December
14th, 2003.
Cameron Indoor Stadium.
This was one of the finest defensive
performances I've ever seen from Duke. Before
it's dismissed as a routine win against a punching bag foe, one should note that Portland
won at Oregon State, at New Mexico and crushed Nevada.
None of these teams are world-beaters, but New Mexico is extremely difficult
to beat at home and Nevada gave UConn a good game. Furthermore, their team makeup was of a
sort that gave Duke trouble earlier in the year: a 4 guard lineup. With no real post game to speak of, the Pilots use
their speed to drive and dish out to open shooters. The result: Portland was third in the
country in three point percentage. When one considers the difficulty that Duke had in
dealing with Detroit's all-guard lineup, it's no wonder that Coach K was a bit worried.
However, his solution worked well. He started both Shelden Williams and Shavlik
Randolph, confident that they would control the boards and blow strong interior defense. He also started Chris Duhon, JJ Redick and Dan
Ewing to combat their quickness. The game
plan was to extend the defense way beyond the three point line in order to prevent them
from getting any open looks. Of course, when
the defense is spread that thin, a smart team will use back cuts to attack the basket. This is exactly what Portland did. However, Randolph, Williams & Deng played
absolutely superb help defense, seemingly always in the right place at the right time. Randolph & Deng each took a charge in the
first half. Furthermore, when they got in
position, they each looked to block the shot of their smaller opponent, resulting in 11
first half rejections. With Duhon & Sean
Dockery further attacking the ballhandler and generating some steals, the result was a
3-28 half for Portland with 10 turnovers.
While Duke was far from perfect on the offensive
end in the half (and the game, for that matter), they still shot nearly 50%, got to the
line 23 times and only committed 9 turnovers. Once
again, no single player really dominated offensively; instead, there were nine players who
scored between 6 and 15 points, with 3 in double figures.
It must be noted that when Shelden Williams left the game with an ankle
injury, Duke was no longer as dominant at either end of the floor. Portland was able to rebound a bit better and hit
some more shots inside. Still, Duke happily
got plenty of good production from Nick Horvath and Lee Melchionni. Offensively, Nick provides very little help, but
he did a fine job on the boards and on defense. Lee
offers a little more variety on offense, but he's not as focused on defense. In an ideal lineup, neither would ever play more
than ten minutes in a more hotly contested game. With
a big lead, it was the ideal environment for Coach K to see what they could do. Coach K wants his subs to be ready to make an
immediate positive impact, which requires a certain mindset. After all, they are out there replacing someone
who is ostensibly better than them. In order
to justify their playing time, they have to be able to contribute something of value. If someone really wants to extend their playing
time, they must be able to do it at both ends of the court.
Rather than let their opponent dictate the game's
pace early on, Duke established what they were going to do early on, and stuck with it. Coach K went with the two bigs (Randolph &
Williams), Ewing, Redick & Duhon. It was
another interesting lineup designed to both counter another team's strengths while still
showcasing Duke's own capabilities. The tiny
Pilots played what amounted to a 4 guard offense. Starting
Redick & Ewing meant that Duke wanted to counter their perimeter game with scoring and
players used to defending other guards. However,
going with two posts meant that Duke intended to press their size advantage and control
the boards. Early on, that's just what
happened. Deng and Williams had early
stickbacks from Redick missed threes, and Shelden then posted up a smaller foe on a Ewing
feed. Meanwhile, Duhon made his presence
known with a drive and kickout to Randolph for a long jumper and then a steal &
runout. Portland wasn't getting a single good
look, scoring just 5 points in the first eleven minutes of the game. Those points were hard to come by, with three of
them from the foul line and another on a tough, twisting layup.
Meanwhile, Duke's seven-man rotation was operating
as one smooth unit. Sean Dockery came in and went baseline for a layup, starting a 15-1
run that put Duke in total command. Deng
stuck back a missed three by Duhon and did a masterful job on the defensive end. Duhon then carved up the Pilots for three straight
assists: one to Ewing on a cut, another to Williams for a one-handed dunk, and a third to
Redick, who finally hit a three. At the
defensive end, Shelden blocked 3 shots in less than a minute. This came as Portland delivered a series of
perfectly nice backdoor passes that were then rudely met as shot attempts by The Landlord. Dock continued to provide an energy boost as he
tipped in a Ewing miss and dished to Williams inside.
Duke missed several jumpers and committed a few
turnovers as Portland hung in there with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 27-11. With 8 seconds remaining on the shot clock, Dock
boldly drove into the lane and looked like he was headed nowhere. Instead, he flipped the ball behind his head to a
cutting Randolph, who missed the shot but converted his own miss. That sparked a
half-ending 13-1 run that made the second half a foregone conclusion. Shelden hurt his ankle and sat a while on the
bench, which meant that K went to Horvath and also Melchionni. The pair teamed up for 4 rebounds in the first
half, with Nick picking up a block as well. Down
the stretch, Duke's shooting pikcked up a bit, with Deng draining a three after a deep
Dockery drive and JJ sinking a 19 footer. Towards
the end of the half, Deng was fouled and hit 2 free throws with 37 seconds left. Rather
than set up their usual end-of-half defense, Coach K elected to quickly press full court,
and the result was a Duhon steal & layup right under the basket. That Horvath block led to Chris racing down court
to beat the shot clock, and he was full with .07 seconds left, hitting 1 shot. The Devils led 40-12 as a result. Duke shot 50% in the half, forced 10 turnovers and
held Portland to 3-28 shooting. 11 of those
attempts were blocked.
Even without Williams, Duke opened the second half
on an 11-4 run. Duhon stole the ball and tossed it to Redick, who hit a three. After 4 straight Portland points, Deng found Shav
inside for a dunk and then drove in for a score of his own.
Portland stayed in man-to-man defense and found themselves burned by Duke's
penetration, as Duhon scored and got fouled. Finally,
Dockery drove and flung up a crazy, off-balance leaner with 30 seconds left on the shot
clock. I shouted out "what are you
doing", and as it somehow went it, I drew laughs from those around me.
With that, Coach K brought back Horvath and
Melchionni, both of whom did some nice things. Nick
scored inside and Lee drove in with a pretty spin move.
Meanwhile, a quiet Dan Ewing (playing limited minutes as his foot heals) hit
a three. Dock stole the ball and once again
went hard to the hoop. He stayed in control
and broke off a ridiculous behind-the-back pass to Randolph for a dunk. Considering that Shav was in exactly the right
place at the right time for those passes, it's clear that the two have developed a good
on-court rapport.
Up 40 with ten minutes to go, Coach K mixed and
matched, looking to set up the jumper off penetration.
Deng hit a pretty turnaround from 15' on a JJ feed, and then Redick sank a
three thanks to a Dockery pass. The deep subs
went in with about 4 or 5 minutes to go, allowing Portland to turn a 78-21 deficit into a
more respectable 84-43 final score, thanks to a flurry of threes. They were very lucky to have hit 40 points as
Duke's domination was total.
** Negatives:
1. Blocking out.
The one negative for Duke was that they didn't always get after the loose
ball on a miss or block. Portland got
multiple attempts at the basket on some possessions.
The defense was just too good for them to actually convert many of those
chances, however.
2. Foul shooting.
It's one thing when a big guy misses a few.
But players like Ewing and Duhon
have to knock down these shots. Also, JJ
needs to find more ways to get to the line.
** Positives:
1. Help defense.
Not only have Williams and Randolph improved tremendous in this regard,
communicating to let the other know when to move or help, but Deng has come right in and
done a great job. His natural
attributes--long arms, quick feet--help him cover a lot of ground and recover quickly.
2. Ball pressure.
Magically, the improved help defense has made Duhon's in-your-shirt
defensive style pay off. Granted, he's
definitely a step quicker than last year, but his style of defense demands good recovery
by his big men.
3. Interior defense.
Shelden, Shav, Luol and Nick are using their size to their advantage and are
managing to mostly avoid foul trouble while doing it.
4. Valuing the ball.
This was an overlooked part of the game, because committing just 9 turnovers
kept Portland from running and gave Duke extra opportunities, since they not only got
extra shots but controlled the boards as well.
Player-by-Player:
**
Williams: Shelden played just 14 minutes
but was on his way to a monster game. He was
well on his way to breaking Duke's single-game blocked shots record, though I wouldn't be
surprised if that happened sometime this season. He
scored Duke's first 4 points (and should really always be the first option) and later
threw down a crowd-pleasing dunk on a Duhon feed. With
Shelden in the post, Portland seemed completely intimidated. The highlight came when a Portland player drove
hard at Shelden and threw up a floater. Shel
simply grabbed the ball out of the air as the Pilot bounced off of him. Williams is in the mold of Elton Brand and Carlos
Boozer but is a bit different from both. While
strong, he doesn't rely on his power the way Elton did.
He doesn't have the touch of Boozer, but his hands are just as good. Shelden's center of gravity is a big higher than
both of those guys, and that has made for a slightly more awkward transition. As he figures out how best to dominate his
opponents physically, he will only continue to get better.
**
Randolph: A solid game for Shav, who was
a little more impressive at the defensive end than at the offensive side. This is a statement I never would have made a year
ago. Other than hitting a long jumper, his
baskets came from being set up perfectly by Deng & Dockery. Of course, the fact that he moved well without the
ball is in itself a sign of improvement. But it was his 9 rebounds, 3 blocks and a charge
taken that were the real show. Shav is moving
his feet well and the result is that quicker guys are having trouble taking advantage of
him. Like many of Duke's young players, one
senses that he's just beginning to tap his potential.
** Ewing: Dan continues to make progress from his foot
injury that is slowly healing, but at times is still too quiet offensively. His missed 3 threes and only drove to the basket
a couple of times. Dan did force a couple of
steals and took care of the ball, but Duke will need him to step up against many of their
foes, especially if they fall behind early or need to get a lot of points in a hurry.
** Redick: JJ was 3-10 from three, but two of those rimmed
out after going down halfway. The sense one
gets is that he's almost recovered from his early-season ankle injury, but isn't quite
there yet. He had plenty of good looks that
just didn't go down for him. Redick did
compenstate a bit with 4 rebounds, some decent defense and an assist to Deng. The team has proven that they don't need as an
absolute precursor to winning, but a breakout game from him sure would help.
** Duhon:
Another in a series of good floor games for Chris. He
attacked the basket a few times and also generated a couple of runouts. It was his passing that put Portland away in the
first half, and his key steal that really demoralized them. His defense is at close to national Defensive
Player of the Year levels, with another 5 steals against a very good backcourt. If his three ever started dropping on a regular
basis, he'd be in business.
** Deng:
One nice thing is that it was obvious that coming off the bench did not
bother Luol one iota. Instead, he simply came
in and made immediate contributions at both ends. His
early scores came because he attacked the basket, getting a stickback and a couple of free
throws. Deng then called for the ball when he was open on the wing and canned a three. Throw in a couple of more free throws, 7 rebounds,
3 blocks, a charge taken and that's just what he did at the half. Deng looked relaxed but aggressive, and almost
seemed as though having a chance to watch his opponents for a couple of minutes gave him a
better idea of what he could do right away so as to make the biggest impact. Though he did hit a 15' jumper and had a drive in
the second half, his shot wasn't falling quite as steadily.
So he compensated with 3 assists: to Shav for a dunk, Dock on a cut, and
Melch for a three. More and more, the Grant
Hill comparisons are ringing true, though Luol is not quite the leaper that Grant is, nor
the ballhandler. On the other hand, Deng is a
much better shooter and has been a surprisingly key perimeter factor.
** Dockery: This was a sensational game by Sean, who has gone
from looking confused to in control. He still
brings that playground enthusiasm to the court, but has learned to rein in most of his
wilder instincts and instead uses the freedom inherent in Coach K's offense to make plays. Chris Duhon uses his remarkable court vision to
get his assists, while Sean uses his ability to penetrate to set up his unpredictability. Remarkably, he hast just 1 turnover in his last 3
games. We all know about his ability to
disrupt opposing offenses (I call him the Human Hand Grenade: toss him into a game and
watch the other team fall to pieces), but his newfound ability to score has been
impressing me lately. It's not just driving
to the basket; he hit a 15' jumper as well. He did have a couple of crazy layup attempts,
one of which went in, but he's mostly avoiding those falling-on-his-ass shots that were
his staple last year. It could be argued that
he's playing the best basketball on the team, all things considered.
**
Melchionni: You could see Lee's confidence grow as the game progressed. After missing
his only shot of the first half, just seeing the ball go through the hoop on his spin move
energized him. He fired up a 15' baseline
jumper right after he grabbed a rebound, and later sank a three. While he has a long way
to go on defense, he did manage a block.
** Horvath:
Nick had his best game in quite some time. The
best thing about his game was that he had 5 rebounds.
They were tough boards, grabbed with 2 hands in traffic. If Nick can do that on a consistent basis, he
will be solid for 5-10 minutes a game. His
defense was admirable, though he still looks lost as a post player on offense. It didn't help that he missed 3 free throws and
committed an offensive foul. Still, he brought in good energy and played hard.
**
Johnson: Pat J hit a gorgeous sweeping hook that fired up the crowd in the game's
waning moments.
** Borman:
Andy had a turnover that led directly to a Portland basket, but also had a perfect pass to
Johnson.
** Davidson: Pat D passed up a couple of
open jumpers. Shoot it next time!
** Cameron Craziness: A solid crowd for an exam break game, though I
don't recall any standout cheers.
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