| Duke 74, Wake Forest 55.
January 12, 2002.
Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The lesson from this game is: If you're
going to try to play like Duke, you'd better have the firepower to do so and take care of
the ball while you're at it. Wake was blown
out because they tried too hard to strike with quick threes rather than utilize their
advantages in the paint and off the dribble. The
Deacons had 19 offensive rebounds but still wasted their time with 18 three point
attempts. On the other hand, Duke was quite
successful being Duke. They finally hit a
decent percentage of their threes after struggling for much of the year (10-20), forced 18
turnovers and got their transition game in high gear.
When Duke got hot late in the first half and early in the second, Wake
simply didn't have the guns to fight back. The
game went from a 27-27 deadlock to a 53-33 rout in just under eleven minutes, rendering
most of the second half moot.
One reason why Duke was so successful was
because none of the Deacs were allowed to take a star turn.
Josh Howard was held to 13 points on 5-13 shooting. He still had a fine game with 14 rebounds and 4
steals, but Wake needed him to really take it to the Devils, and instead he was locked up
by Dahntay Jones. Wake has a fine pair of
bruising young big men in Vytas Danelius and Eric Williams, but the former was in foul
trouble most of the evening and the latter was either covered well inside or ignored by
his teammates. The starting guards, Taron
Dosney and Jamaal Levy, combined for 6-17 shooting and 6 turnovers.
Play began with Downey hitting a three, but
Nick Horvath (receiving a rare start over Casey Sanders for his good deeds in the
Georgetown game) countered with a rare three of his own.
Wake took a 7-3 lead by banging the boards and hitting from in close. Duhon took things in his own hands by driving in
for a basket, but Duke gave Downey too much room and he nailed another three. He only had one more basket the rest of the game
as Duke zeroed in on him. Duhon dished inside
to Shavlik Randolph, who hit an acrobatic layup and was fouled (but missed the freebie). Another offensive rebound for Wake gave them a
12-7 lead with under fifteen to go.
Duke scored 5 in a row, with a Shelden
Williams up-and-under and Shav 15' jumper on a Dan Ewing feed the highlights. Danelius had picked up his second foul and Wake
had a bit more trouble cashing in down low. Howard
hit a jumper to break Wake's cold streak, but a Ewing drive resulted in 2 free throws. Dan was a big key in the next few minutes. Jones picked off a lazy entry pass and started a
break, dishing ahead to JJ Redick. JJ found
Ewing with a lob and Dan finished with a layup and a foul.
After a Howard miss, Ewing lobbed it to Randolph inside, who finished
strong. Duke had an 18-14 lead with under eleven minutes left. The two teams traded baskets for a bit, with
Horvath finding Sanders inside with a nifty pass and a Jones steal leading to a Redick
basket in transition. Wake closed to within
22-21 on Downey's last three of the game.
Redick drove and again found Ewing for a 15'
jumper. Ewing then came up with a steal,
which eventually lead to Randolph passing to Duhon for a big three. Duke now had a 27-21 lead and looked like they
might be ready to put Wake away. The Deacons
revived their resistance, scoring 6 in a row by pounding it inside and coming up with a
big steal. With four minutes to go in the
half, Duke made their move. Duhon, full of
confidence after his first three, pulled up from the top of the key and let another one
fly. The crowd was pumped, and so was Chris. He picked Downey and ran in for a dunk, but missed
a two-handed jam. JJ missed the follow-up
three, but Wake couldn't cash in. Chris then
retreated back to the perimeter, and swished another three.
Duhon blocked a Downey three and eventually fed Sanders with a lob on an
out-of-bounds play. Wake suddenly couldn't
even hit a layup, while Duhon found Shav on a laser-beam pass on a backdoor play for an
easy dunk. The reeling Deacs were suddenly
down 37-27 at the half after Duhon asserted himself as perhaps the best pure playmaker in
college basketball. Considering that Jones
and Redick (Duke's two leading scorers) were a combined 1-11 from the field, that lead was
especially amazing. One of Duke's young big
men rose up, with Shav scoring 8 and grabbing a couple of boards. Duhon really took charge, scoring 11 points and
dishing out 4 assists.
Jones opened the second half by canning a
19' jumper, an ominous sign for Wake. The
Deacs fought back with a Danelius jumper and a Howard stickback, but the floodgates where
about to open up on them. Duke went on a 9-0
run that started with JJ hitting a 15' jumper coming off a curl. After a Downey offensive foul, Dahntay hit a tough
banker. Howard turned the ball over and JJ
hit Dahntay for a three in the corner. Another Wake turnover found Duhon hitting Shav in
transition. All of a sudden, the Devils led
48-31 with under fifteen minutes to go. Howard
finally ended the drought with a spectacular stickback slam, but Jones hit a 15' jumper
and then a three in response to put Duke up by 20.
The team just got in a zone, with Ewing,
Jones and Redick hitting consecutive threes as part of a 16-4 run. Wake was turning the ball over and putting up
threes that hit the back of the rim. The last
ten minutes were mostly an exercise in ball control.
Wake did manage to score 18 points, but 7-8 shooting from the foul line, one
last Duhon three, and a Sean Dockery drive kept Duke comfortably ahead. The Deacs scored the last 10 points of the game
against Duke's reserves, but it didn't matter--Duke was stretching the game out.
Overall, this was a fine victory by Duke
against a ranked opponent. The Devils are certainly playing well at home, though are far
from invincible. Still, they seem to be
drawing strength from the recently wild crowds, while the noise seems to be unnerving
their opponents. Duke also did a good job in
closing out an opponent. They didn't let Wake
back into the game once they had them in their grip.
Part of that was the aggressive but intelligent offense, but most of it was
maintaining focus on defense, never allowing Wake any easy baskets. Wake was a warmup for Virginia and Maryland, two
teams that have size and like to run, but which are far more experienced than the Deacs. We'll see if Duke's ready to up the ante.
** Negatives:
1. Blocking out. This was a huge problem. For much of the game, Wake couldn't score unless
they got an offensive rebound. Wake had 19 for the game, which let them easily outrebound
Duke overall (45-31). Losing Shelden Williams
to foul trouble really hurt Duke here.
2. Fouls.
Fouls prevented Williams from getting much burn, and also helped bail Wake
out after a miss and rebound. If Duke had
clamped down on these two areas, the game might have been a much bigger rout.
** Positives:
1. Defense. Other than losing Downey a couple of times, the
Devils did a nice job in locking down on everyone. The
18 turnovers were crucial as Duke knew that they were getting extra chances in transition
to score, and they took advantage of these opportunities.
2. Offensive aggressiveness. Duke took it right at Wake, continuing to use the
mid-range jumper with great efficiency, which opened up the three a bit. Duhon was masterful in directing the offense,
getting plenty of easy scores with his vision.
3. Post defense. Duke conceded nothing inside. Sure, they gave up too many offensive boards, but
all of the big men battled hard. Sanders,
Williams and Randolph all wound up with blocks.
** Player-by-Player:
** Horvath: Not a bad little game for Nick. He hit an early three, got an assist to Sanders,
and made no mistakes. He didn't play much in
the second half to give the quicker Randolph & Sanders a chance at chasing Wake's
players. When things get rough, however, Nick
will be in there.
** Williams: Shelden didn't really give himself a chance with
his early foul trouble, though he did have that nice dish to Jones to start the second
half. Once he picked up his third foul, he
was much less effective, though he did hit a nice up and under.
** Jones: Dahntay
really sticks out on this team. On a team
filled with nice guys, Dahntay gets under other people's skin. On a team where everyone seems to want to make the
extra pass, Dahntay will fire away on his own. On
a team built on finesse, Dahntay will manhandle his opponents, especially on defense. He brings a little bit of Big East nastiness to a
team that needs it. While he was a superb
defender last year, he seemed a bit unsure of what his really role was on offense and as a
leader. Now, there's no question. The thing to remember is that Dahntay is not Grant
Hill or Mike Dunleavy; if he seems a bit single-minded on offense, it's something that
Duke fans will have to live with. It's simply
the way he plays. As long as he doesn't do
anything stupid like go one-on-four in a fast break with teammates on either side of him,
it's also something that Duke needs. Dahntay
is the only player strong enough to bull past defenders, quick enough to fly by others,
and a good enough shooter to pull up if the other two options aren't working. He's not as
smooth as Ewing or as good a shooter as Redick, but he's getting the job done. It's clear that he's put in a lot of work on his
shot, and once he got into a groove, he was hard to stop.
After missing his first six shots, he made 6 of his last ten, including all
3 of his threes in the second half. Just as
importantly, he made Howard's life a nightmare. He
got in his face, got underfoot, trash-talked him, got him to take bad shots, and generally
played the role of Villain to perfection. Dahntay has truly earned his newly-regained
starting role.
** Redick: JJ
continues to play like he's been at Duke for the last ten years or so. Wasn't he on the receiving end of passes from
Bobby Hurley? Didn't he drop in deadly clutch shots against UNC? Didn't Shane Battier used to set screens for his
picture-perfect jumper? The best compliment
you can give him is that he is still a valuable player to have on the floor even when his
shot isn't dropping. Just 1-5 in the first
half, he still managed to set up Ewing a couple of times and grabbed a couple of boards. Speaking of which, he had an impressive 6 on the
game, not bad for a player who is neither tall, nor strong, nor especially quick. He simply knows where the ball is going to be and
gets it. JJ hit a couple of shots in the
second half that helped finish off the Deacs, and also set up Jones for a three. His one big negative on the night: 4 turnovers.
Most were errors of commission as he tried to set up teammates, but sometimes there are
risks you don't take. Still, even on an
off-scoring night, JJ always finds ways to contribute.
It's not an accident that he played 30 minutes, second only to Duhon and
tied with Jones.
** Duhon: The
Captain turned in his usual sensational floor game, but bolstered that with some hot
shooting. Going 4-7 from three had to make
Wake coach Skip Prosser tear out his hair. He
also used Duke's "LA" halfcourt set to perfection once again, this team moving
the forwards up so that he could fire away from three.
Chris essentially the same shot over and over again. His one drive was a daring one at a time when Duke
needed some points. Most of his assists were
for threes, though he did have that nice feed to Sanders for a slam and another to
Randolph for an easy score. If he could get
10-14 points every night, Duke would be very tough to stop.
Coach K has noted that Chris has been worrying about everything but his own
shot--setting up his teammates, playing defense, being a leader--and now it was time for
him to take care of his own. This was a good
start, but the challenges in the ACC are just beginning.
** Sanders:
Casey definitely made up for his bad showing against Georgetown with some terrfic
defense and great boardwork. While he still
gets pushed around a bit out there and is frequently knocked over, he gets up and
continues to fight. On the play where he
scored and was fouled, he was knocked down, got up, went to the hoop and then got the
ball. His ability to catch and throw it down
is a tremendous asset when Duke is able to get in position to do so. Casey took a charge, blocked a couple of shots,
didn't get in absurd foul trouble and didn't turn the ball over. It was exactly the kind
of effort that Duke will profit from if he can turn it in every night.
** Randolph: Coach K said that this was
Shav's best game and it's hard to disagree. His
variety of offensive moves were impressive: up-and-unders, mid-range jumpers, and backdoor
finishes. His mobility and grace made him
tough to guard. More impressive was his
toughness. There have been times when the
physical nature of the game seems to have taken him aback and made him lose his confidence
and aggressiveness. This was not the case
tonight as he saw an opportunity (Shelden in foul trouble), made the most of it, and was
rewarded for his efforts (the lion's share of playing time in the second half). His blocks on shorter but wider Wake post men were
a matter of excellent timing, and his 7 rebounds all came against bigger men. His best play was when he ripped down a rebound
and staved off several Wake players trying to reach in and take it away from him. He swung his elbows around like Wojo in the old
days going for a loose ball. If his position coach is instilling a bit of his fire in
Shav's game, then he could continue to get big minutes.
** Ewing: Dan's stats were modest: 9
points, 2 assists, 3-5 shooting. But timing
is everything. He was the key player in
Duke's early first half run, the one that erased Wake's lead and got Duke going. He found Randolph for a jumper, hit 2 foul shots,
finished a fast break, got a steal, and dished to Randolph for another basket. That turned a 14-12 Wake lead into an 18-14 Duke
lead. When Wake pulled within 22-21, he
immediately hit a big jumper to squelch that. When
Wake scored to break a Duke run in the second half, he immediately hit a three to keep
Duke rolling. Throw in solid defense and a
growing sense of unity among the rest of the guards, and you have a solid game off the
bench--another Duke weapon that other teams must account for.
** Dockery: Dock only played in the second half, and his role
was to run the team and kill the clock. He
had some problems here, because he got a bit too excited and started getting careless with
the ball. In fact, his only score came on a
busted play that should have been a turnover, but instead turned into a layup when he
swiped the ball back after he coughed it up and went straight to the hoop. Sean must learn that rule #1 for a Duke point
guard is: Thou Shalt Not Turn the Ball Over. Especially
near midcourt, which led to some very easy opportunities for Wake. Sean is still a good young player who is very
aggressive and can help the team, but he needs to continue to watch and learn.
** Melchionni: Lee was his usual aggressive self, firing away
from three and missing another short jumper while getting a board.
** Thompson: Big Mike only came in for
mop-up duty.
** Buckner: Andre
just got in at the last minute, replacing Dockery.
** Cameron Craziness: This was another loud, carnival-like atmosphere.
The 6th Man took this game very seriously and was loud from beginning to end. Sure, the TV side of the crowd was perhaps a bit
too indulgent in costumes and body paint, but they were loud and that's what counts. As far chants, the ones I could make out included
"Shelden's better" at Eric Williams and "Show no mercy".
Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu
Rob's Archive
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