December
6, 2003. Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Coach
K noted that the lineup he had used against Michigan State wouldn't necessarily be the
same lineup he used all year, and that quickly became true when Dan Ewing started ahead of
Sean Dockery. He did want to emphasize that
starting was less important than making an impact with your minutes, and Dock was the
perfect example of this principle. Despite
coming off the bench, he played 23 minutes (against 16 in the MSU game) against the
Johnnies and was one of the game's most significant factors. Duke won comfortably against
a team that was admittedly struggling, but that at the same time had the kind of personnel
that could give Duke fits. With a host of quick guards and excellent overall team speed,
St John's had a chance to take Duke off the dribble and even run on them a bit.
While they were able to do this in spurts, Duke
countered by using superb team defense to force turnovers.
On some occasions, Duke did such a good job on the inbounds pass that they
forced a turnover right then and there. On
others, the defender had such nice footwork that they forced the ballhandler to pick up
their dribble and subsequently have to make a quick decision. Lastly, a number of guards who came into the lane
found Luol Deng, Shav Randolph and most especially Shelden Williams waiting to block their
shot.
While Duke's defense carried the day, not
everything was perfect. Duke still turned the
ball over too many times (14, to 11 assists), gave up 15 offensive rebounds and was beaten
in transition more than once. The Devils had
a few chances to really put St John's away for good and could never quite do it, though
they were never in any real danger. The
closest the Red Storm got in the second half was 7 points, though they did come within
51-43 with thirteen minutes to go and the ball, but missed a quick three. After that Duke turned up their pressure another
notch and finally put them away.
Duke hit SJU hard early, going up 9-3 thanks to
suffocating defense and good rebounding. Deng,
Dockery and Ewing all played early roles, with Ewing hitting a three, Deng scoring 4
points and Dockery hitting a three. When Dock scored again on a drive, that spurred a 12-0
run that gave Duke the working margin they used for most of the game. They built their game from the inside out, scoring
first on drives and free throws and then using a penetrate-and-pitch method to set up
threes by Deng and Redick. Another Redick three made the score 26-11 and forced St John's
to play catch up the rest of the half.
They did fight back and cut the lead to 11 at the
half, but scrappy play from Dockery (who had 8 points in the first half), a bunch of free
throws (thought the team was a painful 7-13 in the half) and a big jumper from Deng
prevented any kind of sustained run. The Red
Storm went on an 11-7 mini-run to creep within that 7 point margin as Duke's defense was
breaking down a bit. A Redick three halted
the run, but it was Dockery once again who sparked the team. He scored on a drive to push the lead to 51-41. After St John's missed that shot that could have
cut it to 8, Duhon got the ball to Shav Randolph, who was fouled and made both. On the next possession, Shav grabbed a Duhon miss,
shot it and missed, grabbed it again and powered his way up for a score. That third crack at the basket pushed the lead to
55-43 and seemed to break the Red Storm's will. Dockery followed that up with a steal and
dish to Duhon for a score, and Shav again hit a couple of freebies after a rebound to make
it 59-43. Shav and Dock continued to cause problems, with Sean getting Alana Beard-esque
steals & layups and Shav getting a rebound dunk.
Duke ran out the clock after that, getting the ball to its bigs and getting
key rebounds.
After a very long week and a half of basketball,
it was a decent performance. Not an
NCAA-tournament caliber performance, but definitely a good one. That was especially true at the defensive end,
which was a bit of a throwback. Recent Duke
teams have been so powerful on the offensive end that it overshadowed their defensive
abilities. Even the 2001 national champs were
merely a good defensive team built around a fantastic individual defender in Shane
Battier, one who directed the rest of his team like a quarterback in a huddle. This squad is starting to forge its identity as a
team that plays great defense in every situation: half court, full court, stopping
penetration, picking off passes, shutting down post games and collapsing on drivers. It's still a work in progress, but the addition of
a focused Dockery to the mix has made things very intriguing.
** Negatives:
1. Blocking out.
Too many times, Duke finished up a great defensive stand only to give St
John's an easy crack at the basket.
2. Transition defense. St John's had a tough time of scoring in the half
court, but got a few easy hoops blowing by players who were slow to get back in
transition.
** Positives:
1. Offensive rebounding. Shav was especially magnificent in this regard,
but Duke really punished St John's with their extra attempts.
2. Getting to the foul line. All of those extra attempts led to lots of
close-in baskets, and SJU often elected to foul rather than give up those baskets. Without a dominant offensive player, Duke will
have to find ways to manufacture points, and getting to the foul line is an excellent
method.
3. Balance. Keying
on any one player was difficult for St John's, because Duke got scoring out of everyone. The nice thing is that guys like Redick, Ewing
& Deng are capable of getting on real hot streaks, while Williams & Randolph can
score all day long one-on-one. The key is
finding the open man.
Player-by-Player:
**
Williams: Shelden's blocks in this game
were monstrous, forcing his man to the ground because of the impact. He also was able to block and control the ball
like a big man should, and is starting to display fine form on his outlet passes. After a rough start at the foul line, he
converted a decent 6-9 and once again led his team in foul shot attempts. Just as pleasing
were his 3 assists, showing that he's starting to get a better feel as to the team's
offensive flow and where his teammates will be. St
John's was clearly keying in on him, preventing him from getting as many good looks at the
basket as he would have liked. His move of
the game was an impressive dribble-drive to the basket, hinting at Shelden's full range of
skills.
**
Randolph: This game was Shav's turn to
dominate the offensive boards. With an incredible 7 offensive rebounds, many of which led
either to scores or free throws, Shav was the big difference inside for Duke. His field goals were all incredibly basic:
rebound dunk, stickback, inbounds dunk, dunk on a cut.
All a matter of being aggressive and being in the right place at the right
time. His defense was more than credible in
this game. Once again, he proved that he can
work well with Shelden and also provide an inside presence by himself.
** Deng: Luol had a big impact early on
with drives and a three. His patient 15'
jumper late in the half (where he waited for his man to fly by before he shot) was
responsible for a key score. I think he had a
little trouble adjusting to the speed and ranginess of St John's players at times, but
eventually came around. Interestingly, he
came off the bench in the second half, along with Dockery.
** Ewing:
This was a highly efficient game for Daniel, who bounced back from a decent but not great
showing against Michigan State. He started
things off with a three and later blew past his defenders twice on drives. Dan also had a
key jumper in the second half that put Duke up by 11.
Just as importantly, he had 5 steals and did a great job of pressuring the
inbounds passer and anyone who picked up their dribble.
He's still not 100% physically but is fighting through it bravely. Hopefully a week of physical rest (his mind will
still be active with finals) will do him some good.
** Duhon:
Not as good a game as the Michigan State contest. Nothing was dropping for him, though his defense
was solid, he rebounded well and had some key assists (finding Deng and Redick on
back-to-back threes, for example). Still,
he's still turning the ball over a bit too much.
** Redick:
JJ still hasn't quite gotten his stroke back all the way, though he did hit a couple of
long ones. I'm still waiting for him to get
on a groove and really use his screens well. He's
going a bit further out than he needs to for some of them.
It was nice to see him score on a drive.
Of note is that he started in the second half.
** Dockery: Sean had what was his best game as a Blue Devil
and was one of the biggest difference-makers. In
a game where 6 different guys scored in double figures, Sean's 12 points were significant
because they were almost entirely generated from defense.
Getting 7 steals against a very quick SJU squad was an incredible
achievement. Another positive sign was seeing
him set up for a three and calmly bury it. He
didn't rush the shot, nor did he hesitate. He
simply spotted up and fired away after getting a good pass.
Sean really has the potential to be a tremendous weapon and x-factor if he
can continue to combine his aggressiveness with smart play.
** Horvath:
Again, Nick wasn't any kind of factor.
**
Melchionni: Lee managed to hoist up a three that Duke rebounded, further killing
clock.
** Cameron Craziness: Other than the unfortunate "Fire Jarvis"
cheer that briefly went up (apparently encouraged by St John's fans), the crowd was solid. Cameron was packed, loud and supportive. It was nice to see so many former greats at
halftime, with a number of players from the 1978 Final Four team in attendance. Oh, and when SJU player Abe Keita fouled out, he
played with the crowd, sitting down when a Duke player was on the line. The crowd responded with "no points, 5
fouls", which accurately described his stat line.
Rob's Archive
|
