November 27, 2003.
Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Box Score
Duke's tight game against
Detroit was indicative of a team that was tight in the opening moments but
that used defense and toughness to get a win. However, their relatively
small margin of victory over Pacific showed that Duke was sloppy with the
ball, a step slow on the boards, and often careless on defense. The team's
focus ebbed and flowed. When they were on, baskets came in bunches and
Pacific was helpless on the offensive end. When the focus was a bit more
fuzzy, Pacific got fouled and went to the line and found themselves with
plenty of open looks at the basket. More distressingly, Duke had to rely
almost entirely on its "starting six", with the "other four" getting a total
of 18 minutes. In a three day tournament setting, Duke will have to get
more production from its bench or will run the risk of getting worn down at
the end of games--which is almost what happened against Pacific.
That aside, Duke does indeed
have a lot of firepower to throw against opponents and a lot of different
ways to score. Teams will have to pick their poison against Duke. Pacific
used Detroit's tactic in playing a zone to stop Duke's dribble penetration,
limiting the touches that the big men got. Duke responded by hitting 9-17
from the three point line, but more importantly, found ways of getting to
the foul line (21-27). When Pacific found themselves getting burned by JJ
Redick, they assigned a chaser to him, which allowed Dan Ewing to get all
sorts of open looks. Defensively, Duke tried to pressure the perimeter as
much as possible, but some players took too many risks and got out of
position, while the recovery was often slow to boot.
The game was mostly even during the
first half, with Pacific holding a small leading during the first ten
minutes and Duke rallying to take a 6 point lead by the half. Duke's
problem throughout the half was turning the ball over (10 times), made worse
by the fact that it wasn't caused by defensive pressure. Redick opened up
the scoring with a 19' jumper and later hit a couple of free throws, while
Shelden Williams showed off a nice turnaround jumper in the post. Luol Deng
got into the act with a 19' jumper taken off the dribble while Chris Duhon
drove the lane, took a jump-stop, and then sank one of his teardrop
floaters. Still, Duke was unable to stop Pacific's Guillame Yango in the
early going, who was killing Duke with his medium range game and quickness.
With 11:21 left in the half, Pacific led 14-10.
The Devils then unloaded from the
perimeter, with Deng hitting a 16' jumper and Duhon finding Redick & Deng
for threes. That latter basket put Duke up 18-14, the Devils slacked off a
bit on defense, allowing Pacific to tie it up. The very active Redick then
drove and dished back to Deng for a 15' baseline jumper. A couple of
Shavlik Randolph foul shots gave Duke another 4 point lead, but Pacific
struck back with a 6-0 run. Duke was starting to accumulate some foul
trouble, as Deng had 2 and Dockery had 2. Deng sitting on the bench seemed
to hurt the team's overall intensity.
Ewing, who had been relatively
quiet, drove and was fouled, hitting a free throw. Redick was again fouled
moving without the ball and this time went to the foul line, giving Duke a
25-24 lead with 5:30 left. After Pacific scored again, Williams rebounded a
Nick Horvath miss, a big stickback. Yango scored again, but Williams hit a
free throw to tie things up at 28. Then Ewing really got into the game. He
grabbed a miss by Redick and hit a runner from 5'. Then he drove and dished
to Duhon for a big-three that gave Duke a 5 point lead. Pacific came back
with a three, but Redick drove and hit a runner. After Pacific scored
again, Ewing hit a 15' jumper and hit a driving layup to make it 39-33.
Pacific had a few decent chances to draw closer, but Shav Randolph had a
couple of huge blocks down the stretch. That defensive stand seemed to
energize Duke a bit, and they came out fired-up in the second half.
Ewing picked up where he left off
by burying a three on a feed from Deng. Deng picked up his third foul
seconds into the second half, which limited him a bit on defense. The
Devils were trying to throw the ball over the zone into Shelden, and he
responded with a power-up move and a three point play--though he didn't
convert the foul shot. All of a sudden, Duke led 46-35. Ewing then dished
to Deng for a three, Shav grabbed his own miss and stuck it in, and Duhon
hit Ewing on a perfect cut. The Devils went up 56-38 after Ewing hit a
three, and went up by 18 again after Deng answered a Pacific three with a
trey of his own. That sparked a 7-0 run where the bigs did the work, with
Williams and Randolph getting 6 cracks at the foul line, hitting 4 of them.
With under twelve minutes to go, Duke was ready to run away with this one,
leading 63-41.
Pacific missed, Duke got a long
rebound and started to run. Duhon threw a pass that was a bit too high for
Shav, which not only resulted in a turnover but in a technical foul when
Shav was called for hanging on the rim. This call was questionable at best,
as it looked like Randolph was trying to steady himself after the ball
slipped through his hands. There's no question that it sparked Pacific, as
they embarked on an 8-2 run. The technical foul shots gave them a chance to
see the ball go through the hoop after a drought, and Duke got away from
feeding the ball into the post. Redick, Dockery & Deng missed consecutive
jumpers, which allowed Pacific to take advantage. Pacific scored a couple
of their hoops on offensive rebounds, which had to be extra distressing for
Coach K.
Duke did score some second chance
points of their own, thanks to Randolph and Williams rebounding some misses
and getting fouled. Pacific kept attacking Duke off the dribble, cutting
the lead to 10 with 7:22 remaining thanks to a Yango three point play.
Ewing drove and was fouled, hitting both shots, but Pacific's Miah Davis was
in a groove, drawing a foul on Ewing and hitting 2. Deng stepped up with a
19' jumper, Duke's first field goal in nearly 7 minutes. Davis scored
again, Deng missed a jumper, and Yango scored on a drop-off dunk to make it
70-62 with 5:17 left. Coach K was trying to run some clock, and while in
years past this tactic often resulted in rushed shots near the end of the
shot clock, it seemed to calm down and focus his club in this situation.
With the ball in Duhon's hands, he drove and found Williams for a layup.
Williams fouled out against a Davis drive with under four minutes left.
Without their big gun in the post
and plenty of time on the clock, an upset seemed possible. Deng missed
again and Pacific had a chance to cut it down even further. But Shav
Randolph took a charge and wiped out a scoring threat on one of the bigger
plays of the game. That allowed Duke to run a bit more clock, and Ewing
stepped up by sinking a three. Solid defense by Randolph down low forced
another miss, and Duhon hit Deng for a step-back three that put the game
away. Randolph & Redick were 4-4 from the foul line down the stretch, and
that allowed Duke to overcome a couple of late turnovers.
Eleven Pacific players had at least
ten minutes of playing time. Davis and Yango got the lion's share with 30
and 28, respectively, but getting a little production from their other
players kept those two rested and ready to contribute down the stretch. Of
course, when they weren't in the game, Duke went for the throat and took
control. All strategies have checks and balances, and what Pacific gained
in having a rested squad they lost in not having their best players on the
floor. Meanwhile, Duke went the opposite route, giving just seven players
ten or more minutes of playing time. What I liked about Pacific was that
they took full advantage of any break or Duke mistake that occurred. They
outscored Duke 28-19 in points off turnovers, hit 16 of their 17 free
throws, and had more offensive rebounds than Duke (11 to 8). Duke certainly
hustled and went after loose balls, but they have to be able to close out
plays a bit better. More than anything, Duke has yet to really impose their
will on an opponent, taking them out of everything they want to do.
** Negatives:
1. Rebounding. Williams in
particular needs to step up in this area, getting just 4 boards. Duke also
gave up too many offensive rebounds.
2. Valuing the ball. This was
Duke's biggest sin. The Devils shot 50% and got to the foul line with
regularity. It was only when they turned the ball over that Pacific was
able to take advantage.
3. Fouling. Williams' foul
trouble partially explains his lack of intensity on the boards (just 1 in
the second half after 3 in the first), and this is something that extended
to all of Duke's players who were in foul trouble. That much fouling means
players aren't moving their feet quickly enough.
** Positives:
1. Getting to the line.
Redick & Randolph in particular did a good job of getting fouled. Shav got
his thanks to his offensive rebounding (3), going up strong after getting
the board. If he could finish a bit stronger, he would have had a few
three-point play opportunities. Shelden also was hard to stop down low,
though he didn't convert as nicely (3-7).
2. Interior defense. This
was big. Randolph and Williams were aggressive in blocking shots and
clogging up the lane. It was Pacific's quickness, not its power, that got
them back into the game, and they have plenty of big bodies.
3. Crunch-time execution.
While Duke did sort of fade in and out of the game, their focus got
laser-precise down the stretch, especially on the offensive end. The team
is still not operating as a unit yet, which is a function more of experience
than talent.
Player-by-Player:
** Williams: An up-and-down
game for Shelden. When he actively called for the ball and then
aggressively posted up, he was tough to stop. His post-up late in the game
proved to be a big basket. Really, his biggest problems seemed to come
after he got into foul trouble, when he stopped being aggressive. Two
things I'd like to see from Shelden: maintaining intensity and moving
without the ball a bit better. He needs to find more ways of getting open.
One thing he is doing well is setting high screens, freeing up shooters and
cutters.
** Deng: The scary thing
about this kid is that he is already a stat-sheet stuffer and he has yet to
really tap into his tremendous potential. The surprising thing so far is
the range on his jumper. Looking a bit flat in the preseason, he has fixed
the flaws in his release and now shoots smoothly, either spotting up or off
the dribble. His separation from his opponent that he gets is already
pro-caliber. Deng's ballhandling is still something of a work in progress,
and I'd have liked to have seen him go harder to the basket. At times, he
seemed to settle for the jumper. Luol wants to get everyone involved,
finding Williams inside and Ewing for a three early in the second half.
Another pleasing aspect of his game has been his effectiveness on the
boards. Ripping 10 rebounds against a big Pacific team was very impressive,
with many of them coming in the second half as Duke made its big run. His
best shot came when Pacific had pulled within 10 with six minutes left. He
was left open at the three point line, and hesitated. He quickly took one
dribble and then pulled up from 19', getting a more comfortable shot that
indeed went in. I think Coach K is testing his upper limits at this point,
trying to figure out what he can and can't do. It'll be interesting to see
how he reacts during games when his shot isn't falling, and how he finds
ways to make his team better in such a scenario.
** Ewing: After a mediocre
game against Detroit and a slow start here, Dan went nuts and burned Pacific
with his quick release and quicker first step. With 6 points and an assist
in the last four minutes of the first half and 8 points and an assist in the
first six minutes of the second, he picked up where Redick had left off.
His three with 2:33 left put the game away. Defensively, he did have
trouble with Miah Davis and fouled too much as a result. Dan did have a
rare block on a ball that he slapped away. As with everyone on the team,
there is room for improvement, but he took a big step in the right direction
here.
** Redick: JJ had a great
first half with 11 points and then struggled in the second, missing all 3 of
his shots and turning the ball over twice. One of those turnovers was a very
questionable offensive foul. He just seemed out of synch the entire time in
dealing with a chaser. Redick was great in the first half with his shot
selection, hitting a runner and 19' jumper along with a three. More
impressive was the way he moved without the ball, drawing a number of fouls.
** Duhon: Solid floor game
for Chris with good off-ball defense. One doesn't sense that he's the
undisputed leader of the team in the way that he carries himself on the
court, but there's no question about his hustle. His dive into the stands
for a loose ball (especially after injuring himself last Saturday) was
impressive. I liked seeing him involved in the offense early on with a
jump-stop, and his three late in the half was a big one. He's still turning
the ball over a bit too much; if he isn't going to be an aggressive scorer,
Chris has to be an absolute miser with the ball.
** Randolph: Shav seemed to
pump himself up with a couple of blocks late in the first half. He had done
very little prior to that. Randolph then had a great second half at both
ends of the floor. When he entered the game, he immediately scored on a
stickback. During Duke's biggest second half run, he had an assist and hit
3 free throws. When Pacific went on a 6-0 run, he stopped the bleeding with
2 free throws. Down the stretch, he took a charge that prevented Pacific
from pulling within 6 points. Shav's only problem was turning the ball over
4 times (once on that missed lob catch). There's still so much more he can
do on offense, though he's been a bit stymied by the defenses he's faced.
Still, he's found ways to manufacture points and play tough inside. He
earned a lot more playing time with how he played in this game.
** Dockery: Dock had a
terrific steal in the first half and gave the team some energy. However,
like many of his teammates, he was too quick to foul.
** Thompson: Mike was in for
just a minute and didn't get a chance to do much of anything. I was a bit
disappointed to see Coach K go small on defense when Deng & Williams got
into foul trouble.
** Horvath: Nick missed both
of his shots (including a gimme layup) and didn't do much else.
** Melchionni: Lee was yanked
after a bad turnover and didn't return. It's clear that Coach K is giving
his bench a pretty short leash at this point.
** Borman: Got into the game
just very briefly.
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