Duke 91, Ohio State 76. 

December 2, 2002. 

Greensboro Coliseum.

   The Duke-OSU game was in many respects a potential microcosm of Duke's season.  There were moments of brilliance on offense, both in transition and in the halfcourt.  The defensive pressure at times was suffocating, especially as Duke picked up the pressure fullcourt.   Duke gave nine players extensive playing time and all nine contributed in some ways.  At other times, Duke looked disorganized and disoriented on offense, taking bad shots and generally making things difficult for themselves.  On defense, an overeagerness for the big play led first to cheap fouls and then a reticence to do anything at all.  While many will curse Duke slowing the game down, the Devils had already blown an opportunity to put the game away by picking up so many cheap fouls and letting OSU get to the line.  Ultimately, when things got to crunch time, the team responded by making big shots, forcing turnovers and sinking their free throws.  OSU is not a great time by any stretch of the imagination, but they are a tough, disciplined group who came very close to upsetting Alabama last week.  All in all, this was a solid win for a still-evolving ball club.

   The substitutions that Coach K made in this game came at a dizzying pace.  After Duke went down early, Coach K brought in three new players. Then he took one out quickly and brought in another new players, and another new player a minute after that.  The one guy who wasn't going to come out much was Chris Duhon, who got 30 second rests before coming in a few times.  Eight players got sixteen minutes or more on the floor, and even Shavlik Randolph was out there for seven.   The coach was trying to see how various lineups worked at various times during the game.  Does a player perform better starting or coming off the bench?  What kind of chemistry does he have with who else is out there on the floor?  How does a particular group react to being down or being up on the scoreboard?  Who's playing the best defense?  Doing this against a well-coached, physical club made it an interesting laboratory exercise.  Make no mistake, this Duke team is far from a finished product and may not completely click until January or February.  Until that time, we'll see a lot of ups and downs during the games.

   The starting lineup in this contest was completely different than in the prior three games.   Duhon and Dahntay Jones both got their usual starting nods, but JJ Redick was at guard and Casey Sanders & Nick Horvath were in the post.  This is both because of their solid play against UCLA and their continued hard work during practice.  The game started well, with a set play designed for Casey.   After Duke won the tip, Chris lobbed it to a streaking Sanders for an alley-oop slam.  The Devils went cold for the next four minutes, looking positively inept on offense, with little movement.  OSU's Terence Dials tipped in his own miss, one of 14 offensive rebounds that Duke gave up.  Dahntay then drove hard to the basket and was called for a pretty obvious charge.  Meanwhile, OSU's Brent Darby burned Duke for a couple of baskets in a row to give the Buckeyes a 6-2 lead. Jones, Redick and Duhon all missed quick jumpers, prompting Coach K to make his first lineup change.  He brought in Michael Thompson, Dan Ewing and Shav Randolph.

   Ewing made an immediate impact as he stole the ball at OSU's end of the floor, weaved his way through traffic and finished with a layup.  Sean Dockery then entered the game and provided a spark of his own, rebounding an awkward Thompson shot and getting fouled (naturally) falling to the floor.  After the free throw, Duke trailed 8-2.  Darby already had 6 quick points.  Dock then tapped a pass out to Ewing for a three and a 10-8 lead. with about fifteen minutes to go in the half.

   The two squads traded misses for a few minutes, though OSU's Sean Connolly hit a three and Dahntay countered with a drive and a 10' jumper. Dahntay stopped on his way to the basket and simply elevated for the easy shot instead of going to the hole hellbent for a dunk.  Velimir Radinovic got another tip-in for OSU, but Dock countered with a finger roll finish off a drive.  Bad transition defense led to an easy layup for Zach Williams, but Casey Sanders tied it up at 15 with a free throw.

   Ohio State pushed the lead to 19-15, but Duhon set up Jones for a three in the corner, which he thankfully sank.  Darby burned Duke again with a jumper off a screen, something that was there for him all night long. Shav countered with an awkward push shot in the lane that went in, but more jumpers from Connolly & Darby extended OSU's lead to 26-21 with just six minutes to go in the half.  Ohio State had Duke right where they wanted them: in a grinding halfcourt game where their size and physical play could be highlighted.  The Devils couldn't get any easy shots and had nothing going inside.  Enter Shelden Williams.

   Shelden ran down the court after Darby's last shot and slammed it home. Then Duhon fed him the ball inside for a nice turnaround jumper.  After Williams scored again, Ewing tied the game with a three from a Duhon pass. Dan then stole the ball and ran upcourt to try and flush a lob pass from Duhon, but was fouled.   He hit both to put Duke up 30-28.  Dahntay then followed that up with a three on yet another Duhon assist.  Jones then missed a shot, grabbed his own rebound and passed it to Duhon who was spotting up.  As he was rising to take his jumper, he quickly snapped the ball to a cutting Ewing, who finished the gorgeous play with a layup. Folks, with Duhon in there running the offense, Duke will always have a chance if the other players are constantly moving, setting picks or cutting to the basket.  He was born to play motion.

   Duke now led 36-28 and Jones blew a chance to put them up by 10 when he missed 2 free throws with 2.5 minutes left.  Darby took advantage of this with a three, but Dockery pulled up and hit a three of his own.  Darby countered once again with a drive and was fouled, hitting both freebies. Duke eventually got a chance at the final possession of the half, and Duhon penetrated at the last second and found Williams for an easy dunk. There were about 1 or 2 seconds on the clock, so Chris sagely slapped the ball after it went in to take just a little more time off the clock. After trailing by 5, the Devils went on a 20-7 run to end the half.  The team shot 50% from the field, though just 5-13 from three.  More disquieting was their 6-11 performance from the foul line.  The Devils also turned the ball over 8 times in the half.  Dahntay was caught lifting his pivot foot a couple of times while Duhon simply threw the ball out of bounds every now and then.  This was not a great half, though Duke finally started to click on offense and made OSU pay.  Three of Duke's threes came in the last four minutes of the half--that's the halftime margin plus one right there.

   The second half was a distorted rerun of the Davidson game, where Duke went on an unstoppable offensive rampage, then committed a number of boneheaded errors at both ends of the court.   K tried to stop the bleeding by going to a slowdown/2-3 motion game, but his team did not execute it well.  On the defensive end, Duke racked up a number of bad fouls, which led to OSU getting to the line early and often after Duke's big initial run.  With the fouls chopping into the game's rhythm,  Duke tried backing off on defense a bit, which only made things easier for Darby on the perimeter and Connolly off the dribble.  Just like in the Davidson game, OSU mounted a big comeback, only to be thwarted by Duke tightening up on defense and hitting some clutch shots.   Down the stretch, the Devils sealed the deal by hitting their free throws.

   The starters for the second half included Sanders, Jones, Redick, Ewing and Duhon.  This was a really interesting lineup that gave OSU fits because of its quickness.  Casey was tall enough to patrol the lane, while Jones did a nice job playing defense in the post, coming from the weak side to block a shot and alter another.  Chris found JJ right away for a three, with JJ squaring up to the basket a bit better.  After an OSU turnover, Duhon rubbed off a screen and sank a three of his own.  Ewing then got a steal and zoomed towards the basket.  With Jones right behind him, he tossed the ball straight up in the air and let Dahntay catch it for a two-handed windmill.  That brought the house down and forced an OSU timeout, leaving them with just 1.  They had had to take a couple of timeouts late in the first half because of Duke's fullcourt pressure; they had difficulties just inbounding the ball.

   The Buckeyes missed 5 shots in a row, 2 of them being easy stickbacks. Duke finally made them pay when JJ hit another three off a Duhon pass. Dials then scored on a three point play, but JJ countered with a drive and old-fashioned three point play of his own.  That made the score 55-36 with sixteen minutes left.  Duhon got a steal and simply zipped in on a drive, then got another steal and threw it all the way down to Williams, who slammed it home.  Ohio State took its last time out, and JJ was then fouled attempting a three, and sank all three free throws.  That made the score an absurd 62-36.  This is when Duke started getting greedy on defense.  Two consecutive fouls on Shelden took him out of the game just a few minutes after Jones was called for his fourth foul.

   All night long, Duke been trying to get the ball into Sanders.  He was just a bit too slow when he got the ball, resulting either in missed shots, getting fouled or getting blocked.  He rebounded a missed Ewing free throw, stuck it back and was fouled, prompting JJ to jump on him, Chris Collins-style.  Casey, suddenly getting a boost, sank the free throw to give Duke its biggest lead at 65-38 with thirteen minutes to go.  Lazy Duke defense let OSU get a shot at a couple of threes, and they cut 6 points off the lead in about 40 seconds.  Connolly countered a Ewing free throw to make it 66-46 with just under twelve minutes to go.  JJ gave Duke a 23 point lead with his 4th three of the half, but Dials drove in untouched.  This is when the wheels really came off--Duke would not hit another field goal for the next eight minutes.

   Casey took a bad shot and no one was there for the rebound.  Shav & JJ were caught out of position and whistled for fouls, leading to 3 more points and cutting the lead to 18 with over ten minutes to go.  Duhon drove and hit 2 free throws as Duke went to its delay game.   Connolly hit a layup and then Dials drove in after Jones was stripped of the ball trying to drive to the basket.  That forced a Duke timeout.  Duhon missed the front end of a one-and-one, but survived that to come back and hit 2 more with eight minutes left.  Horvath fouled an OSU player who hit 2 free throws, leaving Duke with a 73-57 lead with under eight minutes to go.

   Casey caught a lob and was fouled, and hit both freebies.  Duke had managed to hold the Buckeyes at arm's length after they cut into the initial lead, but a 10-0 run over the next three minutes made it 75-67. Duhon, Ewing and Redick all missed jumpers, while Darby went crazy with all 10 of those points.  Duke continued to work the clock, but now went at it with a greater sense of purpose.  Duhon found Ewing off a screen, who drained a 15' jumper that seemed to let everyone breathe a sigh of relief. Dials went by Duhon, who just barely got him on the arm for a foul.  He only hit 1 at a time when OSU couldn't afford to miss any.   Redick missed on a drive, but Nick Horvath was there for the stickback, his only basket of the game.  Nick then fouled Dials, who drained both freebies this time. The Devils led 79-70 with over three minutes left and wanted to make it a four possession game.  Duhon found Redick, who fearlessly drained his 4th three of the game.

   On the next possession, Jones was in Darby's face--literally.  He stuck his hand right in his face, just inches away.  Darby backed off and tried to shake him off, but he exposed the ball just a bit to Redick, who stole it away.  Dan Ewing was fouled and made the score 84-70 with two minutes to go.  Connolly hit a three and Ewing missed one.  Worse, Duhon fouled Darby on the rebound.  The lead was down to 11 with over a minute left. Stranger things have happened, as fans in College Park know so well.  OSU started fouling right away, and Jones & Redick swished four in a row. They trapped Duhon, who called a timeout he didn't have and was whistled for a technical.  The rule has changed, with only 1 free throw allowed and Duke retained possession of the ball.  Dockery hit a couple of more freebies down the stretch as OSU fouled Duke with just 3 seconds left, down by 13.  While this was irritating, Duke calmly went to the line and went about its business.

   Duke played atrocious basketball for about eight minutes there in the second half, but instead of falling apart down the stretch, they got better.  K went to a free throw shooting unit of Duhon, Jones, Dockery, Redick and Ewing, and they did quite nicely out there.  Since Duke was defending against threes, they didn't matter if someone muscled in for a dunk.  It was a nice use of the available personnel.  Darby wound up with an absurd 35 points, but he and Connolly had 51 of the team's 76 points. Duke forced them to go pretty much one-on-one, and to their credit they were able to do it despite being forced out of their offense.  Duke had them on the ropes, let up just a bit, and then delivered the knockout blow at the end.  For the game, Duke was at 49% from the field and improved to a solid 77% from the foul line, going 21-24 in the second half.  JJ and Chris combined to score all 30 of their combined points in the half, 3/5 of Duke's offense during that time!  While not a win against an elite team, OSU is solid and will be a tough out in the Big Ten.  Remember, Alabama barely survived in their game against them last week.   

** Negatives:  

1. Blocking out.  This is how OSU got the early lead: getting easy tip-ins.  Guys were either blocked out or volleyballed the rebound.  

2. Second half defense.  The only thing Coach K hates more than turnovers are fouls.  Fouls stopped the clock, allowed Ohio State to rest, and let them cash in on easy points.  When guys weren't fouling (which came as a result of not moving feet properly or calling out switches), they simply lost track of defensive fundamentals in an effort not to foul.  Darby and Connolly got into a rhythm, scoring on 15 of 16 possessions late in the game.  

3. Standing still.  When the offense didn't work, it was because players weren't moving.  There aren't enough dominant offensive players on this team to worry about using a lot of set plays or clearing one side of the court for one-on-one moves.   

** Positives:  

1. Balance.  Five different players were in double figures.  Sanders had 8 and Williams had 9 as Duke again went over 90 points.  There are a lot of guys who can score on this squad and Duhon does a nice job of spreading the wealth.  Six different players got at least five field goal attempts. Five different players had at least 4 free throw attempts.  

2. Valuing the ball.  Duhon had 5 turnovers and Duhon 4, which pretty much represented the bulk of Duke's gaffes.  OSU wasn't pressuring the ball a lot, but they were bodying Duke pretty hard.  

3. Shooting.  Duke bounced back from a rough start to shoot 50% in the first half, and shot 50% from three in the second half.  The Devils hit 88% of their free throws in the second half.  Duke has a lot of perimeter weapons.   

Player-by-Player:  

** Sanders:  Casey played with a lot of energy and effort and actually got rewarded for it.  Duke was looking to get him the ball down low because of his quickness, but he negated his own advantage by either bringing the ball down or simply taking too much time thinking about the kind of shot he should take.  The result was him getting stuffed a couple of times or fouled.   To his credit, he stepped up at the foul line, hitting 4-5.  He also had an impressive 5 offensive rebounds.  His three point play was huge and his athletic slam that tipped off the game showed what he can do given the right situation.  On defense, he has noticeably improved.  He is no longer leaving his feet against his opponent, instead just holding his ground.  He had 2 blocks and could have picked up another, but was instead called for a foul.  That turned out to be his only foul of the game, another tremendous improvement.  With Horvath & Williams in foul trouble and Randolph ineffective, Casey was basically all Duke had at the post for a while, and he did well in that role.   His most impressive play came when OSU got a steal and was throwing way down court to a streaking play. Casey was playing free safety and leaped up to snag the pass and then latched on to it.  An almost Battier-like play there.  What I would like to see is continued and steady improvement; there are times when he takes one step forward and then three steps back, and it hurts his confidence. Solid performances like this one and UCLA are all he needs to contribute to this team; anything else will be gravy.  

** Horvath: Nick was in foul trouble for much of the game, missed his only jumper and only grabbed 2 rebounds.  But one of those was a crucial stickback that helped stymie OSU's comeback.   A veteran can always find a way to contribute, even when they're not playing well otherwise.  

** Jones:  An up and down game for Dahntay, who's had an up and down year. His first 2 shots were awful and included a charge.  He was foul prone on defense, which hurt Duke in trying to lock up Darby.  On the other hand, he turned it up late in the first half with 2 big threes and a nice leaner, and had that spectacular dunk.  He missed 2 important free throws in the first half but sank 2 big ones with about a minute left.  His fouling hurt the team but he also stepped up with some big-time defensive plays early in the second half.  I am uncomfortable when he tries to go one-on-one--he simply doesn't have the handle to lose opponents easily and often winds up turning the ball over.  I prefer seeing him as part of the offense, but he doesn't move all that well without the ball.  He's still Duke's best on-ball defender but needs to be more patient.  To a degree, I think he's struggling with his potential future as a pro.  If he simply puts that aside and works on limiting his mistakes, he will get his highlights because Duhon is out there to make everyone else look good.  

** Redick:  Looked and played like a freshman in the first half.  He rushed his shots and even blew a layup in transition.  He did little on defense and never went near a rebound.   But JJ has learned the meaning of "next play" very quickly.  After starting the game 0-5, he finished 5-7, including 4 threes.  And they were from way beyond the college line.  You can tell he never looks at where he's standing, he just lets it fly.   He was also a superb 6-6 from the foul line and came up with that crucial steal down the stretch.  As the team gets used to each other and sets those high screens, JJ will get more shots.  

** Duhon:  Chris was once again the undisputed leader of this show, dishing a career-high 13 assists and coming up with another double-double. He wasn't shooting all the well, hitting just a driving layup and that 1 three, but he was hitting the boards, pressuring the ball 94 feet and getting his team cranked up.  Chris has a legitimate chance of leading the nation in assists at the rate he's going.  Perhaps he could hunt his shot just a bit more, though.  

** Thompson:  Big Mike came in early in the first half, took a shot, committed a foul, and then promptly came out again.  

** Ewing: A truly superb game for Dan, his best of the season.  In the first half, he scored 13 of Duke's 41 points.  It wasn't just that he made great decisions on his shots, it was that he was able to make those decisions because he was in the right place at the right time.  He moves  without the ball better than anyone on the team right now and understands that Duhon will feed him when open.  His cutting layup on a brilliant Duhon feed on a fake shot was a perfect example of this.  He's also taken on the Nate James role of spot-up shooter in the corner as the perfect zone-buster.  On top of all that, he's developed into a real ballhawk, getting 2 steals in this game and pressuring a few more turnovers.  

** Randolph:  Shav looked really lost in this game.  He was simply trying too hard in the post instead of relaxing and making the simple play.   He also got torched on defense a couple of times.  He needs a confidence boost and hopefully he can get one this weekend against Michigan.  

** Dockery:  Dock played a very solid game.  Other than one ugly, awkward shot in the lane, he made good decisions on offense.  I loved the fact that the little guy grabbed 4 rebounds and came up with 2 assists in just 14 minutes, not to mention getting 10 points.  His 0 turnovers were also a good sign--he's not pressing as much as he was earlier in the year.  Dock is still very excited when he gets into games, but he's learned to calm down a bit and just let the game come to him.  With his physical tools--the quickness, the leaping ability, the strength--combined with his basketball smarts and aggressiveness, he can make an impact every time he steps on the floor.   I also liked seeing him team with Duhon once again, allowing Chris to hunt his shot every now and then.  While Sean was credited with just 1 steal, he also forced a 5 second call.  

** Williams: After a very slow start, Shelden got his act together.  Like Shav, he was a bit too eager to do something in the post.  On one play, he made about 8 spin moves in and out of the lane in an attempt to get open, and all it got him was a turnover.  When he quickly and decisively went to the hoop (usually on a great Duhon feed), he slammed it home with ease. He only had 2 rebounds, but both were authoritative.  It was clear that Chris was eager to set him up down low, especially when OSU was starting to cheat towards the perimeter a bit.   

** Coliseum Clamor:  There was a pretty decent crowd (16,000), the vast majority of whom were Duke fans.  It was not a loud crowd for much of the game.  The crowd did chant "ACC!"  after the win.   

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    Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu

**** None of the photos shown here are owned by or are located on the servers of DukeUpdate.com.  Click on the photos to see the photos with the original articles.  All of the photos are from the Duke/UCLA game on November 30.

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