| Duke 93, Georgetown 86.
January 8, 2003.
Cameron Indoor Stadium.
This was an emotional streetfight of a game,
with two teams that desperately wanted to win and were willing to sacrifice their bodies
to do so. Georgetown came in with their Big
East thugball rep, and it was certainly well deserved.
They play an extremely physical brand of basketball, starting their pressure
94 feet from the basketball and living by the old Detroit Pistons credo: a ref can only
call one foul even when all five guys are committing fouls.
Considering the way that Duke wilted under extreme physical duress last
year, it was a welcome sight to see this style of play in the regular season. Georgetown has a number of skilled players in
addition to those skilled in Michael Graham's legacy, and that was what Duke really had to
worry about. Physical teams undoubtedly
relish playing Duke, because they feel that if they can push them around, they can shut
down the offense and squeeze out a win. It's
up to the Devils to erase this image and the effort tonight went a long way towards doing
just that.
The Hoyas featured a huge power forward/center named Mike Sweetney, an Elton
Brand-like player with excellent feet and great hands. While his game didn't extend beyond
the basket, his superb body control for such a long player made him a difficult matchup
for Duke--and his excellent touch from the foul line made him twice as tough to deal with.
With him in the game, the Hoyas were a threat to score every time. Without him, they
started jacking up bad shots and throwing the ball away. Coach K called Sweetney one of
the five best players in America; his experience certainly aided him greatly against
Duke's young post pups.
Early on, the game surprisingly featured a
lot of offense. For two squads known for
their defense, this was a bit odd. Duke used
the same starting lineup from the last game, which was Sanders, Williams, Jones, Redick
& Duhon. Georgetown opened up the game by
throwing a defensive blanket over Redick. JJ
drove and dished to Jones, who nailed a three. There was no hesitation on that shot or on
any others that Dahntay took tonight--it was his finest performance as a Blue Devil. After Dahntay mishandled a rebound, Georgetown
took advantage by going right at Casey Sanders and getting fouled. Duhon dropped off a perfect pass to Williams, who
finished with one hand in emphatic style. The
Hoyas' Gerald Riley then drilled a three, which was a disturbing sign for the Devils. While the Hoyas have a decent perimeter attack,
Duke was more willing to concede the three than anything else. If the Hoyas were making their long range shots,
it could have been a very long game for Duke.
Chris threw Dahntay a perfect alley oop pass
that he hammered in. Dahntay then grabbed a rebound and pulled up for a 17' jumper. This was not an easy shot, even if he was somewhat
open, but Dahntay had an air of confidence about him that I've seen growing in the past
few games. After Shelden had a shot blocked
(which led to Casey Sanders picking up his second foul just three minutes into the game),
the Hoyas tied the score at 9. Dahntay
responded by hitting a 15' jumper after a Shav Randolph rebound, and hit 1 of 3 free
throws after being fouled beyond the bonus stripe. Jones
had scored 10 of Duke's first 12 points at a time when no one else seemed to know how to
respond to Georgetown's pressure. Dahntay had
the advantage of knowing their style firsthand from his two seasons at Rutgers.
The Hoyas pounded the offensive boards twice
to even the score at 13 with about five minutes gone by.
Ewing badly missed a three, but the ball was so wide of its mark that Nick
Horvath managed to snag it for an easy stickback. Dan
made up for his gaffe by winding his way through Georgetown's defenders after a Hoya
turnover and going all the way to the hoop. The
Hoyas scored on another offensive rebound, but Shav hit a couple of freebies to make it
19-15. Casey came back in the game, promptly
picked up his third foul, and left again. Georgetown
was already in the bonus, so that was 2 easy free throws for Sweetney. Replacing Sanders was Mike Thompson, who played a
solid three minutes. In fact, he even took a
charge. But he was no threat to score, and
Duke badly needed points. Still, he let
Duke's other post men get a couple of well-needed minutes of rest and didn't pick up any
fouls.
Tony Bethel hit a three for Georgetown that
gave them their first lead at 20-19 with twelve minutes to go in the half. Duke's guards responded as Ewing pulled up for a
tough 15' jumper from the elbow and a high-difficulty fadeaway jumper from 13'. Dockery drove and hit one of his awkward teardrop
runners. Duke had forced 3 straight turnovers
to retake the lead at 25-21 but couldn't extend it. Redick
and Duhon both missed threes. In fact, Redick
was missing everything--he was 0-5 in the half as Georgetown was virtually faceguarding
him. Shelden picked up one of JJ's misses and
laid it in to make it 27-24, and then grabbed a rebound to trigger a fast break,
Duhon-to-Ewing. Duke missed a couple of shots
and Georgetown scored 4 in a row to make it 30-29 with about seven minutes to go in the
half.
Dockery put Duke back up with another
runner, but that lead would be short-lived. A
Ewing turnover led to an easy runout for the Hoyas, making it 33-31. Jones hit a free throw to pull them within 1, and
Duhon tied it at 34 with a runner. The Hoyas
hit a jumper on an inbounds play, but Jones missed the front end of a one-and-one that
could have tied the game. Duke forced another turnover and Ewing cashed in with a 17'
jumper to make it 36-36 with five minutes to go in the half. Another Hoya turnover (one of 12 in the half)
allowed Dahntay to put Duke back on top with a drive. Dockery came up with a steal but had
his layup blocked, which then led to an easy score for Georgetown. Duke's free throw shooting continued to plague
them. Williams had missed the front end of a
one-and-one and was now back on the line when Duke got into the double-bonus. He missed the first, and the refs forgot that Duke
was in the bonus and let play continue, until the protests of the coaches made them get
their act together. Still, it took them a
good five to ten minutes to put the proper amount of time back on the clock, effectively
icing poor Shelden. He missed the second one and Georgetown scored on a tip-in.
Dockery brought Duke within 1 point with a
free throw, but a Georgetown jumper gave them a 3 point lead. Horvath somehow guided home an ugly Duhon shot
with 5 seconds to go, but Bethel drove over a Duke player and scored at the buzzer to give
his team a 44-41 lead. The Hoyas just killed
Duke on the offensive boards, and their size forced Duke into a lot of fouls. The Devils didn't help their cause by shooting
6-15 from the foul line and 1-10 from three. Coach
K noted that in such a physical game, a free throw shooter is often just happy to have a
moment to relax, and so doesn't concentrate the way they should. Duke turned the ball over just 7 times against
Georgetown's pressure, though it should be noted that the Hoyas weren't really trying to
force turnovers through traps, but rather simply slow down and clog up Duke's attack. If it hadn't been for the mid-range shooting of
Jones & Ewing (scoring 13 and 10, respectively), the game could have been very ugly
indeed.
 Sweetney picked up his third foul just
seconds into the second half, but Duke gave the ball right back when Sanders was called
for a moving screen. It was a tough night for Casey, who did not return. Georgetown pushed their lead up to 5 with a
stickback, but it would be their last offensive rebound for the next eighteen minutes or
so. JJ adjusted to the pressure by going hard
at his man and getting a push shot to fall. Another
jumper by Redick and a Duhon drive tied things up 48 before Sweetney hit a free throw. Duke was playing better but the Hoyas still. Then came a crucial sequence. Dahntay was called for a charge on an extremely
questionable call with an obvious flop. Perhaps
as a make-up, Sweetney was called for an equally questionable offensive foul at the other
end, as Shelden collapsed when tapped lightly by a Sweetney elbow as he was trying to post
up.
With Sweetney out of the game, Duke had to
act. Duhon threw the ball into Shelden, who
was immediately double-teamed and looked like he was about to turn the ball over. Instead, he pitched it back out to Duhon, who hit
a 30' three pointer that the crowd willed into the basket.
That three, his first in nearly a month, sent Cameron into a frenzy. At that point, even the fans in the upper deck
were standing and screaming. The Hoyas missed
a shot, Williams swept the boards, and Duhon found Redick in the same spot for a three
that put Duke up 54-49. Georgetown took a
timeout but it didn't stem the tide or silence the crowd.
The Hoyas missed another jumper, and Shelden was fouled on the other end. He hit both, reversing the course of the evening
at the foul line for Duke. After another Williams rebound, Dahntay stuck back a Shelden
miss to put Duke up 58-49 with fifteen minutes left.
A long three by Duhon bounced long and led to an easy Hoya basket, but Chris
soon made up for it.
With the Hoyas now bringing an extra man up
to guard the perimeter, Duke started running "LA", their favorite set play. With the Hoyas paying extra attention to the
shooters, it meant that Shelden had easy opportunities for screen and rolls after he set a
high pick. With Duhon firing laser-precise
passes, all Shelden had to do was catch and finish...which he did quite adroitly. The Hoyas hit a three but Chris countered by using
the same play, this time to Nick Horvath. Duke
led 64-56 after Sweetney came back and scored. Dahntay
kept him at bay with consecutive runners, but a three brought the Hoyas to within 68-63
with ten minutes to go. With all the braying
about how Sweetney's presence would have changed the outcome, what Duke did in the next
few minutes came with Sweetney in there--albeit a Sweetney whose idea of playing defense
was swiftly getting out of the way of incoming players due to foul trouble.
JJ had a shot goaltended to made it a 7
point game. Georgetown missed a three badly
and Duhon responded by whipping yet another pass to Williams for a dunk. The Hoyas turned the ball over and Duhon was
triple teamed, with his back to the basket. Suddenly,
he threw the pass right under the basket, where Ewing had cut out of nowhere for a layup. There was simply no way that Duhon could have seen
him--he either heard him screaming for the ball or someone else told him. Dahntay rebounded another hurried three for yet
another Duhon-to-Williams dunk, a play the Hoyas simply couldn't stop.
The Hoyas wise went back to Sweetney, and
soon drew within 76-67 with seven minutes to go. Georgetown
missed the front end of a one-and-one that Jones rebounded, but Duhon turned the ball
over. What seemed to be an easy Hoya runout
was interrupted by Jones teleporting in front of his man and blocking his shot as he went
up, which Duhon then rebounded. Duke turned
insult to injury on the next play when Ewing rattled home a three to make it 81-67. After Sweetney scored again, Duke used beautiful
ball movement to look for the best possible shot, which wound up being Redick-to-Jones for
three. Four consecutive Georgetown points
made it 84-73 with four minutes left, aided by a Duhon turnover.
Chris atoned by finding Shelden yet again
for a dunk. Duke led 87-73 with under three
minutes to go, but the Hoyas scratched and clawed their way back into it, trimming the
lead to 87-79 with a minute left. Ewing &
Redick went 6-6 down the stretch, and even though the Hoyas scored the last 6 points of
the game, they were meaningless. Duke shot an
amazing 68% in the second half, including 4-6 from three.
The Devils were also a respectable 14-21 from the foul line. More importantly, they held a 24-10 edge on the
boards and only sent Georgetown to the foul line 9 times.
By neutralizing their ability to rebound, Georgetown's offense looked quite
pedestrian. Sweetney scored a lot of second
half points, but Duke was also keying in Georgetown's shooters. The Devils could afford to trade twos the rest of
the night. All-in-all, this was a satisfying
win that will prove to be instructive down the line.
** Negatives:
1. Motion.
In the first half, the motion offense just wasn't working. Georgetown was
clogging the lanes and reducing lines of vision, reducing the offense to a lot of
one-on-one play. When Duke went to some set
plays in the second half, everyone seemed to be able to focus a bit better, especially
since the set absolutely befuddled the previously stout Hoya defense.
2. Foul shooting. This is a good foul shooting team, especially the
guards. However, they did a poor job of
adjusting to the physical nature of the game in the first half. What we saw in the second half I think is more
indicative of what this team will do from the foul line.
3. Fouls.
Casey's 4 fouls were awful, but Shav's 3 fouls in 6 minutes weren't exactly
a work of art either. They didn't see much
playing time after that because they showed that they weren't ready to play against these
types of opponents.
** Positives:
1. Going for the throat. This team had had troubles putting opponents away
in the second half. Against Georgetown, they
not only built a small lead, but aggressively kept attacking them thanks to Duhon.
2. Rebounding. Duke was +8 on the boards against a team that
prided themselves on winning the rebound battle. In
the second half, Shelden & Dahntay's efforts kept everyone else off the glass.
3. Mid-range shooting. This shot was available and Jones & Ewing took
it and made it. There was no reason for them
not to take it, especially since they took great care in spotting up.
Player-by-Player:
** Sanders: Casey barely gave himself a chance because of his
foul trouble. I don't mind fouls committed
going after shots, but his moving picks are becoming an all-too-regular happening. His fouls put a lot of pressure on his teammates.
** Williams: Shelden was up to the challenge presented to him. If he got to the right spot on the floor, could
catch the ball and finish strong, he'd have a lot of opportunities to score. He did all of these things, and became the one
factor that Georgetown didn't know how to stop. While
his drop step and jump hook were slow and mechanical, he at least was trying to use them
instead of bullrushing his opponent. Shelden encountered a foe he **couldn't** outmuscle, so he had to
outhustle them. He stepped up mightily in the second half, pulling down 6 rebounds in
helping to squelch Georgetown's attempts at a comeback.
His assist to Duhon was one of many plays of the game, but it was unquestionably
the trigger for Duke's big run. This is a
performance to build on, and while freshmen don't develop on a strict evolutionary line,
this will be a good game to remember when Duke plays against rough opponents.
** Jones:
Dahntay has refined the strong points of his game to a fine point and has
started to minimize his weaknesses. He is not
a great passer, nor does he have great floor vision.
His handle is adequate but not good enough to get by the best athletes. Dahntay is very strong and has excellent balance
and body control. What he's developed most
recently is shot selection. He now seems to
know when to attack the hoop and when to pull back for the jumper. His judgment was impeccable against Georgetown,
raining down jumpers that gave him the opportunity to pull up and hit short runners. Jones' defense was typically tough. Getting 11 rebounds indicates that he's starting
to understand what it will take for him to help make his team win. As long as he remembers that he's not a one-man
team, Duke will thrive with him on the floor.
** Redick:
JJ was rushing his shots a bit in the first half because he found it was so
hard to get a good look at the basket. The
second half was a case study in a coach making adjustments and a player carrying them out. JJ played brilliantly in the second half,
exploiting Georgetown's pressure simply by attacking them off the dribble. His two early shots in the second half helped the
team build up confidence, and his three to put Duke up by 5 was close to the gold standard
of Cameron in terms of noise: Langdon hitting the three against UNC in 1997. Throw in some tough rebounds and the pass to Jones
for another three (at a time when JJ could have easily taken that shot), and you have a
young player once again displaying his maturity. The
biggest adjustment for JJ as a frosh has been in dealing with having really good
teammates. Once he got used to the idea, his
ability to pass really blossomed as he realized that he could find ways to score even if
teams came after him if he could communicate with his teammates. This team is all about building a group identity
instead of having a bunch of talenated individuals. That
identity is not quite defined yet, but it's starting to round into shape.
** Duhon:
Forget the points. Forget the
defense. Forget the rebounds. Chris simply
looked like the second coming of Bobby Hurley out there, making brilliant pass after
brilliant pass. It wasn't like Georgetown was
sitting around waiting for Duhon to do something--Chris took it right at them and made the
correct play nearly every time. He did have a
couple of turnovers and looked a bit weary down the stretch, but he moved his players
around as though he was playing chess. That
three he hit was, simply put, the biggest shot of the season so far for Duke. Chris has spent the better part of the last couple
of months trying to get a feel for his teammates and what they can do. The more he gets used to them, the better Duke
will play because Chris will get them the ball. All
he needs now is a standout shooting performance to get himself going.
** Randolph: Shav's playing time was limited because of foul
trouble, though he did fight for a couple of boards and knocked down some free throws. He's too good a player not to improve, and I
expect to see a breakout game soon.
** Horvath: Nick was the unsung hero of the night. While he missed both of his threes (both good
looks), he did a fine job as the garbageman under the basket, sticking back anything that
came near him. While he didn't have the bulk
to outwrestle the Georgetown front line, Nick didn't back down a bit and fought his way to
6 boards and a block. More than that, he was
an emotional leader for the team and the big men in general. Having him around as an 8th/9th man will be a big
boost in future games--he could wind up being a big team x-factor.
** Ewing:
Dan was superb tonight. It
wasn't just his shooting that was impressive, it was his ability to handle the ball
against pressure. He made all the right
decisions as to where to go on the floor against the press and took a lot of pressure off
Duhon as a result. His defense was also
solid, especially his big steal & runout. But
it was his ability to hit the midrange jumper that made him so dangerous in this game. He had a career high 19 points, and I think that
career high may not last very long.
** Dockery: Dock's form on his shot still drives me nuts. He took 4 shots, and all of them were off-balance
runners. It's rare that he stands still for a
regular shot. Two of them did go in, however,
and his defense was quite sound. More than
anything, he let Duhon get some crucial rest.
** Thompson: Coach Dawkins notes that bench players should be
ready to make an impact when they come into the game.
That means they should be focused, intense and aware of their role. For Big Mike, that meant rebounding and defense. While he didn't play long enough to make a big
dent in the boxscore, he prevented his foe from scoring and took a huge charge, drawing
big cheers from the crowd. This was another
confidence-building performance for a young player, one that he must build on.
** Cameron Craziness: New visitors to Cameron are often awed by its
intimate surroundings, the proximity of the students to the court, and an ancient set of
chants and stunts that regulars are perhaps a bit jaded with. Of course, with the way that Duke wins so easily
most of the time, it's easy to see why that the fans are often so relaxed. From time to time, the crowd senses the need for
urgency, to become the voice of the team. This
is what happened early in the second half. When
Sweetney went out with his fourth foul, everyone knew that it was now or never for the
Devils. They virtually willed in that long
three from Chris, and it seemed like the crowd and the team became as one. Everyone knew that Duke would make all of its
shots, and everyone knew that Georgetown would fold. For a period of about five minutes,
the entire building was "in the zone." There's simply no other way to explain
the experience. While that faded, the crowd
continued to pump up the team and roared as Duhon sliced up the Hoyas with his pinpoint
passing. Early in the second half, the call
of "our house" rang out, but it wasn't really cheers or signs that mattered
here...simply the roar and will of the crowd.
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/Georgetown
game on January 8, 2003.
Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu
Rob's Archive
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