense. Marshall played 31 minutes, adding 2-2 from the line for a perfect shooting night and 8 points. He was Duke’s main rebounder with 10 and blocked 2 shots.

Coach K was very satisfied with the 11-2 pre-conference schedule. Now the conference season starts with a trip to BC on Saturday. It is a wide open ACC it seems to me. UVA and UNC are the top two teams. Other teams that seem formidable are (along with Duke) Florida State, Louisville, Miami, NC State and perhaps Notre Dame. Next Play.

DUKE 81 – BOSTON COLLEGE 64

The Blue Devils started sluggishly, played well in spots, and came away with a road win against one of, if not the, weakest ACC teams. And, by the way, Duke was the only ACC team to win Saturday on the road.

The good news is that although there were a few moments of concern, no one appeared to be injured. However, Grayson Allen took a header—what else is new– on a fast break slam but played on. Thereafter, he was unusually passive offensively but that may because he was playing most of the second half with three fouls. There was no let up defensively as his line was 17 pts, 9 rebs, 5 assists, 3 stls. The other goods news is that Ingram (25 pts, 9 rebs) and Kennard (17 pts) stepped up in the second half and played like veterans. Since Jefferson’s injury, Kennard has scored 24, 18, 9 and 17 to average 21 ppg. Nevertheless, points, while welcomed, are the least of Amile Jefferson’s contributions to the team.

The bad news is that Jefferson is in a walking cast but cannot put any weight on it.

As Alan points out, Thornton played less minutes than any starter or the sixth man, Luke Kennard. He had two, then three quick fouls because he had difficulty defending Eli Carter, who is an impressive player. I have felt for some time that Grayson, Matt, and now Brandon and Luke can penetrate better off the dribble than Derryck and are better defensively, so what is the point of a “traditional” point guard? Anytime Duke needs points, give the ball to Grayson, the best playmaker and foul shooter on the team, and let him do his thing. It worked last year with Ty Jones.
Other Observations:

 Christian McCaffrey, the sensational Stanford sophomore running back who was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, is the brother of Duke senior receiver Max McCaffrey. They are the grandsons of Duke athletic legend Dave Sime. If you missed the Rose Bowl, go to YouTube and type: Christian McCaffrey 2016 Rose Bowl Highlights to view video highlights of Christian’s record breaking performance: 368 all-purpose yards– and had another 73 yard touchdown run nullified because of a needless holding penalty twenty yards from the goal line. McCaffrey smashed Barry Sanders’ long standing NCAA record for all-purpose yardage in a season – an amazing 3,864 yards. When I first read about Christian, I was interested in seeing him in action for a variety of reasons not the least of which that I was curious to know what kind of runner could survive the punishment in this day and age as a running back, a receiver, a punt and kick-off returner. At first, I was unimpressed. He looked like a smallish walk-on who only suited up for home games and didn’t appear to run particularly hard or fast. Boy, was I wrong. The really great athletes never look like they are trying hard. Christian has a unique style all his own. He sort of patiently glides along with short steps, reads his blockers until he sees and opening, accelerates quickly through the opening, then in the open field changes lanes to avoid tacklers without losing speed. He has about four gears of speed and rarely does he take a direct hit. Christian reminds me of a combination of Frank Gifford’s graceful patience and Gayle Sayers’ open field redirection illusiveness.

 Mike Gminski was one of the announcers who was his usual intelligent, knowledgeable self.

 This was win number 1,029 for Coach K.

 Next game: at Wake Forest. Wednesday January6@ 7:00 on ESPNU
Alan Adds:

The first half was a tiny microcosm of Duke’s offense during Amile’s absence, and showed how teams may try and defend. In recent games, Duke has shredded defenses by driving the ball for efficient offense — a large part generated by drawing fouls and converting. BC packed its defense in to stop the drive in favor of giving up open 3 point looks. Duke could not put the ball in the ocean from behind the arc in the first half. After 7 minutes and 10 seconds had elapsed, Duke had scored a whopping 6 points and trailed 12-6. Duke made only a single 3 in its first 12 shots (2-13 for the half after Matt hit a 3 with under a minute to go giving Duke separation). With 6:55 left in the first half, and Duke clinging to a 1 point lead (18-17), the complexion of the game changed completely. After missing its first two free throws early (Matt and — gasp! — Luke), Duke made 8 straight free throws beginning with Chase Jeter sinking a pair. Duke got fouled on drives after turning BC over — Luke hit both of his and Grayson made 4 in a row to give Duke a 9 point lead. Then the shots started to fall and BC never reduced the lead to single digits again. In the last 3:47, Duke hit 5 baskets from the field from 4 different players, including the aforementioned 3 from Matt. Brandon hit a dunk and a jumper (also missed a 3), while Luke scored on an acrobatic lay-up followed by Grayson’s dunk. Four of the baskets came on assists (Marshall to Grayson; Matt to Brandon twice; and Brandon to Matt for the 3). In the second half Duke was 5-10 from 3land. It was quite beautiful.

My big question is “What is the Derryck Thornton story?” No mention of any problem in Coach K press conference or in any articles, but Derryck played only 15 minutes, when he has been playing starter minutes in all of the recent games, He scored one field goal; a missed 3; and a free throw, a steal, an assist and a rebound). However, he turned it over 3 times early, and played little after that.

Coach K noted that Duke had not played any efficient defense against Long Beach State, but thought the defense was basically very good — if not consistent — against BC. He acknowledged that the BC mini-run in toward the end of the second half (reducing a 21 point lead to 11) was fueled by Duke’s vulnerability to the backdoor cut. Coach K also said he thought the defense got tired in the last 5 minutes and stopped talking. The rotation was very short (again) since Derryck logged only 15 minutes and Jeter’s appearance was limited to a cameo (6 minutes; about 3 in each half). The four other starters (Derryck started) played heavy minutes and Luke logged 27. Coach K singled out Marshall for praise even though he did not score from the field and was 1-4 from the line in his 34 minutes. His stat line was modest: 5 boards, an assist plus 2 steals. Coach K said that Marshall has become the voice and leader of the defense (taking up some of the slack caused by Amile’s absence). “He kept us coordinated.” Also only 3 fouls in 34 minutes.

Duke has 4 scorers, any one of which can erupt for big games. Against BC, all had efficient games. Brandon led the way with 25 points on 18 shots in his iron man stint of 40 minutes (9-18; 4-9 from 3land; 3-4 from the line) to go with a spectacular floor game. Brandon had 9 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal. Matt, who is now being acknowledged by the media as the glue to this team, was efficient in his 38 minutes, scoring 16 on only 10 shots (5-10; 3-7 from 3land and 3-5 from the line) to go with 3 steals, 2 assists 2 rebounds and a block. In his 39 minutes, Grayson was even more efficient, scoring 17 on only 8 shots (5-8; 0-1 from behind the arc; and 7-8 from the line). His floor game was simply dazzling: 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. He fouled Carter out of the game and played terrific defense. He made one play where he stole the ball and outran the BC defense while dribbling. He made acrobatic shots in the lane. Coach K called him “a unique player; really, really good”. Note that those 3 starters were out of the game for a combined 3 minutes! This is a short rotation!

Luke had a simply outstanding game, even if his 3 point shot is still missing in action (1-5). He played 27 scintillating minutes, showing great dribbling skills and acrobatic skills around the hoop (scoring on two twisting right hand floaters). He was 6-6 from inside the arc and 2-3 from the line for his 17 points. He also grabbed 5 boards and handed out a couple of assists and made a block.

On Wednesday, Duke journeys to Wake Forest, which has a very long front line, a deep bench, and has been playing surprising well. It will be a revealing test for this thin but talented team.

DUKE 91- WAKE FOREST 75

Ever since Amile Jefferson was injured, Duke fans have been apprehensive about what would happen in games when one of the starting six got in foul trouble. Well, they found out tonight in spades as both Matt Jones, then Grayson Allen received their fourth foul early in the second half on two John McEnroe (“You cannot be serious” ) calls. But these kind of things will happen—especially on the road. Situations like this really test the maturity and mental toughness of players and the coaches. Score that Duke 2 (team & K), Wake 0 (Thomas, team & Manning), because the turning point of the game probably occurred when Devin Thomas, who had been virtually unstoppable, stopped himself by committing an unnecessary technical—his third foul—and a seat on the bench. When Devin returned, he quickly picked up a fourth and another frustrating view of the game from the sidelines. For some reason, Coach Manning let Duke, led by Luke Kennard and Marshall Plumlee, take the game over without reinserting his senior star until the game was out of reach.

Coach K has talked about letting his stars play with three or four fouls in the pre-conference games so that they learn how to play with fouls. Tonight, for eight tenuous minutes, he alternated his two irreplaceable players so that one of them would be available for the final critical minutes—but both were on the floor as neither fouled out.

The good news is that Ingram (17 pts) , then Kennard (23 pts) stepped into the breach. Luke, in particular, has developed into a terrific penetrator off the dribble and is the best free throw shooter in the conference. However, it was Marshall Plumlee (18 pts) who was ready, willing and able to be a finisher off feeds from a variety of players. And speaking of all important free throws, Duke was 25-27; Wake was 12-20. Once again, the winning Coach K strategy was making more free throw than the other team takes. And, oh yes, Grayson Allen had 24 points on 10 shots in only 32 minutes.

Rising to this kind of challenge in this kind of hostile environment will accelerate the development of the freshman so that when Jefferson returns, the Blue Devils will be a more formidable team.

Other Observations:

My basketball buddy, Johnny Tar Heel contends that Coach K is worth ten bench points against Roy Williams. Well, tonight he was worth about fifteen against Coach Manning.

Krzyzewski: “It didn’t look good, let’s put it that way. There were times we couldn’t defend or rebound. We tried a 1-3-1 and a 2-3. Nothing worked… Our guys just fought and fought… We shortened the game, played smart and looked for match ups. …Marshall was sensational 7-7 and 4-4…Luke was terrific…It was a great win, a big time win.”

Plumlee: ”There was some locker room talk (at halftime) but the underlying theme was, coach believes in me just like he believes in every one of us. And when you have belief of your teammates and a great coaching staff, you feel like you can take on the world.”

With all the focus and publicity on one-and-done players, it does one’s heart and head good to watch Marshall Plumlee, a fifth year medical redshirt but always an enthusiastic and supportive teammate, have the well-deserved success that he is having this year. Incidentally, the last time I can remember a Duke center not missing a shot from the floor and the line was Laettner against Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament. However, the degree of difficulty of Christian’s was much different.

Next game: Virginia Tech. Saturday January 9@12:00 on ACC Network.

Alan Adds:

It was a tale of two completely different halves. Leaving Duke’s devastatingly efficient offense for the moment, the first half was a defensive nightmare for the Devils even though Duke had a 50-47 lead at the half. Duke could not guard anyone (47 points in a half is porous defense) and could not rebound the ball. Devon Thomas, Wake’s center, had a huge first half, completely outplaying Marshall, who had 0 rebounds and 0 blocks while scoring 4 points and picking up a pair of fouls. Devan scored 17 in the opening half; Duke had no answers for him. There were 17 caroms of Duke’s defensive boards — Wake got 10 to Duke’s 7, scoring on second (and third) chance points on the few times that Duke made Wake miss. Wake, in addition to killing Duke on its offensive boards, shot 55% in the first half (15-25 from inside the arc). The Deacons had 11 assists on 18 hoops, while Duke headed to obvious foul trouble, committing 11 in the opening stanza. Duke’s superb offense negated the stunningly porous defense with some excellent shooting. Grayson had 17 in the opening half (6-7 from the field; 2-3 from 3land; and 3-4 from the line) while Brandon was also scintillating, dropping 14 (4-8; 2-3; 4-4) on the Deacons. Duke shot 60% (18-30; 5-10 from behind the arc; 9-10 from the line. Luke contributed 8 points on 3-5 shooting and 2-2 from the line. He missed his only 3 and never tried another. He became a driver with a delicate touch at the rim with either hand.

For Duke fans, the second half was nail biting pleasure. The worm turned when, with 18:06 to play in the closing half, Devin picked up his third foul (a technical). For all intents and purposes, it dramatically slowed his otherwise amazing night. He made only 2 field goals in the second half, missing both free throws. He made one of his two field goals, cutting Duke’s lead to 2 with 9 minutes to go. He had played sparingly after the technical (his third personal — in college, technicals are also counted as personal fouls), and picked up his 4th foul with 8 minutes to go. By the time Manning reinserted him into the game with less than 3 minutes to go, it was already over. Duke held Wake to 28 in the second half — 26 after Wake’s opening layup cut the lead to a single point. Duke’s foul trouble, brewing in the first half materialized in the second when both Matt Jones and Grayson picked up a fourth foul very early in the half. Each played a bit less than usual because of the foul trouble. Grayson (32 minutes) had 7 second half points (a 3; 2 misses from inside the arc and 4-4 from the line), while Matt (26 minutes) had his least productive game of the year. He scored the opening deuce for Duke in the first half, and did not score again (1-8; 0-6 without getting to the line). After the game, Coach K revealed that Matt had turned an ankle in practice. K said that the team had to be very careful because it was so thin. “We are on an edge all the time.”

The shortness of the rotation was clearly a factor. Jeter logged only 7 minutes (a foul was his only entry in the box score); Obi made a cameo at the end of the first half (a rebound, a turnover and a foul), necessitated by Duke’s foul trouble. Brandon played a superb floor game, even if he only scored 3 in the second half (1-5 from the field; 0-2 from 3land, and 1-2 from the line in the second half), claiming 5 boards, making 4 blocks, and making 3 steals while handing out 3 assists. He is so valuable on the floor (39 minutes to lead Duke in minutes played) even when he is missing his shots. Derryck played 29 minutes, looking good in the first half; not so much in the closing stanza. He was 2-4 (1-1 from 3land) for 5 points in the first half. He scored on a layup in the second half that was quite spectacular, but was otherwise 0-4 from the field, finishing with only 7 points. He handed out 2 assists in the first half, but 0 in the second.

The stars of the second half, and perhaps the game, were Marshall and Luke. Coach K lauded Marshall has “sensational; not just good, but perfect.” He was 7-7 from the field and 4-4 from the line as he finished quite spectacularly and gave Duke a presence on the boards that the Devils sorely lacked in the first half. In just the second half, Marshall was 5-5 on flushes and 4-4 from the line. He finished the game with 7 boards and 2 blocks — 5 rebounds and both blocks coming in the second half. With Devan either on the bench or his defense limited by his foul problems (he eventually fouled out), Marshall simply took over the inside game on both ends of the court. Coach K pointed out that Duke really has not had that kind of post presence this year. He was also sensational on the defensive end, receiving high praise from Coach K for Duke’s defensive turn around in the closing stanza. Marshall logged 34 minutes overall and only committed one foul in the second half, finishing with 18 for the game. He only came out in the last two minutes when Coach K wanted his 5 best free throw shooters on the court. Although Luke has played well and been a substantial scorer since Amile went down, I thought that this was his best game to date. He demonstrated athleticism that has not been discussed much. He has not been able to drill the 3 ball, even though his reputation coming in was as a long range shooter. He never attempted a 3 after he missed his first (his shot selection is good; it is hard to understand why his 3s are not falling), but he put on a clinic of how to drive to the basket either scoring, getting fouled, or both. He played 32 scintillating minutes and was spectacular in the second half after a very good first half. In the second half he scored 15, but all of them came in the last 10 minutes of the game when it really counted and when Duke pulled away. You could say he took over the game, slithering through the Wake defense for an array of breathtaking drives (he scored with either hand) and going 9-9 from the line when he was fouled. He was 4-6 from the field in the closing stanza. His stat line for the half is quite amazing: 4 boards, 3 assists, and a steal without a turnover. He is playing great defense and is a force off the boards. His emergence has been how Duke has compensated for Amile’s absence.

This team is becoming quite lovable. Coach K said, “We are a good team, but not yet a really good team.” “This was a great win for us, considering the circumstances. We played a great second half and faced a lot of adversity. He said that how Duke played in the second half was not the game plan. He said you have to adjust to what the game gives you. This game gave Duke the driving lanes in the second half. “We spread the floor to drive; not for one guy. We were looking for favorable match-ups for the drives. You have to adjust, and this team adjusted on a high level tonight.”

DUKE 82 – VIRGINIA TECH 58

Duke got off to an uncharacteristically fast start racing to a 15-4 lead, played twenty minutes of their best defense by holding the Hokies to 28% shooting from the floor, and never looked back. Leading 50-23 at the half, they suddenly appeared sluggish and played the final twenty minutes on cruise control. Unfortunately, it was more cruise than control, because they were outscored 35-32. The key to the fast start was Ingram and Allen hitting two threes apiece, then everyone attacking off the dribble. Consequently, the Blue Devils were into the bonus in the first five minutes and the double bonus after twelve minutes—and you know what that means.

Brandon Ingram’s rapid development has been well documented. However, less expected and even more interesting and meaningful due to Jefferson’s injury has been that of Marshall Plumlee. Granted the last several games, except for Devin Thomas, he has not been facing premier big men but nevertheless he has played like a man among boys. Today he had 21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks. Without Jefferson, MP3 is the only low post presence so he has more room to maneuver, and his teammates are looking for him. Where his confidence shows the most is at the foul line. Today, he was 9-10. That follows 4-4 against Wake. His stroke and touch at the line has been become very sound. The numbers are from a player who scored only 87 points all of last season. He scored more points this week than in the entire 2014 season. “I’m fortunate to play with some really talented teammate who draw a lot of attention,” Plumlee commented. “When you have guys like Brandon Ingram and Grayson Allen getting into the lane every possession, they draw a lot of attention and that leaves openings for me or another teammate.”

Other Observations:

Duke held a moment of silence in honor of late former coach Bill Foster, who died this week at the age of 86. Here is a heartfelt and accurate remembrance of Coach Foster by a Duke alumnus: “As the coach of the Duke men’s basketball team in the mid to late 1970s, he resurrected a once proud but by-then sadly atrophied Duke basketball program from the malaise of the post-Bubas era into a formidable force. Through his leadership Duke reached the dizzying heights of the NCAA championship game, recruiting and leading luminary Devils like Jim Spanarkel, Mike Gminski, Gene Banks, Kenny Dennard, John Harrell, Bob Bender and others. He was coach during my Duke tenure, often seen walking on the quad, affable and happy to chat when he wasn’t in a hurry. Each of his eyebrows had a triangular peak in their middle, giving him a physical look of the Blue Devil himself. While I never understood his departure, seemingly at the peak of his coaching career for the decidedly less prestigious South Carolina, he tilled and fertilized the soil from which Coach Mike Krzyzewski would later harvest considerable bounty. Our thoughts are with Shirley, his daughters and friends during this difficult time of mourning and reflection.

While most focus on Brandon Ingram’s increased offense output, I suggest that his defensive improvement is even more impressive. Consider today’s line: 16 pts, 9 rebounds, 6 blocks, 2 assists and the fact that the most emotion and excitement the normally self-contained freshman showed was when he successfully took an offensive charge. Now that’s someone who is listening to his coach!

Who goes the length of the court faster, with more purpose, and finishes more emphatically than Grayson Allen?

Speaking of finishing at the rim, Grant Hill was at the game.

Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera, whose wife is a dedicated basketball fan, also attended and drew cheers when introduced during a timeout. His team went 15-1 to earn a bye and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

Next game: at Clemson. Wednesday 7:00pm on ESPN2

This week-end, Alan attended a conference in Park City, Utah. His flight was diverted because of weather and I didn’t get home until late last night. He has a pressing issue at his firm this morning and suggested I fly solo today.

DUKE 63- CLEMSON 68

One play rarely determines a game. However, one play can often change the momentum of a game and set the stage for other plays that do. Tonight, at the end of the first half with the shot clock off and Duke up by four points with the ball, Thornton shot a three with 10 seconds to go. (Every high school point guard knows that you start the dribble drive with ten seconds to go to get fouled or pass to an open player. In no case do you give the opposing team the opportunity to rebound a miss and score) and Clemson rushed the rebound down the court where Ingram committed his third foul. Big rookie mistake, make that two big rookie mistakes, because Ingram, for whom Clemson had no answers, had scored 15 first half points and was a second big defender and rebounder.

Then, with thirteen minutes to go Brandon committed a silly fourth foul and with ten minutes to go, Plumlee received his fourth foul (two of which were for moving picks). This is not Duke basketball. Since the Blue Devils started the game draining six threes and 10 of 11 shots to take the 28-16 lead, it looked like an easy outing and they were not as aggressive as usual– and the Tigers were. Then on the road and in foul trouble, the Tigers got hot, hit threes and the Devils went cold. Plumlee mishandled a dunkable pass, Luke got stripped a few times, Grayson missed two free throws (one of which was the front end of a one and one), and Clemson kept offensive rebounds alive. You could sense tide going out– a winnable game slipping away. Belatedly, Grayson Allen sparked a furious rally that was too little, too late. The stats tell the story: Duke was outrebounded 33-21 and were only 2-7 at the foul line (after averaging 20 made free-throws per game) versus 12-13 for Clemson. So, the bottom line is that except for the first seventeen minutes and two of the last three minutes, Duke played neither smart nor well.

Coach K had a testy assessment: “Our foul trouble, there is no answer to it. We don’t have alternatives. (Jeter had five fouls in four minutes on the floor.) Those guys have to stay out of foul trouble.”

Next game: Notre Dame @ Cameron. Saturday @ 2:00pm. ESPN

Alan Adds:

Perhaps we should give Brad Brownell, Clemson Coach, much credit for a great defensive game plan. Perhaps Coach Brownell has noticed Coach K’s strategy has been to win by drive and foul shooting when the game is on the line. Clemson gave Duke the open perimeter shot and closed down the driving lanes without committing fouls. Duke did not shoot a foul shot in the first half and only 7 for the game. Clemson had 5 blocks in the second half (the two in the first half were both made early against Derryck drives), effectively shutting down Duke’s driving game. In the second half, Duke was held to 28 points (11-29 from the field; 4-11 from behind the arc). Luke Kennard was held to a single field goal in the second half without getting to the line. Previously unstoppable around the rim, Luke was completely neutralized in the second half, after an 8 point (3-6; 2-4) first half. He finished playing 30 minutes scoring 10 on 4-11 (1-5 in the second half, missing his only 3 point attempt).

Even though he piled up 3 fouls in the first half and a 4th early in the second, Brandon logged 34 minutes, but the foul trouble ended his effectiveness on both ends of the floor in the second half. After a scintillating first half where he scored 15 on 8 shots (6-8; 3-3), Brandon missed all of his 3 shots from the field, making a foul shot in 2 tries for 16 for the game. Because of the foul trouble, Brandon played less aggressively on defense. Duke played a lot of zone because of the foul trouble, but the zone was ineffective because foul trouble mitigated Duke’s normal aggressiveness.

Duke was up 12 with 6:32 left in the first half. In the next 3 minutes, Duke missed all four shots, committed 2 fouls and a turnover. The defense, which had been efficient fell apart allowing Clemson to score on consecutive possessions – four field goals and two free throws. Only Brandon kept Duke in front, dropping in 3 straight field goals (including a 3 pointer) for 7 straight points, leaving Duke with a lead of 6 with 1:51 left. But Brandon, great as he is, is still a freshman. In the last 1:21 of the half, he committed 2 fouls (the last one with 1.6 left in the half) and a turnover. Duke missed its last 2 three point attempts (Luke and Derryck) while Clemson scored 4 to cut the lead to 2. As Bill astutely points out, the last 7 seconds put Duke in the hole.

Clemson completely dominated the interior as Landry Nnoko outplayed Marshall. In 36 minutes, Marshall scored 7 (3-5 from the field and 1-2 from the line) and pulled down 9 boards. But Nnoko got several critical offensive rebounds to allow Clemson to score after Duke had an initial stop. Marshall could not defend him. Chase Jeter set a record for fouling out in 4 minutes of startling inefficiency. Matt Jones, who has been Mr. Clutch and Mr. Reliable was neither, though he played excellent defense until the last part of the game. Matt missed a foul shot with 1:41 to go that would have tied the game and an air ball on a 3 that also would have tied the game with 6 seconds left. In 33 minutes he was 2-6 (1-5 from behind the arc) and missed his only foul shot. Clemson closed him down from driving and he just missed open 3s.

Coach K kept Derryck on the bench for much of the second half (perhaps as a result of his bonehead play at the end of the first half, but 1-6 from the field may have contributed). He played only 24 minutes, scoring 8 on 3-9 from the field (2-5 from 3land), but hauled down 4 boards and handed out 3 assists. He had his first two drives swatted away; it looked to me as if that dented his confidence. Duke was led by Grayson in the second half. After scoring 5 in the first half, Grayson kept Duke in the game in the second half with 12. In 39 minutes, he was an efficient 7-9 from the field (3-4 from 3land) but uncharacteristically missed both of his foul shots. He was heroic in defeat, I thought.

It is hard to win on the road in the ACC as favored visiting teams are learning. Duke has a small margin for error given the lack of depth. This will be a challenging season with a very difficult schedule in February. Amile is clearly needed.

DUKE 91 – NOTRE DAME 95

Duke fans, we have a problem. 1.) Coach K often makes a change when he is not happy with the way his team is playing and 2.) His teams rarely lose two games in a row, especially the second one in Cameron. 3.) After a rough, tough road trip, it is always a pleasure to come back home to friendly faces, friendly voices, and home cooking—and that is what Cameron Indoor stadium and the Crazies provide. However, up 50-45 at the half, I noted: “Have uneasy feeling I seen this game before—Wednesday night.” Wish I was wrong. In both games, the Blue Devils started fast with threes falling, did not play good defense, key starters got into foul trouble, opponent got hot, Duke goes cold, falls behind, makes a furious rally, only to fall short.

Jay Bilas made a cogent comment after Ingram’s fourth foul: “ You can get a basket back but you can’t get a foul back”. That should be one of the tattoos Brandon’s forearm. Nevertheless, in 29 minutes, he had 25 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 assists. Sure could have used him for forty minutes. Luke Kennard (30 points,8 rebounds, 1 steal) started in place of Derryck Thornton.

Anytime you let a team hang around, anything can happen—especially it seems, if it is Notre Dame. Three of the Irish prayer threes at the buzzer went in, Jackson, who was the player of the game, missed a short jumper on a crucial possession badly but it hit flush the four inch extension attaching the rim to the backboard, died, and dribbled into the basket. The last Irish free throw missed so badly it bounced to a Notre Dame player. These breaks are what makes college basketball so exciting.

Notre Dame outrebounded the Blue Devils 38-33, and finished with 18 second-chance points to Duke’s four. “Any stop is a big stop. When the ball is missed, get it, because there’s a good chance they’ll score if they get it,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said, referring to that discrepancy in second-chance scoring as “the story of the game.”

The good news is that Ingram and now Kennard are playing lights out basketball to augment Grayson Allen. The bad news is that for whatever reason, Matt Jones has regressed and Jeter is not ready for prime time. I love Matt Jones’ game but what would possess him to take the last game tying three from over near the tunnel to the locker room when he had Allen, Ingram and Kennard also on the floor spotting up for a three?

This team can score on anyone but, unfortunately, anyone can score on them. Until Amile Jefferson is back and approaching something like full strength, every game is a question mark, because there is little margin for error.

Other Thoughts:

Notre Dame Coach Mike Brey is the only one of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s assistants to beat him. He’s done it three times in the last 12 months.
This was Duke’s first home loss in just over a year, since Miami’s win on Jan. 13, 2015. The Blue Devils lost for the first time this season when scoring at least 79 points. They were 14-0 when scoring that many points, and 0-3 when failing to reach the 79-point mark.
This was a matchup of two of Division I’s most efficient offenses, with the Irish ranking second and the Blue Devils fourth in Ken Pomery’s adjusted offensive efficiency ratings. Notre Dame shot 50 percent — almost exactly what they arrived shooting as a team — while Duke finished at almost 52 percent. “We executed on offense, but defensively, we just didn’t execute,” Kennard said. “We didn’t keep the ball out of the paint. We didn’t rebound very well. Defensively, we’ve just got to pick it up a little bit.”

Next game: Syracuse @ Cameron. 7:00pm on ESPN

Alan Adds:

Almost like a mirror image of the loss to Clemson, Duke displayed extremely efficient offense, but a startling lack of defensive intensity, which combined with what can fairly be described as a disaster protecting its defensive backboard, led to a second very tough conference loss. Duke gave up 50 points in the second half, allowing the Fighting Irish to shoot 52 % from the field for the game (5-9 from behind the arc in the last stanza, after a 2-7 first half), which included a parade of layups under the Duke basket as well as 18 second chance points. Even so, Duke led by 88-87 with 47 seconds left after Grayson drained 2 free throws. Duke gave up points on the next 3 Notre Dame possessions, the big one coming on an offensive rebound by Auguste. With 35 seconds left, Colson scored on a conventional 3 point play (foul on Kennard); Matt missed a long (ill-advised?) three, and Jackson dropped in two free throws after a Kennard foul. Marshall made a dunk to cut it to 2; and Jackson was fouled by Derryck with 4 seconds left. When Jackson missed the free throw, Duke had life for a second, but Auguste grabbed the final Irish offensive rebound to seal Duke’s second straight conference loss.

Coach K was clear “the biggest thing was second chance points. It was hard to get stops, but when you get them, you have to rebound the ball. That was the main factor.” Coach K emphasized that many of the rebounds were in Duke hands before the carom ended up in a continued Notre Dame possession. When asked what Duke could do better, Coach K laughed and said, “catch the ball; close your hands around it and protect it.” He jokingly asked the reporter who had asked the question if he could do that and if he had any eligibility left.

In assessing this Duke team (with or without Amile), Coach K said “this is a good team, but not that good. But we are called Duke and we are coached by me.” His implication was clear that his team is not as good as its early season ranking. “We have a small margin and need to pay attention to detail.” He pointed out that with better foul shooting and defensive rebounding, Duke could easily be 5-0 in the conference instead of 3-2 with the truly difficult part of the schedule still in front of them.

While Coach K was effusive in his praise of Notre Dame as a team and both Colson (“he was magnificent; he’s a really good player”) and Demetrius Jackson (“he’s a pro; he has control of the game; he is perfect mentally”), it should be remembered that this Notre Dame team has lost to Monmouth, Indiana and Alabama outside of the conference and to Virginia and Pittsburg in the ACC. Before last night, Notre Dame’s only status win was over Iowa (The Irish also beat Illinois for 3 big Ten wins). Notre Dame is as challenged defensively as Duke; hence the 186 points scored. In short, ND is not nearly as good as Coach K lauded in his press conference.

It is time to ask the question, what has gone wrong with Matt Jones. In many ways, his decline is the difference between Duke winning close games and losing them. Matt played the full 40 minutes last night, but again did not have a Matt-like performance. He scored only 8 on 8 shots; was 2-5 from 3land and unexpectedly missed both of his foul shots. He got only 3 boards and handed out 3 assists against 2 turnovers. He committed only a single foul, but did not really help keep ND out of the paint or off the boards. He is still taking the critical shot, but he is no longer making it, as he did earlier. Duke will have a long season if Matt does not regain his early season form.

The rotation grows ever shorter. When Bill and I were at Duke, the team featured “the flaming five” (yes, I can name them but will spare you). Last night, Duke played basically only 5 players. Derryck logged just 14 minutes; Obi 2 and Jeter less than a minute. Derryck missed his only 2 shots; made both free throws, and basically was in the game only when Brandon was on the bench with 4 fouls. Obi was first big off the bench, and was fouled snaring a tough offensive rebound, but missed both free throws (negating the rebound; it was as if he didn’t get it). He never reappeared. Marshall played 39 minutes. His game dramatically improved in the last nine minutes of the game after he had been badly outplayed for the first 30 or so. He was 4-6 on dunks and missed his only free throw, and grabbed 9 boards.

Duke had 3 big-time scorers, whom the Irish could not stop. Brandon played terrifically when he reentered the game after being benched with his 4th foul (again). Against Clemson, the foul trouble limited him; against Notre Dame, he was heroic. He scored 25 points (11 in the second half) in his 25 minutes on the court. However, his defense (indeed the entire Duke defense — whether in zone or man) was less aggressive than usual because of the danger of foul trouble. Grayson logged 39 minutes scoring 18 on 5-11 from the field (2-6 from 3land) and 6-7 from the line. He led Duke with 6 assists against only a single turnover. Luke played 37 minutes and was outstanding, scoring a career high 30 on 16 shots (10-16; 4-6 from 3land and 6-7 from the line). He was Duke’s second best rebounder with 8. Coach K said, “those three kids can really score.” Matt has to make it, “those 4 kids can really score”.

Winning in this conference this year will be difficult, but the games are exciting. Will Amile come back to rescue this otherwise thin rotation? Stay tuned. To ESPN on Monday night at 7 when Syracuse invades Cameron. Nothing will be easy this year.

DUKE 62 – SYRACUSE 64

Three in a row! Losses that is. If you can’t consistently defend, rebound, or score, you usually can’t win a game. Without a career game by Marshall Plumlee (19 points, 17 rebounds, 4 blocks), it would have been a blowout. Duke did not play well enough to win this game. Nevertheless, they again rallied but could not close the deal when, unlike two years ago, they got no help from the refs on two no calls on Matt Jones at the finish. Also, Greyson Allen’s three at the end of the half was correctly disallowed only after a video review—the ball was out of his hand but still barely on his fingertips.

At his press conference, Coach K was as clearly furious —but under control—at the referees swallowing their whistles at the end. He said the no call on Matt Jones’ rebound was an “amazing last play that was not rewarded… …the game can be incredibly great and rewarding or incredibly cruel and unfair. You can play hard and not rewarded… over the years, we have been very fortunate at being rewarded…recently not so much… right now this team is undermanned and under aged.

Luke Kennard, who went for thirty against Notre Dame was OH NO! for the game. Duke looked like they never saw a 2-3 zone before. Suggestion: either pass the ball around the perimeter faster than the defender can move or put Brandon Ingram in a high post at the foul line, pass the ball to him, let him face the basket to shoot, pass, or drive. The zone either has to collapse on him, leaving the guards open or he is free to do his thing. By the way, Brandon has to man up to the fact that he is playing power forward (and all the big boy defense and rebounding that requires) not a perimeter forward.

Unfortunately, injuries are part of the game and a team has to adjust to that reality. But some injuries have more impact than others. To channel and update Al Featherstone: Duke is 6-4 without Jefferson, losing one-possession (in the last 30 seconds) games to Utah, Clemson, Notre Dame, and Syracuse, none of which are confused with a top team. It is not biased to say that with Jefferson in the lineup, the games would not have come down to that or if it did, the Blue Devils would have lost all four games. Coach K pointed out how a few more free throws and/or one more defensive stop or foul call may have made the difference in all the games. That’s the difference between being 6-0 and 3-3. That’s the league though. Overall, except for Carolina, there’s not much difference in the teams. And it’s likely to remain that way for the rest of the season.

The Blue Devils need to figure some things out until Jefferson returns and Krzyzewski can start rebuilding the team for the postseason. That means winning the close games that have so far been eluding the Blue Devils.

Other Thoughts:

The Blue Devils made their comeback much more difficult by not being aggressive and not being in the bonus situation at the end of the game. Consequently, in the last fifteen seconds Coach Boeheim had his team foul Allen twice without putting him on the line and taking valuable seconds of the clock.

It is the first three-game losing streak for No. 20 Duke since the 2006-07 season. This will also surely break the team’s streak of 166 straight weeks in the AP Top 25 Poll.

Grayson Allen needs some personal one and one time with JJ Redick or Bobby Hurley. There are times like tonight that Allen goes ten minutes or so without taking a shot. The defense cannot be that good. He is the best scorer, best penetrator, best finisher, and best passer. There are times that the alpha player must just demand the ball and take over the game like he did scoring 9 points in the last few minutes of the first half.

Next game: Saturday @ North Carolina State. 2:00pm. CBS

Alan Adds:

Coach K said after the game that the game gives you great times, but also cruel ones. “We’re going through the cruel right now.” As Bill pointed out, Coach K described this Duke team as “undermanned, under aged, and doing a good job. The team has fought, and is playing well but hasn’t been rewarded.” He said losing should make you appreciate even more what you have accomplished in the past. He might have been talking to DBP readers. Pre-season, I wrote that Duke fans could spoil enjoyment of this season by unreasonable expectations. Without Amile, Duke is a middle of the ACC pack team (and there are a lot of good teams in the middle of the pack); not a contender for conference or (gasp!) national honors. Duke can neither defend nor rebound. When Duke cannot shoot, as happened last night, the Devils will lose to a mediocre (yes, I mean Syracuse) team that had lost 7 games coming into last night, including a shocking loss to St. John. Wisconsin and Georgetown beat Syracuse along with the first 4 ACC teams the Orange faced — Pitt, Clemson, Miami and UNC. I temper that assessment because of the return of Boeheim to the sidelines that has marked a Syracuse turnaround. Remember 1995 and Gaudet taking over for Coach K; Duke sank like a stone.

If, as a fan, you like close exciting games going down to the wire and the last possession, this game was for you. If, as a fan, you like well played beautiful basketball, this game would turn your stomach. It was by any measuring stick and ugly game. Duke could not defend at all. Syracuse, as other teams have recently done, got to the rim with impunity. At crunch time, Thornton tried to defend Silent G at the top. Roberson (who grabbed more rebounds last night — 20 — than any other visiting player in the history of Cameron) set the screen. Thornton lost Gbinije, but did not switch to the roller, Roberson, who was then free on his way to the hoop. From there, Roberson either scored or dished for an easy deuce. Duke’s zone was tentative. Without Amile and more of a presence than just Marshall (who was heroic and played his best game ever), Syracuse dominated the paint (as did Clemson and Notre Dame). Syracuse out rebounded Duke off the Duke backboard — 26 offensive rebounds for the Orange; 24 defensive rebounds for Duke. Coach K said, “obviously, rebounding is a weakness for us with four perimeter players.” Marshall had 17 boards; and Brandon 11; no other Duke player had more than 4. So, in common with the games since Amile’s injury, Duke could not defend or rebound. But, Duke usually made up for such weakness with great scoring. Not last night.

Coach K pointed to a combination of great Syracuse defense and Duke missing wide open shots. The Orange zone was tremendously effective in thwarting Duke’s driving game. While the wings were active in closing out Duke’s 3 point attack from the corner, the zone was most effective in closing off Duke’s previously effective driving game. The telling statistic is that Duke shot only 9 free throws — 8 by Marshall (who missed 3) and 1 by Grayson. At the end, Grayson forced some acrobatic drives to score, but missed (and I thought was fouled) the critical driving attempt with 7 seconds to go and Duke trailing by a point. Matt got the rebound and was fouled, though it was not called (even if called it would only have been Syracuse’s 6th; so, it would have been non-shooting, but Duke would have had a few seconds to try and win the game). Coach K called the last plays “amazing” and admonished reporters to watch it. He used the word seven times in his press conference. He thought Matt and Grayson had made great winning plays, but “didn’t get rewarded.” With the driving lanes closed, Duke shot from the perimeter, launching 37 three point attempts, but hitting only 10. Luke played 28 minutes and — after heroically scoring 30 against Notre Dame — failed to score going 0-9 from the field (0-7 on open shots from behind the arc) and failing to get to the foul line. Matt wasn’t much better shooting 2-11, all from 3land. He played 32 minutes and finished the game with four fouls. He has logged huge minutes this season, and I think he is wearing down. His production has plummeted, and it is hard to find a different reason.

Derryck played an undistinguished first half (0-2; failing to score), but made 2 crucial 3s down the stretch when Coach K had him playing for the ineffective Luke. Still, he cannot defend, and is not a classic — or even effective — point guard (1 assist and 2 turnovers). In total he played 22 minutes scoring 6 on those 2 three pointers. Obi played 2 minutes, committing 1 foul to get in the box score. Marshall played the other 38 minutes at center and had the game of his life — 19 points, 17 rebounds and 4 blocks. He was 7-11 from the field and 5-8 from the line. His two misses with 5:38 to go and Duke trailing by 5 were his only bad. The ‘cuse scored a three right after to take its biggest lead of eight with 5:21 to go. Then Duke mounted its patented furious, but not quite adequate, comeback. Also, Marshall had 11 offensive boards, meaning he was less of a force protecting Duke’s defensive board (grabbing only 6). Small quibble, but given Duke’s glaring weakness protecting against offensive rebounds, worth mentioning.

Grayson played well in spurts. In 38 minutes, he was 7-15 from the field; 3-8 from deep; made his only foul shot for 18 points. But it was not a Grayson like game because he had only one rebound (he has been a great defensive rebounder this year) and only one assist. Syracuse did a terrific defensive job on him, and he still scored 18 and almost brought Duke all the way back. Brandon played the entire game (40 minutes) with a double double — 13 points and 11 boards. Still, Brandon won’t be a lottery pick on the basis of this game. He was 5-12; 3-8 from deep and shockingly did not get to the line in 40 minutes. He led Duke defensive rebounding with 7, but couldn’t keep Roberson off the glass or out of the paint. My take is Brandon was so worried about fouling that his aggressiveness was absent — especially in the paint on defense. He simply was not the disruptive defensive force that he has been for much of the season.

Duke has three straight road games — next Saturday at NC State; followed by a Monday game in Coral Gables against Miami. It will not be easy for the Devils to stop the bleeding.

Duke 88- North Carolina State 78

Everyone will sleep better tonight on the Duke Blue Planet as the one man and five boys team started slow but finished fast. To no one’s surprise, Coach K made a few changes: Luke Kennard started for Derryck Thornton and he took a page from Dean Smith and switched defenses back and forth from a 2-3 zone to a man-to-man to a zone press to no avail as State shot lights out (6-9) from three point land while Duke shot like the lights really were out (3-14).

In the second half (probably because Allen and Plumlee both had two fouls) Duke played mostly zone and State was 2-12 while Duke was 7-11. (Is that an indication of a trend?) The Blue Devils seemed more comfortable in the various zones in the second half and defended the three better which led to better rebounding off misses and more open floor fast breaks. And speaking of fast breaks, Grayson Allen is just sensational in the open floor—fast, elevates, hangs, finishes strong. He is not too bad in the half court sets either as he leads the team in assists. Check out this line: 34 minutes, 28 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists. Brandon Ingram (27 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists) held up his end. Luke Kennard chipped in 12 points and Matt Jones proved that it’s not necessarily how many points you score but when you score them as it was his eight strategic points which gave the Devils separation from the Pack. Unfortunately, Derryck Thornton just cannot seem to get over the rookie hump. He played for 20 minutes but made several mistakes which might have been critical in a different game. At one point Plumlee, let him know he needed to stop freelancing.

The three point shot is a game changer in more than the obvious one. When they go in, a team often looks and thinks like they are playing better than they actually are. And when they don’t, an opponent often gets a demoralizing fast break. In either scenario games can dramatically turn in a few possessions. Most teams cannot stay hot from beyond the arc for forty minutes and when they stop falling, a team often is impatient and does not run a half court set well.

It appeared to me that Duke’s better defense in the second half (aided by Cat Barbour losing some quickness due to an leg or ankle injury) and a more methodical offensive approach turned the momentum of the game. Passing the ball around the perimeter leads to contested threes. Penetration and kicking to an open player leads to uncontested threes. Grayson and Brandon are lethal off the dribble. Once they get past their man and/or penetrate a zone, the scoring options– especially shooting threes– are much easier. Allen and Ingram are going to get their twenty some points a game. The others just have to go to an open spot and wait for a pass if the penetrator is double teamed.

Other Comments:

Monday’s road game against Miami will be a stern test an indication if the State game was a false positive.
The winning number are: Duke +2 on threes; +3 on rebounds (after being beaten on the boards in each of its past three losses); +6 on free throws (made 14 of 18); +3 on steals; and +2 on blocks.
Jefferson was out of his boot and into a sneaker. Coach K says the bone has healed but he’s not there yet but working on walking right, exercising in pool… still thinks he is out for a “a while”. (If you can figure out what that means, drop me a line.)
NC State shot 6-of-9 (.667) from beyond the arc in the first half, the second straight game a Duke opponent shot 66.7 percent from beyond the arc in the opening half of a game. In the second half, Duke allowed the Wolfpack to shoot just 2-of-12 (.167).
Next game: Monday @ Miami 7:00 ESPN

Alan Adds:

Duke had a four day stretch of practices after losing to Syracuse, and Coach K said they used those days efficiently. “We were well prepared. We put in many new things that you cannot do in just a day or two.” He was referring to Duke’s unique defensive effort with varied defenses (shades of Vic Bubas). Although this was a tale of two completely different halves, Coach K saw it a bit differently. “When the ball goes in, it looks as if you are playing better than the other team. I don’t think NC State played better than Duke in the first half; they just shot better.” At halftime, I told my daughter exactly what Coach K said he told the team. Essentially, if Duke kept playing as in the first half and stayed the course; the law of averages would catch up with the Wolfpack in the second half. And indeed it did.

Duke played one of its best halves of the season, thwacking the Wolfpack 52-35 in the closing stanza. Duke was on fire from the filed in second half (17-24; 7-10 from deep — after a 3-15 first half from deep —; and 11-13 from the free throw line). Duke had 10 assists in the second half. It did not hurt the Blue Devil cause that State was simply missing the same shots in the second half that connected in the first half when Duke gave up 43 points. Grayson and Brandon had 26 of Duke’s 36 first half points, but Grayson was only 1-5 from behind the arc while Brandon (1-2); Luke (1-5); Derryck (0-2) and Matt (0-1) were all cold from deep. The supporting cast was not supporting until the second half. Brandon played like a lottery pick after the intermission. He logged 39 minutes, and poured in 15 second half points on 6-8 shooting from the field that included a dazzling assortment of drives, dunks and tip-ins to go with 3-4 from deep. He finished the game with 25 points on 16 shots to go with 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block. He was phenomenal. Grayson was Brandon’s equal, playing 34 minutes, sitting out only a few minutes after picking up his 3rd foul. After keeping Duke within contact in the first half, Grayson played a fabulous team game after intermission. He was 4-5 from the field on dextrous and acrobatic drives, and 4-4 from the line for 12 second half points — for a game high 28 (on 17 shots). He played much better defense in the second half and finished the game with 7 rebounds (4 in the second half) and 7 assists (5 in the second half) with only a single turnover (in the first half). He was phenomenal.

Coach K rightfully singled out Matt Jones for his clutch shooting. After a scoreless first half (continuing a five game drop off from his early season play), Matt erupted for his only 8 points of the game in the later part of the second half. With the score tied at 56 and 10:57 to go, Matt hit a crucial 3, then handed out an assist for a Brandon dunk at the 10 minute mark, and followed it up with another 3 with 9:26 left to give Duke a 10 point lead (Grayson had a layup in there with an assist from Brandon). Matt added two clutch free throws with a little over 2 minutes left. His 36 minutes were important for Duke. Perhaps this end game burst signals Matt’s return to form. Marshall was amazingly stalwart. He is in great physical condition as demonstrated by his 39 minute stint of full out running the court and playing hard. He sat only for the last 1:18 of the first half (Obi logged an uneventful 1:18) and cemented the Duke defense when it was effective. He scored 10 on 3-4 from dunk land and 4-6 from the line, to go with 8 rebounds (6 on offense) 2 assists, a steal, a block and critically 0 turnovers. Right now he is the Duke interior.

Luke’s game has declined after a brilliant stretch. In 31 minutes, Luke scored 12 on 4-12 shooting (2-8 from deep) and 2-2 from the line. Luke was 2-7 in the first half (1-5 as previously noted). Derryck basically only played to give the perimeter players short rest. He continues to make freshman mistakes on both ends of the court, but Coach K needs him to spell his perimeter players. In his 20 minutes, Derryck scored 5 but (key for a point guard) had 3 turnovers without an assist. However after a 1-3 first half with 2 misses from behind the arc, he made his only shot of the second half, a pretty critical 3.

Coach K said that he had used the long week of practice to prepare for both games — Monday against Miami, a stern test. He then looks forward to another long stretch to practice. All are hoping for Amile’s return, which seems likely from reports but is still without a time table. Bill, I think this means mid to late February, for what it is worth.

DUKE 80- GEORGIA TECH 71

Because he was not feeling well, Coach K remained at home in Durham and did not travel to Atlanta for the game. After watching Tech play over the top of what was generously labeled a zone defense and score 28 of their 40 points in the paint while shooting 58%, I was not feeling well myself as the opening twenty minutes were very painful to watch. I cannot remember a Duke team looking this inept on defense, even though the 2012-14 teams were also defensively deficient.

Fortunately, Coach Capel switched to man-to-man for the entire second half. It seemed to energize the team and kept Brandon Ingram down low for defending (4 blocks) and rebounding (10). Without Jefferson and Ingram playing on top of the 1-3-1 or 2-3, Duke is very undersized down low so Tech, a mediocre team at best, scored 40 first half points at will.

Of course, Greyson Allen scoring 27 points (7 rebounds & 4 assists) the easy way as his jump shot returned from vacation (7 threes) made a second half comeback much easier. As we know, there is a yin and yang to defense and offense that is the difference between winning and losing. Derryck Thornton (15 points) started for Luke Kennard and played perhaps his best game until the last few minutes when he neither managed the clock nor the ball well. And Luke, who leads college players in free throw percentage, sure came in handy in the last shaky two minutes.

The good news is that, despite the explosion of social media hatred, Krzyzewski is expected to be back for Saturday’s game against the Wolfpack. The not so good news is the return of the boot to Amile Jefferson’s injured right foot. He isn’t expected to be ready for the game against N.C. State or Monday’s with Louisville.

Other comments:

Grayson Allen fouled out. The refs were watching a different game than I was. Grayson certainly was not given the respect that the ten Wooden finalists, of which he is one, usually are. He was constantly getting roughed up and held but was called for defending himself. Nevertheless, he needs to be smarter about those situations
Stand-in Coach Capel appeared to be attempted to use a larger rotation but abandoned the idea when the reserves quickly demonstrated why they are seldom seen on the floor in prime time.
To be successful, this team needs to get better defensively with or without Jefferson. In 2012, Duke ranked 81st nationally in adjusted defensively efficiency, giving up an average of 0.97 points per possession. In 2013, Duke ranked 31st (0.93). In 2014, Duke ranked 116th (1.02). In 2015, Duke ranked 12th (0.92). And this year, Duke currently ranks 145th out of 315 Division-I teams (1.02). And the NCAA tournament fate of those Duke teams, in order: lost in round of 64 (Lehigh), Elite Eight (Louisville), lost in round of 64 (Mercer), National Champions and, if in the field, to be determined.
Next game: Saturday North Carolina State 2pm @ home. ESPN.

Alan Adds:

While the first half looked just as awful as the last 6 games — Duke’s defense was almost non-existent, Duke was dominated in the paint on both ends of the floor; holding close only on long range shooting — Duke’s scintillating second half on both ends of the floor soothed the panicking brows of the Devil faithful. Everyone, especially Coach Capel, agreed that the metamorphosis was engendered by the change in Duke’s defensive strategy. Capel modestly hid behind “we”, but it surely seemed as if it was his decision. Capel said that Coach K had the team well prepared — “we’d been practicing for Georgia Tech since Saturday” — and therefore knew the team could withstand Coach K’s absence. He also added that the team worked exclusively on a zone defense in preparation for the Yellow Jackets, and did not practice man-to-man at all. But the man to man changed everything. Compare the two halves.

In the first half, Duke allowed Ga. Tech to shoot 16 for 23 from inside the arc. Even with 2-8 from behind it, Tech shot over 58%. Duke gave up 28 points in the paint (40 overall) and was thoroughly out rebounded on both ends. Only Grayson’s 3-4 and Matt’s 2-4 from behind the arc kept Duke close (Duke was 6-13 in the opening half — Brandon was 1-3; Derryck and Luke each missed their only 3 point attempt). But, Duke was only 6-16 from inside the arc where Ga. Tech controlled the paint. Duke trailed by 1 with over 2 minutes to go in the half, and did not score again.

The second half saw the return of Duke basketball. The man-to-man defense was fierce and shut down the Yellow Jackets. Plumlee and Brandon restored order under the Duke defensive backboards — Brandon had 7 defensive boards in the second half, while Marshall grabbed 4. While Brandon had a terrible shooting night (3-15; 1-3 behind the arc), he played a wonderful game. On defense he blocked 4 in the second half, shoring up Duke’s interior defense. The Jackets could not contain his drives, continuously sending him to the line. He had a double-double in his 39 minutes (14 points, 7-8 from the line; 10 boards). Marshall, in 31 minutes, came within a dunk (or the two free throws he missed in his scoreless first half) of a double-double. He was 4-4 on dunks in the closing stanza and garnered 12 boards in the game (4 offensive) to help Duke regain control of the interior in the second half. He probably would have logged even more minutes if not for foul trouble (he finished with 4). That gave Chase Jeter 8 minutes. While he looked more comfortable and contributed a hoop and a key rebound, he still committed 4 fouls in his 8 minutes. Vrankovic was Capel’s choice (over Obi) for a single minute — a foul and a turnover.

Besides, Chase and Vrankovic, Duke’s only substitute was Luke Kennard who scored 8 in only 15 minutes. He was on the floor at the close of the game for his foul shooting (4-4). He missed his only 3 as his shooting woes from deep continue. Derryck Thornton’s outstanding second half contributed to Luke’s playing fewer minutes.

Duke’s run was a thing of beauty, followed by some fierce defense to control the game. With 11:47 left in the game, Duke led by 1. With 9:15 left, Duke led by 10. The streak included 2 layups by Thornton, Grayson’s three, a jump shot for two, and delicious dump off to Marshall for a dunk. With 10:04 left, Ga. Tech hit a field goal, giving them 55 points and a 7 point deficit. The Jacket’s next score came with 5:22 left, cutting Duke’s lead back to 15. Duke did not close the game out smoothly, however. Last year, it was Tyus and Quinn that controlled the game’s end. Last night, Derryck showed that, even though he played a wonderful second half, that he has much to learn. Derryck logged 30 minutes and was key to Duke’s win. After a dismal first half — 2-3 inside the arc, but 0-1 from deep with 0 assists — he finished the game with 15 points on 7-11 shooting (1-3 from deep). He dished out 3 assists as well. He made crucial shots and was an offensive force and did not commit a foul.

Matt played 39 minutes, scoring all of his 6 points in the first half on 2 long range shots. He was quiet in the second half on offense, but anchored the efficient defense. He is still not the offensive force that he was earlier in the year.

Grayson was not less than heroic, playing one of his best all-around games while shooting lights out — especially from deep. In 37 minutes he was 7-10 from deep (only 2-7 from inside the arc and 2-2 from the line) for his 27 points. His energy sparked Duke all over the floor in the second half. For the game he had 7 boards, 4 assists and a steal.

After the NC State game on Saturday, the schedule turns brutal: Louisville and Virginia at Cameron, followed by Louisville and UNC on the road.

DUKE 88- NORTH CAROLINA STATE 80

Duke responded to finally returning to the friendly embrace of Cameron and the Crazies for the first time in three weeks by hitting a season high 14 three point shots to go with 24 free throws—and they needed all of these advantages to beat a resilient N.C. State team, which the elusive Cat Barbour kept in the game. Just when the Pack would close the gap, the Blue Devils would rally with a basket or run of their own. Grayson Allen’s 28 points and 4 assists were not surprising, but Luke Kennard, who came off the bench on fire to add 26 well-timed points, was the other missing bookend today as Brandon Ingram only had 14 points ( 7 rebounds & 4 fouls). Marshall Plumlee had 12 rebounds but, as usual, Duke was outrebounded 38-29.

Derryck Thornton started, played well, and did a surprisingly good job defending Barbour in the first half. However, in the second no one could stay in front of the Cat as he continually created offense with points or assists. That seemed to effect Thornton’s offense as he suddenly became casual with a couple of passes on successive possessions, which let the Pack close the gap and quickly had a nice view of the game from the sidelines. This may have been a blessing in disguise as Luke had his ‘A” game until he also inexplicably made a freshman mistake and threw the ball away on an routine out of bounds play. So, despite all the offense, frustrating freshman mistakes contributed to a making it a closer game than it should have been. During the last few minutes with the Blue Devils clinging to a slim lead, Coach K switched Grayson Allen on Barbour and with some help from his friends, the Pack’s offense packed it in. On the other hand, the Blue Devils cashed in from the charity stripe where they were in the double bonus.

This game was a classic example of Coach K’s Winning Basketball 101. When threes are falling, the game is seductively easy. However, as the game winds down and the basket seems smaller, a team wants to be in the bonus, preferable double bonus, situation with the ball in the hands of the best foul shooters. Otherwise, a winnable game can slip away. How many times have we seen Duke win this way? Hundreds. Nerve wracking, but it never gets old.

Ingram and Jones both were in foul trouble in the second half. That probably contributed to the Blue Devils abandoning the man-to-man and employing a rotation of mostly zone schemes—utilizing a mix of 1-3-1, 2-3, and full-court pressure. Whatever the reason, I think a variety of defenses covers for some of this team’s defensive weaknesses. Until Jefferson returns (update: limited practice but not near full speed) these players need all of the tricks in Krzyzewski’s tool belt to win games.

Other comments:

You had the feeling that this might be Duke’s day when, late in the tight second half, a deflected ball in the congested lane rolled to the perimeter into the hands of a solitary Grayson Allen, who had time to check his feet and drain a three.

Blue Devil fans survived a scary moment midway through the first half, when Allen stepped on Barbour’s foot and turned his ankle while driving to the basket. Allen lay on the floor clutching his right ankle in pain and limped noticeably as he left the court. Fortunately, he returned a few minutes later.Also, MP3 lost on sneaker but played several possessions without it before leaving the game. His temporary replacement Chase Jeter is showing some signs of improvement.

No player on the floor was even born the last time N.C. State beat Duke with Krzyzewski on the bench at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was 1988. However, the Pack did beat them in 1995 when Coach K missed most of the season with back surgery.

If you haven’t heard, Louisville’s president voluntarily banned the team from all post season play. The Cardinals are under investigation by the NCAA for supplying “party girls” (aka prostitutes) to recruits and players. Coach Rick Pitino, who himself was involved in a sex scandal six years ago, claims he knew nothing about it. Apparently, the “plausible deniability” defense is not limited to political figures.

Next game: Louisville Monday 7:00 ESPN

Alan Adds:

The Duke season really starts now: Louisville, UVA, Louisville, UNC and Florida State in succession, with the second Louisville game and UNC on the road. What did the win over NC State yesterday auger for this coming gauntlet? First, it is hopeful to see freshman disappointments beginning to thrive. Derryck is now Coach K’s guy, who will start against Louisville and presumably for the rest of the year unless he plays himself out of the lineup. Although scoreless in the first half (0-2 from the field and 0-1 from the line), Derryck showed some flashes of maturing into a valuable player. He played outstanding defense on Cat Barber for 14 minutes and 19 seconds, dished out 2 assists and had 3 steals (0 turnovers). Unfortunately, with 5:41 to play in the first half, Derryck went under the screen and Cat hit a 3 to ignite; he scored 9 in the last 5:41 of the half.

In the second half, Derryck scored all 7 of his points in the game (2-2 from the field; 1 from deep; and 2-2 from the line). All points Duke desperately needed. The two turnovers at the start of the second half and some sloppiness down the stretch remind us that he is not only still a freshman, but one who would be playing in high school if he had not reclassified. Coach K recognizes how much his development will mean to the rest of the season. This is especially true as Matt’s offensive drop off continues, while he is still playing many minutes and contributing in significant ways. In his 35 minutes, Matt scored only a 3 pointer in the first half, finishing the game 1-5 from the field and adding a foul shot in the second half (1-2). He handed out 6 assists (3 in each half) and grabbed 3 boards. He had 2 turnovers, but both were in the first half. This team needs the offense that Matt was giving it early in the season. A word about Chase Jeter. Though he played only 4 minutes — all in the first half — he showed a little something. He scored a nice hoop, and grabbed a tough rebound. He was called for a block that the announcers agreed might have been called a charge. His downside came when he was gifted with a good pass on a screen and roll and drew the foul. However, missing both free throws, as he did, is the functional equivalent of a turnover. Still, I see the signs, and if Chase could come on a bit in the late season, it would be a godsend for this team.

Marshall played the entire game, but for Chase’s 4 minutes in the first half. Marshall’s stat line was accumulated almost all in the first half (3-5 for 6 points; 7 boards; a block and an assist). He was 1-4 from the line in the second half for 7 points. However, he solidified Duke’s defensive backboard (with Brandon) grabbing 5 defensive rebounds for a total of 11 defensive boards, plus his lone, but oh so valuable, offensive rebound of Brandon’s only missed free throw, that led to a Luke 3 for a Duke possession of 5 points. That was the back breaker. Brandon was solidly consistent, though not as spectacular as he has been in some games. He picked up his second foul with 8 minutes to go in the first half and sat out the rest of the half. Even in his abbreviated time, he scored 7 on 2-4 (1-2 from deep) and 2-2 from the line to go with 4 rebounds. He picked up his third foul within the first minute of the second half. Coach K elected to keep him in the game, and he played every minute of the second half without picking up his 4th foul. Coach K made much of this in his post-game press conference. He said playing through foul trouble and staying efficient was a learned skill, and he said Brandon was learning. Against Clemson, Brandon did not play well after the fouls mounted. Last night he was critical even though his shot was entirely missing in the latter stanza (1-6; 0-2 from deep). He drove and got fouled; going 6-7 from the line (4-5 in the second half). He accounted for 7 boards, 3 assists and 2 critical blocks for 14 points. He was, in his 32 minutes, the glue while Grayson and Luke simply starred.

When Luke shoots as he did against State, Duke is hard to beat. Luke took the most Duke shots (15), converting on 9 of them (6-11 from behind the arc) and 2-2 from the line for 26 points in 32 minutes of action. Luke was valuable besides his scoring, adding 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals for a superb game. He was unstoppable. Grayson was even more unstoppable, scoring 28 points on only 11 shots. The eleven shots is deceiving because I do not think a drive to the basket that draws a foul is counted as a missed shot. Grayson was a Wolfpack sinking 12-12 from the line (10-10 in the second half when it really counted). He missed only a single minute of playing time (when we all held our breath as he writhed in pain with a rolled ankle) and handed out 4 assists. It was, in my opinion, and All-American performance, reminding us of his pre-season NIT play.

With 15:39 to go, the score was tied at 52-52. State scored only a deuce in the next 5 minutes, and by then trailed by 13, with Luke and Grayson doing all the Duke scoring. It was the winning stretch fueled by really aggressive and excellent defense. Duke held on from there with clutch foul shooting (but defense that inexplicably turned porous).

For what it is worth, I think UVA has found its mojo and is now not only the best team in the ACC, but may be the best team in the country. My reason for that conclusion is UVA has found it defense. For most of the season, it has been missing. But in the last 3 games, the Cavaliers have held opponents to 47 points (Louisville at Louisville); 47 points (BC at home) and 50 points (Pitt at Pitt). The Louisville game will tell us much, and the next few games will define Duke’s season.

DUKE 72 – LOUISVILLE 65

Louisville beats #1 Carolina at home, then loses to unranked Duke on the road. Go figure. Oh, I guess the Hookers didn’t make the traveling squad. Sorry, cheap shot. Just couldn’t resist….

If you were told that Grayson Allen had scored 19 points in the first 20:15 of the game, then gone scoreless the final 19:45, how much would you have bet that Louisville had won? Personally, I would have bet the ranch–and would be looking for a place to bunk.

To quote that famous politician/comedian Bernie…err… Larry on SNL, this game was “HUGE, YUGE, WHATEVER” for Duke. Similar script as the State game. To repeat: “This game was another classic example of Coach K’s Winning Basketball 101. When threes are falling, the game is seductively easy. However, as the game winds down and the basket seems smaller, a team wants to be in the bonus, preferable double bonus, with the ball in the hands of the best foul shooters, attacking the basket, not cranking up threes. Otherwise, a winnable game can slip away. How many times have we seen Duke win this way? Hundreds. Nerve wracking, but it never gets old.” And speaking of old, this was the 1,000^th game in Cameron—and, thanks to free student seating in the late 1950’s, then satellites, Alan and I have enjoyed watching a great many of them.

Tonight, the Blue Devils went 10-for-12 from the free-throw line in the final 3:13. However, for some inexplicable reason the game was in the hands of freshmen—Thornton and Ingram. For every “No, No give the ball to Grayson or Luke” there was a “Yes, Yes, Nice Play!”

One thing for certain, the man-to-man defense has gotten better—and that was the catalyst for the win. Duke’s defense was terrific during the first 20 minutes, holding the Cardinals to shooting just 31.3% from the floor. Even better was Grayson Allen, who had almost half of Duke’s points as the Devils went to the locker room leading 35-24. In the second half, neither the defense nor the offense were are as efficient but when the game was on the line, the Blue Devils didn’t fold, they prevailed both defensively and offensively. For the entire game, Plumlee, who was a beast in the paint and Ingram, whose 7’3’’ wingspan and athleticism make up for a lack of heft, were formidable doing the thankless but necessary blue collar job of defending and rebounding in the paint. Consequently, Duke outrebounded Louisville 33-32, while committing 13 turnovers– solid stats against a team that relies on rebounds and its press to generate much of its offense.

Coach K assessment of the game: “Not a good win, a great win….Somehow, while they were tired and beat up, our group just showed incredible toughness and won. No X’s and O’s, they just earned it… A couple [of] weeks ago, I think we lose this game by 15 points.”

Other comments:

You had the feeling that this might be Duke’s night when, late in the tight second half, Luke Kennard drove, got tangled up with Plumlee and the ball ricocheted off several arms, hands, or other body parts, and ended up in the basket. Don’t know who got the basket and who got the assist.

Like the NC State game last Saturday, Duke led most of the way, 35 minutes’ worth of lead, with three minutes tied. The visitors led only 2:01 and never by more than the two-pointer they scored to open the game.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again. Grayson Allen certainly is not given the respect by the referees that the ten Wooden finalists, of which he is one, usually are (given). He was constantly getting roughed up, held, and hitting the floor– and not getting the calls. He was again called for retaliating. Nevertheless, Allen needs to be smarter about these situations. Bob from Georgia writes to ask if anyone keeps stats of how many times Grayson hits the floor?

And finally, with respects to Simon and Garfunkel: “Here’s to you Amile Jefferson, the (Blue Devil) Nation turns its lonely eyes to you! What’s that you say, Mr. Jefferson, your just a game or so away”. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!
Next game: Saturday #3 Virginia @ home 4:30 ESPN

Alan Adds:

Without question this was Duke’s best and most important game of the season because this was a game where you could see the team growing before your very eyes. Duke has fallen out of the top 25 because the schedule has turned out to be shockingly easy (no wins over a ranked team until Louisville). In yesterday’s AP poll, the 25th place team got 132 votes. Duke’s only opponents who even received votes were Indiana (91) and VCU (10). Duke got 14 votes (30th). Louisville, on the other hand, has had a terrific season, coming into the game in first place in the ACC and 13th in the AP poll with a great win over UNC. It came down to “winning time” for the young and undermanned Blue Devils, and the team played like, well, like Duke. Coach K said “We’re becoming ‘this Duke team’, whatever that is. It is happening and it is good.” Let’s talk about the game first, and then “becoming ‘this’ Duke team.

Duke had a superb first half at both ends of the floor. Defensively, Duke was as good as it has been all year, holding the Cardinals to 31% shooting (1-7 from deep, but only 9-25 from inside the arc) and many of the Cardinals scores came on offensive rebounds (first 3 Louisville hoops were on put backs; Louisville didn’t score from the field until more than 7 minutes had gone by). Grayson was on fire from deep. He and Marshall accounted for 24 of Duke’s 35 points in the opening stanza. When Grayson and Brandon hit back to back 3s to start the second half, Duke led by 15. Then Duke hit an almost inevitable cold streak — 4 turnovers and 3 missed shots — while Louisville got hot. Louisville shot 75% in the second half for the first 12 + minutes of the second half, taking a one point lead with 6:13 to go.

For several minutes the game see-sawed with neither team able to open a more than one possession lead. The game was tied at 60 with 3:46 left when Duke became “this Duke team”. Grayson missed a 3, which Marshall rebounded spectacularly as he was fouled. He made them both! Lee made only 1 of 2 for the Cards (Duke 62- Louisville 61). Coach K then put the ball in Brandon’s hands. He was, in effect, the point guard (Coach K said that allowed Derryck to be a shooter), and then Brandon started right to use a screen from Marshall. I thought it reminiscent of Coach K’s strategy against Wisconsin in the finals — give the ball to Tyus and let him be Tyus. Last night, he gave the ball to Brandon and let him be Brandon. Ingram drove to the hole, was fouled, and made them both (64-61). Marshall and Brandon combined for a wonderful interior defense and crucial rebound. Brandon drove to the hole, was fouled, and made them both (66-61). Dennis Mitchell was fouled, but made only 1-2 (66-62 with 1:44 left). Matt made a good base line move to get fouled (a good offensive set with ball movement got him the ball in good position). He made them both (68-62 with 1:19 left). Brandon grabbed another hard fought defensive rebound when Lee missed a 3. Derryck made an amazing shot as the shot clock expired for what should have been “the dagger” — 70-62 with only 35 seconds left. Then Derryck turned freshman. Needing only to defend the three point line, Derryck fell 4-5 feet back and Lewis swished a 3 to keep Louisville alive, if on life support. Derryck then missed 2 free throws. Coach K reminds us that he’s only 18, but is improving. Luke hit the winning free throws with 7 seconds left. “This team”, at least on this night, played winning Duke basketball, which seemed to absolutely thrill Duke’s Hall of Fame coach.

While Marshall’s stat line in the second half was pretty flat (the foul shots were his only score, and he got credit in the box score for only a single defensive board), he was the emotional presence, who made the Duke defense formidable at winning time. He played 35 minutes, sitting only for 5 minutes in the first half. He is playing terrific basketball partly because he is in phenomenal shape and so can compete intensely every second he is on the court. Chase is showing some signs. In his 5 minutes, he scored a hoop and pulled in 3 boards with only one turnover and (of course) a foul. You can see Derryck grow, but inconsistently. As I wrote last game, Coach K has made the decision to go with Derryck as his point guard. Derryck played 29 minutes, while Luke logged only 20 minutes. Thornton is a work in progress. He had a basket in each half (4 points on 2-5; 1-3 in the first half) but was 0-2 from deep and 0-2 from the line. He had 2 assists, a steal and a block, but 4 turnovers. More than anyone, he has to continue to develop for this to become “this Duke team”. While Luke had an undistinguished first half (1-4; 1-2 from deep) with 3 points and a single board, he was very much a part of winning time in the second half, in spite of Louisville seeming to score whenever guarded by Luke (more great offense than bad defense). In the second half, Luke scored 8 on a layup, a 3, and 3-4 from the line.

Matt played 32 intense minutes and was the key to Duke’s defense when it was effective. Though only 1-4 from deep, the one was crucial. He also scored a critical layup and was 3-4 from the line for 8 points to go with 3 assists.

Duke was powered by Grayson in the first half and Brandon in the second. Grayson scored 19 on 12 shots, but as Bill points out, 0 points in the last 19:45 of the half. He was stymied effectively on his drives, but continued to hustle and play energetic defense. However, it is Brandon’s praises that have to be sung. He played every second of the game, scoring 18 points on only 9 shots (14 in the second half, most at closing time, and from the line). Just as important as his offense, was Brandon’s emergence as an interior defensive and rebounding force. He garnered 10 boards and was largely responsible for Duke holding its own on the backboard. He is such a crucial element for Duke to become “this Duke team.”

The schedule is now amazingly demanding. Duke gets a rest until next Saturday when UVA comes to Cameron, ranked 7th and coming off 3 spectacular games. Then Duke goes on the road to face Louisville in a rematch and to Chapel Hill. So, Duke faces #7, #9, and #13 in a row that could define the season (plus Fla State and Pitt after that are hardly breathers). So the season is now, as John Feinstein might write, “on the brink”.

DUKE 63- VIRGINIA 62

The Virginia basketball team hasn’t beaten Duke in 20 years playing at Cameron, where they are 8 for 59 lifetime; Rasheed Sulaimon beat them there two years ago with a last second three; Ty Jones repeated the heartbreak scenario last year in Charlottesville; and today is Coach Krzyzewski’s 69th birthday. How much karma is that to carry onto the court? So what chance did the Cavaliers really have? Actually, quite a lot: The law of averages, a seven game winning streak, ranked #7 in the country, playing Coach Tony Bennett’s nightmare, pack-it-in defense—and Duke having, for their program, a down year. However, in the end the basketball gods gave us a memorable, even heroic, ending that brought honor, if not satisfaction, to both teams.

What a finish! With 27 seconds left and Duke up one point, Allen, an 85% free throw shooter, inexplicably missed two freebies in a row. With 10 seconds left, Malcolm Brogdon rose to the occasion and somewhat casually tossed in a difficult, no look behind-his-head layup to give the Cavaliers a 62-61 lead… Next play… At the other end, Allen took a handoff from Marshall Plumlee in the high post, dribbled and spun through traffic and kept driving toward the basket. “I felt like I had the lane, and I felt like I had my man one-on-one,” Allen said. “I knew he was going to be strong and body up, so I just knew I was going to go through that and go to finish.” There was contact between Allen and Shayok, and, with only seconds left, a contorted, falling backward, suspended but descending Allen released the ball with one hand. The red border around the backboard indicating “game over” lit up just as Allen’s shot banked cleanly through the net—and Cameron exploded.

An amazing finish to an amazing a game!

This is why we love watching and writing about Duke Basketball. No matter the talent level, the culture of Coach K’s teams is never give up, never top trying. This team is young and talented but undermanned. Written off after losing four of five conference games and falling out of the national rankings for the first time in this century, they never have been an easy out. There have been no blowouts. They have been in every game. All the losses are down to the wire. They continue to learn and improve. And they now have beaten two ranked teams in a row. Win or lose, what’s not to like and admire about these players?

This was Virginia Coach Bennett’s defensive dilemma: Whom do you put your best defender on? He can’t guard both Allen and Ingram. Coach Bennett, who as good a defensive coach as there is in the country, started the game with Brogdon Allen and Ingram torched the Cavaliers in the first half. He switch him on Ingram during the second half. That meant that Brogdon wasn’t guarding Allen, who started getting into the paint for points or assists. It also meant Virginia was playing four guards and Duke started controlling the boards. (Lost in the late game drama is the fact that Duke outrebounded Virginia 24-10 in the second half). Using the massive frame of Plumlee for high ball screens to drive against the Cavalier defense, Allen and Ingram wound up with 23 of Duke’s 32 second-half points. Grayson stats were: 15 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals. One stat not charted was the number of fouls his aggression initiated that put the Blue Devils in the one & one with ten minutes to go and the double bonus with eight minutes to go. Unfortunately, the Devils atypically only converted 9-16, one more than the Cavaliers. But then, if they had shot free throws like they usually do, the game would not been as exciting.

As lethal and scintillating as Ingram and Allen were, it was a team victory triggered by their improving defense. The last two games Matt Jones has been the unsung hero. He defended Louisville’s Damion Lee and Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon and still scored 14 points; Marshall Plumlee has been a rock rebounding and setting high picks; Thornton keeps improving especially on defense and limiting turnovers; and Luke Kennard can explode off the bench at any time.

One more thing. I’ve said it before and I will keep saying it. Grayson Allen is not given the respect by the referees that the ten Wooden finalists, of which he is one, usually are (given). He is constantly getting roughed up, held, and hitting the floor– and not getting the calls. On his winning drive, there was contact at the top of the key, when he elevated, and when he was hanging in the air to take the shot. According to the new rules, those all were fouls.

Quotes:

Grayson Allen: “It’s really surreal for me, this being my dream school and just a moment like that is something you dream of. When you’re a little kid, you do it hundreds of times in your driveway.”

Ty Jones (who was at the game with Jahlil Okafor): ” Just so happy for him. That’s my brother. I’m his biggest fan. It was a lot of fun to watch.We threw Gatorade on him, mobbed him, and everything like that. It was like I was a part of the team again. It was a lot of fun.”

Coach K: You guys (the press) don’t enjoy them (the team) as well as you should because you try to make them like another Duke team. You should just enjoy them as this Duke team, like I am, and you will see a lot of really neat things….Well you know, in earlier games, we were good for periods but we weren’t as tough as we are now. There are certain portions of the game where I don’t care how you draw up your offense or defense, you just have to be tough. You have to fight through tired, fight through somebody not playing as well and get them going at that point. We weren’t able to do that, like make on the spot corrections, whether it be with toughness or attitude. When I say attitude it’s not attitude like bad attitude, I mean you’re into missing the shot or a mistake that you made. It’s not the right attitude. We’ve talked about it, we’ve met on it, and they’re doing it now. It has paid off.”

On potentially redshirting Amile Jefferson: “Not right now. Again, if he was not able to play, then we would ask for that, and I think he would qualify for that. But, I don’t want to go there right now. It has been two months, though, and that’s why what our guys have done is remarkable. I am very proud of them and we just have to stay healthy. Here’s the thing: it’s healing great, but then we try limited basketball stuff at a slower speed, so he has never done anything game speed, and he has pain. … If he tries to play at full speed with that, he can’t do that. He’s frustrated like crazy and we’re frustrated for him. I’m being completely honest with you about it. He’s trying, but it is not coming around.”

Alan Adds:

Bill said it all so well. I will delve a bit outside of the offensive heroics of Brandon (18 straight points for Duke at the end of the first half and beginning of the second – 25 points on 22 shots) and Grayson, which were so obvious and appreciated.

First, like last year, the Duke defense has morphed from porous to efficient. Duke played a really good man-to-man for the whole game. However, we should not forget how many wide open 3’s the Cavaliers missed. That wasn’t great defense; that was a bit of luck. But overall, Duke shut down the penetration from the perimeter, rarely done this year by the Devils. The bench played only 13 minutes (Chase 1, yanked by K after a basket interference; and Luke 12 (0-1 with 1 rebound) and failed to score. Luke’s lack of playing time is interesting, given his terrific play in recent games. In my view, this was a tribute to Derryck Thornton and his startling improvement. It’s not showing up in his shooting yet (2-8; 0-3 from deep and 0 free throw attempts — both hoops came in the first half), but he is becoming the glue to Duke on both ends of the floor. He shut down Perrantes, who was shooting over 50% from behind the arc for the year. When I say shut down, I mean shut down; Perrantes was not even able to launch a single attempt from behind the arc. Thornton played really tough on the ball man to man, holding Perrantes to 8 points and only 2 assists (and forced 2 turnovers). Derryck could not come close to doing that earlier this year. Moreover, he has steadied the offense. He had 4 assists and 0 turnovers. Even more importantly, his stewardship of point guard, has allowed Matt to return to doing what he does best (which is not running the offense). Coach K’s coaching genius is showing up in Derryck’s continued improvement and contributions. He played 34 minutes.

Matt’s 36 minute return to what he does best — superb defense and clutch scoring — was more than welcome. He had some game against the ‘Hoos, making Brogdon work hard for every point (yes, Brogdon scored 18 points, but it took him 16 shots to do it — 7-16; 1-6 from deep and 3-3 from the line). The Virginia back court, great 3 point shooters, had only a single 3. As Coach Bennet said, “you aren’t going to win many road games shooting 2-11 from deep.”). Welcome back, Matt. He has been defensively heroic taking on Lee in the Louisville game and Brogdon yesterday. Let’s hope he can do the same against Marcus on Wednesday.

Grayson was held in check in the first half (4 points), before making us groan in despair at the missed free throws (7–11 from the stripe) and exult with the spectacular acrobatic finish. Coach Bennet: “I thought he walked.” He did. Coach K: “I thought he was fouled.” He was — twice. But let us not overlook Grayson’s amazing floor game. He had 7 assists against only 1 turnover, and he hauled in 7 boards — tying Marshall for most defensive boards with 6. He took only 11 shots for his 15 points. He even gave great post-game interview.

The unsung heroics were not limited to the perimeter. Duke’s interior was absolutely superb in the second half after giving ground in the opening stanza. Brandon (38 minutes) did not have a rebound in the first half, corralled 7 in the second half after Coach K’s half-time exhortations to him. Here is the stat of the game for me: UVA had only a single offensive rebound in the second half. As Coach K said in his press conference, “We got every defensive rebound in the last 10 minutes. Marshall in 39 minutes, dominated inside in the second half (not bad in the first half either). He finished with 10 boards (7 in the second half), 5 points on 2-3 and 1-2 from the line. He is also having a great year and is more valuable to his team than his (impressive) stats show. The test for the interior will be even sterner on Wednesday night against Carolina.

Coach K was simply ecstatic not only about the win, but about his team’s progress and growth, which has been quite worth watching. From what Coach K has said about Amile, I offer this: I think the team has stopped waiting for Amile to return and is now prepared to go the rest of the season without him. It has made for a different and positive mind set.

There is no tougher game for the Devils than venturing into Chapel Hill as they will do on Wednesday. This is still a very tough stretch with away games this coming week against the ‘Heels and Louisville. What a season!

#20 DUKE 74 – #5 NORTH CAROLINA 73

There have been a lot of fantastic finishes and unexpected upsets in the Duke-North Carolina basketball rivalry but I cannot remember a more surprising one than this slow motion outcome. There was nothing sudden, shocking or spectacular about it. Rather, it was a gutsy, grinding, mature performance by the young Blue Devils (three freshmen, one sophomore, and one senior) against the veteran, highly ranked Tar Heels. In the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, the finish left both the Carolina players and fans in the Smith Center drained in stunned, silent disbelief at Carolina letting this game slip away.

Duke was behind most of the game. Brice Johnson was having a career game–27 points & 17 rebounds in just the first thirty minutes. When Matt Jones sprained his ankle after playing nine minutes, the Blue Devils were down to five effective players, none of whom had ever played meaningful minutes in the intimidating Dean Dome. But tonight, these five were enough. Ahead 68-60 and controlling the boards with less than seven minutes remaining, Carolina appeared to have the game uncomfortably in hand. Plumlee had four fouls and Johnson had been unstoppable. However, Duke had their forty minute men, Brandon Ingram (20 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists) and Grayson Allen (23 points, 7 rebounds). Duke kept running a pro set, isolating one of them on the weak side of the floor, letting them, in one of Coach K’s favorite demystifying coaching terms “do their thing”, which resulted in scoring points or kicking to Luke Kennard for a crucial three. However, as we know all too well, you need to put an opponent away, you don’t want to let them hang around, because anything can happen—and it did tonight. Suddenly, it was a one possession game. Then, unbelievably, neither Johnson or Paige, the Tar Heels two best players, touched the ball nor did Coach Williams call a timeout (he obviously didn’t watch the end of the Duke-Virginia game) and Carolina’s offense came up empty on the last two crucial possessions.

Game, set, match, nightmares.

My buddy Johnny Tar Heel, who played one year at Carolina, contends that Coach K is worth ten points coaching against Roy Williams and that this year he even stopped watching Carolina play, because they cannot shoot the three—or as he says: “They can’t throw the ball at the ocean and hit water”. Turns out he was wrong, tonight Coach K was worth fifteen or so points and right, the Heels were 1-13 from behind the arc.

While Ingram and Allen were the television interviewees after the game, the other three players had indispensable roles: Marshall Plumlee had 11 contested points, 7 rebounds, and played smart, tough defense despite being saddled with four fouls for the last seven minutes; Luke Kennard, replacing Matt Jones, had 15 points (3—4 threes) and played solid defense; Derryck Thornton did not shoot well but had no turnovers, 2 assists,2 steals, and 1 block. He has developed into a very good defender (helped neutralize both London Perrantes & Marcus Paige) and blocked Joel Berry’s last shot of the game. Perhaps the most overlooked development of this team is that in these two wins against ranked opponents, their man-to-man defense has been the a critical factor. Tonight, despite being out rebounded 46-34, it held the Tar Heels to 27 second half points on 34% shooting—a huge improvement from the beginning of the season.

After the game, a crestfallen Roy Williams said he didn’t call a timeout on the last possessions because he relied on the principles he learned from his mentor, the legendary Dean Smith. He quickly added that he took full responsibility and wasn’t blaming Coach Smith. In all fairness, Mike Krzyzewski usually subscribes to the same philosophy that in critical situations, it is an advantage to trust your players to make the right decisions while the defense is disorganized and not set. However, in the Virginia game the ball was in the hands of a seemingly indecisive freshman Derryck Thornton, so Coach K called a timeout to set up a play to get the ball in the hands of Garson Allen or Brandon Ingram. It was a savvy call. Tonight the game was in the hands of Joel Berry not Marcus Paige. To quote The Dude in “The Big Lebowski”, a legendary 1998 movie: “Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you.”

Other Thoughts:

Bad news: Coach Mike Krzyzewski said Jones sprained his left ankle ”pretty badly”.

Good news: There is precedent for five being enough. In the late fifties, Duke was down to five useful players, (Bob Newcomb, Paul Schmidt, Bucky Allen, Bobby Jo Harris, and Bob Vernon), who developed into an exciting, formidable team and were dubbed “The Flaming Five”. Perhaps, this team will be the reincarnation of “The Flaming Five”.

After the game, Bill from Bethesda emailed me an cogent comment: “Teams take on the personality of their coaches, and Duke is tough/gritty and Carolina is a little soft.”

What is the Euro-Step? An announcers term for too many long steps on a drive that isn’t called. (ref. Grayson Allen’s winning basket against Virginia.)

Grayson Allen made the Regional all American academic team. Puts him in line for National honors.

Next Game: Saturday @ Louisville. Noon on ESPN.

Alan Adds:

The surrounding feelings induced by the (understatement comes here) “unlikely” victory was deliciously captured by Grayson in his postgame interview on TV. The announcer’s first question was something like, “how did you win that game?” Allen’s rueful sort of goofy smile said it all, as he shrugged, unable to explain. I’m in a similar boat. Carolina killed Duke. It was plain to everyone watching. The ‘Heels devoured the backboard; Bryce was unstoppable; Matt was injured after playing a scoreless 9 minutes (0-3; 0-1 from deep with 1 rebound); and Marshall picked up his fourth foul with more than 10 minutes left in the game. From that point forward, commentators overused the word “grit”, but it was the correct modifier for “this Duke team”. Other than Matt’s 9 minutes, and Chase Jeter’s 5 (a cameo 2 minute appearance in the first half; and 3 minutes in the second while Marshall sat on the bench after foul # 4), this year’s version of “The Flaming Five” went the distance. Amazingly, Duke played with more energy, more intensity, and really efficient defense in the second half, especially toward the end of the game. Grit: Duke played through “tired” for what felt like a miraculous win.

Duke was seriously overwhelmed on the interior in the first half. UNC retrieved 10 offensive boards to Duke’s 9 defensive rebounds; shot 18-30 from inside the arc (1-8 from deep; the Tar Heel weakness that cost them) and 7-8 from the line for 46 first half points. Porous is a kind adjective for Duke’s first half defense. Duke stayed in the game with offense. Marshall and Luke had 20 of Duke’s 42 points (10 each). Luke came off the bench for Matt and kept Duke in the game (4-6; 2-3 from deep). Grayson, who played all 40 minutes had 13 in an offensive display (4-9; 1-3 and 4-5 from the line). Brandon had a woeful shooting first half (2-10; 1-3; and 2-2 for 7 points), but was heroic on the boards (6; no one else had more than Marshall’s 3) and defending.

In the second half everything changed. Duke held UNC to 27 second half points and, led by Marshall, Brandon and Grayson’s 5 second half rebounds, held the UNC even on the boards. For reasons still to be determined, Bryce didn’t get the ball much in the last 10 minutes of the game (some speculated that he tired defending Brandon on the perimeter) while Duke played tenacious defense on the perimeter. In fact, it was on the perimeter that Duke won and UNC lost this game. Grayson and Thornton simply shut down the UNC backcourt with in-your-face defense. For me the key matchup was Grayson and Paige. They guarded each other for most of the game. UNC depends on Paige as the veteran backcourt leader and clutch scorer. In 35 minutes, Paige could only manage 2-10 from the field and a hang-your-head 0-5 from deep. His 3-4 from the line gave him 7 points for the entire game. He was also forced into 3 turnovers (3 assists) without a rebound or a steal. Contrast that with Grayson’s 20 points, including 5 of Duke’s last 8 points to go with 7 boards and 2 steals in 40 minutes.

Coach K said that Duke was out of sync, forcing bad shots in the second half, after Thornton’s 3 drew Duke within 1 in the opening seconds, . After the first media timeout, Coach K said Duke got good looks for the rest of the game. It kept looking as though the ‘Heels would put the game out of reach. With 6:49 to go, UNC stretched its lead to 8 but Duke’s grit kept the Devils in contact. In the next 1:30, Brandon, who also played every second of the game, made 3 straight amazing hoops (suddenly the announcers were talking “green room” — please shut up) to bring Duke back within 2 with 5 minutes to go. Bryce dunked (again) before Grayson scored on a traditional 3 point play to make it a 1 point game with 4:19 to play. Paige went 1-2 from the line (bad miss at that juncture) to put Carolina up by 2 (71-69) with a few ticks under 4 minutes left. Brandon and Berry traded missed 3s before Luke hit the shot of the game — a 3 from the corner with only 2:40 left to play — to give Duke a 72-71 lead. It was Duke’s last field goal. Carolina’s last points came with 2:08 left on (yet another) offensive rebound by Jackson, who made a slick pass to Meeks for the layup. Down to “grit” for sure. Brandon missed a jumper, which Carolina rebounded, but Marshall stole the ball from Paige with 1:15 to go. Think about that sentence and that play! Grayson was fouled by Berry with 1:09 to go. Visions of Grayson on the line against Virginia somehow seeped into my head, but Grayson coolly sunk them both for the winning margin, with 1:09 to go. With only 52 seconds left, Duke defended Meeks brilliantly, causing him to miss a layup that Grayson rebounded. After Duke took 27 seconds off the clock, Grayson missed a desperation 3. That left the game’s final play for Derryck Thornton to showcase his newly visible defensive prowess, shutting down Berry’s final attempt.

Marshall was quite amazing in the second half, even though he scored only 1-2 from the line after his 10 point (5-5) first half. He re-entered the game with 4 fouls and 6:49 left to play. Duke was down by 8 at that point. Marshall shored up both Duke’s defense and rebounding, absolutely changing the game. Amazingly, Carolina scored only 5 points in the last 6:49. Which team was supposed to tire from lack of depth?

Brandon had an extraordinary game, with 13 second half points for a game total of 20 on 21 shots (7-21 from the field after 2-10 first half; 2-5 from deep and 4-4 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 4 assists, 2 blocks and a steal against a single turnover while committing only 2 fouls. He is a reliable ball handler who played outstanding defense in the second half while defending Duke’s backboard. He is reminding me of Grant Hill in how much he provides to the team in so many different aspects of the game. Finally, Derryck Thornton’s contributions have increased dramatically, but are still under the radar. He played 32 minutes of scintillating defense. He has also become the reliable glue on offense, even though his scoring seems to be decreasing (2-9; 1-4 without getting to the line for 5 points). However, in addition to solid defense — he produced 2 steals and a block, he directed the offense. Critically, he had 0 turnovers and 2 assists. Duke’s growing chemistry has coincided with Derryck’s increased playing time and genuinely terrific defense.

Not many (and certainly not I) expected Duke to beat Louisville, Virginia and UNC (on the road) in succession. It has been an amazing stretch in which we have been privileged to watch a team grow up in dramatic fashion. It is possible that we will decide Duke must have a pretty good coach to accomplish that. It does not get easier, especially with Matt looking as if the best that can be hoped for is a return to form by tournament time. Louisville hosts the Devils at noon on Saturday. But for a few minutes, let us savor one of Duke’s most amazing regular season wins ever.

Duke 64- Louisville 71

While there may be no “good” losses, there are some that transcend a cold “L” in the loss column, because the players demonstrated an extraordinary degree of toughness, heart, and character. After the game Coach K said that he is proud to coach this team, because they are a “damn good Duke team. They fight hard all the time to the very end” adding that Grayson Allen is “one of college basketball’s great warriors.” Today Allen (29 points, 3 assists, 1 steal) fouled out–more on that later– with four minutes to go.

The last four games against ranked opponents (Louisville, Virginia, North Carolina, & Louisville) have essentially been a late season mini-tournament. It would have been a tough test for any of the top five teams in the country, much less a young, depleted Duke team coming off four close, but disappointing losses. Two physical, emotionally draining games in a row are challenge enough, but four in a row are a conference scheduling error. Those efforts took the most toll on the very talented but youngest, skinniest player, Brandon Ingram, who after an extraordinary game against Carolina today had more turnovers (10) than points (8). As a matter of fact, no player, other than Allen, scored in double digits. So how did the Blue Devils team lead for about half of the middle part of the game?

“Next play” is Coach’s mantra. Today, it was “next man” as midway in the second half, Derryck Thornton joined Jefferson and Jones on the bench with what appeared to be a serious right shoulder injury. Luke Kennard was saddled with foul trouble for half the game. Chase Jeter was surprisingly effective with 5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, & 1 steal in 17 minutes. And Marshall Plumlee fought and hustled his way to 12 rebounds. Thornton returned late to defy the odds and score on a left handed drive, then a short jump shot. However, Louisville’s second half defense became very aggressive and physical as the refs let them play that way, the home crowd became energized, Duke went cold, Lee hit three threes, and Grayson was called for fouls four and five.

Now, about the refereeing. It has been inconsistent all year all over the league as the referees struggled with interpreting the new defensive contact rule. But today in the second half, the interpretation went retro as Louisville intensified its full court pressure. The result was that the Blue Devils did not adjust to how the game was being called. I have complained about how physically opponents have been allowed to play against Grayson Allen. Today, in scramble for a loose ball, Louisville forward Jaylen Johnson swung an elbow and hit Grayson flush in the jaw, bloodying his mouth. Then, after the whistle had blown, Johnson started punching wildly at him defenseless on the floor. Fortunately, a teammate was pulling Johnson away and his fists just churned in the air. The player was assessed a technical but not ejected.(I guess the reasoning is that his punches did not connect.) On Allen’s fourth foul, he was running to receive an inbound pass and was knocked off balance by Lee into another Cardinal player. His fifth was on a drive. Allen had passed the ball and grazed the post defender, the very same Jaylen Johnson, whose feet were clearly not set. To add insult to injury, Allen was called for a technical foul—Coach K already had received one—for objecting to the call.

Refereeing is difficult at this level. However, I have contended for some time that for whatever reason, Grayson has not been treated the same as other Wooden (only 10 each year) nominees usually are. And for sure, over the years the unwritten rule in both the NBA and college has been that star players are not fouled out of important games on marginal calls.

Other Comments:

Matt Jones warmed up but was not allowed to play by Coach K, who felt Matt could not effectively push off on the injured ankle and did not want to risk further injury. Amile Jefferson is still in a walking boot, because the foot is still painful.

If this game is any indication, Brandon Ingram is neither physically nor mentally ready for the physicality and daily grind of the grown man’s league—the NBA.

Grayson Allen proved that his winning shot against Virginia was no fluke by making an even more difficult shot from the same place on the floor. Only this time, he did not travel, was not on a forty-five degree angle to the floor but actually lying on the floor while throwing the ball in the basket (without the benefit of the backboard).

North Carolina bounced back today and trounced Miami at Chapel Hill.
At halftime of the Duke game, Roy Williams had an astonishing halftime interview. When asked about Duke scoring 42 points on his team, he said: “I don’t care if we gave up 42 points because we like a fast tempo … I don’t ever care how many points we give up as long as we score more. Think about that for a moment. Could you imagine Coach K saying that—even ever thinking that?

Alan Adds:

I firmly believe that this loss was as important to the growth of “this Duke team” as the three stunning conference wins that preceded it. Duke was not less than heroic in its effort, but the challenging schedule, the limited roster, and the intensity of the Louisville defense in the last 10 minutes of the game were more than Duke could overcome. But that heroic effort, in the face of increasing adversity, tells me that this team has grown up to be a formidable force for the post season. While Coach K acknowledged he was disappointed with the loss, it was hard for him to conceal his admiration and respect that his team had earned from him with its effort in this game. This is a different team from several weeks ago.

Coach K’s analysis seemed to me right on the money. He discounted the physicality of the schedule (four games against ranked teams in 8 days) as having an effect. “It was the physicality of the game not the week. It was the most physical second half we have been in this year. We were unable to respond at an appropriate level. The physicality of the game did not lend itself to us (he cited as reasons the lack of depth, injuries and the difference in experience between the teams).” While Bill, Brandon and I disagree about the physicality of the week not being an important factor, Coach K’s basic analysis was correct. I believe this will be a further teaching moment where the team will learn to be stronger and better against the press. The Louisville press ignited the Cardinals’ comeback. Duke was pretty good about getting the ball in (Coach K designed several interesting ways to get the ball to Thornton, who was Duke’s key against the press) — not bad, but hardly great. However, I do not remember Duke beating the press for an easy basket more than once. If the offense doesn’t make the pressing team pay by scoring with a numbers advantage fast break when the ball gets beyond the pressing defenders, the press will be effective. The press then can wear out the team being pressed, as Louisville did to Duke’s undermanned team.

I saw many positive signs, but perhaps the most important came from the play of two progressing freshmen — Chase Jeter and Derryck Thornton. Jeter, Duke’s only sub, played 17 minutes (6 in the first half) and was a positive surprise. He scored 5 points on 1-1 from the field and (gasp!) 3-3 from the line. In the short stint, he had 2 boards, an assist and a steal without a turnover. This is really the first game that he made positive contributions. What a plus for Duke if that continues, especially if Amile does not return for the post season. Derryck’s value became obvious when he was injured. Duke led by 54-49 when Thornton was forced out of the game with 9:08 left in the game. By the time he returned with 3:55 left to play Duke was down 7, 66-59; Grayson had fouled out; and Duke was in deep trouble. The fight that Duke exhibited in the last minutes are a great harbinger that this season has more left that will compel our attention. Marshall, too, was heroic, grabbing 14 boards and playing with visible grit and determination. What a great year he is having!

Duke had a terrible second half (really second half of the second half) scoring only 27 points and going 2-8 from deep (after 7-12 in the first half). Duke had 11 turnovers in the second half (18 for the game; contrast that with 7 against UNC). I attribute much of that to Louisville’s ramped up defensive pressure. While the 3 point shooting fell off, so too did the percentage of open looks versus contested shots. Because only Grayson was in double figures (19 first half points; 29 for the game), no one else’s statistics are impressive. Luke and Brandon simply did not respond to the Louisville pressure. In 36 minutes, Luke was 3-10 from the field; 1-5 from deep and a shocking 2-4 from the line for 9 points. He grabbed only a single rebound, and fouled out at game’s end. Brandon had a nightmare game (no talk of green room for him by Dickie V). I think that is enough analysis of Brandon’s worst game of a brilliant year.

Finally, I disagree with Bill about the refereeing. Refs are human, and like players and coaches, make mistakes. Considering the speed of the game, “bad calls” must be tolerated as simply part of the game and can NEVER be used as an excuse, though it is certainly fair to point out bad calls (Grayson’s fifth foul is a graphic example). I do not believe the game was poorly officiated or effected the outcome of the game. I also hate the notion that the stature of the player (star or role player) has any Effect on the call. Just for the record, Grayson fully deserved the technical that he received after fouling out. Any lip reader could tell what he screamed at the referee. While as Coach K said, in the circumstances of the call, Grayson’s reaction was understandable, it is still not what we want to teach or exhibit.

For me, this game was a very positive Duke experience even though, Duke’s 5th loss in the conference and 7th in the season. Duke has Florida State at Cameron on Thursday; Pitt at Pitt next Sunday; and Wake at home on Tuesday before the final showdown at Cameron for senior night (will that be for Marshall and Amile, or just Marshall?) the following Saturday (3-5). What a season!

Duke 80- Florida State 65

For a team that statistically ranks as the most efficient offense in college basketball, Duke looked anything but that in the first minutes as they went 0-9, then shot 51% for the rest of the game. However, either their defense was terrific or Florida State’s offense was terrible, because the Seminoles were not any better. Whatever the case, the young Seminoles, losers or four straight, in Cameron was just the tonic the Blue Devils needed after the playing ACC Murders’ Row (Louisville, Virginia, at UNC and at Louisville). The Seminoles have no big post presence and their young, athletic players showed little interest in playing defense.

The game progressed from pretty awful to pretty boring as Duke’s offense started cooking and Florida State never cut the lead to single digits in the final twenty-five minutes. The most significant development was that both players injured against Louisville –Matt Jones and Derryck Thornton —started and played well and Duke had balanced scoring. Neither Grayson Allen (18 points, 5 assists, 3 steals) nor Brandon Ingram (16 points, 6 rebounds) shot a high percentage, but delivered when needed. Marshall Plumlee (my player of the game) had another double-double and leads the ACC in enthusiasm. Luke Kennard and Chase Jeter played much more confidently. In fact, Chase made the most of his twelve minutes by drawing a two charges, grabbing 5 rebounds, throwing down a dunk, and blocking a shot—a performance that had MP3 chest bumping him ( yes, Chase survived) and the Cameron Crazies chanting his name. He looks and plays as if his time in the weight room is paying dividends.

Winning stats: Duke just 5 turnovers ( 18 against Louisville) vs. 15 for FS, 16 assists, 10 steals, +4 in threes, and +9 in free throws. The Blue Devils were in the bonus situation after ten minutes of each half and the double bonus with 6:30 to go in the game.

Other comments:

The Good: Grayson Allen is on pace to have the largest year-to- year increase in scoring average in ACC history as well as becoming the ninth player in school history to lead the team in scoring and assists. Be sure to read on for Allan’s excellent analysis of the team’s development.
The Bad: Grayson intentionally tripped an opponent for the second time this season. This time it was away from the action, not called but caught on camera. Well, the hate Duke social media exploded. As I have commented, opponents rough Allen up, it is not always called, historically Duke is thought to be white and “soft”. Allen looks like a choir boy but doesn’t play like one. He is not a dirty player, just at times, an impulsive one. For sure, he must play smarter when he retaliates.

Coach K on Jeter: “You get minutes by earning them and in practice he has earned them. He has been a different kid the last three weeks and his teammates see that. . . . so his teammates get confidence in him.”

Nolan Smith, ACC player of the year season in 2011, was added to the coaching staff earlier this week.

Kara Lawson did an terrific job as the color commentator. Her analysis of the game and assessment of the Duke players was as good as anyone has done this year. I was so impressed I looked up her bio. She is from the Washington area, attended Sidwell Friends School (the go-to school for Democratic president’s daughters), played at Tennessee where she majored in Economics, earned a gold medal on the 2008 Olympic team, and played in the WBA.

Next game: Sunday @ Pittsburg 2:00 on ESPN

Alan Adds:

Coach K is justly famous for understanding how to emphasize, promote and develop the concept of “team”. Indeed, for me, watching Coach K nurture and grow a different group each year is one of the true delights of Duke basketball. His genius is to understand the personality of each group and coach it uniquely. This season — and especially the last five games — has been a classic example. No need to document the hole left by Amile’s injury and the subsequent heart breaking end game failures that led Duke to 4-4 in the conference at the end of January. But it is worth emphasizing how this group has come together to form an amazing and lovable team. For example, this team has gone from defensively vulnerable to a defensive juggernaut. The offense that K designed after Amile’s injury — 4 perimeter players around Marshall, featuring the unique talents of Brandon and Grayson — played to the unique strengths of the remaining players. For me, it all coalesced in the first half against Florida State. Duke scored 43 points in just over 16 minutes (Grayson scored Duke’s first points with 16:19 left). After that Duke shot 50% with 10 assists (4 for Matt; 2 each for Grayson and Luke) against a single turnover. Defensively, Duke forced 10 turnovers — 6 of them steals, and held the ’Noles to 30 points. Duke held on firmly in the second half. Coach K said his team was in great physical shape but got tired in the second half because of the emotion expended. That emotion is what drives this team and makes it unique.

Chase Jeter has joined the team as an important contributor. Marshall committed a second foul in the first half, giving Chase an opportunity to build on his valuable performance against Louisville. He made the most of his opportunity, logging nine first half minutes in which he grabbed 5 boards, blocked a shot, took a charge, and scored 5 points (1-3; 1-2 from the line). Coach K said that Chase has “gotten it” in the last 3 weeks and has earned his playing time in practice, and that he will play some in the future with Marshall (2 bigs together, as Duke did before Amile was injured). Chase played 12 minutes (Marshall only 29) and took another charge while playing really good defense. For me that now makes this team “The Magnificent Seven” .

The pillars, of course, are Brandon and Grayson, who each played the full 40 minutes and led the team in scoring, though neither shot particularly well. Each of the others are much more than “role players; they each contribute substantially to make the whole better than the sum of the parts. Grayson led the team in scoring with 18 on 20 shots (7-20; (3-10 from deep and 1-2 from the line), and played a wonderful floor game. He handed out 5 assists (only 1 turnover), and making 3 steals with 3 boards. Brandon followed with 16 points. He was only 2-8, both 3s out of 5 attempts from deep for 6 in the first half. He was awesome in the second half scoring 10 on 3-6 from the field and a crucial 4-5 from the line. His defense is so good. His length stops shooters on the perimeter and he is a force on the interior as well as a dynamic rebounder. When Derryck’s foul trouble limited him to 6 second half minutes, Brandon (together with Matt) was the primary ball handler in Derryck’s absence. The green room talk was back (after a short Louisville absence). In spite of the amazing games that those endurance warriors played, my nomination for the team’s heart and soul for this game was Marshall Plumlee. He is quietly having a superb season, in which he continues to improve. He had 13 points to go with 10 boards and some terrific defense. He and Brandon are now capably defending the paint and Duke’s defensive boards.

Duke is getting terrific upper class leadership. Matt, who said he was 90% recovered, played 34 minutes of efficient basketball. As always, he guards the best scorer on the opponent. He is a reliable ball handler, a clutch shooter, and team leader. A perfect example was his diving on the floor for a loose ball, getting the time out to keep possession, with less than a minute to go and the game completely in hand. This team is swimming in heart. Matt was 3-7 from deep (4-8 overall) scoring 11 while handing out 5 assists and grabbing 3 boards. Coach K pointed out how much he was missed against Louisville defensively because Lee exploded offensively after Matt’s injury forced him from the game. Luke also was again a valuable contributor in his 25 minutes. He was 5-7 from inside the arc, though he missed both his long range attempts and a foul shot (2-3) for 12 points to go with 3 boards, 3 steals and 2 assists. He too has the fiery spirit. That is 5 double figure scorers; consider the balanced scoring — Grayson 18, Brandon 16, Marshall 13, Luke 12, Matt 11, Derryck 7, and Chase 3. Derryck scored 5 in 14 first half minutes. Foul trouble limited him to 2-2 from the line in his second half cameo before fouling out. While he is still posting anemic assist numbers (0 for the game), he has improved dramatically on the defensive end and is critical to this team going forward. The team is growing almost magically.

Duke has 3 games left in this cavalry charge for seedings in the ACC tournament. The first four get double byes. Louisville won’t count. There are five other teams in contention. UNC is 12-3, with 3 very tough games left; at UVA; Louisville, and at Duke. Miami is 11-4; while UVA, Duke and Notre Dame are 10-5. Great finish to the regular season coming up.

DUKE 62– PITT 76

Pitt came into this “Senior Day” game needing to punch their ticket for a trip to the NCAA Tournament. That they did– as well was punch holes in the Blue Devils man-to-man defense, pummel them in the paint, and shoot their lights out from beyond the arc. If it was a fight, it would have been stopped as a TKO well before the final buzzer sounded. Coach K said his players were tired. He could see it in the second half of the Florida State game. Welcome to college basketball 2016. After Xavier and Duke lost today, there were 15 losses and counting for Top 25 teams this week. 1,3,4,5,7,8,9(2x), 10,11,15,16,17,19, 23 lost. Cameron victim Florida State rebounded to beat Notre Dame handily at home, Virginia edged Carolina at home. Notice a trend? However, there is little comfort in these numbers for Blue Devil fans, even though Alan predicted the outcome.

Although no one likes a loss, I am more concerned about the fallout from the overwrought, overblown media firestorm surrounding Grayson Allen’s recent tripping violation(s). They were sophomoric acts, but, hey, he is a sophomore who plays for Duke, plays hard and well, sometimes sensationally well, and takes a lot of punishment. When he played AAU basketball, Grayson’s jersey was so torn from being grabbed and skidding on the floor, he needed a new one for each game.

Anyone who watches sports knows that there is a lot of contact, some legal, mostly not, going on against high profile players that isn’t called. And that often the player who retaliates is the one called for the foul. For sure, the refs will be more diligent in monitoring Grayson and the opposing fans will be all over him. Let me state the obvious. If he didn’t play for Duke, neither transgression would have warranted a mention—if it bleeds, it leads is the journalistic truism. Let’s go to the videotape. After the last Louisville game I wrote: I have complained about how physically opponents have been allowed to play against Grayson Allen. Today, in scramble for a loose ball, Louisville forward Jaylen Johnson swung an elbow and hit Grayson flush in the jaw, bloodying his mouth. Then, after the whistle had blown, Johnson started punching wildly at him defenseless on the floor. Fortunately, a teammate was pulling Johnson away and his fists just churned in the air. The player was assessed a technical but not ejected. (I guess the reasoning is that his punches did not connect.)

I contend that the Allen extensive coverage is an example the journalistic and fan Duke double standard. If Jaylen Johnson wasn’t ejected on the spot or suspended later by the commissioner for elbowing Allen in the mouth drawing blood, then punching wildly at him, why wasn’t there a journalistic and social media hue and cry for the league to penalize Jaylen? Neither of Grayson’s retaliations drew blood or caused any injury. It was just immature behavior and poor sportsmanship. Coach K apologized to Miami coach, Leonard Hamilton, had a heart-to-heart talk with Grayson after the game, and called the league commissioner the next morning to explain his what happened and how he had handled it. Grayson also issued a public apology. End of story? Not if you play for Duke. But players know what they are buying into when the decide to play for the Blue Devils—a lot of attention, a lot of scrutiny, a lot of fan hostility. This is not an effort to justify Grayson Allen’s actions, it just an effort to put it in perspective. Such notoriety just fueled the competitive fires of Laettner and JJ Redick and helped make them All-Americans. Only time will how this attention will affect Grayson Allen and the rest of the team.

Alan just emailed me that this was Coach K at his postgame presser: “The ACC did right by issuing its first ever reprimand rather than a suspension. It was a Flagrant One foul. Nobody gets suspended for a Flagrant One foul. That should be the end of it, but we are Duke, so we have to live with the enduring publicity.”

Next game: Wake Forest @ Cameron 8:00 ACC Network

Alan Adds:

I emailed Bill on Sunday morning that Pittsburg was “a trap game”. It was somewhat obvious. Conference road games are always tough, and one on your adversary’s senior night is especially tough. For Pitt, the season was on the line, as Pitt had lost several winnable games and perceived it needed one big win or fail to make the NCAA tournament. Last chance! The crowd was in a frenzy. Duke had played through an hellacious month. After a bitter loss (gallant effort) against Louisville, which followed 3 amazing wins against ranked teams, a superb effort against Florida State after the Louisville loss , Duke had the season’s most important regular season game (UNC) coming up. Grayson had been the center of a media storm, caused by his own dishonorable actions. I wondered if Duke could summon the intense emotion that fueled the team through that scintillating (and surprising) stretch.

First, Pitt played an amazing game, creating intensity from the Panther tournament situation. Pitt defended superbly and made pursuit of the ball its mantra. Pitt doubled up Duke in rebounding, forced turnovers on Duke’s penetration attempts and shot the lights out on Robinson’s Senior night. Second, as Coach K said, Duke played a game that was “out of character”. All year long, Coach K pointed out, this team has played its butt off; “we did not play our butts off today.” “In a long season, these things happen once in a while. Thank god it’s only once in a while.” Perhaps Coach K was remembering the 2010 team being blown out in DC by Georgetown in front of President Obama or last year’s beat down by Miami (90-74) in Cameron. Oh yeah, Duke won the National Championship after experiencing those routes. Coach K emphasized Duke’s lack of hunger and energy against the Panthers. “They were hungry; we were not. Which team would you rather have: hungry or not hungry?”

Pitt “did their thing, and we couldn’t stop it. They have mobile bigs; we knew that Marshall would have an unusual guy to defend.” Pitt’s mobile big drew Marshall away from the basket and scored efficiently. Of course, that left Marshall defending on the perimeter and Duke’s back board very vulnerable. In 28 minutes, Marshall had only 4 boards with 0 points and 0 blocks. Duke was simply slaughtered off both backboards. Coach K’s theme was “we have to move on” and get ready for Wake on Tuesday night. This team was very tired. It will be a physical and emotional test of “this Duke team” against Wake. Duke is now a #5 seed (losing the double bye) in the ACC tournament (actually tied for 4th, but Notre Dame holds the tie breaker). ND plays Miami and NC State while Duke plays Wake and UNC. Duke could really use the double bye. Time to move on from this aberrational nightmare.

DUKE 79 – WAKE FOREST 71

It’s a good thing that Duke, playing their third game in six days, was hosting Wake Forest, a team that hadn’t won in Cameron since 1997 because the way the Blue Devils played, it is doubtful they would have beaten most ACC teams. Marshall Plumlee (13 pts, 17 rebs.), Grayson Allen (30 pts, 5 rebs, 5 stls), and Coach K (burned 1,000 calories running the coaches box) were the only players who appeared to have much gas left in their tank.

The momentum of the close game turned when Brandon chased down Rondale Watson on a fast break and blocked his layup. Grayson patented dive saved the ball before it went out of bounds, flinging it to teammate Luke Kennard. Duke raced to the other end and found Ingram open from the right wing, where he nailed a 3-pointer tying the game at 56-56. Coach Mike Krzyzewski whipped off his suit jacket, turned cheerleader, and urged the already deafening Cameron Crazies to get even louder. Then he started working the sidelines with the energy and enthusiasm of a hyperactive Cameron Crazy. We have seen this scenario before: his players are embarrassed to see their coach working harder than they are. The result was a 12-2 run that was the breathing room for the Blue Devils to close out the game as Wake reverted to form and imploded during the final minutes.

While that was a rare exhilarating moment tonight in a gutsy win, it is difficult to see how this young, thin team goes far in either upcoming tournament. For the first time, Coach Krzyzewski didn’t sound optimistic about Jefferson returning this year. And even if he does, how fit and effective could he be? This team will go as far as Grayson Allen and Brandon Ingram carry them. Even though Grayson scored 30 points, his shooting was streaky, even missing five free throws. Matt Jones tweaked his bad ankle. All the freshmen appear to have hit the wall: Brandon was only 6-17 from the floor; Derryck Thornton, Luke Kennard and Jeter were a combined 2 for 12. Only the irrepressible, Energizer Man MP3 is at the top of his game. Perhaps, as the News Observer writer Laura Keeley suggests: “The best thing for this team is to lose early in the ACC Tournament and be fresh for the NCAA tournament.” Laura is Duke graduate who covered the team for The Chronicle, so she knows to leave that thought in a tweet, not say it in front of Coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Other Thoughts:

I am a big fan of Grayson Allen both as a player and as a person and think it is a shame two brief acts of emotional, harmless retaliation are presently defining him. Last night, he was the POG as well as in control of his emotions. There were his usual damn the floor burns diving-for-all-loose-balls and daredevil drives to the basket plays. But late in the game, he was racing down the sidelines when a Wake player hip checked him out of bounds onto the press row table, breaking a sport writer’s laptop. It was a potentially volatile situation but Grayson just disengaged himself from the debris, checked his body parts, smiled, and returned to the floor.
J Redick had some interesting thoughts on the role the media role plays in vilifying a Duke player:

“There seems to be this myth of this ‘Duke villain,’ and more often, the Duke villain is white … It goes from Danny Ferry to Christian Laettner to Steve Wojciechowski to Chris Collins to Mike Dunleavy to J.J. Redick to Greg Paulus to Jon Scheyer, and now it’s Grayson Allen. Grayson is one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met, so is Jon Scheyer, and Greg Paulus, as well as the others.

The media promotes the attitude that this guy is a villain. It was more in reaction to the hate that was already coming my way before I ever really did anything to warrant it. It’s almost like, every time there’s a player at Duke, the media says, ‘You should dislike this guy.’ I can remember being in school my senior year when Greg Paulus was a freshman, and there were numerous articles that year — ‘Greg Paulus is the next hated Duke player.’ The media, I guess, was choosing who we should hate. The media was saying, ‘This guy is the next guy.’”

Why, though? Why does there have to be a next in line? If you didn’t like Laettner, that’s fine. If you didn’t like Chris Collins, that’s fine. If you didn’t like me, that’s fine. Whatever. Does it really have to be like, every, Duke team, there has to be a guy you dislike?

“I get why there is some animosity toward Duke. I don’t necessarily agree with that. But I would hesitate, if I were some people, to anoint someone a villain. Don’t agree with it.”

Next game: Saturday, North Carolina 6:30 ESPN

Alan Adds:

It was almost as if the game were divided into four quarters. Duke played well enough in the first and fourth quarters to win the game that felt closer than the final score. What was warming was the way Duke rebounded from the disastrous Pitt defeat (Coach K said it was “an out of body experience” for the team) to show the grit and determination to take control of the game in the last 12 minutes, playing lights out defense. Grayson shook off the fall-out from his “tripaholic” acts to play a superb game, that was dazzling in his will and intensity (not to mention 30 points). What is concerning is how porous the defense was in the middle of the game (last part of the first half and first part of the second), Duke’s erratic shooting (10-35 from the field in the first half; 3-10 from deep), and uncharacteristic terrible foul shooting. Duke was 25 of 38, with Marshall missing 6 in a row after hitting his first five (0-3 in the second half, the last one was the front end of a 1 and 1) and Grayson missing 5 (9-14). Duke’s bench failed to score. Matt tweaked his ankle again, and though he returned to the game, Coach K expressed some concern as to how the ankle would be today.

Last night, this team looked gassed to me. This was Duke’s third game in the last 6 days, with only a day after the Pitt disaster. In the stretch against UVA, UNC and Louisville, Chase Jeter began to emerge as a contributor. Unfortunately, he returned to his early season form for the last two games. Last night in 5 minutes, he committed 2 fouls without a rebound. He was 1-2 from the line (the one bounced way high before unexpectedly dropping in). Luke played 21 minutes without scoring — without taking a shot in the second half. (0-4; 0-2 from 3land in the first half). Duke was careful with the ball until the second half doldrums, when turnovers began to happen. For the first 30 minutes, Derryck was scoreless (0-6; 0-2 from behind the arc), but just when you thought he had nothing left to contribute, he erupted for 2 crucial layups and 2-2 on critical foul shots. Coach K relies on him, playing him 37 minutes. He plays good on the ball defense. He guarded Crawford who scored 15, but on 15 shots. He also had 4 assists against a single turnover. Still, he is not yet the elite point guard that would really elevate this team.

Marshall was a force, though Wake’s Thomas exposed his lack of defensive mobility. Marshall grabbed 17 rebounds, many of them crucial and earned by sheer hustle and energy. He had 13 points (8 in the first half) in 34 minutes, before fouling out with less than 2 minutes to go (could you read his lips after he committed his fifth foul?). He embodies the spirit of this team — making up for any shortcomings by sheer hustle fueled by boundless energy. Still missing foul shots is a sign of being tired. The rest of the scoring was handled by Matt, Brandon, and the irrepressible Grayson. Matt had a wonderfully efficient game, playing 27 minutes before fouling out. In addition to being defensive glue, guarding taller players, he scored 14 on 9 shots (4-6 from deep and 2-2 from the line to go with 3 steals. It might be that the two games he missed because of the ankle (most of UNC and Louisville) may have given him the needed rest to rejuvenate. Brandon was heroic, but looks as if he is wearing down to me. He is so talented that it is less obvious. He has logged prodigious minutes all year and last night was no exception (39 minutes). He pulled himself together for a game winning second half after a 3-12 first half from the floor. He scored 15 points on 17 shots, but was absolutely heroic off the boards (11) with 3 steals, 2 assists, and a spectacular block at a crucial (game changing) moment. Grayson put Duke on his back, willing Duke to the win. In 37 minutes, he scored 30 on 16 shots (7-16; 2-5 from deep). He drove and drove and drove. He was rewarded with 19 free throws, which even though he missed an extraordinary 5, made the difference in the game. He also had 5 steals and 5 boards. He was quite simply awesome!

It seemed to me that Duke gets lax on defense when there is a perception of foul trouble in the offing. With 12 minutes left, Duke started to clamp down on defense, and to get the hustle balls (one led to a Grayson 3 and one to a Matt 3). But in truth, the last 12 minutes was caused as much by Wake’s terrible play as Duke’s turnaround. When evaluating this game, let us not forget just how truly bad the Deacons are. They are not without talent, but they are careless with the ball and have jaw dropping lapses. There is a reason that Wake has only won a single conference game besides beating (as every team has done) BC.

Coach K said a decision on whether Amile will return this year is imminent. He reported that Amile can move side to side without pain, but cannot run fluidly yet. Coach K thinks if he does not play, he will be awarded a red shirt and can play next season. Let’s see whether several days of rest can restore “this Duke team” to being competitive in the last home game of the season (Senior night for Marshall; Amile?)

DUKE 72 – NORTH CAROLINA 76

There is no way this game should have been this close. Duke shot 37 percent from the field, was outrebounded 64-29, and missed 6 of 15 free throws. It was the third game in a row that they shot under 40 percent from the field. You can get away with that against a Wake Forest but not a North Carolina or even a Pitt.

The Blue Devils chances took a big hit when Brandon Ingram got into early foul trouble and never got out of it. He had to sit out eleven minutes of the first half, then received his third a minute into the second half and fourth with ten minutes to play. He never got into any offensive rhythm, only scoring 10 points. Fortunately, Luke Kennard picked up some of the scoring slack with 20 points, but no one else other than Grayson Allen was in double digits. Allen had 29 points, but it took 28 shots and even though he attacked the basket in his usual physical, fearless manner, the referees only sent him to the foul line one time. At least three times, UNC scored quickly in a five-on-four situation after Allen went to the floor without the benefit of a foul call. (Memo to the press: Duke doesn’t always get all the calls.) For this team to win, it has to hit threes, which they did tonight(13 vs. 4) AND score more points than their opponent at the free throw line, which they did not (9-15 vs. 20-23). Fortunately (except at the free throw line), Carolina shot just as poorly—but theirs were at much closer range. And then there was the rebounding disparity.

Duke was never ahead and when they made a run to get close or tie the score, the Tar Heels always responded. North Carolina is a much bigger, much deeper, and more mature team that deserved t0 win tonight. My buddy Johnny Tar Heel just texted me: “We were very lucky. K is a magician.”

For sure, Mike Krzyzewski can coach and this year is one of his best jobs. However, this game left more questions than answers for both teams. Coach K can’t coach players who aren’t there and Coach Williams has to coach players who are there but don’t always mentally or physically show up. It’s debatable who has the more frustrating job but not which team has more tournament upside. Next year will be another story as Duke had a full complement of recruits that rivals the Okafor, Jones, Winslow, Allen class—as well as Amile Jefferson (see below).

Other Comments:

Grayson Allen has been named as a finalist for the Wooden Player of the year award as well as for both the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award and Oscar Robertson Trophy.
Bad news for this year; good news for next year: Duke announced before the game that on the advice of team doctors senior forward Amile Jefferson would miss the rest of the season as his broken right foot has not fully healed. The school will petition the NCAA for a medical hardship waiver that would allow Jefferson to return next year.
Duke went to a combination of zones, which were effective, in the second half. However, without Jefferson underneath, I don’t get putting Ingram on top of the 1-3-1. He is the best big defender and rebounder Duke has.
John Feinstein, the Duke grad who is the bestselling sports author of all time, has a new book “The Legends Club”– Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Valvano and the Story of an Epic College Basketball Rivalry. John’s books are always an easy read. They are like having a one sided conversation with John. I have met them both and I can tell you he is right up there with the just deceased local novelist Pat “The Prince of Tides” Conroy (His wife: “The water is wide and he hasnow passed over.”) as compelling, knowledgeable story tellers. This is an intimate narrative, because he loves basketball and was able to develop a personal relationship with the two younger coaches before they became famous. Dean took more time but that is one of the more interesting aspects of the book. Over his career, John has taken copious notes, which he has kept, but he also intersperses myriads of interviews with those who have survived Dean and Jim. If you are a Tobacco Road basketball fan—no matter what school—this is a must read!

Alan Adds:

Early on Saturday here’s what I emailed to Bill: “I have a really bad feeling about the game tonight, but still some hope. I went back and re-read our DBP of the first Carolina game. UNC is so much better, huge and skilled on the interior, deep and experienced. Duke seems to be running on fumes, with Luke and Derryck both dropping off sharply (especially in scoring). UNC will be fueled by revenge at having the game essentially stolen from them at the Dean Dome. I bet the spread favors UNC by a substantial margin. Still I have hope because: 1) it is in Cameron (though memories of 2012 keep haunting this scene); 2) Senior night for Marshall; Amile??]; 3) Just when you think this team is done, it rises from the dead like Rasputin or You Know Who; and 4) UNC seems to have a character flaw that could, as in the Dean Dome, snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. So, I am hopeful.

It turned out to be a pretty accurate analysis, except that uncharacteristically the ‘heels did not “snatch defeat from the jaws of victory” when they had the opportunity to do so. Instead, 3 different ‘heels made 8 straight foul shots to thwart Duke’s last desperate efforts. The first three shooters for the ‘heels went to the line for the front end of 1 and 1s. A miss on any of the first ones would have been…but it was not to be. With 3:22 left in the game, UNC went up by 9 at 68-59 on a layup by Berry. It was UNC’s last field goal, and set the scene for Duke’s last Rasputin-like effort. Grayson hit a 3 and then scored on a dunk to make it 68-64 with 53 seconds left. Carolina missed, but Pinson grabbed the offensive rebound (like a recurring nightmare) and was fouled by Marshall. He made them both with 26 seconds left (70-64). Grayson hit another 3 with 17 seconds left — that’s 8 straight points in 2 and a half minutes (70-67). Berry made both free throws (72-67 with 17 seconds left) before Luke hit a 3 from the corner with 9 seconds left (72-70). Paige made 2 with 9 seconds left (74-70) before Marshall made a dunk (74-72 with 4 seconds left). Paige made the final 2 free throws with 1.8 left for the final margin.

Duke had only 3 scorers in the second half to make the push. [Marshall made a field goal and a foul shot — finally, after 4 misses in the first half; making 10 straight misses going back to the Wake game — for 3 points]. Grayson scored 17 in the second half (6-14; 4-6 from deep; 1-2 from the line); Luke had 10 (20 for the game), and Brandon had 10 in the half even though he could not make his 3s (3-11; 1-5; 3-4). He played the whole 20 minutes, the last 10 with 4 fouls. He took only one shot in the first half and did not score. Thornton played only 3 minutes in the second half; I speculate that Coach K knew he needed 3 point shooters, and Derryck has been in a shooting slump for a while. The coach went with Matt (18 minutes), Luke (19), Brandon (20), Marshall (20) and Grayson (20). Chase got 0 minutes in the second half.

It will be easier on my soul if I omit any discussion of rebounding, except to say that Carolina out rebounded Duke 30-10 in the first half (Brandon got only a single board in his 9 minutes) and 34-19 in the second (Brandon corralled 6). Not much else to say, except “Wait Till Next Year” when Duke brings in Tatum, Giles and (hopefully) Amile returns. Duke’s usually balanced scoring was fatally unbalanced. Jeter failed to score in 7 minutes. Derryck hit a late 3 in the second half for his only points in just 15 minutes (1-4 from the field) with 1 assist and1 turnover, 0 rebounds and a steal. Matt played 36 minutes, scoring 5 in the first half but 0 in the second (2-8; 1-7 from deep without a foul shot attempt). Marshall scored only 5 in his 37 minutes with just 9 boards. In his 16 first half minutes, Marshall was 0-4 from the line with a single hoop. So that left the load to Grayson and Luke. Grayson was again heroic (11-28; 6-11 and 1-2 from the line) in 40 minutes (he fouled out with only seconds to go). But the key stat, which is a credit to Carolina’s defense is that Grayson was only 5-17 from inside the arc and did not draw fouls as he usually does. Carolina lost the first game on the perimeter; the Carolina guards did a much better job this time in Cameron. Luke returned to form after missing his first few (after going scoreless in a recent game). In 36 minutes he was 6-13; 4-9 from deep and 4-4 from the line for 20 points. He also contributed 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals against 0 turnovers and only 2 fouls. He was a star.

Duke is the 5th seed in the ACC tournament, meaning the loss makes Duke play an extra game on Wednesday against the winner of Tuesday’s game between Wake and NC State. If Duke wins on Wednesday, the quarterfinal matchup will be with Notre Dame on Thursday. Though 7 is the most conference losses Duke has suffered since the 2006-7 season, this has proven to be a lovable and admirable team. In hindsight, a season where Duke would compete for conference and national honors was lost when Amile was lost. Shades of Kyrie and Ryan. Still post-season challenges are in front of “this Duke team”. Next Play.

ACC TOURNAMENT

DUKE 92 – NORTH CAROLINA STATE 89

This game looked more like a summer league game at North Carolina Central in Durham than an ACC Tournament game in Washington, DC. Offense not defense was the specialty of the day as both teams finished shooting better than 50 percent from the floor and 40 percent from 3-point range. During our half time call, Alan pointed out that the 53-50 score was going just as Coach K had scripted it: Since State had played a close, enervating game last night, stay out of foul trouble by letting the Pack run and shoot themselves into exhaustion in the first thirty minutes, then ratchet up the defense in the last ten minutes and close the game out on an exhausted team.

This strategy worked like a charm until Marshall Plumlee had his nose broken and the Devils squandered a nine point lead. After MP3 (17 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks) had the blood flow contained and his nose straightened, he returned to play an heroic final five minutes making winning plays on both offense and defense to save the day and an embarrassing collapse.

Luke Kennard started in place of Thornton and scored 20 points. Brandon Ingram gave the NBA scouts an eye full by scoring 19 first half points before twisting his ankle. Grayson Allen had had 19 points 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and another ill-advised technical. Matt Jones has not been the same player since he injured his ankle. Chase Jeter had eight productive minutes.

Other Thoughts:

Cat Barbour was virtually unstoppable. If Duke had him at the point, the Blue Devils would be a Final Four team.

John Feinstein, the Duke grad who is the bestselling sports author of all time, has a new book “The Legends Club”– Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Valvano and the Story of an Epic College Basketball Rivalry. I am reading it. If you are a Duke, UNC, or State fan, it is a must read!
Here is John on the ACC expansion: “Expansion has been an ongoing embarrassment for the ACC. On Tuesday, during those thrilling games involving the bottom four seeds, they curtained off the upper deck of Verizon Center to try to hide the emptiness of the building. (The crowd was announced at 7,000, which may have been counting by twos.) Next year the tournament goes to Brooklyn — Brooklyn?No doubt fans from the South will be thrilled with the notion of riding the subway to Barclays Center since there is zero parking there and with the prices they will pay for New York hotels.”

Next game: Notre Dame Thursday @2:00 ESPN

Alan Adds:

It is undeniably difficult to beat another team three times in a season, but Duke accomplished that with its third hard fought win over NC State this season. It was an entertaining game with offensive fireworks in the first half that were astounding. As Coach K pointed out, many players were making difficult shots all over the court. For sure the defense lacked intensity, but the offensive outburst was more about terrific offensive basketball by both teams. At the half, I told Bill that I thought State would tire in the later stages of the second half; it was their third game in 5 days, and the Wolfpack is just as thin as the Blue Devils. The State bench played only 25 minutes; Duke’s bench played 27 (Chase played 8 and Derryck, who has been replaced by Kennard in the starting lineup, played 19). Coach K was adamant in the press conference that he was not worried about Duke’s conditioning or getting tired; rather, his greatest concern is Duke getting in foul trouble. I also told Bill that Duke was avoiding foul trouble and would be more effective on the defensive end at game’s end. I think both Duke’s increased defensive intensity and State’s fatigue tipped a close game to the Blue Devil win column.

Coach K said it is the best Duke has played offensively in three weeks, and that “this Duke team” had become a really good team in the last five weeks. Contributions came from Brandon (scoring only in the first half, but solid defense and great rebounding in the second half), Grayson, Luke, Chase and Derryck. Only Matt Jones seemed out of sync and has since even before he sprained his ankle against Carolina. Matt played 27 minutes, scoring a 3 pointer early for his only points in the game (1-5; 1-3 from deep and again did not get to the free throw line). He had a rebound in each half. I don’t think he has fully recovered, and it shows in his defense. Ingram played the entire game with only a single 3 point goal in the second half (1-6; 1-2), but with 4 boards, 3 assists, a block in that stanza. When Brandon went cold in the second half, Grayson got hot. In 39 minutes, he scored 19 (14 in the second half) to go with 6 assists (5 in the first half when he was passing more than shooting). Luke took more Duke shots than any player (10-19; Grayson and Brandon took 14 shots each), but still cannot find his 3 point shot (2-7), and missed his only free throw that would have sealed the game. He was a star in his 35 minutes.

Marshall, however, was Duke’s most valuable player in this game. He logged 32 minutes and played some beautiful and tough basketball. His play when he returned to the game after he (actually is was Matt Jones’s elbow) broke his nose was the emotional catalyst for Duke’s win. With the game tied at 89, Marshall grabbed a tough offensive rebound after a miss by Brandon and stuffed the put back as he was fouled. He not only made the foul shot (they were the last points in the game), but hustled back on defense to stop Barber’s drive and create the steal with which Grayson is credited. Marshall, in his senior year, has been so special for this team. Chase contributed with 5 points and 3 boards in 8 minutes (more points than either Matt or Derryck scored). He played well, but was only 1-3 from the foul line and committed 2 fouls. Duke’s foul shooting improved in the second half (5-10 in the first half) to 14-22. Derryck Thornton scored his 4 points in the first half on two nice drives to the basket. He missed his only jumper. He played 19 minutes (only 8 in the second half).

Duke is back at it tomorrow in the second afternoon game on ESPN against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. A chance for revenge and an appearance in the Semi-finals.

DUKE 93 – UNC WILMINGTON 85

Duke played the first half this afternoon like they did in the second half of the loss to Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament. Only two rare threes at the end of the half kept the score semi-embarrassing. I don’t know what Coach K said at halftime but apparently Lt. Marshall Plumlee ripped off his face mask, threw it across the room and shouted: “ I’ve got you. Follow me fellas.” Marshall, who played like Clark Kent in the first half, ran out of the locker room / phone booth and played like Superman, flying all over the floor rejecting shots and above the rim jamming in passes and misses as his platoon overwhelmed the Seahawks with a 14-0 run. That surge was the working margin the Blue Devils needed to prevail against the feisty but undersized Seahawks, even though a slippery floor caused Allen two unforced turnovers to keep the score closer than it should have been late in the game. That same wet spot caused Baylor a turnover on their last potentially tying possession.

It was a good thing that Plumlee (23 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks) stepped into the breach, because only Grayson Allen (23 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists) and Brandon Ingram (20 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks) produced their normal numbers. Luke Kennard is still a mystifyingly inconsistent freshman (just when you think he has solved the riddle, he plays like he doesn’t know the question) and Matt Jones is either injured or in a slump, because he is not nearly as efficient as last year. Off the bench, Thornton played well and Jeter is no longer a liability. To advance, the Blue Devils need more than two or three players to be hitting on all cylinders.

Other Thoughts:

Ø To no one’s surprise, Coach K announced that Brandon Ingram is a one and done player. As talented as he is, Brandon is a poster player for needing another year or so in college to physically and mentally mature and get the playing time to work on his game against contemporaries in real time.

Ø It’s a good thing that Duke went to the foul line 43 times and hit 31, because the Seahawks had 7 more threes, which is a good indication how poorly they were shooting.

Ø Duke beat Yale by 19 late last year but that was in Cameron with Amile Jefferson. (Suggestion: Please use the 1-3-1 again but with Brandon not on top some of the time.)

Ø The “Hate Duke” journalistic campaign has reached an absurd crescendo. The Wall Street Journal: “The Complicated Politics of Hating Duke” by a UNC grad; The Washington Post: “The Mount Rushmore of hated Duke players” with pictures; Fox Sports: “Duke vs. Yale is the worst. Who do you possibly root for?”; Yahoo: “Love Duke? Hate Duke? How do Americans really feel?” And those are just the articles I stumbled upon.

Next Game: Yale Saturday 2:40 CBS

Alan Adds:

Before the UNC-W game, I texted Bill as follows: 2012 – Lehigh; 2014 – Mercer; 2016 – ?. What was different? I watched this game! I now must admit that for the combined reasons of lascivious activity and overconfidence, I did not watch either the Lehigh or Mercer games. (My apologies, Coach K; won’t happen again!). Wilmington played well and was justly praised by Coach K, who pointed out how together Wilmington played and that as double champions of their league (regular season and tournament) a game like this is “what the NCAA tournament is all about.” Duke gave up 43 points in the first half and 42 in the closing stanza. Not good defense in either half. But Duke scored 53 in the second half (44 of those points coming from Marshall, 19 on 7-8 from the field and 5-6 from the line; Grayson 16 including 10-11 from the line — to go with 7 boards (in the half), and 3 assists; and Brandon, 9. In the second half, Matt scored 5 while Chase (2-2 from the line) and Derryck, who made his only shot on a circus drive, each scored 2.

Coach K said he thought Duke was nervous as the game opened and that Wilmington played harder than Duke in the first half, but not in the second half. Coach K said that Duke had two of the nation’s most talented players in Grayson and Brandon, but Marshall was most important to the team. “When he plays well, we have a chance to win; when he just plays ok, we do not.” He played just ok in the first half, but did transform at half time (the turning point in the game was Marshall taking the mask off). Marshall has to learn not to pace himself, said Coach K. He did not yesterday. After his team transforming outburst in the first three minutes of the second half, he asked to sub out of the game. Coach K said that is the first time all year he has done so. He played 29 minutes before fouling out with a gaudy stat line and increased stature. Coach K also pointed out that he could rest Marshall because of Chase’s development. “Until 3 or 4 weeks ago, when Marshall came out there was a void. But in the last 3-4 weeks Chase has been filling that void. Duke is better because Chase gives Marshall adequate back up for a few minutes at a time. Chase played 11 minutes, scoring 5 (1-1 from the field), but going 1-3 from the line in the first half (2-2 at crunch time in the closing session). He had 2 boards and a block.

Grayson played the entire game (minus a few seconds at the end) contributing an amazing 10 boards and 5 assists (worth repeating) to go with his 15-17 from the line. In short, Grayson is astounding even when he does not shoot well (4-12 from the field and 0-4 from behind the arc). His speed is amazing. Dribbling with the ball he was outdistancing pursuing defenders while shredding the press. Brandon played just as well even though his stats were less gaudy (5-10 from the foul line). In 39 minutes he was 7-12 from the field (1-2 from deep) to go with 9 boards (1 more than Marshall and 1 less than Grayson), 3 assists and 2 blocks. He has become a reliable defender. Coach K pointed out that when Brandon has not played well it is because he is in foul trouble. ACC teams posted him up when Duke was defending, in the attempt to get him in foul trouble. Wilmington played four guards and could not do that. Brandon was superb overall with 10 points in the first half and 9 in the second.

Coach K lauded Derryck because of his ball handling against the Wilmington press. In 24 minutes he scored 5, had 2 assists against a single turnover and had a key block. Coach K made what I thought was a telling point — Brandon, Derryck and Chase are still only 18 years old. Each is getting better, but they (and Duke) are very young. He pointed out that Duke won because of the 23 year old (Marshall). Duke had only 10 turnovers and kept driving and getting fouled; that is what eventually won the game. A concern going forward is the play of Luke Kennard. After a scoreless game against Notre Dame, he had a scoreless second half in this one. In 18 first half minutes he scored all 5 of his points (2-7 from the field; 1-2 from deep without getting to the foul line). In the second half, he played 12 minutes and missed both of his shots. Duke needs him to break out of his slump because when he has been good, he has been very good.

Yale beat Baylor (as I predicted); they are a better basketball team, even if Baylor had better athletes, and perhaps even better basketball players. I dug out what I had written after Duke beat Yale in November (when Duke had Amile and Yale had its starting point guard and captain, no longer in school or on the team), “If you love the game of basketball, it was hard not to completely admire Yale’s opening salvo against Duke at Cameron. The Bulldogs simply played beautiful basketball in carving up the Duke man to man defense. It could have been an offensive coaching clinic (with Duke defenders playing the role of the Washington Generals!).” Duke could not keep Mason out of the paint (Neither could Baylor; Mason scored 31 yesterday), and so played a lot of 1-3-1 with Brandon on top, Amile in the middle and Marshall under the basket. Both teams are quite different now. It should be an interesting game. A Duke win and a berth in the Sweet 16 would be very satisfying.

DUKE 71 – YALE 64

This game was a microcosm of the season in forty minutes. When these Blue Devils are playing good defense, they play good offense and can beat anyone. But when they are not playing good defense, they can lose to anyone. In the first twenty minutes Grayson Allen almost outscored Yale by himself as Duke shot threes (9-15) like the Golden State Warriors and took a 48-23 lead into the locker room. In the second half, the Blue Devils understandably went to their “prevent offense” meant to protect their lead by taking time off the clock and limiting Yale’s possessions and probability to close the gap. The unintended consequence was that their defensive metabolism also slowed down and Yale, to their credit, took advantage, started making plays, and became energized—as did the Providence pro Yale crowd.

Holy Collapse, Dickie V! This is how close the game became: Duke’s enormous lead shrunk to 7 with twelve minutes left and to 3 with thirty-nine seconds left. However, Coach K did his Hall-of-Fame best to rally his team, finally even succumbing to a modified 1-3-1 zone with Brandon on top. It created some consternation for the Bulldog offense and resulted in a few critical turnovers—all of which somewhat neutralized Yale’s offensive momentum. The bottom line is that the young guns –Ingram, Allen, Kennard, plus grey beard Plumlee (10 rebounds & 5 blocks) made offensive and defensive plays and free throws (14-16 for the game) to save an embarrassing collapse that, undoubtedly, would live in CBS/NCAA video loop history as a “not-so-shining moment” counter balance to Laettner’s iconic “one shining moment” shot against Kentucky.

The good news is that instead of cruising to a lopsided victory and thinking they were channeling last year’s team NCAA Tournament success, the players are reminded once again that in order to beat top teams, they must play defense most of the forty minutes at efficient, full speed not cruise control. The inconsistency of winning the first half 48-25 and losing the second half 23-39 is the reason Notre Dame beat them in the ACC Tournament and that UNC-Wilmington beat them by three in the first half of the first round. In addition, experiencing the pressure of the game being on the line in the last minutes with the crowd roaring for an opponent team is a priceless, coming-of-age experience for all the young players. Sophomore Grayson Allen with 29, freshman Brandon Ingram with 25 and freshman Luke Kennard with 13, scored 67 of Duke’s 71 points. Freshman Thornton contributed 2 points, 5 assists & 1 steal and Chase Jeter 2 rebounds, 1 block. The Blue Devils needed all of it.

A teachable moment best burned into a players hard drive.

Other Thoughts:

After practice Friday Coach John Scheyer had Brandon Ingram, who went 5-10 the day before, shoot 100 free throw. He hit 67 in a row before missing one.

Miami, Duke, Virginiaand North Carolina all won on Saturday, giving the ACC four teams in the Sweet Sixteen with the potential to add Syracuse and Notre Dame, who play Sunday, to that group. As a league, the ACC is 10-1 in the NCAA Tournament through Saturday’s games. If you go back to the start of the 2015 tournament, the ACC is 27-6 with one national title thanks to Duke’s win in Indianapolis. Miami, Duke, Virginia and North Carolina all won on Saturday, giving the ACC four teams in the Sweet Sixteen with the potential to add Syracuse and Notre Dame, who play Sunday, to that group.
This was a record 90th tournament victory for Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski. In addition, he has 30 tournament appearances, 5 national championships, back-to-back titles in 1991 & 1992, 12 Final Fours, 66 tournament wins, and a .776 winning percentage. Not a bad resume.

Next game: Winner #1 Oregon – St. Joe

Alan Adds:

Duke has advanced to the Sweet Sixteen with wins over the 13th seed and the 12th seed; neither of them easy. In fact, for Duke fans the second half against Yale was excruciating. Consider that at the 16:29 mark, Duke led 54-32 lead on a tip in by Brandon. Only 4 minutes later (with 11: 17 left), Duke still had 54, but Yale had cut the lead to 7 (54-47). Duke stopped the bleeding for a while. Back in November, Duke had overcome Yale when it unveiled a 1-3-1 zone with Brandon at the top (But with Amile and Marshall also in the zone), which completely flummoxed the Bulldogs then. With the man to man defense suddenly dramatically ineffective, Coach K went back to the 1-3-1 with Brandon at the top. It stabilized the game and kept Duke’s lead around 3 possessions. Coach K praised Brandon’s defense in the zone as “magnificent”. He shaded Mason and caused Yale’s confusion. He got deflections. “You can’t practice against that zone unless you have someone with a 7’3” wingspan at the top”, said Coach K. Coach K’s insight was Duke’s seemingly efficient man to man defense in the first half was “fool’s gold”. Their very good shooters were simply missing open shots. They didn’t miss those shots in the second half. Coach K had trepidations at the end of the first half when he saw the intensity drain from Duke for the last few minutes (Yale scored 6 at the end of the first half). Grayson hit another 3, and Coach K described him as looking and being in la-la land after it. He was so success-smitten that he didn’t know who he was guarding (giving up the points) and then committed a very stupid foul. Coach K described that as “playing young”.

Yale wasn’t giving up. Coach K was thoughtful about the tournament and the game. Paraphrasing what he said: The tournament is crazy. Look at all the upsets. It is the mind set of every underdog that miracles happen. We can make one happen too. Teams never give up because of the belief they too can create the miracle. That mindset, he said, actually does produce miracles and it is what makes the tournament so magnificent. It is the players’ and team’s efforts that are not less than magnificent. You don’t face this during the year. He pointed out the attitude produces not only miracles but tough responses, which came from his Duke team yesterday.

THE MOMENT: With 41 seconds to go and Duke leading by 6, Kennard fouled Sears, who made the first one. He missed the second but Yale got the tip in (Sherrard got credit, but Marshall actually tipped it). Yale was under the limit and so had to foul in order to send Duke to the line. With 39 seconds to go, Brandon stepped to the line for a one and one. If he missed, Yale would have the ball with a chance to tie. At the press conference, Brandon was asked what was going through his mind as he stepped to the line. “My mind just went back to practice. Coach Scheyer made me shoot 100 free throws after practice on the court after I had gone 5-10 against Wilmington. He told me that it was likely I would be there at the end of close games.” Brandon made 67 in a row before he missed in practice. He made both in the game, and Yale never again was within one possession of the tie. “Keep listening to Coach Scheyer”, said Coach K as the student athletes left the press conference.

The second half was excruciating because the Duke offense fell apart. Neither Marshall (0 shots), Derryck (0-2), Matt (0-2) nor Chase (0 shots) scored in the second half. Luke did not have a field goal (0-2), though he made 2 crucial foul shots down the stretch. Grayson only took 4 shots in the half (2-4; 1-2 from deep) and made 2 crucial foul shots to ice the game for 7 points. The offense was all Brandon. Duke was 6-22 from the field; Brandon was 4-13 (1-4 from deep, but what a one it was!) and 5-7 from the line for 14 second half points. He is something! Both he and Grayson played 40 minutes; Luke 38. Marshall played 31 and Chase the rest, but Duke had only 2 points from the center position. Matt had a subpar offensive game, playing only 20 minutes and failing to score (0-4; 0-2 from deep) before fouling out. However, he and Derryck played savage defense against Yale’s star, Mason, who had scored 31 against Baylor. Derryck played 23 minutes of valuable basketball. Mason was held to 8 points (2-12) though he passed like a master to keep the Yale offense moving. Derryck was 1-2 for 2 points, but his real value was as a ball handler. He handed out 5 assists against only a single turnover. He is growing, and at just the right time. So is Chase.

This was a positive experience for Duke in my opinion. There is no way to simulate in practice the pressure of a game like this. Grayson said, “We faced this in the Notre Dame game when we lost a 16 point lead. We didn’t come together then. Tonight we knew we had to keep our poise and we came together.”

Next game is Thursday evening in Anaheim in the Sweet 16.

DUKE 68– OREGON 82

Full disclosure: The fact that my wife not only went to the University of Oregon but also was a cheerleader and is my proof reader had no influence on what I am about to write. Oregon was the deeper, more athletic team with Casey Benson, a terrific point guard (8 assists, 1 turnover, 2 threes to jump start the second half) and a rare combination of vertical and lateral defensiveness. They played at the top of their game and that had a lot to do why Duke did not. Nothing demonstrated this more than these two events: Plumlee committing two unnecessary fouls in the first five minutes and then with only nine seconds left in the game and the shot clock about to run out, for the second time guard Dillon Brooks just casually threw up a prayer that went in. It was that kind of game, much like the 2011 Sweet Sixteen when Derrick Williams and Arizona’s seldom seen West Coast players showed the country how good they were. Only this time, it seemed like there several Derrick Williams playing for Oregon. Duke was playing catch-up the whole game and never really did. It was not Duke’s night. They shot 32% from three point land vs. 44% for Oregon.

The Blue Devils played hard but Oregon had the talent and the savvy to exploit the Duke weaknesses and negate their strengths. It is no surprise that tonight youth and defense were the Blue Devil’s Achilles Heel. The Ducks had 22 assists to Duke’s 10 and limited Duke to 26 for 59 from the floor. Ingram and Kennard, who had a 13 & 11 double-double, had good games but Jones and Allen did not. Jeter and Thornton played freshman nervous. Watching the game slip away reminded me how much the team and the coaching staff have accomplished this difficult year. As a famous military leader once said, “You fight a war with the army you have, not the one you wished you had,” and when Jefferson was injured, this became a team with very little margin for error. Nevertheless, the team won many more battles than they lost.

The Duke player who had the best night was Jim Spanarkel, the very knowledgeable and informative game announcer and former All American. Unfortunately, he graduated in 1979. I cannot say the same for veteran announcer Verne Lundquist, who along with his producers continued the practice of showing Grayson Allen’s two tripping infractions without putting them into any context of the treatment Grayson receives from defenders. To be more fair, they could also include a clip of Louisville’s Jaylen Johnson swinging an elbow and hitting Grayson flush in the jaw, bloodying his mouth. Then, after the whistle had blown, Johnson started punching wildly at him defenseless on the floor. But why be fair when perpetuating a media narrative? To add currency to the “most hated Duke player” designation, Verne made a gratuitous comment about an obviously disappointed Grayson not having any of Dillon Brooks (after making a long, unguarded three as the game ended) attempting a mocking celebratory hug as the game ended. Usually, a player hugs a teammate to celebrate.

Alan Adds:

It was obvious, and Coach K stressed it in his postgame press conference, Oregon was simply the much better team last night. Not only did Oregon shred the Duke defense, which was fatally wounded by Marshall’s first offensive foul within the game’s first minute and subsequent second foul with 14:37 left to play, but the Oregon defense was exceptional. It was the Oregon interior defense that thwarted Duke’s best drives and allowed the perimeter defense to concentrate on Duke’s outside shooters. Coach K said Oregon moved both laterally and straight up and down. “You think you are open for the score, and they are there to block or alter the shot.” He wished Duke had played better, “but Oregon didn’t let us play better.”

Even so, as the game came down to it, Duke made one last gallant gasp and reduced the margin to 10 when Brandon launched a three that rimmed out. Coach K said had that 3 gone in and reduced the lead to 7, you never know what might have happened. One should point to Luke’s great rebounding game, leading Duke with 11 (Marshall had only 5). Brandon was heroic scoring 24 points, but took 20 shots to do it, and might have taken on more than he should have when Duke was trying to claw back. Both he and Grayson played 40 minutes; Luke played 38. Matt again failed to score until the game was well out of reach and virtually over, when he hit a pair of 3s, each reducing the Oregon lead to 13. But, Matt didn’t score in the entire tournament until he hit one with 3:31 left and one with 2:47 left. He simply was not the same player in the second half of the year.

Coach K said (and I wholeheartedly agree) that this season was a great, great— not just good — season. After Amile was lost for the year, Duke could have failed to make the tournament. But instead, the Devils “fought like crazy” and ran an incredible gauntlet that Coach K said transformed his team. Duke beat Louisville, Virginia and UNC before losing to Louisville on the road, a gauntlet “ that made us. But, it also knocked us back.” Duke won 25 games and made the Sweet 16 with a flawed team that was decimated by Amile’s injury. While Marshall had a subpar game last night (5 points, 5 rebounds and 0-2 from the line), Marshall’s development made the season. “No kid improved in one year like he did in my 36 years of coaching. There is no way we have this terrific year without him.”

Brandon was asked about his position in the draft. He said he wasn’t even thinking about that. He’s thinking about finishing school and being with his teammates (brothers he loves). He said he had an amazing freshman year, coached by a great coach and playing with awesome teammates. He refused to address the question. Coach K was asked about his transition to coaching the Olympic team. He said he still had much to do with this team, helping his players to the next step, whether it was from freshman to sophomore, to what Brandon will do, and to helping Marshall adjust to military life as Coach K did when he was graduated from The Point.

It was a wonderful Duke season, and so much fun for me to write about and share with everyone. After the tournament concludes, we will do a season finale.

Assessing 2015-16 and Salivating over 2016-17

When I emailed Bill about the logistics for our final edition of this year’s DBP, he responded, “I am all B-Balled out. I left it all on the court.” I, of course, knew he must have meant the tennis court at Duke in 1960, when we heartbreakingly lost the intramural doubles championship in the finals. And he might have! In any event, we have reversed the order because of his fatigue, with Bill concluding with a “Bill Adds”.

Objectively, Duke’s season does not seem as sparkling as had been hoped for when the season began. The indisputable fact is that Amile’s season ending injury on December 12, 2015 transferred Duke’s national championship aspirations from this past season to next season. Duke was 8-1, with the team being built around Amile. Coach K was experimenting with Amile and four guards, limiting Marshall’s playing time to the least of all the starters. In his last game, Amile had 8 assists from the post. Although Amile’s injury ended Duke’s national aspirations — we didn’t know that because there was always the tantalizing prospect of Amile’s return to plug the obvious holes in Duke’s roster — the end of national title aspirations is not the prime factor in evaluating the 2015-16 season. Though Duke finished 6th in the ACC regular season, lost in the quarter-finals of the ACC tournament and dropped out of the top 25 for the first time in almost a decade, I believe this was a remarkably successful season, which turned out to be one of Coach K’s most remarkable coaching jobs. This roster-thin team beat two #1 NCAA seeds, made the Sweet 16 of the Big Dance, making all Duke fans proud with this team’s grit and determination. For me, the season is epitomized by the development of the play, grit and leadership skills of Marshall Plumlee after Amile went down. He led by fierce example even when overmatched in skill level. He dramatically raised his skill level. Though others had more natural talent and skill, by season’s end, Marshall was the acknowledged leader, who was both the most important and the most valuable player on the team. Duke died in the elite 8 when Marshall got into early foul trouble because Marshall could no longer protect the rim unabashedly. We will all remember the season that he gave us for a long time. Nowhere was Duke’s grit and determination on more magnificent display than the stretch of games after Duke lost 4 out of 5 league games between January 13 and January 25 (lost to Clemson, Notre Dame, Syracuse and Miami). Duke then faced a gauntlet of games against top rated teams. It was here Duke transformed and turned into a completely lovable team to be admired. In the next two weeks (February 6 to 20) Duke beat NC State, Louisville, Virginia and Carolina (in the Dean Dome) before losing a heartbreaker to Louisville at Louisville. I think that stretch took a lot out of Duke for the remainder of the season, but it was a stretch of which to be to be enormously proud.

We were privileged to watch Grayson develop into a star of the highest magnitude. I guess that means that the recruiting class of Okafor, Jones, Winslow and Allen was a pretty good one. This year’s class — Brandon, Luke, Derryck and Chase — was overhyped as a # 1 recruiting class. Brandon’s rise to stardom from his early season games was as wonderfully remarkable as Grayson’s rise from 8th man who averaged 4.4 ppg to 3rd team All-American. Amile’s injury made Brandon learn to play a tough inside rebounding game. It was satisfying to watch his growth and how Coach K coached him. We also were privileged to watch the first year of Luke Kennard’s career at Duke, which I predict will be noteworthy. My guess is he will be a four year guy, who will continue to develop consistency with his overall game. His shooting, while good, was inconsistent from game to game. However he proved he can handle, defend, rebound and pass. Neither Thornton nor Jeter lived up to the pre-season hype. Jeter was a McDonald’s All American. When Thornton reclassified, he was highly rated in his new class. Duke just announced that Thornton is transferring. He has said he wants to play closer to home. I believe that he knows that Jackson is the point guard who will take his playing time.

Matt started off very efficiently, but tailed off consistently. He logged heavy minutes as the team’s best defender and most reliable player. I thought he began to tire and his statistics dipped. Then he injured first one ankle and then the other. This led to a real decline in his play and made the Duke roster seem even thinner when he stopped scoring. He will be anxious to rebound next year. Sean Obi turned out to be a major disappointment; it is up in the air whether this was caused by bad knees or there is such a difference in the level of competition between Conference USA and the ACC. Obi started 30 games for Rice in 2013-14 where he averaged over 11 ppg and 9 boards before transferring and sitting out the 2014-15 season. But he practiced with the team and was thought to compete for a starting job. Antonio Vrankovich was not expected to play and did not as was true for the Admiral’s son, Justin. This leaves Duke with an interesting problem for next year, to be discussed in a moment, or might have been solved with the late breaking news today.

For me, the bottom line is that this team faced an amazing set of obstacles and demonstrated a spirit that made me (us) adopt this team as special. And now for next year.

Duke loses Brandon to the NBA and Marshall to the Army, but brings in another loaded recruiting class. Next year’s freshmen are going to be much more like the incoming class of 2014-15 than this year. Here’s the lineup that has coaches and fans salivating for next year. Like the Okafor, Jones, Winslow class, these freshman have all played together as integral parts of the under 19 USA winning Basketball teams. Harry Giles was the #1 rated player in the class as a 6’10” power forward or center. He tore his ACL in the first minutes of the first game of the season this year. He immediately transferred from Oak Hill back home and commenced his rehab at Duke hospital with the Duke staff. He was named to the USA team in the Nike Hoop Summit played last night even though he is not yet ready to play. That says something about how he is perceived in USA Basketball. His running buddy is Jayson Tatum, a 6’8” scoring machine, who is a wing forward but can play the power forward if necessary. He doesn’t have Brandon’s wing span and upside potential, but he could be just as good. I watched him have two rather mediocre games — both last night and in the McDonald’s game — but am convinced he is the real deal. I loved his passing and his defense (he’s a ball hawk in the passing lanes). He has no ego. When a teammate got hot from 3land, Jayson got him the ball on almost every possession with really slick passes.

Frank Jackson, a 6’4” combo guard also impressed me. He won the slam dunk contest and was co-MVP in the McDonald’s game. He went scoreless from the field last night for USA (0-6), scoring a single point, but had 3 assists and ran the team efficiently. I loved his defense as well (not something usually on display in all-star games). Last year, a friend who had watched the Peachtree game and practices before the season started last year told me that Derryck was very overrated but that Jackson was the real deal. That is 3 players in the top 10. In addition, Duke brings in #17 a 6’8” power forward from Charlottesville, Javin DeLaurier and 6’7” small forward from Australia, Jack White. And there is one more tantalizing possibility — Marques Bolden, 6’10” center, who is rated as one of the top post players in the class (he looked very mediocre last night) has narrowed his choice to Duke or Kentucky. Should he choose Duke, that would make an amazing class even stronger. The problem that I alluded to above is that Duke had already given out its full allotment of 13 scholarships, however with Thornton’s announcement that he is transferring Duke will be able to accommodate Bolden if he chooses Duke.

I look forward to next year for a whole host of reasons. Most importantly, I love writing these and especially love the enduring connection that our project fosters between Bill and me. Damn! I wish we had won that intramural doubles final.

Bill adds:

Actually, what I felt was that it had been a long season and I was B-Balled out. Emotionally, I left it all on the floor of the Final Four and was focused on The Masters Tournament, which is visually really is “like no other”. The finish of the Villanova-North Carolina game was just fantastic. I loved the way Villanova peaked in the final two games, beating two more talented. And Marcus Paige has always been one of my favorite non-Duke players. Inexplicably, his three point shot has been on vacation for almost two years. Nevertheless, his court intelligence, savvy, and defense made him an invaluable teammate. Then, in the last five minutes of his last collegiate game, he was the Marcus Paige of old– shooting daggers and taking names at closing time. The degree of difficulty of his last shot should have counted double. However, Kris Jenkins trumped his three and Marcus’ shot will be but a footnote unless you have the Washington Post picture of Paige double clutching in mid-flight as he was releasing the ball.

So, Alan went solo on the wrap-up. I did tape the Nike Summit but after a few minutes lost interest because these events are essentially unstructured pick-up games of would-be lottery picks. I’m old school and cannot get as excited with potential one-and-doner’s as I can about players like Grant, Shane, JJ, Nolan, Marshall, and Grayson, who stay and play. That brings me to Derryck Thornton, who is transferring “to be closer to home” as if Duke had just moved to Europe. And now Mark Edwards, identified as his Uncle and/or trainer is tweeting with Donald Trumpian frequency alerting the social media world that you can’t trust the Duke coaches, they misled and lied to Derryck about what kind of offense would be run and on and on. Anyone with even a casual knowledge of Coach K knows he runs a Darwinian System and promises recruited players nothing except the opportunity to compete for playing time (ref. Kris Humphries and father’s brief career at Duke). Everyone should take a deep breath and read Al Featherston’s articles in Monday and Tuesday’s Duke Basketball Report.com to track the careers of those players who have transferred from Duke. Here’s the wake-up call: Not every high school hot shot is going to be drafted or play in the NBA—or even be a star in college.

But I digress. Make no mistake, as Alan previews so thoroughly, next year shapes up to be one of justified high expectations and I look forward to it—in the Fall. But I’m not going to fall in love with any of the new players until they stay more than one year.

Let me close by saying how much satisfaction it gives us—despite a lack of leadership from the Broadhead administration– to share our pride in Duke and enthusiasm for Duke Basketball with all of you and reiterate why we feel as we do and do what we do:

The mission of pursuing excellence in both academics and athletics has been the goal of the university virtually since its inception–certainly since Eddie Cameron was athletic director. It has been a significant reason why Duke University has been and is such an exceptional institution. The truth of the matter is that while Coach K and his basketball program is the latest and most successful in a long, proud history of Duke Athletics, it is also a major reason Duke is viewed as an elite university. It is not just that his and other teams won, it was the way they have won and the kind of players with whom they have won– and graduated. Not to accept this legacy and not to celebrate and nurture it would be a terrible mistake.

A case can be made that Duke has come further, faster than any Top Ten University. Athletic Director Eddie Cameron was a major catalyst. He had the foresight to see that excellence in athletics was quickest way to attract national attention to a young, ambitious university. In 1930, he hired football coach Wallace Wade away from Alabama following his third national championship with the Crimson Tide. By the mid 1930’s Duke had a powerful football team that attracted national attention and played in 1938 and 1942 Rose Bowls. From $400,000 of the proceeds of the 1942 Rose Bowl (played at Duke because of concerns about Japanese attacks on the West Coast), Mr. Cameron built Duke Indoor Stadium, which was, at the time, the second largest basketball area (next to the Palestra in Philadelphia) in the East. Fortunately, the legendary Dick Groat matriculated shortly thereafter and a great basketball tradition was established.

Legend has it that after Princeton University turned down his offer of a very generous bequest, James Buchannan Duke endowed Trinity College with $40,000 (over $500,000 in today’s dollars) . The gift to Trinity had two caveats: change the name to Duke University (after his father Washington Duke) and build it to look like Princeton.

Whatever the truth, building a campus as beautiful as Duke, establishing rigorous entrance and educational standards, developing a world class medical school and hospital, then building nationally ranked football and basketball teams (not to mention golf, lacrosse, track, and baseball) were the lynch pins of the meteoric rise of Duke University as an elite institution. It could not have happened without all of these elements –and it cannot maintain that unique status without preserving a dual excellence in both academics and athletics.

Duke Basketball Playbook: 2016-17 Season

What to look for:

Other Comments:

“North Carolina never got its day of reckoning for facilitating the most widespread academic scandal in the history of college sports. North Carolina’s basketball program was never going to get the harsh punishment that many college basketball fans thought it deserved.
“How in the hell did North Carolina get away with this?”
“The NCAA did not dispute that the University of North Carolina was guilty of running one of the worst academic fraud schemes in college sports history, involving fake classes that enabled dozens of athletes to gain and maintain their eligibility.”
“The school acknowledged that the classes that were taken were essentially bankrupt of any kind of teaching, learning or supervision … but that was perfectly OK with them. To defend the basketball team, the university had to claim it wasn’t really a university. Sure, they took a shotgun to their academic credibility, but, hey, those championship banners get to stay. The truth is, alums probably care more about hoops anyway.”
“What’s stopping a school from setting up a similar “paper course” and making sure it’s open to all students, then sending athletes through it?”
“even the most ardent Tar Heel should be outraged by the fraud the university committed”

Alan Adds:

2016-2017

2015 compared to 2017-18

The Backcourt

Grayson, Duval and Trent should get most of the minutes.

Duke 93 NW Missouri State 60 (Exhibition game played Friday October 27)

Blue-White game on October 20 (just one 20 minute half)

The Front Court

Bagley, Carter and Bolden should be given most of the front court minutes.

Duke 93 – NW Missouri State 60 (Exhibition game played on Friday October 27)

Blue-White game ( October 20th. Just one 20 minute half)

Duke 88 – Michigan State 81

Holy Jim Boeheim, Batman! Coach K goes zone for a full forty minutes!

Other Comments:

This Champions Classic at the United Center in Chicago was like a Final Four in November with Kansas beating Kentucky in the nightcap.

Tom Izzo is a great coach. However, he is now 1-11 against Coach K.

Allen’s 37 points were Duke’s most against a top-2 team since J.J. Redick dropped 41 in 2005.

Before the game, Duke wore their “Equality” shirts, while Michigan State wore shirts that said “We talk, We listen.” Alan will have to explain what they mean.

Alan Adds:

It was as Coach K predicted, “a hell of a night.”

Whetting the Whistle

Enjoy the season and do not let unrealistic expectations take away our enjoyment.

Duke 97 – Elon 68

Duke 99 – Utah Valley 69

Other Comments:

1 overall 2018 prospect R.J. Barrett committed to Duke over Oregon and Kentucky. Barrett is the star of the 2018 Class and gives the Blue Devils their third five-star pledge in the class, to go with Cam Reddish and Tre Jones. Duke now boasts the No. 1 overall recruiting class for 2018, leap-frogging cross-state rival North.

Keep an eye on Alex O’Connell. He is the skinny white kid with the 1940’s retro haircut who has more animated fun on the bench than most Cameron Crazies but, more importantly, makes things happen when he gets playing time. I suspect that Bolden, DeLaurier, and O’Connell will be the eight man rotation.

Alan Adds:

Front Court

Backcourt

Tuesday night promises to be so much fun.

Duke Basketball Playbook: 2015-16 Season

Retrospective & Preview:

Based on only one scrimmage and two exhibition games, here is my assessment of the players:

Grayson Allen is the most dynamic, exciting, versatile player, and, if he stays healthy, the best playmaker on the team—perhaps, one of the best in the country.

Luke Kennard is the most mature and polished of the freshmen. Impressive feel for the game.

Derryck Thornton is no Ty Jones pass first, shoot when he game is on the line point guard but a better defender. Look for point guard by committee.

Sean Obi, the Rice transfer, is big and strong which should come in handy against physical teams if Plumlee gets in foul trouble.

Antonio Vrankovic has been injured but looks like a 7 foot project—a more skilled Brian Zoubek .

Justin Robinson, David’s son, has had little playing time and looks like a red shirt candidate.

ALAN ADDS:

Last Year’s Championship, and this Year’s Expectations.

The Big Guys

BACKCOURT

BRANDON INGRAM

ADDED FEATURE

Al Featherstone wrote a long, thorough analysis of the making of Duke’s five championship teams on dukebasketballreport.com. It is too good an historical tutorial not to reprint:

Just take last year’s team, for example.

2014-15: The One-and Done team

But here’s the funny thing … the team that started the season was very different from the one that cut down the nets in Indianapolis six months later.

Sulaimon was off the team.

1990-91: The First Title

That lineup and rotation would fluctuate all season.

By the team postseason rolled around, Krzyzewski had settled on Thomas Hill and Koubek as the fourth and fifth starters.

The choice of Koubek was kind of curious.

Duke’s first national championship team ended up as a very different team than the one that started the season.

1991-92: Back-to-Back

But the 1991-92 season was anything but stable. The issue was injuries – few Duke teams have had to battle as many injuries as the ’92 Devils.

That changed again when Hurley broke his foot in a Feb. 5 loss at UNC.

Duke’s next game was at No. 22 LSU, which featured Shaquille O’Neal in the middle.

That lineup lasted until Grant Hill suffered a severe high ankle sprain in practice in the days before the Feb. 26 matchup with Virginia in Cameron.

2000-01: Changing on the Fly

Then everything changed.

In Duke’s last home game, Boozer broke his foot. A team that critics said was too small and without the depth to compete for the national title, suddenly became much smaller and much thinner.

Boozer made a token appearance in Philly and was able to play a significant role again when Duke matched up again with Maryland in the Final Four in Minneapolis.

Yet, it terms of style of play, the team that beat Maryland and Arizona in the Final Four was a very different team than the one that opened the season.

2009-10: Slowing Things Down

The only Duke championship team that changed more over the course of the season was the 2009-10 team.

A special prize for anybody who can name the five starters in Duke’s 2009-10 season opener against UNC Greensboro.

Give up?

But does anybody else remember that the fifth starter was Olek Czyz?

Krzyzewski did have to replace the team’s best player – first-team All-ACC pick Gerald Henderson, who left a year early for the NBA, and Williams, who transferred to Memphis.

He ended the stretch with no points and three rebounds in the win at UNC.

Instead, it was Zoubek starting in the middle and contributing 16 points and 17 rebounds in 22 minutes as Duke beat the Terps 77-56.

That style did not really suit Zoubek. At 7-1, 260-plus pounds, he wasn’t quick or agile even when he was healthy (which is wasn’t for much of his career). He never attempted a 3-pointer.

Zoubek WAS very big, very strong and he had great hands. He proved to be the best offensive rebounder in college basketball when he finally got extended minutes late in his senior year.

Duke 92 – Siena 74

Duke 113 – Bryant 75

Some observations:

Four more reasons to keep enjoying Duke Basketball: The verbal commitments to Duke’s Class of 2016—three big men and a true point guard– signed letters of intent Wednesday, cementing their decision to join the Blue Devil program next fall. Together, Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum, Frank Jackson and Javin DeLaurier make up the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class, which would be head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s third in a row. Giles and Tatum are slated as the No.1 and No. 2 overall recruits in ESPN’s Class of 2016 rankings. “We’re ecstatic about the class,” Krzyzewski said in a press release. “The very first thing is that they’re four outstanding young men who come from great families. They’re players who can play right away. This group, as far as talent is concerned, is at a high level and their talents are complimentary. All of them can get better, too, so we’re very excited.”
Seven foot center Antonio Vrankovic made a four minute cameo playing ahead of Obi tonight. In scoring four points, he appeared to have good hands and footwork and ran the floor with surprising speed. His father is Stojko Vrankovic, a retired Croatian professional basketballplayer, who also played five years in the NBA.

As thrilling as the one-and-done talent is, I get a special satisfaction and delight in watching four year players like Amile Jefferson and Marshall Plumlee develop as players and people.
Clemson is not the best football team in the country and Carolina in not just the twenty some best team. As a matter of fact, I am picking UNC to beat Clemson for the ACC title.

Alan adds:

The Rotation

The Critical Reserves

The real season begins this week. First Kentucky (ESPN @ 7:30 EST)

DUKE 63 – KENTUCKY 74

It will be interesting to see what Coach K does and which players respond in a positive manner.

I was sick before the game and watching it was no tonic, so I will leave the details to Alan.

Next play.

Alan Adds

The Backcourt

The Frontcourt

Assessment or Reality Check

DUKE 79- VCU 71

Tonight for about thirty minutes, visions of Mercer and Leigh, not sugar plums, were dancing in my head—but, fortunately, Christmas did not come early for VCU.

Observations:

Coach mixed and matched a tight seven man rotation until the Blue Devils, interestingly enough, pulled away with MP3, the MVP against Ky, on the bench.
Derryck Thornton, who started for Allen and played 39 minutes, had what Duke fans hoped was breakout game with 19 points, 4 assists,3 turnovers, and 2 steals.
It tells you something that Luke Kennard, who was oh/no from the floor still played 19 minutes and was in the game for the winning run.
Matt Jones again proved it is not always how many you score but when you score them.
What does it tell you that this team has given up 74, 75, & 71 points. I’d say that the defense is a work in process. –or that they shot 19-34 from the line. Deduct Allen’s 8-9 that’s 11-29. Another way to look at it is Duke left a lot of easy points off the score board. Can’t afford to do that in close games. It is obvious that defense, ball handling, and free throw shooting are areas than need improving.
Don’t want to pick on Brandon Ingram but he needs a reality check and get a lot stronger and heavier before he thinks about the NBA.
Duke as not lost back to back games since 2009.

Alan Adds

The Good

The Interesting

The Bad

Next Play

DUKE 86 – GEORGETOWN 84

TEST GRADES:

OBSERVATIONS:

Giving up 84 points does not usually win games. Like last year, defense will be the key to winning any sort of title.
Half court shots at the end of each half– one went in, one didn’t. It is much easier for a left hander to get off a contested shot going left with the sideline as protection from a defender than a right hander going left. Try it sometime.

Alan Adds:

Assessing After three tough games in six days on Neutral Courts

In spite of being waxed by Kentucky, Duke fans should be pretty pleased with the season’s start.

Georgetown

The Defense

The Rotation

Next Play

Four games in two weeks — Yale (Wednesday) and Utah State (Sunday); Indiana on Wednesday and Buffalo on Saturday. Then a 10 day exam break.

DUKE 80 – YALE 61

The Good News/ Bad News:

Duke spotted the same Yale team, who upset defending NCAA Champion UConn at home last year, 9 points and still won by 21– but that margin is in no way a fair indication of the competitiveness of the game.

Grayson Allen had 5 assists, 4 more than point guard Derryck Thornton. No one claims freshmen are consistent.

Brandon Ingram, who seemed more animated/motivated coming off the bench for the second time, had 15 points– but none of them were outside of four feet. The oxygen gets thin for him on the perimeter unless he is going to the basket.

Oxymoron: Luke Kennard is 14-14 from free throw line but 4-23 from three point land. Which is reality? Answer: Anyone who shoots that well from the line has a shooting touch and will soon light it up from the floor. Example: Allen, who is 41-45 from the line is over 50% per cent from the floor.

Observations:

Allen had only (for him) 14 points but added five assists, five rebounds, a steal, and enough floor burns to satisfy even Wojo.

Amile “Spiderman” Jefferson and Matt “Mr. Utility” Jones and Marshall “Muscleman” Plumlee constitute the tough, blue collar backbone of this team.

Matt Jones has developed into Grayson Allan’s “Wing Man”. On Allan’s forays to the basket, Matt just follows to an open space and, if Allen is blocked gets a pass for an open three. It’s a new play called: Kentucky Option. It has been a tough week for Jones off the floor, as his grandfather, the main male figure in his life, died Monday. He was still able to lead Duke with 17 points, shooting 7-of-11 from the floor.

An unusual number of the referee calls made you want to hit the replay button.

How many times have you seen Duke players diving for loose balls while opponents are leaning over reaching for it. Who wins that scrum?

This was win number 1023 for Coach K and 119 straight versus non-conference foes in Cameron.

Pay close attention to these next six games for clues as how Coach K and his staff assess and determine the best roles for this young talent.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Alan Adds:

Defense

The Rotation

Coach K’s Interesting Presser

All in all, the Yale game was a valuable growth experience for this young Duke team.

DUKE 85- UTAH STATE 52

Observations:

The normally friendly Cameron rims were not very accommodating today. Greyson’s first three shots that normally go in, rolled off or out and the basket rejected other shots that usually seem to fall.

Seth Greenberg, the former Virginia Tech coach was one of the announcers.He is very knowledgeable and highly entertaining. However, the only thing he never talks about is why he refused to offer scholarships to Hokie All-American Dell Curry’s sons Stephen and Seth. He did offer the opinion that Brandon Ingram was more effective as a four than on the perimeter.

This was win number 1,024 for Coach K and 120 straight versus non-conference opponents in Cameron.

Alan Adds:

Next Play is the ACC-Big Ten Challenge game against Indiana at Cameron (9:30 pm on ESPN). I will be traveling for the next two games, causing the DBP to be possibly a day or two later than usual.

DUKE 94 – INDIANA 74

Observations:

What’s wrong with Matt Jones and Grayson Allen playing the point?

Imagine how good this team would be if Brandon Ingram continues to play anything like he did tonight and Derryck Thornton and Luke Kennard continue to gain confidence.

Duke played primarily a man-to-man defense tonight but slipped into a 2-3 zone a few brief times.

This was win number 1,024 for Coach K and 120 straight versus non-conference opponents in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The last time Duke lost a home nonconference game was Feb. 26, 2000 when St. John’s escaped with a narrow 83-82 win.

Alan Adds:

All in all, it was a definite step forward. Duke will need that in the ACC. UNC looked awfully good dismantling Maryland.

DUKE 82- BUFFALO 59

Neither team shot well and Buffalo hung around until Duke switched to a 1-3-1 zone. Coincidentally, Duke’s offense heated up and the margin doubled.

Miscellaneous:

Ø Duke freshman forward Justin Robinson, the son of NBA Hall of Famer David Robinson, will redshirt this year.

Ø Despite three NCAA Championships, Coach K has not been ACC Coach of the Year since 2000. Go figure.

Ø Duke now takes a 10-day break for final exams and will return to the court against Georgia Southern Dec. 15 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Alan Adds:

It is a very interesting team. Conference play, which starts in January, will be defining — especially conference play on the road.

DUKE 99 – GEORGIA SOUTHERN 65

Miscellaneous:

Brand, Boozer, Irving, Ryan, now Jefferson all sidelined by foot injuries. Coincidence, drills, or shoes?
This was win number 1,026 for Coach K and 122 straight versus non-conference opponents in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The last time Duke lost a home nonconference game was Feb. 26, 2000 when St. John’s escaped with a narrow 83-82 win.
Next game: Saturday, December 19. Utah @ noon @ MSG on ESPN.

Alan Adds:

Next play will tell us much more about Post-Amile Duke on Saturday in Madison Square Garden.

DUKE 75- UTAH 77

Miscellaneous Observations:

Patience while the pieces come together.

Watching Grayson playing like a shell of himself today reminded me of Bob Verga, the Duke All-America guard, whose regular season’s average was about what Allen’s is (without the three point line), in the 1966 NCAA Tournament semi-final between Duke and Kentucky. Bob had a strep throat and only scored 4 points as Duke lost 83-79. However, Pat Riley’s Kentucky (star Pat Riley) had the dubious historical distinction (made into a movie) of being the first all-white team who played (and lost) to an all-black team Texas Western (star “Bad News” Barnes) in the NCAA Finals. How do I remember that? I was there for that heart breaking loss at College Park, Maryland. I thought this was the year for Coach Bubas to win our first NCAA Championship. It was a very, very talented team: Bob Verga, Jack Marin, Mike Lewis, Steve Vacendak.

As much as Mike Krzyzewski gets credit for how he’s adjusted to the one-and-done era of college basketball, we forget that he still does an incredible job of developing players who stick around. We saw it last season with Quinn Cook and we’ve seen it this season with Amile Jefferson, Marshall Plumlee, and Matt Jones.
In Madison Square Garden, Duke’s Coach Krzyzewski teams are 28-10.

Next game: Elon December 27 on ESPNU.

Alan Adds:

Bad Stuff

Good Stuff

DUKE 105 – ELON 66

What can you say about a game that was 70-31 at the half?

Until Jefferson returns, this season will be a roller coaster ride. When the threes are dropping, the game will look easy. When they are not, it won’t.

Other Observations:
Meadowlark Lemon, the “clown prince” of basketball’s barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters, whose blend of hook shots and humor brought joy to millions of fans around the world, died. He played for the Globetrotters during the team’s heyday from the mid-1950s to the late-1970s, delighting fans with his skills with a ball and a joke. Traveling by car, bus, train or plane nearly every night, Lemon covered nearly 4 million miles to play in over 100 countries and in front of popes and presidents, kings and queens. He averaged 325 games per year during his prime, that luminous smile never dimming. NBA great Wilt Chamberlain, who actually played a year with the Globetrotters, said: “Meadowlark was the most sensational, awesome, incredible basketball player I’ve ever seen.”
Speaking of “sensational, awesome, incredible”, if you have not been watching Stephan Curry play this year just Google “Steph Curry highlights”. He is playing the game at a level not named Michael Jordan.
Duke-Kentucky drew 3.12 million viewers. Duke-Indiana 1.7 million in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge in which Duke is 15-2. Matt Jones older sister, Jordan, is an All American and (no surprise) two time SEC Defensive player of the year at Texas A&M.
Next game: Wednesday Long beach State. 4:00 on ESPN3

Alan Adds:

Coach K called off the dogs at half time, “no fast breaks unless on an open court turnover”.

Amile had the cast removed and is in a walking boot. While there is no timetable for his return, Coach K was pleased that the healing is proceeding apace and there have been no setbacks.

Long Beach State tomorrow and the ACC schedule begins on Saturday against BC.

DUKE 103 – LONG BEACH STATE 81

Other observations:

Long Beach State Head Coach Dan Monson: “I brought my two boys with me. They’re the only two guys on our bench that didn’t have a turnover today…You can’t simulate that kind of pressure that Duke put on us… I really appreciate Coach Krzyzewski letting us come in here. It’s an honor to play in iconic Cameron against this historic program. I just wish we would have played a little bit better.”
DBP fan Jack Simermeyer writes: Did you notice that Marquette extended Steve’s contract to the 21-22 season? In addition, Cris Collin’s Northwestern team is off to the best start in school history at 13-1 and Bobby Hurley’s Arizona State is currently 10-3 with wins over Belmont (no easy feat) NC State, Creighton and Texas A&M.
My wife observed that she feels encouraged when she knows there are millennials like Marshall Plumlee, who has many employment options, volunteers to serve the country in the military.
This was win number 1,028 for Coach K and an incredible 125 straight (that’s 16 years folks)wins versus non-conference opponents in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Next game: Saturday, January 2. Boston College @ 4:30 on Comcast or Fox South.

Alan Adds:

DUKE 81 – BOSTON COLLEGE 64

The bad news is that Jefferson is in a walking cast but cannot put any weight on it.

 Mike Gminski was one of the announcers who was his usual intelligent, knowledgeable self.

 This was win number 1,029 for Coach K.

 Next game: at Wake Forest. Wednesday January6@ 7:00 on ESPNU
Alan Adds:

On Wednesday, Duke journeys to Wake Forest, which has a very long front line, a deep bench, and has been playing surprising well. It will be a revealing test for this thin but talented team.

DUKE 91- WAKE FOREST 75

Rising to this kind of challenge in this kind of hostile environment will accelerate the development of the freshman so that when Jefferson returns, the Blue Devils will be a more formidable team.

Other Observations:

My basketball buddy, Johnny Tar Heel contends that Coach K is worth ten bench points against Roy Williams. Well, tonight he was worth about fifteen against Coach Manning.

Krzyzewski: “It didn’t look good, let’s put it that way. There were times we couldn’t defend or rebound. We tried a 1-3-1 and a 2-3. Nothing worked… Our guys just fought and fought… We shortened the game, played smart and looked for match ups. …Marshall was sensational 7-7 and 4-4…Luke was terrific…It was a great win, a big time win.”

Plumlee: ”There was some locker room talk (at halftime) but the underlying theme was, coach believes in me just like he believes in every one of us. And when you have belief of your teammates and a great coaching staff, you feel like you can take on the world.”

With all the focus and publicity on one-and-done players, it does one’s heart and head good to watch Marshall Plumlee, a fifth year medical redshirt but always an enthusiastic and supportive teammate, have the well-deserved success that he is having this year. Incidentally, the last time I can remember a Duke center not missing a shot from the floor and the line was Laettner against Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament. However, the degree of difficulty of Christian’s was much different.

Next game: Virginia Tech. Saturday January 9@12:00 on ACC Network.

Alan Adds:

DUKE 82 – VIRGINIA TECH 58

Other Observations:

While most focus on Brandon Ingram’s increased offense output, I suggest that his defensive improvement is even more impressive. Consider today’s line: 16 pts, 9 rebounds, 6 blocks, 2 assists and the fact that the most emotion and excitement the normally self-contained freshman showed was when he successfully took an offensive charge. Now that’s someone who is listening to his coach!

Who goes the length of the court faster, with more purpose, and finishes more emphatically than Grayson Allen?

Speaking of finishing at the rim, Grant Hill was at the game.

Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera, whose wife is a dedicated basketball fan, also attended and drew cheers when introduced during a timeout. His team went 15-1 to earn a bye and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

Next game: at Clemson. Wednesday 7:00pm on ESPN2

DUKE 63- CLEMSON 68

Next game: Notre Dame @ Cameron. Saturday @ 2:00pm. ESPN

Alan Adds:

DUKE 91 – NOTRE DAME 95

Other Thoughts:

Notre Dame Coach Mike Brey is the only one of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s assistants to beat him. He’s done it three times in the last 12 months.
This was Duke’s first home loss in just over a year, since Miami’s win on Jan. 13, 2015. The Blue Devils lost for the first time this season when scoring at least 79 points. They were 14-0 when scoring that many points, and 0-3 when failing to reach the 79-point mark.
This was a matchup of two of Division I’s most efficient offenses, with the Irish ranking second and the Blue Devils fourth in Ken Pomery’s adjusted offensive efficiency ratings. Notre Dame shot 50 percent — almost exactly what they arrived shooting as a team — while Duke finished at almost 52 percent. “We executed on offense, but defensively, we just didn’t execute,” Kennard said. “We didn’t keep the ball out of the paint. We didn’t rebound very well. Defensively, we’ve just got to pick it up a little bit.”

Next game: Syracuse @ Cameron. 7:00pm on ESPN

Alan Adds:

DUKE 62 – SYRACUSE 64

Other Thoughts:

The Blue Devils made their comeback much more difficult by not being aggressive and not being in the bonus situation at the end of the game. Consequently, in the last fifteen seconds Coach Boeheim had his team foul Allen twice without putting him on the line and taking valuable seconds of the clock.

It is the first three-game losing streak for No. 20 Duke since the 2006-07 season. This will also surely break the team’s streak of 166 straight weeks in the AP Top 25 Poll.

Grayson Allen needs some personal one and one time with JJ Redick or Bobby Hurley. There are times like tonight that Allen goes ten minutes or so without taking a shot. The defense cannot be that good. He is the best scorer, best penetrator, best finisher, and best passer. There are times that the alpha player must just demand the ball and take over the game like he did scoring 9 points in the last few minutes of the first half.

Next game: Saturday @ North Carolina State. 2:00pm. CBS

Alan Adds:

Duke has three straight road games — next Saturday at NC State; followed by a Monday game in Coral Gables against Miami. It will not be easy for the Devils to stop the bleeding.

Duke 88- North Carolina State 78

Other Comments:

Monday’s road game against Miami will be a stern test an indication if the State game was a false positive.
The winning number are: Duke +2 on threes; +3 on rebounds (after being beaten on the boards in each of its past three losses); +6 on free throws (made 14 of 18); +3 on steals; and +2 on blocks.
Jefferson was out of his boot and into a sneaker. Coach K says the bone has healed but he’s not there yet but working on walking right, exercising in pool… still thinks he is out for a “a while”. (If you can figure out what that means, drop me a line.)
NC State shot 6-of-9 (.667) from beyond the arc in the first half, the second straight game a Duke opponent shot 66.7 percent from beyond the arc in the opening half of a game. In the second half, Duke allowed the Wolfpack to shoot just 2-of-12 (.167).
Next game: Monday @ Miami 7:00 ESPN

Alan Adds:

DUKE 80- GEORGIA TECH 71

Other comments:

Grayson Allen fouled out. The refs were watching a different game than I was. Grayson certainly was not given the respect that the ten Wooden finalists, of which he is one, usually are. He was constantly getting roughed up and held but was called for defending himself. Nevertheless, he needs to be smarter about those situations
Stand-in Coach Capel appeared to be attempted to use a larger rotation but abandoned the idea when the reserves quickly demonstrated why they are seldom seen on the floor in prime time.
To be successful, this team needs to get better defensively with or without Jefferson. In 2012, Duke ranked 81st nationally in adjusted defensively efficiency, giving up an average of 0.97 points per possession. In 2013, Duke ranked 31st (0.93). In 2014, Duke ranked 116th (1.02). In 2015, Duke ranked 12th (0.92). And this year, Duke currently ranks 145th out of 315 Division-I teams (1.02). And the NCAA tournament fate of those Duke teams, in order: lost in round of 64 (Lehigh), Elite Eight (Louisville), lost in round of 64 (Mercer), National Champions and, if in the field, to be determined.
Next game: Saturday North Carolina State 2pm @ home. ESPN.

Alan Adds:

After the NC State game on Saturday, the schedule turns brutal: Louisville and Virginia at Cameron, followed by Louisville and UNC on the road.

DUKE 88- NORTH CAROLINA STATE 80

Other comments:

You had the feeling that this might be Duke’s day when, late in the tight second half, a deflected ball in the congested lane rolled to the perimeter into the hands of a solitary Grayson Allen, who had time to check his feet and drain a three.

Blue Devil fans survived a scary moment midway through the first half, when Allen stepped on Barbour’s foot and turned his ankle while driving to the basket. Allen lay on the floor clutching his right ankle in pain and limped noticeably as he left the court. Fortunately, he returned a few minutes later.Also, MP3 lost on sneaker but played several possessions without it before leaving the game. His temporary replacement Chase Jeter is showing some signs of improvement.

No player on the floor was even born the last time N.C. State beat Duke with Krzyzewski on the bench at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was 1988. However, the Pack did beat them in 1995 when Coach K missed most of the season with back surgery.

If you haven’t heard, Louisville’s president voluntarily banned the team from all post season play. The Cardinals are under investigation by the NCAA for supplying “party girls” (aka prostitutes) to recruits and players. Coach Rick Pitino, who himself was involved in a sex scandal six years ago, claims he knew nothing about it. Apparently, the “plausible deniability” defense is not limited to political figures.

Next game: Louisville Monday 7:00 ESPN

Alan Adds:

DUKE 72 – LOUISVILLE 65

Louisville beats #1 Carolina at home, then loses to unranked Duke on the road. Go figure. Oh, I guess the Hookers didn’t make the traveling squad. Sorry, cheap shot. Just couldn’t resist….

Other comments:

You had the feeling that this might be Duke’s night when, late in the tight second half, Luke Kennard drove, got tangled up with Plumlee and the ball ricocheted off several arms, hands, or other body parts, and ended up in the basket. Don’t know who got the basket and who got the assist.

Like the NC State game last Saturday, Duke led most of the way, 35 minutes’ worth of lead, with three minutes tied. The visitors led only 2:01 and never by more than the two-pointer they scored to open the game.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again. Grayson Allen certainly is not given the respect by the referees that the ten Wooden finalists, of which he is one, usually are (given). He was constantly getting roughed up, held, and hitting the floor– and not getting the calls. He was again called for retaliating. Nevertheless, Allen needs to be smarter about these situations. Bob from Georgia writes to ask if anyone keeps stats of how many times Grayson hits the floor?

And finally, with respects to Simon and Garfunkel: “Here’s to you Amile Jefferson, the (Blue Devil) Nation turns its lonely eyes to you! What’s that you say, Mr. Jefferson, your just a game or so away”. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!
Next game: Saturday #3 Virginia @ home 4:30 ESPN

Alan Adds:

DUKE 63- VIRGINIA 62

An amazing finish to an amazing a game!

Quotes:

Alan Adds:

#20 DUKE 74 – #5 NORTH CAROLINA 73

Game, set, match, nightmares.

After the game, a crestfallen Roy Williams said he didn’t call a timeout on the last possessions because he relied on the principles he learned from his mentor, the legendary Dean Smith. He quickly added that he took full responsibility and wasn’t blaming Coach Smith. In all fairness, Mike Krzyzewski usually subscribes to the same philosophy that in critical situations, it is an advantage to trust your players to make the right decisions while the defense is disorganized and not set. However, in the Virginia game the ball was in the hands of a seemingly indecisive freshman Derryck Thornton, so Coach K called a timeout to set up a play to get the ball in the hands of Garson Allen or Brandon Ingram. It was a savvy call. Tonight the game was in the hands of Joel Berry not Marcus Paige. To quote The Dude in “The Big Lebowski”, a legendary 1998 movie: “Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you.”

Other Thoughts:

Bad news: Coach Mike Krzyzewski said Jones sprained his left ankle ”pretty badly”.

Good news: There is precedent for five being enough. In the late fifties, Duke was down to five useful players, (Bob Newcomb, Paul Schmidt, Bucky Allen, Bobby Jo Harris, and Bob Vernon), who developed into an exciting, formidable team and were dubbed “The Flaming Five”. Perhaps, this team will be the reincarnation of “The Flaming Five”.

After the game, Bill from Bethesda emailed me an cogent comment: “Teams take on the personality of their coaches, and Duke is tough/gritty and Carolina is a little soft.”

What is the Euro-Step? An announcers term for too many long steps on a drive that isn’t called. (ref. Grayson Allen’s winning basket against Virginia.)

Grayson Allen made the Regional all American academic team. Puts him in line for National honors.

Next Game: Saturday @ Louisville. Noon on ESPN.

Alan Adds:

Duke 64- Louisville 71

Other Comments:

Matt Jones warmed up but was not allowed to play by Coach K, who felt Matt could not effectively push off on the injured ankle and did not want to risk further injury. Amile Jefferson is still in a walking boot, because the foot is still painful.

If this game is any indication, Brandon Ingram is neither physically nor mentally ready for the physicality and daily grind of the grown man’s league—the NBA.

Grayson Allen proved that his winning shot against Virginia was no fluke by making an even more difficult shot from the same place on the floor. Only this time, he did not travel, was not on a forty-five degree angle to the floor but actually lying on the floor while throwing the ball in the basket (without the benefit of the backboard).

North Carolina bounced back today and trounced Miami at Chapel Hill.
At halftime of the Duke game, Roy Williams had an astonishing halftime interview. When asked about Duke scoring 42 points on his team, he said: “I don’t care if we gave up 42 points because we like a fast tempo … I don’t ever care how many points we give up as long as we score more. Think about that for a moment. Could you imagine Coach K saying that—even ever thinking that?

Alan Adds:

Duke 80- Florida State 65

Other comments:

The Good: Grayson Allen is on pace to have the largest year-to- year increase in scoring average in ACC history as well as becoming the ninth player in school history to lead the team in scoring and assists. Be sure to read on for Allan’s excellent analysis of the team’s development.
The Bad: Grayson intentionally tripped an opponent for the second time this season. This time it was away from the action, not called but caught on camera. Well, the hate Duke social media exploded. As I have commented, opponents rough Allen up, it is not always called, historically Duke is thought to be white and “soft”. Allen looks like a choir boy but doesn’t play like one. He is not a dirty player, just at times, an impulsive one. For sure, he must play smarter when he retaliates.

Coach K on Jeter: “You get minutes by earning them and in practice he has earned them. He has been a different kid the last three weeks and his teammates see that. . . . so his teammates get confidence in him.”

Nolan Smith, ACC player of the year season in 2011, was added to the coaching staff earlier this week.

Kara Lawson did an terrific job as the color commentator. Her analysis of the game and assessment of the Duke players was as good as anyone has done this year. I was so impressed I looked up her bio. She is from the Washington area, attended Sidwell Friends School (the go-to school for Democratic president’s daughters), played at Tennessee where she majored in Economics, earned a gold medal on the 2008 Olympic team, and played in the WBA.

Next game: Sunday @ Pittsburg 2:00 on ESPN

Alan Adds:

DUKE 62– PITT 76

Next game: Wake Forest @ Cameron 8:00 ACC Network

Alan Adds:

DUKE 79 – WAKE FOREST 71

Other Thoughts:

I am a big fan of Grayson Allen both as a player and as a person and think it is a shame two brief acts of emotional, harmless retaliation are presently defining him. Last night, he was the POG as well as in control of his emotions. There were his usual damn the floor burns diving-for-all-loose-balls and daredevil drives to the basket plays. But late in the game, he was racing down the sidelines when a Wake player hip checked him out of bounds onto the press row table, breaking a sport writer’s laptop. It was a potentially volatile situation but Grayson just disengaged himself from the debris, checked his body parts, smiled, and returned to the floor.
J Redick had some interesting thoughts on the role the media role plays in vilifying a Duke player:

“I get why there is some animosity toward Duke. I don’t necessarily agree with that. But I would hesitate, if I were some people, to anoint someone a villain. Don’t agree with it.”

Next game: Saturday, North Carolina 6:30 ESPN

Alan Adds:

DUKE 72 – NORTH CAROLINA 76

Other Comments:

Grayson Allen has been named as a finalist for the Wooden Player of the year award as well as for both the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award and Oscar Robertson Trophy.
Bad news for this year; good news for next year: Duke announced before the game that on the advice of team doctors senior forward Amile Jefferson would miss the rest of the season as his broken right foot has not fully healed. The school will petition the NCAA for a medical hardship waiver that would allow Jefferson to return next year.
Duke went to a combination of zones, which were effective, in the second half. However, without Jefferson underneath, I don’t get putting Ingram on top of the 1-3-1. He is the best big defender and rebounder Duke has.
John Feinstein, the Duke grad who is the bestselling sports author of all time, has a new book “The Legends Club”– Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Valvano and the Story of an Epic College Basketball Rivalry. John’s books are always an easy read. They are like having a one sided conversation with John. I have met them both and I can tell you he is right up there with the just deceased local novelist Pat “The Prince of Tides” Conroy (His wife: “The water is wide and he hasnow passed over.”) as compelling, knowledgeable story tellers. This is an intimate narrative, because he loves basketball and was able to develop a personal relationship with the two younger coaches before they became famous. Dean took more time but that is one of the more interesting aspects of the book. Over his career, John has taken copious notes, which he has kept, but he also intersperses myriads of interviews with those who have survived Dean and Jim. If you are a Tobacco Road basketball fan—no matter what school—this is a must read!

Alan Adds:

ACC TOURNAMENT

DUKE 92 – NORTH CAROLINA STATE 89

Other Thoughts:

Cat Barbour was virtually unstoppable. If Duke had him at the point, the Blue Devils would be a Final Four team.

John Feinstein, the Duke grad who is the bestselling sports author of all time, has a new book “The Legends Club”– Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Valvano and the Story of an Epic College Basketball Rivalry. I am reading it. If you are a Duke, UNC, or State fan, it is a must read!
Here is John on the ACC expansion: “Expansion has been an ongoing embarrassment for the ACC. On Tuesday, during those thrilling games involving the bottom four seeds, they curtained off the upper deck of Verizon Center to try to hide the emptiness of the building. (The crowd was announced at 7,000, which may have been counting by twos.) Next year the tournament goes to Brooklyn — Brooklyn?No doubt fans from the South will be thrilled with the notion of riding the subway to Barclays Center since there is zero parking there and with the prices they will pay for New York hotels.”

Next game: Notre Dame Thursday @2:00 ESPN

Alan Adds:

Duke is back at it tomorrow in the second afternoon game on ESPN against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. A chance for revenge and an appearance in the Semi-finals.

DUKE 93 – UNC WILMINGTON 85

Other Thoughts:

Ø It’s a good thing that Duke went to the foul line 43 times and hit 31, because the Seahawks had 7 more threes, which is a good indication how poorly they were shooting.

Ø Duke beat Yale by 19 late last year but that was in Cameron with Amile Jefferson. (Suggestion: Please use the 1-3-1 again but with Brandon not on top some of the time.)

Next Game: Yale Saturday 2:40 CBS

Alan Adds:

DUKE 71 – YALE 64

A teachable moment best burned into a players hard drive.

Other Thoughts:

After practice Friday Coach John Scheyer had Brandon Ingram, who went 5-10 the day before, shoot 100 free throw. He hit 67 in a row before missing one.

Miami, Duke, Virginiaand North Carolina all won on Saturday, giving the ACC four teams in the Sweet Sixteen with the potential to add Syracuse and Notre Dame, who play Sunday, to that group. As a league, the ACC is 10-1 in the NCAA Tournament through Saturday’s games. If you go back to the start of the 2015 tournament, the ACC is 27-6 with one national title thanks to Duke’s win in Indianapolis. Miami, Duke, Virginia and North Carolina all won on Saturday, giving the ACC four teams in the Sweet Sixteen with the potential to add Syracuse and Notre Dame, who play Sunday, to that group.
This was a record 90th tournament victory for Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski. In addition, he has 30 tournament appearances, 5 national championships, back-to-back titles in 1991 & 1992, 12 Final Fours, 66 tournament wins, and a .776 winning percentage. Not a bad resume.

Next game: Winner #1 Oregon – St. Joe

Alan Adds:

Next game is Thursday evening in Anaheim in the Sweet 16.

DUKE 68– OREGON 82

Alan Adds:

It was a wonderful Duke season, and so much fun for me to write about and share with everyone. After the tournament concludes, we will do a season finale.

Assessing 2015-16 and Salivating over 2016-17

For me, the bottom line is that this team faced an amazing set of obstacles and demonstrated a spirit that made me (us) adopt this team as special. And now for next year.

Bill adds:

A case can be made that Duke has come further, faster than any Top Ten University. Athletic Director Eddie Cameron was a major catalyst. He had the foresight to see that excellence in athletics was quickest way to attract national attention to a young, ambitious university. In 1930, he hired football coach Wallace Wade away from Alabama following his third national championship with the Crimson Tide. By the mid 1930’s Duke had a powerful football team that attracted national attention and played in 1938 and 1942 Rose Bowls. From $400,000 of the proceeds of the 1942 Rose Bowl (played at Duke because of concerns about Japanese attacks on the West Coast), Mr. Cameron built Duke Indoor Stadium, which was, at the time, the second largest basketball area (next to the Palestra in Philadelphia) in the East. Fortunately, the legendary Dick Groat matriculated shortly thereafter and a great basketball tradition was established.

Duke Basketball Playbook: 2016-17 Season

What to look for:

Other Comments:

“North Carolina never got its day of reckoning for facilitating the most widespread academic scandal in the history of college sports. North Carolina’s basketball program was never going to get the harsh punishment that many college basketball fans thought it deserved.
“How in the hell did North Carolina get away with this?”
“The NCAA did not dispute that the University of North Carolina was guilty of running one of the worst academic fraud schemes in college sports history, involving fake classes that enabled dozens of athletes to gain and maintain their eligibility.”
“The school acknowledged that the classes that were taken were essentially bankrupt of any kind of teaching, learning or supervision … but that was perfectly OK with them. To defend the basketball team, the university had to claim it wasn’t really a university. Sure, they took a shotgun to their academic credibility, but, hey, those championship banners get to stay. The truth is, alums probably care more about hoops anyway.”
“What’s stopping a school from setting up a similar “paper course” and making sure it’s open to all students, then sending athletes through it?”
“even the most ardent Tar Heel should be outraged by the fraud the university committed”

Alan Adds:

2016-2017

2015 compared to 2017-18

The Backcourt

Grayson, Duval and Trent should get most of the minutes.

Duke 93 NW Missouri State 60 (Exhibition game played Friday October 27)

Blue-White game on October 20 (just one 20 minute half)

The Front Court

Bagley, Carter and Bolden should be given most of the front court minutes.

Duke 93 – NW Missouri State 60 (Exhibition game played on Friday October 27)

Blue-White game ( October 20th. Just one 20 minute half)

Duke 88 – Michigan State 81

Holy Jim Boeheim, Batman! Coach K goes zone for a full forty minutes!

Other Comments:

This Champions Classic at the United Center in Chicago was like a Final Four in November with Kansas beating Kentucky in the nightcap.

Tom Izzo is a great coach. However, he is now 1-11 against Coach K.

Allen’s 37 points were Duke’s most against a top-2 team since J.J. Redick dropped 41 in 2005.

Before the game, Duke wore their “Equality” shirts, while Michigan State wore shirts that said “We talk, We listen.” Alan will have to explain what they mean.

Alan Adds:

It was as Coach K predicted, “a hell of a night.”

Whetting the Whistle

Enjoy the season and do not let unrealistic expectations take away our enjoyment.

Duke 97 – Elon 68

Duke 99 – Utah Valley 69

Other Comments:

1 overall 2018 prospect R.J. Barrett committed to Duke over Oregon and Kentucky. Barrett is the star of the 2018 Class and gives the Blue Devils their third five-star pledge in the class, to go with Cam Reddish and Tre Jones. Duke now boasts the No. 1 overall recruiting class for 2018, leap-frogging cross-state rival North.

Keep an eye on Alex O’Connell. He is the skinny white kid with the 1940’s retro haircut who has more animated fun on the bench than most Cameron Crazies but, more importantly, makes things happen when he gets playing time. I suspect that Bolden, DeLaurier, and O’Connell will be the eight man rotation.

Alan Adds:

Front Court

Backcourt

Tuesday night promises to be so much fun.

Duke Basketball Playbook: 2014-15

Welcome to the fourth edition of the Duke Basketball Playbook. For those of you who do not know us, Alan Silber, a New York based criminal defense attorney, and I were classmates at Duke who share a love of sports. We appreciate the fact that Duke Basketball has provided us with more excitement and thrills than most fans ever experience and think that talking and writing about them only enriches the experience. In addition to the enjoyment, we are fascinated by the ability of Coach K to achieve such sustained excellence both collegiately and internationally and attempt to analyze and explain how and what he does to make him one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game. The playbook is a more polished version of thoughts and opinions we have exchanged with each other and a few friends for decades. The tipping point for a broader audience occurred when Torrey Glass, president of the Duke Alumni Club of Hilton Head, began distributing the blog to its members and the readership exploded exponentially to about 500.

One enduring truth we have learned from observing Mike Krzyzewski is that on the court and in life, it is always—NEXT PLAY! So, I will double down on what I wrote in last year’s season preview. In that memorable scene from On the Waterfront, Marlon Brando as Terry Malloy, a physically and spiritually broken ex-fighter, sorrowfully confronts his mob-corrupted brother Rod Steiger: “It was you, Charley. That night in the Garden you came down to my dressing room and you said: Kid, this ain’t your night. You don’t understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been somebody. I coulda been a contender.”

Fortunately, not our problem. For most of the last few decades Duke has consistently been a contender. Most of last year Duke looked like a contender but fell in the finals of the ACC Tournament and had surprising first round loss to Mercer in the NCAA Championship Tournament. However, most schools would be very happy with a 26-7 record (and one in which they led in every game they lost). But, hey, next play—or, in this case, next season during which the Blue Devils should be a more formidable contender because:

This team is potentially as deep, as talented, and as balanced as Coach K has ever had. And most significantly, for the first time since Sheldon Williams graduated, the Blue Devils will have a dominant center (seven foot with a 7’3’’ wing span & 270 lbs.) in freshman in Jahill Okafor (ranked #1 in this year’s recruiting class), Tyus Jones, the #1 rated point guard, as well as Justise Winslow, a projected 2015 NBA lottery pick, and Grayson Allen, a 6’4” shooting guard with a 40” vertical leap. However, as Dean Smith used to say: “We don’t call our freshmen “all-stars”, we call them “prospects”—and you never know (remember Chris Burgess). On the other hand, this crop of freshmen have been playing with and against each other in AAU ball for years, so they are more of a known commodity. And then there are the returning upper classmen: Amile Jefferson, Quinn Cook, Rasheed Sulaimon, Marshall Plumlee, Matt Jones, and Semi Ojeleye, perhaps, the sleeper of the squad.

Consequently, this will be another fascinating year for Duke Basketball fans. One of the most interesting aspects of any season is watching Coach K adjust his offensive and defensive schemes to his fit his team’s talent. This is the most athletic squad Coach K has had since 1999-2000 Brand, Battier, Williams etc. teams. In fact, Krzyzewski stated publically that this team will definitely be defensively different from the teams of the last five years. So look for a more aggressive, pressing defense much like his Olympic and World Cup teams. There will still be the motion offense but probably with less guard dominance, more throwing the ball into the post to initiate the offense, more slashing drives to the basket by the forwards, and less living and dying by the three—although they will be easier to come by because Okafor is a talented and willing passer out of double and triple teams. Coach K has been more effusive about the talents of Okafor than any freshman that I can remember and as long as he is on the floor he will be the tent pole around which a variety of players will perform. The one Achilles heel of the freshmen may be free throw shooting, which has always been a hallmark of Duke’s best teams.

Alan and I were puzzled by the fact that Cook, a senior, and Jefferson, a junior, were named co-captains, but Sulaimon, also a junior and a proven, critical playmaker, was not. Rashid is a high energy expressive guy who never met a stranger while the talented but mercurial Cook has a tendency to pout when things are not going his way– and there is every indication that Tyus Jones will start at the point. On the court, Sulaimon is multi-talented, plays bigger than he is, and is Marine fearless. My fraternity buddy Pete, who retired to Durham and is a very knowledgeable and connected Duke sports fan, says that it is Sully, not Quinn or Emile, who hangs with the freshmen and goes with them to the sporting events. So maybe, Coach K is motivating Rasheed to get off to a flying start this year and, like Ryan Kelly, will make Sully a tri-captain at a later date.

Additional observations:

One crucial factor about this season has not received much mention: It’s been nearly two decades since Chris Collins’ and Steve Wojciechowski’s voices have been absent from a Duke Basketball practice. With those two longtime Duke assistant coaches having moved on to head coaching jobs of their own, Jeff Capel, Nate James, and Jon Scheyer move up the coaching ladder.
Keep an eye on Justise Winslow, who may be the most mature, versatile, and talented player on the team.
Undrafted Andre Dawkins won the final spot on the Miami Heat roster.
If you have not watched the Duke Football team play the last two years, you are missing an amazing transformation, not to mention hours of excitement. Coach David Cutcliffe and his staff have recruited a squad of very good athletes who have been coached up to become skilled players that are exciting playmakers– any number of whom who can break open a tight game like Crowder, Boone, and Blakeney did against last Saturday against Syracuse.
Three Duke graduates have been in the news: Adam Silver (1984), the new Commissioner of the NBA; Senator-elect Shelley Moore Capito (1975) of West Virginia. Her father Archie Moore was a two term Governor, and Rand Paul, Senator from Kentucky.
Don and Martha Mewhort’s grandson Jack Mewhort (Ohio State) was the second round draft choice of the Indianapolis Don (Buzz) was co-captain of the 1962 Duke Basketball team and a Duke School Law graduate. Martha was a Duke cheerleader.

Alan Adds:

None of the pre-season articles and hype focuses on where I think the focus should be. All the talk so far has been about offense and the need to replace the scoring of Jabari and Hood. Somewhat fair, but missing the point. In my opinion, last year was not just about the disappointing 3-3 down the stretch, including ACC tournament and the loss to Mercer in the NCAA tournament. The most important factor in Duke’s disappointing (for Duke and Coach K anyway) season was its porous defense throughout the entire season. So the question about the highly touted freshman class is: Can these kids make Duke the defensive force that it has usually been during the Coach K era? I like using what Coach K did with the World Cup team as what I think his model will be for his 2014-15 team. Last year, K expected to be able to press, trap and create turnovers that would more than make up for Duke’s lack of rim protection and defensive rebounding. That plan turned out to be a colossal failure for Duke, as we all remember. Duke was torched early by the likes of East Carolina, Vermont and others. Coach K abandoned his press in favor of an aggressive overplaying half court man to man defense. Duke improved, but only incrementally. It is worth remembering the defensive weakness of last year’s team when getting ready to root for (but also judge) the current squad. Tyler Thornton was a defensive specialist and perhaps Duke’s best on the ball defender. Hood was also credited as a defensive stopper. Both are gone from a defense that could not stop penetration from the perimeter. The result was opponents shot a high percentage from the interior and lane, Duke committed more fouls than any other year (and shockingly more than most opponents), and Duke had major end game problems that came from the foul trouble and fatigue. Duke was also beaten up on the boards throughout the season, especially by opponents’ offensive rebounding. Duke led almost every one of its 9 losses with 5-8 minutes to go. The perimeter defenders who return are Suliamon, Cook and Matt Jones, all who are reputed defenders (except Cook), but who did not get the job done last year.

This is not meant to be depressing, just a call for realistic expectations as the season starts. Most programs would be very satisfied with a season like Duke’s 2013-14 season (26-9). Duke was undefeated at home with major wins over Michigan, Syracuse, Virginia and Carolina. On the road or neutral, Duke beat UCLA and Pittsburgh, though this was not a good road team.

Like last year (Jabari and Hood), Duke will depend in large measure on newcomers — the four freshmen. And, it is surely a heralded class. In a recent 2015 mock NBA draft, Oakfor was # 1 overall; Tyus Jones # 14; and (surprise) Justise Winslow was # 8. Grayson Allen, the fourth freshman, played with what seemed to be the first team in the first 12 minute scrimmage (Oakafor, Tyus Jones, Cook, Jefferson and Allen). Allen won the scrimmage on a floater over Plumlee. So the freshmen may justify the high pre-season ranking, but I still counsel that it all depends on whether Coach K can have his usual effective defense; on whether Duke makes — as Duke historically has — more foul shots than its opponents attempt; whether Oakfor’s presence and Marshall Plumlee’s health and improvement protect the Duke defensive backboard and penetration. Then, but only then, comes the offense.

I followed Coach K’s World Cup team closely and was fascinated how he created a wonderful team. I believe the World Cup team will be the model for the 2014-15 Duke team that he will create. The World Cup team pressed and trapped, living by the turnover-created easy scores. I predict he will again attempt to defend that way with this year’s Duke team. Coach K went with 2 point guards — Kyrie and Steph Curry; and a third starter (the star, Harden) who could function as a point guard. Anthony Davis controlled the interior and Kenneth Faried was an undersized power forward with energy (but no outside shot). Duke’s two exhibition games were easy wins against opponents that were overmatched athletically, but gave some indication of Coach K’s plans. In his press conference, Coach K mentioned USA basketball frequently as a model for how Duke will defend this year. He said that Duke has changed its philosophy on ball screens and that the bigs are more mobile and aggressive. Among the interesting facts: 1) Duke held Central Missouri scoreless for 8 full minutes in the first half; 2) Duke scored in bunches, but had no 20 point scorers (Justise Winslow was high scorer in both games with 19 and 17 respectively). Coach has 10 players vying to be in the rotation and all have received praise for hustle and defense; 3) Oakafor is for real; 4) it is going to be a process for Duke to learn to defend, but Coach K is optimistic that this can be one of his best defensive teams; 5) Tyus Jones had 17 assists against 2 turnovers and played very well with Quinn Cook when both played together. Coach K pointed out that Rasheed was also very capable of handling the ball; and 6) Coach K is happy with this group and is installing new systems both defensively and offensively that take advantage of the specific skills of this team. He said he will experiment with many combinations during the game, though he plans a consistent starting lineup.

Against Central Missouri (the second exhibition game), six players played more than 20 minutes and may give some clues to how the rotation will work (at least for the initial games). Winslow played 25 minutes, leading the scoring in spite of going 0-3 from downtown and Tyus Jones logged 24 minutes (6 assists to go with his 11 in the first exhibition game and 5 steals). Okafor (15 points and 9 rebounds; critically 7-8 from the line to go with 4 blocks), Jefferson (8 boards; 5 points and a disappointing 1-4 from the line) and Cook (12 points, and 2 assists) all played 22 minutes. Matt Jones, who started while Quinn came off the bench, had 7 points in 20 minutes. Rasheed had 5 points (1-5 from 3land to go with 4 assists and 2 steals) in 18 minutes. Marshall had 4 points (1-1 from the field and 2-2 from the line to go with 6 boards an assist and a block in 17 minutes. They appear to be the top 8 at this point. Grayson Allen and Semi each logged 14 minutes with Allen producing a gaudy stat line (10 points on 3-4 shooting including 2-2 from 3land and 2-2 from the line to go with 3 boards, an assist and a steal). Pretty good. Semi scored 4 to go with 2 boards, an assist and a block.

I predict:

1) Both T. Jones and Cook will start (as long as Cook becomes a consistent defender, something he was not last year), similar to Kyrie and Curry on the World Cup team.

2) Rasheed, who has all the potential in the world, will also start. His role will be analogous to the one played by Harden on the World Cup team. Grayson Allen has also filled that role in the pre-season.

3) Oakfor and Jefferson will round out the starting line up. Jefferson will be asked to be Faried, bringing energy, defensive intensity and rebounding. Like Anthony Davis on the World Cup team, Oakfor should be Duke’s best player. I was underwhelmed watching him on defense last year, but they were mostly all star games. Team defense is another thing. Duke will count on him to be the rim protector and rebounder that were missing last year.

4) Justise Winslow has received high praise. He has a fully developed and sculpted body and has been a force on both ends. I think will be the 6th man that K always wants to have, but he may start, like Klay Thompson on the World Cup team (perhaps the team’s most versatile and consistent player). He will score, defend and give the team a lift. He will be a significant force this season.

5) Marshall, based on last year, will contribute to the depth of rim protection and rebounding (think Cousins, first big off the bench for the World cup team).

6) It is hard to predict at this stage what the roles of Semi and Matt Jones from last year’s team and Grayson Allen (heralded frosh, but only a top 40 recruit) will be. Allen’s stats have been impressive and Matt Jones started in the final exhibition game. Both Bill and I would like to see Semi step into what we see as amazing potential. All three have had excellent pre-seasons and could well be in the rotation.

I expect this to be a fascinating season, which will give us great satisfaction, excitement (and probably some disappointment as well). What it really will be is SO MUCH FUN.

The season openers: Presbyterian Friday November 14, 6:00pm on ESPNU & Fairfield Saturday November 15, 8:00pm ESPN3

If you miss seeing the games, read all about it in the next Duke Basketball Playbook!

DUKE – PRESBYTERIAN & FAIRFIELD

When I first started going out with girls, my Mama told me not to fall in love on the first date. Well, she never told me not to be smitten and I am smitten with this Duke team, because I have seen enough to know it is the deepest and potentially the most talented team since the Laettner, Hurley 1991-92 Championship teams. That doesn’t mean it will win championships, because as we know only too well injuries and luck are part of the equation but, oh boy, they are talented, deep, and motivated. Jahill Okafor does a pretty good Tim Duncan imitation, Tyus Jones a pretty good Bobby Hurley imitation, and Justise Winslow a muscular version of Grant Hill. And it is axiomatic that a dominant center and terrific point guard are the keys to a great team. However, even more impressive are the other two components of great teams: defense, ball movement, and chemistry. Petty jealousies can destroy even the most talented teams. We saw an interesting and telling play against Presbyterian when senior Quinn Cook chased down a loose ball and rather than making an easy lay-up and adding to his scoring total, paused and dished to freshman and fellow point guard T. Jones for the uncontested basket.

So far, Duke has only played mismatches and we will know a lot more after the upcoming games against Michigan State, Temple, and Stanford then Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin on December 3^rd. But until we hit the inevitable speed bump, let’s enjoy the infatuation phase.

With all this talent, one of K’s toughest decisions is who gets playing time. In last week’s preview, I wrote that of all the guards, Sulaimon brings the most to the floor: a rare combination of talent, size, defense, versatility, intensity, and Marine toughness. More importantly, here’s Krzyzewski on Rasheed, who didn’t score against Fairfield: “He’s making a very big, positive impact on the game and doing it in a way that no one on our team can do exactly like him. In other words, he puts the best pressure on the ball. He’s 6-4 and when he’s doing it, it really takes the point guard’s vision away and they have a hard time getting by him. So our defense gets picked up. And when he brings it down on the break, he’s got a little bit more of a herky-jerky motion. It’s not just straight, he can get by. And when he’s getting by to score, a lot of times he’d get knocked on his butt and that wouldn’t be the play. Now when he’s getting by people, he’s making the play, the play that the team needs.” And on comparing the learning curve and chemistry between the freshmen and the rest of the team to the similarly talented Dawkins, Amaker, Alerie, Henderson, Bilas class: “It’s a different time. The Dawkins class had never met one another before they came to Duke. This group is just way ahead. So much of it has to do with what they’ve done, not just in their high school programs, but three of them have been so involved with USA Basketball. They’ve traveled different parts of the world, they’ve been with other good players, they’ve been well-coached by the USA Basketball staff. They’ve been a part of something bigger than an AAU team or a high school. And I’m not knocking that, it’s just an advantage.

Additional observations:

Justise Winslow has most mature offensive and defensive skills; Grayson Allen is the best one-on-one player and has NBA athleticism and skills; Matt Jones and Marshall Plumlee appear to be a much more confident and are the most improved players. Marshall set a Plumlee collegiate record hitting four straight free throws and, when caught outside with the shot clock winding down, nailed a three!
Duke has now won 111 consecutive non-conference home games.
Quinn Cook‘s 17 points give him 1,004 for his Duke career. He became the 64th Duke player to hit the 1,000 point mark. Only Louisville and North Carolina, with 67, have more.
The win is Duke’s 35th consecutive home win, the sixth-largest streak in school history. The record is 46, from January 13, 1997 to February 9, 2000.
Rasheed Sulaimon, Justise, Winslow, Matt Jones are all from Texas.

Alan adds:

Caveat Emptor (Let the buyer beware, or in this case the Duke fan beware — just a little). There was precious little not to love about Duke’s opening game routs of Presbyterian and Fairfield on Friday and Saturday nights. My only caveat is that neither of these teams could beat the top high school teams. Between them they won only 13 games last year (Presbyterian 6 and Fairfield 7). The level of competition is critical in evaluating performance. So, my caveat is that while Duke looked All World, let us not unpack our expectations until (at least Tuesday night when the Blue Devils travel to Indianapolis to take on Michigan State — 7pm on ESPN). It is hard to find anything about which to quibble when your team races scores 109 and 113 in two games (65 points in the second half against Fairfield) with balanced scoring, and displays 10 players with the skill and talent to be productive on the court. Duke scored 113 and 109 points respectively with no player scoring 20; impressively balanced scoring. Here are just a couple of cautionary thoughts — and I am having to stretch to find them. Against Presbyterian, in the first half, the first unit did not look defensively sharp, committing 5 fouls in the first 7 minutes and 10 in the first half. The Blue Hose shot 8 free throws while Duke’s only free throw attempt of that half was a miss (Matt Jones attempting to complete a four point play). For the game, the first unit was only 2-3 (Winslow 1-1; Oakafor 1-2). Grayson Allen got to the line more than any other Devil (6-7; Rasheed 3-3; and Plumlee 2-2). Tyus Jones had more than a few defensive lapses, several leading to easy backdoor baskets in the Fairfield game. Team defense is a work in progress, and you could see the improvement as play continued. Duke was devastating on defense in the second half of the Fairfield game. After last season, I am cautiously optimistic about Duke as a defensive force.

Roster and Rotation

Coach K’s starting lineup was the same for both games, and the starters played the most minutes (except for Jefferson in the first game because of his foul trouble): Oakafor, Jefferson, Justise Winslow, Cook and Tyus Jones. As he promised, Coach K mixed and matched, though he played the second unit together for long stretches — Rasheed at the point, Matt Jones, Grayson Allen, Semi and Marshall. Rasheed is the first off the bench and together with Matt Jones got the most minutes of the non-starters. Grayson Allen had an amazing stat line in the first game, but fouled out in only 13 minutes against Fairfield. His play is worth discussing. Marshall has played well (1-1 from 3land; clock winding down). So has Semi, but for now he’s the end of the bench. Still every single Duke player looked impressive; this team has the potential for amazing depth. However, Coach K has never used a long bench. Still, Duke has the capacity to put enormous defensive pressure on while using a longer bench to keep everyone fresh for end of games. The press is so much more effective with rim protectors like Oakafor (really impressive on both ends of the court), a muscled up Jefferson, and a much improved Plumlee. Semi has also looked good defending the interior and Winslow is no slouch defending the interior.

Presbyterian

Offensively, Duke was a machine shooting over 50% from 3 (16-31) 61% overall and 13-16 from the line. Even better, Duke had 30 assists on 42 field goals and only 9 turnovers (only Winslow with 3 had more than 1). Cook led in minutes played with 25, scoring 14 points on 11 shots (4-10 from 3land) to go with 5 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals and 0 turnovers. He and Tyus played well together. Tyus and Oakafor (who play so well together) each played 23 minutes, and both amassed gaudy stat lines. Tyus scored 15 points on 8 shots (3-4 from behind the arc) to go with 7 assists, 2 boards and only a single turnover. Oakafor was even more impressive: 19 points on 10 shots (9-10 from the field and 1-2 from the line) to go with 4 assists (he is a great passer and has wonderful hands) and 6 boards. I am especially impressed with his team help defense. He is a key new defensive component. Duke’s best player has been Justise Winslow. In this game he logged 20 minutes, scoring 15 on 12 shots (2-3 from 3land; 1-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, an assist, a steal and a block. He is a determined defender at 6’6” with a chiseled body and impressive hops. Jefferson was limited to 16 minutes by his foul trouble (4), but is an impressive rebounder with 10 in his shortened stint. He had 4 points, but played much more efficiently against Fairfield.

The bench was effective and impressive. Semi logged 19 minutes, while Grayson Allen played 18, Rasheed 18, Marshall 17 and Matt Jones 13. Grayson was jaw dropping — he scored 18 points (yes that’s a point a minute) on 7 shots (2-3 from behind the arc and 6-7 from the line (impressive on the drive) to go with 3 assists, 3 steals, a block and a board. Rasheed was equally impressive as a floor leader and defender. He had a perfect shooting night scoring 12 points on only 4 shots (4-4; 1-1 from 3 and 3-3 from the line) to go with 4 assists, 2 steals, a block and a board. Marshall looks as if he can spell Oakafor and bring energy, rebounding and defense to the table. In addition to his 3 and 2-2 from the line, he grabbed 7 boards, passed out 3 assists, and 2 steals. Semi had a rough shooting night (1-6 all from behind the arc) while garnering 5 boards and 2 steals (but 4 fouls).

For the last 10 minutes of the game, Duke played a zone defense — each unit played the zone for about 5 minutes. Hmmmm!

Fairfield

The starters all played between 21 and 27 minutes; the reserves between 19 and 11. Cook and Oakafor led the starters in minutes with 27 each, Jefferson 24, Tyus 23 and Winslow 21. All, except Tyus, scored in double figures. The reserves continued to impress with Matt Jones logging 19 minutes, Rasheed 18, Grayson 13 (fouled out), Marshall 13 and Semi was limited to 11 minutes. For me, the takeaway was watching the defense improve — it was especially gratifying to watch the intensity and efficiency of the defense, regardless of who was on the floor. The offense wasn’t bad either. Duke was 31-40 from inside the arc (9-22 from 3land) and had 22 assists on 40 hoops; only 12 turnovers.

Oakafor is a beast (17 points on 10 shots — 8-10, which made him 17-20 for the two games) to go with 9 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. The only negatives: 5 turnovers, 1-3 from the line and 3 fouls. Justise Winslow continues to look like Duke’s best player (if not Oakafor) scoring 18 points on 10 shots (5-7 from the field including 1-2 from behind the arc and 5-7 from the line; he can really drive it) to go with 6 boards, 2 assists, a block and a steal. He appears to be Duke’s best defender and yet committed only 1 foul. Quinn was impressive as a defender and scored 17 points on 7-9 shooting (3-4 from behind the arc) with 4 assists, 2 boards and a steal. Jefferson rebounded from his less than stellar first game with a terrific performance: 15 points on 8 shots (5-8 including a few nifty moves), and was 5-6 from the free throw line, with 9 boards, 3 assists and a steal, while committing only 1 foul. Tyus came back to earth a bit after a hot shooting first game (6 points on 5 shots — 0-3 from 3land and 2-3 from the line. He added 5 assists and 2 steals against 2 turnovers.

The bench was terrific, especially Matt Jones and Rasheed. Rasheed did not attempt a single field goal, nor did he get to the line, but he was impressive on the defensive end with a steal (only 1 foul), and passed out 4 assists without a turnover. He may not be starting, but as Bill points out, Coach K is being impressed. Matt Jones scored 9 points on 3-4 shooting (1-2 from behind the arc and 2-3 from the line). He had 5 boards (impressive) and 2 steals. Although Grayson fouled out in only 13 minutes, he continues to be a wow factor in the games. He still scored 9 on 5 shots (1-3 from 3land; 2-2 from the line) to go with a board, an assist plus 2 steals. Marshall scored 8 in his 13 minutes on perfect shooting (3-3 from the floor and 2-2 from the line). He collected a rebound and blocked a shot. Semi scored 7 in his 11 minutes (2-5 all from 3land; 1-2 from the stripe). All 11 of his shots in the first 2 games were from behind the arc. He added a board and a steal. He is going to have to fight for playing time.

Next Play is going to be an exciting game on Tuesday against Michigan State in Indianapolis.

DUKE 81 – MICHIGAN STATE 71

I was all settled in with my wife and note pad by my side in anticipation of a cold winter’s night of great basketball in front of our new 60” Samsung high definition 4G TV when OMG! Dick Vitale’s voice came blasting over my surround sound audio system. Damn, I thought the shelf life of his unique announcing style had expired and he had retired to Florida. I know Mr. Vitale loves basketball and all that but why would ESPN use him on a big night of basketball when they have Jay Bilas and Doris Burke? Fortunately, he was more the Venerable Vitale than Dickie V, so I didn’t have to turn the sound system off. But still.. Fortunately, ESPN got the word and Jay replaced Vitale for the second game.

Tom Izzo decided to play Jahill Okafor straight up, not double team him. To quote Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman: “Mistake, Big Mistake.” No wonder Coach Izzo has only beaten Coach K once. Tyus Jones knows when and how to feed his young/old buddy and Okafor gave a pretty good Tim Duncan finesse lesson to his defender and quickly gave Duke a working cushion they never relinquished as they entire team played to the moment. And make no mistake about, it was a big moment for the freshmen: Indianapolis double header #3Duke vs #19 Michigan State and #1Kentucky vs. #4 Kansas was a Final Foul like atmosphere—and they did not disappoint.

An interesting and telling moment came with nine minutes to go, when Okafor picked up his fourth foul with nine minutes to go and the Blue Devils up seven.

Tyus Jones showed why the top programs all recruited him and players love to play with him. He is a pass first point guard who knows how to distribute the ball but can also shoot. On the ensuing possession, Jones stole the ball from Michigan State junior Denzel Valentine and fed it to Quinn Cook to start a fast break. Cook dished it back to Jones, who finished the easy lay-up. And on Duke’s next possession, the shot clock was winding down as Jones held the ball. He fired a long 3-pointer, was fouled by Valentine falling to the floor as the ball swished. Jones made the free throw for the four-point play, and, just like that, the Blue Devils were ahead 64-51 with just over eight minutes remaining, a lead they held until Jahill “The Difference” Okafor returned with five minutes to go.

Jones added six more points down the stretch, finishing with 17 for the half (and the game) on 4-of-5 shooting, four assists, and no turn overs. An emotionally retooled co-captain Quinn Cook led all Duke scorers with 19 points and 6 assists (with no turn overs). Okafor added 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Justise Winslow, the other starting freshman, flashed his impressive athleticism with a behind-the-back crossover dribble that created a slashing layup and took a defensive rebound coast to coast for a highlight fast break drive and basket. He finished with 15 points. Among the other notable numbers is the dispersal of scoring. Unlike last year, one or two players do not have to carry this team.

An impressive win no doubt, but three words of caution: 1) The Blue Devils had trouble staying in front of cutters and defending the interior, a fatal flaw with last year’s team as Michigan State, a tough, veteran team, shot 50 percent from the field (30-for-60). 2) #4Wisconsin will be a much tougher test. 3) #1 Kentucky wiped out #5 Kansas 72-40.

Additional observations:

Tom Izzo is now 1 for 8 against Mike Krzyzewski.
Quinn Cook showed why he is starting. He has no fear (nothing new) but is a much more patient contributor with this group of players. Playing mostly off the ball may fit his skill set better than the pressure of running the point full time.
The playing minutes reverted to the mean with the starters all logging about 30, except Jefferson who had 20.
Rasheed Sulaimon had a stomach virus and was throwing up all day and at half time. Matt Jones played some of Sully minutes at small forward and continued to impress.
Grayson Allan only played a minute, took an ill-advised shot, then took a seat on the bench.
Krzyzewski was willing to speak about Okafor’ s potential. “Jah has a chance to be the best one,” Krzyzewski said of all his true low post men. “The only two guys like him, are Elton (Brand)—and he still has to play really well to be as good as Elton, he was the first pick and the national player of the year. And then Booz ( Carlos Boozer) but he wasn’t the focus of the offense because he played with Battier, J. Williams, Dunleavy. Those three big men are similar. Jah is the biggest one, though. And Jah can pass the best. You can get it to him, and he draws attention. He just has to learn what he can do. He got called for a couple of offensive fouls, and people are going to bang on him. I thought he handled things well. People are going to play multiple guys on him. What they didn’t do tonight was double him. He’ll see that, too.”
Question: Is Okafor Tim Duncan’s brother or his love child? (That’s a joke to see if you are still paying attention.)

Alan Adds:

Bill said it perfectly, “an impressive win no doubt”, but there are lots of areas that this freshmen laden team will work on to improve. I add to Bill’s cautionary words because Michigan State was not at full strength, depleted by injuries — especially among their bigs. Even so, Duke did not fare well on the backboards. What was troubling was that although Duke got rebounds directly off the backboard, when the ball was tipped back up, or hit the deck, Michigan State got the ball. The Spartans stayed in the game by winning every loose ball and making all the hustle plays. Nevertheless, sometimes pure talent just does win out, which was, in fact, what occurred in Indianapolis. Let’s savor that pure talent on display, because some parts of that talent were simply awesome. Duke opened 7-7; pretty good. What was excellent was the penetration, passing and skill that made almost all of the 7 shots uncontested layups. Passes to Okafor were perfect, leading to uncontested lay ins. Okafor is a great finisher. Duke got to the line for 26 foul shots (20-26) because the Devils were in attack mode. Duke had 15 assists on 27 field goals against only 8 turnovers (3 by Okafor; 2 by Winslow; and 2 by the subpar Rasheed). Duke had some great defensive moments (and some not so great defensive moments), the subject of the next paragraph.

In my (oft-stated) opinion, how good this team will turn out to be in March will depend on the defensive prowess that it does, or does not, develop. The need to improve on last year’s efforts has been universally acknowledged and emphasized by Coach K. So, how did Duke do against Michigan State? Pretty well, in my estimation. I disagree with Bill that Duke’s defensive problems (and they were on occasion glaring) were caused primarily by the inability of Duke perimeter defenders to stay in front of penetrating guards (a flagrant problem last year). What led to the many uncontested Michigan State layups at the rim was the way Duke defended the pick and roll. It was sometimes very effective. The big guarding the screen setter quickly worked with the on the ball defender to create a double team against the ball. This defensive strategy, which Coach K announced he was deploying, leaves the roll man open (to be picked up by the rotation, in theory). Sometimes it worked like a charm. Duke created 13 turnovers, many out of the double teams, and had 5 blocks (mostly against the roller who receive the pass). But way too often, there was no rotation to the roller, who was wide open at the rim, while the rim protectors were attempting the hard hedge, which became the double team. This is a young team, and that will show on the defensive end. But, I thought Duke showed enough on defense to be optimistic about how this team will develop defensively. Quinn Cook had a great game, and most commentators will talk about his offense (as will I), but his improvement on the defensive end was obvious and welcome. Tyus is an energetic on the ball defender, but still has a tendency to overplay and get beaten back door. Matt Jones played excellent defense. Okafor (2), Jefferson, Winslow and Marshall combined for the 5 blocks. Duke pressure defense seemed to wear the Spartans down a bit in the last 5-6 minutes of the game (winning time), even though Coach K shortened the rotation dramatically.

Grayson Allen (1 minutes) and Semi (2 minutes) did not contribute significantly. Rasheed was ill, which explains both his ineffectiveness and his lack of playing time (12 minutes; a 3 pointer in four attempts — 3 from behind the arc; 2 turnovers and a steal). Marshall played 9 minutes with a board and a block to go with his 2 personal fouls. Only Matt Jones provided long term and effective bench play, especially on the defensive end. In 22 minutes (1 more than starter Jefferson), Matt scored 4 points (1-4; 0-2 from behind the arc — 2-2 from the line to go with an assist while committing 3 fouls. In short the bench contributed only 7 points (0 for Plumlee, Allen and Semi). It was a game where the starters played big minutes to win the game. Quinn and Winslow logged 36 minutes each and put up enviable numbers. Cook was superb, leading the Duke scoring with 19 points on 12 shots (7-12, including 3-4 from behind the arc and some spectacular drives to score in traffic; 2-2 from the free throw line) to go with a wonderful floor game (6 assists and 0 turnovers plus a steal). This is not just a freshman team! Winslow may be Duke’s most talented athlete. I don’t think Duke has had an athlete like Winslow since Corey Maggette. He grabbed a rebound, flew down the court with an extraordinary handle, blowing past a defender for a spectacular end to end layup that was simply breathtaking. Justise had 15 points, 6 boards, 3 assists, and a block, but actually did not have a good shooting night (4-11 including 1-2 from 3land). He is a great driver and can draw fouls. He attempted 9 free throws, but made only 6, and had 2 turnovers. I predict he will become the heart of this team as he grows and approaches his considerable up side. Tyus Jones soared to the heights in the last 8 minutes of the game after Jahlil picked up his fourth foul, but was a steady heady ball handler throughout. He was incredibly efficient in his 31 minutes, scoring 17 points (all in the second half) on only 5 shots (4-5, including 2-3 from behind the arc). He was 7-7 from the free throw line and had 4 assists and 2 steals with 0 turnovers. Cook and Tyus together had 10 assists, 0 turnovers and scored 36 points on 12 shots. That’s a pretty impressive backcourt performance against a good team. Jahlil left the announcers sputtering searching for adjectives and Tim Duncan analogies. He was certainly impressive in his foul limited 30 minutes, scoring 17 points on 8-10 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 blocks, 2 steals and an assist. His team defense is spectacular (and the team defense will improve once Duke learns how to defend the rim when Okafor double teams on the pick and roll). Having said all that and having to listen to Dickie V rant and drool about him (Bill obviously is more tolerant than I; I first tuned Dickie V out with 11 minutes to go in the first half! Yikes, he is grating, but I digress), there are areas where he should and will improve. Three of his four fouls came at the offensive end. He led Duke in turnovers with 3 and he couldn’t stop the Spartan onslaught on the backboards. He will be the best professional player of the Duke freshmen, but he is not head and shoulders above Winslow and Tyus, or at least was not in Duke’s first real test this year. There is no doubt that he is something very special. Jefferson was the starter who played the fewest minutes (21) and seemed less effective than usual with 4 boards and a block while scoring 6 points (2-3 from the floor and 2-4 from the line). Coach K went with Winslow at power forward for long stretches when Jefferson was on the bench.

Duke plays in Brooklyn tomorrow night against Temple and then on Saturday against either Stanford or UNLV. The next DBP will be a consolidated report on Sunday.

DUKE 74 – TEMPLE 54

In the first half Jahlil Okafor (3-13) and his teammates (9-26) were looking very ordinary offensively. However, their defense against a city tough Temple team enabled them to still have a 36-26 halftime lead. This would not have been the situation in the last several years and is one the primary reasons to believe that this team can compete on an entirely different level. There are always going to be times that your shots aren’t falling. It is then that defense keeps the game from getting away from you until they do start falling. Early in the second half, after Coach K encouraged his players to keep taking good shots, Captain Cook and his crew heated up and made a run to pretty much put the game away.

“We played without fouling,” said Coach Mike Krzyzewski (Temple attempted just six free throws). “We kept guys in front of us pretty good the whole game and we switched well. And also our big guys protected the bucket pretty well, so they didn’t have straight line drives.”

What I liked: While the freshmen are as good or better than advertised, always hustling and encouraging co-captains Cook, with his second half shooting and Jefferson, with his 8 point & 8 rebounds, led the way through the offensively frustrating twenty some first minutes….Starters Jones, Cook, and Winslow all can push the ball on a break… Justise went Coast to Coast again with another highlight finish…There is balanced scoring because everyone is a good passer. Through four games, Tyus Jones has 23 assists (5.75 apg.) followed by Cook with 16 (4.0 apg.) .. After a frustrated Okafor was pushed around a bit with no calls, Marshall Plumlee came off the bench and provided a nice tutorial for Jahlil as to how to deal with physical play–get stronger and play tougher… Duke held Temple to 1-of-12 (.091) from beyond the arc, the third game this season the Blue Devils forced a team to shoot .200 percent or worse from behind the three-point line…The announcers were Steve Smith, a two time All-American at Michigan State then a 14 year pro, and Greg Anthony, the point guard for the great UNLV team that buried Duke by 29 in the 1990 NCAA Championship game only to have their undefeated season ruined by the 1991 Duke upset. Both do their homework and have interesting insights into players talents. After one impressive, unique Jahlil move and finger roll basket, Steve mentioned it was reminiscent of George Gervin. For those who do not remember The Ice Man go to You Tube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGaAS0PTZxg)… Grayson Allen made it out of the doghouse and again scored a point a minute—6.

Additional observations:

Coach K left no doubt how he feels about Stanford Coach Johnny Dawkins. “Johnny was the first great player to commit to me. Johnny is as good a player as we have ever had at Duke. And he’s a great man. He’s got the whole package.”
When talking again about comparing Okafor to only Brand and Boozer, K also cleaned up the record by mentioning parenthetically that Christian Laettner “was a pretty good player” but not a true low post center.
Sulaimon is not playing well. He is either still feeling under the weather or pressing too hard for more playing time. Matt Jones, on the other hand, continues to impress and Semi Ojeleye does not.

Alan Adds:

In many ways — not shooting, however — this was Duke’s best game of the season. Duke’s defense was intense and kept breakdowns to a minimum (Duke still is getting beaten back door, but that is the price to be paid for aggressive efforts to get in the passing lanes). Temple did not score 30 points in either half (26 in the first half; 28 in the second). The Blue Devils forced 17 turnovers that included 9 steals to go with 5 blocks. While Duke shot poorly for the first 25 minutes of the game, Duke had 14 assists on its 25 field goals. They shared the ball with some great passes that are not in the stat sheet because the shot was missed. At one point, Duke was 4-18 from 3land before Quinn (2) and Matt Jones hit 3 of the last 5 bonus attempts, which put the game away. While Okafor had a poor shooting first half (3-13), he played his usual shooting game in the second half (4-7), but curiously only garnered 1 defensive rebound (after 7 first half offensive rebounds). He added 2 blocks — one of which was crucial and contributed to Duke moving out of Temple’s reach. He played only 27 minutes and was clearly not as comfortable as in the first 3 games. Marshall contributed 11 wonderfully efficient minutes (1-1 from the floor with 5 boards and 2 blocks). It was an impressive performance. Matt Jones (16) and Rasheed (14) also played double digit minutes off the bench. Jones continues to defend well with a 3 pointer (in 3 attempts) and 2 assists without a turnover. You can see Coach K’s trust in Matt building, conversely dwindling with Rasheed. Rasheed continues to disappoint, though it may still be the hangover from his being ill. He was 1-5 from the floor (0-1 from 3land) 0-2 from the foul line with 2 boards, 2 turnovers, 0 assists, steals or blocks, while committing 3 fouls. This team needs Rasheed to get well or otherwise turn his season around. Grayson played 6 minutes (4 of his 6 points came at key times in the first half) while Semi logged only 4 minutes (0-2 from 3land — all of his shots this season have been from behind the arc.) while committing 2 fouls.

Quinn led Duke in scoring (17 points on 6-12 shooting including 3-8 from behind the arc — the last 2 were key, and 2-2 from the stripe) and in minutes played (34). Quinn is a very good rebounder for a guard (5 for this game) and played superb defense on the perimeter adding 2 steals. He had 2 turnovers with a single assist. He is, right now, the unquestioned team leader and is having a banner year thus far. He has adjusted marvelously to being off the ball much of the time while the steady and impressive Tyus runs the offense. Although in his 29 minutes, Tyus shot poorly (1-7 including 1-4 from behind the arc and 2-2 from the line for 5 points), he played a superb floor game. He had 7 assists with only a single turnover to go with 5 boards (he and Quinn garnered 10 boards between them), and 3 steals. He played excellent (improving) defense and committed only a single foul. Amile Jefferson had his best game of the season at both ends of the floor. He played the second most minutes (31) while going 3-5 from the field, snaring 8 boards, handing out an assist, and getting a block. He had no turnovers. The only quibble was 2-5 from the stripe and committing 3 fouls. He is glue on defense. Justise continues to impress though he is freshman-inconsistent. What is impressively consistent is his defense, hustle and athleticism. In 28 minutes, he had 15 points on 8 shots (4-8; 1-4 from behind the arc and 6-9 from the line. He is a slasher who draws fouls. Temple only shot 13 free throws as a team; Justise shot 9 (but needs to shoot better than 67%). Duke as a team was even more inaccurate from the stripe (17-26 for 61%), but made more free throws than Temple attempted (a good sign). In addition to Winslow’s 3 missed free throws, Jefferson also missed 3 and Rasheed 2 (8 of the 9 misses; Grayson Allen was 3-4 for the other miss). Winslow plays the whole game at both ends. He can guard four positions on the floor, and has been used at both forward spots on offense; he handles like a guard (think James Harden when Justise gets it all together consistently). He added 8 boards (tie for the lead for Duke) with an assist and a steal with a single turnover. He committed 3 fouls.

Stanford was very impressive in wiping the floor with UNLV. Many good story lines for this game, but the key is the rate at which the freshmen improve and the team continues to grow defensively.

DUKE 70- STANFORD 59

Five games in nine days in three different cities—welcome to an NBA schedule plus classes. Actually, it is Coach K’s boot training to condition his team for tournament time. Except for the shooting part, the team passed with flying colors or in coaches words: “A good performance without offensive pretty.”

What have we learned in the last five games? This is a deep and talented team with an exceptionally gifted center and point guard who make everyone else better. Not to mention a power forward who may be the most complete basketball player on the team. And a senior guard who, if he continues to play and shoot as he has, could be the last piece of the championship puzzle. Also, an unsung blue collar player every team needs who is willing to do all the gritty little things that are often overlooked. And then there is a dependable bench, stocked with players who accept the fact that even though they are not starting, they are nevertheless important components of a winning team.

Additional observations:

So far, the defense has somewhat papered over the fact that free throw shooting among the front line is the Achilles Heel of this team. That has to change,
because as the teams get tougher and the games closer, free throws are crucial.
Speaking of defense, take a look at this year’s assist, turnover, rebounding, and steals differential compared to last year.
Matt Jones is a different player this year. When I saw his awkward shooting release last year, I wondered how had the reputation as a good three point shooter. As my old Coach Carter used to say: “This game isn’t ice skating, there are no style points. It’s not how, but how many.” And he has long arms allowing him to play bigger than his height.
I don’t know about you, but when Justise Winslow limped off the floor against Temple, Kyrie’s Irving’s injury about the same time of year flashed through my mind.

Alan Adds:

The tournament in Brooklyn was a wonderful coming out party for Duke’s defense. For those of us still having nightmares about last year’s defense and wondering how the freshmen would adapt to Coach K’s team defense (it is usual for freshmen to have a longer defensive learning curve than offensively), this tournament was a glorious defensive statement. Duke did not shoot well in either game and yet was never seriously challenged. Winslow, Okafor and Jones have played remarkably well on the defensive end as have Cook, Jefferson, and Matt Jones. Duke took away Stanford’s 3 pointers (3-14), held even on the boards, and committed few fouls (Stanford did not reach the bonus in the first half) and only had 14 free throw attempts for the game (12-14), while making 17 (out of 26 attempts; Justise was a disappointing 4-10; Okafor 2-4; and Rasheed 1-3, accounted for 10 of Duke’s 12 misses. Tyus 3-4 and Jefferson 3-4 accounted for the other 2), more than Stanford attempted. While Duke shot only 39 % from the field (9-25 from long range), the passing was breathtaking and admirable. Duke had 16 assists on 22 baskets, and like the night before had many gorgeous passes that did not make the stat sheet because of missed open shots.

Rasheed seemed to return to form against Stanford as Coach K shortened his rotation even further, as he usually does for big games. Neither Grayson Allen nor Semi Ojeleye left the bench and Marshall played only 5 minutes in the first half. Coach K elected to use Jefferson to back up Okafor in the second half, but only for about a minute or two. Otherwise Jahlil played almost the entire second half. Quinn (39 minutes), Jahlil (34) and Justise (35) were the center pieces of Duke’s effort. They left the court only briefly (Quinn not at all). Tyus (26), Jefferson (24) Matt Jones (18) and Rasheed (19) all contributed significantly.

This, for better or worse, is Quinn’s team. In his senior year, he has been outstanding and (unlike past years) consistent at both ends of the floor. Coach K pointed out that Quinn is playing great and deserved the MVP of the tournament award that he received. He was guarding a 6’6” guard and was outstanding. He played every second until the last 1:18 of the game, when the outcome had been decided. In his 39 minutes, he led Duke in scoring with 18 (6-12; 4-9 from 3land and 4-4 from the line) to go with 5 assists, 3 rebounds and a steal with only a single turnover. It is a joy to watch a player go through hard times, persevere, learn, grow and develop in four years. We don’t get to see that the way we used to. Quinn is hungry (no championships in his first three years and lots of criticism) and is leading his younger teammates.

It looks as if there will be a growing debate as to who Duke’s best freshman player this year, as Justise Winslow continues to sparkle. First and foremost, he is Duke’s most valuable and versatile defender. He has what the announcers call “an amazing motor”, meaning he displays constant energy with jaw dropping athleticism and a determined will. He has hops! When Stanford went small and/or to a zone, Winslow played the power forward in place of Jefferson, along with Okafor and 3 guards. When Stanford seemed poised to make a run, Winslow’s rebounding and all around play shut Stanford down. The only thing that stops the superlatives from morphing into big time hype is his lack of shooting efficiency ( 4-10 from the field, but only 2-7 from downtown; and the grievous 4-10 from the foul line). I (and Coach K) predict his shooting will come around making him a real force this year. He, Quinn and Okafor were named to the all-tournament first team. Okafor came up so big when Stanford reduced the Duke lead to 8. Duke went inside to Okafor, who scored twice in a row to push the lead back to 12 and end the Cardinal hopes. While he did not shoot well (10 points on 4-10 from the field and 2-4 from the line), he was a beast on the backboard (12 rebounds; yes that’s a double double) an assist, a steal and a block. He was a superb rim protector, altering Stanford close in shots and showing he has strength and a mean streak in addition to his impressive skills.

Tyus had a subpar statistical game and did not log as many minutes as usual. Coach K feared an energy drain because Duke has played 5 games in 8 days, including 3 big time games in two different neutral site locations in the last 3 days. Though he was 0-6 from the field (0-3 from 3land and 3-4 from the line), Tyus played a valuable floor game and is improving on the defensive end by leaps and bounds. He had only 2 assists (1 turnover) but garnered 3 boards and made 3 steals. He has become so valuable and works so well with Cook. Jefferson had one of his best games, even if limited by Stanford’s smaller lineup and zone defense. In his 24 minutes, Amile was 3-6 from the field; 3-4 from the line with 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block without a turnover. He did commit 3 fouls. The bench was basically Matt Jones and Sulaimon. Jones was a revelation. In his 18 minutes, he contributed a critical times on the offensive end while playing exemplary defense. He was 4-7 from the field (2-3 from 3land) for 10 points, with a rebound and a steal against 2 turnovers. Rasheed is not yet statistically there, but he seemed back in harness, especially on the defensive end. He scored only 6 in his 19 minutes, but both buckets were important (2-5 from the field; 1-3 from behind the arc and 1-3 from the line) to go with 2 assists and a tough rebound in traffic (1 turnover).

All in all, Duke fans could not have asked for a better start to the season. Duke gets a respite before playing Furman and Army next week.

DUKE 93 – FURMAN 57

I was in Pinehurst for our annual Thanksgiving family gathering so I recorded the Furman and Army scrimmages which I view as scheduled home conditioning interludes between Michigan State and the clash with #2Wisconsin this Wednesday in Madison. Alan found more interesting aspects of the games than I did.

However, this game did answer a question I have been asking myself: “What’s keeping Grayson Allen off the floor?” (He played just one minute against Michigan State, six against Temple and then not at all against Stanford.) He is much more athletic than JJ, is not worse defensively, and has a beautiful three point stroke. When Coach K called timeout with :30 seconds left in the half, I thought that if Grayson’s not in, he really is deep in the dog house. Breaking the huddle, Allen and Matt Jones went to corners along Tyus Jones, Winslow and Rasheed Sulaimon. Tyus patiently took time off the clock before passing it to Allen in the corner, and – swish, buzzer! How many times have we seen this movie?

“Grayson might not play for 19 minutes and 50 seconds against” – Krzyzewski paused to come up with a hypothetical – “Wisconsin, and we put him in, and he did it. That was one of the best and most meaningful plays of the afternoon.”

Alan Adds:

I believe most commentators, and even Duke fans, will regard the Furman game as a routine blow out of a vastly inferior team — a “breather” or “laugher” in an otherwise formidable schedule. There was relief that Duke fans did not repeat last year’s game against Vermont, in similar circumstances where Duke was an overwhelming favorite to beat an inferior team with a losing record.

Let me offer a contrasting view; I believe when the season is done, we will look back on the first half of the Furman game as the moment when you could truly visualize for the first time the connecting path between the amazing potential of a group of extraordinarily talented players to the realization of the dream of team — especially on the defensive end. Duke played well in the second half, but human nature just toned down the team intensity of the first half that seemed to me to be truly a watershed moment. What a delicious defensive first half! Never mind the impressive stats (Furman is another Presbyterian as far as athletic talent goes), but savor Duke’s spectacular aggressive hedges and switches on screens, creating the double teams, followed by the smooth rotations to cover the roller (or screen setter). I know that Furman is not Michigan State, but you could see the improvement of the rotations to cover the roller. Michigan State had some success with the roller laying it up and in on the pick and rolls. Last night against Furman, Duke looked like a ballet troupe the way they rotated to make the traps effective. Credit Justise Winslow, who is quick, athletic and defensively intelligent. He was so intense, and helped make the team defense, well, beautiful (hence the ballet simile). Jahlil, Amile and Marshall were so aggressive in defending the screen with the hard hedge and double team. When Furman made the good pass against the double team (which was frequently done), Justise, Matt Jones, Rasheed (the starting guards are a little too small to be effective in that role) and the off big man (I.e. Jefferson when Jahlil was the double teamer) were so cohesive in rotation that Furman had to bring the ball back out.

So was some of the passing on offense both beautiful and ballet-like. There were two that deserve to be remembered. One was a five pass (no dribble) sequence that ended with Winslow making a touch pass out of the high post to Jahlil for the dunk. The other — among Cook, Tyus and Amile — ended up as a turnover, but the concept was so deliciously unselfish and creative that it too deserved to be savored.

For the first half, Duke scored 50 on 57 % shooting, with 13 assists (in the first half!) on 20 field goals. Jahlil (5-7 for 10 points) and Amile (6-6 for 12 points) led the way. The bigs (totaling 11-13 from the floor in the opening stanza) were the recipients of superb passing for finishing at or near the rim. It was simply exquisite basketball. Matt Jones contributed 7 off the bench in the first half as did Justise. Tyus did not score in the entire game. Justise did not score in the second half; you can see that he is offensively aggressive only when the team needs him to be (which it clearly did not in the second half). For the game, Duke shot 57% dishing out 24 assists on 36 field goals against only 7 turnovers.

The starters all played between 23 and 26 minutes. All the reserves got a good run (between 12 and 19 minutes) Coach K mixed and matched intensely, trying all different combinations together. Jahlil led Duke in minutes (26) and scoring with 24 points (first Duke 20 point scorer this year; demonstrating Duke’s balanced scoring so far) on 12-14 shooting to go with 7 boards, 3 assists and 2 blocks. He is one of the best finishers I have seen in College basketball. He missed his only free throw (Duke was 6-10; Justise 2-4 and Matt 1-2 were the other misses). Jefferson and Quinn played 24 minutes. Amile had a wonderfully efficient game, scoring 16 points on 8-9 shooting (he missed a tough tip in attempt) while grabbing 12 rebounds, dishing out 2 assists and getting a steal and a block. Coach K called Quinn the “key guy” in creating team chemistry. He had 5 assists against only one turnover, going 4-10 from the field; 3-9 from 3land and gorgeous twisting drive). He added 3 boards and a steal. Tyus and Justice played 23 minutes. Tyus was 0-2 from the floor, but contributed mightily with 7 assists and some very solid defense (improving by leaps and bounds on that end of the floor). Justise was 2-7 for 7 points (1-3 from behind the arc and 2-4 from the line). Do not be fooled by Justise’s modest stat line, he is so valuable to this team, especially on the defensive end.

Matt Jones had a break out game, scoring 13 points (4-5 from 3land and 1-2 from the line) in his 19 minutes. He corralled 3 boards and had 2 assists to go along with some intense defense. He and Rasheed are becoming a force on the perimeter as reserves. Suliamon also logged 19 minutes, scoring 9 on 4-8 shooting (1-4 from behind the arc) to go with excellent defense, 2 tough rebounds in traffic and 2 assists. Semi (15 minutes) and Marshall (12 minutes) were effective substitutes on the front line. Marshall played defense and got 2 boards to go with 2-2 foul shooting (6-6 for the year). Semi had his best game, scoring 6 on 2-3 shooting (1-2 from behind the arc, and 1-1 from the line. He had 3 boards and played great defense. He was called for two fouls, but the second one was not a foul, just a great defensive play. Grayson scored 5 (including the set play 3 pointer at the close of the first half) in 13 minutes. He was forcing shots, hoisting up 7 (2-7; 1-5 from behind the arc), but was energetic on the floor with 3 boards, an assist and a block.

DUKE 93 – ARMY 73

After watching The United States Military Academy’s basketball team in action, you have to feel that at least this arm of the government is in excellent (pun alert) hands. Their approach to the game is impressive—and basketball is not even their major. The final score is no indication as to how good and talented a team they are. I’m glad we had Okafor because without him T. Jones would not have had a double- double and the score would have been much closer. Anyhow, Alan has all the details and I will save my insights for the Wisconsin game.

Additional observations:

Army’s effort and performance comes as no surprise to those of us who have observed Coach K over the years. He is emphatic about West Points’ impact on this development: “I remember playing there more so than my first win (as a coach). That’s my base. I wear my wedding ring and I wear my West Point ring with a Duke stone. I’m getting all emotional now. I love West Point. I love the fact that I had that opportunity and then I had the opportunity to coach there. One of the reasons that I’m a good coach here is because of my five years there. They’ll always be in my heart and I’ll always be a West Point-er.”
Grayson Allen played more minutes today but showed why he probably has not played more.

Alan adds:

I thought the Army game a bit strange and hard to get a handle on all its significances, both offensively and defensively. Duke played defense with a lot of energy, but sporadically — not on every possession. You could see some of the old 2013-14 Duke deficiencies creeping back — shoddy transition defense giving up open 3s and drives from the perimeter. It’s true that most of this happened when Duke had the game well in hand in the second half, but the opening few minutes were defensively careless before Duke clamped down Duke style at about the 15 minute mark of the first half. Duke was offensively fluid, hampered only by its uncharacteristically bad shooting from behind the arc (4-19 for the game; 1-8 in the first half). If you take away the 3 point attempts, Duke was 27-51 from inside the arc, and a dramatic 15-20 from inside the arc in the first half. For the game, Duke had 20 assists on 31 baskets; pretty impressive. Justise Winslow committed two offensive fouls within the first two and a half minutes of the game, had a turnover and a bad defensive play. He went to the bench with 17 minutes and change left in the first half. As a result he logged only 12 minutes, and Duke’s defense may have suffered a bit because of his absence. It was Duke’s superior size that kept Army from being competitive.

Duke had only four players who logged more than 20 minutes, and those four were the only double figure scorers. Tyus led the team in minutes and in every other way on offense. He also played some really excellent team defense, but still gets beaten back door on occasion. However, on offense he sparkled against Army. In 34 scintillating minutes, Tyus had 10 assists (and many of them were spectacularly beautiful), 0 turnovers, 5 boards and a steal. He scored 16 points on 3-4 shooting inside the arc and 7-8 from the line. He still has not found his 3 point shot (1-4), but that is a quibble for such a terrific performance. Quinn played 30 minutes (He and Tyus were the only Duke players to play more than 26 minutes), scoring 13 points on 12 shots (5-12; 1-5 from behind the arc and made both free throws). Quinn had 3 steals, 2 boards and 2 assists. Because Justise was so limited in playing time, Rasheed got more playing time. Rasheed played the third most minutes (26) scoring 13 points (4-10; 1-4 from behind the arc and 4-4 from the line to go with 2 assists, 2 boards and a steal. He was energetic and played excellent defense. Jahlil was somewhere between awesome and impressive. In 25 minutes, he destroyed Army (21 points on 8-14 shooting, but only 5-9 from the line) to go with some great passing out of the post and 8 rebounds and a block. He altered shots, finished dramatically and was an unstoppable force. The pundits are salivating to see how he performs against Wisconsin’s huge, talented and experienced front line, led by Frank Kaminsky, the 7 footer who had such an outstanding NCAA tournament last year.

Jefferson was a beast on the boards against an undersized team in his 20 minutes — 12 boards, 7 points (3-3 from the field, but 1-3 from the line) to go with 2 assists and a block. He and Okafor (and Plumlee) were devastating inside against the smaller Black Knights. Marshall had another incredible stat line. In his 13 minutes, he was 2-2 from the field; 2-2 from the line for 8 points, with 5 boards and 2 blocks. Matt Jones was first off the bench when Justise committed his second foul. He played 18 minutes, scoring 6 points with 2 steals, an assist and a rebound. Defense is still his calling card, and you can see Coach K trusting him more. When Coach K finally let Winslow back in the game (6 minutes to go in the first half), Winslow played well, but Coach K limited him (punishment for two quick not so smart offensive fouls?) to not much more than cameos in each half. Still in his 12 minutes, Winslow scored 7 points on 3-4 shooting (1-2 from 3land) with a board, an assist and a steal. Semi (12 minutes) played a good floor game, but Grayson (10 minutes) looked lost and unhappy. Semi had four boards and an assist, though he did not shoot well (0-2 from the field and 2-4 from the line. Grayson did not score, missing his only shots — 2 3 point attempts.

Next Play: On Wednesday night, Duke takes on the third ranked Badgers of Wisconsin. Wisconsin returns four of its starters and all of its bench from a Final Four team a year ago (lost to Kentucky by a point on a last minute long shot by Andrew Harrison). They feature a huge front line and a first team All- American candidate in the 7 foot Frank Kaminski, This will be a telling test for Duke’s young and talented team.

DUKE 80 – WISCONSIN 70

Jahlil Okafor is a wonderful talent but this is Tyus Jones team. He may only be a college freshman and look like a high school junior but he makes plays like a seasoned, senior All-American. Playing before a hostile crowd of 17,279, against a team that made the Final Four a year ago and came in ranked No. 2 nationally, Jones scored 22 points, to go with 6 rebounds and 6 assists. And by the way, it wasn’t a one man show. The guys off the bench kept Duke in the game in the first half. As I was saying, in big games Rasheed Sulaimon’s “have no fear, just attack and take the hill” mentality shows the team how to perform. Marshall Plumlee had productive minutes as did Matt Jones; however, next to Ty Jones, Rasheed Sulaimon was the MVP—especially on a night when Justise Winslow was offensively missing in action until the last minutes when he settled down, hit a three and took a half court out of bounds give-and-go from Jahlil to the basket for an uncontested, demoralizing dunk. And who has improved more than Amile Jefferson and Marshall Plumlee? They have the best field goal percentages on the team and play very effective defense. But more than anything this impressive performance demonstrated the maturity, toughness, depth, versatility, and coolness of this Duke team. And, oh yes, their defense bears no resemblance to that of the last few years.

The coaches also played a part. Jeff Capel, who was head coach at Oklahoma and was especially close to Tyus through his recruitment, encouraged K to go to him more in the second half. Coach called more ball screens for Ty in the second half and Jah encouraged his buddy to shoot more, too, since Wisconsin was sagging off him. Who knew the laid back point guard had this much scoring fire power?

In his duel with the Badgers Kaminsky, Duke’s Jahlil Okafor was outscored 17-13 – but hit 6-8 to Kaminsky’s 5-12. Even when his numbers appear subpar, Jahlil has an impact on the game just being on the floor because his presence creates space and an opportunity for his teammates to operate. The same is true of Quinn Cook. He is in Coach K’s words a “safe harbor” for T. Jones. Quinn’s acceptance of Tyus being the point and controlling the ball has made him a better, more effective player.

The most impressive aspects of the win were: It was in Madison where any Coach Bo Ryan’s teams rarely lose; against a consensus top four team; the defense was terrific; everyone who played contributed; the offense production was terrific even though Okafor’s numbers were subpar. This ten point margin is as close as any team has come to beating Duke.

Additional observations:

This was Coach K’s win number 991. In top-five matchups his Duke teams are 25-13, including 6-6 on the road.
Fortunately, Jay Bilas called the game and demonstrated once again why he is the most knowledgeable college basketball analyst on television.
UNC lost to Iowa in Chapel Hill.
BTW, Louisville joins the ACC this year. They are big, athletic, and very good.

Alan Adds:

The game had, for me, almost the feel of a Final Four game. Everyone knew that these two teams seem to be Final Four quality, and this was a major test for each on National television. Of course, it was not an elimination game, but rather a development and evaluation game (not even a conference game); so not Final Four intensity, but almost. It was fun to watch as a Duke fan. After the game, I texted Bill, “Duke’s best win since Kyrie got hurt in 2011 (better than Austin’s dagger against UNC, because of the potential to be a National champion that this team demonstrated in this game). Yes, I thought Duke looked that good. It was also the game where Tyus Jones emerged as Duke’s floor leader, announcing his presence on the national scene. Tyus was not less than superb. He logged 37 minutes (the most on Duke) scored 22 points on 11 shots and controlled the game to a remarkable extent. Traveon Jackson may have scored 25 points in a dramatic outing for the Badgers, but he wasn’t even in the same league as Tyus for providing leadership, stability and confidence for his team. Tyus remarkably had only a single turnover (4 assists). This was a very special performance. The guards (Tyus, Quinn and Rasheed) shot 6-9 from behind the arc. Duke had two rebounding leaders — Jahlil with 6 and (drum roll, please) Tyus with 6.

The second take away from this game is the absolute certainty that Duke’s defense is back. Duke won, in large measure because they were a much better defensive team. First, let’s send kudos to Justise Winslow, who logged 32 minutes (second most on the team) and led the stingy defense. One could say Winslow did not have a good game because he scored only 5 points on 2-6 shooting (though the two were at crunch time), but one would be completely wrong because of the defensive glue and energy Winslow brought to the team. There is a reason Coach K had him in the game more than any other player besides Tyus. Duke’s switching was beautiful to behold — look back at my “Alan Adds” for the Furman game, where Duke’s defense looked ballet like in its fluidity. The quality of the opponent was much higher, but Duke’s defense rose to the occasion. It was team defense with starters and bench all contributing as an efficient, cohesive, intensely motivated team. It was simply exhilerating.

Offensively, Duke was on fire, shooting the lights out (30-46; 7-12 from 3land). Duke had no free throw attempts in the first half and was an ok 8-13 in the second half. Duke held the huge Wisconsin team even on the boards.

Tyus had great help offensively. Quinn played 31 scintillating minutes scoring 13 points on only 5 shots (4-5; 2-3 from behind the arc and 3-4 from the line). Jahlil showed that he can play with any big in the country (well, let’s see about the horde of bigs from Kentucky) by playing Kaminsky to a standstill. In 27 minutes (4 fouls), he scored 13 on 6-8 shooting. Jefferson was also terrific in 25 minutes going 3-4 from the floor with 6 boards. As Bill points out, so much juice to the Duke effort on both ends of the floor came from Rasheed in his 21 minutes. He was 5-8 (2-3 from 3land and 2-2 from the line) for 14 points (second high scorer on the team) while grabbing 3 boards, handing out 2 assists and making a steal. Wow! He led the efficient bench. Matt Jones played 19 terrific minutes (1-1; and 1-2 from the line) both on defense, where he is really shining and an all around floor game. The last and 8th contributer was Marshall. He played only 8 minutes, going 2-3 for four points with 3 boards. If you extrapolate those stats out to a 40 minute game, that’s 20 points and 15 boards. Unfortunately, Marshall also committed 2 fouls (which would limit him to about 18 minutes). I thought it significant that when Jahlil picked up his fourth foul with about five minutes left, Jefferson came in for Jahlil rather than Plumlee. The small lineup (Justise at power forward) held the fort.

After a “breather” with Elon, Duke goes to the Meadowlands to play the defending national champions, UConn.

DUKE 75- ELON 62

The good news is Jahlil Okafor celebrated his 18^th birthday by going for a school record 25 points & 20 rebounds; however, after twelve days off for exams, the Blue Devils were somewhat sloppy (17 turnovers), inconsistent, and certainly not firing on all cylinders. The bad news is that the starting front court shot 7 for 18 from the line– and that is not an aberration. There are only a couple things that can stop this team: injuries, bad luck, or bad free throw shooting, which has always been a strength of Coach K’s best teams. Please put in a call to Chip “The Shot Doctor” Engelland, who scored 1,000 points as a Duke player from 1979-83 and is a shot guru to the accuracy challenged, because in close games Okafor and Winslow will be spending a lot of time at the line. It must be noted that like other less heralded teams coming into Cameron, under-sized, over-matched Elon competed hard and conceded nothing.

A good example of that is late in the game Rasheed Sulaimon pressed Luke Eddy practically the length of the floor and was called for a foul as Eddy fell to the floor. Then Sully appeared to give Eddy a shove and he was called for a technical. What the replays showed was that Eddy hooked Rasheed’s arm and attempted to pull him down also. As usual, retaliation got the call. While Sulaimon took blame for the technical (“I lost my cool and made a bone-head play, something that a Duke player doesn’t make. I’m very ashamed and embarrassed at the way I represented this program, myself and my family.”), Rasheed (11 pts, 2 steals, 3 rebs) played another solid game as the first substitution and demonstrated the intensity and toughness every minute he is on the floor. Championship teams need that from their best players.

Additional observations:

The Darwinian basketball principle: there are only so many floor minutes. Caught up in a talent jam, sophomore Semi Ojeleye has decided to transfer. This should not be a surprise as he is too talented to be satisfied with a seat on the bench. Semi hasn’t announced a new school yet, but wherever he ends up, someone’s getting a talented player and a first-class kid.

Alan adds:

Coach K was unhappy with his team’s performance and, as usual, was eloquent in describing the shortcomings he saw. He said Duke “didn’t do the hard things tonight.” The hard things he identified are “finishes, talk on defense, be strong with the ball, dive for loose balls. We didn’t do those things that we have been doing.” He said this was the result of the lay-off, but also people “telling us how good we are” after the great game against Wisconsin. Coach K explained that it was normal to have a let down after a great game. “In order to be really good, you can’t be normal. Normal stays in the past and wants it easier after some great accomplishment. Not normal gets hungrier. We didn’t pass that test tonight. Human nature beat the hell out of us tonight. We weren’t as good as we can be, not as good as we are going to be, and not as good as we have been.” Interestingly, Coach K admonished his team for not following the defensive game plan. He said this was the first time this year that his team didn’t implement the game plan. He also pointed to 17 turnovers against only 14 assists. He was not a happy coach.

With Ojeleye gone, Duke’s rotation was essentially 7. Grayson Allen played only 8 minutes with 0 shots or points (1 rebound; 1 steal and 1 turnover) and Marshall logged only 10 minutes with 0 shots and 0 points (2 boards; 2 blocks while committing 2 fouls). Six Duke players logged between 20 (Matt Jones) and 29 minutes (Okafor). Quinn played a game high 35 minutes with 7 points (3-9 from the field; 1-6 from behind the arc; 0 free throw attempts) 4 assists and a steal against a single turnover. His backcourt buddy, Tyus Jones fell to earth after his heavenly performance against Wisconsin. In 23 minutes, he missed his only field goal attempt (4-6 from the line) with 4 assists and an unusual 4 turnovers. Matt Jones was also subpar, going 1-6 from the field (0-4 from 3land; 1-1 from the line) with 0 assists and 2 turnovers. It was Rasheed who was the backcourt bulwark. In his 26 minutes, he was 4-9 from the field for 11 points (1-2 from behind the arc and 2-2 from the free throw line) to go with 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals without a turnover. Bad incident at the end, but a very creditable game.

Duke’s bigs dominated the undersized Elon team, especially Okafor, who had 10 offensive rebounds. Coach K said that when Elon went to the 1-3-1 zone it left a small defender on the base line and Okafor took wonderful advantage. In 29 minutes, he was 10-14 from the floor (5-11 from the line for 25 points) and had 20 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals and an assist. On the “Normal side” he committed 4 turnovers and was dismal from the free throw line. So were Jefferson and Winslow. Amile logged 23 minutes going 6-7 from the field (but 1-3 from the line) for 13 points to go with his 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal. His “normal” was 3 turnovers. Winslow was 1-4 from the line, but was so valuable otherwise. In 27 minutes, he was 5-10 from the filed, though only 1-4 from behind the arc as well as from the line. Thus, as Bill points out, the bigs were a dismal 7-18 from the line. That has to be fixed.

Though it wasn’t a great performance, it was Duke’s 9th straight win of the season, and once again showcased Jahlil as something very special. Next play is in New Jersey on Thursday against the defending National champions, the University of Connecticut. Coach K wants to have his team playing hungry again in that game.

DUKE 66 – UCONN 56

Tonight’s winning numbers are: 25-34, 40-26 & 0. Those were the free throws attempted and made, (a key component to Coach K’s best teams. this cannot be stressed enough, because it indicates how aggressive the offense is), the rebounding margin, and the number of points for seven foot center Amida Brimah, last seen scoring 40 against Coppin State. Brimah picked up two early fouls, couldn’t begin to keep up with Jahlil Okafor, and fouled out with little impact on the game. Not so for Ryan Boatright, who was a boatload of trouble to defend and handful defensively, responsible for a lot of Duke’s 12 first half turnovers (Duke had only 36 in their first eight games).

It was a contest that demonstrated the versatility, resourcefulness, mental and physical toughness of this team. However, perhaps the most crucial moment was the start of the second half when Duke turned the ball over and UConn scored to cut the lead to three points. A furious Coach K burned a timeout and in his inimitable manner asked his players what the f*** they were doing and requested(?) a better effort. The Blue Devils responded with a 12-2 run to pretty much put themselves in the driver’s seat against a team (minus some key players) that beat Kentucky in last year’s NCAA Championship game. Nevertheless nothing came easy against a team with a coach as good as Kevin Oliver and a guard as good as Ryan Boatright.

On a night that Cook was offensively quiet and Justise Winslow had Alan wondering at the half if he left his game at exam week, Jefferson and T.

Jones once again proved how valuable they are. Tyus (21 pts & 5 rebs) is the most unassuming bigtime point guard you will ever see and Jefferson (11 pts & 13 rebs) just shows up when the more heralded big men don’t. In the second half, Winslow, obviously responding to Alan’s critique, showed flashes of his talents with three big time plays– a three, a tip-in off a missed free throw, and a fantastic block.

All in all it was a tough, some would say, ugly win against a talented, scrappy team at the Meadowlands, where Duke has played so many memorable games.

Additional observations:

Predictably, Coach K’s rotation has shortened. He is 6-4 against UConn.

*Jay Bilas was one of the announcers and Jayson Williams was one of the halftime anchors. No other school has as many ex-players involved on more levels of college basketball than Duke.

*Jabari Parker has been diagnosed with a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the season.

*Seth Curry is averaging 25 pts a game for Erie BayHawks in the NBA development League and the Miami Heat sent Andre Dawkins down to the D-League in early December. He is averaging 22 pts a game.

*Justin Robinson, the son of legendary center David Robinson, was admitted via early decision and will be added to Duke’s roster next year as a preferred walk-on. (Generally, a player that is recruited for a spot on the team, but there is no scholarship available. Often, the players parents are we enough off to pay the tuition. These players might also have an “off the books” agreement that they’ll get a scholarship when one becomes available.) Justin’s brother is a very talented freshman wide receiver for Notre Dame.

Alan Adds:

What a strange, but illuminating game this was for Duke. On the plus side, Bill points to Duke’s size advantage that produced backboard dominance, an offense that went to the line frequently and made a competent percentage, and what Bill didn’t say, but Coach K did – was to compliment Duke’s outstanding half court defense (especially in the second half). On the minus side is Duke’s continuing woes with taking care of the ball on offense. After an extraordinary first few games, Duke has “not been strong with the ball” for the last two games. Duke had 12 (TV commentators) or 15 (ESPN half time stats) turnovers in the first half and 19 for the game against only 10 assists. Only 10 assists is a telling statistic. For the first time, Duke faced a team that was quicker and played intense pressure defense. Duke did not respond well – especially in the first half. I thought UCONN did not sustain its frenetic defensive pace in the second half, but taught Duke a lesson about the need to take better care of the ball. The turnovers the Huskie defense produced led to most of the UCONN scoring that wasn’t done by the amazing Ryan Boatright. He was so good.

But Coach K put it in perspective – Tyus learned a lot tonight on both ends.and did very well indeed. The other negative from the game was how unproductive the Duke bench was. First, there wasn’t much bench. Grayson played 2 minutes; Marshall 5 and Matt Jones 6. Only Rasheed logged double figure minutes (17), but none of the four scored. Rasheed missed all four shots and had 5 turnovers with 2 boards and a steal. Matt was 0-1; Marshall committed 2 fouls in his 5 minutes while grabbing a board, but blocked 2 shots (the one in the second half was a much needed beauty). It has been a long time since the Duke bench was that unproductive.

The starters logged big minutes, played very well in spots (especially in the second half) and all scored in double figures. At the end of the first half, I wrote, “Even though Duke led at half; UCONN was the better team, led by the best player on the floor, Ryan Boatright. Boatright not only shredded the Duke defense, but disrupted the Duke offense with intense defense causing steals and disruption. Duke’s offense was plagued by 15 turnovers and 8-25 shooting (3-9 from 3). UCONN had 4 more field goals but Duke thrived from the foul line 11-15. Jahlil and Jefferson controlled the boards. Jefferson was terrific with 10 points and 7 boards. Winslow continues to fade. He was as good as any freshman in the early games, but in last 5 games he has been absent on offense. Marshall was really inept in the first half.”

As Bill points out, Coach K called time out (with 19:19 left in the second half) after Duke misfired on its opening possession and UCONN shredded the Duke defense for a layup, cutting Duke’s 30-25 halftime lead to 3. “They were in lala land”, Coach K explained, “I had to wake them up.” Even so it took another couple of minutes before the intensity turned on and Duke began to pull away. UCONN scored on another layup and Boatright made 1 of 2 to tie the game at 30 with 18:16 left. Then Winslow woke up – on both ends of the floor — and Duke turned the game around. Winslow scored with 17:40 left for Duke’s first points of the half and a 2 point lead. Duke guarded Boatright with double and triple teams. UCONN scored once at the 14:33 mark, but did not score it’s 33rd point until the 11:29 mark. By then Duke had extended the lead to 13 on the strength of balanced scoring with good ball movement. UCONN had one more run and brought the score to 57-51 with 3:47 left. Then Winslow took over with a crucial 3. The Duke lead was back down to 6 with a little over a minute left when Jahlil missed a free throw, and Justise converted a great tip in to really clinch the game.

You get an idea of how much Coach K is relying on his backcourt by the minutes played – Quinn played 39 minutes (same as Boatright) and Tyus logged 38. Tyus was awesome with 21 points on 5-11 from the field (2-6 from behind the arc) and a critical 9-10 from the free throw line. Throw in 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals (an uncharacteristic 3 turnovers, but that is more a tribute to the Huskie defense) for a complete floor game and an MVP for the game (in my opinion). Quinn shot 2-7 from behind the arc (3-9; 2-2 from the line) for 10 points. His value was very much on the defensive end. Even though Quinn had 3 turnovers, you could tell that Coach K did not trust his other guards to take care of the ball against the Huskie pressure defense.

Okafor played 34 minutes, scoring 12 points (only 5 shots; 3 field goals 5-11 from the line) and 8 boards. His passing is wonderful,and he was far more valuable than his stat line showed. Jefferson was on the court for 31 minutes and contributed a double double (13 boards and 11 points). He is becoming a terrific leader and dependable player. Winslow exploded in the second half after being limited by foul trouble in the first half. He scored 12 points in his 28 minutes , but his return to form in the second half (10 of his 12 and great defense) was a welcome sight for the Blue Devil fans.

A strange but illuminating (and educational) game for the Blue Devils. Next game is not until December 29 against Toledo in Cameron.

DUKE 86 – TOLEDO 69

Pay close attention Duke fans, we may have the makings of a very memorable season. Watching this young team develop and mature is real treat. While the three starting freshmen are really good and complement each other and any other two players really well, this is a different team when Okafor is on the floor. There are no good choices: double team him and he hits the open man like a Bill Walton, play him one-on-one and he scores in a variety of atypical, creative ways like a Tim Duncan–and he runs the floor like a young Bill Russell.

The Toledo Jahlil Rockets are a talented, veteran mid-major team that made several Vermont type wake up runs at the Blue Devils. Their flashy guard “Juice” Brown (19 pts.)was a handful for whomever was trying to guard him. He and Quinn Cook (20 pts.) were doing so much trash talking that Coach Krzyzewski finally jumped off the bench and yelled, “Hey, Cook! Shut up!” After Brown blew by Cook on the defensive end for another easy layup, Quinn made an acrobatic behind the back save of a loose ball as his momentum took him into the row of photographers along the baseline. He picked himself up, worked his way back to the court and signaled for the ball like an open wide receiver. Ty Jones quickly zipped the ball back to him and Quinn then nailed the 3-pointer over a slow closing Brown and made one of his weird faces (Tyus: “We don’t really have a name for it. That’s just Q’s look. You know he means business when that look comes on.”) as he ran down the court.

There is no doubt in my mind that one of the critical components of Coach K’s success is his symbiotic relationship with his players. We witnessed an example of that last night. After a transition dunk by Okafor in the second half, Coach K slapped the floor in front of him WoJo style so hard he broke his watch. “My team deserves emotion. They got it and they gave it back, which was a cool thing. The final twenty minutes were our best since the Wisconsin game.” K also commented he did not call any plays in the second half. He had his team only run motion offense so the players would stop standing around and watching Jah do his thing.

Marshall Plumlee is developing into a very productive sub for Okafor, who is very open about the fact that practicing against MP3 is making him a better, more versatile post player. Giving high energy, physical minutes as a substitute, Marshall allows Jahlil periodic rests that allow him to go 100% while he is on the floor as demonstrated by his fast break dunks. And speaking of dunks, Plumlee had a terrific one off an out-of-bounds play. He is playing so well, K said he might play Okafor and Plumlee together against bigger teams.

Additional observations:

My only concerns are injuries, defense, depth (Semi Ojeleye is leaving for SMU), and free throw shooting—not necessarily in that order. While Duke shot a solid 73% from the line, that number is somewhat deceiving because the four big men were only 5-12 (42%).
Duke extended its winning streak while playing non-conference competition in Cameron to an NCAA-best 115 games
Tonight’s 18 assists are a good indication as to how well these players share the ball. Tyus Jones had eight of the assists with only one turnover, giving him 61 assists and 16 turnovers through eleven games.
Bulletin Board material: Last night announcer Len Elmore (ex-Terp) said he thinks Virginia is better than Duke.
If you have not been watching Duke football, you have been missing a tremendous coaching job. In the Sun Bowl, several times Arizona State looked like the better team and that they would put the game on ice. However, the Blue Devils fought their way back with a punt return touchdown, a deftly executed fake punt/pass, and a creative reverse with right handed wide receiver Crowder throwing a left handed touchdown pass. In the final minutes, Duke was driving for the winning touchdown when inconsistent QB Anthony Boone threw an interception in the end zone as Duke lost 31-36. While Crowder is a tremendous receiver, he is 5’9”. Throwing a fade to him when you have 6’6” wide receiver Issac Blakeney on the other side defended by a 5’10” DB seems an odd decision. If you go to receiver face guarded by a back-to-the-ball defensive back on that pattern, a back shoulder throw is the percentage play. The pros do it all the time in the end zone. Opportunity lost. Nevertheless, Coach Cut has accomplished what others could not–rescuing Duke Football from the depths of a very long, dark depressing era.

Alan Adds:

There is much to be pleased with, with only a few concerns. The major concern is the defense looked porous at times — especially in the first half — bringing back memories of last year’s inability to protect the perimeter. Duke had few answers for “Juice” Brown, who shredded Duke’s perimeter for 10 points in each half. Brown is one of the nation’s leading 3 point shooters, but he was only 1-5 last night. Duke was clearly willing to have him drive as a result of aggressively closing out on him behind the arc. Weatherspoon was energetic underneath and seemed to play with more passion than Duke’s bigs. The other concern in the foul shooting of all but the starting back court (Tyus 9-9; Quinn 6-6). The rest of the team was 7-15 with Okafor being the worst offender (3-6, making Hack and Oak a viable defense at the end of a close game — which Duke has not yet played). Amile and Justise missed their only attempt; while Marshall was 2-4 (after hitting his first 10 this season) and Rasheed was 2-3.

Duke played a very efficient second half. With 18 minutes left, Toledo had drawn within 3 at 47-44. Okafor exploded for 7 straight and the defense was superb; Duke led by 10 in only 2 more minutes. For the next 6 minutes, Duke’s lead held between 8 and 11. At the 10 minute mark, Duke started to pull away slowly. Toledo never made another serious run and Duke was dynamite down the stretch (Toledo got tired and began to lose players to foul trouble). Duke relied heavily on Okafor’s superb game and two scintillating games from Duke’s backcourt. While Tyus continues to get beaten once or twice a game via the backdoor and Quinn could not contain “Juice” on the defensive end, each guard was superb offensively. Tyus was amazingly efficient, and is, in his own way, as every bit as valuable to this team as Okafor. Tyus scored 15 points on just 3 shots from the floor (2-3 from behind the arc) and added 4 boards, 8 assists, and 2 steals in 34 minutes. Wow! Quinn was almost a match (though his 2 3pointers came on 6 attempts) scoring 20 on 12 shots to go with 3 assists in his game high 37 minutes. Okafor played 31 minutes (Quinn, Tyus and Jah were the only players to be on the court for over 30 minutes) scoring a career high 27 points (an astounding 12-15 from the field) to go with 8 boards and some terrific passing (only 1 assist, but that is so misleading). Winslow is tantalizing. In some ways he dazzles with his skill on both ends. He is a tenacious defender (he is the team in team defense) and he made on driving move down the lane blowing by a defender and covering 12 feet in a step for the lay in. Justise played 29 minutes, scoring 9 points on 4-9 shooting (1-2 from behind the arc) and played a valuable floor game — 5 tough boards, 4 assists, a block and a steal. Amile was a defensive presence in his 25 minutes, though he scored only 2 points in the game on 2 shots. He collected 8 boards to give Duke superiority on the glass. Duke’s bench was more productive than against UCONN. Marshall logged only 6 minutes, but was impressive in those minutes, with his dunk and 2 rebounds. Rasheed returned a bit to form, scoring 7 in 18 minutes on 2-5 shooting (1-3 from 3land). However, 0 assists and 3 turnovers. Matt Jones played 17 minutes (1-1 on a layup in the first half; 0-3 in the second half; 0-1 from behind the arc).

In the first half, Duke jumped out to an 18-4 lead in the first five minutes, playing awesomely on both ends. As soon as Coach K began substituting, Toledo’s offense got rolling and Duke’s defensive struggles continued through the 18 minute mark of the second half. All in all it was the next to last tune up before the ACC season begins on Saturday.

Next game: Wofford Wednesday @ 3pm.

DUKE 84- WOFFORD 55

My new basketball buddy Johnny Y, who was a good enough high school prospect to be personally recruited by both Dean Smith and Bobby Knight and who watches a lot of basketball, wrote me “I think Wofford could prove a test for your boys.” I took notice because the last time he emailed me something like this, Mercer upset Duke in the NCAA Tournament. This time he was only half right as Wofford hung tough for a twenty minutes before the Blue Devils dialed up their defensive intensity and played to their ranking. He also added “Please tone down ur Okafor comparisons….you do a great job…just trying to moderate your enthusiasm a bit. You happened to describe a player that doesn’t exist–nor will he ever exist… the guy who is a light year closer to your description is only 21 years old and plays for New Orleans and goes by the name “The Brow”. . Your thoughts!!!”

Even though he is a Tar Heel, John makes good points. Let me be clear, I wasn’t implying that Okafor was as good as Duncan, Walton, and Russell. I just meant that parts of his game remind me of these great players. I have a very vivid memory of the first time I saw Tim Duncan play against Duke as a freshman and thought “Wow, who is this guy?” Tim was a game changer but not nearly as much so as Jahlil is at the same point of his career. In all fairness, Jah has had had a lot more playing experience. I also pointed out to John that three phases of life and sports are anticipation, the moment, and recall and that I was just trying to get everyone’s attention to savor the moments.

As for being over the top in my assessment, I initially thought Coach K was, but the more I see the more I don’t. And I am not the only one. Here is Laura Keeley of the Raleigh News Observer:

As Jahlil Okafor continued his every-game showcase of why he deserves to be the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft, Wofford coach Mike Young summed him up well: “Gosh, what a poised and polished young person he is. Holy smokes, he’s just a marvelous basketball player.”

Okafor finished with 24 points on 11-of-13 shooting (with eight rebounds), showing no fatigue on the back end of this two-games-in-three-days stretch. Both Monday’s game against Toledo and Wednesday’s game against Wofford provided a simulation of an opening-round NCAA tournament game, and Okafor finished with a combined 51 points on 23-of-28 shooting (82 percent).

Additional Observations:

Winslow seems to be finding a comfort level on his offensive role.
Coach said Plumlee was playing too well just to be Okafor’s sub and played them together for a short time.
Grayson Allen played a few mop-up minutes and looked more comfortable on the court even hitting a long three. Ojeleye’s departure may be his opportunity to earn playing time. He certainly has the athleticism and skills.
Mike Gminski, a Duke All American and 14 year NBA player, was one of the announcers. He had interesting comments on Okafor (John, hope you were listening).

Alan Adds:

This was really a tale of two separate halves. You could understand how Wofford beat NC State from the way they played in the first half. Duke stretched its 7 point half time lead (41-34) to the final margin of 29. It is illuminating to inspect each half to account for the difference. I did not think the difference was so much on offense. Duke scored 41 in the first half and 43 in the second half. While the Blue Devils were more efficient in the second half offensively, the defensive intensity in the second half was what made the difference. You can always tell when Duke is defensively lax because the fouls pile up (fouling happens when defenders don’t move their feet or are too aggressive). Duke committed 10 fouls in the first half, but only 4 in the second half. The Devils stole the ball from Wofford 7 times in the second half, but only thrice in the first. Wofford was 4-7 from behind the arc in the first half and only 1-10 in the second. Some of Duke’s defensive resurgence can be attributed to Wofford’s fatigue. The Terriers played with ferocious and fearless abandon in the first half, expending enormous energy to match the effort of the bigger, stronger and more talented Blue Devils. Wofford simply did not have the same high energy in the second stanza. But there was palpable improvement in Duke’s defensive effort in the second half. Makes one wonder what Coach K said at the half.

The second half belonged to the Blue Devils offensively as well. Each team took 28 shots in the first half (Duke made 12; Wofford 11). In the second half Duke was 17-24 from the field including 5-8 from behind the arc. Things are easier when shots go in. Four Duke starters logged over 30 minutes. Rasheed played 19 minutes while Amile and Matt Jones played 18 (Grayson Allen played the last 4 minutes of the game going 1-1 from 3). Quinn again led in minutes played (35), scoring 15 points on 8 shots (3-6 from behind the arc and 2-2 from the line — Cook is shooting over 95% there). He was 1-3 from behind the arc in the first half (his only shots) and 4-5 in the second half (2-3 from deep). Quinn played hounding defense while committing only 1 foul in 35 minutes. The three freshmen played about the same amount (Jah 32; Tyus 32 and Justise 31 minutes). All performed at a high level. Okafor was ridiculous, going 11-13 from the field with 8 boards, an assist, 2 steals and 2 blocks while committing only 1 foul. His only weaknesses seem to be at the foul line (2-5) and in one on one post defense (smaller Terriers scored from there). He is something, but so is his point guard running mate, Tyus Jones, who simply controlled the game (without appearing to do so). He made some amazing passes and corralled loose balls. He defends. While he took only 4 shots (2-4; 1-2 from deep), he had 6 rebounds (some were tough in traffic), 5 assists and 4 steals. All of his high scoring games are against the best opponents. Only a freshman, he has the poise of a post-grad. Justise did all his scoring in the first half, when it was needed (16). He took only a single shot in the second half (missed), but was (as he has been all year) the glue to the defensive resurgence in the second half. Some small really good signs: Winslow had 7 boards, 2 assists and a steal. Critically he was 4-4 from the line. The freshmen continue to impress.

Amile played only 18 minutes, but scored 10 points (4-6 from the line) with 5 rebounds. He committed 3 fouls, which limited his playing time. Rasheed is so talented and so exuberant, but a bit out of control. He led the bench in scoring with 6 (2-4, including 1-2 from 3land and 1-2 from the line). He had 2 boards and 2 assists, but was also limited by foul trouble (3). Matt Jones had a somewhat checkered outing failing to connect from the field on 4 shots (2-2 from the line). He played a valuable floor game with 2 boards and 2 assists, but also committing 3 fouls in only 18 minutes. Marshall seems to make such a dramatic impact that it is always a surprise that his box score doesn’t seem to reflect that impact. He played 11 minutes (3 when he was on the floor with Jah for the first time this year), grabbing 3 rebounds and going 3-4 from the line (0-1 from the field when he blew a dunk). His upside continues to intrigue. He reminds me (and Mike Giminski) of Zoubek early in the 2010 championship year. It will be worth keeping an eye on Marshall’s development and his role going forward, which will expand if the Zoubek analogy ripens.

Going forward is the beginning of the Blue Devils’ ACC season. Next play: BC on Saturday at 4 pm.

Duke 85 – Boston College 62

I don’t know how good Boston College is this year, but they are an ACC team and certainly bigger and probably better than say Furman, Army, Elon and Wofford. Nevertheless, the Blue Devils beat them by 23. However, the most interesting number was 14-17. Those were Okafor’s free throw numbers. I have commented several times that Okafor and Winslow both have too good a shooting motion and touch not to be dependable free throw shooters– and if they aren’t, this could be a fatal flaw for their team. Obviously, the guys have been spending extra time practicing at the line.

The final score was somewhat deceiving, because BC hung tough until a late first half 17-4 run. But that is what this team can do– dial up the defensive pressure, make offensive runs, and wear an opponent down. Sulaimon came off the bench with his patented defensive and offensive adrenalin jolt–and today he was at his best, as were Matt Jones and Plumlee (6 rbs , 4 blocks in eleven minutes). This being ACC play, BC’s big seven footers played Jahlil tough and rough. His response: a blue collar 28 pts, 8 rebs, 4 blks, and calm, non response/retaliation when elbowed hard (probably unintentionally) in the face. Winslow had 13 pts, 7 rebs to go with tough defense and, naturally, several assorted high wire high lights we have come to expect. Cook was not shooting well but still had 15 points. As usual in blowouts, Tyus Jones had a quiet game. Jefferson only had 17 minutes as Coach K appeared to utilize the versatility of his three bench starters to match the BC player mix on the floor and their unusual 1-1-3 zone. Greyson Allen keeps getting a few minutes and Coach indicated that as he matures with experience, he will be in the substitution pattern.

Laura Keeley of the Raleigh News Observer reported an interesting back story to today’s game. “When Jahlil Okafor was back home in Chicago during the holiday break, he caught up with an old AAU teammate of his: Jabari Parker. Parker, last year’s freshman phenomenon for Duke, told Okafor, this year’s stud, that the beginning of ACC play was when he hit his scoring drought. After averaging 21.4 points per game in the nonconference portion of the season, Parker posted just seven points in the league opener at Notre Dame and then scored in single digits again three games later against Virginia.”

Additional Observations:

Duke celebrated the 75th anniversary of the opening of Cameron Indoor Stadium with a video tribute. The Blue Devils are 825-153 within the friendly confines of their distinctive home court. Boston College is 0-8 there. It was also win number 996 for Coach K—but who is counting?
I have never heard Coach so effusive in his praise of a player this early in their career as he is of Jahlil Okafor. (Well, maybe, Grant Hill.) Today, K said in response to Jah’s non-response to being hit flush in the face in the open court by Clifford’s elbow that “Jah did the right thing, he didn’t go bonkers or anything. But that’s him, he is special in every way.”
Alan had an interesting and incisive response to Tar Heel Johnny Y’s email comments about my praise for Okafor: “I thought he made good points. Jah is so astounding in the post that it is easy to overrate the rest of his game. The rest of his game is not defective in any way, just not up to the level of his post offense. He usually seems more offensively oriented (probably left over from high school). His defense [against Wofford] was good (maybe just ok) but without the intensity to really move to help against the drive, and then the quick recovery to his man and the paint. Bill Russell on defense, he is not. But he is good. He is also a good — but not very good or excellent — rebounder. Anyway, Duke is lucky to have him for this year. This year’s team is better than last year’s because Jah is simply better (in the college game) than Jabari was last year and Justise is better than Hood was. Then, add the amazingly underrated Tyus and the improvement of Quinn and Amile, and you have a team that would give Mercer trouble!”
Cardale Jones, who will start at quarterback for Ohio State in the national championship game on Jan. 12: “Why should we go to class if we came here to play FOOTBALL. We ain’t come to play SCHOOL, classes are POINTLESS.” Score that: Honesty 10, grammar 3, intelligence 1.
My wife watched the Rose Bowl in the picturesque setting of Pasadena, California with a combination of pride and envy as her alma mater thumped Florida State ( headline “A Total Quack Down”) 59-20 . Pride because of the historic win and envy because she was a cheerleader for Oregon when they lost to Penn State 41-12 in the 1960 Liberty Bowl in Philadelphia in twenty degree weather before mostly Penn State fans.
Johnny Dawkins’ son, Aubrey, is a freshman basketball player at Michigan.
Mike Gminski was again an announcer. For my tastes, he is a welcome presence who conveys intelligent, interesting and pertinent commentary.

Alan Adds:

Duke displayed its defensive prowess in the second part of each half. It was actually awesome, and sparked substantially by the bench — especially Matt Jones, but also Rasheed and Marshall. In the last 10 minutes of the first half, Duke was as good defensively as against Wisconsin and the first half against Furman. With 10:57 to go in the half, Olivier Hanlon had 9 points on 4 layups and both BC bigs had scored on layups as well. BC was getting to the rim without real opposition. Duke changed its defense with Okafor becoming much more active as a rim protector. Amile played only 5 minutes in the first half because Coach K wanted the smaller quicker line up with Winslow at power forward. However, when Justise picked up his second foul in the first half, K went with 4 guards — Rasheed, Matt, Tyus and Quinn along with Jah. With 10:28 to go in the first half, Duke led BC by 21-18. Heckman scored a layup with 7:03 to give BC 20 points. The next BC score came with 32 seconds to go in the half. BC was 1-2 from the line and Duke committed only 5 fouls in that half. BC never in the bonus. When that happens, you know Duke is really playing defense. In the last 9 minutes, Duke allowed only 4 points.

Both teams opened the second half executing their respective offensives efficiently, but the Duke defense seemed to either rest on its laurels or take a short vacation. BC scored 18 points in a little over 5 minutes and trailed only 53-43 with 13:09 left in the game. BC didn’t score again until 8:51 left, and by then The Eagles trailed 67-45, and the game was effectively over. BC was held without a point for four minutes. With 7:27 left in the game, BC still had only 47 points, meaning BC scored 4 points in 5 minutes and 42 seconds. Matt Jones and Rasheed were superb on both ends of the floor, but especially on defense. They each got more playing time (Matt 27 minutes; Rasheed, 20) than Jefferson (17). Rasheed hit all 3 of his 3 point attempts to finish with 11 points (4-7), 3 boards, 2 assists and a steal to go with his excellent perimeter defense. Matt Jones played his best game of the season. His defense was outstanding, as you can tell by his 27 minutes of playing time — more than Winslow (26) and Jefferson (17) and the same amount as Tyus. He was 3-7 including 2-4 from behind the arc with 4 boards (his 3rd basket was a tough put back after one of Jah’s few misses) for 8 points. His development may be unheralded, but is crucial for this team and its defense. Marshall logged 11 minutes and snagged an amazing 6 rebounds in that stint to go with 4 blocks and 3 points (1-1; 1-2); not to mention an assist and a steal. He is playing very effectively and with high energy. My instinct is that he will give real value to this team as the season progresses.

Once again Quinn led the team in minutes played with 36. His shot was off (5-14; 3-9 from the bonus sphere, and 2-2 from the line), but he was Duke’s second high scorer with 15. He is defending much better than he did last year, and the minutes he is on the court demonstrates how much Coach K trusts his on the court leadership. He had 3 boards, 2 assists a steal, but 3 turnovers. Neither Tyus nor Amile had stellar games. As Bill pointed out, Tyus scores when Duke needs him, but seems to stay out of the spotlight when Duke is comfortably ahead. In his 27 minutes, Tyus missed all 5 of his shots, but grabbed 4 boards and handed out 3 assists (with 2 turnovers). Even though he occasionally gets beaten back door (only once yesterday), he is playing ferocious defense. Amile was 2-2 in the second half after failing to score in the first. He had 4 boards to go with his 4 points.

Offensively, Jah and Winslow dominated impressively. Justise was 5-7 (2-3 from downtown and 1-2 from the line) for 13 points. One of his scores was a highlight. He out raced BC for a long rebound, and in one high dribble went past the last defender for a thunderous slam that produce a lot of “Oh Wow”s — even from the announcers. His all around game was admirable — 4 assists, 2 blocks and 7 rebounds. He is special. What to say about Okafor? He was outstanding from the free throw line 14-17; and reliable from the field (7-11) for 28 points with 8 boards and 4 blocks. In short, he dominated, keeping BC in terminal foul trouble and Duke comfortably ahead when BC made any kind of threatening move. When Duke was really good defensively, he was stopping the BC drives at the rim. But sometimes he seemed lackadaisical and the defense was penetrable. Still, he is quite amazing.

In a mock NBA draft held this past weekend, Duke’s freshmen were prominent. Jah was the first pick, Justise was 5th and Tyus 19th.

DUKE 73 – WAKE FOREST 65

Disclaimer: This game was only televised regionally on Raycom/ACC. Although I have about 900 DirecTV channels, my area was pre-empted by the Clemson-Louisville game. Allan was also blacked out in New York. I accessed the game on ESPN3 courtesy of the GoDuke.com website. However, it was like looking at a 1950’s analog color telecast linked by a rabbit- ear antenna.

If you were wondering what would happen when Okafor had an off night or how the freshmen would play in a conference game on the road, you got your answer tonight. Grad student Devon Thomas schooled frosh Jahlil Okafor in the ways of being a man in the paint, scoring 24 points almost at will as Jah did not resemble the player he has been in the previous thirteen games. Winston-Salem sports writer Ed Hardin critiqued the celebrated freshman as still an incomplete player…specifically, that tonight he dribbled too much under the basket, struggled in traffic, was casually sloppy with the ball, and went to sleep on defense. Nevertheless, Jah patiently only took six shots but still managed a double-double (12pts, 11 rebs). Winslow and Sulaimon carried the team through long, sloppy slogs of mediocre, uninspired basketball but when the Demon Deacons played up to their name and made a run to go up by 2 points with six minutes to go, Quinn Cook, of course, Tyus Jones, and Matt Jones all made clutch three point plays—two the old fashion way, one the new, long range way.

The flip side to all the publicity and accolades that Okafor has received is that he is now a marked man. Coaches like Danny Manning are going to focus on frustrating and stopping him, opponents like Devon Thomas are going to be out to prove he is overrated and that they are just as good—if not better. Jahlil appeared tired and didn’t play with much fire or enthusiasm—and the crowd really let him know it. Better get used to it, Jah. This is Tobacco Road and the ACC!

The Blue Devils were very sloppy with the ball. They committed 14 turnovers (Jah contributed 5) and allowed 20 fast break points. But every time Duke appeared on the verge of letting the game slip away, another teammate hit a big shot. Duke nailed 8 threes to Wake’s 2 and outrebounded the Deacons 37-30. However, the Blue Devils committed 14 turnovers and allowed 20 fast break points.

What to make of the fact that Wake Forest has lost to Arkansas by 30 and Iona but has almost upsetting #5 Louisville and #2 Duke? The ACC has always been tough and while everyone expects that the top tier will dominate, this week shows that, top to bottom, the conference is going to be brutal. For instance, next up N.C. State took it right to Virginia until the Cavs took control late.

Coach K’s reality check: “We have no illusion of us being this juggernaut team or anything like that. We think we’re really a good group of guys who play well… and are a good team that can get better– and we have a great player in Jah.”

Additional Observations:

Duke had only won one of its past five ACC road openers.
Think ACC road games are tough? Virginia blew an 18 point lead but held on to beat Miami in Miami in double overtime.
The Blue Devils, who entered tonight’s game having trailed for 6:13 seconds all season, were behind for 5:06 of this one. They also faced their deepest deficit all year by allowing Wake Forest to jump out to a 6-0 lead.
Announcer Mike Gminski (my fraternity brother Don Parson reminds me Mike was an SAE), who knows something about playing center, commented during the broadcast that Okafor’s hands are huge, but he’s still better off using them both.
Winning is tough everywhere: Kentucky, a 25 point favorite, last night pulled out a very close win against Ole Miss in Rupp Arena.

Duke 75– North Carolina State 87

Houston, do we have a problem here? The last two games we seem to be losing altitude. Today, the afterburners weren’t firing. Have the freshmen hit the wall ? Or was this just the jinx of PNC Arena, where Duke has now lost three of their last four games (two to State, one to Mercer)? Or was this just a reality check and wakeup call for the young Blue Devils? Help me out, here.

Here are some things to contemplate: State didn’t just beat Duke, they dominated them for the last twenty-five minutes. They played like the #2 team in the country and Duke played like an 11-5 team. Recently, coaches and players appear to have devised ways (man up with a strong forward, double with a center) to defend and frustrate Jahlil Okafor and neither he nor his teammates have adjusted very well to the new normal. Jah is not always posting up close enough to the basket, appears slow, indecisive, and the indecision is causing him to make too many turnovers (bad passes, travelling). Jefferson has made a living off Jahlil being double teamed but today, for whatever reason, he did not start. My axiom: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. T. Jones and Q. Cook are both smallish guards—very good on offense but challenged by defending big, physical guards.

What happened to the juggernaut, double digit winning team of the first twelve games? One thing that happened is that State is big and strong and talented at all positions and they all played well. It started with Lacey and Turner doing a pretty good JJ Redick impression and their big men in the front court showing up for forty minutes for the first time this year. N.C. State was a load and would have beaten most teams today. Next game.

There was, perhaps, an telling point with six minutes to go and Duke down nineteen points. Unlike previous unexpected blowouts (games at Clemson and Wake Forest last year, the game in Miami in 2013, the 2011 and 2009 NCAA tournament losses to Arizona and Villanova, the 2010 Georgetown game), these Blue Devils didn’t just roll over. They fought back with an 11-0 run. Three forced turnovers over the next 2:36 had the Wolfpack faithful nervous as Duke cut the lead to 72-64 with 3:00 left to play. Raise your hand if a “Maryland Moment” flashes through your mind. But the Blue Devils couldn’t sustain their momentum and missed their next four shots. Junior Rasheed Sulaimon, who is the mentally and physically toughest player on the squad, sent a message to the freshmen: “We should have had that toughness earlier, before it got to that big of a lead. We all came together, finally, we all buckled down, and we just kept fighting. We’ve got to come together quicker as a team and get ourselves out of that funk when we sense it happening instead of waiting for it to happen. We’ve got a lot of things we can learn from this. It’s only the 15th game of the season.”

Bottom line: On the road when an ACC opponent and their fans are on fire, defense and mental toughness often are the difference between pulling out a victory and losing. This week Kentucky and Virginia both won and Duke didn’t. Is this Groundhog Day? Have we seen this picture before? Nah, this year Duke has demonstrated they have the players to potentially be a much better defensive team than in the last few years. Best we let Coach K and the coaching staff solve the problem.

This should get their attention: The numbers tell how bad it was: State shot 55%, (10-16 from three point land, Duke 7-27); Duke 37%.

Additional observations:

The expanded conference really alters the regular season schedule in an unfair way. Very few home and away opponents. Duke’s schedule is the most difficult. Coming up: away games at Louisville, Notre Dame, Virginia, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina. Only Syracuse and Carolina must return the favor and play in Cameron this year.
Since N.C. State moved to the off-campus arena before the 1999-2000, Krzyzewski has gone 7-4 against N.C. State and 2-1 in NCAA tournament games there. To put that in perspective, over the same span he’s 17-1 against the Wolfpack in games played in Durham or the ACC tournament.
Anyone notice that everybody’s # 1 Kentucky is also struggling to beat unranked teams. They went double OT to beat both Texas A&M and Mississippi.
There are a lot of creative ways to recruit. When our daughter Kristin had her first child, she retired from teaching IB English at Myers Park High School and started a tutoring business so could be at home and set her own hours. One of the students she recently prepped for the SAT’s was Charlotte Latin quarterback Daniel Jones, who chose Duke over Princeton, Harvard, and Wake Forest. Jones, 6-foot-5, 190-pounds, led Charlotte Latin to the N.C. Independent Schools Division I state championship game. He completed 151-of-268 passes for 2,949 yards and 43 touchdowns. He also ran 109 times for 778 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Alan Adds:

I apologize for the absence of “Alan Adds” to the Wake edition of DBP, but I was unable to watch the game, and thus left it to Bill’s deft handling of the “disappointing” win. Yesterday’s game at Raleigh was not only different, it was a resounding wake up call for this very young Duke team. Writing the DBP “Alan Adds” is way more fun after a Duke win than when Duke gets utterly stomped, as happened yesterday in Raleigh. Nevertheless, I confess to being less than devastated by the rout. Here’s a couple of reasons why: 1) Duke has not played well since the exam break, and I believe part of the reason is the team started to believe its press clippings. The result has been inconsistent play. Against BC, the Duke defense was superb at times, but also porous at times. This could be a much needed explanation of the rigors of ACC road games and college ball in general for this freshman dominated team. Or time will tell. 2) My optimism is fueled by my memory of the Georgetown game in January of 2010 in DC in front of Obama. Duke was routed by almost 30 points and played one of the worst (and most embarrassing since the 1990 NCAA final) games ever. However, that was the year that Duke won the national championship. 3) NC State was unconscious in its shooting. Part of that was porous defense, which allowed countless dunks (failure to rotate) and offensive rebounds (out hustled). But part was NC State shooting the lights out even when the shots were well contested. State was 10-16 from behind the arc (5-8 in each half), and shot 18-31 overall in the second half (58%). Lacey was 5-7 from 3 while Turner was 4-7 (Washington made his only 3). NC State won’t shoot that well again even if no one guards them. 4) I never talk about calls (well, almost never, since I’m about to do it), but Duke was called for so many offensive fouls that it impacted the Duke confidence. Duke maintained a 6 point lead with less than 6 minutes to go in the first half. It could have been more. Amile was wrongfully called for goal tending on a clean block. There were several traveling calls. I believe the refereeing got into the Duke head and caused a deleterious shift in attitude. Bad calls are part of the game, and Duke needs to be mentally tougher — on many issues, but the refereeing is one of them — if this team is to reach its potential.

It’s hard not to talk about the porous interior defense. Against Michigan State, Duke was beaten for easy dunks and layups when doubling the post. The help rotation didn’t come when Okafor left his man to double on the screen. That lack of rotation to the roller (in pick and roll) was in even greater evidence against NC State than it was against the Spartans. It appeared Duke had fixed that problem — especially against Wisconsin and later Furman — but that is obviously not the case. Coach K started a smaller lineup, I believe for defensive purposes, thinking that his perimeter defense would be more secure with Justise at the 4 and Matt Jones guarding Lacey. However, no one had even a modicum of success guarding Lacey. Interestingly, Duke made a great run at the end (even though State’s lead ballooned back to 12 at the end. Down 19 with 5:28 left to play, Duke made a heroic run. As much as this game was about NC State’s scorching shooting, it was also about Duke’s horrible shooting (open looks). With 3:10 to go, Duke had crept to within 8 and had the ball. Duke missed 3 open looks – Justise missed an open 3; Rasheed missed an open 3 and a layup. The lead could have been cut to 5, but the next score was by the Wolfpack with 2:26 to go, and that was all she wrote. Rasheed, btw, had an amazing stretch in the first half (4-7; -1-2 from behind the arc for 9 points), but was 0-5 from the field in the second half. Justise fouled out, while Rasheed accumulated 4 fouls. All in all, it was either the clock striking midnight on a young team, or a wakeup call that will enhance the season. As Bill said, “time will tell” — and pretty soon with a Tuesday night game at Cameron against Miami (9 pm EST) and Saturday’s anticipated match up in Louisville against Petino’s highly ranked Cardinals.

Duke 70 – Miami 94

I want to go back to the future. I want to see the 2014 Duke team that went undefeated and won all twelve games by double digits. It is one thing to lose to N.C State on their home court. It is another to be blown out by Miami in Cameron. This was record breaking: Duke lost at home for the first time in nearly three years; lost back-to-back regular-season games for the first time in nearly six years; lost consecutive games by a dozen points each for the first time since its final two games of the 1995-96 season.

Where did the dominating players from 2014 go? Who are these imposters playing in 2015? They can’t defend the paint or the perimeter and they can’t shoot. Chemistry is a nine letter word not a statement of unity. Okafor is putting up good numbers but not when it counts and is mediocre defensively. Jones and Winslow have basically been missing- in-action. Cook and Jefferson have been doing their part. Sulaimon has fire in the belly but does not always play under control. Matt Jones has recently been a liability. Despite encouraging words from the coach, Plumlee is getting very little playing time.

There are more questions than answers. When Coach K admits he knows something is wrong but hasn’t figured out how to fix it, you have to be concerned. However, one truth is that there are a great many very good basketball players in colleges—like Trevor Lacey and Angel Rodriguez–, who were not McDonald’s All Americans but who are not intimidated by them or Cameron and who embrace the chance to show their game on national TV.

Jason, a Duke graduate in California, sent us some interesting and thought provoking comments:

“It was a frustrating game to watch. The last few games Jahlil seems to be lacking a spark and the others don’t seem to know what to do when it’s not the Okafor clinic. I find myself wondering if this team has the upper class leadership need to go all the way – to recognize early enough in any given tough game situation that the momentum is shifting away from them, and possess the on- the- court leadership to get the rest of the team to do something about it. It would have to come from Cook & Rasheed…the hunger to win at all costs. Rasheed recognized the problem in his quote. Sometimes I wonder if these freshman phenoms (not just this year but throughout Duke’s history in the one -and -done era) at the end of it – take consolation that they are going far after Duke and that affects their deep down desire to win in the moment – in every game. The Duke teams that go all the way have had strong senior leadership. The traditional experience means 4 years of intense competition interspersed with longer periods of reflection and introspection about game experiences like these for the kids. The phenoms get 5 months of ever increasing pressure at a frenetic pace and much media discussion about their raw talent without a chance to do a little off season soul searching about their own heart and desire. These are just thoughts about it and I’m certain Coach K will use this a learning experience…”sometimes you need to lose in order to learn how to win” kind of moment. The fact that Coach K didn’t seem to be working the refs as much as usual in what seemed to me to be a poorly officiated game tells me that he may be accepting of the team taking a lump or two in this mid-season conference play. Trial by fire maybe to light the spark inside?”

Alan Adds:

At half time, Duke led 35-34, and had held Miami scoreless over the last 3:24 of the half. Bill and I talked at half time. I told him, “this is the worst I have seen Duke play; it’s actually worse than the NC State game.” And that was with Duke ahead. Then, Duke’s defense allowed Miami 56 second half points. As I watched the Blue Devils unravel in the second half, I was searching for the definition of shell shocked. My good Miami friend and lawyer is a Cane devotee. And she likes action (hence her nickname: Pammy the Greek or PtG for short). PtG emailed me in the morning to place a wager on the game (If she won she got a Starbucks Soy Latte — good gambler with no taste — for me a dark ale). My response was a snarky “after a Duke loss you better batten down the hatches”. After the game, my chastened response was, “a Soy Latte is not sufficient reward for your loyalty to the Canes — we are upping your reward to a bottle of Grey Goose.” (not completely no taste).

Since pre-season, I have been writing that this season will depend on how Duke defends, compared to last year’s defensive disaster. As Bill points out, Duke defended superbly in 2014 (though better before the Christmas break) with the Wisconsin win standing out. But 2015 has seen the Duke defense dissolve into last year’s disaster. Neither Miami nor NC State is a top tier ACC team. Neither Trevor Lacey nor Angel Rodriguez will go down in the history books along side of Bob Cousy or Stephan Curry; yet each looked like a superstar against Duke in the last two games. Duke was torched on the perimeter by long range shooting and with penetration leading to layups or assists for easy dunks. Switching? Rotation? Where did it all go? Duke’s transition defense was embarrassing as Miami scored on run out after run out. Coach K said that he’s known something has been missing since Christmas, but he said he doesn’t know what, and confessed in the post-game conference that he doesn’t [yet] know how to fix it.

Quinn played 38 heroic minutes leading Duke with 18 points on 7-13 shooting (4-7 from deep) adding 6 defensive boards and 4 assists. Note: he did not get to the foul line in 38 minutes. Jefferson was obviously motivated by his demotion from the starting lineup against NC State. In 29 minutes he was 7-9 from the floor with 12 boards. He was, however, 0-3 from the line (one was the front end of a 1 and 1), which is like adding 2 turnovers to his stat line. Jahlil’s stat line looks pretty impressive — 15 points (6-13 from the field and 3-5, 60%, from the line) to go with 15 rebounds. But his defense is ordinary (not bad, but he was not active in help and when he did help it led to easy assist and dunk for the ‘Canes). Maybe Duke is relying too much on him. Rasheed had a terrific first half (3-5 from the field including 2-4 from 3land) with 2 assists and 2 steals (1 turnover), but a dismal second half. He was 2-9 from the field including 0-4 from behind the arc. He turned it over twice and had committed 4 fouls by the end of his 26 minute stint. His second half slump coincided with Duke’s.

What has happened to Justise, and to a lesser but significant extent, Tyus. In the early part of 2014, I wasn’t sure that Okafor was the best freshman on the Duke team because Winslow looked so awesome on defense, on driving, on shooting and on rebounding. He has regressed since then, but the last two games have been devastatingly awful. He is 4-19 from the field combined with 1-10 from behind the arc. He missed all 4 foul shots last night including 2 front enders. He had one great block, but was not a force on the boards or on defense. Where has he gone? Tyus isn’t much better (except from the free throw line). Last night he was 2-9 from the field (0-3 from 3land) and had the same number of assists and turnovers (2). Remember the confident guard who controlled the game against Wisconsin? Matt Jones has not flourished since Coach K started him against NC State. His defensive prowess has turned into fouling and he can’t buy a basket. Last night he committed 4 fouls in 6 unproductive minutes. Coach K is not playing Grayson (4 points in 8 minutes, but garbage time) or Marshall (6 minutes). That means the rotation was down to 6 effectively. Duke’s foul shooting is an embarrassment (without Grayson last two meaningless shots, Duke was 8-18 from the line; Miami was better from behind the arc!

Saturday presents a chance for complete redemption, or to watch a promising season continue to implode. The Devils travel to Louisville, where they should be significant underdogs. Another performance like the last two will drop Duke out of the top 10. This is a huge coaching challenge for Coach K. He does have 9 McDonald’s All-Americans to work with, but his team needs substantial retooling in order to reclaim the mojo that it showed in 2014.

Duke 63– Louisville 52

It has been a bad week for Duke University. Coach K’s undefeated #2 ranked basketball team lost two games in a row and President Brodhead proved once again that he and his administration can’t fund raise and think clearly at the same time. (Google: Duke Muslim call-to-prayer & lacrosse scandal.) Who did you think made the quicker, better decisions to rectify the situation? If you chose President Brodhead, go to the back of the line with the 88 professors.

The last few days we received several interesting emails (see below) about Duke’s recent subpar play. I was as puzzled and disappointed as everyone else and yesterday ran into my Palmetto Bluff basketball guru Tar Heel Johnny Y at the gym. He was actually more optimistic than I was about the Louisville game. He reiterated that Coach K was the best coach in the country and wouldn’t let his team lose three in a row. I said that after a bad loss, Coach K’s MO is to make a change—probably in the starting lineup. At the start of the season, I didn’t think he would start two undersized guards like Cook and Jones, because we know defense is not Quinn’s strong suite. I thought Sulaimon starting at the two would give the team better size, athleticism, and defense. Even if the athleticism, size, and will are there, recent one-and-done phenoms have shown it takes time to truly assimilate the foundation upon which Krzyzewski has built his program. Deng, Rivers, Parker, and Hood never did—and their record proves it. Trevor Lacey and the big N.C. State guards shot over Jones and Cook; Angel Rodriguez and the small, quick Miami guards beat the same two off the dribble and got into the lane with many easy options to score. I mentioned to Johnny Y that I always admired how creative Dean Smith was and marveled at the creative way he switched from man-to-man to zone after made baskets, usually confusing the devil (pun intended) out of most opponents but that Coach K’s only blind spot was at times not facing reality–namely, that some players just cannot effectively play his pressure man defense against bigger and/or quicker opponents.

So, I couldn’t believe my eyes when Duke started their first defensive possession in a 2-3 zone and stayed with it (switching occasionally to a 1-3-1) on made baskets and dead ball restarts – situations that gave them time to set up. From missed shots, they went man-to-man to better defend Louisville in transition. And it worked like a charm as Louisville–the defense, the law of averages, or whatever– had one of those shooting days like Duke has had in the last two outings. Dean, I hope you were watching!

Coach K after the game: “Louisville and the arena are a great addition to the conference…Long journey, nice stop…A team gets builds confidence thru accomplishment…Just because Duke played zone today doesn’t mean we will every game.”

The good news:

Tyus Jones bounced back with a terrific game on both ends of the floor, demonstrating once again that he is the offensive lynchpin of this team and the Yin to his buddy’s Okafor’s Yang.
Early in the game when points were tough to come by, Matt Jones hit two successive threes that got the Blue Devils back in the game.
Jefferson is the unsung hero of this team. He is the best rebounder and has developed a surprisingly effective array of low post scoring moves. Okafor and Jefferson outscored Louisville 32-24 in the paint.
Jahlil is mature beyond his years. After a very physical and potentially explosive loose ball confrontation, Jahlil calmly hugged his surprised opponent and totally defused the situation. He was very patent early on until he had room to operate, then went 8-10 as he is much quicker than most of his defenders.
Duke led 30-20 at the half.
For the middle twenty or so minutes of the game, Duke played like a Final Four team should.

The not so good news:

Justise Winslow is still missing-in-action on offense. Maybe the three recent frightening falls he has taken are limiting him, but he seems tentative.
Not all the upcoming opponents will shoot as badly 18 of 61 (30%) as Louisville did.
For all his considerable skills, Okafor is not an elite athlete. He usually loses the opening tip and needs work on his defense, rim protection, and rebounding.
The two loses are what can happen when you rely heavily on young players: inconsistency… January is cold and hard… another semester begins… relationships begin and end… months of practice wear heavy on the legs and other body parts (notice how many players are wearing knee, leg, and arm supports and braces)… and the beginning of ACC play introduces a new intensity and a new reality.

Reader Comments:

From my long time golfing partner Jimmy D: “Your analysis disappoints me. Duke’s problems are not Duke. The problem is the ever increasing level of parity in all sports. More outstanding athletes across the board in all sports. The time of a few teams dominating their sport is gone. Looked what happened in SEC football? Almost every team can beat any other team on any day. This is true in every conference. And because basketball involves the fewest players of any sport, with the exception of ping pong, a few hot players can beat a cold team on any given day. This said: Quit complaining when Duke doesn’t win every game!!!!! Duke is top team and will go far in the NCAA tournament, assuming they don’t lose their first game to a “nobody team”. Miss you and still enjoy your newsletters.
From my “Road Warrior” pal, Bucky (One summer, we drove coast to coast in 72 hours): “Even the most talented freshmen can be exploited on defense for two reasons: first, upon entering college they typically rely mostly on their individual physical talent to defend and are unfamiliar with the team concept, help defensive schemes required in the college game; second, for the reason cited above they are also unfamiliar with the five man, team-concept offenses opposing coaches devise to attack their individual defensive tendencies. Although I didn’t watch the Miami game, I would guess that Miami coach Jim Laranaga used these weaknesses to great advantage in planning and executing his game plan against the Devils. You may recall that he took a senior-laden, but lesser talented mid-major George Mason to the Final Four. On the glass half-full side of the ledger, I would guess that lessons emphasized by Duke coaches for months, are now being absorbed by these talented, energetic freshmen and will be learned by tournament time, but not well enough to avoid at least one loss to the my boys who wear light blue uniforms.”

Alan Adds:

Channeling Aaron Rogers, “Relax”.

This was vintage Coach K’s post-bad-loss adjustments — both strategic and emotional. Strategically, Coach K was aware that Louisville has not shot well from outside so far this season, and so, addressed the vulnerability in recent games of Duke’s perimeter defense by moving it back toward the basket. This was true whether Duke defended with man to man or with zone. Duke’s man to man defense that does not extend out beyond the top of the key is called “11”. Duke played zone after makes and the “11” after misses; essentially daring Louisville to score outside the paint. Louisville was 18-61 (30%) including 4-25 from 3land, vindicating Coach K’s strategy.

Coach K insightfully addressed what he thought has been the problem since Christmas. First, he said Duke’s recent shooting slump had led to a lack of confidence, which had spilled over into the defense. “Confidence isn’t a pie that you slice; it’s all pervading.” He wanted to give the team something new to be concentrating on. This obviously seemed to work even though Duke still did not shoot well from the perimeter (4-15 from 3land); but, 17-28 inside the arc (thank you Jahlil – 8–10; and Amile – 6–7). Second, the Coach thought that “Coach K’s 1,000 wins and other accolades” put an unfair burden on his team, making the team feel as if it had to be perfect. He addressed it, and it seemed to work.

There were many highlights for Duke Fans, but my special appreciation is for the poise that this young team showed in a hostile environment after two bad — even embarrassing — losses. Louisville relies heavily on its trapping pressure defense to produce turnovers. Duke has produced excessive turnovers during its recent slump. Duke, and especially Tyus, took exemplary care of the ball against the Cardinals pressure; only 3 turnovers in the first half (10 for the game). Coach K lauded this as Tyus’s best game in terms of controlling it (certainly his best since Wisconsin). Although he missed his only two 3 point attempts, Tyus ran the show with great confidence and poise: 8 assists against only 2 turnovers; 6-6 from the free throw line in the clutch; 2-3 from inside the arc in 32 minutes. He has a magic ability to get the ball to Okafor for easy layups (not dissimilar to Kyrie’s ability to get the ball to Mason for the 8 games prior to his injury), and to shred the press with his handle and court vision.

All the Duke starters logged in excess of 30 minutes. I have a different slant on Justise Winslow than Bill (“shell of his former self”) does because of his contribution on the defensive end. It seemed to me that he returned to his former energetic and athletic self when Louisville had the ball. I believe Coach K thought so as well, since Winslow led the team in minutes played with 38; tied for the team lead in rebounds (7; Jah and Amile also grabbed 7). However, his previously dynamic offense is still AWOL. In his 38 minutes, he scored only 3 points (a terrific drive in traffic) on 1-4 from the field; 1-4 from the line and 0-2 from behind the arc. On the opening possession, Winslow drove the lane and was fouled. However, he didn’t finish a shot that he could (should) have and missed both free throws. So a potential 3 point play had virtually the same effect as a turnover. He needed to make that play to restore his offensive confidence. Next Play!

Duke’s bigs — Okafor (34 minutes) and Jefferson (31 minutes) carried Duke’s offense. Really profound news is that Jefferson proved a reliable foul shooter at closing time. Together Duke’s bigs were 9-11 from the free throw line (Jahlil was 2-2), and 14 for 17 from the field! That is worth a wow! Moreover, Jefferson is developing confidence in his offensive game (though opponents might begin to notice he only drives to his right). The guards are starting to look for him because he moves so well without the ball.

Quinn in his 35 minutes (2nd most on the team) had his worst statistical game of the year (2-9 from the field; 2-7 from behind the arc; 1-2 from the line) with only 7 points and 0 assists. He contributed 5 defensive rebounds and 3 steals while playing terrific defense. The bench played little and scored only 6 points in total on Matt Jones’s 2 crucial early 3s. Matt logged 8 minutes while Plumlee played only 6 minutes (without a box score entry). Rasheed played 16 minutes without scoring, though handed out 2 assists and grabbed a board. This is, as it turns out, a very short rotation.

Quick turnaround with Pittsburg visiting Cameron on Monday night at 7 pm EDT. This is a watershed game for Duke.

Duke 79– Pittsburgh 65

After playing three games in six days, home cooking was a welcome relief for Duke’s guards as they found their shooting touch within the friendly sights and sounds of Cameron, hitting 11-23 three pointers. Ty Jones and Rasheed Sulaimon had four each. Quinn Cook, who is a 90% free throw shooter and usually the best from long range, was 1-8 but compensated with a game high 10 rebounds. Go figure. There are very few easy outs in the restructured ACC and Pitt is not one of them.

Jahlil had what was for him, a so-so game and Justise Winslow is according to Coach, “banged up– his shoulder, ribs. He’s taken some blows. I don’t think anything real serious.” You have to consider the source. K is an old West Point guy. “Banged up” to him sort of means you are shot up and bleeding but still have your limbs. I look at a player built like Justise on the floor four times in two games grimacing in pain like Seattle’s Richard Sherman in the Packer game and have to wonder the meaning of “serious” to elite athletes. One thing for sure, Winslow’s offense has been not been the same recently.

Most interestingly, Duke again started playing zone and got off to a good start. According to Laura Keeley, the Blue Devils gave up 35 points on trips that were zone-based, 30 points on ones in man. That is somewhat deceiving, because a number of those were transition points off missed shots, which leads to the symbiotic relationship between offense and defense. The more missed shots, the more chance of fast breaks before the defense can be set. Therefore, the less efficient the offense, the probability is that the defense is less efficient. As Jay Bilas pointed out, Coach has several levels of aggressiveness to his defense from full court to inside the three point line. Recently, whether in man or zone, this team with their undersized guards, has been more effective not extending the perimeter defense further than the three point line. Ok, school’s out for today boys and girls.

Additional Observations:

More and more it appears Ty Jones is responding to the losses more dramatically and effectively than any other player and holds the keys to this team’s success. The other key is Okafor defense improving his defense from a C+ to a B+. That can start by Jah not getting in foul trouble by making silly fouls.

Despite the two recent losses, Coach K’s has been on top of his game in the press conferences. On playing zone: “Jim (Boeheim) texted me after the Louisville game: “‘Where’s my royalty check?”’ And I replied: “After the season. We’ll see if it’s a one-night wonder.”

This was win 999 which sets the stage for winning number 1,000 on the Sunday afternoon game against St. Johns on national television in Madison Square Garden, where Coach K broke Bobby Knight’s record.

Alan Adds:

It was a strange, but satisfying game. Quinn Cook led Duke in rebounding (10) while Jahlil had more assists (5) than any teammate. Quinn had a double double (11 points also), but was 1-8 from downtown. Jah not only had 5 assists, but also a number of great passes that would have been recorded as assists if the game were hockey. Sometimes the assist went to the player receiving Jah’s pass and then finding an even more open teammate. Jefferson was 4-4 from the line. Tyus led Duke’s scoring with 22 points on 11 shots (4-5 from 3land and 4-5 from the stripe), but had three turnovers and 4 assists. Still he controlled the game with his handle and shot making. In turn, Duke controlled the game by taking care of the ball. Duke had only 4 turnovers in the first half, and except for an uncharacteristic stretch when Duke could have closed out the game where Duke made 4 sloppy turnovers in a row, an even better second half (10 turnovers for the game against 13 assists).

Duke shot the ball well, which made everything different from the last 4 games. Duke made 8 more 3 pointers than Pitt (3-10) did on 13 more attempts (11-23 from behind the arc; 4-8 in the second half). Duke made more free throws (20 of 25) than Pitt shot (8-12). Jahlil and Amiel were a combined 8-10 (Jefferson 4-4); Cook and Jones were a combined 8-9 (Tyus was 4-5). Marshall was 2-2; Rasheed and Winslow were 1-2. Traditional Duke stats. The offense, in short, returned.

But what about the defense? It was a tale of two different halves. Duke was superb in the first half, holding Pitt to 25 points (while scoring 41). However, all that turned around in the second half. A Duke assistant coach speculated that having Duke defend in front of the Duke bench (first half) kept the Devils communicating, but that communication diminished when the teams changed ends. Sounds strange to me. Pitt was 17-33 (52%) in the second half, including 3-7 from 3land. The Panthers scored 40 points, and had 11 assists on 17 hoops in the second half. Duke’s defense, so efficient in the first half, reverted to porous in the second half. Duke had a 16 point lead at half and kept scoring (38 in the second half after 41 in the first) which hid the defensive lapses in the second half. For the game, Pitt took 8 more shots from the field (60 to Duke’s 52).

Even while scoring efficiently, Duke was holding on in the last segment of the second half. With 11:36 to go, Duke was up by 20 points (65-45); with 3:05 to go, Duke’s lead had been cut to 10 (73-63) and again at 1:09 (75-65). It was a very good win, coming, as it did two days after Duke’s epic blowout of the Cardinals at Louisville. Once again the Duke rotation was extremely short, really just 6, though Duke got good cameos from Marshall (7 minutes) and Matt Jones (10) minutes. Marshall had a neat lefty hook shot, a block and a rebound to go with 2-2 from the line in his four minutes. He also almost fouled out in that very short span (4). Matt was solid defensively, but 0-2 from the field with a board. It was only Rasheed (25 minutes) and the starters who played extended minutes. Justise’s shooting woes continued, though there was some good signs. He is taking a pounding in the games and was hurt twice, reducing his minutes to 22. He had 2 boards, an assist, a steal and a block to go with 2-4 from behind the arc (the good sign) for his 7 points (2-7 from the field). He is visibly struggling, but his early season prowess makes Duke’s upside potential more than its current caliber of play. The guards logged 38 minutes each, which is telling. Quinn had 2 assists and a steal to go with his double double. Tyus has an amazing steadiness that controls the game. As the season has progressed, he is handling the rock more and more (Quinn less and less). Both were effective defensively in the zone.

Okafor and Jefferson again stood out for Duke. Jah played 28 minutes (committing 3 fouls) going 5-9 from the field for 14 points. He added 3 rebounds and a block against 2 turnovers. His passing was a key to Duke’s offensive resurgence. Duke’s hot 3 point shooting came because the shots were uncontested; many starting out of the double teams that Pitt threw at Jah. Duke passed faster than Pitt could rotate, resulting in uncontested shots. Jah was more important than his stat line would suggest. The same is true of Jefferson, who continues to mature and improve (I think partially stung by Jones starting instead of Jefferson against Miami). Although only 2-6 from the field (8 points and 9 boards), Amile was terrific. He added 3 steals and a block, while playing scintillating defense with 0 turnovers and committing only 1 foul.

Duke seems to have righted the ship, and just in time for three difficult road games in a row (St. Johns at Madison Square Garden on Sunday); Notre Dame and Virginia to conclude January.

DUKE 77- ST. JOHNS 68

A recent poll revealed that 25% of the people believe God plays a divine role in deciding which team wins a sporting event. Count me as a skeptical agnostic—until the last week. Last Sunday Seattle was outplayed and down 16 points in the last six minutes, when suddenly they executed flawlessly and with some timely skill/luck/divine intervention, ties, then beats Green Bay. Today, for twenty minutes Duke was outplayed, outhustled, and looked like they did in losses to N.C. State and Miami. Down 61-51 with 8:30 to go, an historic win played live before a national television audience seemed to be a lost opportunity. I’m thinking the poll was wrong. A Basketball God, unless he is a Tar Heel, wouldn’t let this happen.

Coach K called time out. With Amile Jefferson sitting with three fouls, Rasheed Sulaimon with four, and Justise Winslow hurt and ineffective, he substituted Marshall Plumlee and Matt Jones as the forwards. Brilliant coaching move? Divine intervention? Or just Coach K imposing his fighting and never-give-up DNA onto his players and the game? Who knows, but suddenly MP3’s hustle and defense seemed to energize the Blue Devils and they were a different team, outscoring St. Johns 26-7. An unbelievable turn of events, but an appropriate conclusion and exclamation point on a game of this significance! The bottom line is this is why Coach K has won 1,000 games!

Quinn Cook, Tyus Jones, and Jahlil Okafor led the way for the Duke comeback, each player had a 3-point play to erase the ten point deficit, and it was the senior Cook, who hit his fourth triple of the afternoon to put Duke back ahead by one. In all, they combined to score 55 points. That’s what seniors and talented freshmen do.

The players St. John’s recruit are usually athletic, playground oriented, and thrive on an up tempo game. Missed shots, open court opportunities, and porous defenses play right into their wheelhouse. When Duke started making shots, giving them time to set their defense, combined with the psychological pressure of losing a lead three points at a time helped turn the tide of the game. In addition, the referees were of little help. Clearly, the three point shot just before the half didn’t beat the shot clock but the rule is that it cannot be reviewed. If play can be stopped the check if a player’s foot is outside the three point line, why can’t replays be used to check the time clock at the end of the half? It can be checked at the end of the game and in overtime this anomaly makes no sense. Also, the defenders were allowed to wrestle with Okafor with immunity in the low post and Jefferson, Sulaimon, and Cook were subjected to fouls that boarded on muggings.

Additional Observations:

Duke started the game with their man defense but when the game went south they tried a zone. All to no avail as, during that bad twenty minute period, nothing worked. However, when the Blue Devils made their late, winning move with Plumlee in the lineup, they played mostly a zone. MP3 and Okafor together present an entirely different defensive challenge for an opponent.
Win number 1,000 came about 500 miles from Cameron Indoor Stadium, but for Duke it is familiar territory. Madison Square Garden was where K had win number 903 against Michigan State in November 2011, breaking the Division I record previously held by his college coach and mentor, Bob Knight.
Wojo: “Mike Krzyzewski is much more than a coach. He is a friend and a role model who shows us the way after we put the jersey away.”
Marshall Plumlee formally committed to join the U.S. Army after graduation in the spring of 2016. “It’s a tremendous honor,” Plumlee said. “I’m just blessed to have these passions — basketball and the Army — and to be able to pursue both of them. I love basketball. I love Duke Basketball and I feel like the Army only makes me a better basketball player. I also think playing for Coach K and Duke only makes me a better Army officer.”

Alan Adds:

In the movie, “The Hustler”, Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) is the pool champion, and is challenged by talented arrogant newcomer, Fast Eddie Felson (Paul Newman). The know-it-all “manager” is Bert Gordon (George C. Scott). It’s a long game and Felson is winning big in the early going. Fats goes into the men’s room to recoup. He shaves, washes splashes cologne on, and comes out looking like a new man. As Bert Gordon later tells Felson, “at that moment you were ready to lose.”

Duke metaphorically went into the men’s room at a time out with 8:30 left to play, and St John’s ahead by 10 (61-51). All showered, shaved and splashed with cologne; a new lineup — Marshall and Matt Jones to go along with yesterday’s Big Three, Cook, Tyus and Jah. In two minutes and two seconds, the Devils made three 3 point plays the old fashion way while getting two big stops, to cut the lead from 10 to 1. St John’s was “ready to lose”. St Johns finally started missing (and Plumlee made Duke more effective at rim protection). Duke took the lead at 5:42 on Cook’s three. Tyus was fouled on a 3 point attempt and made all three at 2:54 mark for a 6 point lead. St John’s cut it to 4 a few seconds later, but with 1:17, Tyus drained a 3, and that was the game.

Part of St. Johns’ collapse came from what looked like exhaustion. The Red Storm starters logged big minutes — Pointer, for example played 40 minutes. DeAngelo Harrison (Rasheed’s teammate in high school AAU ball) played the least with 35. The St. John bench failed to score and logged only 15 minutes (Branch played 11). The Duke high scoring threesome also logged big minutes (Tyus- 39, Quinn-38 and Okafor-37), but the Duke bench was productive, playing a total of 55 minutes and scoring 10 points. Where the bench really contributed was on the defensive end. Coach K sung the praises of Matt Jones (24 minutes; 6 rebounds, 2 assists to with 2-6 shooting for 4 points — 0-2 from deep) and Marshall (5 boards, 1-1 on a beautiful put back for his only points) for shutting the Red Storm down in the last 8 minutes. It was an awesome transformation. Rasheed logged 16 minutes, ineffective on offense, but energetic on the defensive side (1-3 from 3land and 1-4 from the stripe). Grayson Allen had a cameo at the end of the first half when K was looking for someone to make a shot. Allen didn’t in his 3 minutes (0-1; a steal and a turnover).

Coach K said it was unlike any game he had ever coached because it was like three games in one. In the first seven and a half minutes, Duke looked as if the game would not be close, racing to a 21-10 lead. The second game started then and lasted until the 8:32 mark of the second half. That partial game looked suspiciously like a replay of the Miami and NC State games. After playing almost twelve minutes of awful basketball, in which the defense was totally torched for open shots (St. Johns missed several wide open layups; maybe partially offset by the Red Storm three at the end of the half that clearly should not have counted). Duke played man; Duke played zone; it did not matter, St Johns scored on everything, while Duke missed open shots on offense. It was enough to adversely impact digestion. The second half was even worse. Duke’s second field goal did not come until the 13:47 mark, when Quinn finally nailed a three to cut the ten point St Johns lead to seven. With 11:46 to go, Jefferson made Duke’s third field goal of the half to again reduce the 10 point lead, this time to 8. Plumlee’s stick back was Duke’s fourth and final field goal before the transformative time out at the 8:32 mark. Duke’s defense up until the time out was beyond porous. Duke fouled consistently (only 7 in the first half, but 17 for the game — Rasheed (4), Matt (3) and Amile (3) were especially saddled. St John’s penetrated the zone, and consistently made open mid-range jumpers (8-10 feet) from the interior of the zone. Much adverse digestive reaction.

Matt Jones and Marshall fixed the defense with energy and physicality. Coach K gushed over those two in post-game interviews. Jahlil, Quinn and Tyus were spectacular down the stretch. Okafor had 10 tough boards to go with 17 points on 7-10 shooting (but a woeful 3-7 from the free throw line); he was awesome to start the game (8 points in the first 7 and a half minutes; 10 for the half) and a fountain of power and desire after the 8:32 time out. In that short span, he grabbed four key rebounds and scored 6 points. What was awesome was his obvious passion, which fueled his taking physical command of the game at crunch time. Duke’s backcourt had a terrible defensive game and sporadic offense before looking like All-Americans in the last eight and a half minutes. Tyus was absolutely outstanding, even though he did not shoot well (5-11; 2-5 from deep) and turned the ball over 4 times (high for him). But when the game was on the line, he was superb. First, he was 10-10 from the line, 7-7 in the last 8 minutes. Second, he scored on a layup (3 point play) and the dagger 3 at 1:17 from the corner after a rebound by Jah and a superb assist off the drive by Quinn. 13 points in less than 8 minutes. Tyus had 4 tough boards and 6 assists to go with a key steal at the end. Quinn also shot poorly during the game (5-13 from the field; and 2-6 from 3land before making his last 2 — the last one for the lead at 63-62), and turned it around down the game-winning stretch. He was 3-3 from the line, making it 8 points in the last 8 minutes.

Bill’s comment that 25% believe that some supernatural force controls the outcome of games cannot go unmentioned. Since I have a Mencken like view (“No one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the American People”), I wager that more people believe that Buffalo Wild Wings influences games! Close, anyway.

It was a grand finish for Coach K’s 1000th win. Now back to the pursuit of ACC titles and other post-season glories. The next two games are difficult — Wednesday at Notre Dame and Saturday at undefeated Virginia. Duke is likely to be underdogs in both games.

Duke 73- Notre Dame 77

My old tennis coach Don Henson taught me some basic truisms that made me a better player and a better fan. Namely, that there are three levels of performance: You have to be able to hit the shot in practice, hit it in a match, and hit it on a big point and, secondly, the better a player is, the more “lucky” shots they make. You have to admire Jerian Grant. He hit a variety of big shots and with the game on the line, made an unbelievably lucky shot, then made the big assist to an open teammate for a dagger three.

Sunday the Blue Devils finished the game off with winning plays; tonight Notre Dame did. Up by ten with twelve minutes to play, Duke came up empty on both ends of the floor. Alan has a terrific analysis, so I will be brief. While this was a loss it, was not nearly the disappointment that the losses to N.C. State and blowout loss to Miami in Cameron were. However, it leaves they question: is this a talented, young team learning lessons that will make them a top tournament contender or are they an overhyped, overrated team?

For all of his graceful offensive talent, Okafor is a below average post defender and 58% free throw shooter, whom you do not want at the line with the game on the line. A hopeful sign is that Justise Winslow has started to resemble the 2014 model we admired so much and Ty Jones continues to impress.

However, the truth of the matter is that last night Notre Dame was the better team that played above their talent. Duke too often doesn’t play up to their talent—or, maybe, they are not as good as all the hype.

Bottom line: Duke going 10-20 from the free throw line made this a coulda, shoulda, woulda loss that a more solid, more mature team would have won. At the beginning of the season, someone you know wrote that free throw shooting could be the Achilles Heel of this team. Got to fix it.

Alan Adds:

Duke proved itself to be a young team against Notre Dame, but the loss was not as deflating to Coach K as it might seem to Duke fans. This is the worst conference start (4-3) since 1995 (and we do not want to think about that year). Coach said that both teams played winning basketball, which was true for only 29 minutes of the game. In the last 11 minutes, Duke got to feel what St. Johns must have felt last Sunday when Duke muscled the game away from the Johnnies in the waning minutes. With 11:00 left in the game Okafor made a layup to restore Duke’s 10 point lead at 65-55. By the time Duke scored next on Jah’s layup with 5:29 to go, it tied the score at 67. In between, Duke was hapless (not winning basketball): Cook missed 3 jumpers (2 of them 3 pointers); Tyus missed 2 (1 a 3), Matt missed a 3 as did Rasheed. Defensively, Winslow committed a turnover and Jah and Rasheed committed fouls. Okafor hit another layup at the 4:36 mark to give Duke a 69-67 lead, but Duke never made another field goal and was only 2-6 on critical free throws — Jah was 1-4; Rasheed 1-2. Quinn and Tyus (2) committed fouls on the defensive end. In short, in the last 11 minutes, Duke had only 3 field goals — all by Jah. Notre Dame, on the other hand, did play winning basketball down the stretch, making 2 amazing plays — Grant’s miracle with 1:11 left; followed by Vasturia’s only field goal of the game (1-5; 1-3 from 3land), the three from the corner on a great look from Grant , which was the dagger. Coach K said Matt Jones made a mistake leaving him; he’d rather have had Grant attempting a difficult 2 pointer. Grant capped a spectacular game with a block on Cook with 28 ticks left.

Coach K emphasized the team’s youth and that this game was about missed opportunities that make the difference between winning and losing when two very good teams play a close game. He pointed to the between 6-8 finishes at the rim that simply did not go down, and that Duke grabbed 13 offensive boards but only scored 9 points on those second chances. Coach K also pointed to Matt’s defensive lapse on Vastoria’s dagger and, of course, the foul shooting. Duke was 10-20 from the stripe after being 3-5 in the first half. Consider that Tyus, Quinn and Justise were 7-7 in the game; the rest of the team was 3-13. Coach K said, “Jah had a heck of a game. If he had made his free throws we’d be talking about him rather than Grant as the player of the game.”

Both teams played short benches: ND’s starters all logged over 34 minutes (Grant 40 and Connaughton 39), except at the center position. Duke, too, played a very short rotation. Cook played all 40 minutes (minus a few seconds), Tyus 38 minutes, Jah 36 and Justise returned to big playing time with 30 minutes. Matt Jones (21) played more off the bench than Amile (17 minutes), while Rasheed played only 12. Marshall was limited to a 6 minute cameo, looking lost with the ball, unlike his previous court time. Duke’s bench was unproductive offensively — Rasheed was 1-6 (0-2 from 3 and 1-2 from the line) for 3 points; Jones was 1-4 (0-1 without a free throw attempt) for 2 points, but he had 5 tough boards and 4 assists, and so earned his playing time. Amile was 2-4 from the field (made his first two shots and scored Duke’s first 4 points), and a disastrous 0-3 from the line. Very disappointing game for him.

In many respects Jah carried Duke with 17 rebounds to go with his 22 points (10-18 from the field; but 2-7 from the line). Even Dickie V could ascertain that Jah is not defending well. Whether it was Jah leaving his man, or the help failing to rotate when he did, ND scored some very easy points at the rim when Jah doubled the ball on pick and rolls. Quinn had a brilliant first half (5-5; 3-3 from deep) for 13 points. He was 0-6 (0-3 from deep) with only 2 foul shots in the second half for 15 points. Tyus had a quiet first half (1-4; 0-1 from deep for 2 points) before going 4-7 (1-2 from deep and 3-3 from the line for his 14 points. In my opinion the good news from this game is the return of Justise Winslow. He had 5 (1-3 from the field; 1-2 from deep) in the first half, and I made a note to myself at half-time that he looked smooth and was defending well. He came alive in the second half shooting 3-4 from the field including 2-2 from deep and 2-2 from the line for 13 points. My belief is that Duke’s season will depend on Justise reaching something like his potential (think Zoubek in 2010).

This makes the Virginia game on Saturday as important a regular season game as Duke has had in a while. Duke is 11-11 in its last 22 ACC road games. A win can restore the season and keep Duke as a contender on the national scene. Next Play

DUKE 69- VIRGINIA 65

‘HOOS DAT??? JUST US DEVILS…WE BACK!!!!!

After being undefeated in 2014 but starting 2015 by being upset in two straight ACC games, not closing out Notre Dame, losing a key man, then playing the third game in a row on the road in six days against the #2 team in the country, co-captain Quinn Cook told his teammates that the next twenty minutes against Virginia would determine what kind of season they would have. Down nine points with five minutes to play, Coach K went small to deny Virginia double-teaming options against Jahlil Okafor and switched to a zone to help get out in transition. That coaching change seem to energize a suddenly more efficient and effective Okafor as well as the guards. The Blue Devils scored 22 of the game’s last 29 points over these final minutes. The last fifteen possessions were a three, a layup, a layup, dunk, a two, a layup, a layup, a three, a tip-in, a three, a three, a layup, a three, and a stone cold dagger three by Ty Jones– an impressively improbable performance. How impressive, that’s 43 points in the second half against a team which had only allowed an average of 49 points per game and were ranked No. 1 among 345 Division I teams in scoring defense.

Think what you will about this sometimes inconsistent freshman heavy team, but Duke’s record in their last twenty-two games on the road has been a subpar 11-11. Nevertheless, this is the first Duke team in history to defeat three top-ten ranked teams — Wisconsin, Louisville, Virginia on the road. As Jay Bilas pointed out, while Duke is very talented and won this game, he still considers Virginia is the better team. That may change by tournament time if Okafor stops travelling, missing free throws, and become a beast for forty minutes, Winslow becomes totally healthy and more consistent, Ty Jones remain “Cool Hand” Jones, and Quinn Cook continues to hit big baskets as well as being the emotional leader.

This was a contest between the two best coaches not only in the ACC but in the country. UVA coach Bennett has no McDonald’s All- Americans. What he does have are big, strong, long, mature basketball players, who stay for four years and learn his system. So, it was basically one-and-done versus all four years. Advantage Coach Bennett. On the other hand, Coach K has not won 1001 games by looking pretty and talking nice.

How tough is it to win on the road in the ACC? Carolina blew an 18 point lead and lost at Louisville and Notre Dame was upset at Pitt. Notre Dame’s last play to win was a rerun of the Duke game, only this time Steve Vasturia missed the three from the corner. Oh well, that’s basketball. Life doesn’t get any easier for the Cavaliers. They go to Chapel Hill, then Louisville.

At a critical moment of the game, with Duke down two points with minutes to play, Winslow drove to the basket. There was a lot of contact as he missed the shot and ended up on the floor with Scott’s foot on his shoulder. Justise grabbed and held the foot and was called for a technical foul. It turned out to be a four point turnaround and possibly game, set, match. In defense of Winslow, there was a lot of contact on the play, he didn’t attempt to wrestle with or injure Scott. He may have just been protecting his injured shoulder and ribs. In any event, all’s well that ends well.

In his press conference Coach K mentioned that playing the zone can facilitate Duke’s running and open court possibilities—if the opponent misses a shot. Certainly, the Blue Devils strategy of taking a page from Carolina’s system and attempting to beat the Cavaliers down the court, even on made baskets, was one of the keys to the game.

As you know, I have been a Sulaimon fan but should have known something was amiss. Going from a starter his freshman year to being a substitute was one indication. Not being named a co-captain with fellow junior Jefferson was another. I liked his fire but noticed that he did not seem to be playing under control all the time. We never know what goes on in practice, or the locker room, class room, or with girlfriends, or family etc. However, there must have been a long history of serious transgressions for Coach K to dismiss Rasheed. I don’t think anyone outside the tight team circle saw this kind of outcome.

After the season, we will look back at this win—considering the circumstances and the setting really one of the most impressive in recent memory– as an important building block in the maturation of a very good Duke team or an anomaly in another inconsistent season of a talented but immature good Blue Devil teams of the one-and-done era.

Additional Observations:

Coach K’s first substitution: Plumlee, Jones, and Allen. Having inherited more minutes by default, Allen has to step up and produce as Plumlee and Matt Jones have done.

Meaningless stat? Tonight’s win was Duke’s second ever against team 19-0 or better. The first was over 34-0 UNLV in 1991 Final Four, on route to Duke’s first NCAA Championship.

Alan Adds:

This was simply a great regular season ACC college basketball game! It was — at least temporarily — salvation for the Duke season emotionally, and it was surely thrilling entertainment. However, even though it was a special win, it will not define the season (any more than Austin’s dagger to upset UNC in the Dome defined that season). There is too much uncertainty for how this team develops in the future with so much of the season left to play. So I favor “savor” the significant accomplishment, and then on to the rest of the season. But let us do savor.

There is much to savor. In importance, I start with the return to form of Justise Winslow. He single handedly kept Duke in the game in the first half with his slashes to the basked. He was a force on the court for his 31 minutes (would have been more but for his foul trouble, committing 4). Besides his 17 points (11 in the first half) Justise pulled down 11 boards (10 defensive; 5 in each half) had 2 blocks, a steal, an assist against 0 turnovers. If he finally hits his outside shot consistently (0-4; 2 misses in each half) to go with his forays to the rim, he will be unguardable. He played Anderson when Duke played man and was an interior force when Duke went zone in the second half. Anderson scored only 11. Coach K emphasized that Duke could push forward better from the zone, but said “of course, you have to get the defensive rebound in order to push.” Justise did that for Duke. Jah was a force, but had only 3 defensive rebounds. UVA had 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, keeping them in the game. In the second half, the Cavaliers got only 5, and two of them were Toby’s failure to score on them with a minute to go. Those misses and Quinn’s eventual (finally!) rebound were critical to Duke’s win.

Okafor had a dismal first half (2 points and 3 turnovers), completely disrupted by the aggressive and immediate double teams that Virginia threw at him. Jah became a force down the stretch, giving Duke the interior toughness to match UVA while logging 35 minutes. He was 4-5 from the field in the second half, including a dazzling last 8 minutes to lead Duke emotionally. In that stretch, Jah hit a jumper, made a key tip in after Tyus missed a layup, and handed out 3 assists, including the final one at 1:20 to go when he hit Quinn for an open 3 to put Duke up 66-63. As he did against St. Johns, he powered Duke on the interior for the comeback win.

While Duke’s guards could not stop the UVA guards when Duke played man to man, the ‘Hoos could not defend the Duke guards at crunch time. Both Tyus and Quinn were heroic. Each were held to 4 points in the first half (Quinn even missed a foul shot, while Tyus was 1-4 from the field). Quinn (36 minutes) finished with 15 points on 4-6 from the field in the last stanza including 3-4 from behind the arc. Tyus (38 minutes) was even better, scoring a total of 17 (4 of 6 from the field in the second half; 2-4 from distance — including the dagger from deep with 10 seconds left). He also had 4 boards and handed out 4 assists, though he did miss a foul shot (5-6). Heroic is a fair modifier for Duke’s guards in the second half.

Matt Jones played 24 efficient winning minutes, scoring 9 points (4-9; 1-3 from 3land) to go with 3 tough boards, 2 assists and a block. Jones played excellent defense, both man to man and in the back line of the zone. Coach K is relying on Matt more and more as he proves reliable. Coach K went small quite a bit, which limited Jefferson to 20 minutes (2 points; 2 boards; 0-2 from the line), and Marshall to 5 nondescript minutes — the only 5 that Jah was out of the game. Grayson Allen played 11 minutes and is not yet confident (0-1; 1-2 from the line with a turnover and committing 2 fouls). Yet I get the feeling that he will contribute and take advantage of the minutes he will get now as a result of Rasheed having been dismissed from the team.

Duke’s second half offense and shooting can be savored for sure. Against the fabled “pack line” defense, Duke shot 17-30 from the field including 6-13 from behind the arc in the second half to score 43 points (3-4 from the line after going 4-9 in the first half). The game was both thrilling and satisfying to watch. Georgia Tech on Wednesday.

Duke 72- Georgia Tech 66

Unfortunately, this Duke team appears to play up or down to the level of their competition, which is living dangerously. When you can’t blow out bottom feeders like Miami or Georgia Tech in Cameron and can’t consistently defend the paint or the perimeter, you might not be tournament tough. With three point line, if you let any team hang around, crazy things can happen in the last few minutes of a game (ref. Virginia game). And speaking of the Virginia game, tonight the ball was rolling off the rim, not in the basket, and the threes weren’t falling. Of course, the Blue Devils (even Ty and Quinn) missed foul shots (15-24), some of which were one-and-ones. That’s leaving about 8 or 10 points off the score board.

Fortunately, Duke had too much talent as Winslow (15 pts & 10 rebs)), Cook (17 pts), and Matt Jones(11 pts & 5 rebs) provided the winning plays. Justice was in rare form at both ends. He even channeled his brother, who is a defensive back at Dartmouth, on some breath taking defensive plays as did Matt Jones, who keeps improving in all ways to help mitigate the departure of Rasheed Sulaimon–and Quinn “Microwave” Cook, scoreless the first half, once again heated up with 17 second half clutch points. Jahlil Okafor had, for him, an average game (14 pts & 8 rebs) as the refs keep letting defenders push him off the low post so he receives passes too far from the basket. Occasionally, he got mad and showed some impressive moves, but was only 5-12 from the floor.

The good news is that Justice Winslow has played the last two games even better than advertised–especially on defense—and that there has been balanced scoring. However, to be most effective, the offense should run through Okafor and with the game on the line, Cook has to be the offensive go-to guy, because he is the most versatile and creative scorer and is a 90% free throw shooter. For the same reasons, Ty Jones is not a bad second option. However, unless the Blue Devils start playing better defense, it doesn’t matter because they cannot outscore every team every night.

Coach K commented on the challenges his young team is facing: “I didn’t think we were emotionally at the level we needed to be… Not that our kids weren’t ready to play, but we could not get that level of emotion. It’s human nature and that’s what you compete against. If you want to be really good all the time, human nature is your biggest opponent because you’re up, you’re excited, you’re a little bit worn out. How do you stay consistent? It’s happening to eight kids, four of them are freshmen, for the very first time. They want to do well. Our guys are terrific…they’re working like crazy and I just keep having to try things. The league is unforgiving in that there’s so many good teams. Sometimes one schedule is more difficult than others. We have a tough schedule. We’re on the road at Louisville, at Syracuse, at Notre Dame, at NC State… It wears on you. To be able to win a game in this manner, that’s what keeps you afloat and gets you tournament ready. We’ve still got a number of games until we are tournament qualified. This was another step closer to doing that.”

Additional Observations:

Want to know how Coach Krzyzewski, who will turn 68 next week, has won 1,002 games? Late in the first half, he tossed his jacket, slapped the floor, waved his arms to the crowd, and yelled at the Cameron fans to help his team. He was visibly angry at times during timeouts – whatever it took to get his team going.
This win pushed Coach K passed former Tar Heel legend Dean Smith as the winningest in ACC play. He improved to 423-169 in his 35th year in the league.
The Yellow Jackets fell to 5-34 at Cameron Indoor Stadium and their only victory here since 1997 came in 2004 – the year they went on to reach the national title game.
Having referenced the concept of Divine Intervention in sporting events, I cannot let the ending minutes of the Super Bowl pass without comment. How to explain first, the laying on-the-back reception after the ball bounced around various body parts, then the bone headed play call, and the improbable interception by the undrafted rookie from the University of West Georgia. It turned Seattle fans and bettors into raving manic depressives and New England fans and bettors into depressive maniacs, and non-believers into believers. Welcome to the wonderful emotional roller coaster world of sports!

Alan Adds:

Coach K’s post-game comments (the essence of which is set out by Bill above) had several additional themes. First, Tyus (2-6; 1-3 from 3land; 0 foul shots) and Quinn (0-4; 0-3 from deep; no free throw attempts) had sub-par first halves. That changed dramatically for (Quinn 37 minutes) and somewhat for Tyus (38 minutes, which tells you how valuable Coach K thinks he is, even when not playing his best). Okafor told Quinn at the half, “we need you; you are not playing well.” Jah said the team is so close that such talk is team building. Quinn said that he thought his defense had been subpar in the first half, and that as his defense improved, so did his offense. Though Duke pushed to a 10 point lead with 5 minutes + left in the first half, Coach K was not happy. The Ramblin’ Wreck scored 2 baskets at the end as a result of careless Duke plays, which got Coach K’s attention. Even though Duke led, the defense was porous. Duke did not zone at all in the first half. Tech shot 54% (3-5 from deep) against Duke’s porous defense. At half time, I made a note to myself that Jah looked less than energetic, especially on defense. He was 2-6; 2-4 from the line for 6 first half points.

Duke kept the lead on the play of Justise (10 first half points-4-5 from the field; 1-1 from deep; 1-1 from the line; to go with 6 rebounds) and Matt Jones, who scored 11 first half points (4-8; 1-3 from deep and 2-2 from the line). You can see Matt’s confidence growing, as he becomes a substantial contributor. He exudes toughness, and is a defensive presence whenever he enters the game. At 6’5”, he is long enough to guard bigger players and quick enough to defend point guards. Where he is really making his mark is rebounding. He was third last night (5; tied with Amile who played 23 minutes, one more than Matt). Even better than the emergence of Matt, has been the play of Winslow. I continue to believe that this team can only reach its potential (contender for national title) if Winslow plays the way he did in the early season (when I told friends that Jah — pre-season player of the year, with all that pre-season hype — might not even be the best freshman on Duke. Then Justise disappeared (injuries played a role, I believe). But in the last two games he is back, and very worth watching. He finished with 15 points, making his only second half shot (4-7 from the line for the game). He led Duke with 10 boards and played superb defense. If his last two games are a harbinger of how he will play, this was a very positive game for Duke.

Cook was brilliant in the second half even though he was 1-8 from downtown for the game. He was 5-6 on his scintillating drives and 4-5 from the line. Jah (33 minutes) played efficiently in the last minutes, but it was not one of his better games. I thought he was slow on defense (but had one critical block) and just didn’t have the zing. Tech didn’t double him consistently. He was missing shots he usually makes. He is still the centerpiece. Amile had 6 first half points (3-4) but failed to score in the second half. Coach K had the ponies on the floor at crunch time (Justise plays the four with the three guards. Marshall played 8 minutes, picking up 3 fouls. Grayson made a 3 minute cameo, missing his only shot, a 3 point attempt.

Coach K said the Virginia game was like the Wisconsin game, but Duke didn’t play for a substantial period after pounding the Badgers. Against, Tech, the Devils ran into human nature (Coach K regards human nature as a formidable obstacle to be overcome), but came out with the win. The reason Tech stayed close is why we love the game. Tech had shot 26% from 3land for the season. Yesterday, they were 8-11 (24 points on 11 shots), while Duke was a tepid 5-18. If both teams shoot as they have during the season, it is not a close game. Good teams win even when they do not play well. Tech was sandwiched between two big games — UVA last Saturday and Notre Dame in Cameron this Saturday. In my opinion, Notre Dame in Cameron is a big game.

Prior to the Notre Dame game, Alan emailed me this:

Bill- For many reasons this is a very big game for Duke. A second ACC loss at home (creating a 5-4 ACC record more than half way through the season, with 2 games left with UNC) would exceed mere disappointment. So, this is close to a must-win game.

I am not normally a pre-game optimist, but for this game I am. Here’s why:

Misreading the Georgia Tech game:Andy Katz of SI said he thought after the week Duke had experienced (St. Johns, Notre Dame, Sulaimon, and Virginia) that the Blue Devils would return to the confines of Cameron and simply blow out the bottom feeder. He thought the close game was a bad sign for Duke. Coach K pointed out the power in the universal adversary, human nature, after such a week. He is correct in spades. I completely disagree with Katz. All things considered — including especially Tech’s other wordily 3 point shooting (8-11) in a season where Tech had shot 27%; Duke shot 5-18 from 3 — Duke was tough as nails and showed, in my opinion, championship potential. What Katz either missed or discounted is the significance of the reemergence of Justise Winslow. If he is back, as suggested by his performances in the last two games, Duke becomes much more formidable.
The first Notre Dame game: Was a terrific college basketball game. Grant performed at the highest level, but even so without the Grant miracle (recovered the deflection caused by Tyus and made a circus shot at the 24 second clock expired) and Matt Jones’s defensive lapse (should have let Grant take a tough 2 pointer in the lane rather than leave the open 3 point shooter; the basket made a two possession game instead of giving Duke a chance to tie in its last possession), Duke was in the game. Also, let’s not forget Duke’s woeful foul shooting in South Bend. It would be hard to beat Duke twice in a row anywhere, but doubly tough to do it in Cameron.

Allan- I agree with your assessment and logic, but I caution you, some games have illogical outcomes. Just remember the Super Bowl. Notre Dame is a very efficient three point shooting team and Duke has not been as strong a defensive team we had hoped.

Duke 90- Notre Dame 60

You think the freshmen are finally getting it? Y’all aren’t in high school anymore, TyTy. (ref. Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz) You’re in Cameron and good Duke teams do not lose in their own house. Step up! Play like men! Payback, Baby, Payback!

After understandably being emotionally flat against Georgia Tech, Coach K talked about the importance of young players understanding the interplay between effort, emotion, fatigue, and performance. The Blue Devils started in a man defense, gave up two successive threes, then played one of , if not, the best halves of offensive and defensive basketball I can remember any Duke team playing, outscoring the Irish 50-18. It was a good example of the Ying and Yang of defense and offense. It was like channeling the great teams of 1991-92 or 1999- 2001 and JJ Redick shooting lights out threes. Irish missed shots led to open court opportunities where a healthy Justise was unstoppable. How well was the team playing? Even with Jah on the bench for the final ten minutes of the first half, MP3 again played with strength and confidence and the lead was increased. Duke’s first six 3-pointers went in, seven of eight in the half. Seven of Duke’s eight players scored. Four of them made every shot they took. At one point, Duke was averaging more than two points per possession, literally better than a layup every time the Blue Devils had the ball.

Justice Winslow had 19 points & 11 rebounds, his third straight double-double game; Jahlil Okafor only played 23 minutes, but put on an offensive low post scoop and hoop clinic with 20 points and 10 rebounds; Ty Jones had 12 points, 7 assists; Matt Jones added a career-high 17 points; and Grayson Allan had 5 points to go with a Justice Winslow type ESPN Highlight Block on a fast break. I never thought I would say this, but so far Rasheed Sulaimon has not been missed. Duke is playing better without him. Just maybe Coach K knows what he is doing. Matt has more than filled his sneakers, and Grayson is getting the opportunity to do the same. Just pray that no one gets hurt. When Winslow went down and grabbed his ankle, I saw the season flash before my eyes.

Winslow describing Duke’s ideal offensive performance: “We’re running, finishing, or getting in the lane, kicking and making threes. But at the same time, we can setup, feed Jahlil and play off him.”

One of the keys to the quick start and impressive win was Quinn Cook’s defense on his former DeMatha High School teammate Jerian Grant, holding him to shooting 3-10 for only 7 points. Quinn himself had 8 points and 5 assists.

The Blue Devils played a zone the second half and, understandably, didn’t shoot 80 % but still increased the winning margin. Coach K indicated in his press conference that his team would continue to play multiply defenses.

Other Comments:

Okafor has scored 10 or more points in 23 straight games, tying the Duke freshman record set by Johnny Dawkins in 1982-1983.
Brey spent eight years as a Duke assistant on Mike Krzyzewski’s staff on teams that won the 1991 and ’92 national titles. Brey, who also played at DeMatha for Coach Wooten, now is 2-3 against his former boss.
The Blue Devils earned their 18th straight 20-win season and their 30th in coach Mike Krzyzewski’s 35 seasons at the school.
Morgan Wooten, the legendary DeMatha High School coach of Cook, Grant, and Brey was at the game as well as David Robinson and his son, who will be on the basketball team next year. Another son was a freshman star wide receiver at Notre Dame this year.
Isabella Alerie, former Duke star Mark’s daughter, is a standout 6-3 frontcourt player for National Cathedral School in Washington, DC. What’s up with this? She committed to Princeton.

Alan Adds:

After my wildly successful pre-game prediction, I feel like The Toad from Wind in the Willow (Toad puffed visibly). Maybe we’ll change Alan Adds to “Speech by Toad”.

Duke was dazzling. While the offensive display in the first half was the stuff of legends (it must be memorialized on YouTube by now), it was the Duke defense that that left me with jaw agape in admiration. Not since the first half of the Furman game (and a lot of the Wisconsin game) has Duke been so cohesive, intense and dominating. Coach K said that the key was talking and the concept was “together” — did not matter whether zone or man, though Duke was strictly man to man in the first half. The defense was talking, helping, rotating and was completely “together”. The coach added that the “together” on defense sparked the offense. When you are “together” on defense, you are relying upon, trusting, and working with your teammates. This led to the same “together” on offense. To make the point dramatically, Okafor played only 8 minutes in the first half — two quick fouls within seconds of each other had him on the bench. Duke was playing to well for K to put him back in. When Jah went out with 11:57 left in the first half, Duke had an 8 point lead. With 4:40 left in the first half, Duke’s lead was 30 (43-13). In a little over 7 minutes, Notre Dame could only muster four points, while Duke was otherworldly on offense. All that without Okafor.

I also thought the second half contained at least one defining moment. In the second half, the Irish began to mount a comeback. Down 24 at the half, ND fought back to 60-42 with 13:26 left in the game. K called time out. Winslow took over the game for a few minutes, and Duke’s lead was restored to 30. In 70 seconds, he scored a layup and a foul shot, assisted Cook on a layup, and made a layup on an assist from Cook. His onslaught of energy continued: 2 defensive rebounds, 2 free throws, and then missed a layup; got his own rebound; missed another layup; got his own rebound again in a sequence that ended up with a Jah dunk to restore the 30 point lead with a little more than 10 minutes remaining. Game unofficially over.

Jah had an amazing second half with 16 points and 8 rebounds (7-9 from the field and 2-2 from the line). It felt as if Notre Dame wasn’t even trying to stop him. Winslow logged 31 minutes with 19 points (6-11; 1-2 from 3land; and, importantly, 6-8 from the line) and 11 boards. Coach K said that Winslow is growing up. Part of that process, said the coach, is learning to play through injury. He said Justise is doing that and “becoming the player we always thought he would be”. The guards were terrific, especially on defense. Quinn played a game high 36 minutes and deserves the praise heaped upon him by his coach for the outstanding defensive job done on Grant. Cook had 8 points (3-8; 2-3 from 3land), but more importantly had 5 assists and 0 turnovers. Tyus is becoming charismatic, I think. A Duke fan feels comfortable when the ball is in his hands. In his 34 minutes he scored 12 points on an efficient 4 shots (3-4; 2-3 from deep; and 4-6 from the line — 2 misses for him is shocking) to go with 5 boards, 7 assists and a steal while committing only 1 foul without a turnover. Together Quinn and Tyus had 12 assists without a turnover.

Matt Jones played the fourth most minutes (27) and drew high praise from his coach. K called him “a consummate team player”, who brings a tougher character to our team. His emergence began with the St. Johns game, and “his time is here — right now; not sometime in the future because he brings a unique verve to the team. He can guard all five positions (though we really don’t want him guarding a center, he can do it), and his teammates love playing with him.” He scored 17 on 6-9 from the field; 3-5 from deep and a perfect 2-2 from the line. Amile also had a good game in his 20 minutes (2-3 from the field with 5 boards; but only 3-6 from the line.

Marshall was a force in his 11 minutes (I think all were in the first half when Jah was on the bench). Grayson is getting his first real chance (16 minutes) and scored 5 on a 3 and 2-2 from the line. Everyone was talking about the block and Grayson’s athleticism to make it. Coach said “we haven’t yet seen what he can do, but he is going to help us this year.”

Coach K praised the zone defense in the second half, and said that Duke would continue to play multiple defenses this year. He thought the Cameron crowd had been tepid in the Ga Tech game, but was at its best yesterday.

Bill’s “heart in throat” moment when Justise rolled his ankle is so accurate. An injury changes the season, especially on a team with only 8 scholarship players. I have said that I think UVA is the best team in the country (including Kentucky), but how much that will change because of Justin Anderson’s broken finger remains to be seen. Next play is tomorrow night at Fla. State.

Duke 73- Florida State 70

This was a predictable regression to the mean Trap Game. Play a nearly perfect twenty minute first half in an emotionally and physically draining must win game on Saturday, Monday fly to play the third game in six days– an away game in a hostile arena against a big, strong team and vocal student body which doesn’t like you or your school. The will was there but the bodies were wanting. This kind of situation is a test of mental toughness and grit–win when you aren’t playing well. The last few years, this is a game that Duke would probably have lost. A prime example of the difference is Matt Jones. In the words of Coach K: “He had a horrible game. But he made the play of the game.” The play Krzyzewski was referring to was a charge that Jones took in the final two minutes, as the Seminoles’ Montay Brandon came barreling down the lane at him. FSU was behind 68-64, and that play temporarily halted their momentum. “I saw a 4-on-1 coming at me,” Jones said. “I saw them coming full speed, so I was like, ‘I’m going to stand here and take it. We work on situations like that in practice, and coach always tells us to go to the middle of the arc, and then let them come to you and be wide. Practice makes perfect.”

Once again, the referees let Okafor get mugged down low, yet called him for two quick fouls and he spent the second ten minutes on the bench. Have you ever seen a Player of the Year candidate get less respect from the refs? And once again, Marshall Plumlee filled in admirably as the Blue Devils increased their lead while their star center was on the bench. And once again Cook (26 pts) and Ty Jones (16 pts, 12 assists, 6 rebs)) led the way. Krzyzewski said : “I think Cook has been our most valuable guy. He has not only been a really good player, but he’s been a great leader. And our guys follow him. He has been one of my better leaders that I have had at Duke. I didn’t know that that would happen this year. Of all the guys, I’m most proud of him. And Ty had twelve assists and one turnover. He’s had a great month. He’s had a terrific year, but he’s had a great month. Those two guards have been rock solid for us.”

Since January 17th, Duke has won at Louisville, beaten Pitt at home, beat St. John’s in the Garden, lost by four at Notre Dame, beaten undefeated #2 Virginia at Virginia, hung on against Georgia Tech, destroyed Notre Dame, and survived at Tallahassee. During this stretch, the team also dealt with the circus surrounding Coach K’s 1,000th win, the disruption of Rasheed Sulaimon’s dismissal from the team, and working Grayson Allen into the rotation. I cannot remember a schedule as tough—even unfair compared to other top teams in the league—as this one. Another grueling stretch of three games in six days. Television contracts pay the bills but demand these crazy schedules with little regard for the players as students.

Other Comments:

Dean Smith, one of the greatest coaches in the history of basketball, died at 83. Coach Smith attended the University of Kansas on an academic scholarship where he majored in mathematics, played varsity basketball, varsity baseball, and freshman football, and was a member of the Air Force ROTC. He became an assistant coach at North Carolina under Frank McGuire and head coach in 1958, when McGuire left for South Carolina. His creative innovations (the “Four Corners” was responsible for the introduction of the shot clock), his team’s dominant, classy performances (he only had one losing season), and the players he recruited were the gold standard for college basketball. He and his teams (plus television) are a primary reason the Duke-Carolina rivalry went from local to national. As good as a coach as he was, he was a better man. He recruited Charlie Scott, the ACC’s first great African-American player, and after he took Charlie to dinner at a popular local restaurant, the color barrier in Chapel Hill and other places in North Carolina was never the same.
Coach K on Dean Smith: “The thing that Dean did the best is that he made men of the boys that came to him. And all those men revere him. They don’t love him, they revere him. That’s his biggest accomplishment. And he has done that better than anybody. I’m proud to be able to say that I was his friend. And I love him, and I love what he built and how he did it. It’s second to none. It’s really second to none. That’s why I don’t like to compare wins, championships and all that. No one could do it any better than him. Linnea and the kids have been incredible while he fought this horrible disease. So God bless him, God bless him, God bless him. We lost a great, great man in him.”
Despite saying that Duke would incorporate various defenses, Coach K appeared to stay with his man to man tonight.

Alan Adds:

Duke did not play well against Florida State under truly difficult circumstances. Good teams win road games under truly difficult circumstances when not playing well. For that reason, I believe that this Blue Devil win was every bit as impressive as the blowout of Notre Dame at Cameron. Some of difficult circumstances were pre-arranged — tough schedule, played at what has sometimes been a house of horrors for Duke against the second tallest team in college basketball. Some of the circumstances occurred when the game began. There was a clear hangover from the Notre Dame game. Duke’s first four shots were from deep without much passing (0-4). In the early going, the play looked more like football than basketball. Michael Ojo, 7’1” with a sculpted body — Jahlil looked small standing next to him — was very aggressive on Jah (though it was Jah called for the fouls). To give an idea, at the first media timeout (after 4 minutes and 7 seconds of play), the Seminoles led 2-0. The announcer speculated on a 0-0 game at the timeout and could not recall that ever happening. He said, “take the children away from the TV set; this is too ugly for them to watch.”. Duke’s first basket came after the teams had played for 6 minutes and 40 seconds (making the score 8-4 — Jah having made 2 free throws just a bit earlier). With 11:32 left in the first half, Jah was called for his second foul confining him to the bench for the rest of the half. Plumlee came in, and Tyus took over. He sandwiched his own jumper in between 2 dimes to Plumlee (Marshall’s only 4 points in the game came in his first two minutes on the floor). In his eleven minutes, Marshall added 3 boards and 2 blocks. I do not think he played in the second half, but Duke went from down 3 when he came in to up 8 at the end of the half.

How bad was Duke offensively in the first half? Besides Cook and Tyus, who carried the team, Grayson Allen was tied for the third most field goal attempts (1-3 for his only 2 points in the game) with Justise (0-3). Jahlil, Amile, Matt (0-1) and Justise combined for 0 baskets and 4 points (Jah was 2-2 from the line and Justise 2-4) in the first half. Excellent defense and the guards kept Duke in front. Quinn had 13 in the first half and was the recipient of some of Tyus’s 5 assists. The freshman point guard scored 9 and also led Duke in rebounding (4); Jah had 3.

In the second half, Duke’s defense melted down dramatically. It was as bad as the first half defense against Notre Dame was good. The Seminoles were 15-23 from the floor (3-4 from 3land) and took it to Duke. Duke made some excellent plays (Winslow blocks, Matt’s taking the charge on a 4-1 fast break at a crucial time), but overall the defense was porous. The Seminoles got to the rim and made medium and long range shots. But Duke never lost the lead — though a 14 point lead with 15 left to play in the game evaporated to a single point lead.

So why do I think that this win was as impressive as the win over the Irish? In a word, because Duke showed a grit and toughness that was unprecedented for this team so far. The guards were simply superb. But before we get to those two fabulous performances, let us spread some more credit around. Jah was 5-5 from the floor in the second half (but 1-3 from the line), and Justise (32 minutes; 1-6 from the field) hit 5-6 from the line at crunch time. He had 5 tough rebounds. Amile made his 2 foul shots (2 points; 5 boards for the game in 21 minutes). Grayson played hard and you can see his confidence grow, but did not score in the second half). Matt failed to score in 19 minutes (4 boards).

Duke won because Tyus Jones is morphing into the best player on the Duke team. He has “an old soul”. He controlled the game for Duke. He led Duke in rebounding and had 12 of Duke’s 14 assists against 1 turnover, while scoring 16 points (6-13 from the field; 2-4 from deep and 2-2 from the line in 39 minutes. What is so amazing to me about Tyus is that he only turns it on when Duke needs him. He’s big in big games. He is big in big moments within the game. He is embodying toughness, and his teammates follow him. So far this season, Duke’s best player. And he teams with Cook so seamlessly, and finds Cook with great passes. Cook was also amazing, usually finishing when Tyus finds him. Cook played the entire game, scoring 26 on 8-15 shooting (4-9 from deep and 6-7 from the line). Those two put Duke on their collective backs.

Florida State came out so physically that it knocked Duke back. It reminded me of how LSU beat Duke in JJ and Sheldon’s senior year in the Sweet 16. LSU just beat Duke up and Duke could not respond. In what seemed to me a similar situation, this team did respond with grit and real toughness, handled the physicality and found a way to win. For me, a very good sign; a win that impressed me as much as Duke’s other worldly performance against Notre Dame.

From here on, we cannot complain about the schedule. It is Wednesday night; Saturday for the rest of the regular season. Saturday vs Syracuse. Next Wednesday, a familiar opponent.

Duke 80– Syracuse 72

This team is developing a chemistry and a maturity beyond their years. A large part of this is due to the pre-natural calm and performance of Tyus Jones combined with Quinn Cook’s new found maturity, which now matches his considerable offensive skills. The final piece is that really good teams have a coaching staff who have a great feel for the ebbs and flow of a game, the strengths and weaknesses of their players, and can make real time decisions. But most importantly, coaches who are skilled at making strategic halftime adjustments and convince their players that the changes are the key to winning the game.

In the first half, Syracuse was ahead 39-36, mainly due to 19 points by Michael Gbinije, who was a Duke player as a freshman before transferring to Syracuse. At halftime, Duke changed its lineup and defensive assignments: Quinn Cook switched to Gbinije, his freshman roommate and former practice partner, with instructions to go over not under the high ball screens; Matt Jones started in place of Amile Jefferson and guarded Trevor Cooney. Gbinije and Cooney were neutralized and Syracuse shot 38% rather than 48%, the Blue Devils shot 62% not 39% as Duke outscored Syracuse 44-33. (Another example of the inverse relationship between missed shots and an opponent’s offensive efficiency) Of course, the devil is in all the details of the win: Okafor outplayed Christmas with not only with his offensive prowess but also with his improving defense; Matt Jones played 32 very productive minutes (raise your hand if you thought Matt would be this good this soon); Grayson Allen had 5 points and 2 steals in eight minutes; and to seal the deal, Duke was 19-22 from the foul line as Cook and T. Jones were perfect in the last minutes.

Alan makes the interesting point that Duke is a perfect 5-0 since the dismissal of Rasheed Sulaimon, including wins at Virginia and Syracuse, plus a 30-point home victory over Notre Dame. Is that enough evidence to suggest that the team’s chemistry is better without the talented Sulaimon? Or is it simply evidence that the youngest Duke team in 32 years is growing up late in the season? We know this team is resilient, we know it is poised on the road and in the clutch, and we know that it has the best inside-outside balance of any Duke team in many, many years. And we know, so far so good with only eight scholarship players but the tram cannot afford an injury.

A reality check: This team will go as far as the defense takes it. While the Syracuse win was an impressive one, the defense was less so. Syracuse penetrated and/or got the ball down low far too easily and far too many times. Fortunately, however, about ten contested point blank shots failed to fall. Also, of note is that despite Coach K talking about varying defenses, Duke appeared to played man-to-man the entire game.

Nobody else in college basketball has three road victories to match Duke’s resume wins at Wisconsin (the almost certain Big Ten champ), Virginia (the likely ACC regular season champ) and Louisville. Duke currently has 10 top 50 RPI wins, which is more than anybody else in college basketball (Kansas has nine).

Additional comments:

Michael Gbinije, who demonstrated a very impressive and complete offensive repertoire, has scored 20 points in three consecutive games and double-digits in five straight. He’s shot better than 60 percent during that stretch, and better than 70 percent in the past two. If he continues to play at this level, he will be a POY candidate next year. Krzyzewski said: “Look, we recruited Mike because we thought he was good, so that doesn’t surprise me. I wish he had stayed. However, it’s the new normal, about 650 other players transferred last year.”
Ty Jones, among other attributes, is as good a rebounding guard for a player of his size as you will see. Tonight, he had 6 rebounds, one less than Winslow. There should be no surprise about Ty’s performance, he started as an eighth grader for his high school team.
Duke, once again, sold out the Carrier Dome—35,446 seats. This year, no team in the ACC has played as many tough road games as the Blue Devils.

Alan Adds:

It seems time to look at the season’s goals in relation to the remaining games on the schedule. The first goal is to secure one of the four byes into the third round of the ACC tournament. (Teams 5 –10 receive a bye into the second round), which begins on Tuesday , March 10, for the 4 lowest seeds. Winning the ACC tournament and going deep into the NCAA tournament are the other obvious goals. Gaining the double bye is an important step to increasing the odds of a successful run in the ACC tournament.

After Saturday’s games, UVA seems secure in the # 1 seed (11-1 with home games against Pittsburg, Florida State and Virginia Tech; road games against Wake — whom they nipped at home last night by a point — Syracuse and Louisville). The loss of Justin Anderson seems to have thrown them off a bit (three very close wins since he was hurt). He may or may not be back for the tournament.

Notre Dame is 10-3 with home games against Clemson, Syracuse and Wake Forest, and road games at BC and Louisville. Duke is 9-3 with 4 home games against UNC, Clemson, Syracuse and Wake; and 2 road games — at UNC and Virginia Tech. Duke holds a tie breaker against Notre Dame.

UNC and Louisville are 8-4. UNC is on the road against Duke, Georgia Tech and Miami; home against Duke, Georgia Tech and NC State. Louisville is home against Miami, (and in the last two games of the season) Notre Dame and UVA; on the road against Georgia Tech, Florida State and Syracuse.

The point is nothing is decided yet, which is why the win last night at Syracuse was far more than ceremonial. Coach K made the necessary adjustments, changing defensive assignments and going small. Amile logged only 14 minutes ( 2 points and 3 boards) compared to Matt Jones’s 32 minutes — 4th most on the team yesterday. Marshall and Grayson Allen played 8 minutes, with Allen contributing substantially in his time (5 points on a 3 and 2-2 from the line to go with 2 assists, a rebound and a steal). His contribution was substantial and even more astounding because, according to Coach K, he had injured himself shooting around after practice on Thursday, and was on crutches all day Friday. He is growing into his role. Jah earned high praise from his coach. Duke couldn’t help defensively on Christmas (whom K called one of the 10 best players in the country) because of the outside shooting of Silent G (Gbinije) and Cooney. Jah outplayed Christmas without much help on defense and was unstoppable on offense. In his 34 minutes, Jah was 10-15 from the floor; 3-4 from the line with 13 rebounds. He was the recipient of some tremendous passes on the break. He is such a great finisher. Duke had 19 assists on 27 field goals – Tyus (6), Quinn (5), Justise and Matt (3) and 2 for Grayson.

Coach K credited Quinn’s second half defense on Gbinije while Matt shut down Cooney. Quinn played 40 minutes, scoring 17 (clutch foul shooting — 7-8) while Tyus played 35 minutes (11 points; 4-4 from the line, including crunch time — not to mention 6 rebounds. Justise fouled out in his 29 minutes, scoring 12 (3-3 from the line) and pulling down 7 boards. Duke was 19-22 from the line, which contributed to the win. Syracuse was heroic, but got 0 points and only 15 total minutes from the bench. Very difficult to finish with only 5 players.

Duke seems secure unless one looks at what the situation would be if UNC wins at Cameron on Wednesday. Then, Duke is on the outside looking in. One of the season’s biggest games is this Wednesday in Cameron against UNC.

Duke 92 – Carolina 90

In many important ways, the two teams and coaches locking arms at center court before the game in a moving memory of Dean Smith said as much about the game, the rivalry, and what college sports should be about as anything else that happened in Cameron tonight. Wanting passionately to win is one thing, but to RESPECT like this made — or maybe set the stage for— a classic game in a great rivalry.

Alan & Bill

We live in a world rife with hype and hyperbole– but not when you talk about Duke-Carolina basketball games, because these games are the real deal. Remarkably, the combined score of the past 79 Duke-UNC games is 6,314-6,306 –advantage Duke. The memories of Dick Groat, Art Heyman & Larry Brown, Fred Lind, Michael Jordan, Walter Davis, Sam Perkins, Bobby Jones, Phil Ford, Gene Banks, Tate Armstrong, Johnny Dawkins, Jeff Capel, Chris Duhon, Joe Forte, Shane Battier, JJ Redick, and Austin Rivers (among others) have given us moments you had to see to believe, because people would think you are making all this stuff up. Before tonight’s game, the results of the last 88 games are 44 Duke and 44 Carolina—and at the end of forty minutes it was 44.5 to 44.5 because the score was tied—another instant classic. Wake up Tommy, this game is going to OVERTIME!

Coming into tonight’s game Duke seemingly had everything going for them: they had won five games in a row, were rank the #4 team in the country, and were playing on the uber friendly Coach K court in Cameron Indoor Stadium. On the other hand, Carolina had been inconsistent and struggling, having had lost four of their last five games. And Blue Devils started like they were going to run the Tar Heels out of the gym and all the way back to Chapel Hill. However, UNC hustled, rebounded, ran, and closed a double digit lead to seven points at the break. Oh well, every team makes runs.

However, in the second half Carolina kept their momentum and took charge as Duke appeared out-of-gas. UNC was up ten with 3:50 left and seven with 1:38 remaining. At this point, Duke looked as dead as road kill. Raise your hand if you believed the moribund Duke team could/would rally from these deficits. Well, the smallest man on the court personally put the Blue Devils on his back and scored nine points in an 11-2 run to tie the score at 81-81, forcing overtime in the greatest rivalry in college sports.

The next five minutes didn’t disappoint. Up three, down three, up three with five seconds on the clock and Carolina on the line. Made the first, missed left on the second shot on a set play as the Heels crash that way for the rebound. Body’s high flying, contact, Paige almost gets the ball but Winslow secures with two hands and taps to Ty Jones in the corner. Game over! As Roy said: “It was a great college basketball game– if you didn’t care who won.” There may be no moral victories but this North Carolina team proved that when they play as hard as they did tonight, they can beat any team. And these young Blue Devils proved once again that they are as good, maybe better, than their hype– and are as tough as they are talented.

As exciting as the game was, it was no masterpiece: too many missed foul shots, too many I-can’t-believe-he-did-that misplays. But a heavyweight fight that goes more than fifteen rounds takes its toll both physically and mentally. However, free throw shooting and defense are still the Achilles Heel of this team. As great a college player as he is, Okafor was 0-6 from the line and the team was an unacceptable 16-31. Fortunately, Duke shot better from beyond arc tonight (63%) than from free-throw line (47%). Cook was nearly automatic from downtown, draining five 3-pointers and locking down Tar Heel playmaker Marcus Paige (“My teammates got it done, I didn’t”). But Tokoto, an amazing athlete (15 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists), made up for Marcus’ subpar performance. He had more points in this game than in his previous three combined. He had been 3 of 15 for 14 points in his last three games.

Here is a very disturbing stat: 15-of-20, 36 points, 19 rebounds. That was the combined stat line of North Carolina’s starting frontcourt. Add in Joel James off the bench and it was 18-of-24 for 42 points and 24 rebounds. North Carolina finished with 62 points in the paint. However, when the game was on the line, Duke’s defense made stops.

Other comments:

In the first half, Okafor came down awkwardly and sprained his ankle. He was assisted to the locker room and returned to play the second half. After showering and dressing, he left Cameron a walking boot. Stay tuned.
With only an eight man rotation, Duke can go big or small. When they go big, Okafor usually is double teamed, because defenses do not respect Jefferson or Plumlee. If Duke goes small, Okafor usually is not doubled, because with Matt Jones, an opponent has to defend the perimeter. However, going small hurts defending a big front line. Choose your poison. Three beats two—if the threes are falling.
For the first time since the Alexander Graham Bell, Dick Vitale did not announce the game.
Tweet of the night from Anonymous: “Watched #DUKE vs UNC check, screamed all game check, flirted with cardiac arrest check, massive headache check. #DUKE gets W. = All worth it.

Alan Adds:

Duke’s rotation was very short last night, but the Devils did not falter in the last 8-9 minutes of the game (3:32 in regulation when down 10, and the 5 minute overtime).The big 3 logged prodigious minutes — Quinn never came out (45); Tyus (43) and Jah played 41 minutes — when he returned from the ankle sprain, he never again came out of the game. This game was hard fought and not always pretty. Tyus had 6 turnovers and Jahlil had 5. Quinn turned it over 3 times, making 14 for Duke’s big 3. Duke had long stretches where Carolina dominated the Devil defensive board, creating additional possessions and put backs.

Winslow continues to be the less heralded spark for this team. In the first 9 minutes of the game he and Duke were dominant. Duke led by 12 — controlling both ends of the floor — when Justise picked up his second foul and went to the bench. When he returned, Coach K observed that Justise wasn’t really mentally ready, and did not play that well. That is the stretch where things turned against Duke. Justice’s playing time was limited by his foul trouble (4 in his 29 minutes). However when he is in the zone that he can reach, Duke is a tremendous team, and he was there in the end of regulation and in the overtime. Duke got terrific minutes from Amile (29) and Matt (27) and that was virtually it. Marshall logged 7 minutes and Grayson only 4 — all in the first half.

Duke’s backcourt is earning praise as one of the country’s best. Quinn was dynamic from behind the arc and in his defensive play against UNC’s star (pre-season All American), Marcus Paige. He was 7-15 from the field (6-9 from behind the arc and 2-4 from the line) to go with 4 rebounds and 3 assists. He is such a leader. Tyus was simply spectacular down the stretch. Coach K said that Tyus had not just special talent, but special qualities. He has been showing that all season in big games and at big moments. He and Quinn each scored 22 (Tyus was 7-16; 2-5 from 3land and a crucial 6-7 from the line) to go with 7 boards and 8 assists. K said that when Duke went small — without Amile, UNC could not double Okafor, who made Carolina pay when guarded straight up. He had 13 boards to go with 12 points (6-11 from the field) 3 assists, two steals and a block. The downside was 0-6 from the line and 5 turnovers. He is not simply a talent; he plays with passion and intensity, especially at crunch time. He is a great teammate. Amile had 13 points on 5-7 shooting and 5 rebounds. Justise scored 16 on 6-10 shooting (1-1 from deep) and grabbed 7 boards. Both Amile and Justise were 3-6 from the line, meaning Duke’s 3 major front court players were 6-16 from the foul line. Duke was only 3-9 from the line in the overtime. Someday that will bite, but not last night.

Matt played great defense and pulled down 5 boards. He was 2-4 (1-1 from deep) for 5 points. He had an assist and a steal with 0 turnovers. Marshall grabbed 2 boards in his 7 minutes and Grayson missed both shots, but was 2-2 from the line.

It was simply a classic Duke-Carolina game. As Coach K said, both teams played well enough to have won. He is so proud — as we should be — as this teams grows in character and grit. There is great talent for sure, and there is a lot of basketball left to be played before we can measure this team, but en route they are proving tough and resilient. They are respecting the game, the opponent, and Duke itself. It was a great night for Duke basketball and us, the fans.

It will be hard to get up for Clemson on Saturday after a superb effort like this one.

Duke 78– Clemson 56

With a dapper looking Jahlil Okafor on the bench with a protective boot/cast on his injured ankle, Coach K played Russian Roulette with his remaining seven scholarship players as he borrowed a page out of Dean Smith’s (and UConn’s) playbook implementing two different variations of three quarter court presses—a 2-2-1 and a 1-2-2 after free throws—and traps when the Tigers crossed half court. He dodged a bullet as none of the Magnificent Seven (sorry, couldn’t resist the allusion to that wonderful movie) fouled or flamed out as they forced 14 turnovers and 10 steals, many of which led to fast break points and forced the Tiger’s out of their methodical offensive comfort zone. It was the kind of creative move we have come to expect from Krzyzewski when faced with an unexpected loss of a key starter. And while Clemson has not won in Cameron in this century, it was a potential Trap Game following just 72 hours after the physically and mentally draining come-from-behind overtime win against arch rival North Carolina. But a surprise compensatory strategy like this is one of the reasons the maestro has won 1,007 college basketball games.

The trap/press attacked Clemson at their weakness and the players executed it surprisingly well. Actually, the turnovers and steals led to easy baskets for the Blue Devils, which in turn seemed to energize their defensive effort. Winslow more than rose to the occasion with his best game of the season with 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 steals. And the indefatigable Quinn Cook had 27 points, 4 assists as well as continuing his newfound aptitude for and dedication to defense. Ty Jones had 11 points, 9 assists, and 4 steals, while the rapidly improving Grayson Allen scored 10 points in a variety of impressive ways. Much of Matt Jones’ contributions did not show up on the stat sheet as is true of Marshall Plumlee’s physicality and aggressiveness in the paint. When Duke had to execute a half-court offense, it usually went through Winslow, who ended the first half with 17 points as Duke led 42-27 at the break without hitting a single three pointer. The victory makes Duke107-30 against Clemson and 58-4 in Cameron. The Tigers haven’t won at Cameron since 1995.

An emotionally drained Coach K said that “This was one of the best wins we’ve had here in a long time” and that Okafor’s ankle had no structural damage and was getting stronger every day. But he made no promises about Wednesday night’s game at Virginia Tech.

Other comments:

Who are the Players of the Year? Easy, the Duke Freshman class.
Krzyzewski was asked what he had to teach his precocious his freshman point guard, Ty Jones: ”Talk more. Be more vocal. Be a mother. Tell everyone what to do and where to be. Mothers are the greatest point guards in the world. It’s eat this. Do that. Make your bed. If she has four kids, every one of them is nourished.”
Quinn Cook made 3 three pointers, the 37th consecutive game he has at least one made 3-pointer. He has 74 three pointers on the season. When Cook finally took a seat on the bench with 1:16 left, it was the first time he had been off the floor since the end of the Notre Dame game, a total of 164 minutes. Krzyzewski compared his durability to that of Johnny Dawkins, Chris Duhon, and Bobby Hurley, three never-get-tired legends.
Okafor may be a leading candidate for National Player of the Year but he may have a tough time beating Cook out for ACC Player of the Year.
If Okafor doesn’t fully recover from his ankle injury, the Carolina victory will be a Pyrrhic victory.
The rumors of his forced retirement are greatly exaggerated: Dickie V was back in the house and behind the ESPN microphone.

Did you know? The Duke Blue Devils were almost the Blue Titans, Blue Eagles, Polar Bears (yes, really), Royal Blazes, or Blue Warriors. All were options–and none had any more support than the other. The Blue Devil is a reference to the World War I soldiers from France known as the Blue Devils of France. Their uniform had a flowing cape and was known for their courage. They even toured the U.S. raising money for the war effort. However, no one really liked any of the options for the mascot, but student paper editors were in favor of the Blue Devil mascot and so The Trinity Chronicle started using “Blue Devils” in 1922.

Alan Adds:

Coach K called the win “spectacular” — “one of the best wins we have had”. His game plan was superb. Duke employed a soft press (3/4 court) in two variations — a 1-2-2 (after made free throws) and a 2-2-1 (that reminded me of the wonderful UCLA press created by Wooden back in the 60s). The press completely disrupted Clemson. The key to beating a press is to get easy baskets. Once an offensive team gets by the first wave, it enjoys a numbers advantage that should produce easy baskets. The effectiveness of the press is measured by the positive the press produces — steals, turnovers, 10 second violations — against the deficits — easy baskets. Clemson simply could not attack the press for easy baskets. Not one! When Clemson avoided the steal and turnover, the Tigers could do no more than get into its half court set. To make the point, Clemson tried to press Duke at the beginning of the second half. Tyus got the inbound and hit Matt with a long full court pass for an easy dunk. Duke beat the Clemson press in maybe 2 seconds for the easy score. Clemson never pressed again. Coach K said that it was natural to fall back from the press into a zone defense. The zone protected Duke from foul trouble and played against Clemson’s weakness. Coach K insightfully pointed out that it’s some of what you do (playing good zone defense), but also Clemson missed the open 3s that they did achieve against the zone. It was a great defense against a team whose strength is not shooting (remember the Louisville game).

Offensively, Duke was dominant. In the first half, when the 3s were not falling (1-7; Winslow’s only 3 of the game), Duke was 17-26 from inside the arc and 5-5 from the line. In the second half, Clemson made its only run of the game and with 14:02 left in the game had reduced a 14 point lead to 10 (51-41). Duke’s response was dramatic — 6-6 from the 3 point line, initiated by Grayson Allen’s only basket of the second half, followed by an offensive explosion that pushed the lead to 30 (76-46) with a little under 5 minutes to go. Clemson was simply gutted. For the game, Duke was 23-38 from inside the arc, which is amazing (7-20 from 3land). Duke had 19 fast break points off turnovers, 42 points in the paint and 15 assists on 30 field goals.

Quinn was jaw-droppingly good in his 39 minutes, defending superbly in the zone and scoring a career high (tied) 27 points on 11-18 shooting (3-7 from 3land and 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 rebounds; 4 assists and a steal. Coach K lavished praise — “I’m not sure there is anyone in the conference playing better.” “The relationship between Quinn and Tyus is better than I ever could have expected. I knew it would be good, but it has exceeded my expectations.” Tyus logged 39 minutes also, though he had a statistically quiet game — if you can call 9 assists, 4 steals and 11 points quiet.

Justise was all that I have said I thought he could be. He dominated the Clemson defense in the first half (17 points on 7-11; 1-1 and 2-2) and 6 tough rebounds. He logged 37 minutes making the zone defense effective with his energy, and keeping Duke’s small team from being dominated on the boards with his 13 rebounds. He is such a stud athlete. If he improves his medium range game he will become James Harden. He was simply amazing and was visibly the best athlete on the floor.

After the Big 3 against Clemson, Duke received contributions from all (almost all, as Amile had a bit of a subpar game). The bench — Grayson and Marshall — contributed 42 terrific minutes. Marshall played 24 minutes with 3 boards, 3 points and some real defensive contribution inside in the zone. Welcome Grayson Allen to the realm of valuable player. He scored 10 in his 18 minutes and demonstrated his hustle, defensive chops and athleticism. His first basket was a delicious lob-dunk from Tyus. He was 2-3 from the field and 3-3 from the line for 7 in the first half. He played the back line in the zone and you could see his confidence beginning to soar. Matt played a quiet (on offense) 25 minutes as a starter. He missed quite a few wide open 3s (1-6 from behind the arc), scored 5 points, but had 5 rebounds and played wonderful defense. On one play he knocked the ball loose while playing defense, dived on the floor to secure it and in the same motion flipped it to Tyus, who hit Justise for the open court slam. It was a beautiful play and demonstrated why Coach K loves Matt. Only Amile was a bit unproductive, logging only 16 minutes (2 fewer than Grayson, which tells us something) scoring 2 points (1-2; the one was the second basket of the game for Duke) with 0 boards; 0 assists; 0 free throw attempts, and 2 turnovers.

Coach K got the most out of Jah’s absence. First, Jah was a great teammate and really into the game (actually helping Quinn up after a great play). Second, any thoughts of a let down after the great Carolina win were eliminated by the need to emotionally replace Jah’s presence. When I heard that Jah was not playing, I actually felt that it worked to Duke’s advantage emotionally. Finally, the confidence the team has to have after playing so dominantly without Jah will help this team make the leap from very good with potential to the next level. Coach K is gushing over his team’s development. As each of the components of the team gains in confidence that is produced by achievement, you can see the team grow. This Duke team is beginning to remind me of the NY Knicks (circa 1970-73) in their ability to find the open man, trust and rely on teammates, and to collectively defend. This was a wow game!

Duke 91- Virginia Tech 86

For the second game in a row Coach K played Russian Roulette –but of a different kind. After an very impressive win playing a soft three quarter court zone press against Clemson without Jahlil Okafor, he went back to a man man-to- man defense when the second unit substitutions gave up three quick threes to cut deeply into an eleven point lead and jump started the Hokies.* Sound familiar to the Carolina game? He stayed with the man defense until Duke was down seven points with fifteen minutes left in the game. Then Coach K called a time out, reluctantly switched to what appeared to a straight defend the three 1-2-2 (or 3-2) zone. Four minutes later, Duke was up two. The game was a cliff hanger and went to overtime but Duke’s superior talent—particularly Okafor, Cook, and Winslow—and a regression to the mean finally caught up with Virginia Tech.

The Blue Devils really dodged my metaphorical bullet as they were lucky to survive when their two weaknesses were simultaneously in play: the inability to defend off the dribble which led to an insanely accurate three point shooting night by the Hokies (12 threes) combined with the Devils missing 11 free throws. However, thanks to Okafor’s 30 points and Cook’s 26 points (6 threes) the Blue Devils shot 59 %. Obviously, Jah’s “game time decision” was a game changer.

While Virginia Tech’s record places them at the bottom of the league, this is misleading. They are young, small and very well coached as tonight’s game plan demonstrated. They executed well, exploited Duke’s continuing inability to consistently keep opposing guards from penetrating and shot threes like they formerly had only dreamed about in front of a delirious home crowd. It was another arena full of amped up students looking to rush the floor at the end of the game after their team upset nationally ranked Duke, then go back to the dorm, call their parents and friends, and watch it replayed on ESPN SportsCenter–what else is new. This is the new normal version of five seconds of fame.

The bottom line is that this was an ugly but another impressive win precisely because it was an infinitely losable game that was so important. As a coach told me years ago: “Good teams consistently find ways to win close games.” Notre Dame, North Carolina, and Wisconsin all lost yesterday, so the door is now wide open for a two seed in the ACC Tournament and a possible one seed in the NCAA Championship Tournament. Duke just has to keep winning. Easier said than done; but that is why this is so much fun!

Every future opponent, especially an undersized mid-major that draws Duke in NCAA Tournament, will attempt to follow the Hokie’s game plan.

Krzyzewski said: “We have had to cut practice so short because of numbers, that’s why you’ve seen slippage on defense. We didn’t play well defensively. Everything we tried, they had a counter to, until the last play of regulation. It’s the second time in two weeks we’ve won an overtime game, and the other team had the ball on the last possession. I’m proud of my guys to be able to make a stop at that time.”

The other stop Krzyzewski was referring to was against North Carolina. Marcus Paige missed a contested jumper at the end of regulation, and J.P. Tokoto missed a jumper from the baseline in overtime. This one was a lot closer as the ball on the final drive in regulation was less than an inch from falling off the rim and into the basket at the buzzer. Instead, it bounced off.

Even more important than the win was the condition of Okafor’s injured ankle. Well, he had 30 points on 13-of-18 shooting , a new career-high (in 37 minutes) and Duke needed every one of them. After the game he said that his ankle felt fine, but he didn’t know he was going to play until he got into the locker room before the game. “My coaches had told me to let them know if I wanted to play or not,” he said. “Once I got in the locker room and saw my teammates get ready, there was no way I wasn’t playing today.”

“If he would have said, ‘I don’t think so,’ then we wouldn’t have played him,” Krzyzewski said. “And we would have lost.”

*Like most of you, I didn’t see the start of the game because the Richmond, VCU game went to overtime and I didn’t tap into the goduke.com video soon enough, so I don’t know what went on offensively or defensively when Duke started the game by going up 11 points. It is one reason why I don’t like ESPN not allowing more time between double headers.

Alan Adds:

It was a weird and interesting game, from which I believe Duke takes a lot of positives. The game was watchable before ESPN by going to goduke.com and clicking on watch live. So I did see the entire first half as Duke built an 11 point lead after a bit more than nine minutes had elapsed. I thought it was going to be a repeat of the Clemson blow out, but Duke got sloppy defensively in its 3/4 court press and left Hokie shooters open. The result was three consecutive threes for VT while Duke committed turnovers. Once VT was back in the game, all the emotional momentum swung toward the Hokies.

Va. Tech has lost a whole lot of close games; the team is small and young, but has played with admirable heart all year. Here was their moment! All the shots were falling (70% in the first half; 12-22 for the game from behind the arc and 12-15 from the line), and the crowd was rabid. The elements for a monumental upset were fully present. Frankly, if we weren’t dyed in the wool Duke fans, we would have been rooting for the courageous Hokies. While Duke was offensively good, Duke seemed lethargic — especially on the defensive end. It was, as Bill points out, a game that could easily have been lost, as other top 15 teams lost this week (Kansas, Wisconsin, Notre Dame and even UNC). But, Duke won, and in doing so, demonstrated the character of this team that has Coach K effusive in his praise for the team’s desire to win. “You can’t coach that, and these kids have it.”

Jah was amazing on offense, playing 37 minutes and scoring a career high 30 points (13-18 from the field and 4-9 from the line). Coach K singled out Justise for changing the game by his full court drives when Duke was down 8. He got tough rebounds and was an energetic defender. In 39 minutes, he scored 15 on 7-12 from the field (0-1 from both 3land and the line) to go with 7 boards, 2 steals and a block. When he fouled out with 1:21 to go in the overtime and Duke clinging to a one point lead, it seemed a bad moment for Duke’s chances. But Quinn came to the rescue. After a very quiet first half, scoring only 5 (2-5 from the field; 1-4 from 3land), he exploded in the second half to lead Duke to victory. Simply, he stepped up the way veteran leaders do, scoring 21 in the second half and overtime (5-7 from behind the arc and a layup; 4-6 from the line). He closed out on a potential three point shooter at crunch time. His three with a minute to go in the overtime, after Va. Tech had crawled back to within a point, gave Duke a two possession lead and a strangle hold on the game. He was quite special, earning K’s praise, “He’s a first team All Conference performer.” Both Quinn and Tyus played the entire 45 minutes, though Tyus had his worst shooting night (3-10 from the field; 1-5 from 3land without a single free throw attempt). However, he handed out nine assists and controlled Duke’s efficient offense. Matt Jones was efficient in his 32 minutes, scoring 7 (2-2 on clutch layups at crunch time and1-2 from behind the arc). He had key assists, 3 steals and played hard as a starter.

Duke played a very short rotation with Marshall playing only six minutes (0 points; 0 boards; a turnover and 2 fouls) and Grayson only 7 (scoring 4 on 1-2 from behind the arc and 1-2 from the line. Jefferson played sparingly — 14 minutes; 6 rebounds and 2-4 from the line. He replaced Jah on defense in the overtime. As great Jah was (is) offensively, he was a defensive liability. When he gives help, he was giving up the roll to the basket for easy layups. I am not sure how Duke wanted to play it (rotation from the weak side, or Jah not defending the ball so aggressively?), but Coach K played offense-defense with Amile through most of the overtime. The bench played only a total of 27 minutes collectively in an overtime game.

If Duke had lost, it would have been free throw shooting, which was terrible. Only Cook shot better than 50% (67% is far under his 90% average). Amile was 2-4 and Grayson 1-2; the only other Duke players to reach 50%. Justise was 0-1 (failed to convert a 3 point play) and Jah is becoming a Hack-a-Shaq candidate with only 4-9. Without Quinn, Duke shot 7-16 from the line (compared to VT’s 12-15). Sooner or later that will bite, if foul shooting by the bigs does not improve. But the headline was Coach K’s, “My team finally participated at the level worthy of winning.” And so they did! A feat worth savoring.

Duke 73- Syracuse 54

As the season progresses, you want your team to improve by developing chemistry, being resilient, and staying healthy. After a too-close-for-comfort win at Virginia Tech, I was anticipating a strong game in Cameron against Syracuse, which seems to have replaced Maryland as Duke’s second most intense rival. The Blue Devils did not disappoint. The key to beating a zone is ball movement, because crisp passing moves faster than any defender. And one key is to get the ball into the high or low post to a versatile player who can either score or want to pass to an open teammate on the perimeter. Jahlil Okafor is that man squared. Of course, then the perimeter players need to hit open threes. If they do, game over as it was tonight 73-54. The other key is to defend well so there are plenty of open court opportunities to score before the zone defense has time to set up. Altering man-to-man and zone defenses and applying occasional full-court pressure, Duke prevented ‘Cuse from getting into any offensive rhythm. Of course, it helps when an opponent does not have a true point guard. They only shot 31% from the field. Thanks primarily to Quinn Cook and Matt Jones, Gbinije, who scored a career-high 27 points in the team’s first meeting, finished with 12 points shooting just 5-of-20 from the floor. As a team, Syracuse shot only 31 % from the field.

In the month Sulaimon has been gone, the Blue Devils have gone 9-0, with three wins over top 15 teams – the same number of such wins they had in the first twenty games with Sulaimon. That is primarily because Matt Jones has taken advantage of his additional minutes and proven so productive as an ultimate, versatile team player that he has earned many of Amile Jefferson’s minutes and Justice Winslow has shot 53 percent from the floor and scored in double figures in the last ten games. Of course, Okafor has scored in double figures in every game and often has double doubles. Cook has been more productive than anyone not named Krzyzewski could have imagined, and Ty Jones plays like a seasoned veteran.

So, Duke has positioned themselves for a terrific stretch run if defense is not a game to game question mark, the Big Guys shoot foul shots like the Small Guy firm of Jones, Cook, Jones, and Allan. However, the biggest impediment may be injuries. Cook turned his ankle, went to the locker room, had it examined and re-taped, returned and immediately hit a three. Okafor, who missed one game with his sprained left ankle, had it tighten up tonight during warm-ups, so he had to go back inside for more physical therapy and a new tape job. How much better (except for free throws) could he have played? And Coach K casually mentioned in his press conference that what was advertised as the “bruised ribs and shoulder soreness” that Winslow was dealing with since January 19 was actually a fractured rib. (Coach is an old Army guy and unless you are missing a limb, you are only “sore” or “nicked”.) Since the Pittsburgh game, Justice has been playing with protective padding under his jersey, and, clearly, it is better and he has gotten used to the protective vest. And, oh yes, eighth man Grayson Allan has a sprained ankle.

So, going into postseason with a short bench, the need to get and stay healthy is even a more pressing concern than defense or free throw shooting.

Additional comments:

I take no delight in noting the team’s success since Sulaimon left as I admired his passion and contributions to the team and the school. It is also noteworthy that he is still in school, going to classes, and registered to go to summer school. This optimizing his options. In addition, in this world of rampant social media where there are apparently few secrets and many untruths in circulation, no one outside the tight Duke Basketball circle seems to know the real story surrounding his dismissal and as far as I know, no knowledgeable person–especially Sully– is tweeting or communicating anything. How tough must it be for Rasheed to stay in school, watch from a distance the success of the team, which was such a major part of his life for almost three years?
Joe Lunardi and his Brackatology talk during the game was even more annoying Dick Vitale! To quote Ms. Clinton: At this point, WHAT DIFFERENT DOES IT MAKE? The season isn’t over for another week! That talk is a time filler for ESPN when they have run all the highlights. And speaking of ESPN, will someone tell me how to access ESPN3 or wherever they direct you to see a game whose start has once again been preempted by a previous game lasting more than two hours.

Alan adds:

Wednesday night, Duke plays its last game of the season in Cameron against Wake, and will close the home career of the team’s only graduating scholarship senior, Quinn Cook. It has been a pleasure to watch Quinn sometimes struggle, but truly grow in his four year career into a superb clutch performer and team leader. We used to be able to do that with teams and players regularly before the “one and done” period. Duke hangs banners for regular season ACC championships, ACC tournament championships, and NCAA Final Four Appearances in the hallowed rafters of Cameron. Quinn stayed in Durham last summer and worked assiduously on his game and his conditioning. He said in pre-season interviews that in his three years, his teams had hung no banners in the rafters. The most success Duke had in those years was a Sweet Sixteen win in his sophomore year (sandwiched between two shocking losses in opening NCAA games). Quinn was very clear that he was motivated to hang a banner in Cameron in this, his senior season. Virginia has virtually clinched the regular season title. Duke will get a double bye in the ACC tournament, which is Quinn’s best chance to hang a banner. This is one reason that I believe Duke fans should ardently embrace the Blue Devils pursuit of the ACC tournament crown. It would be a fitting conclusion to Quinn’s career to win that title (which would, of course, insure a #1 seed in the NCAA). Of course, Duke has aspirations for a deep run in the NCAA, and certainly a Final Four appearance is a realistic goal. But it would be fitting for Duke and Quinn to win the title in Greensboro (The finals are on March 14).

Duke’s defense returned to excellent against the Orange, which was gratifying after the porous performance against Virginia Tech. While Coach K ran a man to man defense for virtually the whole game, it had an interesting zone-like tweak to it. Tyus was the on the ball defender against the Syracuse point guard, but when the ball moved from the point to other Orange players, Tyus moved down into the lane with two purposes: 1) to help against Christmas; and 2) to prevent or make difficult perimeter drives into the lane that had been so successful two weeks ago. It worked like a charm. Tyus was there to help Quinn when Silent G tried to penetrate into the lane (also allowing Quinn to close out aggressively); the result that Gbinije was 5-20 from the field (2-9 from 3land) and never made it to the foul line. Superb defense. Matt is a truly gifted defender, and Justise has demonstrated a wonderful energy, quickness, and strength on the defensive end. He steals on the perimeter, defends the rim (3 blocks against ‘Cuse), and comes up with the tough rebounds and 50-50 balls. Jah had an excellent defensive game against a player, who is an ACC player of the Year candidate, as well as dominant performance on the boards (14; 7 on offense). It was simply a grand defensive show, if you ignore Duke’s weak defensive rebounding in the first part of the first half.

Offensively, the two halves were completely different. The game started off beyond sloppy. Duke turned it over 7 times in the first eight minutes while Roberson scored on 3 straight offensive rebounds in the first 5 minutes. Then Justise and Jah turned it on, and dominated the Orange on the interior. Jah was 4-7 from the field for 8 points to go with 8 rebounds (he would have made it to double figures if he had not missed all 5 of his free throws). He held Christmas to 2 field goal attempts (5 points) while committing only 1 foul. Justise was even better scoring 15 points on 7-11 shooting (1-2 from 3land) to go with 6 boards. Two of his misses were wide open at the rim on great feeds from Tyus; so it was really an extraordinary first half for Justise. Jahlil and Justise scored 22 of Duke’s 34 first half points. The Duke backcourt was as ineffective in the first half as Jah and Justise were dominant. The rest of the team was 4-23 from the field. Tyus was off, (1-4; 0-2 0 free throws 1 bd, 2 assists against 3 turnovers). Cook was 1-5; 0-3; Matt 1-4 1-2; Grayson 0-1; Amile 1-2. The second half was completely different.

Quinn (34 minutes; out for ankle repairs) made only 1-5 from 3land, but kept his streak of 38 consecutive games with a 3 going. However, he was 4-5 from inside the arc on some great drives and a floater to go with 6-6 from the line for 17 points. He added a couple of rebounds, 4 assists and a steal while committing only one foul while playing tremendous defense. Matt logged 30 minutes and was 2-3 from behind the arc in the second half, scoring 9 overall and grabbing 3 boards. He is playing starter minutes (Amile, for example, played only 12 minutes). Tyus played 38 minutes and ran the team effectively, though he had 6 turnovers and 6 assists. He is quietly a really good rebounder (6 for the game). He scored six in the second half for 9 points, but his scoring was not needed. His rebounding was. Jah was 2-3 from the field in the second half (6 boards; 4 assists, a steal and a block) for 13 points in his 31 minutes. Justise was 3-5 from the field in the second half, including 2-3 from behind the arc. He finished with 9 boards, an assist, 2 steals and 3 blocks. Sometime, he camped in the low post with Jah and sometimes he was dynamite from the perimeter. He was a force of nature playing all 40 minutes. Clearly the Player of the Game.

Amile scored the only 2 points the bench contributed (27 minutes total) on 1-2 (a layup on a beautiful feed from Tyus in the opening minutes). He added 2 boards and a block for a creditable — though brief — appearance. Marshall played only 7 minutes, grabbing 2 boards and handing out an assist to go against 2 turnovers and a 2 fouls in his cameo. Grayson played 8 minutes, missing his only shot — a 3 pointer — while grabbing 2 boards and handing out an assist (1 turnover and a foul).

Senior night against Wake Forest on Wednesday. It is a good night to honor Quinn as the team makes ready for the post-season, which we all know will ultimately measure this season.

Duke 94- Wake Forest 51

It was Senior Night but it was defense and the young guns—Justise Winslow, Matt Jones, and Grayson Allen who were the stars. Justise was the first to explode at both ends of the floor. How many times do you see a line like this: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, & 6 steals from a 6’ 6” forward? We knew that Matt was a very good defensive player and a terrific teammate whose contributions often don’t show up on the stat sheet, but who thought he could dribble behind his back, drive the lane, and create off the dribble as well as drain threes? We have heard what a freakish athlete Grayson was and seen flashes of his potential but who thought in the first half, he would outscore Wake Forest 19-15 by himself and end up scoring 27 points in 24 minutes. Well, don’t think the Cameron Crazies didn’t notice and let Wake know it with the chant: “Grayson’s winning!”

How impressive a team win was it? You could win a lot of money by betting someone that if Jahlil Okafor only scored 6 points and got 4 rebounds and one team scored 94 points, who won the game? However, the good news is that after shooting an air ball on his first free throw attempt, Jah later hit two dead, solid, perfect free throws. One word of caution: Both Winslow and Jefferson turned an ankle that required examination on the sidelines. The Blue Devils have only eight scholarship players and about that many injured ankles. They cannot afford to lose anyone to something more serious.

Other Comments:

· Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, Coach Jason Garrett, tight end Jason Witten and running back DeMarco Murray had seats behind the scorer’s table. And then the Crazies chanted, ”Tony Romo, sit with us” – and the QB obliged, heading into the Duke student section at the next-to-last TV timeout. It marked the second straight year Romo and Garrett caught Duke’s home finale – they also were here for last year’s victory over North Carolina.

Alan Adds:

The first half of last night’s Wake Forest game was Duke’s finest of the season, which includes amazing halves against Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Furman, and UVA. Speaking of the regular season ACC champion Cavaliers, take note that Duke’s defense was UVA-like in its effect. However instead of the UVA “pack line” (which includes very hard hedges by perimeter players), Duke unveiled a press that was simply devastating. Duke stole the ball, forced turnovers, pressured the passing lanes turning Wake ball screens into defensive traps. Credit everyone, but especially Justise Winslow, who can now be likened to Battier as a defensive presence. He is all over the court, helping against penetration, trapping Wake ball handlers, getting tough rebounds and diving for steals. How good was Duke’s defense? After 10 minutes of play, Duke led 31-5 (extrapolate that out to 124-20 for 40 minutes). Wake did not crack double figures until there was 6:21 left in the first half. Wake only scored 15 points in the first half. UVA like! Duke called off the press in the second half in favor of a lot of zone, allowing Wake to score 36 points for its total of 51 — a point less than Duke scored in the first half. Coach K pointed out that while Wake missed everything (“our defense had something to do with that, but they also missed open shots”).

Duke out rebounded Wake 38-22, with the entire team contributing to Duke’s domination on the boards. Justise, in 25 minutes, led Duke with 6 rebounds, followed by Amile (5 in 20 minutes) and Quinn (5 in 32 minutes); 5 players garnered 4 each — Marshall in 18 minutes; Jah in 19; Grayson in 24; Matt in 28 and Tyus in 32. Worth appreciating such an efficient team effort.

Offensively, Duke shot the lights out, but it started with great passing to find the open man. [Coach K says it actually starts with efficient defense. Duke had 22 assists on 34 field goals (21-34 from inside the arc; 13-25 from behind it; and 13-16 from the line). Of course, Grayson’s stats stand out like a beacon (9-11 from the field including 4-5 from behind the arc — the one he missed was clearly “a heat check”, after which Coach K pulled him — and 2-3 from the line). Matt Jones had 17 points (15 shots; the most on the team), even though he was 3-10 from behind the arc. He scored 10 points (and had an assist) in the first four minutes of the second half; scoring 14 in the first 10 minutes of the last stanza. His defense is truly outstanding, which is why the Duke defense is rounding into UVA like form (sometimes).

Quinn scored 13 on 12 shots. Matt (15), Grayson (11) and Quinn were the only players who took double digit number of shots. Marshall and Amile scored 4, each on 100% shooting (Amile 2-2; Marshall 1-1 and 2-2 from the line. Jah scored 6 on 2 shots (2-2; 2-3 from the line); Tyus and Justise each took 8 shots. Justise was 6-8 (1-1 from 3land) to go with a jaw dropping 7 assists, and 6 steals plus his 6 boards. Tyus was 3-8 (2-3 from behind the arc and the free throw line).

UNC in Chapel Hill on Saturday; ACC tournament opens for Duke on Thursday, March 12 (already in the quarter finals)

As is the custom, co-captain Quinn Cook, who has had a fine career and exceptional senior year, was honored along with former manager Sean Kelly. The Duke Chronicle had a terrific tribute to Quinn that we cannot improve upon (except to remind everyone that Alan touted him as an exceptional talent when he was still in high school):

IN THE AGE OF ONE-AND-DONE, YOU DON’T OFTEN SEE PLAYERS LIKE QUINN COOK ANYMORE.

by Daniel Carp The Duke Chronicle

When Quinn Cook came to Duke, he was an afterthought in a star-studded five-man freshman class that was expected to be one of the Blue Devils’ best in years.

Austin Rivers was the heralded superstar. Alex Murphy was regarded as the guy who could have the biggest NBA upside. Marshall Plumlee was the long-awaited end of his family’s Duke trilogy.

Cook came to Duke as a quiet point guard searching for his place within the program. Four years later, the wiry senior from Washington, D.C., is the last man standing. The Blue Devil captain will be the only member of his five-man recruiting class to be honored Wednesday night when the Blue Devils play their last home game of the season against Wake Forest at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Forward Michael Gbinije was the first member of Duke’s 2011 recruiting class to go, transferring to Syracuse before the end of his freshman year. Rivers followed later that spring, making the jump to the NBA, where he was drafted 10th overall by New Orleans. Cook’s two remaining freshman classmates, Murphy and Plumlee, both redshirted. Murphy played for just one-and-a-half seasons before transferring to Florida December 2013. Plumlee has one year of eligibility remaining and will play next year.

Graduation is sometimes viewed as a failure in today’s college basketball world. With more and more players leaving school after one, two or three years to optimize their draft stock, 22-year-old NBA draft picks are sometimes viewed by teams as too old. Cook is anything but a failure. In the one-and-done era, he is a college basketball success story.

During his four years in Durham, Cook’s game has undergone a complete transformation. His sophomore season was when he flourished as a distributor, averaging a career-high 5.3 assists per game. As a junior, Cook struggled to find a comfortable role with Jabari Parker dominating the ball on offense and Tyler Thornton competing for minutes at the point guard position.

Knowing that the Blue Devils were bringing in a talented floor general in freshman Tyus Jones, Cook brought a markedly improved 3-point shot back to Duke for his senior season and has learned to be just as dangerous—if not more—playing off the ball than on it. For the first time in his career, Cook is hitting more than 40 percent of his shots from beyond the arc and is the team’s second-leading scorer at 15.9 points per game.

But perhaps more striking than the ways Cook has grown on the court is the way he’s grown off of it. Once shy when surrounded by cameras and microphones, the veteran is an eloquent speaker and is one of the team’s go-to quotes for media members. As a junior, Cook was passed over for Duke’s vacant captaincy in favor of redshirt sophomore Rodney Hood—who had been with the team for just one year and had never suited up for a game with the Blue Devils. Taking it as a major wake-up call, Cook strove to become the leader his team needed and has since delivered.

Captaining the Duke team as a senior, Cook has been responsible for the mentorship of the Blue Devils’ four freshmen, which comprise half of the team’s rotation. As a result, this year’s Duke squad has a level of chemistry that the teams of Cook’s freshman and junior seasons—also led by high-profile freshmen—lacked. That the Blue Devils are poised to post their best regular-season record in Cook’s four seasons is no coincidence.

There’s no question that Jahlil Okafor is Duke’s best player. Justise Winslow is the team’s most talented player. But as a steadying force on the court and an emotional leader off of it, Cook is the Blue Devils’ most valuable player.

At Duke, even the most breathtaking talents come and go year after year. In the age of one-and-dones, they just don’t make players like Quinn Cook anymore.

THE SULAIMON STORY

The Duke Chronicle broke a story built entirely on hearsay quoting unnamed sources alleging that sexual assault allegations against Rasheed were ignored by the Coach K , the Duke coaching staff, and the Director of Athletics. Despite being burned by the Duke Lacrosse Hoax and the thoroughly discredited Rolling Stone / University of Virginia fraternity gang rape story, the national media is in full court Woodward-Bernstein-Watergate Smoking Gun investigative mode. Al Featherstone had a very balanced look at what has transpired:

by Al Featherstone, DBR

I’ve avoided writing about the Rasheed Sulaimon story because, frankly, I don’t have any inside information.

But I was a little disturbed by how so much of the media reacted to Monday’s story in the Duke Chronicle, alleging that Sulaimon was involved in two sexual assaults on campus. What bothered me was how many reporters seemed to connect Sulaimon’s dismissal on Jan. 29 with that news and the angry resignation of a student secretary six days earlier.

Now, such a linkage is possible, but from what we know now, seems unlikely to me.

Why?

Because there are two strands to the Sulaimon dismissal story. One is the long-whispered sexual assault allegations. The other strand is the long-running story of Sulaimon’s problems with team discipline and morale. We now understand that he was suspended for the Michigan game Dec. 3, 2013 (before any rape allegations were reported to the Duke administration). From everything I’ve been told, Sulaimon’s mercurial attitude presented a long-term problem for Coach K and the staff.

Like many of you, I’ve heard of the stormy meeting after the Notre Dame loss, when Sulaimon reportedly met with K to complain about his playing time (just 12 minutes in the loss to the Irish).

Now ask yourself, which is more likely to have precipitated Sulaimon’s dismissal from the team on Jan. 29:

— The resignation of the student office worker six days earlier (before both the St. John’s game on Jan. 25 and the Notre Dame game on Jan. 28) … or:

— The contentious meeting between Sulaimon and Coach K just hours before his dismissal?

It’s certainly possible that new information will change my perception, but it now looks to me as if Sulaimon was dismissed for his attitude issues, not any long dormant sexual assault accusations. I can’t see where anything involving the assault allegations changed since last March. It seems unlikely to me that the resignation of a student office worker would have suddenly (but not too suddenly …. six days and two games after the fact) have led K to suddenly reverse a year-long course and kick Sulaimon out of the program.

As for the assault allegations themselves, I have big problems with convicting a young man based on charges that have never been filed – not even with the student conduct office. I understand that often women won’t come forward in such cases, but I also remember the Duke Lacrosse hoax, when the university embarrassed itself by virtually convicting three young men before they were ever brought to trial (on what turned out to be bogus charges). I also remember the University of Virginia’s over-reaction to a story of sexual assault at a fraternity on campus – a story that has since been pretty thoroughly debunked.

University officials have to walk a fine line between protecting the accusers and the accused in such cases, especially in the current legal climate on campus. I want to get more information in this case before I either condemn or defend the administration for its actions (or inaction) in the Sulaimon case.

Final word. Excerpt from Sports Illustrated article by Michael McCann, a Massachusetts attorney and the founding director of the Sports and Entertainment Law Institute at the University of New Hampshire School of Law: “While Duke’s refusal to elaborate on allegations against Sulaimon may be unpopular, the university’s approach to media disclosure appears to be the correct one under the law.”

Duke -84 – North Carolina 77

This was a very impressive win, because the Blue Devils had a number of legitimate reasons/excuses to lose: The game was in the Dean Dome and the Carolina fans were in rare form; Duke does not match up well against Carolina’s big, physical, and talented front line–especially when Marcus Paige(23 points) plays as well as he did tonight; Duke again hit a cold spell and blew an early ten point lead; Justise Winslow, recently playing his best basketball, was limited to 22 minutes because of foul trouble including two I-can’t-believe-Justise-did-that unnecessary leg kick fouls, one of which resulted in a five point turn around; Okafor only had 14 points and 4 rebounds; and with Duke behind half way through the second half, Ty Jones injured his back on a drive and was unable to get up until assisted to the bench by a trainer and a teammate.

The reasons they won: Coach K started the second half with Jefferson replacing Matt Jones and had him lead an aggressive, full court press which slowed down the Carolina offense and, conversely, energized the Blue Devils to play more aggressively at both ends. As a result, Duke forced 16 turnovers and shot 26 free throws, twice as many as UNC; as in the first game, Ty Jones and Quinn Cook scored 44 points with Ty, after returning from his injury, again taking over the game; with UNC up 51-48 and the big three of Okafor, Winslow, and Jones on the bench for a variety of different reasons, the seldom-seen-in-prime-time lineup of Grayson Allen, Amile Jefferson, Matt Jones, Marshall Plumlee and Quinn (Lean on Me) Cook scored eight consecutive points to put Duke in front by five– Duke’s first lead of the second half. This was a sorely needed Duke run that provided an emotional lift and a potential turning point in the game that the young but poised Blue Devils did not squander.

The bottom line is that this game was won by a half time coaching adjustment and a real time feel for the flow of the game decision (Those guys, we’re winning because of those guys,” Krzyzewski told his staff when they wanted to put the starters back in. “Let’s keep them in.”), the mental and physical toughness of any combination of five of the eight man rotation, and the leadership of the youngest, smallest but coolest player on the floor—Ty Jones (24 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals). In big game after big game, Ty has been the straw that stirs the drink for this team. But he could not do it without the complementary talent around him. His partner in crime (to opponents), senior Quinn Cook is having by far the best season of his career and deserves a lot of credit for encouraging and enabling the freshman to run the team (“Every big-time game, he takes it to another level. I’m just happy he’s on my team.”). Because of this chemistry, they are one of, if not the best, back court duos in the country. With the game on the line, you want the ball in the hands of one of these two players —they have shot 90% from the line. Tonight, they shot 100%.

An emotional but generous Roy Williams praised Duke as “a really good basketball team” then said: “I have been spoiled rotten. Ten years as an assistant coach, we always won on Senior Day. The first 24 years as a head coach, we won on every Senior Day, and now we’ve lost two of the last three. Whatever I was doing earlier, I need to get back to doing a better job.” He did not mention that Duke has now won three of the last four and five of the last six games against the Tar Heels—and that Coach K has more talented players.

Additional Comments:

In tight, tough games, what a difference a great point guard makes! And make no mistake, Tyus Jones is playing better in critical moments than any freshman guard in Duke’s history.
It is not always how many points you score, rather it is when you score them. Jah only had 14 points but a significant number of them were at critical times in the second half. Matt and Grayson only hit one three each but they were back to back and fueled the pivotal turnaround run midway in the second half. Talented but seldom used Grayson Allen, who is playing with more confidence with each game, was 1-6 from the floor not only hit a critical three but also in the last precarious minutes outfought two Tar Heels for a loose ball and was 4-4 from the foul line.
Before the game there was a nice moment when UNC honored Coach K with an acknowledgement of his passing 1,000 wins and an appreciation of how Dean Smith was honored in Cameron.
This win combined with Virginia’s loss to Louisville strengthens Duke’s chances of securing a first round seed in the NCAA Tournament. Unless they are upset by North Carolina State or Notre Dame, the Blue Devils road wins against top ranked teams should secure them a number one seed in the East or the South.
It’s worth noting that five of the eight scholarship players on the Duke roster made the Academic ACC team: juniors Amile Jefferson and Marshall Plumlee and freshmen Tyus Jones, Justice Winslow and Grayson Allen.

Alan Adds:

The Blue Devils concluded a simply wonderful regular season by winning 11 straight ACC games after losing to Notre Dame and Rasheed was dismissed from the team. The growth of the team during this stretch has been palpable and visible. There are many variable parts to the team, which can adjust during the game to shore up a Duke weakness and/or exploit the opponents’ ones. This was evident against the Tarheels where Jefferson, who has seen his playing time diminish significantly in recent games, logged 31 crucial minutes and was instrumental to Duke turning the game around. It would be easy to dismiss Amile’s 3 points (1-3 from both the field and the foul line) but, as Coach K pointed out in his press conference, that would miss the fact that he was “the key guy in our turnaround.” When Duke went to the full court trapping press, it was Jefferson who effectively trapped and double-teamed in the backcourt. Duke got a 10 second call and routinely left the ‘heels with 25-6 seconds on the shot clock when their offense finally began. It changed the pace of the game at both ends of the court. Amile collected 6 rebounds, 5 on the offensive end. Coach K also pointed out that Matt Jones (only 22 minutes) and Grayson had the confidence to keep shooting even though they were 0-4 and 0-5 respectively. Each then nailed their only 3 pointer of the game at the crucial time. Matt’s 3 gave Duke its first second half lead, 53-51 with 11:54 left; and Grayson’s only basket from the field (4-4 from the foul line for 7 points in 11 minutes) came 30 seconds later to give Duke a 56-51 lead. Both shots were crucial.

Duke was lucky to be down only 2 at the half after going almost 10 minutes without a field goal between Quinn’s 2 three pointers at 12:52 and 2:59. Duke scored only 3 points in that stretch — Quinn’s 2 free throws and Amile going 1-2 from the line. Duke shot only 28% in the first half. Both teams were far more efficient offensively in the second half, with Duke scoring 53 points and bringing its shooting average up to 46%. Everyone contributed, but Tyus was extraordinary. He scored or assisted on 48% of Duke’s points. I’m not certain of Bill’s comparison to other Duke freshman point guards — Hurley (got to the final of the NCAA), Jason Williams, and Tommy Amaker were also special, but Tyus seems to be in the conversation for sure. Conclusions about this season will await the outcome of the tournaments. Duke held its own in the paint (each team had 32 rebounds) outscoring the Tar Heels 32-28 while holding UNC to six second-chance points. In their first meeting, the ‘heels scored 62 paint points including 21 second-chance points.

Okafor played 32 minutes and was 7-9 from the field for 14 points (0-1 from the line) with 4 boards, an assist and a block. He was effective toward the end of the game when it counted. Quinn played 38 minutes and Tyus logged 37 minutes. Most of Tyus’s time on the bench was spent nursing what looked terrifyingly like a serious back injury. Then, miraculously he was back in the game not only playing, but dominating all aspects. Quinn scored 20 points on 7-16 shooting (4-10 from 3land and 2-2 from the line) with 4 assists.

Two big second half spurts were the keys to Duke’s win. With 14:41 to go, UNC led 49-42. In just a few ticks over three minutes Duke seized a 56-51 lead. Jah scored; Tyus hit a layup and 2 free throws; Jefferson scored a tip in (his only basket); followed by the two previously mentioned 3 pointers by Matt and Grayson. In that period, UNC scored only 2 on Paige’s free throws. The second spurt came after UNC had pulled to within 1 at 60-59 with 8:15 to go. In a minute and 17 seconds, Jah hit a layup, followed by a long 3 from Tyus and a corner 3 by Quinn (on a great pass from Tyus). 68-59 and Duke held on from there.

Duke was 21 of 26 from the line, but Amile (1-3. His other miss was the front end of a 1 and 1, which is just like a turnover); Winslow (2-4) and Jah (0-1) were 3-8, accounting for all the misses. With Carolina pressing in the last minute, Jah received the inbound pass with 45 seconds left. UNC immediately fouled him, and he missed the front end of a 1 and 1. He was on the bench when Duke next took possession.

It has been a magical regular season, but as we know, the regular season is not as important as the post-season. The ACC tournament begins on Tuesday. Duke has a double bye into the quarterfinals on Thursday against the winner of NC State v Pittsburg (7 pm). The semi-finals are on Friday and the finals on Saturday night.

Duke 77– North Carolina State 53

One of the reasons Coach K has won more than 1,000 college games is that his teams rarely lose two times in a row to the same opponent. Trust me, look it up! After watching his previously undefeated team get absolutely torched 87-75 by State’s guards and big men earlier in the year and watching point guard Anthony ”Cat” Barber score 34 points against Pitt last night, Coach K devised a three quarter court zone trap/press, then quicker than you can say “Dean Smith”, dropped into a variety of defenses that even former players now analysts Jay Bilas and Jayson Williams couldn’t agree on. If they couldn’t figure it out sitting in the announcers booth with television monitors, what chance did the State players on the court have? What everyone agreed upon is that it took the ball out of Barbour’s hands, denied threes (only 5 for the night), and confused the State players so that it totally disrupted any offensive rhythm. Meanwhile, all of Duke’s eight scholarship players were on fire. Their lead went from 22-11 to 49-22 at the twenty minute break.

A totally unexpected, breathtaking performance. If it was a fight it, it would have been called a TKO right then and there. Consider this: If Duke had only scored five points in the second half, they still would have won. Who woulda thunk it? Not me. After seeing the first Duke –State game, I was afraid that State was a very difficult matchup for the Blue Devils. However, this is a different Duke team than it was two months ago when they lost by double digits. We have seen this movie a few times recently—the first half in Cameron against Notre Dame, Wake Forest, and last Saturday in Chapel Hill against North Carolina.

It is hard to believe but Grayson Allen and Marshall Plumlee scored more combined points (23) than Winslow and Okafor (21). Grayson said after the game that he was “finally playing like player that they recruited me to be.” As they used to say in the music business: “Grayson is moving up the charts with a bullet.” I cannot remember a freshman coming off the bench in an important game and making such a variety of impressive plays: threes, drives, jump shots, tip ins, blocked shots, and assists—and he is one freshman who will be back next year. And while MP3 was the beneficiary of perfect assists from both Ty Jones and Grayson, he was in the right place at the right time with a strong physicality that the Blue Devils have been lacking in recent years.

Here is the defensive dilemma for Duke’s opponents: whether or not to double team Okafor. One-on-one he is a strong and creative load for any one player to defend. Double him and he is a willing and accurate distributor to an open man. Winslow, who had nine of Duke’s first eleven points, has honed his three point touch to go with his ability to attack the basket so that with Matt Jones and/or Grayson Allen, the Blue Devils have four forty percent three point shooters on the perimeter. This is a defensive nightmare.

In all fairness, which is not necessarily a feature of the expanded ACC Tournament, it should be noted that State played a tough late game last night which finished about midnight followed by the early game tonight, while Duke was well rested because the top four seeds receive a bye.

Other comments:

To add insult to injury, Barber who had a career game last night against Pitt, not only was held scoreless but left the game midway in the second half after he collided with Duke’s Amile Jefferson and never returned.
Quinn Cook: “It took me three years to finally realize I needed to play defense. I mean, it’s fun. It’s really fun.”
This is an interesting statistic courtesy of Al Featherstone. Duke has played five teams twice this season and has averaged a 24-point improvement in the second game: Wake Forest +8/+43, Notre Dame -4/+30, Syracuse +8/+19, UNC +2 (OT)/+7, N.C. State -12/+24.

Alan Adds:

Coach K echoed Bill (think about that line for a moment) when he said he was worried about this game because State has been playing so well, and Quinn had been sick for a few days. Neither of them, it turns out, had grounds to be concerned. Duke played another perfect half of basketball in the opening stanza (like the first half against Notre Dame in Cameron, Wake in Cameron). Duke scored on 26 of its first 30 possessions in the first 18 and a half minutes of the first half. Duke was 17-28 (5-10 from 3land and 10-11 from the free throw line) in the first half, and had assists on 10 of the 17 baskets; not to mention 5 steals on defense. Six Devils scored in the first half (Tyus and Amile failed to score; though Tyus had 6 assists without a turnover): Justise scored all of his 11 in the first half; Matt had 9, Quinn and Marshall had 8, Grayson had 7 and Jah 6. As good as the offense was (and that was more than just very good), the defense was even better.

Duke employed its zone 3/4 court press, which delayed the State offense and took the ball out of Cat Barber’s hands (Barber had destroyed Pitt on Thursday scoring 34; he failed to score last night). Duke played far more zone than man to man, with some changes from the usual zone. Duke used its four guards to defend State’s 3 high scoring perimeter players — Barber, Trevor Lacey (who scored 21 against Pitt; 2 last night) and Ralston Turner (“he got loose a few times” said Coach K to score 13), and let Jah or Marshall defend the paint alone. In the first half, State was 8-27 (30%) including 3-11 from 3land (27%) and only got to the foul line 5 times (3-5). Duke forced 6 turnovers while State could only create 4 assists. The Wolfpack scored only 22 points in 20 minutes. Marshall said that it was team defense that was sparked by lots of team talking to each other on the floor. Quinn allowed that it took him 3 years (with Coach K scolding him all the way), but he has finally learned to play defense and to love it. This team is taking real pride in its defense. Coach K was sort of agog: He shrugged and explained that he had put in changes in the game plan, and that his team picked them up so quickly that the defensive performance was “beyond expectation”.

I focus on the first half because with a 27 point lead, the game was effectively over at half time, and Duke’s priorities changed for the second half. The offense used clock; the defense was about stopping the 3 pointers (as Jay Bilas pointed out, it takes a lot of 2 pointers to reduce a 27 point lead). NC State actually outscored Duke 31-28 in the second half. All 8 Duke players contributed and Duke’s scoring was amazingly balanced with 6 double figure scorers. Who could have predicted that Marshall (21 minutes) would play more minutes than Jah (19) and out score Jah (Marshall 12; Jah 10)?

Only Amile failed to score in his 20 minutes, but that does not mean he was ineffective. He pulled down tough rebounds (4) and played stellar defense. Tyus scored only 7 (all in the second half) in 37 minutes with 8 assists and only a single turnover. Quinn (only 26 minutes) led the scoring with 15 points on an efficient 7 attempts (5-7; 3-3 from behind the arc and 2-2 from the line). The second leading Duke scorer was Marshall, who had a scintillating game with 12 points (6-6 on dunks) to go with 3 blocks, 2 boards, an assist and a steal without a turnover. Matt scored 11 in his 28 minutes (3-5 from the field; 1-1 from 3land and 4-5 from the line). Justise (25 minutes) scored all 11 in the first half; Grayson had 11 in his 21 minutes and played an energetic floor game. He took the most shots of any Duke player (5-10; 1-4 from 3land) to go with 3 assists, 3 boards and 2 blocks. His offensive rebound put back was spectacular; Coach K called it the play of the game. He is coming on. Jah had 10 points (5 Duke players scored more) on 5-8 shooting to go with 4 boards, an assist and a block.

It was simply a dominating performance. Notre Dame beat Miami and will face Duke in the late game (9 pm EDT or later) tonight. UVA vs UNC in the early semi-final. Hoopefully, this is Quinn’s banner.

Duke 64- Notre Dame 74

Who were those guys wearing Duke uniforms in the first half? They looked a lot like the guys who lost to N. C. State and Miami way back in the immature days. Playing the way they did last night in the rematch against State for their twelfth straight win, combined with Carolina upsetting Virginia, one would have thought the Blue Devils would be locked and loaded for a prime effort. But the Blue Devils came out casually lethargic against a fired up fired up Notre Dame team with the same game plan Coach Brey has employed in all three games—don’t double Okafor, give him 28 points but foul him at critical times, and guard the three point line.

For twenty-five minutes, only Okafor played well. Then the other players got into gear and played like they had the last twelve games. However, although Duke closed the gap to four points, you cannot expect to make up a fifteen point deficit in fifteen minutes against a good team like Notre Dame. 3-17, 7-14, 22-25. They are Duke’s three point and free throw totals, and the Irish free throw total. They pretty much tell the story of who was on and who was aggressive. While Notre Dame’s defense was good, Duke’s guards had plenty of open looks that just did not go down– and the Devil’s defense was lousy.

The bottom line is that inconsistent defense and poor foul shooting by Okafor and Jefferson have been the Achilles Heel of this team all season long but a potent offense and 90% free throw shooting by Jones and Cook covered for it. Not tonight.

I have a friend Larry, who grew up in Cabin Creek, West Virginia and reads our blog. His older brother was the center on Jerry West’s high school basketball team and his son played for Marshall, so has played and watched a lot of basketball. Here is what he wrote me yesterday:

“West Virginia has used the press all year and has led them to 23 wins. WV doesn’t have a player that could make Duke’s team but the pressure takes teams out of their comfort zone, makes them play faster, eats up the shot clock, causes turnovers and creates havoc. I’m positive that this plan has really helped Duke. They don’t have to play half-court defense for the full 35 seconds, teams speed up their offense and take quick shots and more importantly the players are in disarray and Duke can beat them down the floor for easier baskets. Yes, I’ve really enjoyed watching them play. Great basketball.”

So, I am not alone in thinking Duke employing a three quarter court trap/press and multiple half–court defenses has been the key to big wins because it requires activity, aggression, and confusion. It will be interesting to see if Duke returns to that strategy in the NCAA Tournament.

Well, next play. The only consolation is that the season is not over, there will be an extra day for physical healing and reflection, and another a chance for this talented team to fulfill their promise. Don’t forget:

In 1990 Duke lost to Georgia Tech in the ACC semifinals, then went to NCAA Finals.

in 1991 Duke lost to Carolina 96-74 in the finals of the ACC Tournament and still won the NCAA Tournament.

In 1994 Blue Devils lost to Virginia in the ACC semifinals, then went to the NCAA Finals.

Alan adds:

My daughter (Laramie) and I texted after the game. “L: On to the NCAA. A: Bad game, for sure; next play. L: The only bad game is one you learn nothing from!” Coach K picked up on the same thing in his post-game press conference: “We can still learn from this game. Next game no more learning.”

Coach K, while praising ND, said his team simply did not have “it” for the first 24 minutes of the game. Duke has had “it” most of the year and certainly since the last loss to ND (12 straight wins). Coach K was more insightful. “It” has to be earned; “it” isn’t given. He said Duke did not take “winning” for granted, but rather took “the preparation for winning” for granted. The preparation for winning includes getting to the right emotional state to perform as …well, as Duke did the previous night against NC State. If Duke “learns” about the need to prepare to win — especially necessary in the early rounds against much lower seeds (such as Lehigh and Mercer), this game will have contributed to a memorable NCAA run for this year’s Blue Devils.

“It” returned to the Duke effort after the first media time out with 15:24 left to play in the second half. Coach K said from then on the Blue Devils “played their butts off”, fighting back to a place where they could have actually won the game. Coach K admired the grit and toughness of the comeback, given how terribly Duke had played. “It was unbelievable” that we even created a chance to win. He thought the offense was fine in the second half: “We scored 38 points even though we missed every jump shot.” Quinn was 2-12 (1-8 from 3land) in 39 minutes, scoring only 7; Tyus played 40 minutes scoring 10 on 4-13 from the field (1-5 from behind the arc and 1-1 from the line. Matt was 1-4 in 28 minutes for 4 points, while Grayson was scoreless (0-3) in his 11 minutes (limited by his four fouls).

Duke’s defense was amazingly porous, which always leads to excessive fouling, and Duke did foul excessively (by game’s end, Grayson and Quinn had 4 each, while Jahlil, Tyus and Justise had 3 a piece). ND was in the bonus with almost 15 minutes to go in the second half. As Bill points out, Notre Dame won the game by going 22-25 from the foul line while Duke was only 7-14 (6 of the misses were by Jah). ND shredded Duke’s perimeter defense and drove into the paint effectively, going 23-42 from inside the arc for the game, but actually tailed off in the second half. ND scored 41 in the first half. Meanwhile, Duke couldn’t make a shot from the perimeter: Duke 3-17 from 3land (Quinn 1-8; 1-5 for Tyus; Grayson 0-2). Duke scored only 26 in the first 20 minutes.

The bench contributed just 4 points in only 28 minutes of play: 2 from Marshall in only 5 minutes of play and 2 from Amile (1-1) in his 12 minutes and 0 from Grayson in 11 minutes.

So, the scoring came from Jah (13-18) in 35 minutes. Of course the 2-8 from the line is a starkly negative statistic in the midst of an otherwise gaudy stat line: 8 boards, 2 blocks and a steal. He carried Duke by himself before finally getting help in the second half from Justise. It is hard to explain Winslow’s disastrous first half (“it” was seriously missing), but hard not to admire his last 16 minutes when he brought out the “it” in the team. In 30 minutes for the game (but his production was in the last 15 minutes) he scored 11 (5-8 and 1-1 from the line; no 3 point attempts), hauled in a game high 11 boards, to go with 3 assists, a steal and a block. He is an athletic marvel, but Duke missed his marvelousness in the first half.

Duke still had a chance to win at the end. With 1:48 to go in the game, and Duke trailing by 4, Jah was fouled and had the chance to make it a 2 point game. The game swung irrevocably when Jah missed them both and Connaughton made an off balance jumper with the shot clock winding down (shades of Grant’s miracle basket at the end in South Bend) at the 1:15 mark. Duke still had a chance, but Quinn turned it over with 1:08 to go, and missed a pretty open 3 with 28 seconds left that would have made it a 1 possession game.

NCAA Tournament, which always defines how the season is looked, at is next. But, when a reporter asked K about last season’s “failure to meet expectations”, Coach K defended his team last year — “disappointing loss in the tournament but not a failure to meet expectations.” He pointed out the team had won 26 games and played hard all year. Still the loss to Mercer is how the 2013-2014 team is defined by us (the fans). So on to the draw, and March Madness. Let’s see if Duke will capture “ it” for the rest of the season. Coach K promised, “We are ready to go to war in the NCAA tournament.”

Duke 85 – Robert Morris 56

Welcome to won or done. This is more like it—and, according to Ed Hardin of the Charlotte Observer, these guys are more likeable than some other Duke teams:

“Some people will never like Duke. Some schools will never like Duke. There are states that probably will never like Duke and there might be countries. But if you’re not aligned with another school and have nothing against alleged evil empires, you ought to like these Blue Devils. Duke freshmen Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow were accustomed to being the best player on whatever court they stepped. But they play as if they spent their time on the playground looking for an open man. The most selfless of the Blue Devils, of course, is senior Quinn Cook, who slides from point guard to shooting guard to accommodate Jones.” [Note to Ed: this is Duke basketball, the personalities are just less abrasive than say, Laettner, Hurley, and JJ Redick.]

Robert Morris is a smallish but not an untalented team because with good guards—every team in the tournament seems to have plenty–and with the three point line, on a given night, any every team can be a threat. However, this game showed Duke’s many strengths and exposed their two weaknesses. They are lethally diverse offensively but will only go as far as their defense and, perhaps, free throw shooting takes them. When they press, they are better defensively and offensively, because they are continually in motion, take teams out of their comfort zone, and create more get open court opportunities. When they defend inside the three point line or even when forced to run a half-court offense, they are less impressive. Kenny ‘The Jet” Smith, the ex-Tar Heel point guard, pointed out on CBS, this is the first Duke team in a long time that has eight interchangeable players—that is, all of whom can play more than one position, which makes them very versatile and difficult to defend.

The good news is that the Blue Devils started strong and pretty much kept the petal to the metal until they went on cruise control and Jahlil missed an ill-advised, open court reverse jam ( M. Jones:”I haven’t seen Coach that mad at Jah since practice. It was a little scary.”) that turned into a four point turn around and gave RMU the incentive and momentum to that cut a twenty-two points lead to ten. Coach called a timeout, substituted and Duke, led by Winslow, Cook, Jefferson, and the Jones boys, made a breathtaking, three minute run of dominating basketball to go back up by twenty-two. Marshall Plumlee played more minutes than usual and had a double- double. He brings an energy, enthusiasm, and aggressive athleticism that an adrenaline jolt to the action. If Duke happens to struggle, his talents come in very handy.

Coach K told the media Monday that he recently received a letter from a Duke fan, who claimed to be a member of the Duke Class of ’59.”He gave advice,” Krzyzewski said. “It was really good. He said, ‘What a great team! I love your team’. You know when they say that, the second paragraph is always going to be [critical].”It’s not a bad letter, but then the guy writes: ‘I hope you say three words to your team.’ I’m waiting for the next sentence, thinking what could these magical words be? “‘And they are Belmont, Lehigh and Mercer.” Krzyzewski wrote the fan back, acknowledging the letter and agreeing that he also loves this team. He thanked the fan for the advice, then added: “I’m not going to use the three words you said, but I am going to use four other words: Kansas, Michigan, Arizona and Butler.” Those are the four teams we beat to win the national championship. But I’m not going to use those words either because as much as our guys aren’t going to relate to the three that he suggested, they are not going to relate to the four I suggested.

“I am going to use one word: Duke. This is who you are. Let’s go for it. Let’s be excited. This is your time. Let me get you into your moment. You don’t get into the moments of Duke teams in the past.”

Other comments:

Grant Hill was one of the announcers for the CBS televised game. He is just as smooth off the court as he was on it. And he is no anomaly. Former Duke players seem to be on nearly every big college basketball game. Jay Bilas is on the top commentating team at ESPN. Grant Hill was picked to do the Final Four. Jay Williams joined Bilas on the hoops version of ESPN College GameDay, Shane Battier was hired for the “Big Monday” ACC slot, and Jim Spanarkel was promoted to announce the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. During the NCAA Tournament’s opening weekend, three of the eight announcing teams for CBS and Turner Sports feature a former Duke player: Hill, Spanarkel and Mike Gminski. For the regional semifinals and finals, it will be two of the four crews. Studio analyst Seth Davis is also an alum.

Tar Heels fans who are not happy that they so often must hear the voices of Blue Devils can partly blame one of their own. ESPN President John Skipper is a proud North Carolina alum. In case there’s any doubt about his loyalties, Skipper had this to say in classic, tongue firmly-in-cheek ESPN fashion: “Every Duke graduate we hire is enjoying the benefit of working for a Carolina graduate. I am happy to assist in helping them overcome the handicap of their collegiate experience.”

Alan [who must have had a bad night, is in rare form this morning] Adds:

I am just up and have read DBR and most of the links posted there. Then I read Bill’s DBP draft. It was as if he attended UNC and was writing a cut and paste paper for a no show class. Oh well, why is it always left to me to rain on Bill’s parade when he gets so optimistic after a good Duke performance. We do know that he is top flight at criticism when the performance is sub-par (“why didn’t Coach K play more three-quarter court pressing zone?”). It’s tough duty, but someone has to do it.

So, I want to remind us all that Robert Morris (originally an accounting school, named after a famous revolutionary and colonial financial patriot) had no players who were not dwarfed by Jah, Marshall and Amile. While RMU has talented guards on offense, their preparation did not appear to embrace any effort on the defensive end. Combined, Jah, Marshall and Amile were 18-23 from the floor. Not many of those 23 shots were from more than two feet away from the basket. Amile played the most minutes of the three (29) and scored 10 on 4-6 from the field and 2-3 from the line (the miss was the front end of a 1 and 1) to with 6 boards and 3 assists. Marshall logged a double-double (first of his career) in his 19 minutes (5-6 from the front of the rim; 0-1 from the line for 10 points to go with 10 rebounds) and played stout defense. Should we mention again how small RMU is on the interior? Jah, in 21 minutes, was unstoppable except for the reverse dunk attempt that he missed when wide open. He was 9-11 (10 if we don’t count the move that lit Coach K’s fuse) to go with 2 blocks, an assist and a steal. An interesting stat is that he had only 3 rebounds.

We should think of Justise when discussing Duke’s interior — especially on the defensive end. Winslow led Duke in rebounding with 11 (all defensive) and is the glue to the interior defense. There were times that Winslow was on the wing when both Marshall and Amile were in the game. When Duke was blowing out RMU in the first half, neither Justise nor Tyus were scoring (as seems to be their custom when Duke doesn’t need it), but in the second half when RMU made its mini run, the two combined for eight lightening quick points to move the lead back to eighteen within just seconds. Winslow hit a three (probably the only crucial shot for Duke in the game), then grabbed a defensive rebound, scored on a layup. After another defensive board and dash up court, he hit Tyus for a corner 3. You just knew that one was going in when it left Tyus’s hand. In his 24 minutes, Justise scored only 6 (1-2 from the line) but handed out 7 assists, tying Tyus for team lead. He added a block, which was breathtaking. When he performs up to his potential, Duke is hard to beat.

The guard play was excellent — on the offensive end. Grayson had been too sick to practice all week. He did log twelve minutes, which Coach K saw as a sign he was returning to health, but he was unproductive, failing to record a positive stat from the field (0-3; 0-2 from 3land) and going 1-2 from the line. His return to health will be welcome. The backcourt produced some great shooting and passing. Quinn had a game that should make the All ACC team selectors (that omitted him) reconsider. In a game high 32 minutes, Quinn scored a team high 22 on 8-12 shooting (6-10 from behind the arc) and added 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals to complete a superb all-round game. Although he denied thinking about the opening game tournament losses to Lehigh and Mercer in his freshman and junior years, he made sure that a repeat of those two disasters was not a realistic possibility. The thought was clearly in the air. When RMU made its mini-run cutting the Duke lead to ten, the arena video showed the Mercer triumph. Apparently Justise was offended by that reminder. Tyus played 31 minutes, scoring 10 on 4-7 shooting (2-5 from 3land) to go with 7 assists, 3 boards and 2 steals. He is so solid and reliable. Matt scored only 5 points on 2-5 shooting (1-2 from 3land) but handed out 4 assists and had a board and a steal. He is unquestionably Duke’s best perimeter defender.

It was a great offensive performance, but against a team that was not a defensive presence. Tellingly, Duke had 28 assists on 34 field goals, which is amazing. Duke assists: Tyus 7; Justise 7; Quinn 5; Matt 4; and Amile 3. The big guys, Jah and Marshall had 1 each. The Blue Devils shot 64% from the field and were 24-31 inside the arc (10-21 from behind it). Duke turned it over only 11 times. Bill pointed to the 7-14 foul shooting, which is concerning. However, none of the 3 starting guards even got to the foul line. Amile’s (2-3) was the only Duke player over .500 from the line (Jah was 3-6; Winslow and Allen were 1-2; and Marshall 0-1). It is worth noting that Duke committed only eight fouls in the entire game. But it is also worth noting the game was against a wildly overmatched RMU.

San Diego State on Sunday presents a far greater challenge. They are coached by Steve Fischer (who coached the Fab Five) and have considerable size inside. Duke had a superb performance against NC State in the ACC tournament before coming out incredibly flat against Notre Dame. A challenge to avoid that against SDS after the rout of RMU.

Duke 68 – San Diego State 49

Two down…on the Houston!

Unlike the last few years, this young Duke team is on a season ending roll and playing their best basketball—especially on defense. Even the disappointing loss to Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament was a teachable moment, because they learned that in tournament play a team has to play forty intense minutes to win. Just look at the carnage among the high seeds: #1 Villanova, #2 Virginia, #2 Kansas, #3 Baylor all are finished playing for the season. In each of these first two games, Duke lead by double digits most of the time but when their opponent made second half runs and cut the margin to single digits, the Blue Devils responded by going into overdrive and a “turn-out-the-lights, the-party’s-over” run. Today, it was another exhibition of flawless efficiency on both offense and defense in holding the Aztecs without a basket for eight minutes while running the margin from seven to twenty-five points.

I think the most impressive characteristic of this team is that while they all are talented, their talents and temperaments complement one another—and they share the ball as well as the glory. While college freshmen, they have been buddies for a long time. Jahlil Okafor and Ty Jones have been playing together on AAU teams of some sort since they were in the third grade or whatever. Justise Winslow and Grayson Allen have been playing on AAU teams and in All Star games with them for years. So, playing Duke style basketball is not an alien concept for them like would be, or has been, for some other blue chip prodigies.

Okafor unleashed his full repertoire of post moves to dominate the first half by scoring eighteen points. However, as Kenny Smith pointed out, speeding up the pace of the game is a key to beating SDS and Winslow set the pace by rebounding and pushing the ball up the court like a runaway train of a point guard, either scoring on a drive or dishing to Cook or Jones for an open three. And then there was the ESPN Sports Center Special five point turnaround play when Justise flew in from trailing a fast break to spike a layup attempt that Ty recovered, took two dribbles, and hit Quinn in the corner for a three.

There is winning and then there is winning with style and panache. Sorry Alan, these guys are really good and fun the watch! And no one is having more fun than Mr. Okafor, who was practically dancing in his seat.

The ACC is having a terrific tournament. Although #2 Virginia lost, #3 Notre Dame, #4 UNC, #4 Louisville, and #8 N.C. State all joined Duke in the Sweet Sixteen.

Alan Adds:

Duke had a chance to put the game away before half time, but had a strangely ineffective last two minutes of the half, and saw its 18 point lead with 2:16 to go cut to 13 at the half. The Duke offensive doldrums of the last 2 minutes of the first half continued into the second half as SDS chipped away at the Duke lead. With 13;29 to go the lead was down to single digits, and with 11:16 left in the game, the lead had dwindled to 7. Then the Duke players stepped into a phone booth and shed their civilian clothes. Within two minutes, Duke scored 4 straight hoops (Quinn a 3 on an assist from Tyus; Justise made a dunk on an assist from Jah; Grayson made a driving layup; and Tyus made a layup) pushing the lead back to 16. Then, Jah hit 2 free throws (Duke was 2-2 from the stripe for the entire game), Matt hit a 3 assisted by Quinn before Quinn made a layup assisted by Justise giving Duke a 21 point lead and effectively ending the game, even though a little under 6 minutes remained.

Duke was efficient on both ends of the floor, shooting 55% including 6-14 from behind the arc while holding the Aztecs to 33% (2-13 from 3land, but acknowledging that SDS missed several wide open 3s). Duke played very effective man to man with some pressure. Offensively, Okafor demonstrated in the first half that he was unstoppable (at least by SDS) shooting 9-12 from the floor for 18 first half points. Duke notched 10 assists on 17 baskets in the first half, finishing the game with 16 assists.

The starters carried the load. The bench contributed only 25 minutes (9 for both Amile and Grayson; 7 for Marshall). Grayson was energetic, scoring 5 and grabbing a board while being charged with 4 fouls. Amile and Marshall, who were so devastating against Robert Morris, did not score or grabbed a rebound. Marshall had an assist. The starters needed little help against the Aztecs. Of the starters, Jahlil played the fewest minutes (33) while Quinn played 38. Matt and Justise played 34 minutes and Tyus 36.

Jahlil had a fabulous game totaling 26 points on 12-16 shooting (and his 2-2 from the line) to go with 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists and a steal. He was dominant! However, he was no more dominant that Justise, who had a superb all around game. He is the glue to the Duke defense, including defensive rebounding. He notched another double double scoring 13 on 6-10 shooting (1-2 from deep) to go with 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals (one was a breathtaking snare of a full court pass that was worthy of an all-pro corner back) and 3 blocks. Two of the blocks were amazing, including the one where he kept control of the ball, pushed a great outlet pass to Quinn, who threw it cross court to a driving Tyus, who got the assist with a perfect pass to Jah for the dramatic finish. Beautiful basketball. Justise is reaching his potential as he gets healthier. Today he — not Jahlil or Quinn — was the CBS post game interview (with Coach K).

The backcourt played great defense and Duke only turned it over 9 times. Quinn had 18 on 6-13 shooting (3-8 from downtown) to go with 5 boards and 2 assists. His 3 that pushed the Duke lead from 7 to 10 was the clutch shot of the game. Tyus had a tough scoring day (3-9 for 6 points) but handed out 6 assists while grabbing 3 boards and making 2 steals. Of course, when the lead dwindled he had two crucial layups. Matt had only 1 basket (a 3) on 4 shots. He was struggling offensively. Coach K used Grayson for a bit more offensive punch. When Matt re-entered the game, he made his next 3. Competition.

Duke had a great sub-regional in Charlotte. In the 80 minutes of the two games, Duke had a double digit lead for 61 of those 80 minutes. On to Houston for the next four team tournament. Utah awaits on Friday night.

Duke 63 – Utah 57

Houston, we had a problem. Two of our primary engines were shut down. But Justise Winslow fixed the problem with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

I was talking to a Duke friend who was impressed by how invincible Kentucky looked demolishing West Virginia. I agreed that they looked terrific but the Mountaineers ran right into the Wildcat wheelhouse by playing an up tempo game and suggested that every team looks unbeatable when swimming with the tide and winning big. However, the real test of a team is finding a way to win when, for whatever reason, it is not hitting on all cylinders and swimming against the tide. Fortunately, it is easier to find a way to win when a team is as mentally tough, as versatile, and multi-talented as the Blue Devils. Utah, a very good defensive team, focused on stopping Okafor and Cook, Duke’s two leading scorers. So Winslow, who celebrated his nineteenth birthday in his hometown yesterday, played like a man among boys and, as usual, Ty Jones chipped by scoring some timely baskets, which are more important than how many.

It may be hard to believe but defense (Utah only shoot 35%) and free throw shooting (77%. Jones and Cook 16-18) provided the difference. This was the third straight game the Blue Devils have played outstanding defense.

Duke’s mid-season surge started when Coach K moved a now healed Justice Winslow to power forward and replaced co-captain Amile Jefferson with Matt Jones in the starting lineup. This gave Duke a smaller but more lethal offensive and better defensive team. Nevertheless, Jefferson has had his moments. Tonight he had the “Wow” play of the game when he set a pick, rolled to the low double post, received a pass from Ty, faked an overhead pass to Okafor across the lane, which completely turned his defender toward Jah, took a dribble, and flushed a wide open dunk! The entire bench erupted with joy for their co-captain.

History shows that Duke performs better coming off a tough, hard fought win than a blowout. However, with Okafor struggling against the Utah tall, wide bodied bigs, it makes one wonder how he will fare against Gonzaga’s Przemek Karnowski and the other “Zag big front line that weigh in at 288, 240, and 231. One of them is freshman Damantas Sabonis, the son of the 7’3”Lithuanian Arvydas Sabonis, who played for the Portland Trail Blazers, was one of the most skilled big men ever to play in the NBA. Unfortunately, his career was negatively impacted and ultimately cut short by Achilles tendon and other leg injuries that were not allowed to heal properly because of pressure from the Soviet Union to play international basketball.

Additional Comments:

Betting is a huge component to the popularity of the NCAA Tournament—as it is to pro football and the Super Bowl. When referees put seven-tenths of a second back on the clock, pulled the players back onto the floor and sent Quinn Cook to the foul line, bettors across the country mostly cheered. A lot of money was won because Cook sank one free throws to increase the Blue Devils’ final margin of victory to 63-57. Most sports books listed #1 Duke as either a five or 5.5-point favorite over Utah. A bet on the Utes to cover would have either won or pushed based on those lines until Cook’s otherwise innocuous free throw changed that. The decision to extend the game helped gamblers and hurt sports books. 83 % of those who wagered on the game bet that Duke would cover the 5.5-point spread. In the first two rounds the chalk players got killed. In this round, they got well as the favorites all covered the spread. Just to be clear, I do not bet on basketball or football games.
Krzyzewski has a record 85 NCAA Tournament wins, 20 more than Dean Smith and Roy Williams.
Tyus Jones named after Tyus Edney, the 5’8”UCLA point guard, who is semi-famous for going coast to coast in 4.8 seconds to beat Missouri in a 1995 NCAA Tournament game. Also, while in high school he often played on the scout team against the two-time WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx.
Coach K commented that, because of their attitude, this is one of his favorite groups. They are enthusiastic learners which make the coaching staff more enthusiastic coaches.

Alan Adds:

With the exception of Justise, Duke had a very inefficient offensive game. Consider only 5 assists against 14 turnovers. The four guards shot 6-22 from the field (0-5 from 3land, ending Quinn’s streak). Tyus was 3-9 (0-2); Quinn 2-5 (0-1); Matt 1-4 (0-2) and Grayson 1-4 without a 3 point attempt. Utah played superb defense and shut down not only Jah, but the entire Duke backcourt. Well almost. Duke gave up 18 offensive rebounds. Yet, I never thought Utah would win, although I did think at points in the game that the Utes could win. The Red Auerbach victory cigar was later in being lit than it should have been.

Why was Duke in such control when the offense was being held in check by the Utah defense? Because Duke’s defense was absolutely superb. As good as Justise was on offense (raves to follow), he was even better on the defensive end. Even though Shane, Billy King, and others jumped on Grant Hill for saying that Justise was Duke’s best defensive player ever, there is a real possibility that Grant is right (or will be if Justise doesn’t leave). He can guard the perimeter, the wing and even the post. He is a ferocious defensive rebounder, and a force in the open court. The pundits are disrespecting Jah for his far below normal offensive output (3-6 for 6 points and missing his only foul shot, a crucial front end of a 1 and 1), but not seeming to recognize the defensive force he was in his 32 minutes. His only 32 minutes is because he is on the bench at game’s end when Duke is ahead because of his terrible foul shooting. However, Jah defended the paint admirably. He’s not a great shot blocker (though he had 2 important ones), but last night he was a great positional defender, whether against the post or the drive. The entire Duke team completely scrambled the Utah offense and shut down what was previously a good 3 point shooting team. It was seamless team defense and it was played with excellence and passion, whether in man (mostly) or zone (situationally). In addition to wonderful defense, Duke was dynamite from the foul line — many of them in win or lose the game situations. Cook (7-8) and Tyus (9-10), who each played 38 minutes, kept Duke in front even though Duke’s last field goal game with just a bit less than 4 minutes to go in the game.

And then there was Justise! In his 37 minutes, the only mistake he made — similar I think to Jah blowing the reverse Dunk against Robert Morris — was when he celebrated his second three in a row, while the Ute he was guarding leaked out for an easy layup. I suspect that Coach K might have used that as a teaching moment, when they were in private. Justise was the only Duke player who had double digit shot attempts (8-13; 3-4 from behind the line for Duke’s only 3 pointers — the team was 3-9 from behind the arc) for his 21 points. Put that together with 10 boards, a steal and 2 blocks, while turning it over only twice and committing only 2 fouls, and you have one helluva game.

Matt played 21 energetic minutes, but was inefficient on offense (3 points on 1-4 shooting and 1-2 from the foul line), while Amile played 20 efficient minutes (4 points on 2-4 from the field to go with 4 boards and a steal. Grayson played only nine minutes, but managed to hoist up four shots (not shy; 1-4 from the field and 1-2 from the line for 3 points). He continues to give the feeling that before this tournament is over he will make a mark. He has the guts of a burglar in his offensive efforts and jaw dropping athleticism. He is still struggling to be efficient. Marshall was simply overmatched by the skill of the Utah bigs. He played only 5 minutes, garnering a single rebound, while turning it over once and committing 2 fouls.

Duke had two strange streaks that prevented the game from being a laugher. At the end of the first half, Duke had a 10 point lead and the ball with 2:50 to go. A real chance to put the game away in the first half. But then Duke missed 3 consecutive shots (Jones, Winslow and Cook) while turning it over once, and failing to score the rest of the half. On defense, Duke committed 4 fouls in that stretch (Okafor 2, Plumlee and Winslow) Bachynski scored 5 on 3-4 from the line and a field goal, cutting the lead to 5 at the half.

In the second half, Duke had a 49-34 lead with 7:33 to go in the game, and started to take the air out of the ball. It was the winning strategy, so this is not a quibble, but a report. Duke made only one field goal after that (Justise jumper w 3:44 to go after Utah had cut the lead to 6; he also made the free throw to push the lead back to 9), but stayed in control with clutch foul shooting. But the defense evaporated. In a little over a minute, Duke committed four un-strategic fouls (Quinn 2; Tyus 1 and Jah 1) and gave up 10 points to Brandon Taylor (2 long 3s and 4-4 from the line). Utah needed 3s; Cook honored the Taylor fake drive, leaving Brandon open to sink a three. It was as if Duke stopped thinking down the stretch.

Nevertheless, Duke won without ever being seriously threatened. Sunday against Gonzaga for Quinn’s first banner to hang in Cameron, and a trip to the Final Four. What a season!

Duke 66– Gonzaga 52

Houston, no problems. Everything is A-OK. We love you but are hitting the road to Indianapolis. And, thanks so much for sending us Justise, because without him we would be heading back to Durham.

The bottom line is these were two very, very impressive team victories. Let’s start with the fact that Jahlil Okafor, who was the ACC Player of the Year and the centerpiece for most of Duke’s pre-tournament wins, contributed just 15 points, 16 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 assist, and had 5 turnovers in these two wins. So, if Duke got by a talented #5 Utah team and an even more talented #2 Gonzaga team without Okafor being Okafor on offense (but an improving force on defense), what does that tell you about the talent, adaptability, and maturity of this team and the adaptable strategy of the coaching staff? Quinn Cook: “Our coaches, they don’t sleep. They had us so prepared, it’s amazing.”

No matter how good the game plan, players still have to execute. Let’s start Duke’s evolving defense. Gonzaga, the highest scoring team in the country, was held to 14 points in the last 16 minutes. They had 13 turnovers, Duke 2; Gonzaga only shot 44% from the field but Duke only shot 38% themselves, yet won by 14 points. Is that a misprint? No, because Duke hit 6 more threes and 10 more free throws. All other stats were about even.

The final score is very deceiving. The Blue Devils started like they did in the first Carolina game in Cameron—like it was going to be a rout. But like the Carolina game, Gonzaga slowly fought back to cut a double digit lead to five at the break. Then they started the second half like they were the more determined team and took a quick four point lead. Timeout Duke and a patented Coach K attitude adjustment lecture. Duke regained their poise and took tenuous control of the game. From being up four with about four minutes to play, the Blue Devils just totally dominated their opponent by tight defense and hitting all but one free throw to win by a misleading fourteen points.

In close games, some baskets are more important than others, because they are momentum killers and/or separation points. Of course, Winslow, who wowed the fans and scouts with his driving, shooting, rebounding, defending, and toughness, had more than his share of both but it was defensive specialist and blue collar, jack-of-all-trades Matt Jones who had four big time threes as well as a backbreaking steal and layup to seal the win. There also were more than a few heady, hustle plays: Ty Jones saved a possession by diving out of bounds for a loose ball, and throwing it down on a supine Zag player who had fallen out of bounds. And Jefferson drew a third foul early in the second half by frustrating Sabonis, who had helped Gonzaga erase a five point half time lead. These are plays that excite and energize teammates to impose their will on an opponent. And there is no better practitioner of fighting harder to win than Coach K. Just look at how hard he is working on the sideline. It is a common belief that Guard play wins NCAA Tournament games. Well, Cook (10 points) and Jones (16 points) each played the entire 40 minutes against Gonzaga, had no turnovers, and hit the free throws down the stretch. Their counterparts, Gonzaga’s guards, Pangos combined for 9 points and 5 turnovers.

Additional Comments:

This will be Coach K’s twelfth (Duke’s sixteenth) Final Four appearance, matched only by Coach Wooden, whose teams only had to get there in a 32 team draw. Only 68 of the 350 eligible schools are invited to the NCAA Tournament. And Duke is in the Final Four with a late season run of 20-2 with eight scholarship players, four of whom are freshmen.
Let’s hear it for recruiting nationally. The two players from Texas, Justise Winslow and Matt Jones, scored almost half of Duke’s points.
During and just after the game, it was just about a paid commercial for Duke University. Ads for the next show “60 Minutes”, aired promoting their a segment on a possible cure for cancer at Duke University. Say what? A trip to the Final Four and a cure for cancer. You cannot buy that kind of publicity. BTW, the Chairman of CBS Sports happens to be Sean J. McManus, a Duke graduate. And, oh yes, Charlie Rose, an unabashed Duke grad and basketball junkie, made a halftime show appearance with Barkley, Smith and the gang straight from flying back from the Middle East where he had interviewed Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The Cowboys QB Tony Romo and Head Coach Jason Garrett were again courtside behind the Duke bench.

Alan Adds:

In the season preview of the DBP in November, prior to the first game, I wrote “In my opinion, last year was not just about the disappointing 3-3 down the stretch, including ACC tournament and the loss to Mercer in the NCAA tournament. The most important factor in Duke’s disappointing (for Duke and Coach K anyway) season was its porous defense throughout the entire season. So the question about the highly touted freshman class is: Can these kids make Duke the defensive force that it has usually been during the Coach K era?” In the first four games of the NCAA tournament, the freshmen (and the rest of the team) answered the question emphatically in the affirmative. Duke was superb defensively against the Zags, who were statistically the best or second best offensive team in the nation this season. The Zags, averaging close to 80 ppg were held to 26 points in each half. Critically, Duke committed only 6 fouls in each half; the Zags never got to the bonus. Considering how much excessive fouling Duke did as it evolved into the defensive juggernaut on view this weekend, that is a significant statistic.

In the first half, Wiltjer (13) and Sabonis (7) had 20 of the Zags’ 26 [Wesley 4 and Bell 2 completed the Gonzaga scoring]. Coach K deserves a share of praise for his in-game adjustments. Wiltjer had 5 and Sabonis just 2 in the second half. It was a superb team effort. Justise was all over the court providing help defense, whether at the rim or on the perimeter. While Jah was not a scoring force, he was at his defensive best in Houston, defending against size and skill. He doubled on drives and still defended the post well and was a force on the defensive board. Matt and Amile are both superb defenders when each is on the floor. Duke determined to shut down the high scoring, deep shooting duo of Zag guards — Kevin Pangos and Gary Bell. Pangos, like Cook is for the Devils, is the heart and soul of the Zag. He and Bell have started for four years and have won more than 120 games. Pangos played the full 40 minutes, guarded primarily by Cook (Duke’s switching was a ballet like thing of beauty, so many Duke defenders get credit for Pangos’s frustration). Pangos did not score in the first half and finished with just 4 points for the game. Bell finished with 5 (only 3 in the second half). Duke guards did not help (especially in the first half) when the ball went to the post. The Zag perimeter game was completely stifled. When the game was on the line, Duke held the Zags to 2 foul shots and 0 field goals in the last 6:40 of the game.

Duke played with essentially six players. Grayson made a 3 minute cameo in the first half (0-1) and Marshall played 8 minutes, snagging a rebound. The starters scored all of Duke’s 66 points, but the 20 minutes that Amile played were significant. He grabbed 4 boards (3 on offense that were crucial) while playing terrific defense and committing only a single foul.

Cook and Tyus each played 40 minutes of tenacious winning basketball. While Cook had a subpar shooting game (2-10; 1-5 from 3land), his defense stood out and he made clutch free throws (5-6) for 10 points. He also grabbed 5 crucial boards and had a steal and an assist. Most importantly, he now is part of a team that has hung a banner in Cameron. Tyus had a checkered performance. He carried Duke in the first half with 11 points on 4-8 shooting (1-2 from deep and 2-2 from the line). In the second half he was 1-5 from the floor (0-1 from deep; a forced shot) and 2-2 from the line for 15 points. He took the most shots of any Duke player (13; Justise took 12) and seemed to me to force things a bit. However, let us hail his defense and floor game. He had 3 boards, 2 steals and 6 assists without a turnover. Think about Cook and Quinn each playing the entire game without a turnover. Tyus’s great out of bounds save, when he stole the pass as he was flying out of bounds and delicately dropped the ball on the supine Karnowski for Duke to keep possession was, in a sense a play epitomizes what Tyus brings to the table. He is a winner in every respect.

Matt had his best game since coming to Duke. He was amazingly efficient in his 28 minutes, tying for the team lead in scoring with 16 points on only 10 shots (4-7 from downtown) to go with 3 boards, 3 steals and an assist. His defense was terrific. He and Justise cover so much ground in helping without abandoning the man being guarded.

Jah logged 29 minutes while being held to single digit scoring for the second straight game. He had an efficient first half scoring 7 points on 3-5 shooting (1-1 from the line), grabbing 6 boards with an assist, a steal and a block. His second half stats were less than gaudy — 1-5 from the field; 0-2 from the line (including an embarrassing air ball that was a foot short of the rim) and 2 boards. He did, however, play his best defense of the year against the size of the Zags. The MVP of the Regional (at least in my opinion) was Justise, who played 32 minutes (it would have been more, but he had his ankle attended to). In addition to his amazing defense, he eviscerated the Zags at “winning time”. After a first half that was pedestrian by the standards that he has set in the tournament (5 points on 1-7 shooting from the floor; 1-3 from the arc and 2-2 from the line with a block, a steal an assist and a rebound), he took over the second part of the second half, scoring 11 on 3-5 from the floor; 1-1 from deep and 4-4 from the foul line. He also grabbed 4 crucial rebounds.

With 4:51 to go in the game, Wiltjer missed a wide open layup at the rim. The score was 53-51 in Duke’s favor. Instead of tying the score, the Zags folded and Duke just took over. Justise made 2 foul shots before the TV time out (55-51). Coach K implored his team to get emotional and put the game away (according to the TV floor announcer). Justise did just that. He was fouled grabbing a rebound and made both foul shots. Then with 2:53 to go and Duke leading by 6, he dropped the guillotine (a better metaphor than the oft used dagger) on the Zags with a 3 pointer for a 9 point lead. From there, it was tenacious defense, Quinn making 4 straight foul shots before Matt’s highlight steal and layup.

Justise has become a reliable foul shooter (6-6). He, Quinn and Tyus were 15-16 (Jah’s 1-3 gave the team 16-19).

On to Indianapolis and Michigan State in the National Semi-Finals on Saturday; tip off at 6:09 EDT. Next Play

Duke 81 – Michigan State 61

It is common knowledge that the NCAA hierarchy doesn’t get much right– and to start this game at the odd time of 6:06pm (instead of say an even number 6:10pm) is just another example. During the first four minutes, Duke played defense like they did in the first half against Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament, falling behind 14-6. Then, after a timeout and wake-up call, the clock struck 6:10pm and the Blue Devils outscored the Spartans 75-50 in the final thirty-six minutes. The Devils might also have taken offense to the Michigan State’s players slapping the floor on defense — a long-time Duke trademark — as a challenge or worse. “That was like a slap in the face to us,” the Matt Jones said.

As in every other win in the tournament, this was a total team win—all eight scholarship players and the coaching staff were hitting on all cylinders. It was a text book example of Coach K’s formula for playing winning basketball—aggressive defense, shut down threes, attack the basket with strength, protect the ball, get to the foul line, and hit free throws. Despite the margin, Duke only had two threes! But they made 17 more free throws, and shot 12 % better from the field than the Spartans. While Duke is more talented and versatile, Michigan State is a very well-coached, gritty and dangerous team that is very accurate from beyond the arc. However, as Blue Devil fans know only too well, if you live by the three, you can die by the three.

This impressive tournament performance has been fueled by an evolving symbiotic meshing of unique, but atypically unselfish talents: A totally healthy Justice Winslow has helped propel this team to play at a higher level because Jahlil Okafor has not resented sharing the spotlight; Ty Jones is the generous pass first point guard (unless points are needed); Senior Quinn Cook just wants to hang a banner, so decided to love playing defense; Matt Jones is a versatile, blue collar teammate with whom everyone likes to play; co-captain Amile Jefferson, much like Nate James on the 2001 championship team, didn’t resent losing his starting position; Plumlee and Allen are just excited to get on the floor and contribute.

The Raleigh News Observer has a long article on the still-tight lipped mystery surrounding Krzyzewski’s dismissal of Sulaimon and pointing out that it was the turning point for the team. However, it sheds no light on the reason(s) and does nothing, except for repeating the rumors of two unreported sexual harassment incidents, but portrays Rasheed as a model student-athlete. The only thing that is clear about the whole episode is that Coach K knew something we didn’t. But that’s nothing new.

It’s Wisconsin, who did to Kentucky what Duke did to UNLV in 1992, and Duke for the title on Monday night at 9:18?pm. These are two of the best programs and best coached teams in college basketball. There will be a winner crowned but there will be no loser in this championship game. The Las Vegas line is “pick-em”.

Other Comments:
Announcer Bill Rafferty must watch my favorite TV show, the highly acclaimed Justified based on the Elmore Leonard novels about Deputy Raylan Givens, who sometimes bends the rules to achieve the right result, because after a sensational Winslow play he exclaims: “It’s not fair but it is Justise!”
Quinn Cook brought some of his point guard skills out of moths ball on a fast break when he faked a behind the back pass, took the ball back up for a layup, which brought the defender up off his feet, then dropped a bounce pass to a trailing Justise Winslow for a dunk—NBA stuff!
Grayson Allen demonstrated his extraordinary athleticism when he missed a three but got the rebound and dunked it much to the delight of his teammates on the bench.
Krzyzewski’s career record against Michigan State Coach Izzo stands at 9-1.
Some Kentucky stuff: Coach John Calipari’s teams have now appeared in six Final Fours: Umass, Memphis, and four with Kentucky, but with only one title win. However, only Kentucky’s appear the record book as his first two were vacated because of recruiting violations. When a reporter asked about Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky, Kentucky guard Andrew Harrison, also on the podium, muttered ”F— that n—-” into a live microphone. No wonder Andrew missed shots down the stretch. He missed the fact that Kaminsky is Polish-American. Alan will write more in more depth about the Kentucky player’s reaction to the loss.

Alan Adds:

Even in retrospect, it is hard to believe how dominant Duke was in the final 36 minutes of the game. Coach K was effusive in his assessment of his team’s play, and of his team’s growth. The growth is dramatically demonstrable on the defensive end. Coach K was searching for a word to describe the defensive effort of his team, but had to settle for “terrific”. He obviously wanted something more superlative, because it was warranted. Michigan State’s numbers edged toward respectability after Duke led by 20 with a little over 10 minutes to go, when Duke began to milk the clock and play more conservatively (winning strategy again). But before that, the Spartans were trussed and hogtied on its offensive end. Come to think about it, the Spartans were not any more efficient defensively against the smooth functioning Blue Devils. Coach K emphasized on hard Duke drove the ball to the basket “ with force”. The coach pointed out it got the Spartans into bad foul trouble (Duke was in the bonus with more than 10 minutes left in each session), and fueled the defense. It was, in short, a tour de force for what is rapidly becoming recognized as a special team. This makes the championship game so special, interesting, and unpredictable, because Wisconsin is also a special team.

I widely predicted that Wisconsin would beat Kentucky. Kentucky is a team of exceptional athletes who play good basketball. Wisconsin is a team of really good basketball players. Notre Dame exposed the Wildcats susceptibility to superior basketball players and an efficient basketball team, but didn’t have the size to finish the job. Wisconsin did. Kentucky, in Coach K idiom, did not respect the game. They were sore losers, disdaining the post game handshake (some players), whining that the season was a waste because they lost, and had Andrew disclosing (not realizing how sensitive the microphones were) his lack of sportsmanship to the world. On the other Blue Devil hand, this is such a tight team. When Justise was interviewed and asked about the prowess of the three freshmen in the starting lineup, he began his answer about the freshmen by referencing “the four of us”. He was not going to allow the interviewer to ignore Grayson. Team! Team ! Team!. Coach K sounded like a young boy gushing over his first crush when talking about this team and the absolute joy of coaching the group. A lot of lessons emerge from yesterday’s two games beyond winning and losing, if anyone desires to learn them.

Justise (29 minutes; only 12 in the first half because of foul trouble), Jah (30 minutes) and Quinn (35 minutes) were a combined 18 for 30 from the floor (including Quinn 1-3 from behind the arc; Justise did not attempt a three). Justise was 5-7 on drives, but also note the 9-11 from the line to go with 9 rebounds for a game high 19 points. His improved foul shooting is significant. He is growing by leaps and bounds on both ends of the court. Jah is playing defense at a higher level. Coach said his earlier deficits were the result of his ankle having been injured but he’s healthy now and having great practices. He was 7-11 from the field (4-7 from the line) for 18 points to go with 6 boards and 2 critical blocks. Quinn scored 17 on 5-9 from inside the arc and 4-4 from the line. He had 2 boards, 2 assists and 0 turnovers. They were the Big Three, but not at all alone.

Tyus played a game high 38 minutes and was, as he has been all year, the glue to offensive efficiency. He scored 9 on 3-8 (1-3 from 3land, but it was a key one) and 2-3 from the line. He had 4 assists, 2 boards and a block against a single turnover. He will have to shoot better for Duke to win on Monday. Matt (28 minutes) and Grayson (17 minutes) manned the wing for the most part. Both were hugely valuable on the defensive end and steady and efficient on offense. Matt scored 7 on 3-8 (0-2 from 3land) and 1-2 from the line. He had 2 tough rebounds and 2 assists. Grayson scored 9 and displayed amazing athleticism and energy. He was 2-6 from the field (0-2 from behind the arc) and 5-6 from the line. His energy was contagious and the 5 rebounds he retrieved (one led to the dramatic dunk that Bill alluded to) was valuable. The reserve bigs contributed big time in just a few minutes (each scored a point on 1-2 from the line). Amile grabbed 7 rebounds in only 11 minutes and played valuable defense. He also committed three fouls. Marshall had a block and 3 boards in his 10 minutes. He brings terrific defensive intensity and is so solid now. It was a great team effort.

Don’t listen to the pundits. Wisconsin did Duke no favor beating Kentucky. Kentucky is a flawed team; Wisconsin is not. This should be a classic. What a great season!

Duke 68- Wisconsin 63

Down nine deep into the second half with another championship dream quickly slipping away, the most inexperienced, most overlooked of the young freshmen, Grayson Allen, scored eight straight, difficult points (more points than he scored in all but one of the thirty-two games this season) to singlehandedly bring Duke back from what looked like certain defeat and put the Blue Devils in a position to win their fifth national title. Then with the game on the line, Coach K said: “Ty run the high ball screen and be you,” later to comment (with tongue firmly in his cheek) that he thought that had to be considered great coaching. Immediately, the smallest, calmest player with the least fear, Tyus Jones, personally took over and won the game with drives, free throws, and lastly two cold hearted threes, the last of which with 1:24 left on the clock buried Wisconsin. The Blue Devil freshmen scored all of the second half points: Jones 19, Allen 10, Okafor 4 and Winslow 4. Justise finished with 11 points & 9 rebounds and Jahlil Okafor, who had a rough game, scored four critical points that gave Duke the lead.

Of course, none of this could have happened without other less obvious contributions: Unsung hero Amile Jefferson played 21 minutes of terrific post defense on POY Frank Kaminsky. He had 7 rebounds, 2 assists & 3 blocks; Justise Winslow was again the key to the interior defense; Matt Jones, Quinn Cook, and Grayson Allen held Decker, the hero of the Kentucky game, to 6-15 and 0-6 threes. Late in the game, Coach K looked down the bench, saw Okafor, Winslow, and Plumlee and thought: “Boy, we sure have a small team on the floor but so what, they are doing just fine.”

Defense and free throw shooting, which were the primary deficiencies of this team for much of the year, were strengths in this very impressive championship run. In a halftime interview, Coach K telegraphed his second half strategy—drive hard, get to the free throw line and into the bonus situation. So, when Grayson came in, you knew what was coming but never imagined he alone would turn the game around. However, it should have not been a surprise that the most unimposing, innocent appearing player known as Ty Stones would finish off the Badgers again. He did it four months ago in the ten point win in Madison, then again in the upset of Virginia in Charlottesville, and on and on. Has been doing heroic stuff like this in close games all season.

In the same season when Krzyzewski won his 1,000th game, when he dismissed a player from his team for the first time in 35 years, he moved past Adolph Rupp with his fifth championship. Only John Wooden has more, but Krzyzewski has done it in a very different era of college basketball, spanning an entire generation, running a much longer race to get there in a tournament that has grown from 21 to 32 to 68 teams. It was only five years ago Duke won a national title in this same building with a team that couldn’t have been more different. That team was veteran, experienced, solid, unflashy. This team was young, with a lots of flashy parts—different is so many ways, but similarly well-grounded personally and in fundamentals.

In defense of Wisconsin, I have long thought that the most difficult aspect of tournament basketball is to play a tough, emotionally draining game and turn around two days later and play at that level again. Tonight was a good example. Wisconsin was clearly playing on fumes late in the game. However, after a tough loss some exhausted, disappointed players and coaches should stay away from microphones. Two nights ago it was Kentucky’s Aaron Harrison making an inappropriate racial oxymoron comment. Tonight it was Wisconsin Coach Bo Ryan: ”It was a situation where you just have to be able to handle all the hands and the checking. There was more body contact in this game than any game we played all year, and I just feel sorry for my guys that all of the sudden a game was like that, and I think they’re struggling with that a little bit.” Coach Ryan had no problem with the referee’s calls in the scrum when his team closed out Kentucky. An inconvenient truth is that there were bad calls but they were pretty equally distributed and it was two key Duke players who were saddled with foul trouble for much of the game.

I would encourage everyone to watch the post- game press conference with Coach, Quinn, Amile, Tyus, and Grayson. Anyone who listens to what they say about each other, the coaches, and being at Duke has to be impressed. After that, if they still want to spout off about hating Duke like the talking heads on Morning Joe on MSNBC today, they need to think about what they are saying and why. The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter, because the players love Duke and, win or lose, we love the players.

Alan adds:

Wisconsin was, in my opinion, heroic. Hats off to a team with heart and smarts. Duke had some luck (including some dicey calls), but also as much (or more) heart, smarts and, in the end, more talent.

As Bill pointed out, I believe the effort against Kentucky caught up with the Badgers in the last part of the fourth quarter. All of a sudden, Duke was playing harder, diving on the floor, and exuding more energy. In the end, the energy that Duke summoned with its very small defense in the last minutes (4 guards + Jefferson) proved the difference. Of course no matter how many stops and steals you get, you still have to score on offense to regain the lead and win. Again, I thought the Badgers were out of energy when Tyus exploded. [He has been so clutch all year that he has gained the nickname Tyus Stones]. Wisconsin could no longer guard the ball screens (Tyus was pretty open for both threes on very simple screen and rolls). Kaminsky didn’t get up to guard him, and his defender went under the screens. Tired. Who could have predicted the impact that Grayson Allen would have on the game? Again, he had more energy than the Badgers could muster. His was a coming out party for next year. K praised Amile and Matt Jones for their superb defense [Grayson should be added; he was guarding 6’10” guys down the stretch]. He has such hops, he can guard bigs on the interior. In spite of the lack of length, Duke played great post defense with its guards.

This was one of Coach K’s finest jobs if not his absolute best. Learning to play really good team defense has been the focus all season long. Dino Gaudio, on TV, said he had been to the Virginia Tech game and Duke simply could not stop the Hokie guards from penetrating at will. Three months later, one of the pundits was describing Duke as one of the all-time best defensive teams. No exaggeration. Duke’s defense in the tournament was simply awesome. The defense was constant no matter which of Duke’s 8 was in the game. The bench contributed especially on the defensive end. Even though Marshall did not score in his 9 minutes (0-2; what was that lefty hook shot in the first half?) nor Matt in his 23 minutes, they played such wonderful defense. Amile had one bucket (on his only shot) in his 21 minutes, he had such an outstanding floor game with steals, blocks and critical rebounds. K said that Amile was better equipped to guard Kaminski because The Tank is not really a center (‘He is like Laettner; he’s just a player.”) and Jah had trouble with him on the perimeter. The keynote for this team was its versatility. They could switch all the screens and swarmed to help on the interior. “8 is enough”.

In spite of the pundits trying to make this a match-up between the two POY candidates. The game deciding question wasn’t whether Kaminski was better than Okafor (only the Duke press officer could have thought that was a contest). The only question (since the game is about teams) is did Duke win? If so, did Okafor’s play help Duke win? A few nice hoops in the first half to hold even, and, in spite of having 4 fouls, two critical goals down the stretch to push the lead to five makes the answer a resounding yes. That was truly the only relevant question about Jah and the Tank.

It is hard to fathom what happened to Dekker. K suggested that Matt Jones and Grayson got up under him and limited his dribble. I didn’t see that so much. I saw him miss (by a mile) pretty open threes that he has been knocking down with regularity during the tournament (especially) and during the season. It was the law of averages plus I think he was drained from his heroic performance against Kentucky and its length.

It was a great Badger season (they had such a tough draw, while Duke was barely tested until the finals). What I loved about Wisconsin is how they played the game and the heart they showed. Duke up eight with over a minute to go; the Badgers were, in my opinion, clearly out of gas. Yet Kaminski nailed a crucial three, they get a stop on Tyus and Hayes scored a duece to make it a one possession game. You have to completely admire the Wisconsin heart.

But this is the Duke Basketball Playbook, and Duke just won the National Championship. So, back to Duke. The championship season and game was a consummate team effort. The Duke backcourt outplayed the Badgers, especially in the second half. Quinn scored 6 (all in the first half) on 3-8 shooting (0-3 from behind the arc) playing a game high 38 minutes (Kaminsky played 39 for the Badgers). His defense was superb and his hustle ignited the younger Devils. He was a great leader by example in the energy and defense department as the game wound down. Tyus played 37 minutes and fully deserved his award. He has, all year, scored when Duke needed him and not when the Devils did not. Tyus had four in the first half. Then in the second half Duke needed him, he delivered in heroic style (7-13; 2-3 from 3land and a crucial 7-7 from the line). Grayson logged 21 minutes (5-8; 1-2 from behind the arc and 5-5 from the line) for 16 points and 2 key rebounds. His energy and defense turned the game. A great story line. His game makes him a crucial piece for next year’s team.

Jah had well documented foul trouble and was only on the court for 22 minutes, scoring 10 on 5-9 shooting. He missed his only foul shot after an amazing hoop, and grabbed 3 boards. It was definitely not Jah’s best game, but as Tyus pointed out, he kept his head and heart in the game. When his number was called he made 2 critical hoops down the stretch.

Justise played 32 minutes, hampered by foul trouble also. His defense was wonderful even though his offense was not up to the standard he had set for himself in this tournament. The Wisconsin defense had something to do with that. He had 11 on 3-9 from the field (1-2 from 3land) and 4-7 from the line. The game was essentially over when he missed the last two foul shots. He has a fantastic upside and evolved into a special player as the season and tournament wore on.

I thought Coach K out coached Bo (who was not elected to the Hall of Fame yesterday). As Bill said, the half-time interview with K was illuminating. Duke committed seven fouls and had its two stars with a pair a piece at the half. Wisconsin had committed only two fouls even though Duke was driving hard. K was adamant that Duke had to draw fouls and not commit fouls. Duke had Wisconsin in the bonus around the ten minute mark. Wisconsin committed 13 fouls in the second half, while Duke committed only 6, keeping the Badgers out of the bonus. There were times that Ryan played into Duke’s hands by remaining in a slow down offense when Wisconsin needed points fast.

It is hard to envision a more satisfying college basketball season for Duke fans. It is to be savored for a long time.

In Conclusion:

After the endowment gift from the Duke family, President William Preston Few had the extraordinary foresight to take Trinity, a small college of the Methodist church, and conceive the vision of a great university then enlisting businessmen, academicians, students, and alumni to fulfill his vision. The foundations of his dream were: a strong academic institution with a religious underpinning , a stunning campus, an extraordinary teaching hospital, and outstanding athletic teams. The new West Campus was constructed in the form of a cross. At the apex of the cross was the magnificent chapel, to the right the library and classrooms leading to the hospital complex; to the left, the student union and dormitories leading to the football stadium. President Few recruited doctors from Johns Hopkins to be the nucleus of the hospital staff and, understanding the national marketing impact of winning teams, Wallace Wade from national champion Alabama to build a football program.

A case can be made that Duke has come further, faster than any Top Ten University. Athletic Director Eddie Cameron was a major catalyst. He had the foresight to see that excellence in athletics was quickest way to attract national attention to a young, ambitious university. In 1930, he hired football coach Wallace Wade away from Alabama following his third national championship with the Crimson Tide. By the mid 1930’s Duke had a powerful football team that attracted national attention and played in the 1938 and 1942 Rose Bowls. From $400,000 of the proceeds of the 1942 Rose Bowl (played at Duke because of concerns about Japanese attacks on the West Coast), Mr. Cameron built Duke Indoor Stadium (fittingly renamed Cameron Indoor Stadium), which was, at the time, the second largest basketball arena (next to the Palestra in Philadelphia) in the East. Fortunately, the legendary two sport star Dick Groat matriculated shortly thereafter and a great basketball tradition was launched.

Legend has it that James Buchannan Duke established the Duke Endowment with $40,000,000 (over $500,000,000 in today’s dollars) after Princeton University turned down his offer of the very generous bequest with the caveat to change the name of the school to Duke University. The gift to Trinity had two caveats: change the name to Duke University (after his father Washington Duke) and build it to look like Princeton.

Whatever the truth, building a campus as beautiful as Duke, establishing rigorous entrance and educational standards, then building nationally ranked football and basketball teams as well as baseball, golf, tennis, and lacrosse were the lynchpins of the meteoric rise of Duke University as an elite institution (Yale on steroids is how one of President Brodhead’s former students characterized the school). It could not have happened without all of these elements –and it would be difficult to maintain that status without preserving a dual excellence in both academics and athletics.

I join Bill in saying what a pleasure our writing has been for us. I have reveled in the effort and enjoyed the camaraderie with a treasured friend (and ex-intramural doubles partner). Thank you for allowing us to share our thoughts with you this season. Next Play.

Duke Basketball Playbook: 2013-14

Welcome to the Duke Basketball Playbook 2018-19 season preview.

Miscellaneous Comments:

Alan Adds:

Veterans Competing To Start and/or Be in Coach K’s Rotation

These are the complementary players who have to do the dirty work, defend, and score when open.

This is a team that should hold our interest, inspire our affection, and excite our fantasies.

Duke 118 – Kentucky 84

If you had Duke and gave 33 points, you won!

Miscellaneous Comments:

In a rare moment of candor John Calipari told his players. “I got outcoached. You got outplayed.”

The Blue Devils made 19 layups and eight dunks. They scored two out of every three times they possessed the ball, and collected 22 assists on 54 made field goals while turning the ball over just 4 times.

Joey Baker did not play. Either he is injured or he is being red shirted.

How cool is it to see David Thompson in Duke hat on the sidelines cheering the team on?

Alan Adds:

THE ROTATION

RJ AND ZION

Army on Sunday at noon is the Next Play.

DUKE 94 – ARMY 72

If you took Duke and gave more than 22 points, you lost!

Well, Army is no Kentucky. The Black Knights execute much better than the Wildcats. And in doing so, they gave the Blue Devils a lesson that last year’s team was unable or unwilling to learn.

Miscellaneous Comments:

Via the Duke men’s basketball Instagram account, users have viewed videos 1.87 million times with 33,779 new followers onboard over that period. Kentucky is next closest among major college programs in that period, with 408,000 views and 3,658 new followers.

Jack White played as many minutes (25) as Bolden or DeLaurier combined.

Freshman Joey Baker played well during the Blue Devils’ exhibition season, but still has not played a second through three halves of the regular season. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the Kentucky game that he’ll wait and see how Jack White and Alex O’Connell look on the perimeter before deciding whether to use Baker this year. It appears that unless one of Duke’s current rotation players suffers a serious injury, Baker is likely to redshirt.

Alan Adds:

Next Play: Eastern Michigan on Wednesday Night at Cameron at 7 pm before heading to the Maui Classic next week.

DUKE 84 – E. MICHIGAN 46

If you took Eastern Michigan and got 37 points, you lost!

Miscellaneous Comments:

The final two (#7& 8) episodes of the Duke series “Earn Everything” are now available on ESPN+. I found them to be the most the most interesting and revealing of the segments. They made one thing crystal clear: The Duke “Brotherhood” extends back decades, is a potent recruiting tool, and has a powerful hold upon former players–even the one-and-done players.

Cameron Reddish did not play at all in the second half. Krzyzewski said Reddish had a sore groin, nothing serious, but it didn’t make much sense to play him when he could rest for next week.

For Duke, Monday’s No. 1 showing is an AP poll record. The Blue Devils, with this week’s ranking, have now stood atop the AP rankings 135 weeks in their history. That breaks a tie with UCLA for most all time. The AP poll dates back to 1949; UCLA had held the record for decades, thanks to the season-over-season dominance during the John Wooden era. Mike Krzyzewski has been coach for 117 of the 135 weeks Duke has held the No. 1 ranking.

Alan Adds:

The Defense

The Offense

The Rotation

The Maui Invitational

Duke 90 – San Diego State 64

Miscellaneous Comments:

Vlade Divac, Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri, Los Angeles Clippers executive Lawrence Frank, Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge and Golden State Warriors executive Bob Myers all were courtside along with representatives from dozens of other NBA teams.

Should Duke keep the preseason tournament mojo going by winning Maui for a record 6th time, it would be the 20th preseason championship of Mike Krzyzewski’s career.

Alan Adds:

Auburn tonight at 8 pm

Tonight’s game should be Duke’s first close game of the year and a real test.

Gonzaga 89 – Duke 87

The bottom line: Despite the comeback, I thought the score did not reflect the difference in the performance and sophistication of the teams.

Alan Adds:

Great Duke Performances

What Duke can learn from

Next game is Tuesday, November 27 at 9:30 (p.m.) against Indiana. Duke is traditionally ferocious after a loss. I almost feel sorry for the Hoosiers.

Duke 90 – Indiana 69

Miscellaneous Comments:

Duke extended its non-ACC home-winning streak to 142 games, is 18-2 in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, and is 7-3 against Indiana.
While The Four Freshmen outscored the Hoosiers 75-69, Cam Reddish continues to struggle with too many cheap fouls and inconsistent play. Actually, Jack White is more effective and, as a result, is getting more minutes. On the other hand, Tre Jones is not struggling. Tonight, he had 15 points, 8 assists and 0 turnovers. The point guard has 41 assists against eight turnovers on the season.

Question: If Barrett misses a three, Williamson rebounds it and slams it home, does R.J. get an assist?

Jay Bilas added his usual incisive comments, which always add to the enjoyment of the game.

Mike Krzyzewski said of Jones’s defense: “He’s in that room where Amaker, Hurley, Wojo, Duhon, and Silber (just wanted to be sure you were paying attention) are as far as on-the-ball pressure. He has such will and determination.

Alan adds:

The level of competition drops for the next four games, all in Cameron. Duke will be working on its man to man defense and communication.

Stetson on Saturday (December 1) at 7 pm. Followed by Hartford (12-5), Yale (12-8); and Princeton (12-18) before playing Texas Tech in the World’s Most Famous Arena on 12-20.

Duke 113- Stetson 49

Since Stetson (1-7) lost all their starters from last year’s team, I guess you could say this year Stetson, which shot 32 percent and committed 27 turnovers, is: “All hat and no cattle.”

Other than that bad pun, there were only a few takeaways from this mismatch:

Miscellaneous Comments:

Duke played a lot harder and more intensity than they did in a similar situation against Army.

Even announcer Corey Alexander’s stream-of-conscious ramblings stumbled across the fact that this year’s team is much better defensively than last year’s edition. What he did not mention is that this year’s freshmen parents are just content to watch their kids play.

For whatever reason(s), Cam Reddish was more aggressive on both ends of the floor and Coach K gave him more minutes than any other starter. He responded with 23 points in 23 minutes.

Practically everything R.J. Barrett threw up went in as he was 12-14 from the floor for 26 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals in just 17 minutes.

I am really impressed with Alex O’Connell’s shooting and athleticism (but not his hair styles). He had three long threes and is shooting 50% from behind the arc. Unfortunately, Alex and Justin Robinson are statistically Duke’s best three point shooters.

One criticism: Again, lousy free throw shooting.

With his parents in the stands, how cool was it to see reserve Justin Robinson go 3 for 3 from three point land, then make a steal and go coast to coast for a dunk as the entire Duke bench of starters celebrated like they had just won the NCAA Tournament. Even the stoic Admiral gave his son a standing O!

For the record: Duke’s home non-conference winning streak now stands at an amazing 143 straight games – the nation’s longest active streak. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s record at Duke is now 1,034-280 in his 39th season. His overall record is 1,107- 339 in this, his 44th season.

Alan Adds:

Duke 84- Hartford 54

Coach K had some interesting post game comments:

Alan Adds:

Saturday, December 8 vs Yale at 5:30 (EST) on ESPN.

Duke 91 – Yale 58

Miscellaneous Comments:

Cam Reddish is in a shooting slump and it is apparent that Coach is running plays for him to get his confidence back. So far, it hasn’t worked. He is even missing free throws. However, he had 4 steals.

Marquis Bolden has regressed against these two smaller, quicker teams. Rather than going up strong to the rim, he appears hesitant or indecisive..but whatever, his playing time is diminishing. On top of that DeLaurier is playing his best basketball on both ends of the floor. If he could just eliminate those silly fouls…
There are a lot of reasons to like Zion Williamson and his effort and hustle are two of them. While chasing a fast break and unsuccessfully attempting to knock the ball from the point guard, he paused and emphatically spiked the attempted layup by the unsuspecting player.
During the 50-26 second half blowout, the Cameron Crazies, who get Princeton in ten days, were chanting: “We want Harvard.”
My long time buddy “All Prep Ep” suggests that teams, along with player’s height & weight, also list their SAT & GPA scores.

Alan Adds:

Two more games before Xmas and the beginning of ACC games.

Next game: Princeton. Tuesday, December 18. 6 pm. ESPN 2

Duke 101- Princeton 50

Miscellaneous Comments:

Coach Mitch Henderson: ”Boy, that’s a really good team. They’re even better in person.”

Alan Adds:

The Season starts now.

Next Game: #9 Texas Tech (10-0). Thursday 7:00 ESPN2. Madison Square Garden

Duke 69 -Texas Tech 58

Miscellaneous Comments:

I sensed it was going to be a long night when I heard Dickie “Bless his heart” Vitale’s voice. He has become a parody of his former self.

Texas Tech is a well-coached team and a tough out. Sophomore Jarrett Culver (25 points) was the most polished, mature offensive player on the floor.

Who is surprised? The Blue Devils are 124th and 202nd respectively in the nation in 3-pointers made and 3-point shooting percentage,

Zion Williamson had 17 points, 13 rebounds in only 25 minutes. When he fouled out on a questionable call with 4:50 to go, Duke was +10 with him on the floor and -5 when he wasn’t. However, the Blue Devils continued a 16-3 run to close the game.

This was Duke’s 35th win at Madison Square Garden.
Alan Adds:

For all of those reasons, this was, in my opinion, a very significant win and wonderful sign of how this team is growing up.

Duke 87 – Clemson 68

Miscellaneous Observations:

o Zion Williamson had 25 points, 10 rebounds 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 goal tend in just 22 minutes against his runner-up school, just an hour from his boyhood home.

o The somewhat over looked Javin DeLaurier made his only two field-goal attempts, bringing his season mark to 27-for-31.

o At one point, spanning both halves, Duke outscored Clemson 51-21. The Tigers had only 9 second-half points in the first 10 minutes.

Alan Adds:

Offense

Defense

ACC games and Road Games

Duke 87 – Wake Forest 68

Miscellaneous Comments:

Alan Adds:

Next Game: Duke – Florida State. ESPN Saturday at 2 pm.

Duke 80 – Florida State 78

Miscellaneous Comments:

Recently, Zion Williamson has had a tooth knocked out and an eye traumatized. In neither instance was there a foul called or time called for a player on the floor incapacitated. Something is wrong here. Zion may look indestructible, but that is no reason for the referees to treat him as if he is indestructible. In his press conference, Krzyzewski said that Williamson had double vision but added that Zion did not have any headaches and hoped he would be ready Monday night against Syracuse.

The questions is going forward are these: 1) Was this a breakthrough performance that motivates Cam Reddish to consistently play to the level of his three freshmen teammates and 2) How will Zion Williamson respond to the physical play of the ACC?

Think Duke is a draw? The game was sold out and $250 tickets were being scalped for $2,500.
Dick Vitale demonstrated once again that he should no longer be allowed to be an announcer for a televised college basketball game. Among other things, we had to endure four minutes of second half incessant, non- germane yakking before the announcers noticed that Zion was not playing and minutes more yet before there was any information as the severity of his injury or availability.

Alan Adds:

The Second Half:

Miscellaneous Comments:

Is this season being fun, or what?

Duke 91 – Syracuse 95 (OT)

Miscellaneous Comments:

Tre Jones collision with Frank Howard in the opening minutes that sent him to the ER was diagnosed as an AC joint separation. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski said afterwards that neither Jones’ shoulder nor collarbone showed signs of a break, but added that Jones was “in a lot of pain”. [Tuesday morning update: Jones’ injury is an AC joint separation. Jones will be out “indefinitely” and the Steadman Clinic lists a wide range of recovery times, taking anywhere from “a few days to 12 weeks, depending on the severity.”
One good note is that Jay Bilas was in Dickie V’s seat at the microphone.

Alan Adds:

Duke 72 – Virginia 70

Miscellaneous Comments:

Coach K on Tre Jones status: “I don’t know. But he wasn’t going to play, as we made that decision yesterday. He just doesn’t have enough movement yet. I can’t tell you when [he’ll return]; I’m not going to tell you that he could be ready for Pittsburgh. Every day we’re just going to see how he progresses and make that decision based on the day-to-day stuff without putting a timetable on him so there’s no pressure for him to come back and force something. We don’t want that to happen.”

Coach Tony Bennett is not just a good basketball coach, he is a great college basketball coach. Virginia is an outstanding, classy university and he has recruited players to match. For instance, guard Kyle Guy, who could play on any team, had a blunt and telling assessment of the Duke team: “An NBA team. That’s the only thing I can think of in terms of talent and size and length. We’re not probably going to see another team like that.”
Coach K on Zion’s growth and focus with all the media scrutiny: “I think to where we all should admire him. He’s such a people person. When football was still playing and he was at a football game, he would take time with people. He really doesn’t want a lot of attention, when obviously he attracts a lot of attention. Even for Gameday and that, he didn’t want to do too much. He didn’t want to separate himself from what the other guys are doing, and the family doesn’t either. They’re just good people. He’s handled it really well. You guys know from being with him that he’s such an upbeat kid. He was terrific tonight. Even though it was a lot of adversity on Monday night against Syracuse, he and RJ played the whole game, and that helped them tonight. The fact that they did that then, how do you handle it? You don’t handle it until you have to handle it. You can’t practice that. The times we’ve won big games in our program like championships, usually our best players have to play a lot of minutes, so hopefully what they’re learning right now will help them as we go forward.”

BJ Barrett on his confidence as a shooter and playmaker down the stretch in late games: “It definitely helps when you have the greatest coach of all time telling you to keep going, keep shooting the ball. I love playing for him.”

UVA is the Villanova model, featuring three and four year players who have become well marinated in their coach’s system.

Alan Adds:

Duke 79 – Pittsburgh 64

Alan Adds:

Duke returns home to face Georgia Tech on Saturday followed by a Monday game in South Bend vs Notre Dame. Every Duke fan wants to know “When will Tre return?”

Duke 66- Georgia Tech 53

Miscellaneous Comments:

Alan had a terrific halftime assessment: “The first half looked like the Syracuse game without the excuses.”

Duke out-rebounded Tech 20-10 in the second half. Barrett led everyone with 11. Duke had 7 blocks–3 by Williamson–and 13 steals. Foul shooting was superb, 16-for-19.

I think this team will see a lot more zone defenses. For sure we will see it when we play Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.

Coach K said that after playing 35 minutes, Trey felt really well; that our defense was very important today; and that the crowd was the sixth man —and we really needed them.

Marques Bolden suffered a toenail problem that is not believed to be serious.

Alan Adds:

The Rotation

The First Half

The Second Half

Schedule

Duke 83 – Notre Dame 61

Miscellaneous Comments:

Alan Adds:

The January part of the schedule is done. Two home games — St. John’s next Saturday (noon on ESPN) and Boston College on Tuesday before the showdown in Charlottesville on Saturday, February 9.

Duke 91- St. Johns 61

Miscellaneous Comments:

My buddy, Johnny Tar Heel, says that if you put Zion Williamson on any of the top ten teams, that team would be #1. BTW, Carolina is surging. They beat Louisville at Kentucky.

When Dick Vitale is announcing a game, I wonder how many people turn the sound off?

Duke 80 – Boston College 55

During this upcoming tough stretch, let’s hope that the Blue Devils are able to play close to forty minutes of their best basketball each and every game. Otherwise…….

Other Comments:

This victory produced Duke’s 23rd consecutive 20 win season.

Zion (16 pts, 17 rebs, 3 asssts, 3 blks, 4 steals) missed an open floor reverse slam, then later had a perfect pass slip out of his hands as he was taking off for an uncontested dunk. Coming off the floor was the first time I have ever seen him angry. Fortunately, it was in disappointment with himself, not an opponent. Incidentally, here is what St. John’s coach and former All Pro Chris Mullins said about Zion: “I said coming in probably one of the best things about him is his attitude and his personality. He’s got a great joy for the game and passion for the game. I think it rubs off on his teammates. He’s very unselfish. If he doesn’t like his shot, he shares with his teammates. Those things get overlooked. Obviously, his physicality, his athleticism is unmatched. A lot of these kids, when they’re critiqued and they’re rated, sometimes by the time they get here they’re worn out. He seems to have been able to maintain that smile and that passion. I think that’s contagious to their team. It’s good to see.”

Basketball lifer, Hubert “Hubie” Brown (Hall of Fame, two time NBA Coach of the Year) was one of the announcers. Both Hubie (1968-72), as well as HOF’er Chuck Daley (1963-69), head coach of NBA champions Detroit Pistons as well as the 1980 Olympic Dream Team, were an assistant coaches at Duke under Vic Bubas.

Alan Adds:

The First Half

The Second Half

Had a deceptively terrific second half after a sub-par first half in which he was limited to 12 first half minutes by committing 3 silly fouls early, limiting him to 1-6 from the field; 0-2 from deep without attempting a free throw. Then came the second half where he absolutely sparkled (sort of under the radar). He scored 15 second half points in 15 minutes (4-6; 2-2 from 3land; and 5-7 from the line). He is both defender and rebounder (5 for the game; tied for second with Tre and Bolden behind Zion’s astounding 17 (10 in the first half to go with his 9 first half points, keeping Duke close. He plays so hard and with such joy that Coach K overlooks a missed dunk or two. “We’re lucky to have him, and you are lucky to be able to watch him.”

The Gauntlet

Away against UVA Saturday; and Louisville next Tuesday. The start of a 6 game grind that ESPN says is one of the toughest in the history of college basketball. I plan to watch.

Duke 81 – Virginia 71

Miscellaneous Comments:

I have nothing but admiration for Coach Bennett, who, defensively, is college basketball’s version of Patriot’s Coach Bill Belichick, and has turned Virginia into a powerful national program. Tonight, he took away the points in the paint, gambling that Duke could not make threes. Others will be doing the same—hopefully, not as well.
An indication of what Tre Jones’s defensive value means to the Blue Devils is that with Jones in the lineup, Duke leads the country in steal percentage (13.9). When he was out with an injury, their steal percentage dropped to 6 percent. He also leads the ACC in assists (5.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (4.8).
Among the packed John Paul Jones Arena of 14,629: LeBron James, Ralph Sampson, Rajon Rondo, Grant Hill, and John Grisham, who lives in Charlottesville.

Alan adds:

Duke 71 – Louisville 69

What this win says to me is that this teams is talented, flexible, and tough enough to win a lot of different ways. They may not win the NCAA Championship but this was a win for the ages.

Miscellaneous Comments:

Coach K is a great motivator and a great bench coach. Substituting Goldwire and switching to a zone press was like substituting Grayson Allen in the Championship game against Wisconsin—a game changer. At his press conference Coach K was very complimentary of Louisville head coach Chris Mack and his team and brutally honest as he gave credit to his Army training: “At West Point, one of things I learned as a cadet is this: Even when you don’t feel like it’s going to go your way, your men better not see that in you, and as a result, you can speak into action sometimes. I did think that we could play better. I was hoping we wouldn’t lose by 35—I’m not kidding, we could have. So, you’re talking positive, but I don’t believe it. Once that press was going, I said, ‘We’ve got a chance here. We can get it.’ But, at that point, I think I may have been telling them a lie.”
The dumbest (or most calculating as he did achieve several TV shots) person in the arena had to be the student with the sign: “Zion can’t dunk.”
This game, combined with the indelible memory of the Christian Laettner shot in the 1992 NCAA Tournament, makes Duke fans pretty much persona non grata in the entire basketball obsessed state of Kentucky.
Tonight, Duke went from “Hey, we can beat they guys.” to “Duke is ranked #2? That’s a misprint. These guys really are amazing!”

Alan Adds:

Duke 94 – North Carolina State 78

Coach Krzyzewski said his team is tired– back-to-back road games plus Barrett and Bolden have been sick this week.

Miscellaneous Comments:

Alan Adds:

UNC in Cameron on Wednesday at 9 pm (EST) on ESPN