Duke 98
Clemson 88

February 2, 2002.  

Littlejohn Coliseum.

   Someone who hadn't seen the Duke-Boston College and Duke-Clemson games might conclude from their ten point margin that they were both reasonably even games, but that Duke was in relative control throughout.  Which shows how meaningless the final margin can be sometimes.  Against BC, Duke was never in any danger, even when BC made a final run.  Against Clemson, Duke had a season's worth of poor decision-making, inexplicable passes, weird bounces and defensive breakdowns, all against a hostile crowd desperate for a big win.  Many had pointed to UNC losing in Littlejohn when they were #1 last year as an example, but Duke has certainly had enough trouble in Clemson's small gym on their own.  Look at last year's game.  Clemson was not a very good team, but it took a huge Nate James performance to  rescue the Devils from an upset.  Perhaps more instructively, recall the '92 team, which fell behind by double-digits before rallying behind another role player, Brian Davis, and a motley group of deep subs.  Then there were the less pleasant results, like the awful Duke '95 team losing to an almost-as-awful (and certainly less talented) Clemson team, or Ricky Price travelling in '96 to seal a Duke loss, or Greg Newton losing the ball out of bounds to seal a '97 loss.  In Littlejohn, Weird Stuff Happens, especially for Duke.

   For most of the first half, it didn't seem like this scenario was going to occur, and instead a more routine beating might be on the menu.  Actually, it felt more like Duke slowly pulling away and establishing an eventually dominant margin.  But a weird ending to the half set the stage for a wacky and exciting second half.  The game began with the Tigers taking a 3-0 lead after Duke blew a couple of scoring opportunities, but Carlos Boozer  brought them closer with a couple of free throws and Jason Williams made the margin 5-4 with a nice 15' jumper.  Jason has clearly been concentrating on his mid-range game in recent weeks, trying to take at least one or two short shots when the situation dictates.

   Jason passed to Dahntay Jones for a three to give Duke its first lead at 7-5, but Clemson kept hanging around.  The Tigers were bodying up  Boozer down low and playing Duke soft on the perimeter.  The plan was to make Duke beat them with the three, hoping that they'd miss enough to capitalize--especially in the form of long rebounds.  Early on, this  strategy backfired a bit.  Duhon came up with a steal and zipped a pass to a waiting Williams, who easily sank a three.  Clemson stayed tough and scored 4 in a row, retaking the lead at 11-10 with six minutes gone by. That would be their last lead for quite some time, but not the last time.

   Duke went to the long ball for their next couple of possessions, with Duhon pulling up for a deep three and Dunleavy hiding behind a screen and sinking a 17' jumper.  Mike D then followed up with a drive that went for an "and one".  After hitting the free throw, Duke had their biggest lead at 18-13 with twelve minutes to go.  Clemson again hung tough, tying the score at 18 with eleven minutes to go.  The Devils were having trouble with the Tigers in the blocks as Ray Henderson and Chris Hobbs were powering their way up.  Of course, Duke wasn't consistently disrupting the passing lanes with pressure from the wings, either.       

   Jones got Duke back on the board with a drive that ended in a 10' jumper, and then Dunleavy fed the ball to Boozer for his first field goal.  Clemson scored to make it close at 22-20, but Duke went on a 6-0 run to finally get a little separation.  Dunleavy converted his second three point play of the game and Dan Ewing hit a three in the corner to put Duke up 28-20 with over eight minutes to go.  Clemson responded with a basket, but Duke started to warm up from long range.  Williams and Dunleavy combined for 5 threes over the next four minutes.  Jason started with a solo three, and then fed Mike for one.  Mike returned the favor on Duke's next possession for another they, and followed that up with a steal and pass to Jason for  another long-range bomb.  Jason gave back when he passed to Mike for one last triple.  The Tigers hadn't stopped scoring themselves, cutting the lead back to 7 and 9 before Mike's last shot made the score 43-31 with three minutes to go in the half. 

   Duke continued to pour it on, with a Williams steal triggering a 2-on-1 break that Duhon finished.  With two minutes to go, Duke led 46-31 and were looking to break it wide open.  But the Devils missed a couple of shots and the Tigers continued to hang around, scoring 4 straight points.  Ewing had a late-half impact, as he first hit a couple of free throws and then came up with a late steal and dish to Dunleavy.  That left Clemson with the last possession.  The Tigers scored and were fouled with about a second left.  To add insult to injury, the Tigers got the rebound of the missed free throw and stuck it back as time expired.  Duke's lead was suddenly cut to 50-39 and all the momentum was on Clemson's side.

   The Devils had dealt with this pretty well against Carolina, who had scored a last-second basket at the half but didn't bring any of that momentum into the second half.  They were hoping to do the same against Clemson, but this is when things started to get Really Weird.  Clemson  scored right away, but Duke matched them with a Boozer bucket.  Duke was immediately going to its inside game to match Clemson.  The Tigers scored yet again, but Dunleavy stuck back a miss.  Once again, Duke was holding serve.  Clemson slowly crept back into the game, pulling within 56-50 on a 7-2 run.  Jason held them off with a cut and another short pull-up jumper and the Devils led 60-52 with fifteen minutes left.  Then the wheels started to come off for Duke.

   Clemson went on an 8-0 run fueled by back-to-back Tony Stockman threes. Duke was turning the ball over and taking quick shots, and the hungry Tigers were taking full advantage.  Duhon got the ball to Boozer inside to help stop the bleeding and Williams hit a three on a Dunleavy pass to put Duke up 65-62 with thirteen minutes to go.  Four straight points from the Tigers gave them the lead once again at 66-65, but a strong Williams     drive (truly his bread-and-butter move) put Duke back on top. 

   Duke slowly rebuilt their lead as Jones hit a couple of free throws and then threw down a dunk on a Dunleavy pass.  Duhon pushed the lead up to 75-69 when he got a steal and runout, pushing the lead to 75-69.  But once again, Duke couldn't put them away.  The Tigers went on a 7-2 run (interrupted only be Dahntay Jones once again saving Duke's bacon) to pull within 77-76 with five minutes to go.  Once again, it was Jones who had a big play as he was fouled and hit a couple of freebies.  Duhon stole the ball on the next possession, raced upcourt and fired a three that was nothing but net.  This was actually a very good shot, because Dunleavy and Boozer were waiting underneath the basket in case he missed. That was a huge momentum play that stunned the Tigers for a possession, which led to Dunleavy hitting 2 free throws.  Duke suddenly had an 83-76 lead with four minutes to go.

   Ed Scott drove on Duhon and scored, but Dunleavy pulled up for a 10'  jumper as an answer.  After a Clemson miss came another huge play.  Duhon got a long rebound and started racing toward the basket.  In front of him were Jones and a Clemson defender.  Chris timed his pass perfectly and Dahntay sucked the life out of the stadium with a monstrous two-handed slam.  As the two teams stopped near Clemson's bench as Larry Shyatt took a timeout, Dahntay yelled an obscenity in the general direction of the bench and the crowd.  Shyatt snapped and ran after him but was mercifully restrained by his assistants.  The two sniped at each other from across the court before Coach K played peacemaker, and everyone apologized after the game.  Interestingly, the refs didn't call technicals on anyone involved, which was probably the best way to defuse the situation. 

   After that basket, it was free throws all the way down.  Dahntay's dunk was part of what would become a 7-0 run that put Duke up 90-78 with 1:40 left.  Clemson scored and then stole the ball from Dunleavy and scored again, but was out of timeouts by that time.  Clemson kept pulling with 8 or 10, but a miss with 30 seconds left made the lead 98-86 as Duhon converted from the foul line.  Duke's pressure and some timely execution saved the day, but it was once again a relatively unheralded Devil who really saved the day, and that was Jones.  Dahntay's 9 points in the last ten minutes of the game were all timely, with his dunk remaining as a  signature move in a tight spot.  He really answered a number of the questions remaining about his ability to fit in with the team.

   After the game, some of the players were murmuring "Maybe we needed this" and Coach K was noting that there's a tendency sometimes--but especially for a defending championship team--to want to fast-forward ahead to March and play in the NCAA title game.  Duke traditionally has had trouble focusing in February and this team would be well advised to consider that before they play teams like FSU and Georgia Tech.  Duke is better than  either one, but that doesn't mean they can't lose to either one.  Duke needs to bring the sort of defensive passion they had in Cameron on  the night of the Tech game to every stadium they're in.  It'll be interesting to see how Coach K motivates his team in the next month.   

  ** Negatives:  

1. Valuing the ball.  Duke had just 5 turnovers in the first half and  had a comfortable lead.  Then they turned it over 12 times in the second half, many of them unforced, and nearly lost to a team that should not be able to beat them.  Weirdest of all: Duhon had 5 turnovers and Boozer 3. Those guys never turn the ball over, but there seemed to be magnets repelling rubber on their hands.  

2. Help-side defense.  This has been a problem on-and-off all year long. When Duke plays great help defense, a team simply can't score against them. When they're late cutting off the baseline, an aggressive and smart team can make them pay.  Clemson made them pay in this game.  Duke also had trouble rotating to the perimeter to stop open shots.  

3. Blocking out.  Clemson shot nearly 50% yet still got 13 rebounds.  What's worse is that this was the only way they could stay in the game in the early going.  A better job blocking out might have led to a 20 point halftime  lead.   

  ** Positives:  

1. Ball-pressure.  In essence, this won the game for Duke.  Forcing turnovers (20) at crucial times led to Duke getting some easy points. The biggest came when Duhon got a steal and hit that three that gave Duke a 5-point cushion with four minutes left, but Duhon had 2 more  steals that led to scores, while Dunleavy had 1 of his own.    

2. Foul shooting.  A weakness of late, the team buckled down to prevent an FSU-style collapse.  The Devils hit 16 of their last 17 free throw attempts to keep the Tigers at bay, including 8 straight in the last minute.    

3. Game toughness. Close games against Seton Hall, Kentucky and FSU have taught Duke how to deal with end-of-game situations and close contests.  The key at the end is that Duke knew how to win the close games, and the young Tiger team is still learning.

   Player-by-Player:  

  ** Boozer:  This was Carlos' worst game in quite some time.  He simply wasn't hitting anything: short shots, long shots, post-ups, turnarounds... nothing.  He also sat a bit in the first half with two fouls after collecting just 1 rebound.  His second half was a bit better, as he grabbed 5 rebounds in pressure situations and hit 4-6 free throws.  He also uncharacteristically bobbled the ball a couple of times and provided little production inside.  Still, he did score the first hoop of the second half for Duke, broke a 60-all tie with a basket, and hit those foul shots.  Of course, Carlos had to fight all night with bruising Chris Hobbs and Ray Henderson, and managed to foul both of them out, picking up a charge on one play.  Carlos will need to come back strong against Nigel Dixon,  hopefully returning to double-double form.  

  ** Dunleavy:  A brilliant, unstoppable first half and a much quieter second half as Clemson did a better job of finding him and keeping the ball out of his hands.  He picked up his fourth foul in the second half, but Coach K kept him in to see if Mike could play smart enough to stay in the game. He in fact did, and wound up playing 38 minutes, although his defense did suffer a bit.  In the first half, he had a couple of three point plays, a couple of threes from Williams passes, a couple of assists to Williams and 2 steals as well.  Throw in another long jumper and you have a solid half's work.  He had a stickback in the second half and was quiet until hitting a 10' jumper that helped set up Dahntay's dunk.  Mike also wound up leading the team in rebounds with 7.  Mike wound up with a couple of more assists in the half, including crucial baskets by Jones and Williams.  

  ** Jones: A fantastic performance at both ends marred only by the emotional confrontation with Larry Shyatt towards the end of the game.  It speaks well of both individuals that both apologized to the other for what was an emotional outburst in a tense moment.  But this speaks to the fact that Dahntay is the most emotional player on the team, and that kind of emotion is something Duke has lacked at certain times this year.  The great thing about his endgame performance (which was actually 11 points in 11 minutes) was that it was true to Duke's "pick your poison" philosophy.  Jason Williams was being blanketed by Ed Scott, but Dahntay was left to roam free.  And he took advantage by taking smart shots and keeping under control during his dunks, taking special care not to hang on the rim.  Throw in a few rebounds, an assist to Williams, and only 1 turnover, and you have a performance that perfectly complemented the other starters'.  He took exactly what was given to him and no more, and that shows that he understands his role quite well now.  Speaking of which, he masterfully shut down top scorer Jamar McKnight and then switched over to put out the fire that Tony Stockman had started.      

  ** Williams: "The Program" once again did some amazing things to rescue the team...after doing some surprising things to nearly help sink it.  I saw more forced passes tonight from Jason than I've seen since his freshman year.  I imagine much of this was simple frustration because Duke wasn't executing the way they wanted to, so he took some bad risks.  Jason had no such problems in the first half, when he fired away from long range, hitting 4 of 9 from three and racking up 4 assists (2 to Dunleavy and 1 to Jones for threes, 1 to Duhon in transition), as well as 2 steals.  His long-range touch deserted him in the second half as he was only 1-5 from three, though the one broke a 62-up tie.  Jason instead did most of his damage off the dribble, using his strength to get to the basket or get fouled.  And he amazingly looks much more focused at the foul line, and had no problem making his shots.  Jason also hit a nice pull-up jumper as well.  He did have problems guarding Tony Stockman and Ed Scott in the second half, as did Duhon, but there was also no help defense to stop their penetration, nor anyone to rotate over when Jason got picked off.  In general, Jason's defense is much better, even if there were some breakdowns in this game.   

  ** Duhon: A great first half, followed by some very strange turnovers, followed by several gigantic game-saving plays.  In the last eight minutes of the game, Chris scored 9 points, and all of them were big.  He had a steal and runout to give Duke a 6 point lead and then hit that enormous, gutsy three off the break.  He threw a perfect pass to Dahntay for a slam that was triggered by Chris' own rebound, and then was 4-4 from the foul line down the stretch.  The latter feat may be the most impressive, considering how poorly he had been shooting from the line.  Really, the only blemish in this game were his turnovers, some of which weren't even charged to him. For example, Dahntay grabbed a rebound at one point and then threw it over to Chris in the corner.  Only Chris didn't realize it was coming his way, and the ball just sailed out of bounds.  This happened more than once to Duke, and it hadn't happened all year.  One thing to note is that even though I'm harping on the turnovers, there were only 14 for the game.  What made them bad is that they were careless errors, not turnovers created trying to set up an alley-oop, and that speaks to a lack of focus.  When Duke got its act together down the stretch, the turnovers suddenly disappeared and they showed just how tough they are to stop when they really want a score.  Clemson had the size inside and the quickness outside to bother Duke, but simply didn't have enough scorers to win.  

  ** Sanders: Casey was a bit of a mixed bag.  He didn't get any rebounds and turned the ball over twice, and also picked up 4 fouls in just 7  minutes of play (!).  But he also played good helpside defense and blocked a couple of shots.  Duke desperately needs some kind of shotblocking presence to wipe out those easy drives, and Casey can do this if he brings the other aspects of his game up to snuff.  He's been getting more minutes as of late, so hopefully he can really prove himself against FSU's deep frontline.   

  ** Horvath:  Nick played a couple of minutes in the first half and got a couple of boards, but also missed a few defensive assignments.   

  ** Ewing:  Dan had a great first half.  He hit a big three, knocked down some important foul shots, and came up with a steal and assist.  He also had another steal in the second half in a generally solid performance. I don't see him having a huge breakout game this year, but he'll surprise with little contributions here and there.  

  ** Next Game: Thursday, February 7th vs Florida State in Cameron.  Needless to say, this is the most anticipated Duke-FSU game in some time.  Duke will have to do a better job on speedy point guard Delvon Arrington, tough guard Monte Cummings, an improved front line with everyone's favorite Big Jelly Nigel Dixon & Adam Waleskowski (there's a jelly-filled blintz joke in there somewhere) and some very athletic (and improving) forwards in North Carolina natives Michael Joiner and Anthony Richardson.  The key for Duke is patience on offense and attacking on defense.   

      Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu

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