Duke 87
UNC 58

January 31, 2002.  

Dean E Smith Center.

   The most interesting thing about this game was the hype leading up to it, or rather the attempted hype.  The "anything can happen" card was played, as was the "Remember that 1995 game?" card.  There were mentions of Duke upsetting a vastly superior UNC team in '73, Duke beating a UNC team in the ACC tourney in '84 that had gone undefeated, and Dean Smith using a slowdown to nearly knock off Duke in '66.  All of this is quite true, and the FSU game earlier in the year showed that Duke can lose to nearly anyone if unprepared.  On the other hand, to quote the great Damon Runyon, "The battle doesn't always go to the strong, nor the race to the swift-- but that's the way to bet."  For most of the games in which either Duke or UNC was a big favorite, the big favorite won.  And the team with better players and better coaches won in Chapel Hill.

   The comparison between this UNC team and the Duke '95 team is valid in one way: both squads had some weird personnel issues, and both teams suffered for some recruiting mistakes.  For the '95 team, Chris Collins was injured early and never recovered his '94 form; Joey Beard transferred; Greg Newton was caught cheating; and of course, Coach K had to leave the team halfway through the year.  But certain players in the classes of '96 and '97 turned out to be bad fits for Duke (academically and athletically). In particular, Coach K had had trouble bringing in the sort of athletic wing player who could play great defense, which is why the class of 2000 consisted of nothing but that sort of player (Chris Carrawell, Nate James, Mike Chappell).  For UNC, things have gotten just as weird: Ron Curry and Julius Peppers both opting for a pro gridiron career; Jason Parker not meeting UNC's academic standards; Joe Forte leaving early; and of course having 3 head coaches in 5 years.  But the big problem has been the current senior class.  Regarded as one of the top classes in the country when they were brought in (much like Duke's class of '97), their  production has been erratic.  Injuries have played a role, but the truth is, despite Jason Capel's protestations to the contrary, they were solid role players but not stars.  McDonald's All-America Neil Fingleton never played a single minute for the Heels, since Matt Doherty's style of play never really was a good fit for him.  The problem is that this is a team in flux, dealing with weak prior classes and a mishmash of players who aren't well-suited to play with each other.  The good news for the Heels is that next year's squad will be very different and more competitive, though it should be noted that it may take more than a year to rebuild.

   Back to the game at hand, UNC was coming off a great win at Clemson, one where their three point shooting was excellent and their defense suffocating.  Duke started the game looking like a boxer that was trying to deliver an early knockout punch to an overmatched foe.  But in the early going, Duke's shots simply weren't going down for them, and the Heels were doing just enough to stay in the game, despite a crazy number of early turnovers.  The two teams were in fact dead even at 6-6 after the first four minutes, and all of Duke's baskets were a bit unusual. Jason Williams scored first with a 15' baseline jumper--not his usual spot.  After the Heels took their one and only lead at 4-2, Jason drove and kicked it back to Carlos Boozer, who smoothly sank a 16' jumper. Chris Duhon followed with a steal and dish to Jason on the break.

   Shortly after that, Dahntay Jones excelled as the x-factor for Duke, scoring 6 straight points.  The first came on a pull-up 15' jumper (a range where he's quite comfortable), the second on a steal and dunk after he flashed into the passing lane, and the third another uncontested dunk. Duke led 12-6 but UNC kept things interesting over the next few minutes. A Duhon pass to Mike Dunleavy and another Jones steal put Duke up 16-9. A UNC three by deep benchwarmer Jon "Insert Nickname Here" Holmes brought them to within 4.  The Heels were running a variation of 4 Corners, the ancient slow-down system often used (but not invented) by Dean Smith. They were trying to slow the pace of the game simply to prevent Duke from running all over them.  By reducing the number of possessions in the game and forcing Duke to play defense for 35 seconds, the thought was that they could stay within shouting distance.  There were only two  problems with this plan.  To properly run this kind of offense, you need a  point guard who has great floor vision and is an excellent ballhandler.  UNC didn't have this sort of player on this roster.  The second problem was that this is the worst possible way to attack Duke, because it doesn't exploit any of their weaknesses on defense.  The only way to beat Duke is to attack their pressure aggressively, trying to take advantage of their overplay.  UNC used to do this by backdooring Duke to death, but with an experienced point guard to spot the overplay, this was a problem.

   Duke hit their first three of the game when Boozer relocated a pass out to Dunleavy.  Duhon then grabbed a rebound and threw a bomb downcourt to Boozer, who caught it in mid-stride and laid it in.  The Devils had their biggest lead at 21-12 but then oddly stopped putting defensive pressure on the Heels.  Carolina took advantage and scored 5 straight points, making the margin just 4 with eight minutes to go in the half. The Dean Dome crowd was very loud and supportive, delighted to be in just the position they had hoped for.

   Duhon then scored 4 points in a row, including hitting a big three on a Williams pass.  After a UNC basket, Dunleavy pulled up for a 17' jumper on the baseline and then stole a pass and dunked it.  The Devils had their first double-digit lead of the game at 29-19.  But behind reserve guard Brian Morrison, the Heels stayed even for the next three minutes, and actually outscored Duke 9-7.  Jones managed to score on a nice turnaround jumper, while Jason Williams got two on a drive.  A 7-2 run for Duke started to give the cushion they had wanted all game, as Duhon found Boozer for a dunk, Dunleavy banked a three in, and Williams drove again for a score. 

   UNC hit a three, but Jason quickly came back with a 15' jumper with  less than a minute left in the half.  Duke wanted to get a two-for-one at the end of the half, and it worked out when they got the ball back with about 15 seconds left.  After a time-out, Jones passed to Williams for a long three, and the Devils had their biggest lead at 15 with eight seconds to go in the half.  But the Heels ran a nice hook-and-ladder play to get a dunk for Morrison at the buzzer.  Still, Duke had a 48-35 advantage and there was a sense that it could get uglier.

   It did.  Duke charged out of the half with a 7-0 run, going both inside and outside with their attack.  Jason found Carlos underneath for a quick score, and then Carlos hit a turnaround jumper on his next possession. When Jason found Mike D for a three on Duke's next go-round, that put Duke up 55-35 and one could sense that the Heels weren't coming back  from this punch.  Duke was relentless in their attack, but the Heels recovered from the punch to at least keep up for the next five minutes. Each team scored 9 points during this period, as Duhon found Dunleavy in transition, Boozer got a rebound basket, and Williams pulled up for a 10' jumper.  After Duhon stole the ball and scored, UNC answered to make the difference 64-44 with over twelve minutes left.  UNC would only score 3 points in the next eight minutes.

   During that period, Duke went on an 18-3 run that featured the Devils running down the clock and then claiming offensive rebounds if they missed.  To be honest, I haven't seen a team all year that played as  badly as UNC did during that stretch.  And the Heels had played hard for most of the rest of the game, even if they made mistakes.  To Doherty's credit, he called a time-out and blasted his team, and they played the last six minutes of the game with a lot more pride.

   During the run, Duke did all sorts of good things.  Dunleavy hit a turnaround jumper.  Casey Sanders flew in for a rebound dunk.  Duhon nailed a three as he was falling down.  Jones and Boozer hustled to get rebounds baskets.  Williams hit a three, and then passed to Dunleavy for two consecutive baskets.  Meanwhile, the Heels were jacking up threes that were threatening to shatter the backboard, and their guards in general were having trouble setting things up.  At one point, Kris Lang had to take a desperation three with a man in his face that turned into an airball.  Duhon hit a three that pushed the lead to 37, but the Heels went on a 10-2 run to end the game.  It didn't matter, because the rout was as thorough as it gets.  The game was UNC's worst-ever loss in the Dean Dome and Duke became the first opponent to beat UNC in that building four straight times.  (And this came after 7 straight losses there!)

   What I liked most about this win was that Duke played extremely hard, exploited their opponents' every weakness and took full advantage of certain emotional turning points.  For example, UNC had a chance on a  couple of occasions in the first half to cut further into Duke's lead, but missed a few easy layups, some of which hung on the rim before dropping off.  Duke responded by scoring off of those plays, further dimming UNC's momentum.  I think the biggest problem with this UNC squad, apart from the obvious personnel issues, is that there doesn't seem to be any leadership.  Capel and Lang are good players, but don't seem to do much to actually lead the team and calm it down.  An Ed Cota on this squad would help it a lot, for example, or a Jeff McInnis.  There is athleticism with its frosh but they need more direction.  Teams that have challenged Duke this year have featured very good point guards and a lot of older players.  The last word for Duke here is that they took UNC very seriously and played hard the entire time.  This is why the Heels didn't have a chance in the second half.   

  ** Negatives:  

1. Foul shooting.  Mostly Duhon here, who was only 4-8.  I find his foul shooting difficulties inexplicable.    

2. Covering the open shooter.  OK, I'm nitpicking here, but there were several occasions where UNC's outside shooters had wide-open shots...and I'm convinced that they would not have made them otherwise.   

  ** Positives:  

1. Defensive pressure.  When a team whose specialty is attacking the passing lanes meets a team that can't pass...the result is 25 turnovers, 12 of them steals.  

2. Valuing the ball.  When a team with great ballhandlers meets a team that doesn't apply any defensive pressure...the result is just 6 turnovers.  

3. Offensive efficiency.  When a team with three lethal but unselfish scorers meets a team that has had trouble with quicker squads...the result is 57% shooting.   

Player-by-Player:   

  ** Boozer: Kind of an unusual game for Carlos.  He missed several short- range baskets in the early going as he was somewhat bothered by Kris Lang inside.  But he hit a long jumper on a Williams pass and nailed a gorgeous turnaround jumper from 15'.  Carlos also scored a couple of times in transition, showing what a tremendous target he can be on the break.  He also had a couple of rebound baskets in the second half, the second of which came after Duke just run down nearly the entire shot clock.  That was a back-breaker and the Heels simply rolled over from there.  UNC shot 50%, so the fact that he had only 5 rebounds was just of minor concern, though he did convert a couple of offensive boards.  Carlos did play solid defense on Kris Lang, keeping him away from the basket and holding him to just 8 points on 4-10 shooting.  Moreover, Lang had just 2 rebounds.  When Lang gets in a groove he's a tough player to stop, but Carlos definitely had the size to keep him from setting up where he wanted.  Lang only beat him once, on a nice spin move in the lane, but this isn't something he was going to do a lot of.  Carlos also blocked a shot and took a charge, further signs of his solid defensive performance.    

  ** Dunleavy: Great game from Mike, who scored in a wide variety of ways. He hit a pull-up jumper from 17', hit 3 threes (including a HORSE-like  banker), got a steal and runout, a turnaround jumper, and best of all, a remarkable catch of an alley-oop pass where he didn't so much as lay the ball in as guide it in, in full stride.  This was a game where his being able to move well without the ball came into play, because he was always in the right place at the right time to receive the ball.  This is why a lot of teams try to bump and push Mike subtly, so as to throw him off his game just a bit.  (It's the same tactic that Duke used to good effect against Juan Dixon.)  Mike's improved strength is making this tactic more difficult, though he still remains a rhythm/streak player at times.  But his overall skill level makes him very tough for some teams to guard, and UNC in particular didn't seem to know what to do with him.  

  ** Jones: Excellent game for Dahntay, who scored 6 straight points in the first half to keep Duke on top.  He also played his customary excellent defense, blanketing Capel and holding him to just 4 shots.  With Boozer containing Lang and Jones draped all over Capel, Duke wanted to see if UNC's younger players would step up.  They didn't, as one would  expect, and this was the key to making this game a laugher.  Dahntay was a good example of point/counterpoint in the first half.  UNC's Jackie Manuel went up with a weak layup attempt that missed, and Dahntay came down at the other end and threw down a vicious dunk so as to demonstrate as its done.  Or to quote Al Haig: "I'm in charge here!"  Dahntay's making his mark with an offensive bag of tricks that is slowly growing.  He's learned how to haunt the passing lanes like all good Duke defenders, resulting in a couple of easy baskets.  He hit a turnaround jumper and pulled up for another short jumper.  In the second half, he had a rebound basket, one of 4 for Duke.  Jones has slowly transformed himself from a defensive specialist who wasn't quite fitting in on offense to a great role player who has taken on the hustle player role that Nate James left behind.  It's a role that's been his to lose all season long, and I'm glad that he's now seizing it.  

  ** Williams: Jason was having a quiet game until he exploded late in the first half, scoring Duke's last 7 points.  He was only 2-8 in  the second half, but was concentrating on playing point guard.  He opened up the half by getting the ball into Boozer, and found Dunleavy for a three 2 plays later.  Jason continued to play well in Duke's delay game, twice finding Dunleavy for baskets.  That alley-oop he threw to Dunleavy was remarkable because Jason threw it with his left hand!  As hard a time as UNC had in guarding Dunleavy and Co., it's always been Jason that's left the Heels scratching their heads.  Even in Duke's loss last year, he was brilliant.  In this game, he exploded on offense at the end of the half and was reasonably quiet otherwise.  It was his penetration and ballhandling that really hurt the Heels.  His decision-making was also crisp and intelligent.  A fine floor game all around, even though he "only" scored 18 points.  

  ** Duhon: At the risk of sounding repetitive, an excellent game for Chris as well.  His 7 assists, 0 turnovers and 3 steals, along with  hitting 3-5 from three, show that he fulfilled his role perfectly in this game.  Other than his foul shooting, this was his best overall game in some time.  He was at his best in the first half, finding Dunleavy and Boozer in transition and generally keeping Duke's offense going at an ultra-quick pace.  In the second half, he dusted off his shot and sank a couple of threes.  Chris needed to break out of his offensive slump and get a little more confidence in this aspect of his game.  Chris and Dahntay really terrorized the Heels in the passing lanes, to the point where UNC was afraid to throw any kind of cross-court pass.  

  ** Ewing: Dan played his customary good defense but missed all three of his shots, as well as a free throw.  This was mostly in the last stages of the game, so it wasn't a big deal.  He did get an assist for Duhon, however.  

  ** Horvath: Nick had a big rebound early in his first stint in the game, but missed two free throws when he came back in late in the game.  Like with Duhon, I find this odd because he's a very good shooter.  

  ** Sanders: Casey saw quite a bit more time in this game than he has in any recent game, and played reasonably well.  He had 4 boards, 2 offensive, including a big-time flush off one of them.  You could hear a Duke player yell "Get that, Casey" before he flew in to dunk.  He also bobbled a ball out of bounds and picked up a couple of fouls in the second half, but in general he played with energy and urgency--two things that have been missing from him so far.   

    Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu

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