Duke Slips By Maryland

Duke 75
Maryland 70

Duke 75, Maryland 70.
February 19, 2003.
Cameron Indoor Stadium.

This year's Duke team has played hard and with heart for most of the season, particularly since the new year dawned. What they haven't done much is play as a cohesive unit. The irony of Coach K's offensive system that emphasizes creativity, freelancing and feel is that his defensive system demands absolute, ironclad cohesion. The way the system is designed, if any one player is not doing his job, the entire defense is vulnerable. What Duke does is not that complicated, but if someone is not doing his job within the system, a clever coach can exploit that weakness again and again. As I have repeated again and again, the most difficult thing to learn is Coach K's help-and-recover defense. The principles themselves are not difficult to learn, but they are difficult to master because it requires a level of communication on the court that most young players simply are not accustomed to. Coach K doesn't tend to go with his older players simply out of loyalty, but because they usually have the best understanding of exactly what he wants them to do.

That neatly segues into the Shav & Shelden problem. Both young big men are clearly very talented, but their playing time has been sporadic. This is an instance where Coach K wanted proof from them that they understood what he wanted and could execute it--and that proof first comes in practice. The past few games have shown that both of the frosh posts have finally been able to internalize the lessons learned in practice and apply them in fast-moving game situations. Wake Forest saw both play hard, though they were limited by foul trouble. Virginia was a huge step in the right direction for Shelden, who dominated all-ACC post Travis Watson.

Shav was in line to start in that game but a serious flu kept him on the bench. Maryland would prove to be a far tougher test for both. The Terps destroyed Duke's frontcourt in their earlier meeting, out-toughing the Devils in every way conceivable. Even though the game would be held in Cameron, this by no means guaranteed a win. The Terps, with four seniors, are the toughest and meanest squad in the league. This particular group certainly didn't fear Duke, with several members of the team beating Duke twice in Durham. A win in this game would mean that Steve Blake would have finished his career with a 3-1 record in Cameron--an unthinkable concept. Duke could only win this game by proving their own toughness, and more importantly, their togetherness.

The first ten minutes of the game was an intense display of back-and-forth hoops as neither team could gain a significant advantage. Maryland won the tip and came out of the gates with a driving dunk from Nik Caner-Medley (subjected to taunts of "pushover dad" and "liberal parents" later in the game!). Duke's usual response this year would have been a three or a drive, but instead Shelden Williams got the ball and executed a perfect drop-step for an easy layup. The Terps seemed a bit surprised by this and would have trouble adjusting to him in the first half. Blake hit a three off a screen but Casey Sanders countered with a stickback off a Williams miss. Two possessions and two post buckets for Duke.

Shelden got the ball back again and this time Maryland tried to double him without recovering well. Shelden passed the ball out to Chris Duhon, who sank a three to give Duke a 7-5 lead. Drew Nicholas hit a three of his own to give the Terps back the lead. Dan Ewing entered the game, replacing an ineffective JJ Redick, and immediately scored on a twisting drive through Maryland's tall timber. The Terps reclaimed the lead 10-9 after Tahj Holden stepped outside for a short jumper--Williams and Sanders had each blocked shots closer to the basket.

Duke fans, how many times have you been frustrated when a Duke player has his hands on an offensive rebound only to either volleyball it around or worse, put up a weak attempt? That's why when Shelden grabbed a Ewing miss on Duke's next possession, the fact that he rose above three opponents to throw down a dunk after he had grabbed the ball was so satisfying. His confidence was especially sky-high after that play. But Holden went outside for a three this time, making the score 13-11 Maryland with fourteen minutes to go in the half.

Dahntay Jones stepped up with a 15' jumper from near the elbow to tie the score. Shelden scooped up a rebound and then nailed a pretty turnaround jumper to give Duke their fourth lead of the game. Maryland scored on an inbounds play but Duke countered with a couple of Randolph foul shots. Maryland fought back to take the lead with a dunk, making it 19-17. Then came The Run. Under Coach K, certain patterns begin to form in the way games are played, and there are times in Cameron when the stars all align and the will of the players and the crowd becomes one. Duke's 12-0 run was one of those moments, when even the upstairs crowd was on its feet.

It began with a simple turnaround by Williams. Maryland's John Gilchrist committed an offensive foul, and Dahntay responded by hitting a 17' jumper in more or less the same spot he hit the first one. After a shot clock violation by Maryland (that came after a held ball where the Terps didn't realize the shot clock hadn't been reset), Dahntay hit another jumper from the some location. Shav rebounded a desperation three by Nicholas and then drove to the basket for a hoop. By now, Cameron was starting to erupt. After Duhon picked off a pass, his shot was blocked by Blake. Ewing tried to dunk it and missed, but Dahntay was there to dunk it back in. Shelden erased a Caner-Medley shot and hit yet another turnaround jumper. When Shav swatted a Nicholas attempt out of bounds, it was time for Gary Williams to take a timeout. Duke now led 29-19, with a bit over five minutes to go.

This group didn't help win last year's national title by accident, however. Maryland reeled off a 12-1 run to get right back in the game, with only a Redick free throw stopping a clean sweep. Duke missed five shots and committed three turnovers (one of them a Sean Dockery offensive foul) while the Terps got to the line and slashed to the hoop. Nick Horvath hit an enormous 18' jumper on a Dahntay feed to put Duke up 32-21, but Maryland took its last lead of the game on a cut by Caner-Medley. Jones stepped up with yet another 17' jumper with just over a minute to play. Maryland turned the ball over and Dahntay hit JJ Redick, struggling all game, for a long three. The answer was simple--JJ simply had to take a couple of steps back behind the three point line in order to feel comfortable! Duke had a last shot at the basket but Horvath had a three blocked.

The team that had led at the half had lost something like five consecutive meetings in this series, so things did not bode well for Duke. In this case, this group needed the boost of leading at home to take care of what needed to be done in the second half. Duke did not shoot all that well, hitting just 2 of their 13 threes. Williams and Jones both had 10 points, and Shelden also picked up 4 rebounds and blocked 3 shots. The biggest key for Duke was their defense--they forced 11 turnovers and committed just 6 of their own. The Devils were doing it with their bread-and-butter: overplaying the wings and intercepting skip & entry passes. Maryland was held to 40% from the floor, sinking only 8 of 20 shots inside the three point line.

Shelden opened the second half with another score, but Maryland kept him quiet for the rest of the half. Still, he forced the Terps to change the way they played defense. Their strategy against Duke was to play Duke's bigs one-on-one and then cheat to the perimeter as much as possible to cut off drives and prevent open shots. With Shelden eating Randle up inside, they could no longer afford to do this. Whenever he was in the game, Shelden's man would stick to him like glue, even fronting him. The downside was that this opened up the lane for penetrators, something Dahntay would take advantage of early & often. And of course, if you allow someone to penetrate, it means that they can kick out to an open shooter. Meanwhile, Duhon's intense pressure on Blake was forcing him to drive into well-placed help from Duke's big men. He had to contort himself and drive in and out of traffic just to set up a halfway decent shot. Maryland wasn't getting the great looks on lobs and cuts that they saw in College Park.

A Duhon three on a busted play put Duke up 42-35, but 4 straight Maryland points turned the game into a tight contest once again. It wasn't for a lack of effort on the part of Duke--on one possession, they got several offensive rebounds but just couldn't convert. Duke got single free throws from Jones and Ewing after a series of scratching, clawing attempts at the hoop by both teams. Neither team was conceding anything, but Duke managed to stake out a 44-39 lead with fourteen minutes left. After a Randle basket, Dahntay drove the lane and slammed the ball through the hoop, firing up the crowd. Shav played some good defense on Randle and forced a tough shot, snagging the rebound. Duhon drove and passed to JJ Redick who hit a big three. Suddenly, his "on" switch had been flipped.

Blake drove and dished to Randle, who had slipped past Duke's defenders. Jones responded with another drive to the hoop. Just like in College Park, he was the one player the Terps couldn't stop. The teams went back and forth--Dahntay's shot was followed by 2 Holden free throws, and then Shav had a shot goaltended. Holden followed up with a three point play to make it 53-48 with under twelve to go. A Dahntay miss was followed by a Blake three. Suddenly, Duke's margin of error was almost entirely gone. Duke got the ball to Williams, who missed but was backed up by Sanders, who tipped the ball in. Randle committed an offensive foul and Duke got the ball back. JJ drove baseline and popped in an easy 15' jumper to make it 57-51. Maryland then got four cracks at the basket (with 2 shots blocked) and Nicholas finally scored on a potential three point play--but missed the free throw.

Maryland turned up their defensive pressure, extending their defense to jam Duke's shooters. Duhon and Redick then took an interesting risk--Duhon drove and then dished behind him to Redick, screening him for an open shot. The only problem was that Maryland was extending their defense so far away from the basket that that shot would have to be from 25 feet away. But this is JJ we're talking about, so no worries--the ball barely disturbed the net when it went in. Maryland had a chance to creep a bit closer, but Caner-Medley missed the front end of a one-and-one. Jones hit a freebie of his own to make it 61-53 with under seven minutes to go.

Calvin McCall hit a three but was quickly matched by Dahntay, who drove in for an acrobatic layin and foul. On Duke's next possession, Sanders kicked the ball out to Redick for his fourth three of the game, giving Duke a 67-57 lead with under six minutes to go. It looked as if Duke had things wrapped up...but the Terps had other ideas. Maryland scored 4 quick points with free throws and a fast break dunk after a JJ miss. Shelden hit a free throw, but McCall hit another three to make it 68-64 with four minutes to go. In other words, game was reset to the halftime status quo. Shelden missed 2 free throws and Maryland again managed to score again, cutting the lead to 2 with three minutes left. Duke wisely got the ball into Jones' hands, but he missed going to the hoop. Shelden rebounded and missed. Dahntay finally got the ball again and was fouled, making both. It was a key play, with Duke just working a little bit harder to get the ball. The normally reliable Blake then threw the ball out of bounds under pressure, causing the decibel level in Cameron to rise to teeth-rattling heights.

Duke worked the shot clock down as far as possible. With less than five seconds on the clock, JJ drove and was met by a defender. He kicked it out to an open Dan Ewing for what Coach K described as a "Cameron Shot". That's when a big shot is taken that essentially seals a game, and the crowd's will seemingly guides it into the basket. When he hit it, it was I-can't-hear-myself-screaming loud. Maryland went to the hoop and scored with just over a minute remaining, but they were still down 73-68. Ewing turned the ball over under pressure, but it took a full 15 seconds to score, leaving 44 seconds to go. Maryland elected to play defense instead of fouling--a tactic that paid off, as Ewing was stripped going to the basket with just a couple of seconds left on the shot clock. Maryland only had 12 seconds left and no timeouts, and Duke obviously knew what to do in that situation--surround Blake. Duhon and Ewing draped themselves all over him and he fired up a desperation three that wound up in JJ's hands. He was immediately fouled, made both, and that was that.

The half was marked by fierce defense by both teams but generally excellent offensive execution. Duke committed just 4 turnovers (2 in the last minute), Maryland 3. The difference was that Duke was 5-9 from three in the second half, with JJ hitting all 3 of his attempts. Duke also worked harder at getting to the line, sinking 9-15. Duke outrebounded the Terps and blocked 13 shots. Randle had 12 points and 7 rebounds--a good game, but not the monster performance he had in their first meeting. Maryland's superior experience was negated by Duke's improved chemistry, but it was clear that the two teams are quite evenly matched. What should give Duke considerable hope is that they only shot 41% and 32% from the three point line, and they still beat an excellent and highly motivated opponent. This team will not have to live and die by the jump shot alone.

** Negatives:

1. Fouls. This has been a problem all year, but one knew it would come into play against a team as tough as Maryland. Maryland wasn't exactly scorching the nets either, so putting them on the line greatly helped their cause. It's how they were able to stay in the game and later open up their offense--Duke was reluctant to really go all-out in applying pressure for fear of putting them on the line and stopping the clock when they had a lead.

2. Quick threes. There were a few times when Duke settled for a quick three on out of bounds plays or on pull-ups. The three is a weapon Duke should exploit whenever possible, but not at the expense of balance--especially when the drive is working so well. I liked it when Duke shot threes on kickouts--all the shooter had to do was spot up.

3. Blocking out. Randle got his hands on too many tipped balls, negating some good defensive efforts for Duke.

** Positives:

1. Post defense. Shelden & Casey were doing the unthinkable for a while: they were intimidating the Terps. With 9 blocked shots between them, the Terps had to find new ways to score. They combined for 20 rebounds to 12 for Randle & Holden.

2. Offensive rebounding. Duke's frontline of Williams, Sanders & Jones combined for 12 offensive boards alone, and Duke had 18 for the game. They had trouble converting on some of them, but the effort was there--and Jones' offensive board with Duke up only 2 down the stretch was as big a play as it gets.

3. Help defense. It's a joy when you finally see someone start to get a concept and put it into practice. The way that Casey, Shelden and Shav were able to rotate over to cut off penetration was simply beautiful. Duke's great teams in the 80's had to play that kind of defense to get by since they were either small or slow (or sometimes both) in the frontcourt. Shane Battier was the greatest help defender in the history of the ACC, but K actually has a new generation that's starting to learn those lessons.

4. Bench play. Maryland is a very deep squad, but Duke matched them--the Devils' reserves had 14 points and 9 rebounds, while Maryland's had 14 and 10.

Player-By-Player:

** Sanders: A nice solid game for the senior. It wasn't pretty, but he got some key baskets--a tip-in after a 6-0 Maryland run in the second half, for example. He was fantastic on the boards and went after shots, making Maryland think twice about coming inside. Casey didn't turn the ball over, didn't take dumb shots, and did the job inside defensively. That's all one can ask of him, a consummate role player.

** Williams: The Landlord sent eviction notices to many a weak shot in the Maryland game. Having seen Shelden in practice early in the year, I knew that he was a superb athlete with excellent touch who needed a lot of work to excel at this level. But all the tools were there: the hands, the shoulders, the feet, the aggression. Against a team that made its living pounding the ball inside, Shelden had both a test and an opportunity. He had flunked an earlier test against Maryland, but after his showing against Virginia, it seemed like he had a chance to make up for it. The way he single-handedly intimidated Maryland's frontline into hesitating on every shot was remarkable--his timing was spot-on. His touch on those fadeaway jumpers and his footwork on a spin move or two proved that he's been working all along on developing his skills rather than relying on his strength. Gone is the player who tried to bull his way to the basket every time like he did in high school. His power game is still there, but he now has other things to rely on. He still needs to work on getting rid of the ball a bit quicker on double-teams and learning how to reposition himself quickly working in a two-man game, but his stock is rising.

** Jones: Dahntay got in the bad habit early of putting up floaters going to the hoop that didn't drop. He stopped doing that and instead used screens to get open mid-range jumpers on a consistent basis. Duke used him on the same play again and again, and Maryland had a hard time stopping it. In the second half, he fearlessly attacked the rim, coming up with the key offensive rebound of the game. His defense was solid as always and he had no fear of tangling with the big men inside. The team is starting to take on his personality a bit, developing a toughness that wasn't there earlier in the year.

** Redick: JJ very uncharacteristically was forcing his shot in the first half. He was 0-6 until the last moments of the half and even had a rare turnover. JJ looked frustrated that his shot wasn't falling and instead of trying to drive for a closer shot, he kept putting up shots that almost went in but rimmed out. Maryland was playing him perfectly, and he wasn't adjusting. Hitting that late three seemed to help; he was far away but he was open and able to square his shoulders in a way he hadn't when faced with more pressure. He heated up in the second half, scoring 11 points in about seven minutes, including several long, back-breaking threes. And of course, his pass to Ewing was every bit as important as the shot itself. He was both the passer and the screener, and forced Maryland to come guard him so that Ewing would have an open shot. JJ did take a charge in the first half and was solid defensively overall. The thing that's amazing about this young man is that he's absorbed the "next play" philosophy so quickly? I missed a shot? Next play. I made a shot? Next play. He always has the courage to shoot and try new ways to score, which makes him such a burden to defend.

** Duhon: Chris had a solid floor-general outing. He hit a couple of threes, which game him enough room to operate on the perimeter. Chris also was responsible for most of the entry passes that went into Shelden, but didn't pick up assists on them because Shelden would often make a couple of extra dribbles or moves before scoring. The big key for Chris is that he forced Steve Blake into a 2-10 shooting night, turned him over 3 times, and didn't commit any turnovers of his own. When Chris starts to make mistakes, the entire team falls apart. When he's confident and steady, so is the team.

** Horvath: Not a pretty game for Nick, who missed several wide-open shots. But that's not why he's out there--he's there to set picks, rebound and keep the offense flowing. The fact that he committed 0 fouls didn't hurt either. It'd be nice to see Nick have a big all-around game soon.

** Ewing: Dan only had two field goals, and one of the reasons why is that he wasn't consistently going hard to the basket. He was content to put up too many floaters. His 2 big turnovers in crunch time didn't help much either. However, we can put all that aside, because he hit a legend-making shot. That three will go down as one of the biggest in Cameron history, all because he had the courage to take it after a bad shooting game. Defensively, I had no complaints--he spent a lot of time making Drew Nicholas very unhappy (3-10 from the field, 8 points, after he torched Duke in their first meeting). Anytime a guard blocks two shots you know he's going after the ball. His defense has steadily improved as the season has gone on.

** Randolph: Shav is not yet completely healthy, but he's getting there. I loved the fact that he was willing to take the ball to the basket, grab some rebounds and play defense. Of course, there was one major problem with his performance: 3 fouls in 8 minutes. He has to learn how to use his feet, not his hands. The fact that he's not as quick as some big men shouldn't deter him from playing great defense; he simply needs to learn more about positioning and worry less about trying to block everything. He's definitely coming along, though, and I expect him to have another big game soon.

** Dockery: When Dock is applying pressure and slickly handling the ball, he's great to have on the court. When he's so excited that he attacks the basket without checking to see if someone's waiting to take a charge, he's not so great to have on the court. The Maryland game was not one of his better showings, but there will be other days. In fact, I expect him to play a good bit against NC State in order to disrupt their perimeter a bit.

** Cameron Craziness: While the building didn't quite have the energy of the UNC game, it was still a lot of fun to be in there. The upstairs fans did not sit down in the last two minutes of the game. Some of the good cheers: "You've got crabs!"; "We're not rivals"; "Johnny Rockets" (for Steve Blake); and of course the classic "Sweat, Gary, Sweat". Gary in fact became so unhinged towards the end that he started screaming obscenities at the fans--high theatre at its best. Another highlight came during a "JJ Redick--Dy-no-mite!" call and response cheer--some folks in the grad school section held up giant sticks of "dynamite" with JJ's name on them during the cheer. When Dahntay dunked in the second half, some folks in his section ("Dahntay's Inferno") did pushups in honor of his monster dunk against Virginia.

Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu

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