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December 17, 2003. Cameron Indoor Stadium.
This particular Princeton team was
well-suited to challenge this particular Duke team, given that the Devils
are struggling from outside but tough off the dribble and in the post.
Recall that when Duke beat the Tigers back in the fall of 2000, Shane
Battier drilled them with three after three. With Princeton's
ball-control style of offense, a 20 point+ lead is like a 40 point lead, so
that game was never really a contest. In the game on Wednesday night, Duke
wasn't able to knock down enough jumpers to put the Tigers away until the
five minute mark. The slow torture style of the Tigers and their sticky
zone defense frustrated Duke throughout the game, causing them to revert too
quickly to a one-on-one group of players. When Duke regrouped and started
playing smart, disciplined team defense, they turned the tables on the
Tigers and got a number of key stops. Duke did a lot of things wrong in
this game, but moved past their errors to make
Princeton's on-court life miserable.
Duke's big men had a tough night after
several good games in a row. First of all, Princeton's
zone and size made it difficult for Duke's bigs to get the ball in scoring
position. That said, when they did have the ball, they weren't that smart
with it. Shav turned the ball over on Duke's first possession by bringing
the ball down and trying to pump fake guys who weren't biting. On a later
possession, he had his shot block, sulked a bit after a foul wasn't called,
and then was immediately scored upon at the other end. Meanwhile, Shelden
seemed very tentative in the first half, and had it stripped when he brought
the ball down as well. That was Shane Battier's favorite defensive trick,
and Princeton clearly had it down
cold.
The Devils simply seemed uncertain of how
to attack the Tigers. They could clearly get some open shots, but weren't
confident enough to just fire up shot after shot, especially since the
Tigers kept all five guys around the boards to get defensive rebounds.
After all, they weren't trying to start fast breaks. As a result, Duhon and
Deng kept tossing up awkward, off-balance floaters in the lane instead of
going stronger to the basket. A few bad shots prevented Duke from turning a
ten point lead into a more insurmountable margin, and as a result allowed
Princeton to continue to run their normal sets.
Early on, Princeton
was a bit overwhelmed by Duke's superior quickness and ball pressure. A
Ewing
drive led to a Randolph
layup, followed by another Ewing drive and kickout to Redick for three.
Deng then used his long reach and stride for an eye-popping up-and-under,
and then Ewing
continued his strong early play with a steal and layup. When Redick hit
another three four minutes into the game, Duke led 12-5 and looked like they
were headed for an easy win. But not so fast: Duhon & Deng both missed
tough shots while the Tigers went to their big gun, 6-10 center Judson
Wallace. He used textbook form in the post to score twice, bringing the
Tigers within 3.
Ewing
took over, hitting a 15' jumper off a Duhon pass, hitting another jumper
after he got an offensive rebound, and then pulling up behind a screen for a
three. The Devils led 21-11 with
8:30 left in the half, forcing 7 misses and 2 turnovers. The Tigers
responded with a 14-4 run of their own, forcing 7 misses and 5 turnovers.
It's not like Princeton was
pressuring the ball, but rather that Duke kept trying to dribble through the
middle of a zone. As a result, balls kept getting deflected as Duke players
wandered into the middle of a player's responsible position. Only 4 Redick
foul shots kept the score tied, but the Tigers had a chance to take the lead
with about 1:30 left in the half.
They missed, Duke got the rebound, and Duhon hit his first shot of the half,
going strong to the basket. The Devils couldn't open up much of a lead, as
Princeton's Andre Logan spun in for a basket, but was matched by 2 Ewing
free throws and a pull-up jumper from 15' by Redick.
Duke shot a sad 37% in the half,
including 3-10 from three. They barely outrebounded the Tigers, 15-14,
which included 10 offensive rebounds. While the Devils forced 10 turnovers,
they committed 7 of their own, including 6 steals by the Tigers. Redick and
Ewing combined for 23 of Duke's 31 points.
Deng hit a three early in the second
half, but the Tigers scored 6 points to come within 34-33. That included
the block of Shav that prompted Coach K to replace him with Shelden. Deng
came to play in the half, however, and tipped in a Ewing miss. After
securing a rebound on a Princeton miss, he then scored on a driving three
point play to put Duke up by 6. This was all part of a 10-2 run that didn't
end the game, but did give the Devils the breathing room they needed to
operate comfortably. Duke clamped down inside and kept Princeton's
big men far away enough from the basket to force them to pass the ball, and
the result was 5 missed threes and a couple of turnovers. Meanwhile, Redick
hit a 15' jumper, Dockery got a crucial steal & runout and Williams hit a
free throw.
After the Tigers cut the lead to 44-37,
Duhon drove and kicked it out to Redick for a big three. After an awkward
three attempt by Wallace, Duhon zoomed down the court and passed it to Deng
for a dunk. Duke had moved so quickly that the Tigers weren't able to
really get set in their defense. The Tigers scored on the next play, but a
Duhon steal & runout kept Duke's lead at 12 with about ten minutes
remaining. The Tigers stayed the course, pounding it inside twice to cut
the lead to 8. Deng then knifed through the zone with his long stride for a
layup. Duke stole the ball thanks to tremendous defensive pressure, and
Randolph tipped in a Duhon miss on a drive. This was a crucial play because
it restored Duke's lead to 12 with under seven minutes to go.
Princeton
didn't despair, scoring inside with
Logan and then converting a layup out of a Duke turnover. They then slapped
the ball away from Ewing, but an alert Deng recovered the ball and then
nailed a back-breaking three to give Duke a 58-47 lead with about five
minutes to go. Duke almost put the Tigers away once and for all when they
forced a steal, but a Dockery charge erased that, allowing Logan to score
again. Duke started running some clock, and Deng drove and made a brilliant
pass to Williams, who scored and was fouled. That was part of a 10-2 game
closing run in the last four minutes, as Duke got every rebound and played
superior defense. A Duhon drive with about two minutes left gave Duke their
biggest lead at 63-49, and free throws from Ewing & Williams salted the game
away.
The lesson of this game, as has been the
lesson all year for Duke, is that they cannot succeed as individuals but can
beat anyone as a team. The Devils forced 20 turnovers, 11 of them steals,
against a team known for taking care of the ball. They probably
underestimated Princeton's athletic
ability, especially that of their big men. They understood their
limitations and made the moves they were capable of, and moved their feet
exceptionally well. The bigger surprise was how tough and physical they
were on defense. They were not afraid to push and hold down low, and
definitely disrupted Duke with their physical play. Once Duke adjusted and
learned to respect their opponent, things started going their way. Wallace
had been averaging 20 ppg while the team as a whole shot 38% from the three
point line. Wallace wound up only scoring 3 points after the first couple
of minutes in the game and the Tigers were just 2-18 from three for 11%.
Duke looked a little creaky throughout the game (they shot just 44%, though
did get 50% in the second half) but went back to relying on defense to win.
** Negatives:
1. Rebounding. Deng and Williams aside,
Duke was outhustled for rebounds all night. Princeton
just did a great job in blocking out, and Duke didn't position themselves
well enough to get them. It did get better in the second half, when Duke
went from 5 to 13 defensive rebounds.
2. Decision-making. There were times when
guys weren't thinking about what they were doing with the ball out there,
dribbling carelessly into danger or throwing the ball away. Once Duke
corrected this problem, the game went their way.
3. Shot selection. Jumpers are good,
though uncontested medium-range jumpers are even better. The problem was
that Deng and Duhon kept taking these weak, rushed shots that didn't have
much chance of going in.
** Positives:
1. Ball pressure. Duhon and Dockery did
their usual good job, but Ewing in
particular had a strong defensive game. Randolph and Williams also did a
nice job overplaying the wing without giving up too many backdoor plays.
While Princeton
is happy to stretch the shot clock, Duke made them really work hard for
scores and forced a shot clock violation on one possession.
2. Patience. When Duke settled down and
made the game a possession-by-possession battle instead of feeling like they
had to be up by 20 right away, they proved that they can go toe-to-toe with
a big, post-oriented team. They got the stops inside while still extending
their defense out far enough to prevent any three point sniping.
3. Getting to the line. This was big for
Duke. Ewing used his quickness and Redick his ability to move without the
ball to get shots, while Williams used his raw strength. Once they got
there, they converted (15-19, 79%).
Player-by-Player:
**
Randolph: Shav was dominated on the defensive boards, but had a key
tip-in and played some very good denial defense. Shav was matched up
against a 250 foe and didn't adjust very well to his size or heft. He
simply has to continue to learn how to take contact without backing down or
waiting for a whistle.
** Deng: Luol was pressing too
much in the first half, going 1-6 with 2 turnovers. He was taking
off-balance, leaning shots that didn't take advantage of his length or
leaping ability. Deng did make up for this with 4 rebounds, but he was
clearly struggling. In the second half, he relaxed and let his teammates
set him up. Hitting an early three meant that he was aggressive enough to
get a stickback and then a three point play. His drive with seven minutes
left stopped a 4-0 Princeton run and his three with five minutes left
stopped another 4-0 Tiger run, both of which had brought them within 8
points. His pass to Williams was the backbreaker for Princeton, while his
strong rebounding down the stretch meant that the Tigers were one-and-done
on many possessions. Luol's cramp with a minute or so left scared the
crowd, but it was nothing serious.
**
Ewing: Dan had a tremendous first half with 11 points on 4-5 shooting,
but he did commit a number of silly turnovers. He assisted Duke's first 2
baskets and scored 9 of Duke's first 21 points. Ewing struggled in the
second half (going just 1-5 with 3 turnovers) but his initial burst gave
Duke some room. That meant fighting Princeton from a position of
superiority rather than having to play from behind. This is important
against every team, but doubly so against the maddeningly slow pace that
Princeton likes to play. Duke will continue to need a lot of points from
Ewing, in a year when points are precious so far.
**
Redick: It's clear that JJ's foot is still bothering him a bit. When he
takes set shots off of passes, he nails them. When he's shooting on the
run, he's not quite getting his feet set correctly. One senses that he's
getting closer and closer, though. His third 3 of the game pushed the lead
to 10 in the second half, shortly after he had lengthened Duke's lead from 4
to 6. Redick dished to Deng for both of his threes, a hookup that will be
beneficial for both players down the line. Really, JJ played smart and
tough basketball in this contest. He had no turnovers, two assists and
worked very hard for 5 boards. JJ's defense was also very good, rarely
getting out of position.
**
Duhon: Not a very good first half, as he was 1-7 from the floor with 1
assist. The good news was that the shot he did make broke a 25-all tie and
seemed to pick up his spirits. He got back to being the daring and tough
Duhon that Duke needs in the second half, scoring twice on drives and
dishing out 5 assists, as well as picking up a couple of steals, including
one for a runout. He hit JJ twice for jumpers, showing that he still had
confidence in his shooting guard despite his struggles, and found Deng
inside for a dunk. Certainly not Chris' best game, but the team followed
his aggressive but smart lead in the second half and came up with the plays
they needed.
**
Williams: Shelden was rather tentative in the first half, though he did
play just five minutes: still, he had no shot attempts, just 1 rebound and a
turnover. He looked like he either didn't want to be out there or thought
he wasn't ready to be out there.
**
Dockery: Not quite as remarkable a game as he's had recently. Picking
up a couple of quick fouls didn't help matters any. He still had a steal
and layup and a couple of assists. His charge on a break was his one
bonehead move of the game. Dock's steal and layup was a big play.
**
Melchionni: Lee came in in the first half as Duke was looking for
different guys to score and pass the ball. He dribbled right into the zone
and had the ball stripped away. Lee took a seat on the bench the rest of
the way after that.
**
Horvath: Just a meet 'n greet appearance for Nick.
** Cameron Craziness: The joint was
packed for the game, though there were few undergrads present. There was
considerable academic taunting going on between the grad students and the
surprisingly large Princeton contingent of fans, with chants of "safety
school" being chanted by both crowds!
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